Curse

Pericles · Jul 02, 2007, 04:28 PM // 16:28

I find myself pretty experienced, i've got all three campaigns and finished them with my ranger, i've got experience with all the other professions except assassin and dervish.
I've been thinking of making a pve assassin but i'm not entirely convinced.
Heres why i would make one:
1. I just love being able to take out single targets very fast, (bosses)
2. People say assassins are fast, and rare
3. I like playing odd classes
4. I love the primary attribute critical strikes

Here are a few negatives:
1. I don't like the look of assassins very much, too thin, armor isn't great etc.
2. People say they die a lot.

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

I hope there are some pro-assassin players who can help me out

patrona · Jul 02, 2007, 05:37 PM // 17:37

well i made my PvE assa for the same reasons as you mentioned.

1) jep, it is fun
2) their not faster then any other char, and yes they are rare ( the good ones)
3) same here, i like to play classes who are called as 'only good for pvp' ( para, assa, messie...)
4) i didn't choose assa because of it's primary, but it's fun combined with Critical Agility

anyway just play assa in Pve, don't listen to ppl who say assa can't play pve or something, not true! if played correctly, assas are as deadly as they should be in pve. ;-)

so i think your expectations are justified.

Bowstring Badass · Jul 02, 2007, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

2. People say assassins are fast, and rare

Rare as in never played?

Go to RA bunch of noob 9-12 year old Naruto fans thinking that they don't need to chain their attack skills. Kids like this give us good assassins bad names.

patrona · Jul 02, 2007, 05:55 PM // 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowstring Badass

Rare as in never played?

I think he metioned that good sins are rare in pve, not the sin that think they can handle the world with tanking mobs, so i guess real assassins are indeed rare.

RA has indeed a lot of 12 year old sin noobs. that's why i prefer to play TA, so you can choose and check what build they use

Sjeng oet Mestreech · Jul 02, 2007, 05:58 PM // 17:58

1. The downside is that there are more non-boss monsters in the game

. But these are also fun to kill. Just don't jump into mobs without any protection. Your armor won't be great!
2. In PvE they are starting to get 'rare'. Meaning there aren't as many as there used to be. There are still quit a few out there, especially since the release of the PvE only skills.
In AB of RA there are just to many Sins. The good ones are rare though.
3. Then I suggest you also try the Ritualist

These are rare ánd odd!
4. This isn't only something to love, but also something to depend on. It gives you energie, protection and IAS (PvE). The protection comes from Critical Defense (75% block and it will reapply itself everytime you hit a critical strike) and IAS comes from Critical Agility, which provides you 33% IAS and +/- +20 AL which also reapplies itself evertime you hit a critical strike.

Pericles · Jul 02, 2007, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Hey, thx for all the responds, keep 'em coming

To be clear, i'm only talking about pve here, and i already have a ritualist (they are awesome

), with 'rare' i mean that you don't see them in pve locations very often. Plz check my first post again, i editted it a bit

.

T N Player · Jul 02, 2007, 06:55 PM // 18:55

i never thought i would have liked to play my sin. i just made him to solo tombs, but while making him, i fould that i loved playing sins. they attack really fast and r fun too.

shadow steps r not important at all for sins. i rather have retreats instead because shadow steps r really no help wen u are getting pounded on by 5 monsters.

sins attacks are most 5 energy and some r 10 energy, with ther fast attack on the sin u waste energy really fast. the daggers r really helpful r zealous daggers. the stats of my daggers r:

15^50
zealous
+30hp

Elite skills to cap:

Moebius Strike (Moebius Strike+Death Blossom=huge qucik multi monster dmg)

Flashing Blades (nice skill to evade attacks)

Way of the Assassin (WotA+Critical Agility+way of protection=almost always 33% faster dmg, +armor and heals)

Shadow Form (for running and farming)

Shadow Prism (PvP)

Normal skills to have:

Critical Agility

Way of Protection with the right combos

shadow refuge

Feigned Neutrality

Death's retreat or return

I play with a major rune of dagger and minor runes for shadow and critical strike. I never use a sup unless u can pay for a sup vigor and u will still have low hp

i use Nightstalker's insig for the extra armor bonus

phool · Jul 02, 2007, 07:25 PM // 19:25

If you liike c-spacing pve, sin is a very good choice. If you don't like it, sin is more likely to make you like it than any other profession.

Sins are very effective in general pve and any survival issues are not inherent to the profession but the player.

Assassins Promise and Moebius strike are the best elites to base a build around, assuming you don't plan to do something genuinely rare like throwing spears or hitting things with a hamer.

L.J · Jul 03, 2007, 03:23 AM // 03:23

Hi

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes? Insignias I usually use are nightstalkers and radiant, I would say nightstalkers if your dont have many 10energy cost skills. Also I dont think many assassins run superior runes
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin? Not in pve, in pvp they are very helpful though and pretty close to a must.
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....? Personally I run 3 attack skills most of the time but I wouldnt really run any more than 4 in pve.
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should I be doing? I cant speak on behalf of all other assassins in the pve world but I personally don't use superior runes unless I need to reach a breaking point for a skill. Mostly you will find yourself using critical strikes(most sins run at 13 i believe. no higher), and dagger mastery.
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with? Some daggers I use are zealous(a good green is end game celestial daggers), Vampiric( a good green is shiros IF you are running 13+ dagger mastery or id just get chkkrs pincers).
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play? My must have elite for pve that I would say is moebius strike, it allows for death blossom-moebius-deathblossom over and over(gets quite boring over time but very effective). Here is a build I made but for some odd reason the thread is closed http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10169535

Well I hopped this helped you out some!

Francis Demeules · Jul 03, 2007, 04:33 AM // 04:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.J

Hi

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes? Insignias I usually use are nightstalkers and radiant, I would say nightstalkers if your dont have many 10energy cost skills. Also I dont think many assassins run superior runes

I run Superior Shadow Arts.... for farming

But generally I run Superior Deadly Arts (dont ask me why). But I know how survive since I played in many way with any profession. What I can suggest Pericles is to run minor runes only for more Health and the versality with builds.

Utaku · Jul 03, 2007, 07:12 AM // 07:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

I hope there are some pro-assassin players who can help me out

1) My personal choice is full survivors'.
2) No they aren't, but can be fun to play with. [skill]shadow walk[/skill][skill]dash[/skill] is nice for instance
3) run as many as you like, but take care of the recharge. Ennemies die so quickly that a 8s recharge lead attack is a no no unless you play a second one. 4s is great.
4)For a dagger sin, reaching 13 crit strikes is a must. Maxing Dagger mastery is important too. In the end, there are few attribute points available for a third line. I like to play 12+1+2 DM and 11+2 crit strikes, leaving some points for Deadly arts. Assassin's self heal are weak, trash'em.
5) good daggers are +15^50% or +5nrj with either zealous or vamp and fortitude. Just say no to sundering. Greens : end game nf, end game factions, everthorn's, Chkkr's pincers
6)[skill]moebius strike[/skill][skill]assassin's promise[/skill][skill]temple strike[/skill]

murtagh deadmoon · Jul 03, 2007, 09:38 AM // 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

1. I personally prefer to run full Radiant, this allows for more energy and lets you spam skills and stops you from running out. Running out of energy makes your assasisn worthless.
2. Certainly not, porting in just means your ahead of all the tanks and are more likely to die, it's only good in pvp.
3. It really depends on how you like to play, i personally do simply because there aren't alot of effective healing Assassin spells anyway, just throw in Feigned Neutrality and run very fast

4. I usually run 14-16 Dagger Mastery and always have a Sup Rune for it, then i usually have 10 crit 10 Shadow and remainder in Deadly, Generally.
5. In my opinion 15^50 Zealous +30hp cannot be beaten, zealous for an assassin is just so useful.
6. Moebius strike is probably the most effective and useful elite out there.

Kiba of hidden leaf · Jul 04, 2007, 05:48 AM // 05:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

Here are a few negatives:
1. I don't like the look of assassins very much, too thin, armor isn't great etc.
2. People say they die a lot.

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?

I agree that you should not play a character if you do not like their appearance/name. It ruins the RolePlaying aspect.

On the dieing alot thing...Assassin's generally are the most threat so people go for them most, in pvp. In pve, you will have less armor than a warrior and be in the frontline with the warrior. Usually letting the warrior get aggro will make this happen less. Insignias and runes also play a role in this. I like to run 600 health with all survivor insignias and no superior runes because i can make a very efficient attribute set up still. 13 CS(the break point in getting 3 energy per crit) 12 Dagger 7 Shadow 7Deadly. If you run 13 in CS and have zealous daggers you will not need to have radiant insignias unless you have a combo of 30 energy or more.

Shadow steps are never neccesary they just add mobility. I personally use Dash because it is also defensive.

5 attack skills is fine as long as the 3 other skills go in synergy with your attack skills(or a ressurect). For example, if you have a major spike build shadow refuge is not good because the bonus health will not come most of the time. Running Moebius Strike Death Blossom spam will have great effects with that. If you have the Golden attack skills then you need long lasting enchantments.

Hope this helps.

Yanman.be · Jul 04, 2007, 09:37 AM // 09:37

Shadow Steps are not needed if you know how to WASD without them.

You can do insane amounts of damage with just 3 attack skills.(BLS(hex req.), MS, DB )

Greens: Everthorn's Chakrams

Use survivor, radiant if you really must. No superior runes.

Get 13cs, 14 dm. If you take a third line, drop dm.

xaleo21 · Jul 12, 2007, 10:19 AM // 10:19

Being able to take out a single target is fun, but if you're taking damage from several targets... you're... done. Low armor and all that junk.
And, like Muffin said, Sins are very common. Most ARE noobs with Naruto in their name and don't know how to leave Shing Jea..
No sup runes. With the low armor that Sins already have... you'd just die with low base health and armor. Unless you use a lot of Monk enchants.
Brawler's Insignia is my fave.
ShadowSteps are very useful, but how would you be a Sin w/o 'em?

zknifeh · Jul 12, 2007, 11:06 AM // 11:06

having "low" armor doesnt mean ur a corpse if ur getting hit but multiple targets... last night i was taking on 6 warden warriors in HM and their 6 healers wanding me (their wands do around 50-70dmg) and they still couldnt get me down below 50% health... and i always use 1 superior rune on all of my characters no matter where i am

Sjeng oet Mestreech · Jul 12, 2007, 11:57 AM // 11:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by xaleo21

Being able to take out a single target is fun, but if you're taking damage from several targets... you're... done. Low armor and all that junk.
And, like Muffin said, Sins are very common. Most ARE noobs with Naruto in their name and don't know how to leave Shing Jea..
No sup runes. With the low armor that Sins already have... you'd just die with low base health and armor. Unless you use a lot of Monk enchants.
Brawler's Insignia is my fave.
ShadowSteps are very useful, but how would you be a Sin w/o 'em?

Useful if you don't now how to walk to a target and useful to jump behind mobs to take out the Monks or other casters. But you don't need then and you aren't anything less when you're not using Shadow Steps. On the contrary: Assassins that don't use Shadow Steps have a skill slot free for better thing like a hex, blocking, healing or an extra attack skill.

pingu666 · Jul 12, 2007, 04:51 PM // 16:51

i like shadow step to keep my dps high :O

assassins promise
deths charge
black spider strike
twisting fangs
black lotus strike
blades of steel
option
critical agility

its bonkers speed, havent found anything better for pve :\/

Cathode_Reborn · Jul 13, 2007, 05:57 AM // 05:57

After playing a sin, I realized that they're tons more powerful than I thought. Like many people, I always saw them as the melee class that can do a huge spike then is useless for a little while. Enemies in pve die much too fast to be worth using a huge spike on. I got into sins when I noticed the Death blossom/Moebius spammer build which can do extremely high DPS. A while later, I made one and sins are now one of my fav pve classes.

They're powerful in pve because many enemies (even casters) have unusually high armor, but most of a Sin's damage is armor ignorning. Besides that, the aoe damage on Death blossom is nice. Shadow Steps are useless in pve: they're not spammable and they shine only pvp where they can be used to perform an unexpected spike. Their survivability isn't that great....out of the 3 melee classes, they have much less selfhealing skills. That really means nothing to me though as hench/hero monks are very effective (assuming you set them up right) and can keep a party alive very well......none of my builds use selfhealing and I've never had any problems. In short: if someone dies, usually either it was the monk's fault or the person just overextended waaayyy too far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xaleo21

Being able to take out a single target is fun, but if you're taking damage from several targets... you're... done. Low armor and all that junk.
And, like Muffin said, Sins are very common. Most ARE noobs with Naruto in their name and don't know how to leave Shing Jea..
No sup runes. With the low armor that Sins already have... you'd just die with low base health and armor. Unless you use a lot of Monk enchants.
Brawler's Insignia is my fave.
ShadowSteps are very useful, but how would you be a Sin w/o 'em?

You obviously either don't play a sin or you pug with horrible monks. I already stated why shadow steps are useless in pve. For pvp, they arn't even always needed. And why do you use Brawler's Insignia when Nightstalker's inignias are there?

Iuris · Jul 13, 2007, 07:44 AM // 07:44

Possibly because the brawler insignica cost 100g, and Nightstalker goes for 700? (at the lst time I tried to equip my legion of Zenmais

)

OK, as for original topic:
I have an assassin, got him through Factions and Nightfall. The profession is distinguished by extreme damage it can infict, mostly on a single target, though builds using Moebius strike+Death blossom, Splinter weapon or Barrage have AoE potential.
Main problems you will encounter are:
-Your low armour rating. Using typical gear, you'll have 70 armour, 85 when attacking. A Warrior will typically have 106 armor against physical damage. While you will have magnificant blocking abilities, you will suffer from enemy AoE elementalists and similar. You are vulnerable.
-Blindness, Miss chance hexes and enemies using stances. In order to do your real damage, you need to complete an attack chain. That means you have to hit several times in sequence. If any miss, your whole chain gets disrupted, leaving you with the low damage from the daggers. You WILL hate Blurred vision and Blindness in Realm of Terror. So, make sure you have ways of dealing with the problem.