Just came back, can't decide between...

Mon · 07-10-2007, 04:15 PM

Brigand or Assassin. Almost all of my other chars are good, want to make an evil and play in the new city and starter zone. I never really played a scout, I tried various times but never really made it past 20 on any of them. Bards are out, just can't stand them. So, this leaves Brigand or Assassin. I played a swashy to about 25 and deleted him, figured Brigs are pretty close so started up an Assassin last night. Its pretty fun, but when I read some info on here I got the distinct feeling that soloing an Assassin is difficult? Here is some info on my play style: I hate kiting. I prefer to group, but strongly desire the ability to solo while LFG or if I have limited time. The lore behind Assassin is closer to what I want with the character, but playability and such takes precedence over that for me. I pretty much hate raiding and this character will likely never make it past 60. I have several 60+ characters on my account that I can use when I do get the occasional wild hair and join a guild raid. I did some searching but was unable to come up with a firm answer to whether I should go ahead and remake him as a Brigand or keep him as an Assassin.

t0gar · 07-10-2007, 04:42 PM

Assassins are the best group dps you can find due to hard hits and short casts. Soloing isn't too bad if you don't mind timers. Brigs have less grp and general dps, but the best scout solo ability. Depends really if you want to grp or solo more.

Mon · 07-10-2007, 05:03 PM

Thanks for the reply. I prefer to group, but don't want to completely cripple my ability to solo in those (MANY) cases where I just can't get a group. It sounds like perhaps I may be fine sticking with the Assassin.

Siclone · 07-10-2007, 06:24 PM

yeah Assassins generally have higher dps.... but then thats it Brigs solo better,,,by a long way Brings dps is good enough to fill any dps role Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this) Brigs PvP better... Every raid wants Brigs. sorry I know the truth upsets some of you, dont shoot the messenger

nighthunter · 07-11-2007, 07:09 AM

Personally, I like to solo with my Assassin. It is not an easy class to play, there is a lot more to do the just random button mashing. It sounds like you have a thought in mind what you want to play and if the Assassin fits that then stick with it. Learn to position yourself behind the mob quickly as in most pick up groups I have been in the tank doesnt know how or is just to lazy to position the mobs for you.

Kaediin · 07-12-2007, 05:59 PM

Siclone wrote:

yeah Assassins generally have higher dps.... but then thats it Brigs solo better,,,by a long way Brings dps is good enough to fill any dps role Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this) Brigs PvP better... Every raid wants Brigs. sorry I know the truth upsets some of you, dont shoot the messenger

Brigs solo better: that may be but then so do necs and conj's, this doesnt mean Assassins suck at soloing. They dont and if you know what your doing you will be able to solo fine. With the right poison set up and in defensive stance I can solo anything a brig can, in fact id say i can take harder solo mobs with decap and equal group enc's with our aoe's. Yes if you want it easy go with a brig, but I get more satisfaction out of a kill when I know that I worked for it and when I know that my kill took skill not just button mashing.

Brigs dps is good enough to fill any dps role: id disagree, their dps is pretty good but stick an assassin and a brig in equal gear and an assassin will beat the brig everytime (assuming they both know how to play their class properly). We have a decent brig in my guild and i will beat him on 99% of parses (the 1% being when im slacking or not concentrating). Not saying Brig dps sucks, but its no where as good as an assassin.

Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this): its an old argument thats been done to death. Brigs get decent debuffs, assassins get pretty decent debuffs to, they just dont get as much hype as brigs, my debuffs are all masters and do a decent amount, i can knock off alot of defense (no sure exact figures off the top of my head but id go with 60-80)and can debuff over 4.5k poison resist, meaning my (and warlock/nec and any poison using scouts) dps goes . Does the difference in debuffs make up the difference in DPS? tbh thats not a call that can be made as there are too many variables but id say no if pressed to make a decision.

Brigs PvP better: that really depends on the player. I did PvP for a bit as an assassin and got to chap status before i got bored and went back to PvE. You also seriously need to remember that assassins have been nerfed to hell in PvP. Assassins are all about high damage burst dps, but when you can only hit for a max % of the targets hps? its not an even playing field. But to give a comparison I recently dueled a lvl 70 brig, we both are in raid gear and pretty well mastered (on PvE) and dropped him in about 4 seconds. So if PvP mechanics were the same as PvE (ie not massively penalising assassins because of people moaning), people would say assassins PvP better. And bearing in mind the OP didnt specify PvP id say its safe to assume they were asking abnout PvE.

Every raid wants Brigs: raid like brigs, thats true, they also like assassins. If a raid has mele dps slots free they wont turn down an assassin the in the hope a brig might turn up, but that works the other way round too. BUT they are more likely to take multiple assassins over multiple brigs and brig debuffs dont stack, assassin dps does.

07-10-2007, 04:42 PM	#2
t0gar Loremaster Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 92	Assassins are the best group dps you can find due to hard hits and short casts. Soloing isn't too bad if you don't mind timers. Brigs have less grp and general dps, but the best scout solo ability. Depends really if you want to grp or solo more. __________________ ____________________ Resident of Kithicor. Pawkeo - 70 Assassin - 69 Tailor Jido - 70 Fury

07-11-2007, 07:09 AM	#5
nighthunter Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 106	Personally, I like to solo with my Assassin. It is not an easy class to play, there is a lot more to do the just random button mashing. It sounds like you have a thought in mind what you want to play and if the Assassin fits that then stick with it. Learn to position yourself behind the mob quickly as in most pick up groups I have been in the tank doesnt know how or is just to lazy to position the mobs for you. __________________ Zhakar Ravenwynd ~ 90 Shadow Knight/55 Armorer Vanyal Ravenwynd ~ 90 Templar Valdriz ~ 88 Assassin/90 Provisioner/Tinkering 450 Jhessain Ravenwynd ~ 80 Conjuror/80 Alchemist

07-12-2007, 05:59 PM	#6
Kaediin Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 58	Siclone wrote: yeah Assassins generally have higher dps.... but then thats it Brigs solo better,,,by a long way Brings dps is good enough to fill any dps role Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this) Brigs PvP better... Every raid wants Brigs. sorry I know the truth upsets some of you, dont shoot the messenger Brigs solo better: that may be but then so do necs and conj's, this doesnt mean Assassins suck at soloing. They dont and if you know what your doing you will be able to solo fine. With the right poison set up and in defensive stance I can solo anything a brig can, in fact id say i can take harder solo mobs with decap and equal group enc's with our aoe's. Yes if you want it easy go with a brig, but I get more satisfaction out of a kill when I know that I worked for it and when I know that my kill took skill not just button mashing. Brigs dps is good enough to fill any dps role: id disagree, their dps is pretty good but stick an assassin and a brig in equal gear and an assassin will beat the brig everytime (assuming they both know how to play their class properly). We have a decent brig in my guild and i will beat him on 99% of parses (the 1% being when im slacking or not concentrating). Not saying Brig dps sucks, but its no where as good as an assassin. Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this): its an old argument thats been done to death. Brigs get decent debuffs, assassins get pretty decent debuffs to, they just dont get as much hype as brigs, my debuffs are all masters and do a decent amount, i can knock off alot of defense (no sure exact figures off the top of my head but id go with 60-80)and can debuff over 4.5k poison resist, meaning my (and warlock/nec and any poison using scouts) dps goes . Does the difference in debuffs make up the difference in DPS? tbh thats not a call that can be made as there are too many variables but id say no if pressed to make a decision. Brigs PvP better: that really depends on the player. I did PvP for a bit as an assassin and got to chap status before i got bored and went back to PvE. You also seriously need to remember that assassins have been nerfed to hell in PvP. Assassins are all about high damage burst dps, but when you can only hit for a max % of the targets hps? its not an even playing field. But to give a comparison I recently dueled a lvl 70 brig, we both are in raid gear and pretty well mastered (on PvE) and dropped him in about 4 seconds. So if PvP mechanics were the same as PvE (ie not massively penalising assassins because of people moaning), people would say assassins PvP better. And bearing in mind the OP didnt specify PvP id say its safe to assume they were asking abnout PvE. Every raid wants Brigs: raid like brigs, thats true, they also like assassins. If a raid has mele dps slots free they wont turn down an assassin the in the hope a brig might turn up, but that works the other way round too. BUT they are more likely to take multiple assassins over multiple brigs and brig debuffs dont stack, assassin dps does.

07-10-2007, 04:15 PM	#1
Mon General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 113	Brigand or Assassin. Almost all of my other chars are good, want to make an evil and play in the new city and starter zone. I never really played a scout, I tried various times but never really made it past 20 on any of them. Bards are out, just can't stand them. So, this leaves Brigand or Assassin. I played a swashy to about 25 and deleted him, figured Brigs are pretty close so started up an Assassin last night. Its pretty fun, but when I read some info on here I got the distinct feeling that soloing an Assassin is difficult? Here is some info on my play style: I hate kiting. I prefer to group, but strongly desire the ability to solo while LFG or if I have limited time. The lore behind Assassin is closer to what I want with the character, but playability and such takes precedence over that for me. I pretty much hate raiding and this character will likely never make it past 60. I have several 60+ characters on my account that I can use when I do get the occasional wild hair and join a guild raid. I did some searching but was unable to come up with a firm answer to whether I should go ahead and remake him as a Brigand or keep him as an Assassin.

07-10-2007, 05:03 PM	#3
Mon General Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 113	Thanks for the reply. I prefer to group, but don't want to completely cripple my ability to solo in those (MANY) cases where I just can't get a group. It sounds like perhaps I may be fine sticking with the Assassin.

07-10-2007, 06:24 PM	#4
Siclone Loremaster Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 717	yeah Assassins generally have higher dps.... but then thats it Brigs solo better,,,by a long way Brings dps is good enough to fill any dps role Brigs debuffs are great,,,,,giving others in the group/raid more dps (so you could make an agreuement brigs are better dps cause of this) Brigs PvP better... Every raid wants Brigs. sorry I know the truth upsets some of you, dont shoot the messenger