Curse

Ashe. · Jan 07, 2007, 04:33 AM // 04:33

Ok so I recently deleted my A/Mo which I am greatly regretting right now and am planning on remaking my assassin tonight...I was run by an A/W and used one with an Axe in PvP.

If I made one I would probably use daggers but has anyone ever used one and could tell me how they are?

Shuuda · Jan 07, 2007, 08:51 AM // 08:51

where did you see thid build been run? If it was RA or AB, the chance are the build was rubbish, or he was just messing around for fun, however A/W axe can be good in PvE Via maxing critical strikes and combining Sharpen daggers + Critical defences with Cyclone axe + Triple chop.

jesh · Jan 07, 2007, 08:58 AM // 08:58

I've seen people use Cyclone Axe combined with Critical Defenses and whatnot before, but the main reason that people use A/W is for IAS skills. Frenzy, Flurry, Flail, and of course, Burst of Aggression are some examples. Assassins already spike hard and fast, but with an IAS skill, they can be faster.
Doing so limits your choice of shadow step skills, though. Shadow of Haste and other nice skills become off limits to you. A/W is a good choice, and so is A/Mo for a hard res or ganking abilities. (Mending Touch)

Shuuda · Jan 07, 2007, 09:05 AM // 09:05

Personally I find the whole A/W Shadow prison stuff to be overrated, it really isn't that good.

Yanman.be · Jan 07, 2007, 09:56 AM // 09:56

You do know you can change your secondary without deleting your character right? Just making sure.

Diddy bow · Jan 07, 2007, 01:51 PM // 13:51

A/W is my favorite and is great to try out as BOA ,flail etc can work good in just about any build

AuraofMana · Jan 07, 2007, 06:34 PM // 18:34

Quote:

Personally I find the whole A/W Shadow prison stuff to be overrated, it really isn't that good.

Agreed. It requires you to split points into Deadly Arts as well, and the Dagger + CS should take up most of your points (I max both because I love it).

Dutch Masterr · Jan 07, 2007, 07:25 PM // 19:25

what sucks about shadow prison is if your first attack gets blocked, your screwed. also, if you dont kill your target in however long shadow prison lasts youre screwed again.

jesh · Jan 07, 2007, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Who said anything about Shadow Prison? The OP is asking what A/Ws are like, and I don't see how the last few posts have helped him at all.
All that I meant in my post is that an IAS helps. Guess what? It helps even if you don't use Shadow Prison.

Ashe. · Jan 07, 2007, 09:09 PM // 21:09

I know I can change profession but I wasn't really liking my assassin PERIOD and decided to delete her before I could change my profession.
i made the A/W and am really liking her so far, certain skills make it easier to tank the few seconds im in the fray lol.

Shuuda · Jan 07, 2007, 11:46 PM // 23:46

Feigned Neutrality is a nice skill when you need to, well.... not die.

Poise · Jan 08, 2007, 12:44 AM // 00:44

Shuuda - I disagree about the Shadow Prison spike builds. Although counters are becoming more common for it, it is a very effective build. It does precisely what an Assassin is commonly trying to do; lots of unexpected damage in a short time period.
AuraofMana - Deadly Arts only needs to be at level 2 (3 attr points spent) for Shadow Prison to last 5 seconds. That is more than enough time to get off your chain. If you bring Wild Blow, it is also enough time to do half the chain, see them put up a stance, Wild Blow the stance off, and then finish your chain.
Dutch - This is only true if you're using Falling. If you use the BLS>Hoto>BSS>TF chain (or BLS>TF>BSS>BoS), you can still do pretty good damage and degen, even if BLS is blocked.

As to the OP - The most common reason for using /W as a secondary is for attack speed buffs. Also the ability to carry Wild Blow is useful at times. I don't PvE myself, but I imagine PvE'rs might also use /W for defensive stances.

Utaku · Jan 08, 2007, 10:23 AM // 10:23

I play a A/W for wild blow.
Ranger stances are a nuisance, strip them.

IAS is usefull too, and with flurry and Burst of Aggression you get the benefits with almost no drawback.

bg_solidsnake · Jan 08, 2007, 01:30 PM // 13:30

Im very pleased with my A/W!I personaly use some tactic stances like "bonetti's defence".Its great!Yes i regain energy via the primary attribute wich i have set to 10 coz i you get 1.4% crit chance by using dagger mastery(14),but with 2 tactics u have 6 seconds of 75% block chanse and 5 energy for every strike blocked.I dont see why you dont like the A/W

Shuuda · Jan 08, 2007, 03:37 PM // 15:37

Poise- Shadow prison is easily countered by monks with hex breaker.

at OP - I forgot to mention that dark escape is good for running.

Yanman.be · Jan 08, 2007, 09:48 PM // 21:48

Shuuda, you could also just spike the targets you know are vulnerable. This is also one of the requirements of being a good sin: picking your targets.

Sqube · Jan 08, 2007, 10:21 PM // 22:21

I'm with Yanman on this one. It's really easy to just run at somebody and run your combo. It's a lot more difficult to decide who should be the unfortunate recipient of the aforementioned combo.

If you've got a halfway-decent group with you, I always like to go after monks and/or mesmers (for obvious reasons). Then mop up whatever other casters there might be, then knock out the melee guys. Makes things a lot easier when the guy you're fighting isn't constantly getting healed while your monks get interrupted.

Saphatorael · Jan 09, 2007, 12:35 AM // 00:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yanman.be

Shuuda, you could also just spike the targets you know are vulnerable. This is also one of the requirements of being a good sin: picking your targets.

QFT.
I love it when I spike someone down and not even 2 monks in the team can't save his puny buttocks. (Their hp's were low anyways so they focussed on healing eachother, go go team pressure in RA)

Also, don't forget 'timing', of course.

Shuuda · Jan 09, 2007, 11:58 AM // 11:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yanman.be

Shuuda, you could also just spike the targets you know are vulnerable. This is also one of the requirements of being a good sin: picking your targets.

That maybe true, but I still stand by my ideas, I've been using hidden caltrops lately and have been finding nice nicer, the recharge time, longer snare are lasting for 20 seconds makes it nicer than shadow prison. Personally I try not to go for monks as they counter assassins far to easily, I prefer to go for other soft target that will cause problems for my party (like SF ele's and anti caster mesmers) Thumpers and mesmers are better for handling the monks.

In the end any "good" monk could counter an assassin spike.