OK..so is it just me?

[Marxxus]

<DIV>First off I am a 32 Assassin with pretty decent gear. I keep my weapons and armor above "even" con at all times and I have the following stats unbuffed:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>STR:  69</DIV> <DIV>AGL:  103</DIV> <DIV>STA:  55</DIV> <DIV>INT:  who cares</DIV> <DIV>WIS: who cares</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I group with a 29 brigand (with inferior gear) on a regular basis and he hits ALOT harder than I do. What is with this? I have seen that Assassins hold the TOP 100 slots for highest melee hit on eq2players.com. I once saw a this brigand hit for 1107 with his frontal attack on a yellow mob (yellow to me at 31, deep orange to him). I hit a blue ONCE for 950 and my all time best is 990 on a grey. I also saw another assassin hit for 1400 at level 24...what am I doing wrong? My Assassins Blade is adept I and I even have some adept III's. This is getting really frustrating.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>PS My average hit with [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] blade on a blue/yellow mob is only 550-630. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[khalysta]

<DIV>use vex on every mob it will give you a nice boost to damage.  If I dont vex I can literally take 300+ off assassins blade.</DIV>

[SoloranFirebay]

<DIV>Vex=your friend</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Assassin's blade is a good art but you have to build up to it, so that you get the most out of it possible, look at all of you abils most of them have a debuff assosciated with it. at lvl 39 this is what i do</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Torment(vex upgrade), insidious cut(impale upgrade) exposed attack(shrowed strike upgrade) Murderous blade(poisoners blade upgrade) Shadow(can't remember), Bloodthirster(ebon blade upgrade) then Condeming Blade, or Elaa's perforating slice.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Every single one of those abilities decreases defense and slashing/piecing resists. which inturn Aids in the damage of that ability, also the higher ur wep damage the higher the art damage, also don't be afraid to switch ur weps out when you know a certian mob has low resist to a certain type of wep. I do this all the time, and this strategy has allowed me to out do most assassins 5-10lvls above me for dps. Now as i am nearing the top of the assassin food chain its not quite so obvious but on my server Befallen i am ranked #4 with 1704 as my highest damage. I did this at lvl 37, whick bypassed assassins that were lvl 46.</DIV> <DIV>plus i keep all my gear up to date, but atm my bracer slot is empty cause SoE decided to change my bracers into pants...but anways keep ur gear good and use debuffs and ur good to go.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kloak lvl 39.9 assassin</DIV> <DIV>Self buffed stats</DIV> <DIV>Str 131</DIV> <DIV>Agi 142</DIV> <DIV>Sta 101</DIV>

[HuntressSWG]

<DIV>Dont forget that also most of these HIgh HIt people are also getting the benefit of a Troubador (sp*).  I believe its this class, matter of fact Im almost certain.  All my high hits have been with them...  I start off with Assassins mark (for [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot]s and grins), the advance version of vex, hit my damage buffs, open up with the the advanced version of shrouded strike (sorry some names elude me atm Im on my alt)... and kick it off with Condemning blade (or Assassins Blade).  This is what lands the high hits most of the time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There is also a rare triple tier HO that is ended by scouts that is a 4x damage multiplier.  That also helps.  I have been doing both of these techniques and I havent looked in the past 2 days but I am the third heaviest hitter on my server.  Works like a charm.  Besides its not how big you hit but how many times you hit decently that is the key to a battle with an assassin.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV align=center>Huntryss Elvenchild (Dark Elf)</DIV> <DIV align=center>43 Assassin</DIV> <DIV align=center> </DIV> <DIV align=center>Mistal Elvenchild (Half Elf)</DIV> <DIV align=center>14 Crusader</DIV>

[sorav]

I'm not quite sure what the problem is, I have average gear for my level and I still reign supreme on dps when parsing with our group. Yes we do group with brigands and swashbucklers. Maybe it's just the way I play?

[UpurBloodst]

<DIV>There are a few tricks you can employ to land a high Assassin's blade and a spot on the top ten lists.  Some are in your power, and some aren't.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Land your Vex line skill on the monster.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Land an exposed attack on the monster if you have it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Land bloodthirster (or Ebon Blade, but I don't remember if it reduces resists).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Cast every one of your self buffs on yourself.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Make sure to land a "XXXXX mastery sinister strike" on the mob if you have a mastery for it.  These really reduce their resists a LOT.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Watch how much damage your doing to the monster.  Ask the others in your group to debuff the mob if they aren't.  If you notice on a particular pull that you're doing a LOT more damage than normal, chances are your Assassin's blade will do a LOT more than normal.  Bards have some really nice debuffs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Keep an eye on how much your Ebon Blade line skill does.  I've noticed that there is a very positive correlation between the damage your Ebon Blade line skill does, and the damage your Assassin's blade line skill will do.  If you land an unusually high hit with your Ebon Blade skill, chances are you'll do the same with your Assassin's blade. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>-Basically spam every debuff you can before hitting Assassin's blade.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Sarevh]

the brigands frontal attack (ruse?) is way strong to begin with. just remember that if they actually got credit for that damage there would be a whole lot more brigands than assassins on the top hit boards.and it all depeds like people have said on how you play your character. its not hard to outdamage people 5-10 levels higher than you if you are smarter than them.

[Marxxus]

<DIV>Ah...ok then...I have been playing wrong here and there. My problem is I have not been fully debuffing prior to Assassin's Blade. The reason that Brigand prolly got his high hit is because of my debuffs....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I will post back when I get a chance and let you know the difference.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hey thanks alot gang, apreciate it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>