Curse

Bobby2 · Aug 05, 2007, 07:20 AM // 07:20

Hiya. I'm quite new to the game, this Sin is my first character. I'm at Senji's Corner by now, scuttling around trying to get my armour up to 70, you know.

What I need is some advice on an effective PvE build without any Elites. Currently, it looks like this:

- Critical Strikes 11+1
- Dagger Mastery 11
- Shadow Arts 5

Skills:
- Critical Eye (recharge 30 sec, b/o CS 12 it lasts for 30 sec as well

)
- Critical Defenses
- Shadow Refuge
- Dash
- Jagged Strike
- Fox Fangs
- Golden Phoenix Strike
- Death Blossom

Death Blossom has been great! I chose Jagged Strike as a lead b/o its low recharge time and energy cost, Fox Fangs for the last reason. Since I see myself using Shadow Refuge quite often, and I also run Critical Defenses, I thought Golden Phoenix Strike would make for a nice shortcut into Blossom. Dash is cheap and versatile, though I'd rather have a Shadow Step of course but they seem either useless or energy-expensive. Critical Eye is a modest way of energy management.

Problems I have:
- I die quite a lot, and it seems DP is a real punishment for something as energy intensive as a Sin.

But this could easily be due to me overextending, since well, I'm a noob.
- I can't seem to keep Critical Defenses up! I thought I'd be great but apparently, even with all this dedication to Dagger Mastery and Critical Strikes, and spending waaay too much time in combat than is good for me

, I can't seem to score crits reliably enough for it not to run out immediately after activation. 'They' said it would be great! But I haven't been witness to it yet.

So any tips, advice etc. would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Darkpower Alchemist · Aug 05, 2007, 07:43 AM // 07:43

First, if you have any money, get your armor right. Second, if you can get access to Nightfall, get the sunspear skill Critical Agility for assassins. It will make a huge difference. PvE wise, elites are not totally needed, but more of a preference. Once you get Flashing Blades from Xuekao you're officially true sin material.

Those 2 skills mixed with your dagger skills will make you better able to deal with situations. A good monk helps,too. Or 3 in your case, lol.

Divyn · Aug 05, 2007, 08:04 AM // 08:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darkpower Alchemist

First, if you have any money, get your armor right. Second, if you can get access to Nightfall, get the sunspear skill Critical Agility for assassins. It will make a huge difference. PvE wise, elites are not totally needed, but more of a preference. Once you get Flashing Blades from Xuekao you're officially true sin material.

Those 2 skills mixed with your dagger skills will make you better able to deal with situations. A good monk helps,too. Or 3 in your case, lol.

That's one way to do it. Basically an assassin has two ways to go for it. Rely on before meantioned skills to block huge amounts of damage for survival, or a moebius chain for insane damage.

But that wasn't really his question now was it xD

Raffine · Aug 05, 2007, 08:33 AM // 08:33

Let's see..

Quote:

I die quite a lot, and it seems DP is a real punishment for something as energy intensive as a Sin. But this could easily be due to me overextending, since well, I'm a noob.

-Try using Ctrl+Shift+Space Bar to call your target so your henchies will go in first.
-If you're having trouble with energy..you may want to invest in some radiant insigs/attunement runes.
-Make sure you have the best vigor rune that you can afford. ^^;

Quote:

I can't seem to keep Critical Defenses up!

Like Darkpower said, Flashing Blades would be a pretty nice elite to keep you alive. It would be much easier to upkeep then Critical Defenses(However, Xuekao has the Assassin's Promise elite, not Flashing

).

Try getting this quest http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Assist_the_Guards from Wajjun Baazar. It'll let you cap Flashing Blades pretty early since the boss that you have to kill uses it.

Other Advice:
-Drop Critical Defenses for Flashing Blades, and remove dash for another skill of your choice(Dash would cancel out Flashing Blades).

-Remove Golden Phoenix Strike for a rez(I prefer Rebirth..), since you no longer have Critical Defenses to meet GPS's condition.

-Switch out Fox Fangs for Wild Strike if you feel that you need a faster recharging offhand.

-Like Darkpower said, you may want to get your gear set up first.

-Get Moebius when you get the chance. =P Best Sin elite, imo.

Yanman.be · Aug 05, 2007, 08:46 AM // 08:46

Do mind, this is PvE advice only.

Coloneh · Aug 05, 2007, 05:01 PM // 17:01

builds have elite skills. get one. then get armor. you should have enough money by this point in the game to buy it.

Bobby2 · Aug 05, 2007, 09:15 PM // 21:15

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I know armour 70 is, well, just about bare minimum - so as I've said, that's my main priority now. I haven't gotten a chance to get Elite skills yet, so these advices were sadly moot. Thanks anyway

Raffine, thanks for the henchman command - I'm sure it'll help a lot

I can actually do the Assist the Guards quest! Do I get Flashing Blades automatically when I complete it? It's proven well hard up until now

Guess there's no argument against swapping out Fox Fangs for Wild Strike. So that's done.

I'm getting... somewhere. Keep 'em coming, please!

PS: Yanman, cute cat

Raffine · Aug 05, 2007, 10:52 PM // 22:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby2

Do I get Flashing Blades automatically when I complete it? It's proven well hard up until now

Nope, you'll have to purchase a "Signet of Capture" from a nearby skill trainer then use it near the corpse of "Waeng"(The boss that you need to kill for the quest).

Sqube · Aug 06, 2007, 06:48 PM // 18:48

If you're having a hard time keeping Critical Defenses up, you might want to consider bringing [skill=text]Critical Strike[/skill].

Bobby2 · Aug 07, 2007, 05:06 AM // 05:06

Got Flashing Blades now, thank you all so much! The difference is enormous

Got my gear set as well. Now all I need is maxed out basic Sais (the 7-17 damage ones, or am I wrong about this?) and I'm game! Thanks again!

Bobby2 · Aug 08, 2007, 06:25 AM // 06:25

New post cuz I got a new build. Mostly because I've got my mitts on Darkroot's Daggers (15-enchanted, Zealous, +30 Health).

Crit: total 13
Dagg: total 12
Shad: total 7 (I believe)

2 Major Runes, 1 Crit and 1 Dagg, means -70 Health (total 440). On the other hand, Radiant and other runes (focus?) give me 32 Energy. Now for skills:

- Jagged Strike
- Wild Strike
- Horns of the Ox
- Falling Spider
- Death Blossom

- Shadow Refuge
- Shroud of Distress
- Death's Charge

So basically, I keep SoD active for the extra damage, which shouldn't be too hard. Some healing and movement, of course - some nasty encounters with Eles have lead me to pick DC over Dash. The combo is essentially the same: Jagged-Wild-Blossom (which can be thrown at leisure), but now possibly with Horns-Spider after Wild, still ending in Blossom (5! That's the longest chain I've ever had) for a formidable spike.

It's fun playing a Sin! It's like walking a delicate line between aggressive bloodthirst and calculated discretion. The 'bloodthirst' part often gets the better of me

I know there aren't any Elite skills included but I just couldn't well combine the two I got with this pair of daggers. Maybe a nice Elite enchantment would help out, any suggestions? So far advice has been great so keep 'em coming!

Raffine · Aug 08, 2007, 08:23 AM // 08:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby2

Crit: total 13
Dagg: total 12
Shad: total 7 (I believe)

2 Major Runes, 1 Crit and 1 Dagg, means -70 Health (total 440). On the other hand, Radiant and other runes (focus?) give me 32 Energy.

Might want to drop the major runes for two minor ones, since your health is abit low.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby2

- Jagged Strike
- Wild Strike
- Horns of the Ox
- Falling Spider
- Death Blossom

- Shadow Refuge
- Shroud of Distress
- Death's Charge

Hmm..I'd drop Horns of the Ox and Falling Spider for PvE, since mobs tend to be adjacent to eachother quite often(Well, that..and..monsters already die very quickly in PvE). Also..[skill]Critical Agility[/skill] would be a nice skill to add to your build.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby2

I know there aren't any Elite skills included but I just couldn't well combine the two I got with this pair of daggers. Maybe a nice Elite enchantment would help out, any suggestions?

Hmm..well..you could use..
[skill]Moebius Strike[/skill] To chain Moebius-Death Blossom.

Or..if you really want an enchantment..

[skill]Aura of Displacement[/skill] Could replace Death's Charge for both a shadow-step in and out. However...AoD is really painful on the energy, and..Shadow Walk+Dash(Or some other cancel stance) is usually a better option.

Edit: Oh, and..I suppose [skill]Way of the Assassin[/skill] might interest you since you're using enchants and don't have any other stances.

Toutatis · Aug 08, 2007, 09:11 AM // 09:11

If you're after an elite enchantment, may I suggest Locust's Fury. A very nice enchantment spell that increases your chances of doublestriking while wielding daggers (couple that with the zealous mod on your daggers and you could become an energy regen machine).

Quote:

- Jagged Strike
- Wild Strike
- Horns of the Ox
- Falling Spider
- Death Blossom

- Shadow Refuge
- Shroud of Distress
- Death's Charge

A longer attack chain is not necessarily a better attack chain. Remember that the majority of your offensive capabilities are in your chosen attack chain, and if your chain gets interrupted or broken, or if you're forced to change targets for whatever reason, you have to start the whole thing again from the beginning. And considering how fast things can die in PvE, you may want to consider a simple lead/offhand/dual chain that can be spammed over and over ad infinitum (personally I prefer Jagged/Wild/Death Blossom as it's cheap and recharges quickly). A shorter attack chain also frees up some more slots on your skillbar for another tactical/defensive skill or two.

jesh · Aug 08, 2007, 10:59 AM // 10:59

Locust's Fury only works on regular attacks, since your attack skills can't double strike. It's pretty limited for that reason, but you can make a kinda of C-Space machine by stacking buffs pretty easily. Start with vampiric daggers, of course. Add an IAS, then start adding buffs. Conjures work, but you lose the ability to have orders work on you. I like going with Winnowing, Predatory Season, Splinter Weapon + Go For the Eyes!, plus Order of Pain and Order of Apostasy.
Of course it gets boring eventually to not do anything but press that space bar.

Bobby2 · Aug 09, 2007, 03:12 AM // 03:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by jesh

Locust's Fury only works on regular attacks, since your attack skills can't double strike. It's pretty limited for that reason

I thought Dagger Skills could double strike, but that the 2nd attack was just worked out as a basic attack?

Yanman.be · Aug 09, 2007, 08:28 AM // 08:28

No, double strike is only when you are auto-attacking.

Bobby2 · Aug 09, 2007, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Or make a Dual Attack.

Seems a bit off... but nonetheless, thanks for clearing that bit up! Gonna be a long time before I can steal LF anyway