Curse

master chief matt · May 16, 2006, 05:17 AM // 05:17

ok, its obvious that assasins suck at taking damage, no arguments here and i have an assasin with max armor. Aside from when i was on pre-island as a new assasin when factions first came out, and when im running with henchies to get rewards outside of towns, i barely die. I have a very specific build and weapons set that helps me own in any level, including gayla hatchery, unwaking waters, the last two missions, and even in vizunah square. the skills i have are all available at senji's corner, and my elite is available at vizunah square and dragons throat.

one thing you need to remember, this build does not work if you are an assasin and have all henchies in your group, they just dont heal right. also, telling your monk that you are using recall on is the best thing you can do before you start, that way they know to expect you to pop up and then lose almost all of your health

i came up with this build after testing each different combo, and found that these here do the most dmg the fastest. With both a zealous mod on my daggers and recall i am at 2 pips of energy regen, but with my crit strikes up as high as they are, and with teh zealous mod, i am getting about 3 energy ever other hit, so energy needs have never been a problem. with death blossom ending my first combo, i usualy gain 12-15 energy alone with that one move, depending on how many people are in they group i am attacking, and if they are using any stances

the reason i use 2 combos, 1 enchantment and a skill is because it is effective, it allows for me to tank and take out 1 or 2 enemies very fast, even enemy warrior mobs, then warp back to the monk. I do not carry a rez signet because if the assasin is the only one left alive then he will most likely be killed very quickly if the rest of the team was overwhelmed, seing as assasins have very bad armor.

I use two combos of 3 moves each in my skill bar
combo#1:unsuspecting strike(+27dmg+30dmg if foe was above 90%hp), fox fangs(cannot be blocked or evaded +18dmg), death blossom(+35dmg and +35dmg to each adjacent enemy)
total dmg:+115 or +145 depending on if enemy was above or below 90%hp

combo#2: leaping mantis sting(+19dmg and criples foe for 13 seconds), jungle strike(+18dmg and +25dmg if foe is crippled), 9 tail strike(+35dmg and cannot be blocked or evaded)
total damage:+132dmg on top of whatever you're hits normaly would do

i use these combos alone, i dont try and mix them up when im in battle. they are set to do more dmg than any other combe that assasins have without useing the elite offhand mobeus strike.

for my other two skills i use recall, at the start of a mission/quest i cast it on a monk. this is an enchantment spell that lasts until i end it. when i end it i teleport back to the person i cast it on, the monk. that way when im running low on hp i can end it, and be right at the monk, which if its a good monk will be close enough to heal, but far away enough to not take damage. this way monks dont have to deal with rezing me every 10 seconds like most assasins(i also have a monk and i know what it is like to rez assasins constantly)

for my last skill i use shadow form. this skill is an elite and can be gotten in vizunah square from The Afflicted Soon Kim, or dragons throat from The Afflicted Huu. For 17 seconds, all hostile Spells that target you fail and all attacks against you miss. When Shadow Form ends, lose all but 41 Health. when that spell is about to end i stop my enchantment spell and im teleported right to a monk, who can either heal me right away, or let me back up and get away from battle for a minute. that way the monks dont have to keep rezing me or healing me and wasting needed energy

My weapon set consists of 3 main weapons. I have a pair of ceremonial daggers for the 15^50 zealous mod and hp+30, they are max req9 dagger mast. second is shiros blades for the life stealing mod. third is one of my favorites against killing monks, lous karambits, +15%(stance) 20/20 armor pen, hp+30. This allows for me to do maximum damage with my weapons. these can be expensive to come by, so if you cannot get them a pair of max daggers with a 15^50 mod will work fine.

my attributes are set as so:
dagger mastery 12
deadly arts 1
shadow arts 12
critical strikes 10

I have a minor rune for each stat except critical strikes, cant find one and wont pay someone camping at rune trader 5k for one.

i also have a mask with +1dagger mast that stacks

armor: (everything is max al 70)
bladed seitung mask of minor dagger mastery
dagger mast +2

infiltrators seitung guise of major vigor
en+5
hp+41
armor +15vs peircing attacks

sabuterus setung gloves
reduces bleeding duration by 20%
armor+15vs slashing attacks

valkyries seitung leggings of minor deadly arts
deadly arts +1 non stacking
en regen +1
hp+10

valkyries seitung shoes of minor shadow arts
shadow arts +1 non stacking
en regen +1
hp+5

with any one of my daggers my energy is 25 with 4 pips regen, and hp is 566

i have tested this build many times, and monks have been surprised that they havent had to rez me. times when i die are when i cannot control it, like when the monk is not doing a good job staying out of mobs, and when i recall to them i am in the middle of another mob. other than that this build works spectacularly for me and my groups.

each combo of mine costs 20 energy total, so even without a zealos weapon any assasin with even a plain whit weapon with no mods can accomplish either of thise combos.

also, as you see there was a post exactly the same as this started by me, but there was too much flaming, name calling and talk about monk builds, plz keep all that out of this thread, i want people to discuss this, and hopefully keep it near the top of page 1 so every assasin can look at this and comment on it and post thier effective builds as well.

Valerius · May 16, 2006, 05:25 AM // 05:25

this build was already commented on... and it sucks big time :P

weapons... armor... skills... bleh

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3030538

master chief matt · May 16, 2006, 06:00 AM // 06:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerius

this build was already commented on... and it sucks big time :P

weapons... armor... skills... bleh

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3030538

honestly, if you dont like it dont post here, its a helpful build, it works, and this is no t a forum for bashing peoples builds, its for sharing them.

so share your builds here for assasins, if you have something that works for you, toss it up here, if you dont like my build, if you think its trash, if you dont like me, just keep it to yourself, or argue with me in game, just not here.

Silent Kitty · May 16, 2006, 08:59 AM // 08:59

People will flame at you, when you are the only one alive and no rez signet. If those people were strangers, you might not be very welcome in the next try.
Mobs often have multi caster classes, which makes it very difficult to be an assassin, and many will think that you are next to useless, unless you are much higher lvl than the others in your party and tank for them.
Take a rez signet with you. People will thank you for that

badazzreddawg · May 16, 2006, 03:18 PM // 15:18

Well the beautiful thing about assasins are their ability to get in and out of mobs. I made an assasin and I have seen the reason why most people don't want assasins, yet whenever I am able to get into a group most of the time I have never had any complaints. I have come to realize that assasins have the shadow arts for a reason. Most of my builds include either Vipers defenses, deaths charge, return, or recall. Most of the time two or three of them. For example one of my builds is Jagged strike, fox fangs, deaths blossom, shadow refuge, vipers defenses, deaths charge, lightning reflex, and recall. When my group enter a mission or explorable area i cast recall on the monk. Then when we get to a mob, I'll wait till the tank goes in to distract and ill use vipers defenses, find the rit or monk and deaths charge into him, unload my combo then if i can ill run out keeping my recall till i really need it. When all my skills recharge I either run or deaths charge back in making sure that vipers defenses are still on me. If I find that the mob turns towards me I'll trey to run the opposite way of the monks to try to prevent the mob aggroing on the monks and other casters. If I can't Ill use lightning reflexes and unload a combo real quik then end recall. Teleporting back to the monk, then immediatly running away from the monk so that if i\I still have aggro on me they follow me instead of attacking the casters. Using this technique I have come to realize that I dont die very often and I play an assasin how it is meant to be played, not as a tank but a pain in the butt. Assasins are meant to get in deal some damage and get out quickly. Now this build is just one of the many I use but all of my builds keep me alive and dealing damage. Also, one of my builds use scorpion wire and falling spider which is really kool. People who are playing assasins are still trying to get the hang of them , but I'm sure once they do they will figure out that they are meant to be an in and out character not a tank. Please everyone give the assasin class a chance to learn before you judge them. Given there will always be a person who wants to tank but don't always assume that every assasin will not know how to play the class.

Beat_Go_Stick · May 16, 2006, 03:41 PM // 15:41

I still say having no Res Sig makes this build awful. I've encountered no end of fools and imbeciles in PvE lately who just don't understand that there is NO SKILL in this entire game that is better that having a comrade with 7 skills on their bar and an 8th that will bring you back to life.

I won't even bother to comment on anything this build has to offer beyond that since you just copied and pasted your old post without any indication you gave any thought to what anyone said about it.

Add a Res Sig to your build or you're just another Assassin out there who contributes nothing but damage to the group.

holden · May 16, 2006, 03:48 PM // 15:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beat_Go_Stick

there is NO SKILL in this entire game that is better that having a comrade with 7 skills on their bar and an 8th that will bring you back to life.

i agree. being the first to res sig a dead team mate will go a long ways toward covering up any ignorant shit you've done or may do in the mission. and I mean as soon as they drop, get them back up.

it shows the whole team you mean business and you're not just there to cap a skill or look for a chest

Rukmedes · May 16, 2006, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Where is Twisting fangs?

Twisting fangs is easily the best assassin skill.

At 10+1, what I always run, critical strike, Twisting Fangs is +17 twice. Hence the name Dual attack. And a deep wound, roughly 75, give or take a few for what class. So, for 10 mana you get +17 +17 +75(give or take). The two +17s are also chances to have Criticals. Thus, making even more damage.

Bloodied Blade · May 16, 2006, 07:32 PM // 19:32

Out of curiosity...

When we had 3 pages asking you why you didn't have a rez and then proved it was needed, why are you still missing that rez?

I suggest that you remove Leaping Mantis Sting for the rez, since there is a *very* slim chance that your target will be moving so that the cripple will work on them...just use Unsuspecting Strike again so that you can rez a teammate.

If you recall to the monk to save the monk (not yourself in this case) and the monk dies, you're going to want to rez him while the rest of your party lives on for a while without the aid of the monk...

---

On a different note: If you're relying on Shadow Form to get the job done for your defenses, why not use a superior rune in Dagger Mastery so that you can at least have respectable damage on Shiro's Blades?

I agree 100% with the effectiveness of your first combo (I use it myself because I don't have AoD yet to open with GPS), but your second one has only limited use: Your lead attack requires that a target be moving in order to cripple, something that is not included in the text of your post (I'm assuming it was a typo, but you may want to mention that they have to be moving). Your second attack depends on the first one to cripple...and NPCs don't generally do much moving (unless your monk is pulling a warrior who is going to chase him...). I have no problem with Nine Tail Strike, it works wonders against foes that are able to block your attacks.

I can only really see one flaw with your elite skill:

What happens if you don't cancel Recall quickly enough, or the monk doesn't heal you in time, or if an enemy caster fires a 1/4 second nuke or something of equal lethality...like simply an attack? I would reccomend one of my favorite skills to counter this, to be used right when you percieve that shadow form is about to end- Heart of Shadow. For the next 60 seconds, when you are struck (it might just be if you take dmg) by a foe, you are healed instead for X. That would give you rather ample time to cancel Recall and bring your bacon out of the fire before an elly makes you into an extra crispy assassin (pun intended).

Good Luck perfecting this thing.

**Edit** Just noticed something rather amusing, the name of the previous posting only had a slightly different name...

master chief matt · May 17, 2006, 02:07 AM // 02:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beat_Go_Stick

you're just another Assassin out there who contributes nothing but damage to the group.

assasins are fast dmg dealers, meant to pop ink deal dmg, pop out, not sit there and tank, assasins are not healers or tanks, their armor sux, so they have to pop in and out of mobs, and did change my stuff from the first post, and yes i did copy and paste it bc of flamers and haters and poeple talking about monk builds that got the last one closed

so, if you dont plan on making an assasin, or wont make one bc you hate them, then dont read the assasin build forum, and if you havent used one then dont say what works and what doesnt untill you have tried it, you have no basis to make a stand on.

Zephro · May 17, 2006, 10:16 AM // 10:16

The very fact that you only have 12 in Dagger Mastery contradicts your statement on Assassins being fast damage dealers. You're missing 4 Stat Points, which can equal 7 Damage gone from Death Blossom, which in turn equals 14 Damage less, and that's just one skill. How about the damage loss from your Lead and Off-hand attacks?
Also, Unsuspecting Strike is IMO, a poor Lead Attack due to its high Energy cost and low utility. You WILL NOT be the first person to aggro enemies, let you recieve a buttload of pain. By the time you start attacking, your target would most likely be below 90% health anyway. I prefer taking Distracting Strike, or Leaping Mantis Sting instead.
Death Blossom is a good Dual for PvE though.

Bloodied Blade · May 17, 2006, 10:46 AM // 10:46

/agree with Zephro, until you get a reliable enchantment for the GPS combo, Death Blossom is "teh pwnzorz".

I still say that I have a problem with your second combo for PvE...they won't be moving by the time you're suppossed to attack them, so having an attack that cripples *moving* targets as your lead, then following with an attack that requires that your target be crippled for any maximum amount of damage is rather foolish imo.

...you really should still bring that rez, many people are not going to be happy that you didn't, it's rule #1 in pve...

**You can get a better pair of dagger for your playstyle if you have the mods**: In Sheng Ji, there is a collector that wants 5 spiritual essence (whatever those glowy things drop in the ascension quest for cantha) for a pair of daggers that is req 9, max, and +15% dmg while enchanted. Add a 20% enchanting mod and a mod of your choice and these would outclass the majority of the daggers that you have.

*EDIT*: Wow...I never really took a look at your weapons other than the ceremonial daggers...you honestly would be better off with what I suggested, add a 3/1 vamp mod if you really have to have that hp steal.

Rukmedes · May 17, 2006, 04:15 PM // 16:15

If you have Recall, why not use the two Phoenix attacks?

Bloodied Blade · May 17, 2006, 06:36 PM // 18:36

Recall enchants "target other ally"...you have to be enchanted, not just maintaining one.

...just noticed that the poster got banned...

Beat_Go_Stick · May 17, 2006, 07:15 PM // 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by master chief matt

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beat_Go_Stick

you're just another Assassin out there who contributes nothing but damage to the group.

assasins are fast dmg dealers, meant to pop ink deal dmg, pop out, not sit there and tank, assasins are not healers or tanks, their armor sux, so they have to pop in and out of mobs, and did change my stuff from the first post, and yes i did copy and paste it bc of flamers and haters and poeple talking about monk builds that got the last one closed

so, if you dont plan on making an assasin, or wont make one bc you hate them, then dont read the assasin build forum, and if you havent used one then dont say what works and what doesnt untill you have tried it, you have no basis to make a stand on.

Actually, I have an Assassin (two ess' please) and will make a Ritualist once I am done with it. Yes, Assassins are fast damage dealers and they definitely should not tank but that does not mean they should stop attacking and "pop out" when they aren't taking any damage.

Regardless, I find it amusing you took a statement from me (out of all the critique you have been given yet conveniently decided to ignore), agreed with it, and told me I have no idea what I'm talking about. You want to defend your "perfect build"? Answer these:

1) What do you do when your monk dies?
2) What do you do when you are blinded?
3) What do you do when you are hexxed (spirit shackles, empathy, etc.)?
4) What do you do when you are crippled or slowed?
5) What do you do when you notice your party is dying?

The answer to every single one of those questions, including #1 and #5, is either "Attack and wait for someone else to fix the situation" or "Nothing."

A "perfect build" does more than 1 thing.
A "perfect build" has options for at least a few different situations.
A "perfect build" can bring his teammates who he is COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY dependant on back to life if they die.

If you want critique on your build, be ready for some heavy hitters who have been playing this game a long time to give you some blunt but helpful advice. If all you want is a pat on the back and praise, you are in the wrong forums. We certainly give credit where credit is due but the "perfect build" is perfected, not born, and you don't seem to have any intention of altering yours in the slightest

EDIT: Oh yeah....he did get banned, didn't he? *chuckle*

Bloodied Blade · May 17, 2006, 07:24 PM // 19:24

@Beat Go Stick, thankyou for bringing my inner voice to fruition...I had so many things that I wanted to say about this and couldn't manage to do tactfully, so I just didn't post anything...

Should I bring Signet of Shadows (whichever one the anti-condition one is) to remove conditions if I'm running the FotM AoD + GPS + Horns + Spider + Fangs? I would assume that you would signet right after Falling Spider, then finish your target off with Fangs (if you can do so safely, otherwise just let it wear off).

Bloodied Blade · May 17, 2006, 07:27 PM // 19:27

I love the line where he says that assassins are not meant to tank... Contradiction is what makes our society so nice...

"You can't tank as an assassin...even though I use Shadow Form as my elite."

Beat_Go_Stick · May 17, 2006, 11:35 PM // 23:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodied Blade

Should I bring Signet of Shadows (whichever one the anti-condition one is) to remove conditions if I'm running the FotM AoD + GPS + Horns + Spider + Fangs? I would assume that you would signet right after Falling Spider, then finish your target off with Fangs (if you can do so safely, otherwise just let it wear off).

Lol, too many acronyms

Fad of the Month:

Aura of Displacement
Golden Phoenix Strike
Twisting Fangs
Horns of the Ox
Falling Spider
Signet of Malice

As for the answer to your question, yes, I would bring it. The only problem with the signet is if they manage to blind you before you get Twisted Fangs off on them.

Personally, I wouldnt get used to this FotM too much in anything but PvE because if anyone manages to strip your enchantments, not only are you unable to use your entire skill bar, but you also teleport away, useless and defeated. God forbid a lucky Ranger or Mesmer hit your enchants with a lucky Distracting shot or Diversion....