Lord Helmos' Assassin Guide:


^Chibi example of a claw-user class from LostSaga

As my second theory crafting guide (and due to boredom at work), I decided to create another rhetorical guide to a new class concept for TERA: The Assassin. I know everyone has been dying for a sneaky stabby-stabby class, so here is my attempt at conceptualizing one.

AS A DISCLAIMER:

My concept of the assassin class is NOT designed or intended to be an immediate high burst-damage dealer. In fact, this class is designed to do relatively weak martial damage and instead uses stacking bleeds and debuffs to overcome an enemy or put itsef in the position to deal lethal burst damage. A major problem in stealth classes present MMOs is that the designers not only give these classes stealth utility but they also give them top-end damage capabilities that can be used with little to no setup difficulty. This is not my intention in the design of this class. Instead the assassin I chose to conceptualize is a primary debuff class that aims to soften targets for heavy hitters and provide the team with unique utility abilities can be effective from a variety of ranges. If going head on against a warrior, slayer, or berzerker without taking advantage of utility skills and stealth, an assassin should almost always be overpowered and either be killed or forced to retreat.

The design of my assassin does not allow it to simply outright kill enemy players in one stun lock. Instead, a very well done opening chain with key debuffs can place the assassin in a very advantageous position against the enemy for the remainder of the fight. This is not to say that the assassin does not have burst abilities. The assassin must meet a certain criteria of setup and applied debuffs before its burst damage becomes effectively lethal. Players that more skillfully use assassin abilities and setup chains more effectively are always going to be able to bring down opponents faster, but not before the enemy is given a fighting chance.

Please read through the skill ideas before making comments or generalizing this assassin as a standard "WoW rogue."

Thank you!

Weapons and Armor:

The assassin is a leather armor class by nature. The primary weapon of the assassin is a pair of Claws (these have a shorter melee range than warrior swords). In addition to performing ultra-fast and debilitating combo attacks with their deadly claws, assassins also use a variety of ranged Dart attacks. These darts a long spine-like needles that are fired from hidden chambers grafted into their claw weapons. Assassins also gain a passive speed bonus and move slightly faster than other classes.

Claws Example:


Darts Example:


Assassin Stealth and Evasion Mechanics:

The assassin is low-medium damage debuff and debilitation class that works by stacking debuffs, building up lethality, and finishing the enemy with stronger finisher attacks. The assassin has the fastest attack speed out of any class in the game and also a variety of tools that allow it to be effective from both melee and ranged positions. While the assassin does not deal an immense amount of damage on its own, it heavily softens targets for team play, brings heavily amounts of utility to the table, and excels at finishing low-health targets off. The fade mechanic and low damage output of an assassin with an emphasis on building chains and finishers gives the assassin a very high skillcap. Assassins are also very fragile and take punishing damage if the player makes fatal errors.

The assassin uses a unique fade mechanic that allows it to move in stealth and avoid attacks. The assassin's stealth and fade related abilities work as follows:

Fade:
Fade is the assassin's primary dodge ability. When the assassin uses fade, it phases out of reality and becomes invulnerable to attacks for a short time window. This ability is usable in stealth and can be glyphed to last slightly longer in stealth. Fade immediately breaks if the assassin attempts to use an attack skill while faded, causing the assassin to become instantly vulnerable. Fade is designed this way to promote the assassin to choose when to attack and when to fade wisely.

Shadow Walk:
Shadow Walk is the assassin's primary stealthing ability and can only be used out of combat. When in shadow walk, the assassin's character model becomes transparent and barely visible, much like predator (think of the stealth from Halo). A very keen player may be able to spot an assassin in shadow walk. Fade can also be used while in shadow walk and is encouraged when approaching targets. Standing still or using fade while in shadow walk reduces the visibility of the assassin, causing them to be harder to see while in these states. Shadow walk dramatically reduces the assassin's movement speed while active (unless they use hidden steps, their run buff).

Decoy:
Decoy is the assassin's combat stealth and places an exact copy of the assassin that continues to attack the target while the real assassin fades into shadow walk with a very short invincibility window. The Decoy can take a small amount of damage before exploding into smoke. This ability can be glyphed to black out the screen of player targets in a small aoe radius when the decoy erupts. Decoy has a significant CD and should only be used as an escape mechanism. After escaping while using decoy, the assassin becomes afflicted by a debuff that forces them out of stealth after set period of time and causes them to unable to use Shadow Walk for 20 seconds. Glyphs can help reduce these penalties slightly, but will not eliminate them.

Lethality:

Lethality is a special mechanic that applies to the assassin class. Certain attacks and combo strikes build lethality, which is indicated by a skull icon above the target that slowly turns red and then flashes when full. Finishers can be used at any time, but finishers that are used without a full build of lethality on a target will be significantly weaker. Lethality builds seperately for each target, promoting the assassin to focus on debuffing and striking down one target at a time. The assassin class has limited aoe damage options when compared to other classes. An assassin always builds lethality faster when attacking the backside of a target.

Assassin Abilities:

Aside from the evasion and stealth abilities mentioned above, the following section will outline the Assassin's other abilities and how they function:

Combo Attack:
This is the assassin's main combo attack. Like warriors, assassins strike 2 times for each combo strike for a total of 6 hits. These attacks build low lethality but lash out extremely fast.

Dart Combo:
This is the assassin's main ranged combo attack. The assassin fires up to 6 ranged darts in rapid succession, deals very weak damage and deals very little lethality.

Rend:
The assassin drives forward a few feet with both claws then tears outward to the left and right in a spreading cleave. Rend is the assassin's main combo finisher and chains after blade dance. Rend builds a high amount of lethality when striking an enemy from behind. Striking from behind with rend also places a bleed effect on the enemy.

Caltrops:
The assassin somersaults backwards, leaving a shower of caltrops around the ground where it was standing. Any enemies that step into these caltrops are struck with a bleed effect and are slowed. Caltrops can be glyphed to immobilize targets. This ability has a very short window of invincibility and counts as a dodge. This ability also moves the assassin from melee to ranged.

Poison Dart:
The assassin fires an aimed dart at the target that places a periodic poison effect on the enemy and deals light damage.

Numbing Dart:
The assassin fires an aimed dart at the target that places a stacking defense debuff (up to 5x) on the enemy. Chains from poison dart. Can be glyphed to slightly reduce enemy attack speed for a short duration.

Explosive Dart:
The assassin fires an aimed dart at the target that makes it so that the next ranged or melee attack that comes from the assassin causes the target to explode with a high chance of knockdown. Best used when the assassin is transitioning from ranged to melee. Uses lethality, with full lethality maximizing the knockdown chance. This is the assassin's main ranged finisher.

Killing Intent:
The assassin places a self-buff on itself causes it to build lethality faster for each assassin debuff on the target.

Hidden Steps:
The assassin places a strong speed buff on itself. Usable in stealth, best used to close in on targets while in Shadow Walk.

Preying Strike:
The assassin leaps into the air and strikes the enemy with a downward cross. Applies a bleed and deals massive lethality to downed targets. Chains directly into Execution Strike.

Fan of Darts:
The assassin spins in a circle and launches out a 360 degree fan of darts. The button can be pressed again to fire out a second wave and a glyph can be used to fire a third. This is the assassin's main aoe, deals light damage, and builds very little lethality.

Incapacitating Strike:
The assassin strikes the target, stunning them for a short duration. This is the assassin's main stun opener and deals high lethality. Stuns for longer if it strikes the enemy's back. A forward strike is only short enough to be used as an interrupt. Can be glyphed to leave a lingering slow effect behind after the initial strike.

Blade Dance:
The assassin jumps forward and spins in a wheel, striking the enemy multiple times (up to three) with its claws. Applies a stacking debuff that lowers defense (stacks up to 5x and applies the same debuff that numbing dart applies, applies 3 debuff stacks if all 3 strikes hit), applies a bleed, and deals moderate lethality. Chains into rend.

Assassinate:
Teleports the assassin behind the target, deals moderate damage, and strikes with an immobilize. Breaks stealth. Deals high lethality. Very similar to the slayer/warrior backstab but can be glyphed for increased range.

Execution Strike:
The assassin dashes slightly forward and carves a massive bloody X into the enemy. Deals high damage when striking from behind and uses lethality. This is the assassin's main damage dealer and is dependent on building fast lethality to be effective.

Sleeping Dart:
Fires an aimed dart that places a sleep on the target, breaks on damage. Can be used from stealth. Deals no damage.

Confusion Dart:
Fires an aimed dart that reverses a player's directional controls for a short duration. Can be used from stealth, but doing so doubles its CD. Deals no damage.

Razor Wire:
Fires an aimed dart that is connected to a wire. Stuns for a short duration and immobilizes the target when it hits. After the enemy is hit by the wire and even after the stun and immobilize effect ends, the assassin can move freely with the wire and use it to clip other enemies. Using the wire this way deals damage to the other enemies and has a chance to knock them down. After using razor wire, the assassin receives a chain skill that allows them to use the wire to pull themselves to the enemy and strike them. This is the assassins most powerful utility ability. Deals high lethality if used to strike the enemy's back. Can also be used as a gap closer. Glyphs can decrease the CD of this ability, the stun and immobilize durations, and the range of the attack.

Shadow Sanctuary:
Causes the next use of fade or decoy to remove 2 debuffs from the assassin. Long CD, can be glyphed to remove 3 and for slightly reduced CD. Best used before using decoy.

Misdirection:
The assassin coats a claw in noxious vapor then leaps forward to slash the enemy's face, confusing them. For 6 seconds all of the enemy's attacks and targeted attacks can accidentally strike friendly players. Targeted heals and normal heals can also accidentally target and heal enemies.

___________________________

*Updated this with some random web pics of claw-assassin related stuff and tweaked some skills
6/23/2012

Stopped reading at leather class. As if Tera doesn't already have enough of those.

EmE has stated that after a long consideration they will never have an assassin class in the game. Period.

Quote: Merle on 06/23/2012, 02:52 AM - view

Q: I remember Aion had their assassin class and i'm curious to if its in the future for Tera to have a new class that can stealth or something equal to that effect.
Knox: "I always play a rogue or thief or assassin. I want to see one in TERA too. Maybe in a big update down the road!"

^ That was Knox's reply from the Reddit Q&A and what actually compelled me to write this class concept. This one's for you Brian!

That is strange, that they seem to go back and forth on what they said was a decision set in concrete. Personally I am against a stealth class. Having had 3 max level characters in AION, one of which was a ranger...it was stupid.
Most people rolled a ranger/assassin for pvp simply to sneak up to people, kill them and then run from the hordes until they could go invisible again.

If they add such a class they should a) give the sorcerers the ability to see people in stealth like in AION b) create an item that enables us to see invisible people for a short period of time, otherwise it'd be incredibly inbalanced and we'd have an influx of invisible people running around.

^The above is in direct response to the Q&A and not your thought up class. I like yours much better, than if Tera had a stealth class with the same mechanics as the one in AION.

Quote: Merle on 06/23/2012, 03:07 AM - view

You have to remember that Aion was an incredibly bad, imbalanced, and broken game that had horrible systems of balance and advancement. Rangers in Aion could 2 shots people with burst arrows, sorceror's had a instant kill chain on a 5min CD that could destroy any class before they can act, and the assassin (before 3.0) was the weakest class in the game.

(I'm speaking from the viewpoint of someone who had 2 max level toons in e40 or better with tahabata or over +11 lannok weapons before the end of 2.0).

There have been plenty of MMOs that have had great successes to stealth and espionage based classes. I would even say to the point to which players expect many games to offer a class with that playstyle.

In honesty, Aion is really a bad example of proper balance.

I think that an assassin and stealth based class would be a welcome addition to TERA if done properly.

my favorite classes were witch elf (War) and assassin in AoC they were true glass canon wore light / silk or cloth armor

its the 1 thing i miss in this game as far as the game play is concerned

On the contrary, do we really need a fourth leather class? That in itself seems imbalanced considering we have only 2 plates, 3 robes (two if you look at it in that way that two healers will never be in the same party for a dungeon or the chance is impossibly low) and a startling 3 leather classes, whom can all be in the same party.

It just seems too much of a good thing.

I skimmed through it...

In my opinion it a bit too much the same old blade dancin, assassinatin, disappearin, glass cannoning assassin from almost every other game.

The problem comes down to how can we create a class that is varied enough and unique enough to warrant such a class?



Here are my two cents on some key points that a class like that should have in TERA:

First of all a stealth ability is a must for a thief/rogue/assassin class. Secondly, they always seem to have the "glass cannon" stigma attached to them, let's change that up a bit =)

In order to do so, let's start off with how basic mechanics should work. Let's move away from the age old "they have an assassinate ability that is very lethal" and move towards... poisons. Yes, different kinds of poisons... and traps; yes, lots of traps. They would be the sly tactical class, a class that likes to setup an ambush before hand, and let their enemies fall into them before they realize what is going on.

Their poisons would inflict different kinds of status effects upon their enemies; slowed animation speed, slowed movement speed, slowed view speed (the speed at which a player can redirect their view would be slowed down; much like have a super, super low mouse sensitivity), health degeneration poison, MP degeneration poison, delirium poison (fear), weakness (reduced attack power), reduced defense/endurance, etc. Maybe the poisons can be toggled on and off like stances?

They would have traps that would be used to cause different status ailments like their poisons, but would be AOE and take time to setup (they would also be able to setup multiple traps in advance in order to lure enemies in, or push them towards them); traps can be used while stealthed and would not show up (they would be invisible to all players once placed, although the assassin and their allies would not be able to trip them or be harmed by them):

Caltrops - slow movement speed (quick setup, can be used while on the move)

Hidden Spike Field - slow movement speed and cause minor health degeneration (slow setup, cannot move while setting up)

Dart Trap - Fires darts towards the center of the trap radius causing health degeneration (slow setup, cannot move while setting up)

Etc.

Also, they would and should move that whole smoke aggressor to this class.



My version of the Assassin wouldn't have any strong attacks/skills at all, in fact they are rather weak. Where they hit hard is in negative status effects. My version of the class would one that stealths in, sets up traps all around their enemies, and slowly drains their energies by dragging them around: slowed, confused, and weakened. They would let their poisons, bleeding, etc. do the work for them.

They would have to have decent dps from stacking effects like different poisons, bleeding, etc. still, but would play in a completely different manner than any other class in the game. A sly assassin would be able to lead or play their enemy into their traps and unleashing hell on them through the use of different negative status effects; weakening them down to the finishing blow.

Quote: Sollith on 06/23/2012, 03:21 AM - view

Actually the assassin that I designed is not a far cry from this concept. As noted in the skillset, the only highly damaging attack that my version of the assassin has is Execution Strike and this is simply for finishing off enemies. Also execution strike takes lethality to setup, forcing the assassin to heavily debilitate the target before use.

The majority of the other skills the assassin has are completely geared toward the debilitation and debuff playstyle that you are advocating.

Examples of these skills include the Caltrops, Numbing Dart, Poison Dart, Confusion Dart, Sleep Dart, 2 Bleed Based filler attacks as combo-enders (Rend and Blade Dance), and a self buff that raises lethality based off of these debuffs.

When your talking about trap setup the skills you are asking for are already in my build of the assassin, evidence by these abilities:

Decoy:
Drop a decoy and disappear into stealth, the enemy sees a copy of you attacking them but have no idea that your long gone. Better yet, if you have it glyphed and they aren't paying attention the decoy blows up into a ball of smoke and blinds anything around it with a screen black out for a very short time. Right after this you can pop up behind them and start further debilitating them.

Razor Wire:
One of the best abilities I designed. You basically snare a guy then run a trip wire from him to yourself that you can run around with and use to bowl over or damage other people. When your done you can use it to zip right over to the guy.

Misdirection:
The ultimate PvP mess with someone's head ability. Imagine misdirecting a slayer in the middle of a group and he's not paying attention. His attacks now suddenly hit allies, so now he's burning aoes and blowing away his own team.

To be honest very few of the abilities of my assassin are damage oriented, in fact the entire class isn't geared towards full damage but utility instead. Numbing dart and blade dance are designed as debuffs to reduce armor level so that other teammates can do the damage.

The only time this version of the assassin becomes very deadly is when you have full lethality built up on someone and they are down to low health for a killing blow. That's when you assassinate then execution strike them.

I agree that the assassin class should not be damage oriented and completely geared at being able to instantly kill someone with high damage without them reacting. It should take a lot of time and debilitation to get an enemy where you want them for the finishing blow. I actually specifically designed this rendition of the assassin to function that exact way.

Also in dealing with the glass cannon aspect, a class with that much utility should be a class cannon in order to maintain balance. Control classes in a game with no diminishing returns are extremely powerful, they should be very brittle and be easily killed. To make an example, imagine a sorcerer in plate armor with several ranged stuns and a sleep. He could sway the balance of the game just by CCing the healer and tanking hits.