Curse

keathmae · Jun 18, 2006, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Hello,
I’m aware that assassins are receiving a lot of criticisms since the day factions released. If you are a frequent assassin thread reader, I’m sure you can find a numbers of threads flaming and bitaching how weak they are… yada yada yada.

Some said that assassins are “glass cannons”, powerful yet easily shattered which is a fair statement. So, if wanna master them definitely not an easy task.

The build that I'm going to share is all about using Seeping Wounds together with condition inflictions to give your enemy to have -10 pips degen ( degen 20hp per second). This might not be a new idea to you, but I just wanna point out that not all Assassin build is all about AoD+GPS + HotA.

I'm open for suggestions, maybe even build you find more effective. Free free to talk here but try not to flame anyone. We are here to discuss and share some knowledge about the game, so let's be friends.

I managed to get a few 10 consecutive wins from this build.

Name: Err… whatever.
Type: PVP
Category: Condition + Damage

The Skills

1. Seeping Wound [E]- The Elite of the Build. 5 energy to cast and has a 10 sec recharge time, which is awesome. Critical Strikes att at 13, for 18 sec, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeneration of -4.
2. Iron Palm – Combo with SW to Knockdown foe. The reason for this skill is to combo with Falling Spider to inflict poison.
3. Falling Spider – Strike the knock-down foe to inflict poison, at this stage the foe will have -4 from poison and -4 from Seeping wounds, total -8. Now, you can move on to Dual attack.
4. Twisting fangs- One of the most popular dual attacks. The reason for this skill is to inflict bleeding (-3) and deep wound on your foe. At this stage, your foe will have -10degen + deep wound on him/her.
5. Black Lotus Strike –Must strike a Hexed foe. When Critical strike att at 13, If it hits, Black Lotus Strike strikes for +28 damage and you gain 18 Energy. This is an Off-Hand Attack that does not need to follow a Lead Attack. Instead, the enemy must be hexed. i.e. Seeping Wound
6. Return- This move is very useful to escape when you start receiving huge dmg from warriors, although it does require an ally to stay out of range. Cripple effect makes it useful for you to kite and heal.
7. Shadow Refuge- Self explanatory
8. Resurrection Signet –Self explanatory

The Attributes:
13 Critical Strikes (11 +1 minor rune)
12 Daggers Mastery (9+1 mas +3 sup )
10 Shadow Arts ( 9+ 1 minor)
Rest in to Deadly arts.

Critical Strikes
At 13 pt, Seeping wound will reach its full potential which is -4 pip degen. Any higher critical strikes will only increase the hex duration which is not really necessary. Also, you will not have energy issue with the +3 energy for every successful critical strike.

Dagger Mastery
Maybe it doesn’t really need to be 12. The only thing that matters is the poison duration caused by Falling spider, 14 sec at 9 or 17sec at 12 is up to you. Lower the attribute point to 9 if just want to meet the daggers requirement.

Shadow Arts
Maximize the healing power of Shadow refuge.

Deadly arts
Not really a major issue here, the use of Iron palm is just to knockdown the foe to combo Falling spider to inflict poison condition.

The equipment

Weapon 1: Shreader’s Talon or Pre-order bonus dagger (Poisonous Dagger of Dagger Mastery)

Armor:
Up to you. Best with + Armor while attacking + energy armor
Of course, a sup vigor rune on them would be nice.

The Basics:
Choosing target:
Basically, those professions with AL60 will be your primary target. However, try not to rush too early even you have select your target. Make sure you understand what kinda build are they running, are they anti melee? Or hex degen etc. Work your way out of this, the best way is to sneak to their back and “/boo and slash” when they are preoccupied in attacking your allies. If they target you as well, good luck, try your best to give -10 degen to them and run away a.s.a.p.

Skill Chaining
Be mindful; make sure each of your attack is successful. Don’t blindly click on 1 to 5 without even looking whether or not your previous hit is successful. This is very important when you are facing Boon Prot’s Guardian, Mesmer’s Distortion or Ranger’s Lightning Reflexes. If you noticed they have those enchantments or stances on them, change your target or just attack normally and wait till the effect ward off.

Skill Sequence
Seeping wound + Iron Palm + Falling Spider + Twisting Fangs
In most cases, you will be running in low energy after you finish killing your first target. Now, your strats has to change to Seeping Wound + BLS + Twisting fang. Iron palm has relatively long recharge time. So, BLS is here to compensate that.

Kiting:
Yes, you heard me ~ Kiting. If you are aimed by warriors (esp with plague touch), this is very important. For obvious reason, you are not a tank so don’t fight a warrior when they are targeting you. Run like Forrest Gump and heal up with Shadow refuge. Alternatively, you can Return to your allies and kite. Get back in and skill chain 1-4 while they are attacking your allies.

Notes & Concerns:
There is not perfect build in GW, any build can be countered or counter-courtered or w/e. It is a fact that Assassin is very vulnerable; they can be easily shut down with various anti melee skills. For examples

Throw Dirt, is kinda popular these days due to the Touch “molester” Ranger.
Blinding flash – Air Ele: "What's the use of attacking when you cant see me? Come on, you can do better than this... *dodge* . aww.. you missed!"
Ineptitude – "haha… blind and die."
Spirit of Failure or Distortion- Mesmer: "Aww.. no skill chaining noob !"
Spiteful Spirit – Pinging "I have Spiteful Spirit on me."
Guardian – Monk said: "I messed your skill chain ! have fun waiting for the recharge "
PLAGUE TOUCH, W/N : "EAT YOUR OWN SHXT!!"
Yada yada yada……………

This is my very first guide, I'm open for suggestions, so try to not to flame anyone here.
give it a try in the arena.

edited: -10degen

Credit : Kakashi Mae

Zui · Jun 18, 2006, 06:56 AM // 06:56

Two things that really struck me...

No daggar mastery rune, no daggar mastery head gear. You're only running 12 in daggar mastery. I would highly reccomend 16, or at least 15...

Degen does not have any active effect past 10.

keathmae · Jun 18, 2006, 07:04 AM // 07:04

edited : 10degen

regarding the dagger mastery attribute point. as i already said, it is not the main attribute in this build. 3 out of the 5 attacks are critical strikes line.

I understand your suggestion,Thanks.
I tried 16 dagger b4, it can work either way.. but i just prefer the current allocation. maybe it is just me.

Shred Dread · Jun 20, 2006, 12:20 AM // 00:20

This build is not really anything too new, but nevertheless, I'm liking it. Health degen is always pretty useful, especially in PvP. The only thing is, I don't like having the whole build based on Iron Palm, which has a 20 second recharge. I am well aware of the fact that it allows you to use the undoubtedly awesome Falling Spider, but in the time it takes for Iron Palm to recharge, you could probably pull off a second combo with a different skill build. For example, you could use replace Iron Palm and Falling Spider with Jagged Strike. You could then use Twisting Fangs and then Black Lotus Strike, and finish it all off with Death Blossom. With this build, you would not get the long-lasting poisoning, nor the knockdown, but you would still get bleeding, and inflict respectable health degen on the enemy. This build is also much quicker to reuse and I believe may actually inflict more outright damage, because it uses two dual attacks.

Kyle · Jun 20, 2006, 12:57 AM // 00:57

there is benefit of more than -10 degen but the player only sees and feels the -10.

For example if you get -19 degen on a target and the monk uses a +9 healing breeze the degen is now -10 total. So anything more than 10 makes other healings less effective.

keathmae · Jun 20, 2006, 01:29 AM // 01:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shred Dread

I don't like having the whole build based on Iron Palm, which has a 20 second recharge. I am well aware of the fact that it allows you to use the undoubtedly awesome Falling Spider, but in the time it takes for Iron Palm to recharge, you could probably pull off a second combo with a different skill build.

i know... Iron palm does has a usage limitation. Sigh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shred Dread

replace Iron Palm and Falling Spider with Jagged Strike. You could then use Twisting Fangs and then Black Lotus Strike, and finish it all off with Death Blossom. This build is also much quicker to reuse and I believe may actually inflict more outright damage, because it uses two dual attacks.

Fair enough. But there's only 4 slot that are available (the rest are for Seeping wound, Shadow Refuge, Utility skill and rez), no extra slot for another dual attack unless substitute the utility slot with a dual attack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyle

there is benefit of more than -10 degen but the player only sees and feels the -10.

Hmm...i really hope it can have more than -10 degen.

. But if i changed to Jagged Strike + two dual attacks build, this wouldnt matter anymore, cuz the will not be any poison anymore ^^