The Age of Decadence – Crossbow Assassin Build

Intro

 
I chose the crossbow simply because it enjoys a high critical hit the most. It’s a very versatile type of weapon, from a long-range scoped crossbow to a low AP cost bolter. You can choose a dagger, but the CS will be overkill, still useful against those with imperial armor and a tower shield, ugh. Sword is viable since it’s a DEX weapon but has the same variety to axe/hammer, but the passive bleeding will be overridden by CS bleeding. Spear is pretty good in this build actually, but you may stuck using hasta or kadmos’ skewer, or you know, just forget that power armor ever exist :O 
 
This build didn’t include a walk-through but It does use a walk-through in mind when I wrote it. Every fight i listed here is winnable without changing the sequence. 
 
Some Tips: 

• When you enter combat, there is a chance your enemy will move first. This could be a big issue, especially for some ranged and spear weapon that need to a space to attack. Load your last game where you are not in combat yet, and re-enter combat until you get the first move. 
• Consider to use the hourglass a.k.a the “waiting” button in every single opportunity, your enemy will move right after, but you will have two turns in a row. This is advantageous for every ranged and spear user since you can position yourself and launch multiple attack without interruption. Need more THC or Critical hit chance? Position yourself behind your enemy to get 15% THC and Crit chance bonus! Enemy can also use this against you, so watch your back! 
• For bow/crossbow only. Barbed ammo works best against unarmored enemy, regular for medium armor, and piercing for heavy armored one. Well, the truth is, a regular ammo will deal more damage than a piercing if you hit the torso. And a barbed ammo with attack modifier that bypass DR when crits, will deal full damage x 1,2. And every damage multiplier is multiplicative in AoD. Add a sharpening stone and your arrow will deal more damage than a 2-handed melee weapon.

 
Stats 

 
Stat Overview 

• Strength – Dump stat, useless for crossbow build except for pushing opponent, luckily 1H crossbow allow for point-blank shot 
• Dexterity – Most important stat to make this build a killing machine, will be raised to 10 using the healing machine 
• Constitution – Not entirely useless, but we want the deadliest possible build. Low Con means you are more vulnerable to critical hits and poison, so brace yourself. 
• Perception – Preferred stat for ranged, it increases both THC and ranged combat. Increase Str or Con instead if you use melee. 
• Intelligence – Enough to get all content in this playthrough, although we will have to abandon some civil skill to afford more combat skill. 
• Charisma – uhh, actually the worst stat for this particular build. We only get exactly 6 CS, 5 Dodge and 12 SP more in exchange for 3 stat points. But we are playing a dedicated build here. Feel free to dump this stat.

 
Starting Build – Assassin Background 
4 Critical Strike 
3 Lockpick 
4 Sneak 
3 Streetwise 
 
 

Act I – Teron

Weapon: Dagger only

• [AG] Vignette quest, our first victim, DEX+CS>=13 to kill bodyguard on the spot – (1 CS training, 2 BC) 
• Loremasters’s Rivalry quest, CS>=3 to kill Cassius – (1 CS training, 1 BC) 
• Pickpocket in Shanty Town, [Assassin] option, CS>=4 to kill the guard – (1 CS training, 1 BC) 
• Aemolas’ Gold quest, Sneak=5 just enough to reach the well, CS>=5 to take out the patrolling raider – (1 CS training, 1 BC)

Weapon: 4 hand crossbows, Armor: crafted iron manica

• Infiltrating Teron Palace, start with full health, CS>=3 to kill guard by the stone wall, CS>=3 to kill guard in stone tower entrance, CS+Sneak>=7 to kill two guards in stone tower, CS>=5 if HP<25, else CS=4 to lunge at guard in passage – (5 CS training, 5 BC) 
  note: to kill flavius without spending a fortune, bring bolas, get double turn by clicking hourglass button or if flavius get the first move, throw bolas at his head, aerial strike. May need some tries. 
• Dellar’s training, CHA>=7 – (5 CS training) 
• [AG] Aurelian Spies quest, CS>=6 to get CS training instead of SP from Agatai – (10 CS training, 3 BC) 
• Squatters Tower, INT+Crafting>=12 to get jellyfish artefact to trigger the fight – (4 BC) 
• Gang near Tavern, CS>=3 to kill the gang leader – (1 CS training, 4 BC) 
• Thieves behind Tavern, PER>=8/Streetwise>=3/Steal>=3 to notice, DEX>=7 to grab her –(3 BC) 
  note: i feel like the mercenary has buggy THC info, aerial strike still hits quite often. Use bomb. 
• Miltiades quest, a thug, an ordu, a noble and 2 body guards – (5 BC) 
  note: i feel like the thug has buggy THC info, aerial strike still hits quite often. Use bomb for the 2nd wave. 
• The Outpost, poison supplies (potent, from Coltan), CS>=2 to kill the Aurelian guard out front. – (1 CS training, 7 BC) 
  note: don’t leave the area or you will face a much harder fight. 
• Bandit Camp, CS>=4 to kill Esbenus –(1 CS training, 6 BC) 
  note: Hardest fight so far, use hourglass button and throw bomb to eliminate the two wounded bandits immediately, throw net at the bandit on your left plus a barrage of aerial strikes. With Dodge 5/Block 4 its possible to survive until those bowmen run out of ammo

Weapon; crafted heavy crossbow, Armor: crafted iron manica

• [AG] Commander Marcus Carinas quest, Impersonate>2, CHA+Impersonate>=9 to talk your way out, CS>=3 to kill the guard standing beside Carinas’ corpse. – (1 CS training, 5 BC) 
• [AG] Kill ‘em All quest, two guards in front of gate, a Legatus and a Centurion – (4 BC) 
  note : throw bolas at Centurion or Neleos won’t likely survive.

Act II – Maadoran

 
 
Arrived in Maadoran 
 

Weapon: crafted scoped standard crossbow, Armor: crafted iron manica

• Inn, Kadmos – (1 BC) note: throw net, snipe with scoped 
• Arena, Thief–Zealot–Crossbow kid–Papa Yochan–the raider – (5 BC) 
• The Gem quest, DEX>=7, Sneak>=3 to climb the roof, CS>=5 to take out the patrolling guard – (1 CS training, 1 BC) 
• Saross, the prospector – (1 BC) 
• Inferiae, the guardian – (1 BC) note: trap him in the corridor with liquid fire, snipe with scoped 
• Zamedi, INT+Lore=>14 to understand the use of the ring, CS>=6 to strike the weak spot – (1 BC) note: use neurostim, run to the corridor, trap him there with liquid fire, snipe with scoped

Weapon: the bolter, crafted scoped standard crossbow, Armor: kadmos’ blue steel manica

• Problem Solving quest, thugs in Basil’, thugs in Quintus’ – (4 BC) 
• Arena, Barbari–Nicander–Bendidoros–Sarpedon–Ordu–Butcher–Mack – (10 BC) note: always, always use hourglass button first, ready nets for Bendidoros and Sarpedon. 
• [AG] Antidas’ Hoard quest, CS>=3 to kill the beggar, DEX+CS>=15 to kill two thieves inside the temple – (3 CS training, 7 BC)

You can choose to sell your service to Levir, or stay loyal to Darista. Both paths offer the same number of CS training from dialogue. We won’t need any lords as we will kill the tentacle god anyway. I choose Levir path because you will get more BC from boatmen ambush and much better loot too.

• Hamza, CS>=7 to get CS training instead of SP – (10 CS training) 
• Thugs behind Inn, streetwise/bodycount to make them come back with more people, thugs and one mercenary – (4 BC) 
• Preacher’ house, the nutters –(7 BC) 
• The Slums, Leon and 3 mercenaries –(4 BC) 
• The Slums, Hermon and his men – (6 BC) 
  note: This fight is quite hard, move to a corner so your back isn’t facing either one of them, preferable to have at least dodge:6/block:5. Bombs may help. 
• The Slums, Neros and his guards – (3 BC)

+1 Dexterity from the healing machine

• Gate to the Abyss, Mehrab and his men – (5 BC) 
• Arena, Triarii–Al-Sahir – (4 BC) 
• Aemolas’ Village, Crossbow>=8 to successfully snipe a total of 5 raiders – (8 BC) 
• Inferiae, Azra, warriors and villagers – (19 BC) 
• Kemnebi, Down on Luck quest, Mercenaries – (8-10 BC) 
• note: raise combat skills high enough to ensure last hit for maximum BC. 
• Miltiades quest, thieves, Lord Varus and his sons – (6 BC) 
• [AG] Killing Lorenza, DEX>=8, CS>=6 to take out both Lorenza’ guards – (2 CS training, 6 BC) 
• Kingslayer, exchange gold with your service to Levir, not working for Lorenza and not telling Darista the truth, CS>=8 to successfully slit both Gaelius and Darista’s throats – (2 CS training, 2 BC) 
• Gaelius’s room, fail at skill check when going outside the room (Streetwise/Persuasion <4, Streetwise+Persuasion <10 OR Streetwise <6), CS>=7 to kill both guards in the hall – (2 CS training, 4 BC)

Act III – Ganezzar

 
 
Arrived in Ganezzar 

• Noblesse Oblige quest, 3 zealots, Claudia, Pancratius and his followers – (9 BC) 
• Power Armor quest, five mercenaries –(5 BC) 
• Old Facility, Aurelian soldiers – (3 BC) 
• Dead River, sixteen scorpions – (16 BC) 
• Hellgate, nine Constructs – (9 BC)

• Weapon: the bolter, Armor: power armor fully charged

• [AG] Killing Legatus Hagnon, CS>=8 to get CS training from Varro instead of SP, DEX+CS>=19 to successfully kill all three in the tent – (13 CS training, 3 BC) note: bonus dex from power armor can be used in stat check 
• [AG] Killing Faelan, either combination of PER & CS, DEX & CS, or Block/Dodge & CS will win the fight –(1 CS training, 1 BC) 
• The Fort, become Maadoran Champion, Stretwise+CHA>=10 to make centurion bet his shamshir and join the last fight, caveman, crossbowman-two legionaries, murad-darbus-timotheus-centurion – (8 BC) 
• More Problem Solving, 3 thugs in Basil’, 2 in Quintus’ – (5 BC) 
• Arena, Hamul–Plaudius–The Widowmaker –(3 BC) note: bring nets 
• Mountain Monastery, Daenus and his men – (8 BC) 
• Mountain Monastery, The villagers – (12 BC) note: their archers have really high To-hit chance, Dodge:8 / Block:7 is preferable.  
• More Problem Solving, Basil revisit, a scolopendra, enforcer and his guards –(4 BC) 
• The Slums, Forty-Thieves ambush –(5 BC) 
• Trade District, Boatmen ambush – (3 BC) 
• The Rightful Owner quest, Marcus Valla and mercenaries – (4 BC) 
• [AG] Dealing with Hamza – (3 BC) 
  note: if you didn’t kill Darista in Maadoran, you can use CS to take out Hamza (1 CS) or his sidekicks (2 CS), same result.

Act IV – Finding The Temple

• Miltiades quest, Darganus and his guards – (3 BC) 
• The Arch, Oracle and the worshipers – (9 BC) note: Optional for extra BC, we don’t have enough power tube to use ghost hand here anyway 
• Dead River, novices – (3 BC) note: Optional for extra BC 
• Hellgate, Bentanagbal – (1 BC) note: Optional for extra BC and a cool looking shirt. 
• The Temple Interior, three constructs – (3 BC) 
   
  Right before killing Agatoth. 
• And the last one, the almighty tentacle god that– what? died in 4 shots? I didn’t even insert the canister– Oh, whatever – (1 BC)

Summary

 
Act I : 28 CS training +2 Combat training 
 
Act II : 20 CS training + 10 Combat training 
 
Act III : 14 CS training + 8 Combat training 
 
Act IV : 1 Combat training (from you-know-who) 
 
I realized i forget to track the combat training too, well we do all the combat the game can offer. Typically a harder fight will give a bonus combat training. 
 
Skill Overview 

• Lockpick/Sneak/Steal : These skills are really worth it. There are just so many places locked behind it. Lockpick:5, Sneak:5, Steal:3 for maximum return of investment 
• Traps/Impersonate/Etiquette : Useless for this run. Impersonate:2 is mandatory to get one CS training tho. 
• Persuasion/Streetwise : Actually useful but we cannot afford to raise more. 
• Alchemy/Crafting : The bread and butter for any combat oriented build. Needed to craft better ammo in this run, which is very crucial, crafting:8 allows you to two shots every human enemy in the game. Alchemy:4 is enough to make liquid fire, bombs and slightly better poison. But if you can spare more SP, Alchemy 9 and 10 is actually far more powerful than a Crafting 10. 
• Lore : it pays the investment in it’s own way. You got a bolter, +1 stat, 10 lbs of blue steel and a lot of lore content, obviously. 
• Trading : I’m swimming in gold already, and I don’t even craft my metal to sell for profits.

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