Curse

Mooglepinoy22 · Sep 11, 2006, 05:56 AM // 05:56

After being an assassin for a long time as well as being a reader on this forum, it's kind of obvious to me that most "new builds" are several variations on old ones. Even though I see why some skills and combos are reused often the general idea to the public is that a sin jumps in, spikes, jumps out. I think that we should branch out on what else a sin can do in order to help their party for whatever reason.

I'd like to see what else people can do and even if it uses the same old knockdown-spider-dual, etc., an old idea can still be original if used effectively. One of my favorite sin concepts, mostly in the deadly arts skill set, is that a sin can keep people from getting away.

A quick example of a build I use concerns the skills scorpion wire, shroud of silence, and most importantly siphon speed. In the build not only is the enemy unable to escape or cast spells (like healing or to counter) effectively but with just one skill (siphon speed) not only can the enemy run away but they're also unable to give chase since siphon speed gives a +20%, -20% speed boost to you and the enemy (+40% for you in a 1vs1 sense) and thus even makes the majority of the speed boost skills (+25 to 33%) unable to keep up. Overall my build concept is a mix of being a runner/chaser, in a "Stinging Fly" sort of way.

It kind of proves that one skill can entirely change a build (For mine it's 2!).

I'd elaborate more but I'd like to see whether anybody else can come up with a new concept (or tell me about one they've used) and use it efficiently. Good Luck!

[Oh, and if anybody would like to ask for the details on my build I'd be happy to oblige. It's great against practically any enemy (touchers, monks, other sins, etc.) since it's unexpected]

Yanman.be · Sep 11, 2006, 09:06 AM // 09:06

Yeah, just post the build entirely.

Bloodied Blade · Sep 11, 2006, 10:39 AM // 10:39

Out of curiosity, where is your damage coming from? I've tried something like-

Disrupting Stab
Wild Strike
Twisting Fangs
Dash
Shadow Refuge
(utility)
AoD
Res

A lot of times I'll see AoD swapped for Moebius Strike or some anti-caster skill and even Blackout used as a utility. You can really do just about anything, it's just that dmg spiking the monk down tends to be more of a detriment to the opposing team than doing it slowly with shutdown.

If you look around the thread there's a lot of builds that have been proven to work well, it's just that the AoD/GPS and Palm Strike builds are designed to kill casters in 5-7 seconds with 1 easy combo.

EDIT: Why are you using Scorpion Wire? Anyone outside RA will just kite a circle around you without leaving the 100' range (that's ~3x the range of a well), you'd be much better off stopping runners with Crippling Dagger or Mantis Touch since you already are specced for deadly arts.

Mooglepinoy22 · Sep 11, 2006, 11:06 PM // 23:06

Sure then, here's my build (and there's a reason why I use scorpion wire),

Dagger Mastery 13 (10+3)
Deadly Arts 16 (12+3+1)
The rest on Shadow Arts

Impale
Iron Palm
Falling Spider
Horns of the Ox
Scorpion Wire*
Shadow Refuge
Shroud of Silence [Elite]
Siphon Speed
*Scorpion Wire has it's uses but if needed can be considered optional and switch out for res.

I'll start out explaining how my usual battle starts. Like most assassins we single somebody out to start with and go for them, so I first chose my target and cast Impale and usually siphon speed when I have the time (and nrg). But from here on out this is where my strategy branches out entirely depending on what class or build I'm up against.

Usually I'd just start the combo against most enemies and as an example, let's say a touch ranger gets back up and chases me to suck the life out of me. Siphon Speed easily keeps me distanced for iron palm to recharge.

Let's say he runs. It might take too long for me to catch up with siphon speed if he uses a speed skill and my iron palm might not be recharged for the next combo or impale might still be in effect, but because Falling Spider has only half the recharge time I can cast Scorpion wire, impale if available or not casted before, and run the other way. If the toucher just tries to run close enough for scorpion wire to not take effect it'd be nearly impossible for him to catch up if I just cast siphon speed again. Since scorpion wire kds I can use it as a secret backup lead for my falling spider combo.

My favorite part about this build is all the strategy integrated in with the choice of my moves. Is that necro going to SS? I could KD him but what if I already went through the combo? Use the Elite! That healer heal himself since he's almost dead, I should use the Elite once more and finish with the combo. That ranger is dodging and running away, yet Iron Palm's a touch skill and there's no way he can escape with Siphon Speed.

Even though this sin build does not kill on the first shot, the idea is that it keeps the enemy from responding effectively and in turn keeps the sin alive enough for the recharged combo to go through.

All in all the biggest reason on why I eventually came up with this build was to try something new, and to stray from the norm (I've had a secret hate for AoD because it's used so dang often) Of course using Crippling Dagger or Mantis Touch can be a good idea. I probably could play around with it but I like my build as it is, especially thinking to myself, "You're not getting away that easily" as I cast scorpion wire.

Yanman.be · Sep 12, 2006, 08:22 AM // 08:22

Twisting Fangs?

Mooglepinoy22 · Sep 13, 2006, 06:30 AM // 06:30

Twisting Fangs just doesn't work as well in this kind of build, mainly because of the fact that I sacrifice the use of critical strike skills for deadly arts. I'd like to use it but with Ox it's better against things that chase you back. There are plenty of assassin builds that kill quick and easy, but the problem is that the assassin can die just as easily if that's all they aim for.

Yanman.be · Sep 13, 2006, 09:04 AM // 09:04

You only need to apply the Deep wound for like 5 seconds...

SAPhoenix · Sep 13, 2006, 10:52 AM // 10:52

Assassins can be played well as pseudo casters (I speak from personal experience), which is also an untapped part of the class's potential, considering its energy regen. Using the right equipment, you can be very effective as a caster. At least it deviates from the norm of "I have to use a dagger combo to be effective" as it offers a unique and interesting change, provided insta-kill spiking isn't top priority. Blended with Deadly Arts and Shadow Arts, you can come up with some very nice attacking and defensive options.

Tozen · Sep 13, 2006, 07:45 PM // 19:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAPhoenix

Assassins can be played well as pseudo casters (I speak from personal experience), which is also an untapped part of the class's potential, considering its energy regen. Using the right equipment, you can be very effective as a caster. At least it deviates from the norm of "I have to use a dagger combo to be effective" as it offers a unique and interesting change, provided insta-kill spiking isn't top priority. Blended with Deadly Arts and Shadow Arts, you can come up with some very nice attacking and defensive options.

This is very true, although I find that I need all +energy gear and +energy zealous daggers to make it work.

Examples:
Parasitic Bond + Soul Leach before a dagger combo on a monk. Prot monks die near instantly.
Mind Wrack + Backfire has a similar effect, although its not as hardy obviously.

Falling Spider + Shield of Judgement = instant duel attack.

And have you ever tried using SS combined with dagger skills? SS pretty much kills one group while you kill another... it's fun stuff!

There are more, but I don't want to give away the REALLY fun ones

CONCLUSION: While Assassins can't substitute for some of the interesting combinations that other classes can play (such as echo SS on a necromancer), in my opinion Assassin is the most versitile class out of all of them for using secondary professions. Because they can passively recover energy so easily, you can make variations of Assassins that can fill any role and STILL do a junk-load of damage in the process. (Put minimum ranks into your dagger mastery and 13 in critical... rest go to your support line)

Mooglepinoy22 · Sep 14, 2006, 02:02 AM // 02:02

Well said!