[Guide] Soul Shards

Since my pre 1.5 soul shard guide is out of date I have decided to re-do it and talk a bit about basics of soul shard management.

Soul Shards are located near your health bar and you can have no more than 5 of them at any given time. The Soul Fragment system has been changed as part of the Assassin changes in patch 1.6 and Assassins will regenerate Soul Fragments at a rate of 1 every 8 seconds.

Every skill that uses soul shards in any way have information about in it's description.

There are 5 different mechanics related to soul shards management and those are:

1. spenders
2. consumers
3. generators

Spenders are those skills that won't work at all without required amount of soul shards available. Miasmas (face stab, lotus dart, soul strike) need as little as 1 shard, but CCs need 2, Lotus Pollen as much as 3 and Avatar/Lotus Overdose a whooping 4. Most of assassins skills are spenders so if you find yourself out of shards your options might be very limited even if none of your skills are on cool down.

Consumers are those skills that will only use up soul shards if those are present. Snap Kick for example will consume shard if you have one, but there are no benefits to using kick with a shard. On the other hand Death Whirlwind/grave blossom will use all soul shards that you have, but the more they can consume the harder those combos will hit.

Lastly there are generators. Crystallized Lotus Extract will grant you instant 3 soul shards while Necrotic Empowerment will give you 4, but over the period of 16 seconds. Castration perk (gained via Alternative Advancement) will grant you 2 soul shards on successful combo hit. Lastly soul corruption will speed up your passive soul shard generation, but in it's current form it is not worth any investment.

 Q&A:

Are there any benefit to spending/not spending your soul shards?

None. Soul shards don't provide any bonuses on their own. Think of then as currency that you use to "pay" to be able to use your stuff like CC. Anything close to soul shard related bonus are damage buffs to DWW/GB based on the amount of shards.

Why do assassins "pay" with soul shards for things that other classes have for free? (Fear/Stun).

Back in 1.6 CC worked differently: those were instant and you could effectively "stun lock" your target by chaining CCs together. Soul Shards were a system designed to limit assassins power.

How many generators do I need?

My stance on generators is that you need both Crystallized Lotus Extract and Necrotic Empowerment to be effective in both PVE and PVP

Should I spend my soul shards or conserve them?

It is very situational but my rule of thumb is spend, spend, spend and use Crystallized Lotus Extract and Necrotic Empowerment whenever the cool down has ended.

[Guide] Assassin and raids

For a nice change of pace today I want to share few hints about raiding with your assassin. My raiding experience so far is not all that great (Mitra knows I am no PVEr), but I have completed T3 and T4 and so far raiding  T4 on regular basis.

Lets clear up one thing right off the bat: I am not a number cruncher. What I will post here is by no means "the best possible specc" nor the rotation that I will show you is bound to grant you nothing but optimal results.

I am, however, providing solid build and a well timed rotation. Feel free to judge for yourself.

I am not a DPS freak when it comes to raiding so I am not obsessing about reaching for that top spot on DPS charts. Using the build and the rotation I am providing here I can go for several raids without single death and I feel like I am contributing to the team in a meaningful way by not only doing "pew-pew", but also by bringing to the raiding table helpful buffs.

Before we go on any further I want to say that this guide is heavily geared through T4 raid (with the exception of "door duty" during General fight). Other raids like T3 might need a little different approach or even different builds (more damage based).

My raiding philosophy is "better safe than sorry" so there might be a slight overkill on anti-aggro stuff (still distraction group buff is too good to pass up) but it goes a long way if you are just starting out on T4 with nothing but aggro magnet Brittle Blade full epic armor set.

My raiding build - http://goo.gl/EjjGJh 

My DPS raiding build - http://goo.gl/KW8EWY

My balanced raiding build - http://goo.gl/bBic09

Few words of explanation:

Lotus tree

Common mistake in different speccs is going for Dull Pain and Lotus Tainted Blood + Lotus overload. That is a lot of points that are usually completely wasted as it is tank who needs to worry about protection in certain fights. Sure, from time to time there will be fights where AOE magical damage is present and in those situations those feats are justified, but going DP+LO as a default specc is uncalled for.

Corruption tree

Necrotic Empowerment and From the Darkness are matter of personal preference. I use Necrotic as a primary source of shards because Crystallized Lotus Extract is kept as a back up if I need to pop in Crimson Lotus Pollen very fast. Also if you are really using your miasmas the way you should you will burn A LOT of shards. If you don't have 3 shards instantly available you are really wasting Crimson Lotus Pollen as instant aggro dropper. Besides I like Necrotic as my main source of shards as it regens them slowly and feeds me them constantly thought out the fight.

Aggro management:

Assassin is one of the best single target damage dealers in the game so it makes him a natural DPS class in raid scenario. With great damage comes ... great responsibility since it also means that it is quite easy to pull aggro from tank. Assassin class is very unforgiving so getting Boss on you will, more often than not, result in you dieing a horrible, horrible death. Luckily Assassin is more than competent when it comes to managing his aggro. Those abilities can be divided into three categories: passive -hate, active -hate, aggro list droppers, and aggro reducers.

Here is what we get:

Passive -hate: those are the permanent -hate buffs that you get from certain perks and feats. High base
-hate is needed for Assassin to be dealing sustained and high damage. Without solid -hate even the best aggro management tools won't be enough as you will be constantly re-building hate and  pulling aggro.

Sources: items with hate decrease rating, Spirit of Nightfall passive, Soothing venom (AA), Subtlety, Distraction

Active -hate: those are buffs that you get for a short period of time from Cover of the Dusk

Aggro list droppers: Bosses have a hate list and whoever is on top of that list will be attacked by the Boss. Aggro list droppers will move you down on that list so you won't be target.

Sources: Spirit of Nightfall, Wiles

Aggro reducers: those simply reduce the amount of aggro you have already generated

Sources: Crimson Lotus Pollen, Trickery.

While each of those feats and perks can work alone it is best to combine them together into combos for most benefit.

Cover of the Dusk - you can use this solo as it works wonders. This is a great way to open the fight as you will be generating very little hate and soldier will at the same time get a lot of aggro so he can tank better.

COD is also a nice thing to pop before you unload your heaviest attack (for example Kidney Shots + Liberation + Steeped Lotus Extract + Soul Destruction).

Spirit of Nightfal + Crimson Lotus Pollen - SON gets you instantly lower of the hate list and CLP lowers you aggro so you don't pull it again. Using just Spirit of Nightfall might not be enough because if you continue to do DPS there is a high chance of you poping up again as #1 on hate list. At the same time CLP, while it lowers your aggro, might not register with the Boss fast enough before he kills you.

Wiles + Trickery - exactly same principal as above which is combining aggro dropper with aggro reducer. I am using this combination often preemptively as it doesn't have any shard cost.

In regular Boss encounter I will open with Cover of the Dusk and then proceed to DPS the target. When I am feeling like I have done a good amount of DPS (especially if I have crited a lot) then I will drop Wiles + Trickery to lower my aggro and continue to DPS. At the same time I will have my fingers close to Crystallized Lotus Extract + Spirit of Nightfall + Crimson Lotus Pollen (on my keyboard alt + a + s +d). Lotus Extract provides me with 3 instant shards so I can be 100% sure that my Lotus Pollen will go off (it needs 3 shards to work) and drop a lot of aggro. Spirit of the Nightfall, which is free of shard cost, will make sure that the Boss will instantly changes the target. 

So this way I am usually rotating Cover of the Dusk and Wiles + Trickery and keeping my CLE+SON+CLP as a back up for emergency.

If you are not required by your Raid Team to have Distraction feat  then you will be more than fine with just Cover and CLE+SON+CLP. If you are required to have Distraction (like I am) then you can easily invest those 2 points into Wiles + Trickery as it is a worthy addition. Hell, will having such amazing tools you can also get less -hate items and go a little more DPS heavy in terms of armor pieces composition.

What about the rotation?

With rotation best thing is to show one. I am using lotus dart and soul strike for the poisons rotation and I am dropping naked Face Stabs during Swift Strikes animation. The whole rotation is timed on Grim Corruption cool down so when I am down with whole sequence the next GC is ready and I can start the rotation again. 

[Guide] Mixed Armor Sets

This thread sparked my interest enough to run some numbers and check which armor set provides best balance of DPS and protection....for PVP.

I am analyzing only armor pieces. Of course you could play A LOT with different stats via weapons and accessories, but it would be a very time consuming so I sticked to armors alone. 

I am also focusing only survivability and raw DPS stats (so no crits and no hits). 

First question: is it possible to mix T4 and SC so there is at least same DPS and prot as T3 pvp item? Lets find out!

T3 PVP armor (damage and survivability) - link to armor build

2296 Armor

1154 Critigation Amount

80.25 DPS

+2968 Health

+264 PvP Armor

+719 PvP Protection

T4 + SC (damage and survivability) - link to armor build

2518 Armor

2186 Critigation Amount

79.58 DPS

+2784 Health

+561 Protection

Pretty much I started the build with FULL T4 and added SC pieces until the armor build (link above) matched T3 pvp armor in terms of DPS.

As it clearly shows the T3 pvp armor vs T4 + SC is superior. T3 pvp armor, at same 80 DPS mark, has whooping 719 prot vs mere 561 prot.

So lets try another build: more T4 and less SC so it will be better than T3 for at least 10 DPS:

T4 + SC (more damage than survivability) - link to armor build

2577 Armor

2029 Critigation Amount

89.98 DPS

+2992 Health

+226 Protection

So when T3 pvp is matched with T4 + SC mix the T4 is better by 10 DPS, but has more than three times less protection. Not a major upgrade in DPS but HUGE loss of protection.

Now lets check out how T4 stacks up to T3 pvp:

T4 armor - link to armor build

2600 Armor

1921 Critigation Amount

98.27 DPS

+3144 Health

So T3 pvp armor vs T4 pvp armor is a balanced match: T3 is superior to T4 in terms of protection, but T4 has crushing advantage of almost 20 more DPS.

So now lets try the middle road: T3 items mixed with T4 items so it has 10 more DPS than pure T3 but 10 less than pure T4.

Pvp T3 + T4 (damage and survivability) - link to armor build 

2405 Armor

1484 Critigation Amount

89.62 DPS

+3120 Health

+1147 Tenacity

+161 PvP Armor

+472 PvP Protection

So best balanced set is T3 pvp + T4. Moreso T3 pvp + T4, at same 90 mark, beats T4 + SC to the ground with more than twice the protection and still retaining some tenacity.

And what would be the BEST "starter" gear mix for aspiring pvp assassins that can only dream of pvp T3 and T4?

T3 PVP armor (damage and survivability)

2296 Armor

1154 Critigation Amount

80.25 DPS

+2968 Health

+264 PvP Armor

+719 PvP Protection

T4 + SC (damage and survivability)

2518 Armor

2186 Critigation Amount

79.58 DPS

+2784 Health

+561 Protection

Brittle Blade + PvP T1 (damage and survivability) - link to the build 

2097 Armor

809 Critigation Amount

79.36 DPS

+2496 Health

+244 PvP Armor

+472 PvP Protection

This is CRAZY but, ignoring other stuff like health and armor or crit rating, Brittle Blade + PvP T1 has same DPS and only 89 less protection than T4 + SC.

This combination is pretty much a way to go for new assassin that are pvp lvl4 (or want to buy 3 epics from the store). Epic Birttle Blade + PvP T1 will be best stuff to wear (in terms of balanced stats) before getting your hand on T3 pvp or T3 pvp with T4 mixed in.

[Guide] Assassin Builds

The following are most standard builds that are commonly used with short description.

Player versus Player

Classic "Bomb" build (http://is.gd/ICwsBQ)

Probably more popular during 1.6 patch series this build strongly focuses on delivering massive detonation damage. This can be deadly versus under geared opponent.

Avatar Hybrid/General (http://is.gd/qzFhOH )

While packing a little less punch than classic "bomb" build this variation brings supreme protection against knock backs making it deal choice for larger scale pvp such as minigames. With this build you can pretty much go entire 20 minutes of the minigame without being knocked back even once (rotating excellent balance and avatar).

Lotus Hybrid/General [reverse hybrid] (http://is.gd/2r68e5)

This build switches the focus of the end tree feats on Lotus side which results in slighly less physical resilience (due to loss of HP leech from avatar), but has an advantage of a superior anti CC abilities. With both Lotus Overdose and Excellent Balance running you are virtually immune to every CC in game.

Tribrid (http://is.gd/ZPAZPT)

Some swear by "tribrid" builds as being the best for PVP. With this one you will lose some of the spike in damage, but gain access to more anti CC feats.

Player versus Environment (solo)

Solo PVE Hybrid for Khitai (http://is.gd/x7u1TL)

This is perfect build for leveling up in Khitai. At first you will need Atrophy to "soften up" your opponents a little.

Solo PVE Hybrid for Khitai [advanced] (http://is.gd/ICwsBQ)

As you get better gear your can switch to this build for faster killing. It is "bomb" build so it can be used for PVP as well. With avatar running and detonation and both DWW/GB you can leech absurd amount of health to out-live any mob in Khitai.

Solo PVE Hybrid for Khitai [kidney shots] (http://is.gd/bLgRV4)

This is my current build. With maxed out AA tree and brittle blade set I have a lot of offhand so I have decided to further upgrade my build with offhand chance. I am using kidney shots to to stack them with other damage buffs to create...pretty much a ball of death. My combo is the following: kidney shots + avatar + liberation + gray lotus + path of enlightenment. With this I can survive absurd pulls or by pass intended game mechanic for solo bosses in hardmode/unchained versions of dugeons (like killing Accalia in her camp in DMH unchained).

Player versus Environment (dungeons)

Avatar Hybrid (http://is.gd/Y3tNJ7)

This is a build for longer fights and it provides both sustained damage and a nice spike. You need a good tank and gear/perks for this or you will over-aggro. Good build for clearing up dungeons that have trash mobs (like AOK).

Tribrid (http://is.gd/40UDtb)

In this build you still get to keep some of the spike damage (DWW/GB) but your are getting a major upgrade to your anti aggro.

 Player versus Environment (raids)

Overkill (http://is.gd/66s6Bs) by Shahir of Destiny Crom EU

If you are looking for more laid back raiding experience or (like me) getting constantly aggro in raid encounters this build will "fix" it all. If you also have cover of the dusk perk then you have 5 very potent anti aggro tools at your disposal which will make up for lack of skill/gear/bad tank. In more extreme situations you can also use this build in group dungeons.

Classic Raid DPS, Magic Based (http://is.gd/fsYYRc) by Shahir of Destiny Crom EU

The supposed "golden standard" of raid speccs that will put you on top of the DPS charts. Tried and true.

[Guide] Lost Temple Tricks

 I have called this guide "lost temple tricks" for the lack of better term as there is hardly anything tricky or hard about performing the jumps shown in the video. However those jumps are "smart" way to move around the map as they will save you from Bruised Body and Broken Debuffs which are nasty movement debuffs. So the purpose of this guide is to show you how to stay fast, mobile and how to access places that were not meant to be accessed this way. All of this is legit and is present in the game since ever.

Opener Jump - this is the fastest way to start a minigame. Simply jump on the first step and jump further down. This is mandatory for flag carries that want to get to the enemy flag room the asap.

Spawn Jump - double tapping forward close to the wall will allow you to slide down. This is the fastest way to rejoin the fight.

Column Jump - a nice trick to escape your enemy and it can also be performed while caring the flag. Simply jump on the column and slide down to safety. Be careful about using this trick with accelerated buff as you will jump too high and get Bruised Body debuff. I haven't seen anyone using this and since I have came up with this one myself I am claiming it as my own. Didn't call it "Slith's jump" out of modesty for which, like many other things, I am famous for.

if you don't use this tricks most of the stunts shown in the videos will land you Bruised Body debuff

Flame Jump - straight forward jump. Can be performed while caring the flag.

Ledge Jump - this is one of two "tricky" jumps. To perform it you need good timing. You cannot be sprinting while jumping, this is not about speed or height of the jump, but about timing.

Soft Jump - Same as ledge jump. You cannot be sprinting while jumping, this is not about speed or height of the jump, but about timing.

Escape Artist - This is a quickest way of escaping the enemy base or chasing down the flag carrier. You will get bruised body if you attempt to do this jump without accelerated.

Spell Weave Jump - I am also claiming coming up with the idea for type of jump. However this is rather a gimmick than an usefull skill, but when you pull it off it makes you feel like a ninja. The idea is that casters will often stand in this spot as they will be safe from all except rangers. Anyone trying to reach the casters would have to go through rather lenghty ledge while under the rain of fire and CCs. This jump should be a total surprise to your opponent as you can land exactly next to him in mere 3 seconds.

Teleport Jump -This might cause people to accuse you of cheating as you will simply vanish after jumping down. The whole "trick" to it is based on a simple fact that both fall and environmental damage do not put you in combat. So pretty much that means that you can go into hide as soon as you hit the ground. If someone is chasing you and you will jump down and stealth he will not see that as assume some kind of teleport hack. Happened to me more than once.

Assassin leveling guide

This guide is aimed at taking your assassin from lvl 1 clueless cutter to lvl 80 death incarnate you will eventually become. I will take you level-by-level through all the stages of a feating most proper build. By all means don't take my word for it and feel free to explore and test different builds - it is, after all, the most vital part of class learning process. However the builds are not equal and there is an ocean of performance you can get out of certain hybrid builds compared to some "single feat tree" blunders. If you happen to pick up any AA points along your way (most likely from in game cash shop) then just put them into precise and pressing strikes perks (it is unlikely you will get more than 1/5 in each). 

1-19 lvl

http://goo.gl/O5UJW

Your first 19 lvls are going to be uneventful. You want to start with maxing out corrupted blades as this feat gives you flat combat rating upgrade which translates to more DPS. Lotus blades should be maxed as a second choice since their effectiveness is based on your dagger's damage (weapon's damage) and at first you will be running around with a pair of rusty pokers. Corrupted blades seem like a better idea. No matter what builds you will create/use later on you'll always need to have both lotus and corrupted blades because otherwise you will be looking at some seriously reduced DPS.

19-23 lvl

http://goo.gl/QZ4UJ

learn more about Face Stab

This is a hard choice because Swift Ending looks better at low level than Sense Weakness. In my opinion you want to unlock soul strike early on because it will compliment your face stab. At early levels you will have only face stab which will consume base poison from both Slow Death Strikes (SDS) and Grim Corruption (GC). Having soul strike will bring another way of dealing damage and one that is AOE and, if needed, can be turned into stun CC. If you went for Swift Ending then your next unlock would be Lotus Dart which has no were near both the utility and the damage of Soul Strike.

23-26 lvl

http://goo.gl/qlwHn

learn more about Atrophy, Soul Strike

This is where your initial investment pays off as you get access to both atrophy and soul strike. Not only your damage will be significantly upgraded but also you will be able to use your first major CC (stun that comes from SDS+SS). Atrophy will grant you unparalleled survivability and will be your best tool on a road to 80lvl.

26-31 lvl

http://goo.gl/UZvOZ

learn more about: Lotus Dart

Here you will receive a major upgrade to your main combos as well as third and last type of miasma: lotus dart. 

31-39 lvl

http://goo.gl/R1YFL

Your next few levels will be focused on upgrading your Cat's Pawn which - at this level - will be absurdly effective and will allow you to take on much more or much tougher opponents. Necrosis will upgrade your face stab so it will become much more viable as "naked attack". By "naked attack" I mean using face stab even when there is no base poison present on your target (SDS or GC). Face Stab is the only miasma that will deal real, viable damage without base poison and it is instant so don't be afraid of using it during or between combos (e.g. Face Stab + Grim Corruption + Soul Strike + Swift Strikes).

39-41 lvl
http://goo.gl/pqVN2
First get 1/3 in Dull Pain to unlock more options. At this point in the game you won't face all that much magic casting opponents so this will be enough, more so that whatever casters you will face won't be in groups that can threaten you. Second choice is snap kick, a worthy upgrade to your CC arsenal granting you very fast AOE knock back.The last thing is CLE (crystallized lotus extract) which you might not find useful right away (at this level assassin is not all that much "shard hungry"), don't worry, you will be using it a lot soon enough.

41-48 lvl
http://goo.gl/ZjYEj
learn more: Critical Damage and Bonus Critical Damage
Add 5/5 to the unholy strenght to get small boost to your swift strikes. You don't have the proper crit/bonus crit gear yet to take full advantage of corrupting strikes. Drop 1/5 into accelerated as it will prove to be a useful tool when it comes to running away from the mobs (if needed to avoid death). Add 1/5 to precise strikes to unlock more feats down the line.

48-53 lvl
http://goo.gl/Wt5tW
learn more: Relish in death and fatality
First you want to get relish in death as procing fatality will let you to survive more and deal more damage. Then you want to get from the darkness as a nice opener, especially if you land naked Face Stab immediately after the charge. Get 3/3 in unholy stab to push your face stab damage even further. Last but not least: death's gaze - you fear CC. Necrotic empowerment is not mandatory but if you are feeling like you need more shards (to avoid downtime) get it since it cost only 1 point.

53-58 lvl
http://goo.gl/it35X
learn more: Dull pain and lotus overload
Get lotus tained blood and lotus overload to give you that edge against casters. Finish up with opportunistic strike so you will have 3 solid CC to keep you going.

58-61 lvl
http://goo.gl/ffEID
Max out your dull pain. Add 1 point to deft blades to unlock Grave's Blossom. From now on you will have to manage your souls shards a little better since GB will consume all the shards upon usage.

61-66 lvl
http://goo.gl/V6z0g
Add point to Necrotic Empowerment and max out Precise Strikes.

66-68 lvl
http://goo.gl/MIJQ8
Add 1 point to Burden to Bear and 1 point to Deaths Whirlwind. Use GB after DWW for a great spike in damage out put.

68-76 lvl
http://goo.gl/ytwgX
Keep adding points to Soul Destruction and Steeped Lotus Extract rotating between them each level (after adding point to Soul D. add another one to Steeped Lotus and switch again). By adding points to both of those miasma upgrades you will gain more power than simply upgrading Death's Whirlwind and going down the line. Don't worry, there will be a little twist to this...

After you have maxed out Soul Destruction and Steeped Lotus visit a trainer in major city hubs and RESET YOUR SPECC or take advantage of multispecc: create and activate of of these:

76-80lvl
http://goo.gl/pMYLo
http://goo.gl/mh4mP
http://goo.gl/ZmIBG (my current solo PVE specc)

Now it is time for you to visit the far far away Khitai.
read more on how to deal with Khitai's mobs
read more about Alternative Advancement leveling

[Guide] Getting Gold chest in Refuge of Apostate

Here is how assassin class can beat the time trial in the maze part of Refuge of Apostate.

Timing is crucial of pay close attention to the details of the video - it shows you exacly how to move. In fact timing is more important than speed because, as you will see, you can get sloppy and get frozen one or two time and still beat the clock. Getting burned by flame has no effect on your performance, but if you can't take so much damage then use dull pain to mitigate it.

[Guide] Critical hits and all things related

If anything assassin is defined by his burst damage and such is granted to him via critical hits. Of course what people call "critical hit" is a little bit more complicated and I will try in this post to show you what is going on when you see big numbers flying around your screen.

First of all you have to understand few key stats:

Critical Rating - your bread and butter. Critical rating simply gives you  a % chance to preform critical hit. Considering you have 0% Critical Damage Rating your "naked" critical hit will increase your damage by 50%. 

Critical Damage Rating - it increases the damage of your critical hits.

Critigation Chance - the receiver of the critical hit has a percentage chance to do a critical mitigation(Critigation).

Critigation Amount - it the receiver of the critical hit rolls successfully on hit critigation chance then critigation amount decides on how much of incoming critical damage will be mitigated.

Tenacity - Tenacity counters your targets Critigation it the receiver of the critical hit rolls successfully on hit critigation chance.

With me so far?

Pretty much Critical Rating and Critical Damage Rating are what we could call "synergy" stats meaning they are best when stacked together.

Same goes for Critigation Chance and Critigation Amount .

Just having high Critical Damage Rating (bonus critical damage) won't do you whole much good if you have very low chance to do critical hit at all.

Also having absurdly good Critigation Chance isn't worth anything if you have marginal Critigation Amount .

Critical hits and bonus critical hits as well as critigation and critigation chance behave same way both in PVE and PVP. 

Tenacity,on the other hand, is a completely different beast because it works ONLY in PVP. 

There are two sources of tenacity: tier 2 and tier 3 PVP gear and assassin's golden perk called "Master Assassin". Stacking said PVP gear with master assassin perk gives 105% tenacity total which means that your critical damage cannot be mitigated...at all.

So what all that means for assassin class?

- Critical Rating is all around great stat and you should always try  get more of it.

- Critical Damage Rating only good if you already have high critical rating, otherwise it has very limited use.

- Critigation chance is only good if you have a lot of critigation. Assassin class should accept their critigation chance that comes from PVP gear and not try to actively pursue trying to make said chance higher,

- Critigation amount - assassin class can't get enough critigation gear and critigation chance to make anything, but minor impact on their survivability. Assassin is not a tank.

- Tenacity - works best when you already have great critical rating, critical damage rating and PVP T2-T3 gear with master assassin perk. In this optimal scenario you will take full advantage of your crits which won't be mitigated by your opponent. It takes significant time and effort investment to get those optimal conditions (gear + perk) but in the end it is worth it (you WILL see the differenece when fighting a tank class).

Now two pvp scenarios that will show those stats doing their thing:

Scenario #1:

"Assassin jumps poor questing Guardian who is wearing his Khitai gear. The assassin, being asshole he is, attacks from stealth and the hit crits adding 50% damage to already impressive numbers. Since the assassin is wearing critical damage rating gear his out of steal th attack gets even more boost adding damage on top of 50% increase coming from crit itself. But the Guardian, being the tank he is, is not defenseless. As soon as assassin launches is treacherous stealth attack Guardian rolls on his critigation chance and since he is in tank specc his roll is successfully and critigation amount kicks in to mitigate assassin's massive bonus damage. But this assassin have not came unprepared either: just as Guardian's Critigation Amount was about to mitigate part of assassin's critical damage the Master Assassin perk grants that sweet 105% tenacity (yes, that extra 5% is an overkill) and the critigation amount get bypassed. Assassin deals stealth damage + 50% damage + x% bonus critical damage"

Scenario #2:

"PvP lvl 2 Necromancer dressed like a clown, in his blue and green trader-trash items, is about to mount his horse. The sneaky assassin decides that nothing says "pro" more than running up to that Necro and using Death's Whirlwind. The Necromancer, blindsided by this unconventional attack, gets crited and since the assassin is wearing critical damage rating gear - the Death's Whirlwind gets even more boost adding damage on top of 50% increase coming from crit itself.

The critical damage and critical bonus damage goes through Necromancer like a hot knife through butter and, since he has not critigation gear, the critical damage and critical bonus damage are dealt in full. The assassin is using Master Assassin perk, but since the Necromancer has no Critigation gear the Tenacity has nothing to counter and has not effect on the outcome of the fight".

So as you can see Critical Ration and Critical Damage Rating will always help you in every fight, while Tenacity will only have an impact on those opponents that can actually have gear with critigation stats to counter your bonus critical damage. 

To sum it up:

- Do always get Critical Rating and Critical Damage Rating gear

- Get Master Assassin perk only when you already have at least Tier 2 pvp gear, otherwise settle for much better Sins of Flesh + other perk.

Source:

1-09-2010, 06:16 PM

#17

Didek Systems Designer

Ok, there seems to be some confusion about this topic. Critical chance and critical damage bonus don't really have anything to do with this topic. If you do a lucky roll and get a crit the critical damage bonus is applied. Now after this is done this is where Critigation, Critigation Chance, and tenacity comes in. The receiver of the crit has a percentage chance to do a critical mitigation(Critigation). This roll is just to check if you can mitigate the crit or not. If you mitigate the crit that is when tenacity comes into play. Tenacity counters your targets Critigation. Because players are the only ones that have Critigation; Tenacity only works on players. Both critical damage bonus and tenacity will help the attacker in a pvp situation.

http://forums-tl.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=521304&postcount=17

  

[Guide] Skills & Perks - the pvp essentials

 In this post I want to talk a bit about some skills and perks that are not exclusive for assassin class, but they are pretty much essential for successful pvping as assassin. 

Dash - this skill is available to every class and it taps into your stamina supply in order to convert it for energy. How often should you use it? Every damn time! As of now stamina is almost meaningless resource and it will be super rare for you to be even close to being out of stamina in pvp.  Therefor your energy pool will always be more important than stamina. The best practice is to be watching your energy pool closely and use dash every time your pool is about half consumed. If you use dash too early some of the energy will be wasted. The idea is to keeping your character mobile and in order to do that you have to manage your energy in most efficient manner. Don't be afraid to use dash all the time. It is not a skill that should be used when you are out of energy, but rather one that is there for you so you will never run out of energy. That is the difference.

Rest - post energy revamp rest became ultra effective when it come to rapid (and I mean it: rapid) health and energy restoration. Rest is way more effective than whatever you can get from your average healer. I have rest bound along with my health pot and stamina pot so when I am using it also triggers my heath pot. Rest is the essential tool for assassin's style of play: run out of the fight, rest up, stealth and rejoin the fight. With rest it really pays to be doing the "hit & run" tactic. Just make sure that your are not moving when trying to use rest because otherwise it will go on the cool down. Also you can't have any dots going off and damaging you. Have it on your bar, use it often.

Hide - assassins are kings of stealth combat. Why? Because assassin will deal 1 x face stab damage with every stealth attack and still not have face stab miasma to go on cool down. Meaning? Meaning you can do the stealth attack and use face stab at the same time and that translate to instant 2 x face stab. If you are using unholy stabs (+15% critical chance) and necrosis (+15% damage) and are topping if off with +5% damage from passive perk then that can easly translate to some serious spike in your dmg out put. So not only you are destined to be taking advantage of stealth attack/face stab mix, but also stealthing around protects you from being targeted by opponents. Best part is that you can still use avatar/lotus overdose and liberation while stealthed and not have them break it. Meaning? Absurdly buffed 2 x face stab + stealth attack. It is a great tool and one that simply cannot be used too often.

Finely Honed and Tainted Weapons - this is how Ilaliya dev from Funcom explains their usage:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viraxis  As anyone gotten these feats? I am wondering because I have a couple of questions. 1. Does Finely Honed let you remove or break through different classes invul "bubbles" or does it just work with stuff like mage shields?

Finely Honed works on mage shields, and the "barrier" spells in the priest AA trees (each priest class gets a barrier spell as a major perk).

Quote:

2. Does Tainted Weapons remove all HoTs running on target and if so can they immediately get them back if a healer spams them again?

Tainted Weapons removes all "Green Heals" the "Blue Heals" and health potion effects, with a single use of Tainted Weapons on the target. These may be all recast immediately, assuming they are off cooldown / once they are off cooldown.

I have to say that some times I will switch Tainted Weapons for Avoid Entrapment (also pretty nice perk), but I am always going back to TW after a while. I am always using FH and TW at the same time for maximum effect. When fighting healers the usage is pretty obvious: wait for the heal to go off. When fighting other classes I like to use FH and TW early on to soften up the target. The key lies on consistent usage: use it well, use it often. I have those perks bound under alt +2 and alt +3 and smacking them during PVP is my second nature. So much so that I am using it in solo PVE (for no reason at all) and this mind set is some times problematic in group PVE when I will use FH & TW on the Boss but out of habit rather than when needed to (yeah, I caused some wipes because of that :X). 

[Guide] Critical Damage Rating pets

Critical Rating and Critical Damage Rating (along with Critigation and Tenacity) will get it's own post soon enough. Today I want to talk a bit about how to maximize your damage output as assassin in solo PVE and open world PVP via pets. 

If you get proper gear (like Brittle Blade and Hyrkanian daggers) along with proper feats (Corrupting Strikes) and perks (Pressing Strikes) and top it off with Acute Striking potion and a combat pet then you can get around 44% bonus damage to your critical strikes. That is pretty scary when you consider that assassin can get +25% critical strike chance pretty easily. It translates to shit ton of damage. 

Gear can be farmed and Acute Striking potions are common drop in all solo instances.

Collect those potions

What about combat pets?

You have pretty much two options: Kappa or Furious Spirit.

Kappa

The most important thing about this pet is how easy it is to get. Most people got it for free with ROGS expansion, or bought it via in game shop (there is no way to get this pet from pure game play). The Kappa pet will give it's user one of the three random buffs. One of those buffs is the red one (Kappa's Fortune) with +155 critical damage rating and +31 Hit rating. The biggest advantage of Kappa is that it's buffs are permanent and instant which means that as long as the Kappa is up you will always benefit from it's buff. The problem is that the buffs are random and to cycle between them (to get the one you want) you have to
re-summon the pet. This is super inconvenient. While using Kappa I find myself annoyed trying to finally get the red buff (some times it is first time around and some times it takes 4-6 recasts). When I finally get the red  I feel discouraged from using any other Khitai pet (like one of the Lotus pets), because I am dreading re-summoning Kappa again and getting the right buff. Also using Khitai pet instantly removes Kappa's buff and unsummons Kappa. Kappa is looking OK, but it is super common.

Furious Spirit

This pet, on the other hand, is very hard to get. In order to get it you need to get 3 skulls which are generic loot from House of Crom dungeon. I have only seen the skulls dropping from 5 bosses in HOC (the duelist, the mage, the trapper and so on) and still it is a very rare drop. I might have been very unlucky but it took me and my group about 5-7 attempts on each boss to get 3 skulls (so around 25 boss kills). Those bosses are on 60 minute cool down so don't expect to get all 3 skulls the very first time you go to HOC. After you got your skulls all you need to do is sacrifice them on pillar in the middle of HOC threshold and kill the Cross Roads King boss (the fight, compared to other threshold encounters, is decently challenging). The King will drop the pet that you can then learn and summon - provided you win the roll :X

Furious Spirit is fundamentally different from Kappa. The Spirit only gives one buff which is same as Kappa's +155 critical damage rating and +31 Hit rating. The buff is not instant but rather it is a proc based on Spirit's attacks and it lasts 20 seconds. Yes, the Furious Spirit is a combat pet in true sense because it does 7-31 slashing damage (comparable to other pets like wolf, tiger or bird). The proc is pretty common and yet unreliable: some times it will proc every fight and some times it will be every other fight. I find the buff procing enough, but in that regard Kappa, with it's permanent buff, is superior. Spirit's biggest advantage comes from buff lasting 20s: yes, you can stack it with things like Gray Lotus pet for absurdly high damage gain. Using the Khitai pet will unsummon the Spirit, but it's 20 second buff won't be removed. The other thing worth mentioning is the ease of use: you can cast your pet and always get same buff that you want. Because of this I am using my Khitai pets much more often now.

The Furious Spirit also looks wicked cool (a ghost with a sword in a worn out armor) and honestly would fit Dark Templar or Necromancer more than Assassin. Beats Kappa.

An example of stacking Spirit's buff with other buffs for max damage

There you have it: use either Kappa or Furious Spirit, it will really add an edge to your damage.