Assassin Cross Builds, From cookie-cutters to unorthodox

Introduction: Rebirth of the Assassin

The Heritage Patch brings with it New Skills and the much-awaited Skill Buffs. With these, the Assassin Class is opened to new builds ranging from the Classic cookie-cutters to the unorthodox but still viable ones.

This thread will be solely dedicated for Assassin Cross Builds. Stat Builds, Skill Builds and build usage etc. - the works. Anybody with a viable,working and/or innovative build can have their builds included in this thread for further reference for all of pROSins.

Post up and discuss!

Soul Destroyer Assassin Cross

Build rationale:
The Soul Destroyer build is in fact, a build that concentrates mainly on the skill Soul Destroyer. It is a build heavily based on Int and Str (attack) as these are the main factors that will determine the Soul Destroyer damage. Coupled with a few other buffed Classic Assassin skills like Sonic Blow, Venom Splasher, Poison React, Cloak and Venom Dust, this build is far from what you would call a “one-trick-pony”. This build is specially designed for long-ranged combat, with ambush-type strategies in mind. Straying from the traditional way of building Assassin-type classes of Ragnarok Online, the build focuses mainly on its damage factor and relies heavily on stealth skills to evade enemy fire. While a little hard to level-up at first, this build pays off in the end with big interests and staggering results.

Sample Stat Build (w/ Equipment):

Sample Equipment
Headgear: Crown/Erudite Cap + Evil Ears
Armor: Chainmail of Desert / Deadly Chainmail
Weapons: Double Hurricane Haedonggum x 2
Garment: Immune Manteau
Shoes: Green Boots
Accessories: Earrings of Muscle / Earrings x 2

Sample Skill Build:

Build Application:

Build specialty: PvP

• Long-range attacks
• Secondary Damage skill (Sonic Blow)

The build uses Sonic Blow and Venom Splasher as secondary damage skills. Sonic Blow is used for Pneuma camps and Venom Splasher for guerilla tactics. EDP can be used for Sonic Blow to further increase its damage, and also for Emp Breaking in WoE. While not the primary Emp-Breaking build of SinX's, the Soul Destroyer build can slap on a Triple Critical Jur + EDP and still break Emps a little faster than the typical 'Natural Critical' Assassin.

This Soul Destroyer build relies mostly on stealth skills to evade damage rather than Agi, emphasizing more on offense. Cloak is used often to escape mobs or heavy fire. Cloak 5+ is recommened for the walkspeed boost. Poison React can be used as a countermeasure for Soul Destroyer's after-cast delay. Poison React can still activate while the delay is active. Grimtooth is not so much emphasized as this build has slower attackspeed and Grimtooth is attackspeed-dependent.

SD Builds don't always equate to 99 base Int. With the introduction of the House Auger and consideration of a secondary Melee skill build, it's much more effective to balance your offense and defense. A build with 99 Int may level faster earlier, but in the end it's just a slight boost in damage - something that the Str part can always compensate for. If you plan on getting low Dex or a Spell-Sword SD SinX (just for kicks ) then 95+ Int is okay. For general SD SinXs, Int ranging from 85~ 95 is just enough.

There are other defensive Agi-Vit builds that also use Soul Destroyer who also hybrid-ize their skills, turning them into... well, Hybrids. Having the 'best of both worlds' - Attackspeed/Melee and Ranged capabilities they can quickly adapt to most situations. While lacking in firepower compared to pure builds, they make up for it in versatility. Other builds also incorporate Meteor Assault into their arsenal, giving the Soul Destroyer Assassin Cross more mob-control capabilities.

This build can fully utilize the perks of the Evil Druid Card - along with the +1 Int/Def, you become immune to Freeze and Stone Curse. The downside of course is being prone to Turn Undead, Offensive Heal, Sanctuary etc.

Over all, the Soul Destroyer Sin X build is a good and solid build. Its forte is in PvP where range is a big factor. It does fairly in WoE with all the reductions and does average in MvPing. There are many ways to harness the abilities of this build like using the Fireblend and the Ice Falchion in conjunction with Soul Destroyer, or timing multiple Venom Splashers with a few good Soul Destroyer shots. With a heavy-Int based Stat build, you can heal for around 250~300 HP per cast with a Heal Clip. You won’t need to sit down and regenerate your SP too much as Soul Destroyer costs only 30 SP per cast. If needed, this build can slap on a Carded Buckler to last longer in tight situations and still be able to do massive amounts of damage. If you are the kind that enjoys long hours in PvP, this build is for you.

Melee SinX:
Emp Breaker/Attackspeed Assassin Cross

Build rationale:
The choice between Attackspeed and Damage was always the topic of debate among Assassins regarding Emp Breaking. Now with the coming of Enchant Deadly Poison, where damage is boosted 4 times at max level, the Assassin Cross can opt to have both fast Attackspeed and big Damage. This build can use Sonic Blow effectively with a total of 70 Dex, using at most a Double Ancient Bloody Jur to hit extreme Flee targets.

Sample Stat Build (w/ Equipment):

Sample Equipment
Headgear: Headband of Hyper + Evil Ears
Armor: Extra Chainmail (PvM/PvP) / Unfrozen Formal Suit (WoE-Emp Break)
Weapons: Infiltrator/Double Bloody Critical Jur
Garment: Mocking/Immune Manteau
Shoes: Green Boots
Accessories: Ring of Counter x 2/Ring of Muscle x 2

Sample Skill Build:

Build Application:

Build specialty: WoE - PvP

• Emp Breaking
• Crit-locking/Hit-Locking
• Pre-cast breaking (Grimtooth/Meteor Assault)
• Good Hit Rate/Minimum Damage for Melee Skills

This Assassin Cross build can work with a wide range of Weapons from different Daggers to Katars. This build can attain an attackspeed of 180 with Awakening Potion + Increase Agi and 181 by drinking a Deadly Poison Bottle. Using Sidewinder-compounded Katars can simulate 190 Attackspeed with Double Attack. You can Crit-lock Vit/Int Priests not because of the attackspeed alone, but because of the damage per second you deal that they need to stop and Heal everytime to prevent death.

70 Dex means around 50% reduced cast time for either Meteor Assault and/or Venom Splasher. Having 70 Dex also means that you can use 1~2 Mummy Cards and be able to hit almost anybody in PvP. Meteor Assault, Grimtooth, Envenom - all will benefit from the high Hit rate.

Right Hand Mastery at level 5 to retain 100% Right Hand damage when Dual-Wielding. Leveling at monsters with low Def like Fur Seals require you to use Elemental Daggers + Quad Racials to deal optimal damage so the build patterns its skill build after it.

Grimtooth and Meteor Assault are both used for mobbing purposes. With the new buffs on Grimtooth, mobbing monsters like Alarms is now made easier as you deal a lot more damage than before.

Cloaking is at max so that you can quickly go in and out of battle with the Increased Walkspeed buff.

The EDP-Attackspeed Build is truly a force to be reckoned with in WoE as it capitalizes on Melee Physical Attacks - this is not reduced in WoE unlike Physical Skills, Ranged Skills and Magic Attacks. Any Emp should break in a matter of seconds due to the fast attackspeed and damage delivered and even faster if this build gets hold of the infamous House Auger a.k.a. Icepick / Needle.

In PvP, its fast attackspeed and damage will surely eat up the enemy's HP bar in a few swings.

Deadly Poison Bottle making is around 50%~60% with 70 Dex and 31 Luk (w/o Buffs and Forging Equipment). With Marionette Control and Pure Luk Gears, the build can attain an 80% Deadly Poison Bottle brewing success rate.

Melee SinX:
MVP Assassin Cross

Build rationale:
MVP has always been a great way to compete with other people in pRO. Toning down its Flee and Attackspeed for more HP, the MVP Assassin Cross tries to retain his damage per minute while giving him more survivability - because to get MVP, one has to deal damage and take the most damage, and take damage the Assassin Cross can. Heritage Jobs get a +30% boost to their Max HP/SP and the Assassin Cross is no exception. A 1 Vit Build at level 99 has around 8k+ total HP. A 60 Vit build at level 99 can easily attain 13k HP w/o Peco Peco Armor.

Max damage dealt + max damage taken = MVP for the win

Sample Stat Build (w/ Equipment):

Sample Equipment
Headgear: Headband of Hyper + Evil Ears
Armor: Extra Chainmail / Chainmail of Ares
Weapons: Elemental/Racial Jurs, Daggers
Garment: Mocking/Immune Manteau / of Rogue
Shoes: Green Boots
Accessories: Ring of Counter x 2/Ring of Muscle x 2

Sample Skill Build:

Build Application:

Build specialty: PvM - PvP

• MVP-competitive
• PvP (EDP + Skills)

The build emphasises the need to deal out damage (90 total Str) and the need to get hit (60 total Vit) for MVP-ing purposes. The build uses an Immune Garment or a Garment of Rogue to lower its Flee to be able to recieve damage. Enchant Deadly Poison will play a big factor in MVP-ing as it's what the Assassin Cross will rely on most of the time to deliver insane amounts of damage.

Poison React can also be used - this is useful when the goal is to deal as much damage as possible in a short period of time. Poison React only activates when you are hit and this build is specially designed to get Hit by MVPs (and at the same time being able to withstand it - 60 Vit). EDP+Envenom will deal a considerable amount of damage worth counting for MVP's, and worth being feared in PvP. Venom Dust is aptly placed at skill level 1 for instant-Poison-purposes.

Katar Mastery/Advanced Katar Mastery and Right Hand Mastery are maxed out to enable maximum damage output for whatever the weapon choice - Katar or Dagger. Sonic Blow will be the primary instant-damaging skill that the build will use and Grimtooth as a secondary for those MVP's with pesky mobs.

In PvP, this build will be able to last longer (60 Vit) and be able to carry more Potions (74 base Str).

Since this build is designed for MVP hunting, it will have little trouble looking for rares to fund its constant need for Deadly Poison Bottles.

Deadly Poison Bottle making is around 50% with 61 Dex and 33 Luk (w/o Buffs and Forging Equipment). With Marionette Control and Pure Luk Gears, the build can attain an 80% Deadly Poison Bottle brewing success rate.

Melee SinX:
EDP-Sonic Blow Assassin Cross

Build rationale:
Sonic Blow - one of the most powerful skill modifiers ever in the game. Coupled with EDP this skill can deliver one of the highest DPMs achievable. However the skill Sonic Blow is not a stand-alone skill so it goes without saying that a build patterned after it is not a "standard" build. It closely resembles an SD SinX stat-wise only the Dex and Int parts are inter-changed.

In a nutshell:

The SD SinX is designed to take down specific soft/hard targets 1 by 1.

The Melee/Crit SinX is designed to take on more targets with faster atkspd.

The EDP-Sonic Blow build however serves as a specialized and tactical build designed to take down crucial targets (ei., Clown-Gypsy, Devo Paladin, High Priest etc.) faster than any other SinX build. A strong point of this build is the high base Dex giving it more Hit rate and decent atkspd especially noticeable with Hybrid Jurs.

A skill build that patterns after the standard SD SinX works quite well for the EDP-Sonic Blow SinX. This build can use Soul Destroyer pretty well and can level on more powerful monsters with the higher base Dex, and more so with decent Int.

Sample Stat Build (w/ Equipment):

Sample Equipment
Headgear: PooPoo Hat/Drooping Kitty/Masquerade/Evil Ears
Armor: HP mod Armors or any other Defensive Armors
Weapons: Mummy-Compounded Jurs or the Infiltrator
Garment: Immune Manteau
Shoes: Matyr or Firelock Boots
Accessories: Ring of Muscle x 2

Sample Skill Build:

Build Application:

Build specialty: PvP-WoE

• WoE (reduced Flee = better Hit)
• PvP (full skill damage = higher Sonic Blow damage)

Poison React can also be incorporated by the build since it has higher Hit rate and can therefore abuse PR better than any other build. Both Katar Masteries are maxed to inflict max damage. Grimtooth can also be utilized by this build - even though the same problem of attackspeed is presented like with the SD SinX, this build has one advantage - high Dex for Hit rate and additional attackspeed.

The build needs proper survival gears all the time since its main skill - Sonic Blow - needs the Assassin to be in Melee range. It needs all the damage reduction gears it can get because after all, a dead Sin deals no damage. Rosaries/Drooping Kitties and other MDEF gears are also recommended for WoE.

The Weapon set for this build is specially designed for maximum Hit-Damage efficiency. Triple Ancient/Double Ancient Bloody is standard for PvP. For WoE since there is Flee reduction, Ancient Double Bloody/Infiltrator. Hybrid Double Bloody/Ancient Jurs are viable for WoE in order to simulate faster attackspeed in case hit-locking is needed. This build can also use Sword-Dagger sets of SD SinXs in order to use SD for leveling - Double Hurricane Haedonggum + Quad Ancient/Hurricane and the like... and SD leveling is highly recommended to ease up your grinding.

Some EDP-Sonic Blow builds scrap the Int for more Vit, or trade some more Dex/Vit for maximum 120 Str. This is of course up to player preference. The EDP-Sonic Blow is not your typical everyday SinX but in the hands of a skilled player, this build can be an integral part of any party.

Different EDP-Crit builds that cater to different styles to follow.