Curse

Lord Ertihan · May 16, 2006, 10:03 PM // 22:03

One of the things that I've noticed is that people still tend to hang on to incorrect misconceptions regarding the new class, the Assassin, in PvP (I suppose this may have something to do with the preview event

). In any event, while I admit I'm no expert on the subject, I do have some experience with the Assassin, and I thought I might explain the basics of a very common build that is floating around. In this thread, what I will do is give you a very basic build for an Assassin, and explain why each skill is on the bar, and how it might be used.

Please be aware that this is just ONE of MANY Assassin builds, and is not in any shape or form the only build that works. However, it IS efficient and easy to make, and fairly easy to understand, and it works in many, many situations, including but not limited to: GvG, 12v12, TA.

One thing to notice is that most of the attacks happen to only cost 5 energy. Despite the Assassin's huge +4 regen, they still have an unfortunate tendancy to run out of energy quickly when spamming attacks (as I'm sure some of you have noticed).

Aura of Displacement
Description: When you cast Aura of Displacement, Shadow Step to target foe. When you stop maintaining Aura of Displacement, you return to your original location. This is an elite skill.
Energy Cost: 10 and an arrow of regeneration
Activation Time: 1/4 of a Second.
Recharge Time: 15 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: None.
Skill Type: Enchantment Spell.
Explaination: This is the meat of this assassin. The quintessential assassin skill, Aura of Displacement (AoD for short) combos very well with the remaining skills (more specifically, it combos directly with Golden Phoenix Strike). In order to understand this skill, you have to realize what its purpose is. First, you need to select a target. Given that AoD has a 1/4 second cast time, you can VERY quickly *bamf* in front of that guy, and pull off your skill combos. In addition, if something goes very wrong (the guy disrupts your attack chain, or he blinds you, or you get hexed up the wazoo), simply stop maintaining AoD to *bamf* back. You have to understand that AoD is INSTANT teleportation, which means that the way you play this assassin is very different from how you'd play a warrior. You can easily tell if a warrior is targeting somebody ... he's probably activated Rush, Sprint or "Charge!" and is chasing that person all over the map. The key to this assassin is stealth and guile; don't telegraph your target. Run around a bit, pick a good target, then suddenly teleport in unexpectedly, assassinate the target, and *bamf* back out before they know what hit them. Also, be smart about where and how you cast this. An obvious strategy is to cast AoD in your own backline, where it's safe, and cast it on a target as far into the enemy's backline as possible. Wreak havoc in the enemy's monk line until they send somebody to deal with you, then *bamf* straight back to complete safety.

Golden Phoenix Strike
Description: If you are not under the effects of an enchantment, this skill misses. If it hits, Golden Phoenix Strike deals +10-26 damage.
Energy Cost: 5
Activation Time: None.
Recharge Time: 8 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Dagger Mastery. Increases damage dealt.
Skill Type: Off-Hand Attack.
Explaination: This is the first attack to come out of you as soon as AoD *bamf*s you in front of the enemy. AoD is an enchantment, so don't worry, the attack won't miss (usually). You'll do some nice extra damage, and you're opening up the enemy to your killer: Horns of the Ox/Falling Spider. (Despite being an Off-Hand Attack, Golden Phoenix Strike can be a leading attack because of its special enchantment-specific condition. I prefer builds that don't require a Lead Attack, a 3-attack combo is too easy to break). Be aware that certain things can give you problems, like evasion and Blind. If you find yourself the target of melee hate, get your ass OUT of there! If Golden Phoenix Strike misses you won't have much of a chance to do anything else for the next 8 seconds (I REFUSE to put a Lead Attack in, believe me it will hurt more than help). For this reason, should this leading attack miss, pull out (cancel AoD).

Horns of the Ox
Description: Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Horns of the Ox strikes for +15-27 damage. If struck foe is not adjacent to any allies, that foe is knocked down..
Energy Cost: 5
Activation Time: None.
Recharge Time: 12 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Dagger Mastery. Increases damage dealt.
Skill Type: Dual Attack.
Explaination: This is an excellent follow-up to Golden Phoenix Strike. Not only does it do some extra damage, it's almost sure to knock down those pesky running foes (how often are foes adjacent to allies? Let's not forget, adjacent means EXTREMELY close, like right next to them). This skill really doesn't need much explaination, it's not a very complicated skill to understand. Just use it after Golden Phoenix Strike and you'll be just fine. If it misses, jump straight to Twisting Fangs (quickly! before Golden Phoenix Strike wears off!).

Falling Spider
Description: Must strike a knocked-down foe. If it hits, Falling Spider strikes for +15-31 damage and target foe is Poisoned for 5-17 seconds.
Energy Cost: 5
Activation Time: None.
Recharge Time: 8 Seconds..
Linked Attribute: Dagger Mastery. Increases damage dealt and Poison duration.
Skill Type: Off-Hand Attack.
Explaination: all of these skills deal significant damage, if you'll notice. Also, here you'll cause Poison, which is pretty devestating considering you'll be following this with Twisting Fangs, which will add Deep Wound and Bleeding to the mix. This, obviously, will ONLY work following Horns of the Ox (and only if Horns of the Ox knocks the enemy down, but it usually will). Once again, Falling Spider is pretty obvious stuff, there isn't much to explain about it.

Twisting Fangs
Description: Must follow an off-hand attack. If it hits, Twisting Fangs strikes for +10-18 damage and struck foe suffers from Bleeding and Deep Wound for 5-17 seconds.
Energy Cost: 10
Activation Time: None.
Recharge Time: 15 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Critical Strikes. Increases damage dealt and Bleeding and Deep Wound duration.
Skill Type: Dual Attack.
Explaination: This is your finisher. The Deep Wound spike alone will usually kill the enemy, but if it doesn't the -7 degen from Falling Spider and Twisting Fangs (Poison + Bleeding) will do the job nicely too. The only downside to this skill is the 10 energy cost, which is why I've also considered using an alternative skill, Death Blossom. While Blossom doesn't add the massive Deep Wound spike, it is only 5 energy to use, and is in the same line (Dagger Mastery) as the other skills (Twisting Fangs used to be in Dagger Mastery too, but meh).

Return
Description: All adjacent foes are Crippled for 3-7 seconds. Teleport to target ally's location.
Energy Cost: 5
Activation Time: 1/4th of a Second.
Recharge Time: 20 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Shadow Arts. Increases Crippled duration.
Skill Type: Spell.
Explaination: You really don't have many particularly decent choices when it comes to self-heals (Shadow Refuge got nerfed up the wazoo). Because of this I would suggest that you not even bother, and simply use Return as your self-heal. If you're in need of some healing and are too far away (or are getting beat on way too badly), use Return to *bamf* to your nearest friendly neighborhood monk. Great escape technique, and you might even get some healing! Plus any warrior that's been chasing you down gets crippled for awhile.

[free slot]
[free slot - suggest Rez Sig unless there are reasons not to bring it]

Suggestions for free slots:
Contemplation of Purity - talk about a useful thing to have around! If you're in trouble, *bamf* your way out in 1/4 second (for some people this is faster than double clicking the icon), lose a hex and a condition on your way there! What's to lose?
Shock - well it does combo with Falling Spider, which will help if you've somehow managed to miss with Golden Phoenix Strike. Shock WILL NOT MISS (it's a skill, nothing's gonna stop it). I guess that makes up for the exhaustion it causes, but in reality I'm not so sure about Shock for this build.
Plague Touch - Blind hurts you as much, if not more than warriors. Getting rid of it in this way might be nice.
Distortion - I agree, it might be a bit suicidal in the sense that with the Distortion nerf, this stance is gonna cost you chunkloads of energy. Still it might be helpful in certain situations.

Other notes:
Against spike teams - this is exceptionally fun. Waltz right into their group (you have to be hyperaware and very fast to pull this off but if you do it's GREAT). Keep a tab on one of your allies. Now since you're right in the middle of their group they're almost certain to target you first. As soon as you see signs that they're about to spike you, IMMEDIATELY cast Return, which will cause all their attacks to miss (make sure the ally you're targeting is far away from the action, preferably a monk). It's funny as hell but you'll only get to do this once, and it's really just a gag thing, not an actual strategy. Still you should try it out! It's lots of fun! Also works somewhat with AoD too.

Interesting Flag Running idea (that I never had a chance to test) - Cast AoD at the flag stand. Target anybody, but preferably some enemy that's really close (the closer the better). Then, keep AoD active and run to get the flag from your own base. Then release AoD to *bamf* right back to the stand. I THINK this will work because ... well I just can't see why it wouldn't. Usually you use AoD to get closer to the enemy, but this is a way to use AoD to instantly port back to the stand.

Who Should You Target First? - Don't ask me this since I've never been good at this sort of thing. The ONE piece of good advice I can give you is: target who your guild tactical leader is telling you to target. Other than that, if there is no designated target, try focusing on whomever is least likely to have any decent defenses. Monks are generally good targets, Necros too. Mesmers have a tendency to bring Distortion, which sucks for us, and Rangers love evasion stances too. Ritualists, if you see them, are probably easy kills, but don't underestimate them.

Never ever ever ever run in like a W/Mo. If you run in like a W/Mo and then get slaughtered and your whole group yells at you and calls you a total n00b don't come crying to me. Remember, assassin armor is little better than paper (yes, even the +15 while attacking doesn't help as much as you think). You're not a tank. You weren't designed to BE a tank. So don't try it.

DieInBasra · May 16, 2006, 11:35 PM // 23:35

You drop the flag teleporting. Consider the need for a speed buff as well, since they can still kite Horns pretty well, if not even golden, if they keep thier guard up.

Jagan Vastary · May 17, 2006, 05:48 AM // 05:48

I would really suggest dark escape instead of return, since it is a really effective skill. Also, I'm a huge fan of dash if you aren't bringing a self heal for one of your free spots, since one of the best defenses I've encountered for this build is running once the assassin bamf's in so the assassin only gets off golden phoenix they can just kite you without a speed boost, and using dark escape for that seems like a huge waste of a pretty amazing stance with a 30 second recharge.

Effigy · May 17, 2006, 07:16 AM // 07:16

Forgive me if I'm being dense, but isn't it redundant to have AoD and Return in the same build? I mean, AoD does the same thing as Return when you remove it, and it still triggers if an enemy strips it. AoD has a shorter recharge too. It seems like you could drop Return without affecting your performance at all.

Kyune · May 17, 2006, 09:35 AM // 09:35

Return is redundant, but I think that's kind of the point--AoD can be force stripped when you go to use it, and if you lose it prematurely you've just lost time and energy (and probably have just given it to their monk.).

Circumstances might cause you to become extended for other reasons as well, such as in pursuit of fleeing enemies, trying to finish off an NPC, etc...essentially, return is there to get you back to safety when you don't have AoD to do it for you.

Alternatively, in a pinch you could use return as a defensive snare though it's a bit unwieldy for that purpose.

Parkerbsb · May 17, 2006, 03:35 PM // 15:35

To be honest I'm suprised you don't have Critical eye on your skill bar - 'sins biggest strength is in dealing massive damage as fast as possible so you'd want the highest critical strike chance as possible.

Even at 9 (8+minor) Critical Strikes you get a extra 5% chance with 5 second downtime.

ghezbora · May 17, 2006, 05:26 PM // 17:26

This is pretty similar to the build I stole from WM

13 Critical Strikes -- the cutoff for 3 energy per crit
15 Dagger Mastery
7 Shadow Arts

Aura of Displacement {Elite}
Golden Phoenix Strike
Horns of the Ox
Falling Spider
Twisting Fangs
Dark Escape
Caltrops
Res Sig

WM didn't run Caltrops, instead Distortion. I find I miss a lot of kills if I don't have a snare. YMMV.

<edit>
re: critical eye, it just doesn't justify a spot on the bar. 13 critical strikes gives me approx 35% (24% at 16 weapon, but i'm only at 15... don't remember off hand the chance at 15... +13% more) chance of a critical hit and 3 energy every time

Greedy Gus · May 18, 2006, 06:03 PM // 18:03

Here is what you have to understand to get to know assassin combos: the dual attacks on average do a lot more damage than any other type, even before they get multiplied by 2. So clearly they're going to be your money shot. And all dual attacks need to follow an off-hand attack.

So the question is, how many dual attacks can you stuff into a combo? There are actually only a few ways to get more than one dual attacks into a combo with a reasonable amount of skills (4-5). You can use Moebius Strike{E} for dual->MS->dual, or you can pull an offhand attack out of your ass without a lead, through enchant->golden phoenix, KD->falling spider, or hex->black lotus.

So on the AoD->golden->horns->falling->twisting combo (generally credited to WM), those skills weren't picked for the perfect effects, they were picked because that is one of the only ways to get 2 dual attacks in a combo by ignoring lead attacks and linking a dual->offhand in there.

Shiruba Oni · May 19, 2006, 05:07 PM // 17:07

When I first started my assassin, I was going through all the skills and 2 got my attention : Falling Spider and Twisting Fangs.

Twisting Fang is a dual attack combined with deep wound (takes %20hp off of max health + damage from the skill itself).

Falling Spider required a KD, as if it was put there for you to figure out which skill to use it with.

Turns out that there isn't many assassin skills to be used with Falling Spider : Iron Palm and Horns of the Ox (unless sub is used for KD).

Combo : IP + FS + TF or ?? + HO + FS + TF

My first build used Iron Palm but because of its long refresh time and because I wanted to try out Shiro's Blades (yeah, I know), I set 15 dagger skill and put Horns of the Ox as constraints and worked around that. I wasn't aware then that you could pull off an off-hand without a lead but once I learned about it, it didn't take long to find the highest damaging dagger skill I could use before Horns of the Ox, Golden Pheonix Strike. Only prob is it required an enchantment.

Combo : GPS + HO + FS + TF

With 3/4 skills of that combo belonging to dagger skill, I felt like I was making the most out of those 15 attribute points.

For the enchantment part, I required either a permanent enchantment or something that lasted a long time with low energy cost. Tried AoD and liked it, but added another prob...the -1 energy regen cost. I realized I would need to use a Zealous mod, probably ceremonial daggers (the req 9 or 15 didn't really matter anymore).

Combo : AoD + GPS + HO + FS + TF

That combo worked pretty well by itself. I didn't have much trouble energy wise but it seemed like I would often be short of a couple damage that would make the difference between a kill or a miss.

Since my first build used IP, I had been using other deadly arts skills in combo in hope to make it better. Impale had the best results. I added it to my current build :

Combo : Impale + AoD + GPS + HO + FS + TF

Impale can be used with either GPS + TF or GPS + HO, which adds a lot to the spike effect.

Now, 2 slots are left and I didn't have a way to heal myself / remove hex / remove condition / res. I usually carry Shadow Refuge and either a Res Signet/Resurrection or Hex/Condition removal skill.

The rest of the Attribute Points are distributed optimally :

Dagger 15
Critical 10
Shadow 9
Deadly 9
-----------------
1 dead point

I am sure the build can be improved, I often switch Impale for something else but I always end up putting it back on...really seems to make a difference spike-wise.

KitiaraBlueLady · Jun 19, 2006, 07:21 PM // 19:21

Sinister Lone Wolf's Ele Spikesin!

Another version of this build that I have been running is a E/A. I have had great success with it in RA and TA, as well as Alliance battles. In just a couple of weeks, playing about 20 hours a week I have already gottten the first gladiator title and am 17 points away from "fierce" gladiator title( the second). I owe it all to this build:

Air 13-14
Dagger 12
E Storage 9-11

Attributes vary depending on how comfortable you are with using two superior runes. I use 2 most of the time and I have 445 hp, kind of low but if you are quick with your AoD cancellation you should be ok. Whatever you decide, you should always have 12 dagger and around 50-60 energy

Skills:
Conjure Lightning
AoD
Rez
Attack skills utilized in this order:
Shock
Spider
Horns
Golden
Death Blossom or Nine Tail (Depending on how much energy you have, Nine Tail more than makes up for its higher energy cost with the ability to break on through those defensive stances, ward against melee, and the ever present guardian spell!)

The damage this build does in such a short amount of time is quite impressive but the best thing about this build is the two consecutive knockdowns you get with shock and horns. This is so disruptive to some people that I have had folks just leave the game. The quickness of the kill is of necessity though sense you really have no defense or self heal, save for AoD as an escape route. If you are in Random and are lucky to have a monk(and he is not a total noob) on your team, you should have no problem getting 10 consecutive and then losing in TA

This build does take alot of practice, and its best to kind of hang back until everyone else is engaged(if you are the first to rush in you will be dead dead dead!).

In a TA group you can switch out Aod for Ride the Lightning for more initial spike, but be careful with your exhaustion.

When you speak of me, speak of me well.

stueyman2099 · Jun 19, 2006, 09:42 PM // 21:42

I don't see any particular reason to run that as an ele primary, other than some more liberal use of shock. Crit strikes are gonna give you a lot more raw damage, as well as being decent nrg management. And lets not forget that you won't be a squishy caster running up to the front lines either. That and you actualy get to bring twisting fangs, my favorite sin attack.

KitiaraBlueLady · Jun 19, 2006, 10:06 PM // 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by stueyman2099

I don't see any particular reason to run that as an ele primary, other than some more liberal use of shock. Crit strikes are gonna give you a lot more raw damage, as well as being decent nrg management. And lets not forget that you won't be a squishy caster running up to the front lines either. That and you actualy get to bring twisting fangs, my favorite sin attack.

First of all, i never said anything about running up to anyone, thats the whole point of AoD, you get in, do your business, and get the hell out. Secondly I have yet to meet ANY assassin primary that can outdamage my combo. Before you criticise my build try it out for yourself. You are forgetting about the two consecutive knockdowns which is really the whole point of the build. When you keep someone on their ass they can't really do much to defend themselves besides stances. The ele primary is used specifically for the extra energy. Personally I'd rather have a large energy pool then rely on critical hits to get energy back. Before Golden strike was nerfed up to 10 energy then yeah, you could go with Assassin primary and use Twisting.

dansamy · Jun 19, 2006, 10:50 PM // 22:50

From my understanding, Assassins excel at ganking base NPCs very rapidly. Which is highly annoying if you are vs a team with 2 gankers.

stueyman2099 · Jun 20, 2006, 12:25 AM // 00:25

Quote:

thats the whole point of AoD, you get in, do your business, and get the hell out.

No matter how short of a time span, you're still a 60 al target up front compared to a 70 al.

Quote:

Secondly I have yet to meet ANY assassin primary that can outdamage my combo.

Never argued that the combo was bad, just that I like twisting fangs. Also, last I checked, golden, horns, falling, twisting is still doable on an assassin, and IIRC, that can kill most targets if they aren't prepared.

Quote:

You are forgetting about the two consecutive knockdowns which is really the whole point of the build.

If the spike can kill, a second kd doesn't really matter. But yeah, the less liberal use of shock would be nice.

Quote:

Personally I'd rather have a large energy pool then rely on critical hits to get energy back.

This says to me that this build is only really good for short battles. Having a large pool means nothing if you can't recharge it.

Quote:

Before Golden strike was nerfed up to 10 energy then yeah, you could go with Assassin primary and use Twisting.

A sin definatly couldn't handle a combo that long, but again, they don't really need to. Thinking about it further, you might try twisting fangs anyway to round off the end of a combo, the deep wound still counts for 100 dmg.

Sarevok Thordin · Jun 20, 2006, 12:39 AM // 00:39

I keep seeing The GPS > Horns > Spider > Fangs combo with the AoD elite all over the joint.

It would be nice to see people experimenting with the other assassin elites and combos a little more. Return is a great subsitute for AoD if you are good at sneaking around, you may even pair it up with death's charge for a little heal to help you out, to top it off. It cannot be shattered on you (thus a messer cannot simply shatter it to get rid of you).

As for the attack combos, not all lead attacks are bad. Disrupting stab is a great way to start a combo after you see a mesmer try to hit you with empathy (providing you can get to him quickly). Not to mention you get an interrupt for those Ranger classes that love using.......you guessed it.......Troll Unguent (annoys them to no end)

Lord Dark Genie · Jun 20, 2006, 09:48 AM // 09:48

I'm still wondering if assassins have any good use for straight 7v7 battles in GvG.

The problem I see is that they're not really outdamaging a warrior, and they have to kite if they get targeted by a warrior. They're just as much squishies than necromancers. (+AL against slashing etc.. can be negated with elemental weapons)

KitiaraBlueLady · Jun 20, 2006, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by stueyman2099

No matter how short of a time span, you're still a 60 al target up front compared to a 70 al.

Never argued that the combo was bad, just that I like twisting fangs. Also, last I checked, golden, horns, falling, twisting is still doable on an assassin, and IIRC, that can kill most targets if they aren't prepared.

If the spike can kill, a second kd doesn't really matter. But yeah, the less liberal use of shock would be nice.

This says to me that this build is only really good for short battles. Having a large pool means nothing if you can't recharge it.

A sin definatly couldn't handle a combo that long, but again, they don't really need to. Thinking about it further, you might try twisting fangs anyway to round off the end of a combo, the deep wound still counts for 100 dmg.

To each his own, I just couldn't believe the amount of gladiator points I got in such a short amount of time running this build.

stueyman2099 · Jun 20, 2006, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Yeah, this would make a pretty good RA build if you have a monk with you. Thing is, I've done my Time in RA long before the titles came out, my focus is more in GvG now, in which your build wouldn't do as well as an assasin primary.

Isil`Zha · Jun 27, 2006, 05:37 PM // 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Dark Genie

I'm still wondering if assassins have any good use for straight 7v7 battles in GvG.

The problem I see is that they're not really outdamaging a warrior, and they have to kite if they get targeted by a warrior. They're just as much squishies than necromancers. (+AL against slashing etc.. can be negated with elemental weapons)

Oh there's ways to take on Warriors, and while I've been using that build for a while, I don't use the same support skills - I'm always changing those around. But anyway, just throw in Blinding Powder and Unseen Fury - now you can freely beat down on the Warrior and win. Another effective skill is to stick mirrored stance on them just before using AoD, if they try to run, or dodge, you get the same thing.

Actually, in the ABs, most people run from my Assassin, including warriors.

So I usually end up taking enduring toxin/crippling dagger/caltrops to stop the kiting - Enduring Toxin is funny. 95% of players will just continue running once I stick Enduring Toxin on them, and if they stop they get an attack combo in the back - and already being low on health they go down before I even finish the combo.

Also, is it just me, or does Siphon Speed seem to not work properly? I mean, I do get the speed boost, but I don't think it actually reduces your target's speed at all. The reason I say this is because you should have a net gain of 40% speed over your target, which means you should catch up them quick. But anytime I use it I veeeeerry slowly catch up to them and usually it wears off before I can catch them unless they're < aggro range.

The Real Roy Keane · Jun 27, 2006, 06:23 PM // 18:23

There's some solid builds in there, but I find it a bit sad that both Assasins and Ritualists are utilised solely for AoD and Ritual Lord, respectively.