This page is currently a work in progress and has not been fully updated for the recent Assassin changes (except for the history & stats section).
First introduced in Build 104, the Assassin is a mid-range fighter who poisons groups of enemies, damaging them over time. Assassins have long been known for combining their dagger with the long range, hit and run tactics. In Exalt version 3.0.0.0, he saw a major overhaul: poisons now boost weapon damage, while various stats have been adjusted. See his stat gains, caps, and averages here.
The Assassin excels at both mid range and extremely long range combat. He has the best offenses of any Dagger class, 60 attack and 75 dexterity. Assassins also have the highest MP of all non-robe classes, at 305, which helps with using the long ranged poison. Otherwise, they are fairly archetypical leather classes, with a natural 65 speed (higher than all non-dagger classes) and medium armour.
Tiered daggers are very simple, but respectable, options.
The Dagger of Foul Malevolence, Dagger of Sinister Deeds, and Dagger of Dire Hatred are the highest tiered daggers available. Their decent range allows Assassins to stay a bit further back, while having a little more defense than an ordinary robed class. Dire Hatred stands on top, but is a soulbound Oryx’s Sanctuary drop.
The Spirit Dagger, found in Davy Jones’ Locker is functionally similar. It has a slightly lower range and a “wavy” pattern, but deals more average damage than the T12 dagger. The damage range is very wide, but the overall DPS should average out.
The Corruption Cutter from the Cursed Library carries the unique trait among daggers of firing two shots. Its strange shot pattern gives it a ~ 25% range decrease, and is quite risky to use, but technically has the highest DPS against low defense enemies, making it viable even in endgame (provided you’re with someone that can inflict 
Armor Broken on enemies).
The Symbiotic Ripper from The Crawling Depths fires quickly in exchange for lower average damage and a slow shot speed. This makes it difficult to hit fast enemies, but you can use this property to lead your shots against enemies on a set path. This dagger can be seen as an alternative to the T12 Dagger of Foul Malevolence.
The Queen’s Stinger from The Nest is unique in that it pierces both multiple enemies and defense at the same time. In exchange, it loses out on raw DPS and range. An alternative to the Queen’s Stinger is the Bone Dagger from the Manor of the Immortals, as it is easier to obtain but has worse average damage and loses the ability to pierce enemy defense. For mob clearing or against high defense, there’s few better options available.
The Etherite Dagger and the Dirk of Cronus sacrifice range for great damage output. They are more difficult to use in dangerous situations, but very valuable once an Assassin is comfortable with it. Etherite has a very short range of 3.84 tiles. It drops from the Haunted Cemetery, and has a weaker tradable legacy version. The Dirk of Cronus drops from the Cube God, and is extremely rare; you may want to use it on a dagger class more suited for it.
The Carved Golem Remains boasts a large range of 6.3 tiles, in return for sacrificing some of it’s damage. While on the weaker end, this dagger can still get the job done; the Assassin may benefit heavily from the ability to safely stay back while tossing poisons.
Avarice from Oryx’s Sanctuary is possibly the strongest dagger avaialble, with insane damage and superior range. The only downside to this dagger is its firing pattern, spreading shots that converge at maximum range (similarly to the Sword of the Colossus). Other than its rarity and endgame exclusive status, that is.
When you use his special ability, the Assassin lobs a vial of poison at the location of your cursor. This poison takes time to land (0.8 sec for tiered); enemies caught take damage over time. In addition, enemies inflicted with the Assassin’s poison take more damage from his weapon while they are poisoned, incentivizing an aggressive playstyle for DPS over a “hit-and-run” playstyle. Poisons are great at taking out groups of enemies and wearing down bosses alike. As the Assassin’s poison ability moves up the tiers, the range, total damage, and MP efficiency improve, but the damage is spread out over a longer time period.
You can quickly run forward and catch a lot of enemies’ attention, then run back the way you came. The enemies will clump up straight into your position as they chase you, so you can sit back and watch them die. Depending on your speed stat vs the monsters’ running speed, you may need to adjust where you throw the poison. Play around with it until you’ve got the timing down.
If you aren’t quite a good enough judge of where to aim the poison while running, or if you prefer to play off-center (set a hotkey to switch between center and off-center in the options), and don’t have much space on the screen to aim in front of yourself while running, then you can aim the poison right at your character and stop moving for just a second, then resume running. You might take a hit here or there, but you’ll have better control over the enemies’ movement and should be able to hit more of them with your poison.
Assassins can also fire over walls and setpieces, dealing damage from absolute safety. While few dungeons have these, setpieces and Quest Monsters do.
The Nightwing Venom/Baneserpent Poison/Necrofish Poison are decent generalist poisons. Tiered poisons are easy to use and carry solid damage, making them very good options for clearing groups of enemies. If a better suited poison isn’t available, they still work well at just about anything.
The Murky Toxin is a potent midgame UT found in the Toxic Sewers. There are 2 simultaneous detonations - the first doing the majority of the damage, but having a tiny 2.5 range. In exchange, it deals more damage than tiered posions (up to T6), and gives a further +3 ATT and DEX. If you have good aim, this is a very strong poison for bosses.
The Plague Poison from the Haunted Cemetery has nearly double the range, but double the throw time of a tiered poison. While very slow, it is about as MP efficent as any tiered poison. It is great against large clusters of enemies, such as in the Godlands.
Virulent Venom, also found in the Toxic Sewers, deals all its “poison” damage immediately on landing. Additionally, when you get hit, a poison will automatically be thrown at your attacker for no MP cost, but with a 6 sec cooldown. This poison is great for when waiting is an issue, or with the full ST set.
The Parasitic Concoction is the poison belonging to the Flesh Collector ST set, dropped by the Nightmare Colony. This poison might have lackluster damage, but it inflicts 
Curse; when playing solo or without a Mystic, the 25% DPS boost to your weapon or other players can be far more valuable.
The Bottled Medusozoan is a very unique “poison” which throws out a stationary Cnidarian that pulses out damage in an area around it over time; it is also the only poison that respects armor. This tends to be a very situational but strong item, best against groups of lesser enemies and stationary bosses. Additionally, you can only have one out at a time. It is obtained from the Royal Cnidarian.
The Crystallised Fang’s Venom (Pogmur) deals pitiful damage for a poison, but inflicts the Armor Broken status on enemies, a massive increase for group DPS. In addition, it gives a great +4 DEX / +4 ATK buff. However, it is difficult to use, with a range of 4 tiles and a 1.5 second throw time. It is also very rare, dropping from the Crystal Worm Father of the Dwarf Miner Event. This poison works well in tandem with the aforementioned Corruption Cutter, an effective dagger against low-defense enemies.
The Polarity Poison outdamages every single other poison in the game. The orange primary bomb not only does massive damage over time, but the blue secondary bombs are also great for damage in addition to providing utility with their 3 second Slows. This poison is a must-have for both utility and damage, with its only downsides being that it is a rare drop from The Shatters, a very difficult endgame dungeon, and that it lacks the armor breaking effect of Pogmur.
The Hydra Skin Armor, Wyrmhide Armor, and Leviathan Armor are the best tiered leather armors, providing decent damage and DPS alike. As the tiers rise, so does the stats and difficulty to acquire.
These armors greatly increase the Assassin’s rushing capabilities.
The three Beehemoth Armors dropping from the three Beehemoths are leather armors that prioritize mobility. They give +5 SPD in exchange for DEF and DEX, giving the Assassin mobility and some rushing capability.
Meanwhile, the Turncoat Cape from Treasurer Gemsbok is a complete upgrade. It not only gives more def and double the SPD, but it also has a proc that turns the wearer invisible when taking 30+ damage. This armor much greatly enhances the Assassin’s rushing capabilites, with the only problem other than its DEF and DEX decrease being its difficulty in obtaining it, as it drops from an endgame miniboss.
These leather armors are great for boosting general survivability.
The Armor of Nil is arguably the best defensive leather armor in the game. A rare drop from the Void Entity, the Armor of Nil gives a whopping +26 DEF, but has no offense and -3 SPD. An Assassin already attacks and moves fast, so these nerfs might not be noticable.
On the other hand is the Luminous Armor, an ST leather armor from the Crystal Cavern. Instead of DEF, it gives a whopping +200 HP. While HP is generally better for survivability than DEF, the huge loss of DEF can hurt the Assassin. However, most shots in endgame content already do lots of damage or armor pierce, so HP can still be useful on the Assassin.
The Harlequin Armor dropping from the Puppet Master’s Theatre is a great leather armor for the Assassin. It sacrifices survivability for utility, providing less DEF for more MP, letting the Assassin throw more poisons.
The Leaf Dragon Hide Armor and Vest of Abandoned Shadows focus on defense, great for Assassins up close. The former gives +15 DEF on ability use, while the latter gives 
Armored while shooting In Combat, though both have long cooldowns. They each have +50 HP, though the later-game Vest has slightly more DEF and gives a sublime +15 VIT. Leaf Dragon drops from the much easier Limoz the Veridian Dragon, while the Vest drops from various minions within The Shatters.
Health Rings are great for improving overall survivability. The Ring of Unbound Health and Ring of Decades provide very large increases to HP, +180 and +190 respectively. They can be good for improving the Assassin’s survivability in general.
While less used, the Ring of Unbound Defense can still be beneficial on an Assassin. As the class has 25 DEF, and has shorter range requiring it to get closer to enemies for damage, a DEF boost is more beneficial to the class than other, more high DEF classes.
Since the Assassin’s poison consumes a high amount of MP, some players may seek more MP focused rings, such as the Ring of Unbound Magic, Sourcestone, The Twilight Gemstone, and Ring of the Sphinx. MP can also act as a psuedo DPS booster, as the poison can deal heavy damage given enough time. The Ring of Unbound Magic provides roughly 1-2 more poison throws with its high MP boost. Meanwhile, the Sourcestone from the Void Entity is more balanced, giving both HP and MP, meaning it should be used for when you want a balance between survivability and utility on your Assassin. The Twilight Gemstone not only provides +110 MP, giving one more poison throw, but it also reduces your MP cost, along with a few bonuses to mobility and defense. Finally, the Ring of the Sphinx gives a simple +100 MP along with +4 to both ATT and DEX, making it useful for people who want a balance between DPS and utility.
These rings provide a more balanced playstyle. The Omnipotence Ring (Omni) gives a balanced spread of small bonuses to all stats, which can be good for people who want a well rounded Assassin. Meanwhile, the Bracer of the Guardian focuses more on HP, MP, DEX, and DEF. Finally, the Divine Coronation (Coro) is considered more offensive than the Bracer, giving more HP, less MP, more ATT than DEX, and a little less DEF. Bracer may be preferred over Omni since the loss of WIS, VIT, and SPD may seem negligeble as very small losses. Coro could also be preferred for its higher DPS stat bonus, and willing to accept the loss in MP.
Both The Forgotten Crown and Magical Lodestone provide excellent stats for general DPS increase. While Crown may offer HP, which is generally considered better than DEF, DEF is still beneficial on the Assassin due to the class’s low DEF cap. Also, the SPD increase is nice for increasing the Assassin’s mobility. Crown is of course beaten by the Chrysalis of Eternity, but is much harder to get and may be less preferable to Lodestone’s stats.
The Exalted God’s Horn from Oryx the Mad God 3 is a more focused DPS increasing item, having more HP than The Forgotten Crown while still having a decent DPS boost. It works well on the Assassin due to the range of his poison, allowing him to do damage from afar while gaining even more survivability.
The Assassin has good damage output, with 60 Wis and poisons supplementing decent offensive stats. With your high speed, you can often succeed by darting in, quickly damaging a target, and darting out. Even without a Priest backup, an Assassin can solo many events this way.
However, like the other dagger classes, he lacks the long range of staff/bow users and the defense of sword users. Furthermore, the Assassin does not have the invisibility of the Rogue, or the decoys of the Trickster, so survival is heavily reliant on the player’s skill in dodging all projectiles that come your way. Moreover, without healing, you need to be patient enough to back off from fights for a minute to recover some HP. Otherwise, you will find your Assassin dead much sooner than expected.
A fresh Assassin sports great speed/dex, as well as much more atk/wis than a Rogue. But as the Assassin relies on medium range weapons and dodging skills, they have it harder . The Assassin can still function with a hit-and-run tactic, but it is tough without speed.
An Assassin’s capped stats are great for its purposes. His 75 Speed allows him to quickly run in, toss poison, and escape without spending much time taking fire. He also has a high 60 Attack, along with 75 Dexterity, which gives him decent damage output for a dagger class. A good 60 Wisdom allows him to get back on his feet if he misses a lob of poison.
Assassins trend more towards an independent role, as tiered poisons give no special boost to a group. In group settings, getting soulbound damage is generally very easy: 2-3 Nightwing lobs are enough to get an easy gear from bosses like O2. In the godlands, the Assassin’s AOE is more helpful, excelling with cleaning clumps of monsters.
As for dungeon bosses, the Assassin needs to time his poison effectively. Poison will not affect the dungeon boss if they are under a period of invulnerability. A mistimed poison can completely waste his MP when another opportunity opens up. Meanwhile, with a Crystallised Fang’s Venom, Assassins are incredibly useful to a group (massively increasing damage output).
Whether solo or adventuring with friends, the Assassin has a fun play-style and an ability that takes only a little bit of practice to master. The Assassin can deal high damage to several groups of enemies, without much effort needed, and can get himself easy soulbound damage. Recommended for those who want a challenge that can still yield rewards, and those doing PPE challenges.
