Death Attack

[Teo]

In the death attack page, it says that it only works if the target is not in combat. Does this mean that you cannot paralyze them if they are fighting someone else, or does the additional damage from the death attack also not work?

[Aerimor]

Short answer:  Death attack is sneak attack in regards to extra damage, immunities etc.

The paralysis effect only triggers if the target is flat-footed.  Flat-footed is removed in combat and by some other abilities.

 

The long answer (pulled from NWN Wiki):

 

Death attack

 

Type of feat: class
Prerequisite: assassin

Specifics: At first level, an assassin may use a death attack, which functions similarly to a sneak attack in that if the target is not in combat they become victim to the death attack. The successful attack forces the target to make a fortitude save or become paralyzed. Even if they succeed with the saving throw they still suffer +1d6 points of damage in addition to the normal damage the attack caused. This damage increases to 2d6 at level 3, 3d6 at level 5, 4d6 at level 7, and 5d6 at level 9.

Use: automatic

Notes Edit

• Added in the expansion packs.


• Death attacks are made whenever an assassin would qualify for a sneak attack, regardless of the target's combat state. (If an assassin also has a sneak attack, the game only reports "sneak attack" to the player.) In particular, death attacks can be made with ranged weapons if within 30 feet of the target.
  
  
  
  • All death attacks deal bonus damage, but not all death attacks trigger a paralysis save.
  
  
  • The bonus damage stacks with that for sneak attacks, including the blackguard's sneak attack.
  
  
  • As with sneak attacks, the bonus damage is not multiplied in the case of a critical hit.


• A death attack only triggers a paralysis save if the target is not engaged in combat, as per this feat's description.
  
  
  
  • As all attacks in a flurry are effectively simultaneous, there will be a saving throw for each attack in the opening flurry of combat.
  
  
  • The difficulty class of the saving throw is 10 + assassin level + intelligence modifier.
  
  
  • The duration is 1 turn per assassin level.


• The damage continues to increase in epic class levels at the rate of 1d6 for every 2 levels (i.e., 6d6 at level 11, 7d6 at level 13, and continuing up to 15d6 at level 29).


• As of patch 1.66, immunity to mind-affecting spells no longer makes a character immune to death attack paralysis.

 

~Nimrod

 

[Teo]

Thanks for the clarification!