Assassin, A Comprehensive Perilous Guide
I would like to preface this guide thanking TheThirdRace for giving me the idea to try out Deathblow as an alternate skill for assassin. I ultimately used his build identically simply because I could determine no better build that could be made. Assassin is a tricky class that relies on an extremely cautious, positioning-oriented mentality—one that it's often difficult to slide into. If you don't want to play patiently and/or don't have a Heal on Kill ring, I strongly advise against playing Assassin.
Video Link Here
Skills:
Stealth with Enter the Shadows – Pretty Standard on an assassin. Allows for positioning and for safer approach. Its 50% damage increase and auto crits will help with bursting down targets. However, this build lacks I Was Never Here, which makes this skill less of a consistent use option and lends itself more toward timed attacks. Due to the nature of this build the loss is more than made up for.
Hidden Blades with Overkill – Also pretty standard on assassin. This skill does an insane amount of damage without having to reach the target in melee range which in some situations could be fatal. Throw it at targets in the back ranks that will reliably escape given a lack of burst or use it on large bruiser targets for additional damage to set up a finisher. This skill's multi-hit also gives a good chance to utilize the procs of your daggers that are equipped and to lower stealth's cooldown. In a pinch the stun lock this ability gives you can very well save your life.
Flank Attack with Skirmisher – Another great positioning skill for the assassin. This skill allows you to create a very nice flow from one target to the next without having to walk to them. The damage isn't amazing, but against small targets it will be sufficient and the instant stealth after landing it will allow you to proc instant crits or to position yourself to a different spot within enemy ranks. It has a rather low CD and stamina cost for its use and the stealth afterwards has an infinite duration.
Deathblow with Thrill of Victory – This skill is one of the most obscenely strong skills I have ever come across. It effectively instantly kills all targets below half hp. If it doesn't kill them it will deal such a high amount of damage that for an eight second nuke it's simply second to none. Its effectiveness is limited to targets above half hp. However, with ambient damage from your team or a couple quick stabs to the back that threshold is quickly removed. The tracking when compared to the other assassin skills is decent, and it is far less damaging to miss with this skill thanks to its small wind up time. Overall this makes it more reliable at catching targets. It also doesn't need flanking to gain its full effectiveness, meaning the frustrating turn around of Red Templar Knights is less of a headache. It is worth noting that this skill has some bugs. Most of the time Dance of Death won't restore stamina on kill and I've seen it phase through enemies or, rarely, have the enemy die but the CD not reset. Despite this I would still recommend this skill above its competitors.
Passives Nabbed:
Knife in the Shadows
Bloodthirst
Looked like it Hurt
Cull the Herd (obnoxiously good)
Skills not Taken:
Twin Fangs – This skill is flashy but ultimately doesn't preform to the same level as Deathblow. The damage from a successful stealth, Twin Fangs, backstab is admittedly fun to watch but the fun ends there. The tracking on this skill is one of the worst in the entire game. If a target turns to face you for any reason the damage is also largely reduced. It fits well in a build that relies on slow methodical elimination of stationary targets; however, the combination of no cooldown, easier positioning, and higher damage causes Deathblow to far outclass this skill.
Shadow Strike – The alternate to Twin Fangs. This skill looks great; it sends enemies flying and doesn't rely on flanking for all of its damage, though it does for its extra effect. But this skill becomes inferior to Twin Fangs due to a bug causing kills with it to not trigger I Was Never Here. Even without that bug the damage simply won't surpass Twin Fangs or Deathblow in most situations. It also has a cooldown, unlike Deathblow, and has pretty abysmal tracking as well.
I Was Never Here – This passive allows for some quick-paced and high damage play from assassins at little cost. However it's poorly positioned tree-wise as it's hidden behind thief's lantern, effectively making it cost two skill points. While I rate this above most passives I strongly believe there are combinations of alternatives that surpass its value, in this case Looked like it Hurt and Bloodthirst. Since the build I am using centers around consistently autoattacking its value would be further decreased as the CD wouldn't receive as much reduction from damage being dealt.
General Strategy
As an assassin your focus is back rank target elimination followed by large enemy cleanup out in front. You almost always open with Hidden Blades, get behind enemy ranks, and begin autoattacking and rotating in Deathblow. Flank Attack to reposition or get free AoE if you have a good angle. Then just move up through enemy ranks. Deathblow allows you to kill all targets with practically no effort as soon as their hp is halved. Even with subpar daggers or against stronger enemies such as Behemoths and pride demons, a Hidden Blades into Deathblow will end the threat quickly. It's worth noting that both Red Templar and Venatori swordsmen can and will block your Deathblow. This will consume its CD so use it wisely. This class is all about being calm and selective and holding Stealth and/or Flank Attack for when your current position becomes untenable. If you become frustrated at the unfortunate or annoying enemy tactics your performance will suffer exponentially.
Vs Venatori
Venatori have the distinction of simultaneously being the easiest faction to manage and often the most annoying. Your first targets are mages and Spellbinders in the back ranks. Be cautious when you unstealth as mages will leave behind an elemental trail that will inflict a DoT on you regardless of what element they are. Spellbinders will lay down elemental mines when attacked and oftentimes these will be under your feet giving you just enough time to escape. Brutes have large swing radii on their attacks and should be approached very carefully, if at all, to avoid accidentally being knocked down and/or maimed. Watch archers carefully. Their quick shot will seriously ruin your day should they attempt to use it on you, but they usually won't attempt it until their health is low enough to be instantly killed by Deathblow.
Final Room -
As much as this boss is a joke its still worth assassinating her, if only for the enjoyment it brings you. Her AoE attacks will slowly whittle down your health if left alive. The extra damage against barriers that a Mighty Offense tonic will bring trivializes her further. Deathblow's second hit will knock her down in a rather hilarious fashion should it connect and not kill her. Otherwise focus on just killing everything with the misfortune to get in your way. It's a rather simple strategy, but Venatori is straightforward.
Vs Red Templar
Red Templars have a large amount of range in their ranks which is both fortunate and unfortunate. This means you'll find more targets on the back lines that you will be tasked with dealing with, which also means there are more opportunities for them to turn around and make you flee for your life. Knights and horrors should be dealt with first to prevent them from unleashing lethal attacks on your entire team. Knights very frequently turn around meaning Hidden Blades or finding them pre-weakened is highly preferred. They also sometimes repeatedly line up ranged attacks against you and then cancel them because you're invisible. Don't attack them when they do this. Horrors, on the other hand, will begin to gain a barrier once an unstealthed unit enters close range of them. This puts you on a timer before they'll gain an additional albeit small amount of health. If they're below half when they get the barrier off Deathblow will still swing twice which makes their extra health largely negligible. Shadows should be swooped in on for finishing blows only. Their attacks will crush your hopes and dreams if you allow them to connect.
Final Room-
Your job here is to find and kill the Commander. Feel free to clean up Knights and horrors should the Commander be dangerous to approach due to line nukes or a spin. If a Knight buffs the Commander seek him out and eliminate him rapidly. Other than the Knights killing the Commander is simple. If you have a teammate to put him to sleep to cancel his moves as he lines up, you can inflict damage quick enough that he will barely have time to act. Sleep can be triggered by having a shocked and weakened debuff on a target simultaneously, and the Red Templar Commander is vulnerable to sleep. Afterward clean up horrors, Knights, and then archers.
Vs Demons
This faction is your nightmare fuel, rather appropriately I suppose. Wraiths will often barrier just short of the half hp mark putting them barely out of Deathblow range. Fire Wraiths will burn you quickly if they connect, something I highly recommend saving Stealth for, and the flailing upon taking damage of the Rage demons will melt you quickly when you attempt to deal with them. If a Despair demon gets its barrier off your Deathblow won't have the burst to kill her. Fear demons and pride demons are largely sitting targets for your Deathblow as their large models mean they have a lot of trouble avoiding your damage. Terrors have a tendency to re-aggro constantly and jump onto you to disrupt your plans. You can stun them out of their knockdown with a Flank Attack and follow up with a couple backstabs into a Deathblow for a vengeance-fueled kill.
Final room -
The nightmare continues. Approaching the demon Commander is a huge pain due to how fast his panic comes out. I recommend using Spirit Resistance tonics to greatly reduce the panic, Wraith, and Terror damage to manageable levels. Once you pop one, you can attempt to skirmish with the demon Commanderf while picking off the Wraiths and other targets as you wait for safe opportunities. Bloodscent will keep you relatively safe from his underground attack regardless of any lag or bouncing off terrain once he reaches 35% hp. With barrier or a good heal on kill ring you can swap between dueling with him and healing off of adds in between.
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