Assassin

An advanced Thief promotion with Assassinate and three exclusive traps.

Assassins keep every Thief skill and add Assassinate at level 60, then three traps of their own: Caltrops at 80, Oblivion at 90 and Execution at 100. Concealment and preparation decide which openers you can use, and the extra traps take time and SP to set.

Assassin is a legendary remort class. It needs finished Rogue and Thief lives and one more of any class, 8 remort points, the Contract and an invitation from the Assassins. remort assassin lists each requirement against your character, but the invitation cannot be asked for: the guild finds you. See Remorting. Guild ranks run Initiate, Stalker, Shadowblade, Nightreaper and Guildmaster.

The rebirth starts the character at level 1 and clears the previous subclass mastery.

Resources#

Assassins spend SP as Thieves do and use the same pouch of trade tools and poison vials. Check it with supplies and restock at a Rogue Supplies counter. There is no separate assassin resource.

Assassins wear leather, like the rest of the rogue branch. Plate, mail and cloth are closed to you, and gear with no armor category is open to everybody.

Two things to know before you commit. Remorting starts you at level 1 with no experience, so a level 100 Thief begins the climb again from the bottom. And the level 60 subclass mastery does not cover Assassin: your Thief mastery is cleared on the change and nothing replaces it.

Talent Trees#

An Assassin uses the Thief's four trees, Skirmish, Stealth, Subterfuge and Tradecraft, and every Thief skill sits in the same tree it does for a Thief. You earn a talent point every ten guild levels, ten in all, and a tree holds ten at most. Every point in a tree makes each skill in it 2% better: 2% stronger in its hits and heals and ready again 2% sooner, so ten points give 20% of each. Passives are untouched, and each point in Skirmish also makes your own weapon blows 2% stronger. talents shows your trees, talents <tree> what one gives and holds, talents spend <tree> puts a point in, and talents reset takes every point back, once a real day and never in a fight, though your first reset ignores the wait.

Skirmish#

The melee kit: Backstab, Blindside, Shiv, Shank and Quietus Strike, plus Dagger Mastery. Garrote is a Rogue skill, so an Assassin does not have it.

Stealth#

The silent movement and concealment skills that gate every opener: Sneak, Shadow, Skulk, Scout, Shadowstep and Hobble.

It also holds Assassinate, the attack only an Assassin has, from level 60. It opens a fight; it does not finish one. You must be out of combat, hidden and wielding a cutting or thrusting weapon. It deals a share of the target's maximum health that grows with your level, 32% at level 60 and 36% at level 100, plus a point of damage per level, and your agility then scales the total. A target you reached by Shadowstep takes 20% more. It is refused outright on anything below 96% of its maximum health, and even then it can be botched: the base chance to land is 85%, adjusted by the level gap between you.

Subterfuge#

The largest branch, covering pickpocketing, disguise, bribery, threats and theft.

Tradecraft#

Locks, traps and poisons: lockpicking, setting and disarming traps, poison application and the Venomed Edge passive, and the smoke and flash that cover your work.

Skills#

The Thief tables describe the skills the two classes share. An Assassin adds these:

Each trap lies armed for five minutes and fires once.

Playing an Assassin#

Assassinate is an opener. It needs concealment, a suitable weapon and a target at 96% health or more, and it cannot be used in combat. Once the fight starts you are back to the shared Thief attacks and defenses. Apply poison before the encounter, and set traps well before a target reaches them.

Remorting starts you at level 1, so every high level ability has to be earned again, and it clears the Thief's level 60 mastery with nothing to replace it. Weigh the extra attack and traps against that loss.

Check your supplies before traveling and know what each escape skill needs. A failed opener leaves you in a fight with your cover gone.