Assassin strategies?

Hello, I'm having problems adjusting to the assassin playstyle..

I know assassins aren't supposed to be like warriors where they stand infront of the enemies swiping at them, wearing their oh so uber armor !!

So I tried some builds with shadow stepping,
Here's how I did it..
I cast shadow refuge then death charge into any mob.. then golden lotus strike -->fox fangs --> Twisting fangs..and after I did my combo I 'viper defenses'ed out of the battle..but now I find myself with almost no energy and all my skills recharging..what am I supposed to do now? just run around waiting for energy to recharge? I can't stay in the fight and keep attacking while regaining energy because then I might die with such low armor!
I don't know what to do while skills and energy are recharging so please help me become a better assassin!The only way I could see myself doing multiple combos is by using assassin's promise..

P.S. I just started playing assassins 2 days ago so please no flaming

Assassins are not designed for continuous damage output. Assassins' Promise will allow you to keep your combo rolling if your target dies (unlikely in PvP, and not very likely in high end PvE); but the problem is you are going to acquire conditions like poison and bleeding, not to mention degen, that require you to go off and heal up.

For PvE out with henchies, be sure and carry a longbow, a no attrib longbow with low damage is fine. Start combat with that, wait until the henchies aggro, and then go after the healers, the mesmers, and other softies.

The assassin had a very steep learning curve for me. I should say "has" I guess.

first off, don't run into mobs... assassin in real life don't take on mobs, they take on individule targets, and so should you.

the assassin works best, if its the last one to enguage in combat. - sit back and wait for the rest of your team to enguage, then watch to see if any foes rush your casters. if so then he is your first target. after you've secured your casters, go after casters on the other team, leave the mobs for your war to deal with. - when you rush ahead of the rest of your group, the other team is likely to target you in numbers, if you wait for them to pick other targets, only 1 or maybe 2 will switch their agro to you when you go in.

an alternitive way to send you henchies in before you without the bow, is to highlight a enemy and use ctrl - alt- space. - this way you call the target for your team to attack, without attacking yourself. - this or the bow are the best ways to get your henchies to initate battle.

if you have a sceptor or staff from your secondary, you can use them instead of the bow...

deaths charge is nice, but you're generaly going to be full on health when you use it, so the healing is pointless... and vipers defense is nice, but it doesn't get you very far away from the fight..... when you are rechrgeing energy, you want to be well away from the fight, back by your casters is my prefrence. beter alternitives will be Shadow of Haste, Arua of Displacement, or Recall. - Return also fits here, but requires you to break concentration in the middle of a fight, search out an ally that is away from the fight, then click and cast on him - that added time often is the difference between life and death. - use these teleports to get you back by your casters after you've delivered your combo.

go in, deliver your combo on 1 target, tp back by your casters and recharge. if you're carrying a bow, sceptor, or staff you can switch to that and use ranged attacks while you are hanging out rechargeing.

Like Wild Mouse said, just hit and disappear. Even if the enemy isnt dead when your combo finishes/health gets to low. First i cast SoH from almost the other end of the map, i have a 15 sec timer on it so i get to the enemy just in time to pull the better part or my whole combo. And i use alot of conditions like bleeding and poison to hurt them after im pulled back. I dont bring a bow or anything like that, the damage you do is pointless to me atleast.

Don't be discouraged, assassins are a great class, but they require forethought and planning. Part of that is finding a combo that deals the damage you want, or dishes out the conditons you want, or both, in a short amount of time then get out. Like was mentioned above, you focous on 1 target at a time, not groups.
Good luck, your halfway there by asking questions.

The 'classic' approach is the hit and fade tactic on support classes. Your main role is to appear in the middle of the soft targets and kill them so they can no longer support the front line. Second to that you intercept any interlopers in your back line. Sometimes you may have to assist the front line finish off their targets if there are no supporting classes left. However if you have done your job and hit the backline effectively (especially Monks and Ritualists) the front line with no support goes down real quick.

So the main idea is get in, deal that combo and take out that one target and then get out before you take too much damage. There are many builds that suit this role. A 3 or 4 skill attack combo, movement, self heal, condition removal, rez. These are the skills that are usually used. You can choose to deal many conditions or you can choose to deal in more direct damage or a combination of both.

What happens when the target doesnt die? Get out of there ASAP. Get healed assist your casters or the flanks of the front line for a bit (no combo too much damage causes aggro) Search for the right target. The fact is with an Assasin's skills you can bring death swiftly and suddenly causing a dramatic shift in the battle.

Monks - Ritualists - Necromancers - Elementalists or Mesmers - Rangers these are your primary targets in order of priority.

Once again, hit the support and backline hard and fast. Ideally 8 - 10 seconds. Sometimes you can stick around and harrass the target or another target but the rule of thumb is get in and out as quick as possible.

Deep wound is your friend.

Didn't read the other posts

Step
#1 Go in
#2 Kill a key target.
#3 Get out
#4 Recharge
Rinse/Repeat as necessary.

its weird how alot of the sin skill hint that you should tank ( even though i know you arent suppose to)

Soft target? I don't see anything soft in those African Chars

Pretty much assassins should target spellcasters while the warrior tanks the physical melee damagers. As said get in kill something get out. IMO I stay in untill i hit about halfway on my health bar, then i do the wonderful teleport out.

Here's what I'm (slowly) learning..
I learned how to use shadow of haste to go to a target --> own him with my combo xD and I just stay fighting unless I get targeted..in wich case I use viper's defenses to get back to the place i activated shadow of haste in before it ends.then I switch to my zealous daggers and start swiping at any enemy near the casters..that way I regain energy faster to do another combo.
P.S. I think +5 energy daggers are the best mods though nobody likes it.what do you guys think? and how much do you think +5 energy aureate daggers are worth cuz i wanna buy a pair

idk how much their worth but i kinda like the set i have, if you want i have two sets of similiar daggers. my set is barbed plagueborn daggers of shelter bleeding +335, +5 defense vs physical and 7-17 damage, and my second set is the same except instead of bleeding its crippling

Quote: Originally Posted by pve-er

Quote: Originally Posted by zeroxy

and try to put some gold vigor runes to echance your health

try this build Mark of Instability + Black Lotus strike + Twisting Fangs + Falling Spider+ sleeping wound+ shadow refuge and heart of shadow or an escape move

The most effective PvP build ive used so far is a broad hit and run strategy applying several conditions that will wear most enemy out in a one on one.

I skill out as follows. Elite - Aura of Displacement, Critical Eye, Disrupting Strike, Jagged Strike, Crippling Dagger, Palm Strike, Falling Spider, and Shadow Reguge.

With this build you can target basically anyone because you lead in and close the gap with Aura of Displacement before most attacks begin. I generally target the support spellcasters, rangers, or tanks only when they are already engaged with another enemy. Cast Critical Eye and keep it on to recharge energy, without it you will run dry because Aura of Displacement requires a constant energy pip. I lead in with jagged strike to start bleeding, if the enemy is still running then I lead in with crippling dagger. (The palm strike requires an enemy to have a condition for the knockdown to work.) I will then attack and wait for the opportune time to use the distracting strike, usually on their healing because it blocks the skill for several seconds. When they are midway or are getting ready to use a powerful skill I apply the palm strike knockdown followed by falling spider to apply poison. With a couple of conditions on them they generally break easliy after that. If they heal hopefully the Distracting is recharged, if they run, use crippling dagger again. Apply shadow refuge when needed. If done correctly you will not need to really heal if you are picking people out of groups, they generally dont get a chance to target you. This is also a great build for finishing up the retreaters that are healing themselves.

When one on one with a tank you have a chance if you can disrupt their healing and get the knockdown. This is not a high damage dealing build but better for general PvP use. The problems with this build arrise when trying to take out monks with fast healing and condition removal. You can tie monks up and make them useless. This build is very weak to blind because with Critical Eye you rely on critical hits to keep your energy up.

If you see that you arent making progress, you start loosing, or a better target presents itself. Double click Aura of Displacement, retarget and start again. Fit in where you get in, play your role, and you can bank some quick morale crushing kills.

i think you mean iron palm and not palm strike. you can't have two elites in a skillbar and palm strike is an elite like AoD. and iron palm is the one that knocks down a foe with a condition in addition to damage. ^^"

When i ran out of energy, (this is assuming u have mesmer secondary) just use iinspiration to steal some energy! i prefer energy tap, but im still low lvl on shing jea island.

assassin in real life don't take on mobs



loler?