Curse

Yukito Kunisaki · Nov 24, 2006, 08:42 AM // 08:42

Ah, following the 'almost' standard rule of 3 hit chain as well as a way to 'skill lock' someone for about 4 seconds or so, along with dealing a VERRY hefty amount of damage, I've found a nice Deadly Arts style of assassin, though unable to solo like a very old previous build of mine, can prove to be VERY dangerous in PvE and AB, [no res sig, but you can trade your healing out for it if you wish]

A/N
[runes are assumed as well as deadly mask]
16 Deadly Arts
9 Dagger Mastery
8 Critical Arts
rest to Shadow Arts [or Blood magic for the alternative build]

Iron Palm
Falling Spider
Twisting Fangs
Impale
Shadow Refuge [alt. Blood Renewal]
Mark of Instability
Way of the Lotus [or Black Lotus Strike if Blood Renewal is used]
Plague Touch

You've got two options depending on how you want to gain your energy and your health back so that's pretty straight forward. Also, if you're in need of a res sig [lots of dying in pve or not enough people carrying your res sigs], you can go ahead and replace EITHER of the recovery skills accordingly, also, change your stats if this occurs [no need for blood magic if you're not going to use blood renewal]

Here, you've got some straight forward damage you're able to do.

Start off with Mark of Instability, it's cheap, recharges in synch with your lead attack, and fuels your Black Lotus should you need it [don't do it after you land your Twisting Fangs, obviously]

Black Lotus is your energy utility here. You DON'T always have to use it but it can be used if you're not going to use Shadow Refuge [therefore making Way of the Lotus pointless, though synergy depends on you]

After hex(s)[teammate hexes count] lands, here is a guide of your strikes/skills:

Cast Shadow Refuge/Blood Renewal if you guess you'll come under fire, it happens, if not, don't...

Iron Palm, unblockable, floors your foe...
Falling Spider, causes Poison, handsome chunk of degen, and bonus damage...
Twisting Fangs, best non-elite dual attack I think, it Deep Wounds!
Impale... This is what makes you the sadistic 'butcher', an idea I borrowed from Dark Messiah: Might and Magic. Does a chunk more damage now than before the updates...

Plague Touch any problems that shoot your way like blind or dazed and what not.

If you're gunning to do the chain again and need energy, your chain will resemble this:

Iron Palm, Falling Spider, Black Lotus Strike, Twisting Fangs, Impale
OR
Black Lotus Strike, Iron Palm, Falling Spider, Twisting Fangs, Impale

It can be tacked on if you're not going to be using Way of the Lotus...

Weaknesses?

Well, aside from body blocking and hexes [both of which are easy to deal with if moving and smart monking are in order], I don't see what could stop this build...

It's up to you to incorporate any suggested shadow stepping skills...

I don't have a chosen elite so I'm wondering what any of you would consider... I haven't been able to cap any yet with my sin and I'm wondering what would make a VERY dangerous Deadly Arts complement in either the Necro side or Assassin side of skills...

Any ideas for such an Elite? ^_^

edit: Assassin's Promise [E]? Replace Way of the Lotus/Black Lotus Strike with it maybe?

Saphatorael · Nov 30, 2006, 01:18 PM // 13:18

Very nice idea.. I've only just tested your build, and even adjusted it slightly

It's A/W, attributes haven't been prefected yet, since I don't have all runes unlocked yet for an assassin (i use a PvE one normally, but I'm too poor to buy another armor set just like that)

Atm they are:
16 Deadly Arts
9 Dagger Mastery (don't have a minor rune, eep.)
8 Crit Strikes (no minor either)
6 Shadow Arts

Skills:

1. Shadow Prison
2. Iron Palm
3. Burst of Aggression
4. Falling Spider
5. Twisting Fangs
6. Impale
7. Res Signet
8. Way of the Lotus/Shadow Refuge/Feigned Neutrality

No more selfheals, but you can shadow step (and snare), and Burst of Aggression will make you deal a little bit extra damage (spike in total will take 5 seconds, BoA should be activated after Iron Palm, before Falling Spider, so it's IAS will still be going to deal the finishing blow(s).
As for Way of the Lotus... well... for the spike to succeed, you'd best be at max energy (i even used one attunement rune when testing), so it's a matter of preference imo... if you're creative enough to get energy in between spikes, feel free to leave it out and take a selfheal
I've only just modded it, but thanks for giving me/us a basic idea of what can be done with Deadly Arts, looks like i severely underestimated it

Yukito Kunisaki · Nov 30, 2006, 05:47 PM // 17:47

A nice idea, my only gripe is that Shadow Prison has a VERY bad recycle time.

As such, you'll be out of combat longer than normal, and the synergy for Iron Palm is lost. You want a hex that recycles at most 20s. to keep in pace with Iron palm.

That and I don't have Nightfall cause well, I need to beat factions and finish off the damn 'bonus' quests in Tyria...

Saphatorael · Nov 30, 2006, 10:21 PM // 22:21

Eh, Shadow Prison is a Nightfall Elite, and a bit better than Dark Prison

Dark Prison is 10e cost, 1/4 cast, 45sec recharge, slows down 33%

Shadow Prison {e} is 5e, 1/4 cast, 20 (!)sec recharge, slows down 66%

I suggest on getting NF

, having it doesn't mean you really need to play it the whole time, you're not paying per minute you play it, eh?

Yukito Kunisaki · Dec 08, 2006, 12:30 AM // 00:30

Ah, this can cause problems...
I'd never have even bought Guild Wars Prophesies had i known I'd become totally useless should I NOT buy the new expansions...

But that's usually not the case...

I have an idea though, tested it in Isle of the Nameless and RA, some TA but ran outta time at that point [gah]

Slight change in the build, makes it more mana friendly, recycle faster, and OWCH, a large blast of damage at the end [vs. 60AL it's 100% kill rate if enemy can't get helped in 4 seconds (480 hp base)] Also, it's unblockable with the alternative build

Same stats:

16 Deadly
9 Dagger
8 Critical
9 Shadow Arts

A/N Deadly Bleeding Poisonous Deep Wound build [ack*]

Dancing Daggers [counts as lead attack even if missed w00t, unblockable]
Entangling Asp [same as above]
Wild Strike
Twisting Fangs
Shadow Refuge
Impale
Assassin's Promise {E}
Plague Touch [res sig if preferred]

alternative [unblockable]

switch wild strike and twisting fangs for Fox Fangs and Nine Tail Strike, you lose conditions, but gain guarunteed damage [as long as you yourself aren't hexed/conditioned]

In PvP, I found this to be practically perfect if the target is stripped of enchantments by a teammate. It can't be kited, since DD and Entangling plant you in place with just enough time to get in there [you can also spam daggers to the back of their heads if desired

]

Impale I believe does 200+ damage easily once it activates Deep Wound and if your foe is overextended, well, that's it, they're dead...

If you want to make life truely a living hell for a lone adversary, trade out Wild Strike for mantis Touch. Also unblockable, guarunteed, and bury the poison in there... The tradeoff is extra damage...

I've discovered this build to be the best way to use the sexy looking preorder daggers as well... ^^

However, when you move in to land your offhand-dual strike, make sure you activate Shadow Refuge to enhance your damage a bit...

majeh456 · Dec 08, 2006, 03:55 AM // 03:55

i like your build very much (i have always loved deadly arts

), but it looks very energy intensive...perhaps zealous daggers would work better? i haven't gotten around to testing this build out, but i will tomorrow.

EDIT: I just got done testing it out, and my energy concerns are history. The only problem with it right now is that it's an easy chain to interupt. I'm going to use some of your good ideas to enhance my own secret build.

Yukito Kunisaki · Dec 12, 2006, 01:47 AM // 01:47

Every assassin chain is easy to interrupt...

What I think makes this one special is that the 1st two attacks are truly unblockable...

No stance, hex, enchantment [aside from the spellbreaker, obsidian flesh, etc.] condition, etc. can actually mess up your starting hits.

Now last I checked, Spell Breaker {E} and the like aren't 'defaults' in most pvp or pve games...

I've never come across one in RA or TA either for that matter. If I do I simply cast on another caster. [Never will there ever be a game where each and every softie carries an anti-magic enchant... At least, not logically]

Energy concerns?

Dancing Daggers - 5e.
Entangling Asp - 10e.
Wild Strike - 5e.
Twisting Fangs - 10e.
Impale - 5e.

Total is 35e. A Seitung Armor setup with the energy extra will hold its own allowing you to get just enough energy to land Impale. [I've tested it, you CAN do the entire chain with 1-2e. left to spare]

There is another option:

Don't do Entangling Asp. You lose on poison but you get spare energy. What's more, you can simply wait a distance and just cast Dancing daggers and Entangling a few moments later [though that's usually enough time to escape death]

Another Deadly Arts idea involved using Iron Palm followed by Fallng Spider [but soon learned that enemies in both PvE and PvP are too quick to remove the opening hex/condition and Iron Palm's Recharge is totally unwieldly unlike the 5s. machine that is Dancing Daggers]

On softies, Iron Palm does less than Dancing Daggers anyway...

Yukito Kunisaki · Dec 12, 2006, 01:50 AM // 01:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by majeh456

EDIT: I just got done testing it out, and my energy concerns are history. The only problem with it right now is that it's an easy chain to interupt. I'm going to use some of your good ideas to enhance my own secret build.

mind pm'ing me said build so I can take a peek? ^_^

Spectar · Dec 12, 2006, 02:10 PM // 14:10

Hey Yukito,
This is my own deadly arts build w/o needing huge pts in deadly.
Assassin Promise
Black Lotus
Black spider
Twisting fangs
Impale
Dark Prison
Res sig
the last slot is normally expose defenses, I know it has no self heal so would probably not be best for randoms but if you are with a spike group you have a constant supply of nrg and recharged skills. It is so far my favorite build for my pve assassin.