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Rift Class Overview: The Assassin
Trion Worlds has sent MMORPG.com the latest class overview for Rift: Planes of Telara. This time, the Assassin is fleshed out with background lore and a peek at the strengths and weaknesses of this class. Assassins, as the name implies, will be specialists at sneak attacks and a well-placed shiv in the back.
By Guest Writer on August 17, 2010
“I breathe shadow, caress with fingers of razor-sharp steel, and weep tears of poison. Mine is the name of your sudden, messy death.”
Overview Masters of subtlety and subterfuge, an Assassin’s ability to walk in the shadows allows them to bypass obstacles and launch devastating surprise attacks. A rare few victims survive the initial assault, only to succumb to virulent poisons.
Strengths
Assassins are trained to meld with the shadows, bypassing defenses and launching potent surprise attacks with their poisoned blades.
Weaknesses
Assassins must choose their targets carefully, or wind up in desperate straits if they forfeit the element of surprise or attack a foe who can shrug off the venom from their blades.
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Background
The dwarf Veseslav grew up in the shadows of Hammerknell knowing one truth: the queen had killed his mother, and one day she would die for it. Veseslav’s father was King of Hammerknell, his mother one of the queen’s comely handmaidens. The jealous queen had the young woman murdered, but not before the child could be spirited away.
Veseslav was taken in by his mother’s brother, Bogdan, who made his living cutting short the lives of others. As Bogdan’s apprentice, Veseslav’s daggers became faster, his movements less detectable, his poisons deadlier than his uncle’s. The young dwarf developed a particularly nasty poison all his own, and named it Ursula, after the queen.
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All was joy at the grand feast to celebrate King Monimnier’s sixtieth birthday. Very suddenly, the queen’s face went pale, and she toppled over into her soup, convulsing, foaming at the mouth. Finally, she lay still, poison the clear cause.
But as the king’s elite guard hurried him to the royal chambers, one dwarf dropped like a stone. A figure materialized from the shadows, pulling his blade from the victim’s back. The warriors rushed in, but the assassin dodged their attacks, dealing cuts that bled profusely, and festered and boiled from terrible venom. Moving with the ruthless precision of a hawk after prey, he finished them with strikes to their vitals. Soon, the guards all were dispatched, leaving only the killer and the king.
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“I see myself in your face,” said Monimnier. “That isn’t possible.”
“And yet here I am,” Vaseslav growled. By the time the party was found, the king lay dead among his guards.
Veseslav was never seen again by mortal eyes, his only legacy a series of flawless assassinations involving a poison that all Telara now calls Queen Ursula.
Pretty cool back story. As for the class, it is a very similar concept as other "rogue" classes. But for some that is fine. I will definelty try it out. Especially since the Dev Diary where they discussed the soul trees.
If I wasn't so tired of fantasy games I'd give this one a try.
Anyway, pretty typical Assassin archetype but I have always enjoyed that playstyle. The character pictures there remind me somewhat of AoC.
man....the guy who wrote this story got me on the edge of my seat......who is this guy.....does he write books???
amazing.
Man, this game is a must buy for me.
I was thinking the exact same thing. That armour is very similar to some of the high-end assassin gear in AoC.
I'm with you on the fantasy burn out too. This game is looking like it might be excellent, but I won't be playing it come release. I am sick to the back teeth of fantasy MMO's and single-player RPG's.
Its not my normal class, and I doubt I would play with this soul. However, the story was interesting. A lot of people have been asking for a Rift book pre-release. I am definitely one of them after reading all these great back stories.
Yeah I'd like to sit down and read a book, that might be nice. certainly some good lore building up with this one.
I'm totally, going to be trying this game out. There is a lot of classes that I might actually enjoy playing with this game. I'll have to see how it goes, with this soul deal, I'm real interested to see how they works.
It's a woman. Morgan Lockhart (aka missdoomcookie) is the Lore Lead for the Defiant faction in Rift.
Looks great to me. With the soul stones his abilities will be a welcome addition to the thief class.
Loved reading all the backstories and lore. This is a must play game for me!
Great back story as always,Rift has everything to become a good MMO.
Its funny but when I think of Dwarves, nimble assassins do not readily come to mind.
This brought back memories of the Night Angel Trilogy. Nice back story and build up for the world.
This game looks promissing but nothing can be said until it is tested.
Anyway this would be my first test buy in mmos for 2011 then will follow tera and maybe starwars but im not sure about the last one.