CONFIRMED 1st New Class Information from Ch. 2: The Assassin

"level 7 ass lfg"

I'll probably just assume it's a wa/mo.

How would an assasin work in groups unless your gonna sneak up on their priest and trip him or something... hopefully it'll be better than it looks

OK, that takes care of the ninjas, now we just need a pirate class. Ninjas vs. Pirates FTW!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Another melee type class was definately needed. Outside of IW mesmers, warriors had exclusive domain over it. Like I said before though, I really hope ANet does a good job of balancing their AL against the DPS and "sneak attack" potential that they'll probably have.

And I know that necros are the "summoners" right now, but I think a more dedicated summoner would be great for a new casting class. Preferably with summons that don't automatically die after a certain amount of time.

Samurai heavy handed? Katanas and swords in general are not meant to be used like axes for chopping, katanas specifically were used in a "draw-cut".

Ninja (although there were really no such thing as the "ninja", spies, assasins, saboteurs can all consider to be ninjas), used whatever the hell they had at hand. There was no such thing as the ninja-to for all you fanboys out there.

Last why would anyone want to "bleed out" an opponent? You kill them, period. None of this silly garbage you see in anime or the movies.

Ontopic,

If they make the assassin anything like it is in other games, its going to be funny, Overpowered backstab and stupid high dps ftl.

Summoned creatures have to be on a timer, or else they would become Pets.

The main difference between a Summoner and Necro's minions is that the Summoner would not need corpses (major limitation to Necro summoning, esp. in PvP).

But then, Necro summoning is obsolete? No, because Necro minions serve two purposes: to soak/deal damage and as batteries to give the Necro back energy when they die.

(Of course, a Necro/Summoner might be too powerful, but what the hell, I'm just making this crap up anyway).

In addition to Summoning, I'd like to see a Shapeshifter type: a kind of Tanker Spellcaster. You know, in the Monster form you'd have more HP, more armor, and increased damage ability, BUT you'd be on a timer or have Energy Degen or some other negative to keep you from being in your other shape all the time.

Just food for thought...

I think a shapeshifter class (or one much like the mimic from FFVI) would be a fun addition for those who want to play a smarter class.

Now that would be a really good idea, and not unbalanced. I mean, imagine the suckyness of two weapons with vampiric mode. People would whine and A-Net would have to re-balance it again, making everybody sad again.

If there ever should be dual-wielding, I hope they implement it like you said. It's really a good idea.

I think that the new class will have some of the following:

Poison, Blinding, Dazed conditions, ability to lay/detect/disarm traps (could be very useful in both PVP and PVE), double damage for "backstab" (hitting monster not aggroed to you), lesser armor, when wielding one weapon will gain a "shield" type bonus (because of your defensive skills using weapon), this bonus is lost when dual wielding. Can open chests without a key (% chance to fail, depending on attribute settings). All ranged attacks will be spell based only (IE throwing daggers will be a skill, not an equipped weapon). All of the condition applications would have to be done in melee range. Can apply poison to other people's weapon in the party. Will have some self healing as well as condition removal. Will have some elemental style skills.

I think the attribute sections will e slightly different than most people's suggestions:

Shadow Arts (more effective to all, especially stealth attributes, less energy usage, primary attribute)
Stealth (backstabbing, traps, pick locks)
Apothecary (poisons, healing more effective)
Dual Weapon (two handed attacks more effective)
Conjuring (spells more effective)

Just my guesses.

now you know they aren't going to do that....you could just rush the class to the shiverpeaks and then do chest runs all day for free....it would become the new farming.

Soo, I guess the general reaction is "thumbs up" to the Assassin?

If you have a chance to see the actual magazine, it's really a lovely layout, and I think the concept art is terrific. Play Magazine produces really nice publications -- heck, even the print quality and paper is nice!

We'll have more to say about Nika in the near future. And of course, your ideas and suggestions are welcome on this new profession!

I think the chances that Assassins will be able to open chests w/o keys is very slim.

The whole point of Locked Chests is to cut down on bots, why would they create that makes locked chests obsolete?

heh, mesmer is just another name for PSIONICIST from AD&D

Hi, Gaile!

Yeah, the idea of a sexy assassin is awful, what are you guys thinking! (j/k)

Very smart move, I'm excited about Chapter 2 already.

Any chance to get a hint about other new professions, or at least confirmation there will be other new profs?

Wellllll... I do believe we have said "professions" in interviews. You may make of that what you will.

See told you.

assassin better have some kick butt elites.

NO force everyone to do what I'v done, condense all professions onto one character.

We are going to get more character slots so that we can play with these new professions right?

Not neccessarily true. The attribute to open chests w/o a key is conditional and could always have a % chance to fail - and if it fails you'll never be able to open that chest. Perhaps the % would be better if a "lock pick" is equipped - a rare item to find, not buy. % chances to open the chest may also decrease depending on where the chest is located - around ascalon it would be easy, around the UW (for example) it could be much much harder.

ANet could also introduce chests that are trapped unless a key is used, dealing damage if unsuccessful, or a knockdown/dazed result with an alarm that aggros monsters in double the aggro circle range.

There are plenty of ways for Anet to make the whole chest thing a risk, not just free goodies 100% of the time.

Plus, chest locations are also important - you don't see any bots (not that I think bots exist in GW - human farmers definitely, not bots) running around in the UW, the chests are too hard to get to solo, and don't spawn all the time, in the same locations. I personally think the key thing was a gold sink, not a thwart against chest farming. The spawning chests portion was much more an effort to cut down on farming than keys.

I seem to recall reading that there will be introduced increased room for characters I.E character slots.

Seems logical also. It's been asked for numberous times.

What I'd like to see is a druid profession, shapeshifting in particular, and dual-wielding for all professions.
Just seems sorta strange that absolutely no human being in the world of Guildwars has the physical ressouces necessary to carry two sharp objects at the same time, one in each hand.

I'll sell you a "lock-pick" for 150K gold...it's a deal of a lifetime