Is Assassin just a gimmick class?

[Jhonny G]

Had vague memories of a powerful assassin-like build I made a long time ago, so I decided to go for something similar. After reaching level 14 though (Rogue8/Assassin6), I'm having a really hard time seeing the usefulness of this prestige class and wish I had stayed pure Rogue instead.

1. Death attack is pretty much useless as most bosses are immune to paralyze and a waste against minions as they die in two hits anyway.

2. Use Poison is also pretty much useless for a dex build as the risk for failure is super low. (pretty sure it also overwrite other magical weapon effects)

3. Uncanny Dodge is capped at 3, not to mention Rogues already have those.

4. Only recieves half the skill points per level of a Rogue.

5. Ghostly Visage, Darkness, and Invisibility can only be used once per day. ONCE! A total joke compared to the alternatives.

So yeah.. I have kinda reached an impasse on whether to continue on with this toon or simply delete it and start over. Any thoughts on the subject will be most welcome.

[Messsucher]

I would rate it as RP build. Death Attack is cool in PvP when it succeeds.

[Messsucher]

I finished HotU with pure Assassin, it was cool and fun but 0% chances against last boss. I still beated the boss by summoning a froggie summon of a scroll, which casted spell insta killing the boss because the boss rolled 1 on save roll. Was freaking epic but would not recommend to try that ever. I recal bosses in other expansions were more easy and maybe doable normally with assassin.

Edit: No, it was HIPS assassin. I HIPSed and paralyzed all mobs I could.

[Slainpessimist]

I was mad on this game years ago, I don't think I ever played it. Though I couldn't see the allure of Paladin either (I always thought there were better choices), while it seemed to be that a lot of people loved it.
Rougue is probably not the best choice to pair with assassin as you say their skill set is too similar.

[Shia Luck]

Pretty much all the prestige classes are for RP purposes in a way, except in certain min max builds.

1. Add a level of Shadowdancer and Death Attack can be very powerful.

2. Use poison is.., well, all poison is next to useless for the player.

3. Don't use rogue to qualify? Other classes have the right skills and then there's wizard. It'll take a while to get assassin with wizard, but with a W/A/SD you won't be wasting spells on minions saving them all for the boss.

4. Yeh, that's really annoying. I think in the PnP of the same rules they get 6 as well. Another reason to go wiz and increase INT tho ;)

5. Feats, not spells tho. Cannot be dispelled by anything.

I am biased by my W26/A13/SD1 https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nwnecbguild/shadow-of-death-wizard-26-shadowdancer-1-assassin--t515345.html The criticism by Kail highlights better routes than I originally chose (the SP feats instead of Illusion focus especially).


Anyway, for you, now. try a level of SD and see how it goes?

Have fun :)

[Selphea]

I would call it more of a noob trap class than a gimmick class, as gimmick implies what it does can work. When it comes to the serious fights like Vix'thra or the Demilich... it doesn't.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by Messsucher:

No, it was HIPS assassin. I HIPSed and paralyzed all mobs I could.

Originally posted by Shia Luck:

Add a level of Shadowdancer and Death Attack can be very powerful.

My initial plan involved taking a level of SD so I could play grab-@$$ with enemies, but then I realized how many levels I had already wasted gaining little to no benefits, and in some aspects even weakened myself (missing skill points and bonus feats). Very few enemies have Ultra Vision, so normal sneak attacks combined with Darkness just seem so much more profitable and faster.

Originally posted by Shia Luck:

I am biased by my W26/A13/SD1 https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/nwnecbguild/shadow-of-death-wizard-26-shadowdancer-1-assassin--t515345.html The criticism by Kail highlights better routes than I originally chose (the SP feats instead of Illusion focus especially).

Now this is an interesting build that might make proper use of the Assassin class. Very little "waste" to speak of in terms of overlapping abilities. Can't wait to hear how it turns out if you decide to implement Kail's advice in your future trails.

[Tesseract]

At least it's better than Purple Dragon Knight. :P

[Shiroi Ren]

Multy-classing requires some forward thinking... Aside maybe Sorcerer/Paladin/Blackguard...

[Skdursh]

It can be ridiculously OP if you multi-class and build into it correctly.

[red255]

assasin is a prestige class which means it doesn't incur a multiclassing XP penalty if you take it for random levels.

but yes my impression of it is a rogue that gets less skill points per level up. I'd rather have the skill points as a rogue over whatever the assasin gets.

but if I was some big burly warrior and took dunno 3 levels of assasin for the 2d6 sneak attack, I wouldn't incur an XP penalty that I would hit otherwise

the ass has some gimmicks that weren't utilized much in the campaign, mainly poison.

[Jhonny G]

Thanks for all the feedback so far. In hindsight Rouge/Assassin does seem like a bad decision that's mostly good for RP reasons, so I'm probably gonna start over and plan out the new build right this time ^^

While I can see some potential for Assassin I still think it is a very lackluster prestige class that could use a some tweaks to make it better carry itself..

[Messsucher]

Well 3.0 is a mess and D&D itself is party oriented pen & paper game. It is not made to balanced single player cRPG.

[Jhonny G]

Originally posted by Messsucher:

Well 3.0 is a mess and D&D itself is party oriented pen & paper game. It is not made to balanced single player cRPG.

Hmm, good point. But I honestly struggle to see how an Assassin could be useful in a party unless it involes some pvp action. And even then most people probably got immunities up the wazoo making death attacks questionable at best.

[Messsucher]

Originally posted by Dogmatius:

Originally posted by Messsucher:

Well 3.0 is a mess and D&D itself is party oriented pen & paper game. It is not made to balanced single player cRPG.

Hmm, good point. But I honestly struggle to see how an Assassin could be useful in a party unless it involes some pvp action. And even then most people probably got immunities up the wazoo making death attacks questionable at best.

It is not viable in MP, you never see them. I have thousands of hours in MP and I have seen two times an Assassin. Hilariously enough I remember them both.

[wendigo211]

In PnP the Assassin is supposed to have it's own spell list. However, due to engine limitations, neither the Assassin nor the Blackguard were given their own spells in NWN. Death attack is also supposed to kill the target (not paralyze), but in in PnP it requires the Assassin study their target from stealth mode for 3 rounds before making the attempt. I think BioWare thought the paralysis effect was more balanced. There's also a bug with Death Attack and Improved Sneak Attack that further handicaps the class in NWN. That said, even in PnP it's not a great class; it's a bit better in 3.5 where it gets Hide in Plain Sight at level 8.

I think the PRC fixes some of these problems but I don't use that mod, so I can't comment.

In NWN it's mostly used for skill access for characters that would get a multi-class penalty from taking Rogue or Bard. The DC on death attack (10+int modifier+Assassin level) can also get pretty high, but Freedom of Movement blocks the paralysis effect, so it's a bit iffy to base a character on it.