Are my expectations justified?

Pericles

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2007

[GoD]

02 Jul 2007 at 16:28 - 1

I find myself pretty experienced, i've got all three campaigns and finished them with my ranger, i've got experience with all the other professions except assassin and dervish.
I've been thinking of making a pve assassin but i'm not entirely convinced.
Heres why i would make one:
1. I just love being able to take out single targets very fast, (bosses)
2. People say assassins are fast, and rare
3. I like playing odd classes
4. I love the primary attribute critical strikes

Here are a few negatives:
1. I don't like the look of assassins very much, too thin, armor isn't great etc.
2. People say they die a lot.

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

I hope there are some pro-assassin players who can help me out

patrona

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Belgium

none.

Me/

02 Jul 2007 at 17:37 - 2

well i made my PvE assa for the same reasons as you mentioned.

1) jep, it is fun
2) their not faster then any other char, and yes they are rare ( the good ones)
3) same here, i like to play classes who are called as 'only good for pvp' ( para, assa, messie...)
4) i didn't choose assa because of it's primary, but it's fun combined with Critical Agility

anyway just play assa in Pve, don't listen to ppl who say assa can't play pve or something, not true! if played correctly, assas are as deadly as they should be in pve. ;-)

so i think your expectations are justified.

Bowstring Badass

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2005

Character selection screen figuring what I want to play...

Purple Lingerie - :D

02 Jul 2007 at 17:45 - 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

2. People say assassins are fast, and rare Rare as in never played?

Go to RA bunch of noob 9-12 year old Naruto fans thinking that they don't need to chain their attack skills. Kids like this give us good assassins bad names.

patrona

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Belgium

none.

Me/

02 Jul 2007 at 17:55 - 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowstring Badass

Rare as in never played? I think he metioned that good sins are rare in pve, not the sin that think they can handle the world with tanking mobs, so i guess real assassins are indeed rare.

RA has indeed a lot of 12 year old sin noobs. that's why i prefer to play TA, so you can choose and check what build they use

Sjeng oet Mestreech

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

The Netherlands

P/W

02 Jul 2007 at 17:58 - 5

1. The downside is that there are more non-boss monsters in the game

. But these are also fun to kill. Just don't jump into mobs without any protection. Your armor won't be great!
2. In PvE they are starting to get 'rare'. Meaning there aren't as many as there used to be. There are still quit a few out there, especially since the release of the PvE only skills.
In AB of RA there are just to many Sins. The good ones are rare though.
3. Then I suggest you also try the Ritualist

These are rare ánd odd!
4. This isn't only something to love, but also something to depend on. It gives you energie, protection and IAS (PvE). The protection comes from Critical Defense (75% block and it will reapply itself everytime you hit a critical strike) and IAS comes from Critical Agility, which provides you 33% IAS and +/- +20 AL which also reapplies itself evertime you hit a critical strike.

Pericles

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2007

[GoD]

02 Jul 2007 at 18:20 - 6

Hey, thx for all the responds, keep 'em coming

To be clear, i'm only talking about pve here, and i already have a ritualist (they are awesome

), with 'rare' i mean that you don't see them in pve locations very often. Plz check my first post again, i editted it a bit

T N Player

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2006

The Bay Area

02 Jul 2007 at 18:55 - 7

i never thought i would have liked to play my sin. i just made him to solo tombs, but while making him, i fould that i loved playing sins. they attack really fast and r fun too.

shadow steps r not important at all for sins. i rather have retreats instead because shadow steps r really no help wen u are getting pounded on by 5 monsters.

sins attacks are most 5 energy and some r 10 energy, with ther fast attack on the sin u waste energy really fast. the daggers r really helpful r zealous daggers. the stats of my daggers r:

15^50
zealous
+30hp

Elite skills to cap:

Moebius Strike (Moebius Strike+Death Blossom=huge qucik multi monster dmg)

Flashing Blades (nice skill to evade attacks)

Way of the Assassin (WotA+Critical Agility+way of protection=almost always 33% faster dmg, +armor and heals)

Shadow Form (for running and farming)

Shadow Prism (PvP)

Normal skills to have:

Critical Agility

Way of Protection with the right combos

shadow refuge

Feigned Neutrality

Death's retreat or return

I play with a major rune of dagger and minor runes for shadow and critical strike. I never use a sup unless u can pay for a sup vigor and u will still have low hp

i use Nightstalker's insig for the extra armor bonus

phool

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2007

02 Jul 2007 at 19:25 - 8

If you liike c-spacing pve, sin is a very good choice. If you don't like it, sin is more likely to make you like it than any other profession.

Sins are very effective in general pve and any survival issues are not inherent to the profession but the player.

Assassins Promise and Moebius strike are the best elites to base a build around, assuming you don't plan to do something genuinely rare like throwing spears or hitting things with a hamer.

L.J

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2006

Brisbane

Blades Of The Dingo[AUST]

03 Jul 2007 at 03:23 - 9

Hi

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes? Insignias I usually use are nightstalkers and radiant, I would say nightstalkers if your dont have many 10energy cost skills. Also I dont think many assassins run superior runes
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin? Not in pve, in pvp they are very helpful though and pretty close to a must.
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....? Personally I run 3 attack skills most of the time but I wouldnt really run any more than 4 in pve.
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should I be doing? I cant speak on behalf of all other assassins in the pve world but I personally don't use superior runes unless I need to reach a breaking point for a skill. Mostly you will find yourself using critical strikes(most sins run at 13 i believe. no higher), and dagger mastery.
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with? Some daggers I use are zealous(a good green is end game celestial daggers), Vampiric( a good green is shiros IF you are running 13+ dagger mastery or id just get chkkrs pincers).
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play? My must have elite for pve that I would say is moebius strike, it allows for death blossom-moebius-deathblossom over and over(gets quite boring over time but very effective). Here is a build I made but for some odd reason the thread is closed http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10169535

Well I hopped this helped you out some!

Francis Demeules

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada, Qc

[Holy]

Me/Mo

03 Jul 2007 at 04:33 - 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.J

But generally I run Superior Deadly Arts (dont ask me why). But I know how survive since I played in many way with any profession. What I can suggest Pericles is to run minor runes only for more Health and the versality with builds.

Utaku

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2006

Paris, France

We eat pancakes [Yumy]

Me/

03 Jul 2007 at 07:12 - 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

I hope there are some pro-assassin players who can help me out

1) My personal choice is full survivors'.
2) No they aren't, but can be fun to play with. [skill]shadow walk[/skill][skill]dash[/skill] is nice for instance
3) run as many as you like, but take care of the recharge. Ennemies die so quickly that a 8s recharge lead attack is a no no unless you play a second one. 4s is great.
4)For a dagger sin, reaching 13 crit strikes is a must. Maxing Dagger mastery is important too. In the end, there are few attribute points available for a third line. I like to play 12+1+2 DM and 11+2 crit strikes, leaving some points for Deadly arts. Assassin's self heal are weak, trash'em.
5) good daggers are +15^50% or +5nrj with either zealous or vamp and fortitude. Just say no to sundering. Greens : end game nf, end game factions, everthorn's, Chkkr's pincers
6)[skill]moebius strike[/skill][skill]assassin's promise[/skill][skill]temple strike[/skill]

murtagh deadmoon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Nov 2006

Call to the Torment {CttT}

03 Jul 2007 at 09:38 - 12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play 1. I personally prefer to run full Radiant, this allows for more energy and lets you spam skills and stops you from running out. Running out of energy makes your assasisn worthless.
2. Certainly not, porting in just means your ahead of all the tanks and are more likely to die, it's only good in pvp.
3. It really depends on how you like to play, i personally do simply because there aren't alot of effective healing Assassin spells anyway, just throw in Feigned Neutrality and run very fast

4. I usually run 14-16 Dagger Mastery and always have a Sup Rune for it, then i usually have 10 crit 10 Shadow and remainder in Deadly, Generally.
5. In my opinion 15^50 Zealous +30hp cannot be beaten, zealous for an assassin is just so useful.
6. Moebius strike is probably the most effective and useful elite out there.

Kiba of hidden leaf

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2006

Knights of the Ninth

04 Jul 2007 at 05:48 - 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pericles

Here are a few negatives:
1. I don't like the look of assassins very much, too thin, armor isn't great etc.
2. People say they die a lot.

I also have a few questions which i hope you can answer:
1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
I agree that you should not play a character if you do not like their appearance/name. It ruins the RolePlaying aspect.

On the dieing alot thing...Assassin's generally are the most threat so people go for them most, in pvp. In pve, you will have less armor than a warrior and be in the frontline with the warrior. Usually letting the warrior get aggro will make this happen less. Insignias and runes also play a role in this. I like to run 600 health with all survivor insignias and no superior runes because i can make a very efficient attribute set up still. 13 CS(the break point in getting 3 energy per crit) 12 Dagger 7 Shadow 7Deadly. If you run 13 in CS and have zealous daggers you will not need to have radiant insignias unless you have a combo of 30 energy or more.

Shadow steps are never neccesary they just add mobility. I personally use Dash because it is also defensive.

5 attack skills is fine as long as the 3 other skills go in synergy with your attack skills(or a ressurect). For example, if you have a major spike build shadow refuge is not good because the bonus health will not come most of the time. Running Moebius Strike Death Blossom spam will have great effects with that. If you have the Golden attack skills then you need long lasting enchantments.

Hope this helps.

Yanman.be

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2005

Belgium

[ROSE]

04 Jul 2007 at 09:37 - 14

Shadow Steps are not needed if you know how to WASD without them.

You can do insane amounts of damage with just 3 attack skills.(BLS(hex req.), MS, DB )

Greens: Everthorn's Chakrams

Use survivor, radiant if you really must. No superior runes.

Get 13cs, 14 dm. If you take a third line, drop dm.

xaleo21

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2007

Washington, USA

Doesn't matter anymore.

12 Jul 2007 at 10:19 - 15

zknifeh

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2006

Kamadan

Acolites of Anguish [aOa]

12 Jul 2007 at 11:06 - 16

having "low" armor doesnt mean ur a corpse if ur getting hit but multiple targets... last night i was taking on 6 warden warriors in HM and their 6 healers wanding me (their wands do around 50-70dmg) and they still couldnt get me down below 50% health... and i always use 1 superior rune on all of my characters no matter where i am

Sjeng oet Mestreech

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

The Netherlands

P/W

12 Jul 2007 at 11:57 - 17

Quote:

Originally Posted by xaleo21

Being able to take out a single target is fun, but if you're taking damage from several targets... you're... done. Low armor and all that junk.
And, like Muffin said, Sins are very common. Most ARE noobs with Naruto in their name and don't know how to leave Shing Jea..
No sup runes. With the low armor that Sins already have... you'd just die with low base health and armor. Unless you use a lot of Monk enchants.
Brawler's Insignia is my fave.
ShadowSteps are very useful, but how would you be a Sin w/o 'em? Useful if you don't now how to walk to a target and useful to jump behind mobs to take out the Monks or other casters. But you don't need then and you aren't anything less when you're not using Shadow Steps. On the contrary: Assassins that don't use Shadow Steps have a skill slot free for better thing like a hex, blocking, healing or an extra attack skill.

pingu666

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

guildhall

[DETH]

12 Jul 2007 at 16:51 - 18

Cathode_Reborn

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2006

13 Jul 2007 at 05:57 - 19

After playing a sin, I realized that they're tons more powerful than I thought. Like many people, I always saw them as the melee class that can do a huge spike then is useless for a little while. Enemies in pve die much too fast to be worth using a huge spike on. I got into sins when I noticed the Death blossom/Moebius spammer build which can do extremely high DPS. A while later, I made one and sins are now one of my fav pve classes.

They're powerful in pve because many enemies (even casters) have unusually high armor, but most of a Sin's damage is armor ignorning. Besides that, the aoe damage on Death blossom is nice. Shadow Steps are useless in pve: they're not spammable and they shine only pvp where they can be used to perform an unexpected spike. Their survivability isn't that great....out of the 3 melee classes, they have much less selfhealing skills. That really means nothing to me though as hench/hero monks are very effective (assuming you set them up right) and can keep a party alive very well......none of my builds use selfhealing and I've never had any problems. In short: if someone dies, usually either it was the monk's fault or the person just overextended waaayyy too far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xaleo21

Being able to take out a single target is fun, but if you're taking damage from several targets... you're... done. Low armor and all that junk.
And, like Muffin said, Sins are very common. Most ARE noobs with Naruto in their name and don't know how to leave Shing Jea..
No sup runes. With the low armor that Sins already have... you'd just die with low base health and armor. Unless you use a lot of Monk enchants.
Brawler's Insignia is my fave.
ShadowSteps are very useful, but how would you be a Sin w/o 'em? You obviously either don't play a sin or you pug with horrible monks. I already stated why shadow steps are useless in pve. For pvp, they arn't even always needed. And why do you use Brawler's Insignia when Nightstalker's inignias are there?

Iuris

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2006

Crazy ducks from the Forest

13 Jul 2007 at 07:44 - 20

Possibly because the brawler insignica cost 100g, and Nightstalker goes for 700? (at the lst time I tried to equip my legion of Zenmais

)

OK, as for original topic:
I have an assassin, got him through Factions and Nightfall. The profession is distinguished by extreme damage it can infict, mostly on a single target, though builds using Moebius strike+Death blossom, Splinter weapon or Barrage have AoE potential.
Main problems you will encounter are:
-Your low armour rating. Using typical gear, you'll have 70 armour, 85 when attacking. A Warrior will typically have 106 armor against physical damage. While you will have magnificant blocking abilities, you will suffer from enemy AoE elementalists and similar. You are vulnerable.
-Blindness, Miss chance hexes and enemies using stances. In order to do your real damage, you need to complete an attack chain. That means you have to hit several times in sequence. If any miss, your whole chain gets disrupted, leaving you with the low damage from the daggers. You WILL hate Blurred vision and Blindness in Realm of Terror. So, make sure you have ways of dealing with the problem.

Aceracer

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2006

USA

Sentinals of Rulke

A/D

07 Aug 2007 at 16:41 - 21

as many have said before me sin's deal so much dps that you will find yourself out of energy in larger groups. i prefer to use survivor insignias along with Sup daggers and minor criticals(plus critical mask) and for those that have played through nightfall get the Sunspear skill! its a beauty. couples with Critical strike(skill) you can keep the enchantment up along time, zealous are a must. this along with mystic regen (durv enchantment) and 1 monk can keep you alive just about anywhere NM and most beginning area's HM (not ibolgas the degeen is too high) and since taking less than 8 doesn't change drops any 1 or 2 heros/henchies is just too easy at times. hope this helps and Welcome to the 1337 sin brotherhood

jesh

Forge Runner

Join Date: May 2005

San Diego, CA

Penguin Village

Mo/

08 Aug 2007 at 10:15 - 22

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingu666

i like shadow step to keep my dps high :O

assassins promise
deths charge
black spider strike
twisting fangs
black lotus strike
blades of steel
option
critical agility

its bonkers speed, havent found anything better for pve :\/ QFT. I think you mean Dark Prison though, not Death's Charge. It also acts as a fast cover hex for your elite- can be VERY useful with all the hex removal in Cantha. Thanks to AP you can lower critical strikes to max daggers at 14/16. You can also replace TF with Horns of the Ox and put Impale on your optional slot. But then you have no res... oh well.

Not like you need it with that kind of damage.
Assassins are unparalleled in damage in pve.. the only other class that can hold a candle there is a dervish with Avatar of Lyssa.
Extremely fun to play imo.

pingu666

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

guildhall

[DETH]

09 Aug 2007 at 03:55 - 23

i dont use dark prision because of the slightly higher energy cost. could swap around the offhands and use it ^^

i use dark prision on moddock crevice tho, amusing to kill 1, then be a major assist on the other xD

kinda bored of that combo tho. moebius seems kinda slow after assassins promise

Bobby2

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2007

Delayed in order to meet ANet's high standards

[MaSS]

W/E

09 Aug 2007 at 22:35 - 24

Sin playing is loads of fun IMO. But I think it's a shame many chain links have such a long recharge; a combo is fragile enough as it is and 1 miss/block can really mess me up (without using skills damage output is kinda low huh?) and I tend to devote 4 slots to staying alive one way or the other, so that doesn't leave room for much variation. But I haven't even got all of the Elite skillz I want, so I'm still voraciously hunting and experimenting

Tozen

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2005

All Senses Failed [aSF]

A/N

09 Aug 2007 at 23:28 - 25

I'll address a few of your points and add some of my own thoughts (not everything though because I have limited time atm)

1. What armor should you use? I rotate between three different sets (and sometimes mix and match depending on the circumstances and build.)

a. Health Armor- Useful for dealing with said "death" problem in hard mode and helps to alleviate the assassin's biggest opponent... degen. You will understand what I mean if you ever try PvP with an assassin!

b. Energy Armor- Assassins have some very powerful 10 energy attacks. If you have energy armor you can use attack skills like unsuspecting strike as a lead on a regular basis. Energy armor also works REALLY well with using a secondary profession.

c. +15 While Attacking Armor- It is generally a good idea to keep this on your chest unless you're running a specialized build. You'll notice a small but important difference in your damage. However, this armor also has a tendency to make you go "leeroy stoneskin" into battle because it only works if you are attacking (and much of assassin survivability comes from dodging)

2. How fragile are assassins? Not as fragile as you might think! Really, the myth that assassins cannot tank comes from the rush of inexperienced players who expect to be able to take a spike like a normal tank can. The easiest way to stay alive is to keep dash in your bar. Dash will break aggro from pursuing foes and it lets you do a quick sidestep from a powerful projectile. You may not be a warrior, but don't get confused, you're not a squishy either! A mistake I made early on in my assassin career was to always avoid being hit and let my caster henchmen take the hits... this is not efficient. Of course you want primary tanks to be taking most of the hits, but if it comes down to you or a caster, step in for the caster. Be responsible though... there are times when tanking as an assassin is a smart decision and times when it just wastes your healer's energy. The good news for PvE is that Assassins do A TON of damage if played right. Oftentimes, I bring in an additional hero healer because I don't need the extra firepower. AND, Assassin survivability got a lot better with the introduction of the all-powerful skill...

3. What is the all-powerful skill that should never leave your bar? It is critical agility, a sunspear skill. This skill stays on for an entire battle, has a fast recharge, increases your attack rate, AND gives you bonus armor. Honestly... combined with skills like death blossom, it FEELS like cheating.

Besides that skill though, you will want mobius strike as an elite for much of your pve life. There are plenty of other elites that work well for PvP (like shadow prison) and skills that work well for running (like shadow form) but mobius strike is ESSENTIAL for increasing your damage to balthazaar-like levels.

4. What attack chain should you have? Well, chains are both a good and a bad thing. The good news is that they tend to be VERY powerful... but the bad news is that a poorly designed chain can you leave you twiddling your thumbs for 20 or more seconds before you can attack AT ALL.
Generally, I like to use

black mantis thrust->Wild strike->Dual Attack->Mobius Strike

as my combo, sometimes with a second dual attack for more options. Until you really get a mastery for how assassins skills chain together, I would stay away from using any dagger skill that has a recharge time longer than four seconds. With mobius, you can usually use higher recharge ones with safety, but if you accidentally kill your foe before using mobius you'll be without a chain ready for the next monster.

5. Finally, why should you make an assassin? Here are my favorite points:

a. Highest CONSISTENT damage in the game. Eles might be better at AoEs, but besides them you are the king of damage as an assassin. You also have the benefit of ALWAYS being able to use attack skills AND getting double buff benefits with your daggers (for example, strength of honor will affect both of your dagger strikes, effectively doubling the power of the buff)

b. Shadow Stepping. I don't use it all that much because of the recharge times, but it is a VERY powerful ability and fun as heck to boot.

c. Secondary Class Use- Second only to the necromancer soul reaping, critical strikes at 13 can keep most secondary profession skills quite happy with energy. Recently, I've been exploring all sorts of interesting builds that make primary use of a second profession with an assassin flair. Also, assassins have ROUGHLY the same energy regen and energy pool as other casters if they have wands or stalves equipped.

At the moment, I'm running an assassin/ritualist build in hard mode that lets me tear through mobs and then swap to being an additional healer when my primary healers need a little extra help. You probably didn't think that the assassin could be a decent (not great) healer, but if you know what you're doing, it DOES work to some extent.

Have fun! My in-game name is Tozen Dagamaki if you have any other questions.

Mekkakat

Whiner

Join Date: Aug 2006

11 Aug 2007 at 07:38 - 26

i've played sin since facts came out (the day). i made a rit soon after, but i played the sin far more. its a fun, fast paced, really in depth class. to me, sin is the closest thing to mesmer ... other than a mesmer, and im not talking just about deadly arts either (and yeah, i know they worship the same god lol).

my main classes are warrior, para, sin, and rit, so i know what you mean about the odd classed man (excluding my warrior obviously). and as long as we're strictly talking about pve, sins are (imo), other than warriors and paragons, the best physical class in game, and at times, far more valuable in big missions than ANY class at all, especially bosses and timed fights.

critical strikes is also (imo) the best primary in game. a lot of folks say mysticism is.. but i hate dervs so w/e lmao

sins are the pwn button in pvp too.. so keep an eye out there :P

moriz

??ber t??k-n??sh'??n

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada

11 Aug 2007 at 18:19 - 27

here's an interesting experiment for you to try:

run a mobius strike combo (leaping mantis sting, exhausting assault, mobius strike, death blossom), with a ritualist spamming splinter weapon on you. the resulting AoE spike is so powerful it will remove any need for elementalists. since mob AI do not consider death blossom and splinter weapon AoE, they won't scatter from it, making it the best way to deal AoE damage in pve.

Mekkakat

Whiner

Join Date: Aug 2006

11 Aug 2007 at 18:29 - 28

amen to the post above. i stopped using eles in my parties (in pve) when splinter got buffed. a warrior and sin with it and the build Moriz mentioned is far more powerful.

Zanpaktou

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Aug 2007

THUG

21 Aug 2007 at 18:07 - 29

Lol assasins dont die much if you know how to play with them... I was close to getting the survivor title.. but died in vizunah square mission when I got hit by 3 straight soul explosions... Btw... I just made my sin 2 days ago... they are really fun to play and if you buy good armour they looks awesome, I'm getting 15k luxon, but 15k canthan and seitung both look pretty awesome... and so does vabbian... But its all taste really. you should definitley make an assasin... my first char was an assasin and I dlted it cus it died too much... but a year later (around) when I knew how to play (before yesterday) I re made an assasin and got a pretty good build... I hardly ever die now... Gl.

ensoriki

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Canada bro.

A/D

21 Aug 2007 at 20:13 - 30

2. People say they die a lot.
We dont...we have great defense skills, its up to you if you use them or not.

1. Which insignias should i be wearing on my armor? and should i run superior runes?
Survivor, radiant. In Pve assassins armor insignias are usually towards melee, but since we have good evasion skills we dont need that anyways.

2. Are shadow steps a MUST for an assassin?
no
3. Should i run 5 attack skills, thats what pvp sins do so.....?
Pve is different,Lead attacks are fine and sufficient in pve (hell you could use all lead attacks...which means attack chain cant break) you can use offhand-dual like in pvp if you want aswell

4. Are pve assassins generally running like 16 weapon mastery +10 primary
and rest in shadow/deadly arts? What should i be doing?
Deadly/Shadow arts are utility. Dagger mastery unless build specific should really be from 10-14 points. Critical mastery should be about 11-14

5. What are good dagger stats, and what greens do u guys equip yourself with?
Xeuxco's daggers (spelling)
Anchos daggers are nice too
Ceremonial daggers are good once you beat factions.
Dragon Scythes are good to have.

6. Finally i would appreciate it if you guys could give me some elite skills i should definately cap and some builds i should play

Elites:
Shadow Meld
Aura of Displacement
Moebius Strike
Assassins Promise
Palm Strike
Flashing Blades
Critical agility (its not elite,...but its as good as 1)
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Shadow Walk + dash is a good combination
Way of perfection+critical agility+critical strikes-moebius is a good combo.
Assassins Promise will give you energy and no down time in combos if you can guarantee a kill (not hard in pve)