Curse

Samurai-JM · Feb 07, 2007, 12:38 AM // 00:38

I started out in GW with the factions campaign and my very first character was an Assassin. I still use the same character today having beat all 3 campaigns with it with ease. Heres the two builds that I used throughout the majority of the games:

Attack Spammer: This is the main build that I have used since the new updates, it uses some of the quickest attacks in the game combined with Critical Strike, Moebius Strike, and Death Blossom for constant energy and massive damage to mobs.

[skill]Critical Defenses[/skill][skill]Unsuspecting Strike[/skill][skill]Wild Strike[/skill][skill]Critical Strike[/skill][skill]Moebius Strike[/skill][skill]Death Blossom[/skill][skill]Vigorous Spirit[/skill][skill]Restful Breeze[/skill]

Critical Defenses is there just in case you get hit with alot of physical damage.(this is optional)
Unsuspecting/Wild Strike give a quick 150+ damage spike to enemies with high health.
Critical Strike gives 7 energy per hit with 13+ critical strikes.
Moebius Strike allows to you switch between dual attacks at insane speeds.
Death Blossom makes a huge damage spike on all adjacent foes.
Vigorous Spirit gives a large healing boost with the quick attacks.
Restful Breeze is a substitute for the nerfed Feigned Neutrality.(this is optional)

Ganking Promiser: This build uses Assassin's Promise combined with some of the strongest attacks in the game to jump from enemy to enemy while spreading conditions and keeping up constant energy.

[skill]Death's Charge[/skill][skill]Assassin's Promise[/skill][skill]Black Spider Strike[/skill][skill]Twisting Fangs[/skill][skill]Black Lotus Strike[/skill][skill]Death Blossom[/skill][skill]Dark Escape[/skill][skill]Feigned Neutrality[/skill]

This one is simple, just cast Assassin's Promise on a target,(make sure you can kill the enemy) Death's Charge in and unleash the combo in any way you want. Use Twisting Fangs on single enemies, Death Blossom on mobs. Use Black Lotus Strike when you need energy, and Black Spider Strike when you need to degen the enemy. The combo is strong enough to kill most normal enemies instantly so you can recharge your energy and hop onto a new target.

Guildwiki didn't like these builds(then again they don't like much over there), but I know they work great, so hopefully you people will

FoxBat · Feb 07, 2007, 12:56 AM // 00:56

For asn builds effective in nearly all PvE, it basically comes down to a variants of these two. These elites are basically *the* way to avoid excessive downtime for recharge.

I'd recommend blades of steel over death blossom in the promise, because BoS counts itself for recharge and will therefore do more damage, and the 2s recharge doesn't matter in this build.

Samurai-JM · Feb 07, 2007, 01:05 AM // 01:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by FoxBat

For asn builds effective in nearly all PvE, it basically comes down to a variants of these two. These elites are basically *the* way to avoid excessive downtime for recharge.

I'd recommend blades of steel over death blossom in the promise, because BoS counts itself for recharge and will therefore do more damage, and the 2s recharge doesn't matter in this build.

BoS does more damage sure, but to a single target. Thats more of a PvP skill i think, so I used death blossom to take out entire mobs after only targetting 2 or 3 single enemies. The 2 second recharge is great though, but I admit it wont matter at all once your target hits 50% hp.

Yanman.be · Feb 07, 2007, 06:52 AM // 06:52

How about a res maybe?

shaderaven · Feb 07, 2007, 10:14 AM // 10:14

[skill]Critical Defenses[/skill][skill]Critical Eye[/skill][skill]Palm Strike[/skill][skill]Black Spider Strike[/skill][skill]Black Lotus Strike[/skill][skill]Death Blossom[/skill][skill]Parasitic Bond[/skill][skill]Blinding Powder[/skill]

This is my favourite build as of lately for PvE. It is pure adjacent nightmare for enemies. On first sight Moebious Strike one should be better... but for me at least that is not the case for some reason.
This build allows for almost istant unavoidable Blinding Powder application which combined with critical deffences allows you to plunge deeper in their melee range (or charge for their monks luring the melees with you) without fear of retaliation.
You are not depending on moebius connectiog to continue your combo - if your off-hand is blocked... you have 1 more and another which is ublockable. Palm Strike packs quite a punch (armorignoring one), spider poisons, lotus gives you back all the energy you need. Parasitic Bond lasts a decade, can be reaplied in a second and heals you in the end.
Critical Eye is not really vital and can be swaped for ress/capture/shadow step.

clawofcrimson · Feb 07, 2007, 03:17 PM // 15:17

pve+assasin.... almost an oxymoron

I just went through the tedious process of going through noob island last night...my goal was to do it in a couple of hours...I accomplished it....but with using only monk skills

lol

if you are under the lvl20 mark...........you can just do like me and henchway

otherwise any good damage build will work....

death blossom shines

Tingi · Feb 07, 2007, 05:17 PM // 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yanman.be

How about a res maybe?

well obviously not Yanman because you and I both know that only noobs take a rez.

/endsarcasm

TAKE A REZ Samurai-JM

ensoriki · Feb 07, 2007, 09:22 PM // 21:22

Rez= You wasted a survival slot to one that just brings someone back with even less survival -_-....Rez is for RA (sometimes).

In any care.....
Wheres the locust fury pve build....Its good to
Burning locust
[card]Locust's fury[/card] [card]conjure flame[/card][card]mark of rodgort[/card][card]critical defenses[/card]/blinding powder/heal [card]black lotus strike[/card] death blossom, black spider strike twisting fangs/heal

Anyhow builds are nice but why not dark prison instead of Death charge, although you need 30 energy.....with sins promise a rechargeble shadow prison is fine.

Seiten Taisei · Feb 07, 2007, 09:32 PM // 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by ensoriki

In any care.....
Wheres the locust fury pve build....Its good to
Burning locust
[card]Locust's fury[/card] [card]conjure flame[/card][card]mark of rodgort[/card][card]critical defenses[/card]/blinding powder/heal [card]black lotus strike[/card] death blossom, black spider strike twisting fangs/heal

Anyhow builds are nice but why not dark prison instead of Death charge, although you need 30 energy.....with sins promise a rechargeble shadow prison is fine.

I do believe you need Fiery daggers in order to have [card]conjure flame[/card] [card]mark of rodgort[/card] to work, right? Hmm.. The Conjure Flame + Mark is a nice combo for rangers with barrage...i'm not sure if its that good on assassin's though imho

jesh · Feb 08, 2007, 02:46 AM // 02:46

10+3+1 Dagger Mastery
12+1 Critical Strikes
8+1 Deadly Arts

Dark Prison
Assassin's Promise {E}
Black Spider Strike
Twisting Fangs
Black Lotus Strike
Blades of Steel
Burst of Aggression
Res/Sunspear Signet

You can throw out Burst of Aggression and Twisting Fangs and sub in [skill]Impale[/skill] and [skill]Horns of the Ox[/skill] or [skill]Nine Tail Strike[/skill] if you wish. Due to the nature of Blades of Steel, it's now not feasible to include Death Blossom in the same combo. Dang skill buffing. >.<
This build destroys PvE, especially with Jin or Margrid casting [skill]Splinter Weapon[/skill] or [skill]Nightmare Weapon[/skill] on you before catching aggro.
Nothing survives a full combo besides a boss.
In areas with Afflicted, you can sub out Deadly Prison for [skill]Dash[/skill] or [skill]Return[/skill]. And here's the build in pretty pictures, for those of you with low reading comprehension.

[skill]Dark Prison[/skill][skill]Assassin's Promise[/skill][skill]Black Spider Strike[/skill][skill]Twisting Fangs[/skill][skill]Black Lotus Strike[/skill][skill]Blades of Steel[/skill][skill]Burst of Aggression[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]

Crazyvietguy · Feb 08, 2007, 03:13 AM // 03:13

PvE + Assassin just means going after casters first, with a standard "Black Hex" build or "Golden Enchanter"

@ Jesh, your right [skill]Splinter Weapon[/skill] + [skill]Death Blossom[/skill] could be the most numbers an assassin can put out. You can even run a A/Rt with that build and hit Splinter before Blossom. Even though it isnt as nice as having a hero cast it on you it works pretty well.

SotiCoto · Feb 08, 2007, 03:03 PM // 15:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazyvietguy

PvE + Assassin just means going after casters first, with a standard "Black Hex" build or "Golden Enchanter"

@ Jesh, your right [skill]Splinter Weapon[/skill] + [skill]Death Blossom[/skill] could be the most numbers an assassin can put out. You can even run a A/Rt with that build and hit Splinter before Blossom. Even though it isnt as nice as having a hero cast it on you it works pretty well.

Three words:

Mark.
Of.
Pain.

[skill]Mark of Pain[/skill]

For extra juice, have a Ritualist AND a Necro handy. Ritualist drops Splinter Weapon on the sin while Necro drops MoP on the target enemy. Result = instant gorefest.

jesh · Feb 08, 2007, 11:52 PM // 23:52

MoP belongs on the necro. Another hero can use the weapon spell. An IAS helps more on an assassin for quick deaths before enemy healing can take place. For this reason, Horns of the Ox is def. a viable dual attack in the build posted.
If all 10 fiends hit the MoP target, and you perform a spike adjacent to it, then yeah.. usually everything limps away with 0-10% hp.

nazc · Feb 10, 2007, 03:17 PM // 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by clawofcrimson

pve+assasin.... almost an oxymoron

I just went through the tedious process of going through noob island last night...my goal was to do it in a couple of hours...I accomplished it....but with using only monk skills

lol

if you are under the lvl20 mark...........you can just do like me and henchway

otherwise any good damage build will work....

death blossom shines

I agree with the L20 mark but not the oxymoron-it's just factions that it's tough to play an assasin. There are a number of builds that work really well in Prophecies and Nightfall that are tough to use in Factions because of exploding corpses.

My favorite:
Crit Strikes:13
DM: 14
Shadow Arts: 7
Shrowd of Distress
Golden Fox Strike
Way of the Assassin (E)
Critical Defenses
Critical Eye
Shasow Refuge

Nightstalker Armor and Dagger of Xuekao weapon (GuildWiki build)

pingu666 · Feb 11, 2007, 02:33 AM // 02:33

i made this myself, but it is *very* like some other builds, more a matter of coicidence than plagourism.

1 assassins promise
2 deaths charge
3 black spider strike
4 twisting fangs
5 black lotus strike
6 blades of steel
7 shadow refuge/feigned
8 mantra of frost/burst of aggresion/res

dagger 15
deadly arts 10
shadow 5
critical 9
inspiration magic 7

mantra of frost for factions, afflicted soul explosion is cold damage

lack of res isnt that big of a deal on a assassin, as chances are ull be the first to go :/

SotiCoto · Feb 13, 2007, 09:53 AM // 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingu666

i made this myself, but it is *very* like some other builds, more a matter of coicidence than plagourism.

1 assassins promise
2 deaths charge
3 black spider strike
4 twisting fangs
5 black lotus strike
6 blades of steel
7 shadow refuge/feigned
8 mantra of frost/burst of aggresion/res

dagger 15
deadly arts 10
shadow 5
critical 9
inspiration magic 7

mantra of frost for factions, afflicted soul explosion is cold damage

lack of res isnt that big of a deal on a assassin, as chances are ull be the first to go :/

Let me be the first to note you look like you've spread your attributes a bit thin... and I'm not sure you need that many points in Inspiration Magic for one skill alone.

Admittedly.... I do follow a similar route in some respects... albeit for non-Afflicted enemies... I use Mantra of Flame.... largely because Sousuke is toting Mark of Rodgort and.... Greater Conflagration. Since I end up receiving quite a bit of fire damage it stands to reason that I should make myself resistant to it and gain energy too.

Spirit_Axery · Feb 14, 2007, 08:14 AM // 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by SotiCoto

For extra juice

For one glorious moment, I thought you said "For extra justice..."

That crushing disappointment aside, someone said "res". I'll happily admit that I'm pretty naughty and often leave the house without my signet. The OP's first build doesn't really have room for it. Even if you use the newly buffed Critical Defenses to go straight to a golden off-hand, sacrificing Unsuspecting and Wild Strike means you might have to delay Moebius to hit them under 50% health.

I'd just take dark escape out of the Promise build.

~Mitsuki Hiyono~

SotiCoto · Feb 14, 2007, 11:42 AM // 11:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spirit_Axery

For one glorious moment, I thought you said "For extra justice..."

I've said "For great justice" plenty of times... but never "For extra justice" ... Sorry.

Quote:

That crushing disappointment aside, someone said "res". I'll happily admit that I'm pretty naughty and often leave the house without my signet. The OP's first build doesn't really have room for it.

Res Signet?
The last time I used that was on the Green Weekend when team boss-farming in Arborstone... It was actually practical then given the number of bosses we were going through.
Aside from that.... its worthless. Recharges once per boss, which are infrequent at best.... takes up a skill slot best saved for other things... and besides... Resurrection is the Monk's job, and I usually have two or three AI monks around for that and they're perfectly good at it.

PvP? Fine... Res Signet might be worth something there..... but in PvE? Wouldn't dream of it. I'd rather take Monk or Ritualist secondary and actually stick a useful, repeatable resurrection skill in there instead.

Sqube · Feb 16, 2007, 05:36 PM // 17:36

SotiCoto, does that much AoE damage trigger the AI flee effect?

I mean, you've got the Death Blossom damage, Mark of Pain damage, and Splinter Weapon damage, all AoE. If anything would trigger it, I could see that doing it.

ss1986v2 · Feb 16, 2007, 06:10 PM // 18:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by SotiCoto

Res Signet?
The last time I used that was on the Green Weekend when team boss-farming in Arborstone... It was actually practical then given the number of bosses we were going through.
Aside from that.... its worthless. Recharges once per boss, which are infrequent at best.... takes up a skill slot best saved for other things... and besides... Resurrection is the Monk's job, and I usually have two or three AI monks around for that and they're perfectly good at it.

PvP? Fine... Res Signet might be worth something there..... but in PvE? Wouldn't dream of it. I'd rather take Monk or Ritualist secondary and actually stick a useful, repeatable resurrection skill in there instead.

i bring a rez sig or more commonly a sunspear rebirth sig, and hope to never use it. i simply use it as a combat rez. during battle the monk shouldnt be rezing, they should be healing/protecting. you never know when a quick rez in the middle of a battle could help turn the tide (especially if its a monk).

its just that theres not really any other option for a combat rez. the best alternative is flesh of my flesh. the downsides being it returns very little energy, and in some situations, can result in two dead teammates rather than one. rebirth is a horrible combat rez, and should be left for after battle or saving a wipe. resurrect is one of the worst rezes period. chant and restore have long cast times, have restrictions, and require some investment to be really good. same with sig of return, and you cant even invest in that one as a non para. most other rezes have clunky designs that make them poor for a "on the fly" rez. the best combat rez will always be chant/GoS, but thats not available to every class.

besides, if you are having to use your rez multiple times in a short period of time, there is something wrong besides your choice of rez.

back to topic, in pve, i prefer chains with short recharges, a small number of attacks, and ones that have few conditions to be met. most things will be dead long before you can get your whole chain off. plus if you miss with an attack with a long recharge, you end up dead in the water until its back. conditions in skills like HoX can be too hard to land during some hectic pve skirmishes. i usually stick with skill with less than a 10 second recharge. if not, then i usually run moebius strike to keeps things rolling.