Guide to playing an assassin

[X-D]

Though I love assassins, least when they were the best at what they did...don't ever expect to be a "badass" fighter with one. You will not be.

[Cind]

I've always been curious how assassins, in a straight-out walk-up-to-each-other no-poison fight, would fare against rangers and against burglars, assuming that everyone is average and of the same race. I guess more curious about assassin v. ranger because docs suggest that burglars are decent fighters.

[Schrodingers Cat]

Though I love assassins, least when they were the best at what they did...don't ever expect to be a "badass" fighter with one. You will not be.

It's subjective.

[MeTekillot]

Assassins are "okay" fighters late in their careers.

and just like anybody who spars a lot, an assassins gets pretty badass. Elementalists can kill sand worms by themselves if they're ridiculous enough with the whole offense/defense grinding.

[jstorrie]

I guess more curious about assassin v. ranger because docs suggest that burglars are decent fighters.

Burglars and pickpockets are decent fighters when compared to merchants and mages, but they don't turn to the path of the warrior as much as experienced rangers or assassins do.

[X-D]

Subjective? Heh.

I suppose you are correct, if you consider a badass fighter somebody that can kill a scrab and only get hit once.

But the fact is, given equal time/stats/race, in straight melee, The ranger will crush the assassin and the warrior will crush the ranger.

Given LOTS of time, a good warrior can walk into a room with say 10 gith and walk out alive...leaving the gith dead...the ranger might be able to manage 6 and the assassin maybe..2.

So no, by most standards, an assassin will never be a "badass" fighter.

But that is alright...they are not meant for long term face to face combat...neither is the ranger really.

Keys to playing an assassin is knowing this, and knowing your target, then making the hit at the right time and place.

Backstabbing a warrior out in the open when he is armed and has two friends standing by...ends in a dead assassin (really happened BTW) Waiting till he has unloaded his mount after a hunt and is unarmed and too loaded down to defend on the other hand....

[Synthesis]

Eh, assassins aren't that bad.  It's just that most assassin PCs aren't that good.

[RogueGunslinger]

Yeah, come on, everyone really knows it's more like 10:5:3 gith dead than 10:6:2 gith dead.


I always though it would be cool if Rangers had +1 wildlife combat and Assassins had +1 humanoid combat.

[Jingo]

I agree with XD's assessment more or less.

Of course there is no matching a vetran group 5 with any assortment of skillsets.

[Maso]

I always though it would be cool if Rangers had +1 wildlife combat and Assassins had +1 humanoid combat.

That would be super cool.

[Armaddict]

I always though it would be cool if Rangers had +1 wildlife combat and Assassins had +1 humanoid combat.

That would be super cool.

I was told like...10 years ago that this was actually already the case.

[armandhammer]

I'm curious why this de jure roleplay/de facto code discussion hasn't been locked yet.

[jstorrie]

Nyr must be on a Skyrim binge or something.

[My 2 sids]

Assassins, by their very nature,  tend to spend their lives running from hiding from conflict / fighting.  Opposite of someone who makes their living assessing their victims durring combat.

[armandhammer]

I think assassin's should worry themselves with how to do the most amount of hurt in smallest time window possible, for several reasons.

1, to give other people less opportunity to catch them.
2, to give their opponent less opportunity to get away.
3, I've found that when assassin PCs are destitute enough to kill those of their own kind (the 'innocent' hard-working scum of the Known) they usually can't afford the best protection. Small time windows means less bruises received.

I'll hop on the blatant code discussion argosy even though I know better:

Haha, wait, no I won't.

[kayza]

bs Templar
That is how you really play an assassin, the rest of you are just pansies.

[Jingo]

Best assassin skill

give templar 5000 coins

[Kieandatu]

Best assassin skill

give templar head.templar.enemy

FTFY

[kayza]

Best assassin skill

give templar head.templar.enemy

FTFY

Now you are just being a kiss ass.

[RogueGunslinger]

Best assassin skill

give templar head

FTFY

The real best...

[spicemustflow]

I don't know if this was already addressed, but I don't agree with this point:

• How do I practise backstab/sap with the appropriate RP?

First of all, both these skills are meant to be used to attack real targets, and it is considered to be bad form to practise them with sparring weapons and with sparring partners, even if the partners are willing to let you practise your skills on them. (Its unrealistic to tell someone that you're gonna try and surprise them and shove a sharp object into their back, or, try to crack their skull, even if it's just in a sparring compound or friendly setting -- knowing that the attack is imminent is enough to vitiate the concept of a hidden attack).

It's not unrealistic to train sap and backstab on a willing target, at least not any more than it's unrealistic to practice picking pockets on your friend. Sap is the knowledge of where on the back of the skull to hit someone so they lose consciousness and I don't see why you could make someone look at the wall while you pound his head until you get it right. The same with backstab, it's just a cunty blow that targets sensitive spots like carotides and such and it doesn't even require your target to have their back turned. It's not terribly different from feints that more straightforward warriors use. Any blow relies on surprise, backstab or not.

It's not realistic to expect that every assassin had to learn all their murdering skills on the field. "No, Faithful Lady, I didn't have a mentor, I was self taught. I committed a genocide. I'm an artist."

[jstorrie]

Really? You don't find it unrealistic that someone might say "sure, go ahead and knock me out with a club to the back of the neck over and over for practice!" or "sure, go ahead and see if you can stab me in the carotid artery!"? I don't understand who in their right mind would agree to be a sap or backstab 'target.'

[bcw81]

HELP TEACH

S'all I'm saying.

[Is Friday]

The fact that the game does not provide a way to practice sap/backstab is because of the metagame. I train mofos to kill other mofos all the time with bone crushing/life ending knife techniques all the time and we practice them safely. Every army or organization in the world that ever trained others to kill have found ways to train dangerous skills safely.

Basic muscle memory, timing, practice--all of that shit is going to make you much more proficient in a real situation rather than just tossing someone in the alley and saying "Have at it for real, kid!" To be honest, that training method is kind of retarded--but it's the only one rewarded with skill ups in game. Shucks. What's a gamer gonna do?

[BleakOne]

You could emote out those techniques and use the Teach command.