Cassie Guide: The Crossbow Duelist Who Wins on the Roll

TYPEGUIDE

CHAMPIONCassie

// GUIDES — #003

Cassie Guide: The Crossbow Duelist Who Wins on the Roll

PUBLISHED October 21, 2026

Cassie, The Hunter’s Daughter — like Fernando, one of the eight champions Paladins opened its Closed Beta with in November 2015. Watching her friends leave Greenwood to fight the Magistrate, she chafed at the oath that bound her family to its homeland and its House; on Seris’s advice she joined the Resistance with her father’s enchanted crossbow and her hawk, Zigs — but “she could not run forever, and is now forced to face her heritage head-on”. In a match she is a duelist at range: a Crossbow whose bolts stay fully effective to 300 units, Disengage to knock enemies back and slow them, Blast Shot, Dodge Roll and Scout — Zigs Revealing every enemy on the map for 8 seconds.

Her late balance history is short. Patch 6.2 (March 2023) gave her the first buff in about a year and a half — the developers wrote that her 47–48% winrate “leaves a bit to be desired”. 7.4 (July 2024) added the slow to Disengage, a magazine refill to Scout and a poison to Blast Shot that “overperformed” and was cut in September and removed in October. The final balance patch, 8.1 (January 2025), shortened her reload and Dodge Roll, buffed her healing cards and Big Game, trimmed Incitement and named the problem: “her popularity remains higher despite lower efficacy”. Videos from July to October 2024 show a poisoned Blast Shot that no longer exists.

The archived PaladinsGuru stats show that the patch did not close the gap. After 8.1 Cassie wins 49.1% of 38,037 matches — the middle of the Damage role. Her default talent, Exaction, is both the most-picked and the best-winning, 49.6%, with Impulse less than a point behind; Big Game, buffed to compete with Exaction, finished last in all five snapshots after it. The game’s own presets, Impulse’s and Big Game’s, are her two most-played loadouts and the two lowest-winning in her top five in all sixteen snapshots since 2020, while player-made decks built on Incitement 5 and Onslaught 4–5 win 54.2% over 1,403 matches. As with Moji and Fernando, the presets are where she loses.

// ABILITY KIT

LMB

Crossbow680 dmg / 0.75s · 6 bolts

A fast projectile, not hitscan: a bolt every 0.75 seconds for 680 damage — about 907 a second — fully effective all the way to 300 units and reaching nothing beyond them. Six bolts to a magazine, about 4.5 seconds of fire; the final 8.1 patch cut the reload from 1.4 to 1.2 seconds. Her bolts are her only weapon shots, so Exaction, Big Game and items such as Life Rip and Wrecker work through them alone.

RMB

Disengage300 dmg · knockback · 35% slowCD 11s

An ice bolt to 300 units: 300 damage, a knockback and, since patch 7.4 (July 2024), a 35% slow for 3 seconds. The knockback is soft crowd control — it cannot interrupt dashes or other movement abilities — but knocking an enemy off a ledge is a real kill. Patch 6.2 (March 2023) raised its damage from 200 and cut its cooldown from 12 to 11 seconds.

Blast Shot450 dmg · area · knocks you backCD 10s

A blast of 450 area damage, fully effective within 4 units of the impact and reaching 20, with a slight knockback. It throws Cassie back as well as her target, without hurting her — a second escape besides Dodge Roll. Patch 7.4 added a poison to it, 7.5 cut it and 7.6 (October 2024) removed it, so videos from that summer show a Blast Shot that no longer exists.

Dodge Roll40 units · no knockback while rollingCD 6s

Roll 40 units in the direction you are moving, keeping your momentum and immune to knockback while you roll. It does not block damage, and a Cripple stops it. The final 8.1 patch cut its cooldown from 7 to 6 seconds; it is the trigger for Exaction and for Incitement and Onslaught, the cards behind most of her best-winning decks.

ULT

Scout8s Reveal · +25% attack speed · +30% speed

Zigs scouts the whole map for 8 seconds: every enemy, stealthed ones included, is Revealed to your team, and you gain 30% movement speed and 25% attack speed. Since patch 7.4 it also refills your magazine on activation. It lost its crowd-control immunity in 2019, so you can still be stunned while it runs, and it ends if you die.

PASSIVENone — Cassie has no passive. Her kit is a duel loop instead: knock the enemy back with Disengage, roll out of reach with Dodge Roll, and keep firing a crossbow that hits for full damage all the way to 300 units.

// TALENT BUILDS — PICK ONE

For 8 seconds after a Dodge Roll your next bolt deals 30% more damage — 884 instead of 680 — and your crossbow’s crystals glow while the bonus is ready. Unchanged since 2018, it is the yardstick the developers measured Big Game against in 8.1. It is her most-picked talent, up to 53% of Cassies, and her best-winning after 8.1 — 49.6% over 20,132 matches, though only 0.8 points ahead of Impulse.

// LOADOUT

Incitement−4s Dodge Roll cooldown when the first bolt after a roll hits (6s → 2s)

OnslaughtHeal 425 every time you Dodge Roll

Lunge+20% Dodge Roll distance

SomersaultDodge Roll resets when you drop to 30% health (once every 15s)

Quiver+1 bolt per magazine

PaladinsGuru does not tie loadouts to talents, but fourteen of the fifteen points here work on Dodge Roll, Exaction’s own trigger: roll, land an 884-damage bolt, get 4 seconds back on the roll and heal 425 on the next one. It is the best player-made build seen in two independent snapshots, 57.9% over 430 matches — only one of them after 8.1, so treat it as a lead. The steadier sibling, Incitement 5, Onslaught 5, Somersault 3, Lunge 1, Quiver 1, is third in her top five in all eleven snapshots since 2023 and won 53.1% over 939 matches after 8.1. Both are the game’s Exaction preset with Onslaught raised from 3 to 5.

// ITEMS

ChronosHer best-winning item in all eleven snapshots since 2023 and the most bought after 8.1 — more rolls, more empowered bolts

NimbleSecond only to Chronos after 8.1 — the speed to hold the duel at your range

Deft HandsFaster reloads on top of the 8.1 reload buff — in her top five items in three of five snapshots after it

// HOW TO PLAY IT

Roll, then shoot: for 8 seconds after a Dodge Roll your next bolt hits for 884, and with Incitement 5 landing it takes 4 seconds off the roll — a 6-second cooldown becomes 2.
Fight at the edge of your range. Your bolts are fully effective all the way to 300 units and reach no further, so stand where you hit them and their short-range weapons do not.
Disengage is a duel tool, not a stun: it knocks back and slows by 35% for 3 seconds, but it cannot interrupt a dash — fire it after the enemy lands. Near a ledge, it is a kill.
Blast Shot knocks you back too, without hurting you: your second escape while the roll is on cooldown.

Blast Shot deals 150 more damage — 600 — and its cooldown drops from 10 to 8 seconds. Unchanged since 2018 and level with Exaction in practice: 48.8% over 13,739 matches after 8.1, 0.8 points behind. It led her talents from 2020 to mid-2022, and in August 2024 it pulled ahead again — while Blast Shot carried the poison the developers said had overperformed.

// LOADOUT

Blast Shower−2.5s Blast Shot cooldown for every enemy it hits

Tumble+250 maximum health (2450)

Drain LifeHeal 170 over 2s for every enemy Blast Shot hits

SomersaultDodge Roll resets when you drop to 30% health (once every 15s)

Quiver+1 bolt per magazine

The best of her Blast Shot builds after 8.1: 58.2% — on 146 matches in a single snapshot, April 2025, so treat it as a lead rather than a verdict. With Impulse an 8-second Blast Shot loses 2.5 seconds for every enemy it hits, and Tumble and Drain Life buy the dueling sustain the 8.1 patch was aiming at. Skip the game’s Impulse preset — Blast Shower 5, Drain Life 4, Megaton 2, Somersault 2, Tumble 2: it is her most-played loadout in all sixteen snapshots since 2020 and wins below her average in every one, 45.1% over 2,560 matches after 8.1.

// ITEMS

ChronosMore Blast Shots on top of Blast Shower — her best-winning item in every snapshot since 2023

NimbleSecond only to Chronos after 8.1 — move between angles while Blast Shot recharges

Life RipFor the sustain build: your bolts heal you — at her average, 49.2% after 8.1, so optional

// HOW TO PLAY IT

Fire Blast Shot into groups: with Blast Shower 5 every enemy it hits takes 2.5 seconds off it, so two hits bring an 8-second cooldown down to 3.
Blast Shot is area damage — 600 with Impulse, full effect within 4 units of the impact and reaching 20 — so aim at feet and walls, not heads.
Drain Life heals you for every enemy the blast hits and Tumble adds 250 health: this is the build that trades hits instead of avoiding them.
Watch for Blast Shields: the item cuts area damage and blunts Blast Shot, while your bolts stay direct damage.

For 4 seconds after Disengage hits, your bolts deal bonus damage equal to 9% of their target’s maximum health — about 878 a bolt against 2200 health, about 1094 against Fernando’s 4600. The final 8.1 patch raised it from 8% to make it “a bit more competitive with Exaction”; it stayed her lowest-winning talent in all five snapshots after it, 47.6% over 4,166 matches, picked by about one Cassie in ten.

// LOADOUT

Incitement−4s Dodge Roll cooldown when the first bolt after a roll hits (6s → 2s)

OnslaughtHeal 425 every time you Dodge Roll

SomersaultDodge Roll resets when you drop to 45% health (once every 15s)

Excitement−1s Dodge Roll cooldown when Disengage hits

Quiver+1 bolt per magazine

After 8.1 no player-made build in her top five carries a Disengage card; they appear only in the game’s Big Game preset — Territorial 5, Sky Warden 3, Excitement 3, Incitement 3, Quiver 1 — the lowest-winning loadout of her top five in fourteen snapshots of sixteen, 43.8% over 1,548 matches after 8.1. This deck is the one player build in her top fives since 2023 with a Disengage card: Excitement takes a second off Dodge Roll whenever Disengage hits, the same hit that starts Big Game. It won 48.9% over 2,552 matches in 2023–2024 but has not reached her top five since 8.1; its post-8.1 sibling, with Onslaught 4 and Lunge 2 in place of Onslaught 5 and Excitement, won 59.6% on 161 matches in a single snapshot.

// ITEMS

ChronosDisengage sooner, and with it the next 4-second Big Game window

NimbleSecond only to Chronos after 8.1 — stay on the tank you are shredding

Deft HandsA reload mid-window wastes Big Game — get it over with faster

// HOW TO PLAY IT

Disengage first, then shoot: for 4 seconds after it hits, every bolt adds 9% of the target’s maximum health.
Point it at the tanks. The bonus scales with maximum health — about 1094 a bolt into Fernando’s 4600 against 878 into a 2200-health damage champion.
Disengage still knocks back and slows by 35% for 3 seconds: land it, keep the target inside your 300 units and fire while they walk back in.
Know what you are trading: Big Game won about two points less than Exaction after 8.1. Pick it into a heavy frontline, not for the winrate.

// MATCHUPS

▼ COUNTERED BY

LexThe most one-sided vote against her — seven in ten of 304. In Pursuit aims itself from 200 units, Combat Slide ignores Disengage’s knockback, and up close his Magnums deal about 1280 damage a second to your 907; The Law executes at 65% health. Keep the duel past 200 units — inside 60, he wins it.

KogaTwo voters in three — 53 of 82: Shadow Step makes him Ethereal, so your bolts pass straight through him, and it cleanses Disengage’s slow. Cyclone Strike has a 1.1-second wind-up in which Koga cannot move — roll away then, and keep rolling: for the next 2 seconds he follows you, Ethereal and immune to Disengage.

ImaniTwo in three of a small sample, 33 of 51: a charged Pyre Ball hits for 1000 from 500 units, where your bolts — capped at 300 — cannot answer, and Frostfire Glide ignores knockback. Inside 300 the trade is even, and her Frost Bolts fly slower than yours.

▲ STRONG AGAINST

JenosFour voters in five — 67 of 82: his carbine is fully effective only to 100 units and Void Grip reaches 70, while your bolts land to 300. Stellar Wind is his only way out, and firing cancels it. Do not try to knock him out of his ultimate: he is immune to crowd control while it charges.

MojiFour voters in five — 112 of 137, cast in her Flank days, and the Support kit still backs them: your bolts reach Spit’s 300 units and hit harder, about 907 damage a second to its 643, and Disengage throws her out of Sparkle’s 75-unit reach. Respect Bon Appetit — its polymorph reaches 500 units and executes.

MaeveNearly two in three — 76 of 118: 1900 health falls to three bolts, and Scout still Reveals enemies through Midnight. Pounce is immune to knockback, so fire Disengage after she lands, not into the dash — and expect Artful Dodger to cleanse it.

Cassie has 2200 health, one 40-unit Dodge Roll every 6 seconds (Blast Shot can throw her a second time) and a crossbow that reaches 300 units and no further — anything that hits from further away, or closes the gap without being pushed back, wins. Disengage is soft crowd control: it cannot interrupt movement abilities, so Combat Slide, Pounce and Frostfire Glide carry straight through it, and Ethereal or crowd-control-immune champions ignore it entirely. PaladinsCounter’s votes are almost all older than 2024 — before Disengage’s slow, Scout’s ammo refill and the 8.1 buffs — so every pick here is checked against her final kit. See where Cassie sits in our tier list →

// COMMUNITY RESOURCES

I Finally Got To Play Cassie — Zarini YOUTUBE · 6.8K VIEWS · SEP 2026, A RANKED GAME IN THE FINAL PATCH Exaction Domination: Cassie Ranked — grozdanovFPS YOUTUBE · 4.8K VIEWS · FEB 2025, RANKED EXACTION 19 DAYS AFTER THE FINAL 8.1 PATCH That’s Why I Love Big Game So Much — introverted YOUTUBE · 1.1K VIEWS · JAN 2026, THE CASE FOR BIG GAME, THE TALENT 8.1 BUFFED TO RIVAL EXACTION

Is Cassie good in 2026?

S-tier, score 0.71 in our community-consensus tier list — over the 0.70 threshold by a hundredth, third of the three S-tier damage champions behind Imani and Omen, just above Lian. The lists disagree: one SS and one S+ against three A grades, a 0.50 spread. The archive is cooler still — 49.1% after 8.1, mid-table among damage champions — and she misses the top 20 of our pick-rate proxy. Ranked has one more problem the patch notes never covered: Steam community threads from 2025–2026 report that ranked players ban her almost every match over a bug that can crash the match. That is a community report, never officially confirmed, and the game has had no patch since February 2025.

Play her for the duel, and build for the roll. Exaction and Impulse are close enough to pick by taste; Big Game is the specialist pick against tanks. What decides her matches is the deck: the in-game Impulse preset is her most-played loadout and wins below her average in all sixteen snapshots, 45.1% over 2,560 matches after 8.1, and the Big Game preset does worse still at 43.8%. The player-made answer is the Exaction preset with Onslaught raised to 4 or 5 — nearly every point on Dodge Roll, with the heal-on-roll card that 8.1 buffed from 75 to 85 a point.

How do you counter Cassie?

Out-range her or close in without being pushed back. Her bolts are fully effective to 300 units and reach no further, and her escapes are one 40-unit Dodge Roll every 6 seconds plus Blast Shot’s self-knockback. Lex tops her counters by community vote (+124, seven in ten of 304): In Pursuit aims itself from 200 units and Combat Slide ignores Disengage. Koga (+24) turns Ethereal so her bolts pass through him and cleanses her slow; Imani (+15) hits for 1000 with a charged Pyre Ball from 500 units. Those votes are almost all older than 2024 — her final kit still backs them.

Dash through Disengage. Its knockback and slow are soft crowd control and cannot interrupt movement abilities, and Dodge Roll ignores knockback only while she rolls. Scout no longer grants crowd-control immunity, so stun her while Zigs is up. Haven cuts her bolts and Disengage, which deal direct damage, and Blast Shields cuts Blast Shot. And stay away from ledges: a Disengage into a pit kills outright.

FAQ

What is the best Cassie talent?

Exaction, her default, by a narrow margin. After the final 8.1 patch it won 49.6% of 20,132 archived PaladinsGuru matches and was picked by up to 53% of Cassies; Impulse is less than a point behind at 48.8%. Big Game, buffed in 8.1 to compete with Exaction, finished last in all five snapshots after the patch at 47.6% — take it against tank-heavy teams, where its 9% maximum-health bonus counts most.

What is the best Cassie loadout?

For Exaction: Incitement 5, Onslaught 5, Lunge 2, Somersault 2 and Quiver 1 — the best player-made build seen in two independent snapshots, 57.9% over 430 matches — though only one of them comes after 8.1. Its steadier sibling, Incitement 5, Onslaught 5, Somersault 3, Lunge 1 and Quiver 1, is third in her top five in all eleven snapshots since 2023 and won 53.1% over 939 matches after 8.1. The in-game Impulse and Big Game presets are her two most-played loadouts and the two lowest-winning in her top five every time.

Is Cassie hitscan?

No. Cassie’s Crossbow fires a fast projectile: each bolt travels to its target, deals 680 damage every 0.75 seconds and stays fully effective all the way to 300 units, her maximum range. Patch 4.6 made the bolt faster and larger in 2021 and patch 5.3 took 5% off its speed in 2022, so lead moving targets at long range.

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// CHAMPION GUIDES×17

Moji Guide: The Flank Who Became a Healer →Fernando Guide: The Shield That Outgrew Its Talent →Imani Guide: Fire, Ice and the Patch That Flipped Her →Ying Guide: The Illusions That Heal and Explode →Makoa Guide: The Hook That Decides Fights →Furia Guide: The Healer Who Stuns Back →Jenos Guide: The Healer Who Ignores Walls →Vora Guide: The S-Tier Flank Everyone Builds Wrong →Lian Guide: The Empress of Auto-Aim →Koga Guide: Two Stances, One Stamina Bar →Khan Guide: The Most Game-Warping Ult in Paladins →Seris Guide: The Rework Most Players Missed →Viktor Guide: The Soldier Everyone Starts With →Tyra Guide: Why the Most Played Champion Just Works →Azaan Guide: Playing the Best Champion in the Game →Androxus Guide: The Highest Carry Ceiling →Maeve Guide: Taming the Hardest Flank →

// GENERAL GUIDES×3

Is Paladins Worth Playing in 2026? →Paladins Tier List 2026 — Best Champions Ranked →Top 10 Rarest Paladins Skins (2026) →

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