Curse

Dinkytowner · Jun 21, 2007, 11:10 PM // 23:10

I'd like to try to use Zenmai occasionally, but I have no idea what skills to give her. Has anyone experimented with assassin hero builds? What do they use correctly? What do they screw up? Does anyone have any useful builds they would like to share?

Sun Fired Blank · Jun 22, 2007, 03:40 AM // 03:40

Unfortunately, she's not very useful in many situations. Zenmai is only capable of using very simple chains, and she doesn't like to resolve them very quickly. That means if you have a chain that paths in several directions, you can expect her to fail miserably. An example of a chain that she can cycle until death is:

[skill]Unsuspecting Strike[/skill][skill]Wild Strike[/skill][skill]Death Blossom[/skill]

An example of a chain that she won't cycle worth a damn is:

[skill]Black Lotus Strike[/skill][skill]Twisting Fangs[/skill][skill]Black Spider Strike[/skill][skill]Blades of Steel[/skill]

Although it isn't a chain that I would use for PvE, it is the first chain that comes to mind that demonstrates the limitations of the hero AI. Zenmai places equal weight on every skill in the chain, which means that she is likely to reverse the order of the dual attacks and hex-requirement off hands, and because she isn't likely to use them in quick succession, the point of the chain is defeated. This limitation severely constrains many irregular attack chains, and it also dampens the usefulness of the otherwise amazing Moebius Strike.

Another problem is that she does not care very much for her life and isn't likely to withdraw; she very much negates the concept of her profession, and most shadow step options for the sake of retreat are very limited to her. You could likely micromanage her if you had to, but that strikes me as an exercise in frustration. She also doesn't understand energy management; for that reason, her ability to use a Shadow Arts build is extremely limited.

That said, any build that you equip her with is likely to be counter-intuitive; if you equip her for quick, short bursts of damage, she is going to die.

With that in mind, she is tolerable as:

A / R
The idea is that Critical Strikes + Marksmanship + Critical Eye gives you a 50% critical rate; this gives her a fairly sizeable damage increase and important energy management for Barrage. The rest of the bar is not overly important, but you can fit pets, ranger interrupts (Savage Shot, Distracting Shot), critical strikes enchantments and perhaps Favorable Winds.

My experience, however, is that heroes lack the targeting judgment required to convert Barrage into respectable damage, and to be very truthful, it isn't great damage anyways. To be frank, the A / R concept likely has a slightly lower damage output overall than a comparable R / X.

A / D
The idea is to utilize dervish options for damage and survival. The scythe yields powerful critical hits because to a large damage range and a high maximum damage value. A high score in Critical Strikes and Scythe Mastery gives you a ~30% chance of a critical hit. Other bonuses come from Way of the Assassin (~+30%) and Critical Eye (~+10%).

Coupled with the scythe's limited area of effect, she has fairly high and sustainable damage and energy management. These bonuses also help augment other skills that rely on critical hits, like Critical Defenses and Way of Perfection. Scythe Mastery and Critical Strikes provide a number of powerful and spammable attacks (Mystic Sweep, Eremite's Attack) plus ways to inflict and exploit conditions (Sharpen Daggers, Malicious Strike, Reap Impurities).

Even without the use of a scythe, the Dervish gives you very powerful survival enchantments that can make Zenmai viable. A very simple combination of Earth Prayers: 8, Vital Boon and Mystic Regeneration helps to improve her survival by leaps and bounds.

Porkchop Sandwhiches · Jul 06, 2007, 03:39 AM // 03:39

I actually have been using her as my only upfront melee recently. Sounds crazy, but it works well in HM with the way that some mobs try to constantly kite and spam stances. I've been using her for Prophecies.

A/W with shadow prison, expose defenses, "watch yourself!", black spider strike, blades of steel, and iron palm. Sometimes I manually send her in with shadow prison to snare a mob that I know will kite. I myself am a daze ranger, so she helps interrupt pretty well.

Evilsod · Jul 06, 2007, 03:42 AM // 03:42

Theres an A/P Spear build here somewhere (or was it on GWO...). Basically it keeps her out of harms way and lets her do a decent amount of damage at the same time without relying on combos.

Doran's Stronger · Jul 07, 2007, 12:07 AM // 00:07

I have heard that she plays a critical barrager very well...but I have no personal experience as of yet.

Stormlord Alex · Jul 07, 2007, 12:31 AM // 00:31

Hmm, as Sun said, she really can't seem to handle complex chains with multiple offhands/duals well...

However, just watching her against the practice dummies - she *does* seem capable of looping Moebius/Death Blossom (albeit, slower than I'd like), and, when under heavy damage, she will use Death's Retreat. Admittedly, she dives straight back into the fray, but the respite is normally enough for the monks to save her sorry arse.

Some of my guildies have had luck giving here a low-recharge combo, and Flashing Blades, given her penchant for mindlessly attacking, true AI style.

R1p70r · Jul 09, 2007, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sun Fired Blank

With that in mind, she is tolerable as:

A / R
The idea is that Critical Strikes + Marksmanship + Critical Eye gives you a 50% critical rate; this gives her a fairly sizeable damage increase and important energy management for Barrage. The rest of the bar is not overly important, but you can fit pets, ranger interrupts (Savage Shot, Distracting Shot), critical strikes enchantments and perhaps Favorable Winds.

My experience, however, is that heroes lack the targeting judgment required to convert Barrage into respectable damage, and to be very truthful, it isn't great damage anyways. To be frank, the A / R concept likely has a slightly lower damage output overall than a comparable R / X.

This is how I used my Zenmai. I have given her a forgotten flatbow (From the end of the nightfall campaign, Zealous and +30 health flatbow) plus a superior critical strikes rune, a minor shadow arts and the rest are your choice (I initially used attunement, before discovering she MORE than made her energy back from the critical stikes and barrage)

Try this setup:
12 Critical Strikes (Plus Rune and Mask = 16), 12 Marksmanship, 3 Shadow Arts (After rune = 4)
[skill]Barrage[/skill][skill]Distracting Shot[/skill][skill]Critical Eye[/skill][skill]Sharpen Daggers[/skill][skill]Favorable Winds[/skill][skill]Way of Perfection[/skill][skill]Antidote Signet[/skill][skill]Resurrection Signet[/skill]
OwJjkxfzIPLmHj+zzhdIgrGBAA
Thats what I use, and yes, sharpen daggers DOES effect arrows, isn't a very well named skill, is it? ^^