INTRODUCTION
Depending on what kind of assassin or rogue a thief wants to become different builds are needed. This guide is concentrating on thieves who want to become assassins. Assassins have (even with adding little agi) nice flee bonuses which makes them able to dodge most monsters. They can be fast in killing, but they will take a lot of damage when they are hit because they do not use shields. In mobs they are extra vulnerable because their flee decreases.
Dual Dagger Assassin
Assassins can choose to use two kinds of of different weapon builds, dual daggers or katar. Dual dagger needs many different kinds of daggers and cards to be good everywhere, but when played right the damage is very high. As dual dagger you will want high str and/or agi and some dex. As assassins get very high flee bonuses they arguably do not need much agi, but some monsters only high agi assassins can dodge properly. Agi is also good for attack speed which also adds damage. At higher levels even with medium agi you can reach 200+ flee which is enough to dodge many monsters, and str will add a lot more killing speed.
Katar Assassin
Katar assassins specialize in katars. Katars are not as powerful as dual dagger assassins can be when they finally have found all the cards and weapons they need, but the katars are easier to find and easier to use. If you are new to the game, it is probably better to choose to be a katar assassin. Just like dual dagger assassins katar assassins want high str and/or agi. What makes katar assassins different stat-wise is that they probably want to add luk as well, since the crit rate is doubled when using katars. Adding only luk and no dex is not wise, however, since in most cases elemental katars do higher damage on monsters weak to that element than the much sought after soldier skeleton cards (adding 9 crit rate per card, or the double for katars).
THIEF SKILLS
Novices can become thieves at job level 10 after completing the thief jobquest found below morroc pyramids. Thieves are one of the few classes that can get away with not getting all 50 job levels without being sorry later. These are the must haves because of usefulness and assassin skill prerequisites:
Base level 1 (automatic)
Double Attack level 10
Improve Dodge level 10
Steal level 5
Hiding level 2
Envenom level 1
Which totals 29 skill levels, meaning 11 more to go until you are job level 40 and can become assassin. There is nothing stopping you from getting the maximum of 50 job levels, but just putting those 11 job levels in good use will also do the trick.
Thief Skill Descriptions
Double Attack does exactly what it says: when it activates it doubles your damage when using daggers. The chance of that happening depends on the skill level, but at the maximum level it gives a total of 50% more damage output on average. If you are not using a dagger it will only use level 1 Double Attack. As katar sin it might not seem very useful because the the skill only works with daggers, but add a sidewinder card to your jamadhar [1] or together with a good card in your katar [2] and you have a weapon that often outdamages a triple critical jur. This is another reason to not ignore dex - double attack often outdamages crit, but critical attacks go before double attacks.
Improve Dodge adds 30 flee on the highest level, and it goes even up to 40 when being an assassin. It's a thiefs best friend.
Steal level 5 is required for hiding, which in turn is required for cloak, so even if you don't feel like stealing take it. Stealing is also usefull when hunting for a common monster drop or even for rarer items. The higher the level, the higher the chance of stealing something. The success chance also depends on your level and on the dex you have. The funny thing is that you can have too much levels in steal or too high dex. When it gets high enough at some monsters you are so good at stealing that you successfully steal one drop every time and miss out on a chance on the other drops.
Hiding level 2 is required for Cloaking, so take at least this much. As an assassin cloaking might seem much more useful because you can run around when using it and when hiding you cannot, but Hide is useful for other reasons as well. When you hide, area spells cannot hit you, and if you want to use the assassin skill Grimtooth you also have to hide when using it.
Envenom level 1 is required for some poison skills the assassins have. Most of them are not useful, but Enchant Poison is, so you will want at least 1 skill point in Envenom. Envenom level 3 is also required for the thief skill Detoxify which cures poison on yourself and your party members, so if you want that, remember to take level 3. Personally I never use Envenom because I just can't be bothered for the small damage it does. It does give a chance of poisoning your enemies, which lowers their defense and makes them lose a few hitpoints slowly, but while you were busy poisoning you could probably have killed it instead.
Detoxify can be useful if you don't want to carry green herbs or potions, since it cures poison. It also cures party members of poison, so it could be fun to use on them.
ASSASSIN SKILLS FOR KATAR ASSASSINS
The must haves for katar assassins are:
Base level 1 (automatic)
Katar Mastery level 10
Sonic Blow level 10
Grimtooth level 5
Cloaking level 3
Enchant Poison level 1
Again it leaves you with only 30 skill points. The rest of the skills are not very useful, so I highly recommend taking higher levels in Cloaking and Enchant Poison.
ASSASSIN SKILLS FOR DUAL DAGGER ASSASSINS
The must haves for dual dagger are:
Base 1 (automatic)
Right Hand Mastery level 5
Left Hand Mastery level 5
Cloaking level 3
Enchant Poison level 1
With only 20 skill points used, there is plenty of room to play around with the rest of the skill points. I do recommend taking higher levels in Cloaking and Enchant Poison though.
ASSASSIN SKILL DESCRIPTIONS
Cloaking at level 3 lets you run around freely while beeing unseen, something that true assassins should love. With lower levels you have to stand next to a wall, which is less fun and useful. From Cloaking you can also go Hiding without beeing seen, which is useful if you want to use Grimtooth.
Right Hand Mastery increases the damage made the dagger in your right hand when dual wielding. When using two weapons the attack power on both hands is reduced, but with this skill it is compensated. When wanting to be dual dagger build this skill is a must, but this skill is not required to be able to equip two daggers.
Left Hand Mastery does the same as Right Hand Mastery, but for the other hand. Even with this skill maxed out the left hand will still be weaker than the right. When wanting to be dual dagger build this skill is a must, but this skill is not required to be able to equip two daggers.
Katar Mastery increases the damage when equipping katars, so it's very useful for katar assassins. It's also required for the katar skills Sonic Blow and Grimtooth.
Sonic Blow is a katar skill that deals 800% damage to the target, so it is very powerful. It takes a while to use it though and there is a cast delay. There is a chance of stun which is nice too, of course. If you want Grimtooth you need level 5 of this skill.
Grimtooth is a katar skill used when hiding, which can be very useful against an enemy that is too strong to face head on. The most useful way of using grimtooth, however, is on mobs. Grimtooth will attack all enemies around your target in a 3x3 radius with 200% damage. This is the only mob skill assassins have.
Enchant Poison makes your weapon poison property which makes more damage against enemies with low level elements of earth, fire and wind. This is especially useful when you use it on a weapon with cards, which lacks an element. The duration of the skill increases with higher levels. Level 3 is required for Poison React and Venom Splasher, and level 5 is required for Venom dust.
Poison React counters a poison property attack. It only lasts for 60 seconds at level 10, so it's not very useful because poison attacks are very rare. It does have a 50% chance to retaliate with level 5 Envenom when you get hit by a normal attack. You need level 5 for Venom Splasher if you want that.
Venom Dust puts down a small poison field on the ground and costs 1 red gemstone to use. Every enemy on the field gets poisoned except for bosses. While this skill could be fun to play around with sometime, it could get expensive (and bothersome, you would want to have potions instead of gemstones) to use frequently and assassins are not meant to stand in mobs either way. You need level 5 for Venom Splasher.
Venom Splasher uses a red gemstone when trying to make a poison bomb out of your enemy. When it explodes it also damages your other enemies in a 5x5 area around it. Sounds like great fun but it is a hard skill to use, since you have to try to figure out when a target has lost 1/4 of his hitpoints. With more hitpoints the skill will fail. Trying to do this with a mob which you want to kill around your target monster does not make it easier, although this skill can do high damage.
EQUIPMENT AS A THIEF
The best weapon for a thief to use is a dagger. If you want to become a katar assassin you might not want to spend too much zeny on a proper dagger to use when leveling up your thief. A stiletto [2] bought from the weapon store could easily be fine, especially if you don't go to job level 50. Feel free to put any cheap weapon card that adds stats or damage. If you can manage to upgrade it a bit it'll be even better. The strongest dagger you can buy from the weapon dealer npc in southeast Morroc is the Damascus [1].
When going for dagger assassin you could also start with a storebought stiletto[2], but what you really want are elemental damascuses and gladius[3] with size damage cards (3x desert wolf for small, 3x skelworker for medium and 3x minorous for large). Elemental damascuses can be forged by blacksmiths and you need 4 Oridecon, 60 Steel and 1 Zircon and 1 elemental stone (1 Flame Heart for fire, 1 Mystic Frozen for ice, 1 Rough Wind for wind, 1 Great Nature for earth) for an attempt. You can get a gladius[3] by killing the axe Kobold (0.02% drop chance), Skeleton General (0.35%) or you can try to buy one from other players. These daggers can later be used in your right hand when using dual dagger.
As for other equipment the most useful will be the ones adding agi/flee, defense, hitpoints, damage reduction and str.
EQUIPMENT FOR KATAR ASSASSINS
Elemental katars cannot be forged, but they are dropped by monsters. They are also often sold for cheap by other players. As a starting katar assassin you would probably have problems killing Eddga (fire katar) and Garm (ice katar), so buy them. The wind katar is a very rare drop from jokers and the earth katar is also a rare drop by sandmen, so either kill a lot of them or buy it as well. As for weapon cards, the most hyped ones are soldier skeleton cards, which you would want to put in a jur[3]. Either fill it up with soldier skeletons or add one size card or a hydra card against other players. Jur[3] are uncommon and are dropped by martins, but youcan probably buy a jur[3] from someone.
If you get sad from reading about soldier skeleton cards and jurs, don't! Elemental katars often do more damage than triple critical jurs, and if you put a sidewinder card in a jamadhar[1] or katar[2] with a size card you also have a nice weapon for neutral monsters. On many monsters this weapon is even better than the triple critical jur. Jamadhar[1] is dropped by Injustice and Osiris and there shouldn't be much problems buying one, since they are often even sold to NPC. Katar[2] are dropped by desert wolves, which you might want to hunt for their card either way. There are a few more katars dropped by monsters, the Sharpened Legbone of Ghoul (undead element) and the Infiltrator which is quite good against demihuman monsters and players.
Other equipment a katar sin would want are of course things that add agi/flee, defense, hitpoints, damage reduction and str. But for accessories you should probably use critical rings or slotted accessories with kobold cards, since they increase critical rate.
EQUIPMENT FOR DUAL DAGGER ASSASSINS
For your main (or right hand) you want to use a strong elemental weapon since the element of your attack depends on what you equip in that hand. See the thief equipments for more specifications. To get the most out of holding two weapons it is smart to add as many race and elemental cards as possible on the weaker hand. For this purpose Main Gauche[4] are the best choice since they are the strongest dagger with most slots. They are dropped by Hornets. For the best possible damage add two race cards and two elemental cards. These weapons are then very monster specific. To get a more general weapon you really have to check out the area where you want to go and check what race or element is the most common there. The best weapon on your left hand when fighting high defense enemies is the ice pick however, the damage becomes higher with high defense with that one. The ice pick can be obtained in the Seal of Mjolnir quest (not implemented yet, but it will be in a few updates) but it is very hard to get, so don't count on getting it. When you want to switch the weak hand weapon you can just put the weapons on your hotkey bar, but if you want to switch the main hand weapon you will first manually have to unequip it.
Useful weapon cards:
Hydra +20% damage against demi-human monsters and players
Goblin +20% damage against brute monsters
Pecopeco egg +20% damage against formless monsters
Strouf +20% damage against demon monsters
Caramel +20% damage against insect monsters
Orc Skeleton +20% damage against holy monsters
Vadon +20% damage against fire monsters
Drainliar +20% damage against water monsters
Mandragora +20% damage against wind monsters
Kaho +20% damage against earth monsters
Anacondaq +20% damage against poison monsters
Santa Poring +20% damage against dark monsters
As for other equipment the most useful will be the ones adding agi/flee, defense, hitpoints, damage reduction and str.
USEFUL GENERAL EQUIPMENT
Here are some suggestions for general assassin equipment:
Upper Headgear:
Cap [1] with a Nightmare Card for +1 agi, Deviruchi Card for +1 str or Willow Card for +80 SP
(Compume Hat [1] is even better than a Cap [1] since it adds +1 to all stats, but it may be hard to get)
Sakkat or Sombrero for +1 agi
Angel Wings or Angel Helm for +1 agi, +1 luk and +3 mdef
Evil Wings for +1 str and +3 mdef
Pirate Bandana for +1 str
Hotblooded Headband for +2 str
Ghost Bandana for +2 agi
Poo Poo Hat for 10% damage reduction from Demi-Human monsters and players
Or anything that you think looks nice
Middle Headgear:
Opera Mask for +2 def
Evil Wing Ears or Angel Wing Ears for +1 def and +1 str
Lower Headgear:
While there are some items that give -3% damage from certain monster types (Romantic Flower, Leaf, Pipe), that is rather insignificant. A gangster mask increases your resistance to the Silence status by 15%, but the main use for that is in pvp. Since it doesn't really matter what you wear, just pick something you think looks nice, or wear nothing.
Armor:
Chainmail [1] 8 def or Thief Clothes [1] 6 def +1 agi with
Pupa Card for +700 hp, Roda Frog Card for +400 hp & +50 sp, Peco Peco Card for +10% hp or Marc Card for resistance against frozen status (mainly useful in pvp)
Or a Ninja Suit [0] which gives +1 agi and +3 mdef
Shield:
Assassins don't wear shields! Perhaps the only time you want to wear a shield is when you would die too fast otherwise, in that case you could equip a Buckler [1] with the appropriate -30% race reduction card. Thara Frog Card gives damage reduction from players.
Garment:
Use a Manteau [1] with one of the following cards:
Raydric Card for 20% reduction from neutral attacks, this means all normal monster attacks and non-elemental attacks from players.
Whisper Card for +20 flee
Condor Card for +10 flee
In pvp a Marse Card for -30% damage from water element attacks is useful, or a Jakk Card for -30% damage from fire attacks.
Footgear:
Boots [1] 4 def with:
Verit Card for +8% hp & +8% sp
Matyr Card for +1 agi & +10% hp
Chonchon Card for +1 agi and +2 flee
Male Thiefbug Card for +2 agi
Or Crystal Pumps for +5 luk
Accessories:
Matyr Leash +1 def & +1 agi
Ring +2 str
Necklace +2 vit
Brooch +2 agi
Glove +2 dex
Pearl Brooch +2 luk & +5 mdef
Critical Ring +5 crit, very useful for katar assassins.
Then there's also the slotted accessories: Clip [1] and Brooch [1], Ring [1], Glove [1], Necklace [1], Rosary [1], but all except the Clip have a level requirement of 90.
Belt [1] is also slotted and can be bought for cheap from an Armor Dealer NPC, but it's quite heavy.
Cards you could put in the slotted accessories are:
Kobold +1 str +4 crit
Mantis +3 str
Tarou +2 str
Kukre +2 agi
Yoyo +1 agi and +5 perfect dodge
Vitata gives the skill level 1 heal
