[Guide] Indepth miasmas - Face Stab

Introduced in 1.6, miasmas are probably the most misunderstood part of assassin revamp - mainly because of supposedly awesome power of GC + Soul Strike = Detonation. People feel like its the "be all" of all miasmas and it's what gives assassin "bad rap" in the aoc community.

The truth is that assassin is far from being "one trick pony" and the miasma system is in fact a deep and complex, just waiting for you to really tap into it.
 

This guide will take you trough more advanced areas of miasma management.


Face Stab (FS)

Soul Strike (Soul)

Lotus coated dart (Dart)


Miasma: Face stab, (FS)

Usage: FS will apply biggest damage out of all 3 miasmas when no base poison is present on the target. Merely using FS during any combo will do instant damage around 500, with a high chance for a crit. It is always good idea to use FS during combo like Swift Strikes to add a little extra dps, even if GC or SDS are not applied.

Another obvious use if consuming one poison like SDS or GC for 2 x dmg or both SDS and GC for  3 x dmg.

Would FS ever be preferable over Soul Strike or Dart when GC or SDS are applied? Yes: when you need fast, moderate damage to finish off your opponent. Detonation gives that 4 second delay and deadly venom is a very long dot that can be out healed. FS does wonders at finishing off your target with a high chance of nice crit. The best of all: there is nothing anyone can do about it since it is instant.

Synergy: both Necrosis and Unholy Stabs feats as damage and crit upgrades are highly recommended

Vile corruption is also a great supplementation to your already formidable FS: it does extra unholy damage when you consume SDS with FS.

Possible combinations:

GC + FS -> 2x damage

SDS + FS -> 2 x damage

SDS(Vile Corruption) + FS -> 2x damage, unholy damage

Soul + SDS(Vile corruption) + FS -> 2x damage, unholy damage debuff, unholy damage

Soul + SDS(Vile corruption)+GC+FS-> 3x damage, 2x unholy damage debuff, unholy damage

The last "combo" shows really how you can creatively maximize your damage output. Soul strike as miasma adds unholy debuff, so does the GC so if you have Vile Corruption feated in you can use the synergy between the debuffs and the unholy damage from vile corruption.

Tip:

FS does piercing damage so it will benefit from GC's debuff (psyhical wrack) even if GC was consumed by other miasma

GC + Soul-> Detonation, siritual wrack unholy debuff, psyhical wrack piercing damage debuff -> FS (piercing damage)

Now imagine how you can create really advanced synergy between diffrent miasmas

GC + Soul-> detonation, siritual wrack unholy debuff, psyhical wrack piercing damage debuff ,spirtual torment unholy debuff)-> SDS (vile corruption) + FS = buffed FS's damage and buffed vile corruption damage

This is however a whole diffrent guide.
 

Slith's cheesy exploration guide ep.6

I swear it: Mitra himself must have been watching over me as I pulled this stunt.

Without further ado I give you:

Old Tarantia

The temple of Mitra

Difficulty: *****

Getting to the place that will allow you to attempt the jump is a feat of itself so that is why I gave it 5 stars.

I haven't seen any screenshots of this so I hope that I am the first one (most likely not) to squat on the Temple of Mitra and gaze mysteriously at the people below. The view is surprisingly very very good. The temple itself opens up two routes so I am excited to explore that in the near future.

We are open

The forums are up thanks to no one else than Ayonyx who did all the server thingies that make forum do "go-go". I have no idea what he did, basiclly magic, ancient and black one most likely. For that Ayonyx I thank you.

http://forum.assassinshideout.com

Anywho I am super excited for the forums and for the potential it might hold for us.
Still, there is a work to be done and I am not the man to do it (hell, I am already paying for this shit :P)

I really really do hope that some poor sucker master will prepare the forum theme and gfx.

Now for the forum rules:
I am all about disscusion here and I am open to suggestions. Tasaio suggested an open forum so the Funcom itself could gather the feedback. Seems reasonable.
I myself have only 1 rule and 1 request: no trolling on the forum - it will be heavly moderated and I will be giving away the mods to atleast several people.
The request is: I would love for every forum member to have it's character's face in avatar. Don't ask me why, it somehow makes the poster seem more "real".
I will be keeping the boards list very short: pvp and pve and general for crafting, gear, rants etc. There is nothing I hate more than forums with +billion empty boards.

Now please register and speak your mind.

it's all downhill from here

Compadres,

It is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters before the start of the rainy season. 

Oh, and by that I mean, of course, it's time for you to again voice your opinions on Private, totally elitists jerks forums for assassins only, hosted on this very site.

I must admit that I kind hoped that official sin forums would eventually pick up the slack and the trolls would be long gone. Well it seems like the only thread alive is [Suggestion] Tone down the Detonation and Buff the Sins armor. 

The assassins are now part of "overpowerd" crowd and any thread made on the boards will spark up an explosion of whining. I don't get it: I too think that some classes are bullshit, but I don't go on their boards and shit all over every thread. Who has the time and the ill will to continuously indulge in such activity? I am not going to point fingers, but you know who you are :D

Anywho, its pretty obvious that community that we have worked hard to maintain through 1.5 era is getting torn to pices (US boards on the other side are BOOMING with non-troll, assassin posts).

My question is (again): if I build assassin only, recomendation invite, troll free forums will you come and join the community build around it for the years to come?

drop me a line in the comments.

And remember, a shiny new donkey for whoever brings me the head of Colonel Montoya.

Content with content

Guild Renown

 For the first time in my AOC gaming history (apart from leveling from 1 to 80) I am content with the content presented to me. I am pleased.The guild renown system was the best thing FC could do. I am feeling like my every action is meaningful for moving the guild towards it's ultimate goal of maxing out on renown. Every level of renown seems to be bringing something nice to the table (enjoying my 2m pots I must say) and there is always something to be looking forward to in the near future (my guild - Exalted - is very close to 7th lvl and the tavern that comes with it). Even running a stupid Villas all of sudden is more fun: valor points form quests/mobs and mat drops for crafting.
Apparently now there is a point of going back to old content and doing stuff you missed (check the valor guilde here) - I am soooo doing Ymir's pass!
It seems that when I am not doing pvp I have plenty pve content and when I am not feeling like doing that there is always some crafting to do and epeen to flex (top contributor of Exalted this week is...Slith).
For the first 2 weeks it seemed that artistry is the only way to level the guild as people crafted en masse thanks to their great supplies of crafting mats. Matter of fact 1.500.000 artistry contributions were very common while glory points were like...2300 per guildie. Luckly the "the well of endless resources" is now dry and the prices on trader are out of this world (1.5's most worthless item - Iron Silk, is selling now for 1,7-2g 0_o). The renown system is apparently balancing itself. 

Minigames and Assassin revamp

The minigames are a little fucked as of now (check assassin's hideout podcast ep.13), but participating in them with revamped assassin makes up for any woes one might have. Any.
I am pushing for my pvp lvl 5 with mere 34% left to grind and I am having fun while doing so (don't get me started on how things were back in 1.5).
To top it off the expansion is allegedly right around the corner and it brings the promise of very crisp alternative advancement system and story and gear and open world...
I guess it is a very exiciting time to be an AoC's subscriber. It feels very awkward to be writing stuff like this after shitting all over FC for 2 years. Hell, it's about time!

PVP

Of Course there is no doubt that PVP side of things is suffering and has been for quite some time right now - apparently it will suffer some more since the shrines of Bori and pvp towers will be coming probably LONG after expansion. You know, the one which release date isn't even annouced yet...
I am wondering how hitting the pvp lvl 5 will affect me: I will get the gear soon and eventually be caped at 5,5. Will I get bored with pvp or will the obvious gear upgrade only enhance my already pleasurable pvp experience?
 

Bit of a rant there, but I felt like I should give credit where credit is due and the fact is that Guild Renown and Assassin Revamp are superb, at least for me because I am in great guild and I play an assassi.

[Guide] Assassindom part.1: gear

Foreword

Welcome to Assassindom, a comprehensive guide to 1.6 pvp assassin. I will be taking you step by step from freshly "dinged" 80 lvl assassin to a pvp monster that it has become. In this series you will learn most basic stuff so you can build on it and progress to more advanced topics.

So without further bull shit lets get on with the guide.

Leveling process

I strongly encourage you to focus 100% on leveling. Assassin very much relies on optimized DPS output with survivablity staying on the very same level all the time. In other words: the more feat points are available to you the better you get at killing stuff. Also since minigames are going to be your main source of pvp xp being 80lvl will land you much more games. Finally pre 80lvl minigames are often filled with people trying out their alts and they tend not to be as competitive as 80lvl ones where you will be learning much more.

80 lvl

So you are finally 80lvl. This usually means that you are wearing crap gear. Gear is very important. Your combat efficiency will be measured in you ability to stay alive in a pvp scenario and you will be staying alive mostly by quickly dispatching whatever is thrown at you. Speed is of the essence. The proper gear can greatly improve your overall performance and enjoyment you are getting from pvping. 

There is but one common trap:

Go to pvp with crap gear, die a lot, join raids, get epic tier 1, start doing pvp again, die again, get epic tier 2 and so on. 

People often assume that gear upgrade alone can improve your game play. While this is true to some extend the best way to improve your game play is by playing. Do not expect getting better at pvp by doing pve.How sad is that? This is ofcourse not aimed at people who balance their game time by doing raiding and pvp, but at those who would say "I only need hood and gloves and I can finally start doing some pvp". I have had conversations like that 0_o.

If you are going to be doing some raiding in order to get gear for pvp then its fine as long as you activly engage in pvp. My philosophy is doing pvp in order to get pvp gear for more pvp, but thats just me. Either way is fine I guess.

The set

If you cannot or are not willing to raid then you still have one great option: cultural gear. Our cultural gear is called Bossonian Prowler set. In lore the Bossonians were great marksmen, the first line of defence for kingdom of Aquilonia agaist the dreaded Picts. In "Beyond the black river" story by Robert E. Howard Conan literally stalked and killed Picts in the wilderness in a way that is synonymous with assassination. So contrary to the common belief: the name of the set is fitting the lore.

Since the set is missing two pices you will have to suplement it with Steel silk arm straps and bracers. Don't worry - it fits the visual style of Bossonian set.

As for cloak I am using Cloak of Champions for that little survivality boost it provides.

Daggers

Asuran ceremonial daggers will serve you will till high end epic replacement 

Rings and necklace

Eye of the watcher and energetic band x 2 will add up much needed DPS

The cost

With the introduction of the Guild renown system the price of every item in game has gone up: from the very basic resources to the high end cultural gear. Since culutral gear set can be exchanged for massive renown gain do not be suprised if you will be seeing the above mentioned items on trader for several dozens of gold pices. You have two options:

#1 Find a friend/guildie that can craft the set, farm the mats yourself and get it for a fraction of the prices

#2 Farm the money and buy it yourself

Since option #1 is available to the very few most of us will have to get the set the old fasion way: farming mats. By gathering basalt and duskmetal you can be getting up to 10 gold per hour and thats not ever counting the bonus rare resources: every once in a while you will find some rare that can land you from 50s to 1g extra money. You will be also attacked by 80lvl NPC which drop steelsilk (great coin nowdays) and good gems (another reason to get to lvl 80 before getting into pvp)

Here are some tips on how to get the most bang for your buck:

1# ideally contact someone that can make items you want. Usually when you say that you will be buying whole set from one person you will get a better price.

2# trade resources for the set. Some people will be willing to make the set in exchange for the tier 3 resources with a higher price. So let say that basalt in 3,5g per stack you could easly make an agreement that your stack will be counted as 4g when trading for Bossonian set

3# do not sell your resources all at once: some times the prices will be a little lower because there are a lot of resources on the trader and sometimes the price will get bumped up a bit (basic rule of supply and demand)

4# undercut for quick coin. Always check the the lowest price and trader: if it higher than the usual then put your resources on trader with a price 1s lower. Since there is no quality diffrence between resources people will always go with the cheapest mats.

Gemming

When you have your set completed then it is time to gem it. There is no magic formula: stuff the set with combat rating gems and call it a day. The gems will come cheap so don't worry.

Upgrading

As you go aquire your pvp/epic pve pices feel free to upgrade and wear them over the Bossonian set.

Assassin's hideout podcast - ep. 13

show notes:

- minigames = farming
- some sugestions for the changes

title of the post is a link to the podcast.