I just want a class to play like how it sounds. So an assassin is skilled in daggers both as melee and thrown, poison, and backstabbing. That's sounds very cool. But most of the threads I've read about an assassin suggest you drop the dual daggers (unless you get sting & needle) and grab a sword and shield. Backstabbing is only worth it if you have invisibility or darkness. So stealth isn't enough so I wasted points on that plus one talent. You're right dual daggers has been rough since the monsters get 2 attacks against you...ouch. I simply have a hard time picturing a sneaky assassin wielding a sword and a shield. Poison is pretty cool but, with find weakness, it seems superfluous. Now I have 2 assassins: A Ratling dual wielding daggers and a high elf using a rapier/small shield and bow which he uses the most. The high elf is substantially more powerful. So that's why I mentioned using an Archer. But I guess the main value of an assassin is they're solid in both melee AND ranged as opposed to just focusing on one or the other. It's hard to remove the roleplayer in me I guess. With all that being said I'm new to this game so maybe I just haven't wrapped my head around it yet since it is a pretty deep and complex game.