Assassin
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| The Assassin class is part of the Scout archetype. Predators (rangers and assassins) generate high amounts of damage during a fight and provide utility to the group. |
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The Assassin class is very melee oriented. With the right poisons applied, they can do immense damage. As a scout class, they have the typical tracking and evac abilities, but what really sets them apart from other scout classes is the amount of melee damage they can produce in a short amount of time. They are arguably the highest melee damage class, sacrificing the Brigand debuffs for greater damage. Assassin damage is very dependant on positioning, doing their greatest damage from behind a target, and from stealth.
Assassins get high damage attacks from behind and/or from stealth, Piercing/slashing DOTs, physical and poison mitigation debuffs, a snare, a hate transferring buff, a group-wide movement speed buff, 2 ways to lose hate/drop target, a 2 shot ranged attack, an offensive and defensive stance, 2 from behind arrow attacks, a 4 second stun, a root, a stifle, Evac, tracking, 2 AoE attacks from stealth, instant stealth + see invis, and a free ranged attack while in melee.
Play style
Assassin is a class that takes great skill (and lost of cash). The need to be behind your target or in stealth to do your highest damage means you always have to be paying attention. The constant need for arrows, poisons, and good equipment means you'll spend more money then most other classes. Assassin is a class suited for those who want to get up close to the fight. Though they have good bow attacks, you'll want to be behind the mob cycling through your stealth attacks to do your highest DPS.
Going Solo
Solo, Assassins have it rough. Chain armor means you're not a tank, so upgrading your armor to get the best mitigation (and maybe an imbued piece or two) will help. Against single mobs, you'll want to cheap shot them, jump behind them, hit them with the from behind attack that puts you into stealth, then hit them with one of your many from stealth attacks. While waiting for cheap shot to recharge, you hit them with your dots and debuffs, and use Heroic Ops. Stun poisons help, giving you a chance to get behind the mob easier.
When solo fighting grouped mobs, use caution. Often, a lower con group of 4 can bring you near death before 2 of them are down. Against multiple mobs, it's virtually impossible to get into stealth, and hard to get behind a single mob. Sometimes, you can go into stealth and queue up a from stealth attack, and it will go off before stealth drops. Grouped mobs can be difficult for assassins, even in defensive stance with a 1H and round shield.
Grouping
In a group is where we really shine. Feel free to wear gear more for stats then mitigation, as long as your tank can keep aggro. In groups, the assassin puts a hate transfer on the main tank, and assists the tank. Good tanks will turn the mob, so you don't have to run around it and possibly draw aggro from wandering mobs. The assassin lets the tank gain hate, usually leading off with cheap shot, a mitigation debuff, or a small dot. Once the tank has aggro, the assassin tees off with high damage attacks from behind. It's easy to burn through mana, since you have so many combat arts to use. Throw in a hate lowering technique like slip every few attacks to keep your hate down. If you do gain aggro, use your hate lowering skills, and don't hit the mob with damaging attacks until the tank gets the aggro back.
If another party member gains aggro, use cheap shot to buy them some time, and blast away at the mob. Better it's angry with you then the healer or the glass cannon. Once it's on you, the tank can get it off you. Keep your tracking open for named mobs, or other players if you're on a pvp server. If there are 2 scouts in a pvp group, decide which will look for PCs, and which for named mobs. Make sue your party members throw their buffs on you, like haste, DPS buffs, strength buffs and procs. In a party, you should always be in motion, slashing away at the tank's target, jumping in and out of stealth, and managing your hate. Also, don't forget to disarm the chests...
PvP
In PvP, Assassins are very fun, very common, and very difficult to play well. They are effective both solo and in a group, and do very well against mages and rangers. Solo Assassins roll around in stealth, tracking their enemies and doing best from ambushes. They are, after all, Assassins. For the best results, attack healers and tanks from behind while they are fighting mobs or other players. It's much harder to get behind a good player, so you may only get one or 2 good attacks on their back. Also, against healers, it's a great idea to wait till they're already in combat. An out of combat healer can take your best hits and heal them away, leaving you with half power and long reuse timers. If you must attack a healer who isn't in combat already, use your stifle and stuns, and hope to overwhelm them quickly with burst damage.
Going solo against a group, even lower con, is a risk. Assassins lack in the AoE department, with only 2 AoEs, both from stealth. They have a stun, stifle, and root, but the durations make them not very useful for crowd control. In most cases, you'll want to take out the mage/healer, and leave the tank for last. Avoidance tanks and Rogues (Swashie, Brigand) give Assassins the most problems. Many of your high damage melee attacks can be dodged/parried, even from behind. Use caution when fighting them, and try to stun them. Evac will be a good friend when taking on a group. Kill as many as you can, and evac away before you die.
In a group, assassins are very effective. A good tactic is to stay in stealth a small distance away form the rest of the party, then coming at your targets from behind while your party engages them. Identify the biggest threats and neutralize them. Stun/stifle the mages and healers. Root the scouts. Debuff the tanks. Hit enemy mages with high damage attacks, since they'll feel it the most. Kill off caster pets if you can't kill the caster. Drop target once the enemy targets you. And be ready to evac if things get really rough, or you get zerged. And remember to have the mage cast see invis on you.
Poisons
Poisons are what make a great Assassin. Poisons can deal damage, either over time or all at once. They can debuff a target's stats or resists. They can stun a target. They can also do damage to a whole encounter. The key to look for is their Proc %. Damage poisons typically have a 25% proc rate, going off 25% of the time a melee hit from the weapon in the right hand lands. Other poisons proc 20%, 15%, even 10%. You can have one poison up per proc rate, meaning you can use a 25%, 15% and 10% poison at the same time. A good assassin will have at least 3 poisons up as much of the time as possible. Make sure to bring some extra poison with you, since it can run out fast.
Different poison is good for different situations. In a group with bards and Enchanters, mental debuff poisons would be worthwhile. Alone, or with a necro/SK/Defiler/other scouts, poison disease debuffs are best. And in PvP, stun poisons and Str/Wis debuffs are useful. Experiment to find out what works for you.
Tradeskills
For an Assassin, Alchemist, Jeweler, or Weaponsmith are good ways to go.
- Alchemist will keep you stocked with poison, and give you easy access to potions which can do all sorts of good things for you. Also, you can make some fighter spells for your friends.
- Jeweler is a great choice, allowing you to make your own spell upgrades, as well as gear for your fingers, wrist, ears, neck, head, and waist.
- Weaponsmith will help you stay up to date with dual wield weapons, and 2 imbued DW weapons are never a bad idea.
On a PvP server, Woodworker could be useful to make see stealth totems and arrows.
None of the others are especially useful for Assassins, except for armorer.
