assassins in groups

[afflictus]

<p>greetings,</p><p> I have been a berserker for a long time, so i understand the game and roles of classes and all that fun stuff.  I really like to do the melee fighting, as i just can't get into being a caster... I tried a bruiser, as I had a monk in EQ1, but everyone complains when I chain pull even though I can get the mob to them as the last one dies.  but I am wandering here.   so I made an assassin, I am only level 10 right now but I plan to get him up to 70, eventually.  I also have no desire to raid, nor do I have the time to do so.</p><p> now my questions.   are assassins good in groups for dungeons and such?  or would i be better off as a brigand or bard?  I have heard that rogues do as much, if not more, damage than assassins/rangers and have loads more utility.  I am not overly concerned about being the top DPS of the group, but I am more interested in how fun it will be to group with others and how others view my class role(  as berserker everyone loved me because i know how to pull, tank, and turn mobs for scouts.  as a bruiser people bitched about me chain pulling, or claimed bruiser can't and shouldn't tank, and overall it seems people hate or don't understand bruisers... so I just abandoned the bruiser. )    </p><p>so do people understand that assassins are flat out melee dps?  will they expect me to do debuffing past the few debuffs assassins get? since assassins have a deagro skill and stealth, will people complain and tear me down if I do chain pulling?  ( I really like to chain pull, in my two years here almost no groups do chain pulling.  it is just faster exp and no down time )</p>

[Rufio]

<p>Hey there, nice read glad to see you are coming from the tank job to dps world. I have some pointers that might enlighten you somewhat, as an assassin you do burst dps, bards are debuffing/buffing/and then dropping songs in between for dmg with minimal return. A brig or swash will do more dps on longer fights than an assassin will because of the debuffs they have and average dps.</p><p>With your assassin, you might not want to chain pull unless the group you are rolling with, and it sounds like PUGs, is a decent one with all the right elements. Get a decent tank, maybe a guardian, then two healers a templar and a fury (because if the mobs are coming in fast and continuosly you need a second healer with a varying type of heal). Then you have 3 slots left, I would say a Troubadour for their group buffs over the dirges more attack based buffs, then youself and a brigand to debuff.</p><p>This setup is ideal and will let you pull at will and you probably won`t even need to break depending on one factor, how much aa and master I`s the troub has. If he has power regen maxed down the AA line and a master I then you`re set, also if he runs HP regen and takes the slack off the two healers you will find that they use even less power.</p><p>I have played a high lvl assassin, pally, and troub twice over for each and this is the perfect group for chain pulling IMO.</p><p>Of coruse it can be done with trio or duo groups but not nearly as fast. I have chain pull with a troub/ assassin combo before that works well, as does a troub/brig/assassin combo.</p><p>On a side note, chain pulling with a weak group is not recommended, they will panic and you will die if they can`t handle the mobs.</p>

[afflictus]

<p>thanks for the input!  i almost always group with PuGs   : /    i don't play enough anymore to justify joining a strong guild, and i just switched servers so i can play with my brother on the weekends.  perhaps that is the main problem i am having.</p><p>so, are you saying overall brigands are more dps than assassins?  or just that brigands are more constant dps vs assassins being huge burst dps?</p><p>i dig the ideal group set up you have there, that would be a great speed pulling group for dungeons!  now i just need to find some good players to fill those roles....</p>

[nookin]

Assassins speciality is DPS and if you don't have the desire to parse on the top then assassin is the wrong class for you. You might be better of rolling a bard (everyone loves bards, except the one who plays one <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> )

[joebyrdw]

<p>Welcome!! </p><p>I actually came over from playing a berzerker my self. Assassin is an awesome class to play I actually have more fun with my assassin, and being a long time tank (swg,coh,wow, and eq2) that has to say something.</p><p>Assassin's are single target DPS monsters, and if you are good at target switching and getting into position were not that bad at groups either. We have hate transfer adn apply poision both of which can greatly help a tank at holding aggro. We also have some pretty nasty debuffs to poision mitigation and defense. Play your toon well and you will never be at a loss for a group.</p>

[Jayad]

I think people understand assassins are dps. Although sometimes people are confused and want a mage, etc. in grouping dps is dps, you really don't need different types. The hate transfer assassins have is great for grouping, makes the tank's job a bit easier. Assassins do decent AE dmg because they cast relatively fast and one of them has a good recast. So you start out with soem decent AE then your high single target tends to keep the overall dps value high. Rogues are also good dps and have all the debuffs, but the debuffs are not as important in grouping.

[Kaediin]

<cite>afflictus wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>so, are you saying overall brigands are more dps than assassins?  or just that brigands are more constant dps vs assassins being huge burst dps?</p></blockquote><p>Overall Assassins can give higher burst and sustained dps than a brigand - you just have to alter your play style to compensate for longer fights (and when I say longer fights Im really talking about named raid encounters). Dont get me wrong, Brigs can and do supply very good dps but an assassin in equal gear and at equal skill levels (adept, masters etc) can and should out dps a brig on pretty much any fight and do so without pulling agro off tha tank (those mobs really hate their debuffs), and thats for both burst and sustained damage.</p><p> As far as groups go, assassins provide very effective burst dps (and you only really need burst dps in a group as the mobs die so quickly) whilst having excellent agro management skills that drop our own agro and dump generated agro onto the tank (lowering our and increasing theirs). If you ever do get into raiding (I know you said your not planning on it, but plans can change) we also provide very high sustainable dps - you just have to change your CA patterns for the longer fights.</p><p> Also as Jayad mentioned above, Brigs do get good debuffs, however in a group situation when mobs are dying in under 10 seconds, a huge debuff on a mob doesnt make a massive difference (it may drop a 10 second kil to a 7 second kill - in raids the debuffs are more important). where as the increased damage output can (changing a 10 second kill to a 2 second kill using skills like killing blade or decapitate at high end) make more of a difference.</p>

[Siclone]

<p>Assassin is not a bad choice fun class and can really lay on the dps,,,but you will have to work for it and thats about all you will do is DPS.  </p><p> If grouping is all your looking at, Assassin is a good class.  (Most group players don't optimize their toon anyway) </p><p> If you want to broaden that view and look at other aspects, such as soloing and playing groups that are hardly ideal, PvP, ect.  Then I would say look at a Rogue.  Rogues have much more flexablity, can tank and can solo much better as well as lay down dps.  </p>

[Darkfir3]

Lol, I was originally a zerker to before I rerolled my assn on pve, wierd....