just some interesting figures i've pulled out of my memory bank. this will start from Factions release to present time.
#1: AoD assassin
AoD{e}, GPS, horns, falling spider, twisting fangs, shadow refuge, dark escape, rez sig
the first dominant assassin build, and played anywhere from pve to gvg. greatly popularized by EvIL and WM with their shadowstepping antics. total damage per spike: ~440 with degen, completed in 7 seconds.
#2: AoD shock assassin
AoD{e}, shock, falling spider, twisting fangs, disrupting stab, shadow refuge, dark escape, rez sig
after the nerfs to AoD and GPS, the koreans came up with this build. by today's standard, it's absolutely laughable. essentially, the assassin build that EvIL relied on during their prime was nothing more than a teleporting deep wound with some disruption thrown in. it should be noted that it's impossible to instagib a person with this build, even if two shock assassins spike the same target. after all, deepwound does not stack. total damage per spike: ~300 with degen, completed in 4 seconds.
#3: SP instagib sin (this was run when shadow prison lasted 7 seconds at 4 deadly arts)
SP{e}, black lotus strike, twisting fangs, black spider strike, blades of steel, dash, burst of aggression, rez sig
this became very popular after the update that saw huge assassin damage buffs. it is probably the first "instagib" assassin build ever created. total damage per spike: ~570 with degen, completed in 4 seconds.
#4: SP instagib sin (after slight nerfs to shadow prison duration)
SP{e}, black lotus strike, horns, black spider strike, blades of steel, impale, tiger stance, expose defenses/rez sig
similar to the first SP sin, but with more raw damage. less degen, but that hardly matters because it guaranteed a kill if you successfully run through the combo. total damage per spike: ~610 with degen, completed in 4 seconds
#5: SP instagib sin (after more nerfs to shadow prison duration and recharge)
SP{e}, black mantis strike, jungle strike, trampling ox, falling lotus strike, twisting fangs, tiger stance, expose defenses/rez sig
yet another incarnation of the SP sin. after black lotus strike got turned into a lead attack, this was the only way to instagib someone reliably. total damage per spike: ~600 with dgen, completely in 4-5 seconds
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there are other assassin builds of course, but i feel these five demonstrates the evolution of the assassin as a profession.
by looking at the builds from start to finish, one can notice two trends: greatly increased damage, and greatly decreased self-sufficiency and disruption. essentially, we have the shock assassin on one end, and the various versions of the SP sin on the other end.
with this loss of survivability and disruption, we're also seeing a shift on the purpose of the assassin split. while EvIL's dual shock assassin builds relied on just two assassins, today's assassin gank builds need two assassins and a monk to babysit them. EvIL's assassins were not really for ganking npcs. rather, they were especially good at creating odd-man matchups on the map. their ability to rapidly collapse back from base to flagstand (and vice versa) was their greatest strength.
nowadays, assassin gank teams strictly attempts to take out npcs. if someone goes back to defend against them, they spike out the defender and continue. the assassin as a profession went from a highly mobile, DISRUPTION based character into a single-minded spiker
so to sum it up: assassin damage went up, survivability and disruption went down. this changed the assassin from a mobile disruption character into a spiker.
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now the interesting question is: is this a good thing? well, it depends. it should be noted that the assassin's ability to survive and disrupt has not been directly nerfed. rather, their increased damage output made those two aspects obsolete. after all, which is easier: carefully timing your shock and dstab to interrupt key skills, and slowly kill the target; or just go 123456 and blow it up in one go?
anyways, my personal opinion is that the assassin should shift closer to the AoD shock assassin archtype, and away from the SP instagib assassin archtype. the former, by neccessity, require a much greater skill level and understanding of the game to play effectively, than the latter. it's also, in my opinion, more fun to watch and play.
