Assassin Hate... Why?

I'm sure threads like this have been made a thousand times over, but I'm truly confused here. Ever since factions came out, many people have utterly despised assassins. It is still nearly impossible to get a decent group with an assassin, and most of the time people ridicule assassins for not being as good as other professions. Why? I just spent a few minutes looking through threads such as the 3 most/least favorite professions, and more often than not(other than the huge amounts of paragon hate) assassins were on the bad lists, and only ONCE did anyone post a reason. That reason was this: "1-trick pony and teleport is a feature I can miss like toothache." One trick? Please.

Let us look over some of the facts about Assassins, and why many people hate/love them.

Hate:
1. Assassins die too much.
-They do? How can this be possible when it is so easy to put something like critical defenses, flashing blades, mystic regen, or even earth armor spells into a build? Newer players die all the time with assassins sure, but most of the times they have like 7 attack skills and shadow refuge. I've found in nearly any situation any one of the above skills can easily prevent masses of death in even the most elite areas. Then add skills from secondary professions to increase this ability in many more ways as well.

2. Assassins have 70 defense.
-So having -10 AL from the maximum is bad? Check out the inscriptions! Every one of them provides between 10-20 armor to certain areas, or a full 15 while attacking. Add one armor skill to that and you far surpass a warrior! On top of that, 75% blocking skills are very common in assassin builds, as they have more of them than any other, except perhaps the ranger. Assassins are however, the only profession who can keep them up constantly with only one skill.

3. Assassins can't do anything but teleport around.
-Ah so thats why is the #1 skill used by x/A players a shadow step? Other than necromancers(which need corpses) and Ride the Lightning(l0l) Asssassins are the only class capable of moving instantly to an enemy, and with great effect. And trust me, assassins can do MUCH more than just teleport.


Thats a FEW of the many reasons people say they hate us... But now lets look at some points the good side shall we?

1. Speed.
-"OMG what just happened?!?" This is what I commonly hear in PvP a few seconds after I target someone. Assassins have by far the highest killing speed of any profession in the game. In PvP a sin can stop you in your tracks, teleport to your exact location, lay down about 500+ armor ignoring damage, and apply several very harmful conditions, all in less than 2 seconds. In PvE, with enemies who are normally exceedingly weaker than human powers, an assassin can clear mobs with rates near to nukers. Skills such as Assassins Promise, Death Blossom/Moebius Strike, and run boosts put them among the quickest killers anywhere in the game.

2. Survivability.
-Yep, I said it. Assassins can survive amongst rampaging monsters and such. Personally I always carry defensive skills in my sin builds, and I usually have constant 75% blocking to nearly eliminate Melee damage. Assassins are the only classes able to do this constantly with only one skill(and several skills work for this). While elemental damage can be a problem, most assassin heals can more than cover for it. Even Shadow Refuge every few seconds will heal a considerable amount more than most people think. Way of Perfection with critical hits is another great heal. When healing isn't enough(in many cases it isn't) thats where shadow stepping comes in! Not only is it a great way to surprise enemies in PvP, but the best possible way to get OUT of a battle when things turn bad in PvE! On top of all of this throw in assassins various stances and enchantments for protection, as well as conditions such as Daze and Blind to shut down nearly any enemy. Thats not even getting into a secondary profession!
Oh yea almost forgot, its the only profession with a skill that more or less says: You are invincible for 5..20 seconds.

3. FUN!
-Nothing in this game is more fun than taking an assassin and jumping from target to target killing off enemies one at a time in rapid succession. After 6 months of playing, I have never had more fun with any other profession, or any other types of builds, than a pure assassin.

Thats a little bit about them, but if you ever play one for yourself and become successful at it, you'll quickly realize why so many have chosen to move to the assassin profession.

My theory: Assassins are not properly used much of the time. When assassins first came out, people became crazy to try them. Alot of new players wanted to be a cool assassin ninja kind of character, but really had no idea how to play them. Many assassins these days still aren't sure how to effectively use this profession, and over the months players have died and been unable to kill enemies well enough to compete with other professions. Thus, assassins began to gain a bad reputation as a "noob class". Sort of a class where all the new people wanted to go to seem cooler and stronger, but they really didn't know how. Overall, assassins are not a very easy class to use. Unlike warriors and elementalists where its either load on defense and smack enemies or load on huge firepower to blow things up, assassins require A LOT of strategy to use effectively.

My solution: Learn the basics before you start one. Assassin's are probably not the best idea for a first profession(even though I did ) Unless you know the game basics and learned many of the skills beforehand, starting an assassin can be VERY difficult. Read up on them, learn to use strategy, figure out combinatons, and learn to use builds and techniques effectively and people will start to realize how well assassins work when they are properly used!

Ok, my rants over for today. Comment/rant/spam/flame/laugh/talk/whateverotherwordsyoucanthinkof away!

Hehe, assassin hate? Assassins started off horribly,and to this day, most are still rather horrible in situations that call for tactic and not a pure fast kill. I never really agreed with the "1 Trick Pony" statement,since that trick is what secondary assassins all use.

Also, sins are well documented for their squishy killing abilities, but what of head to head vs other melee builds? They fall short against a well built warrior, most taking 2 or more combo chains,or a 2nd sin to help kill one warrior of moderate skill. Not taking away from a sin's abilities, but the fact is that they can't go toe to to with a well built warrior. Against a well played dervish, the same is also true. The heavy enchantment warrior mage that we know and love will outlive any sin on the strength of Mysticism.

That being said, I will admit that a well played sin can definitely be a threat on a PvP field. However, let's talk about the sin in their native enviornment,Cantha.

The sin in Cantha is well documented as being a "Liability" in the vast majority of areas in Cantha, due to the fact that they do more auto attacking than skillful killing,as well as the fact that the assassin has a hard time in mob scenarios,even with Death Blossom in their build.

If they dodge and live, that's fine, but a warrior or Dervish is more desired due to the fact that their chances of doing damage are greater and more consistant. Consitancy is the key as a melee character. If you don't agree with this statement, feel free to debate your point. However, sins are not consistant beyond their combo. Interupt the combo, they are in trouble. Avoid the attack in the chain, they are in trouble. Nuke them to high heaven, and they're dead . That's a joke...lol.

Anyway, the point isn't that sins are bad, but are played poorly and are not as consistant in the field of melee damage as their counterparts. That will always lead to undesired publicity, aka "Hate". They excel in catching squishies all alone on the AB battlefield, but die miserably when toe to toe with a well played Warrior/Derv/Melee build. That isn't a testament against the class, but against the vast majority of players using them. When you find a sin that is played well, then you will find a worthy foe. Yet, that isn't the norm.

People hate sins because... they can? Well I know lots of people either like sins or hate them or even both. There are people (a few) that can play the assassin well and others (the majority) that suck at playing the assassin. People hate them because they die easily and too fast if they don't get out of the frontline in time. And then there are the people that hate them because they kill them in about however long it takes the sin to unleash it's attack chain. Mixed feelings, but most people just hate them, just like people hate a good mesmer. People just hate things that either kill them fast or counter their attacks, hence why people hate sins, mesmers, necros, etc. And I'm sure every monk in the GW community hates the assassin.

So here's a question to answer your question: Why not hate the assassin?

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The assassin stereotype has become too popular in the GW community for it to be acceptable to have sins in a balanced group. Hell the community doesn't even use balanced groups anymore, it's all about who can spike down the opposing team first. I generally agree that sins are powerful and very very deadly if someone knows how to actually use one to it's full potential, but the stereotype of the sin basically screws over any good sin players out there.

Exactly. This is why I haven't used a pug since I got NF(except when teams were needed such as jennurs horder, DoA) and still got protector of Elona with henches.

Their isn't one assassin build you could even devise that could beat a riposte swordsman. For that matter, not one melee build you could come up with could beat a capable riposte swordsman.

Blinding powder? Thats all well and good, but riposte will be charged in 4 to 5 hits, and Deadly riposte is an energy skill. Your sin would be bleeding and DW'd before he knew what hit him. Mending touch stops all that blinding powder crap, so then what would you do,my friend, but die. Warriors when played well will always beat a sin. I've killed 3 sins at a time with a riposte build, though it took some doing and a good bit of luck, but 1 sin is never a problem.

Anyway, the point is that the hate is somewhat justified, since most sins run into the buzzsaw instead of doing what they should be doing, which is looking to shut off the power.

ive always seen an assassin as a liablity in pve, at least when playing in the end game areas. simply put, they get hit far to hard to be in the fray. now that said, with a good build, this isnt an issue. but i wouldnt qualify "good" based on survivability, but rather speed of entrance, kill, and exit. too many sins rely on flashing blades and the like to survive and i think this is a mistake. yes you avoid the melee, but thats not the biggest issue, its the massive caster dmg, especially from bosses. not to mention the clusterfark that is an afflicted mob.

ive always played a sin in pve the same way id play it in pvp: shadow step in, unload my combo, shadow step back out. thats why assassins promise is (one of) my favorite elites to use. the sins auto attack dmg is rather pathetic, so why stick around for it?

as for the question: it all goes back to both the factions preview event and the first month or so of factions. every single wammo in the game said, "i want to be a !" and they made a sin. they then proceeded to play them just like a warrior. this resulted in them charging head long into an afflicted mob, and even if they did somehow kill something, they were blown to holy hell. this is the cause of the hate for the assassin.

that and the fact that those players still play those sins. just last week, i had a pug sin with breeze, mending, LV, VS, flashing blades, and some filler. his only attack was jagged strike. when i ask him what was up with his build, his response was "ive got to stay alive to spread bleeding to everyone!" . at least with a bad warrior, he still has a naturally high armor level and a higher, more constant DPS from his auto attacks. a bad sin is usually just minion fodder.

general rule of thumb:

bad warrior > bad assassin
good warrior = good assassin

in the end, its not the sin itself, its how people play the sin more than anything. if you plan on tanking with your sin, please just roll a warrior or derv. if you want to make use of your shadow stepping and massive spike potential, then bring your sin to the party plz.

pvp is a different animal all together, and id rather no get to into that. lets just leave it that a good sin is just as valuable in pvp as a good warrior, and in some situations can even be better.

why i hate assassins?

it's easy to answer.

they're a gimmick class. force me to play assasin and i'll die of boredomness and rage for 2 hours.

- they aren't versatile AT ALL
- most "good" sin builds base on the same freaking boring concept
- thsoe that don't base it on suck
- if the spike fails, they're useless for a certain time period and can't pressure for **** - which is done easily, one hex, a blind, can ruin the whole freaking chain and nullify (sp?) the whole damage, which it wouldn't do for a warrior or dervish

that's my reasons i quickly came up with.

in pve, i'd take them in a group anyday, in pvp, although many love them, i prefer to not have any in my party if it's possible.

Hi,

I am currently favouring my assain char and quite enjoying hunting for the Elite skills. I would say im fairly new to the class, having started one ages ago and left it as she seemed to be "squishy"

Now I am a more rounded player and have learned patience i find the Sin a joy to play.

Trying differnt combos of skills out for more that 5 minutes helps. YES the build may be bad but you can learn to understand Why its bad.

I find Go basic on the attack chain - and FIND the elite Flashing bladed and this makes you so much more of a survior. Also neco second prof for plague touch is worth it. No wasted points on skills you dont need.

I can cut down many PvE healers down in 3/4 hits - Shadow stepping past the wall of defendes using Critical Eye and Way of perfection before teleporting - 3 quick hits - corpse - Flahing blades - then in to the mix.

Assassins can Rock - But you need to know how to Roll first

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