Further to the brief newbie advice discussion over the newbie channel which was cut short earlier to avoid spamming too many players, here are some survival tips against assassins:

* Try the assassin class: This is possibly the best way to learn assassin strengths and weaknesses and really goes for any class that you find to be destroying you in PK. It will also help with some of the additional suggestions below.

* Make full use of no hide terrain: Underwater, water and various other types of terrain are impossible to hide in. Utilize these terrain types for ranking on NPCs and try to think outside the box. Be sure to try to keep the 'detect invisibility' spell up as some assassins may use invisibility potions too and check the 'where' command a lot.

* Stock basic preparations: Flight potions are a must and will be useful if an assassin is coming close, or if you are running on major roads and cities. Furthermore, potions of teleport and recall are extremely useful for escaping from dangerous battles quickly. You can flee/quaff much more easily than running away disoriented on foot.

* Avoid heavily traveled civilized areas: Major cities, major roads and the like are very good ways to attract enemy attention. Avoid when possible. Find alternative routes to roads, trainers, guilds etc. They can be found by asking in character, or by exploration.

* Make friends with allies who can see them: Rangers in wilderness, or thieves, assassins and duergars in civilized terrain. Having competent allies who can detect hidden will be invaluable to survival.

* Make use of revealing spells: Spells such as Faerie Fire, Bioluminescence, Illuminate etc. can really ruin an assassin (or any other stealth class') day as it negates one of their most powerful advantages. Be sure you can survive the initial casting. If you are being outmatched then fleeing is probably still your best option.

Assassins are fairly powerful in the low and middle ranks but are overtaken at hero by other classes. There is no shame in picking your fights and biding your time until a more favorable outcome is likely.

"* Make full use of no hide terrain: Underwater, water and various other types of terrain are impossible to hide in. Utilize these terrain types for ranking on NPCs and try to think outside the box. Be sure to try to keep the 'detect invisibility' spell up as some assassins may use invisibility potions too and check the 'where' command a lot."

One would kind of have to play an assassin AND ranger to get to know the terrain types and how they affect hide/sneak. Is there a good reason only rangers can see the actual terrain type? Seems any ol' fool should be able to tell the difference between say, Mountains and Plains. Thiefs and Assassins especially could use the knowledge of the difference between hills and plains.

This is more of a Gameplay Forum post and it needs an answer from someone other than a heroimm.

Having said that, I personally I don't see any fault with how the current terrain system works as there will always be some element of game knowledge and experience involved in playing any class. There aren't too many types of terrain, or room affects, that negate assassin hiding and it isn't hard to figure them out.

If you contrast that with a ranger which has a fairly complex set of terrain rules and lots of subclass options, the necessity to see the terrain type becomes much more pressing.

(The only notable exception really is for thieves, which you have mentioned above.)

I was just attempting to reinforce some tips on surviving for the newer members of the community because I cut the advice short earlier on the Newbie Channel.