View Full Version : Assassin Elite Analysis
Assassin Elites, IMO, need a LOT of work before they are released:
Critical Strikes
Dark Apsostasy: For 10-30 seconds, every time you successfully make a critical hit, you remove one Enchantment from your target. If you remove an Enchantment int this way, you lose 15-8 Energy or Dark Apostasy ends. This is an elite skill.
Erm. Let's consider another Elite, the Elementalist Thunderclap, since it has the similar 15-8 gradiant. When Thunderclap procs, the target (in an AoE!) is knocked down. When Dark Apsostasy procs, the targets loses an Enchantment. Which is more powerful? Exactly. How many people use Thunderclap anyways? Exactly. Rating: 1/5
Locusts' Fury: For 10-30 seconds, you have an additional 20% chance to double strike.
Eh. Average. Adds to Assassin DPS. Although...that isn't necessarily the main focus... Rating: 3/5
Palm Strike: Target touched foe is strick for 5-53 shadow damage. This skill counts as an off hand attack. This is an elite skill.
A joke. Although it does more damage than other Assassin attatcks...it's not a lot more, and it certainly isn't Elite worthy. Rating: 2/5
Seeping Wound: For 5-17 seconds, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeration of -2. This is an elite skill.
Only 2 Degen? And conditional? Mesmers and Necromancers laugh at this Elite. Rating: 2/5
Dagger Masters
Flashing Blades: For 5-17 seconds, you have a 50% chance to block incoming attacks while attacking. This is an elite skill.
Again, like Seeping Wound, Warriors and Rangers laugh at this Elite. Besides...when would Assassins want to defend themselves against attatcks? Rating: 2/5
Moebius Strike: Must follow a Dual Attack. If it hits, Moebius Strike strikes for +5-29 damage. If you strike a foe whose Health is below 50%, all your other attack skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
Finally, a half-decent Elite. It has a decent +damage range, plus the proc is extremely powerful for an Assassin (althogh, I would still prefer Flourish...) Rating: 4/5
Temple Strike: Must follow a lead attack. If this attack hits, target foe is interrupted, Dazed and Blinded for 1-7 second(s). This is an elite skill.
Here's the big momma of the Assassin profession. Daze and Blind will neuter EVERY class. Plus, if you follow it up with Twisting Fangs, they will have an EXTREMELY hard time removing all those conditions. Rating: 5/5
Deadly Arts
Assassin's Promise: For 5-13 seconds, if target foe dies, you gain 5-17 Energy, and all your skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
Difficult to use, HUGE reward if it works. Keep in mind that the recharge INCLUDES Assassin's Promise. So, if you have good timing, it is basically Soul Reaping on steroids. Rating: 4/5
Shroud of Silence: All of your spells are disabled for 15 seconds. For 3-9 seconds, target touched foe cannot cast spells. This is an elite skill.
Blackout on Steroids. And we all know how good Blackout is. The only reason I am giving this an average rating is that if you have invested this much in Deadly Arts to make Shroud of Silence useful, you lose access to other Deadly Arts Spells. Rating: 3/5
Siphon Strength: For 5-10 seconds, target foe deals -15 damage with attacks and all of your attacks against that foe have an additional 33% chance of being a critical hit. This is an elite skill.
This is a weird spell. However, the only significant thing about the spell is the HIGH chance of a critical hit. Duration is weak, though. Rating: 3/5
Way of the Empty Palm: For 5-17 seconds, off-hand and dual attacks cost no Energy. This is an elite skill.
If you wanted energy to use your Deadly Arts abilities, here you go. However, if you factor in the recharge of Assassin attatcks...you won't be using them that many time, and therefore won't be using THAT much Energy. Rating: 3/5
Shadow Arts
Beguiling Haze: If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds. This is an elite skill.
It's better than Concussion Shot, but not by much. Rating: 3/5
Shadow Form: For 5-17 seconds, all hostile spells that target you fail and all attacks against you miss. When Shadow Form ends, lose all but 5-41 health. This is an elite skill.
It's near invincibility. That alone makes it incredibly powerful. However, surviving the spell when it wears off can be tricky. Rating: 4/5
Shadow Shroud: For 3-8 seconds, target foe cannot be the target of Enchantments. This is an elite skill.
Kills Protection Monks. That's really it. Use is a little too limited for an Elite. Rating: 3/5
Other
Aura of Displacement: When you cast Aura of Displacement, Shadow Step to target foe. When you stop maintaining Aura of Displacement, you return to your original location. This is an elite skill.
Lots of nasty things can be done with this. Lots. However, when a Strip Enchant comes your way...it's not pretty. Rating: 4/5
Overall, Assassin Elites are merely Average, and only 1 or 2 of them really inspire fear into foes.
If you have any comments about my analyses or ratings, post here.
skuldnoshinpu
18-02-2006, 22:19
Way of the Empty Palm + Repeating Strike, however, sounds really good. Add on Expose Defenses or Wild Strike so they Repeating Strike can't miss as well, and you have consistent +17 or more damage per attack.
I agree that Temple Strike is huge. Shadow Form will probably factor into some sort of farming build down the line. As for Aura of Displacement, I would think Strip Enchantment only makes it so that it terminates early and you teleport back, not that it cancels the enchantment and you get stuck next to a mob, so it seems very low risk.
Sure, most of the elites are only average, but then again most other professions don't have loads of good elites either.
Shadow shroud would kill holy veil (unless precast - rend first) and would also stop spell breaker on say the ghostly hero...
Shadow shroud would kill holy veil (unless precast - rend first) and would also stop spell breaker on say the ghostly hero...I'll give you the usage against Holy Veil...
...but the spell has a half-duration against the Ghostly Hero, IIRC. Meaning it wouldn't last long enough to be useful.
Erasculio
18-02-2006, 23:10
Locusts' Fury: For 10-30 seconds, you have an additional 20% chance to double strike.
Eh. Average. Adds to Assassin DPS. Although...that isn't necessarily the main focus... Rating: 3/5
Keep in mind that this one is linked to Critical Strikes. Meaning, not only you would have a higher chance of doing more double strikes, but also to do more critical strikes in those double strikes (as it requires a high level fo Critical Strikes to be useful). Between those two, the damage increase is quite big...
...But casting time and recharge do suck.
Palm Strike: Target touched foe is strick for 5-53 shadow damage. This skill counts as an off hand attack. This is an elite skill.
A joke. Although it does more damage than other Assassin attatcks...it's not a lot more, and it certainly isn't Elite worthy. Rating: 2/5
This one I think is a lot better than what you have said. It's not an attack, so it cannot be evaded/blocked/missed - and, this is what makes this useful in my opinion, it counts as an off hand attack. Meaning, you could use it to launch all those Dual Attacks (and the Off Hand attacks that require a previous Off Hand attack) without a Lead Attack, and without worrying if your first Off Hand attack will hit or not. That ability to manipulate the Assassin Combos make this very useful, IMO.
Beguiling Haze: If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds. This is an elite skill.
It's better than Concussion Shot, but not by much. Rating: 3/5
Keep in mind that there's an Assassin skill that causes Exhaustion on its targets. With a combo of those two, you could inflict both Exhaustion and Dazed on all classes, not only Elementalists.
Erasculio
Akisame Kiyoraba
18-02-2006, 23:50
Locust Fury is god send for attack speed. If you combine it with an attack speed buffer, you can go absolutely hay-wire with it. Its great with zealous weapons, because it's energy net gain is comparable to offering of blood, but it also means that something like empathy, or spirit of failiure will rip you to shreds. I can see it being very useful in conjunction with some on-hit skills. The only problem though, is that assassins don't have any attack speed stances as a primary class, and that the classes that do have an attack speed stance don't have any spells such as Mark of pain, or vigorous spirit.
Palm strike , I can see as absolute god-send - its an unblockable opener, that lets you skip the lead attack and go directly to repeating strike, or a dual attack. It looks terrible on paper, but its highly resourceful once you actually try using it.
Temple strike probably won't survive its way to release, the way it is - I'm an assassin love and even i think its a tad too powerful.
Most of the other elites are probably about the same level as the average elite of other professions, gladiators defense, mind freeze, melandru's resilence and such.
MaximumSquid
19-02-2006, 01:35
This is what i'm talking about! :)
Bought time someone pumped some life into the assassin's board.
Here's my take on the skills:
Dark Apostasy: 6 energy a removal at level 15. In the right build this could be free. You can keep it up indefinitly since it's an enchantment that goes way over it's recharge. Highly useful, but conditional. 4/5
Locust's Fury: This skill will pay for itself even with low skill points in Critical Strikes. Think of it as the best conjur weapon spell in the game. It can be removed easily though. 4/5
Seeping Wounds: Virulence > Seeping Wounds. . .Nuff said 1/5
Palm Strike: Free 70 damage at level 16. The real turn on is the fact that you can go right into a dual attack. Wether or not palm strike can critical or not leaves it's usefulness in question under the Critical tree. 3/5 for right now
Moebius Strike: Your target has to be below 50% health. Something that is very hard to garentee. This skill is basically riches or ruin. If it's going to be elite it has to have no risk. 2/5
Temple Strike: It's just you and me for 10 seconds of "Play Time". 5/5
Flashing Blades: It's all on what "Incomming Attacks" means. . . Lets say it means swords, bows, and wands. It's expensive at 10 energy, but you can have it on all the time. 3/5 as shown, 5/5 if it blocks magic attacks that say "if it hits"
Shadow Form: It's just you and me and your friends for 20 seconds of "Play Time". . . but then I die. 4/5
Shadow Shroud: Recharge makes me cringe. 20 seconds is just too long if you want to spike otherwise I love this skill. 3/5
Beguiling Haze: What mesmers have been dreaming about. Basically a skill for anyone who wants to be an assassin, but not use daggers (essentually not using a lead attack followed by temple strike) 4/5
Way of Empty Palm: 25 seconds of free off hand and dual attacks with a 30 second recharge. . .gee let me think. 5/5
Assassin's Promise: Once again an elite that is unpredictable. Yes people are going to die during the fight, but wouldn't your rather have an elite that got them there quicker? 2/5
Shroud of Silence: I got you for 12 seconds of "Play Time" says the assassin with the sledge hammer. Only gripe is the recharge. It's just far too long 3/5
Siphon Strength: 15 energy and well worth it. You'll easily get that energy back and probably more. While much MUCH deadlier than Empty palm it's easier to remove and lasts about half as long. 4/5
cool! :wink:
MaximumSquid
19-02-2006, 02:34
Now it's time for me to agrue my scores against Zingeri's
Obviously i'm only going to cover the one's with big differences.
Dark Apostacy: only a 1? unlike Thunderclap or Spinal shiver which happens every time you hit. . .this only happens when there is a Need to remove the enchant. If you are using critical eye and use the dual attack critical strike the enchant removal will actually be free! My only gripe about the skill other than the fact that it's an enchantment is that it won't take away weapon spells. That's the real bane of this skill . . . not the energy cost.
Palm strike was already coverd
Seeping Wounds seriously deserves a 1/5 . . . nobody is going to use that POS
Flashing blades: I think it's better than what you give it credit. You can have it up all the time. It's the perfect skill if you don't want to be a hit and run assassin. I have yet to see what it can really block though. If it's only physical attacks then it still doesn't compair to other assassin elites.
Mobius Strike: This skill just has too much riding on it. While it has potential for the most amazing combo chains any team with any healing is going to stop you cold. . . and any team worth a damn has healing.
Way of Empty Palm: Been covered
Assassin's Promise: This skill is counter intuitive. . . It doesn't help you kill your enemy which is essentially what you want it to do. In matches where the monks are keeping everyone alive you'll be extremely sad you didn't pack a damaging elite. THe skill is laughable next to consume corpse. . .the only hope for this to ever see use is it's ability to recharge all your skills.
Beguiling haze: I think this will have more usefullness in builds than you think. It seriously could become the next energy drain (pre nerf). I wouldn't be shocked if a saw a monk using this.
Almas Darksoul
19-02-2006, 03:23
Dark Apsostasy: For 10-30 seconds, every time you successfully make a critical hit, you remove one Enchantment from your target. If you remove an Enchantment int this way, you lose 15-8 Energy or Dark Apostasy ends. This is an elite skill.
Erm. Let's consider another Elite, the Elementalist Thunderclap, since it has the similar 15-8 gradiant. When Thunderclap procs, the target (in an AoE!) is knocked down. When Dark Apsostasy procs, the targets loses an Enchantment. Which is more powerful? Exactly. How many people use Thunderclap anyways? Exactly. Rating: 1/5
I personally think dark apostasy will become one of the most overused and overpowered elites for the assassin. The main reason for this? Wild Blow.
A A/W with wild blow and this elite can trigger enchant removal whenever he wants, as well as still remove enchantments normally. Guardian on that monk making it hard to hit? removed. Spellbreaker on that hero messing up your air ele trying to spam gale? removed. While it has less potential as a sole attacker, it is godly in conjunction with other people, as it completely negates one of the main functions of the protection monk.
JeanDeathwish
19-02-2006, 06:04
Wow Assassins Promise is hated here... I personally think its a great skill. Why? Well looking at the other elites and the regular skills, assassins dont really need to rely on their elite to kill someone. So with this baby on your bar you can be fully charged and ready to strike again. BTW Assassins Promise is better if youre X/A because not many assassin skills have that long a recharge. Just think of the posibilities!
Seeping Wound... could this really get any worse? Its not -2 degen for BOTH bleeding and poison... only -2 degen... AND its in critical strikes so other professions cant use it.... WOW great way to use your elite.
calderstrake
19-02-2006, 09:29
Temple strike probably won't survive its way to release, the way it is - I'm an assassin love and even i think its a tad too powerful.I feel you on this one. I am also skeptical of this skill making it to release. With the other skills, you can inflict 4 conditions in under 3 seconds. Add in a frag spiker, a water ele and a monk and you have yourself an unstoppable force for TA faction farming.
The Experimentor
19-02-2006, 13:32
Locusts' Fury: For 10-30 seconds, you have an additional 20% chance to double strike.
Eh. Average. Adds to Assassin DPS. Although...that isn't necessarily the main focus... Rating: 3/5
Make this 3.5/5 to 4/5. It's been pointed out that this will really combine well with Critical Strikes, is scary with an attack speed buff, and monstrous with Zealous daggers.
Seeping Wound: For 5-17 seconds, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeration of -2. This is an elite skill.
Only 2 Degen? And conditional? Mesmers and Necromancers laugh at this Elite. Rating: 2/5
Maybe not as good as what Mesmers and Necros can do, but IMHO it deserves a higher rating. Bleeding and Poison is bad enough, and the Assassin profession includes such condition dealing. If those two were painful enough alone, an additional 2 Health degen just makes that worse, however small it is.
On the other hand, it is conditional and a Hex spell (can be removed). 3/5 to 3.5/5?
Flashing Blades: For 5-17 seconds, you have a 50% chance to block incoming attacks while attacking. This is an elite skill.
Again, like Seeping Wound, Warriors and Rangers laugh at this Elite. Besides...when would Assassins want to defend themselves against attatcks? Rating: 2/5
As long as Assassins are very fragile characters, this has a use. And they are indeed very fragile characters.
After Temple Strike, this is a natural second choice for my planned Dagger Master assassin. It may be 50% as compared to the 75% of most Ranger and Warriors skills, but when it comes to defense, I'll take what I can get.
Shroud of Silence: All of your spells are disabled for 15 seconds. For 3-9 seconds, target touched foe cannot cast spells. This is an elite skill.
Blackout on Steroids. And we all know how good Blackout is. The only reason I am giving this an average rating is that if you have invested this much in Deadly Arts to make Shroud of Silence useful, you lose access to other Deadly Arts Spells. Rating: 3/5
I say 4/5. It's weakness is only based your build. And even if you invest heavily in Deadly Arts but use only this spell, it's okay as long you kill quickly and effectively with it- as long as it gives good returns. For that matter, even if you do pack other DA spells on your bar, good management and planning will render that drawback innocuous.
If Mesmers and Necros are naturally the banes of Assassins, then this elite is simply payback!
Siphon Strength: For 5-10 seconds, target foe deals -15 damage with attacks and all of your attacks against that foe have an additional 33% chance of being a critical hit. This is an elite skill.
This is a weird spell. However, the only significant thing about the spell is the HIGH chance of a critical hit. Duration is weak, though. Rating: 3/5
Maybe 3.5/5, but not much higher. But talk about your one-on-one fights!
Way of the Empty Palm: For 5-17 seconds, off-hand and dual attacks cost no Energy. This is an elite skill.
If you wanted energy to use your Deadly Arts abilities, here you go. However, if you factor in the recharge of Assassin attatcks...you won't be using them that many time, and therefore won't be using THAT much Energy. Rating: 3/5
Make it 3.5/5 to 4.5/5- Repeating Strike. Or, a really long chain using Moebius Strike.
Shadow Shroud: For 3-8 seconds, target foe cannot be the target of Enchantments. This is an elite skill.
Kills Protection Monks. That's really it. Use is a little too limited for an Elite. Rating: 3/5
3.5/5 to 4/5. It's limited, but it can also affect Elementalists and Mesmers. Can't activate your Mistform? Distortion not distorting you? Aw, whatta shame... (sound of drawing daggers...)
Aura of Displacement: When you cast Aura of Displacement, Shadow Step to target foe. When you stop maintaining Aura of Displacement, you return to your original location. This is an elite skill.
Lots of nasty things can be done with this. Lots. However, when a Strip Enchant comes your way...it's not pretty. Rating: 4/5
I agree with this rating, but it might be better for the Aura to be stripped than any other enchantments on the Assassin. Just food for thought.
Three things, BTW:
1. Factions is still being tweaked, it was a Beta after all. We just don't know if the skills we saw there will remain the same. If they change, our reviews have to change as well.
2. Sure, we played during the PvP Weekend, we experienced and used some of these skills, but all this still remains talk and theoretical analysis- it cannot compare to firsthand observation and performance. I say we're all 50/50 right/wrong as far as actualy gameplay will confirm it.
3. Our analyses are only valid as far as we don't know what kind of nasty combos we could come up with in the future. It may be unlikely for poor skills (even Elites) to become part of killer combos- but it can still happen. In which case, was our rating of it previously right or wrong?
teh Monkeys
19-02-2006, 14:50
Beguiling Haze: If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds. This is an elite skill.
It's better than Concussion Shot, but not by much. Rating: 3/5
Actually, I played around a bit with a combo of Distrupting Stab, Fox Fangs, Exhausting Failure and Beguiling Haze, and most casters didn't seem to like me much.
It's a pretty good elite, if used propperly. I'd say a 3,5/5 - 4/5.
Goldfish God
19-02-2006, 14:59
Distortion not distorting you? Aw, whatta shame... (sound of drawing daggers...)
Distortion is a Stance, so :laugh:
[QUOTE=Zingeri]Assassin Elites, IMO, need a LOT of work before they are released:
Critical Strikes
Dark Apsostasy: Have to agree i dont really like it.
Locusts' Fury: I kinda disagree i think it is a LOT better than you think. you do know what double strike does right?
Palm Strike: Are you on drugs? it cant be blocked or evaded, shadow damage ignore armor, need i go on?
Seeping Wound:Nice little bonus but i personally would not use it
Dagger Masters
Flashing Blades:A veeeery nice skill as assassins dont take damage very well.
Moebius Strike: Pretty good one very nice if in right combo.
Temple Strike:Awesome skill as long as they dont have plague signet, plauge touch, etc.....
Deadly Arts
Assassin's Promise:Great skill i have better elites.
Shroud of Silence:It is a nice finishing spell vs casters.
Siphon Strength:This is totally 5/5 33%+15%(crit attribute)+7%(crit eye)+what ever the base is=55+% crit hit. add frenzy or a like spell and wow.
Way of the Empty Palm:Spaming reapeating strike FTW!
Shadow Arts
Beguiling Haze:Veeeery good one. A dazed monk is a useless monk.
Shadow Form: I agree with you. see the forum on shadow form for some build ideas.
Shadow Shroud:Dont know if it is really good enough to be an elite but who knows? someone might make a killer build.
Other
Aura of Displacement:Id go with 3/5. good skill but there are better none elite tele spells.
If you ask me every proffesion is average considering that they are all equally good. Sure you might say assassins are over/under powered but hey what are beta tests for?
I agree with this analysis 110%. However, Akisame Kiyoraba has edited it well.
this guy's a total noob, obviously they'll balance the skills, besides the game isnt out yet, even if we had a taste of it, doesnt mean its final when its released, and keep in mind, Anet will do everything they can(yea right) to balance the game. so before you start judging, judge your skills, total noob.
this guy's a total noob, obviously they'll balance the skills, besides the game isnt out yet, even if we had a taste of it, doesnt mean its final when its released, and keep in mind, Anet will do everything they can(yea right) to balance the game. so before you start judging, judge your skills, total noob.
IMHO: The purpose of this post is to better help the dev to tweak the elites skills before release. Everyone know that Anet is constantly tweaking skills, by having such a post with in-depth analysis of the skills will help them to easily access and tweak the skills according to the demands/thoughts of the players.
Accusing someone as a noob before actually analysing the actual motive is , well, in your own term, a total noob.:sealed:
The Experimentor
20-02-2006, 09:35
Distortion is a Stance, so :laugh:
Hrm. Didn't notice that.
Oh well, at least no Sympathetic Visage or, more dangerous, Illusionary Weaponry. No Channeling to feed your spells, no Arcane Echo or Echo for spamming big spells...
this guy's a total noob, obviously they'll balance the skills, besides the game isnt out yet, even if we had a taste of it, doesnt mean its final when its released, and keep in mind, Anet will do everything they can(yea right) to balance the game. so before you start judging, judge your skills, total noob.
Cut him some slack. Most of his analyses are correct, those that we disagree with are not totally wrong.
SDV Rider
20-02-2006, 19:13
One thing that has not been taken into account in any of these analyses are energy costs & recharge time, two things that are very important when choosing an elite (two that come to mind are Power Block & Panic).
I'm not sure how much that bit of information comes in handy, but it is helpful to simply acknowledge the fact that energy/recast could make a huge difference (see "Cleave").
Will Seeping Wound stack to -4 degen if the target is suffering from poison AND bleeding? I'm guessing the answer is no, but I don't know that for sure.
this guy's a total noob, obviously they'll balance the skills, besides the game isnt out yet, even if we had a taste of it, doesnt mean its final when its released, and keep in mind, Anet will do everything they can(yea right) to balance the game. so before you start judging, judge your skills, total noob.
Be nice to us noobs, it only takes one of us to kill you. :P
Personally I think that palm strike should be in Deadly arts.
It just doesn't make sense in critical strikes, unless it did critical.
BTW if anyones reading shadow shroud is misspelled on the gwonline.net page
Yeah your thoughts on Ritualist elites seemed more thought out and you took more variables into account - not as much here IMO. I think you drastically underestimated some of the elites in the line-up, as some have already commented on - Palm Strike immediately hit me as one of them.
Looking forward to another round of trying stuff out in March.
CKaz
neoflame
23-02-2006, 03:21
I wouldn't run Seeping Wounds if it was nonelite. It is quite possibly the worse skill ever to grace GW.
When evaluating Shadow Shroud, keep in mind that it'd prevent, say, Reversal of Fortune, or Guardian, or Protective Spirit. Including when booned.
•Deamon•
23-02-2006, 10:01
A nooby question but what is an "Assasin" ??
Im pretty new on Guild Wars and i dont understand althethings on Guild Wars :(
So plzz help me
A nooby question but what is an "Assasin" ??
Im pretty new on Guild Wars and i dont understand althethings on Guild Wars :(
So plzz help meYou've NEVER seen a movie with an Assassin in it? Have you bee under a rock for the past 10 years? :tongue:
A nooby question but what is an "Assasin" ??
Im pretty new on Guild Wars and i dont understand althethings on Guild Wars :(
So plzz help me
With the release of the "expansion" (though its stand alone also) Guild Wars: Factions. Two new proffesions are beign introduced, The Assassin and the Ritualist. From a recent beta event were able to record all their skills and put them up on the website (links are on the left hand bar on the main page).
The next preview event is on the weekend of the 24th of March. You'll be able to paly the two new proffessions for a few days for yourself at this time :)
I wouldn't run Seeping Wounds if it was nonelite. It is quite possibly the worse skill ever to grace GW.
When evaluating Shadow Shroud, keep in mind that it'd prevent, say, Reversal of Fortune, or Guardian, or Protective Spirit. Including when booned.
You would be surprised at what an extra -2 degen can do to a person.
Zingeri: Try to answer the question not scorn him/her, it helps more.
You would be surprised at what an extra -2 degen can do to a person.
Zingeri: Try to answer the question not scorn him/her, it helps more.
however the maximum degen u can get from seeping wound is only -6 while a life transfer from a nec warrent a nifty -9 degen and a conjure phantasm from the mes line warrent a -5 degen. Seeping wound shall have a add on dmg and a higher degen, maybe -3, in order to give it an elite skill status or it can just degrade to a normal skill.
however the maximum degen u can get from seeping wound is only -6 while a life transfer from a nec warrent a nifty -9 degen and a conjure phantasm from the mes line warrent a -5 degen. Seeping wound shall have a add on dmg and a higher degen, maybe -3, in order to give it an elite skill status or it can just degrade to a normal skill.
It actually is an ok skill, First off it is a hex wich allows Black mantis strike to cripple and allows you to also use the offhand attack Black lotus strike for energy/dmg.
Secondly it is a degen spell that triggers off of poison or bleeding, in GvG poison is used constantly with the crippling/blackout rangers, so it is easy to get Heck it is even usable with falling spider after they are knocked down.
For 5 it allows a -2 degen for 5-17 seconds wich I'm guessing about 9ish would be 15-16 seconds duration with an only 10 second recharge.
so if anything I'd say its a 4/5 mainly because it can also be used as a cover hex.
Life transfer has a 30 second recharge time, if its removed it is vewy bad.
It actually is an ok skill, First off it is a hex wich allows Black mantis strike to cripple and allows you to also use the offhand attack Black lotus strike for energy/dmg.
Secondly it is a degen spell that triggers off of poison or bleeding, in GvG poison is used constantly with the crippling/blackout rangers, so it is easy to get Heck it is even usable with falling spider after they are knocked down.
For 5 it allows a -2 degen for 5-17 seconds wich I'm guessing about 9ish would be 15-16 seconds duration with an only 10 second recharge.
so if anything I'd say its a 4/5 mainly because it can also be used as a cover hex.
Life transfer has a 30 second recharge time, if its removed it is vewy bad.
Agreed
But i dun see why seeping wound warrent a elite status. As useful as it may be, it is still conditional and the -2 degen is quite sad compared to Conjure phantasm and even Crippling anguish which is non-conditional, slow and give a -2 degen. Life transfer may be removable but the kind of effects it have is massive and i can always use a cover hex:p
neoflame
26-02-2006, 15:28
Why the hell would you waste your elite slot on a cover hex?
Let's look at, say, Seeping Wounds {E} vs. Parasitic Bond:
Seeping Wounds
-Elite
-5 energy
-Lasts up to ~20 seconds if you spec 16 whatever it's linked to
-11s recycle (you can have it up for most of the time on up to ~2 targets)
-Conditional -2 degen (4DPS on one target, up to 8DPS overall)
Parasitic Bond
-Nonelite
-5 energy
-Lasts 20 seconds at any level of Curses
-3s recycle (you can have it up for most of the time on up to ~7 targets)
-Unconditional -1 degen (2DPS on one target, up to 14DPS overall)
MaximumSquid
26-02-2006, 23:39
IF seeping wounds added -2 degen if your target was suffering from any condition i'd bite.
roguebanshee
27-02-2006, 14:50
IF seeping wounds added -2 degen if your target was suffering from any condition i'd bite.
2 degen while suffering from any condition with the current stats should not warrant elite status. An ok non-elite, but it's still not all that great.
If Seeping Wounds was 2 degen if the target was not at max Health and the cast time was 1/4-1/2 second and the recharge was 5 seconds or lower and it kept the 5 energy cost & duration, then I'd accept it as an elite.
Why the hell would you waste your elite slot on a cover hex?
Let's look at, say, Seeping Wounds {E} vs. Parasitic Bond:
Seeping Wounds
-Elite
-5 energy
-Lasts up to ~20 seconds if you spec 16 whatever it's linked to
-11s recycle (you can have it up for most of the time on up to ~2 targets)
-Conditional -2 degen (4DPS on one target, up to 8DPS overall)
Parasitic Bond
-Nonelite
-5 energy
-Lasts 20 seconds at any level of Curses
-3s recycle (you can have it up for most of the time on up to ~7 targets)
-Unconditional -1 degen (2DPS on one target, up to 14DPS overall)
ya so it has more damage over all you say? i say who the hell cant heal when they have a -1 degen? i mean come on it is 2 hp per second that is pathetic.
neoflame
27-02-2006, 23:38
ya so it has more damage over all you say? i say who the hell cant heal when they have a -1 degen? i mean come on it is 2 hp per second that is pathetic.
The purpose of Parasitic Bond isn't even damage and it's almost as good - in some respects better - than Seeping Wounds. That's the point.
Returning to the topic of Seeping Wounds: OH NO -2 HEALTH DEGEN, IT'S ALMOST A WHOLE LIFE SIPHON. Please give me your IGN so I don't have to join your groups.
Seeping Wounds definitely needs a buff. Perhaps if it deals -2 degen for EACH condition the target has on them? THAT would be nasty... I can foresee the rise of necro/assassin teams carrying Virulence and Seeping Wounds...
The purpose of Parasitic Bond isn't even damage and it's almost as good - in some respects better - than Seeping Wounds. That's the point.
Returning to the topic of Seeping Wounds: OH NO -2 HEALTH DEGEN, IT'S ALMOST A WHOLE LIFE SIPHON. Please give me your IGN so I don't have to join your groups.
As i clearly stated before -2 can be very very dangerous when added with other degen. and beside people what so many of you fail to realize is:THE GAME IS STILL IN BETA! You know what beta is right? testing. the game is still in its testing period. how can you give a skill crap when it is not even finalized? i understand some complaints, that is what beta is for, but come ON. And if you are so touchy about one skill that you dont want to join my groups i really dont care so here you go: Ekrin Shadowwind.
Seppo Kaitainen
02-03-2006, 06:45
As i clearly stated before -2 can be very very dangerous when added with other degen. and beside people what so many of you fail to realize is:THE GAME IS STILL IN BETA! You know what beta is right? testing. the game is still in its testing period. how can you give a skill crap when it is not even finalized? i understand some complaints, that is what beta is for, but come ON. And if you are so touchy about one skill that you dont want to join my groups i really dont care so here you go: Ekrin Shadowwind.
Yet -2 isn't nearly half as dangerous as conjure phantasm. That and life siphon is -3 and gets you +3. Shouldn't be elite at all.
Yet -2 isn't nearly half as dangerous as conjure phantasm. That and life siphon is -3 and gets you +3. Shouldn't be elite at all.
ah but that is a mesmer skill not an assassin skill. who says they will all be A/Me or A/N? an A/Mo would have hmmmmm no degen that is not an assassin skill. anyways this is stupid an i am tired of arguing about it. see my previous posts for my arguments.
Erasculio
02-03-2006, 15:11
But how about...
Crippling Anguish (Elite Skill)
Description: For 8-18 seconds, target moves 50% slower and suffers health degeneration of 1-3. This is an elite skill.
Energy Cost: 15
Activation Time: 1 Second.
Recharge Time: 20 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Illusion Magic. Increases duration and health degeneration.
Skill Type: Hex Spell.
Versus...
Seeping Wound
Description: For 5-17 seconds, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeration of -2. This is an elite skill.
Energy Cost: 5
Activation Time: 1 Second.
Recharge Time: 10 Seconds.
Linked Attribute: Critical Strikes. Increases duration.
Skill Type: Hex Spell.
CA costs more energy, has a slower recharge, slows down the enemy by 50% and isn't conditional, plus lasts a bit longer (but the gain by each level in the relevant attribute is smaller).
They look a bit like each other to me.
Erasculio
Darl Brigham
02-03-2006, 18:11
You cant compair those two skills... one costs 3 times as much as the other, and has an entierly diferant use.
Now seeping wounds.. well, i agree with people who find it underpowerd, but most likley a-net will fix it, so that it will be an useable skill.
Oh, and dont compair it to conjure phantasm either. Phantasm costs 2 times as much. The closest skill to seeping wounds is parasitic bond, in my opinion (and i actualy find bond to be a better skill...), but they are still not close enought to be compaired.
If it was 2degen/condition, it would be slightly overpowerd thought. Mayhap if it was changed to "2 degen/condition, up to a maximum of X degen"?
kate sullivan
18-03-2006, 02:45
way of the empty palm and repeating strike over and over again no energy wait what are the following conditions on repeating strikes i forgot
i think it might be lead attack
Assassin Elites, IMO, need a LOT of work before they are released:
Locusts' Fury: For 10-30 seconds, you have an additional 20% chance to double strike.
Eh. Average. Adds to Assassin DPS. Although...that isn't necessarily the main focus... Rating: 3/5
DPS is an Assassin's main focus though... If it wasn't then they would have more stances then anything. Assassins are made to take their opponent out quick and then move on to the next target. Of corse this is only what they were designed for but that doesn't mean that it's their one and only job.
Palm Strike: Target touched foe is strick for 5-53 shadow damage. This skill counts as an off hand attack. This is an elite skill.
A joke. Although it does more damage than other Assassin attatcks...it's not a lot more, and it certainly isn't Elite worthy. Rating: 2/5
As far as I could tell there was only one other skill that was slightly close to this damage but still off by 8 dmg. Now if you're a picky damage dealer, this will be a favorite I'm sure and the possibilities you can do with this. As long as you're not blinded or fighting 55 monks, you'll instill fear in your opponents.
Seeping Wound: For 5-17 seconds, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeration of -2. This is an elite skill.
Only 2 Degen? And conditional? Mesmers and Necromancers laugh at this Elite. Rating: 2/5
For an Elite I would say it is a little over powered but with vipers defense or apply poison (if you have ranger secondary) you'll give them quite the bit of degen if you ask me. But I must agree with others, this shouldn't be an elite.
Flashing Blades: For 5-17 seconds, you have a 50% chance to block incoming attacks while attacking. This is an elite skill.
Again, like Seeping Wound, Warriors and Rangers laugh at this Elite. Besides...when would Assassins want to defend themselves against attatcks? Rating: 2/5
Well a bad arse assassin would use defenses from a secondairy since Assassins lack favorable defensive skills. Maybe It's just me but I managed to kick warriors arse back during the PVP weekend because I had atleast one defense which would give me enough time to kick them down to my health or kill them outright. But like Seeping Wound, this shouldn't be an Elite. Whirling Defense does the same thing only it's percentage is 75% and it has the ability to fling back projectiles if blocked; WD however isn't an elite so this one should be changed.
Moebius Strike: Must follow a Dual Attack. If it hits, Moebius Strike strikes for +5-29 damage. If you strike a foe whose Health is below 50%, all your other attack skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
Finally, a half-decent Elite. It has a decent +damage range, plus the proc is extremely powerful for an Assassin (althogh, I would still prefer Flourish...) Rating: 4/5
Yup, before I found Palm Strike, this was in my attack line.
Temple Strike: Must follow a lead attack. If this attack hits, target foe is interrupted, Dazed and Blinded for 1-7 second(s). This is an elite skill.
Here's the big momma of the Assassin profession. Daze and Blind will neuter EVERY class. Plus, if you follow it up with Twisting Fangs, they will have an EXTREMELY hard time removing all those conditions. Rating: 5/5
Blinded, what a fun thing to play with when fighting a warrior one on one. This is the kind of affect that'll either make a warrior/ranger run or become frustrated as hell.
Assassin's Promise: For 5-13 seconds, if target foe dies, you gain 5-17 Energy, and all your skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
Difficult to use, HUGE reward if it works. Keep in mind that the recharge INCLUDES Assassin's Promise. So, if you have good timing, it is basically Soul Reaping on steroids. Rating: 4/5
Downside, what if your target foe does not die? In GVG you're usually consentrateing on too many for this to be affective. Me personally, I wouldn't use it even if it wasn't an Elite. Zealous Daggers are fine enough to recover the energy lost.
Shroud of Silence: All of your spells are disabled for 15 seconds. For 3-9 seconds, target touched foe cannot cast spells. This is an elite skill.
Blackout on Steroids. And we all know how good Blackout is. The only reason I am giving this an average rating is that if you have invested this much in Deadly Arts to make Shroud of Silence useful, you lose access to other Deadly Arts Spells. Rating: 3/5
Hmmm, so do the assassin attacks count as spells? If not this one will be used quite often in GVG. Just another skill to frustrate the casters.
Siphon Strength: For 5-10 seconds, target foe deals -15 damage with attacks and all of your attacks against that foe have an additional 33% chance of being a critical hit. This is an elite skill.
This is a weird spell. However, the only significant thing about the spell is the HIGH chance of a critical hit. Duration is weak, though. Rating: 3/5
I would like my opponents doing the least ammount of damage as possible. Just imagine that with Lightning Reflexes or Tigers Fury... you'd be wailing something fierce for sure!
Way of the Empty Palm: For 5-17 seconds, off-hand and dual attacks cost no Energy. This is an elite skill.
If you wanted energy to use your Deadly Arts abilities, here you go. However, if you factor in the recharge of Assassin attatcks...you won't be using them that many time, and therefore won't be using THAT much Energy. Rating: 3/5
I'm really not sure what to think of this. With zealous daggers energy shouldn't be a problem really.
Beguiling Haze: If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds. This is an elite skill.
It's better than Concussion Shot, but not by much. Rating: 3/5
Interrupts are worth it, get a few good shots off and casters will fall before ya.
Shadow Form: For 5-17 seconds, all hostile spells that target you fail and all attacks against you miss. When Shadow Form ends, lose all but 5-41 health. This is an elite skill.
It's near invincibility. That alone makes it incredibly powerful. However, surviving the spell when it wears off can be tricky. Rating: 4/5
This would be where defenses would come in handy. Get out of danger useing a run skill and wait for it to recharge. Then just reactivate it. Perhaps use Deaths Charge as it will give you up to 70 health upon shadow stepping towards your target.
Shadow Shroud: For 3-8 seconds, target foe cannot be the target of Enchantments. This is an elite skill.
Kills Protection Monks. That's really it. Use is a little too limited for an Elite. Rating: 3/5
Yeah, I'm not sure what to think of this one. I mean if you're faceing one protector monk, does it mean he cannot cast on himself or does it mean that others cannot cast on him. If it's the first one then it's hella useful during some GVGs and perhaps other arenas.
Aura of Displacement: When you cast Aura of Displacement, Shadow Step to target foe. When you stop maintaining Aura of Displacement, you return to your original location. This is an elite skill.
Lots of nasty things can be done with this. Lots. However, when a Strip Enchant comes your way...it's not pretty. Rating: 4/5
I would just use Death's Charge over this. DC is not an enchantment and you shadow step emediatly, not to mention if you're low on health you can get an extra ammount by useing DC to a nearby foe and then running away to regain more health if possible.
Overall, Assassin Elites are merely Average, and only 1 or 2 of them really inspire fear into foes.
If you have any comments about my analyses or ratings, post here.
Well many other classes have the same problem. You don't see many rangers useing practice stances, atleast I haven't. Dryders Defense is another because of it's slow recharge and I'm sure other classes have elites that ride the same boat.
arredondo
21-03-2006, 02:17
My early thoughts...
Critical Strikes
Dark Apsostasy: For 10-30 seconds, every time you successfully make a critical hit, you remove one Enchantment from your target. If you remove an Enchantment in this way, you lose 15-8 Energy or Dark Apostasy ends. This is an elite skill.
It's somewhat impressive for an elite, but the the high energy costs per success raises an eyebrow. Wild Blow is a must to maximize it, so that anyone and everyone will lose an enchant (and stance) with a swing of it. Unlike most enchant removals, it's not a spell used on the enemy, so it can't be interrupted easily. The biggest benefit? It'll strip Spell Break and Obsidian Flesh when all others but Chilblains can't. Monk killers will enjoy this. 3/5
Locusts' Fury: For 10-30 seconds, you have an additional 20% chance to double strike.
If there is someway to make a build that gets 40%-50% chance of a double strike, then this skill will shine. 3/5
Palm Strike: Target touched foe is stuick for 5-53 shadow damage. This skill counts as an off hand attack. This is an elite skill.
At L16 you inflict 69 damage... the recharge is 12 seconds and needs an initial hit. I'm not feeling this when necro's have Vamp Gaze that does this damage through life stealing, an it recharges faster with no condition to use it. 2/5
Seeping Wound: For 5-17 seconds, if target foe is suffering from Bleeding or Poison, that foe suffers Health degeration of -2. This is an elite skill.
This skill is the worst elite in the game. Let's see... what's more important to not waste, the choice of secondary or choice of elite? IMHO, you don't waste your elite spot with garbage like this. If -2 degen is that important, you can go in as an AsNe and bring the non-elite Suffering to your bar and use the elite spot for something else.
It takes L16 Critical stats for 17 seconds of Seeping Wound's -2 degen IF they are already under a specific Condition. At a mere L7 curses you get Suffering's -2 degen for 17 seconds (max 34 seconds at L16) with no conditions necessary, and it's AoE to all nearby enemies! I wouldn't take a free ecto to put this on my bar. My score... -1/5.
Dagger Masters
Flashing Blades: For 5-17 seconds, you have a 50% chance to block incoming attacks while attacking. This is an elite skill.
A self-Aegis that pales in comparison to the entire-party status of the non-elite Monk skill. It gets a 2/5 from me.
Moebius Strike: Must follow a Dual Attack. If it hits, Moebius Strike strikes for +5-29 damage. If you strike a foe whose Health is below 50%, all your other attack skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
I like this skill a lot. Situational, but some good builds can use this IMHO. a 4/5.
Temple Strike: Must follow a lead attack. If this attack hits, target foe is interrupted, Dazed and Blinded for 1-7 second(s). This is an elite skill.
Simply a great elite. 5/5
Deadly Arts
Assassin's Promise: For 5-13 seconds, if target foe dies, you gain 5-17 Energy, and all your skills are recharged. This is an elite skill.
I'll look to use this elite on non primary Assassin builds it looks so good, but the recharge hurts it a bit. I give it a 4/5.
Shroud of Silence: All of your spells are disabled for 15 seconds. For 3-9 seconds, target touched foe cannot cast spells. This is an elite skill.
Warriors and Assassins will be ridiculous with this elite, as long as they have no spells. Situational for builds, but when it works a caster is helpless to do anything about it. 5/5
Siphon Strength: For 5-10 seconds, target foe deals -15 damage with attacks and all of your attacks against that foe have an additional 33% chance of being a critical hit. This is an elite skill.
Very nice if the recharge rate is good. The bonus combined with Critical Eye and L16 Crit stats is 56% chance of getting it. 4/5
Way of the Empty Palm: For 5-17 seconds, off-hand and dual attacks cost no Energy. This is an elite skill.
Spam builds are possible with great skills like this. Repeating Palm and other skills can be used with no concerns for energy. 4/5
Shadow Arts
Beguiling Haze: If target touched foe is casting a spell or suffers from exhaustion, that foe is interrupted and becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds. This is an elite skill.
A very nice skill because it works on exhaustion. You don't need to wait for them to cast because of it. Isn't there a new skill somewhere that causes exhaustion? It'll combo great with this. 3/5
Shadow Form: For 5-17 seconds, all hostile spells that target you fail and all attacks against you miss. When Shadow Form ends, lose all but 5-41 health. This is an elite skill.
I like this skill a lot. 4/5
Shadow Shroud: For 3-8 seconds, target foe cannot be the target of Enchantments. This is an elite skill.
Awesome skill for an assassin. Just before a team spikes a target, they remove his enchants and casts this on him so he can't get them back. Just be sure to pile on the cover hexes too. 5/5
Other
Aura of Displacement: When you cast Aura of Displacement, Shadow Step to target foe. When you stop maintaining Aura of Displacement, you return to your original location. This is an elite skill.
This is the essential assassin skill. 5/5.
Erasculio
21-03-2006, 02:25
Palm Strike: Target touched foe is stuick for 5-53 shadow damage. This skill counts as an off hand attack. This is an elite skill.
At L16 you inflict 69 damage... the recharge is 12 seconds and needs an initial hit. I'm not feeling this when necro's have Vamp Gaze that does this damage through life stealing, an it recharges faster with no condition to use it. 2/5
Like it has been said before, the power of this skill is the fact it's a non avoidable Off Hand Attack - you may use it to trigger any Dual Attack (and some Off Hand Attacks) without worrying about having your Combo broken before you reach the Dual Attack itself.
Erasculio
Phoenixtech
21-03-2006, 03:39
All they have to do to make seeping wound good is change the -2 health regen to -2 energy regen.
Chemical Ali
28-03-2006, 03:23
Good post and whatnot Zingeri, and yes, Akisame Kiyoraba has edited it well. And as for Temple Strike... What Temple Strike?? Never Heard of it (Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh). :sealed:
Regarding Nanashi's post on aura of displacement:
I would just use Death's Charge over this. DC is not an enchantment and you shadow step emediatly, not to mention if you're low on health you can get an extra ammount by useing DC to a nearby foe and then running away to regain more health if possible.
the important thing to note is that death charge ports you in and leaves you there, for 5. which is great, and the heal is great...but it leaves you there. So now you've got to figure a way back out...being swarmed by fighters when you port to the monk may make this difficult...so a port helps, shadow step or vipers defense can help in this instance, but now we're talking at least two skills to get in and out. This does it in one skill. I'd still take the others over this because of the versatility they offer (self heal and poison are nice effects in themselves), and I hate maintaining enchantments.
So really what you've got to consider is whether one skill for 10 and 1 energy degen when you need it (during combat) is better than 2 skills for 10 energy total that accomplish similar goals but have other beneficial effects. I think that's up to personal style...personally, even after giving it the credit for what it is, I'd still shy away from it, possibly even if it weren't elite.
Also your point is noted that you could do fine without being able to port back...just may be risky at times, so you've got to be more careful with targets...this skill affords you the chance to be somewhat reckless, if nothing else.
Regarding Nanashi's post on aura of displacement:
the important thing to note is that death charge ports you in and leaves you there, for 5. which is great, and the heal is great...but it leaves you there. So now you've got to figure a way back out...being swarmed by fighters when you port to the monk may make this difficult...so a port helps, shadow step or vipers defense can help in this instance, but now we're talking at least two skills to get in and out. This does it in one skill. I'd still take the others over this because of the versatility they offer (self heal and poison are nice effects in themselves), and I hate maintaining enchantments.
So really what you've got to consider is whether one skill for 10 and 1 energy degen when you need it (during combat) is better than 2 skills for 10 energy total that accomplish similar goals but have other beneficial effects. I think that's up to personal style...personally, even after giving it the credit for what it is, I'd still shy away from it, possibly even if it weren't elite.
Also your point is noted that you could do fine without being able to port back...just may be risky at times, so you've got to be more careful with targets...this skill affords you the chance to be somewhat reckless, if nothing else.
That's true. Well in 12 on 12, if I was looking at a minion master there was no doubt I would get swarmed. There was also the point at which, I knew that no matter how hard I tried I wouldn't be able to get passed the walls they may have formed. Risk is the problem with DC/VD combo but like I said, at times there was a point where I believed I wouldn't make it if I tried.
I agree with your thoughts though and even if I didn't... we still made the same choice. I guess I don't think this skill is elite worthy as I rather have mobious strike or palm strike within my attack lines and like you said, the conbinations of DC/VD are pretty nice.
Seppo Kaitainen
29-03-2006, 20:08
I noticed this weekend that seeping wound was improved. If I recall correctly it had -4 at 12 points, making it twice as good as before.
Lady Eleni
29-03-2006, 21:12
I have to say right here, that I do NOT like Shroud of Silence. It doesnt force a recharge on all spells, its a hex, which makes it quickly removable in almost any 8v8 situation, and after a week or so of it being used, will become completely useless to put on a monk.
Shadow Form combined with Illusion of Weakness is good, unless there's enchant stripping on the other team, without a mesmer secondary though, its garbage. Anyone using it in 12v12 died to bleeding before they could heal themselves after Shadow Form ended.
Temple Strike is THE assasin elite, I really can't see any of them not using it, especially with its non-conditional interrupt and Daze+Blind, and of course, the fact that most other elites are garbage.
Flashing Blades is okay, I used it throughout the FPE, mostly because I was too lazy to switch to warrior or ranger and grab a useful defensive stance. It's one saving grace is that it has an extremely short downtime, and unless going against someone using Wild Blow, works extremely well against assasins and warriors.
Moebius Strike is good, although I didnt have a pair of Zealous Daggers to be able to use its effect to its full, which is why I used Flashing Blades instead.
Dark Apostasy, Palm Strike, and Seeping wound are just jokes. Palm Strikes always hit is neutered by Fox Fangs, which does less damage but always hits, and isn't an elite.
Locusts Fury is alright, double strikes are nice for extra damage+energy from zealous and crits.
Assasins Promise is cool, it'll take a bit of practice to get the hang of, but could easily work for assasin recharge and energy over Moebius.
Siphon Strength is very cool, seems very assasinlike to me, and combined with Critical Eye will lead to some deadly critting on your target.
Way of the Empty Palm. Repeating Strike, over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over. No worries about energy, no worries about missing as long as you land your lead attack. I can see this becoming a nice combo, with Twisting Fangs just before Empty Palm ends.
Beguiling Haze is alright, but its too conditional to be a good elite. Temple Strike is just sooo much better than it.
Shadow Shroud, is glorious. Combine it with a quick rend, and boonprotters will die so very fast. Also useful on the Ghostly Hero, and other critical NPCs.
Aura of Displacement, a guild of the week had some great strategies with this, but as said earlier, enchant removal is a NIGHTMARE.
So all in all, the Assasin Elites do need work, but Temple Strike is enough to keep any assasin happy, and several others have nice combos waiting to be used. Once the skills are wide open to the metagame, we can make final judgements, but as it stands, too many are far too underpowered.
I ran into a problem using Moebus Strike in PvE...my target was dead before i could use it :( now in PvP my target will most likely not be dead so i will probally only use it on those rare occasions.
Nightfall Crescent
31-03-2006, 21:13
Palm Strikes always hit is neutered by Fox Fangs, which does less damage but always hits, and isn't an elite.
Maybe it changed during after the PvP preview. I didn't check it in the FPE.
A normal assasin chain is like this:
lead attack - off hand attack - dual attack
enter Palm strike:
Palm strike - Dual attack
The power of Palm strike is the fact it's an off-hand that DOES NOT need a lead attack. All those nice dual attacks? well they can come a lot fastr with this skill. It can be use to make some impressive combo chains:
lead-offhand-dual-palmstrike-dual That will hurt!
Patccmoi
31-03-2006, 21:41
Maybe it changed during after the PvP preview. I didn't check it in the FPE.
A normal assasin chain is like this:
lead attack - off hand attack - dual attack
enter Palm strike:
Palm strike - Dual attack
The power of Palm strike is the fact it's an off-hand that DOES NOT need a lead attack. All those nice dual attacks? well they can come a lot fastr with this skill. It can be use to make some impressive combo chains:
lead-offhand-dual-palmstrike-dual That will hurt!
I actually did this when i played assassin :)
It does hurt. I think Palm Strike is a very good elite because it's a straight, unblockable off-hand.
You want to make sure no one can prevent your Twisted Fangs to do the equivalent of an adrenal spike (spike along with other people)?
Way of the Fox, Palm Strike-Twisted Fangs. Your 'next attack' is actually Twisted, and it can't be blocked/evaded. Palm Strike is a touch skill, i.e. there's absolutely nothing you can do about it except not be in touch range. So unless you're blind/hexed with a missing %, your Palm-Twisted will hit quite fast (in Frenzy for example, this would hit in around 0.87 interval, the time to swing your Twisted), will do something like 50 unconditional damage ignoring armor, a DW, bleeding, +36 damage (from the dual attack at +18, that's only 12 Dagger) + damage of 2 attacks. All of that has a 15 sec recharge (the recharge of Twisted). Can we all agree that it is a -very- threatening spike that is very easy and reliable to pull? It's a PP-SD with lots of extra damage.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.1 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.