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[Build Guide] Assassin Striker


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#1
Guest_Mortiel_*

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Here is my next build guide!

 

 

Watch the video for the full breakdown.

 

Quick overview:

 

Skills

 

Stealth

Flank Attack

Hidden Blades

Death Blow

 

Basic Strategy

 

Prerequisite: You will want to be near the front of the pack, ready at once to engage Stealth and run ahead to get to the enemy's back line. Also note the first two steps are about target prioritization and positioning. Yes, they are both that important.

  1. Assess the Field: As you approach from a distance, attempt to visually scan for specific targets. It becomes faster the more you do it. Look for telltale signs of Marksmen, Despair Demons, Spellbinders.
     
  2. Lock on Target: Know where you are going before you engage Stealth, and have your path planned out in advance, along with what you will do after the fight starts. It's like chess, and Argent is the Queen.
     
  3. Weapons Hot: Engage Stealth, circle around the enemy position to the flank of the enemies at the back and await your tank to start the party.
     
  4. Surgical Strike: Once the enemy aggros the tank, Flank Attack the first target. Timing is key. Hit that first target as soon as the tank pulls aggro.
     
  5. Fire at Will: Basic attack that first enemy until it's health is below 50%, then Death Blow to finish the job.
     
  6. Divide et Impera: Repeat this to each ranged DPS, then move to light melee.
     
  7. Join The Dance: With all the rest of the targets eliminated, the enemy tank(s) should be all that's left, and the cooldown on Stealth should be finished. Stealth, then use Hidden Blades. Flank Attack to get in close quickly, then Death Blow. Quickly dodge back out to avoid getting hit. Repeat as necessary.

Again, this also requires a good team dynamic:

  • Tank Classes: Should know where you are and carefully position themselves in the fight as to make flanking the enemy as easy as possible.
  • Controller Classes: Should know what enemies are your first priority, and use crowd-control skills to debilitate other ranged DPS/priority targets.
  • Support Classes: Should largely ignore you. Their priority is putting Barrier on the tank.
  • Other DPS Classes: Should not being trying to "steal your kills". They should not try to target the same targets you do, so make sure to coordinate strikes to maximize killing more targets quickly. This, however, changes once you are down to the enemy tank(s). Then, let the best player get the kill, which we all known is the Assassin...

Again, I welcome your feedback! Don't be shy!

 

 

EDIT: And yes, I explain why I do not have Twin Fangs in the video... I just Ubisoft'd everyone that simply looked at the post but ignored the video.


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#2
-PenguinFetish-

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Why deathblow over Twin Fangs or even shadow strike? Twin Fangs is literally better in every single way in my opinion. Id like to hear your reason for choosing against it. 



#3
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Why deathblow over Twin Fangs or even shadow strike? Twin Fangs is literally better in every single way in my opinion. Id like to hear your reason for choosing against it. 

 

Watch the video. I actually explain just that.  :P

 

EDIT: As it was pointed out to me, this was a bit of a rude response for me to say. I wanted to choose a build that was really unique to the Assassin. Twin Fangs and Shadow Strike are repeated in the Assassin and Alchemist.



#4
External89

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Running with the assassin for while now and i suggest you drop flank attack for twin fangs . 



#5
Guest_Mortiel_*

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Running with the assassin for while now and i suggest you drop flank attack for twin fangs . 

 

Good suggestion! Twin Fangs is a very strong skill!

 

I do suggest watching the video, however. A lot of Flank Attack's utility is amazing, not to mention I explain why I do not have Twin Fangs.



#6
Robbiesan

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Nice work Mortiel. Haven't played much Assassin, but will give this a try.

#7
Centaurion

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Why do you go Stealth -> Flank Attack? That's wasting stealth twice.

 

A suggestion would be to have:

Stealth

Hidden Blade

Twin Fangs

Flank Attack

 

And just go Stealth -> Hidden Blade-> Stealth -> Twin Fangs -> Stealth -> Flank Attack (which puts you in Stealth again). With the rotation you will have nuked 3 mobs and Twin Fangs would be close to coming off CD.



#8
HowYouSoGudd

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Good suggestion! Twin Fangs is a very strong skill!

 

I do suggest watching the video, however. A lot of Flank Attack's utility is amazing, not to mention I explain why I do not have Twin Fangs.

Watched your video. Must admit you spend an excessive time running around waiting on cooldowns. Why wouldnt you get i was never there? Seems to me, that your build would be alot more effective with that.

Isnt the main point of death blow is the 0CD on death yet you have to wait for CD on stealth/flank. So without I was never here, wouldnt this build be more effective with twin fangs since it does more dmg and you wouldnt notice the CD, because it would more less finish when stealth refreshes?



#9
SLooPPy JOE

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I absolutely love death blow, but I wouldn't pick up flank attack over twin fangs. I don't think the auto crit from stealth passive is necessary but "I was never here" is a must.

In defense of death blow:
1. Completely wrecks boss enemies when they are <50%.
2. Area damage on the second hit can wipe groups of archers pretty well (especially off of a PotA)
3. Cooldown reset (great synergy with Firestorm since everyone's on their ass with ~50% hp. You can waltz around finishing every kill)
4. Reliably hits/kills assassin enemy types when they are 50%.

Issues:
1. Short reach
2. Stamina issues (bug?)
3. Not as effective when enemy is >50% hp

#10
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Nice work Mortiel. Haven't played much Assassin, but will give this a try.

 

Thanks! I recommend trying all the classes in various builds... you typically find some amazingly fun builds with experimenting!

 

Why do you go Stealth -> Flank Attack? That's wasting stealth twice.

 

A suggestion would be to have:

Stealth

Hidden Blade

Twin Fangs

Flank Attack

 

And just go Stealth -> Hidden Blade-> Stealth -> Twin Fangs -> Stealth -> Flank Attack (which puts you in Stealth again). With the rotation you will have nuked 3 mobs and Twin Fangs would be close to coming off CD.

 

I do it for the auto-crit, and so I can approach without drawing aggro. Best when done with a tank in party, which I did not have in the video. I Stealth, approach enemy, Flank Attack (back to Stealth), and typically Death Blow.

 

Watched your video. Must admit you spend an excessive time running around waiting on cooldowns. Why wouldnt you get i was never there? Seems to me, that your build would be alot more effective with that.

Isnt the main point of death blow is the 0CD on death yet you have to wait for CD on stealth/flank. So without I was never here, wouldnt this build be more effective with twin fangs since it does more dmg and you wouldnt notice the CD, because it would more less finish when stealth refreshes?

 

In that end scene? Nah, that was me testing the really silly auto-block that Red Templar soldiers and Vanatori zealots have... and then it turned into playing around and toying with enemies on wave 5. I was not actually doing my rotation right.

 

 

I absolutely love death blow, but I wouldn't pick up flank attack over twin fangs. I don't think the auto crit from stealth passive is necessary but "I was never here" is a must.

In defense of death blow:
1. Completely wrecks boss enemies when they are <50%.
2. Area damage on the second hit can wipe groups of archers pretty well (especially off of a PotA)
3. Cooldown reset (great synergy with Firestorm since everyone's on their ass with ~50% hp. You can waltz around finishing every kill)
4. Reliably hits/kills assassin enemy types when they are 50%.

Issues:
1. Short reach
2. Stamina issues (bug?)
3. Not as effective when enemy is >50% hp

 

Short reach? It's like the only AoE ability the Assasin has... If you notice a few examples I had in the video, Death Blow's second strike has a pretty wide arc that will hit multiple enemies. Twin Fangs doesn't do that. The health requirement is really a moot point when initiating with Flank Attack, then hitting with a couple of basic attacks. Even on Perilous, archers go down in a fraction of a second, which is really what I care about playing the Assassin.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, to everyone: I say this in the video... Twin Fangs and Shadow Strike are shared between the Assassin and Alchemist. This build was designed around what made the Assassin unique, as in, abilities and play styles that no other class can do.

 

Besides, how can the Assassin's Twin Fangs compete with the Alchemist's: Fire Flask -> Stealth -> Twin Fangs -> Stealth -> Twin Fangs (repeat until Fire Flask expires). It's really insane. I'd rather go with Twin Fangs on the Alchemist.



#11
MajorStupidity

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I had Kev link me this last night I enjoyed the video I was probably going to try and make an alchemist first, but this is tempting me to go assassin instead.



#12
KevTheGamer

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bump



#13
SLooPPy JOE

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@mortiel
"Short reach" meaning you don't close the gap on the enemy like flank attack and twin fangs do. Gets annoying when enemies are running away from you. Minor setback though.
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#14
konfeta

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How exactly does the game factor in the off-hand weapon? Which abilities use the damage on it?



#15
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@mortiel
"Short reach" meaning you don't close the gap on the enemy like flank attack and twin fangs do. Gets annoying when enemies are running away from you. Minor setback though.

 

Twin Fangs and Shadow Strike similarly have their own targeting difficulty... even Flank Attack at times as well. It's kind of inherent to daggers.

 

How exactly does the game factor in the off-hand weapon? Which abilities use the damage on it?

 

Some skills I wondered may factor off-hand weapon damage in the second attack of the ability (such as Death Blow or Flank Attack), however this is really hard to determine because I am not exactly clear on the formula for damage to reverse-engineer numbers I see on the screen. That, and it's a real pain when not all damage numbers appear on screen as they are supposed to (which you also see in the video).

 

For now, I always say to bring the more damaging weapon in your main-hand, as I do know that Hidden Blades calculates off main-hand damage.



#16
konfeta

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Jesus, Assassin talent placement is horrible. Class feels terrible to play until high levels. Deathblow is a mixed bag I found.

 

Pros:

1. When all talents in place, it seems to one shot archers with the first strike out of stealth at least on Threatening. Might be able to do it on Perilous with good enough items?

2. Tracks way better than Twin Fang, less reliant on flanking than Twin Fang in case something goes bad with stealth.

3. AoE damage is nice, when it works.

 

Cons:

1. Stamina issues. Deathblow doesn't work with Dance of Death. Even with a +50 stamina amulet it runs dry fast.

2. Exacerbates the Assassin talent placement problem, which is imo a deal breaker when promoting. Relying on an untalented Twin Fang while bee-lining for talents that are basically at the end of their respective skill trees makes the first 14-16 levels miserable.

3. AoE is hard to use since ranged enemies don't really cluster and melee enemies block it like Jedi. Also invites to be hit by blind enemy swings when trying to use it against melee, since those are the guys who reliably cluster.

 

I think my preference for either Twin Fang or Deathblow will be decided by which bug Bioware fixes first - Deathblow/Dance of Death interaction or Twin Fang forgetting how to jump when being used on enemies that are moving away from you.



#17
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Jesus, Assassin talent placement is horrible. Class feels terrible to play until high levels. Deathblow is a mixed bag I found.

 

Pros:

1. When all talents in place, it seems to one shot archers with the first strike out of stealth at least on Threatening. Might be able to do it on Perilous with good enough items?

2. Tracks way better than Twin Fang, less reliant on flanking than Twin Fang in case something goes bad with stealth.

3. AoE damage is nice, when it works.

 

Cons:

1. Stamina issues. Deathblow doesn't work with Dance of Death. Even with a +50 stamina amulet it runs dry fast.

2. Exacerbates the Assassin talent placement problem, which is imo a deal breaker when promoting. Relying on an untalented Twin Fang while bee-lining for talents that are basically at the end of their respective skill trees makes the first 14-16 levels miserable.

3. AoE is hard to use since ranged enemies don't really cluster and melee enemies block it like Jedi. Also invites to be hit by blind enemy swings when trying to use it against melee, since those are the guys who reliably cluster.

 

I think my preference for either Twin Fang or Deathblow will be decided by which bug Bioware fixes first - Deathblow/Dance of Death interaction or Twin Fang forgetting how to jump when being used on enemies that are moving away from you.

 

I thought I saw Dance of Death work with Death Blow... but maybe I was confused and just saw stamina going up from Looked Like It Hurt.

 

Ranged enemies cluster beautifully if you are with a team that can pull aggro and/or use abilities like Pull of the Abyss.

 

And those foot soldiers/zealots... I mean, shoot them with a mass cluster of twelve arrows from Leap Attack and they block all of them with just a sword?! You sneak up behind one in Stealth and use Flank Attack to initiate and position yourself on his flank... only for him to auto-block it because he magically knew you were there, which also prevents you from positioning on his flank?! They must be Jedi. 



#18
HowYouSoGudd

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i can confirm that Dance of Death works with Death Blow.

Atm I'm not sure how i feel about Death Blow. I feel it gets blocked a hell of a lot. Not sure if its intended or not, but from I've seen, it seems like you either need a good enough weapon to 1hit with death blow out of stealth or ignore stealth and use your jedi magic. Every time I tried to hit once or twice out of stealth then Death Blow, it seemed to always be blocked.

 

Also, anyone able to confirm how the second hit works on deathblow? It seems to only trigger if the targets below 50% and AoE's other targets also below 50%?



#19
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Also, anyone able to confirm how the second hit works on deathblow? It seems to only trigger if the targets below 50% and AoE's other targets also below 50%?

 

As I demonstrate in the video, the second strike will only trigger in the presence of an enemy with <50% health. I thought would only hit enemies with low health at first (when I made the video), but it actually hits everything in front of you in an AoE arc as long as there is one enemy with <50% health to trigger the second strike.



#20
gay_wardens

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Watch the video. I actually explain just that.  :P

 

EDIT: As it was pointed out to me, this was a bit of a rude response for me to say. I wanted to choose a build that was really unique to the Assassin. Twin Fangs and Shadow Strike are repeated in the Assassin and Alchemist.

 

Twin Fangs is a direct copy from DA2, so it's actually an Assassin thing.



#21
Havoc49J

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I really enjoy using Deathblow on the Assassin, but I just can't justify speccing into it anymore since you have to be nearly lvl 20 before you can round out an effective build. By that point your one or two games from prestige. I love Deathblow, but a Twin Fang build just becomes effective at a much lower level.

Thanks for the video.
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#22
konfeta

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I thought I saw Dance of Death work with Death Blow... but maybe I was confused and just saw stamina going up from Looked Like It Hurt.

What I find happening is two different situations:

 

1. When I one shot enemies with the first hit (i.e. sweep doesn't trigger), it just consumes stamina as if Dance of Death isn't there.

2. When the sweep does trigger, assuming the first hit killed something, I see the stamina bar go up and then go down as it performs the sweep.

 

This seems to be a widespread problem with a lot of complex abilities. For example, Full Draw (where you can effectively fire it twice because it doesn't consume cooldown/stamina until the first shot hits) doesn't proc Dance of Death.

 

I suppose that if Deathblow second hit kills something, it will properly begin regenerating Stamina there.

 

 

 

Ranged enemies cluster beautifully if you are with a team that can pull aggro and/or use abilities like Pull of the Abyss.

Honestly, if there is pull of the abyss, that means its either a Katari/Reaver with Sulevain or an Arcane Warrior. They delete clustered crowds well enough without the Assassin dangling under their feet.

 

Admittedly, Static Cage via Keeper is a decent argument for having some situational AoE power on the assassin.



#23
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Twin Fangs is a direct copy from DA2, so it's actually an Assassin thing.

 

I was referring to Death Blow in Origins available to the Rogue, but yes many skills are recycled from previous titles. Mark of Death was recycled as well.

 

 

I really enjoy using Deathblow on the Assassin, but I just can't justify speccing into it anymore since you have to be nearly lvl 20 before you can round out an effective build. By that point your one or two games from prestige. I love Deathblow, but a Twin Fang build just becomes effective at a much lower level.

Thanks for the video.

 

Yeah, I should really put a disclaimer that the promotion-happy people will probably not want this build... It's for those that prefer to have a high level character now and then to fit a team role. Personal preference. Nothing wrong with speed build kits, however they are just not my thing.

 

 

What I find happening is two different situations:

 

1. When I one shot enemies with the first hit (i.e. sweep doesn't trigger), it just consumes stamina as if Dance of Death isn't there.

2. When the sweep does trigger, assuming the first hit killed something, I see the stamina bar go up and then go down as it performs the sweep.

 

This seems to be a widespread problem with a lot of complex abilities. For example, Full Draw (where you can effectively fire it twice because it doesn't consume cooldown/stamina until the first shot hits) doesn't proc Dance of Death.

 

 

 

Honestly, if there is pull of the abyss, that means its either a Katari/Reaver with Sulevain or an Arcane Warrior. They delete clustered crowds well enough without the Assassin dangling under their feet.

 

Admittedly, Static Cage and Veilstrike via Keeper is a decent argument for having some situational AoE power on the assassin.

 

Yeah so then it is likely broken. Aside, at least Looked Like It Hurt still works. That makes Death Blow cost 30 stamina instead of 50, which is at least something.

 

I would be all for the Assassin having Knockout Bomb for a little AoE crowd-control, but that would be yet another skill shared between Alchemist and Assassin, so that would only work if it, say, replaced Shadow Strike in the Assassination tree. I also thought that the assassin should have had Mark of Death. I mean, it's like the Assassin ability. Oh well.

 

It does make you play differently that single player with a similar class type, which I think is a bit fun.



#24
gay_wardens

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I was referring to Death Blow in Origins available to the Rogue, but yes many skills are recycled from previous titles. Mark of Death was recycled as well.

 

Oh ****... you got me on that one. Even I didn't remember that.

 

Anyway I don't see the point of Flanking Strike, in any circumstance. Stealth should be what gets you behind the target, not a gimmick ability that probably draws aggro if you use it without stealth. 

 

I agree that Assassin should've had Mark of Death. It doesn't even fit the archer well. 

 

I think I'll try out Death Blow next build.



#25
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Oh ****... you got me on that one. Even I didn't remember that.

 

Anyway I don't see the point of Flanking Strike, in any circumstance. Stealth should be what gets you behind the target, not a gimmick ability that probably draws aggro if you use it without stealth. 

 

I agree that Assassin should've had Mark of Death. It doesn't even fit the archer well. 

 

I think I'll try out Death Blow next build.

 

Flank Attack is a good initiator, as it closes the gap to an enemy quickly, and puts you into Stealth afterward to ensure you maintain little to no aggro. Multiplayer is rather fast-paced, so having to run in Stealth around enemies as opposed to Flank Attack cutting a bit of running off the edge. Just preference.

 

You still are almost required to get it with the Assassin, as it is the wall on the way to Knife In The Shadows.