How to maximize DPS?

[Velth]

<DIV> <DIV>As I've stated before, I just betrayed from being a Ranger, so I'm used to letting my auto-attacks rack up alot of my DPS. I'm curious if that holds true for an Assassin as well. I've seen conflicting posts about this topic and how exactally to order an Assassin's CAs, so I thought I would ask and get an update since the release of EoF.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I generally start with debuffs (Enmesh + Constriction + Crippling Strike); then I get Swindlers Luck HO up,  apply Mark and my DoT chain (Exacting + Freezing Strike + Flowing Wound + Deadly Wound + Scraping Blow). At this point the mob is usually poisoned, so I'll swap out my Wurmslayer for a dagger (Adamantine Dragonfang) and debuff with "Poison Combination", then back to Wurmslayer. By now there are a good amount of debuffs on the mob and I'll start my backstab chain using "Concealment" (Decap + Killing Blade + Eviscerate + Jugular) then "Masked Attack + Puncture Blade". About this time some DoTs are back up so I'll re-apply them with any debuffs that are ready and then let myself auto-attack and fire off backstabs as they come up using "Surveillance" & "Masked Attack" to stealth out. I generally save my AoEs for situations that call for a fast burn, but I'll use them if nothing else is up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm totally ignoring my ranged abilities tho and having a few good bows I'm wondering if I should use a ranged combo to add a little more DPS while my CAs are on cooldown. Something like after my backstab chain, falling back & firing off my 3 ranged CAs, letting my bow auto-attack  a couple of times and then moving back in with "Contrived Weapon" and reapplying DoTs + debuffs. Finally when the mob falls below 20% I'll usually chain in whatever backstab is up + "Finishing Blow".  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As far as Deadly Focus & Honed Reflexes; should I pop them before the initial backstab chain or save them for auto-attacking?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I normally parsed about 1100ish as a Ranger in KoS raid zones pre-EoF and I betrayed because I wanted the increased DPS that an Assassin seems to offer. I've gone down the STR(4-4-4-8-1)/INT(5-4-4-<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Predator AA lines and I'm starting the Assassin Bleeding line (9 points in).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My stats are as follows:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Str: 582 | Int: 248 | Attack: 1494 (no potions, ungrouped)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Primary: The Wurmslayer | Secondary: Talonsreach | Ranged: Wurm Destroyer Bow/Sinew Wrapped Longbow</DIV></DIV>

[Jayad]

<P>Sounds very close to what I do.  I would open with cloaked assault from stealth (even with 1 mob).  Don't joust to range at all unless you need to for AOE reasons.  It will lower your dps.</P> <P>I use the haste buff right after debuffing if I'm going to use it, and exacting before the DOTs (as you do).  Deadly focus is not a bad idea to use in combination with your haste buff when you're in melee range.</P>

[DrgnsAnarchy1]

Well this is basically what i do is around the same thing. But this is a full burn cycle with EVERYTHING up. That doesnt really happen often. The only thing i would change from ur style would be that i use Finishing Blow when exacting is up. It adds around 2k extra dmg and by the time mob is at20% its usually up again. Also i use the masked atk PB combo whenever its up. <div></div>

[Kingphillywilly]

<DIV>I pretty much wrap everything around masked attack+puncture blade</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cloaked assault then start off HO with contriction, malignant mark finishing blow (on fights likely to be over 45sec), crippling strike into MA+PB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then HO with enmesh and using all 3 bleeding attacks + freezing strike, then MA+PB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then concealment run using all, decap, killing, evis, jugs, PB, slaughtersault - you should be able to fit them all in. Then MA+cloaked assault</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then out to use neckshot+assailing blast+ contrived weapon (you can move while contrived is casting so thats when you back into melee range - it also puts you on melee auto attack which is nice) then MA+PB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>then start off HO with contriction, malignant mark finishing blow (on fights likely to be over 45sec), crippling strike into MA+PB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then out to use spitting asp+assailing blast+ contrived weapon (you can move while contrived is casting so thats when you back into melee range - it also puts you on melee auto attack which is nice) then MA+PB</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>repeat ad infinitum</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Honed and deadly focus i usually use for bossmobs and if i do i use lvl 1 sneak so that i can cloaked assault on pull</DIV> <DIV>Exacting i try to use when im likely to be able to finish it off with a full damage finishing blow, so depending on mobs HP around the 35-40% mark.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Auto attack hits during the 0.5 second recovery between combat arts so i let that do itself.</DIV> <DIV>Things like poison combination, master strikes i throw in whenever</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you are lucky enough to get jesters cap (i beg our trouba for it on pull if im MT group) use exacting immediately and you'll see how sick the dps can be with them stacked together</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by Kingphillywilly on <span class=date_text>12-06-2006</span> <span class=time_text>06:45 PM</span>

[LokiHellsson]

What are the key/mouse/macro mechanics involved in rapidly swapping weapons during combat?

[Bobbubski]

One more thing regarding Honed/Deadly is since they are best utilized together, I've created a macro to cast both.  Saves time and a spot on your hotbar (if you don't do this already).

[t0gar]

My routine: Always open with cloaked assault then debuff, run through non-stealth CA's, hit exacting and then scraping blow(to make sure i dont waste 2-3 secs getting into stealth which happens too often when i dont), run through all my stealth attacks, hit what dots are up, go back and use ranged, redebuff, touch and go after that point hitting whatever pops up(only use ranged when i have a good 4+ secs of cooldowns). Not sure why some assassins are against ranged attacks, it boosted my dps by no less than 100 and on longer fights usually more. I like to hit honed one fight, deadly another, and exacting another. With this I always have atleast one up for every fight balancing out my DPS a bit better. Exception being nameds where i usually pop them all, but maybe this is just more of a preference of mine I can't say it boosts or lowers overall raid DPS. <div></div>

[khufure]

<div><blockquote><hr>t0gar wrote:My routine: Always open with cloaked assault then debuff, run through non-stealth CA's, hit exacting and then scraping blow(to make sure i dont waste 2-3 secs getting into stealth which happens too often when i dont), run through all my stealth attacks, hit what dots are up, go back and use ranged, redebuff, touch and go after that point hitting whatever pops up(only use ranged when i have a good 4+ secs of cooldowns). Not sure why some assassins are against ranged attacks, it boosted my dps by no less than 100 and on longer fights usually more. I like to hit honed one fight, deadly another, and exacting another. With this I always have atleast one up for every fight balancing out my DPS a bit better. Exception being nameds where i usually pop them all, but maybe this is just more of a preference of mine I can't say it boosts or lowers overall raid DPS. <div></div><hr></blockquote>You will need a fabled bow, preferably with T8 ammo, to see results on ranged attacks.  Our ranged CAs do less damage than DON (or preferably GDOH) auto attack.  With a fabled bow it might make sense to fire 2 quick CAs and get a single auto attack.  Maybe.  But most of us are spec'd out for +melee not +ranged.  If you miss the auto-attack its a big loss of dps.</div>

[Facedown]

I always wait for the brigands debuff message before I do my backstab combo using concealment. I can be 6-7th on the dps list and shoot right up to 1st just from decap or killing critting <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I tend to do 100-200 more dps waiting for the brigand to pop off his debuff. I also use my bow attacks after doing my backstab combo, but only the 2 big ones, assailing isnt worth it since you have to stand still.<div></div>

[Graton]

<div><blockquote><hr>khufure wrote:<div><blockquote><hr>t0gar wrote:My routine: Always open with cloaked assault then debuff, run through non-stealth CA's, hit exacting and then scraping blow(to make sure i dont waste 2-3 secs getting into stealth which happens too often when i dont), run through all my stealth attacks, hit what dots are up, go back and use ranged, redebuff, touch and go after that point hitting whatever pops up(only use ranged when i have a good 4+ secs of cooldowns). Not sure why some assassins are against ranged attacks, it boosted my dps by no less than 100 and on longer fights usually more. I like to hit honed one fight, deadly another, and exacting another. With this I always have atleast one up for every fight balancing out my DPS a bit better. Exception being nameds where i usually pop them all, but maybe this is just more of a preference of mine I can't say it boosts or lowers overall raid DPS. <div></div><hr></blockquote>You will need a fabled bow, preferably with T8 ammo, to see results on ranged attacks.  Our ranged CAs do less damage than DON (or preferably GDOH) auto attack.  With a fabled bow it might make sense to fire 2 quick CAs and get a single auto attack.  Maybe.  But most of us are spec'd out for +melee not +ranged.  If you miss the auto-attack its a big loss of dps.</div><hr></blockquote>used properly the ranged ca's increase dmg slightly. this is with the tier 8 ammo and  a shortbow. the best combo available wold be ichorstrand for the tier 8 ammo with the bow from labs ( wurm something). i just have ichorstrand at the moment. the reason to use a shortbow is the minimize the lag between toggling auto attack range to auto attack melee.you backpedal while firing off head shot as soon as it finishes casting you hit contrived weapon and run in. contrived weapon starts the auto attack timer once again and with the short delay on short bows + haste by the time you are back in melee range you will be auto attacking.the combined dmg of the auto attack from the bow + head shot + contrived weapon is greater on average than what you can do with auto attack. this is based on master 1 spells.now when i figured this out it was based on a cap of 100 / 100 haste / dps. i've not tried it again since but playing around alternating fights i still find can juice out a bit more using headshot. neckshot can also help although not as much but most fights don't go on long enough to use it because you need to wait for contrived weapon to be up before you use range attacks or you'll definately hurt your dps.</div>

[khufure]

<div><blockquote><hr>Graton wrote:<div>used properly the ranged ca's increase dmg slightly. this is with the tier 8 ammo and  a shortbow. the best combo available wold be ichorstrand for the tier 8 ammo with the bow from labs ( wurm something). i just have ichorstrand at the moment. the reason to use a shortbow is the minimize the lag between toggling auto attack range to auto attack melee.you backpedal while firing off head shot as soon as it finishes casting you hit contrived weapon and run in. contrived weapon starts the auto attack timer once again and with the short delay on short bows + haste by the time you are back in melee range you will be auto attacking.the combined dmg of the auto attack from the bow + head shot + contrived weapon is greater on average than what you can do with auto attack. this is based on master 1 spells.now when i figured this out it was based on a cap of 100 / 100 haste / dps. i've not tried it again since but playing around alternating fights i still find can juice out a bit more using headshot. neckshot can also help although not as much but most fights don't go on long enough to use it because you need to wait for contrived weapon to be up before you use range attacks or you'll definately hurt your dps.</div><hr></blockquote>I can see this in KOS with fabled+T8.  I'm not sure with the new emphasis on melee skills and AA paths.  I don't have a fabled bow, T8 ammo, contrived weapon, or the 2 main ranged CAs mastered.  (Although I do have head shot M1).  But if you have all of those I can see it being at least even dps in EOF.   You'd need +10 ranged (ring from labs +7, nemesis +5, etc) to make it consistent I would think.Since you have the gear would you like to run a few parses?  If you want I can try with my non-optimal ranged gear as well.TimmehCataclysm, Nektulos</div>

[Graton]

<blockquote><hr>khufure wrote:<div><blockquote><hr>Graton wrote:<div>used properly the ranged ca's increase dmg slightly. this is with the tier 8 ammo and  a shortbow. the best combo available wold be ichorstrand for the tier 8 ammo with the bow from labs ( wurm something). i just have ichorstrand at the moment. the reason to use a shortbow is the minimize the lag between toggling auto attack range to auto attack melee.you backpedal while firing off head shot as soon as it finishes casting you hit contrived weapon and run in. contrived weapon starts the auto attack timer once again and with the short delay on short bows + haste by the time you are back in melee range you will be auto attacking.the combined dmg of the auto attack from the bow + head shot + contrived weapon is greater on average than what you can do with auto attack. this is based on master 1 spells.now when i figured this out it was based on a cap of 100 / 100 haste / dps. i've not tried it again since but playing around alternating fights i still find can juice out a bit more using headshot. neckshot can also help although not as much but most fights don't go on long enough to use it because you need to wait for contrived weapon to be up before you use range attacks or you'll definately hurt your dps.</div><hr></blockquote>I can see this in KOS with fabled+T8.  I'm not sure with the new emphasis on melee skills and AA paths.  I don't have a fabled bow, T8 ammo, contrived weapon, or the 2 main ranged CAs mastered.  (Although I do have head shot M1).  But if you have all of those I can see it being at least even dps in EOF.   You'd need +10 ranged (ring from labs +7, nemesis +5, etc) to make it consistent I would think.Since you have the gear would you like to run a few parses?  If you want I can try with my non-optimal ranged gear as well.TimmehCataclysm, Nektulos</div><hr></blockquote>it's a pain to parse but here's how i do it. you make a note of the fights where you used head shot + ranged. Then you have to pull up the log files for those and find where you used head shot. from there you track back to the last auto attack dmg before the headshot, then find the auto attack dmg of the bow, the dmg from the headshot, the dmg from contrived weapon and finally the time when your first melee auto attack hit after contrived weapon. from this you can determine the number of seconds you weren't auto attacking and the amount of dmg the bow auto attack , head  shot and contrived weapon did. i then compare that with my average auto attack dmg per second with the group setup i was in for a given raid. i did that for about 25 fights to get an idea. in short, doing this really sucks but i can't think of another way to real isolate what's going on and see which is better. none of the raids i'm doing tonite are condusive to this type of parsing but i will try it out next time i have a chance.<div></div>

[Gerdos]

<P>betray to a ranger !  :smileytongue:</P> <P> </P>

[mikemcmodmi]

How high are you guys parsing with the different combinations?  Some assassins zonewide like 1500dps so it would help to know how high your parsing using your routine to compare.

[Skratttt]

Graton ...easy way....adorn your bow with +12 slash....FTW now your bow atacks stand out <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Graton]

<div><blockquote><hr>Skratttt wrote:<div></div>Graton ...easy way....adorn your bow with +12 slash....FTW now your bow atacks stand out <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><hr></blockquote>i just really don't want to mess with adornments too much until i get a better idea of what items are available from the raid zones that I'll ultimately want to adorn.</div>