Soon to be new Assassin [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

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Cashjuve

12-20-2006, 11:20 PM

Plan on rolling a assassin soon and was just curious how different they are compared to a swash? I already have a swash and was wondering if any of the mechanics are different or are they almost the same?At what level can I get some cool looking ninja gear? Some type of hood/mask that really makes me look like an assassin.What type of armor do they wear?Is duel wield the way to go?Is there any point of having a decent bow and arrow or should I not waste my time?What stats are most important?<div></div>

Blackgold

12-21-2006, 12:52 AM

I haven't leveled either very high so take it for what it's worth... I've rolled both recently and my assassin seems to have a bigger initial hit out of stealth. Following that, the strategy seemed to be to get off a stun (or a CA that put me back into stealth) so that I could get off some of my rear/flank styles (which assassins seem to have more of). With my swashy, I seem to have more front type of CAs and two aoes. Because of this, I've pretty much decided to play the swashy instead since it's more fun to me to do damage to several mobs at once rather than fighting one at a time until all are dead. Both are a blast, I'd roll one of each and see which one fits your playstyle. Edit: Saw you already have a swash. My bad!Message Edited by Wiccax on 12-20-2006 12:53 PM

ChildofHate

12-21-2006, 01:57 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Cashjuve wrote: Plan on rolling a assassin soon and was just curious how different they are compared to a swash? I already have a swash and was wondering if any of the mechanics are different or are they almost the same? At what level can I get some cool looking ninja gear? Some type of hood/mask that really makes me look like an assassin. What type of armor do they wear? Is duel wield the way to go? Is there any point of having a decent bow and arrow or should I not waste my time? What stats are most important? <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Though i cannot comment on the comparisons between an assn and a swash, i can tell you the fun factor of an assn is hard to beat i think. I'll address each question as you listed them: "Ninja Gear" -- The first real hood you will be able to get will be the hooluk hat (KoS quest). But that is 60's level gear. Sub-60 i cannot think of anything even close. I spent pretty much all 70 levels with my hood / helm hidden. The 'ninja' look was kinda fun at first... until you realize every other assassin looks the same as you... so back to hidden hood i went. As for other armor designs, in the earlier levels, most of it isn't very "assassin-ish" looking... When you get to T5 armor, ebon chain is black. That's the first real set of gear that looks like something a killer would wear. Armor type -- Assassins can wear chain or leather (and cloth but not really worth it). T1 - T4 i went chain. T5 i went with mastercrafted leather, (this was in the days prior to DoF and combat changes/nerfs etc) because it was actually better then ebon chain in many respects (higher avoidance). But come T6 on it was back to chain. Dual Wield FTW! Except for in some rare raid situations that you feel it is necessary for the extra protection / resistance (again it's a personal preference) you wont be using a shield much at all. I do know a couple of assassins though who do use a shield for individual raid encounters. Bow -- Your bow is your friend. Yes it's very important to have and worth every copper. One nice thing (if you can afford to keep it stocked) is that there is no level limit on how big of a quiver you want to carry. a L1 can make use of a T7 quiver. It's simply a bag for arrows. So it doesn't matter the level. Problem is simply paying to keep it stocked. The bow is great for soloing. As you level up, you will eventually get 3 different types of bow attacks. two of them require you to be either flanking or completely behind a mob, the third can be used from any position relative to the mob and fires of a double shot. Again, great for pulling mobs when you are solo, especially if they can see invis = no chance to backstab in the beginning. You can fire off one of the 2 special position shots and then follow it immediately with the double shot. If the mob is still far enough away you can use your skill called "Make Shift Weapon" which basically lets you throw junk at the mob and cause damage. By time it gets to you, hit it with cheapshot, run behind - stealth stab, backstab, hit it with a trauma atk or two, HO with the snare link and the root atk... back up and use your double shot arrow atk again. When the root breaks, it will still be snared so you can keep backing away plugging it with arrows until the snare breaks. If it isn't dead by then, when it gets to you, cheap shot him and repeat backstab atk sequence. The bow is also important should you ever decide to raid. Some raid encounters, assassins are allergic to (sounds funny right). Take Corsalander (SP?) who resides in Labs. He has a permanent damage shield. Damage shields destroy assassins. Basically it would be like feeding yourself to a woodchipper... you lose. Next best thing, step back and plug him all day with arrows. Stats -- IMHO STR, INT, AGI, STA... in that order. Others may differ on that idea and say agility is more important then intelligence.Message Edited by ChildofHate on 12-20-2006 01:00 PM

Jayad

12-21-2006, 04:04 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Cashjuve wrote: Plan on rolling a assassin soon and was just curious how different they are compared to a swash? I already have a swash and was wondering if any of the mechanics are different or are they almost the same? I think they are probably similar in many ways. The assassin attacks from behind more, swashy is mostly frontal attacks. With assassin positioning is key. The swashy has more utility in the form of debuffs and the ability to tank a bit. The assassin is pure DPS (although right now they are not too different on DPS at the high end) At what level can I get some cool looking ninja gear? Some type of hood/mask that really makes me look like an assassin. I don't know about the lower level EOF gear but I imagine mostly in T7. What type of armor do they wear? Chain, same as swashies. Is duel wield the way to go? Yes. In DPS mode you always want dual wields. If you are [Removed for Content] tanking you might use a shield. In soloing you usually just want to kill the mob ASAP and not worry too much about defense. Is there any point of having a decent bow and arrow or should I not waste my time? If you solo it can be a good way to do some damage before they get close. (Although your big invis-backstab hits are usually better) In grouping it doesn't really matter much. What stats are most important? STR is the most important by far, then INT. If you solo a lot you want STA. AGI you need for power pool but a lot of stuff has AGI on it so you don't usually need to get gear for it specifically. Go max STR unless you're pvp or soloing heavily. <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> Message Edited by Xney on 12-20-2006 03:05 PM

t0gar

12-21-2006, 10:27 AM

I agree with previously stated stat order. Agi is thrown at you easily so you wont need to worry about that. Maybe choose sta before agi gear if you solo a lot.Assassins play very differently. The majority of our attacks require stealth, a back, or both. You'll find that anything really damaging comes from those. We do have moderate damage CA's that can be used from any position, but not enough to kill quickly. We have bigger hits then swashy's, but they all require positioning/stealth so aren't of the greatest use solo. Swashy's make much better soloers and debuffers, but we're a little more suited for DPS. Not entirely true when high end, but we've enough threads about that already...<div></div>

blurryfast

12-21-2006, 09:27 PM

after all the nerfs (in all but a few LU since the beginning have we not been nerfed in some way) I'd NEVER make an assassin knowing what I know now play your swash or make a caster