Each crit chains into the next — sustained crit streaks melt single targets.
"They never see the second cut."
When a Rogue reaches level 10 and you select Assassin, three things change permanently:
Shadow Strike: Strikes a random enemy for [ATK × 2] (before armor). Critical hits refund 3 ticks of cooldown, enabling rapid chains.
Assassin grants the following ability score bonuses on top of the Rogue base scores:
These bonuses stack with ability score points allocated from levelling. They cannot be removed without retiring the hero.
Critical hits refund attack-timer ticks, enabling a rapid follow-up swing — the refund starts at 2 and decays along a streak of consecutive crits until it runs dry, then resets on a non-crit.
This passive is always active during combat — no gear or skill tree investment required to trigger it.
Crit (Deathmark, Kill Cascade bridge), Chaos (Kill Cascade, Soul Forge).
See the Skill Tree deep dive for the full 119-node reference and routing advice, or the Rogue build guide for a complete path recommendation for this class.
Both subclasses unlock at level 10. Compare them to choose:
| Assassin | Poisoner | |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Each crit chains into the next — sustained crit streaks melt single targets. | Strikes hit lighter, but every auto deepens a ramping toxin on the target; Venom Cloud spreads AoE poison and chill. The slow death wins long fights. |
| Stat Bonus | +2 Dexterity, +1 Agility | +2 Agility, +1 Intelligence |
| Details | This page | Poisoner page → |
The choice is permanent — use a Scroll of Divergence consumable to re-select without retiring the hero.