QuickStrike (A/R)

Alright, so we all know the problems we're seeing with assassins. They think they're tanks, they pull their combos too long and they die horribly, horribly fast. Here's what I came up with, and I've been testing it out on the Dragon's Throat challenge mission. So far, it has proved useful.

Shadow of Haste (10e, 30 recharge)
Ususpecting Strike (10e, 4 recharge)
Fox Fangs (5e, 8 recharge)
Twisting Fangs (10e, 15 recharge)
Shadow Refuge (5e, 1 cast, 8 recharge)
Way of Perfection (5e, 1 cast, 30 recharge)
Apply Poison (15e, 2 cast, 12 recharge)
Res Sig

Pre-Order Daggers

Armor (70AL)
Bladed Mask (+1 dagger)
Vanguard's Guise (reduce blind)
Saboteur's Gloves (reduce bleed)
Shrounded Leggings (+2e)
Shrouded Shoes (+1e)

Wilderness Survival 1
Dagger 10+1
Shadow Arts 10
Critical Strikse 10
(as you can see I, like everyone else, still needs runes)

Alright, the basic plan is get in, drop a good amount of damage and conditions and then vanish. Simple enough. I focus on the casters, typically monks and mesmers.

You have enough time to cast Apply Poison, spend a few seconds selecting a target, then hit Shadow of Haste (note, you want to be about 2/3 of a compas distance away), finally charge in and hit your combos. If done right, a second or two after you drop your combo you'll teleport back across the screen way far away from the action. 75% of the time this is enough to kill a caster, when its not, it draws the monks attention away from front line warriors.

The armor will help with conditions, but Shadow Refuge will give you a quick recharge on health if you need it.

While waiting for your combo to recharge, or if you've taken out all caster targets, I tend to pop Way of Perfection and hit the remaining targets without Shadow of Haste. Just be careful here, as you might start falling into the "tank" mentality.

Thoughts?

Hm hm...best way of ensuring an anti-tank mentality is Return and a friendly neighborhood backline Monk, also known to Assassins with Return as the Hitching Post to Heaven. Can stay for just exactly as long as is practical, then target Hitching Post and get out of Dodge. No need for complex Shadow of Haste timing.

Still, if you want to work wth Shadow of Haste, I figure an easier way of getting the proper utility out of it would be to bring a stance cancel. Get rd of the Shadow of Haste via...something else...and the Assassin goes rght bac to where SoH kicked on. Unfortunately the usage for a stance cancel in this circumstance is awkward, because most any stance is best used in the thick of battle. Which you have just vacated. My best bet would be to use one of the Ranger's dodge stances, though you don't have theattributes for any of them. Best, of course, would be /W and a quick-recharging Warrior stance.

I wat to know why you're bothering with Apply Poison on a single target, please? It's expensive, cripplingly so without Expertise, and is good on Cripshots because Cripshots can spread it like famine in Africa. Without the Wilderness Survival to make the Poison stick and the multi-target capability to spread it around, you're essentially wasting your 15 Energy. The poison will barely outlast your attack stream, dealing minimal degen damage, even with the Dragon Fangs' boost. 33% of a very low number is a very low boost. I think the character would be better served by Signet of Malice. You're more oriented towards personal survival than doling out death anyways, and with Twisting Fangs, you can zap out and hit SoM while away from battle and zapnotise two Conditions. Usually all ye need.

Anyways, I'm tired as hell and am likely just blathering at this point. Ignore anything that makes no sense and carry on.

sneaky :P

this build is exactly what asssassins should be doing. i been running various builds with all the same result in and out, heal if nes., repeat.

its alot of fun and wrecks casters the warrioirs jsut tag with a condition and bolt. I've also found that the biggest issue iwth assassins is getting snagged with teh occasional AOE dmg and haveing to sit out a bit to refuge up.


good build.

I have to go work on a project, so this'll just be quick.

As to the apply poison. It's that "little bit extra" that is the difference between a character almost dead at the end of a combo and the character being dead at the end of the combo.

If you cast Apply poison, wait a few seconds while you pick out your target, then hit Shadow of Haste by the time you've closed in you should have at least 15 energy (after all 4 pips of regen). Then you have enough to pop your first two combo skills (meanwhile you are prolonging your poison with the daggers and getting about a 47% critical strike chance). Usually, by the time I've hit my first two skills I have the energy (and usually an excess amount) to use the last part of the combo. By then, the stance wears off and I'm removed from combat, ready to pick a new target.

Apply poison is done recharging by then, shadow of haste is almost done and you should be around 10 energy. Which is enough to do caster-defense or spend a few seconds on finding a new target and striking again.

I'll see if I can get fraps working on my computer, and get a video of it posted.

Note: At the time I posted the build, I hadn't done the second attribute quest, so I'll have to apply 15 more points to the build.

HEH! I just realized something. I'll have to test it later, but I think it can work.

If you need to get out of Dodge now, I think you can use Shadow of Haste as its own stance cancel With 8 recharge, you should be able to flick on SoH and renew the timer. But since the first SoH ended, you flash back to the first SoH's starting point, getting out of battle. Wait for the battle to shift some, the activate SoH again or Viper's Defense or something, end the second SoH, and flicker back to harass what are hopefully the backlines of combat.

Man, now I need to look at Shadow of Haste again. Thing might actually be useful.