In short: The Assassin (DE) is a melee fighter of the shadows, focused on speed and burst damage. It is the ideal class for anyone who likes being agile, striking first, and dropping targets before they can react.

Imagine gliding across the battlefield almost without a sound, appearing right next to your enemy and landing a sequence of strikes so fast they barely understand what happened. That is the Assassin (DE): a Dark Elf trained to stalk, surprise, and eliminate.

In practice, playing an Assassin is an agile, aggressive experience. You are not the character who soaks up damage — you are the one who avoids damage by being faster and ending the fight first. It is a class that rewards players who enjoy a fast pace and always being on the move.

Overview

Profile
Race	Assassin (Dark Elf)
Archetype	Melee combat
Playstyle	Agile and offensive
Difficulty	Medium
Main weapon	Dagger (blades)
Position in the line	2nd Class

The Assassin (DE) is part of an evolution journey: Assassin (DE) (Starter) → Assassin (DE) (1st Class) → Assassin (DE) (2nd Class). Each stage unlocks new skills and makes the character stronger and more specialized at what it does best: fast damage and mobility.

Strengths

Sky-high Dexterity (DEX at the absolute top) — DEX is the class's strongest attribute, and it governs critical chance and accuracy. In practice, you miss fewer hits and land far more criticals, which is where the dagger shines.
High Strength (STR nearly maxed) — STR increases the raw physical damage of your attacks. Combined with the high DEX, it makes every blow truly hurt, especially on criticals.
Solid toughness for an agile melee (CON above average) — CON gives health and stability. You are not a tank, but you endure enough to stay in the middle of a fight without falling on the first mistake.
Speed and mobility — with movement and fast-attack buffs, you dictate the pace of combat, choosing when to engage and when to retreat. That is worth gold both for farming and for PvP.
Explosive short-range damage — the kit is built to close in on a target and pour out damage in a short time. Short fights heavily favor this class.

Weaknesses

Low health (among the lowest) — your HP bar is small, so one slip costs you dearly. Tip: keep your distance from areas with many enemies and use healing potions on auto.
Almost no magic power (very low INT) — you deal practically no magic damage, so do not count on it. Tip: focus 100% on physical damage and criticals, which is the class's strong point.
Fragile against many targets at once — fighting up close with little health makes being surrounded dangerous. Tip: pull only a few monsters at a time and use mobility to avoid getting trapped in the middle.
Depends on closing the gap — being melee, ranged enemies can punish you before you reach them. Tip: use your speed buffs to close the distance quickly.

Class-defining skills

Strike — your basic physical damage strike. It is the attack you use most early on to drop monsters and set the rhythm of combat.
Shadow Attack — a stronger physical strike, unlocked at higher levels. Use it as burst damage when you want to finish a target faster.
Haste — a buff that speeds up your attacks (you hit more times in the same window). Keep it on whenever you fight; it is free extra damage.
Wind Walk — a buff that increases your movement speed. Essential for closing the gap, chasing, and fleeing when needed.
Berserker Spirit — a rage buff that raises your offensive power in exchange for a bit of defense. Great for speeding up farming and dropping targets faster.
Wild Magic — increases your magic critical chance; it helps the class's magic-linked effects. Keep it active alongside your other offensive buffs.
HP Recovery (Восстановление HP) — a heal over time that restores your health little by little. Use it to stay on your feet between fights without burning through potions.
MP Recovery (Восстановление МP) — restores mana gradually over time. Useful to keep your buffs and skills always available while farming.
Erosion — a special buff unlocked at a high level that reinforces your offensive performance. Activate it in important fights and against tougher targets.

Attributes: what to prioritize

The Assassin (DE) lives on physical damage and criticals, so the attributes that matter revolve around hitting hard and hitting consistently. Think of everything that boosts criticals, accuracy, and raw damage.

DEX (Dexterity) — your number one priority: it raises criticals and accuracy, the heart of the class.
STR (Strength) — second place: it makes your blows hit harder.
CON (Constitution) — third: it gives a bit more health to offset the natural fragility.
INT/WIT/MEN — you can ignore these as a focus; you barely use magic.

Recommended gear

The Assassin (DE)'s weapon is the dagger (light, fast blades), perfect for quick attacks and criticals. For armor, prefer light armor: it matches the agile style, keeps your speed, and does not weigh down your movements.

Early on, prioritize upgrading the weapon — it is what increases your damage the most and speeds up farming. Then invest in light armor to survive better, and finally in accessories that reinforce criticals and accuracy.

Step by step for beginners

Create the character — choose the Assassin race (Dark Elf) and the Assassin (DE) class. Read the starter description to get a feel for the class's agile style.
Do the first quests in the starting area — they give you levels, Adena, and free basic gear, and they teach you the game's basics.
Turn on auto-hunt — this feature makes your character farm on its own against monsters of your level. It is the main way to level up in L2 Essence; leave it running while you learn the rest.
Follow the professions base → 1st → 2nd → 3rd — each profession change grants new skills and makes you stronger. Do the change quests as soon as they unlock; it is a huge power spike.
Prioritize the right skills and buffs — keep Haste, Wind Walk, and Berserker Spirit always active, and use Strike and Shadow Attack as your main damage.
Gather Adena and L-Coin — Adena comes from farming and selling items; L-Coin is the special currency for upgrades. Save them to invest in weapon and armor.
Keep weapon and armor updated — whenever possible, swap or enhance your gear. A better weapon accelerates all of your progress.
Use auto-hunt together with auto-healing — set HP/MP potions to automatic so you can farm safely despite the class's low health.

Where to farm

Auto-hunt on monsters of your level — the most efficient way to climb; leave the character farming targets that match your current level.
Move up to harder zones as you evolve — as you grow stronger, switch to areas with better monsters that give more experience and rewards.
Party up for raids and bosses — in a group you can face strong targets that would be dangerous alone, and share valuable rewards.
Use the Season Pass and daily missions — they grant extra rewards every day and greatly speed up your character's progress.

Common beginner mistakes

Pulling too many monsters at once — with the Assassin's low health, being surrounded is a recipe for dying. Go a few at a time.
Forgetting to turn on your buffs — without Haste, Wind Walk, and company, you attack much slower and lose damage and mobility.
Ignoring weapon upgrades — holding a weak dagger for too long stalls all your progress. The weapon is the priority.
Trying to play tank — this class is not built to take hits; another archetype handles damage. Play through agility.

This is for you if…

You like fast, aggressive characters that dictate the pace of the fight.
You prefer ending fights early with burst damage instead of trading blows for a long time.
You enjoy always being on the move, choosing when to engage and when to retreat.

Quick summary

Attribute	Value
Archetype	Melee combat
HP at level 85	3113
MP at level 85	1385
Base physical attack	4
Base magic attack	6
Attack type	FIST

Assassin (DE) Class Guide (Assassin) — strengths, skills and step by step