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.
A Assassin put through the Bloodline Forge leaves a Legacy Item carrying this passive — at the level 50 cap: 40% chance to apply Bleed on hit. The number scales with the hero's level at forge time, and any hero can equip the item.
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.