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Playing certain classes inDungeons & Dragonscalls for a little careful planning. One that’s notorious for this is the rogue assassin subclass. If your party can get the jump on opponents and surprise them, you’ll be able to swoop in from the shadows and deal devastating damage.
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Of course, there’s more to being an assassin than targeting the biggest guy on the field and quickly dispatching them before they get a turn to react. Choosing this subclass will make you a master of infiltration. Having proficiency in both disguise and poison kits has a lot of fun gameplay potential.
Assassin Features Overview
As an assassin,your main job is to get in close to opponents, throw them off guard, and take them out before they can become a problem. At 3rd level, you’ll gain proficiency in both disguise and poison Kits.Once you surprise an enemy using your disguise kit, you can strike them down with your Assassinate ability.
Assassinate gives you advantage against targets that haven’t gone in the turn order yet. When you attack a surprised creature, you get an automatic Critical Hit.
Since Assassinate will only help you for one to two rounds of combat, you’ll need to choose your target carefully.
Take the opportunity to target the opponent that’s going to pose the biggest problem for your party. Since stealth is so important for making this ability work, you may have to do some careful planning with your comrades.
At 9th level, you’ll get the Infiltration Expertise feature. For 25 gold, you can create a false identity for yourself.As the name suggests, this ability is useful in instances where you have to go under deep cover, so it is a bit situational. You can easily go through an entire campaign without using it.
Impostor is a feature you’ll get at 13th level. Like Infiltration Expertise, it can be highly situational.Using it will allow you to watch another person close enough to mimic their mannerisms. You can even copy their speech patterns if you share the same language.
Death Strike at 17th level is an extension of Assassinate. When you hit a surprised target, they’ll be forced to make a Constitution saving throw.On a failed save, they’ll take double the damage. Pulling this off may require some party synergy.
Best Species For Playing The Assassin
While almost every species in the game can make a good assassin, some have innate skills that make them better at it than others. Here are a few suggestions that can bring out the best in the assassin rogue’s unique features.
Tabaxi
Tabaxis are the cat-like race of Dungeons & Dragons.Their Feline Agility, Cat’s Talent, and Cat’s Claws abilities will make you a master of stealth, hand-to-hand combat, and speed.
Wood Elf
Wood elves have darkvision, which is helpful for any rogue build.They also have their Mask of the Wild ability that allows them to hide when surrounded by natural phenomena such as rain and snow.
High Elf
Rolling up a high elf will give you access to a free cantrip.For assassination purposes, we recommend taking Minor Illusion.This will allow you to distract enemies and take them out before they realize you’re even there. Being a high elf will also make you more efficient at assassinating long-distance targets with longbow proficiency.
Variant Human
Being a variant human will let you choose one skill proficiency at character creation. You’ll also get to pick a feat. This will put you at a huge advantage at first level.We recommend going with Alert. It will give you +5 to your initiative roll and immunity to being surprised.
Feral Tiefling
There are times when you can’t manage to take out a target in one hit. That’s where being a feral tiefling comes in handy.On your opponent’s turn, if they decide to target you with an attack, you’ll be able to answer back with a Hellish Rebuke. In most instances, this will do enough damage to finish what you started.
Harengon
When you roll up a harengon,there’s a chance that you will always be the first one in the turn order to act thanks to their Hare-Trigger ability. Haregons also have proficiency in Perception. With Lucky Footwork, you’re able to roll a d4 when you fail a Dexterity saving throw and add it to the result.
Be sure totalk to your DMbefore making a variant human. Some tables have rules against using them.
Best Ability Scores For An Assassin
When it comes to building an Assassin,your Dexterity score is going to be your bread and butter. It’s where you need to pour most of your ability points. You will have to get up close to opponents to stab them. Furthermore, there will be times when you sneak off on your own. In these instances, having ahigh Consitution score could be a matter of life and death. Make it your second priority.
Wisdom will give you the perception you need to get the jump on your opponents, so consider dedicating some of your points to it. Intelligence is also a decent stat for assassins becauseit makes them better at Insight checks. As is the case with most rogue builds,Strength is your dump stat. In the end, your beginning ability score spread should look something like this:
8(-1)
15(+1)
Of course, feel free to mix and match these scores to match your play style. You may want to take some points away fromConsitution or Charisma to put toward Intelligence or Wisdom, for example. Just make sure that you keep your Dexterity score at a solid 15.
Best Feats For An Assassin
As you gain more experience and level up through your campaign, you’ll have the chance to pick feats. These are a few options that will mesh well with your assassin build.
Description
Sharpshooter
If you’re building a ranged assassin, you’ll want to pick up the Sharpshooter feat. Attacking opponents from long-range won’t pose a disadvantage.You can take a -5 penalty to your attack roll. If it still hits, you can add +10 to your damage.
Alert
If your DM doesn’t permit you to roll up a variant human, you can always pick up the Alert feat later. Any rogue build can benefit from a +5 to their initiative roll.Alert will also prevent enemies from surprising you.
Lucky
As an assassin, you’re going to be fishing for Critical Hits. Having the Lucky feat will make this easier for you to do.If you fail an attack roll, you’ll be able to simply roll it again.
Sentinel
When you hit an opponent with an opportunity attack,the Sentinel feat will allow you to reduce their speed to 0.you may take opportunity attacks against a retreating creature, even if they use the disengage action.
Poisoner
While you will have proficiency in poison kits, the Poisoner feat is still useful to you.With it, you’ll be able to craft poisons in a mere hour.
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