Assassins strengths

[FireDragon]

Hiya folks.just returning to this game and i'm thinking of rolling myself up a Ratonga Assassin as my solo character.  Me and a friend are coming back and we're going to be duoing with one set of chars while I soloed with my second char.  I was going to Duo with him with my Brigand and solo my assassin.  Sounds like I should swap that round?Why Ratonga though?  Well, other than that they're the most awesome race ever, assassin seems to fit the sneaky little fuzzbutts thematically.  Plus, I love Ratonga.  I have a Skaven warhammer fantasy battle army so I just love the sneaky little buggers.Why assassin though?  Well, I first came to this forum to look for advice on how to play one, but to be honest i'm seeing a lot of doom and gloom.  Saying Assassin DPS is too low for their role in comparison to rangers / whatever else.  Saying they cant solo, saying their offensive proc is broken, saying they suck period.  I dont like it.. I want to play an assassin Ratonga, so.. what are the plus points of being an assassin?  Is there a guide, or does anyone have any advice on how to play and fight as one?

[Brimestar]

I will say your title put me off cos I believe in playing what you like and I don't feel the need to convince anyone...however only reason you need, if you pvp...Assns kill ppl <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Aaramis]

<p>I wouldn't be put off too badly by all the "doom and gloom".  Seriously, these are messageboards.  It's where people come to whinge about any shortcomings of their class, whether or not they perceive those shortcomings correctly.  If you want to see real "doom and gloom", go check out the Bard forums, or the Ranger board, or Berserker for that matter <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>That said, the title is a bit off-putting, and you'll assuredly get the responses of "if you need to be convinced, you shouldn't play Assassin."</p><p>Now, for what it's worth, if you love melee, and you love using poisons and using stealthed attacks, then Assassin is for you.  Simple as that.</p><p>But if you already have a Brigand, I'm not sure what you'll think of Assassin.  You might like it, or you might not.  Hard to say.  Assassin has less utility, obviously, but we can certainly put up those "whoa" numbers.  As Arctura would say, "welcome to the world of killing someone in 7 seconds or less!".</p><p>*shrug*</p>

[FireDragon]

heh, okay i'll change the title if its important :)

[DORK-Hollywood]

PVP, yes, a formidable class.PVE, quite a different story.Based on the abilities/skills that they have, they should be awesome, at least in terms of DPS; unfortunatley the mechanics of EQ2 is very basic and unsupportive of the Assassin class. There's also a lack of supportive gear to compound this issue.Strength is, despite what one might think logically, the defining factor in the effectiveness of an Assassin. Yet the majority of scout or even Assassin gear focuses on other stats, that while they round out the character, and help in some solo situations, they do little to boost the purpose of the Assassin, which is to do high damage abilities on que.Remember, an Assassin is not a straight dps class, it's a high damage dealing class. Understanding that is half the battle. Once you swallow that down, you can begin to comprehend which CAs to use, and how to time them with your standard melee attacks and etc. Yet because the game rewards damage based on strength, the gear isn't there to spec you, to help you provide the damage output you should be achieving.What you'll find is that tank classes (and some monk gear) get all stats on their equipment that you'd be after: high str, high agility; possibly high stamina and int (for solo or specific raid situations); on top of that, they get the mitigation of plate, and even +piercing, slashing, crushing AND +crit +DA. All stuff that should have nothing to do with a tank, except maybe the STA and AGI. However one way to keep or create hate for a tank, is to output high damage. Unfortunatley this is a shortcut approach by SOE to help tanks keep hate, rather than fix the mechanics in the first place.Optimally, AGI should control your ability to land hits (In the past games it was Dexterity, though obviously that's been removed), your ability to evade hits, your CA damage and potency, and your power pool (for scouts). STR, should only effect your weight carrying capacity, and your base melee damage. This would then mean that for the most part (minus several CAs) tanks would have to rely on high damage weapons, and hope that when they do swing, their AGI isn't so low that they cannot make contact, however, if they have a high STR rating, they can offset some of those misses, with the fact that a landed hit will do quite a bit of notiecable damage. Yet their main focus would be taking the hits and to keep taking them, and not rely on damage output to keep the hate. As mentioned above, such a strategy will not work vs the encounters/mobs that SOE has designed.Meanwhile, other scouts, can use their self buffs and group buffs to put out considerable damage, more so than the average Assassin, and do it more consistently, faster, and more effeciently, WHILST benefitting a group. This makes them more appealable and desired over Assassins. They can also solo better due to such. Now, whatever they lose in the way of STR or damage output on scout gear, is made up for by these above mentoned reasons, and the other stats, STA, AGI, WIS, INT etc, will benefit them as a character on the whole, but is not necessary for them to compete with Assassins.Soloing is something that's possible, the range of abilities Assassins get, make it a possible feat, though you'll often find that without pretty good gear you won't be having as much success as you'd like, or compared to other classes; which is fine, as not all classes should be equal, but having said that, the support isn't out there, to really fit Assassins with what they do need, to make up for what they cannot do, or do well.If being invised is your thing, there's plenty of classes for that. If stunning or backstabbing is your thing, again, plenty of classes for that. Poisons? I'm starting to sound like a broken record.I can tell you, I've played Assassin from the start here, watched it go through all it's changes, and it's downhill into 'doom and gloom.' If I could betray to a swash or bard, I would, in a heartbeat. I'd get more enjoyment out of the buffs, abilities and involvement with groups and raids. Playing Assassin is something you'll either have to simply try and see it through to the end, or not bother at all. Despite whatever truths I've said here, it's not something you're really going to understand until you get on with it, and start to see the problems yourself.If you're  desperate to play the 'assassin,' I recommend going to Dark Ages of Camelot or WoW, at least there, assassins get what they need, and do what they're supposed to and leave this game for another class, where you can truly enjoy it, and not have to listen to all our doom and gloom <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img mce_tsrc=" />" />

[Siclone]

<p>Well that guy above me said allot, some if it relivent and some not.</p><p>I can sum up an assassin allot eaiser.</p><p> Assassin has no strength that another toon can't match.</p><p>All the assassin has is dps, that can be matched by almost all the other dps classes (depending on encounter, player skill, AA choice, gear ect)</p><p> So why would you roll a pure dps class when you can roll say a rogue, and match the dps ((even if the aveage assassin can put out more dps then the aveage rogue its not a significant amount))  Rogues have allot more and needed debuffs, that a raid requires.  AE group avoid, group invis, swipe, ect ect.  The assassin has none of that, and at the same time, cant do a signficant more dps then a well played rogue.</p><p> Thats just the obvious.  Add to that rogues are pvp and solo gods, it litereal makes no sense to roll an assassin other then role play.</p><p> The reason there are so many assassins in the game is that its a cool sounding name and the flat out truth is people dont know better.  They invest all there time and energy levling one maxing him out, then a 90 in a raiding guild they start to reliaze how not needed they are.  How very little they offer.  How almost every class can put out serious dps including fighters.  </p><p>Just remember when you have 24 classes and countless different situations and encounters there can not be perfect balance, some classes will clearly be better then others in the long run.  </p><p> Assassins and Rangers, if your a serious player and want to see the end game, are the "B" choice and never as good as a rogue.  </p>

[Siclone]

<cite>Aaramis wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>I wouldn't be put off too badly by all the "doom and gloom".  Seriously, these are messageboards.  It's where people come to whinge about any shortcomings of their class, whether or not they perceive those shortcomings correctly.  If you want to see real "doom and gloom", go check out the Bard forums, or the Ranger board, or Berserker for that matter <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /></p><p><b><u>That said, the title is a bit off-putting, and you'll assuredly get the responses of "if you need to be convinced, you shouldn't play Assassin."</u></b></p><p><b><u>Now, for what it's worth, if you love melee, and you love using poisons and using stealthed attacks, then Assassin is for you.  Simple as that.</u></b></p><p>But if you already have a Brigand, I'm not sure what you'll think of Assassin.  You might like it, or you might not.  Hard to say.  Assassin has less utility, obviously, but we can certainly put up those "whoa" numbers.  As Arctura would say, "welcome to the world of killing someone in 7 seconds or less!".</p><p>*shrug*</p></blockquote><p>its perfectly acceptable to post how a toon is before investing time and money into him.  Thats why he is doing he should not be critized for that</p><p> as for the 2nd high lighted part, REALLY?  rangers, swashbucklers Brigands dont do that too?  Thats in irrealvent non informative sentence.  </p>

[Aaramis]

<p>Siclone, 2 comments:</p><p>1) the title was originally "Convince me to be an assassin...".  That's what I was referring to.</p><p>2) I have a Swashy, an Assassin, and a Troub.  I enjoy my stealth classes, and wanted to try them all.  Sure, the Swashy (or Brigand) have a lot more utility, and can almost match the dps of an Assassin - I won't argue that.  But the Assassin is, by far, the class that spends the most time stealthed.  Again, that's what I was referring to.  Swashy and Brigand can stealth, sure, but they don't rely on stealth for as many of their attacks as Assassins do.</p>