The Assassin

First-time jitters

The Assassin can be a somewhat confusing class at first. While the original five classes had clear and definite roles, the Assassin and Druid are somewhat more ambiguous. Barbarians would melee, Sorceresses nuke, and Necromancers summon. What does an Assassin do? Well, her skill trees are Martial Arts, Shadow and Traps. I attempted the tried-and-true approach of specializing in one tree and group of skills at first, but in retrospect I would be more generalized.

With a focus on martial arts like Cobra strike and Shadow Disciplines like Claw Mastery and Burst of Speed, my assassin was a clearl melee creature. A few points into Weapon Block would take care of her defense, or so I thought. Cobra Strike is a skill that works on charges, like many abilities in the Martial Arts tree. One charge will let me steal a percentage of damage as hitpoints, two will let me steal half that percentage in hitpoints and half in mana, and three will let me steal the full percentage in mana and hitpoints (the exact percentage varies with your skill level in Cobra Strike.) To charge up, select the ability, use it on a creature and wait for a successful strike. Three successful strikes? Three charges. Then unleash with a regular attack or a finishing move (another kind of martial art.) If it hits, you get the benefit of the charges, and if it misses you get to try again - at least until the charges wear off. Weapon Block is a passive ability that allows your assassin to block as if she had a shield, while dual-wielding her unique claw weapons.

The Assassin at work

Caves o' cold

Should I...

In addition to Cobra Strike, you can get Tiger Strike - which is a vicious ability that multiplies damage a great deal, or other charges. One part of the Martial Arts tree involves elemental charges, which will come in useful if you ever find yourself fighting a melee-immune enemy.

More skills

The Shadow tree focuses more on improving the Assassin in more non-traditional ways. Burst of Speed is a valuable ability that greatly increases the Assassin's movement and attack speeds for a short while, at a relatively low mana cost. Weapon Block is a passive skill that allows the Assassin to block using her claws, without need for a shield. Fade gives her a significant boost in resistances, though it cannot be used at the same time as the Burst of Speed. The Shadow skills also let her summon 'Shadows' of herself, essentially clones that fight alongside the assassin. Shadow Warrior can only use the two skills the Assassin has selected, while Shadow Master has full access to the Assassin's skill tree.

D'oh

Got some good loot though

I wonder who built this

Traps may appear rather weak at first but they are useful and powerful tools if properly employed. Most simply deal a certain kind of damage - fire, electrical, cold or even melee. Some, like Blade Fury, can be used to give the Assassin a long-range attack. Then there is Death Sentry, the Assassin's version of Corpse Explosion. Lay it down, and for several seconds it will strike out at nearby enemies with lightning attacks before exploding several nearby corpses.

My experiences lead me to believe that specializing the Assassin character on one set of skills isn't particularly beneficial - at least, not the skills I selected (Cobra Strike, Tiger Strike, Weapon Block and Burst of Speed.) After diversifying my character's skills into Traps and Shadow after defeating Baal, the Assassin felt more powerful and more useful in a group situation than she did before. She is not a character who can be run with only three or four ability hotkeys, as most of her abilities will see extensive use at one time or another.