Curse

Symir · May 21, 2006, 04:33 PM // 16:33

Now that Assassin's Promise is available to capture and use in PvE, I decided to try using it in a build. My first idea is to use it in a hex-heavy Assassin build so that it is less likely Assassin's Promise will be removed, and to try using some long recharge skills that would otherwise be pretty hard to use due to the long recharge times. Constructive critiques are welcomed, and if anyone else has any other ideas about how AP could be used, please post them.

Dagger Mastery: 15 (11+3+1)
Deadly Arts: 11 (10+1)
Critical Strikes: 11 (10+1)
Shadow Arts: 2 (1+1)

Assassin's Promise
Impale
Dark Prison
Black Lotus Strike
Twisting Fangs
Return
Shadow Refuge
Resurrection Signet

Use at least chest and legs Shrouded armor to give 30 Energy.

Basic idea is to find a squishy target in the backline, quickly do AP, Impale and Dark Prison (which shadow steps you to your target), then hit it with BLS and Twisting (which triggers Impale), then Return to your group to avoid taking any hits. Hopefully your Twisting Fangs killed the target, triggering AP and leaving only Return recharging. I thought about maybe using Recall instead of Return since it would avoid the recharge time problem with Return, but I just loathe maintained enchants and it means waiting for energy to recharge before beginning the attack combo. It might be better though, so if anyone wants to test it out please feel free.

Lambentviper · May 22, 2006, 12:30 AM // 00:30

im confused...twisting fangs is a dual attack, which follows off-hand attacks. And isnt Black Lotus Strike a lead attack? and im not sure how 2 attack skills would kill any squishy target by the time you return back, even if they never got healed from anything.

please explain

Symir · May 22, 2006, 04:01 AM // 04:01

Quote:

Black Lotus Strike
Off-hand Attack. Must strike a Hexed Foe. If it hits, Black Lotus Strike strikes for +10...+27 Damage and you gain 5...17 energy.

Note the bolded portion.

The idea is that the Black Lotus Strike + Twisting Fangs (with Impale) should do enough damage to kill a target (although I haven't actually calculated how much damage it does). I've thought about other combinations, such as using Mark of Instability instead of Impale and following up Twisting Fangs with Falling Spider and maybe even another dual attack after that in case the target still isn't dead. This, however, has the problem that MoI costs 10 as opposed to 5 for Impale, which leaves only 6 or 7 energy (including regen) for Black Lotus Strike, which costs 10. I've also considered Horns of the Ox -> Falling Spider -> Twisting, but Horns just doesn't work as often as I would like it to, since there are just so few occasions where there's an enemy NPC actually separate from all the others. It really sucks having two skills on your bar (Horns and Falling) that just aren't used very often, especially considering I'd probably have to drop Res Signet to fit them in.

If the enemy isn't dead after Twisting Fangs, I usually just stay put and hit them until they're dead, which generally isn't too long since they're low on health, deep wounded and bleeding.

I have played the build through a few missions, and overall it does pretty well. It's hard to tell if my damage alone is enough to kill a target as there is usually some AoE or minion damage adding to my own, but suffice to say that most of the time, targets died without too much trouble, and most of the time Assassin's Promise triggered as planned.

Any other feedback is appreciated.

Lambentviper · May 22, 2006, 04:14 PM // 16:14

oo sry about that, description was a little fuzzy in my head :P

ive been comiling high damage builds revovling around the use of a few dual attacks with some +dmg enchants...but thats a secret for now

Symir · May 22, 2006, 06:45 PM // 18:45

A variation on my first build: This one has much more potential damage output, at the cost of the res signet and shadow refuge. It is:

Assassin's Promise
Impale
Dark Prison
Black Lotus Strike
Horns of the Ox
Falling Spider
Twisting Fangs
Return

Obviously, the big change is the addition of Horns -> Falling, which should only be used on targets that aren't near any other enemies. I have yet to actually try this one out, so I hope it's as effective as some people seem to think it is.

X-Tract · May 22, 2006, 06:55 PM // 18:55

I maybe a n00b but what is assassin's promise? never heard of that skill.....

still u are going to the right direction.

Symir · May 22, 2006, 07:07 PM // 19:07

Assassin's Promise is an elite skill which only recently became available in PvE since it wasn't on any bosses until the latest update. Its description is as follows:

For 5...13 seconds, if target foe dies, you gain 5...17 Energy, and all your skills are recharged. (Attribute: Deadly Arts)

I really like this skill because it has the potential to allow you to begin your next combo immediately after you kill an enemy since you get all your skills recharged and an energy boost. The big downfalls that I'm trying to work around are the fact that if it's removed then you don't get the benefit, and if you don't kill the enemy before time runs out you don't get it either. The solutions are pretty simple in theory:

1) Cover the hex so it won't get removed
2) Kill the enemy quickly so AP doesn't run out

Of course, like anything else in this game, stuff that works in theory may not necessarily work in practice. However, I've had a reasonable amount of success (around 80-90% success rate) with the combo from my first build while playing with a group (meaning at least a little of the damage that took down the enemy came from allies).

lightblade · May 22, 2006, 10:03 PM // 22:03

Assassin's Promise is just such a great PvE skill, it works with just 2 or 3 point in Shadow Art. It's great for people with x/A.

Symir · May 24, 2006, 07:06 PM // 19:06

Yet another variation:

Mark of Instability
Dark Prison/Death's Charge (DP to prevent kiting, DC to save 5 energy)
Black Lotus Strike
Assassin's Promise
Twisting Fangs
Falling Spider
Death Blossom (or any other dual attack)
Return

Here's the reasoning behind this variation:
1) Horns of the Ox sucks if there's no enemies hanging out by themselves, since it basically wastes 2 skill slots (Horns and Falling)
2) Using MoI gets around the Horns problem, but it costs 10 energy, so get around that by putting Assassin's Promise after Black Lotus Strike
2b) Moving AP later in the combo also gets around the problem that sometimes AP would run out before the target was dead. Downside to this is there are no longer any cover hexes for AP, so make sure target dies quickly after casting. On harder-to-kill targets, you could wait to cast AP until after Falling Spider, just make sure they won't die before you get a chance to cast it.
3) Using AP in this way has the advantage that if you do happen to kill the target before you cast AP on it, all you have to do is go back to your group and wait until the target they are on is almost dead, then cast AP on it right before it dies. All your skills recharge, you get your energy boost, and off you go.

This build seems to be a little more flexible and easy to use. Comments? Anyone tried it out? Liked it? Hated it? Fiddled with it to get a better build?

Siren · May 29, 2006, 06:57 AM // 06:57

Having just capped A.Promise (and fell in love with it, no less!), I'll give you some feedback on the revised build.

Nice. It's almost exactly what I'm using now. Only two differences are the Death's Charge and Return slots. I've got Critical Eye and...Shadow Refuge there right now. But Shadow Refuge sucks, so I'm replacing it with something else, and though I think Critical Eye is uh...critical (no lame pun intended) in any Assassin build, I'm wondering if it can be dropped for a build centering on A.Promise.

My attributes are currently:

Dagger: 11 +1
Crit Strikes: 11+4
Deadly Arts: 7+1
Shadow Arts: 2

I get a lot of flack for running with that type of DM/CS set-up, but for a build such as this...Black Lotus and Twisting Fangs need to be pumped as high as they can go, since those are your mainstays of the build. You need BLS to pump out your energy, and Twisting Fangs to inflict as much damage as possible. At 12 DM, Falling Spider does just fine, provided your target is knocked down. At this point, I'd usually slip in A.Promise, and then unload Death Blossom.

Of course, that's if the target hasn't died after Falling Spider.

Generally, the spot when you use A.Promise is largely dependent on the target's health, and how fast you're going to finish them off.

Even if you don't make the killing, A.Promise still has...promise (gah, so many lame puns). If a skill needs a recharge, find a target your team is about to kill and use A.Promise on it. Free skill recharge. haha

Oh, and I've yet to get the last attribute point quest on my PvE Assassin, so I'm only running 185 attri points.

All in all, nice build. Though I'd probably consolidate Return and the Death's Charge slot into Siphon Speed, which would free up the 8th slot for Rez Sig.

jonny5v · May 30, 2006, 03:37 PM // 15:37

Yea I have posted this build of mine in may places. But I'll post it here once again.

A/Anything

Attributes
Dagger Master: 11 [7 + 1 (dagger mask) + 3 (superior dagger mastery rune)]
Critical Strike: 11 [10 + 1 (minor critical strike rune)]
Shadow Arts: 10 [9 + 1 (minor shadow arts rune)]
Deadly Arts: 11 [9 + 1 (minor deadly arts rune)]

Skills
1. Iron Palm
2. Falling Spider
3. Death Blossom
4. Assassin's Promise (Elite)
5. Black Lotus Strike
6. Twisting Fangs
7. Shadow Refuge
8. Ressurection Signet

The Use
You start through casting Assassin's Promise following it with Black Lotus Strike. By now you have a decent amount of energy and Twisting Fangs will open a deep wound and bleeding. After this, since the opponent is both hexed and conditioned, Iron Palm will knock him down followed by Falling Spider to drop poison and damage on him. Following this, you finish him with Death Blossom dropping the final bit of damage onto him and extra on the foes around him. By now he should have died and all your skills should have recharged. Its a good build to play with a party of damage henchies or a good party of humans, with decent damage.

NOTE:
This build will break down if Assassin's Promise is removed, interrupted, or runs out. The key to this build is Assassin's promise which will allow you to almost 6 chain combo you skills, with Shadow Refuge as a heal buff.