Originally Posted by Yichi

Assassins, like most other "rouge" classes, add nothing but degenerative gameplay. I will take a common class from a game that I used to play, the Stealther from Dark Age of Camelot.

Like the assassin it had huge imbalances, one being that you could be cloaked and only another stealther could see you until you attacked, which made jumping random leveling noobs fun, but added a huge amount of griefers in the game that would camp certian areas and kill any lone one or two players that came through. If you weren't traveling in packs of 4-5, a stealther that was worth a shit ate you for lunch.

similarly, the assassin's shadowstepping allows for pretty much that. Its an instant occurance to your target and can usually be fatal for the lone character/npc/whatever that isn't prepared for it. Without basically dedicating an entire character in an 8 man party to be on assassin patrol, they have free reign to do pretty much whatever they want too and get away with it onyl because if it gets too hectic, then oops teleport out and overadvantage the stand team.

They provide no real utility other than 3,2,1 gimmicks, no real skillful gameplay, no tactics other than run the opposite of where everyone else is running, and no real knowledge from the player. If the player can run around in circles long enough, that player will eventually accomplish something on this class, wether it be a free npc kill, a free player kill, or either. It threw all tactical play out the window and any movement control such as snares, conditions such as cripple, etc. can be easily negated that they may not even be brought into the fight.

When I first heard of an assassin, I immediately thought of the diablo 2 assassin thats kind of balanced (until certain runewords screwed that up). This class has utility, can shadowstep but only in the form of attacks, can melee and be an effective caster, and has immunities against it to keep it in check, same with every other character except the hammerdin, but this aint d2, so enough of that shit. Sadly, the assassin we got was completely RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOed up in comparison.

The assassin in Guildwars fails due to its lack of direction. Its not ment as a mobile skirmisher due to its low armor and the fact that it throws movement out the window. Its not a pressure class because it doesn't rely on pressure, it relies on more spike damage in the form of attack chains. Its not a caster, because it doesnt have the weapons/items/energy pool/regen to be an effective caster not to mention that the caster skills it has blow nuts. It's not ment to be a team build due to the fact of the class relying on its ability to dash in to something kill it and dash out.

So where does this leave the class in any state other than the 12 year old "I want to be a ninja" or the "I'm a naruto nerd" category? What has the assassin brought to the table other than griefer builds (shadowform), spike builds and instagibs (shadow prison, etc.), or an outnumber build that doesn't have to worry about things collapsing to attack it that instantly puts it out of danger and the opposing team at an instant advantage (Aura of Displacement)?

Name me one good thing the assassin has brought to the table that has helped in a team play oriented game that has benefited the game and I will take back everything I have said and welcome assassins in GW2. But sadly, I think you'd have a much easier time milking a cat.