Asssassin Handbook (A guide to Assassin Hunt)

Users who are viewing this thread

Hi y'all!

There's no guide yet, so I'm writing one here! Please do add your own guides and corrections in the replies:grin:

Gamemodes:
Steal the Documents (or just TDM) is a gamemode unique to Assassin Hunt. The main point is to steal books. There are 1-4 book chests on each TDM map, placed by the mapper. As an assassin, you have to go to one of those chests 'til you see a message saying assassins can steal the books here and guards can return 'em. You hold F (use key by default) for about 4 seconds there, and a book is dropped on the ground. Pick it up. Note that with this book, you are slower, and can no longer hide. You can equip it and use it as a shield or put it on your back, it will stay visible though. You then have to bring it to a chest that says you can deliver them there (that chest is usually at the town gates or maybe on a rooftop) and hold F for a while. Congrats! You have now delivered a book, and earned your team 3 points. Note that this does not give you any kills though:/. As a guard, you might wanna keep your eyes open for anyone running around with a book and kill them. You can then pick the book up and go to one of the chests where the assassins steal them. Hold F for about 4 seconds to put the book back in the chest, so that other assassins aren't gonna get their hands on such goodies as fast as you did.

Note that most people don't do this though. It's called TDM for a reason. Most people just focus on killing the other team.
Big note: As an assassin, you don't only have to limit yourself to killing guards, you can also kill fellow assassins and get kills. It's not like the medieval-renaissance assassins were all friends with each other, it was a dirty business.

This is the older gamemode, you can call it Assassin Hunt, Free-for-All (FFA), Deathmatch, or whatever you want. This gamemode is a lot simpler. You kill your fellow assassins, make sure they don't find out who you are, and then kill them again. No teamwork. It's forbidden. This is the cruel reality, every man for himself. It's as simple as that.

They are always there, peacefully walking through the alleys, minding their own business. Townsfolk are the bots. If a server has up to 7 slots, there are 70 of them. If it's a bigger server, 100. Note that killing them applies -1 kill to your kill chart no matter who you are. You are not suppost to kill them. Even worse, once your score reaches -10 (meaning you've killed ten poor bots), the server will kick you. Period. There are several kinds of townsfolk: you have the normal ones, they don't do much, they just walk around (usually backwards), there are merchants, who usually stand near useful merchant stands, and there are Smiths, who stand at the Smithy and have a hammer and an apron. You can constantly hear the bots shouting random things at each other and you, like "Away with you, vile begger!" and "It's almost harvestin' season!".

They both offer an unique service on one place per map. The merchant has a stall where you can buy food, to heal yourself. Look for a stack of cabbages or a cart of food, it's usually there. Hold F for a moment to buy some food. You will then have a "food" item in your inventory. Attack with it to eat it, regaining one third of your health.
The smiths service is usually near a weapons stand (with possible merchants spawning there, that's why you gotta keep an eye out for the merchants!) Look for a message saying ''Refill Ammo''. Hold F for a second or two and your quiver shall be full again! No need to pay!

There are several events in Assassin Hunt, and the number seems to be increasing. A server automatically starts an event every two minutes, you can recognise them by the big white messages in the center of your screen. Admins can start events as often as they want. Some events are just new merchants or smiths to replace the dead ones, sometimes the Smith is striking and won't produce any ammo, sometimes the Merchant is having some Bandit problems and can't get his hands on the precious foods (these two both last for 2 minutes and you will see another big message when they end). Sometimes a Psycho enters the town and starts killing people, sometimes 5 Psychos come at the same time and kinda rape the entire city. You can also get 3 drunks, they're not as dangerous as the Psychos, but they kill aswell. There is also a Fog event, currently not working.

There are three types of guards: The two-handed guard, the shielder guard that has a shield and a 1h weapon and the archer guard that has either a normal bow or a crossbow, 15 arrows/bolts and a broken dagger. That's all there is in this version, more to come next year.
This is just the basics, each player's personal equipment will be based on the map faction. For example, you obviously won't get a Rhodok board shield on a Sarranid map. There's also usually about two types of armor per faction, so your armor is not always gonna be exactly the same! Same goes for the helmets.

Guards have no place to hide. They are extremely vulnerable when just walking around the streets alone. But they are much stronger, when they stick together in teams. For example, a good guard team could be two shielders and a two-hander on the streets, and an archer on the roofs. See archers shouldn't just walk in the masses. They should be on an open space, and if possible, on high ground. Cause they suck at melee. They should be more of a support troop, so when you're an archer, keep your eyes open. Watch out for any pistoleers and crossbowmen trying to attack your teammates down on the streets. You can (with a bit speed and skill) shoot them before they shoot your friends. And if you hit their heads, they're dead. The men on the streets should maybe even focus on their rear more than the front. Most assassins prefer to attack from behind instead of just pulling out their swords in front of you.
And most important, don't fall apart. If you get stuck in a thick crowd, your long sword or mace would be no match for the assassin with a short dagger, you'd just kill the bots. Open fields are not always a bad idea anyway. Sometimes you can just get your crew on the roofs if you need to catch your breath for a second.

There are a few simple things that give an assassin away. Trust me, even in a large crowd you will soon notice if someone is wielding a weapon. The color differs from the usual colors, it's metaly and shiny (if it's day and the sun is shining on it). You should also keep your eyes open for any bloody fellas. They aren't necessarily assassins maybe some townfolk just got hit, but you can just keep your eyes open. Look at the faces. The face is always the same, and for me the face gives away most assassins. Once you've killed 'em, look at the face for a sec and think of a few words to describe it with. That way you can memorise  it better (For example I know the faces of a few common players like Marius and Shoep. Helps me quite a lot). Other things that give them away:
The sound they make when drawing a weapon, never play AH with your sound muted.
Jumping, hitting, blocking with fists, stopping for a second and then walking on (they were probably typing or lagging) and bloody faces and arms. See, if you play around a bit, you're gonna notice the difference between bloody and bloody. I don't know how to explain this in the best way, but the blood stains someone gets when you hit him are different from the ones you get. A killers right fist is often fully covered in blood, so is his right chin, or maybe even his entire face! You will soon start to recognise the difference. Also, if you see a bloody guy you don't have to stalk him, but it might be a good idea to memorise his hat and boots (apart from his face). If you see the guy later and he's not bloody anymore, means he's an assassin and he washed off the blood. Don't focus entirely on memorising his jacket, coat or robe though. A good assassin changes that on the run every now and then. But what you can't change that fast is your hat and boots. They are smaller, so it's harder to pick 'em up on the run. Also, if you see a guy changing clothes, it's not a bot. Bots have no sense for fashion at all, the guy you just saw was an assassin! After him! You can also get your team on the roof (this is a better idea in TDM that it is in FFA since you'll be alone there) and wait. If any non-guard comes up the roof, it can't be a bot. Make sure you're not close to the edges though, cause people might shoot you from the ground.

  • It wouldn't be a bad idea to join a clan, there's a lot of proffesional players around who can help you quite a lot. There's a list of AH clans stickied here.   
  • Always, I repeat, always watch your back.
  • If you scoop around on the favourite class topic, you might just know what to expect from a player who just joined the server:wink:
  • When sitting behind a computer, always make sure your back is straight, especially if you're on the younger side. Don't wanna mess up your spine too early. Just sayin'.
  • If you're a guard, it might not be a bad idea to keep your shield on your back. It can save your life from a sudden bolt or bullet. You can always quickly equip it when it's fighty fighty time.
  • Thanks to Troubles we now that a thrown dagger will get stuck in your (if it's in the way) even if you don't lift it.

  • Like when you are trying to detect enemies, watch how they move. If somebody runs "forward" for too long, it is a clear sign that they are assassins.
  • If an assassin "walks" backwards, it is a clear sign if they are assassin.
  • Paranoia may be helpful, but please do not stab every AI out there. It's a game with points! You can get autokicked as well.
  • Speaking of paranoia, if you think you saw anybody do any of the following listed clues, stab him.
  • Take the time to identify any bots or humans in an area that is wearing the same nearby available clothing.[\li]
    • If you are new and haven't picked up the experience in identifying assassins, read faces. Age, Gender, Skin Color, and Retard Faces gives everybody a big clue.
    • If you are the type that likes to hide-&-strike, then I'm sure you would like to watch how you are moving compared to the bots. If so, move with all keys. If you are following somebody, I suggest moving in a W+A or W+D pattern, like some bots do. Also, if you think you are moving forward for too long, take the time to move backwards for a split second and face a single bot. If a bot starts moving while looking at you, move with him.


  • Remember if ya dislike anything here or if I forgot something important add it:grin:

    Note that most things I said here are just copied from several smart people, whose posts you can find all over this board.
 
Ohh, a person from my very own regiment... I'm so pround!  :grin:



Back on topic, nice guide you've made there, I'm sure many people will find it very usefull!
 
Nice guide!

Also do you mind if you put in the FFA tips & tricks?

Like when you are trying to detect enemies, watch how they move. If somebody runs "forward" for too long, it is a clear sign that they are assassins.

If an assassin "walks" backwards, it is a clear sign if they are assassin.

Paranoia may be helpful, but please do not stab every AI out there. It's a game with points! You can get autokicked as well.

Speaking of paranoia, if you think you saw anybody do any of the following listed clues, stab him.

Take the time to identify any bots or humans in an area that is wearing the same nearby available clothing.

If you are new and haven't picked up the experience in identifying assassins, read faces. Age, Gender, Skin Color, and Retard Faces gives everybody a big clue.

If you are the type that likes to hide-&-strike, then I'm sure you would like to watch how you are moving compared to the bots. If so, move with all keys. If you are following somebody, I suggest moving in a W+A or W+D pattern, like some bots do. Also, if you think you are moving forward for too long, take the time to move backwards for a split second and face a single bot. If a bot starts moving while looking at you, move with him.
 
About the running, sometimes I see someone running forward with the sprinting animation, I kill them and they're a townsperson!
 
splofot said:
  • If you're a guard, it might not be a bad idea to keep your shield on your back. It can save your life from a sudden bolt, bullet or maybe even dagger (not sure whether it helps with the dagger, verification needed).

  • Shields do not block any melee attacks unless the right-button is held, whether the shield was equipped on your back, or held with your arms. So in your story, the shield won't block (nor even reduce the damage of) the attack done after being attacked with a dagger.
 
Troubles said:
splofot said:
  • If you're a guard, it might not be a bad idea to keep your shield on your back. It can save your life from a sudden bolt, bullet or maybe even dagger (not sure whether it helps with the dagger, verification needed).

  • Shields do not block any melee attacks unless the right-button is held, whether the shield was equipped on your back, or held with your arms. So in your story, the shield won't block (nor even reduce the damage of) the attack done after being attacked with a dagger.


  • I meant when the dagger is being thrown, I'm not retarded. But as I said, haven't tested it out yet.
 
splofot said:
Troubles said:
splofot said:
  • If you're a guard, it might not be a bad idea to keep your shield on your back. It can save your life from a sudden bolt, bullet or maybe even dagger (not sure whether it helps with the dagger, verification needed).

  • Shields do not block any melee attacks unless the right-button is held, whether the shield was equipped on your back, or held with your arms. So in your story, the shield won't block (nor even reduce the damage of) the attack done after being attacked with a dagger.


  • I meant when the dagger is being thrown, I'm not retarded. But as I said, haven't tested it out yet.
Oh alright, I misunderstood you, because you said "dagger" instead of "knife" (they're throwing knives, right??). Edit: Nah, they're daggers. But people usually refer to them as knives, and that's why I got mixed up.
Well, the dagger counts as "Throwing", which in native acts just like bolts and arrows (hits the shields even if the player doesn't raise his shield up). So, it's likely that it acts like bolts and arrows in the mod (why wouldn't it?). You can still test it out, or maybe I'll take care of that when I come back (a few hours from now).

Edit 2: Alright, I tested the throwing daggers on the shields, take a look, and read my notes under those pictures:

I stood in front of him, and threw a dagger on his shield. He was not blocking. He didn't lose any hp, and the dagger got attached to his shield.

Another screen-shot, showing the dagger's position on the shield more clearly.

I told him to put the shield on his back, and then I threw a knife on it.

As you can see, this time the dagger hit his back (notice the blood). He lost 50% of his hp. I also asked him to drop the shield, so as to know whether the dagger landed on it or on his back. I can't find the screenshot (I don't know what happened), but it landed on his back.
Thanks to "Madf11" for helping me with those tests.

So:
1- Throwing daggers are treated in the same way as any ranged weapon is treated in native, which means that the shield, when equipped on your hand (whether you're blocking or not) will always absorb any ranged projectiles that hit it.
2- Shields on your back are useless, they do not stop, nor reduce, the damage of the thrown weapon. This is also in multiplayer native, but it isn't the same way in singleplayer native. I've read somewhere that the agents we play with in multiplayer do not have any shield skill points (remember the "shield" skill from singleplayer?), so I suspect that that's were the problem's coming from. Someone else with more experience in these issues should confirm this.

To cut a long story short, keeping your shield on your back is the same as dropping your shield, as it makes the shield completely ineffective in melee and ranged combat. So, players should always keep their shields on, and their fingers on the "~" (by default) button.
 
Big note: As an assassin, you don't only have to limit yourself to killing guards, you can also kill fellow assassins and get kills. It's not like the medieval-renaissance assassins were all friends with each other, it was a dirty business.
Just saw that, this is wrong. You can not simply kill them to gain anything, it is a teamkill. It stands under "TDM"

And this hree, in "Townsfolk":
They are always there, peacefully walking through the alleys, minding their own business. Townsfolk are the bots. If a server has up to 7 slots, there are 70 of them. If it's a bigger server, 100. Note that killing them applies -1 kill to your kill chart no matter who you are. You are not suppost to kill them. Even worse, once your score reaches -10 (meaning you've killed ten poor bots), the server will kick you. Period. There are several kinds of townsfolk: you have the normal ones, they don't do much, they just walk around (usually backwards), there are merchants, who usually stand near useful merchant stands, and there are Smiths, who stand at the Smithy and have a hammer and an apron. You can constantly hear the bots shouting random things at each other and you, like "Away with you, vile begger!" and "It's almost harvestin' season!".
Is wrong too. You can now choose the number of bots completely free, so there can be any amount of them you want, up to 1000 I think. And you are now autokicked when reaching -5.

"The Guards"
There are three types of guards: The two-handed guard, the shielder guard that has a shield and a 1h weapon and the archer guard that has either a normal bow or a crossbow, 15 arrows/bolts and a broken dagger. That's all there is in this version, more to come next year.
This is just the basics, each player's personal equipment will be based on the map faction. For example, you obviously won't get a Rhodok board shield on a Sarranid map. There's also usually about two types of armor per faction, so your armor is not always gonna be exactly the same! Same goes for the helmets.
You could add the throwing weapon too.

edit2: I wrote some guides for the different classes, staring witht he Assassins:
- You have 3 daggers and nothing else
- remember to check how many daggers you have left when you are in a safe place
- Even though your daggers are throwing weapons, they are really really good in meele. A dagger is really fast, and does heavy damage when stabbing with it. A thrust is mostly an instant kill.
- Mainly, you will be running up to an enemy from behind, taking out your dagger and changing it to meele mode (x key) and stab your target, and then run away quickly or throw your daggers at another person. Do not search open fights with the dagger, it does not really work good.
- It is essential for you to hide

- The pistol. Loud, smoking and deadly. One hit will instant kill anyone who is hit or break his shield instantly and damage him a bit too.
- Thus, the pistol can best be used against heavily armored targets or those with a shield.
- The pistol is not very accurate, so you can't shoot from one end of the map to another, don't even try it. Be carefull when shooting, it often happens that you hit a townsman or, even worse, a teammate.
- Run away while reloading and search a safe spot where no one sees you. Believe me, it's easy to notice someone standing in a group of bots and moving around his hands again and again.
- Be aware that everyone around you will hear you shoot and will see the smoke at your position eventually

- The sword is relatively fast and big, it has a good range and is very good for open combat.
- Try hitting the head of your target with a swing and it will fall with one hit mostly, otherwise you would need two.
- The axe is smaller and slower, but does more damage and will mostly onehit. Use this one for surprise Attacks.
- Even though you will mostly not operate as sneaky as others, do not think you can for example kill a guard with a two handed weapon easily. Try drawing them to your teammates so that they can shoot them or help you. Do not completely rely on your sword and axe.
- Do not think you are a soldier! You still are an Assassin and as you ahve no shield, it is no good idea to run around too suspicious, with your weapon drawn. You will have something in your face very soon, believe me.

- The Mace, a bit worse than the sword regarding range, speed and damage, but a relatively good thing too. What is most important is that you can knock enemies down.
- Do not try to play alone, get some friends with you that can finish off enemies lying on the ground and focus the enemies that are still standing while they kill those on the ground.

- The sniper of the Assassins. Not really useful in FFA mode, as there are no long range combats.
- But it is very good in TDM Mode, as you can kill enemy archers or people with two handed weapons easily from a distance. Remember to hit their head, though or they will not fall and either shoot back or get out of your sight.


- Long range, heavy damage, good speed. This Type of guards is very very good in combat, but lacks any defense. You will need a shield to survive archers or pistol shooters, so be sure to team up with one or two shield guards.

- Medium range, medium damage, medium speed but good protection. Althoug you won't do as much damage as a guard with a two handed weapon, you are really effective guarding certain places because anyone attacking you from the fornt will just hit your shield and you can simply block bolts. Beware of pistol shooters, though and try to avoid getting hit by those because your shield will break with one hit mostly. Work together with the others for best effect.

- Either a bow or a crossbow, depending on the faction. With a ranged weapon, you lack good armor, but instead you get a long range weapon. Search for a  high spot where you can see a big part of the town and watch for assassins. Found one? Good, take your time to aim at them and shoot them. But beware, if one of them comes too close, you will probably die. Remember to pick up a better meele weapon when an assassin drops one.

- You have good armor, a good meele weapon and throwing weapons. But you lack a shield, so you can be more easily defeated by enemie crossbowmen or pistol shooters. Save your two throwing weapons for Assassins that try to run away. A throwing weapon will one hit, if you don't miss. So be carefull with these, hitting team mates might give you problems (a teamkill)
- Try to pick up a shield when you see one lying on the ground.
 
Back
Top Bottom