Rogue Assasin

[Bulix]

I am currently playing a Tiefling Rogue, just started with that character...
At what level should I become an Assassin?

Thanks :smallsmile:

[Roguenewb]

ASAP. You want that juicy spellcasting as early as possible. Assassin is a shockingly good PrC, considering how silly it seems. As a benefit, if you leave after 5 of rogue, you get max sneak attack.

Remember not to take Assassin 10, that last level costs you a whole level of SA progression, in trade for a single 4th level spell.

Rogue 5/Assassin 8/Unseen Seer 7 is shockingly good. Assassin 9 and Unseen Seer 7 give the same SA die, but Unseen Seer gives a total of one more BAB, more skill points, at the cost of a tiny bit of save bonus and a -1 to DC of Death Attack (but you aren't really in Assassin for DA). Unfortunately, you end up with 15 level Assassin casting...which doesn't exist. Your CL for hunter's eye (which you should take) is 17, which is cute. If you take practiced spellcaster (Assassin), it's 21 (which is 7d6 extra SA dice for a total of 16d6 SA, which is solid).

In general, 5 levels of Spellthief would let you dip more out of all the caster levels than rogue, but frankly, spellthief is such a mixed bag anyway.

[vhfforever]

I personally prefer Rogue 3 / Ranger 2 as a lead-in to Assassin. You lost 1SA but gain 2 Feats, +1 BAB, and an average of two additional hit points. Trade out Tumble for Ride (Cityscape) and Track for Urban Track (UA) if you want, and you barely even lose any mobility while gaining functionality.

[eggs]

What Roguenewb said about getting in fast. Assassin is awesome (assuming 3e, not Pathfinder).

Assassins can do nasty things if you find a way to rack up lots of attacks (natural weapon and throwing builds get especially hilarious).

[Dusk Eclipse]

Death Attack can be optimized to the point the save isn't trivial (High Int, Assassin's Dagger, Ability focus, debuffing saves, etc) the part that makes it bad is that you need 3 rounds to set it up; but there is a 4th level spell (thus wand-able) that lets you make a Death Attack on the same round, pretty spiffy in my opinion. And the Psionic Assassin adaptation is quite nifty too (check the Iron Cheff Assassin round to see what I mean.)

[gorfnab]

I am currently playing a Tiefling Rogue, just started with that character...
At what level should I become an Assassin?

Thanks :smallsmile:
What is your build so far? (feats, class levels)
What books do you have access to?
Are you more interested in the Assassin class or the concept of an Assassin character?

For an Assassin (using the Assassin class) I usually recommend
X 5/ Assassin 9/ Telflammar Shadowlord 6

X 5 can be 5 levels of Rogue or a mix like Rogue 3/ Ranger 2, Rogue 2/ Swashbuckler 3, Rogue 3/ Swashbuckler 1/ Whirling Frenzy Spirit Totem: Lion Barbarian 1, Rogue 3/ Hit-and-Run Tactics Fighter 2, or Swordsage 5