Assassins: Waste of time?

[TevashSzat]

The best ways an assasin could be used for IMO is when you have a pesky spy that keeps on infiltrating your city causing a huge decrease in public order and forcing you to lose money. Once you see the spy out of the city, just spame your assasins on him and most likely your problems will be solved

[sbroadbent]

The best ways an assasin could be used for IMO is when you have a pesky spy that keeps on infiltrating your city causing a huge decrease in public order and forcing you to lose money. Once you see the spy out of the city, just spame your assasins on him and most likely your problems will be solved

Putting 2 or 3 spies in the settlement that gets targeted by spies is a good way to catch those annoying spies. The AI seems to infiltrate regardless of their chance of success, which makes it easy to deal with.

[Neoncat]

[QUOTE=Slaists][QUOTE=Quillan]

2) Drop a spy in an enemy city. Have your new assassins go to that city and sabotage buildings. The church is the easiest building to sabotage. Over time and successful sabotaging, they'll get some bonuses. Your target is the third trait in the Conspirator line. This will give a +3 to subterfuge.

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if you want to preserve chivalry of a chivalric leader: don't do anything beyond step #2 above... killing (rather than sabotaging) kills leader's chivalry points quickly.

Actually step #2 will lower chivalry too. Whats the idea in that? I really don't know. If you don't want to lose chivalry, you must use spies only in defensive way. Of course you can always put your spies next to enemy cities to get some info.

[Ciaran]

Well, three separate issues seem to be here. One is why the AI uses so many assassins, when the AI assassins are useless.

I just yesterday had been proved woefully wrong on that assumption, when a one-point assassin killed my six-star, four chivalry governor of Constantinople. So their chances for success may be low, but they´re not non-existing, and a massive use increases the probability that one of them gets through, because, even with all security traits and ancilliaries maxed out, there always remains a certain chance for success.

[SadCat]

I just yesterday had been proved woefully wrong on that assumption, when a one-point assassin killed my six-star, four chivalry governor of Constantinople. So their chances for success may be low, but they´re not non-existing, and a massive use increases the probability that one of them gets through, because, even with all security traits and ancilliaries maxed out, there always remains a certain chance for success.

And they will drive your General Mad too. SadCat

[steev]

Well, thats some good advice on training up assassins. Looks like I have to get all those cute little princesses that have "yappy little dogs". Why can't you just target the dog?
I didn't even realise before that there was an assassins guild - no doubt because I never hired any. I thought they came under the thieves guild.
Also I dont see why captains should be so hard to kill, as you kill one and he's instantly replaced. but there you go.

[phunkbot]

captains are easy to kill in my book and having them replaced is the best part


does anyone know if a building that's been sabotaged (or damaged in a siege for that matter) bellow 100% still has its bonus applied or if it has to be repaired first?

[steev]

Well, I followed all the good advice and had a blast fooling about with assassins. I'm playing Scotland (H/H all battles auto-resolve), reduced denmark to a single province then used it to as a training camp for assassins (maybe like Afghanistan under the Taliban). With the 8* spies in place I soon had some 5-8* assassins, who then went off to ruin cities with sabotage.
Assassins only really get good once you've got at least a major assassins guild. The HQ gives you 5* base.
They're bit fiddly if you're running a major offensive, but very amusing. Killing a poor innocent 0* princess made my leader into a seriously dreadful guy.
Of course its also expensive to rehabilitate cities once you've wrecked all those upgrades.

[Patricius]

I find that even just attacking captains can improve the rating of an already useful spy. Even if some lone priest or diplomat has only a slight effect, they are irritating, and clearing them can give the spy the skills to take out Pope or king. Assassinating princesses has a dramatic dread effect, so I sometimes leave them alone. Assassins seem to have improved considerably with 1.2, anyhow. Yet I think there is probably too much of a random factor with a very skilled or unskiilled assassin.

[Ciaran]

captains are easy to kill in my book and having them replaced is the best part


does anyone know if a building that's been sabotaged (or damaged in a siege for that matter) bellow 100% still has its bonus applied or if it has to be repaired first?

Damaged buildings, even when they´re still 99% intact, don´t function any more.

[-Silent-Someguy]

If you are willing to load the auto save alot of times when your super assassins keep dying then they are worth it. Otherwise, I've never found them neccesary, just a bit of fun.

[phunkbot]

thank you Ciaran

and if you dont get greedy you dont need to quickload that many times just move another character and try again

[Furious Mental]

My main complaint about assassins is that when you have them (no matter how unskilled they are) the Pope starts asking you to assassinate level 6 heretics on the other side of the map.

[Bob the Insane]

To reiterate what Ciaran posted, in the 1.02 leaked patch the the assassins seems to work much better... You get a reasonable chance (with a newbe assassin) to take down a captain of a small stack, after some success anda few bonuses it is on to low skill enemy agents and then on to minor family members... Just like RTW really...

The Assassin Guild really helps and using assassins alot with get your faction leader serious amounts of Dread in short order (my last 2 HRE Emperors have been "the Tyrant")...

High skill agents and general's with protective traits are still long shots even with experienced assassins. Plus assassins appear to loose stats one point at a time rather than the whole trait line...

It has certainly made me more aware of enemy assassins moving around, but the AI does not appear to spam them out like they used to...