Trust me, I have tested this up the wazoo using Zonfire on single player. In a Hell game, with the best equipment she can possibly have and stuff that I will never actually own on Realm, she is still not as strong as most other character builds. And she still dies a lot. Can you imagine being a Martial Sin and stepping into a room full of Souls and Dolls in an eight player game and surviving?

It's true that kicks can do a lot of damage. With the right boots, Tiger Strike and Dragon Tail can reach upwards of 20k. But that's after hitting them three times to get three charges and then a fourth time for the Finishing Move. Sorcs can do that much in one shot and do it faster at a safer range.

And let's look at a skill I like to call What the Smurf Strike:

Phoenix Strike at level 20 with all three Synergies maxed:
Charge 1 - meteor damage: 1074-1230
38: Fire Explosion Damage: 951-993 per second
62: Charge 2 - chain lightning damage: 3-2664
62: Charge 3 - chaos ice bolt damage: 468-528
2: Attack: +148 percent

Lightning Sentry at level 20 with all three synergies maxed:
Lightning Damage: 8-2574
1: Mana Cost: 20

The highest damaging effect of Phoenix Strike is the second charge, Lightning. The other two are pathetic. The freeze on the third is nice and isn't for damage anyway, but then you're just a really crappy version of a Freezing Arrow amazon with a crappier summon to boot.

So basically, your reward for running into a group of enemies then hitting them twice and a third time to set off a charge is doing the same damage as one single trap out of five. Gee, I wonder why more people don't use this.

You could argue Phoenix is the most flexible skill in the game, but really it's just a pain. You actually have to stop and attack slower to make sure you don't go past the charge you want or that she didn't miss and get another charge, otherwise you are constantly setting off a charge you didn't want. While all the Amazons elemental spear/javelin skills are Always Hit, they just couldn't see fit to do the same with the skill that actually needed it.

The only reason I play the assassin is because she happens to be my favorite character. I personally don't care that she isn't the best in the game because I like the challenge, it's just very odd to me how unbalanced she actually is. Even though she gets 3 HP per Vit, her claws require even dex and str and she ends up having fairly low health no matter what. That' s also kind of her point, so I get it; she's fast with low health. She's the "mage fighter" character type. Well, if that's the case, then make her mage fighting do lots of damage and not less than the actual mage.

She might be fast, but she's just not the toughest cookie in the batch, kids. Oh well, I still like her. I still choose her over Hammerdins unlike Chimney other people I won't mention.