Assassins in PvP

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arkantos
For the most part, it's a pressure build. Yes, it has spiking capabilities, and spikes when necessary. But it's going to be pressuring more than spiking. Actually it spikes and pressures inbetween that, the thing is it does both best.

Red Sand

Red Sand

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2008

New England

Warriors of Wynd [WoW]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celeborn10
The focus of those playing Assassin on dealing damage to the exclusion of survival/utility skills has also hurt the image of the class in the eyes of the community (the failure of Anet to give sins an alternative role is a significant contributor).
I think the role that assassins were given was that of a high DPS support role, but most sins don't do that. They overextend and get killed, unless they build for survival, then they last a while, but don't do the damage they can do.

This weekend, I was in an AB and I swear, there was this one assassin that killed me three or four times. He didn't really engage me in melee either. He'd kite off a squishy or kite me around a bit, but he must have toggled targets constantly, because if someone got down to 50 percent of their health bar, BAMF, another teammate down.

I was impressed, not with his ability to do so much damage, because that's what assassins were made for, but with his presence of mind and patience. He definately knew when to strike and make it count.

There are skilled assassins out there, but I gotta say I like them better when they are not ganking me.

Bobby2

Bobby2

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2007

Delayed in order to meet ANet's high standards

[MaSS]

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Igor
Actually it spikes and pressures inbetween that, the thing is it does both best. So here's why I said

"Shock Axe > Assassin class"

earlier. The spike is comparable in strength to that of a utility Sin (it'd be interesting to match up a Shock Axe's 'chain' DPS with that of a Shattersin).

Now... consider the package (I mean AL )

Nowai Shock Axes are cool like me tho

moriz

moriz

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

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada

R/

a shock axe has a maximum sustained DPS of around 55-65. i'm quite sure a shatter sin, even without an IAS, can easily top that.

the whole assassin vs warrior debate got me thinking... while it's true that warriors are more dangerous overall than assassins in pvp, that isn't always the case.

the effectiveness of a warrior (for example, a shock axe) is variable. for the sake of clarity, let's rate the warrior's effectives between 30% to 100%. how a given warrior performs on the battlefield, if we assume the build is a shock axe, greatly depends on the player and the situation.

the effectiveness of an assassin (any assassin build) is constant. it can either perform at 0% (in the case it is completely shut down or not spiking) to about 80% of the warrior's effectiveness. this is caused by the rigid nature of assassin builds. unless the player is an absolute idiot, the assassin will perform roughly the same every time.

this leads to some pretty interesting applications. the assassin is great in the hands of an average player, because he's gonna get consistently good performance all the time. however, at 80% of a shock axe's maximum effectiveness, that may or may not be game breaking. in a critical situation, an assassin will rarely make the difference between a close call and a victory.

for the shock axe, it's best you stick your most skilled player on it, since he can potentially tap into the large maximum effectiveness and win games for you. however, if you stick any average joe onto a shock axe, he's probably gonna trudge along at 50% effectiveness, which is not what you want.

there's also the notion of threat level. a well-played shock axe is dangerous almost all the time. its strong KD ability makes for an unpredictable and nasty opponent even with no adrenaline.

the assassin, on the other hand, is only a threat some of the time. a typical spike assassin is only very dangerous 6 seconds out of every 30 seconds. if the combo is working, they are more dangerous than a shock axe. if the combo is recharging, you can almost completely ignore them.

Bobby2

Bobby2

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2007

Delayed in order to meet ANet's high standards

[MaSS]

W/E

Quote:
if the combo is recharging, you can almost completely ignore them. Irrelevant for Shattersins... or any utility build (meaning: not just a rigid chain on a stick). The latter suffer in the power department but make up for it with innate resilience to common counters as there is no 'the' combo.

As for skill level, the best comparison imo is between
[skill]bull's strike[/skill] and [skill]leaping mantis sting[/skill]
Of course the lead usually comes right after a well-timed (!) Shadow Walk wheras the War has to perform this while playing pressure but I think they require the same form of anticipation.
Why [skill]shock[/skill] would take more skill than any other old interrupt is beyond me.

Shock Wars lack a certain luxury Assassins have - namely to read opponents while not being in the thick of the action. A Sin can lock on a target and wait for the exact right moment - a War has to anticipate on this while wailing and being wailed upon. Good Wars are harder to play than good Sins, but I believe this comes down more to positional awareness than anything else (eg somehow knowing when to switch targets).

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2
"Shock Axe > Assassin class" Although this comment is wrong I do agree with Bobbys idea...yes, Wariors, generally, in high end PvP are better then Assassins, by that i mean only GvG and HA though, why? Because although their spiking ability is considerebly lower to that of an Assassin, their DPS...no doubt is much higher, to deal good damage warriors dont rely on anything, DPS rom just swinging their wepon under IAS is good, they also have a high AL, very high AL that makes them rarely targeted unless they are being linebaked. Without considerring any skillsets, this is enough for a Warrior to be favored, why? Because those factors allow it to pressure, to pressure the opponent without worrying much about themselves, they also can spike, not as deadly, but still, shock axes are usually, used primerely for spiking and pressuring, pretty much like a hammer warrior, they are not 100% pressure though, imo, if we are talking pressure [dragon slash] spammer sword warrior is much better. Anyway, this why they are used over Assassin in the frontline...I think.

Though Assassins can spike, deal huge dps in low time, the also move fast and jump around, this why they are so beloved for ganking npc in ghs, they arent bashed by 5-8 players...in theory.... they just come and start silently killing, without being even targetted much. good exmple was the old recall gank and now the verulance/frag gank, they come, kill fast, and run away...basically.

It TA Shattersins are goooodly, exp Shattersin can do magic there. Generally, every pressureish Assassin bar needs strong man hands.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2
Why [skill]shock[/skill] would take more skill than any other old interrupt is beyond me. It's because it's quite versatile, really. Not only for interrupting, but can be using for quarterknocking, spikes, interrupt and can shut someone down for 3 whole seconds!

And Igor, I wouldn't take a D-Slash spammer, as for the same reasons Assassin combos get screwed up. Blocks ruin it.

The ability to spike and pressure is boom.
A 'Sin can't pressure as good as a Warrior because 'Sins rely on chains to pressure, which can be D-Shotted and / or miss.
And a Warrior auto-attacks with free pressure.

GourangaPizza

GourangaPizza

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2006

R/W

Assassins have better mobility; hence they are better spikers since they move instantaneous to desired target and unleash their chain. Also their spike comes with the option of a few seconds of immobility(crippled, knockdown) or handicapped(blind, dazed). Given that the assassin is the one of the few professions to be capable to apply all conditions available in GW except disease and crack armor, they can also adapt to the role of insta-disabling to make the target extra squishy for allies.

The only drawback to the assassin is similar to any spell-casting professions, if they are not unleashing their combos, they as good as useless.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

I herd Warriors, Dervs and any other melee can go /A and use a shadowstep aswell...

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

target switching ftw, D-Slash is kind of a pure pressure build, and they take it from time to time, if you see that something can block it, dont use it/switch targets. I do agree that if D-Slash is blocked it wont be very pleasant, on ther hand you still have [Shock]/[Bull's strike].

Also, quarterknocks, rememmbered the word finally.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

And when they get a sneaky Guardian, or have Aegis up and it isn't Mirrored?

40/20/20 staves.

GourangaPizza

GourangaPizza

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2006

R/W

And its always the same old Deaths Charge or AoD.
Assassins have the luxury of having access to better shadowsteps; Beguiling Haze, Shadow Prison.
Speaking of spiking, nobody cares to mention the dervish?

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
And when they get a sneaky Guardian, or have Aegis up and it isn't Mirrored?

40/20/20 staves. Esc, and you will see the animation too wont you, so just cancel you action, swtich targets.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

You can't cancel attack skills unless you open your inventory, and double click the weapon.

Even then, when you cancel it, your adrenaline goes boom.

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

osht...

/12 chars

Kaleban

Kaleban

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Hot as hell Florida

[Wckd]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by GourangaPizza
And its always the same old Deaths Charge or AoD.
Assassins have the luxury of having access to better shadowsteps; Beguiling Haze, Shadow Prison.
Speaking of spiking, nobody cares to mention the dervish? Hate to be a stickler but last I recalled, there are no shadowstep skills in Critical Strikes, which means ANY class whether A/x or x/A has access to all the different shadowsteps?

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Well the only shadowsteps really used are: Death's Charge and Shadow Walk.

Shadowstepping is either used offensively or defensively, and doesn't need attribute points.

And when you can run a stronger elite, SP and BH are just redundant compared. In terms of energy efficiency and not being elite.

Krill

Krill

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2005

America

Quote:
Originally Posted by moriz
for the shock axe, it's best you stick your most skilled player on it, since he can potentially tap into the large maximum effectiveness and win games for you. however, if you stick any average joe onto a shock axe, he's probably gonna trudge along at 50% effectiveness, which is not what you want. The only way to get better at warrior is to play it. Average Joe will always be average Joe if he runs lazy 1-2-3 sin builds night after night. It sucks to lose and feel like you let your team down, but that's the only way to improve at difficult positions.

Kaleban

Kaleban

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Hot as hell Florida

[Wckd]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
Well the only shadowsteps really used are: Death's Charge and Shadow Walk.

Shadowstepping is either used offensively or defensively, and doesn't need attribute points.

And when you can run a stronger elite, SP and BH are just redundant compared. In terms of energy efficiency and not being elite. Well that's not the class or skills' fault is it? Nope, its player choice.

And really if you're going with a 12-12-3 split for your build, you could get a 2 second slowdown with Dark Prison to allow an easier spike, or a 92 point heal from Death's Charge, or an 8 second on revert Deep Wound from Shadow Fang, or a 10 second delayed KD from Scorpion Wire, etc., etc.

Of course, there's always the ubiquitous Shadow Walk-Dash combo, all I'm trying to point out is that even with bare minimal investment in the relevant tertiary attribute, the various shadowsteps have quite a decent utility, just depends on what effect you want.

Bobby2

Bobby2

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2007

Delayed in order to meet ANet's high standards

[MaSS]

W/E

Shadow Walk is only viable on Dervs besides Sins. Warriors need their stance for IAS (at least IMO)

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaleban
Well that's not the class or skills' fault is it? Nope, its player choice.
And the player chooses this WHY?

Because it's a broken mechanic, and it WILL get abused.

Quote: Exactly, but if the broken mechanic is equally abuseable by all, than comparatively there is no abuse, it becomes the new standard. If everyone can do something, then no one is at a disadvantage are they?

Quote:
And really if you're going with a 12-12-3 split for your build, you could get a 2 second slowdown with Dark Prison to allow an easier spike, or a 92 point heal from Death's Charge, or an 8 second on revert Deep Wound from Shadow Fang, or a 10 second delayed KD from Scorpion Wire, etc., etc. If I were going with Dark Prison, I would probably take 6 Deadly Arts.
If I were using Death's Charge, I wouldn't be bothered about Shadow Arts because you're not going to heal yourself and shadowstep towards an enemy are you?

Kaleban

Kaleban

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Hot as hell Florida

[Wckd]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
And the player chooses this WHY?

Because it's a broken mechanic, and it WILL get abused.
If I were going with Dark Prison, I would probably take 6 Deadly Arts.
If I were using Death's Charge, I wouldn't be bothered about Shadow Arts because you're not going to heal yourself and shadowstep towards an enemy are you? I didn't mean the conditional heal on Death's Charge was in any way preferable, nor did I imply that you MUST take only 3 in Deadly Arts. All I said was that there are different shadowsteps with different effects that are all useable based on the intent or design of the specific build, and that professions are not limited to only AoD or DC.

Again, I'm not really sure why people are so quick to assume that a purely informative post sans opinion is somehow a declaration of the only way to do things, especially considering all I was doing was giving options beyond Shadow Walk or Death's Charge as a qualifier to my disagreement to those being the only viable shadowsteps seeing as how no class is restricted because no ss are located within the primary Sin attribute of Critical Strikes. Is it just me, or am I being held to a higher standard of explanatory reasoning here? Geeze.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaleban
Exactly, but if the broken mechanic is equally abuseable by all, than comparatively there is no abuse, it becomes the new standard. If everyone can do something, then no one is at a disadvantage are they? And even then, telespikes can be quite hard to prevent.

It also kills positional play, which is a major part in this game.

Shadowsteps should go die in a ditch. Seriously.

*Hides, I don't think that last thing was a good thing to say!*

Kaleban

Kaleban

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Hot as hell Florida

[Wckd]

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
And even then, telespikes can be quite hard to prevent.

It also kills positional play, which is a major part in this game.

Shadowsteps should go die in a ditch. Seriously.

*Hides, I don't think that last thing was a good thing to say!* LOL! Run for the hills hehe.

I was just thinking though, the assassin has been likened to a melee caster, with the low armor and high damage attacks.

Now, barring DA builds, for a sin to get off his "spells" he has to be in melee right? Sort of the opposite of a normal caster, like a ele nuker for example, who usually prefers to cast at maximum range. So if you take away shadowsteps, the assassin becomes useless in a myriad of ways and builds, both PvE and PvP because the mechanic the class depends on to make "spells" hit is gone, and all sins would then be relegated to Narutard-style Dancing Dagger spam.

I absolutely agree on the positional play problem, take your basic AB map for example, and SS can cause some real havoc especially when bypassing *obvious* barriers put there by the devs, such as ramps and chokepoints.

I don't think shadowstepping ruins the game, but it has definitely changed the way its played, and I have a feeling the current over-use of it is something perhaps unforeseen by the devs. I suppose one solution would be to make shadowstepping only work when wielding daggers, but that might anger a lot of players, and invalidate skills like Way of the Master/Assassin.

But the argument is similar to the Ursan debate, as in, how do you close Pandora's Box? If you take away the contested skill/system, you're altering an entire class or playstyle at a fundamental level, and probably angering a lot more people than the few who are against it currently.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when the dev debate on shadowstepping nerfs was begun, I can imagine a lot of blood and body parts being hacked off...

Celeborn10

Celeborn10

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

In my lair...

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaleban
Now, barring DA builds, for a sin to get off his "spells" he has to be in melee right? Sort of the opposite of a normal caster, like a ele nuker for example, who usually prefers to cast at maximum range. So if you take away shadowsteps, the assassin becomes useless in a myriad of ways and builds, both PvE and PvP because the mechanic the class depends on to make "spells" hit is gone, and all sins would then be relegated to Narutard-style Dancing Dagger spam. If Anet had tried to give the class better utility with more useful DA/SA spells then they would truly be meleemancers. Chuck in some useful interrupts (NOT Disrupting Stab which takes 1.33 seconds to hit), some "I disable you at the cost of x" skills and more touch spells, then the class would be more like the melee-mancer you described. This concept of a melee class creating a window of opportunity was the role that the community initially percieved the Assassin to be but the class gradually evolved into the old AoD HoTO build because anything else was inefficient. Nightfall only worsened the situation with SP...

Anet also didn't give Assassins a viable weaponset for the melee-mancer role. Daggers are nice pointy things and it good that DM has its own weapon but perhaps throwing stars or some half wand-half stabbing implement would have worked for SA/DA. At the time it probably seemed neglible but were Anet to try to magically change every skill in the Assassin class, they would still be subpar casters because of a lack of a 40/40 set. I don't blame SS-Assassins were supposed to have mobility both as an offensive and defensive strategy. I'd rather Assassins proactively try to control their opponent, taking them down piecemeal as opposed to a 3-4 second kill (hardly possible unless under an IAS).

shru

shru

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
Shadowsteps should go die in a ditch. Hear Hear !

Bobby2

Bobby2

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2007

Delayed in order to meet ANet's high standards

[MaSS]

W/E

Ahem. No.

There had to be a burst damage class in GW. It's found in every MMORPG. Their high damage potential is usually balanced out by

- it having to be dealt in melee (Assacasters should STAY dead, no doubt about it)
- horrible fragility

Check on both accounts.

Then, the game designer looks for a way to implement surprise, since the burst damage class, attempting a 'tank's' attack run (the Warrior is the closest thing GW has lol) would either find himself

- dead due to overwhelming pressure
- sufficiently prepared against

An Assassin without Shadow Steps is nothing more than a really flimsy Warrior. Even worse, due to his predictability his damage output would be much lower since no opponent in his right mind would let him complete an attack chain if they knew it was coming - reducing the Sin to auto-attack damage in effect. That's BAD.

Going to digress for a tiny bit, to another game. WoW. The direct analogy of the Sin is the Rogue. Rogues have Stealth. I don't know if any of you have experienced how powerful the Stealth mechanic is, but suffice to say there are (relative to the size of respective player bases) MORE people whining about it than our humble Shadow Step antics. This whining is inherent to those who got killed too often without getting a chance to fight back.
...but there really is no other way to lose against a Sin, or a Rogue. That is the price they pay for it.

WoW offers some balance by keeping Stealth exclusive to Rogues (and the odd Druid), whereas GW has given other, more resilient classes free reign to exploit the mechanics of it. I never considered this a good thing either - the Shadow Steps belong to Assassins.

To close out with, I'd like to ask, if Shadow Steps are so overpowered in the first place...

Why is this considered the best Warrior build
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]shock[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]
...and not this, or something along those lines?
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]death's charge[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]

Next thing there will be cries for KD nerfage. The 6 sec kind.

shru

shru

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2
Ahem. No.

There had to be a burst damage class in GW. It's found in every MMORPG. Their high damage potential is usually balanced out by

- it having to be dealt in melee (Assacasters should STAY dead, no doubt about it)
- horrible fragility

Check on both accounts.

Then, the game designer looks for a way to implement surprise, since the burst damage class, attempting a 'tank's' attack run (the Warrior is the closest thing GW has lol) would either find himself

- dead due to overwhelming pressure
- sufficiently prepared against

An Assassin without Shadow Steps is nothing more than a really flimsy Warrior. Even worse, due to his predictability his damage output would be much lower since no opponent in his right mind would let him complete an attack chain if they knew it was coming - reducing the Sin to auto-attack damage in effect. That's BAD.

Going to digress for a tiny bit, to another game. WoW. The direct analogy of the Sin is the Rogue. Rogues have Stealth. I don't know if any of you have experienced how powerful the Stealth mechanic is, but suffice to say there are (relative to the size of respective player bases) MORE people whining about it than our humble Shadow Step antics. This whining is inherent to those who got killed too often without getting a chance to fight back.
...but there really is no other way to lose against a Sin, or a Rogue. That is the price they pay for it.

WoW offers some balance by keeping Stealth exclusive to Rogues (and the odd Druid), whereas GW has given other, more resilient classes free reign to exploit the mechanics of it. I never considered this a good thing either - the Shadow Steps belong to Assassins.

To close out with, I'd like to ask, if Shadow Steps are so overpowered in the first place...

Why is this considered the best Warrior build
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]shock[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]
...and not this, or something along those lines?
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]death's charge[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]

Next thing there will be cries for KD nerfage. The 6 sec kind. imo, sins are actualy the worst class benefiting from shadowsteps atm (with all the skill nerfs/functionality changes) and if you could some how tie shadow steping to sin primaries (50% failure with crit strikes 4 or less) than the worst of the offenders would be rendered useless.
I know this is a drastic change, but it keeps shadowstepping where it should belong, in the hands of a class that pretty much needs it, but will still have trouble abusing it.

RavagerOfDreams

RavagerOfDreams

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2007

somewhere over the rainbow....

A/

Quote:
Originally Posted by shru
imo, sins are actualy the worst class benefiting from shadowsteps atm (with all the skill nerfs/functionality changes) and if you could some how tie shadow steping to sin primaries (50% failure with crit strikes 4 or less) than the worst of the offenders would be rendered useless.
I know this is a drastic change, but it keeps shadowstepping where it should belong, in the hands of a class that pretty much needs it, but will still have trouble abusing it. the 4 req critical strikes would fix alotta problems....shru for skill balancer?

fireflyry

fireflyry

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jan 2007

New Zealand

A/D

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2
An Assassin without Shadow Steps is nothing more than a really flimsy Warrior. Even worse, due to his predictability his damage output would be much lower since no opponent in his right mind would let him complete an attack chain if they knew it was coming - reducing the Sin to auto-attack damage in effect. That's BAD.
QFT

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2
This whining is inherent to those who got killed too often without getting a chance to fight back.
...but there really is no other way to lose against a Sin, or a Rogue. That is the price they pay for it. Such a simple statement that, if taken on board, could make the Assassin section here so much more enjoyable to read while also freeing it of the all too repeated theme and mantra:

"I got ganked by a Sin spike.omg over-powered nerf bat plz anet!!11!!"

While I agree the implementation of shadow-steps could be better it could also be a LOT worse.To expand on the WoW Rogue analogy the Stalker class in City of Heroes, also using a stealth mechanic as opposed to steps, killed 99% of the PvP in that game....overnight (for those that have never played CoH imagine an invisible Sin and an unconditional one hit insta-gib button).

Imo the Assassin class has been one of the better implementations of a burst class into an MMO that I've seen.Sure there have been hiccups but nothing game-ending or in anyway close to influencing the meta as such classes have in other MMO's.

More than anything else I think many of the long-winded discussions,opinions and debates here can be summed up in one statement:

"I dislike burst damage classes...especially when they gank me....please nerf the crap out of them."

Personally I'm not a fan of Rangers when on my Sin or War.If they are actually any good they can usually block me, blind me or sprint away and shoot me with more arrows while I hobble after them, if not a combination of all of the aforementioned.Logically as a result, obviously build/medium dependent, I often avoid them altogether.

In saying I'd never wisp them with a "noob ranger" message (the usual almost automated response/reward for a successful Sin gank or even pressure kill) let alone run into their forum section and whine about the mechanics of their class being hugely over-powered merely because they are obviously a potentially lethal counter to my classes core mechanics yet it seems perfectly acceptable to direct such logic at the Sin class or it's skills.

I think some people just have to accept that burst classes are popular, imo great fun to play and are here to stay.Sure....maybe they won't be back in GW2 after the endless criticism but they are sure to be in the vast majority of MMO products and it's pretty obvious the days of only having 4-6 basic classes based on J.R.R.Tolkien and D&D stereotypes is over.

moko

moko

??uo??o??

Join Date: May 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobby2

Why is this considered the best Warrior build
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]shock[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]
...and not this, or something along those lines?
[skill]rush[/skill][skill]bull's strike[/skill][skill]frenzy[/skill][skill]eviscerate[/skill][skill]body blow[/skill][skill]disrupting chop[/skill][skill]death's charge[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill] a) there is no "best" warrior build
b) there is a thing called a "teambuild"
c) it depends on the "situation"
d) noobs can use the latter easier :>

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaleban
Well that's not the class or skills' fault is it? Nope, its player choice.

And really if you're going with a 12-12-3 split for your build, you could get a 2 second slowdown with Dark Prison to allow an easier spike, or a 92 point heal from Death's Charge, or an 8 second on revert Deep Wound from Shadow Fang, or a 10 second delayed KD from Scorpion Wire, etc., etc.

Of course, there's always the ubiquitous Shadow Walk-Dash combo, all I'm trying to point out is that even with bare minimal investment in the relevant tertiary attribute, the various shadowsteps have quite a decent utility, just depends on what effect you want. They dont use shadowsteps for utility, they use them to bring themselves to an opponent without giving off their spike.

This why shadow steps are so overpowered, and broken. you cant predict a spike untill the very last moment they appear near their target and start it off.

Also, nobody really uses Shadow Fang....it is a 45 sec. recharge shadow step, what is the point in spiking every 45 seconds? It also brings you back from wwere you have started no matter if you want it or not, which is bad...if you want to get back and forth in this way there is always Shadow Walk/Dash.

Also, SW/Dash is only good on Derv or A/D telespikes, it cant be used on a warrior spike effectively.

So Kaleban, it is not player's preference, it is a matter of what works or not.

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaleban
Now, barring DA builds, for a sin to get off his "spells" he has to be in melee right? Sort of the opposite of a normal caster, like a ele nuker for example, who usually prefers to cast at maximum range. So if you take away shadowsteps, the assassin becomes useless in a myriad of ways and builds, both PvE and PvP because the mechanic the class depends on to make "spells" hit is gone, and all sins would then be relegated to Narutard-style Dancing Dagger spam.
You run shadow steps in PvE? Oh my...

DA sins, dont need to go to melee range to make their DA "Spells" effective, the most common PvP Assacast bar is this:
[signet of [email protected]][dancing [email protected]][entangling [email protected]][signet of toxic [email protected]][augury of [email protected]][iron [email protected]][deadly [email protected]][resurrection signet]
NOW! "Narutard style" from your mouth means something innefective, now the above build is a dancing dagger spam and even after the nerf is one of the most deadly builds an assassin has in his disposal, how come you think it is bad?

Celeborn10

Celeborn10

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

In my lair...

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Igor
You run shadow steps in PvE? Oh my...

DA sins, dont need to go to melee range to make their DA "Spells" effective, the most common PvP Assacast bar is this:
[signet of
[email protected]][dancing [email protected]][entangling [email protected]][signet of toxic [email protected]][augury of [email protected]][iron [email protected]][deadly [email protected]][resurrection signet]
NOW! "Narutard style" from your mouth means something innefective, now the above build is a dancing dagger spam and even after the nerf is one of the most deadly builds an assassin has in his disposal, how come you think it is bad? It is not the dancing dagger spam that makes it strong. It is the multiple KD's that makes it even remotely effective. I believe that particular build has shifted from being in the meta because of a lack of energy management that results from any prolonged fight ie from a good monk. KD spam is all well and good but doesn't a Shock Warror/HotO Knock-Lock perform that role more efficiently?

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celeborn10
It is not the dancing dagger spam that makes it strong. It is the multiple KD's that makes it even remotely effective. I believe that particular build has shifted from being in the meta because of a lack of energy management that results from any prolonged fight ie from a good monk. KD spam is all well and good but doesn't a Shock Warror/HotO Knock-Lock perform that role more efficiently? I think assacast has one of the most deadly pressures in game, just because of unconditional KD spam, basically the opponent is lying around most of the kombo. For hoto lock you need your target to be under 50%hp, shock is touch range but still very effective. And yes, Assacast uses DD quite often during its combo, this makes it a DD spam to an extent.

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Super Igor
Also, nobody really uses Shadow Fang....it is a 45 sec. recharge shadow step, what is the point in spiking every 45 seconds? It also brings you back from wwere you have started no matter if you want it or not, which is bad...if you want to get back and forth in this way there is always Shadow Walk/Dash. Aswell as the fact you need to wait for the hex to end after the combo.
Either it gets removed too early, or your spike is finished and they are healed before the hex is finished.

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

And if it is removed you get thrown back from were you have jumped mid-spike, nearly forgot to mention that. Also who the hell would "spike" for 10 seconds? ^^

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Someone who would hope their target would be killed to life?

Super Igor

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2008

why should you kno? Oo

A/W

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyla
Someone who would hope their target would be killed to life? Or someone who likes his opponent to suffer before death?

petrorabbit

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2007

One of the more effective builds have been the A/E shock sin that utilizes the best shadowstep in the game.

[shock][golden phoenix strike][horns of the ox][falling spider][twisting fangs][shadow refuge][dash][aura of displacement]

Other than its disruptive KD's, it is also capable of using its combo in a variety of ways, rather than 1234.

If AoD is not your thing, i've found success with a conjure lightning shattersin for RA's.

[golden fox strike][wild strike][shattering assault][impale][conjure lightning][storm djinn's haste][assassin's remedy][resurrection signet] or [critical eye]