Improve assassins

[Xietor]

obviously people wanting better assassins have not seens ea abysia!

Also it is not like MA Pythium or MA Ermor, off the top of my head, need to even more powerful.

[HoneyBadger]

EA Abyssia isn't really that good...their flying assassins are Cap only, and not that tough. Certainly no danger to a Jotun (non Niefel) Jarl, or an unequipped Basalt King or Queen. If they were non-Cap sacreds that didn't have to bless themselves, and maybe had some magic, they'd be a threat, but as it stands, they're more of a nuisance in the EA, atleast to a lot of EA Nations.

[Sombre]

Well the idea is that assassins generally suck, which I believe they do, and improving them would be a good thing.

Magical remote assassins are a bit different though. Making earth attack et al more powerful is probably not a good idea. Then again the gem cost could always be hiked, or magical assassinations could have a different rule.

While regular assassins could be kitted or scripted to deal a horrible amount of damage on that first turn, the fact is you can always patrol against them, you can employ bodyguards and because the assassin can't pick his target, they can still be stopped with decoy commanders or the presence of a thug or two that can beat them. Then there's mind hunt and various other spells and tactics you can use against them.

You might even see use of boots of long strides. Madness.

[HoneyBadger]

It should be mentioned, Xietor, that under Sombre's suggestion, EA Abyssian assassins *would* actually be significantly better than they are now, due to their flying ability

[capnq]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Is it always that way? Positioning the assassin doesnt change that?

Like any other combat, currently defender always moves first.

I recently had an assassination where the Ermoran target cast Raise Dead on the first round, then my Abysian Demonbred flew across the battlefield and landed between the Death mage and the newly raised Soulless...

..and then turned and attacked the Soulless behind him rather than the target mage in front of him.

[SlipperyJim]

Lanka has a pretty good summonable assassin. He's not SC material. He won't take on an army by himself or anything. But he's pretty good.

The only odd thing about him is that he's Sacred without any actual Holy magic. In a normal battle, you could get one of Lanka's (many) commanders with Holy magic to bless him. However, in an assassination, you're fighting all alone. Therefore, no bless.

It's enough to make me want to either mod away the Sacred status or mod in a #onebattlespell Blessing. Guess which path I chose?

[MaxWilson]

Well, even if he isn't blessed, it does make him cheaper to maintain. And it's thematic. And it lets him carry the Ark in assassinations without getting hurt by it.

-Max

[SlipperyJim]

Originally Posted by MaxWilson

Well, even if he isn't blessed, it does make him cheaper to maintain. And it's thematic. And it lets him carry the Ark in assassinations without getting hurt by it.

-Max

He's a blood summon, so he's probably free. But cheaper upkeep is a good general point.

As for your other point, I have only this to say: Give an artifact to an assassin? Madness!

(Which makes Sombre's point....)

Back to the OP: I like the idea of assassins getting a free round (or several) of combat. Very thematic.

[Agema]

I don't think the idea of assassins is that they dash in and murder anything. They can be useful without being successful at killing, simply by being disruptive. Assassins are best at killing unguarded characters, they can even kill a human-size HP mage with not awful odds (mages scripted for battle are often ill-prepared for assassination, especially communioning ones.)

Keeping many commanders and mages alive means bodyguards - not just on armies where their function is particularly vital, but possibly all researchers too. Those troops will be unavailable for frontline duties, and will also cost upkeep probably greater than that the assassin(s). For that matter, one assassin that does successfully damage a vital commander or mage can be the difference between a won and lost battle.

[Illuminated One]

One nice addition to assassin would be if they could give you some info on the commanders present in a province like spies do with armies.