The Assassin Guide Part 3

Posted by : Unknown Aug 15, 2013

Analyzing PvP

One of the Assassin's greatest assets is it's PvP capabilities. Although the strategies are not perfect and still in development, this will give you some heads up on the classes.

Barbarian: Common mistake is believing they can't be hurt. Be sure to have Deaden Nerves up or else they will attempt to One Shot you with Armageddon. This is a very difficult class to defeat for an Assassin. Not only does this class have a lot of HP, but they also have the defense to match it. In order to combat them on even grounds, you must first lower their defense with various Genie skills such as Tangling Mire. Keep them stun locked as long as possible. If all your stuns are in cooldown and the Barb is nowhere near dead, it is a good idea to flee the scene. Rib Strike will also play a major role in this fight.

Blademaster: Common mistake is believing your daggers can't go through Heavy Armor. Tidal Protection for Axe Wielders, Focus Mind the others. A difficult class to defeat, but not impossible. If you can, start the fight at max distance since your max Knife Throw will have an outstanding 35 meters range and keep kiting them until they can no longer be kited. Much like Barbs, you want to lower their physical defense with Tangling Mire, Stun Lock, and be sure to Rib Strike them. Also note that another way to kill them is with Metal Genie Skill named Thunderstorm (Level 7 Fire Based, which makes no sense to me). If you strike them with Power Dash level 10 at level 80 or so, you'll have a good 60% chance of landing a critical hit on top of triple damage if target is on ground and double if you are close to them (1200% Genie Damage on crit). Choose carefully though, a good Tangling Mire genie is STR based and a good Thunderstorm genie is DEX based.

Venomancer: Common mistake is actually WALKING to your target when you should teleport to them right when pet approaches.Don't use your important buffs, such as Tidal Protection, until purged. Under normal circumstances, Venomancers will not be an issue, but the real issue comes from the ones that have Phoenix and Hercules pets. The key to defeating these Venos is to dive underwater. There are several options while you're in the water, one is to knife throw if they're not too far above water, but once they dive into the water, teleport to their side and assault them quickly before they can pull out a water pet. If they refuse to dive in the water, simply knife throw them while several meters underwater to avoid attacks. If the Veno proves to be more powerful than you thought, you can simply hide or use Tide Form to flee the scene. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Clerics: Common mistake is believing only squishy Clerics exist. Tidal Protection is definitely a must in this fight. While Clerics are very squishy, it does not change the fact that they're less squishy than Assassins (especially the Light Armor type) and that they can make Assassins even squishier. If a Cleric catches you off guard, pray that they will not one shot you with Tempest while you're slept. Then the other issue is getting past their Plume Shell, a skill that reduces all physical damage by 80% at the cost of MP, in which case you don't. Your best friend in this fight is the invisibility feature due to Plume Shell and be very sure that you're not near any monsters. The reason why you do not want to be near any monsters or other players while invisible next to a target Cleric is because of their ability called Siren's Kiss (an AoE with a 12m radius <24m diameter> for a level 1 skill). They might attract attention of the monster this way, but killing the Assassin takes priority over killing the monster when it comes to Clerics. Once Plume Shell is over, be sure to keep them stun locked, or they will use that opportunity to seal you before you seal them. Overall, a very tough fight against a veteran Cleric.

Wizard: Common mistake is going invisible while they're casting, should knife throw > teleport > deep sting instead.A favorable fight for the well-prepared Assassin. The key to victory here is landing that first shot to keep them attempting to kite. Do note that they CAN Distance Shrink (aka Teleport) while immobilized, so be sure to have Shadow Jump maxed to keep up with them. Throat Cut, Deep Sting, Knife Throw, Shadow Teleport, and Headhunt will be your best friends in this fight, as they are all means of interrupting casts. Note that most of the Wizard's most powerful skills have a long cast time, so it'll be plenty of time to nail them with Throatcut if you must. Although, if you're going to interrupt them, be sure to interrupt them early and fast, because once they cast Sutra, they'll be casting 2 very painful spells a second.

Archer: Common mistake is believing it'd only take a few hits to kill a prepped archer. Be sure to have Tidal Protection on for this fight. Perhaps one of the easier classes to fight due to the fact that they cannot flee from the Assassin to get into good range. Turn invisible until up close and nail them as hard as you can at close range. Be sure not to let them escape. A genie with immunity to metal damage can make this an impossible fight for an Archer due to the fact that Metal Skills are the only skills that's damage is not influenced by distance. Other than that, they can only do half damage the entire fight in melee range.

Psychic: Common mistake is killing yourself for being impatient.Psychics can potentially be easy targets or Assassin's worst nightmare. While their magic attack is quite powerful, it's not what makes them so dangerous. What makes them dangerous is if they're severely aware of how to raise their Psychic (instead of grinding, they farm for mats to craft; they're slow levelers, but extremely dangerous for their level) and their defensive skills. Their true damage is when you strike AT them. Not only is the reflected damage outrageous, but the stun per hit is rather outrageous as well. Your best friend in this fight is to bleed, deep sting, and headhunt. If you cannot kill them within a few moves, hide and get out of there.

Assassin: Perhaps one of the trickiest fights. There are far too many variables that will change the outcome of this fight, so when it comes down to it, it's really who has the better prepared Genie. One really good Thunderstorm and your fellow Assassin will either fall or be shot out of Deaden Nerves easily. On contrary to popular belief, maxing Sharp Observer will not allow the Assassin of same level to see an Assassin with max Cat-like Thread and a slightly higher stealth skill level. Therefore, MOST evenly matched Assassin matches will end up in a stalemate.

Overview

Overall, Assassin is a deadly class when in the right hands. While it's a fairly popular class, it is definitely not recommended for all. Thank you very much for reading and I'll try to keep this guide up to date as often as possible.

ArkToNE's Combo List

This is for reference for those who are interested in Combos. Keep in mind I have an Assault Focus.

NOTE: "Loop" is actually the "Walk behind Enemy" icon. What it does is start again from that location once the combo ends.

Combo 1: Twin Strike > Slipstream Strike > Twin Strike > Rib Strike > Twin Strike > Slipstream Strike > Twin Strike > Earthen Rift

Combo 2: Knife Throw > Tackling Slash > Twin Strike > Loop > Rib Strike > Slipstream Strike > Earthen Rift > Puncture Wound

Combo 3/4 > Twin Strike > Spark Erupt(+) > Tackling Slash/Rising Dragon Slash > Loop > Rib Strike > Slipstream Strike > Earthen Rift > Puncture Wound

Combo 5: Super Ninja

Knife Throw > Spark Eruption > Shadow Jump

Buff 1: All at once (Re-use once Focused Mind is up and ready)

Chill of the Deep > Bloodpaint > Focused Mind > Wolf Emblem

Endless Double Sparker

This combo set is design for levels 65~70 and up to help maintain double spark status in a prolonged battle.