Alongside the Blight expansion, we're making some improvements to the Assassin Ascendancy and introducing a new set of Poison attacks. This also includes two new gems utilising a new buff type called 'Elusive'.
Cobra Lash
Cobra Lash is a new low-level attack skill for Daggers and Claws. You fling out a copy of your weapon, creating a projectile that chains multiple times. The skill chains between more enemies at higher levels. The skill grants additional added chaos damage and some chaos conversion, with a chance to poison.
Any critical strikes will have +50% to Poison Damage Multiplier, making the skill quite powerful later in the game if you specialise in critical hits. This is one of many sources of Damage over Time Multiplier for Poison. We've also added Poison Damage over Time Multiplier to many passives, and changed many sources of Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier so they aren't restricted to non-ailments.
Pestilent Strike
This high level Dagger and Claw skill applies poison on hit, as well as a debuff that lasts a short duration. If the target dies while this debuff is active, they explode, releasing a nova that applies a damage over time effect to all enemies in range. The damage of this debuff is based on the total poison damage remaining on the enemy, and this damage is dealt over a short duration.
The Poisons you spread don't have to be from Pestilent Strike, so you can use it alongside Viper Strike or other poisonous skills. This lets you turn a long duration stack of poisons on a single enemy into a fast acting wave of death over a large area. The damage over time effect applied by the nova isn't modified by any of your damage bonuses, as it was already based on a modified poison, but any of your modifiers to skill effect duration will change how long it lasts without influencing its damage per second.
Elusive
The new Elusive buff grants 40% increased movement speed as well as 20% attack and spell dodge. Unlike other buffs, Elusive doesn't have a duration, but instead loses buff over time, until it is removed on reaching 0% effect. This means that increasing your buff effect also increases how long the effect on you lasts. Most sources of Elusive won't overwrite an existing Elusive buff on you.
A new notable on the Assassin Ascendancy will have a chance to grant Elusive, and the buff can also be gained from the following two gems:
Withering Step
Withering Step is an instant spell that removes any existing Elusive effects on you, and grants a new full strength Elusive buff. Withering Step applies multiple stacks of Withered to any enemy when they first enter an area around you, but only once per skill use. Withered increases damage taken from Chaos, which includes Poison effects. While the Elusive from Withering Step is active, you'll be granted Phasing and the cooldown will be paused. Any skills you perform will remove Elusive, which will start the cooldown. At higher levels, the skill has increased Elusive effect.
You can use the skill as an instant way to apply Wither to enemies around you, as a way to quickly avoid attacks with a sudden burst of speed and dodge chance or as a sustained speed increase that also lets you apply Wither to large paths of enemies as you move.
Nightblade Support
The Nightblade Support is exclusive to Daggers and Claws, just as Close Combat and Shockwave Supports are exclusive to other melee weapon types. Nightblade grants base critical strike chance, and supported skills will also grant Elusive on Critical Hit. Elusive granted by attacks supported by Nightblade also grants Critical Multiplier to Nightblade supported skills, and because the multiplier is part of Elusive, it scales with Elusive Effect, granting over +100% to Critical Strike Multiplier at level 20 when first applied.
This means the supported skill will give you sudden bursts of speed and critical multiplier when you first critically hit, and any Elusive effect gained from other sources like the Assassin ascendancy will further enhance the power of the buff.
