The Assassin
Sure, this guy was in the military before the bombs fell, but he was no ordinary soldier. The Assassin is, simply put, my attempt at creating the ultimate stealth build, one that’s unmatched in its ability to both hide and strike from the shadows, but pays for it dearly if he’s detected. This isn’t to say that he can’t win a firefight, but it will likely be hard-fought. As I’m sure the concept of an assassin isn’t lost upon you I won’t waste time explaining it any further. So then, let’s get to it!
SPECIAL
Strength (4): A couple of different choices can be made here. Originally I was planning on leaving this at 1 so that I’d have just enough Strength to perk Big Leagues once I grabbed the bobblehead. However, I ended up having three leftover SPECIAL points to burn, so I put them here to boost melee weapon damage. I also had a point from a level-up to spare, which went here as well.
Perception (6): The Assassin is fairly reliant on VATS, so it’s good to have a decent Perception score. You’ll want to put the point from You’re SPECIAL here and grab the bobblehead as well for a further boost to VATS accuracy and the ability to perk Sniper.
Endurance (1): And this is why firefights are so punishing for the Assassin. While they’re certainly doable you’ll want to have healing items on hand if you plan on going in guns-blazing. In any event I recommend grabbing the bobblehead here so you’re not completely screwed out of health.
Charisma (2): Not a particularly necessary stat for the Assassin. The low selling / high buying prices aren’t a big issue, the reduced maximum population for settlements is irrelevant to this build, and you can simply pop some Grape Mentats if you absolutely need to persuade someone. That being said you’ll want to grab the bobblehead here at some point so you can perk Lone Wanderer later down the line.
Intelligence (3): It’s nice to have at least a little Intelligence for decent EXP gain. Grab the bobblehead here so you can get the Hacker perk.
Agility (6): Again, the Assassin uses VATS regularly so a decent pool of AP is essential. You’ll want the bobblehead here too for the Ninja perk.
Luck (6): When sneak attacks aren’t practical or aren’t enough the crits start coming out. Grab the bobblehead here as well so you can pick up the Critical Banker perk.
Perks
Listed (roughly) in order of priority. All of them should be maxed out (with the exception of any DLC exclusive ranks) unless indicated otherwise.
Night Person: Additional Perception and Intelligence is always nice, and the night vision means that you never have to risk using your Pip-Boy light when sneaking. I recommend picking this up ASAP in order to start reaping the benefits of the increased EXP gain from the Intelligence bonus sooner.
Locksmith/Hacker: Any assassin worth their salt needs to be able to disable any lock they come across, and to do that, you’ll need these perks.
Gunslinger/Rifleman/Big Leagues: Each of these perks boost the damage of one of the Assassin’s three different weapons.
Sneak: Essentially a required perk for being able to effectively use stealth.
Lone Wanderer: Initially you’ll want to adventure with Deacon and MacCready for their companion perks: Cloak & Dagger (from Deacon), which increases sneak attack damage by 20% and Stealth Boy duration by 40%, and Killshot (from MacCready), which increases VATS headshot accuracy by 20%. Ultimately, however, this build is meant to be played solo, so after you’ve gotten what you need for them, ditch them and start perking Lone Wanderer.
Ninja/Mister Sandman: Both of these perks, in combination with Cloak & Dagger, will give you the maximum permanent damage multiplier from sneak attacks possible. Note that while the official patch addressed this to some degree, you still need to grab C&D and the highest ranks of Ninja and Mister Sandman in a set order to get the highest ranged sneak attack multiplier possible (4.8). Either Ninja 3 -> C&D -> Sandman 3, C&D -> Sandman 3 -> Ninja 3, or C&D -> Ninja 3 -> Sandman 3 will work. Any other combination will result in something lower (either 4.7 or 4.4).
Better Criticals / Critical Banker: These two perks are all you need for boosting the effectiveness of your criticals.
Sniper: It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that this build uses a sniper, right? Perking this will make it a much more useful weapon.
You should be at level 50 once the build is complete.
Equipment
The Assassin has a few different options available as far as armor goes. In the screenshots I’m rocking the Marine Wetsuit and Tactical Helmet (from the Far Harbor DLC) with a set of Shadowed Leather Armor (the armguards are Sturdy with everything else being Heavy) for a stealthy look. You might have trouble finding the leather armor pieces you want, in which case you can simply ditch them and stick with the Wetsuit and Tactical Helmet; doing so won’t give you much in the way of damage resistance, but the Assassin isn’t meant to be tanky anyway. For those without the Far Harbor DLC the Courser Uniform and Patrolman’s Sunglasses is a nice alternative look. Of course, you may want your Assassin to blend in rather than look stealthy, in which case regular clothes are your best bet.
While any combat knife will work for the Assassin’s needs, I recommend grabbing Pickman’s Blade as it already comes with the Stealth Blade (negating the need for the Blacksmith perks) and a good legendary effect. This is your weapon of choice for taking out tougher opponents that might not go down so easily to ranged sneak attacks. It’s also a good choice should you find yourself in a point-blank firefight or for taking out weaker opponents not worth expending ammunition on.
The workhorse of the Assassin’s arsenal, for encounters too close for the sniper but too far for the knife. This will likely see more use than your other two weapons combined. The Calibrated Powerful Receiver, Sharpshooter’s Grip, and Large Quick Eject Mag are all sold by Tinker Tom after completing enough Railroad sidequests, with each mod requiring a different number of Weathervane quests. Combine that with the fact that the Short Barrel, Glow Sights, and Suppressor all either come with gun by default or don’t have any perk requirements to be crafted, that means you can completely modify the Deliverer to your specifications without needing Gun Nut.
As with Pickman’s Blade, any Hunting Rifle works for the Assassin’s needs; I just recommend the Tinker Tom Special in particular because it already comes with a Suppressor and decent legendary effect. This weapon is perfect for long-range assassinations and long-range shooting in general; its legendary effect, combined with Killshot and the third rank of Sniper, yields accurate headshots in VATS even from far away. As this build doesn’t use Gun Nut, you’ll simply have to strip whatever hunting rifles you find for mods. The ones to aim for are pictured above; as mentioned earlier, the gun comes with a Suppressor by default (as well as the Long Scope), but you’ll need to get lucky with the Calibrated Powerful Receiver, Long Ported Barrel, Marksman’s Stock, and Large Quick Eject Mag.
Replies
Nice build. Love the choice of armor pieces.