Since "Factions" was released I have been playing around with 2 builds. The 1st build was a Ranger / Assassin - nice build too, but the 2nd has more bite in most situations, that is the Assassin / Ranger build.

Most people are going to ask "why Assassin / Ranger"?

Think about the applications for an Assassin in a real world. Having the ability to attack up close or at a distance with stealth is a real draw. You can switch on the fly between weaponry depending upon the situation but more importantly, the defensive skills that both offer make the Assassin / Ranger an almost flawless build.

My current A/R build is level 14 and going strong. I am working on the Ranger/Assassin build as well (she's level 9).

Well for me the main problem is this one: if you want to switch your weapon and use both daggers and bows, you'll have to spend points both in Dagger Mastery and Markmanship. Of course, having assassin as a primary prof would be useless (except for the runes) if you don't have points spent in Critical Strikes as well. And you may want to use skills from another attribute too.... Result: you can't max the important stats. Of course, you may use a low req bow (5-7 for ex), but then that won't be something used to inflict massive damages.

Please, note as well that the best defensive ranger skills (mainly the stances) are expertise skills (what's left? troll unguent?), and assa won't be able to use them.

One of the most popular A/R build atm is the "Critical Barrager" build. Basically, that's an assassin with max Critical Strike, 12 Markmanship, and barrage. The high level in CS adds extra damage to your attacks. However that won't be that much compared to a ranger with 16 Markmanship. Add something like Judge's Insight (especially against those damn skelies in FoW: I love my 200ish damage with a +20 skelislaying string and JI - but even against other ennemies you'll still have the very nice 20% armor pen.) or if you're under no enchantment (which is useless in a B/P build with an order but very appreciable under other circumstances) something like Brutal Weapon (Rt skill) and you'll do more damage. And a ranger will still have expertise and won't run out of energy despite the fact that he doesnt use any normal attack and can spam interupts and such.

But maybe you'll prove me wrong and show me how great a A/R build can be. However, I doubt it will be the case if A keep trying to do a R job.

EDIT - Well actually it appears that the energy gained with critical hits is a fair compensation for not having expertise.