Ragnarok M: Eternal Love — Research

Assassin-Path Skill Tree (Thief → Soul Blade Cross)

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Assassin-Path Skill Tree (Thief → Soul Blade Cross)

Comprehensive skill catalog across the entire lineage. Each section lists the skills introduced at that tier. Skills carry forward — at SBC you have access to everything below.

Lineage diagram

Tier 2 (1st)    Tier 3 (2nd)    Tier 4 (Trans)      Tier 5 (4th)        Tier 6 (5th)
Novice → Thief → Assassin → Assassin Cross → Guillotine Cross → Soul Blade Cross

How to read this note

  • Lv N = max skill level
  • SP / CD / Range values listed where known; some [VERIFY] from in-game
  • Multipliers quoted verbatim from ROM Handbook
  • For per-class strategy / stat priority, see the individual class file (linked above)
  • For skill point mechanics (how points are earned, resets, breakthrough), see skill-points.md

Tier 2 — Thief (1st job introductions)

Limited to skills the user has confirmed exist at Thief tier in RO M. Other lower-tier skills (Back Sliding, Venom Dart, Virus Diffusion, Sonic Blow, Grimtooth, Meteor Assault, Slash) are at Assassin tier or higher — see below.

Active utility

  • Hiding (Lv 10, SP 35, CD 5s)
    • Invisible for 30s; MS −35%
  • Detoxify (Lv 1, SP 10, CD 25s) [VERIFY tier]
    • Cures poison from party

Buffs

  • Enchant Poison (Lv 10, SP 35, Skill Delay 1s)
    • 300s weapon coating; 12% chance per AA to poison enemy for 15s
    • Poisoned enemies: lose DEF, HPR, SPR; lose (2% Max HP + 3) HP per second

Passives

  • Double Attack (Lv 20)
    • With daggers: 50% chance to deal 250% damage
  • Improve Flee (Lv 15)
    • +30 FLEE, +5% FLEE Rate, +15% MS

Skills with uncertain tier [VERIFY in-game]

  • Strong Blade Attack (Lv 10) — may be Thief or Assassin
  • Ambush (Lv 10) — may be Thief or Assassin
  • Venom Knife (Lv 10) — may be Thief or Assassin

Tier 3 — Assassin (2nd job introductions)

Active offensive

  • Sonic Blow (Lv 15, SP 40, Range 1.5, Skill Delay 2s)
    • 700% ATK + 40% chance to stun
  • Grimtooth (Lv 10, SP 14, Range 6, Skill Delay 1.5s)
    • 240% ATK AoE. Only usable from Hide; 75% chance to remain hidden after cast. Requires katar.
  • Venom Dart (Lv 5, SP 30, Range 5, CD 2.5s)
    • 250% ATK + applies poison
  • Virus Diffusion (Lv 10, SP 21, Range 1.5)
    • 150% ATK + spreads existing poison to nearby enemies

Active utility

  • Back Sliding (Lv 10, SP 15, CD 5s, Skill Delay 1s)
    • Roll back; gain 30 FLEE; enter Hide for 5s
  • Cloaking — move while invisible (Hiding upgrade) [VERIFY: stats]

Passives

  • Sonic Acceleration (Lv 5)
    • Sonic Blow deals +100% damage; +30 HIT permanently
  • Twin Blade Penetration (Lv 15)
    • On dagger AA: 25% chance to remove 50% of enemy DEF for 4s; 10% chance for +15% Pen
  • Enhanced Hiding (Lv 10) — see enhanced-hiding.md
    • For 21s after exiting Hide, hide-gated skills (Grimtooth) stay castable as if you were still hidden; +20% MS while hidden. (No “from-Hide damage bonuses” exist on the assassin path — that earlier claim was wrong.)
  • Katar Mastery (Lv 10)
    • +30 ATK with katar weapons
  • Enhanced Enchant Poison (Lv 10)
    • Poisoned weapon: +40 ATK; Enchant Poison / Venom Dart / Virus Diffusion poison duration +10s

Skills with uncertain tier [VERIFY in-game — may be Assassin or Asn Cross]

  • Slash (Lv 10) — 760% ATK + auto-attack mark
  • Meteor Assault (Lv 10) — AoE; classic RO has it as transcendent

Tier 4 — Assassin Cross (Transcendent additions)

This is where damage scaling really opens up. Trans skills typically max at Lv 20.

Active offensive

  • Soul Breaker (Lv 20, SP 40, Range 6, Cast 3s, CD 2s)
    • ATK × 1320% + INT × 70 + Random(INT × 5, INT × 50)
    • Ranged. The signature SinX burst skill.
  • Meteor Assault (Lv 10) — see Thief; AoE / hide-double-debuff usage carries through.

Buffs (the load-bearing one)

  • Enchant Deadly Poison (EDP) (Lv 20, SP 30, CD 20s)
    • +30% ATK; +10% physical penetration; 120s duration
    • The premier offensive buff for the entire Assassin line. Enables ctrl-click play.
  • Assassination Halo (Lv 10, SP 30, CD 1s)
    • Party buff: +20 CRIT; each crit point grants +0.1% normal-attack damage and +10 Auto Attack; 120s

Passives

  • Assassination Heart (Lv 20)
    • Crit attacks deal +60% damage
  • Advanced Katar Research (Lv 20)
    • With katar: +20% ATK, +10% bonus damage
  • Improve Flee (Lv 15) — +30 FLEE, +5% FLEE Rate, +15% MS
  • Enhanced Hiding (Lv 10) — see Tier 3

Tier 5 — Guillotine Cross (4th job additions)

Class-defining offensive skills

  • Cross Impact
    • Strikes 7 times in quick succession; deals 2× Sonic Blow damage total
  • Cross Ripper Slasher
    • 710% ATK base + 20% per Rotation Counter consumed (ranged)
  • Rolling Cutter
    • Spinning AoE; generates Rotation Counters (cap 10)
  • Dance of Charming Ghast
    • 1100% ATK AoE; forces enemies out of hiding

Poison kit

  • Poisonous Weapon
    • Applies New Poison to attacks; +10% ATK while active
  • Poisonous Smoke
    • Cloud: tick 430% ATK poison physical; −20 VIT to enemies in cloud; 50% chance to apply New Poison
  • New Poison Research
    • Enhances New Poison application + duration

Mobility / defense

  • Dark Illusion
    • Dash to target; 70% chance to trigger Cross Impact (350% ATK) on arrival
  • Hallucination Walk
    • +50% MS, +50 FLEE, +50 Crit Resistance
  • Weapon Blocking
    • 35% chance to block melee + DEF buff while active
  • Antidote
    • Cures poison from allies; +11s poison immunity

Buffs

  • Mind Intimidate
    • Soul Breaker has 45% fear chance; +30% damage to feared targets

Tier 6 — Soul Blade Cross (current, 5th tier additions)

Soul resource (the class identity)

  • Soul Vow (passive)
    • On kill: gain 1 soul (monster) or 5 souls (player)
    • Each soul (60s timer): +2% Penetration; +3% Crit Damage
    • Soul cap: 10 (extendable via Soul Hunting Pact - Star Rune up to 15)
  • Dark Contract (active, 2s ritual, CD 10s)
    • Fills souls to cap

Phantom resource (for Ghost Wave build)

  • Ghost Wave
    • 130% of Soul Breaker damage (= ~1716% ATK + ~91 × INT) shockwave to target + nearby
    • 100% chance to gain 1 Phantom on cast
  • Soul Sacrifice
    • Consumes all Phantoms. Each Phantom: +10 INT, +5 Crit, +2% Auto Attack, +120% Skill Damage during buff window
    • Phantom max stack and Soul Sacrifice buff duration [VERIFY in-game]

Offensive (soul-consuming)

  • Soul Depravity (consumes all souls)
    • AoE: 3000% ATK + 300% per soul consumed
    • Executes enemies with HP% lower than soul count [VERIFY exact threshold]
  • Soul Decay (1 soul cost)
    • AoE poison physical: 2280% ATK within 3m radius
  • Soul Breaker (carries from SinX) — no Hide-state damage bonus (user-verified in-game 2026-05-02; web sources claiming “+100% / 3s stun from Hide” are wrong)

Defensive / utility

  • Soul Protection (3 souls cost)
    • Spirit shield absorbs P.ATK × 600% damage; lasts 12s
  • Soul Breath (consumes all souls)
    • Avoid all damage 5s; ATK −30%; MS +15%
  • Soul Chain
    • Chains target; absorbs VIT × 10 HP for 5 ticks (5s); 3s stun if not broken
  • Knell (passive, 40s CD)
    • On death: enter Soul Form for 0.8s × souls held

Passives

  • Soul Erosion
    • Each soul: +2% Poison Damage
  • Soul Intimidation
    • On melee hit received: 50% chance to auto-cast Soul Chain

Star Runes (Aesir Monument layer)

These overlay on top of skills above. Listed under the skill they affect:

  • Soul Hunting Pact - Star Rune → Soul Vow / Soul Depravity (+1–5 max souls; +1–30% Soul Depravity damage)
  • Enchanting Chain - Star Rune → Ghost Wave (each soul +1–10% Ghost Wave damage; Ghost Wave auto-casts Soul Chain)
  • Crusading - Star Rune → Cross Ripper Slasher (+1–20% damage; counter cap up)
  • Soul Assassination - Star Rune → critical damage scaling + counter generation on crits
  • Cross Destruction → Cross Impact + Sonic Blow
  • Rage Breaker → Soul Breaker hit rate + damage
  • Shadowless → Grimtooth damage + SP cost reduction
  • Refinement → Venom Dart CDR + New Poison apply
  • Fierce Armor Breaking → dagger ATK + size-based damage immunity
  • Storm Parry → Weapon Blocking enhancement
  • Death Wound → Deepen Wound heal-reduction + resurrection debuff
  • Hurricane → Hallucination Walk status res + crit immunity
  • Void Poison → Poison ATK / Resist + Antidote CDR
  • Soul Paralysis → New Poison applies AS / MS debuffs
  • Nightmare Combo → Double Attack chance + damage
  • Breath Holding → Dark Illusion applies target MS reduction
  • Spiritual Pierce - Star Rune → added in a later patch, exact effect [VERIFY]

→ See aesir-runes.md for the rune system overview.

Skill priority by tier (advancement guide)

At Thief (Tier 2)

Must-max for the path: Hiding, Enchant Poison, Double Attack — these gate later skills Strong defaults: Sonic Blow (carries to Tier 3 spam), Improve Flee (perma stat boost)

At Assassin (Tier 3)

Must-max: Sonic Acceleration (gates Sonic Blow burst), Katar Mastery / Advanced Katar Research (if going crit), Assassination Heart (passive crit damage)

At Assassin Cross (Tier 4)

Must-max: Enchant Deadly Poison (EDP — single biggest DPS skill in the line), Soul Breaker (gates Ghost Wave at SBC), Assassination Halo (party buff for crit builds)

At Guillotine Cross (Tier 5)

Must-max:

  • Cross Impact (the burst king)
  • Hallucination Walk (defensive must-have)
  • Mind Intimidate (feeds Soul Breaker / Ghost Wave fear synergy)
  • Poisonous Smoke (still meta for Oracle / Echoing Corridor)
  • Cross Ripper Slasher if running CRS variant

At Soul Blade Cross (Tier 6)

Must-max for any build: Soul Vow, Dark Contract, Soul Protection, Knell For Ghost Wave build: Ghost Wave, Soul Sacrifice, Soul Depravity For AA Crit / Crit PvE build: Soul Vow, Soul Erosion, Soul Decay (keep souls flowing)

See also

Sources / verification log

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