PvE Assassins

Glitch

Glitch

New Member
I was wondering if anyone had some good sin builds for PVE. i know sins are just BORN for PVP yet... i would like to experiment a little in the PVE setting. I am currently trying to set up a sin/derv. so i can have scithe plus crit. so i can have AOE crits... which will make me happy... but back to my orignal question...

Does anyone have some good PVE sin builds?

Whenever i look on the internet or at Guru all i can find is PVP builds... maybe i'm looking incorrectly... but... still...
 
*crickets* .... does that answer ur question?
 
Well, when using an Assassin in PvE, there are some rules to be successful that are very similar to the rules of an Assassin in PvP:

1. Assassins are NOT tanks.
2. Assassins are NOT tanks.
3. Assassins are best when fighting individuals (though there are some sin/derv builds out there)
4. You should know the kinds of builds the enemies use in the area/mission you are working in and take advantage of their weaknesses (and being pve, there are many)
5. The goal of an assassin is to get in, kill as fast as possible, get out. So teleport skills both in or out come in handy and keep you alive.
6. If you take damage, skills like shadow refuge and feigned neutrality work well since you aren't trying to tank (and ease the burden on the monks who would rather save the energy).
7. Most assassin builds are focused around one skill, usually elite, due to having to chain skills. Find the best skills you can for whatever build you're looking for. Become good enough, and its relatively easy to solo farm a bunch of different bosses.

There are some people who have successfully used Assassins as tanks. However, they are the exception that proves the rule. :D
 
I have my A/R that I can post. I don't actually use the ranger portion but I keep it available to do critical barraging should I feel the need.

Here's my build. It doesn't actually use critical strikes at all, just cause I was playing with it and found this actually works better. But I digress.

Jagged Strike, Golden Lotus Strike, Wild Strike, and Death Blossom as your main attacks. Jagged and Golden Lotus are Leads, Wild is an Off-Hand, and Death Blossom is a Dual. I'll explain how I use them in a sec.

After that, Aura of Displacement. Then Shadow Refuge, Heart of Shadow, and a free spot (I have Resurrection Signet there).

My usual battle is as such. I start by using Aura of Displacement to shadow step to my enemy, then following that up with Golden Lotus, Wild Strike, and Death Blossom. This works really well for a couple of reasons. First, Golden Lotus will give you 11 energy (using my attribute numbers) because Aura of Displacement is an enchantment. Second, Wild Strike cant be blocked. By the time enemies are facing you and are able to block well (such as assassins), you've hit them with Wild Strike. And lastly, Death Blossom does a whole lot of damage to both the enemy and all immediately in the area. It's a great AOE cause its fast so there is no time to move.

Keep that circle going if you can. Often times I'll get through Death Blossom and Golden Lotus is not charged (it has a 10 second). That's when I use Jagged Strike (which induces lots of bleeding time), then back to Wild Strike and Death Blossom. So, my usual swing is this: Golden Lotus->Wild Strike->Death Blossom->Jagged Strike->Wild Strike->Death Blossom. Just switch out Golden Lotus and Jagged Strike, unless Golden Lotus is recharged.

Use Shadow Refuge for keeping health up (in reality, not the best, but the assassin's only real option for health). And if you are really hurting, use Heart of Shadow. It will move you out of the way and give you +118 when you get hit again. So win win. Also, disenchant Aura of Displacement should you need to. It can get you out of a bind quick.

My Attributes are as such -
Dagger Mastery - 12
Shadow Arts - 11
Critical Strikes - 1 (due only to my Kurzick mask...you can 12+1 Dagger Mastery if you get the right mask)

My armor is a sad mix of Kurzick and Shing Jea. Quite frankly, I'm too poor to craft anything else and don't have the time to farm for 15k (how do you guys do it? it must take forever). My daggers are the Furious Kiris Daggers of Fortitude, with a Damage +14% when enchanted, Health +29, and 7-17 attack.

Like I said, this build works really well for me. Of course, if you go toe to toe with a Warrior or some such, you'll lose. But, I go after elementals, mesmers, necros with great success. Also, with Golden Lotus being used, I've only once or twice run out of energy to the point where I needed to disenchant Aura to escape. It works really well. This build is great for individuals but also works against groups marginally well because of Death Blossom. I have to stress, like Elader, assassins are NOT tanks. If you start getting attacked by anything doing a lot of damage (i.e., Warriors, sometimes Rangers, etc...), get out! Disenchant and recharge, then go back in. Don't stick around and die! Monks need to support their tanks, so don't be a burden to them.

The disadvantages to this build are pretty simple. If you have enemies that can disenchant you, you're screwed. Aura, Shadow Refuge, and Heart of Shadow are all enchantments; and those are your only line of upkeep besides monks. But usually monks are busy with the tanks. :)

Again, it works really well for me. It's been changing quite a bit since I started with Assassin, but I've had this one for a while and it seems to do the trick. If anyone has suggestions for improvement I'm all over that. Glitch, let me know if this is any help for you. It kinda sucks being a PvE only assassin - there are almost no builds to start off of. I'd like to do PvP and use those builds, but PvP is strange and unfamiliar to me and I know nothing about it. :) I kinda just guessed and found one that works well in PvE...so bummer. :/ But good luck regardless. :D

EDIT: I've also switched out Wild Strike with Lotus Strike before. It does less damage and can be blocked, but it's great if you are an energy hog. It uses 10 energy as opposed to Wild Strike using 5, but the attack itself makes up for it.
 
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i understand the concept of sins as tanks... the non-existant concept... yes... i've been here long enough to know the flaw of all assassins... one of my justifications for this is that every assassin i would team with would do such a bad job... i had to prove that assassins (as they are the primary ninja character) can actually be played well... in such... yes i understand that concept... if i was to even consider tanking with an assassin... it would probably deal a whole lot in Armor or Earth... Kinetic Armor... and... honestly.... i don't see how that would work well either... thus.... probably not going to happen....

Next question...


Is a War / sin possible? in the idea of... warrior being tank... yet with sin attacks?
 
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