The 2024 Rogue Assassin (Full Build): D&D Build #172

hey everybody quick note about today's video  before we get started as most of you know I   put out a video last week sponsored by Wizards of  the Coast about the changes to the Assassin Rogue   coming out in the 2024 players handbook today's  video is the one that I was actually planning   on releasing last week but there was one little  problem with it I was revealing more stuff in the   video than I really should have been Wizards had  agreed to let other content creators reveal bits   and pieces of the new players handbook and by  doing a full character build I was potentially   like stealing some other content creators Thunder  you know trying to do a full-blown Assassin from   like level 1 to 17 including species choices  and Feats and talking about weapon masteries   etc etc and so in the end I decided to just record  what I recorded for last week's video kind of at   the last minute that's probably why it looked  and felt a little slap Dash maybe sorry about   that where I just focused on the changes  to the Assassin specifically compared to   the 2014 rules right and pushed the full build  video to today thus if I talk in today's video   about like some new and exciting Rogue or  assassin feature that you didn't know about   already that's why right we've tried to cut  out as much of that as we could find before   releasing the final version here but I'm sure  some of it's going to still creep in a little   bit so thanks in advance for your patience  and understanding cool cool hey everyone I   have some incredibly exciting news you you  ready Wizards of the Coast have asked me to   do a build video on the Assassin I'm talking  about the version that is going to be printed   in the 2024 handbook coming out in September  can you believe it I hardly can welcome to [Music] D4 right so here at D4 uh that stands for  D and D Deep dive by the way in case you didn't   know that 4ds get it I like to do character builds  for my favorite role playing games usually that   means DND D not always I like to crunch numbers  about them Theory craft about them not so that I   can tell you the right way or the best way to play  a certain character but to explore one potential   way to build something in the hopes of creating  a character that's both really fun but also   really powerful to play so if you enjoy creating  characters for your favorite role playing games   almost as much as you enjoy playing the actual  game itself or if you're just looking for tips   or ideas on how to build something that you're  thinking about playing then welcome home this is   where you belong and I am so glad you're here so  thanks for watching my name's Colby okay so before   we get started full disclaimer yes Wizards of the  Coast are actually sponsoring this video but also   they've made it very clear that they don't need  to have any input or control over what I actually   say yes I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement  to only talk about in today's case the Rogue and   the Assassin along with accompanying character  options that I need to use to make the build   but their exact words were that they would not  limit what you are able to say in your content   the content you make is your content so yeah  I'm not going to worry about what they might   think if I have criticism for the changes that  said compared to the 2014 version of the Rogue   if I'm being honest I think the vast majority  of the changes that Wizards of the Coast have   made are pretty positive in fact I don't know if  I can even think of one change that feels like a   step backwards to me so yeah if you're looking  for a scathing super negative review you might   not find one here and I mean come on if you've  been watching my channel for any length of time   you know that I'm too much of a Care Bear for that  kind of content anyways right a couple more notes   about how I'm going to build this assassin today  first off I'm planning on building them as a burst   damage dealer and focusing on how much damage  we could do if we blew all of our Expendable   resources on a big round of Nova damage I think  a lot of the features the Assassin gets kind of   emphasize that play style and concept so that's  what I'll be shooting for though I should mention   that I think their sustained damage per  round DPR will be pretty decent outside of   that Nova round as well and we'll talk a bit  about that as we go also in a departure from most   of my build videos I'm actually going to go just  straight Rogue here if you can believe it I know   I'm just as surprised as you are I've got three  good reasons for going straight Rogue today one   I've never done that before so that's always fun  two I want to see how the new Rogue features and   assassin subclass features might bolster the old  versions fairly lackluster in my opinion scaling   when it comes to damage and see how the damage of  the new and improved Rogue might compare to other   damage builds that I've done for builds that have  used like pre- new rules content right if I just   go straight Assassin Rogue with the new stuff  in place how will it compare damage wise with   previous builds and then three like I said I've  signed a non-disclosure agreement with Wizards   of the Coast that prevents me from talking about  other classes and subclasses that are new to the   2024 players handbook at least for now so yeah if  I were to multiclass I'd want to use other classes   and subclasses coming out in the new version of  the book but I can't really talk about those yet   that said I have been given permission to show  you the Assassin stuff specifically you want to   see it here's the artwork that's going to show up  on the Assassin page in the book check it out such   a cool looking dragon born assassin perched in the  rafters waiting to get the drop on their Mark I'll   show you screenshots of the actual descriptions  of the various abilities when we get to them in   the build now let me also add this as a disclaimer  as far as the rest of the new rules or features go   that are in the new players handbook that I might  be referencing in the build to make my character   while I feel confident that I've got a pretty good  handle on how to interpret what I've read there's   always a chance that I might get something wrong  we don't have a sage advice compendium for this   new book yet nor do I have access to Jeremy  Crawford if I need to clarify something and   I suppose that Wizards of the Coast would retain  the right to still change something from the pdf   version that I've been given before it actually  goes to print in September right that said I feel   pretty confident that they feel pretty confident  that what I've got is what's going to print in   September and you guys it's pretty awesome there  are so many things that I am getting super excited   about when I read them but I can't tell you about  them yet that's okay though what we've got is also   pretty awesome so enough Preamble let's go already  I am super excited to present D and D build number   172 the new and improved Assassin Rogue okay no  other sponsor spot because like I said watsy is   sponsoring this one so let's just jump right in  first off let me say this please stay tuned for   the final thoughts of this video if you want a  tldr version of my take on the class and subass   TLD DW too long didn't watch if you want that  just skip to the final thoughts because I have   a lot of feelings and I worry that people won't  get the full perspective and Analysis I try to   bring to the class and subass if they bail on  the video before they get there thank you at   character level one for our starting class yeah  we're going rogue naturally and we're going to   be sticking with Rogue the whole time like I've  said it's kind of crazy that I've never done a   full rogue build before right the closest I got  was the Arcane trickster build right up there   and honestly the main reason is because as I've  said many times even though sneak attack scales   throughout a rogue's career it's just not enough  to help them keep up damage wise and here's maybe   the first thing that stands out to me about what  Wizards of the Coast have done with the Rogue and   with the Assassin for the 2024 players handbook  they scale better is it enough to justify not   multiclassing we'll see but there are definitely  a lot more and better reasons to stay rogue now   now than ever before and that in and of itself  is a big win in my book as for our race we're   going to go with yeah varant human just kidding  custom lineage no no more variant human or custom   lineage in my builds after 2024 handbook comes  out I think and the main reason is because Glory   Hallelujah with the new rules every character  is getting what they're calling An Origin feat   at level one with their background this is one of  my favorite changes in the book are you guys just   so happy to know that I'm finally going to be  getting away from those same old races me too   because here's the thing and I should mention this  now I think wat's intent with the new rules is to   make them fully like backwards compatible with  existing 5e stuff so I think their intent and   the way I plan on building characters once the new  handbook officially goes live is this if the new   books change an existing thing in 5e whether they  change a race or a class or a subass or condition   or spell or feet or anything then I use the new  version of the thing but if no mention is made   of something that already exists then we're free  to use it as it currently exists every once in a   while there's maybe going to be a conflict between  something in the new books and like something from   an old book right and the new players handbook  seems to do a pretty decent job of having like   a little sidebar section that says here's how you  handle mixing the old content with the new content   the reason I want to clarify that here is because  some of you might be saying you should still take   variant human or custom lineage because you could  get two free Feats at level one and to you I would   say sure but just regular old humans in the new  players handbook get two free Feats at level one   without suffering the lower ability score bonuses  that variant humans and custom lineages characters   suffer now this new human is limited to a free  origin feat would variant human or custom lineage   characters be similarly limited I think so yeah  because in the new players handbook all Feats are   classified as either origin Feats available at  level one or General Feats that require you to   be level four or higher every single one of those  General Feats are half Feats meaning you get to   bump an ability score by one and get some other  benefits right to me that pretty clearly indicates   that if I'm playing with the new 2024 material  any existing feat in 5e that is a half feet that   doesn't show up in the new players handbook would  also be considered a general feat a level four   plus feed right so I couldn't take it at character  creation I'm talking about stuff like Elvin   accuracy for example those feats are still fair  game if we qualify for them as long as your DM   allows it of course but you got to be level four  before you can take them even if you pick variant   human or custom lineage as your race I mean you  couldn't with Elven accuracy anyway because you   got to be an elf but you know what I'm saying and  because of that there's not really a great reason   to take variant human or custom lineage anymore  and to that I say hooray so what race are we   going with one of my new favorites uh the new and  improved Goliath goliaths in the players handbook   get some fantastic features they're Med medium  sized though they are quite tall 7 to 8 ft uh Call   It 2 and 1/2 M for those of you who use a system  of measurement that actually makes logical sense   they have a 35 ft move speed That's Unique every  other race except wood elves I guess uh get a 30   ft move speed even the short ones their powerful  build feature still lets you count yourself as   one size larger for lifting pushing dragging and  carrying but has changed to also give advantage   on any saving throw made to end the grappled  condition yes in case you didn't know grappling   is going to involve saving throws now but I'm  not going to get into that much at the moment   uh goliaths get a new large form feature that says  once per day you can use a bonus action to grow to   large size it lasts 10 minutes it grants advantage  on your strength checks and increases your move   speed by 10 ft nice the main reason I wanted to  make myself a Goliath assassin though besides   the fact that it's kind of cool and out of the  ordinary is because of the giant ancestry feature   this tells us that we get to choose a type of  giant that we are descended from and enjoy a cool   little benefit based on that decision being keenly  interested in making a burst damage dealer today   I'm going to pick the fire giant Choice fires burn  this says that when we hit with an attack roll we   can add a d10 of fire damage now we can only use  this proficiency bonus times per day but we're not   limited to only doing this like once per turn or  anything so if we're getting multiple attacks on   our turn we can add this damage multiple times  if we have enough uses of it left at least and   that's pretty awesome as for the origin feat that  we're going to take here at level one I think I'm   going to want to go with alert here it's just so  good even better than the 2014 version which was   good too now we're told that with this feat we  can add our proficiency bonus to our initiative   roles and that after rolling initiative we can  swap our initiative with a willing Ally that is   a pretty big deal and just about guarantees that  we'll always be able to go if not first very early   in the combat encounter as long as we've got  an amicable Ally anyways and yeah that's going   to be especially important for Assassins for our  starting ability scores I assume that we go the   point by Method as always and that really hasn't  changed let's start with a 15 dexterity and take   a plus two from our background there ability  score bonuses are tied to backgrounds now not   race or species I'm going to say a 15 Constitution  plus one and then a 14 wisdom you don't have to do   the 14 wisdom there but I think it's really our  third most important ability score arguably even   our second most important thanks to not only how  important wisdom saving throws are but also how   important perception checks are especially for  those of us who are kind of the designated Scout   I'm out there trying to spot traps and hidden  doors character right feel free to go lower there   if you really want to bump your intelligence  or your charisma or whatever as for equipment   the new rules are a little more clear or at least  obvious on the fact that any level one character   can either choose equipment from a pre-selected  list or just take a set amount of gold to spend   on whatever they want for Rogues that amount is  100 gold pieces plus the 50 that you can get from   your background not bad let's do that and pick up  some studded leather a Simer and a shortsword feel   free to use a dagger instead of a Simer both  have the Nick property Scimitar some people   give me a hard time about saying Simer instead of  Scimitar look up a pronunciation guide and you'll   see that both are viable both weapons have the  Nick property which we're keenly interested in   and which we will discuss in a minute but the  dagger also has the throne property which might   be worth using if you need to make an attack from  range once in a while it is slightly less damage   right a D4 for the dagger versus a D6 for the  Simer simitar o boy now that's going to bug me   I'm just going to use them interchangeably see  what people think I'll assume that we're using   a simitar just because I'm trying to explore the  limits of what's possible damage wise but you do   what you think best as a rogue one then we still  get expertise it lets you double your proficiency   bonus for two skills that you're proficient in but  it no longer mentions doubling your proficiency   with thieves tools I'd say go with stealth and  perception here I think those will be our most   important skills as a rogue letting us go unseen  and find those traps and hidden doors that we're   searching for a little more effectively uh we get  thieves can't no real change here it's kind of the   coded language that Rogues use to send messages  to one another right and then we do get weapon   Mastery here and this is new and is a big one so  for those who didn't know in the new 2024 rules   all weapons come with an Associated weapon Mastery  property if you gain access to the weapon Mastery   feature it's not a given uh typically you'll gain  that through having a level in a marshall class   you could take a feat for it as well then you  can potentially take advantage of that weapon   Mastery property right and usually that means  you're going to be able to do something extra   something cool when you hit with an attack Rogues  get access to the weapon masteries of two weapons   of their choice and they can even swap those out  for different weapons after just a long rest or   quick Learners I'm not going to go into a deep  dive on all of the weapon masteries here but I   think the ones we are most interested in are the  Vex property which we can get from a shortsword   and the Nick property which as I mentioned we get  from the cimitar or the dagger now the Vex Mastery   says that if we make a successful attack with  a Vex weapon and we have access to that Mastery   right then the next attack we make against that  same creature before the end of our next turn   will be made with advantage that's nice we won't  always need it sometimes our attack's going to   miss sometimes we're going to kill them with the  hit that we vexed them with right but I think more   often than not we're going to be glad to have it  the Nick Mastery though might be my favorite of   the new weapon masteries before I go into it let  me discuss the wording on two weapon fighting uh   in the new players handbook it's essentially  the same but it's tied to the light weapon   property says if you're holding a light weapon  in each hand short swords and simmers are both   light and finesse weapons letting us use our  dexterity modifier to hit and damage right and   you take the attack action with one of them then  you can make a bonus action attack with the other   though you don't get to add your ability score  modifier for that one unless you have the two   weapon fighting fighting style right if you your  like off-hand weapon has the Nick property we're   told that when you make that additional attack  with a light weapon it can just be part of the   attack action instead of needing to use your bonus  action and that is just so huge I've always been   fond of like two weapon using characters right  and have been really sad that to date in D and   D 5 those kinds of characters have had a hard  time competing with the heavy weapon users of   the world damage wise despite my attempts to  build around the concept anyways like there   but thanks to stuff like the Nick property  which will free up our bonus action and as a   rogue that's especially nice and also thanks of  course to Nerfs to the great weapon master and   Sharpshooter Feats among other things something  I'm not super sad about for the record anytime a   feat is that good it stops feeling like a choice  sorry not sorry anyways thanks to those things   yeah I think I hope that two weapon fighting is  going to see a return to like more mechanical   viability and that makes me happy okay finally at  level one what the crap we're still on level one   oh you poor naive new viewers you Sweet Child  of spring yeah get comfy but not too comfy or   you'll fall asleep hey you you wake up anyways  yeah I've got a lot of new stuff to explain uh   after level one things will start to move a lot  faster okay so yeah Rogue one last thing we get   here is sneak attack at this level for the moment  there's no real change still does an extra D6 of   damage once on a turn when we hit an enemy either  with a finesse weapon or a ranged weapon and so   long as we either have advantage on the attack or  the enemy is standing next to one of our allies   right the damage still scales by 1d6 every two  Rogue levels and I will say this I was a little   disappointed that we didn't get a little better  SL more scaling on sneak attack a D6 every single   level would probably have been too much but maybe  those d6s could go up to like d8s and even d10s at   some point or maybe we get an additional D6 when  we gain Rogue subass features or something we will   get some cool fun tricks to play with for sneak  attack later I'm still just a little nervous that   without extra attack and Rogues still don't get  that it's going to be tough for them to compete   with the best Marshall damage dealers in game  I could be wrong time will tell as I build more   characters with the new rules but that's my hunch  anyways I'll talk more about damage and what we   get in exchange in as we go and then especially  in the final thoughts before we jump into level   two quickly I just want to give a huge shout out  and thank you to my channel members you guys are   so awesome I could not do this without you thank  you so much for your support everybody else I   appreciate you just being here and watching and  liking and subscribing and commenting and ringing   the notifications Bell these are also great ways  to support the channel but if you're just curious   to know what channel membership looks like click  on the little button down there that says join   it'll tell you what you can get for really for  hardly any money a month you can get access to   the library of writeups that I create for each  of my builds this one included uh to help you   recreate the thing a little more easily yourself  if you want access to the D4 Community Discord   server filled with lots of lovely people who often  help me name my builds among other things and even   access to our monthly live Q&A hangout sessions  so anyways I'd appreciate it if you considered   it and if you don't want to that's totally  fine I'm just glad you're here oh also really   quick uh little housekeeping item I am taking  a little summer vacation with my family um not   going to have a video out next week I hope you'll  forgive me for that but um I do have a cool fun   surprise coming uh 2 weeks from now it's a little  kind of a sort of collaboration thing uh that a   bunch of us are doing so anyways it's going to  be fun look forward to that okay at level two   we get cutting action no real change here from  2014 we can now use our bonus action to take the   hide Dash or disengage actions at level three we  get Steady Aim and I love that they've decided to   take this feature that we got from Tosh's cauldron  of everything back in 2020 and just include it in   the player handbook now because it's it's pretty  great and even a little better for us as you'll   see in a bit it says that we can use our bonus  action to give ourselves advantage on our next   attack this turn so long as we haven't moved yet  on this turn and then afterwards our move speed   is zero for the rest of the turn that no movement  thing is a bit of a bummer especially for those of   us that are going to be in melee still I think  this feature is a whole lot better with weapon   masteries first of all because thanks to the Nick  Mastery we no longer need our bonus action to make   a second attack on our turn freeing it up up for  this or for [ __ ] Action which is just so great   for Rogues it really helps them kind of play their  hit-and run skirmisher style without suffering a   big damage loss second of all because thanks to  the Vex Mastery even though Steady Aim only gives   us sadly advantage on one attack our next attack  this turn well if we make that attack with a Vex   weapon and so long as we land that attack then  our next attack will have Advantage as well and   the Synergy there is just H perfect okay Rogues  get their subass at level three and we're going   Assassin of course as we've said so let's read  the new flavor text that Wizards of the Coast   has written for the Assassin here an Assassin's  training focuses on using stealth poison and   disguise to eliminate foes with deadly efficiency  while some Rogues who follow this path are hired   Killers spies or bounty hunters the capabilities  of the subass are equally useful for adventurers   facing a variety of monstrous enemies all  right direct descriptive to the point I like it   so there are a lot of differences between the  2014 assassin and this one first of all we get   Assassin's tools which just gives us Proficiency  in the disguise and poisoners kit still but then   also we just gain one of each of them which is  nice small little quality of life Improvement   but their big feature here assassinate uh some  of you are not going to love and some of you   really will first of all it gives us advantage  on initiative roles and that's pretty big deal   combined with our high dexterity and the alert  feet we should be going first or near the top   of the round round almost always we're also told  that just like before during the first round of   combat we have advantage on all attack roles  against any creature who hasn't taken a turn   yet that's really nice it means we don't have to  use Steady Aim that first round anyways which will   be our Nova round but then instead of all attacks  against surprised enemies being automatic Critical   Hits we're told that if our sneak attack hits  any Target during that first round the target   takes extra damage equal to our Rogue level okay  there's a lot to say about this first of all   yes it's a bit of a bummer to lose automatic  Critical Hits right autoc crits are awesome they   make for some really amazing damage as evidenced  by builds I've done to highlight it like the   Assassin's Creed or like the stealth bomber that  said as great as automatic criticals can be having   to rely on getting surprise for like your main  feature to work is in a word frustrating maybe you   play at a table where you're able to get surprise  all of the time I never have whether because of a   raging Barbarian party member who just wants to  Leroy Jenkins everything or because the enemies   sometimes gets the drop on you or because a  lot of the times you might just be talking to   someone when suddenly a fight breaks out there's  nothing more frustrating than playing an assassin   who almost never gets surprise in combat right  that was my first character in d and d5e so what   Wizards has decided to replace that feature with  is something that while not typically as much   damage as Auto crits it just works so much more  reliably and I really appreciate that now it's not   a ton of damage just three extra damage for now  but keep in mind one it scales with Rogue levels   and I love that because yeah one more reason to be  motivated to stick with Rogue though I'm not 100%   sure that just one point of damage per Rogue level  is all that amazing it doesn't feel like enough to   me 20 extra damage at level 20 sounds great but  enemies at level 20 generally have a boatload of   hit points right I think they could have gone to  perogue level and been totally fine honestly but   anyways uh two it says that this feature works on  any Target that we hit with sneak attack during   that opening round doesn't matter if they've taken  a turn or not right and as longtime viewers of   my channel know I love trying to find ways to get  Rogues reliable attacks with their reaction which   lets them potentially apply sneak attack to a  target a second time each round unfortunately   without multiclassing or relying on an ally to do  something that can let you reliably get a reaction   attack getting sneak attack twice per round is  not as easy to come by we're basically relying on   opportunity attacks right we don't have haste we  don't have Battle Master Maneuvers we don't have   a way to get an attack with our bonus action so  that we can ready our action to attack with our   reaction we will be doing one thing to increase  our chances of getting a reaction attack though   and when we can do that on round one yeah we'll be  able to potentially apply not only sneak attack a   second time but also that add additional damage  as per our Rogue level that we get from this   surprising strikes feature which will give us a  nice little potential damage bump don't forget at   level three our sneak attack goes up to 2d6 now  as well at level four we get an ability score   increase or feat and yeah speaking of reaction  attacks I want to take the Sentinel feet here if   I'm being honest I probably don't take this feet  enough on Rogues especially I have a few times   uh like in the recent overreactor build I think  that's my last card for the day but yeah I'd argue   that this feet is stronger on Rogues than any  other class but especially now that it's also a   half feet in the new players's handbook so yes it  lets us raise either our dexterity or our strength   by one letting us have a nice even 18 dexterity  now cool and then says that when an enemy Within   5T of us either takes the disengage action  or attacks someone other than us we can take   an opportunity attack against them I love by the  way that it specifies that this is an opportunity   attack now it used to say that you could use your  reaction to make an attack against them and there   are some things in the game that only work when  you make an opportunity attack like for example   the other feature we get with this feed that says  when you hit someone with an opportunity attack   specifically then their speed is zero for the rest  of the turn this is a really just solid allaround   feat and yeah like I said when we hit someone and  it's not our turn like we would be when we get an   opportunity attack using our reaction right then  we can potentially add our sneak attack damage   to so long as we otherwise qualify even better  as an assassin if this happens during round one   we get to add our Rogue level in damage too so the  real question of course is how often do we think   we're going to get an opportunity attack now and  the answer of course is it depends it depends on   what you're fighting it depends on how many melee  allies you have who you might be fighting next to   depends on how smart your enemies are do they  realize if they attack your friend you're going   to get a free shot on them anyways I want to use  this in my damage calculations so I have to pick a   number is 25% too high too low I don't really know  but it's not going to have a massive impact on the   numbers if I'm off by 5 or 10 or 15% even so we'll  just say 25% of the time we're getting a reaction   attack during our Nova round thanks to either  an enemy moving away from us or an enemy we're   standing next to attacking someone other than  us feel free to adjust my numers slightly if you   think 25% is way off at level five we get uncanny  Dodge still and it's a nice feature it lets us use   our reaction to have the damage of a single attack  against us no real change from 24 but keep in mind   that yeah we only get one reaction per round so if  you use it for an opportunity attack you're going   to be a little more vulnerable to damage maybe a  clever enemy will bait your uncanny Dodge to then   move safely away or bait an opportunity attack  from you to keep you from having damage on a big   hit they've got coming either way I like having  choices and consequences so this is all good but   the other feature that Rogues now get at level  five cunning strike this is where things get   really interesting cunning strike gives us us  some new ways to use our sneak attack or rather   it treats sneak attack dice like a resource that  we can expend every turn to either just do maximum   damage and that would be 3d6 now that we're level  five right every time we use it or if we choose we   can now sacrifice one of those d6s and only one  per instance of sneak attack for now to attempt   one of the following three things uh there used  to be four in the latest play test material but   they've gotten rid of the disarm on option not  a huge deal I don't think I'm not sure how often   that would really come up in game but anyways  we've still got the poison option which says   as long as we've got a poisoners kit on us and  we got one for free when we became an assassin   don't forget we can force the enemy to make a  constitution save or have the poisoned condition   for 1 minute as a reminder this means they have  disadvantage on their attack roles and ability   checks pretty solid debuff they do get to attempt  to save out of the condition at the end of each   of their turns and you know some of us might groan  slightly at the Constitution save thing and I get   it that said we don't really know yet if con saves  are going to be quite as onerous when the new   monster manual comes out in early 2025 so maybe we  can reserve judgment there until we see that first   yeah and yes sure tons of enemies in current rules  are immune to poison and The Poisoned condition   but same thing let's see if that's still the case  next year uh we get the trip option to uh this   says that if the enemy is large or smaller they  have to succeed on a dexterity save or be knocked   prone always nice and then finally the withdraw  cunning strike option which lets us spend a D6   to move up to half hour speed without provoking  opportunity attacks might not be super needed for   those of us with cunning action right but hey  maybe we want to use our bonus action not to   disengage but to hide this would also let us scoot  away first and then use our bonus action to hide   right without taking an opportunity attack now  I'll say this about cunning strike I really like   it I love it in fact in principle giving Rogues  more options and interesting options is super cool   that said with other Marshall characters getting  extra attack at this level I'm a little bummed   that we have to sacrifice some of our already kind  of subpar damage to use these fun new abilities   I wish that maybe at level five we'd get a 2d6  increase to sneak attack along with these options   maybe or maybe we get to use cunning strike like  proficiency bonus times per day for free and   thereafter cons sacrifice some sneak attack damage  to do it more often if we want or something it's a   cool new toy I just don't love having to sacrifice  something to play with it personally but again   overall it's a nice increase to our options and we  don't have to use cunning strike if we don't want   to right and having more options is a great thing  I mean if we can consistently be poisoning enemies   and or knocking them prone usually that's going  to more than make up for the D6 of damage we'd be   losing right we just got to keep perspective on  these things yes I'm talking to myself at level   six um expertise part two right uh the only that's  the only thing that we get here just like with the   2014 rules so yeah two more two more skills that  we can double our proficiency bonus with I'm going   to say go ahead and pyf here pick your favorites  I think if it were me I'd probably take sight of   hand and maybe investigation if your DM makes  you succeed at an investigation check to try   and figure out how to disarm a trap all right at  level six it is time for our first damage report let's discuss tactics here it's pretty  straightforward on round one you'd run up to   an enemy who hasn't taken a turn in combat yet and  make your two attacks against them with Advantage   let's add a d10 of fire damage to both of those  attacks thanks to our fire Giant Goliath ancestry   as well as our dexterity modifier of four to our  like main hand attack right then on the first one   that hits We'll add 3d6 of sneak attack damage  plus six for a rogue level you may want to try   and poison them or knock them prone or whatever  but we're exploring the extent of what's possible   damage wise so I'm not going to plan on using  any cutting strikes for now finally I'll assume   that 25% of the time we're getting an opportunity  attack thanks largely to Sentinel will this attack   be made with Advantage most rounds ouro is to use  our short sword first that has Vex and our simitar   second right that has Nick otherwise we're not  going to have our bonus action free but maybe you   don't need your bonus action on round one probably  no need need to use cunning action you definitely   don't need Steady Aim since we have guaranteed  advantage on round one so on our Nova round let's   assume that our first attack is with our Scimitar  then we use our bonus action to attack with our   short sword assuming we hit the advantage granted  by Vex from that second short sword hit applies   to the next attack we make before the end of  our next turn so we should have Advantage if   and when we get an opportunity attack right  if we do yeah we'll add both our sneak attack   again and our bonus surprising strikes damage of  six yeah sure it's possible that the opportunity   attack would actually come on round two if say  an enemy beat us in initiative and that's the   one we're making an attack against right on their  second turn but as an assassin with alert I think   it's a pretty safe bet that we're going really  early in the round and if we get an opportunity   attack it's going to be on an enemy's first turn  in the combat encounter all right so assuming all   of that against enemies with a 10 Armor class here  we would on average do 49 damage during this first   round and against an enemy with a 15 AC it would  be 45 damage not much less and okay compared to   other burst damage builds that I've done to  date using the older rules that is good not   great call it middle of tier three at this level  check in the video description for links to the   graphs and the spreadsheets that I put together  for all of this I mean hey we're a full Rogue   with lots of fantastic utility to play with so not  having just blow everybody out of the water water   damage I mean I wouldn't really expect that right  what's more our sustained damage is actually not   much worse than our burst damage we lose our d10  per hit from Goliath and the six per sneak attack   that's pretty much it I think it's safe to assume  that we'd continue to reliably get advantage on   both of our attacks thanks to either using [ __ ]  action to hide or Steady Aim giving us advantage   on our first attack and then advantage on our  second attack thanks to Vex assuming of course   that we hit with our short sword to begin with but  considering that we have advantage on that short   sword attack the likelihood of us landing the hit  is very high anyways under those assumptions we'll   be above 30 damage per round against most enemy  AC's and that's good enough to put us in like tier   three compared to other sustained damage builds  as well so yeah pretty decent at both burst and   sustained damage and bringing all of the rogish  utility along for the ride not a bad place to be   let's see where we go from here all right at level  seven we get evasion and and there's no change   from 2014 here it lets us take zero damage if we  succeed on a deck save against something and only   half if we fail right but then gloriously reliable  Talent gets bumped from level 11 all the way up to   level 7 I mean yeah if you're one of those people  who like to get mad at me that it's not all about   the damage it's not just about the numbers right  this is a really strong argu and you do that too   you always are doing this whenever you say those  things this move move by Wizards of the Coast is   a really strong argument for getting to Rogue 7  at least evasion was already like almost enough   reason to get there adding reliable Talent just  makes this level super juicy as reliable Talent   says that whenever we make an ability check that  uses one of our skill or tool proficiencies we can   treat anything rolled lower than a nine as a 10  this is such a fantastic skill monkey ability and   it makes me want to just get Proficiency in every  single skill and I mean hey we do get a damage   bump here too since sneak attack goes up to 46  now at this level at level eight we get another   ability score increase or feat and I'm a little  torn on what to do honestly I kind of want to   just bump dexterity to 20 and cap it if your  if your campaign is getting close to the end   here for you at this level that's probably what  I would do it'd be nice for our damage sure but   also our Armor class our initiative all of our  rogish utility but the reality is there are just   so many good Fe Feats those General Feats that  are all half Feats now that I think I might just   rather delay that dexterity cap right so I can get  an improved feat like charger for example in the   2014 Players handbook this feat was pretty crap  honestly now it's pretty decent first up it's a   half feet like I've said so we bump our dexterity  to a 19 kind of frustrating to be stuck in an odd   number I know but then it says that anytime we  Dash our move speed is increased by 10 ft and   I mean thank thanks to cutting action that might  be happening more for us than it does for most but   then also we're told that if we move 10 ft in  a straight line before hitting a Target we can   either do an extra d8 of damage or push them 10  ft and while a d8 of damage once per turn isn't   anything crazy if we're just looking at damage it  does increase our damage during our Nova round by   a few points more than bumping our dexterity  would here and hey being able to move the   enemy around when you need to is always a great  tool to have too so feel free to just bump decks   if you want but I'm taking charger at level 9 we  get infiltration expertise as an assassin and it   gets a nice little change compared to the old  infiltration expertise we're told first of all   that if we spend an hour studying another person's  speech or handwriting we can unerringly mimic them   nice little utility feature more of a ribbon  than anything really I think but then here's   the better part our speed is no longer reduced to  Zero by using Steady Aim now the way it's worked   it sounds to me like they're saying you still  can't have moved before you use Steady Aim if   you want to get Advantage from it but afterwards  you can and that's nice but admittedly I wish that   they just made it so that you could just use  Steady Aim without any movement restrictions   or requirements whether before or after using it  using charger outside of arnova round would be a   little bit easier than for example but hey it  is an improvement over both the original 2014   assassin and actually the latest version that we  saw in the play test so I'll take it don't forget   sneak attack gets bumped to 5d6 here as well so  at level 9 it's time for our next damage report   since last check the bumps that we've seen to  our Nova round damage include two more D6 from   sneak attack a single d8 from charger and three  more levels of Rogue to apply to our surprising   strikes and of course we've also seen some nice  defensive and utility bumps to boot so at this   level here against a 10 Armor class enemy we  would do 67 damage on average during our burst   damage round and against a 16 AC it would be  63 damage and that's a decent increase since   last check but other builds that I've done to date  focusing on burst damage are outscaling us a bit   here putting us more like mid tier 4 by comparison  still we continue to have decent sustained damage   and keep in mind that not only do we bring all  of our important rogish utility with this build   we're also doing this burst damage right from  round one with no setup and the only expendable   resources that we're using are those fires burn  d10s and we've got four of them per day now so I   think we've still got a pretty solid build going  and it continues to get better at level 10 Rogues   get an extra feat right uh that's super nice it  makes me feel slightly less bad about delaying   that dexterity to 20 cap since it only took two  more levels to get here at this point which half   feet should we take I wish I were an elf so I  could grab Elven accuracy but alas I really wanted   to try out the nucle anyways I think there are a  lot of fun great options available here skulker is   especially good on Rogues I think Speedy could be  a lot of fun the much improved defensive dualist   might be my favorite of all you guys are going  to love that one but I think the one that will   probably give us the best damage increase if  that's all we care about is the piercer feet   mind you it's not a big damage increase but it's  something we first saw this feat in tsh's cauldron   of everything and there's no real change to  it here in the 2024 handbook but I'm glad   it's being included now in the handbook it says  that we can increase our strength or dexterity   by one and then once per turn when we deal  piercing damage and our short sword does we   can roll one of the attacks damage dice also when  we get a critical hit with piercing damage we can   add an additional damage dice so it's an extra D6  right not a huge damage increase by any means but   since it was also a half feet and I wanted both  charger and Sentinel sure I'll take it at level   11 we get improved cunning strike this is new  it tells us that we can use two cunning strike   effects when we use sneak attack now we still  have to pay the die cost for each you could be   like poisoning and tripping or withdrawing on  the same turn right with the same sneak attack   hit it doesn't necessarily help our burst damage  numbers but I'm sure there will be plenty of times   when you want to be using a couple [ __ ] strike  options on your turn so this is nice we do have   six d6es now to spend right thanks to our sneak  attack damage going up this level at level 12 we   get another feat and I I'm probably going to take  resilient Constitution here this would give us   proficiency on our constitution saving throws  there's just not a lot out there that's going   to do much for our damage at this point and hey  making your saving throws is important who are you   and what have you done with Colby I'll also say  If you think you're going to do this by the way   you might want to have just left your Constitution  at a 15 at character creation so now it would get   bumped to 16 right kind of a long time to wait for  that but doing so would have L us have a better   wisdom score at character creation instead and  that's always nice at level 13 as an assassin we   get another nice change here when compared to the  2014 version instead of impostor which kind of got   rolled into the new infiltration expertise that  we got at level 9 right we get in venom weapons   this says that when we use the poison option  of our [ __ ] strike the Target also takes 2 D6   poison damage whenever it fails its saving throw  and that the damage ignores poison resistance   I love that we kind of have finally here a  built-in like poison specialist subass and   there's no one better to take on this role than  the Assassin in my book so yes going forward   unless we think the enemy is immune to poison or  has a really high Constitution saving throw we're   going to give up 1d6 of sneak attack damage to  deal an extra 2d6 of poison damage and poison our   enemy I'll take that damage bom thanks but also if  I'm being honest I feel like this probably could   have come earlier maybe at level 9 heck giving it  to us at level five wouldn't have been incredibly   overpowered thanks to the fact that enemies are  going to make that Constitution save sometimes   right or have immunity to poison I mean it might  just be a damage wash overall if we use it every   single time since sometimes they'll save and we'll  get no extra damage but we gave up a D6 for it but   the poison condition is a pretty debilitating  debuff so again it's not just about the damage   I know at the very least I'd love to have seen  us maybe get a little more poison damage here   than just 2d6 maybe three or four D6 that's just  me always asking for more Buffs the buff we got   here is better than what we had so for that I'm  happy don't forget our sneak attack damage does   go up to 76 now at this level so at level 13 it is  time for our next damage report since last check   we have added four more to our surprising strikes  we've kept our dexterity we've added a small bump   thanks to the piercer feet added two D6 to sneak  attack and gotten another D6 of sneak attack   damage thanks to in venom weapons yes I'm just  going to assume that the enemy is failing their   con save here yes I know that that's not always  going to happen so these numbers are looking at   beste scenario as I often do your experience may  vary but against an enemy with a 10 Armor class   here on round one we would do 88 damage on average  and against a 17 AC just slightly less 85 damage   and while that has continued to scale it continues  to do so at a slower Pace than other burst damage   builds that I've done to date putting us really  in like the bottom of tier four by comparison at   this level but none of those builds were a full  Rogue I'm willing to bet that none of them even   had more than three levels in Rogue maybe five  and I would argue that none of them have the same   level of utility that this character brings with  them as a result especially thanks to all the nice   improvements that we've been seeing to the class  and subass along the way all right coming down the   home stretch here at level 14 Rogues get devious  strikes and this is kind of like [ __ ] strikes   2.0 giving us even more and more powerful things  to spend our sneak attack dice on if we choose and   yes they're just considered [ __ ] strike options  thus we could do two of them on the same turn if   we wanted first up my favorite I think days this  costs 2d6 and says that if the enemy fails their   constitution save against it then on their next  turn they can move or take an action or a bonus   action but only one of those things that's really  pretty potent similar in many ways to like the   slow spell right sure the con saave might prove  to be a bit of a bummer but it might not be so   bad I mean I don't think I've mentioned this yet  but the DC that enemies will be saving against   here is based on our dexterity so we're going to  have a really high DC it's not like enemies are   just going to be succeeding all the time and yes  uh in case you are wondering the dazed condition   that we saw in the play test is just gone now but  we do still have this ability and it's really good   next we've got knockout this is the most expensive  [ __ ] strike option we get we've got to give up   most of our sneak attack dice here 6 D6 but it  is the most devastating stating in that if an   enemy fails their constitution save against this  they're just straight up unconscious for a minute   or until they take damage they do get to try and  save against it at the end of every turn to wake   up right but man unconscious that's pretty much  the worst condition you can inflict other than   the dead condition I mean that's one way to get  automatic Critical Hits back I guess since attacks   against unconscious targets are autoc crits right  so yeah I think it makes sense that it would be so   expensive it's just a great image of that classic  Rogue right sneaking up behind an unsuspecting   mark and just putting them out cold with a  blackjack right makes me want an eloquence Bard   in my party or someone casting the Bane spell or  something maybe both the last of our new options   here obscure costs 3d6 and says that if an enemy  fails their dexterity save against it they're   blinded until the end of their next turn which  means their attacks are made at disadvantage and   attacks against them have Advantage so yeah you're  maybe like spitting in their eye or throwing sand   in their eyes right classic Rogue trick I'm going  to put some dirt in your eye I love the flavor of   these abilities and they are pretty potent debuffs  every one of them at level 15 we get slippery mind   this just gives us Proficiency in both wisdom  and Charisma saving throws now so if we took   resilient Constitution we're actually proficient  in every save but strength at this point Triant   monk would be so proud also don't forget sneak  attack goes up to 8 D6 here at this level at   level 16 we get another feat and I think at this  point I would probably just be like straight up   buffing Constitution or wisdom to further improve  my saves and either skills or hit points your call   finally for us at level 17 we get death strike as  an assassin and honestly if this feature weren't   so good I might have tried to multiclass this  build despite all the reasons I gave for not   wanting to do so at the beginning but not giving  this feature some time in the spotlight would have   felt like a big disservice to the subass and to  the 2024 version of the Assassin so here we are   Death Strike tells us that when we hit with  sneak attack on the first round of combat our   Nova round right then the target has to succeed  on a constitution saving throw or the attack's   damage is doubled against the target the Old Death  Strike from the 2014 Players handbook was similar   but it only worked if the creature was surprised  awesome if you got surprised but yeah I'd take   this over that any day and I think I'm okay to  mention here surprise is quite different in the   2024 version there's no like surprise round or  there actually wasn't a surprise round before   but that's what people called it right it's just  if an enemy is surprise they have disadvantage on   their initiative roles that's it and you know  that's something I mean going first in combat   is a big deal but again I kind of appreciate that  like nothing that we have here is really dependent   on that happening for us and when it does happen  it's not so devastating for us or for our enemies   it might actually help speed up gameplay as a  result right and that's not a bad thing anyways   with death strike now again the only qualifier  is that we hit with sneak attack during the first   round of combat so if we get a reaction attack on  an enemy and it's still the first round we get to   do this twice that's awesome also imagine if we  crit and they fail their con save that's quadruple   damage dang now I really wish I had Elvin accuracy  if I knew I was playing this character into late   game like this up to level 17 maybe especially  if I were starting the character off at higher   level I think I probably would have gone elf and  grabbed Elvin accuracy better hit chance better   crit chance it'd be nice anyways we get our final  bump for us anyways to sneak attack here to 96 so   at level 17 it is time for our final damage report  since last check we have added four more damage to   surprising strikes a couple more d6s to our sneak  attack and then doubled our damage from any attack   that applies sneak attack during our Nova round  so long as the enemy fails their constitution   save I would love to just assume that the enemy  is going to fail that Constitution save but I   think I've got to account for it because it's just  so much more damage right but also of course we   have added a ton of great defensive and control  and debuff options recently as well so against   enemies with a 10 Armor class now and a plus zero  to their constitution save we would on average do   174 damage during that first round of combat and  against enemies with an 18 AC and a plus eight   to that con saave it's 137 damage and that's I  mean that's double where we were at at level 13   compared to low armor classes and saves anyways  and is still a massive increase against middling   armor classes and saves a very nice bump putting  us more like top of tier four maybe even bottom   of tier three compared to other Nova builds that  I've done to date so let's break this down here   with some final thoughts the tier score for this  build if you take the damage that they do at each   of the armor classes that we account for at each  of the four damage reports just average them all   into one big number we end up with a a 78 which  if we were to compare to other Nova damage builds   that I've done to date that would put them in like  the upper half of tier 4 so near the bottom of   the pack overall but there is a lot to unpack  here first of all let me quickly mention that   I'm going to start putting these new 2024 players  handbook builds in their own separate spreadsheet   once I have more than just one of them so that  we can compare like real Apples to Apples right   and yes I think I probably will go back through  old builds and update some of my favorites and   or the most popular ones for the 2024 update  eventually if there's one that you really want to   see updated please let me know in the comments but  what about this new Rogue assassin is it really   improved I think the answer is a resounding and  unequivocal yes but for a variety of reasons first   off if you couldn't tell by things that I've said  along the way the damage for the updated Assassin   Rogue while it is undoubtedly better still isn't  quite as good as I'd like to see personally I   think if I were playing this character in game  it would be really hard not to take some fighter   levels probably Battle Master for a fighting style  action surge especially more reliable reaction   attacks right thanks to those Maneuvers and maybe  even extra attack eventually sorcerer dip might   be nice too for a little quickened booming blade  during our Nova round we wouldn't be able to do   the you know attack with the simitar first and  then the short sword thing but I think it would   be worth it but here's the big takeaway for me  after going through all of this I mean I've kind   of already said this but let me reemphasize I like  to argue that Rogues just don't do enough damage   to keep up with other Marshalls and that bothers  me probably the most popular counterargument is   hey Rogues aren't supposed to do as much damage  as pure Marshall characters they're supposed to   do some decent damage and then bring a lot of  important and useful utility to boot and it   seems to me that with everything I'm seeing so far  Wizards of the Coast is really leaning into that   argument like they're not adding a ton of damage  to the class or subclasses but instead maybe a   little bit of damage but a lot more utility and  debuffing and control they're not trying to make   Rogues competitive with Fighters and barbarians or  maybe even Rangers and paladins damage-wise we'll   talk about full casters later they want Rogues  to be even more of like the dirty fighter who   strikes from the Shadows but also debilitates and  confuses you right they make you less effective at   what you're doing by poisoning you or D dazing  you maybe they're throwing sand in your eyes   or stomping on their foot while they slide a  short sword between your armor plates or even   just knocking you out cold and you didn't even  see him coming and make no mistake being able   to bring all of that fun utility and debuffing  and control is powerful it might not show up on   the spreadsheets it's a little harder to quantify  that stuff but once you get this character outside   of the lab right and into an actual game I think  you'd really see not only how much fun they can be   but how strong they really are I mean if the thing  that makes full casters so strong in this game is   largely their ability to control and debuff and  had a lot and have a lot of great utility then   you could argue that even with less damage Rogues  now are the most powerful Marshal class out there   I think and with that understanding sure it makes  total sense that well if you want more damage   you should multiclass into fighter right because  Fighters and barbarians are supposed to be the Big   Dam dealing martiall classes but if you made that  call you'd be giving up or delaying some of the   great utility debuffing and control that Rogues  now more than ever can bring to the party and I   really appreciate this I've been really nervous  that Wizards of the Coast was going to either not   improve the weaker classes and subclasses enough  or they were maybe going to improve them too much   making multiclassing like a really bad idea most  of the time and I love multiclassing but I did   want it to be a little bit of a a tougher decision  on whether or not to do it than it has been thus   far in 5e and if this updated Rogue and assassin  are any indication they're threading that needle   pretty dang Adroid I love that hey if I want more  damage I can multiclass into a damage Focus class   but I'd be giving up some fun flavorful utility  and control or Heck if I wanted even more control   in debuffing I could multiclass into a full Caster  with some great spell options but I'd likely be   giving up some important damage and utility  capabilities I've aru ared in the past that   the best Rogues rarely take more than three levels  in Rogue before just abandoning the class and and   doing something else that seems to be much less  the case now than ever before with some better   damage scaling for both the class and subclasses  as well as some additional rogish control and   utility and as far as I'm concerned that is a huge  win for those of us who love playing this game and   especially for those of us who love playing Rogues  so that is my little expose into the 2024 Rogue   assassin I hope you enjoyed it I hope you are  looking forward to playing this and other new   2024 characters as much as I am cuz I really am I  also hope you know how much I love you thank you   so much for all that you do for me for the channel  you guys are awesome I hope you have a great day   and a fantastic week but if you don't I hope that  you'll hang in there don't give up please I hope   that you will do good and be kind and that I see  you again very soon but until then take care bye [Music] my life you Electrify my life let's conspire to   ignite all the souls who would die just  to feel alive our hopes and expectation [Music] black holes and Revelations hold you in my arms I just wanted to  hold you in my arms I'm not the world's biggest   Muse fan I feel like there's lots of stuff of  their that I would probably love if I just listen   to it but I haven't so what am I missing you tell  me that's my favorite song of theirs but like I   really only know a couple yeah best album best  song hit me up shake it shake it shake it shake   it in your bow shake it shake it shake it shake it  in your so that is a commercial from my childhood   and I don't even remember what it was some cereal  somebody help me out surely there's some other   gen xers and old Millennials out there that  that know what I'm talking about H new protein   Shake tastes like a protein shake that's not  that bad what are we doing today oh yeah the   new Assassin I will say that I love having short  hair again oh I missed it so much short hair again   okay come on nail all right oh it's a little it's  a little wet still it ain't going to dry anytime   soon so I'll just record wet and my forehead's  not as shiny yeah it's still shiny hey everyone oh wait hey everybody or I kind of already said  that oh no my mic just decided to take a nap   what are you doing dude numbers I like um  gosh dang it sorry I got to start that over   I think I said it wrong but to build something  that is well um I'm nervous it's new player's   handbook that we get from assassinate that  we get from this surprise strikes feature   surprising strikes this would let us scoot  away first for free well not for free cuz   you're spending a D6 do not spill chocolate  protein drink on white shirt I don't have a   backup time to go read more of the new player  handbook oh I didn't get to bed till 2:00 in   the morning and then I woke up early cuz  I couldn't sleep cuz I'm like I need to   know what they changed with monks did they  Nerf The Shield spell how does surprise work

Channel: d4: D&D Deep Dive

Views: 31,616

Keywords: D&D, dnd, dungeons & dragons, exclusive, official, 2024, player's handbook, phb, new, rogue, assassin, damage, sneak attack, cunning strike, poison, burst, nova, dpr, dps, best, guide, how to, tips, tricks, optimize, min max, reveal

Id: vvf_Vjo1sXU

Length: 59min 55sec (3595 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 24 2024