Curse

essce · Jul 11, 2010, 01:53 AM // 01:53

Playing through pve was a difficult task for me using an assassin, and I know it wasn't a great idea to START guild wars with an assassin but it's too late now. I have finished the Factions campaign which took a very long time.

[Golden Phoenix Strike][Critical Strike][Moebius Strike][Death Blossom][Shadow Refuge][Critical Defenses][Critical Agility][Critical Eye] was what I ended up with. And now I am trying to run through Nightfall with this build which isn't being very effective. I wouldn't last a minute without H/H.

The purpose of my assassin now is to try and earn some money which I also seem to lack. Farming is a big issue for me. Soloing is an impossible task without SF for me as I can only last longer in the Shing Jea area. I spent hours on PVX, discussions on individual skills on wiki, and youtube but I can't find a build that works for me.

I have to mention I only have the Factions and Nightfall campaigns. May any of you give me some insight on farming with this assassin in factions or nightfall.
BTW I tried UW but I got demolished before I could even land my chain. < after I put on my enchants.

Masmar · Jul 11, 2010, 02:16 AM // 02:16

You need an offhand attack, that you have to use between GPS and crit strike/Death Blossom

Cuilan · Jul 11, 2010, 02:16 AM // 02:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by essce

Soloing is an impossible task without SF for me as I can only last longer in the Shing Jea area.

Guild Wars isn't a solo game outside of certain types of farming (items, chests, etc.)

vampirepiggy · Jul 11, 2010, 02:24 AM // 02:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Masmar

You need an offhand attack, that you have to use between GPS and crit strike/Death Blossom

no he doesn't golden phoenix strike is an offhand attack which needs an enchantment on the caster in order to hit.

awry · Jul 11, 2010, 02:49 AM // 02:49

solution=jagged, fox. you have to rely on that high cooldown lead, gps=slow dmg. switch.

Dont Nerf The Perma · Jul 11, 2010, 03:19 AM // 03:19

http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:A/D_...cythe_Assassin Load this build. Win PvE.

If you want to continue using the build you're using I'd suggest replacing shadow refuge with Asuran Scan or Way of Perfection.

Stealth Bomberman · Jul 11, 2010, 04:44 AM // 04:44

whats ur gear setup? 70al armor? sup vigor? other runes insignias? playin sin for me was probably the easiest way to go survivability wise. hero setup? do u use monks? alot can be changed to make u feel comfortable in ur party. enemies dont target sins neway unless u overextend.

N I T E Stalker · Jul 11, 2010, 10:06 AM // 10:06

Try different builds such as Critical Scyther-recommended (crit scytehr ftw! :P )

Masmar · Jul 11, 2010, 10:32 AM // 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by vampirepiggy

no he doesn't golden phoenix strike is an offhand attack which needs an enchantment on the caster in order to hit.

Oops, haha thinking of the wrong skill.

But yeah, Jagged strike+Fox Fangs+Death Blossom blows up pve

essce · Jul 11, 2010, 01:36 PM // 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealth Bomberman

whats ur gear setup? 70al armor? sup vigor? other runes insignias? playin sin for me was probably the easiest way to go survivability wise. hero setup? do u use monks?

Hey Bomberman, I have max armour yup, and attached with a lot of Radiant Insignias. Though I must say, I tend to use Monk, MM, and Warrior for my heroes. I put those together while shaping up for The Eternal Grove and used them ever since.

Thanks so much for all your insight guys (:
I will experiment with all.
Thanks Upier

You have loads of info I can't wait to experiment with

Markaedw · Jul 11, 2010, 03:48 PM // 15:48

I fiund a good skill chain is:
1. Golden Lotus
2. Fox Fangs
3. Death Blossum
4. Palm Strike
I go double major in Dagger and Critical with dagger as my helmet, I have Critical Agility and Blessed insignias giving me high armor, I cast Critical Agility the 1,2,3,4,3,4 then repeat until it's dead.

essce · Jul 11, 2010, 04:56 PM // 16:56

[Assassin's Promise][Glyph of Elemental Power][Sliver Armor][Churning Earth][Aftershock][Death's Charge][Shroud of Distress][Feigned Neutrality]

After editing a bit the original "Solo Green Farm A/E" build, I ended up with this build for farming feathers. I don't know if this build is helpful in other areas though.

After Casting SoD and Glyph, I aggro and activate Sliver, Churning and Aftershock and Feigned Neutrality to be safe.

Is this effective at all without having a dagger build ?

Stealth Bomberman · Jul 19, 2010, 01:28 AM // 01:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by essce

Hey Bomberman, I have max armour yup, and attached with a lot of Radiant Insignias. Though I must say, I tend to use Monk, MM, and Warrior for my heroes. I put those together while shaping up for The Eternal Grove and used them ever since.

Thanks so much for all your insight guys (:
I will experiment with all.
Thanks Upier

You have loads of info I can't wait to experiment with

throw radiants away. go all survivor. the extra energy from rads is useless when u have crits. health is more important. dont worry bout armor. if ur using crit agility ull have enough to work with.

Voodoo Rage · Jul 19, 2010, 05:03 PM // 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by essce

I wouldn't last a minute without H/H.

That's the whole point. You are SUPPOSED to have a party.

Vecte · Jul 20, 2010, 02:58 AM // 02:58

I've been playing Guild Wars since the original Beta, and I can honestly say, the Assassion is by far the easiest for me to solo ANY of the campaigns with. Now, when I say solo, I mean with heroes/henchies. The Assassin has by far one of the nastiest AOE attack combos in the game, Death Blossom > Moebius Strike. The best thing about this combo, is the ability to keep using it, over and over.

When you are PvEing with heroes/henchies, you are going to want to use this combo as often as possible. For a Lead and Off-Hand, you are going to want ones with the lowest energy cost, and the smallest cooldown. Jagged Strike costs 5 energy, has a 1/2 cast, a 1 second cooldown, and causes bleeding. It is honestly, the perfect lead attack, and there should be no excuse not to use it. For Off-hand, you have two choices, Fox Fangs or Wild Strike. Wild Strike has it's uses, but they are much more situational. If you know the enemies you are going to be running into use stances that can put a hamper on your progress, use Wild Strike(one example is Shiro). If not, go with Fox Fangs, as it again, has a 1/2 cast, and a 3 second cooldown, two things Wild Strike does not have.

With the Jagged Strike > Fox Fangs, you have a very fast advance to Death Blossom > Moebius Strike, a DOT, a respectable +damage hit, and very fast cooldowns to start your Death Blossom > Moebius Strike over, if need be. With that out of the way, you have four other spots for skills. I'll list what I use, and give further explanation as to why.

A/W:

12+1+1 Dagger Mastery
12+1 Critical Strikes

Jagged Strike
Fox Fangs / Wild Strike(very rarely, like I said, specific situations)
Death Blossom
Moebius Strike
Distracting Blow
Critical Eye
Critical Agility
Sunspear Rebirth Signet

I've already explained my first four skill choices, so now I'll explain the others. I chose Distracting Blow for a couple of reasons. For one, it's an unconditional interrupt, with a small cooldown. The second bonus to Distracting blow is it has an AOE effect. The AOE part isn't controlled like the initial hit, but it's still very nice. Now, despite Distracting blow not causing any damage, it still can crit, which means you will get your energy back from Critical Strikes.

Critical Agility should be self explanatory. A huge DPS increase, as well as a great defensive increase. With Nightstalkers Insignia, and max Sunspear Rank, you will have around 110 armor when attacking. You can use Critical Defenses in place of Critical Agility, if you choose to. Critical Defenses is excellent for defenses, but it's HIGHLY dependent on you critting, as well as how fast you can move between mobs. You will be Critting a lot, but without a guaranteed critical(Critical Strike), you do have a small chance of losing the buff prematurely, and you have an incredibly large chance of losing the buff between mobs. I just find Critical Agility has more uses.

Critical Eye, again should be self explanatory. Not only is it a great increase to your DPS, it also helps keep your energy pool up. With 14 Dagger Mastery, 13 Critical Strikes, and Critical Eye up, you have roughly a 60% chance to perform a Critical Strike, and you gain +4 energy every crit, +5 if you are using Zealous Daggers, which you should be.

As far as gear goes, insignia wise, I prefer Nightstalkers. You are pretty much always going to be attacking as an Assassin, and extra armor does a LOT more than extra Health does. A full set of Survivors insignias will only mitigate a small portion of a single hit, while +15 armor all around will mitigate a small portion of EVERY hit. As far as runes, Dagger Mastery, Critical Strikes, and Superior Vigor should be standard. For the last two spots, I prefer Restoration and Clarity, but this is personal preference. For weapon, Zealous Daggers with your choice of handle.

jimbo32 · Jul 21, 2010, 03:59 AM // 03:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealth Bomberman

throw radiants away. go all survivor. the extra energy from rads is useless when u have crits. health is more important. dont worry bout armor. if ur using crit agility ull have enough to work with.

Survivor are easily the most overrated insignia in the game. The extra 40 health (assuming Survivor on all armor pieces) is gone soon after closing on a mob, and then you get zero benefit from them. As upier said, Blessed or Nightstalker's is the way to go for an Assassin. The benefits are more substantial than Survivors imo.

For my Assassin (in general PvE), I use a build similar to the one Vecte posted.
Chaining the following:
Golden Fox Strike -> Fox Fangs -> Death Blossom -> Moebius Strike
and then alternating between Death Blossom and Moebius Strike for some nice PBAoE.

And since you should be enchanted all the time, the Golden Fox Strike and Fox Fangs combo is nice for blowing through blocking (Kournan Bowmen etc).

Fill your bar up with Critical Agility, Critical Eye, and whatever else strikes your fancy. Assassin's Remedy, Critical Defenses, Death's Charge, Way of Perfection, or a res are all decent options. Without EotN, you're pretty limited as far as PvE skills go I guess. Maybe go A/W and take "Save Yourselves".

As someone already said, a hero with "Strength of Honor" is pretty much a must. SoS Rit's have better energy management and are probably more useful, but a monk/ele/necro with 12 in Smiting (or 14 for monks) would be fine until you get Razah. Most of the hero builds on PvX with "Support" in their titles will usually have a smiting option with SoH included.

Haggis of Doom · Jul 21, 2010, 04:39 PM // 16:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo32

Survivor are easily the most overrated insignia in the game. The extra 40 health (assuming Survivor on all armor pieces) is gone soon after closing on a mob, and then you get zero benefit from them. As upier said, Blessed or Nightstalker's is the way to go for an Assassin. The benefits are more substantial than Survivors imo.

Suggesting Survivor to a new player is very reasonable. Three reasons:

- New players will spend quite some time with only 1 set of armor;
- New players will die more often;
- New players will not be able to afford a Superior Vigor.

In the face of high DP, 40 health will prevent the player being insta-spiked by even non-spiky attacks. Sure, getting PS'ed is the end-all solution, but a new player will likely 1. not have the appropriate Hero bar for it 2. forget to do it 3. forget to cover it when facing Shatter.

alvorton · Aug 03, 2010, 09:43 PM // 21:43

A quick feather farm here:
Naphui Quarter factions, run the mission solo using this build:
http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:A/Mo..._Blades_Farmer
Buff up Live Vicariously as soon as you enter, go through the top right portal up the stairs.
Use skills 5,6 & 7 and attack the first bunch.
Carry on along, do not maintain infinitely, just apply 5,6 & 7 before attacking a group.
Its about a 10-20 minute farm and i can usually get 45 feathers.

NOTE - Stop and rezone once you reach the first celestial boss (The Turtle). This guy uses a massive enchantment removal (Gaze of Contempt) that will completely screw up your build.

NOTE #2 - The archer foes will use lightning reflexes which will block most attacks. DO NOT get frustrated, maintain 5,6 & 7 until lightning reflexes runs out. Try to get fox fangs in for energy management as it is unblockable.

NOTE #3 - For the optional skill I personally take Death's Charge. It is good for a quick 100hp heal if your getting low on health or a quick dash if your crippled so you can take out the Star Light's.

Tenebrae · Aug 04, 2010, 10:21 AM // 10:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haggis of Doom

Suggesting Survivor to a new player is very reasonable. Three reasons:

- New players will spend quite some time with only 1 set of armor;
- New players will die more often;
- New players will not be able to afford a Superior Vigor.

In the face of high DP, 40 health will prevent the player being insta-spiked by even non-spiky attacks. Sure, getting PS'ed is the end-all solution, but a new player will likely 1. not have the appropriate Hero bar for it 2. forget to do it 3. forget to cover it when facing Shatter.

Discussed a bloody hell lot of times. And about your reasons , new players wont be always newbies , learning how to play involves knowing this kind of stuff so :

- New players will know there are other kinds of insignias when they buy 1
- New players will avoid stuff or things that kill them often
- New players will be able to afford a Superior Vigor with little time

40hp only works for 1 hit , armor works as long as you stay alive. Against armor ignoring damage , survivor is not going to make a diff and about that PS stuff and heroes and bla bla , that is not an Armor config matter or has nothing to do with "playing an assassin" , its about general knowledge.
Bad players will die with bad heros and bad skills will die and theres nothing that a survivor insignia can do. If they are not that bad , they will find Blessed or +10 phys or nightstalker are the best for sins AND they will discover collector weapons + secondary weap set ( you know , that 1handed weap + shield that can boost your HP and armor in case of spike ).

maxxfury · Aug 04, 2010, 02:24 PM // 14:24

Night stalkers blows! imagine all the time your switching targets, traveling to new targets, initial agro, blah blah.....

Night stalkers is giving you ZERO bonus unless your rooted to the spot swinging your daggers...

The permanent Armour boosting sigs > night stalkers..