I have had many many bad experiences with pug assassins. I can only think of two experiences with good assassins in pug groups. As Arrow said the main problem is people are used to playing melee as a warrior.

Here is a quick way of telling a good assassin from a bad one and usually happens within the first few minutes of a mission. A Good assassin will follow behind the tanks and support them with quick damage or conditions. A bad assassin will lead the charge (often shadow stepping into battle and out of healing range) and not do anything to avade personal aggro.

If i monk a group with assassins and they display this behaviour i will place them at the bottom of my healing list in priority as they are just energy sinks. If they end up dying thats what i bring a res skill for and use it after the battle.

PS. One effective use of the assassin that i have not seen anyone use in PvE is as caster protector's. I used to do this with my warrior if there was a few tanks in the group. Whenever a caster takes aggro i used to rush the enemy and either draw the aggro off them or just kill as fast as possible. This technique does not need heavy armour as high damage is more essential and any drawn aggro does not usually last very long. This relieves monks alot and also lets the casters continue to cast rather than having to run around avoiding damage.

Aww, then im a bad assassin.... Ill have to work on that, then..

Those who know me know I take an unconventional view on the professions I like. I choose to look at it as thinking out side the box; I don't take things on faith that I read on GW forums and build sheets. This doesn't mean I'm always right... but I never form an opinion without hard work and testing.

I've been playing the assassin since the preview beta where I had every skill bought then.. never got into the ritualist much. So I have spent more time with the assassin than other characters since the arrival of Factions. ...you know where I'm coming from.

First, let me start by saying a agree with some of what everyone has said about the assassin. Of Course, as Arrow has said, it is not a Warrior or Tank. Yes, you should mind your health bar carefully; the assassin has some good health maintenance skills and escape skills when those aren't working well enough. By the way, I have never played a warrior so I feel no need at all to compare the two. Also, as Schmic said, the Assassin should follow the warriors (at least until the aggro). It's after this that I start to deviate from the rapidly forming status quo.

I think that if you spend all your time following the tanks as an assassin you are not doing your job. To my mind the assassins big advantage is that she can hit value targets directly, faster than any other character. The enemy backline are typically the soft anti-casters and monks. Two assassins can devastate an enemy backline and be gone before they know what's happened. In PvE, if we are depending on casters, rather than me playing bodyguard, a job the assassin really is not that suited to, I hit the mesmer fast and then jet back. This does put you out of monk reach occasionally but not usually. On the other hand, if we are warrior heavy and depending on brute force to win, I jet from weakened foe to weakened foe and finish them off quickly, all the time watching for targets the warriors may call.

There are many kinds of assassins. There are assassins interrupters, hex and condition spammers (blood letters, poisoners), and max damage dealers. They are all played differently from each other. Granted they need to see that they are not tanking... but there is room within the diversity of play styles to do this correctly.

I know sometimes it's hard to get in a PUG; there are a blue million assassins out there. Though there is some prejudice out there, not wanting to take more than two assassins into a mission does not equate to assassin bigotry; it just makes sense.

I see great potential in the assassin.. and yes, it's going to take a while for the vast majority to figure the character out. You can bet though that I'm not going to be satisfied with someone else’s memorized assassin builds. I will work up my own builds and compare them to other builds.. and perfect my own play style. Then, if you do happen to have assassin bias and don't want me, it's your loss. :O)

Dawn

Well Dawn your post tells me you are one of the good assassins that actually thinks of it's possibilities. As you said in your post however you have not played a warrior which gives you a distinct advantage over most people who may be used to playing warriors and then try to play the assassin in a similar way.

This comment also distances you from the bad assassins out there as they tend to step in and hit the warrior or ranger and stay there untill the monk runs out of energy then they die

If i actually saw an assassin doing this i would honestly commend them. This is one of the things i would gladly include in a team. I have seen some try similar tactics but they always jump the gun and shadow step in before anyone has drawn any aggro therefor drawing it all on themselves. Needless to say they usually die in 3-10 seconds depending on if anyone can get any healing on them.

One thing i will add is that when i play my MM i do not shy away from having assasins in the group. There is a chance (however slim it may be ) that they will know what they are doing and they will be an asset to the team. If they turn out to be one of the not so great ones i don't mind as they continue to be a great source of minions and energy