Curse

moriz · Feb 19, 2008, 09:59 PM // 21:59

omg moriz iz writin nuthor guidez!

Intro

the assassin is built entirely around the premise of the "hit and run" spiker. they have ridiculously high, front-loaded damage and some of the best movement/positioning buffs in the game. however to compensate, they have crappy armor and crappier self healing. this guide will focus on helping you getting the most out of your assassin.

Buildmaking: the attack chain

building an effective assassin build generally revolves around finding the best attack chain for you. the problem is, while you can stuff your skill bar full of attack skills, you won't have much room for anything else. as such, you'll need to find a way to minimize the skill-slot investment to your combo, while still putting out good damage.

taking a quick look through the arsenal of attack skills available, it should be pretty obvious that the dual attack of the assassin attack chain as being the most valuable. dual attacks hit twice (giving you two very big +damage hits), and have some of the best side-effects (knockdowns, interrupts+exhaustion, etc). as such, here's the golden rule of assassin building: cram as many dual attacks into the least skill-slots possible.

you have one more obstacle to jump: since dual attacks come at the end of the typical assassin skill-chain (lead->offhand->dual), that will mean you have to invest in quite a few leads and offhands to get out your dual attacks, right? well, in some instances, no.

for some strange reason, assassins have offhand attacks that can skip the lead entirely, providing some conditions are met. these "lead skip" offhands are grouped around three conditions: those that require you to be enchanted those that require your target to be hexed and those that require your target to be knocked down. there's also the non-standard offhands, mobius strike {e}, which requires it to hit after a dual attack and recharges all your attack skills if it hits a target lower tha 50% hp. i'm not going to list these key offhands here, since it's pretty easy to look them up yourself.

the key to building an assassin around these lead skips is to find a conditional that you are going to use anyways, and building your attack chain off of that. for example, you want to use shadow prison {e} and siphon speed to teleport and snare your target. both spells are hexes, so it makes sense to have your first lead skip to be a hex conditional. this first lead skip will set up your first dual attack. for your second lead skip, you can either base it off of the hexes again (which with recent skill changes, is impossible), base it off of a different conditional, or use mobius strike {e}. there's also palm strike {e}, which is an unconditional offhand (keep in mind that if you go this route, you have to use give up your elite). usually, it's a good idea to have your first dual attack be the conditional to trigger your second lead skip.

now, let's put it together:

conditional->lead skip 1->dual 1->lead skip 2->dual 2

this cuts your attack chain down to essentially 4 skills, since the conditional that triggers the first lead skip is something you'll want to accomplish anyways.

for the sake of discussion, let's say i want to use an enchantment as my conditional. looking through the list of skills, we have many candidates. the best one is probably aura of displacement {e}, which is a maintained enchantment that teleports you to your target, and teleports you back to your starting location if you end it:

AoD {e}->lead skip 1->dual 1->lead skip 2->dual 2

choosing an enchantment conditional essentially locks you into 2 skills: golden phoenix strike and palm strike {e}. since palm strike is an elite and so is AoD, you're left with only golden phoenix:

AoD {e}->golden phoenix strike->dual 1->lead skip 2->dual 2

since there aren't any other lead skips that can trigger off of an enchantment, you'll need to have your first dual attack be the conditional for the second lead, or create a second conditional outside of the chain. the easiest way is to have your first dual set up the second lead skip. for this, we'll use horns of the ox:

AoD {e}->golden phoenix strike->horns of the ox->lead skip 2->dual 2

now you have the conditional for your second lead skip. you have two choices here, falling lotus strike, falling spider, and mobius strike {e}. since AoD is already an elite, that immediately eliminates mobius strike. out of the two remaining, you can choose which ever one, but since our chain is becoming quite energy heavy, let's use falling lotus strike to remedy that:

AoD {e}->golden phoenix strike->horns of the ox->falling lotus strike->dual 2

since you are not running mobius strike, you'll want your second dual to do as much damage as possible. this dual is essentially the "killing blow" of your attack chain, and you'll want the fight to end right there with your opponent dead. we can go two routes here: blades of steel for pure upfront damage, or twisting fangs for the deep wound and bleeding. it's quite arguable as to which is more effective, but since twisting will give you the unconditional deep wound without investing another skill slot, let's go with it:

AoD {e}->golden phoenix strike->horns of the ox->falling lotus strike->twisting fangs

of course this is just an example. you'll have to test it out against something first to make sure it kills (or nearly kills and severely cripples) your target. you'll probably have to do a few attribute redistributions to fine-tune it as well.

here's a few examples:

shove {e}->falling lotus strike->horns of the ox->falling spider->twisting fangs

dark prison->black spider strike->twisting fangs->palm strike {e}->death blossom

dark prison->black spider strike->twisting fangs->mobius strike->death blossom->and repeat the last two over and over again

hidden caltrops {e}->iron palm->falling lotus strike->trampling ox->falling spider->twisting fangs (yes, this one is a bit longer, but it's pretty fun to play around with)

there are quite a few interesting combinations to be had, so play around with them to find one that fits you.

there are also attack spells from the deadly arts line, which often functions like offhands and duals. i'm not going to describe them in detail, but you can build a character around them using the same method.

PvE and nonstandard attack chains

in pve, the most common assassin build is the mobius strike build. the build is so short that it compressed into 5 skills:

critical defense, critical agility, golden phoenix strike->death blossom->mobius strike {e}

this build solves one of the biggest problems with assassin chains, in that the high damage can be maintained. since the build only uses up 5 skill slots, you can use the remaining 3 for anything you want.

there's also the shattering assault assassin, which is mainly used in pvp. it follows the traditional lead->offhand->dual approach:

assassin's remedy->golden fox strike->wild strike->shattering assault {e}

this build's strength lies not in its damage. rather, it gets past any traditional anti-melee measures (blocking, blinding), as well as removing 1 stance and potentially 2 enchantments. it's benefits in pvp should be pretty obvious.

once you've found your attack chain, flesh out the rest of your build with utility skills that you'll need. generally, a self heal, a run buff, and a teleport to name a few. find out whatever you need, and fit them into your build.

Equipment

for weapons, you'll need both a vampiric and zealous dagger, as well as a spear/shield defensive set. the prefix/suffix, as well as the inscription of each weapon is entirely up to you. generally though, you'll want your vampiric dagger to have +30hp and 15^50, your zealous dagger +30hp and +5energy. your spear should have +5energy and either +30hp or +20% enchant, depending on whether if you are running enchantments or not. your shield should have +30hp and +10AL vs the damage of your choice.

putting it together
set 1: vampiric dagger
set 2: zealous dagger
set 3: spear/shield
set 4: optional

now for your armor. there are really two armor insignias for assassins: radiant, or survivor. to help you chose, you should take a look at your combo and build. if you have problem executing your combo with the basic 25 energy, use radiant. if not, use survivor.

General playing style

while the assassin is a melee character, it more closely resembles an elementalist than a warrior. it's weak armor generally puts it somewhere in the midline in terms of battlefield position. as such, it pays for you to play more like a caster than a melee fighter type. what exactly you do on the battlefield will depend greatly on the build you bring. the common thing for all assassins is to avoid confrontations that are unfavourable. this is huge, since your character is fragile, and once committed to unloading your combo, you cannot back down without wasting it, and often cannot break away from the unfavourable confrontation without dying.

Conclusion

yes, i know this guide places a huge emphasis on the combo a little on anything else. however, that's how the assassin is structured. without that combo, they are quite useless. the combo is the most important aspect of the assassin, and the primary reason why you'll bring one in the first place. everything else, including exactly how to move, position, and fight with one on the battlefield, you'll have to learn yourself. playing guild wars is built upon layers and layers of experience. it's quite futile to explain it in a guide.

hf and gl.

Stormlord Alex · Feb 19, 2008, 10:16 PM // 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

yes, i know this guide places a huge emphasis on the combo a little on anything else. however, that's how the assassin is structured. without that combo, they are quite useless. the combo is the most important aspect of the assassin, and the primary reason why you'll bring one in the first place.

It's sad and funny because it's so true

Poor one-dimensional 'sin!

Anyho, aye. /agreed with all of it, except you might want to mention Shattering Assault for what it's worth; as well as the DB/Moebius spammer everyone uses to beat Pee Vee Eee, given it is the PvE forum

also, nicely glossed over the lame Deadly Arts guys.
you get a cookie for that

ZeAliX · Feb 19, 2008, 10:34 PM // 22:34

Pretty nice suggestions there

Got another build I have had a lot of fun with:
Shadow prison (e)
Tiger stance
Iron palm
falling lotus Strike
Twisting fangs
black spider strike
blades of steel
ress

well.. a deadly combo unless target is healed (hate that >.<)

Bobby2 · Feb 19, 2008, 11:32 PM // 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZeAliX

Got another build I have had a lot of fun with:
Shadow prison (e)
Tiger stance
Iron palm
falling lotus Strike
Twisting fangs
black spider strike
blades of steel
ress

LOL I recognize that, should use Tiger Stance AFTER Iron Palm though

Good guide Moriz! Pretty much /agree all around as well. Though when starting out with "Hit & Run", I'd hoped you would expand on the 'Run' part as well

Weak search-fu, admittedly; but has there ever been a good summary on decent Sin utility skills? *still struggling to make more of the Assassin class

Glider of chaos · Feb 20, 2008, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Pretty good guide. Sticky may be?
But I think there's one thing that needs to be mentioned: That's PvP guide. We still need a nice PvE Guide =)

ZeAliX · Feb 20, 2008, 02:35 PM // 14:35

Making a guide for pve sin seems kinda wasteful. PvE sin builds should have Moebius Strike and some dual attacks and you got a good build xD

itsvictor · Feb 20, 2008, 02:42 PM // 14:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by moriz

exactly how to move, position, and fight with one on the battlefield, you'll have to learn yourself. playing guild wars is built upon layers and layers of experience. it's quite futile to explain it in a guide.

hf and gl.

That alone sums up how to play the game <3. I think there's too much emphasis on combo making,sure it's what makes the assassin, but I think anyone can piece together pieces of a puzzle. Not surprisingly I probably might want to take that back >_>.

RavagerOfDreams · Feb 21, 2008, 04:33 AM // 04:33

personally use

Aura of Displacement {e}
Shock
Falling Spider
Vampiric Assault
Impale
Sig of Toxic Shock
feigned Neutrality
Dash

use aod.....you live longer

Div · Feb 26, 2008, 08:30 PM // 20:30

If you bothered to complete it, this could be potential for sticky. However, be wary of the narutards in here that will probably just completely trash your guide because you didn't mention every single aspect of their builds with critical defenses!

tehshadowninjar · Feb 26, 2008, 11:47 PM // 23:47

Eh, well, you only listed than an assassin is only a spiker, that it gets in there, does damage, gets out of there ASAP, and heals. Nice elaboration on the chain, but you missed about....70% of the assassin. Make a full guide, not one on just chains. ._.

Inferno Link · Feb 26, 2008, 11:51 PM // 23:51

Give him credit for actually spending his own time to make one at least.

DDL · Feb 27, 2008, 01:33 AM // 01:33

Well, fireflyry is clearly a better sin that all of us, given that he just shadowstepped in, flamed four or five threads and then disappeared again.

Or something.

Stormlord Alex · Feb 27, 2008, 01:37 AM // 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by tehshadowninjar

Nice elaboration on the chain, but you missed about....1% of the assassin. Make a full guide, not one on just chains. ._.

Fix'd.
Untill moriz mentions SA

Then it's done.

moriz · Feb 27, 2008, 08:08 PM // 20:08

updated the post. and yes, i mentioned SA.

Trinity Fire Angel · Feb 29, 2008, 12:09 AM // 00:09

yup. i am new to the profession. i agree that you focus mainly on spike and kind of leave out pressure. however, there is one build there that fits that description.

i have started a Sin and have decided to get to legendary survivor. i am basically running a modded Moebius pressure build using GPS, Critical Strike, Moebius and DB. I am using critical defence as my defence when i need it and i just pressure them into submission. i have been running this as a L12 against L20-22 foes with my 3 x L15 heros. no sweat so far. i find the key to running an assassin build is your *SUPPORT*. Sins need a lot of support. i find that if you go as an Assassin, you need to tip the rest of your team more to defence to balance up your squishy bits. however, your kill rate more than balances this up and taking down a boss or rogue frontliner hitting on your monk is the key.

perhaps your guide should go into some of the tactics behind playing a Sin? field position. how to play with hench/heroes/ other players. when to strike. who to strike. etc etc.

anywya, i am going to post my team in another area of the forum. keep up the good work. this guide helped me alot

Stormlord Alex · Feb 29, 2008, 06:59 AM // 06:59

Good, good.
now, moriz, you just need to discuss the pressure and utility options available to the 'sin outside of ... oh wait. nvm.

guide done as far as I can see
sticky pl0x?