Lance Assassin

Lance Assassin
Character Type	Enemy
Gender	Female
Race	Human
Group Affiliations	Crimson Lance
Game	Borderlands

Lance Assassins are enemies introduced in The Secret Armory of General Knoxx. They are female members of the Crimson Lance and wield two plasma swords as weapons. They are exceptionally swift and dexterous, incorporating acrobatics such as back flips, making them extremely difficult to target.

Background

The Crimson Lance Assassin squadron was originally formulated as a method of reducing the PR fallout from Admiral Mikey's infamous "girls are stupid" re-election campaign (which was confusing as it was unfortunate, as the position of Crimson Lance Admiral is not decided by election in the first place). In an effort to show that the Atlas corporation held great respect and affection for its female employees, the Crimson Lance was ordered to kidnap and torture several dozen young girls with the intent of eventually turning them into unstoppable assassins. Though this move was highly criticized by those relatively few residents on Pandora who find child trafficking distasteful, the operation was a great success for the Lance; alongside the elite Lance Royal Guard the Assassins remain their most prolific and efficient killers, and their 'lack of family ties' (a euphemism, as Atlas has forced them to murder their own parents) makes them remarkably loyal to the Atlas corporation and its principles. Additionally, the use of their image on promotional paraphernalia is a significant boon to both the company's image and its enlistment numbers.

For potentially disrupting Atlas' monopoly on alien weapon technology, Atlas posts wanted posters of the Vault hunters and employs the Crimson Lance and their assassins to hunt them down.

Appearances

• The Secret Armory of General Knoxx

Strategy

Lance Assassins are armed with two plasma swords for melee and shuriken for ranged combat.

Although possessing high movement speed and dealing heavy damage, they have relatively low health and can be taken out with a few critical hit from a sniper rifle, and are severely slowed when dazed. If landing a critical hit proves to be difficult, corrosive attacks from weapons, grenades or Action Skills are very effective, even against badasses and Omega Assassins.

A good tactic to employ in order to minimize damage taken from Assassins is to stay out of melee range, while laying down constant fire, as Assassins will not use their ranged attacks when stunned or dazed. Use obstacles to keep your distance.

It is possible for Lance Assassins to get stuck on objects while doing their high speed maneuvers. As amusing as this may be, use the opportunity to quickly finish them off as it is both possible and likely that they will extricate themselves.

Badass Assassins

Badass versions of the Lance Assassins may appear but they are very rare. They wear black armor rather than the red armor of the regular Lance Assassins. They have a ranged attack that they throw spikes at medium range. Badass Lance Assassins may appear in the respawnable group of assassins at the southern Lance blockade in The Ridgeway or just before the Crimson Armory at the Road's End.

Quotes

• "Execute attack order Gamma." (after spotting a target)
• "Identity confirmed. Attack!" (after spotting a target)
• "Omnicron pattern. Go! Go!" (after spotting a target)
• "Target identified. Move in!" (after spotting a target)
• "There they are. Attack!" (after spotting a target)
• "We've got 'em. Go! Go! Go!" (after spotting a target)
• "I'm bleeding out!" (after taking significant damage)
• "I'm hit bad!" (after taking significant damage)
• "I need help!" (after taking significant damage)
• "I've got severe injuries." (after taking significant damage)
• "Medic! I need a medic!" (after taking significant damage)
• "Request permision to retreat." (after taking significant damage)
• "Shields compromised!" (after taking significant damage)
• "Shields down. Recharging." (after taking significant damage)
• "Agent down!" (after having another Assassin killed in front of them)
• "Lost an operative!" (after having another Assassin killed in front of them)
• "Operative down!" (after having another Assassin killed in front of them)
• "She's down!" (after having another Assassin killed in front of them)
• "Avenge me, sisters!" (upon dying)
• "Mission failed!" (upon dying)
• "I'm finished." (upon dying)
• Gurgling sound (upon dying)

Trivia

• The Lance Assassin is very similar in design and movement to the female assassins from Half-Life. Gearbox Software's first game was the Half-Life expansion Opposing Force.