Assassin's Gambit

Type

Ashes of War

Default affinity

Occult

FP cost

5 FP

Skill

Assassin's Gambit

About this Ash of War

This Ash of War grants an armament the Occult affinity and the following skill:

"Assassin's Gambit: Skill that masks the user's presence at the cost of a self-inflicted wound. Grants near-invisibility and silences footsteps."

Usable on small and medium straight swords and thrusting swords.

Bernahl's shop in Volcano Manor

Mt. Gelmir

Starting Site of Grace: Volcano Manor

Before you go

• Complete the first Volcano Manor contract to unlock the expanded shop.

1. At Scenic Isle in southern Liurnia, head east toward the stone gazebo near the telescope. Speak to Rya about her stolen necklace before entering Volcano Manor, which ends this early meeting.
2. Ride northwest across the shallow lake to Boilprawn Shack. Talk to Boggart beside the cooking pot, ask for the necklace and choose Deal to open the purchase.
3. Buy Rya's Necklace for 1,000 runes. Buying it keeps Boggart alive and opens his prawn shop; purchase at least one Boiled Prawn if you want his later move and crab stock.
4. Return to Rya in the gazebo and give her the necklace. Finish her dialogue to receive Volcano Manor Invitation.
5. After reaching Altus Plateau, find Rya at the top of Grand Lift of Dectus if you used that lift. If you entered through the Ruin-Strewn Precipice, look near Lux Ruins instead. Speak to her and take her hand to travel to Volcano Manor.
6. Inside the manor, speak to Tanith beside the armored knight and agree to join. Take the Drawing-Room Key, then open the drawing room down the corridor. If you already reached the manor by another route, start with this conversation instead of the earlier invitation.
7. Speak to Bernahl in the drawing room and acknowledge the Recusants' work. Take the first Letter from Volcano Manor from the table to mark Old Knight Istvan's invasion on your map.
8. In northern Limgrave, start at Warmaster's Shack and head north toward the colosseum. Find the red invasion sign below its approach, enter Istvan's world and defeat him.
9. Return to Tanith and report the first contract, then speak to Bernahl again. His expanded shop now includes the two additional skills. Finish the purchase before defeating Rykard if you are following this contract route.
10. Open Bernahl's Ash shop and buy Assassin's Gambit for 6,500 runes. If he later leaves the drawing room, examine the sword at his chair to access his remaining shop.

Notes

• Costs 5 FP and 35 HP to silence your footsteps and reduce your visibility for 30 seconds. The health payment is a flat amount, separate from enemy damage and from a bleed trigger.
• Reduces ordinary enemy sight range by 60% and removes footstep noise. Close enemies, attacks, other sounds and scripted encounters can still reveal you; this is not invulnerability or a way to remove an enemy's attacks.
• In PvP, opponents must be closer to lock on. The self-inflicted damage briefly reveals your health bar, so using it directly in view of another player can still give away your position.
• Using it without enough FP can still wound you without providing the concealment. Refill before activating it instead of spending health on a failed use.
• Black Knife Armor and Crepus's Vial already silence footsteps. Combining one with this skill can hide the transparency visual while the sight-reduction effect still works, so the visual alone is not a reliable test.
• The concealment does not become stronger with weapon damage, Arcane or reinforcement. Occult affinity changes the weapon's damage scaling, while the stealth effect remains separate.
• It deals no attack damage, so Shard of Alexander and charged-attack bonuses do not make the concealment stronger. Use the short activation before moving past enemies rather than after they have already surrounded you.
• Bernahl sells it for 6,500 runes after the first Volcano Manor contract. It is separate from Assassin's Approach, which is an incantation with its own acquisition and requirements.
• Compatible weapon classes: Dagger, Straight Sword, Katana, Twinblade, Thrusting Sword, Throwing Blade, Light Greatsword. A weapon with a fixed skill cannot use this Ash of War.
• Its default affinity is Occult. The supported choices are Standard, Heavy, Keen, Quality, Poison, Blood and Occult; the appropriate whetblade is needed for additional options.