In a recent PBEM game, I had 2 assassins square off against 2 rogues, and the assassins got whupped!
After I sent my turn on, I went back and replayed this battle several times. In FC, the Rogues won 4 out of 7 times. In TC, the Rogues won 5 out of 7 times!
I was shocked as I've rarely gone up against Rogues, but I use Assassins all the time because I play the Orcs a lot. I was surprised to see that Rogues have better physical stats than the Assassins! This initially rubbed me wrong because I think of Orcs as inherently tougher than dinky little Halflings.
Lets take a closer look:
5 4 4 4 6 26
Abilities: Walking, Strike, Parry, Wall Climbing, Concealment, Hurl Stones, Marksmanship I (Mark II at Silver and Mark III at Gold medal).
vs.
5 3 3 3 7 28
Abilities: Walking, Strike, Wall Climbing, Concealment, Poison Strike, Poison Darts, Marksmanship I (Mark II at Silver and Mark III at Gold medal).
ANALYSIS:
Both units have the Concealment and Wall Climbing ability.
Ranged Weapon:
The Rogue has Hurl Stones and the Assassin uses Poison Darts. While some may say that units are more easily poisoned, thus affecting their stats, I'll take the increased damage of Hurl Stones any day. At Mark III, Hurl Stones is deadly with 4 attacks at +2 attack and +1 damage!
Edge: Rogue
Melee Attack:
The Rogue has the Parry ability while the Assassin has a Poison Strike. Again, the fans of Poison Strike say that it's a great way to affect the stats of your opponent. This may be fine for a hero, but the Assassin is not a strong unit in either defense or hit points; you don't really want your Assassin entering melee combat.
The Rogue, on the other hand, actually has a chance in melee combat. Their Parry ability now jacks their defense up to a respectable 6 (the same as a Cavalier!). Poison Strike doesn't mean squat when you can't even hit the unit. Meanwhile, the Rogue is pounding you with 4 more stones.
Edge: Rogue
Physical Stats:
Both units have a 5 attack value. However, the Rogue as 4's in all other attributes while the Assassin has 3's. The Assassin has 1 more hit point and 2 more movement points than the Rogue.
As I stated earlier, I was initially surprised the Rogue has better stats than an Orc because of the inherent nature of the two races. However, the in-game description for the Assassin states makes this more clear, as it explains that Assassins are the weakest of all the Orcs, and that in Orc society it is an insult to be called an "Assassin." Read in this context the lower stats makes much more sense.
Moreover, the inherent size dominance of the Orc to the Halfling is reflected in the additional hit point for the Assassin. But a 28 movement is not much different than a 26 so that is no substantial advantage.
Edge: Rogue (that 6 defense in melee is tough to beat!)
Conclusion:
The Rogue beats the Assassin hands down in every category. Pro-poison people may disagree, but even those people must recognize the incredible advantage Parry gives the unit. 2-3 Rogues runing around behind enemy lines is an awesome strike team.
Post your comments as well! I enjoy debating the pros and cons of unit balancing.
After I sent my turn on, I went back and replayed this battle several times. In FC, the Rogues won 4 out of 7 times. In TC, the Rogues won 5 out of 7 times!
I was shocked as I've rarely gone up against Rogues, but I use Assassins all the time because I play the Orcs a lot. I was surprised to see that Rogues have better physical stats than the Assassins! This initially rubbed me wrong because I think of Orcs as inherently tougher than dinky little Halflings.
Lets take a closer look:
Both units have the Concealment and Wall Climbing ability.
The Rogue has Hurl Stones and the Assassin uses Poison Darts. While some may say that units are more easily poisoned, thus affecting their stats, I'll take the increased damage of Hurl Stones any day. At Mark III, Hurl Stones is deadly with 4 attacks at +2 attack and +1 damage!
Edge: Rogue
The Rogue has the Parry ability while the Assassin has a Poison Strike. Again, the fans of Poison Strike say that it's a great way to affect the stats of your opponent. This may be fine for a hero, but the Assassin is not a strong unit in either defense or hit points; you don't really want your Assassin entering melee combat.
The Rogue, on the other hand, actually has a chance in melee combat. Their Parry ability now jacks their defense up to a respectable 6 (the same as a Cavalier!). Poison Strike doesn't mean squat when you can't even hit the unit. Meanwhile, the Rogue is pounding you with 4 more stones.
Edge: Rogue
Both units have a 5 attack value. However, the Rogue as 4's in all other attributes while the Assassin has 3's. The Assassin has 1 more hit point and 2 more movement points than the Rogue.
As I stated earlier, I was initially surprised the Rogue has better stats than an Orc because of the inherent nature of the two races. However, the in-game description for the Assassin states makes this more clear, as it explains that Assassins are the weakest of all the Orcs, and that in Orc society it is an insult to be called an "Assassin." Read in this context the lower stats makes much more sense.
Moreover, the inherent size dominance of the Orc to the Halfling is reflected in the additional hit point for the Assassin. But a 28 movement is not much different than a 26 so that is no substantial advantage.
Edge: Rogue (that 6 defense in melee is tough to beat!)
The Rogue beats the Assassin hands down in every category. Pro-poison people may disagree, but even those people must recognize the incredible advantage Parry gives the unit. 2-3 Rogues runing around behind enemy lines is an awesome strike team.
Post your comments as well! I enjoy debating the pros and cons of unit balancing.
[This message has been edited by Angel Draco (edited 03-14-2008 @ 10:08 AM).]