Assassin with identity crisis, am I alone?

[Synne]

<div></div><div></div>Lately, my character has been experiencing alot of insecurity stemming from the fact that I don't know what I am anymore.  In my early levels, my role was very clear:  DPS, disarm traps, evac.  It was pretty simple in those days.  Fun too. With all the changes made recently, I can't seem to find a purpose.  Scouts are no longer DPS (all things relative).  Disarming traps is not even a consideration, since the damage is negligible, nobody really cares if a chest is disarmed.  Nearly all classes have an evac of some kind at later levels.  But wait! There's tracking!... really hardly ever used in the higher levels since epic mobs don't appear on track. Then, I started thinking about scouts, in general.  Some have group sneak... still secondary to a fury's.  Pathfinding?...  secondary to spirit of the wolf.  Stifle?... can't be used on epic encounters.  Granted, bards are still very useful for their debuffs/buffs. I loved being an assassin when I served a purpose.  But the FACT of the matter is scouts have been stripped/denied any type of defining characteristics.  The song goes: " Anything you can do, I can do better~"  And I'm hearing this alot lately. Perhaps scouts should have been given a new ability at level 50 called "Reroll: Fighter". <p>Synne Deguerre 50 Assassin Tribe of the Seven Moons Mistmoore <span class="time_text"></span></p><p>Message Edited by Synne on <span class=date_text>03-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:05 AM</span>

[Putka]

<DIV>fighter dps will get nerfed, scout dps will get buffed</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>bye</DIV>

[Synne]

Forgive me if I don't seem comforted by your reply.  It seems to be speculative.  But thanks nonetheless.

[Hikarus]

<DIV>I've really got to say that I agree with this.  Not to mention that with assassin's in general, a few of our abilities have debuff components that won't hit epic mobs, which nerfs our dps output.  In addition to this, the fact that the epic mobs are immune to pierce or slash most of the time (one or the other), yet blunt seems to work just fine a lot of the time... Give us blackjacks!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hikarusai</DIV> <DIV>50 Assassin of Mistmoore</DIV> <DIV>Tribe of the Seven Moons</DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Hikarusai on <span class=date_text>03-30-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:48 AM</span>

[swdrgn]

I am a 47 assassin and I feel for ya. Disarming traps means nothing for higher levels. They need to make them quite dangerous, so it gives our sub-role more meaning. My DPS is sad, I hate when people run those parser programs to show dps because its embarassing. Our reuse timers are way to long, Wizards just spank us currenty. I still enjoy the class though, and im well sought out in groups because I made good friends. I hope they change us so we are more meaningful <div></div>

[Brianf]

<P>Tougher traps is one road to take. I still like the idea of making higher level drops sometimes appear in the chest if the trap is disarmed.</P> <P> </P> <P>Make it kind of a carrot and stick method...</P>

[Lirami]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Brianf67 wrote:<BR> <P>Tougher traps is one road to take. I still like the idea of making higher level drops sometimes appear in the chest if the trap is disarmed.</P> <P> </P> <P>Make it kind of a carrot and stick method...</P> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>That's a pretty neat idea! I vaguely remember a CRPG that did this, I think - I wonder if they'd consider adding a feature like that?</DIV>

[DearthofWeal]

As an assassin who is currently 'nerfed' I must say that I take advantage of every single bit of DPS I can get my Kerran paws on. While i NEVER expect to do as much damage as a wizzy/warlock (have you seen how fast they pull aggro and die?) I feel we are still in 3rd place of all the archetypes (save for zerkers and their ridiculous AE.. but thas AE.. group with a coercer/iilus and that never gets used) in terms of DPS. We even get the liberties of wearing medium armor.  I understand this is not the plate-class of zerkers or guardians, but we can take a HELLUVALOT more hits than a mage can AND we don't pull aggro nearly as fast even when proc'ing your adept3 Assassin's Mark on an HO finishing with CB/elaa's (assuming tank has taunted enough.. don't lead off the encounter with this technique..).  Yes folks, that is roughly 3k dmg in 10-12 seconds.  This is not even counting possible Poison damage + wizzy/Conj added procs.  Hmm.. let's see, we have weapons that have a delay of about 1.2-1.4 and a 5% chance on each wizzy/conj proc as well as poisons and Assassin's mark which is good for 1200-1800 dmg over 10 seconds.  Adds up to some pretty good DPS in my mind. Yes I know our Elaa's and CB (I'm only lvl 41) are on long timers, something I assume will be adjusted to a more assassin-friendly number.  Hell, I'm most worried about our Slice Throat spell tree.  The stifle is nice and the re-use timer is acceptable (use it once per ^^ mob), but the damage needs to be upped a little bit to coincide with our level. All in all, a good assassin using all their tools they have available to them will not be outdps'd by a fighter in any exp grind battle (not touching epic mobs in this post), PERIOD. Poisons, procs, assassin's mark, HO's, "Vanish".. we got the tools. Might we be missing the players? (speaking to lvl 41's and below) <div></div>

[Synne]

I agree, but how long do you plan to be 41?  You may be the 3rd highest archetype for DPS, but that will change soon.

[Hikarus]

<P>Oh... and the fact that we can wear medium armor means nothing by the way.  If I steal agro from a guardian, I'm going down like a sack of potatoes against a level 50+ mob.  The notion that I could take more than 2-3 hits from them is a false one.  (Oh, and for the record, I do have top of the line gear, including master drops, so it's not a case of me wearing like level 30ish gear against level 50+ mobs =P)</P> <P> </P> <P>Hikarusai</P> <P>50 Assassin of Mistmoore</P> <P>Tribe of the Seven Moons</P> <P> </P>

[GodH8s]

Bwahahaaa. Notive the 2nd post was from a Paladin. Very comforting. Fighters trying to invate our board and offset the negative posts to protect what they have? Simply put, our role is clear : 'party filler'. I'm only called upon when there is absolutey nobodyleft in the pool to add to the group and they're just looking for a body. It's quite pathetic. And this whole "while I never expect to do the damage a wizard/warlock does, there is a post down a bit that points out something tremendous : We're [Removed for Content] because we have 'group utility'. My [Removed for Content]! Wherever that post is it did a great job of breaking down the utility spells/skills (self invis vs party invis, pathfinding vs everyone has Jboots, evac vs evac, etc). Why shouldn't we do as much as them? We have nothing else! I can't remember the last time the main tank didn't open a chest before I could disarm it (and yes my Disarm is maxed) - nobody cares! <div></div>

[Putka]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> GodH8sMe wrote:<BR>Bwahahaaa. Notive the 2nd post was from a Paladin. Very comforting. Fighters trying to invate our board and offset the negative posts to protect what they have?<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>Please don't pay too much attention to my signature, I have plenty of chars, an assassin included. Nobody is invading you, it's all in your head.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Nobody cares about chests? Too bad.. I've had two impatient tanks die yesterday to clicking chests, their loss I guess.</DIV>

[Silda]

Speaking of chests I dont think ive successfully disarmed one in over two weeks...22 [expletive ninja'd by Faarbot] atm maxxed disarm skills..every time...BOOM <div></div>