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Recently I read about an Assassin class, and I'm intrigued. I'm not very familiar with it yet, but I'm wondering what weapon best suits an Assassin? I mean, from a roleplaying point of view I would pick the dagger or katar, but from a damage output perspective what is the best weapon for an Assassin?

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what is your goal for this character? Are you looking for a class of weapons, or a specific enchantment? What level? – wax eagle Sep 17 '12 at 19:18
Creating a new character, thinking what weapon type to choose for beginning and what weapon type to stick to – Guard No. 67 Sep 17 '12 at 19:21
btw I'd strongly recommend looking into the executioner or reflavoring a thief. The assassin's shroud mechanic is really difficult to make work well. – wax eagle Sep 17 '12 at 19:27
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Keep in mind that as an Assassin with a Ki focus, you can use pretty much any weapon while keeping the same enhancement bonus/properties/powers. What you're proficient in still comes into play but there's nothing stopping you from carrying a couple of different weapon types for different situations (at least unless you start taking weapon specific feats) so don't feel bad about experimenting early. – Lunin Sep 17 '12 at 22:44

1 Answer

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Because the assassin has access to the Ki focus, enchantment is left to the ki meaning your only selection is in the weapon die and properties you'd like it to have.

Things you should be thinking about

  • Weapon die size: how big of a punch do you want to pack, and what is it going to cost you to pack that big of a punch?
  • Weapon proficiency Bonus: How much of an impact with taking a +2 weapon over a +3 weapon make on your accuracy (do the DPR calculations and figure it out, don't leave this to hypotheticals).
  • Feat/Power support: While a lot of your feat support should focus on the ki focus, if you've got some specific things in mind for a specific weapon group then you should choose weapons in that group.
  • Variety: You probably have the ability to quickly switch weapons, maybe you want that Glaive for reach, but sometimes need the accuracy of the rapier or the punch of the flail. This is the kind of versatility granted by a ki focus, take advantage of it.
  • Story/Character reasons: think about your character, what kind of weapon do you picture him with? Is he the type to be bristling with blades and weaponry? or is he more subtle and favor easily concealed weapons? Does it change from battle to battle? This is probably the major source of your weapon choices (since most of your special stuff is driven by your ki focus).

By default as an assassin you get access to

  • Military heavy and light blades
  • Simple one-handed melee
  • Simple ranged

There is a pretty extensive list of weapons here, particularly in the heavy and light blades (rapier, falchion, broadsword, glaive, longsword, greatsword). I'd start with grabbing a couple from this list (definitely rapier/long sword and probably a glaive, maybe a greatsword just to have a nice punchy option). Then grab an item or two off the simple one handed melee list, although most of the options are trumped by heavy blade options, however if you've got a story or feat/power issue that would provide a good reason to take something off the simple one handed-melee list, go for it.

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