question about stealth (rogue assassin)

[imdavidfindley]

in the wiki it says assassin gets high bonuses for attacking from stealth
...does invisibility count as stealth? (ie the resulting from the rogue abilities?)
...or is stealth only stealth before combat?

[pain3000]

Yep that is why i hated rogue in POE1 and i love him in Deadfire.Beyond the shadows was a lousy per rest ability in the first game ( as was arcane veil for wizards ahem).Now it is a per encounter - guile using- ability that recharges after every encounter.And yes 150% backstabbing damage applies.It is a great opener and an ability i most often use for heavy damage and seldom for escaping..You are in stealth while invisible and the backstab applies.

[imdavidfindley]

lol thanks

[Makkenhoff]

Basically, the 'best case' that I've used in PoE1 was that high burst on first stealth attack, always best with a heavy hitter, for me that was always using firearms. So you pick your target carefully and pray you nearly kill them on the first hit. I had similiar success with using a fighter (going for max damage/accuracy per hit and not worrying about how often he swings)

[pain3000]

Originally posted by Makkenhoff:

Basically, the 'best case' that I've used in PoE1 was that high burst on first stealth attack, always best with a heavy hitter, for me that was always using firearms. So you pick your target carefully and pray you nearly kill them on the first hit. I had similiar success with using a fighter (going for max damage/accuracy per hit and not worrying about how often he swings)

Yeah i hear you, tho the backstab only applied if you were 2m from the target with either melee or ranged weapon.Ofc the same rule applies here as well , but being able to use at lv 7 already 3 times ,4 with empower the invisibility as opeening, makes a huge diffferance.

[imdavidfindley]

ah ... where does it say you have to be within 2m ... is that with all sneak attacks? ...hmm wtf...

[djinnxy]

What worked best in my assassin beta runs was to multiclass it with something that has big bonuses for weapons on a single hit. i.e. Bleakwalker or Soulblade. I used great sword. Probably best on release with whatever other items give stealth or invisibility. I haven't explored all those options entirely yet.

[pain3000]

Originally posted by imdavidfindley:

ah ... where does it say you have to be within 2m ... is that with all sneak attacks? ...hmm wtf...

No you are confusing backstab (150% dmg) with sneak attack (50% dmg). Backstab is an opening and requires stealth, thus invisibility (same thing).Sneak requires mind and body afflictions ( blind,hobbled,paralyzed etc), not stealth to be enbled.At lv 7 you get persistent distraction? which enables to always flank the opponent no matter the direction you are attacking = sneak attack always up, from that point on. https://pillarsofeternity2.wiki.fextralife.com/Backstab

[djinnxy]

With non-assassin types it's advantageous to stack dot abilities. It helps to have an axe to cause bleeding wounds. It worked well with a small faster pierce weapon in the offhand for me. Bleeding plus ringing the bell drains some real tough customers pretty fast. Add breaking the bell, withering strike, bleeding wound, and deep wounds and you can take out just about anything that bleeds and some that don't pretty fast. With the distracting attack, there's no need to have any blind or hobble to get sneak attacks, but it sure doesn't hurt to slow em down or hurt their accuracy.