newbie 10th level assassin looking for strategy tips

[ElsaRat]

Hello. I just got Everquest and am learning the game. It's a little overwhelming, all the attacks and options: torture, spikes, etc. I just got shadow strike for doing over a 100 points of damage when you strike from sneaking, which is impressive at this level. I've upgraded all my skills to apprentice II. Aside from that, I'm not very clever, just getting in a fight clicking all buttons as they become clear and hoping the enemy looses their health before I loose mine. I'm looking to learn a little more about strategy (and would appreciate any links to appropriate guides).One fight I got totaled in was the beginning of the betrayal quest in Neriak. You come upon two npc's abducting a child, and they both attack you after a warning. Since they're not hostile to begin with you, you can't use the sneak attack. So I wonder what sort of strategies would use in that fight.Thanks for any ideas.

[ElsaRat]

Making my questions more specific after experimenting. . .How is "shrouded attack" used effectively? It sounds good; do 14-24 points of damage then become shrouded again, but when I've used it the monster kept attacking me.I guess "torture" is a good attack to start off with (after shadow blade if possible of course) because it takes downt the adversary's effectiveness and helps your subsequent attacks?Does Evade do anything useful when you're playing solo?Spikes doesn't seem to do any damage. I guess it improves your future poison attacks, and makes it easier to run away if necessary by slowing the monsters?Anything clever one can do with cheap shot?Are heroic opportunities that effective? I seem to get two part combinations that do around 17 points of damage?

[Attolia]

Cheap Shot is very useful.  You stun the mob with it, and then immediately run behind the mob (monster) or to the side to use a positional attack.  If you're quick enough, you can use Cheap Shot, run to the mob's side, use Shrouded Attack to stealth yourself, and then use one of your big stealth attacks.  It may take some practice.You're right about both Torture and Spikes.  They are debuffs that do no damage, but they lower the mob's defenses so that you hit harder.  (And yes, Spikes does make the mob run slower as well.)Evade doesn't do anything useful when you're soloing, unless you need it to advance an HO.  You use it in groups to lower your hate so the mob beats up the tank instead of you.Heroic Opportunities are not going to hit as hard as your best attacks, but extra damage never hurts.  Also, sometimes they give you short-duration buffs.  (For scouts, the common buff raises your attack skills -- like piercing, slashing, ranged -- and the rare buff gives you haste.)

[Amise]

One more thing I would add is to make a point of learning the requirements of all your various big-damage attacks (you only have a couple now, but you'll end up with more than half a dozen eventually). Some require stealth, some require a flanking or rear position, and some require both. The different requirements mean you can take a kind of mix-and-match approach to increase the number you can use when you solo.For example, when you use cheap shot and get behind the mob, you can use shrouded attack to get into stealth, then use one of the big stealth attacks. If you've still got time after that, you can follow it up with one of the attacks that doesn't need stealth, but which does need a rear or flanking position.For this it's good to get the AA line that adds an extra second duration to cheap shot. With that you can get three attacks off before the stun wears off if you're quick.