============================================================================= ===================== Neverwinter Nights Assassin Guide ===================== ========================== Hordes of the Underdark ========================== ================================ Version 1.22 =============================== By Syarul hottincup@lycos.com --------------------- i. VERSION HISTORY --------------------- Glad to know that a lot people start noticing the superiority of the Assassin. In hope to bring the greatest potential in Assassin, this guide have gain lots of feedbacks. Thanks to anyone who had given thoughts to this guide. It's priceless and keep playing NWN!^^ 21/09/2005 Version 1.22 -Minor updates, spelling, few changes 18/09/2005 Version 1.21 -Lost version 1.2 and writing it back as version 1.21, huh~ -Build more sentences, change the introduction, fix grammars etc++ -Put a bad news in the intro,huh~ -Add quotes in 4.0 Core Classes,^^ -Add Ranger tracking ability benefit to the Assassin -Add poison info from Assassin. -Correct Death Attack percentage on how often it works. -Forgot about Gnome and put it into recommended race for Assassin. -add more info in 8.0 Battle Tactics -Correct Initiative checks on Death Attacks per round info, please read [6.0 Feats] for more info. -Also include new table of attacks per round compare to executable Death Attacks per round for all Assassin builds ( refer table 6.0) -All builds now have Death Attacks offset per round stated -Add 1 more build the "Reverend Assassin" -Refine the Loudmouth Build, substitute Rogue with Monk for maximum potential. -Add Builds Table as quick reference in 9.0 Special Character Builds -Add more links at the bottom of the page. 24/07/2005 Version 1.1 -Correction Thug feats explanation, no lvl restriction. -Include 3 builds Coupe de Grace, Shadow and Loudmouth. -Add 1 more recommended race Halfling. -Add comparison table between Death Attack and Stunning Fist -Correct info regarding Low-light Vision and Darkvision, both abilities didn't work under Darkness only Ultravision can override the concealment penalty. -Correct Ultravision spell explanation. -Add Death Attack paralyze effect lasting time info ( refer table 2.0) -Correct Attack Bonus for Ranger. -Correct some grammar mistakes. -Add more monsters to the enemy list in [8.0 Battle Tactics] 17/07/2005 Version 1.0 -Initial release and full of mistakes ----------------- Table of contents ----------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION 2.0 WHY ASSASSIN? 3.0 RACES 4.0 CORE CLASSES 5.0 ABILITY SCORES/SKILLS 6.0 FEATS 7.0 EQUIPMENTS 8.0 BATTLE TACTICS 9.0 SPECIAL CHARACTER BUILDS 9.1 Coupe De Grace Assassin 9.2 Shadow Assassin 9.3 Loudmouth Assassin 9.4 Reverend Assassin 10.0 CONTACT & THANKS ---------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION ---------------- Neverwinter Nights is already nearly 3 to 4 years old. NWN game is a D&D based games but used modules as its core foundation and since then, continuous effort by developers and fans in creating new modules, HAKS, etc++ somehow prolong the life span of this game. Worlds and DMs attraction for online play also a great alternative getaway rather playing on solo modules. If we haven't realize it, the fast-phase-changing of our gaming society only offer few strong games especially RPGs to live long enough and worth for us to mention around. Like its predecessor BG series, NWN series would consider as one of them, Diablo 2 or Final Fantasy Series are also in the list. Although by graphic standard, would considered poor compare to nowadays games, still it would outnumbered some top high end games these days. It still stir us in most cases if we not care what we facing with within these games. And finally I can say, being into such development team of game makers nowadays only disappointed me. What they offer us are newbie games with subtle effort in gameplay and system design rather rushing to keep phase with top notch high end graphic games. They probably already forgot that such thing wouldn't supply us gamers soul with satisfaction. We don't buy games just as token of gratitude and have them on shelves covered with dust. What we prefer is to play them until those cds scratch unreadable by our ROMs. There's more then meet the eyes for games that we like and for that here I am writing a guide for such thing. Enjoy your reading^^ ---------------------------------------------- 2005, Syarul If you have finish reading this guide and have finish the official campaign, I would recommend to check out new modules at IGN.com nwvault, it might be worth to play some of these home baked modules, "Honour Among Thieves" by Baldecaran is one of them and might suits well with the Assassin. As for this guide, hopefully it will change your perspective over this class. Most of us belief it would less reflecting what a typical Rogue can be like, but in deceiving ways Assassin prevails better over Rogue. At the turn of the surge, I hope this guide would lead us with more option and reason to play and enjoy NWN again. This guide is especially for HotU (Horde of the Underdark) although Assassin class is already available before in SoU (Shadow of the Underentide). Assassin is a Prestige Class and you should have the SoU expansion to be able to play as an Assassin. In HotU you can start at least lvl5 to lvl10 Assassin + core class lvls to play the module and also some new good feats available in HotU to enhance Assassin in battle. " The Assassin is a master of dealing quick, lethal blows. Assassins often function as spies, informants, killers for hire, or agents of vengeance. The Assassin's skill in a variety of dark arts allows him to carry out missions of death with shocking, terrifying precision..." SoU Manual Unlike Bard or Rogue, Assassin has no wits and charm that makes he least of a charismatic person. He is evil due to lack of morals and ethical conduct. He trade himself with a little bit of dark arts (Death Attack, Ghostly Visage, Darkness, Invisibility, Improve Invisibility) that makes he more then just a plain Rogue. Assassin doesn't have enemies, what are them to him are his "PREY". Unlike Rogue who thrive on stealing, Assassin likely prefer more to killing matters. They often found working alone in secretive usually for certain orders or merely for hire. Prime assassin don't work on small bounty, they are more contend into overcoming their limits to track down the hardest prey they can hunt. They DO NOT kill for pleasure but they do love the hunting game on their prey. More info on how Assassin function and behave, I suggest reading some Forgotten Realm's books about a leading wicked Assassin name Artemis Entreri by R.A Salvatore. Well anyway this guide have a bit of reflection how the real Artemis fights and moves^^. Seriously you have to think just like him to play your Assassin with this guide. Well if you never heard of him this guide might still help you. Lots of people might have despised the Assassin prestige class. They would say Assassin is far worst even compare to a Rogue class character. The first skill they are lacking is the useless Death Attack. But for me this is the crowning skills for the Assassin. If you like to go hunting undead likely Assassin is not a worth class to have, but other than that Assassin is somehow one of the best class to have around. While Death Attack functions similarly to Sneak Attack, it can paralyze a target. Pathetically, lots of us still think that Death Attack only works in the first of each battle. So to spend few lvls as an Assassin is a waste, the best we can think of is to get the use poison ability to coat weapons with poison. Well you all wrong, 3rd D&D Assassin is different then Rogue, 2nd D&D Thief and even 2nd D&D Assassin. Death Attack is a special version of Sneak Attack that can paralyze enemy. Monk Stunning Fist DC is count through half of their lvls and only can make the blow in certain amount in a day. Death Attack is count at all lvl of an Assassin and there's no limit on how much Death Attacks you can deliver per day. It's already superior compare to a Monk Stunning Fist. The only problem with Death Attack is how to deliver it as often in a battle. To paralyze not just one but all enemies in a battle is an artistic measure and to do so an Assassin have to be aware and fully understand their capabilities. That's what has driven me to write this guide on Assassin. The Game So Far.. NWN is a 3rd D&D rules product, compare to Baldur's Gate series, NWN premium modules difficulty is far easier, since there is no battle that is far to long to finish and have lots of crazy powerful monsters spawning from everywhere. There are two annoying places in HotU that is effected with wild surge and another one with death magic that's not even close to BG's Watcher's Keep. Every book that you can find in the NWN game have less records concerning the spawn of Baal saga - Baldur's Gate, Amn and Thetyr. The best book related to the event is Time of Troubles. Likely the event in Neverwinter, Underentide and Underdark might actually happen after that. The first thought meeting the followers of Eilistraee in HotU would lead to Soulfien. He is a drow in BG's 2 who help you to recover the silver dragon eggs in Ush Natha. Before he left he did mention about the lady of the silver hair. Meeting him at Lyth My'athar among them would be a surprise. It is said after the Throne of Bhaal, Korgan Bloodaxe a BG's 2 Berserker live and rule among the Underdark Dwarf although rumors said he died in certain battle. Collective items of him like the Nasher equipments for a Dwarven Defender might be good also. Aerie an Avariel Cleric/Wizard as the ruler among the Avariels you meet in the Underdark would also seem convenient to have. Would it be good if those have slight effect in NWN a bit. Ah I do mish them so much.. Good news: NWN2 which is developed by Obsidian Entertainment promise us NWN2 to be far better. Neverwinter City will be a massive place and least reflecting what Athakala City in BG's 2 where we can free leave and comeback at later time in the game and maybe much more. Hopefully it is not a sequel for NWN, it should be a massive expansion on top NWN. We'll see how it goes.. Bad news: The 3.5e Assassin is a lot more magical oriented and don't offer what Assassin was like in the current NWN game. Most of the benefits on the Assassin are already strip off. As usual we harness some great potential within them and later they are taken back. Not complaining though just a bit unhappy, still I hope to find the 3.5e Assassin come my liking when I have the chance to play them. A link to this at the bottom of the guide if you want to check them. ----------------- 2.0 WHY ASSASSIN? ----------------- Assassin abilities summary Death Attack - Function similar to Sneak Attack and has chance on paralyzing opponents. If enemy make save they suffer additional 1d6 + the actual Death Attack dmg. +1d6 dmg at 1st lvl and increase by +1d6 each 2 lvls. Uncanny Dodge - At 2nd lvl they retain DEX bonuses to armor class even if caught flat footed. Starting at 5th Lvl they get +1 to Reflex Saving Throws and +2 at 10th lvl. Spells - Once per day Assassin can cast Ghostly Visage at 2nd lvl, Darkness at 5th, Invisibility at 6th and Improved Invisibility at 9th. Poison Domain - At 1st Lvl never make DEX check to apply poison on weapons. They resist poison far better then other classes. +1 Fortitude Save vs poison starting at 2nd lvl and increase +1 each 2 lvls. Assassin vs Fighter =================== First, Assassin is not a fighter. They should always make attack base on the situation. If an Assassin is force to fight hand on hand it is because they force to do so unwillingly. Fighter class is an ancient and typically bold fighting man that always provokes enemies to fight hand on hand. Fighters are thugs, mercenaries or guards with no sense in other things beyond fighting. Assassin doesn't work like a plain Fighter, they do no jump upon a ready prey just to find at their full disadvantages. They unwillingly fight but seek the upmost opportunity to kill. Assassin lurks and stabs with his daggers when it cause more then just hurt. Once move, his prey should have never lived to counter react his attacks. Assassin vs Rogue ================= When it come to senses Assassin and Rogue have a lot similarity. Like Rogue, Assassin is also vulnerable when it comes to fight hand on hand. But Assassin functions beyond Rogue. A Rogue always spends less time in the shadow and they are good at flanking opponents. A Rogue alone can't survive a battle without a party or henchmen by their side. That's why Rogue has the Evasion and Improved Evasion to survive those pesky Wizard's spells. Flanking opponents is Rogue job, Assassin shouldn't do that anymore, it is past below your specialties. Assassin Death Attack will go to waste if flanking their prey. If you prefer flanking rather then using Death Attack I suggest you stick to Rogue and have henchmen as the bait, it won't do any good if you were Assassin anyway. Assassin is a bit magical oriented, lesser skills attributes and points while still retaining important skills on Hide/ Move Silently/ Traps/ Tumble/ Use Magic Device skills. Assassin Death Attack ===================== It's possible to finish the HotU module with an Assassin class character in very difficult mode without even rely on any henchmen during every battle, having henchmen, animal companions or summons turn your Assassin Death Attacks into normal Sneak Attacks. The beauty of Death Attacks only revealed when there is no actual combat happening around you or the victim you strike is not in combat mode. While I play with my Assassin I do have a henchmen but I left them somewhere far from battle and they just meant for carrying stuffs. Rather than henchmen I rather called them pack mule. If you want to utilize all the Assassin skills I would suggest to leave your henchmen or not to let them enter battle. It's somehow difficult for your Death Attack to work as often if you have them around. "as certain as the death itself..." Grimnaw / NWN Longdeath Monk The manual didn't explain completely how the Death Attack works, but in the game you can read the whole explanation on Death Attack in character sheet/ feats. Death Attack function similarly to Sneak Attack but if the target creatures is "NOT IN COMBAT MODE" it become the victim of the Death Attack and have a chance to be paralyze. If he succeeds the DC check for the Death Attack he still suffers additional 1d6 dmg + the actual Death Attack dmg. If the victim is in combat mode the Death Attack is considered as normal Sneak Attack so there is no chance to paralyze anymore. Some of us might believe that Assassin Death Attack has a chance to paralyze, well to be true the percentage chances for Death Attack to work are always 95%. Why 95% it is base on the measure when your prey roll his fortitude saving throw to negate the paralyze effect. If he roll 20 even it is lower then your Death Attack DC he will negate it. It's beyond help but a small matter to comprehend. The things that we need to worry are about improving the DC check and how to execute Death Attack more then just 1 time in battle to gain higher chances paralyzing your prey. This is a table to compare Assassin Death Attack with Monk Stunning Fist. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Assassin Death Attack | Monk Stunning Fist ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. DC | 10 + Sin lvls + INT mod. | 10 + 1/2 Monk lvls + WIS mod. 2. Blow per day | Unliminted | 1 every 4 Monk lvls 3. Lasting effect| 1 turn/Sin lvls | 3 rounds 4. Attack penalty| N/A | -4 5. Dmg Penalty | N/A | -4 6. Attack bonus | flat-footed | N/A 7. Dmg bonus |+1d6 Death Attack/2 Sin lvl | N/A 8. Mode | target not in combat | any ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: 1 turn equals to 10 rounds, 1 round is +/-6 seconds. Victim of Death Attack have to make fortitude saving throws against paralyze to avoid the effect. Constitution modifier will add bonus to fortitude saving throw. Ogres or Orcs usually high on constitution, they likely more often succeed on their saving will Elf/Drow will always fail their fortitude saving throw. Shadow and Darkness =================== "the world is blind to my passing..." Yoshimo / BG's 2 Bounty Hunter A Shadowdancer embrace the shadow, while Assassin is the living shadow itself, your prey can't smell, listen or see you. Make use Hiding and Darkness spell all the time, it's the best resource you'll ever get for your Assassin. Compare to Shadowdancer Hide in Plain Sight, Darkness gives much more space and time for you to deal more Death Attacks. For me Hide in Plain Sight is much more of a defensive type skill and meant for running away from battle. It's too annoying to deal few damages, provoke enemies attack and hide back again. Darkness if cast correctly, wait for few moments for combat cool down and you can have lots of Death Attacks. With it enemies are less provokes only one at a time. Even if your Death Attacks failed all creatures is consider caught flat-footed under Darkness effect you'll be dealing Sneak Attacks anyway. Under Darkness effect you can hide and leave shadow at your will without being detected just like what Hide in Plain Sight can give. After Darkness spells has expired you have few last resorts with Invisibility spells to finish anyone not caught under Darkness. Assassin is quite limited with resources, but with correct timing and planning it challenges you to make the best short works on your prey. That's why they are given with the title Assassin, your victim should never live a moment just to figure how they die instantly. Poison ====== There are 6 type of poison, since your are Assassin there's no penalty to apply them to your weapons. Still a bit of info here will surely help. There are:- Weak Mild Average Strong Very Strong Deadly Every poison would apply 1d2 Strength penalty each time hit. Well it's like a Rogue Crippling Strike with DC check. If you have already imbue your weapons with lots of enchantment likely these poison wouldn't applied. DC from Deadly Poison can't get on any magical weapons. So you can keep your weapons with minimum enchantment if you plan to use poison most of the time. In HotU, Robe of Leathers may give you infinite use to coat your weapons with poison. --------- 3.0 RACES --------- There are 4 races which is good to be an excellent Assassin. That would be the Elf, Halfling, Gnome and Human. Elf They are high on DEX and less on CON ( DEX+2/CON -2). Assassin should go with Weapon Finesse feat to utilize DEX to roll for the attacks. So higher DEX get good attack bonuses. Skill affinity is a bonus and also keen senses that automatically detect everything that is hidden in passive mode. They are good with longbows and swords and gain +1 attack bonus with these weapons. Recommended build: Coupe de Grace Assassin. Recommended build: Reverend Assassin. Recommended build: Loudmouth Assassin. Halfling At first I have no love and affection for Halfling, but since I found out that Low-light vision/ Darkvision didn't work under Darkness there's room for this class and seem that this class is quite hefty with bonuses. They gain + to armor class because of size, skill affinity in Hide/ Move Silently. They are high on DEX and less on STR ( DEX+2/STR -2). Recommended build: Coupe de Grace Assassin. Recommended build: Reverend Assassin. Recommended build: Loudmouth Assassin. Gnome Someone pointing this up and I miss to mention about them. Like Halfling they also gain +1 AC because of their stature, Bonus Fighting with Reptilians and Goblinoids, bonus armor fighting with Giants, Skill Affinity in Listen/Concentration, Spell Focus Illusion and Low-light Vision. They get benefit in constitution and penalty in strength ( CON+2/STR -2). Quite a lot benefit and their favored class is Wizard. Recommended build: Loudmouth Assassin. Human There is no actual advantage and motivation in the beginning to make them good Assassin. Compare to Elf or the Halfling, Human would be think as a poor choice to advance as an Assassin. Well not exactly and for my opinion they are somehow the best Assassin can achieve in the game. Why? Because they get 1 additional feat at first lvl. Feats are crucial for Assassin if not your Assassin will be less effective after awhile. Recommended build: Shadow Assassin. Recommended build: Reverend Assassin. Recommended build: Loudmouth Assassin. Other Races Other races are not much for Assassin. No potential and make really worst Assassin class ever. Bad stats and XP penalty when multiclass. ---------------- 4.0 CORE CLASSES ---------------- In the game manuals, the recommended core classes to be an Assassin would be either Rogue, Monk and Bard. Well to some point it's true but they can never make a perfect Assassin. Rogue is far better to go with epic Rogue since their epic abilities is worth for them to flank enemies. Monk, I have to be contend as this class would benefit a lot for your Assassin(not as prime core class, 1 lvl already enough). As for Bard it's good for them to be Dragon Disciple. A Bard who tells story about dungeons and dragons will look much more charming as he's like a dragon incantation of the lesser race. People surely love to hear and believe your tales. No one will throw you eggs or chase you with fork anymore. Deekin would love to hear this. "make way villainy, hero coming through!" Minsk / BG's 2 Ranger The best of all core classes candidate to be Assassin is actually Ranger. It might sound fishy to have an evil alignment Ranger. But in world of Toril it's possible. Remember the quest in NWN at Port Last where you have to collect bounties of 5 outlaws and one of them actually a Ranger. If you listen to his story you realized he's a bit more chaotic as to what he has done. His revenge made other ppl considering him as a dangerous evil outlaw. Ranger usually is chaotic class so make a chaotic evil Ranger. "make way hero, villainy coming through!" Syarul / NWN Assassin Guide Author Why Ranger makes the perfect Assassin? These are listed as useful feats to the Assassin and I won't be talking about favored enemies or animal companion ability that Ranger has. All other that is not listed is a bonus, you only need 9 to 10 lvls in Ranger and not much for favored enemies or a good animal companion. Each listed here is a boon for your Assassin. Ranger roll HD of d10 and with that it would help your Assassin lvls since you will be spending time fighting alone lots of time. My suggestion is to have at least 10 lvls in this class although you can switch to an Assassin as early as lvl5. So by lvl10 if you roll around +9 to +10 for HD each lvl, you'll get around 90~100 HP without any CON/Feats bonuses and its far better then a Rogue of the same lvl can have. Beyond lvl10 there is no significance benefit to advance as a Ranger anymore. If you want to play in very difficult mode this should help as you be getting hit at double damage anyways. Ranger gets the Dual Wield feats for free at first lvl and further at lvl9 they gain Improved Two-Weapon Fighting. This is why you have actually to have at least lvl9 Ranger. Dual Wield feat consist of Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting feat and only available if they wear light armor. Assassin is DEX based class and to use armor beyond light is worthless. My Ranger/Assassin ventured into Undermountain even by wearing modified Rogue's tunic. For that you have to spend some point at craft armor to be able to make it. You can buy the necessary needs outside behind Halaster's Inn from a forger. So with these you get 3 feats for free and further if you choose Human you'll get altogether +4 bonus feats. 4 bonus feats is just to damn great to have. Your Assassin will be the one with the most feats that other class would dream for, considering you only get 1 additional feat every 4 lvls. Ranger is considered as a hybrid of a Fighter/Rogue class. They get some of the Rogue class skills abilities and also their fighting abilities are nearly as good as fighter. Ranger does get hide/move silently as their class skills and it is important for the Assassin. At least 8 skill points in these 2 class skills to multiclass as an Assassin. Ranger gets access to some cool spells. At lvl 10 you could have lvl1 and lvl2 spells. With wisdom of 12 you can have 1 slot for 1st lvl spell. I suggest you get a wisdom amulet to make further use at least 2 slots in lvl1 spells and 1 slot at lvl2. You'll be thinking that this some kind of a joke to make use some lower lvl spells and even it were Ranger spells the worst class of spells. You going to cast at your enemies with these and they die instantly? Well not really, but yes you can kill your enemies efficiently when you use it. These are the best spells for your Assassin to have, considering you choose Human to be an Assassin, even better for your elf also. So memorize only these recommended spells; 1st Lvl spells Slot 1: Camouflage Get +10 to hide skills, it's like temporary Epic Skill Focus feat on hide. It last for 1 turn/caster lvl. Quite long last and worth it. 1 turn = 10 round 1 round = +/- 6 seconds Slot 2: Ultravision Gives the caster Low-light Vision and Darkvision ability. This spell rocks! This what makes your Assassin perfect. Actually you can get Ultravision spell also with Bard/Wizard as your core classes but Ranger is too good to be an evil Assassin. This's the only spell that can pierce through Darkness and override the 50% concealment penalty to hit chance. Last 1 hour/caster lvl. 2nd Lvl spell Slot 1: On With the Land This gives you with +4 to Hide/Move Silently/Set Trap and Animal Empathy. This just as sweet as what skill focus can gives. Last 1 hour/caster lvl. You could also use the Cat Grace spells but that be better works with Belt of Agility, Braces of Dex or Nasher Nimble Boots. Ranger is good with tracking ability, a minor feats. When come to footprints they define it firmly and you usually can guess what prey may lay ahead and prepare well for them. Although footprint come at the slightest amount in the game, still it benefit in anyway. It's awesome for you to know your assassin capable of such thing^^. Other Classes There are few potential core class to become Assassin a few lvls in these classes will give a bit spice to your Assassin. Both which I meant is the Wizard or Bard class. Both classes would give you endless supply of Darkness spell in spell slot and also the scroll creation. But if you depend on Assassin Darkness ability that also would be fine although you can cast it only once it would last longer as long as your Assassin goes up in lvl. The choice is up to you who is the ultimate creator, any class would be fine as long you happy with it^^. ------------------------- 5.0 ABILITY SCORES/SKILLS ------------------------- These all mundane stuff to talk about, most guides got these already and it might be irritating to read them again. If you insist keep reading eitherwise skip to Feats [6.0]. Strength This is quite less important for the Assassin. Assassin is best using Weapon Finesse feat to roll attacks with DEX. Strength modifier will only add bonus to the damage. But spending at least 13/14 points is quite a good investment. Some ppl like the Cleave feats, at least 13 STR to add spice to Assassin. Dexterity This's the prime ability for the Assassin. DEX modify armor class, attack bonus (Weapon Finesse Feat), Reflex Saving Throws, Initiative and all those DEX based skills. You should be always upgrading this when you achieve higher lvls. Human go for 16 while elf go for 18 points. Constitution Survival also important and give 10 points here. Intelligence This is somehow raise in value for the Assassin. It will modify your Death Attack DC. 14 or 16 points here might works well with the Assassin. Improve this with Ring of Thought/ Headband of Intellect to enhance your Death Attack DC more. Higher points here will make further your prey hard to resist your Death Attack. Wisdom Ranger must have at least 11 point in Wisdom. Taking 12 points here lets you make use Ranger 1st lvl spells. Need at least 12 points here. Assassin with no Ultravision is useless. Charisma You are no Paladin of good or some evil power hunger Blackguard. Leave this at 8 points, unless you are somekind charming Bard/Assassin. Assassin skills Assassin gets 4 + INT modifier skill per lvl so not so many points like a decent Rogue can have. Spend on what are important only. You might want to leave set trap, appraise, craft trap for the Assassin. Hide - Stealth: counter for Spot check, done when you are not moving around, very important always put points here. Move Silently - Stealth: counter for Listen check, done when you moving, importance same as Hide. Concentration - it's a good thing to invest some point in this skill, casting Darkness while being hit is not good. You can upgrade these with least penalty during you former core class (Ranger/Bard). Tumble - improved DC checks on attack opportunity done at you. Every 5 points increase your AC by 1, by 40 points you can have +8 to AC. Very good investment since you can wear only light armor. You may leave this also if considering taking Spring Attack feats. Use Magic Device - let you use scrolls, wands, charge equipments/items, restricted class equipment. Rogue, Bard and Assassin get access to this skill. Let your Assassin to be versatile in many ways. I suggest you keep points up in this skill. If you going to kill Dragons, Duerger, Undead and Bosses this would least helps you with lots of time. Death Attack don't work on them this is like your survival kit. Search - find traps and hidden things Spot/Listen - aware of you surrounding, enemy sometimes hiding/moving and buffing up themselves. Caught your prey unsuspected not unsuspected caught by you prey. Disable/Set Trap - Recover traps if have high enough points. Either sell them or let enemy step on their own traps. Just don't let undead walk on the negative traps, it means you healing them. Pick Lock - Well treasure is also important in many ways. Craft Armor - Customize what you wear, make your Assassin looks much cooler and put dye on them. At least 4 point to get raw materials from door/chest and chickens. --------- 6.0 FEATS --------- This is the tedious part of making an excellent Assassin. People will disagree with some of the decision. Well it's all up to you, but a lone Assassin which die so frequently because lacking in feats is beyond this guide. With these recommended feats you'll be always surviving any battle in very difficult mode especially. All listed based on how important and useful the Feats for an Assassin. Ranger Bonus Feats - Free!; 1st Lvl: Dual Wield - package of Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting, only active while wearing light armor. 9th Lvl: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting - additional attack with off-hand weapon. Attack penalties with main-hand/off-hand reduce to only -2/-2 if the off-hand is a light weapon. Assassin or Rogue class character is excellent in wielding two weapons simultaneously. With it they gains lots of attacks per round and Death Attack will add bonus to the dmg in each attack. Assassin class didn't depend on the sheer of power they can put in their attack but more to the number of consecutive attacks they can perform to gain more chances to paralyze their prey. The number of attacks will also roughly multiply the Death Attack dmg you can make per round. Blooded/Thug/Improved Initiative/Superior Initiative This is the super most important feats you need to take if you plan to make a truly terrifying deadly Assassin. While dealing Death Attack, with all Two-Weapon Fighting feats, the first attack of the Assassin usually react before the victim can make their attacks. To improve chances executing Death Attack, you should spend feats on Blooded, Thug, Improved Initiative and Superior Initiative (epic feats). With these you'll ALWAYS get the higher opportunity dealing most of your attacks as Death Attacks since your victim is yet not in combat mode. In HotU you can start with least of 15 lvls character, combine Ranger LVl10/Assassin Lvl5 you'll get 4 attacks with main-hand and 2 attacks with off-hand in each round. In combat you and your enemies will roll initiative checks to determine who will attack first, either you or them. NWN use 3rd D&D rules combine with real-time combat while other games like Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor use 3rd D&D Rules combine with turn-base combat which much more apparent in the initiative checks and rounds. It's the same but NWN is more subtle, less say it's hard to determine how initiative and rounds just by looking at the battle. Hence, it's still be using dice to roll for the initiative checks. 1d20 + DEX modifier + Feats Bonus = Initiative +2 Initiative - Blooded (only available at 1st lvl) +2 Initiative - Thug +4 Initiative - Improved Initiative +8 Initiative - Superior Initiative (Improved Initiative, 21st char lvls) Well I have to revise everything regarding this listed feats since it won't help you as it should be in the game. But having high Initiative still help a lot in order to execute Death Attack. The only changes in this is only the amount of Death Attack you'll be delivering in the beginning round is already predetermine and you won't get boost from initiative as I said in previous version of this guide. Within all the Assassin builds that I tested, I found the number of attacks from main-hand will offset your Death Attack at most 3 times in a row and with the off-hand it will offset your Death Attack at 3+1 times at most. This only apply to the Reverend Assassin build, other may likely only cap at 3 Death Attacks mostly. The highest number of attacks per round you can get is only with the Reverend Assassin or you can substitute Rogue in the Loudmouth build with Monk but it won't have the highest amount of attack per round you can expect since Wizard is a poor BAB class (see [9.0 Special Character Builds]). Refer to the table below for more deep explanation. The table show how many numbers of attacks to gain in order to have those amount of Death Attacks in row which have the chance to paralyze. Maybe the word Death Attack may pop up above your Assassin more then the numbers given in the table but then, only these numbers that are accounted as chances for paralyzing effect while the rest are Sneak Attacks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Attacks/round |Attacks(MH=main-hand/OH=off-hand)| Death Attacks Offset ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | MH 1 | 1st attack only 2 | MH 2/ MH 1+OH 1 | 1st attack only 3 | MH 3/ MH 2+OH 1 | 1st attack only 4 | MH 4/ MH 3+OH 1/ MH 2+OH 2 | duplex: 1st/2nd 5 | %MH 5/ MH 4+OH 1/ MH 3+OH 2 | duplex: 1st/2nd 6 | #MH 6/ %MH 5+OH 1/ MH 4+OH 2 | duplex: 1st/2nd *7 | &MH 7/ #MH 6+OH 1/ %MH 5+OH 2 | triplex: 1st/2nd/3rd **8 | &MH 8/ #MH 6+OH 2 | triplex: 1st/2nd/3rd ***9 | &MH 8+OH 1/ &MH 7+OH 2 | triplex: 1st/2nd/3rd ***10 | &MH 8+OH 2 |quadruplex: 1st/2nd/3rd/4th ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * highest number of attacks/round for Coupe de Grace and Shadow Assassin ** highest number of attacks/round for Loudmouth Assassin *** highest number of attacks/round for Reverend Assassin % must cast Haste/Blinding Speed or equip Boots of Speed to gain it # at least Loudmouth Assassin with perma haste and Flurry of Blows & only available for Reverend Assassin build Blooded/Thug/Improved Initiative/Superior Initiative will only enhance your chance to perform Death Attack not giving amount of it. Since Death Attack only works if the victim is not in combat mode, if your attacks fall ahead of your prey it is Death Attack. But still you should start considering taking feats in Blooded, Thug, Improved Initiative and Superior Initiative suppose to be your first epic feats that you should take to gain upper hand dealing Death Attacks. Leave the rest to your total amount of attacks to determine how much Death Attacks you can deliver per round. As stated above having haste will benefit +1 additional attack or if you use the Loudmouth or Reverend build it would give another +1 additional attack with Flurry of Blows at the cost -2 to all attacks in the round. Weapon Finesse/Weapon Proficiency: Exotic/Improved Critical Assassin best roll attacks with DEX it a wise thing to take the Weapon Finesse as early as possible. There are few light weapons which is good for Assassin either dagger, shortsword or kukri. Never used rapier although this is medium weapon and the only medium weapon that can roll attacks with DEX, you still suffer penalties of -4/-4 to your main-hand/off-hand attacks. Kukri is exotic weapon and deal critical hits at 18~20 which is better for the Assassin. While there are lot of monsters immune to critical hits it means only they are immune to the multiply dmg only. There are other benefits, critical hits will not count concealment bonuses or armor class even a monster with 100 AC will still receive dmg. Plain Ranger/Assassin who wield keen kukris can achieve critical hits at 12~20 with Improved Critical Feat. It is a wise thing to invest in these few Feats, if you want to hit those pesky wizards with Improved Invisibility/Visage's Spells buff. Combat Casting This will negate the -4 penalty to cast spell within combat. As I said before casting Darkness needs some point of Concentration skills to success and with Combat Casting it will further reduce the degree of failure much better. Just don't spend too much in Concentration because you'll casting a set of low lvl spells mostly. Concentration DC checks = 10 + dmg receive + cast Spell lvl Great Dexterity/Great Intelligence Assassin gets bonus feats every 4 lvls and has access to few selective epic feats. I recommended that always spent on Great Intelligence and for every character lvls and Great Dexterity on each Assassin lvls. Great Intelligence will improve your Death Attack DC retroactively. As for Improved Sneak Attack I'm not much of a fan of it since if the enemies are paralyzed you'll be getting lots of Sneak Attacks to finish them to dust anyway. Improved Sneak Attack is good for Rogue only. Blind Fight This also considered worth having around. If you don't have Ultravision or out off it and need to hit someone invisible you got second miss chance percentile to roll for attack if you miss to hit at your previous attack on an invisible creature. Within Darkness this gives you an edge to hit your enemies far better and also invisible creatures got no bonuses to hit you either. Rogue who multiclass to Assassin might well to get this as early as possible to make sure they can survive to fight in Darkness. -------------- 7.0 EQUIPMENTS -------------- This is personal choice you won't get most of these in the early of the game. What you choose for you Assassin is probably what Rogue usually wears too. But keep in mind high intelligence is important if you want to have higher percentage paralyzing your prey often with Death Attack. Any item that imbue your intelligence are good. If you are Ranger/Assassin some Wisdom Amulet is also worth to have around. Head: Headband of Intellect(HotU) Armor: Rogue Tunic/ Robe of Leathers (HotU) Main-hand/Off-hand weapons: Hatred/ Strife (HotU) Cloak:Shroud of Kings (HotU) Boots: Dragon Slippers (HotU)/Boots of Speed Braces: Braces of Natural Armor Belt: Belt of Agility Amulet: Wisdom Amulet Ring 1: Ring of Clear Thought Ring 2: Bone Ring (HotU) Note: Headband of Intellect + Ring of Clear Thought would give you at most +6 to your Death Attack DC. Since the diminishing return for stats modifier through equipments and spell boost is 12 point, but still it is a wise thing to wear them as often as you could. ------------------ 8.0 BATTLE TACTICS ------------------ How to finish a crowd of prey with Death Attack? Well that's truly hard to answer it even for me. At certain stage of the game likely you will met a few prey and sometimes significantly overwhelming in numbers. If you only had one resort of your Darkness spell likely you need to finish some of your prey with hand to hand fight. Before you start a fight I suggest you scout the area in hiding mode where your prey reside. First look how they move around and look through the surrounding certain area where there is secluded and some of your prey move close to this area at certain time. In such place, try to finish them without casting Darkness. If possible happen to be around like 1 or 2 at time it would be easy. Do not cast Darkness without casting Ultravision first, you and your prey will end up concealed by the spell. If you force yourself to cast Darkness cast it at the correct place with the correct timing. This will take few times to experiment with this before you can truly cast it correctly. If you don't have the Combat Casting feat or lack of concentration points, you likely fail the DC check for casting so often and end up running around trying to cast Darkness spell. It do happen a lot to me and most of the time it's not the melee fighters but it's the range fighters that hit me. Darkness will last 1 round/ caster lvl. If you are Ranger lvl10/ Assassin Lvl5, the spell would last around +/-6 seconds x 5 exactly around half a minute. When you ready to cast Darkness make sure that you are at the center or close to melee fighters not to close but possible for you to finish casting globe of Darkness when they arrive caught inside the globe. Cast the globe of Darkness around yourself. The diameter of the globe is around the same fireball range effect, either to cast at the center or edge of your Assassin is up to you, just make sure to possible cover most of your prey. **** o o * * o *x # * o * * o o **** o | | |<----------| timing for spell before they arrive at you x = your Assassin * = the Darkness globe area # = spot where you target your Darkness spell o = your prey moving towards you Sometime I cast it around a nearby spellcasters or range fighters. Range fighters, Wizards or Clerics usually do not rush in to you but they likely stop moving and casting some defensive spells like stoneskin or invisibility on themselves. Once most of them are already inside the globe and you successfully cast the globe move inside and hit F1 to Hide and Move Silently (Stealth Mode). If you are targeted by range fighters during casting, they will stop shooting at you when you enter such vicinity in Stealth Mode. During this time watch closely to your rest UI icon button and it usually disable because the combat mode status. If you hit your prey during this time it's not Death Attack but Sneak Attack so you need to wait few moments until the combat time wear off. Usually is not to long, when you start to see your prey start to change action and ignore you, start hitting them one at a time. If you fail to paralyze them turn back run a little and hit F1 again. Since each of your prey is not in combat mode try to paralyze as many as you can before the Darkness spell wear off. Don't finish them yet once they are paralyze move to next prey. The paralyze effect is long enough for you to finish all of them later. There is certain exception, if there is Cleric around I suggest you finish them first because they usually will cast some divination spells like True Seeing, it won't effect their vision under the Darkness globe but at the time the Darkness spell wear off you will be visible to your prey if you are in Stealth Mode. By the time Darkness globe nearly wear off, hit F1 again to enter Stealth Mode, everything will be visible except you. Since you still in Stealth Mode with the Invisibility and Improved Invisibility you have exactly 3 last Death Attacks so choose your last 3 prey wisely, the rest is hand to hand combat or if you have invisibility scroll or invisibility potions you might also use it now. Sometime I can't catch all of my prey inside the globe or they are a bit far from it. What I do during this time is I walk outside in Stealth Mode hit paralyze one and run back inside the globe and hit F1 again and repeat the process again. Note: You may do a double over Death Attacks when facing with high HD prey. Just stop hitting him and wait for another combat cooldown and apply again your Death Attacks. In HotU you'll be fighting lots of type of monsters. Most of them are your prey and some are your enemies where you need to provoke fight hand on hand with them in order to progress through the story. Essentially if you are Ranger/Assassin they wouldn't be much problem surviving fighting alone. But if you are with Bard/Rogue/Wizard as core class I don't have some significance guides for that. The best way is to take your henchmen and let them storm the front while you flanking. This is a list of some monsters which are immune to your Death Attack. To deal with them I suggest either hand to hand with lots of health potions or make use your Use Magic Device skill with charges item, wands, or scrolls. Casting Ghostly Visage and Darkness will still help to overcome them. Ghostly Visage will provide 10% concealment and damage reduction while Darkness provide 50% concealment, although both didn't stack, 50% miss to hit is like 5 Feats of temporary epic Concealment Feats which only Shadowdancer can have. There's no specific guide on each type monsters just hit them as hard as you could. Duerger (immune to paralysis but not Sneak Attack) Formian (immune to Sneak Attack) Stinger (True Seeing - how to sneak attack them?Darkness!Darkness!) Construct Beholder Undead (skel, ghoul, shadow, mummy, vampire, lich, demi-lich) Dragon and Dragonkin Bosses (some of them) In NWN patch 1.66 Any monster immune to mind-affecting spells will not immune to Death Attack. Someone equip with critical hit immunities or freedom will also immune to Death Attack. There's more, I read this at the NWN forum boards at Bioware that someone with Protection from Evil will also immune to Death Attack. Sad but true, rarely found someone bother with this 1st lvl spell. Multiplayer notes: I seldom play NWN multiplayer mode and if you plan to play with party I suggest you tell your party to let you charge first into combat and finish few with Death Attack especially Wizards, Priest or Druid. If most of these already paralyzed you can ask your party to finish the rest in combat mode and you as a flanker sneaks attack-man just like a decent rogue perform. If you try to finish most of the enemies with Death Attack it might turn out irritating for the rest of the party since you will be a one man show and a co-operative party can't accept that right^^? But in a right time, a low-profile Assassin is to be feared and admire if you happen to save your party ass if caught in an unsuspected big battle sometime. ---------------------------- 9.0 SPECIAL CHARACTER BUILDS ---------------------------- These are few listed build that you can try for your Assassin. Each has pros and cons, If you turn out like this few builds I thank you, if you happen to have your own special good builds you might as well share with me here if you like it. Just remember Assassin is evil so don't start with a good or natural alignment core class, you won't be able to multiclass to Assassin later. Coupe de Grace and Shadow Assassin are early experimental Assassin and these builds are the least required builds to performed as Assassin. Although you can have Bard/Assassin but surely it will suffer a lot when venturing alone. You may build Bard/Assassin/Dragon Disciple to strengthen the build more if you like. At this version of this guide I likely recommend you get either the Loudmouth or Reverend Assassin to play since Monk supplement to Assassin extend its capability to new heights. All of the builds have Great Dex I ~ X taken into account, u might want to substitute some of these with any other feats that come to your liking. Final stats govern without any equipment boost on the values. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.1                       Coupe de Grace Assassin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the basic build for my Assassin. Benefits on this build is you can 
get deadly point of DC with your Death Attack, plenty consecutive Death
Attacks with high initiative value, moderate critical treat range with kukri 
and longest Darkness spell duration.

If you happen to play modules starting with 1st lvl character I suggest to 
stick with range weapon first since you've to loose Weapon Finesse to take 
the Blooded first.

You can switch to Assassin at character lvl 6 with 8 Hide/ 8 Move Silently.
Since you already have the ability to cast Ultravision at Ranger lvl 4 you can
just lvl up as an Assassin until 10th lvl if you want. You also can wait 
until lvl 10 Ranger to fulfill all needs for the Assassin.

Build Type: Ranger/Assassin
Race: Elf/Halfling
Starting Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 18 +4
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 16 +3
CHA 8  -1

Skill distribution: Concentration (Ranger), Disable Trap (Assassin), Hide, 
Listen, Move Silently, Pick Lock (Assassin), Search, Spot, Tumble (Assassin),
Use Magic Device (Assassin) 

Note: Rg = Ranger, Sin = Assassin

Lvl 01: (Rg 1), Blooded
Lvl 02: (Rg 2)
Lvl 03: (Rg 3), Weapon Finesse
Lvl 04: (Rg 4), +1 DEX, 1st Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 05: (Rg 5)---->Hide 8/ Move Silently 8 (Req. for Sin)
Lvl 06: (Rg 5/Sin 1), Improved Initiative
Lvl 07: (Rg 5/Sin 2)
Lvl 08: (Rg 5/Sin 3), +1 DEX
Lvl 09: (Rg 5/Sin 4), Thug
Lvl 10: (Rg 5/Sin 5)
Lvl 11: (Rg 5/Sin 6)
Lvl 12: (Rg 5/Sin 7), + 1 DEX, Combat Casting
Lvl 13: (Rg 5/Sin 8)
Lvl 14: (Rg 5/Sin 9)
Lvl 15: (Rg 5/Sin 10), Weapon Proficiency: Exotic
Lvl 16: (Rg 6/Sin 10), +1 DEX
Lvl 17: (Rg 7/Sin 10)
Lvl 18: (Rg 8/Sin 10), Improved Critical: Kukri, 2nd Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 19: (Rg 9/Sin 10)
Lvl 20: (Rg 10/Sin 10), +1 DEX
Lvl 21: (Rg 10/Epic Sin  11), Superior Initiative
Lvl 22: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 12)
Lvl 23: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 13)
Lvl 24: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 14), +1 DEX , Great DEX I, Great DEX II,
Lvl 25: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 15)
Lvl 26: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 16) 
Lvl 27: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 17), Great DEX III
Lvl 28: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 18), +1 DEX, Great DEX IV
Lvl 29: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 19)
Lvl 30: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 20), Great DEX V
Lvl 31: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 21)
Lvl 32: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 22), +1 DEX, Great DEX VI,
Lvl 33: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 23), Great DEX VII
Lvl 34: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 24)
Lvl 35: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 25)
Lvl 36: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 26), +1 DEX, Great DEX VIII, Great DEX IX
Lvl 37: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 27)
Lvl 38: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 28)
Lvl 39: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 29), Great DEX X
Lvl 40: (Rg 10/Epic Sin 30), +1 DEX, Epic Skill Focus: Move Silently

Final Stats/ Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 38 +14
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 16 +3
CHA 8  -1

Maximum HD rolls: 280 HP (Ranger d10 X 10 + Assassin d6 X 30)
Initiative rolls: 1d20 + 30
Main-hand Attack bonus: +39*/+34*/+29/+24
Off-hand Attack bonus: +39/+34
Death Attacks offset: duplex Death Attacks/round
Main-hand Attack bonus(Haste): +39*/+34*/+29*/+24/+39
Off-hand Attack bonus(Haste): +39/+34
Death Attacks offset(Haste): triplex Death Attacks/round
Death Attack Damage: +15d6
Death Attack DC: 43 (10 + 30 Assassin Lvl + 3 INT Modifier)
Critical treat range with keen Kukri: 12~20 (40% Crit)
Darkness Spell last: 3 turn (180 sec)
Hide: 43 + 10 Camouflage + 4 On With the Land
Move Silently: 43 + 10 Epic Skill Focus + 4 On With the Land

* = Death Attacks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.2                           Shadow Assassin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This build is quite deadly since you get the Hide in Plain Sight from 
Shadowdancer that can improve the odds to combat in Darkness. Still retain 
high initiative value, high Death Attack DC and Longest Darkness spell
lasting. The drawback with is only you may likely use either dagger or 
shortsword for your weapons and less critical treat range. 

If you loved Death Attack to death and want every prey to die with it this
might be the best build around for you.

Build Type: Ranger/Assassin/Shadowdancer
Race: Human
Starting Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 18 +4
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 14 +2
CHA 8  -1

Skill distribution: Concentration (Ranger), Disable Trap, Hide, Listen, Move
Silently, Pick Lock, Search, Spot, Tumble, Use Magic Device 

Note: Rg = Ranger, Sin = Assassin, SD = Shadowdancer

Lvl 01: (Rg 1), Blooded, Weapon Finesse
Lvl 02: (Rg 2)
Lvl 03: (Rg 3), Dodge
Lvl 04: (Rg 4), +1 DEX, 1st Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 05: (Rg 5)---->Hide 8/ Move Silently 8 (Req. for Sin)
Lvl 06: (Rg 5/Sin 1), Mobility
Lvl 07: (Rg 5/Sin 2)-----> Hide 8/ Move Silently 10/ Tumble 5 (Req. for SD)
Lvl 08: (Rg 5/Sin 2/SD 1), +1 DEX, Hide in Plain Sight(SD)
Lvl 09: (Rg 5/Sin 3/SD 1), Improved Initiative
Lvl 10: (Rg 5/Sin 4/SD 1)
Lvl 11: (Rg 5/Sin 5/SD 1) 
Lvl 12: (Rg 5/Sin 6/SD 1), + 1 DEX, Thug
Lvl 13: (Rg 5/Sin 7/SD 1)
Lvl 14: (Rg 5/Sin 8/SD 1)
Lvl 15: (Rg 5/Sin 9/SD 1), Combat Casting
Lvl 16: (Rg 5/Sin 10/SD 1), +1 DEX
Lvl 17: (Rg 6/Sin 10/SD 1)
Lvl 18: (Rg 7/Sin 10/SD 1), Weapon Focus: Shortsword/Dagger
Lvl 19: (Rg 8/Sin 10/SD 1), 2nd Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 20: (Rg 9/Sin 10/SD 1), +1 DEX
Lvl 21: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 11/SD 1), Superior Initiative
Lvl 22: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 12/SD 1)
Lvl 23: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 13/SD 1)
Lvl 24: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 14/SD 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX I, Great DEX II,
Lvl 25: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 15/SD 1)
Lvl 26: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 16/SD 1) 
Lvl 27: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 17/SD 1), Great DEX III
Lvl 28: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 18/SD 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX IV
Lvl 29: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 19/SD 1)
Lvl 30: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 20/SD 1), Great DEX V
Lvl 31: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 21/SD 1)
Lvl 32: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 22/SD 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX VI,
Lvl 33: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 23/SD 1), Great DEX VII
Lvl 34: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 24/SD 1)
Lvl 35: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 25/SD 1)
Lvl 36: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 26/SD 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX VIII, Great DEX IX
Lvl 37: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 27/SD 1)
Lvl 38: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 28/SD 1)
Lvl 39: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 29/SD 1), Great DEX X
Lvl 40: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 30/SD 1), +1 DEX, Epic Skill Focus: Move Silently

Final Stats/ Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 38 +14
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 14 +2
CHA 8  -1

Maximum HD rolls: 278 HP (Rg d10 X 9 + Sin d6 X 30 + SD d8 X 1)
Initiative rolls: 1d20 + 30
Main-hand Attack bonus: +39*/+34*/+29/+24
Off-hand Attack bonus: +39/+34
Death Attacks offset: duplex Death Attacks/round
Main-hand Attack bonus(Haste): +39*/+34*/+29*/+24/+39
Off-hand Attack bonus(Haste): +39/+34
Death Attacks offset(Haste): triplex Death Attacks/round
Death Attack Damage: +15d6
Death Attack DC: 42 (10 + 30 Assassin Lvl + 2 INT Modifier)
Darkness Spell last: 3 turn (180 sec)
Hide: 43 + 10 Camouflage + 4 On With the Land
Move Silently: 43 + 10 Epic Skill Focus + 4 On With the Land

* = Death Attacks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.3                           Loudmouth Assassin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a special build that you can start with Wizard class. Although their
Attack bonus is poor, with the spells combination your Assassin can be 
versatile in combat. 

I suggest using True Strike spell under Darkness to hit pesky prey with high
defense or spell buffs. When taken Extend Spell feat, spend all 3rd lvl slots
with Extend Darkness from lvl 2, with this you can perform plenty Death 
Attacks and save your ass lots of time getting hit by your prey. Shadow 
Conjuration also provide your more with Darkness spell if you think you don't 
have enough Darkness spell. With haste you also can gain 1 additional attack 
for a short time. With Find Trap spells likely you can override skills point 
in Remove Trap. With Knock spell you also can leave Pick Lock skill. No needs 
also to spend point in Use Magic Device since you are a Wizard which has all 
the privileges to use scrolls, wands and staffs.

By taking a special school of Illusion as a wizard, you also gain additional
spells slot in each spell lvls. Wearing +INT equipment boost your Death 
Attack DC and will increase the amount of your Wizard spell slots. The best 
class to suit this build might be the Gnome but Human, or Elf is also good 
with this build, they don't suffer XP penalty to multiclass Wizard with Monk. 

Note: Substitute Monk with Rogue for Halfling to avoid XP penalty.

Build Type: Wizard (Illusion)/Assassin/Monk
Race: Gnome/Human/Elf
Starting Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 18 +4
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 14 +2
CHA 8  -1

Skill distribution: Concentration (Wizard/Monk), Hide, Listen, Move
Silently, Search, Spot, Tumble

Note: Wiz = Wizard, Mo = Monk, Sin = Assassin, 

Lvl 01: (Wiz 1), Blooded
Lvl 02: (Wiz 2)
Lvl 03: (Wiz 3), Combat Casting
Lvl 04: (Wiz 4), +1 DEX 
Lvl 05: (Wiz 4/Mo 1)---->Hide 8/ Move Silently 8 (Req. for Sin)*Monk Feats
Lvl 06: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 1), Weapon Finesse
Lvl 07: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 2)
Lvl 08: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 3), +1 DEX
Lvl 09: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 4), Improved Initiative
Lvl 10: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 5)
Lvl 11: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 6) 
Lvl 12: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 7), + 1 DEX, Two-Weapon Fighting
Lvl 13: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 8)
Lvl 14: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 9)
Lvl 15: (Wiz 4/Mo 1/Sin 10), Ambidexterity
Lvl 16: (Wiz 5/Mo 1/Sin 10), +1 DEX, Extend Spell(Wizard bonus Feat)
Lvl 17: (Wiz 6/Mo 1/Sin 10)
Lvl 18: (Wiz 7/Mo 1/Sin 10), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
Lvl 19: (Wiz 8/Mo 1/Sin 10)
Lvl 20: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Sin 10), +1 DEX
Lvl 21: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 11), Superior Initiative
Lvl 22: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 12)
Lvl 23: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 13)
Lvl 24: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 14), +1 DEX , Thug, Great DEX I
Lvl 25: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 15)
Lvl 26: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 16) 
Lvl 27: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 17), Great DEX II
Lvl 28: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 18), +1 DEX, Great DEX III
Lvl 29: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 19)
Lvl 30: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 20), Great DEX IV
Lvl 31: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 21)
Lvl 32: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 22), +1 DEX, Great DEX V
Lvl 33: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 23), Great DEX VI
Lvl 34: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 24)
Lvl 35: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 25)
Lvl 36: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 26), +1 DEX, Great DEX VII, Great DEX VII
Lvl 37: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 27)
Lvl 38: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 28)
Lvl 39: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 29), Great DEX IX
Lvl 40: (Wiz 9/Mo 1/Epic Sin 30), +1 DEX, Great DEX X

Final Stats/ Attributes:
STR -8 -1
DEX 38 +14
CON 12 +1
WIS 8  -1
INT 16 +3
CHA 8  -1

Spell pick: Ultravision, Darkness, Extend: Darkness, Ghostly Visage, 
Fox Cunning, Knock, Find Trap, Haste, Shadow Conjuration

Maximum HD rolls: 224 HP (Wiz d4 X 9 + Sin d6 X 30 + Mo d8 x 1)
Initiative rolls: 1d20 + 30
Main-hand Attack bonus: +30*/+27*/+24
Off-hand Attack  bonus: +30/+27
Death Attacks offset: duplex Death Attacks/round
Main-hand Attack bonus(Kama): +30*/+27*/+24/+21
Off-hand Attack  bonus(Kama): +30/+27
Death Attacks offset(Kama): duplex Death Attacks/round
Flurry of Blows + Haste((Kama,Main-hand): +28*/+25*/+22*/+19/+30/+30
Flurry of Blows + Haste((Kama,Off-hand): +28/+25
Death Attacks offset(Kama,Haste/Flurry of Blows): triplex Death Attacks/round
Death Attack Damage: +15d6 DA 
Death Attack DC: 42 (10 + 30 Assassin Lvl + 2 INT Modifier)
Darkness Spell last (Assassin): 3 turn (180 sec)
Darkness Spell last (Wiz): 9 round
Darkness Spell last - Extend spell (Wiz): 18 round

* = Death Attacks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.4                           Reverend Assassin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This another build which is somehow interesting if you want to try them out.
Compare to other builds, this one might be better then the Ranger/Assassin
build since this build got lots of bonus from the Monk lvl. You'll going to 
stick with kama as primary weapons since Unarmed Strike doesn't give off-hand
attacks.

What so good about this build is, it follow the Monk AB progression which by 
far the highest attack per round you can get. The  -3 AB progression will 
gives you with 6 attacks with main-hand and 2 attacks with off-hand at 
character lvl 20. Ranger9/Monk1/Assassin30~ would use the AB progression of 
the Monk if you using either Unarmed Attack or Kama. Base Attack for Monk is 
cap at 16 at lvl 20~(although it always higher above 20th lvl) which will 
supply you with +16/+13/+10/+9/+4/+1 for main-hand attacks. Without any 
bonus added to these value the usual Base attack for your build with Flurry 
of Blows(offset -2 to all attacks) and Haste is +14/+11/+8/+5/+2/-1/+16/+16 
for main-hand and +14/+11 for off-hand. Duh it's 10 attacks per round. Cool 
eh? Flurry of Blows with the Death Attacks synergy well in the current 
patch I play (patch 1.66).

For this build you only need 1 lvl in Monk to get all the benefits from it 
and likely you won't be getting red evil eyes glow effect that those high 
lvl Monk have. Still it come with a nice package which offer some good feats 
Cleave, Evasion and Wisdom mod AC bonus from Monk. Wearing Wisdom Amulet 
would benefit you not just more Ranger spell slots but also AC bonus from 
Monk lvl. 

You also have to wear no more better than robe/tunic or you'll lose all the
benefits from Monk class.

Build Type: Ranger/Assassin/Monk
Race: Elf/Halfling/Human
Starting Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 18 +4
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 16 +3
CHA 8  -1

Skill distribution: Concentration (Ranger/Monk), Disable Trap (Assassin), 
Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Pick Lock (Assassin), Search, Spot, 
Tumble (Assassin), Use Magic Device (Assassin) 

Note: Rg = Ranger, Sin = Assassin, Mo = Monk

Lvl 01: (Rg 1), Blooded
Lvl 02: (Rg 2)
Lvl 03: (Rg 3), Weapon Finesse
Lvl 04: (Rg 4), +1 DEX, 1st Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 05: (Rg 5)---->Hide 8/ Move Silently 8 (Req. for Sin)
Lvl 06: (Rg 5/Sin 1), Improved Initiative
Lvl 07: (Rg 5/Sin 2)
Lvl 08: (Rg 5/Sin 2/Mo 1), +1 DEX, Cleave, Evasion, Monk AC, Flurry of Blows
Lvl 09: (Rg 5/Sin 3/Mo 1), Thug
Lvl 10: (Rg 5/Sin 4/Mo 1)
Lvl 11: (Rg 5/Sin 5/Mo 1) 
Lvl 12: (Rg 5/Sin 6/Mo 1), + 1 DEX, Combat Casting
Lvl 13: (Rg 5/Sin 7/Mo 1)
Lvl 14: (Rg 5/Sin 8/Mo 1)
Lvl 15: (Rg 5/Sin 9/Mo 1), Weapon Focus: Kama
Lvl 16: (Rg 5/Sin 10/Mo 1), +1 DEX
Lvl 17: (Rg 6/Sin 10/Mo 1)
Lvl 18: (Rg 7/Sin 10/Mo 1), Improved Critical: Kama or Blind Fight
Lvl 19: (Rg 8/Sin 10/Mo 1), 2nd Lvl Spells Ranger
Lvl 20: (Rg 9/Sin 10/Mo 1), +1 DEX
Lvl 21: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 11/Mo 1), Superior Initiative
Lvl 22: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 12/Mo 1)
Lvl 23: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 13/Mo 1)
Lvl 24: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 14/Mo 1), +1 DEX , Great DEX I, Great DEX II,
Lvl 25: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 15/Mo 1)
Lvl 26: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 16/Mo 1) 
Lvl 27: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 17/Mo 1), Great DEX III
Lvl 28: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 18/Mo 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX IV
Lvl 29: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 19/Mo 1)
Lvl 30: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 20/Mo 1), Great DEX V
Lvl 31: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 21/Mo 1)
Lvl 32: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 22/Mo 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX VI,
Lvl 33: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 23/Mo 1), Great DEX VII
Lvl 34: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 24/Mo 1)
Lvl 35: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 25/Mo 1)
Lvl 36: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 26/Mo 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX VIII, Great DEX IX
Lvl 37: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 27/Mo 1)
Lvl 38: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 28/Mo 1)
Lvl 39: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 29/Mo 1), Epic Skill Focus: Move Silently
Lvl 40: (Rg 9/Epic Sin 30/Mo 1), +1 DEX, Great DEX X

Final Stats/ Attributes:
STR 10 +0
DEX 38 +14
CON 10 +0
WIS 12 +1
INT 16 +3
CHA 8  -1

Maximum HD rolls: 278 HP (Rg d10 X 9 + Sin d6 X 30 + Mo d8 X 1)
Initiative rolls: 1d20 + 30
Main-hand Attack bonus: +39*/+36*/+33*/+30/+27/+24
Off-hand Attack bonus: +39/+36
Death Attacks offset: triplex Death Attacks/round 
Flurry of Blows + Haste(Main-hand): +37*/+34*/+31*/+28*/+25/+22/+39/+39
Flurry of Blows + Haste(Off-hand): +37/+34
Death Attacks offset(Flurry of Blows+Haste): quadruplex Death Attacks/round 
Death Attack Damage: +15d6
Death Attack DC: 43 (10 + 30 Assassin Lvl + 3 INT Modifier)
Darkness Spell last: 3 turn (180 sec)
Hide: 43 + 10 Camouflage + 4 On With the Land
Move Silently: 43 + 10 Epic Skill Focus + 4 On With the Land

* = Death Attacks
=============================================================================
                                  Builds Table
=============================================================================
          |Coupe de Grace |     Shadow    |  Loudmouth  |      Reverend
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAB(lvl20)|      20       |      20       |     11      |         16
BAB prog. |      -5       |      -5       |     -3      |         -3
BA(lvl20) |+20/+15/+10/+5 |+20/+15/+10/+5 |+11/+8/+5/+2 |+16/+13/+10/+7/+4/+1
BA-offhand|   +20/+15     |   +20/+15     |    +11/+8   |      +16/+13
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attacks/round
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Normal    |   6/round     |   6/round     |   6/round   |      8/round 
Haste     |   7/round     |   7/round     |   7/round   |      9/round  
Haste+FoB |     n/a       |     n/a       |   8/round   |     10/round 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Death Attacks offset/round
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Normal    |    duplex     |    duplex     |   duplex    |      triplex
Haste     |    triplex    |    triplex    |   triplex   |      triplex
Haste+FoB |     n/a       |     n/a       |   triplex   |     quadruplex
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weapons
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |Rapier/Dagger/Shortsword/Kukri |    Kama     |       Kama
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonus Feats
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ranger    |DualWield/I-2WF|DualWield/I-2WF|     n/a     |  DualWield/I-2WF 
SD        |     n/a       |     HIPS      |     n/a     |       n/a
Wizard    |     n/a       |     n/a       | Extend Spell|       n/a
Monk      |     n/a       |     n/a       |   Cleave/Monk AC/FoB/Evasion
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darkness Spells
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sin(40th) |  30 rounds    |   30 rounds   |  30 rounds  |     30 rounds
Wizard    |     n/a       |     n/a       |   9 rounds  |       n/a
Wizard-ext|     n/a       |     n/a       |  18 rounds  |       n/a
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stats Modifier
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INT       |    DA DC      |    DA DC      |DA DC/Wiz SS |      DA DC
WIS       |  Ranger SS    |   Ranger SS   |   Monk AC   | Ranger SS/Monk AC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Build Strength
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
          |  Critical++   |     HIPS      |  Darkness++ |  Death Attacks++
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAB = Base Attack Bonus
BA = Base Attack
FoB = Flurry of Blows
I-2WF = Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
SD = Shadowdancer
HIPS = Hide in Plain Sight
DA DC = Death Attack Difficulty Check
Wiz SS = Wizard Spell Slots
Ranger SS = Ranger Spell Slots
=============================================================================

---------------------
10.0 CONTACT & THANKS
---------------------
This is my first guide that I contribute. If you like to give ideas, 
thoughts, comments or special character builds you can reach me at;

			  hottincup@lycos.com

I welcome anything that can improve this guide even further and give the
proper credit to you. Just wrote with some "NWN Assassin" in the heading. I 
would also spare my time to reply your mail also.

Thanx! to:-
+ Bioware for such great game even though not as good as BG's series. 
+ You who spend reading this guide.
+ R.A Salvatore for such great epic Novels, I loved Drizzt, Artemis and most 
other characters.
+ GameFAQs to host such great resource from gamers to gamers.
+ Wizard of the Coast for 3rd Edition D&D rules, class and prestige classes.
+ IGN.com for hosting the NWN vault, a great spot to get modules, HAKS etc++
+ Rob for pointing up the Monk Flurry of Blows synergy with Assassin 
Death Attack and its juicy 10 combos input. Reverend rocks!
+ the few people who loved Assassin and know well how to play them, you 
earn my respect.
+ my previous game company, I quit and earn my free time and had the time to 
write this guide.
                           

                      *********(c)2005 Syarul***********
Links

You can always get the latest version of this guide at:

GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com)

You can get a copy of this guide also at:

Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com)
Sorceres Place (www.sorceres.net) :- courtesy of Urban 'Sorcerer' Fleischman
DLH (www.dlh.net) :- courtesy of Bernd Wollfgramm  

This a link to the new 3.5e Assassin provided by Junk and nothing is related 
to this guide. Likely it will be implemented in next NWN2 for sure. I won't 
say much just check them to get glimpse of what they up to;-

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/assassin.htm
=============================================================================