Assassin

Assassin

Shadow

	Death is a banquet. It's up to the murderer to write the menu.

This page is about the Ascendancy class. For the Ascendant passive, see Assassin (Ascendant passive).

The Assassin is an Ascendancy class for Shadows.

Overview

The Assassin is a offense-oriented class centered around critical strikes. The class offers enhanced crits on full or low life enemies and enhancing their power charges. The Assassin can also incorporate poison with added synergy with critical strikes or give themselves an upper hand against solo enemies.

Passive skills

Minor skills

This class has the following minor passive skills:

Name	Stats
Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier	15% increased Critical Strike Chance +10% to Critical Strike Multiplier [1] [2]
Critical Strike Chance, Damage Over Time	15% increased Critical Strike Chance 10% increased Damage over Time [1] [2]
Critical Strike Chance, Elusive Effect	15% increased Critical Strike Chance 10% increased Elusive Effect [1]
Critical Strike Chance, Power Charge Duration	15% increased Critical Strike Chance 15% increased Power Charge Duration [1] [2]

Notable skills

The class has the following notable passive skills:

Noxious Strike

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

5% increased Poison Duration for each Poison you have inflicted Recently, up to a maximum of 100%
Recover 0.5% of Life per Poison affecting Enemies you Kill
40% chance to Poison on Hit [1]

Noxious Strike is a notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin. It grants added chance to poison. It also grants increased poison duration for each stack of poison applied recently up to a maximum of 100% and grants life recovery whenever a poisoned enemy dies, based on the number of poison stacks it had.

Ruthless mode

Noxious Strike (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

10% increased Poison Duration for each Poison you have inflicted Recently, up to a maximum of 100%

Noxious Strike in Ruthless mode does not grant chance to poison or life recovery on killing poisoned enemies. It grants a higher amount of poison duration for each poison inflicted recently.

Version history

Skill	Modifiers	Prerequisite	Preceding Passive

Version	Changes
3.23.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] The Assassin's Noxious Strikes Ascendancy Passive Skill now grants 10% increased Poison Duration for each Poison you have inflicted Recently, up to a maximum of 100% (previously 5%).
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] Noxious Strike: No longer provides "Recover 0.5% of Life per Poison affecting Enemies you Kill" or "40% chance to Poison on Hit" in Ruthless.
3.15.0	No longer grants 30% to damage over time multiplier for poison. Now grants 5% increased Poison Duration for each Poison you have inflicted Recently, Up to a maximum of 100%. (previously unlimited)
3.13.0	Now grants 30% to damage over time multiplier for poison (from 25%) Removed 50% increased Damage with Poison
3.8.0	No longer grants +0.1% to critical strike chance per poison affecting the enemy. Now causes you to recover 0.5% of your maximum Life per poison affecting enemies you kill. Also grants +25% to Damage over Time Multiplier for poison and 50% increased Damage with poison. No longer grants a chance to maim against poisoned enemies. [Undocumented This change was not documented by any official sources. It was discovered through player testing or datamining.]
3.2.0	No longer applies Bleeding. Chance to poison on hit no longer requires the enemy to be bleeding. Removed 30% increased Skill Effect Duration if you've Killed a Maimed Enemy Recently. Added +0.1% to Critical Strike Chance per Poison affecting Enemy, up to +2.0% and 5% increased Poison Duration per Poison applied Recently.
2.4.0c	Fixed a bug where the Noxious Strike Ascendancy Skill worked with spells also.
2.3.0	Unlisted change: Noxious Strike now grants 30% increased Skill Effect Duration if you've Killed a Maimed Enemy Recently
2.2.0	Introduced to the game.

Critical Strike Chance, Damage Over Time

Toxic Delivery

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

Poison you inflict with Critical Strikes deals 25% more Damage
+0.5% to Critical Strike Chance per Poison affecting Enemy, up to +2.0% [1]

Toxic Delivery is a notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin. It grants more poison damage to poison that was applied with a critical strike, and additional critical strike chance per poison on an enemy. As an offensive property, it applies to hits from your skills even when used by proxies.

Ruthless mode

Toxic Delivery (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

Poison you inflict with Critical Strikes deals 10% more Damage
All Damage with Hits can Poison

Toxic Delivery in Ruthless mode does not grant additional crit chance per poison affecting the enemy. Instead, it causes all damage types to contribute to poison (e.g. non-physical/chaos damage will scale poison). Note that the chance to poison is unaffected. It also grants a lower damage bonus for crit poisons.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.23.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] The Assassin's Toxic Delivery Ascendancy Passive Skill now causes Poison you inflict with Critical Strikes to deal 10% more Damage (previously 25%), and now grants "All Damage with Hits can Poison".
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] Toxic Delivery: No longer provides "+0.5% to Critical Strike Chance per Poison affecting Enemy, up to +2.0%" in Ruthless.
3.15.0	Now grants Poison you inflict with critical strikes deals 25% more Damage. (from 50%)
3.13.0	Now grants 0.5% to critical strike chance per poison affecting enemy (from 0.4%) Removed 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time Gain 20% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage against Poisoned Enemies
3.8.0	No longer causes you to recover 0.5% of your maximum Life per poison affecting enemies you kill. Now grants you +0.4% to critical strike chance per poison affecting the enemy, up to +2%. Now causes poisons you inflict with critical strikes to deal 50% more damage (from 30%).
3.2.0	Extra Chaos Damage now applies to poisoned enemies instead of bleeding enemies. Removed Bleeding you inflict on Maimed Enemies deals 30% more Damage. Added Recover 0.5% of your maximum Life per Poison affecting Enemies you Kill.
3.0.0	The Assassin's Toxic Delivery skill has been reduced to 30% more damage with Bleeding and Poison from Bleeding and Poison inflicted by Critical Strikes (down from 100%).
2.3.0	Unlisted changes: No longer grants increased Damage Over Time. Extra Chaos Damage now only applies against Bleeding enemies, is increased to 20% (up from 10%). Now causes Poison you inflict with Critical Strikes to deal 100% more Damage Now causes Bleeding you inflict on Maimed Enemies to deal deal 100% more Damage
2.2.0	Introduced to the game.

Noxious Strike Critical Strike Chance, Damage Over Time

Ambush and Assassinate

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

+40% to Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life
100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life
Critical Strikes have Culling Strike
15% more Damage with Hits and Ailments against Enemies that are on Low Life
100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Low Life [1]

Ambush and Assassinate is a notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin that grants more critical strike chance against enemies on full or low life, added critical strike multiplier against enemies at full life, and more damage with hits and ailments against enemies at low life. It also grants culling strike to critical strikes.

Ruthless mode

Ambush and Assassinate (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life
100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Low Life

Ambush and Assassinate in Ruthless mode does not grant a damage bonus against enemies on low life, crit multi against enemies on full life, or culling strike on crit.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] No longer provides "15% more Damage with Hits and Ailments against Enemies that are on Low Life", "+40% to Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life" or "Critical Strikes have Culling Strike" in Ruthless.
3.14.0	Now grants 15% more Damage with Hits and Ailments against Enemies that are on Low Life (previously 25%).
3.8.0	No longer grants 30% increased damage with hits against enemies that are on low life. Now grants 20% more damage (Multiplicative!) with hits and ailments against enemies that are on low life.
3.2.0	Added to the game.

Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier

Opportunistic

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

Damage from your Critical Strikes cannot be Reflected
20% reduced Damage taken while there are at least two Rare or Unique Enemies nearby
25% more Damage while there is at most one Rare or Unique Enemy nearby [1]

Opportunistic is a notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin. It causes your critical strikes to be unable to get reflected. It also grants more damage if there is one or no rare or unique enemies nearby or damage reduction if there are at least two rare or unique enemies nearby.

Ruthless mode

Opportunistic (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

20% more Damage while there is at most one Rare or Unique Enemy nearby
20% reduced Damage taken while there are at least two Rare or Unique Enemies nearby

Opportunistic in Ruthless mode does not prevent your damage from crits from being reflected and grants a lower amount of damage if there is only one nearby rare or unique enemy.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] No longer provides "Damage from your Critical Strikes cannot be Reflected" in Ruthless. Now provides "20% more Damage while there is at most one Rare or Unique Enemy nearby" (25% in non-Ruthless).
3.13.0	No longer grants 20% increased Movement Speed if you've Killed Recently. Now grants 20% reduced Damage taken while there are at least two Rare or Unique Enemies nearby (from 10%).
3.8.0	No longer grants 100% increased damage while there is only one enemy nearby, nor causes you to take no extra damage from critical strikes while there is only one enemy nearby. Now grants 20% more damage (Multiplicative! Again!) while there is at most one Rare or Unique enemy nearby. Also reduces damage taken by 10% while there are at least two Rare or Unique enemies nearby.
3.2.0	Added to the game.

Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier

Unstable Infusion

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

20% chance to gain a Power Charge on Non-Critical Strike
10% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike
+1 to Maximum Power Charges [1]

Unstable Infusion is a Notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin that grants a chance to generate a Power Charge on hit, with a higher chance on non-critical strikes, and increased maximum power charges.

Ruthless mode

Unstable Infusion (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

20% chance to gain a Power Charge on Non-Critical Strike
10% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike

Unstable Infusion in Ruthless mode does not grant an additional power charge; this was moved to Deadly Infusion.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] No longer provides "+1 to Maximum Power Charges" in Ruthless.
3.8.0	Now grants +1 to maximum Power Charges.
3.2.0	Now grants 10% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike. Chance to gain a Power Charge on non-Critical Strike increased from 10% to 20%.
2.2.0	Added to the game.

Critical Strike Chance, Power Charge Duration

Deadly Infusion

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

+5% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge
+1.5% Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges [1]

Deadly Infusion is a Notable Ascendancy passive skill for the Assassin that grants added critical strike multiplier per power charge, and additional base critical strike chance at max power charges.

Ruthless mode

Deadly Infusion (Ruthless)

Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill

+2% Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges
+1 to Maximum Power Charges

Deadly Infusion in Ruthless mode does not crit multi per power charge. Instead, it grants an additional maximum power charge. It also grants higher additional crit chance at maximum power charges.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.23.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] The Assassin's Deadly Infusion Ascendancy Passive Skill now grants +2% Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges (previously +1%).
3.22.0	[Ruthless-specific This patch note only applies to Ruthless mode and does not affect the main game mode.] Deadly Infusion: No longer provides "+5% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge" in Ruthless. It now provides "+1% Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges" (+1.5% in non-Ruthless), and "+1 to Maximum Power Charges."
3.13.0	Removed 10% increased Movement Speed while at maximum Power Charges
3.12.0	Now grants +1.5% Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges (from +2%) and +5% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge (from +8%).
3.8.0	No longer grants +1 to maximum Power Charges. Now increases movement speed by 10% while at maximum Power Charges.
3.0.0	Skill no longer grants +0.5% Critical Strike Chance per Power Charge. It now grants +1 to maximum Power Charges, and +2% to Critical Strike Chance while at maximum Power Charges.
2.2.0	Added to the game.

Unstable Infusion Critical Strike Chance, Power Charge Duration

Version history

Version	Changes
3.2.0	Ambush and Assassinate removed. Added Ambush and Assassinate and Opportunistic.
2.3.0	Swapped skill tree positions of Noxious Strike and Toxic Delivery.