Assassin Skills

TrapsShadow DisciplinesMartial Arts

Charges are the mechanic that sets the Assassin apart. Several of her melee skills build them up over consecutive hits, and a separate finishing move, a kick or a claw strike or a leap onto a distant target, spends everything stored at once. Together with trap laying, that gives one character both a close-range and a stand-off option, and most equipment decisions follow from which of the two she leans on.

Martial Arts holds the charge-up strikes, among them Tiger Strike, Cobra Strike, Fists of Fire, Claws of Thunder, and Phoenix Strike, and the finishers that release them: Dragon Talon, Dragon Claw, Dragon Tail, and Dragon Flight. Traps replaces that exchange with placed devices, from thrown fire blasts to lightning and fire sentries that attack on their own, plus the thrown blade skills, letting her fight from behind her own constructions. Shadow Disciplines supports either approach with run and attack speed, Fade and Weapon Block for defense, Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast for control, Venom for added poison damage, and the Shadow Warrior and Shadow Master companions.

Since nearly every build wants something from Shadow Disciplines, points there are close to universal, while the two offensive trees stay separate because their skills gate and synergize internally. The results are the Trapsin, who lets Lightning Sentry and Death Sentry clear rooms; the Kicksin around Dragon Talon; and the Phoenix Striker, who loads Phoenix Strike and discharges it with a Dragon finisher.

Plan a Assassin build