Hexen II/Assassin

Assassin was born and lived with her parents in a big city in Mazaera (Mezo-America). Seeing her parents and other farmers trying to get harvest from poor jungle soil, she felt no sympathy to them, despising poor folk instead. Observing rich merchants, slavers, their bodyguards wearing gilded scimitars and other wealthy people, she learned that money is everything. At least, having money won’t let you die from hunger; hoping to harvest from a jungle soil probably may. That’s how a little girl became an Assassin. At first she was choosing her victims among drunkards, unaware people and other easy prey, so she made a small fortune. But the more money she was gaining, the more greedy and selfish Assassin was becoming. With Eidolon’s invasion she had no interest in defeating him for the fate of other people; she had a desire and an opportunity to lay her hands on the richest creature’s goods – the Serpentrider’s treasures.

Assassin is a brand new character who doesn’t have anything in common with Hexen classes, and requires some skill to use her abilities and Glyph of Ancients at full force. Good thing is that she has weapons for each situation: katar for close quarters, crossbow for long-range combat, grenades for medium-range combat. It’s said in the official manual that Assassin prepared her katar and her crossbow when she moved out for Eidolon, but she starts with only katar and needs to find a crossbow later in the game.

Abilities

 * Hide in Shadows (level 3) makes you invisible in shadowed areas after a few seconds of standing still. Moving will make you visible until you stop in the shadows and wait for a few seconds again. As your level increases, you need less time to hide (reducing it to 0 at some point), and giving you an opportunity to move in shadows unnoticed. This ability doesn’t work against monsters that have already spotted you.
 * Backstab (level 6) increases your damage with katar when you strike an enemy from behind. The damage increases when you gain levels, so at some point you will be able to slay weaker foes with a single hit. You can even backstab an enemy who is aware of your presence, but it requires some skill and a slow target.

Weapons

 * Katar is your basic weapon with a nice damage and speed. With the Tome of Power its damage in increased, and it also pushes targets backwards.


 * Hand Crossbow is a very precise weapon for long range combat (but can be useful in close combat as well). It fires 3 fast bolts which auto aim on the target. When powered up, it fires 5 bolts instead of 3.


 * Grenades must be used with caution since they bounce around and can even hurt you. When the grenade hits the target or after a few seconds it creates and explosion. While the Tome of Power is active, after the first explosion there will be a set of smaller ones. Very useful against groups of enemies, and you cal also throw grenade around the corner, staying out of enemies’ sight.


 * Staff of Set consists of 2 parts. When you combine (pick up) both parts, you receive a staff which fires a single projectile towards the target. It can be powered up by pressing the attack button and releasing it to fire a shot, but it will also use more mana. When you power up this weapon with Tome of Power, it will fire multiple shots, cutting weaker monsters into pieces.

Glyph of the Ancients
Assassin uses this artifact to set traps. When you throw it, it will stick to the surface, and right after that a chain will protrude to where you were standing, so step aside quickly (setting traps in narrow corridors might be a problem). When someone (including you) crosses the chain, or when there is an object (other that a wall) the chain is touching, an explosion will occur. It usually requires some skill to use Glyph of Ancients since you need to make enemies attack you first, then to lure them into your traps; or you may place a few traps to kill a patrolling monster if you’re good at sneaking.

AC
The best armor piece for Assassin is Bracers, while she benefits least from the Helmet.