Curse

fallot · Mar 26, 2006, 07:02 PM // 19:02

I've had a lot of gripes with this profession, it doesnt seem to be very well thought out. However, it does provide for a lot of Random Arena fun

. This is the build I used over the course of the FPE (Edit: One skill is different), similar builds may have been posted by others; I just unlocked skills that looked useful.

A/W

Attributes:
Dagger Mastery = 12+1+1 (This would be 16 if I had unlocked Superior Dagger Mastery)
Critical Strikes = 12+1 (this is important)
Shadow Arts = 3+1

Skills
1) Leaping Mantis Sting
2) Temple Strike [E]
3) Twisting Fangs
4) Frenzy
5) Critical Eye
6) Shadow Refuge
7) Rush
8) Ressurection Signet

Leaping Mantis Sting is my favourite Lead Attack, hands down. Nothing else compares to its sweetness. +20 damage at 14 DM and cripples fleeing foes. Also has a 5e cost and an 8s recharge which is superior to other Lead Attacks.

Temple Strike should be self-explanatory. Applies Blind and Dazed to foes. If you manage to cripple a spellcasting opponent before this is applied, he's basically shut down for the next few seconds. With Frenzy, the attacks per second shoot through the roof because of frequent double strikes, each of these attacks is essentially an interrupt. The strategy here is to quickly chain the first two attacks on your foe of choice and then rail on them with Frenzy. Twisting Fangs is used as a finishing blow, I havent been able to find a better off-hand attack.

13 critical strikes nets you 3 energy per successful critical strike. With Critical Eye, the energy gain and critical chance both increase. Its instant cast and can be kept up indefinitely with high enough CS. Coupled with Frenzy, there should be no energy problems. Shadow Refuge and Rush are meant to keep Frenzy in check and Rush provides a speed boost that helps to get Leaping Mantis Strike off against kiting foes.

I've been trying to fit Wild Blow into this setup as well, but I cant think of a skill that it could replace (at least in RA). Evasive stances are a big problem for this build because you need to get at least the first two attacks off successfully. Kiting is easier to handle but can still be a problem.

Edit: Changed Sprint to Rush.

SparhawkJC · Mar 26, 2006, 07:10 PM // 19:10

Cool build, but I would not want to use frenzy or sprint. A frenzied assasin is just asking to get its face ripped off by a warrior. Also without strength your sprint duration is what 9 seconds? You're better off using shadow of haste or dash. That is a sweet combo though, I like the idea of putting 5 conditions on someone in 3 hits. With that many conditions might it be better to go with mesmer secondary for fragility and epidemic or necromancer for virulence just to tack on 3 more conditions?

fallot · Mar 26, 2006, 07:14 PM // 19:14

Unfortunately, Frenzy is the heart of the build. I wouldnt replace it with anything else, you need to get as much out of Daze as possible. Plus it greatly increases DPS and energy gain. With Frenzy I had to have something to cancel it, Dash is a suitable replacement I suppose but I prefer the duration of sprint (even at 0 strength its 8 seconds).

Sayshina · Mar 27, 2006, 01:40 AM // 01:40

I did something similar last beta, at least as far as skills go. I was trying to find Temple to cap it and do the same in this beta. I finaly gave up and made a Mes.

I ran a R/A and used Exp and Zealous daggers for my E management. I also ran Caltrops for obvious reasons. It's even a hex, so it synergizes ok with the attack skills.

Dodge instead of sprint, and I threw repeating strike in as well. Once you get the going, you can simple use repeating until it looks like he's going to get help, run, manages to evade one, or is near enough to dying, and then move on to Twisting.

Your build is faster, mine might do more damage over time (way too lazy to run the numbers), and I'm not familier enough with Asn primary to have any clue which does better on energy.

I see the same problem for both builds. E-denial totaly wrecks both of us, and E-denial is everywhere these days.

fallot · Apr 11, 2006, 09:32 AM // 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sayshina

Your build is faster, mine might do more damage over time (way too lazy to run the numbers), and I'm not familier enough with Asn primary to have any clue which does better on energy.

It depends on your build. If you have a lot of chained attack skills, R/A is far superior energy management. Assassins gain a lot of energy with high Critical Strikes, but it all goes to waste because of a small energy pool.

Nevin · Apr 12, 2006, 02:45 AM // 02:45

I like unsuspecting strike, it can do 90-100 damage. Thats like Final Thrust but while the person is fully healed.

NatalieD · Apr 12, 2006, 02:54 AM // 02:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by SparhawkJC

Cool build, but I would not want to use frenzy or sprint. A frenzied assasin is just asking to get its face ripped off by a warrior.

That's what Sprint is for. A warrior comes towards you, you cancel Frenzy. Simple.

Even at just 8 seconds, Sprint is arguably better than Dash. But Dash has its advantages too. I would suggest trying both and seeing which one you like more.

edit: Or Rush, as swordfisher so wisely points out below. Can't believe I forgot that.

swordfisher · Apr 12, 2006, 03:05 AM // 03:05

Assassins do not sprint, they RUSH. You'll get a longer effect that's more frequently available, and if it's the only adrenal skill on your bar, even better. I see that the original build has rush in slot 7, why's anyone talking about sprint at all?

fallot · Apr 12, 2006, 05:32 PM // 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by swordfisher

Assassins do not sprint, they RUSH. You'll get a longer effect that's more frequently available, and if it's the only adrenal skill on your bar, even better. I see that the original build has rush in slot 7, why's anyone talking about sprint at all?

You're correct on all points (except duration, thats 8 for both at 0 strength). It was originally Sprint, I wanted to change it to Rush soon after but I was banned from the forums :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevin

I like unsuspecting strike, it can do 90-100 damage. Thats like Final Thrust but while the person is fully healed.

It costs too much energy. Assuming the other two attacks stay the same, the first attack has to cost 5e. Otherwise you cant chain the three skills. Leaping Mantis Sting also has cripple, which I need.

lightblade · Apr 13, 2006, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Assassin: "Temple Strike! Hiya!"
X/N: "Plague touch! HaHa!"
Assassin: "Oh! $%@$!"

NatalieD · Apr 13, 2006, 01:32 AM // 01:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightblade

Assassin: "Temple Strike! Hiya!"
X/N: "Plague touch! HaHa!"
Assassin: "Oh! $%@$!"

Oh my GOD! You mean there are skills that can be used as COUNTERS to this build? You can't just roll over any and all characters with a single skill? What a crappy build!

Seriously, how often do you see Plague Touch on the characters an assassin is most interested in Temple-Striking? Which is to say, monks?

fallot · Apr 13, 2006, 10:15 AM // 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by lightblade

Assassin: "Temple Strike! Hiya!"
X/N: "Plague touch! HaHa!"
Assassin: "Oh! $%@$!"

This build assumes that the assassin isnt being played by an idiot.

glountz · Apr 13, 2006, 12:08 PM // 12:08

Wow, you found my all beloved assassin build. Just kidding. Any A/W should go towards this kind of build.
Frenzy IS the ultimate assassin/warrior stance, along with Wild Blow.

Here was my build so far.
Dagger 12+1+3
Shadow 10+1
Critical 7+1

Zodiacal armor + Zealous daggers.
Rez signet
Frenzy (great attack speed so + energy from zealous)
Shadow of haste (Stance switch + speed boost + safe return after the job is done)
Shadow refuge (Cover for frenzy + heal, if you have a good monk replace it by Wild Blow)
Way of the lotus (Hex combo starter + energy management-my favourite assassin hex)
Black mantis thrust (Crippler)
Temple Strike (Disrupter)
Twisting Fangs (Finisher)

Before starting the combo chain, be sure you have enough energy that is to say ~23.
The good thing is to launch the Lotus hex, Shadow refuge, Frenzy and start to strike to regain energy through zealots+criticals.
Once at 23 energy, launch the three hit combo. Finish with Frenzy.

The OP's build is good but I think too much short on energy management. Temple strike + Twisting fangs drains you completely. After the three hit chain I think it would be a bit long to resplenish the energy. Relying only on criticals never was a good option for me.

Another variation in this build was to replace Shadow of haste by Viper's defense or Unseen Fury (but I don't recommend it). Rush is also very good, but has not the excellent teleport ability from Shadow of Haste.

fallot · Apr 13, 2006, 03:09 PM // 15:09

I dont like Shadow of Haste and I would never take it over Rush if I was a secondary warrior. It has a 30s recharge time so its not as good as a stance canceller. Another problem is that after activating it you've commited yourself to killing something within its duration. The teleport after the duration has expired hurts it as a speed boost except situationally IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by glountz

The OP's build is good but I think too much short on energy management. Temple strike + Twisting fangs drains you completely. After the three hit chain I think it would be a bit long to resplenish the energy

On the contrary, I was swimming in energy. It took seconds to replenish the energy pool. With +4 energy every critical strike, I'd sometimes even have 8-10 energy left after the combo. If anything, there was too much energy available, the only requirement was to keep attacking.

glountz · Apr 13, 2006, 04:08 PM // 16:08

+4 energy?
With zealous, you mean for sure?

fallot · Apr 13, 2006, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by glountz

+4 energy?
With zealous, you mean for sure?

Not with zealous, didnt have that unlocked at the time. At 13 CS you get +3e per crit, Critical Eye gives you another +1e per crit.

Nevin · Apr 14, 2006, 06:49 AM // 06:49

Hmm, my assassin build during the PvE event was...

Unsuspecting Strike, Fox Fangs, Horns of the Ox, Falling Spider, Twisted Fangs, Victory is Mine, Healing Signet, Ressurection Signet.

It was an instant burn out, but you'd be recharged by victory is mine. The idea was to find a dumb warrior run from him, let him chase you and call you names; once you're secluded and he has no monks around him. Lay down the combo and laugh in his face.

fallot · Apr 14, 2006, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nevin

snip

How can you chain those attacks with the Assassin's energy pool ? I'd expect to see skills like that on a R/A, not an Assassin primary. If possible, could you also post the attribute allocation for that build ?

Nevin · Apr 15, 2006, 12:08 AM // 00:08

I had...

Attributes
10 - Critical Strikes (9+1)
14 - Dagger Mastery (12+1+1)
00 - Shadow Arts
00 - Deadly Arts
09 - Tactics

You could easily fit a superior rune in there, I just didn't have any unlocked.

Equipment
Zealous Mod (Optional), Fortitude Mod, and +7 Energy Armor set.

Theres really nothing much I can say, it was a gamble really. I'm sure mathamatically it can be proven that by the end of the 4 attacks you will have enough energy to pull off twisted fangs % amount of the time. I never ran into a struggle in which I didn't have enough energy to use twisted fangs, to me it was an unlikely occurance.

Spoony · Apr 16, 2006, 09:31 AM // 09:31

Unsuspecting strike - thats teh s**te:P