Curse

Beat_Go_Stick · Apr 21, 2006, 09:53 PM // 21:53

So I've been thinking a lor about what kind of Assassin to make and figured I could share my ideas (as well as ask for everyone elses) on what kind of playstyle would be most effective for each of the possible class combos. Given, new ideas will spring up once the skills have been unlocked and people (myself included) have had ample time to explore each of these but this is my initial impression of what each of these will be...

A/W - Combat master. The combination of quick killing dagger skills and the solidity of warrior stances (as well as the new elite skill, Shove, which is happily based on Tactics rather than Strength) will allow this assassin to be both deadly and durable. There is also the possibility there to combine the "critical strikes" skill line with other weapons such as axe or hammer, maximizing damage while adding a return of energy for each successful deadly critical hit. I would imagine that a specialized critical axe weilding eviscerator with warriors cunning and teleportational skills would be a character to be reckoned with. whether or not the old and reliable warrior weapons will continue to be on par with daggers, in the hands of an assassin, remains to be seen but I would imagine that Wild Blow would be a handy addition to any assassin build.

A/Mo - Bringing these classes together is something I havent seen much sign of here but the abundance of energy assassins are privvy to along with the Smiting line from its monk secondary have the potential to really dish out some serious damage. Strength & Honor would only lower your energy regen to 3 pips. This and an assassins natural critical regeneration would still allow the character to be swimming in energy while gaining a nice damage bonus, essentially increasing the weapon damage base to be greater than that of an axe. I'm also convinced this class combo has as much potential for PvE as the ever popular W/Mo, combining maintainable health regeneration with a healthy dose of attack damage in order to make the Guild Wars AI weep tears of luscious loot and skill points.

A/Me - My top pick at this time, the assassin mesmer seems to be most deadly of the assassin classes, imho. Able to attack their enemy's health (with degenerative or damaging hexes, condition stacking, or plain raw attack damage), energy (with e.denial, an easy daze, and a healthy energy supply of their own to draw from so long as their attacks hit), and actual skill bar itself (with Blackout or Shroud of Silence), this assassin could literally shut down their opponent in any way concievable (The idea of adding Domination to an already dominating set of assassin skills makes me smirk like an evil villain). Add that to a very versatile set of personal enhancements from Echo to mantras and what you are left with seems to be an assassin able to attack from numerous conceptual fronts while simultaneously able to aggressively and efficiently defend themselves.

A/R - Due to the ever disappointing Beast Mastery line (the AI of which made me put my pet away and never bring it out again within days of using it), I am highly unlikely to choose this one (though the reverse does have potential due to the ranger's Expertise). Though I am quite interested to see how the "Critical Marksman" idea plays out and well as the teleporting trapper that I'm sure we will see used much more effectively that the A/E template they provided us, I have found that using ranger as a secondary often falls short of effective. Ranger is really a class best used as a primary, imo, and loses a lot of it's ability (spamming arrows, interrupts, conditions, and just skills in general) without Expertise. Guild Wars made Expertise such an effective skill line to boost that most character attempting to use ranger skills without it end up running themselves out of energy or finding that the exact skill bar they have employed would work much better if they just switch their primary and secondary classes. Now I'm not trying to say that ranger secondary can't work. It has been proven to us that it most certainly can and does. I am merely pointing out that the number of times it has worked out and been a superior build pales in comparison to the number of effective builds almost every other class allows as a secondary.

A/N - Necro is one of those classes that only seems to enhance any primary class you pin it to and assassin looks to be no exception. Staple skills like Plague Touch and more eccentric ones like Grenth's Balance all bring build ideas to mind. Making an effective X/N is never a difficult task not only because necro is such a nice complimentary class but also because they do not lose any real potential when you take away Soul Reaping. Sure, removing Rune capability hurts but not much more than any other class. The only issue I have with A/N is that most X/N builds are 100x more effective in Random Arena than in organized PvP. We will probably see a lot of these guys but I definitely do not plan to be one of them. After playing Mo/N, W/N, N/Me, and R/N through most of Prophecies, I am not making another new necro. I will leave the ideas on what this class combo will be to others

A/E - They tried to give us one of these and, imho, failed miserably. On par with other pre-builds such as the Spell Slasher and the Abominable Snowman Warrior templates, their skill bar really proved to be a highly effective death machine that accepts death rather than dealing it. The whole "teleport into a nest of rabid warrior snakes so you can do a couple things before they put you over their knees and spank you raw with the blunt of their weapons" thing just doesnt work. Regardless, I think the "elemental assassin" has great potential. It strikes me as a class that will boost it's elemental daggers to both deal more damage on soft targets but also bypass the +20 AR warriors have on those occasions they are face to face. They can combine their KD teleport and Shock to keep an opponent down...maybe they could even find an actual use for Mark of Rodgort by combining it with attacks that deal extra effects vs. hexed foes :P

A/Rt - This is the tough one. Will their skills compliment each other? The concept of an assassin/ninja type drawing strength from the spiritual realm sounds quite nice in theory but who can really say if 8 skills chosen carefully from each class will be something to be reckoned with. If anyone tried this combo out during the Factions preview, I'd love to hear your take on it

Anyway, I still feel like A/Me is the class for me. Just the thought of the all-purpose (all purple

) skill bar gets my mind going. I am very much looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with using ALL these class combos. What do you guys think? Which one do you think will be most effective in PvP and PvE and why?

unholy guardian · Apr 22, 2006, 01:51 AM // 01:51

I am going for a/w, i think it could be a great runner anyway, blanaced stance and many shadow arts skills could make a great droks runner, i hope

Warrior stances that use adrenline would be easly spammed from an assassin, i could see sheilds up almost the whole time

Healling signet cobined with shadow refudge is massive healing and the fact you lose armor isn't so bad since you take half damage while shadow refuge is in effect.

A/rt i think will be popular until people relize it will be hard to complement the two, since the jobs are so different of the professions.

swordfisher · Apr 22, 2006, 03:27 AM // 03:27

Just going by the builds I've been coming up with thusfar, I'd have to say A/W rocks. I've written up three A/W's (Damascus, Barrier, Fear), one A/Me (Psychic) -though I haven't done my blackout assassin yet- one A/Mo (Gift) and a R/A (Poison).

Wild Blow is easily a staple skill for an Assassin, as it's just too damn good. Also, Assassins may be capable of functioning as Bloody -not Bunny- Thumpers by switching in the crit energy gain machine for expertise cost reduction.

Iraqalypse Now · Apr 22, 2006, 04:36 AM // 04:36

Shadow Refuge + Healsig is much better on an assassin/warrior IMO, shadow refuge is lots better at low spec than healsig is.

Also, I think a much better approach to the class combination question is to split it into two catagories: Assassin/* that use their secondary class for some skills to complement the playstyle of an assassin, and Assassin/* that use the Assassin's armor and attributes to complement the playstyle of their secondary class. Assassin/Warrior borrowing wild blow is an example of the first, while the Assassin/Warrior "Bloody Thumper" someone mentioned is a good example of the second.

Quick summary of benefits of each secondary for a dagger assassin:

/Warrior:
Wild Blow
Fear Me
Watch Yourself / other defensive skills
Shove
"Coward"
"On Your Knees"
Speed Buffs (sprint/rush)

Ranger:
Apply Poison
Self Heals/ Stances
Speed Buffs

Monk:
Self Heals/Prots
Condition removal
hex removal
Smiting damage buffs

Mesmer:
Disruption - interupts, BLACKOUT, etc
Illusion magic snares/speed buff
Hex Breaker
Energy Management
Enchantment Removal

Necro:
plague touch
useful hexes (weaken armor, rigor mortis)
enchant removal

Elementalist:
conjure __X__
Snares/speed buffs
shock/gale (although exhaustion is a severe pain on an assassin)

Ritualist:
weapon spells
restoration magic self preservation

thats about it unless I've missed something important

Yukito Kunisaki · Apr 23, 2006, 06:16 PM // 18:16

I'm definitely in favor of the A/N. He's not the best at anything, but he's damn good at most things like a R would be...

for instance:

E. Denial - you've got Malaise/Wither in Curses, sure they suck compared to 'straight' e denial, but they're still there and can be used...

DoT - Blood Magic anyone?

anti-condition? you guessed it, plague touch

anti-defense: Rigor Mortis, Barbs, Weaken Armor to the rescue! [no need for rigor since Expose Defenses is better and so is Expunge Enchantments

]

anti-warrior: Faintheartedness, Price of Failure ftw. Throw in a Temple Strike for REAL pain for 30s...

Yeap, just about anything can be done with A/N... Nothing specialized, but strong even if generalized...

LaserLight · Apr 23, 2006, 09:53 PM // 21:53

Good breakdown Beat, but I think you missed a good example of what the A/R can do. Just a bit of planning and the Critical Strikes Energy battery can work as well as Expertise.

As for my predictions, setting aside the inevitable flood of A/Rt for now, I think most of the smart/semi-smart players will split between A/W and A/Me. Wild Blow is just too obvious, and too good, to ignore, while A/Me is one of the most flexible profession combinations around. A/N will come in a close second for the reasons Yukito mentioned, and then we'll see a smattering of A/R, A/E and A/Mo, most of which will be sub-par, a few of which will be brutal. Unlike Warriors, Assassins have the Energy to run caster secondaries and actually cast with them, a fact most people in this forum have recognized. Hell, they're already half-caster with the Shadow and Deadly Arts lines. Given that, I think we'll be seeing a whole new breed of 'Spell Slashers' when Factions hits.