Assassin Class: 500 Diamonds for the Fastest Sprint and a Crit Nobody Can Measure

The Assassin is the glass-cannon of 99 Nights in the Forest. It is one of the oldest classes in the game, it always costs 500 Diamonds, and it sells one thing above all: you move faster than everything that can hit you. You get +10% sprint speed, and you pay for it with −15% max health.

It also hands you a complete loadout from the first second — a Katana and 120 throwing knives (the Kunai the game calls Throwing Knives in the class menu) — and at Level 2 your first hit on an enemy can crit. That crit is the part every guide sells and the part nobody can actually measure, which is what this page is mostly about.

Last verified: 2026-10-02.

Assassin Class at a Glance

The wiki records that the Assassin was the only class that originally spawned with a melee weapon, and it was among the first classes the game ever shipped. Nothing about its kit has changed the shape since: speed in, health out, knives in both hands.

Perks by Level

Three things about that table are easy to miss.

Level 1 is a trade, not a list. Two of the three entries are positive and one is a downgrade you carry for the whole run. The sprint is the product.

Level 2 and Level 3 are both gated on the same unusual condition: kills without damage taken. Not kills, not kills of a certain type — kills you land while not being hit. That is a strictly harder bar than a plain kill count, and it is the reason this class is widely described as the hardest one to level in the mid game.

Level 3 is a restock perk, not a combat perk. It makes your throwing supply healthier. Useful, and the wiki's own cons list calls it the least valuable of the three.

The Level-1 Trade: What −15% Health Actually Costs

The sprint is the fastest in the game at the moment you buy the class. The health is the price.

On the sprint, sources disagree in a way that looks like an error but is not. rblxguide calls the Assassin's +10% the fastest sprint speed in the game. The wiki puts it second, noting that an Alien Scientist ends up 3% faster at Level 3 after collecting 100% essence. Both are right, at different points: the Assassin's bonus is live from minute one with no setup, while the Alien Scientist's only overtakes it once that class is fully levelled and its essence is charged. → Our reading: any source that calls it "the fastest" is describing Level 1; any source that calls it second is describing Level 3. That reconciliation is why these two claims have looked contradictory for so long.

On the health penalty, the same sources give it in two forms. Most describe it as a percentage (−15% max HP). The wiki's cons section gives the flat version: health is reduced by 15 points, for a total of 85 HP, which implicitly settles the base pool at 100. Those agree if the base is 100 — and this is the first published base-health figure we have seen anywhere, which matters because our own Brawler page notes that nobody publishes the number a +40% is calculated from.

We are flagging that plainly rather than quietly fixing it: one source states the flat figure, several state the percentage, and no source states the base pool explicitly. Treat the 85-HP figure as single-sourced.

What the trade means in practice. Fifteen percent off a health pool is not a small number when a crossbow cultist lands 15 and a Juggernaut lands 30. The Assassin does not fail by name — it fails in the window where you have to stop moving to swing, and the sprint does nothing for you in that window. That is the whole class in one sentence.

The Level-2 Crit: 50% More Damage, and an Unknown Chance

This is the perk the class is famous for, and the one piece of information every source omits.

What is published: your first hit on an enemy can critically strike for 50% more damage. rblxguide and the wiki both give that 50% figure. What no source we found gives is the chance it happens. Not "10%", not "25%" — nothing.

→ Our position: we will not invent the number. Anyone quoting a crit chance for this class is measuring their own play, not the game.

What the sources do agree on is how to use it: the crit pairs with a high-damage opener, because 50% of a big number beats 50% of a small one. The wiki names the Rifle and the Laser Cannon for exactly this, and the Kunai page reaches the same conclusion — which is why "open with the rifle, cover the gaps with knives" rather than "crit with the Kunai" is the standing advice.

Two unstated details worth knowing before you plan around it: whether a taken hit resets the counter, and whether "first hit" means the first hit of each encounter or the first hit of the run. Neither is documented anywhere. Both change how aggressively you should play, so treat the crit as a bonus you notice in play rather than a metric you build around.

How to Level It Up

Damage-less kills are the grind. The requirement counts enemies you kill without taking damage from them, which means you are being asked to play a specific way: straight damage, no chip damage, no "I'll eat one hit". That is a different skill from the kill-count grinds most classes ask for.

The Cultist Stronghold is the documented shortcut. The wiki points there directly, with the specific method: hide behind cover and shoot. The Stronghold resets on a short timer, so a ranged player standing where nothing can reach them can rack up damage-less kills faster than anywhere else in the game. It is also the route that pairs with the Assassin's own kit — knives reach further than a sword while you are backing away.

Studs travelled complete themselves. The wiki notes that the distance counter generally finishes on its own, so the second half of each requirement is mostly a matter of playing normally. Do not hunt for it.

Bunny kills do not count. The wiki is explicit on this, and it has bitten a lot of players: the classic rabbit-farming loop that speeds up every other class in the game does nothing for the Assassin.

Your sprint is the grinding tool. The +10% is also how you survive the requirement. Get in, hit, leave, come back — the class is designed for the loop its own level-2 asks for.

Kunai Restocking, Since Level 3 Is About It

Short version, with the detail on the Kunai page: each chest roll gives you a chance to find knives, and each roll that hits gives you 25 more of them. The base chance is 5%, doubling to 10% at Level 3 — and the wiki states that stacking the class's 5-star Talent on top brings it to 25%, or roughly one chest in four.

That is the practical reason a long Assassin run stops running out of knives. It is also why Level 3, weak as the wiki calls it, is the level that makes the loadout self-sustaining.

Talents Worth Pairing With It

The wiki keeps a short recommended-talents list for this class, and it is more useful than most talent advice because it names the source class for each:

Read that list as a diagnosis: the recommended talents all answer the same problem, which is that the Assassin is fragile and its Level 3 does not make it tougher. The wiki's own picks add sustain and a safety net rather than more speed.

Assassin vs the Rest of the Expensive Tier

At 500 Diamonds you are choosing against the 600-Diamond endgame classes, and against much cheaper picks.

The one-line version: the Assassin is the only expensive class that pays out immediately. Everything else at 500–600 Diamonds asks you to grind a requirement, and the Assassin's Level 1 is live the second you buy it.

Is It Worth 500 Diamonds?

Yes, if speed is the thing your runs die to. Rescue routes, escaping a bad night, outrunning the Deer on a map with no cover — the +10% is not flavour. Every guide that has played it puts it in the S or A bracket, and the disagreement on lists is about the price, not the class.

Yes, if you already shoot at range. The crit is designed for an opener and the level-2 grind is designed for someone who can keep a Stronghold lane without getting hit. If both are already true for you, 500 Diamonds is a genuine upgrade.

No, if you are learning the game. The health penalty punishes exactly the mistakes a new player makes, and the level-2 requirement asks you not to make them either. At 500 Diamonds that is an expensive way to be told not to get hit.

No, if you wanted a damage class. The Assassin adds no damage percentage. Its only offensive perk is a chance-based crit on the first hit of an encounter, and its Level 3 supplies more of a consumable. For reliable output, the Brawler is 400 Diamonds cheaper.

Only if you intend to use the knives or the Katana. If neither of those appeals to you, you are buying a sprint bonus and paying 500 Diamonds for it. The Katana page and the Kunai page cover both, without the class attached.

Getting to 500 Diamonds is the real cost either way — see how to farm Diamonds fast, and check active codes before you spend.

Tips That Change How It Feels

Treat every fight as three steps: approach, hit, leave. The sprint does nothing while you are standing still swinging. If you find yourself in a long trade, you have already lost the class's advantage.

Open with the Rifle or Laser Cannon, finish with knives. The crit wants a big number to multiply, and the knives are the cheapest way to keep pressure during the reload.

Do not farm rabbits. They do not count toward the requirements, and they are the go-to grind for almost every other class.

Use the Stronghold, hide behind something, and shoot. It is the documented damage-less-kill route, and it is the only one that makes Level 2 feel achievable.

Level 3 before you judge the class. It doubles your restock rate, and running out of knives is the Assassin's most common failure mode.

Take a sustain talent. Every wiki-recommended talent addresses fragility. None of them addresses speed, because you already have enough speed.

Do not stand in the open to trade. The −15% is the reason the sprint is a keyword and not a personality.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The fastest sprint in the game at Level 1 — active from the first second, no setup
• A complete loadout from minute one: a Katana plus 120 throwing knives
• Level 2's crit is a real burst tool when you pair it with a high-damage opener
• Level 3 makes your knife supply effectively self-sustaining
• Ranked S or A by every tier list we checked — no source puts it below A
• One of the oldest classes, so the community's knowledge of it is deep

Cons

• −15% max health, the single biggest downside of any class at this price
• Both level requirements demand damage-less kills, which is harder than a kill count and harder to farm
• The crit chance is published by nobody — you cannot plan around the perk the class is built on
• Bunny kills do not count, which quietly breaks the usual grinding shortcut
• Level 3 is, in the wiki's own words, not very useful
• 500 Diamonds is a lot for a class whose main perk is a movement speed number

Where Sources Disagree

Sprint speed: fastest or second fastest? rblxguide says fastest. The wiki says second, behind a fully levelled Alien Scientist by 3%. Both are defensible at different levels — see the Level-1 trade section above. This is a genuine source of confusion rather than a source error.

The crit chance is not published anywhere. The 50% crit bonus appears in two sources with the same wording; the chance is absent from all of them. We left it out rather than guessing.

The health penalty is stated as both a percentage and a flat number. −15% from most guides, 85 total HP from the wiki's cons list. They reconcile only if the base pool is 100, which no source states outright.

Whether a taken hit resets the damage-less-kill counter is unstated, and it determines whether the requirement is a grind or a feat.

When the Assassin was added. The wiki says it arrived with the Classes Update and was one of the first classes ever shipped; no source gives a date precise enough to quote here.

Tier placement is unusually tight for a class at this price — S or A on every list we found, from PCGamesN to rblxguide to Pocket Gamer. Compare that with the Undead, which splits A-to-C, or the Berserker, which splits S-to-C: the argument about the Assassin is not is it good, it is is 500 Diamonds good, and that is an argument about your bank balance rather than the class.

FAQ

Does the Assassin's crit work with the Kunai? It works with any weapon, but the wiki and the Kunai page both advise opening with a high-damage gun instead — 50% of a Rifle shot beats 50% of a knife.

What is the crit chance? Unpublished. Two sources agree on the 50% damage bonus and neither gives a probability, and we are not going to estimate one.

Why can I not level it by killing rabbits? Bunny kills do not count toward either requirement, per the wiki.

Where do I farm damage-less kills? The Cultist Stronghold — the wiki's specific method is to hide behind cover and shoot, because the reset keeps feeding you targets you can reach without being hit.

Does the sprint bonus apply after I level up? Yes, it is a Level 1 perk and stays for the run. Only the Alien Scientist's conditional Level 3 speed overtakes it later in the game.

Is the −15% health worth the sprint? Only if you are already good at not being hit. It is a class for players who finish fights before they start taking them.

Are Diamonds and Gems the same thing? Yes — one currency, two words. Explained on the Diamonds farming page.

Related Pages

• All Classes — every class and its Diamond cost, including the Assassin at 500
• Brawler Class — 400 Diamonds cheaper if you wanted reliable damage
• Berserker Class — the source of most recommended talents, and a cheap safety net
• Undead Class — the other class whose value flips on team versus solo
• How to Get the Katana — the melee half of the loadout, and why it is class-exclusive
• How to Get the Kunai — the 120 Throwing Knives, the naming trap, and how to restock
• Cultist Stronghold — the damage-less-kill farm
• How to Get Diamonds Fast — what 500 Diamonds actually costs in playtime