Curse

Aceracer · Aug 07, 2007, 04:41 PM // 16:41

as many have said before me sin's deal so much dps that you will find yourself out of energy in larger groups. i prefer to use survivor insignias along with Sup daggers and minor criticals(plus critical mask) and for those that have played through nightfall get the Sunspear skill! its a beauty. couples with Critical strike(skill) you can keep the enchantment up along time, zealous are a must. this along with mystic regen (durv enchantment) and 1 monk can keep you alive just about anywhere NM and most beginning area's HM (not ibolgas the degeen is too high) and since taking less than 8 doesn't change drops any 1 or 2 heros/henchies is just too easy at times. hope this helps and Welcome to the 1337 sin brotherhood

jesh · Aug 08, 2007, 10:15 AM // 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingu666

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 :\/

QFT. I think you mean Dark Prison though, not Death's Charge. It also acts as a fast cover hex for your elite- can be VERY useful with all the hex removal in Cantha. Thanks to AP you can lower critical strikes to max daggers at 14/16. You can also replace TF with Horns of the Ox and put Impale on your optional slot. But then you have no res... oh well.

Not like you need it with that kind of damage.
Assassins are unparalleled in damage in pve.. the only other class that can hold a candle there is a dervish with Avatar of Lyssa.
Extremely fun to play imo.

pingu666 · Aug 09, 2007, 03:55 AM // 03:55

i dont use dark prision because of the slightly higher energy cost. could swap around the offhands and use it ^^

i use dark prision on moddock crevice tho, amusing to kill 1, then be a major assist on the other xD

kinda bored of that combo tho. moebius seems kinda slow after assassins promise

Bobby2 · Aug 09, 2007, 10:35 PM // 22:35

Sin playing is loads of fun IMO. But I think it's a shame many chain links have such a long recharge; a combo is fragile enough as it is and 1 miss/block can really mess me up (without using skills damage output is kinda low huh?) and I tend to devote 4 slots to staying alive one way or the other, so that doesn't leave room for much variation. But I haven't even got all of the Elite skillz I want, so I'm still voraciously hunting and experimenting

Tozen · Aug 09, 2007, 11:28 PM // 23:28

I'll address a few of your points and add some of my own thoughts (not everything though because I have limited time atm)

1. What armor should you use? I rotate between three different sets (and sometimes mix and match depending on the circumstances and build.)

a. Health Armor- Useful for dealing with said "death" problem in hard mode and helps to alleviate the assassin's biggest opponent... degen. You will understand what I mean if you ever try PvP with an assassin!

b. Energy Armor- Assassins have some very powerful 10 energy attacks. If you have energy armor you can use attack skills like unsuspecting strike as a lead on a regular basis. Energy armor also works REALLY well with using a secondary profession.

c. +15 While Attacking Armor- It is generally a good idea to keep this on your chest unless you're running a specialized build. You'll notice a small but important difference in your damage. However, this armor also has a tendency to make you go "leeroy stoneskin" into battle because it only works if you are attacking (and much of assassin survivability comes from dodging)

2. How fragile are assassins? Not as fragile as you might think! Really, the myth that assassins cannot tank comes from the rush of inexperienced players who expect to be able to take a spike like a normal tank can. The easiest way to stay alive is to keep dash in your bar. Dash will break aggro from pursuing foes and it lets you do a quick sidestep from a powerful projectile. You may not be a warrior, but don't get confused, you're not a squishy either! A mistake I made early on in my assassin career was to always avoid being hit and let my caster henchmen take the hits... this is not efficient. Of course you want primary tanks to be taking most of the hits, but if it comes down to you or a caster, step in for the caster. Be responsible though... there are times when tanking as an assassin is a smart decision and times when it just wastes your healer's energy. The good news for PvE is that Assassins do A TON of damage if played right. Oftentimes, I bring in an additional hero healer because I don't need the extra firepower. AND, Assassin survivability got a lot better with the introduction of the all-powerful skill...

3. What is the all-powerful skill that should never leave your bar? It is critical agility, a sunspear skill. This skill stays on for an entire battle, has a fast recharge, increases your attack rate, AND gives you bonus armor. Honestly... combined with skills like death blossom, it FEELS like cheating.

Besides that skill though, you will want mobius strike as an elite for much of your pve life. There are plenty of other elites that work well for PvP (like shadow prison) and skills that work well for running (like shadow form) but mobius strike is ESSENTIAL for increasing your damage to balthazaar-like levels.

4. What attack chain should you have? Well, chains are both a good and a bad thing. The good news is that they tend to be VERY powerful... but the bad news is that a poorly designed chain can you leave you twiddling your thumbs for 20 or more seconds before you can attack AT ALL.
Generally, I like to use

black mantis thrust->Wild strike->Dual Attack->Mobius Strike

as my combo, sometimes with a second dual attack for more options. Until you really get a mastery for how assassins skills chain together, I would stay away from using any dagger skill that has a recharge time longer than four seconds. With mobius, you can usually use higher recharge ones with safety, but if you accidentally kill your foe before using mobius you'll be without a chain ready for the next monster.

5. Finally, why should you make an assassin? Here are my favorite points:

a. Highest CONSISTENT damage in the game. Eles might be better at AoEs, but besides them you are the king of damage as an assassin. You also have the benefit of ALWAYS being able to use attack skills AND getting double buff benefits with your daggers (for example, strength of honor will affect both of your dagger strikes, effectively doubling the power of the buff)

b. Shadow Stepping. I don't use it all that much because of the recharge times, but it is a VERY powerful ability and fun as heck to boot.

c. Secondary Class Use- Second only to the necromancer soul reaping, critical strikes at 13 can keep most secondary profession skills quite happy with energy. Recently, I've been exploring all sorts of interesting builds that make primary use of a second profession with an assassin flair. Also, assassins have ROUGHLY the same energy regen and energy pool as other casters if they have wands or stalves equipped.

At the moment, I'm running an assassin/ritualist build in hard mode that lets me tear through mobs and then swap to being an additional healer when my primary healers need a little extra help. You probably didn't think that the assassin could be a decent (not great) healer, but if you know what you're doing, it DOES work to some extent.

Have fun! My in-game name is Tozen Dagamaki if you have any other questions.

Mekkakat · Aug 11, 2007, 07:38 AM // 07:38

i've played sin since facts came out (the day). i made a rit soon after, but i played the sin far more. its a fun, fast paced, really in depth class. to me, sin is the closest thing to mesmer ... other than a mesmer, and im not talking just about deadly arts either (and yeah, i know they worship the same god lol).

my main classes are warrior, para, sin, and rit, so i know what you mean about the odd classed man (excluding my warrior obviously). and as long as we're strictly talking about pve, sins are (imo), other than warriors and paragons, the best physical class in game, and at times, far more valuable in big missions than ANY class at all, especially bosses and timed fights.

critical strikes is also (imo) the best primary in game. a lot of folks say mysticism is.. but i hate dervs so w/e lmao

sins are the pwn button in pvp too.. so keep an eye out there :P

moriz · Aug 11, 2007, 06:19 PM // 18:19

here's an interesting experiment for you to try:

run a mobius strike combo (leaping mantis sting, exhausting assault, mobius strike, death blossom), with a ritualist spamming splinter weapon on you. the resulting AoE spike is so powerful it will remove any need for elementalists. since mob AI do not consider death blossom and splinter weapon AoE, they won't scatter from it, making it the best way to deal AoE damage in pve.

Mekkakat · Aug 11, 2007, 06:29 PM // 18:29

amen to the post above. i stopped using eles in my parties (in pve) when splinter got buffed. a warrior and sin with it and the build Moriz mentioned is far more powerful.

Zanpaktou · Aug 21, 2007, 06:07 PM // 18:07

Lol assasins dont die much if you know how to play with them... I was close to getting the survivor title.. but died in vizunah square mission when I got hit by 3 straight soul explosions... Btw... I just made my sin 2 days ago... they are really fun to play and if you buy good armour they looks awesome, I'm getting 15k luxon, but 15k canthan and seitung both look pretty awesome... and so does vabbian... But its all taste really. you should definitley make an assasin... my first char was an assasin and I dlted it cus it died too much... but a year later (around) when I knew how to play (before yesterday) I re made an assasin and got a pretty good build... I hardly ever die now... Gl.

ensoriki · Aug 21, 2007, 08:13 PM // 20:13

2. People say they die a lot.
We dont...we have great defense skills, its up to you if you use them or not.

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
Survivor, radiant. In Pve assassins armor insignias are usually towards melee, but since we have good evasion skills we dont need that anyways.

2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
no
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
Pve is different,Lead attacks are fine and sufficient in pve (hell you could use all lead attacks...which means attack chain cant break) you can use offhand-dual like in pvp if you want aswell

4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary
and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
Deadly/Shadow arts are utility. Dagger mastery unless build specific should really be from 10-14 points. Critical mastery should be about 11-14

5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
Xeuxco's daggers (spelling)
Anchos daggers are nice too
Ceremonial daggers are good once you beat factions.
Dragon Scythes are good to have.

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

Elites:
Shadow Meld
Aura of Displacement
Moebius Strike
Assassins Promise
Palm Strike
Flashing Blades
Critical agility (its not elite,...but its as good as 1)
__
Shadow Walk + dash is a good combination
Way of perfection+critical agility+critical strikes-moebius is a good combo.
Assassins Promise will give you energy and no down time in combos if you can guarantee a kill (not hard in pve)