Curse

Siren · Mar 28, 2006, 11:03 PM // 23:03

Quote:

Assassin/Mesmer
Level: 20

Critical Strikes: 11 (10+1)
Dagger Mastery: 15 (11+4)
Deadly Arts: 11 (10+1)

- Mark of Instability (Deadly Arts)
For 28 seconds, the next time you hit target foe with a dual attack skill, that foe is knocked down.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

- Black Mantis Thrust (Dagger Mastery)
If this attack hits, you strike for +20 damage. If target foe is suffering from a Hex, that foe is Crippled for 16 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:12

- Jungle Strike (Dagger Mastery)
Must follow a lead attack. If it hits, this attack strikes for +20 damage. If it hits a foe that was Crippled, it does +31 damage.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:12

- Twisting Fangs (Dagger Mastery)
Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Twisting Fangs strikes for +11 damage and struck foe suffers from Bleeding and Deep Wound for 20 seconds.
Energy:10 Cast:0 Recharge:12

- Falling Spider (Dagger Mastery)
Must strike a knocked-down foe. If it hits, Falling Spider strikes for +35 damage and target foe is Poisoned for 20 seconds.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:10

- Entangling Asp (Deadly Arts)
Entangling Asp must follow a lead attack. Target foe is knocked down and becomes Poisoned for 16 seconds.
Energy:10 Cast:1 Recharge:20

- Horns of the Ox (Dagger Mastery)
Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Horns of the Ox strikes for +15 damage. If struck foe is not adjacent to any allies, that foe is knocked down.
Energy:5 Cast:0 Recharge:12

- Resurrection Signet ()
Resurrect target party member. That party member is returned to life with 100% Health and 25% Energy. You may use this Signet only once per mission.
Energy:0 Cast:3 Recharge:0

Obviously, Horns of the Ox is very conditional here, because you can only get a KD if the target is reasonably separated from his or her allies. BUT, given the two KD skills already in the build, Falling Spider can function without Horns of the Ox, so Horns isn't completely necessary. In fact, you could consider it a free slot for whatever you'd want in there. I'd lean toward Critical Eye if not Horns.

The combo goes like this:

Mark of Instability-->Black Mantis Thrust (Cripple for Hex on Foe)-->Entangling Asp (KD and Poison)-->Jungle Strike (damage bonus from Cripple)-->Twisting Fangs (Deep Wound and Bleeding, plus KD from MoI)-->Falling Spider (damage bonus from KD and Poison)-->Horns of the Ox if they get back up...if they're not dead. lol

Sidra · Mar 29, 2006, 02:43 AM // 02:43

energy management is completely raped here... i'd estimate about 15 seconds to complete the combo, which is 7 longer then i'd usually risk myself.

Siren · Mar 29, 2006, 02:57 AM // 02:57

Hence why you could use Critical Eye instead of Horns of the Ox. Not to mention a pair of zealous daggers, too.

LaserLight · Mar 29, 2006, 04:00 AM // 04:00

Problem: you're basing your build on GWG skill listing numbers. As has been stated several timesd now, these numbers - especially for Dagger Mastery - are erroneous. That being said...

While the execution is good, I believe the idea is flawed. Dagger/Deadly knockdowns will never compete with hammers. Assassins with their energy-intensive, conditional KD can never keep up with the steady, sustainable pressure of a Hammer KD. Even going for a quick burst of KD like you did here (which, by the way, was a sound decision over trying to match the sustainability of a Hammer) won't really compete with a single Gale. It'll be more annoying, but at the same time you've blown pretty much every drop of power you've got to achieve the same basic thing a single skill, ten Energy, and a bit of Exhaustion can handle.

That being said...Mark of Instability has some promise to it. MoI -> Disrupting Stab ._ Temple Strike [E] -> Death Blossom (or Twisting if ye have to have the Deep Wound), Falling Spider. Much easier on the Energy, and while not nearly as KD-intensive as the original, this one is quicker and easier to pull off. That and it's much more disruptive, with Disrupting Stab's interrupt stopping them from moving for a split-second and thus making the rest of the combo fall together quicker. You still get the one KD and thus the Falling Spider as well, and this stream is easier to build around.

One more thing to remember. Dancing Daggers, which is a ranged, mostly unblockable magical attack worth a good deal of damage with high Deadly Arts, counts as a lead attack. Entangling Asp has to follow a lead attack, but it is not itself a touch/dagger-range spell. I rest my case.

ANyways, hope I helped somehow somewhere in there. Good work regardless of my personal opinion of its viability.

Siren · Mar 29, 2006, 05:04 AM // 05:04

I guess the GWFreaks program bases its stats on similar numbers to GWG? That's the program I used for this.

I could see using Dancing Daggers. I had fooled around with it over the weekend. The damage isn't too bad, though I'm fond of Unsuspecting Strike if I can catch the target over 90% health.

Disrupting Stab I've not been terribly pleased with. It can disrupt their escape, but Cripple from Black Mantis Thrust can do it, as well. The Cripple can get removed, but I'm looking at this build being fast enough so condition removal won't matter all that much.

One thing I didn't like about the build was that it has very little damage output based on the numbers. It totals out to 80-90 base damage, excluding critical hits and the Deep Wound, not to mention the Bleed and Poison. I suppose it's a burst KD mixed with degen.

So far, playing different Assassin builds, energy has never been an issue, so that's why I'm not too worried about Gale's performance. With Gale, it costs 10 energy now and still causes Exhaustion, and it doesn't seem like Stonefist Gauntlets increase the KD time anymore. Gale knocks down for 3 seconds, Stonefists increase KD time by one second, up to a max of 3. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, it sounds like the gauntlets won't have an effect.

Where I see this build doing KD well is that I could theoretically pop Moebius Strike in there, possibly in place of Horns/Critical Eye, but that would require the target health to be below 50%. I think it'd be possible, if just difficult. I could see it happening with getting a normal attack in-between the attack skills, which gives me more chances to snag critical hits to boost the damage, in addition to having a better chance to dual strike. Without Critical Eye, it'd be difficult, though.

I wonder how Unsuspecting Strike would do as the lead attack, then Entangling Asp followed by Repeating Strikes a few times, though I'm not terribly fond of that skill, either. It probably has its uses. Temple Strike perhaps, though if I'm looking to increase damage output, a few successful Repeating Strikes could work. Yes, I love Twisting Fangs, heh. It's quite helpful for setting-up for Moebius Strike, if I were to use that.

If I were to create a straight damage build out of this one, I'd probably only keep Entangling Asp and choose between Horns and MoI. I'm partial to MoI, because of the KD conditional for Horns.

I could probably get by without Critical Eye, especially if I use Zealous daggers and allow myself one "regular" attack in-between the skills, so the Horns slot is freed up for Moebius Strike.

MoI-->Unsuspecting Strike-->Entangling Asp-->Repeating Strikes-->Twisting Fangs-->Falling Spider-->Moebius Strike

Might be worth trying out. I've done similar builds in the past and had success with them. In that build I've got two fast KDs, which should disrupt plenty, and I've also got a fairly strong damage output.

What's really piqued my interest is the viability of inserting Falling Spider in-between Entangling Asp and Repeating Strikes. There doesn't appear to be any conflict in the combo chain for Falling Spider and Repeating Strikes; Falling Spider needs to follow a knocked-down foe (Entangling Asp) and Repeating Strikes only needs to follow an off-hand attack (Falling Spider).

Hmmm...

Kotoso · Mar 29, 2006, 06:54 PM // 18:54

since you use sup rune anyway have u thought of putting it into crit strikes for the 3e crit?

Siren · Mar 29, 2006, 08:52 PM // 20:52

It's certainly possible, though at the 10 Critical Strikes, I've hit the break-point, and the minor is there just to boost the Critical hit percentage. I figured the superior rune in Dagger Mastery would be more useful. I'd prefer more powerful dagger attacks and just slightly above the 2E break-point, rather than weaker dagger attacks and a Critical Strikes level of 15. The extra two levels there seem like they would be overkill anyway.