When it comes to solo play I guess I have no clue

[Malkosha]

<DIV> <P><SPAN><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">I’m still very low level, 11, which of course may make a difference. It’s hard to come by top notch CA’s, weapons and armor since I’m fairly poor and even if I find something good, I still get my butt handed to me on group MOB’s.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">I open with Double Blast then hit my primary upfront attacks Fast Strike and Gash. I follow-up with Cheap Shot > Shrouded Attack > Shadow Blade. I wait until everything refreshes then go again. BTW, I use the best poison I can at all times which at my level does 75 damage when it procs.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">I’ve read where others can solo Assassin’s pretty good but its not working well for me. If I get an add its dead time .. unless I can haul butt out of there. Even on some single MOB’s, I get my health gets knocked down so low that anything that could heal me would go over as well as free dynamite at a Jihad party.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Do things get better at higher levels? If so, I can deal with it until everything is in place. Have I studied the other posts only reading what I want which is Assassins solo well? If thats the case then I have a problem because Assassins are fun all the same.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Any help would be welcome.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV>

[UberC]

Assassins. They do solo well, it can be tough level if you start fresh (as I did) but it does get better. At around 55 I noticed things to get better, for no reason in particular. At 70, a few adds will not be a problem for you (depending on con and ^/^^/^^^ status)You will, as with most classes I should think, probably get a little knocked up from time to time. For an assassin this is probably when the mob goes on a parry streak or your intial high damage CA is parried/deflected etc...In short, it does get much much better <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Just a case of sticking through some difficult times to get to the good ones <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[Malkosha]

<P>Thanks for the advice. I can stick it out. When I get better at playing the reward will seem all that much greater. :smileywink:</P> <P> </P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Mercenary]

<P>Try to get the hang of the stun/positional attacks and you will notice things get a lot better, took me a while to get these all right. </P> <P>Right now I play my Assassin a bit less (46 now and things are becoming slower solo so usually play him with guild groups), playing alts for bit, but still love hunting with my Assassin: never ever gets boring. </P>

[Rahatmattata]

<P>Make sure you're wearing level 10 chainmail. Even the merchant bought chainmail with no stats is a huge upgrade over the lowbie isle armor. I recommend sneaking over the The Caves in Qeynos and doing the level 12 armor quests there. Best to sneak in through Peat Bog then the sewers, if you go in via the mariner's bell, you are likely to get 1-shotted by a guard standing right by the bell and quest NPCs. Be careful when getting your quests and runnign past the guard, keep as much distance as possible. If you die, you revive in Antonica. It's very good armor that will last you until you're 20, and there's also some nice leather and jewelery you can get off of mobs there. In terms of armor quests and loot, The Caves beats The Ruins hands down. </P> <P>If you can't sneak into the caves buy some cheap level 10 or 12 stuff off the broker, or you could try to do the armor quests in the ruins, but honestly the ruins suck, the quest rewards suck, you will eventually need a group, or wait until you are about 18 to complete the quests, and you will probably die repeatedly due to adds. Failing that, buy level 10 stuff off merchant's in your home village. This goes for daggers too.</P>

[Malkosha]

<DIV> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>Just an update for all those who wonder about soloing an Assassin without being twinked. For some this is old hat I’m sure or perhaps even long forgotten. For the noobs like me though, let me say there is some light at the end of the tunnel, or at least my end of it so far. Sorry in advance if I'm just repeating an old story.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>I worked my way to level 14 and things became easier and far more productive. I gained a couple of new CA’s that weren’t positional so I could do some damage while waiting for Cheap Shot to come back up. Also, I started to use my debuff’s much more and they do make a big difference. One CA debuff’s poison and the other debuffs mitigation. Together they can raise my DPS rather nicely.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>My usual tactic was to use the bow from a distance and then go toe to toe from there. I found out however … at least so far … that I can do much more initial damage if I stealth and use Shadow Blade as an opener. Imagine that. An Assassin that uses stealth. :smileytongue: I can then use my Cheap Shot and Assail (since Shadow Blade is still on the timer) followed by my debuffs and then my “In your Face” straight up melee attacks. Not much left of the MOB after that. In fact, I can now take down groups of 2 MOB’s providing that things go well …. you know … no parry’s and such.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>I also took some great advice from above (the post that is) and got myself some better armor and weapons. They aren't top notch but they keep me alive. The lower end stuff is pretty cheap on the Market with the exception of the idiots who keep trying to selll a level 1 Adept 1 spell for 2P each. I wonder who buys them when they will be obsolete in a few levels or so?</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>So far so good. I imagine that as I level up I can work in some new CA’s and learn to integrate them into my routine. I should do all right.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#ffffcc size=3>Its not as simple as some classes that I've played that just hit the same buttons over and over but it sure is lots of fun!</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#ffffcc></FONT></FONT></FONT> </P> <P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#ffffcc></FONT></FONT></FONT> </P></DIV>

[Remma]

<div><blockquote><hr>Malkosha wrote:<div></div> <div><p><font color="#ffffcc" face="Times New Roman" size="3">Its not as simple as some classes that I've played that just hit the same buttons over and over but it sure is lots of fun!</font></p> <p><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#ffffcc"></font></font></font> </p> <p><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><font color="#ffffcc"></font></font></font> </p></div><hr></blockquote>And that, in a nutshell, is a large part of the appeal for me</div>

[Lethlorel]

I leveld an assassin to 18 this weekend (yeah ,I know, nothing going on in town <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />) and it is great fun--different than my fury and conj.  One thing I learned was to go into options and uncheck the autoface front of mob thingie.  then you can stealth in, hit him, then hit cheap shot, and jump over him to get to his back again.  It's a little tricky at the beginning but try it on greys or greens till you get the hang of it. makes soloing fairly easy.  Also, get the best poisons you can afford

[Drtydog]

<P>For what it's worth I played an assassin up until 60 and just started playing it again.  It was my first toon ever.  I had hell of time soloing.  I was always frustrated.  Could never fight groups becuase when they hit you they take you outta stealth etc..we all know all of this.  In the group setting I was insane.  The amt of damage i could do was incredible.  </P> <P>Looking back, and I know this might go against all of those purist assassins, if i wanted to play a scout I'd go brigand if i was going to solo a lot.  That's just my opinion though.  Assassins get crap for group buffs too.  It's definitely the most challenging class I've played and I cna't think of  a class that has near the position requirements.  </P>

[DeathEater024]

<P>If you have a guild or some cash or even just a couple rares life will be easier.  I got blackened Chest and legs and Blackened iron duel weild wepons. My god is it easy to drop things. The wepons besides having a proc are better then your next tiers basic wepons, better then carbonite yes sir it is indeed. </P> <P>That will always help... :smileyvery-happy:</P>

[Mercenary]

<P>To be honest, my Assassin is kinda inactive at the moment (at 47). Made the mistake of making a Bruiser alt (42 now) and boy is there a difference in soloing. Still way prefer the Assassin but soloing sure is harder  with him.</P> <P>Hope at some point it will become easier again with the Assassin.</P> <P> </P> <P>Edit: well found Sinking Sands to be nice and rewarding with many blue quests, so moving along again (49 atm). </P><p>Message Edited by Mercenary on <span class=date_text>09-21-2006</span> <span class=time_text>07:25 AM</span>

[eddshot]

<DIV>if you wanna use your bow while soloing a heroic mob, just root it with your melee root, step back t footsteps (outta yours and their melee range) and shoot.  when mob breaks root, use your improvised weapon, instantly switching you back to melee attack.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Mortikol]

I've played an assassin up to 53 mainly soloing.  The difference between Assassins and other classes I've played is that we cannot handle adds very well.  The only real add-stopped we have is a root - and that root is a good frontal attack as well so it's difficult to "save" it.  Your abiity to turtle or escape when a fight goes badly is also very limited.  But if you are careful, you will kill guys quickly and be able to kill more creatures over time than most classes.   Once you hit 50 the lifetap and debuff poisons make this a little easier.  The STR AAs are helpful too as they provide extra defense as well as an opening shot combat art that's a good (not great) substitute for a stealth attack on an add or see invisible critter. Still, I cannot count the number of times I got an even or yellow con add and not panicked because most other classes I've played I wouldn't consider it a big problem - but with the assassin I look down and suddenly I am at 10% hits.  I've found if I'm careful about picking off wanderers first, pulling creatures to a relatively safe spot after my initial attack, and not biting off more than I can chew that I am able to kill things much faster than any other class I've played.  The possible exception being summoner classes because I do occaisionally lose time to deaths and because summoner classes can take on fights I wouldn't even dream of trying.  So:- spend your money on great weapons, great poison, and good armor- pick your fights- Use your HO and Cheap Shot / Stealthing Attack / Stealth Attack combo whenever they are up- Use your DOTs sparingly - if fights are taking over 15 seconds you are doing something wrong- Keep your range skill up, use ranged arts to pull see invis mobs, don't forget the root+range strat in a tough fight if it's available- Don't save your high-damage arts for a rainy day.  Use them to increase your kill rate.- don't freak out when you die - you'll be back killing again soon and overall faster than most even with the downtime<div></div>

[Ganx]

<DIV>Well said</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At 70 and prior, I can solo a 1-3 mobs, but I have to innitiate, if I'm jumped then it can be a rough fight. Also able to take yellow one up's. I wasn't able to reliably do so until 45+.</DIV> <DIV>Like Mort said, use root and back up and go diet ranger on them. Use your ranged auto atk and your ranged CA's. You can use Lucky Break and kick the HO using your snare CA - so when root breaks, slap a blinking CA and it's complete. In waiting for root to break, you should be ready for another HO right away. </DIV> <DIV>Use Cheap Shot/stun, swing around and use the Cripple line (behind only atk) and immedietly use your stealthing attack, and complete it with which ever stealthed attack you choose. 3 large hits - bang. Later on I use Masked Attack ~> Puncture Blade to put the mob at -20% health then quickly hit Finishing Blow. You will <3, finishing blow.</DIV> <DIV>Always use Assassin's Mark line towards the beginning of the fight. </DIV> <DIV>Get ur poison on. Always</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Gear makes a difference. I wouldn't have any other class as my main. Assassin's are beasts! Put 8 points into Intercepting Blades and Intercepting Blades - golden yo~</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Babatte]

<DIV>I've got a level 16 assassin that I've been playing with my husband's warden.  I've been making good use of my HO's, but not my stealth lines.  I'm going to have to take your suggestion of turning off the autoface and try moving around more.  I like the autoface because I can turn to hit the next target much faster *laughs* which is good because they're often beating up the warden, since he insists on hitting them with nasty stuff before I can slap some damage on them.  What can I say, he played an enchanter in EQ, and he thinks there's something wrong if every mob doesn't smack him around a few times *laughs*.</DIV>

[Babatte]

<DIV>Woohoo...I learned how to do this over the weekend.  Started working on it at level 20, and it took me maybe an hour of play time to really get it down.  Then, yesterday, I got brilliant and started adding a stealth attack onto the end of the move.  Wow!  Let's just say my husband was impressed when I could knock a mob with more than half it's hitpoints dead with that maneuver.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>*laughs* I'm just so leet!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Really, though, thanks for explaining how to do the maneuvers to get the flanking hits in.  My husband and I have been able to take on much harder mobs with our duo because my dps has gone up so much with these maneuvers.</DIV>

[Mercenary]

Indeed the life tap poison helps a lot! Almost 61 at the moment and having just as much fun playing my Assassin as I did at 20 :smileyhappy: