Hire or fire the assassin? - Guild Wars Forums

Everspud · Aug 15, 2007, 07:49 PM // 19:49

I???m about two seconds away from deleting my assassin.

I have searched far and wide for a strategy that will allow me to use my assassin without watching him end up face down in the dirt during the first ten seconds of a fight. So far I have met with little success. There is no way to use this class as a tank (as I painfully found out). And hit and run tactics only seem to work half of the time.

I???m even further discouraged when I see my hero assassin or henchman end up with the same fate.

Please, don???t get me wrong. I know the assassin class has its uses. But I just can???t seem to play the assassin as the kick butt ninja he should be. Also, even if I do manage to develop a kick butt ninja, what will be my chances in getting into a pick up group? Many of times I???ve seen good assassins get dropped from a group in favor of a warrior because; ???Hey, he???s just an assassin,???

To sum it up, I guess my question is; is it worth while to develop an assassin class character within the game at this point in time?

SotiCoto · Aug 15, 2007, 08:04 PM // 20:04

I drop warriors in favour of other assassins generally..... though only if they prove to be capable of typing in complete sentences (which usually denotes some level of intelligence).

In any case... Assassins can be tanks, though generally through avoidance and rapid self-heal than through simple damage reduction. An assassin with a good critical hit rate, Critical Defenses and Way of Perfection is generally well-suited to staying alive... and there are even builds for solo-killing the likes of Shiro.
Generally though, these are subsidiary to the assassin's ability to rapidly kill an enemy. The best defense with an assassin is a good offense. Kill the opponent before they can kill you, then get out of there and recover before jumping back in. If you happen to have competant healers on your team, enough to keep you up and working even in the midst of the battle (enough that you don't even have to jump out so often) then all the better.

My primary piece of advice is to practice more.
The Assassin class isn't something you can just pick up and play like the no-brainer Warrior class. It takes practice... With enough dilligence though, the Assassin can be better than the Warrior could ever hope to be (IMHO).

Alexandra-Sweet · Aug 15, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11

To keep it short:

Wiki.

Guru.

Wol Fenrook · Aug 15, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14

From talking to friends assasins are a hard character to play to begin with, often ending up face down in the dirt. However once they reach level 20 and get some good skills under their belts, they are pretty darn good! It's getting them to that point that is difficult.

As to an assasin in a PUG, well I hate PUGs anyway, but if I was building one I would have to agree with Soti, they would have to show some signs of intelligence. From my own observations many assasin characters appear to be immature teens who run around like mad things, as though they are on some kind of rush trip, shouting at everybody that the 'pwn'd' something or other and just generally annoying me.

Wol

Darkobra · Aug 15, 2007, 09:30 PM // 21:30

I'm making a Survivor Asassin, and yes, it's quite hard. Way of Perfection, as said before, is a beautiful skill. The assassin's main function is to rush in AFTER the warrior (so they take little aggro), do their combo and teleport back away to safety.

Here's a skill for you that may make things easier. Only if you have Nightfall though. And I haven't tested this out myself to know how good it is from experience. So I can't promise that this will work as well as others have described to me.

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Critical_Agility

I Might Avenge U · Aug 15, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05

Quote:

I'm making a Survivor Asassin

That'll make for a better party.. i believe dialouge would go something like this :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random Guy

"No You can't jion uor grp, u r nub assassssassin..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Assassin

"I'm not just any assassin, I'm a survivor assassin"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Random Guy

OMFG T3H LEETNESS, JION ORU GRPOU PLZ!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Assassin

nty.. ;D

Yeah.. It sounded a lot funnier in my head..

BoxOfFox12 · Aug 15, 2007, 10:57 PM // 22:57

...That is funny

Pae · Aug 16, 2007, 05:17 AM // 05:17

From what I usually see/experienced on my Assassin, quite a few PUG groups are reluctant to have an assassin in the group. I am too when you see some of the skillbars on the Assassin characters. A pretty easy way to get around needing to learn how to play a dagger Assassin efficiently (though it is a nice skill worth mastering) would be to go A/R as soon as you can and pick up some Ranger skills, a bow, and charm a pet (mainly for Tombs or an area that you're using a Minion Master in). One of the most common builds for this is Critical Barrager.

I avoid using the Assassin henchmen, since they do die a bit too easily. For heroes, you can always set them up as an A/R too. A general tip for heroes is to set all non-monks to Defend instead of Attack.

RPGmaniac · Aug 16, 2007, 06:17 AM // 06:17

Once you get a little further (if you haven't seen it already) you'll see [skill]Aura Of Displacement[/skill] that's perfect for hit and run assassin stuff. You can cap it outside House Zu Heltzer.

bart · Aug 16, 2007, 06:54 AM // 06:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pae

From what I usually see/experienced on my Assassin, quite a few PUG groups are reluctant to have an assassin in the group. I am too when you see some of the skillbars on the Assassin characters. A pretty easy way to get around needing to learn how to play a dagger Assassin efficiently (though it is a nice skill worth mastering) would be to go A/R as soon as you can and pick up some Ranger skills, a bow, and charm a pet (mainly for Tombs or an area that you're using a Minion Master in). One of the most common builds for this is Critical Barrager.

I avoid using the Assassin henchmen, since they do die a bit too easily. For heroes, you can always set them up as an A/R too. A general tip for heroes is to set all non-monks to Defend instead of Attack.

Critical Barrager is a pretty solid DPS-er. I made the switch months ago and never looked back. I would recommend this build.

Stormlord Alex · Aug 16, 2007, 07:31 AM // 07:31

It sounds like you're better off as a warrior. Or possibly a dervish, they both have much greater front line survivability.

Btw... Assassin =/= ninja. Lots of idiots go 'ZOMG n1nj4!!!!11!!one!' ... and die.
You were right in assuming the assassin is a hit and run fighter, 'cuz... well... it is.

And the Assassin hench/heroes suck because their skills suck, and the AI sucks at playing Assassin.

If you wanna stick with assassin though... Critical Agility + Critical Defenses lets an assassin take some hits.

Yanman.be · Aug 16, 2007, 07:57 AM // 07:57

I have no problems with my sin in PvE.

Njaiguni Blaze · Aug 16, 2007, 08:24 AM // 08:24

Just don't use an assassin as a meatshield like the Warrior is supposed to be in PvE (maybe not supposed, but mostly used). Get some teleporting or shadow stepping skills like Aura of Displacement, Death's Charge (buffed recently), Dark Prison (same) and make sure you go in, assassinate, and get out. Return is also a very good skill to get out of battle. If you want to make it a survivor I suggest doing all the training missions and using the [x] in the top of the screen to close when you're almost dead, because Alt+F4 is slower.

tmakinen · Aug 16, 2007, 08:50 AM // 08:50

As others have pointed out, it's a question of mentality. Assassin is not a tank, and trying to play pretend one will only provide the title 'Connoisseur of Dirt' (for the feat of repeated and prolonged observation of the said substance at close distance

). Play a sin like it was an ele or a mesmer: let others take the aggro, observe the situation from a safe distance until you've found the proper target, then pound on it with ruthless determination. And immediately after that haul your rear end out of the heat to avoid it getting spanked. Assassins don't possess superior mobility for no reason! The puny DPS from daggers doesn't warrant prolonged lingering in the danger zone - like with caster classes, your skills are your main weapon.

I actually started a PvE sin just a day ago, and she's now lv15, hopping happily around Istan and still on the survivor track without even trying too hard (I'm still not sure whether I'll want to go all the way to legendary since that's so much hassle especially if you can't do Vizunah these days). Everything henched, completely on her own. The issue is, all the tactics that work for survivors of other professions work equally well with a sin. If you have attained LS with some easy profession like ranger or paragoon then you already know what to do - just be even a bit more careful and everything should go smoothly.

VonGimli · Aug 16, 2007, 09:30 AM // 09:30

I have made an assassin survive. I am an A/W, and since they attack so fast I use Watch Yourself, since I gain so much adrenaline so fast, so its basically constantly up. That and I beleive its Flashing Blades, where I get a 50% block chance. I also have return, which teleports me out and cripples everyone near me. I found it very useful, I jump in, cast defensive skills, and deal a hella lot of damage to one target (I use Critical eye as well).

the_jos · Aug 16, 2007, 10:45 AM // 10:45

Well,

I deleted my assassin some time ago for a pvp slot.
It's a highly specialized character but they are able to do an awesome job when played.
My main reason is that I was not playing assassin enough and prefer mesmer as the specialist character.
Also, a frontline character makes handling heroes and hench somewhat more difficult.

The best way to play assassin (and mesmer) is having someone tank the enemies, step in, kill /disable critical enemy and get out fast.
The way most pugs play, they focus on that critical enemy anyway. So the assassin has much less value there.

DeviantTeknique · Aug 16, 2007, 11:12 AM // 11:12

I made a sin to farm greens and solo tombs and came up with what i consider a pretty solid theory on building a PvE sin. The main difference between the sin and warrior is that the weapon alone really does nothing, rarely should you be attacking without a skill in use in PvE, since a lot of the attacks are conditional your choice in attacks is limited if you're in line with the way i play it, just gotta try and get past all those flashy skills.

gear is important, max armor (of course), I like +life/+energy/+AL while attacking. I use +AL. Your daggers are vital, zealous is great with sins. I use zealous 15>50, and carry vamp and elemental daggers to use once in awhile. Put the mask in whatever will help you most (I use crit strike for energy gain), don't use any superiors, and avoid majors unless really needed to reach a break point.

I've fully henched nightfall and factions and am to the Northern Shivers in prophecies (without a run being that I needed to get to Tombs), since you're at wits end with your sin i'll put up some of the better choices of skill bars i've found (mix and match)

[card]Jagged Strike[/card][card]Wild Strike[/card][card]Repeating Strike[/card][card]Critical Strike[/card]
This is a good attack combo, jagged is always useable when you need it, wild strike does decent damage, is easily repeatable if it does miss, and sets up repeating strike very well. Repeating is the god of assassin damage and will often be the end of the combo and critical strike is a good cap if you need energy, repeating is unavailable or you need to refresh with a crit.

[card]Fox Fangs[/card] a good replacement for wild strike if wild isn't reliable enough, but beware it's longer recharge
[card]Death Blossom[/card] makes a good replacement for Critical Strike if the energy and critical aren't needed and you'd like more damage.
[card]Impale[/card] is what you'll want in place of repeating if your going from start to finish with a combo over and over again, but only really worth it if you want some of the few other PvE useful deadly arts skills (more on that later)

Now your left with 3 slots+a res, one being an elite, heres some choices.

Critical Agility(Code doesn't recognize)[card]Critical Defenses[/card][card]Critical Eye[/card]

These 3 all work well together for damage and defense and with some of the elite skills listed later can make a very balanced build. You don't even need to spec outside dagger mastery and crit strikes. Pick 2 out of the 3 and use an elite as needed. You can switch these out if you need to fulfill a different role there are a TON of other choices listed at the end.

There are a few great choices for elites, go with what you have/want in order of my preference:
[card]Way of the Assassin[/card] works great with critical agility or Critical defenses
If you want pure defense [card]Flashing Blades[/card]
More damage [card]Locust's Fury[/card]
[card]Seeping Wound[/card] adds great degen with jagged strike
[card]Assassin's promise[/card] keeps your skills recharged and is a huge battery
[card]Siphon Strength[/card] gives damage and defense in one skill

Now throw in a res and you got good DPS and survivability.
if you need more of anything depending on your mission, party, boredness here is a huge list of everything I could think of, some hidden gems in here. (like a hero/party member with mark of rogdort+your firey daggers/conjure flame)

[card]Dash[/card][card]Recall[/card][card]Shadow Walk[/card][card]Death's Charge[/card][card]Death's Retreat[/card][card]Return[/card][card]Shadow of Haste[/card][card]Dark Escape[/card][card]Return[/card]
All these add mobility and survivability to your build and can be used with small or no investment outside of Crit and Dagger. (some require minimal investment in shadow arts)

Shadow Sanctuary(Code doesn't recognize)
[card]Feigned Neutrality[/card][card]Shadow Refuge[/card][card]Shroud of Distress[/card][card]Way of the lotus[/card][card]Way of Perfection[/card][card]signet of malice[/card]
These give you self healing or defense if you can spare the attb or have high enough faction.

[card]Expose Defenses[/card][card]Way of the Fox[/card][card]Disrupting Dagger[/card][card]Augury of Death[/card][card]Shadowy Burden[/card][card]Mark of Instability[/card][card]Signet of Twilight[/card]
These all add ways to increase your offense, very situational.

[card]Conjure Lightning[/card][card]Conjure Frost[/card][card]Conjure Flame[/card][card]Plague Touch[/card][card]Shock[/card][card]hex breaker[/card][card]Mantra of Earth[/card][card]Mantra of Frost[/card][card]Mantra of Flame[/card][card]Mantra of Lightning[/card][card]Physical Resistance[/card][card]Apply Poison[/card][card]Wailing Weapon[/card][card]Warmonger's Weapon[/card][card]Splinter Weapon[/card][card]Remedy Signet[/card][card]Natural healing[/card][card]Rending Touch[/card][card]Mending Touch[/card][card]Wild Blow[/card][card]Frenzied Defense[/card]
"Save Yourselves!"(Code doesn't recognize)

these are the better choices from secondary professions, theres one other set but I figured since it is so fun and I use it regularly. i'd go into detail on it. I used a variation of this for prophecies.

A/R
Dagger: 10
Crit: 10
Beast: 11

Jagged
Wild
Repeating Strike
Critical Strike
Never Rampage Alone (ranger sunspear skill)
Heal as One
Charm Animal
Sunspear Signet

get a pet (dire works best) and run around tag teaming, good damage and lots of healing (+1-3 regen on NRA, and +113 for each HaO. Takes a lot of finesse with energy, definitely need attunement runes and energy armor, also consider a weapon switch for casting Never Rampage Alone. Might be more trouble than it's worth

and if you think i'm an idiot sin and everything above is garbage than I'm ok with that, i'm a monk. This is just how I won with my sin

Aug 15, 2007, 07:49 PM // 19:49	#1
Everspud Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Aug 2007 Profession: R/E	Hire or fire the assassin? I???m about two seconds away from deleting my assassin. I have searched far and wide for a strategy that will allow me to use my assassin without watching him end up face down in the dirt during the first ten seconds of a fight. So far I have met with little success. There is no way to use this class as a tank (as I painfully found out). And hit and run tactics only seem to work half of the time. I???m even further discouraged when I see my hero assassin or henchman end up with the same fate. Please, don???t get me wrong. I know the assassin class has its uses. But I just can???t seem to play the assassin as the kick butt ninja he should be. Also, even if I do manage to develop a kick butt ninja, what will be my chances in getting into a pick up group? Many of times I???ve seen good assassins get dropped from a group in favor of a warrior because; ???Hey, he???s just an assassin,??? To sum it up, I guess my question is; is it worth while to develop an assassin class character within the game at this point in time?

Aug 16, 2007, 11:12 AM // 11:12	#17
DeviantTeknique Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: Archons Ascendant Profession: Mo/	I made a sin to farm greens and solo tombs and came up with what i consider a pretty solid theory on building a PvE sin. The main difference between the sin and warrior is that the weapon alone really does nothing, rarely should you be attacking without a skill in use in PvE, since a lot of the attacks are conditional your choice in attacks is limited if you're in line with the way i play it, just gotta try and get past all those flashy skills. gear is important, max armor (of course), I like +life/+energy/+AL while attacking. I use +AL. Your daggers are vital, zealous is great with sins. I use zealous 15>50, and carry vamp and elemental daggers to use once in awhile. Put the mask in whatever will help you most (I use crit strike for energy gain), don't use any superiors, and avoid majors unless really needed to reach a break point. I've fully henched nightfall and factions and am to the Northern Shivers in prophecies (without a run being that I needed to get to Tombs), since you're at wits end with your sin i'll put up some of the better choices of skill bars i've found (mix and match) [card]Jagged Strike[/card][card]Wild Strike[/card][card]Repeating Strike[/card][card]Critical Strike[/card] This is a good attack combo, jagged is always useable when you need it, wild strike does decent damage, is easily repeatable if it does miss, and sets up repeating strike very well. Repeating is the god of assassin damage and will often be the end of the combo and critical strike is a good cap if you need energy, repeating is unavailable or you need to refresh with a crit. [card]Fox Fangs[/card] a good replacement for wild strike if wild isn't reliable enough, but beware it's longer recharge [card]Death Blossom[/card] makes a good replacement for Critical Strike if the energy and critical aren't needed and you'd like more damage. [card]Impale[/card] is what you'll want in place of repeating if your going from start to finish with a combo over and over again, but only really worth it if you want some of the few other PvE useful deadly arts skills (more on that later) Now your left with 3 slots+a res, one being an elite, heres some choices. Critical Agility(Code doesn't recognize)[card]Critical Defenses[/card][card]Critical Eye[/card] These 3 all work well together for damage and defense and with some of the elite skills listed later can make a very balanced build. You don't even need to spec outside dagger mastery and crit strikes. Pick 2 out of the 3 and use an elite as needed. You can switch these out if you need to fulfill a different role there are a TON of other choices listed at the end. There are a few great choices for elites, go with what you have/want in order of my preference: [card]Way of the Assassin[/card] works great with critical agility or Critical defenses If you want pure defense [card]Flashing Blades[/card] More damage [card]Locust's Fury[/card] [card]Seeping Wound[/card] adds great degen with jagged strike [card]Assassin's promise[/card] keeps your skills recharged and is a huge battery [card]Siphon Strength[/card] gives damage and defense in one skill Now throw in a res and you got good DPS and survivability. if you need more of anything depending on your mission, party, boredness here is a huge list of everything I could think of, some hidden gems in here. (like a hero/party member with mark of rogdort+your firey daggers/conjure flame) [card]Dash[/card][card]Recall[/card][card]Shadow Walk[/card][card]Death's Charge[/card][card]Death's Retreat[/card][card]Return[/card][card]Shadow of Haste[/card][card]Dark Escape[/card][card]Return[/card] All these add mobility and survivability to your build and can be used with small or no investment outside of Crit and Dagger. (some require minimal investment in shadow arts) Shadow Sanctuary(Code doesn't recognize) [card]Feigned Neutrality[/card][card]Shadow Refuge[/card][card]Shroud of Distress[/card][card]Way of the lotus[/card][card]Way of Perfection[/card][card]signet of malice[/card] These give you self healing or defense if you can spare the attb or have high enough faction. [card]Expose Defenses[/card][card]Way of the Fox[/card][card]Disrupting Dagger[/card][card]Augury of Death[/card][card]Shadowy Burden[/card][card]Mark of Instability[/card][card]Signet of Twilight[/card] These all add ways to increase your offense, very situational. [card]Conjure Lightning[/card][card]Conjure Frost[/card][card]Conjure Flame[/card][card]Plague Touch[/card][card]Shock[/card][card]hex breaker[/card][card]Mantra of Earth[/card][card]Mantra of Frost[/card][card]Mantra of Flame[/card][card]Mantra of Lightning[/card][card]Physical Resistance[/card][card]Apply Poison[/card][card]Wailing Weapon[/card][card]Warmonger's Weapon[/card][card]Splinter Weapon[/card][card]Remedy Signet[/card][card]Natural healing[/card][card]Rending Touch[/card][card]Mending Touch[/card][card]Wild Blow[/card][card]Frenzied Defense[/card] "Save Yourselves!"(Code doesn't recognize) these are the better choices from secondary professions, theres one other set but I figured since it is so fun and I use it regularly. i'd go into detail on it. I used a variation of this for prophecies. A/R Dagger: 10 Crit: 10 Beast: 11 Jagged Wild Repeating Strike Critical Strike Never Rampage Alone (ranger sunspear skill) Heal as One Charm Animal Sunspear Signet get a pet (dire works best) and run around tag teaming, good damage and lots of healing (+1-3 regen on NRA, and +113 for each HaO. Takes a lot of finesse with energy, definitely need attunement runes and energy armor, also consider a weapon switch for casting Never Rampage Alone. Might be more trouble than it's worth and if you think i'm an idiot sin and everything above is garbage than I'm ok with that, i'm a monk. This is just how I won with my sin Last edited by DeviantTeknique; Aug 16, 2007 at 11:17 AM // 11:17..

Aug 15, 2007, 08:04 PM // 20:04	#2
SotiCoto Banned Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Drazach Thicket Guild: Temple of Zhen Xianren [Sifu]	I drop warriors in favour of other assassins generally..... though only if they prove to be capable of typing in complete sentences (which usually denotes some level of intelligence). In any case... Assassins can be tanks, though generally through avoidance and rapid self-heal than through simple damage reduction. An assassin with a good critical hit rate, Critical Defenses and Way of Perfection is generally well-suited to staying alive... and there are even builds for solo-killing the likes of Shiro. Generally though, these are subsidiary to the assassin's ability to rapidly kill an enemy. The best defense with an assassin is a good offense. Kill the opponent before they can kill you, then get out of there and recover before jumping back in. If you happen to have competant healers on your team, enough to keep you up and working even in the midst of the battle (enough that you don't even have to jump out so often) then all the better. My primary piece of advice is to practice more. The Assassin class isn't something you can just pick up and play like the no-brainer Warrior class. It takes practice... With enough dilligence though, the Assassin can be better than the Warrior could ever hope to be (IMHO).

Aug 15, 2007, 08:11 PM // 20:11	#3
Alexandra-Sweet Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: That one place with the trees, mountains and snow Guild: Ember Power Mercenaries [EMP] Profession: Me/	To keep it short: Wiki. Guru.

Aug 15, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14	#4
Wol Fenrook Academy Page Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: UK Guild: The Dim Circle Ring [DCR] Profession: E/	From talking to friends assasins are a hard character to play to begin with, often ending up face down in the dirt. However once they reach level 20 and get some good skills under their belts, they are pretty darn good! It's getting them to that point that is difficult. As to an assasin in a PUG, well I hate PUGs anyway, but if I was building one I would have to agree with Soti, they would have to show some signs of intelligence. From my own observations many assasin characters appear to be immature teens who run around like mad things, as though they are on some kind of rush trip, shouting at everybody that the 'pwn'd' something or other and just generally annoying me. Wol

Aug 15, 2007, 09:30 PM // 21:30	#5
Darkobra Forge Runner Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Scotland Guild: Type like an idiot, I'll treat you like an idiot Profession: E/Me	I'm making a Survivor Asassin, and yes, it's quite hard. Way of Perfection, as said before, is a beautiful skill. The assassin's main function is to rush in AFTER the warrior (so they take little aggro), do their combo and teleport back away to safety. Here's a skill for you that may make things easier. Only if you have Nightfall though. And I haven't tested this out myself to know how good it is from experience. So I can't promise that this will work as well as others have described to me. http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Critical_Agility

Aug 15, 2007, 10:57 PM // 22:57	#7
BoxOfFox12 Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Aug 2007 Guild: (none)	...That is funny

Aug 16, 2007, 05:17 AM // 05:17	#8
Pae Krytan Explorer Join Date: Jul 2005	From what I usually see/experienced on my Assassin, quite a few PUG groups are reluctant to have an assassin in the group. I am too when you see some of the skillbars on the Assassin characters. A pretty easy way to get around needing to learn how to play a dagger Assassin efficiently (though it is a nice skill worth mastering) would be to go A/R as soon as you can and pick up some Ranger skills, a bow, and charm a pet (mainly for Tombs or an area that you're using a Minion Master in). One of the most common builds for this is Critical Barrager. I avoid using the Assassin henchmen, since they do die a bit too easily. For heroes, you can always set them up as an A/R too. A general tip for heroes is to set all non-monks to Defend instead of Attack.

Aug 16, 2007, 06:17 AM // 06:17	#9
RPGmaniac Desert Nomad Join Date: Aug 2005	Once you get a little further (if you haven't seen it already) you'll see [skill]Aura Of Displacement[/skill] that's perfect for hit and run assassin stuff. You can cap it outside House Zu Heltzer.

Aug 16, 2007, 07:31 AM // 07:31	#11
Stormlord Alex Grotto Attendant Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Beyond the Forest of Doom, past the Cavern of Agony... on Kitten & Puppy Island Guild: Soul of Melandru [sOm] Profession: W/E	It sounds like you're better off as a warrior. Or possibly a dervish, they both have much greater front line survivability. Btw... Assassin =/= ninja. Lots of idiots go 'ZOMG n1nj4!!!!11!!one!' ... and die. You were right in assuming the assassin is a hit and run fighter, 'cuz... well... it is. And the Assassin hench/heroes suck because their skills suck, and the AI sucks at playing Assassin. If you wanna stick with assassin though... Critical Agility + Critical Defenses lets an assassin take some hits.

Aug 16, 2007, 07:57 AM // 07:57	#12
Yanman.be Banned Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Belgium Guild: [ROSE] Profession: A/	I have no problems with my sin in PvE.

Aug 16, 2007, 08:24 AM // 08:24	#13
Njaiguni Blaze Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: May 2006 Location: The Netherlands Guild: The Biggyverse [PLEB] Profession: Me/	Just don't use an assassin as a meatshield like the Warrior is supposed to be in PvE (maybe not supposed, but mostly used). Get some teleporting or shadow stepping skills like Aura of Displacement, Death's Charge (buffed recently), Dark Prison (same) and make sure you go in, assassinate, and get out. Return is also a very good skill to get out of battle. If you want to make it a survivor I suggest doing all the training missions and using the [x] in the top of the screen to close when you're almost dead, because Alt+F4 is slower.

Aug 16, 2007, 08:50 AM // 08:50	#14
tmakinen Desert Nomad Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: www.mybearfriend.net Guild: Servants of Fortuna [SoF] Profession: E/	As others have pointed out, it's a question of mentality. Assassin is not a tank, and trying to play pretend one will only provide the title 'Connoisseur of Dirt' (for the feat of repeated and prolonged observation of the said substance at close distance ). Play a sin like it was an ele or a mesmer: let others take the aggro, observe the situation from a safe distance until you've found the proper target, then pound on it with ruthless determination. And immediately after that haul your rear end out of the heat to avoid it getting spanked. Assassins don't possess superior mobility for no reason! The puny DPS from daggers doesn't warrant prolonged lingering in the danger zone - like with caster classes, your skills are your main weapon. I actually started a PvE sin just a day ago, and she's now lv15, hopping happily around Istan and still on the survivor track without even trying too hard (I'm still not sure whether I'll want to go all the way to legendary since that's so much hassle especially if you can't do Vizunah these days). Everything henched, completely on her own. The issue is, all the tactics that work for survivors of other professions work equally well with a sin. If you have attained LS with some easy profession like ranger or paragoon then you already know what to do - just be even a bit more careful and everything should go smoothly.

Aug 16, 2007, 09:30 AM // 09:30	#15
VonGimli Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Feb 2005 Guild: The Von Brotherhood Profession: W/Mo	I have made an assassin survive. I am an A/W, and since they attack so fast I use Watch Yourself, since I gain so much adrenaline so fast, so its basically constantly up. That and I beleive its Flashing Blades, where I get a 50% block chance. I also have return, which teleports me out and cripples everyone near me. I found it very useful, I jump in, cast defensive skills, and deal a hella lot of damage to one target (I use Critical eye as well).

Aug 16, 2007, 10:45 AM // 10:45	#16
the_jos Forge Runner Join Date: Jun 2006 Guild: Hard Mode Legion [HML] Profession: N/	Well, I deleted my assassin some time ago for a pvp slot. It's a highly specialized character but they are able to do an awesome job when played. My main reason is that I was not playing assassin enough and prefer mesmer as the specialist character. Also, a frontline character makes handling heroes and hench somewhat more difficult. The best way to play assassin (and mesmer) is having someone tank the enemies, step in, kill /disable critical enemy and get out fast. The way most pugs play, they focus on that critical enemy anyway. So the assassin has much less value there.