Going from Ranger to Assassin at 70

[Warlock1970]

<DIV>My guild needs an assassin bad and we are really quite ranger heavy at the moment. I was wondering if anyone can help me out with some tips on this transition to make this go a little smoother?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Outerspace]

Brief summary of things you might not know <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><b>AA lines</b>Predator: STR 5-4-4-8-1 INT 4-4-4-8Assassin: Probably want Bleeding all the way to Excessive Bleeding, and poisoning line seems about the best of the rest.<b>T7 Master 2</b>Malignant Mark<b>Key Abilities that might not be obvious</b>Murderous Design (lvl 52) - hate transferFiendish Villainy (lvl 69) - Selfbuff DPS mod and AGIFinishing Blow (lvl 5<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> - High damage to mob when its lower then 20% healthExacting (lvl 65) - Lowers recasts and boosts damage of some CA's for a short periodConcealment (lvl 55) - Puts you into stealth after each CA you do and provides a hate gain reducer (so you can chain-nuke)Cloaked Assault (lvl 70) - AE DD and DoT, used at the start of almost every fightWhirling Blades (lvl 59) - Offensive stance<b>Common CA order in a raid</b>Cloaked Assault (refresh when its up)Malignant MarkConstrictionEnmeshExacting (not always up, some assassins alternate this with Honed Reflexes and Deadly Focus so usually at least one of the 3 is up)Finishing Blow (if fight could be > 1 min long, if not, save it til the end)Scraping Blow/Deadly Wound/Flowing Wound (refresh them)Masked Attack/Puncture Blade combo (cycle this when nothing else is up)Concealment/Killing Blade/Eviscerate/Jugular(/Cloaked Assault if its up) for when Dispatch is called. Depending on fight if you get these in early they might be up again.<b>Weapons</b>If you have a good critical hit percentage, aim for a weapon with a high damage range.Grinning Dirk of Horror (Lyceum)Dirk of Negativity (HoS)Wurmslayer (Heritage)plus some other new ones in EoF<b>Poison</b>Most use Grandmaster Caustic, but some prefer the Grandmaster Hemotoxin with the Poisoning AA line that means that it ticks out 10 seconds quicker.<b>Misc Info</b>We can self buff DPS mod to 69% all the time, and with short term buffs can add another 68%We get no haste buffs except Honed Reflexes (Bloodlines level 35)750+ STR is a good number for a raidIf you're not in the MT group, put your hate transfer on a druid or cleric to lower your hate gain<div></div>

[Computer MAn]

Agree with pretty much everything Ingek said just wanted to add 1 key thing. Always use Malignant Mark it is our best damage CA by far and if you use it every time it refreshes you get some nice DPS.<div></div>

[Mr. Dawki]

<DIV>i use exacting right as the mobs are running at us and then shadow slip (instant out of combat invis) then lead off with cloaked assault</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>exacting effects cloaked assault so you can actualy cast it 3 times if you time it right for some super warlock beating ae dps</DIV>

[HellRaiserXX]

I would place the physicality line over the poison line personally because of the lower reuse on exacting and having your buffs do more doesnt hurt either.  Poison line only has 1 really decent AA and thats the first one.  Unfortunately with physicality you have to take usless AAs like Sprint and Deft Defense really isnt that good either.  You can get to exacting through the poison like if you put 3 points in Ignorant Bliss and than go over to Deadly Focus and then to exacting.

[Outerspace]

<div><blockquote><hr>Mr. Dawkins wrote:<div>i use exacting right as the mobs are running at us and then shadow slip (instant out of combat invis) then lead off with cloaked assault</div> <div> </div> <div>exacting effects cloaked assault so you can actualy cast it 3 times if you time it right for some super warlock beating ae dps</div><hr></blockquote>sometimes do too <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> depends on fight length like most stuff but yeah is a good tip</div>

[R2Chie]

    Am i the only one that thought going down full poison line (minus the deagro poison which i ignored) and getting final poison aa was for the best??Ive noticed a sufficient increase in my dps since doing thisbleeding final aa - does it work on epics?? surely wont be taking 5% per bleeding effect on epics since we have so many? feel free to add opinions, as i was half mixed going down poison line but have so far been sufficiently impressed with the extra dmg from the proc rate being doubled<div></div>

[Warlock1970]

This is a HUGE help thank you all for posting <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.

[Outerspace]

<div><blockquote><hr>R2Chief2 wrote:    Am i the only one that thought going down full poison line (minus the deagro poison which i ignored) and getting final poison aa was for the best??Ive noticed a sufficient increase in my dps since doing thisbleeding final aa - does it work on epics?? surely wont be taking 5% per bleeding effect on epics since we have so many? feel free to add opinions, as i was half mixed going down poison line but have so far been sufficiently impressed with the extra dmg from the proc rate being doubled<div></div><hr></blockquote>Yeah it does work on epics, but it's reduced to 1% per bleed. I think it's 3% on heroics and 5% on solo mobs.How much would you say your DPS went up with poisoning line?</div>

[Jayad]

Have fun with it.  I betrayed to Assassin 3 months ago.  Took a week or two to really get the hang of positioning & CAs.  Just experiment with some stuff til it makes sense. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Kabahl]

<P>This is a concise, succinct, and cogent breakdown of High-end  . . . assassining (if you will).  I vote re-naming the thread after Outerpace's title "Brief summary of things you might not know" (mignt wanna add "about being an assassin") and sticky-ing this.  Thoughts?</P> <P>P.S. Am I the ONLY assasin that put, in predator line AAs: Str - 4 4 4 8 1 & Int - 5 4 4 8?  I figured, there's a LOT of stuff that increases my strength, not as much for intelligence AND for that one point, I"m getting a 7 stat boost instead of a 4?  (Yeah, I know with that argument, why not get 8 from the wisdom line . . . hehe . . . wisdom . . . I crack me up! ( - :   )</P> <P>- Charn, 70 Assassin, Warrior of Rallos Zek - Guk</P>

[DiceDunkelrose]

int or intline debuff was my first choice too with the old caps, now i agree str is the better one, xept youre at like 900-1k str in your raid grps, if so you wont care about 4str =p

[jacobag]

<P>No you are not alone Kabahl, I went with the exact same pred line; I now have #3 high melee and #6 high magic on my server (permafrost).</P> <P>Zeeman 70 Assassin (Axeep 70 Wizard)</P><p>Message Edited by jacobagus on <span class=date_text>01-09-2007</span> <span class=time_text>06:17 AM</span>

[Outerspace]

Must be that extra 4 INT that makes all the difference! <span>:smileyvery-happy:</span><div></div>

[Warlock1970]

<P>Once again thanks everyone for the info. I went and cleaned the coffers so to speak and got all my adept III's from 51 to 70 made and bought as many master I's (that were worth having) as I could so I am pretty much set. Now the long wait till LU32...I had to be a dope and move to the roach motel that is Kelethin <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.</P> <P>Faelyndel</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[Jayad]

doh.  Good luck!  And try to find some good dual wields.