Assassins: Are they ever worth it?

techwhosaysnee

techwhosaysnee

New Member
So I have an assassin, and have found that through the course of leveling him I pretty much consistantly have carried at 60% DP. I thought this was just me, but I'm told that these guys are pretty much known for dying. I've thought about just deleting him and making some other build I want or using it as a PVP slot, but I'm not sure that I want to throw away that time.

Are asssassins ever worth the effort, or is there something that most people just don't know about how to use them effectively? I am using my Ritualist secondary for some healing skills, and might be able to improve a little bit, but it still seems like I spend a lot of time running away from fights rather than participating.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
I just the otehr day deleted my assassin that I made when factions came out. He'd already beaten the Factions campaign and had 15k canthan armor dyed silver. I've come to realize that the assassin is truly a useless class. I ended up replacing him with an elementalist. I now have one character from each of the six core classes and couldnt be happier.
 
I have a friend who tanks pretty well with his assassin.
he puts huge amounts into Shadow Arts and consistently heals.
he seems to do pretty well by it.
 
I started an assassin the day I got Factions. I didn't like the way his attacks worked, so I deleted him and started a new character.
 
If I were to start an assassin, I'd probably make his secondary warrior. Put points in tactics and use stances to survive long enough to pull off the combos. Never ever go in first. That's a warrior's job. If you draw the aggro, you're dead.
 
I'd try some of this advice before you delete any character. Because, of course, once you do it's irreversible.

You may decide you like him. If not, you can always delete him then.
 
astrod00d said:
If I were to start an assassin, I'd probably make his secondary warrior. Put points in tactics and use stances to survive long enough to pull off the combos. Never ever go in first. That's a warrior's job. If you draw the aggro, you're dead.
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I have an A/W. The last mission I completed was the Eternal Grove. Up to this point, I have done each quest and mission only with henchies. I have not played much with my build, but plan to try a few things out. I rarely have gotten above 30%DP, if any DP at all. It probably helps that I don't have a warrior and I don't have any ingrained tank mentality.

The main warrior skill I use is Watch Yourself. With daggers I build up adrenaline fast enough to basically keep it up permenantly with minimal points in tactics.

My plan is to change over to an axe build with near-max crit hits points, Axe mastery and then either shadow or tactics. The idea is to use attacks like cyclone axe and triple chop that attack multiple targets and cause critical hits.

Another build I want to try is an A/R build with a similar strategy using Barrage with high crit hit points.
 
I wonder if people ever play a/n instead of r/n for the "touch-ranger" build? I'd think the ability to shadow-step in and do touch attacks (which also heal) would really compensate for the assassin's weaknesses. No whirling defense though.

Also Derk got me thinking - for VIM trappers build, wouldn't an a/w be able to sneak in and cause all kinds of conditions for an early VIM bonus? I know we like touch rangers in that build, but an assassin or two might be worth looking at - if for no other reason than giving our guildies a chance to play theirs. :)

Paul
 
dorkelf said:
I wonder if people ever play a/n instead of r/n for the "touch-ranger" build? I'd think the ability to shadow-step in and do touch attacks (which also heal) would really compensate for the assassin's weaknesses. No whirling defense though.
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Assasins would deplete their energy in about 2 seconds and be easy kills, no expertise
 
Yeah, one of the main things that makes touch rangers effective is the ability to use Expertise to lower the touch skills from 15 energy to about 5.
A novel idea, but overlooking a critical detail. :)
Besides, that's what Dodge/Zojun's Haste is for.

I'm sure someone will come up with some ub3r Assassin build sooner or later.
 
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Some quick tips:

1. Like astrodood said, don't draw aggro, and if you do, get rid of it.

2. Hit and run, hit and run. That's basically what it's all about. Assassins can cause some pretty high damage coupled with conditions in a short period of time that can be pretty killer, but they can't tank, so you have to get in, cause your damage, and get out, whether you're shadow stepping or just running away.

3. Save up right away for the max armor. Because of the assassin's vulnerability, save up and get the max armor level (70) you can get, as soon as you can. Once you leave the island, you'll be swamped really quick.

4. Don't go combo crazy. With all the chaining that can be done with Assassin skills, the temptation is strong to put together a 4 or 5 skill chain, just 'cuz it's so cool. But you'll rarely get a chance to bust out the complete combo on someone, combos can get interupted, energy management is important and even more important is that those skills take up slots that might be better used for hex/condition removal and health (either for yourself or your teammates). Use a 3-4 skill combo and diversify elsewhere.

5. Be a team player. Another temptation for Assassins is to go it alone a lot and use up skill slots on things that only help the assassin. Bring a skill or two that helps the group. (Granted, it's tough to get into groups simply because of the very fact that you're an assassin, but as more and more people delete their assassins, the people who stick it out will get better at using the assassin and eventually - hopefully - dispell the idea that Assassins are just DP machines)

6. Useful Skills: Horns of the Ox, Falling Spider and Twisting Fangs are great skills to pick up (dual +28 hit & knock down, +30 hit and poison, and +20 hit plus bleeding plus deep wound), along with the Elite, Palm Strike (armor ignoring offhand touch attack that doesn't need a lead attack), which can be capped in Budek Byway from Kenshi Steelhand. (It's tough to get, but sooo worth it)


So far I've specialized in the Dagger, Critical and Shadow skill lines. One of these days, somebody's going to figure out how to make a great Deadly Arts build, but right now, those skills don't seem nearly as useful or "deadly" as those found in the other lines.
 
I have a A/R and enjoy play very much. I haven't had any problems getting groups, but I mostly play B/P. I just finished Factions, charmed a black Moa, and now I am going to explore some of the great dagger build ideas. I would suggest keeping the toon, switch secondary to ranger, warrior, or monk and giving it a chance. That is unless you want/need a PvP slot.
 
one2dredd said:
A/W might work really well!! Might check it out this Afternoon for PVP tonight!
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The impression I'm getting is that he would be useful, but only while playing in groups, and still annoying in PvE if I use henchies, as they attack everything I attack, and they make it hard to not aggro to some point, which is why I usually end up carrying some DP.

One of my thoughts is, if they ever actually let me buy extra slots, or if when I get nightfall I get two more, keeping an actual dedicated PvP slot, so I can build whatever I need without disrupting any builds I currently have.

One more question, if I take my Tyrian ranger to Cantha, can I make the two Canthan professions optional secondaries for her? Because if I could, then I wouldn't need to keep my assassin for the sake of skill capping, and then could delete him and still have a chance at a decent PVP option, if I chose.
 
I've wondered that myself...I have an A/R, but now that my R/W is in Cantha, I've considered making him a R/A.
 
Yes, any character can change professions in Cantha, to any profession.

Talk to Senji in Senji's Corner to change professions in Factions. You must complete the Nahpui Quarter mission first. (And pay a one-time fee of 500 gp per secondary profession.)

More info at GuildWiki.
 
There are actually some pretty good Warrior Elites that would work well with an Assassin primary:

Flourish: Bust a combo and nullify the recharge time, or if your combo gets broken, Fourish to get it set up again.

Shove: Touch-skill for an easy knockdown that does damage; leads nicely into Falling Spider and a dual attack of your choice.

Auspicious Parry: spam this to block incoming attacks and charge up adrenaline to do lots of other things.

I'm starting to think I should switch to warrior!
 
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