So how's the Assassin?

Zakon

Kinda interested in playing an Assassin character. Anybody had any experience with this particular kit? Seems like it would be kind of awful in both games, since in the first one it's a bad thief and its class benefits don't come into play, and in the second one enemies start becoming immune to Backstab.

Sarevokok

I've soloed BG2 with it, never got around to ToB. I loved it. Would be horrible in BG1.

Madhax

I solo'd a good portion of BG2 with it. It isn't a great choice in BG1 due to the backstab multiplyer not reaching the ridiculous levels, but poison is still quite powerful when used in conjunction with, say, a short bow. Obviously BG1 has no equivalent to the Gesen bow, but poison arrows while hasted would still probably be quite powerful against an enemy mage.

I don't recall too many backstab-immune enemies in BG2 until ToB starts.

wissenschaft

The assassin is just fine in BG1 but you'll just have to settle on being an archer for the most part. Bow + poison is great for disabling enemy casters. Though having played with it, I prefer Fighter/Thief because its much better for backstabs at low levels. That and I can actually use composite bows. With a dex 19 elf thats nasty.

raywind

Soloed one in bg with tutu and the poison weapon ability was great tool at the beginnind but when you get that poison dagger it becomes rather pointless and those stab bonuses apply only on bg2. But with quarterstaffs it should be nice also.

Oxford_Guy

Best played as an elf (for the swords and bow +1 THAC0 and bonus to stealth skills) or a half-orc (for 19 strength) IMHO, otherwise can have problems landed a hit at higher levels...

ZanathKariashi

They're.....ok...They'd be A LOT better if Stealth hadn't been split since Shadow armor + Boots of stealth would be 50% by itself + race and dex bonus's. As is, you've got a pitiful amount of points and a lot of stuff to put it in. And their BS isn't any better then a plain thiefs till level 16 (well they do get a +1 hit/damage, which does give them a little more umph since it's multiplied, but at a HUGE cost)

The poison weapon is ok...but you need something with a lot of attacks to make it worth while (Darts have the most attacks in BG1). Or you're gonna be resting A LOT.

Also, Poison weapons damage increases at lvl 10 (becomes 2x as powerful) and lvl 15 (3x as powerful and causes slow for the duration). The dagger of venom is still quite nice though, as it allows hit and fade prior to boots of speed by locking the enemies in hit reactions. And allows you to save your poison weapon for the best possible targets.

Their snares are also pretty decent (same as any thief really), but you likely won't be able to spare the points till the sequel.

Carston

I just love my whacko dwarfassin with her crossbows and staves

Oxford_Guy

Carston said:

I just love my whacko dwarfassin with her crossbows and staves

I actually think a fighter/thief or stalker make better backstabbers

Beni

finished baldurs gate ee + totsc with an half orc assassin solo yesterday on normal

got all tomes, shadow armor, greenstone amulet, gauntlets that give +2 thaoc and + 1 dam, invisiblity ring, fire protection ring, speed boots, all 3 girth (slash/pierce/bludge), cloak of alderon(could not find baldurans cloak). and most important ... the +2 poison dagger.....and most important:D i killed drizzt with poison weapon combined with the poison dagger+ invisibility ring +hide in shadows. also easy on sarevok. overpowerd class

skilled for dagger, scimitar and single weapon style

started
19 str
18 dex
18 const
16 int
3 wis
5 char

Corvino

There's an analysis of best backstabbers out there on the interwebs somewhere, and Assassin tops it due to the x7 multiplier, beating fighter/thieves and buffed up cleric/thieves. If pure backstabbing is your preference then they're the way to go, but they do lose utility compared to other thieves and run into problems with backstab immune enemies in TOB.

xLegionx

So if I were to get my hide in shadows/move silently up at really high levels could I hide in plain sight? If not then is there a way of doing so? Aside from invis?

xLegionx

And about backstab. If I hit someone while theyre attacking someone else does that count as a backstab? Or does that only work in stealth?

dstoltzfus

Assassins are actually really good in BGI. Their poison is very effective v. mages (the number one enemy) and it does stack with the dagger of venom/darts of wounding. I'm eventually going to finish a SCS run with one (on Saravok, I've been on a break for a long while) and he's been one of the better characters.

The only negatives are the skill penalty. Just have another thief to make up for it in your party (or a potion of perception in a pinch). He's one of my better damage dealers and the poison more than makes up for the shortfalls (even with the dagger; subsequently, putting points in staves later on makes for a real powerhouse with the poison). As it was mentioned, in BGII, the greater backstab multiplier and increasing effectiveness of the poison makes them even more awesome, and the lack of skill points becomes somewhat less of a detriment. The only big negative is that a lot of nasties are immune to backstab in BGII .

EDIT: GAH! Bewitched by a necromancer!

EDIT II: @xLegionx, Backstab must occur while Hiding in Shadows or Invisible and behind the target. Only shadowdancers can hide in plain sight. All other thieves must hide out of the sight of the enemy (invisibility potions or the ring/spell can help with this).

Southpaw

I second this. Assassins are definitely strong. You just have to carry around another thief for lockpicking and traps. (when focusing on stealth)

ajwz

Thier assassination ability doesn't really kick in properly until bg2, where you start to get x6 and x7 backstab multiplyers.
Their poinson weapon ability is nice, but dagger of venom works just as well.

CaptRory

Since you'll probably need another rogue anyway, you could use the poison dagger with them and try to double-backstab someone (or two targets) for almost certain poison goodness. More than a few fights have multiple spellcasters so poisoning two of them isn't a bad thing.

cbarchuk

I've played an assassin several times at this point and love the class personally. As been stated elf and half-orc are probably the best races to go with. I wouldn't worry too much about the limited thief points. By the time you get to BG2 you'll have more than enough. Also you really only need to put points into Move Silently. You can ignore Hide in Shadows. You'll love the assassin through BG2. In ToB, they become practically useless due to most opponents being immune to backstab and poison which really stinks. I don't like expansions or mods that bottleneck you into playing certain classes while rendering others useless. So for this reason I don't play ToB. I think at those levels it gets harder to balance the game with how powerful the characters get.