Curse

isdodolieaword · Jun 03, 2006, 03:16 PM // 15:16

Considering my time spent using this build in PvP, and it's effectiveness under almost all situations, this build is bound to be copied and claimed by many other people soon enough. Though it's probably going to be impossible to truly convince you all that I was the founder of this build, given the time between the game's skills being announced and now, I guess giving it a shot couldn't hurt. And like I said, it is bound to leak either way. Please note that the following build was something I came up with before Factions was released. I was reading through the different skills off of some other GW fansite during the "Beta Weekend Event" and realized the awesome potential of a certain Shadow Arts Elite. This Elite is Shadow Form. At first, I hardly thought anything of it, I mean just look at it: The skill only lasts 21 secs at 16 Shadow Arts (SA) and has a 60 second recharge. To top off the horrendous ratio between Enchant/Recharge, you lose all but 75 health once it ends, and that's still under the condition that you're SA is at 16. Sure, for 21 seconds you're invulnerable to pretty much everything aside from AoE, Signets, and Skills, but you're a sitting duck for 39 seconds. So how is it that this skill is worth anything? With the help of the particularly nifty enchantment, Arcane Echo (AE) it can be. For 20 secs, AE will copy SA. This gives us a potential 41 secs of SA with 19 secs of vulnerability, which is a little better, but still not good enough. And then comes the 20% dagger handle of enchanting. This puts SA at 45 seconds with 15 seconds of vulnerability. This still sounds "iffy" because of the large spike in health once it ends, but utilizing the skills Dark Escape and Shadow Refuge will help you safely escape in order to return shortly following the same loop. Now for the build:

The Gemini Build

Attributes and Armor:

Dagger Mastery - 14 (Sup Rune)
Shadow Arts - 16 (Sup Rune)
Critical Strikes - 9 (Sup Rune)
Shadow Mask and All Shrouded Armor w/ Sup Vigor
Zealous Daggers of Enchanting:
7-17 (req 14 or below)
+5 Energy
Energy gain on hit: 1
Energy regeneration: -1
Enchantments last 20% longer
Health: 305
Energy: 37

Skills:

Disrupting Stab
Fox Fangs
Twisting Fangs
Caltrops
Dark Escape
Shadow Refuge
Shadow Form
Arcane Echo

*Please note that this build is strictly designed for RA PvP.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why all the Superior Runes?

Why not? You don't have much to worry about other than AoE and Blood Skills.

Why is Critical Strikes so low (9) ?

Energy maintenance is important for an Assassin, but Critical Strikes isn't the only way to balance energy. Equipping yourself with a pair of Zealous Daggers should help this problem greatly. You'll notice the difference once you try it out for yourself.

How do you manage to stay alive after Shadow Form ends?

Keeping yourself alive is a lot like being able to kite well with a monk. Bottom line: It takes skill! You have to have your timing down right. A slip up on the casting of the Echo'd Shadow Form and whoops, no more Shadow Form. Like I've said before, utilizing Dark Escape and Shadow Refuge are crucial. They should be cast right before it ends, when you see the Shadow Form enchantment icon blinking. Caltrops is also important in case someone is sprinting after you. 15 seconds sounds long, but you can trust me that if you cast your skills correctly, you'll have AE and SF ready to loop again in no time.

Ok, so you can tank, big deal. Can this build effectively deal damage?

Yes and No. I've run this build many many many times in RA. I've Solo'd a fair share of teams with 4 people left. I've also got my butt kicked a fair number of times too. This build cannot kill a halfway decent Prot Boon Monk. Forget about it. Don't even bother trying to Solo them. It's not happening. Ever. Neither can it kill a decent Warrior or Touch Ranger. But this build will eat any other caster for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.

Alright, I'll give it to you. You made a really annoying build. And why the hell is it called "The Gemini Assassin"?

Yea, I can see how this build might frustrate people. Gemini? Well, I thought you'd never ask! Gemini is the prefix I add to most of my character's names. I think it sounds cool.

Gemini? Dude, you're gay.

How is that a question?

*The real reason I named this Build "Gemini Assassin" is because it is most effective when paired with its 3 counter parts in a 4 man TA build.

Team Gemini Build

3 A/Me
1 N/A

The Assassins Attributes, Armor, and Weapons are all pretty much the same. The difference is in the skills. Each Assassin runs a different role in the team. These roles are classified with distinct titles.

Gemini Wolf (A/Me): The main damage dealer. This assassin is running the hard hitting strikes and Deep Wound.

Black Mantis Thrust
Jungle Strike
Twisting Fangs
Recall
Shadow Refuge
Arcane Mimicry
Shadow Form (Elite)
Arcane Echo

Gemini Snake (A/Me): With his poisonous bites and knockdowns this assassin renders the target completely vulnerable.

Entangling Asp
Iron Palm
Mark Of Instability
Falling Spider
Recall
Arcane Mimicry
Shadow Shroud (Elite)
Arcane Echo

*The Snake has differen't attributes:
Dagger Master - 9 (Sup)
Deadly Arts - 12 (Major)
Shadow Arts - 16 (Sup)
Critical Strikes - 9 (Sup)
Health: 270

Gemini Hawk (A/Me): With razor sharp talons and beak, the Hawk serves as the main disrupter on this team.

Disrupting Stab
Jungle Strike
Exhausting Assault
Dark Escape
Recall
Arcane Mimicry
Shadow Form
Arcane Echo

The Gemini Shepherd (N/Me): As the master of these vicious animals, the Shepherd serves as the main support player. His support is given through his Orders.

Blood Renewal
Order Of Pain
Shadow Refuge
Vampiric Gaze
Heart Of Shadow
Recall
Offering Of Blood
Resurrection Signet

Team Strategy

The Wolf and Hawk rely on each other's Elite to maintain Shadow Form. With Arcane Mimicry (AM) you can potentially have SF on for around 2 minutes. And like the build designed for RA, the recharge after the loop is short. The first person to strike should be the Snake. The Snake is relying on his Shadow Shroud to completely shut down any PB Monk you come across. With the knockdowns, conditions, and damage output, the Assassins should have almost any target dead within seconds. It's all a matter of knowning when to strike, and knowing when to cast your skills. Recall is very important in this team build. Knowing when to get out of the battle is going to be vital towards your success. The shepherd always stays far behind, safely away from the enemy. So before the round starts, the Snake should cast recall on the Shepherd. The Snake is going to be the first person to lose his SF, so before he Recalls, The Hawk and Wolf should Recall on him. The Snake stays behind until the others Recall to him, then they all regen and run back in with the same loop. In the event that an enemy rushes past the Assassins to the Shepherd in the back, the snake should quickly return to the Shepherd and immediately begin running to a safe place. The reason for this is so the Shepherd, who should have already cast Recall on the Snake can teleport away once the enemy reaches him.

*Note that the Shepherd in this build can be alternated with a Mo/A for healing. The Shepherd in this build is just there for extra damage.

Pros and Cons

Pros: Being able to avoid all attacks and spells makes you pretty invulnerable. Casters will waste needed spells and energy on you and Warriors and Rangers will never hit you.

Cons: Earth Ele's and Touch Rangers. Earth Ele's have the enchantments that will allow them to get close enough to you to get those nasty AoE spikes off. Touch Rangers will dodge everything you got and then some, PLUS all their skills go right through your trusted Shadow Form.

And there you have it folks. The Gemini Build. It isn't unbeatable, there are still plenty of builds around it, but there are even more builds that can't stop it. It just takes lots of practice, coordination, patience, and skill. Have fun with it before it's nerfed.

GT: Gemini Wolf

Golden_Mean · Jun 03, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02

Not bad on paper from what I see, but then again I've yet to try it out. I've ran echo-shadow form before in RA, using shroud of distress, disrupting stab, exhausting assault, but I never used dark escape...dunno why. It was mainly a caster pest kind of build; died fast after both shadow forms wore off. (didn't run it at max shadow arts)

I also like how you worded your TA build...pretty unique.

Lambentviper · Jun 04, 2006, 12:15 AM // 00:15

Disrupting Stab, Wild Strike, and Twisting Fangs/Exhausting Assault is my goto staple for assassin pvp builds.

nice work, i'd be interested to run the Gemini Team with you

Terra Xin · Jun 04, 2006, 01:43 PM // 13:43

arcane mimicry and arc echo... you're going into some difficult timing there. It's best that you go ahead and test out this build... and if you have, we'd love to hear your findings. Your names are clever and awesome btw^^.

isdodolieaword · Jun 04, 2006, 07:04 PM // 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terra Xin

arcane mimicry and arc echo... you're going into some difficult timing there. It's best that you go ahead and test out this build... and if you have, we'd love to hear your findings. Your names are clever and awesome btw^^.

Yea, the timing is very difficult. I find it best to use the animation of the recharge on your already casted skills to time everything out. It takes a lot of patience and practice to be able to master the casting and effectiently attack at the same time. A friend and I have tested this out through the Isle Of The Nameless, and we were able to kill everything pretty easily. I know Isle Of The Nameless isn't much like real PvP, but it gave us a good chance to get our timing down and whatnot. We just can't find 2 other people to test this build with. As for the first RA build I wrote about, I've played with that a good number of times. You can get away with killing everyone on the opposite team by yourself (and trust me i've done it before), but the build has obvious holes where you can totally get screwed, ie touch rangers. That's why combining the strengths of the 3 other parts of the build for TA would be really helpful.

-Gemini Wolf-

Celab · Jul 06, 2006, 10:30 PM // 22:30

when i unlock those skills and stuff i'd like to test it with you.

Francis Demeules · Jul 07, 2006, 04:14 AM // 04:14

I came here because its my Zodiac sign

When I see all your build I can say.... Damn I'm Gemini Hawk. Seriously, I always doing anti casters, disruption the spells and more. Nice to see btw.

Oh and you writed N/Me instead N/A

Kijik Oni Hanryuu · Jul 07, 2006, 05:28 AM // 05:28

hmmm yah you will have a hard time proving you thought of it since the major guilds used it in the playoffs with two shadow form sins.. oh well

Legendary Battousai · Jul 07, 2006, 07:55 AM // 07:55

War Machine to be specific... very fun gimic build to run. He could still prove it if you looked at the date in which it was posted, being 6-3-06, a month before the playoffs. With two assassins running together, you can get either 5 or 8 shadow forms off depending on their attributes, for wm, only 5. For 8, it requires perfect (1 second off will destroy you) timing and 14 or higher in shadow arts. for 5, it requires 12. The build is truely awsome if pulled off correctly.

Ilya Khan · Jul 07, 2006, 08:30 PM // 20:30

I use a similar build for farming greens (this is before I got nerfed. After killing 27 different bosses numerous times, I have been dropped a few materials and 1 white non-max hammer...thx anet).

Mark of Instability
Golden Lotus Strike/unsuspecting strike
Fox Fangs
Twisting Fangs
Falling Spider
Blades of Steel/nine tail strike
Arcane Echo
Shadow Form {E}

As you can see, it maxes damage and a bit of degen to boot. You can kill most bosses by simply timing stuff right so that you knock em down during their heal. To do this, you have to do just a little bit of waiting but it is worth it. You can also use this if you just wanna kill someone so you can be Vengeanced/Unyielding'd back to life. A more durable build is easy to get by simply switching instability, spider, and blades of steel/nine tail with deaths charge, shadow refuge, and Desperate Strike. Desperate will give you a good amount of damage after you use your initial combo. If you wish to do this in PVP, i suggest bringing disrupting stab as your 2nd lead attack.

Fluffy Butt · Jul 07, 2006, 09:56 PM // 21:56

Ok First off Gemini? Thats gay, and makes you sound like a dork or nerd. (and your not any of those things) There are better names for them. you don't hear people say, GLF Gemini Degeners

they say GLF a SSer

Second off, a team of assassins is kind of a stupid idea, lets start with Gemini Wolf. Bad idea, because a tank will easly do better and it can withstand a hell of a lot more damage.

Gemini Snake-(Got to stop watching soooooo much naruto

) A SS'er can run circles around this build, this build is kind of useless.

Gemini Hawk-Quote: "With razor sharp talons and beak, the Hawk".... no offince but that sounds really dorky, a interupt ranger can do a lot more than this assassin.

Gemini Sheperd-Quote: "As the master of these vicious animals, the Shepherd" (that sounds really nerdish, not that your a nerd, like I said before there is better names... don't watch to much animal planet) this build is just like a blood necro that shadow steps, no big deal. Recall has a 30 seconds recharge time, its a 1 time deal.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings (becuase you spent a lot of time on this thread) There is better builds than all of these, but you spent a lot of time researching and I respect that, you might want to check out the Assassin Knock Down build thread, assassins arn't useless. Just got to think outside the box, which you big time did (Good Job). Well, thats all I have to type, have fun a GL (good luck)

Celab · Jul 07, 2006, 10:01 PM // 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fluffy Butt

Ok First off Gemini? Thats gay, and makes you sound like a dork or nerd. (and your not any of those things) There are better names for them. you don't hear people say, GLF Gemini Degeners

they say GLF a SSer

Second off, a team of assassins is kind of a stupid idea, lets start with Gemini Wolf. Bad idea, because a tank will easly do better and it can withstand a hell of a lot more damage.

Gemini Snake-(Got to stop watching soooooo much naruto

) A SS'er can run circles around this build, this build is kind of useless.

Gemini Hawk-Quote: "With razor sharp talons and beak, the Hawk".... no offince but that sounds really dorky, a interupt ranger can do a lot more than this assassin.

Gemini Sheperd-Quote: "As the master of these vicious animals, the Shepherd" (that sounds really nerdish, not that your a nerd, like I said before there is better names... don't watch to much animal planet) this build is just like a blood necro that shadow steps, no big deal. Recall has a 30 seconds recharge time, its a 1 time deal.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings (becuase you spent a lot of time on this thread) There is better builds than all of these, but you spent a lot of time researching and I respect that, you might want to check out the Assassin Knock Down build thread, assassins arn't useless. Just got to think outside the box, which you big time did (Good Job). Well, thats all I have to type, have fun a GL (good luck)

Do you know what shadow form does?

Psykewne · Jul 08, 2006, 12:11 AM // 00:11

I think its a very poor idea, no matter how true it is, to try to tell us that you came up with something war machine is now quite well known for using...

Now I'm not sure why you would bother unless it were true, but in that case why didn't you post it when you cam up with it, it's well known nothing stays secret for long so why try to keep your idea hidden until suddenly a top guild uses it then its all "omg i created that before them"...

I actually do symapthise with you because i came up with the idea of CoP warriors a good while before it was seen used in top level gvg... of course once it was used in top level play my guild and I were called copy-cats...

My point being if you did infact create this, well done, and in future post your ideas as soon as you have them. Someone else will always come up with the same idea eventually so post it asap and get your credit.

Anyway again if in fact you did create this, well done and i hope you keep the innovative approach to assassins and other characters and come up with more neat builds, just in future post them straight away because otherwise someone will beat you to it and you'll feel a fool.

isdodolieaword · Jul 09, 2006, 11:03 AM // 11:03

Good lord I thought this thread had died, lol. In any event, here are some responses to what some of you have said.

Fluffy Butt- Erm... I wrote my build that way to keep things interesting. I understand how implausible it would be to see someone using my build name for party recruitings. It's all in good fun man. If I'm a dork for describing my builds this way, then I'm a dork. But i'm sure there are many other people who would consider me a nerd/dork/geek for just playing this game

... And in regards to your critques in my strat... like Celab said, do you know what Shadow Form does?

Psykewne- War Machine uses this build? Cool! I haven't played for a couple weeks, so I wasn't too familiar with what was going on in the Playoffs. BTW, do you know when they began using this build? Anyways, I agree with you; it was a poor idea to try and convince everyone this was my build. When I thought of this build, it was before I owned a copy of Factions. I didn't actually get the game for about a week afterwards. For some reason, the week following my purchase, I focused heavily on the Rit. After becoming bored with the Rit class, I switched over to the Sins. Then I remembered, "Oh crap! The freakin shadow skill I was going to test!" Luckily, I had enough faction to buy everything I needed to develop this build. Though even after a day of testing, I didn't want to post anything because I was afraid there were still huge flaws I didn't pick up on. After many days of PvP, some Solo runs in PvE, and many hours practicing my timing with other people in the Isle Of The Nameless (shout outs to Gemini Tiger) I came to the conclusion that the "Gemini Assassin" or whatever you like to call it, was one of the best Assassin builds to date. After all the testing, I finally posted something about it. But like you said, it would have been more credible if I had posted something about it when I first thought it up. Either way, I was dumb for trying to claim credit for it. It's not about who came up with what. It's about having fun with the game.

So I hope you guys have had or are still having fun with this build. And thanks for all the critiques.

-Gemini Wolf-

P.S. If any of you want to test this build out with me, leave your Gamer Tag and time you'll be on. I'll try and be on sometime tomorrow, but I'll also try and make time out for everyone who wants to test out the build.

Bloodied Blade · Jul 09, 2006, 06:26 PM // 18:26

This is really unlikely to be nerfed...too many easy workarounds (Evades, Area attacks like Phoenix, Aftershock, Frozen Burst, Touchers, Signet of Disenchant).

Signet of Disenchant would just own the entire team. The mesmer would need 4 skills. Echo, Arcane Echo, Sig of Disenchant, and Energy Burn. Mesmer goes A Echo, Echo, Sig of Disenchant, *swaps to +energy set* Energy Burn, swap back, Echoe'd Signet, repeat. that's 3/4 on the team down with 4 skills. ...by a mesmer no less.

Celab · Jul 09, 2006, 06:32 PM // 18:32

shadow form stops enchantment stripping i pressume though

Francis Demeules · Jul 09, 2006, 06:43 PM // 18:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celab

shadow form stops enchantment stripping i pressume though

Not all Enchantments Stripping.

Signet of Disenchantment pass throught because its a signet and not a spell. Shadow form works like Spell Breaker and 100% miss attack. Chilblain removes it and its a spell... which not targeting a target.

Celab · Jul 09, 2006, 07:12 PM // 19:12

oh well... whos realy going to bring 4 different enchantment removals in a TA.

isdodolieaword · Jul 09, 2006, 10:15 PM // 22:15

Like Celab said, seeing a mesmer set up this way in RA or TA isn't practical. I've run this build over and over and over again, and the only time my enchantment was ever stripped was when another assassin expunged it. There are plenty of other Me/N skills to use that are more effective and have a shorter recharge than SoD, but wont strip SF, which is precisely why SF can and is used effectively in PvP. People aren't likely to equip SoD over the better disenchants, which is why SF is not likely to be stripped. Granted, if the "Gemini" build gets popular, you'll most likely see people implimenting SoD into their gameplay. Oh and BTW Bloodied Babe... YOU CAN'T ECHO A SIGNET!!! And if you read all the way through my first post, you would have noted the part where I mention all the practical cons against this build. Evades are bad, Touchers are bad, and AoE is bad. IW and SoD are also bad, but they're just not practical. The ratio of seeing a toucher or AoE ele, to a mesmer with IW or SoD is like 5 to 1. And to everyone else out there, please don't post or repost saying something along the lines of, "But SoD and IW are awesome I use them all the time!!!" I understand that a couple people might run these builds, but generally people aren't. And to try and defend these builds by saying you or someone you saw run it is pointless. I play a lot of PvP and you just don't see these builds run often. Sure they're fun and whatnot, but the chances of seeing them in a game are slim.

-Gemini Wolf-

Legendary Battousai · Jul 10, 2006, 07:44 AM // 07:44

it is basically saying a warrior with gladiator's defence and riposites will own the entire team... who the hell runs those anyways? especially in team arena... And btw you can echo a signet. Echo will even work on Res Signet, but notice that Arcane Echo DOES NOT