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Halfling Assassin

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Cygnus
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Halfling Assassin

Post by Cygnus »

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about starting a game with a Halfling Assassin but am worried about being able to max out Find Traps and Open Locks as well as Hide in Shadows and Move Silently so I can take advantage of the Assassin's awesome backstab. I know a halfling thief gets the following bonuses with 19 dex:
OL: +35
FT: +20
MS: +40
HS: +35

And I know an assassin gets 15 points per level. I don't know how many points a thief starts with.

Therefore: 35+20+40+35+(x*15)=400
x = 18

So an Assassin will not be able to max out those four abilities until level 18? That seems high. Does an Assassin start with more than 15 points to distribute? Any thoughts?

Cygnus.
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Thomas
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Post by Thomas »

You get 30 points to distribute on the first level as a thief but don't worry so much about maxing out quickly. The ring of lockpicks is available very early in the game, held by a traitor shadow thief right by the shadow guilds backdoor entrance, and boost open locks by 25%. The ring of danger sense is in the locker nearby the "golem engine" where you stuff the demons heart and boost trap detection by 25%.

Boots of stealth and shadow armour are both gained by doing the quest for Bloodscalp and boost both move silently and hide in shadow.

I recommend that you take it easy with the points and instead use the various thieving boosting potions in the game until you can get these items. You WILL max out quickly enough as a single class thief, especially if you don't walk around with a full party. And a true assassin works alone, no? Image
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GrimReaper
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Post by GrimReaper »

How do you start out as a soloing assassin though? With such a crappy thac0 I can barely hit anyone, and you only get two attacks to backstab or else you leave shadows. I keep getting killed very early in the game (I always die in the fights that you get in between the districts). So how do you start? Do you import a higher level character? You could but I find it more fun to start from the lower levels. So just explain it to me because I like assassins, I just can't get started.
Lars the GrimReaper, all powerful hacked sorcerer of the Shadow Mages.

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Nighthawk
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Post by Nighthawk »

A little bit cheap, but this helps you get started soloing:

At the vendor above Gaelens, buy several potions of Master Thievery or Perception, use them until your pickpockets is >150 or so, then steal anything else you can use.

Immediately go visit Roger or the Thieves, staying to the shadows if you visit Roger...do the sell/rebuy/sell with the Helm of Balduran or a +1 Full Plate until you have around 100k gold.

Head over to he adventurers mart and pickpocket the ring of regeneration then buy the Girdle of Strength 19, Bracers of AC3, Mercykiller Ring, best available weapon of your choice, any available rings/potions of invisibility, etc. Head over to Copper Coronet and do the same.

For street fights you can usually run from them until you get stronger. Even the one where you can get the +2 short sword I would suggest only killing the wielder, grabbing the sword, then running...and then only if you're using short swords.

Remember you can duck through doors or around corners, then quickly hide even if being chased. The 5 Flagons (Bard) quest is very challenging as a solo thief, but worth it for the boots.

Fights you can prepare for get much easier if you use a few traps.

Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by Nighthawk (edited 02-05-2001).]
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Cygnus
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Post by Cygnus »

Thanks for the info guys!

So it seems the correct formula is:

30+35+20+40+35+((x-1)*15)=400
x = 17

With the Mercykiller ring (+20MS +20HS), Ring of Danger sense (+25FT), and The Night's Gift (+20HS) (I probably wouldn't wear any boots except the boots of speed) the formula would be:

30+35+20+40+35+20+20+25+20+((x-1)*15)=400
245+((x-1)*15)=400
(x-1)*15=155
x-1 = 10.333
x = 11.333
x=11 1/3
So at level 11 you could have:
FT=100
OL=100
HS=100
MS=95
Level 11 comes pretty quick when you are a thief. I guess that disproves the theory that an Assassin can't be a good thief. I think I've decided on my next character.

-Cygnus
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