Hero
Tier C
Assassin
The Newcomer
C tier on patch 0.5.12
Runs with Hoyoung are among the least successful overall, though he holds the middle on SSS difficulty, and player lists for Red Rift settle on C: The Hunter makes him an early Shard printer for Shard Gen Assassins, but players say he scales poorly.
Picked at rank B and locked for the run. The order weighs what each one does for this hero in the comps that win, not the ability on its own.
The Conduit Passive · +MysticMakes him a Mystic whose kills add Mana Regen that Assassins and Mystics share; patch 0.5.5 buffed it, and its runs win the most of his three.
The Hunter PassiveCrit on his first casts each combat plus Shards on kills; players rate it his best and Shard Gen Assassins runs it, yet The Conduit's runs win more.
The Sniper Passive · +WarriorTurns him into a long-range Warrior auto attacker; players rate it weak, its runs win the least of his three, and only one published comp uses it.Tiers are reviewed by hand after each patch (latest: 0.5.12), weighing the runs players share, most of them in Red Rift, the comps that clear the high difficulties, current player tier lists and recent balance changes. All 25 heroes side by side are on the hero tier list.
Hoyoung is the longest-reaching hero in the game at 5 range, and his arrow always picks the farthest enemy — so he hits the back line while your front line holds. His shot scales on Crit and on rank, which makes him one of the few heroes where a rank up changes the ability itself and not only the stat sheet.
Killshot always flies at the farthest enemy, and The Hunter pays 1 Shard for each hex between Hoyoung and any enemy he kills, so the arrow and the spec pull in the same direction. The spec also loads Crit onto Killshot: 50 Crit plus 50 per rank on the first arrow of each combat and on one more per rank, on top of the arrow's own bonus of his full Crit plus 50 per rank.
Killshot has only gained in the patches: 0.5.1 swapped its flat 25 Crit for 50 per rank, and 0.5.3 raised its Attack and Magic scaling from 250% to 300%. That patch also cut Max Mana and Starting Mana by 5 each, so the first cast still sits 35 Mana away.
In Shard Gen Assassins, his only tier list build, The Hunter sits next to Shard Collector, a Shard on every other Crit. Deadeye Hood triples to 60 Attack Speed and 45 Crit if he is alone in the back row when combat opens, a spot that suits the lowest health of the four Assassins, 675. Sniper's Jewel adds 22 Crit, 22 Omnivamp and a hex of range.
Greedy Shiv hits every enemy for 450 whenever Shards are generated. It dealt 750 before 0.5.4, one of the cuts that cost the build its S.
The Sniper gives up the Shard income for the Warrior class, 50 Attack and 5 Attack Range. Every attack goes to the furthest enemy and grows with each hex of distance, by 10 Attack and 3 Crit plus the same again per rank; the Crit step is still 3 although the 0.5.3 notes announced 4. Its 40 extra Max Mana moves the first Killshot to 75 Mana away.
With The Conduit he counts as a Mystic and gains 6 Mana Regen. Kills give him Stealth for 4 seconds and 3 permanent Mana Regen, 2 before 0.5.5, which the other Assassins and Mystics also receive when combat begins.
A hero climbs C → B → A → S — 3 upgrades in all. Every stat rises at the same rate on every hero, with one exception: the primary stat of the class rises three to four times faster. For Hoyoung that stat is Crit.
| Stats | Per rank | C → S |
|---|---|---|
| Health | +12.5% | +37.5% |
| Defence | +8 | +24 |
| Attack | +6 | +18 |
| Magic | +6 | +18 |
| Attack speed | +5 | +15 |
| Critprimary | +15 | +45 |
| Mana regen | +1 | +3 |
Health rises as a percentage of base health; every other stat is a flat addition. The specialization is chosen at rank B, and the class modifier pools open at A and S.
Fire an arrow at the farthest enemy. It deals 250 (+300% Attack, +300% Magic) damage and gains 100% Crit, +50 per Rank additional Crit.
A hero unlocks one of these at rank B. The choice is locked for the run, and it decides which role the hero ends up playing.
Extra classes it can gain: Mystic
Gain the Mystic class and 6 Mana Regen.
On kill, permanently gain 3 Mana Regen and Stealth for 4 seconds.
At start of combat, other Assassins and 
Mystics gain all Mana Regen gained from this ability. Backup.
Killshot gains 50 (+50 per Rank) Crit the first 1 (+1 per Rank) times it is cast each combat. On kill, gain 1 Shard for each hex from the enemy.
Extra classes it can gain: Warrior
Gain the Warrior class, 50 Attack, 40 Max Mana, and 5 Attack Range.
Always choose to target the furthest enemy. Auto attacks gain 10 (+10 per Rank) Attack and 3 (+3 per Rank) Crit for each hex from the enemy.
Picked at rank A and again at rank S. Drawn from the shared pool for the hero class, so two heroes of the same class compete for the same upgrades.
On Crit, heal 50% Crit health and gain 3 Mana.
Rush abilities last 3 seconds longer. Backup.
On Crit, inflict 1 (+10% Crit) Poison on the target.
Gain +80% Crit against enemies with Poison.
At start of combat, inflict 30 (+50% Crit) Poison on all enemies.
At start of combat, if this Hero is in the front row they gain 250% Crit Defense.
On Rush trigger, Assassins gain 15 Crit, 15 Attack, and 15 Magic. Backup.
On Crit, permanently gain 1 Attack and 1 Magic.
For Rush (10), gain +100% Crit.
Every other Crit, gain 1 Shard.
On kill, gain 8 Shards.
For Rush (10), Assassins gain 1 Crit per Shard in bank. Backup.
At start of combat, gain Stealth for 5 seconds. On kill, gain Stealth for 5 seconds.
At start of combat, if this Hero is in the back row they gain +100% Crit and Stealth for 5 seconds.
Gain 60 Crit and 20 Omnivamp.
