(Standard, average introduction here) Hey, been reading the forums for a few weeks and used it as a info site, very well done overall, kudos.

I actually played the game last summer but stopped playing, then recently when Factions came out I couldn't ressist but to give it another try (Glad I did), seen alot of great things and feel that the expansion really improves on the end game content along with providing new stuff for beginners - storylines never hurt either

Now the real question: One thing has been bothering me a bit lately though, Assassins. Is it just me or do they seem semi-worthless? I don't hate the class and think it's a good addition in terms of story, look, and overall coolness of having a "ninja" class (), but everytime I'm in a PUG for a PvE Mission they just feel like energy sinks (Now would be a good time to say that I play a Monk, right?) and overall don't seem to give anything back - or am I just being unlucky with the groups I join, or just not noticing? Could anyone enlighten me on this?

PS: Please don't take this as a flame, I'm just looking for opinions.
PPS: I can see how PUGs, would of course lessen the overall quality of the players, but I'd say I've grouped enough, that at least one of the Assassins would have had to be "Good".

Thanks in advance

I play an assassin, and i get your point.

Assassins die VERY fast, but, they kill with equal speed (If not faster).
You see, the thing is, the ussual combat for me is like:

I Dash in, (To give casters less time) then throw out a combo of up to 5 different attacs, the enemy dies.. And this is were i run out of energy..

THATS when assassins die. When they cant kill.. So i guess they are most suited at taking down lone targets!

I do see, it must be a frustration for monks, but you could ask for the assassins in your group to take some deffensive skills (If not to much against their build) In particullar, ask for : Deaths Charge (Health+teleport) And Shadow refuge (+5 regen for a short amount of time)

Hope that helps..

Check out what assassins did in WI to bring their recent upset victory again EviL. It's instructive and there are two really good articles on this match at the Guildwars home page match reports.

Also check out the match report on War Machine Vs We Still Pwn Charr.
My favorite moment in this match:

"WM's Assassins caused numerous headaches for Char as they frequently targeted the Flag Runner. At 7:00, both Assassins teleported to a bodyguard with Aura of Displacement, spiked it, and retreated. The Bodyguard fell due to poisoning and bleeding conditions."


Dawn

Well, I had some kind of idea that the Assassin would be in its true enviroment in PvP (Personally don't PvP alot - yet ), acting as spikes and general caster killers (Among other things of course ), but I was more thinking PvE where the rules change a bit.

I'll give you an example, I was doing one of the Faction "grind" challenge missions the other day and get into this group with a Assassin, everything seems to be going okay - except she seems to run into trouble everytime we go at a boss, her becomming their primary target, this quickly turns into a problem when the big yellow glowing guy with a maul that's larger than yourself desides to nearly two shot the Assassin - suffice to say I kept Protective Spirit on her for the remaining of the mission

That's my real concern, it seems they'll come in, standing next to the Warrior/Tank, get aggro for who knows what reason, and will lack the armor/skills to survive - unless they get spammed insane amounts of healing, which may not be possible in tight situations, making you think if it haden't been better to take a less frontline approach for damage with something like a Ranger, Elementalist or Necro.

I'd take an assassin in PvE, but I doubt I'd take one into a serious PvP. Sure they're good anti casters, unless you get an antimelee, e-denial or hex caster in which case they're worse than a warrior. They are also very stable in 1v1, 2v2 duals, but get into a large battle and their weak armor doesnt suit them very well.

Assassins are only useful for very quick spiking attacks. Rush in do as much damage as possible (4 or 5 attacks) and then rush straight back out again and recharge. Repeat.

The main problem is there's a hell of a lot of people at the moment who think "ooooooo i can do a lot of melee damage, I must be a tank" and they rush in and stay there until they die. This is mostly why they are not liked in PvE missions. When people learn who to use the Assassin properly then they'll be wanted.

I also play an Assassin and have to say that at first, I didn't like it. It felt like I couldn't do anything without dieing. Sometimes the groups would spike me so fast that I couldn't even make it to them before I would die.

I rarely play in PUG's because I feel that henchmen are much better at following directions than real players are, but that's just personal preference. I've found the use of a couple of skills from the Warrior line that allow me to be a "pseudo-tank". I use Flurry and "Watch Yourself". Using Flurry with Critical Eye, you do less damage, but you do it more often. With the increased attack speed of Flurry and the energy management of Critical Eye, I rarely run out of energy. Also, Flurry recharges "Watch Yourself" quite quickly.

When I'm getting ready to enter into my next battle, I get close to the monster group and call the target that I want to attack. The difference between me and most other people is that I stop at this point. I let the henchmen move forward and take the agg, then follow a couple of seconds later. This allows me more time to get in and do some damage without being the focus of attack.

One last thought:
Assassins are the new Ranger. Does anyone remember when Prophecies was originally released. People NEVER wanted a ranger in their group for several reasons....paper armor....low damage....worthless pets...etc. Now it seems like any group you get in has at least one Ranger in it. Most of the problems with new Rangers are the same as the ones we are now experiencing with the Assassins. People just don't know how to play them yet. You will have a hard time finding a good Assassin until people start posting builds for them. People, in general, are lazy and don't want to take the time to figure out how to make a good character based on what they're comfortable with. They only care about the build. Until players start concentrating on figureing it out for themselves, PUG's will be very difficult to play in. By the way, don't forget to blame your Monk for not healing you when you Shadow Step away from them and you die

Ok, well I figured I'd post, because my main Char is now an Assassin. That's all I play.

I have noticed MANY people who HATE, and I mean HATE with a passion the Assassins. Most are Monks. They refuse on ever level to let an Assassin into their group. And I can understand why.

People who chose to use the Assassin, need to realize that they are NOT Tanks. They cannot sit there and take damage. Anyone who thinks that an Assassin is a tank or TRIES to Tank with one, shouldn't be using it. They should stick to their Warriors, because most of the people who USE Assassins are people who migrated from a Warrior.

An Assassin is a damage dealer. In one melee combo I can do sufficient enough damage to severely hurt the foe. They are also a shadow stepper. Let me repeat this, S H A D O W S T E P P E R. This means they are to shadow step into combat, release skills and shadow step back out when
1) they are out of energy
2) their hp is getting low (aka they are being targeted and hit)

This is the BASIS for an Assassin. You do your damage and then get out. You don't sit there and DEPEND on the healer. I hate how people refuse to bring a self-heal because they have a Monk. A Monk is there to help you with healing, not be your own personal healer. Just because you have a Monk doesn't mean that you don't need to bring a heal. Play like you didn't have a monk there, and believe me you'd do a HELL of a lot better. And Monks would thank you for this too, because they wouldn't have to drink 4 cups of coffee and sit there staring at your little red bar, as it yo-yo's up and down. And don't critisize a Monk for dying. If you die, it's your own damn fault for
1) not getting the hell out when you were dying.
2) not bringing your own self-heal.
3) being stupid and depending on the monk for all your regeneration needs.

Anyway, I don't know if this is more of a guide on an Assassin or a personal rant. Either way, what I want people to realize is that if a person plays an Assassin how they should, then there shouldn't really be any problems with the class. Assassins should either warp in, do dmg and when they are dying or low on energy run out (or warp out depending on skills). DO NOT sit there and tank it. DO NOT bring ANY tanking skills. They are worthless for an Assassin. I hope that people start to realize this and play an Assassin how it should be. There are NUMEROUS people out there that are giving Assassins' a bad name. Let's try to cure this.

P.S- Good Shadow Stepping skills are as follows(numbered in order of use and overall rating/personal preference):

1. Aura of Displacement
2. Return
3. Recall
4. Shadow of Haste
5. Side Note: If you chose not to bring the AoD Elite, Temple Strike is a nice Elite, as it Dazes + Blinds. I prefer shadow steps which bring you BACK, not warp you in (if they do both its best).

I encourage people to Cap AoD, as it's extremely nice. The only problem is that it is an Enchantment Spell which means that as long as you have it activated, you have -1energy degen. To counter this I suggest a Zealous mod, even though when you've got both you'll only be getting +2energy regen, the attack speed is fast, making it not TOO large of a deal.

BTW: I try to use very low energy skills with quick recharge. With my skill set I can usually get off 2-3 combos before I am out of energy. Even then it recharges quickly with the Zealous mod. If anyone would like to know my builds, let me know...Obviously this is PvE only..Hope some if not all of this post helps...

I'm playing an A/R now and i'm finding that she really has 2 good uses. One is to help pull and the other is to help keep the casters alive. I've been thanked many times for doing both. The biggest thing that I have found is they are not a tank by any means and work better (for me at least) as a support chr.

I've also got an assassin, and when I was doing a mission recently I came across a pair of Zealous dagger tangs (not sure if it really was tangs but you know what I mean) and now whenever I'm in a fight I never run out of energy, just by making sure that my attacks altogether cost 25 energy points.

Also I was thinking making my assassin into a A/W and using flurry/frenzy to get even more energy back.

I don't think assassins are usless.

(Edit: just read Arrows post and agree on using low costing skills and the need of a zealous mod...)