Assassin Build and Multiclass Advice POTD

[cuoms]

Apologies if a question like this has been posted before, but I am looking for some advice on how to build using the Assassin subclass. Also, I have never posted here before or really any online forum, so sorry if I do not format something correctly.

I have played through POE2 a couple of times on POTD, and I am just starting another one. I am trying to decide between Single Class Assassin, Spellblade (no subclass) Assassin, and Bleak Walker Assassin. In classic fashion I have started a play-through with all three and have completed Maje Island, but I am not sure which one to proceed with for the rest of the game. 

From what I understand, single class is usually built around gambit which seems really cool, but doesn't come until much later. I also have concerns about guile management early game, and what to do when I run out of smoke bombs. 

Spellblade seems to focus more on casting from invisibility, which seems powerful, but I feel like I might miss out on RP of an assassin backstabbing people with a weapon. 

Finally, Bleak Walker Assassin early game has been super powerful, but does't seem to have much variety beyond FOD from stealth. I also am not really sure what the damage ceiling is for this particular combination. 

I am planning on playing with a full party, as I am not super interested in soloing. I would apreciate any advice from those who have played any of these. Mostly I am looking for 3 things 1. How powerful does it get in both regular fights and against bosses (not mega bosses) 2. How fun is it to play in terms of variety, strategy, etc. 3. How well does it play in a full party

 

Thanks! 

 

 

[Boeroer]

I have played all of those combinations (except instead of Assassin/vanilla Wizard it was a /Bloodmage and another time an /Illusionist). 

---

The best trick for the Assassin/Wizard is to use Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure and then cast super accurate debuff and disabling spells before finishing with a big damage spell. Because Arkemyr's BD gives you invisibility that doesn't break - unless you deal damage - you can cast all sorts of CC/debuff spells while staying invisible.

To stay more true to the Assassin theme you can also try to do backstabs with Concelhaut's Draining Touch (highest base dmg weapon in the game) from invisibility - but it's fiddly business...

---

Assassin/Bleak Walker (or any Paladin subclass) can be nice because you can stack 3 "neverending" damage-over-time effects: True Love's Kiss (from the Dagger Lover's Embrace) + Gouging Strike + Brand Enemy. From stealth you will use Gouging Strike with the Dagger, get Assassinate's 25 bonus accuracy, combined with the +5 accuracy from Daggers and +12 accuracy from one handed use. Very difficult to miss that one. Since attacks from stealth have -85% recovery time you can immediately follow up with Brand Enemy which his an auto-hit (so it cannot miss). You can then turn invisible and hide and wait until the enemy dies. This works with almost every enemy in the game, so it's a great tactic for solo. For a whole party imo an Assassin/Break Walker will become too boring if you just stick to that. But if you lean into the support role a little more and just take out the nastiest enemies of an encounter it can still be fun. 

---

SC Assassin can be very good if you use Vanishing Strikes (the invisibility of it doesn't break at all) and pair it with Gambit. For this to work really nicely you need as much INT as you can as well as items and consumables that prolong benefical effects. Because Vanishing Strike's invisibility is short you want to boost it as much as possible. It also scales with Power Level, so make sure to take Prestige. You also want to be very fast to be able to squeeze as many Gambit attacks into the invisibility phase as you can in order to profit from Assassinate and Backstab. Which needs high DEX. High accuracy and therefore PER is also good because you want to crit a lot (see Gambit refund).

A very fast setup is dual daggers with Pukestabber and Lover's Embrace under the influence of Alkohol (as resting food). Combine with Aegor's Swift Touch and that hood I forgot the name of and other gear that grants either action speed or recovery time cuts. An armor like Miscreant's Leather in combination with a pet like Abraham can be faster than no armor. 

When all is set up you will have a very rogue-like char with powerful single target damage. Perfectly suited to hunt down certain "high priority targets" and neutralize them quickly. 

[cuoms]

40 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

I have played all of those combinations (except instead of Assassin/vanilla Wizard it was a /Bloodmage and another time an /Illusionist). 

---

The best trick for the Assassin/Wizard is to use Arkemyr's Brilliant Departure and then cast super accurate debuff and disabling spells before finishing with a big damage spell. Because Arkemyr's BD gives you invisibility that doesn't break - unless you deal damage - you can cast all sorts of CC/debuff spells while staying invisible.

To stay more true to the Assassin theme you can also try to do backstabs with Concelhaut's Draining Touch (highest base dmg weapon in the game) from invisibility - but it's fiddly business...

---

Assassin/Bleak Walker (or any Paladin subclass) can be nice because you can stack 3 "neverending" damage-over-time effects: True Love's Kiss (from the Dagger Lover's Embrace) + Gouging Strike + Brand Enemy. From stealth you will use Gouging Strike with the Dagger, get Assassinate's 25 bonus accuracy, combined with the +5 accuracy from Daggers and +12 accuracy from one handed use. Very difficult to miss that one. Since attacks from stealth have -85% recovery time you can immediately follow up with Brand Enemy which his an auto-hit (so it cannot miss). You can then turn invisible and hide and wait until the enemy dies. This works with almost every enemy in the game, so it's a great tactic for solo. For a whole party imo an Assassin/Break Walker will become too boring if you just stick to that. But if you lean into the support role a little more and just take out the nastiest enemies of an encounter it can still be fun. 

---

SC Assassin can be very good if you use Vanishing Strikes (the invisibility of it doesn't break at all) and pair it with Gambit. For this to work really nicely you need as much INT as you can as well as items and consumables that prolong benefical effects. Because Vanishing Strike's invisibility is short you want to boost it as much as possible. It also scales with Power Level, so make sure to take Prestige. You also want to be very fast to be able to squeeze as many Gambit attacks into the invisibility phase as you can in order to profit from Assassinate and Backstab. Which needs high DEX. High accuracy and therefore PER is also good because you want to crit a lot (see Gambit refund).

A very fast setup is dual daggers with Pukestabber and Lover's Embrace under the influence of Alkohol (as resting food). Combine with Aegor's Swift Touch and that hood I forgot the name of and other gear that grants either action speed or recovery time cuts. An armor like Miscreant's Leather in combination with a pet like Abraham can be faster than no armor. 

When all is set up you will have a very rogue-like char with powerful single target damage. Perfectly suited to hunt down certain "high priority targets" and neutralize them quickly. 

 

Thank you! This is all super helpful. I think you may have sold me on the SC Assassin. 

 

[dgray62]

A forbidden fist monk/assassin MC is extremely powerful. With Tuotillo's Shield you are very sturdy and don't have to worry about the +15% damage malus, and you can disappear and do devastating damage from stealth when you wish.

[cuoms]

19 minutes ago, dgray62 said:

A forbidden fist monk/assassin MC is extremely powerful. With Tuotillo's Shield you are very sturdy and don't have to worry about the +15% damage malus, and you can disappear and do devastating damage from stealth when you wish.

That sounds like a cool combo, I haven't tried forbidden fist yet. How would you handle attribute points for it? From what I understand, Forbidden fist needs a good amount of resolve. 

[dgray62]

You want max RES. I usually keep STR and CON flat, and then put the rest of the points in to DEX, PER and INT. You don't need more than 15 INT, since you'll get +10 INT later from Turning Wheel. With forbidden fist, you really don't need to spend wounds. With max RES and Clarity of agony, you can use the FF attack once every few seconds, as soon as the curse expires. You don't need high STR because you get so much of a damage boost from transcendent suffering, sneak attack and death blows. DEX also doesn't need to be too high, but you don't want to dump it either. Something like 12-15 would be fine. Put the rest in PER.