Itsy Bitsy Spider....

Does anyone have a build that uses Falling Spider? It seems to me the assassin is missing a lead strike that does a knockdown. Falling Spider doesn't need to follow a lead attack. It can be used with any form of knockdown, from Horns of the Ox to Shove to Shock. Horns of the Ox + Falling Spider + Twisting Fangs is perhaps the most common assassin combo.

My assumption (that was wrong) was that offhands were only used after lead strikes. It appears that lead strikes can be almost anything including a second prof skill. Its not that they count as leads, its that those offhands dont need a lead attack. There are only five offhand attacks that dont require a lead attack first, these are Golden Pheonix Strike (requires that you be enchanted), Repeating Strike (follows an offhand attack), Black Lotus Strike (must strike a hexed foe), Moebius Strike (Elite, must follow a Dual Attack) and of course, Falling Spider. In addition there are some skills that count as offhand attacks.

Not everything is Lead --> Offhand --> Dual, in fact many builds attempt to break this model.

Edit: Thanks for pointing that out Siren.
Edit 2: Thanks to Spura as well.
Edit 3: The next person to correct me will die of cancer.

I still believe that there should be a lead strike knockdown skill of some kind. Iron Palm.

The only 2 KDs in assassin skills are Horns of the Ox and Iron Palm Entangling Asp as well.

Entangling Asp as well. Not to mention Mark of Instability.

Its not that they count as leads, its that those offhands dont need a lead attack. There are only three offhand attacks that dont require a lead attack first, these are Golden Pheonix Strike (requires that you be enchanted), Repeating Strike (follows an offhand attack) and of course, Falling Spider. Missed this one before. I've got another off-hand attack to add to that list.

Black Lotus Strike.

I like doing this.. for a condition assasin, I like using Jagged strike (bleeding) then iron Palm (KD) then Falling spider (poison) and Return (cripple). U can throw blinding Powder in there if you want, but I don't have time/energy to do that in PvE NPC mobs. Jagged strike doesn't last that long so you could always cast death charge back in hit him another time witih jagged strike and then leave again with a different shadowstep. Works well if you can press the buttons at the right time haha. By the time I finish my dual attack, whether its twisting fangs or critical strike, I can hit jagged again to add the bleeding to the poison from falling spider, then make myself scarce and let the conditons run em down!

Most used build including Falling Spider in PvP is the following:

1. Lead Attack of choice.
2. Off-hand Attack of choice.
3. Dual Attack Horns of the Ox.
4. Off-hand Attack Falling Spider.
5. Dual Attack of choice.
6. Self healing of choice. (Could be Shadow Refuge, Troll Inguent, etc.)
7. Teleport skill. (AoD [Elite] (Aura of Displacement) is often used.)
8. Movement speed boost skill. (Mostly Dark Escape or Dash.)

Obviously this build works as followed:

TP in with for example AoD, successively execute your Lead Attack and Off-hand Attack. Then execute Horns of the Ox which leads to the knockdown of your foe if he/she isn't adjacent to any allies. Right after your foe is knocked down, you can successfully pull of Falling Spider, since your foe is knocked down. And since it is an Off-hand Attack, you can do another Dual Attack immediately after. After your combo is done, you can either dismiss your AoD skill or run away using a movement speed increasing skill. This will enable a quick move in, quick executing of your combo and quickly move out as well. Alternatively, after you TP'd in and successfully executed both your Lead Attack and Off-hand Attack, you can immediately pull of your Dual Attack of your choice if you find your opponent being adjacent to allies. Also this build doesn't require obligated TP'ing, you could as well just attack if you find this necessary. This contrast to builds using Lead Attack Golden Lotus Strike and Off-hand Attack Golden Phoenix Strike, which actually require to TP or atleast have an Enchantment on you. I find this very dependant on the circumstances and not be as independant as you'd want. But I find my build very successful and it is also my main PvP build.

Just make sure that your Lead Attack, Off-hand Attack and Dual Attack of choice do not consume too much mana, which will result in a less fluent combo which can be very annoying. Especially when you use AoD. This elite skill costs 10 energy and takes away 1 energy regeneration. What would work for sure is having all your attack skills cost 5 energy. If you happen to have a set of Zealous daggers you can screw your Dual Attack of choice up to 10 energy.

This build mainly revolves around two skills: Horns of the Ox and Falling Spider. But if you include Leaping Mantis Sting for example as a Lead Attack you can be much more versatile with Crippling, but it's completely up to you how to fill these slots.

Hope this is helpful. 16 daggers
11 shadow
8 critical

1.leaping mantis sting
2.jungle strike
3.horns of the ox
4.falling spider
5.blades of steel (almost garunteed +50 dmg per hit)
6.aura of displacement (elite)
7.dark escape
8.shadow refuge

all attacks cost 5 energy, but zealous daggers still recommended.