Assassin (character class)

The Assassin is a character class common to many role-playing games, often but not always representing the historical Assassin or Ninja. Such characters typically combine combat ability with strong stealth skills, and specialise in defeating an enemy without becoming involved in a protracted melee. Assassins first appeared in many role-playing games including Dungeons & Dragons and its rivals, which influenced later appearances in video games. In many of these, the Assassin class is only available to the player after having advanced in another class, such as the Thief.

History

The Assassin class was first introduced in role playing games in the Blackmoor supplement to Dungeons and Dragons in 1975.[1] It was introduced at the same time as the similar yet distinct Thief class. In its original incarnation, the Assassin class was a sub class of the Thief. Later iterations of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop RPGs featured the Assassin as a standalone class. The first MMORPG to feature the Assassin class by name is Ragnarok Online[2] in 2002.

Avalon: The Legend Lives released in 1989 [3] is an on-line text based multi-player role playing game notable for being the first to introduce fully developed professions and skills released the Assassin specialisation as a crowning skill during 1999[4]. Unintentionally following the earlier Dungeons & Dragons Thief advancement model. It later introduced a specific Assassins Guild which split from its Thief Guild in 2005[5].

Game Mechanics

High Damage and Critical Hits

Assassin classes usually have attacks that cause a high amount of damage in a short amount of time. This type of damage dealing is often referred to as burst damage by players. Typically, once the Assassin player expends resources during the offensive, the player is left defensively vulnerable and unable to continue the offensive until said resources are regained, hence the "burst" moniker.[6][7] Also, Assassins have a chance of scoring something known as a critical hit, which is when an attack made by the Assassin does significantly more damage than normal.[8][9][10] The critical hit is a common game mechanic in the RPG genre, varies from game to game, and is usually implemented into every character class, but Assassins are usually given traits and abilities that make them more likely to score critical hits, furthering their ability to deal out burst damage.[7]

Damage over time

In addition to the burst damage concept, the Assassin class is often designed with another mechanic known as damage over time. This is damage that slowly depletes the enemy's health without the Assassin physically attacking the enemy. This is most commonly achieved through poison and bleeding mechanics.

Incapacitation

One major factor of the Assassin class is their ability to interrupt the enemy, or forcing the enemy to stop its current action and often rendering the enemy defenseless, or otherwise incapacitating the enemy. For example, in the game Guild Wars, the Assassin class is given a lot of techniques that either interrupt the opponent instantly or knock the opponent down. Also, in the game World of Warcraft, the Rogue class is given the ability to stun and remove the opposing player's ability to retaliate at all. In many games, while the opposing player is incapacitated, the Assassin player is often able to continue with offensive actions.

Weapons

In many portrayals, the Assassin class is often restricted to using weapons that are small, lightweight, and often concealable. Many weapons associated with real-world historical assassinations are used with Assassin classes, such as daggers, throwing knives, shortswords, fist weapons, bows, and pistols. Additionally, some games allow the player to make poisons to be used with the weapon. These weapon types often compliment the in-game story elements of the Assassin class. Also, one common mechanic in the RPG genre is the strength associated with the size of the weapons. Smaller weapons typically do less damage and larger weapons do more. Due to how the Assassin class is structured in alignment with the "burst" damage concept outlined above, many game designers only allow them to use the smaller weapons in an attempt to preserve balance.

Stealth

A hallmark of the Assassin class is that they have the capability of and excel at acts of stealth. Usually, game mechanics use an Assassin's stealthiness as a form of engagement, allowing the Assassin to engage the target and cause damage before the enemy can realize it. This is often achieved by granting the Assassin abilities that allow them to be invisible or hard to detect and abilities that allow the Assassin to approach the target quickly. Also, the Assassin's stealthiness is used to perform thievery, espionage, or other acts of subterfuge in the context of the game's storyline.

Defense

The Assassin class is often given armor with low protection value. In-game, the armor is typically made of a lightweight material such as leather. This reflects on real-world assassins, who often wear lightweight protection in order to preserve mobility. This also serves as a game balance mechanic. Additionally, the Assassin class may be given evasive techniques in order to attempt break away from an offensive engagement.

Roles

In-game lore and plot

Despite the context of its namesake, the Assassin class is not necessarily always portrayed in an evil alignment. They are seen in a variety of ways in in-game universes and can fill a number of character archetypes including the thief, the rogue, the ninja, and if female, the femme fatale.

Multiplayer

In MMORPGs with a PvP mode and other RPGs with a multiplayer mode, Assassin classes are usually the physically attacking "glass cannon". They will often be used to attack soft targets and avoid encounters that could potentially run longer than the Assassin can last for.

Examples of Assassins in computer games

References

See also

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