The Order of Mage Slayers was formed after the Vizjerei survived the tragedy brought on by Bartuc and Horazon. Their purpose was to watch for rogue magi that may become corrupted by the forces of Evil. To be effective at this task they were trained in abilities that were not conducive to Demonic corruption. Living as rumor and myth to the general population, even other magi knew very little about this mysterious order. Their reputation was shrouded in mystery and the simple fear of their retribution almost ensured steadfast vigilance against corruption amongst those who knew they were real.

Assassins do not employ the magical arts directly; rather, they use enchanted items that mimic elemental powers and can be used autonomously. To further avoid potential corruption, they focus on the natural abilities of the mortal body - powers of the mind and unarmed combat.

With the Assassin, Blizzard North are aiming at a mix of the Sorceress's projectile attacks with the Barbarian's melee attacks, the Traps allowing her to be more tactical when dealing with larger groups of monsters at once where the Barbarian can't. A fighter-mage combination, though she lacks the massive destructive powers of a Barbarian with Whirlwind her Martial Arts tree allows her to be a formidable hand to hand fighter.

As Diablo II and LoD rounds down figures displayed so you will see a discrepancy at times. With the example above with Mana reserves rising by 1.5 points each time the Assassin levels up, you will only see the figure rise by one but the 1.5 points of mana are applied in the game, it just rounds the display down.

Special Equipment: The new class of weapons that is expressly for the Assassin are the "Hand to Hand" weapons. These are claw-like weapons that she wears on her hands, and can dual wield. They can only be worn by the Assassin, have very fast attack rate for her but not very high damage, and can be dual wielded or she can use one with a shield.

She is the only character that does not require keys to open locked chests.

As you'd expect from the title of this tree, these will allow her to perform various styles of combat kicks, as well as power-ups to augment her finishing moves.

This tree is divided into 2 areas. There are six Charge Up skills and four Finishing Moves, although you can use your regular plain attack.

A Charge Up skill can be charged up to three times, each charge will either increase the bonus in some way or alter the bonus. You must hit your target to register a charge. Once charged its bonuses can be released by using a Finishing Move {or Attack}. The Finishing Move will also apply a bonus of its own.

An example combination of Charge Up and Finishing Move would be:

Taking the example above...attack with the left mouse button {Fist of Fire} once and your finishing move will apply 6-10 fire damage, charge it a second time and your finishing move will apply 6-10 fire damage over a 2 yard radius, charge it a third and final time and your finishing move will apply 6-10 fire damage, over a 2 yard radius and will burn for 2.5 seconds.

Finishing moves can be used on their own but of course they're not going to be as powerful without the Charge Ups.

Three of the four finishing moves use the feet, Dragon Claw uses the claws and then only when they are dual wielded. No claw plus shield set ups can be used if you're wanting your Assassin to use Dragon Claw. Also, charge ups are released on the first claw to successfully strike a foe only, not twice, once on the first claw then again on the second claw. The character screen displays it as if the Assassin will release a charge up when the left and right claw strike and that is not the case.

Check the Martial Arts ID Sheet to quickly identify the Martial Art charge ups.

Check Assassin FAQ for weapons that can be used with Martial Arts.