Favorite Assasin Caster?

[EndEver]

What is your favorite Assasin Catser? Pure caster or multi-classed.

(Spell-based Assasin not Assasin who kills casters)

Just looking for some inspiration

[JNAProductions]

Do you mean someone who kills casters, or someone who is a caster and an assassin?

[EndEver]

Do you mean someone who kills casters, or someone who is a caster and an assassin?

Caster and Assasin. I’ll edit it to clarify, thanks :)

[clash]

1) Deep stalker ranger. Pass without trace, extra attack on opening round. Lots of goodies here.

2) Hexblade warlock, improved crit range + ability to smite on full casting progression is fantastic.

3) Dex Paladin with pair of daggers. using twf. At level 2 can hit twice and smite on both hits for 1d4 + 2d8 + 4 + 1d4 + 2d8 ~ 24.5 dmg.

[EndEver]

1) Deep stalker ranger. Pass without trace, extra attack on opening round. Lots of goodies here.

2) Hexblade warlock, improved crit range + ability to smite on full casting progression is fantastic.

3) Dex Paladin with pair of daggers. using twf. At level 2 can hit twice and smite on both hits for 1d4 + 2d8 + 4 + 1d4 + 2d8 ~ 24.5 dmg.

Didn’t even think about smiting with daggers, that sounds awesome. Did the stealth work okay with your Paladin? I assume you went medium armour

[WeaselGuy]

There are a couple different ways you can go with this one. Off the top of my head, I can think of 4.

1) Sorcerer. Doesn't really matter the type, really, but Shadow Sorcerer has some neat stuff to do with hiding and operating in the dark. Take control spells, like Dominate Person, Hold Person, and Suggestion. Drow would get you some bonus cantrips, and native Darkvision, and Criminal would get you the proficiencies needed to really solidify that archetype. Tabaxi might also be a good choice, or, as usual, Variant Human, for the feat.

2) Arcane Trickster, on the Rogue chassis. You've got the skills from Rogue, combined with some casting. Same races as above would apply here as well.

3) Wizard, same basics as the Sorcerer, don't really know what school to go with on this one. Bladesinger would give you more melee prowess, Enchantment would give your CC spells a bit more oomph.

4) Hexblade would operate in the same fashion, getting in, striking hard, and getting out.

Overall, I think I'd personally lean towards a Tabaxi Criminal Shadow Sorcerer. Sneak in, convince your target that it's totally a good idea to drink this totally not poisonous vial of liquid, and then get the heck out of dodge before the authorities arrive.

[EndEver]

There are a couple different ways you can go with this one. Off the top of my head, I can think of 4.

1) Sorcerer. Doesn't really matter the type, really, but Shadow Sorcerer has some neat stuff to do with hiding and operating in the dark. Take control spells, like Dominate Person, Hold Person, and Suggestion. Drow would get you some bonus cantrips, and native Darkvision, and Criminal would get you the proficiencies needed to really solidify that archetype. Tabaxi might also be a good choice, or, as usual, Variant Human, for the feat.

2) Arcane Trickster, on the Rogue chassis. You've got the skills from Rogue, combined with some casting. Same races as above would apply here as well.

3) Wizard, same basics as the Sorcerer, don't really know what school to go with on this one. Bladesinger would give you more melee prowess, Enchantment would give your CC spells a bit more oomph.

4) Hexblade would operate in the same fashion, getting in, striking hard, and getting out.

Overall, I think I'd personally lean towards a Tabaxi Criminal Shadow Sorcerer. Sneak in, convince your target that it's totally a good idea to drink this totally not poisonous vial of liquid, and then get the heck out of dodge before the authorities arrive.

I am drawn to the sorcerer more and more. I thought it was considered weaker because of less spells know but it still seams really fun. Just trying to figure out AC. Almost thinking divine soul, maybe get some Spirit Guardians action going if it goes south.

[clash]

Didn’t even think about smiting with daggers, that sounds awesome. Did the stealth work okay with your Paladin? I assume you went medium armour

Started medium and eventually swapped it out for light to get better ac (17 as opposed to 16) once dex is maxed.

[Daithi]

Hexblade warlock with Mask of Many Faces --- Arya Stark with magic.

[EndEver]

Hexblade warlock with Mask of Many Faces --- Arya Stark with magic.

Didn’t even think about that! That’s awesome!!!

[carrdrivesyou]

Just about any warlock with eldritch blast (agonizing + eldritch spear), along with mask of many faces, and the spell sniper feat would be able to snipe anything from the hilltop across the street behind the neighbors house; or just walk in disguised as someone who belongs there and blast someone in the face.

Otherwise, I would recommend the whispers bard. Just vicious mockery them to death while hiding in a crowd. Because it's only verbal components, you're just some dude talking to himself or talking in a group of people.

[Sexyshoeless]

Druid man. No one stops a sparrow to interrogate it as it flutters into a keep. Hang out in spare rooms to recover wild shapes as needed until you are a spider in the target's bed room. When they sleep, you can drop all SORTS of nastiness on them, from Geas, to hold person + stab stab stab, to conjuring a herd of cows to sit on them as they sleep, to flooding their bed room, setting it on fire, stone shaping the structure until they fall through the floor/out of the castle, etc. ALl of this can be facilitated with good old pass without trace for extra sneakiness. Try finding a sparrow, mouse, or spider with a 10+ proficiency + dex stealth modifier :3.

I once proposed an entire terrorist effort in a campaign - skywrite to intimidate our targets, water spells like tidal wave to damage their shipping, animal friendship to send swarms of rats into their businesses, etc.

It's hard to beat a druid in terms of pure chaos that can be caused.

[WeaselGuy]

I am drawn to the sorcerer more and more. I thought it was considered weaker because of less spells know but it still seams really fun. Just trying to figure out AC. Almost thinking divine soul, maybe get some Spirit Guardians action going if it goes south.

I almost forgot, most of the reasoning behind sorcerer was the metamagic. Subtle spell will help get those spells off without alerting your target to your presence.

[EndEver]

Druid man. No one stops a sparrow to interrogate it as it flutters into a keep. Hang out in spare rooms to recover wild shapes as needed until you are a spider in the target's bed room. When they sleep, you can drop all SORTS of nastiness on them, from Geas, to hold person + stab stab stab, to conjuring a herd of cows to sit on them as they sleep, to flooding their bed room, setting it on fire, stone shaping the structure until they fall through the floor/out of the castle, etc. ALl of this can be facilitated with good old pass without trace for extra sneakiness. Try finding a sparrow, mouse, or spider with a 10+ proficiency + dex stealth modifier :3.

I once proposed an entire terrorist effort in a campaign - skywrite to intimidate our targets, water spells like tidal wave to damage their shipping, animal friendship to send swarms of rats into their businesses, etc.

It's hard to beat a druid in terms of pure chaos that can be caused.

The terrorist plot sounds gold. I do love being unnoticed as an animal

[Corran]

What is your favorite Assasin Catser? Pure caster or multi-classed.

(Spell-based Assasin not Assasin who kills casters)

Just looking for some inspiration
A gloomstalker ranger can imitate an assassination round and gets access to some good spells. It's also a solid class for creating a good ranged dpr.

I like the idea (mechanics wise) of a rogue(assassin)3/hexblade17.
Assassinate, pact of the blade, improved pact weapon, thirsting blade, eldritch smite and banishing smite (before that, branding smite), will give you good surprise rounds. Warlock gets access to many spells and to some invocations that will be useful for an assassin (obviously greater spellcasting potential than if you were a gloomstalker ranger but that's to be expected). Problem with this multiclass is that it wont be as useful as a gloomstalker ranger during battle (but personally I like it more for an assassin with spell juice for backing up assassinations/infiltration and the like).

[clash]

Druid man. No one stops a sparrow to interrogate it as it flutters into a keep. Hang out in spare rooms to recover wild shapes as needed until you are a spider in the target's bed room. When they sleep, you can drop all SORTS of nastiness on them, from Geas, to hold person + stab stab stab, to conjuring a herd of cows to sit on them as they sleep, to flooding their bed room, setting it on fire, stone shaping the structure until they fall through the floor/out of the castle, etc. ALl of this can be facilitated with good old pass without trace for extra sneakiness. Try finding a sparrow, mouse, or spider with a 10+ proficiency + dex stealth modifier :3.

I once proposed an entire terrorist effort in a campaign - skywrite to intimidate our targets, water spells like tidal wave to damage their shipping, animal friendship to send swarms of rats into their businesses, etc.

It's hard to beat a druid in terms of pure chaos that can be caused.

I had a player who played almost this exactly except multi-classed with rogue as I ruled that they could use sneak attack with any natural weapon that used dex

[EndEver]

A gloomstalker ranger can imitate an assassination round and gets access to some good spells. It's also a solid class for creating a good ranged dpr.

I like the idea (mechanics wise) of a rogue(assassin)3/hexblade17.
Assassinate, pact of the blade, improved pact weapon, thirsting blade, eldritch smite and banishing smite (before that, branding smite), will give you good surprise rounds. Warlock gets access to many spells and to some invocations that will be useful for an assassin (obviously greater spellcasting potential than if you were a gloomstalker ranger but that's to be expected). Problem with this multiclass is that it wont be as useful as a gloomstalker ranger during battle (but personally I like it more for an assassin with spell juice for backing up assassinations/infiltration and the like).

Yeah I keep eyeing gloomstalker... love your idea with Warlock splash to it

[ruy343]

If you want to be fun and Subtle with it, a sorcerer with subtle spell and disintegrate would be interesting. Just touch them as you cast to avoid having a bright green line appear. They wouldn't even know where to look to find their ashes if you brought a broom.

Alternately, if you take out high-toughness targets on a semi-regular basis, an evoker wizard could overchannel their disintegrate and REALLY get the job done.

[Nhorianscum]

Some guy with downtime, gate, and glyphs of warding.

[Yunru]

Sorcerer.
Distant Spell Meteor Storm.

[Dr. Cliché]

Sorcerer.
Distant Spell Meteor Storm.

With a range of 1 mile, do you really need Distant Spell?

If anything, I'd be tempted to use Subtle Spell instead. :smallbiggrin:

[Citan]

What is your favorite Assasin Catser? Pure caster or multi-classed.

(Spell-based Assasin not Assasin who kills casters)

Just looking for some inspiration
Hi!

My first idea would actually be Arcane Trickster: Expertise in Stealth and bonus action in Hiding definitely help, and Magical Ambush paired with a Hold Person, if not insta-win, can still make it roll great up in your favor. Reliable Talent at level 11 is great if you want to be able to set up murders in a large array of sitations. But you are lacking quite a few magic tools for high-end targets.

My second idea would be Sorcerer, specifically Shadow Sorcerer: between Subtle to set up ambushes or hightail in case your plan fail without being spotted, and the lvl 6 Hound that imposes systematic disadvantage on saves, considering access to some high level (including Disintegrate or -Extended- Delayed Blast Fireball) you are a big deadly force. But the small number of spell known and the otherwise lack of defensive / expertise tools can make it difficult in some situations.

My third idea would be Druid, Moon Druid specifically: the early widened array of creatures makes it much easier for you to hide in plain sight as an innocent animal. You get many great spells for fast travel, stealth and perception. Level 10 Elemental forms bring yet other ways to come by unnoticed (especially Earth Elemental). But you lack decisive offense to try instakills.

My fourth idea would be Open Hand Monk, for Quivering Palm, but that is kinda out imo since it means you start being a great assassin at level 17 (plus it's not really a caster).

So, one of the best caster assassins would probably be...
Arcane Trickster Rogue 9
Moon Druid 3
Shadow Sorcerer 6
Distribute the last two levels however way you like. :)
You still don't have any high level spells, but you otherwise get mostly everything you need: stealth (Expertise, Pass Without Trace, Subtle), perception (Expertise, Enhance Ability, some Locate spells, Detect Magic, Dispel Magic), resilience (Quicken Mirror Image, Healing Spirit, Evasion, Healing Words, Shield, Absorb Elements), mobility (Longstrider, Cunning Action, Fly/Haste) offense (Sneak Attack, Booming Blade, Shadow Blade), skills (Enhance Ability) makes you a pretty very beautiful jack of all trades, before even taking into account everything you can enhance with Wild Shape. ;)


To be fair there are many other ways to build a great assassin.
You could try to get on the best side of a Disintegrate with Wild Magic or Portent.
You could build upon a melee Elven Accuracy insta-kill (Tempest Cleric's maximized damage + Booming Blade + Whisper's Bard bonus damage as an Action Surge on an enemy paralyzed by a Magical Ambush's Hold Person is very, very heavy, and you can do this many times a day).
You could build a Bladesinger dedicated to assassinate and using all tools at disposal (including Simulacrum).
You could mix Fighter's Action Surge, Grave Cleric's "impose vulnerability to next damage instance", and aforementioned ways of nova + smiting (Paladin / Warlock).

And those are the obvious, "raw" methods. I'm pretty sure there are many spells that could be used in creative ways, even allowing you to simply "create unlucky accidents". XD


Sorcerer.
Distant Spell Meteor Storm.
This is not called an assassination.
This is called a genocide.

Disqualified for mass-overkill (worst thing? You won't even "one-round-shot" many high CR creatures).:smallbiggrin::smalltongue:

[EndEver]

Hi!

My first idea would actually be Arcane Trickster: Expertise in Stealth and bonus action in Hiding definitely help, and Magical Ambush paired with a Hold Person, if not insta-win, can still make it roll great up in your favor. Reliable Talent at level 11 is great if you want to be able to set up murders in a large array of sitations. But you are lacking quite a few magic tools for high-end targets.

My second idea would be Sorcerer, specifically Shadow Sorcerer: between Subtle to set up ambushes or hightail in case your plan fail without being spotted, and the lvl 6 Hound that imposes systematic disadvantage on saves, considering access to some high level (including Disintegrate or -Extended- Delayed Blast Fireball) you are a big deadly force. But the small number of spell known and the otherwise lack of defensive / expertise tools can make it difficult in some situations.

My third idea would be Druid, Moon Druid specifically: the early widened array of creatures makes it much easier for you to hide in plain sight as an innocent animal. You get many great spells for fast travel, stealth and perception. Level 10 Elemental forms bring yet other ways to come by unnoticed (especially Earth Elemental). But you lack decisive offense to try instakills.

My fourth idea would be Open Hand Monk, for Quivering Palm, but that is kinda out imo since it means you start being a great assassin at level 17 (plus it's not really a caster).

So, one of the best caster assassins would probably be...
Arcane Trickster Rogue 9
Moon Druid 3
Shadow Sorcerer 6
Distribute the last two levels however way you like. :)
You still don't have any high level spells, but you otherwise get mostly everything you need: stealth (Expertise, Pass Without Trace, Subtle), perception (Expertise, Enhance Ability, some Locate spells, Detect Magic, Dispel Magic), resilience (Quicken Mirror Image, Healing Spirit, Evasion, Healing Words, Shield, Absorb Elements), mobility (Longstrider, Cunning Action, Fly/Haste) offense (Sneak Attack, Booming Blade, Shadow Blade), skills (Enhance Ability) makes you a pretty very beautiful jack of all trades, before even taking into account everything you can enhance with Wild Shape. ;)


To be fair there are many other ways to build a great assassin.
You could try to get on the best side of a Disintegrate with Wild Magic or Portent.
You could build upon a melee Elven Accuracy insta-kill (Tempest Cleric's maximized damage + Booming Blade + Whisper's Bard bonus damage as an Action Surge on an enemy paralyzed by a Magical Ambush's Hold Person is very, very heavy, and you can do this many times a day).
You could build a Bladesinger dedicated to assassinate and using all tools at disposal (including Simulacrum).
You could mix Fighter's Action Surge, Grave Cleric's "impose vulnerability to next damage instance", and aforementioned ways of nova + smiting (Paladin / Warlock).

Man, there’s a lot more options than I thought. DnD is more flexible and fun by the day

[Talionis]

Warlock 3+/ Barbarian Eagle Totem 6/ Sorcerer X. — You are a Sniper firing Eldritch Blasts from ridiculous distance

Warlock for Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Spear and an Imp or Quasit that can be an invisible spotter. Use the Minor Illusion cantrip to create a blind to fire from. Take more levels if you want an other Invocation or ASI. Get proficiency with Stealth as a Skill.

Barbarian 6 Eagle Totem for the ability to see at any distance and the Spell Sniper feat and proficiency with Nature helps to live off land and camp out waiting to take your shot.

Sorcerer for Meta Magic Distant Magic. Skulker feat and max Charisma.

[Talionis]

Another option is Assassin 3+/ Hexblade Pact of Blade 3 or 5/ Whisper Bard 10 or Bard 14

Assassin for expertise in Stealth and auto critical from Assassinate and generally good with skills More levels for ASIs or Sneak Attack damage.

Warlock for Charisma to Attacks, Eldritch Smite, Branding Smite, Pact Weapon allows you to use a magic bow or crossbow as your Warlock Pact Weapon. Branding Smite allows you to push damages through even on ranged attacks possibly turning high level spell slots into large amounts of damage. More levels can get Life Drinker for a second attack at level 5 and the ASI could be helpful.

Whisper Bard gets basically sneak attack damage off its Inspiration and high level spell slots, not to mention great at skills and infiltration. The spells here are great for social interaction. The sneak attack damage goes up at 10 and 15 so those are the break points for that but level 14 is the capstone for Whisper Bard which can be exceptionally useful but could be traded for an additional attack and ASI for some more Warlock levels.

So this character does some decent mundane damage but adds a lot of damage from Smites and from inspiration which can be all to the same attack and automatically doubling all of it off the Assassination ability. All that damage plus super good at skills and access to the Bard spells that are loaded with social skills and illusions to gain access and make exits.

[OracularPoet]

Warlock 3+/ Barbarian Eagle Totem 6/ Sorcerer X. — You are a Sniper firing Eldritch Blasts from ridiculous distance

Warlock for Eldritch Blast, Agonizing Blast, Eldritch Spear and an Imp or Quasit that can be an invisible spotter. Use the Minor Illusion cantrip to create a blind to fire from. Take more levels if you want an other Invocation or ASI. Get proficiency with Stealth as a Skill.

Barbarian 6 Eagle Totem for the ability to see at any distance and the Spell Sniper feat and proficiency with Nature helps to live off land and camp out waiting to take your shot.

Sorcerer for Meta Magic Distant Magic. Skulker feat and max Charisma.

+ Aspect of the Moon so never have to sleep. Just for the patient sniper angle that is fun, but also opens up Coffeelock shenanigans.

[TheUser]

Subtle spell lets you make assassinations from as early as level 3 and you can make them all look like accidents or frame other people. There's really no competition.

Does the target have low hp? Phantasmal Force to have them start choking on illusory acid, or some haunting spectre of past transgressions sucking the life from them (heart attack?).

Subtle suggestion to have others do your dirty work for you while using disguise self so you are never implicated.

Better yet, get the target to write their own suicide note with subtle suggestion before using subtle Sleep and toss them from a window or rooftop.

Higher levels? Telekinesis to drop masonry on them. Subtle Polymorph before tossing them into a lava pit/200ft drop. The possibilities are endless really.

As far as I'm concerned no other caster even comes close because by definition anybody within 60ft of you that can see you casting a spell knows that you are (thanks for that counterspell) unless subtle spell is being used.

Meanwhile, with subtle, even if your spell fails the target has no idea you were the one who cast it.

[Citan]

Subtle spell lets you make assassinations from as early as level 3 and you can make them all look like accidents or frame other people. There's really no competition.

Does the target have low hp? Phantasmal Force to have them start choking on illusory acid, or some haunting spectre of past transgressions sucking the life from them (heart attack?).

Subtle suggestion to have others do your dirty work for you while using disguise self so you are never implicated.

Better yet, get the target to write their own suicide note with subtle suggestion before using subtle Sleep and toss them from a window or rooftop.

Higher levels? Telekinesis to drop masonry on them. Subtle Polymorph before tossing them into a lava pit/200ft drop. The possibilities are endless really.

As far as I'm concerned no other caster even comes close because by definition anybody within 60ft of you that can see you casting a spell knows that you are (thanks for that counterspell) unless subtle spell is being used.

Meanwhile, with subtle, even if your spell fails the target has no idea you were the one who cast it.
Thanks for those examples of using manipulation spells to stage murders as suicides.

[Yunru]

With a range of 1 mile, do you really need Distant Spell?

If anything, I'd be tempted to use Subtle Spell instead. :smallbiggrin:

*Raises eyebrow*

Meteor wipes out opposition

[Citan]

*Raises eyebrow*

Meteor wipes out opposition
Depends. :)

[Dr. Cliché]

Thanks for those examples of using manipulation spells to stage murders as suicides.

Phantasmal Force is the new Death Note.

[sophontteks]

Another fun example of sorcerer assassination.
Subtle cast enemies abound on a zealous opponent in the middle of a public event. Grab some popcorn.

[carrdrivesyou]

Another fun example of sorcerer assassination.
Subtle cast enemies abound on a zealous opponent in the middle of a public event. Grab some popcorn.

If this doesn't scream chaotic neutral, I don't know what does lol

[nickl_2000]

I feel like Arcane Trickster would also work very well for this. You get invisibility options, cantrips for utility, expertise, sneak attack novas, can plant explosives/other volatile materials on a person at level 3, and at level 9 you get magic ambush to make your spells more likely to stick

[R.Shackleford]

What is your favorite Assasin Catser? Pure caster or multi-classed.

(Spell-based Assasin not Assasin who kills casters)

Just looking for some inspiration

Ok, my favorite Assasin Caster actually doesn't have a lick of stealth.

Weird, right?

V Human Charlatan or Criminal Cleric 3 (Trickery) / Sorcerer X (any)

Disguise kit is needed. Deception training will be needed unpess you grab prodigy.

Level 1 feat: for overkill go with the prodigy feat that gives you double prof in a skill of your choice (deception) but otherwise grab Actor. If you grabed the other feat, grab the Actor feat as soon as possible (level 4). Advantage + double prof = win.


So, the deal is to give an ally advantage on stealth rolls and let them do the sneaking while you pretend to be someone you're not. You win. You keep people distracted. You then use subtle spell to command a creature to flee, drop, or generally be weird. This shows your ally who the target is.

You can do other things, you got a good spell list after all.

Basically, keep the attention on you and then your friend (rogue) will be your sneaky weapon..

[EndEver]

All of these are so great, I don’t even have the space to reply to them haha. Really considering subtle meta magic now and Druid spider terrorists.

[TheUser]

All of these are so great, I don’t even have the space to reply to them haha. Really considering subtle meta magic now and Druid spider terrorists.

My advanced sorcerer guide from a while back hypes up Subtle spell to no end.

I'm a little annoyed my second sorcerer guide (advanced) hasn't made it into the class guides section on this forum.

I like to think it does a good job of explaining why subtle spell is an S-tier metamagic of the sorcerer compendium.

[TyGuy]

I'm addicted to gishes so I'd consider swords bard.
Expertise for stealth, maybe thieve's tools or disguise kit. Fighting style & extra attack. Blade flourishes to help with mobility & defense. The bard spell list is pretty good for being an assassin, but there's also magic secrets to fill in what's missing.

Maybe a sorcerer dip for subtle spell meta, but I don't like missing out on higher level spells.

Dex/Cha class works great for cliche assassin race options like Drow or Tiefling (Dispater or Glasya bloodline)

[EndEver]

My advanced sorcerer guide from a while back hypes up Subtle spell to no end.

I'm a little annoyed my second sorcerer guide (advanced) hasn't made it into the class guides section on this forum.

I like to think it does a good job of explaining why subtle spell is an S-tier metamagic of the sorcerer compendium.

Oh what’s the name of your guide? I’m still new to GitP so I’m not sure how to find it

[EndEver]

I'm addicted to gishes so I'd consider swords bard.
Expertise for stealth, maybe thieve's tools or disguise kit. Fighting style & extra attack. Blade flourishes to help with mobility & defense. The bard spell list is pretty good for being an assassin, but there's also magic secrets to fill in what's missing.

Maybe a sorcerer dip for subtle spell meta, but I don't like missing out on higher level spells.

Dex/Cha class works great for cliche assassin race options like Drow or Tiefling (Dispater or Glasya bloodline)

I haven’t had the chance to play a Gish yet but I really want to. I’ll take another look at swords bard. Also heard whispers bard is good

[TyGuy]

I haven’t had the chance to play a Gish yet but I really want to. I’ll take another look at swords bard. Also heard whispers bard is good

Whispers would make a fun assassin as well. But as far as making a gish goes, the swords has the edge. Pun was not intended, but I'm leaving it... :P

[R.Shackleford]

Subtle Spell is the most powerful single ability in the game. It has so much variety in its applications. The only feature that comes close would be Expertise, which is just broken. Subtle Spell is so good but balanced that I want to see a subclass dedicated to subtle spell...

Well, I know my next project...

Always take subtle spell if given a chance.