Assassin patch notes [comprehensive reference]

Please note: oldest patch is referenced on top and the newest patch is in the bottom of the post

Update Notes - 12th of June
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=41537

Assassin
* Assassins in Unholy Stance will now generate a Soul Fragment from performing a Sneak Attack.

Update Notes - 16th of June
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=45997
Assassin

* Flesh Rot now applies a separate debuff for each player
* Lotus Weapons now applies a separate debuff for each player.

Update Notes - 23rd of June
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=53257

Assassin
Core Revision Adjustments

* Kidney Shots will now properly go on cooldown, is now stackable for 12 second from the original 6 seconds and it's stacking buff duration has been increased to 10 seconds.
* Flesh Necrosis has been given a new and improved visual.
* Atrophy has an added persistent effect on the target while the debuff is in effect.

Update Notes - 10th of July
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=67652
Assassin

* Golden Lotus Extract now has a new particle effect.

Update Notes - 17th of July
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=72612
Assassin

* The following abilities now have new effects: Cat's Paw, Opportunistic Strike, Kidney Shots, Avatar of Death, Lotus Overdose, Necrotic Leech, Corrupting Strikes, and Lunge.

Update Notes - 31st of July
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=79227

Assassin
* Combos granted by feats should now deal significantly more damage than before.

Update Notes - 19th August
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=86508

Assassin
* Grim Corruption I's debuff will now stack with the other Grim Corruption debuffs.
* Grim Corruption will now debuff Unholy and Poison Invulnerabilities by 5% at each rank.

Update Notes - 28th August
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=89169
Assassin Epic Tier 3 chest piece no longer hides arm pieces, and texture clipping on shoulders has been fixed.

Update Notes- 17th September
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=93095

Assassin

* Assassination (2) buff will now properly appear in the Buff GUI instead of the debuff GUI.
* All Assassin combo damage and stamina costs have been rebalanced to match some newly adjusted animations.
* From the Darkness and Ambush should now occur correctly, when performed from stealth.
* When executing From the Darkness in stealth, you should now properly leave stealth.
* Clarified the tooltip and combat log for the Blindside ability to show that the target is the one losing the stamina specified.
* From the Darkness can be used while visible again.
* Feat ability From the Darkness' charge combo attack now has 100% crit chance.

Update Notes - 29th October
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=98617

COMBAT - CROWD CONTROL CHANGES
* The way crowd control and immunities work has been changed. All player stuns, fears, roots, snares, and charms will now break if the victim's health is reduced by a certain percentage (depending on the effect type).
* Immunity buffs will now, in general, last a bit less time, since they are applied at the start of the crowd control, and not at the end.
* It is no longer possible to apply a new crowd control debuff of the same type before the previous one runs out and immunity has been applied.

List of Crowd Control abilities that have been changed:

Assassin:
* Death's Gaze
* Curse of the Lotus
* From the Darkness


Update Notes - 18th February
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=110900
Assassin

* ‘Curse of the Lotus' should now snare victims by 50% for the duration of the fear effect.
* ‘Death's Gaze' has a new casting animation.

Update Notes 1.06 - 4th February
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=141495

Assassin Revamp

Update 1.06 introduces a number of improvements we could make to the Assassin class in several different areas. We have generally taken a somewhat different approach to the class revamps which have occurred since the 1.05 update, and this was applied to the Assassin during the course of its revamp. Among other things, it involves giving a revamped class some unique set of mechanics that encourage meaningful tactical choice on the battlefield. But also a distinct identity in how the class feels and plays to the player, as well as opponents facing the class and also how the class is viewed by group members.

This article describes the Assassin revamp in detail (http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=141490)

Update Notes 1.06.2 - 16th February
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=142551

Assassin
Venom Spike toxin should now apply the intended major crowd control immunity effects.

Update Notes 2.0 (Rise of the Godslayer Expansion Launch) - 11th May
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=148705

Assassin
The Lotus Overdose effect can now only be triggered once every 10 seconds.

Update Notes 2.0.5 - 30th of June
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=154199

Assassin
Fixed the particle effect for Choking Powder.

Update Notes 2.0.6 - 1st September
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=158109

Assassin
Cover of Dusk will now be removed if a soldier switches to frenzy stance.
Cover of Dusk should no longer affect characters that have Distraction running.

Update Notes 2.1 - 14th of December
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=162177

All silences now follow the same rules for breaking as other Crowd Control effect. They have also had their immunities changed to 40 seconds:
Assassin: Choking Powder and Miasma: Lotus-Coated Dart

Assassin
Added a new icon for Sins of the Flesh.
Swift Strike I has had its combo-starter changed from UP to UL.

Update Notes 2.1.1 - 20th of December
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=162464

Assassin/Rogue
Distraction will no longer cause non soldier classes and soldiers not in defensive stance to get the increase hate from Cover of Dusk.

Update Notes 2.1.3– Dreamworld Technology Update - 8th of March
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=164719

Assassin
Fixed an issue that caused the assassin miasmas to have an incorrect cooldown.

Update Notes 2.2 - 4th of May
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=166246

Assassin
Curse of the Lotus is now classified as a fear.
Vampyric Nature is now classified as a stun.
The animations for Grim Corruption ranks I to IV are now all equally long.
Added an extra attack direction to Snap Kick - UP. The finisher direction is now UP.
The debuff effect of Impede Life will no longer stop the Natural Stamina and Mana regeneration on targets for up to 30 seconds.
Avatar of Death will now give 100% resistance to knockbacks.

Update Notes 2.2.1 - 11th of May
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=166548

Assassin
Added a casting animation for Curse of the Lotus, and tweaked the visual effects slightly.
Added a casting animation for Opportunistic Strike, and added some basic visual effects to show the effects of the ability.
Added a casting animation for Death's Gaze, and added some basic visual effects to show the effects of the ability.
Added a casting animation for Vampyric Nature, and added some basic visual effects to show the effects of the ability.

Update Notes 2.7 - 20th of July
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=169760

Assassin
Grave's Blossom and Death Whirlwind have been adjusted. They will now scale somewhat differently for 1-4 Soul Fragments, and should still do about the same for 5 Soul Fragments. Both these combos will now also hit a second target with full damage, but will follow the normal rules for damage reduction on any targets beyond the second.
Grave's Blossom and Death Whirlwind damage has been reduced, but will now hit two targets with 100% damage.
Fixed an issue where the cone for Grave's Blossom was skewed and would pick targets on the assassin's right side.

Update Notes 3.0 (Savage Coast of Turan) – 31st August
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=171570

Assassin
All ranks of Swift Strike and Sins of the Flesh changed to 3 second cooldown

Due to shorter animations we have buffed the following combos:

Assassin
Death Whirlwind
Graves Blossom

Update Notes 3.1 - 13th of December
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=173943

Assassin
The Corrupted Poison feat now also lowers the reuse time of the Grim Corruption combos.
Increased the finisher bonus damage of the Slow Death Strike combos.

Update Notes 3.3 – 29th of March
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=176312

Assassin
Removed the soul fragment consumption on Sins of the Flesh.

Update Notes 3.3.8 - 22nd of August
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=178485

Assassin
Impede Essence will now allow the Impede Life combo to prevent an enemy from regenerating Energy
Bewilder will now allow the Blindside combo to prevent an enemy from regenerating Energy

Update Notes 3.4 - 11th of October
http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=179095

Assassin
Lotus Overload now has a 10 second cooldown after it expires.
Increased the resource burn feat upgrade of the Blindside combo ('Bewilder').
Increased the resource burn feat upgrade of the Impede Life combo ('Impede Essence').

Update Notes 3.8 [Assassin]

Assassin 

• Impede Essence will now allow the Impede Life combo to prevent an enemy from regenerating Energy
• Bewilder will now allow the Blindside combo to prevent an enemy from regenerating Energy

all update notes are here.

Update Notes 3.3 [Assassin]

Assassin

• Removed the soul fragment consumption on Sins of the Flesh.

all update notes are here.

Update Notes 3.0 (Savage Coast of Turan) [Assassin]

COMBO SYSTEM CHANGES (combo skipping exploit fix)

General

• An issue that caused too low combo starter damage has been resolved.
• An issue causing some weapon types to only do 75-80% white damage during the combo sequence has been resolved.
• Hits during combo finishers are more accurately timed between the server and the client.
• Combo finishers will no longer prevent you from moving at any point. Moving will still abort the combo though.
• We have changed how the damage distribution works for combos with multiple hits. This change makes sure each hit represents the invested time in animation up to each hit in the animation.
• Several minor/major issues have been fixed.
• Stamina cost has been lowered for most combos.

Animation Changes

• All charge impact animations have been normalized between classes and genders. All animations are now 0.9 seconds where the damage is inflicted at 0.45 seconds. Charge impact animations have no movement restrictions, so you can skip them at any point.
• All stealth attack animations have been normalized between genders.
• The last hit in a combo finisher is now normalized between male and female characters.
• Most of the combo finisher animations should now be shorter.
• Because of new damage distribution during the combo finisher we have removed double/close impact keyframes. This will not affect the total damage of the combo.

Initial CooldownTweaks
Rogue Archetype

• Cunning Strike: All ranks changed to 10 second cooldown.
• Vicious Strike: All ranks changed to 10 second cooldown.

Assassin

• All ranks of Swift Strike and Sins of the Flesh changed to 3 second cooldown

Combo Damage

Due to shorter animations we have buffed the following combos:

Assassin

• Death Whirlwind
• Graves Blossom

Update Notes 2.7 - 20th of July [Assassin]

Assassin

• Grave's Blossom and Death Whirlwind have been adjusted. They will now scale somewhat differently for 1-4 Soul Fragments, and should still do about the same for 5 Soul Fragments. Both these combos will now also hit a second target with full damage, but will follow the normal rules for damage reduction on any targets beyond the second.
• Grave's Blossom and Death Whirlwind damage has been reduced, but will now hit two targets with 100% damage.
• Fixed an issue where the cone for Grave's Blossom was skewed and would pick targets on the assassin's right side.

I will be posting assassin related patch notes under "Patch Notes" so returning assassins will have easy time checking out what has changed.

Assassin Revamp Preview!

source: http://forums-tl.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?p=482776

Since we're close to wrapping up the Assassin revamp, we wanted to get a bit of a preview out to players so you guys can read it over and familiarize yourselves with the up-coming changes to testlive.

Overview

When we sat down and looked at the Assassin and went through the community feedback, we felt there were a number of improvements we could make to the class in several different areas. We have generally taken a somewhat different approach to the class revamps which have occurred since the 1.05 patch, and this was applied to the Assassin during the course of its revamp. Among other things, it involves giving a revamped class some unique set of mechanics that encourage meaningful tactical choice on the battlefield. But also a distinct identity in how the class feels and plays to the player, as well as opponents facing the class and also how the class is viewed by group members. Another goal is working towards feat trees are capable of supporting a sufficient number of viable specs, and cross-specs, as this further increases both battlefield strategy and character identity.

Specifically to the Assassin, one area where we got a lot of feedback was the existing orientation of the trees to being somewhat explicitly “vs. caster,” or explicitly “vs. melee.” For the revamp, we decided to tone down this explicit split, as we felt as either tree should be capable of doing either job, but in different ways. Obviously there will always be an implicit division, as one tree or another will be simply be deemed more optimal for some activity or another, and this is just due to the fact different feats do different things. In general, we felt the most favorable situation was one where the differences between the trees can be measured in terms of how the players like to play the class, instead of what goal does the player want to achieve.

Another area where we've had a lot of feedback was the Soul Fragment mechanic. We decided to keep the general concept of Soul Fragments, but greatly improve how they work, what they do, and how players interact with that system. We also extended Soul Fragments so they are relevant to both trees, and deeply tied to a certain category of abilities.

Also, it should be noted that the concept of stances have been completely removed from the Assassin in order to better support dual tree specs. The character power that was granted by these stances has been distributed to other feats.

In addition to the Soul Fragments, we decided to add a mechanic we are calling “Toxins,” and this is described in the next section. There are also a large number of general improvements to feats which include new feats as well as changes to existing feats, and I'll explain these in the next post.

Mechanic - Toxins

The Toxin Mechanic consists of the Assassin applying a Base Poison (an effect over time) to a target, and then successfully striking the target with one of three Miasma abilities before that Base Poison expires. When applied to a target, the Miasma abilities convert any Base Poisons into their more powerful Toxin forms. A player may only convert the Base Poisons that he has applied, and his Miasmas do not affect the Base Poisons of other players.

Base Poisons

There are two Base Poisons available to the Assassin – Grim Weakness, which is applied by the Grim Corruption combo; and Dread Venom which is applied by the Slow Death Strike Combo. The number of combo steps have been made identical.

• Grim Weakness – A substantial snare effect, that diminishes with each tick.
• Dread Venom – An unholy Damage over Time effect.

Miasmas

A Miasma is an ability which deals physical damage , poison, or unholy damage. If applied to a target who is also affected by a Base Poison, the Miasma will have an additional effect.

• Miasma: Face Stab – A close combat ability that does physical damage. This is a core ability.
• Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart – A ranged ability that does poison damage over time, feated in the Lotus Tree
• Miasma: Soul Strike – A close combat ability that does unholy damage and applies a Spirtual Torment. It is feated in the Corruption Tree.

Toxins

Lotus Toxins are triggered by Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart, while the Soul Toxins are triggered by Miasma: Soul Strike.

• Lotus Toxin: Grim Essence – A Toxin which silences the target. The Base Poison for this Toxin is Grim Weakness.
• Lotus Toxin: Deadly Venom – A Toxin which deals a large amount of poison damage over time. The Base Poison for this Toxin is Dread Venom
• Soul Toxin: Essence Detonation – A Toxin which causes the target to take a massive amount of unholy damage after a few seconds. This Toxin also has a weaker AoE component which is centered on the target. The Base Poison for this Toxin is Grim Weakness.
• Soul Toxin: Venom Spike – A Toxin which stuns the target. The Base Poison for this Toxin is Dread Venom

Miasma Abilities

Miasma: Face Stab

Miasma: Face Stab is a core Assassin close combat ability that does physical damage which is multiplied by the number of Base Poisons applied to the target at the time of its use.

The damage of Miasma: Face Stab is either applied x1, x2, or x3. When performed on a target with no Base Poisons, the damage is x1. When performed on a target with either of the Base Poisons running, the damage is x2 (in this case the Base Poison is removed from the target). When performed on a target with both of the Base Poisons running, the damage is x3 (in this case both Base Poisons are removed from the target).

Note that while Miasma: Face Stab removes Base Poisons from the target, it does not apply a Toxin, and instead applies a simple damage effect. This is to reflect the fact it is a core ability.

Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart

Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart is an ability feated in the Lotus Tree, which does a small amount of damage over time. This ability may be used from a maximum range of 20m.

When used on a target which has the Grim Weakness effect, the effect is removed and replaced with Lotus Toxin: Grim Essence. When used on a target which has the Dread Venom effect, is removed and replaced with Lotus Toxin: Deadly Venom.

Note that if both Base Poisons (Grim Weakness and Dread Venom) are running on the target, Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart will cause both of them to be replaced by their corresponding Toxin.

Miasma: Soul Strike

Miasma: Soul Strike is an ability feated in the Corruption Tree. This ability does a small amount of unholy damage and applies a Spiritual Torment.

When used on a target which has the Grim Weakness effect, the effect is removed and replaced with Soul Toxin: Essence Detonation. When used on a target which has the Dread Venom effect, is removed and replaced with Soul Toxin: Venom Spike.

Note that if both Base Poisons (Grim Weakness and Dread Venom) are running on the target, Miasma: Soul Strike will cause both of them to be replaced by their corresponding Toxin.

Mechanic – Soul Fragments

The Soul Fragment system has been changed as part of the Assassin changes. Assassins will regenerate Soul Fragments at a rate of 1 every 8 seconds.

Players may also feat to increase their regeneration rate passively. Additionally, there is a feat which grants a clickable which gives the Assassin 3 fragments instantly, and a feat which grants a clickable that gives the Assassin four fragments over 16 seconds

Each tree has a number of feats which grant abilities that require and consume Soul Fragments. Most abilities simply consume a number of Soul Fragments equivalent to the amount they require. A small number abilities consume all Soul Fragments a player has, and their effects scale based on the number of Soul Fragments that were consumed.

Soul Fragment Abilities

Core Abilities

Miasma: Face Stab

This ability requires & consumes 1 Soul Fragment

Lotus Tree

Miasma: Lotus Coated Dart (Row 3)

This ability requires & consumes 1 Soul Fragment

Dull Pain (Row 4)

This ability reduces the amount of damage taken from Fire, Cold, Unholy, Poison, and Electrical sources by 30%/60%/90% for a short time. This ability requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments.

Snap Kick (Row 5)

This is a combo that does a knock-back on the target. It works on targets of medium armor and lower. This combo consumes 1 Soul Fragment.

Opportunistic Strike (Row 6)

This ability stuns the target. This ability requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments.

Grave's Blossom (Row 7)

This combo deals poison damage. The combo consumes all Soul Fragments and the damage of Grave's Blossom scales with the amount of Soul Fragments consumed.

Lotus Overdose (Row 9)

This ability provides immunity to fear, stun and root effects for a short time. It also significantly increases the Assassin's damage, and the Assassin recovers a large amount of Stamina over time. This ability requires & consumes 4 Soul Fragments.

Curse of the Lotus (Row 9)

This ability is a targeted area of effect which causes a fear in all opponents caught in the area. It is checked against charm immunity. This ability requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments.

Corruption Tree

Miasma: Soul Strike (Row 3)

This ability requires & consumes 1 Soul Fragment

Accelerated (Row 4)

This ability increases the assassin's movement speed for a short time. It requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments.

From the Darkness (Row 5)

This ability causes the assassin to charge his target, additionally causing damage and rooting the target. It requires & consumes 1 Soul Fragment.

Death's Gaze (Row 6)

This ability applies a fear effect to the target, and also slows the target's movement. This ability requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments

Death Whirlwind (Row 7)

This combo deals unholy damage to all nearby enemies. The combo consumes all Soul Fragments and the damage of Death Whirlwind scales with the amount of Soul Fragments consumed.

Avatar of Death (Row 9)

This ability provides immunity to charm, root, knock-back, and snare for a short time. It also increases damage, and grants a 30% increase to all stamina and health taps. This ability requires & consumes 4 Soul Fragments

Vampyric Nature (Row 9)

This ability causes a stun to all targets in a 180 degree frontal cone. It is checked against charm immunity. This ability requires & consumes 2 Soul Fragments.

Other Feats

These are the changes to other assassin feats, not mentioned above.

Lotus Tree

Lotus Blades (Row 1) – Passively grants Weapon Damage %

Swift Ending (Row 2) – Passively increases the damage from the Grim Corruption and Slow Death Strike Combos

Flurry of Blows (Row 2) – No change from Live, other than moved

Cat's Paw (Row 3) – No change from Live, other than the cooldown has been reduced to 2 minutes

Deft Blades (Row 3) – No change from Live

Necrosis (Row 4) – Passively Increases damage of Miasma: Face Stab by 5%/10%15% per rank

Flesh Rot (Row 4) – No Change from Live, other than moved

Lotus Tainted Blood (Row 5) – No Change from Live, other than added passive poison invulnerability.

Ability – Crystallized Lotus Extract (Row 5) – This ability grants the Assassin 3 Soul Fragments

Poisoned Blades (Row 5) – Passively improves Lethargy combo to cause target to have increased Fizzle Chance on spells.

Lotus Overload (Row 6) – No change from Live

Impede Essence (Row 6) – Passively improves Impede Life combo to cause the target to lose Stamina and Mana over time.

Lotus Weapon (Row 6) – No change from Live, other than moved and now linked from Flesh Rot.

Corrupted Body (Row 7) – No Change from Live

Steeped Lotus Extract (Row 7) – Passively increases Critical Chance and Damage of Lotus Toxin: Deadly Venom

Arcane Backlash (Row 8) – No change from Live

Baneful Venom (Row 8) – Applies an additional damage over time effect when using Slow Death Strikes. This is not affected by consuming the Dread Venom Base Poison which is also applied by Slow Death Strikes.

Crippling Weakness (Row 8) – Passively improves the snare effect of the Grim Weakness Base Poison.

Corruption Tree

Corrupted Blades (Row 1) – Passively grants Unholy Combat Rating

Sense Weakness (Row 2) – Passive grants Critical Rating

Corrupting Strikes (Row 2) – Passive grants Critical Bonus Damage Percent

Combo – Atrophy (Row 3) – This combo lowers the target's damage for a short time

Unholy Strength (Row 3) – No change from Live

Spirit of Nightfall (Row 3) – Passively reduces hate, and grants an ability which moves the assassin down one step on the hate list for all foes within 5m.

Dark Weapon (Row 4) – No change from Live, other than procc rate has been increased

Precise Strikes (Row 4) – Passively grants Armor Penetration and Spell Penetration

Relish in Death (Row 5) – Passively increases Fatality Chance by 15%

Ability – Necrotic Empowerment (Row 5) – This ability grants the Assassin 4 Soul Fragments over 16 seconds

Unholy Stabs (Row 5) – Passively Increases Critical Chance of Miasma: Face Stab by 5%/10%/15% per rank

Dread Weapon (Row 6) – No change from Live, other than procc rate has been increased.

Combo – Blindside (Row 6) – No change from Live, other than moved

Bewilder (Row 6) – Adds an additional effect to Blindside where mana and stamina is removed from the target in a single hit.

Soul Destruction (Row 7) – Passively increases the Critical Chance, Critical Damage, and damage amount to Soul Toxin: Essence Detonation

Burden to Bear (Row 7) – Grants the Assassin's attacks a chance to procc a Physical Torment (-900 Armor).

Soul Corruption (Row 8) – Passively increases rate of Soul Fragment generation.

Corrupting Toxin (Row 8) – Passively increases duration of each stage of Grim Weakness (the Base Poison snare effect from Grim Corruption)

Vile Corruption (Row 8) – Causes the Assassin's target to take additional unholy damage when the Dread Venom Base Poison is consumed by any of the three Miasmas.

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What's real is real. Expect fully detailed report when this bad boy goes on TL!