What do you do so you don't die?

Zuenzu - Sanctuary

So what do you do so you don't just die? I'm only level 20 right now, going with a weird style hybrid build (less vit than hybrid, but more dex =/).

For sure you can't just go up and start attacking, that's pretty much suicide isn't something a real "assassin" would do. What I do is I take a bow and shoot my target from afar while slowing it down with the Genie. When it gets close, I swap to Daggers, Puncture Wound, then Deep Sting to sleep it. I run away, while it takes bleed damage, then Knife Throw as it comes back after it awakes, then Focus Mind (I think that's the name), and finish it off with normal attacks mixed with a Slipstream Strike. I usually only take 3-4 hits total per monster, but those 3-4 hits still do a lot of damage...

I know some people just use powders while straight up attacking it.

Lilanella - Heavens Tear

Zuenzu - Sanctuary wrote: »

So what do you do so you don't just die? I'm only level 20 right now, going with a weird style hybrid build (less vit than hybrid, but more dex =/).

For sure you can't just go up and start attacking, that's pretty much suicide isn't something a real "assassin" would do. What I do is I take a bow and shoot my target from afar while slowing it down with the Genie. When it gets close, I swap to Daggers, Puncture Wound, then Deep Sting to sleep it. I run away, while it takes bleed damage, then Knife Throw as it comes back after it awakes, then Focus Mind (I think that's the name), and finish it off with normal attacks mixed with a Slipstream Strike. I usually only take 3-4 hits total per monster, but those 3-4 hits still do a lot of damage...

I know some people just use powders while straight up attacking it.

2 words. Life Powder. It increases your hp regeneration, and it works amazingly. It only takes level 1 apoth skill and some low herbs, so it's not that hard to make. With that, you really can just go straight up and attack, and even if you do take hits, you get your hp back really quickly. It should help. b:victory

Avye - Lost City

Lilanella - Heavens Tear wrote: »

2 words. Life Powder. It increases your hp regeneration, and it works amazingly. It only takes level 1 apoth skill and some low herbs, so it's not that hard to make. With that, you really can just go straight up and attack, and even if you do take hits, you get your hp back really quickly. It should help. b:victory

This, powders seem like the most effective way. I usually just tank the mob because I'm lazy. Puncture Wound, Deep Sting, then Slipstream as soon as the bleed is over. Then re-bleed, Tackling Slash if it's still not dead. Without powders though, I really take a beating.

Assazou - Sanctuary

Use Life Powders till 40+. Then, you'll start to do BH daily. When that time comes, you will generally always have a Cleric in the party, and will always be Buffed, so you don't need Life Powder anymore.

RADD_RATT - Harshlands

i never used powders. and i was fine. im a hybrid build which is great for lower lvls but im startin to consider restating to pure soon. but the bottom line is youre low lvl. you cant do what assassins are ment to do. you dont have stuns. you dont have ****. life as a sin sucks under lvl 59. its kind of a test. if you give up before then, then you dont deserve what comes after it.

Poniard - Heavens Tear

Bloodpaint works wonders when you get it. I never found it too hard to tank regular mobs, you just have to stun or sleep them as much as possible. It keeps you from taking more damage and if you accidently agro too many mobs, shadow escape will keep you from dying. Not to mention Deaden Nerves... the cooldowns just kinda suck

Crypsis - Lost City

Zuenzu - Sanctuary wrote: »

So what do you do so you don't just die? I'm only level 20 right now, going with a weird style hybrid build (less vit than hybrid, but more dex =/).

For sure you can't just go up and start attacking, that's pretty much suicide isn't something a real "assassin" would do. What I do is I take a bow and shoot my target from afar while slowing it down with the Genie. When it gets close, I swap to Daggers, Puncture Wound, then Deep Sting to sleep it. I run away, while it takes bleed damage, then Knife Throw as it comes back after it awakes, then Focus Mind (I think that's the name), and finish it off with normal attacks mixed with a Slipstream Strike. I usually only take 3-4 hits total per monster, but those 3-4 hits still do a lot of damage...

I know some people just use powders while straight up attacking it.

Before 60+ when i didn't have amazing skills like bloodpaint i used a cleric to avoid death lol.

Had my lap top next to my computer and logged my cleric to fly above me while questing and just spam heal b:chuckle

No clue how i would have managed those lvls without a heal slave. Prolly wasting a lot of genie energy on ToP, hp pots, life powders, charms, running away and meditating b:surrender

LuLu/ - Lost City

I....honestly didn't have many problems. All I did when my life powders ran out was use hp pots and havent been bothered to make LP since. Doesn't really cost a fortune and the monsters will get easier anyway XD

Avye - Lost City

Crypsis - Lost City wrote: »

Before 60+ when i didn't have amazing skills like bloodpaint i used a cleric to avoid death lol.

Had my lap top next to my computer and logged my cleric to fly above me while questing and just spam heal b:chuckle

No clue how i would have managed those lvls without a heal slave. Prolly wasting a lot of genie energy on ToP, hp pots, life powders, charms, running away and meditating b:surrender

That's the hardest part of this...I know it would be so easy to bring my cleric over and heal myself as I fight, but I promised myself I'd do this the way newbies do it b:surrender I only bring my main when I have a boss that she can solo, other than that, I'm making an honest attempt at going it alone.

Directive - Sanctuary

I have no trouble fighting melee mobs while using Life Powder, however, ranged mobs still give me trouble. My main is an archer so I have very little experience chasing after mobs. I know that at lvl 29, Tackling Slash immobilizes the target. Until then, does anyone have any advice on fighting ranged mobs?

Avye - Lost City

Directive - Sanctuary wrote: »

I have no trouble fighting melee mobs while using Life Powder, however, ranged mobs still give me trouble. My main is an archer so I have very little experience chasing after mobs. I know that at lvl 29, Tackling Slash immobilizes the target. Until then, does anyone have any advice on fighting ranged mobs?

What I did was Puncture Wound, then Deep Sting to sleep the mob, then do nothing for a bit. It will keep taking damage in sleep. Right before the cooldown of Puncture Wound runs down, use Slipstream. That way, you get all of those hits in before the mob wakes up, and then wake it up yourself so you don't have to chase it to get in another hit after it wakes up.

Directive - Sanctuary

Avye - Lost City wrote: »

What I did was Puncture Wound, then Deep Sting to sleep the mob, then do nothing for a bit. It will keep taking damage in sleep. Right before the cooldown of Puncture Wound runs down, use Slipstream. That way, you get all of those hits in before the mob wakes up, and then wake it up yourself so you don't have to chase it to get in another hit after it wakes up.

Oooh thank you *tries combo on Quillhog Magus* b:victory

On another note, I've also found the genie skill Second Wind to be a good life saver as well; at lvl 1 it instantly heals 170 hp.

Avye - Lost City

Directive - Sanctuary wrote: »

Oooh thank you *tries combo on Quillhog Magus* b:victory

On another note, I've also found the genie skill Second Wind to be a good life saver as well; at lvl 1 it instantly heals 170 hp.

Yeah, Second Wind is pretty sweet. I have the affinities distributed for it, but I keep forgetting to get it when I'm in town b:chuckle I need a good genie for this character though....1/10 so far u_u

Zuenzu - Sanctuary

I tried out the Life Powder, and wow, they're amazing O_O! Sure, I have to use Condensed Heal Pots sometimes, but not as often and I'm never really in danger of being killed. I'm getting Second Wind as soon as possible now.

Avye - Lost City

I get annoyed because then I have to use mana pots b:surrender But oh well, can't have it all. b:chuckle

Tapion_ - Dreamweaver

Life Powder and Second Wind.

XEnchantorX - Sanctuary

yah its called getting a physic or any other mag class ta help u lolb:laughb:laugh

Camerlengo - Dreamweaver

At your level I just used pots.

My grind combo was puncture wound>deep sting>slipstream>normal attack till dead.

I was able to kill 4-6 mobs that way without having to meditate (I meditate when it would take 2+ pots to get to full health/mana)

Also, try and seek out Weak and Sacrificial Assault mobs- while avoiding Increased Life and Increased Defense ones.

Directive - Sanctuary

Avye - Lost City wrote: »

I get annoyed because then I have to use mana pots b:surrender But oh well, can't have it all. b:chuckle

I also find the lack of MP a little annoying. There is a solution: the MP version of Life Powder is Focus Powder, available at lvl 30 with a lvl 2 Apothecary Skill.

StretchIt - Harshlands

charms are worth the price they come at when you're an assassin. my gold charm was equiped at lvl 25 and lasted me till lvl 58. b:chuckle

Zuenzu - Sanctuary

StretchIt - Harshlands wrote: »

charms are worth the price they come at when you're an assassin. my gold charm was equiped at lvl 25 and lasted me till lvl 58. b:chuckle

Wow.... To bad I'm a noob so I wont be getting one of those...

Rawyne - Sanctuary

Up until you get Tackling slash and shadow jump, you're going to take a bit of a beating period. Once you have those the routine is pretty simple:

Tackling Slash>Puncture Wound>Slipstream Strike>Norma attacks

TS can hit farther than melee range (check description, it's 4.5 meters) which means that Puncture wound can also hit the mob (it's farther than melee too) before that mob can start to return any damage.

Ranged mobs are similar, except shadow jump in and start with Tackling slash. You jump inside their half-damage line, then hold them their while you beat away.

On top of life powders and mp pots, getting hit less also helps you live longer. Try it.

Mycerinus - Harshlands

Rawyne - Sanctuary wrote: »

Up until you get Tackling slash and shadow jump, you're going to take a bit of a beating period. Once you have those the routine is pretty simple:

Tackling Slash>Puncture Wound>Slipstream Strike>Norma attacks

TS can hit farther than melee range (check description, it's 4.5 meters) which means that Puncture wound can also hit the mob (it's farther than melee too) before that mob can start to return any damage.

Ranged mobs are similar, except shadow jump in and start with Tackling slash. You jump inside their half-damage line, then hold them their while you beat away.

On top of life powders and mp pots, getting hit less also helps you live longer. Try it.

for some reason my tackling slash has a longer range than puncture wound o.o

Avye - Lost City

Rawyne - Sanctuary wrote: »

Up until you get Tackling slash and shadow jump, you're going to take a bit of a beating period. Once you have those the routine is pretty simple:

Tackling Slash>Puncture Wound>Slipstream Strike>Norma attacks

TS can hit farther than melee range (check description, it's 4.5 meters) which means that Puncture wound can also hit the mob (it's farther than melee too) before that mob can start to return any damage.

Ranged mobs are similar, except shadow jump in and start with Tackling slash. You jump inside their half-damage line, then hold them their while you beat away.

On top of life powders and mp pots, getting hit less also helps you live longer. Try it.

For some reason, it never occurred to me to use Shadow Jump in PvE to get near before they can hit you...definitely adding that to my combo, thanks b:victory

Thinkalot - Dreamweaver

Here's a tip for ya :

- get your Gen.Sumers longbow from supply stash (lvl 50 i think).
- do some quests against those pesky ranged mobs that run away.
- use your chi skill , switch to bow (you'll notice the increase in Patk in charscreen)
- use single spark burst
- pick off those mobs withouth the need to run after them.
- rince & repeat.

You can already start using a bow for those kind of critters at lower lvls oc.

"Bows aren't meant for sins". Yey yeh, blah blah... , Fact is, i'd rather pick off those ranged mobs with my bow then run after them all the time. It costs me a bit more hp pots (less with life powders), but i don't use any mp.

If they're regular melee mobs, you can still use your skills in whatever combo to get the job done.

Tip : don't wanna die ? get a charm.

RADD_RATT - Harshlands

Thinkalot - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Here's a tip for ya :

- get your Gen.Sumers longbow from supply stash (lvl 50 i think).
- do some quests against those pesky ranged mobs that run away.
- use your chi skill , switch to bow (you'll notice the increase in Patk in charscreen)
- use single spark burst
- pick off those mobs withouth the need to run after them.
- rince & repeat.

You can already start using a bow for those kind of critters at lower lvls oc.

"Bows aren't meant for sins". Yey yeh, blah blah... , Fact is, i'd rather pick off those ranged mobs with my bow then run after them all the time. It costs me a bit more hp pots (less with life powders), but i don't use any mp.

If they're regular melee mobs, you can still use your skills in whatever combo to get the job done.

Tip : don't wanna die ? get a charm.

have fun with that.

Trawne - Lost City

RADD_RATT - Harshlands wrote: »

have fun with that.

it's not entirely bad....well the way he stated it is. i kept the level 4x quest bow for my guy(sin is 63 atm). if a mob has weak or sac assault status (mostly this one) and is melee, i'll knife throw swap to bow for 2 hits and watch it die.

it's pointless to use on ranged mobs. just TS and swing away. standing at range is just dumb.

Xelthion - Harshlands

Thinkalot - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Here's a tip for ya :

- get your Gen.Sumers longbow from supply stash (lvl 50 i think).
- do some quests against those pesky ranged mobs that run away.
- use your chi skill , switch to bow (you'll notice the increase in Patk in charscreen)
- use single spark burst
- pick off those mobs withouth the need to run after them.
- rince & repeat.

You can already start using a bow for those kind of critters at lower lvls oc.

"Bows aren't meant for sins". Yey yeh, blah blah... , Fact is, i'd rather pick off those ranged mobs with my bow then run after them all the time. It costs me a bit more hp pots (less with life powders), but i don't use any mp.

If they're regular melee mobs, you can still use your skills in whatever combo to get the job done.

Tip : don't wanna die ? get a charm.

Tip: how about you just get your gen summer dagger, run up to a mob in stealth, spark and swing away with bloodsuck up? the 2 seconds you spend in stealth will barely use any mp.. ijs

Highestelf - Heavens Tear

I was just seeking pointers on my build and adds to keep same level psychic from stealing aggro.

I am astounded by so many complaints of Death from Assassins.

My main is pure mag cleric and I also have bm - I can honestly say that my assassin doesnt die anymore than my bm ever did at his levels! And a hella lot less than my elf ever did! (But then again, I did put LA on my bm on occasion when the stats on a piece of gear apealed to me)

I had no clue what the "appropriate" point distribution was s'posed to be on assassin when I started that toon - I just looked at future weapon upgrades I anticipated and leveled my STR and DEX appropriately, everything else went to VIT!

I never bother with stones in gear before level 50 because I replace my gear so often. I look for bargains for gear upgrades from AH and Catshop with stones and refines already done.

It wasn't until I started reading Build advice that I understood the necesity for ALL DEX (aside from obvious gear req's) that I stopped adding to STR and VIT.

Take from this what you will - but Increased life and Increased Def mobs "I LOVE" and seek out for extra exp. I don't run from any mobs and I also luv attempting my own bosses, and killing the elites, with the help of my same level Psychic partner.

I couldn't do the Heavens wear quest at 49(lvl51 mobs) solo on my elf at lvl49 - but I had a blast doing them at 49 on my ****.

Bottom line? HP(Vit and Citrines) do help, dont let anyone tell you different. And having the best possible gear you can get is a must.

The way I see it - the challenge to sort out is whether to believe others that state no VIT points are necessary on Assassin - ONLY DEX! They will explain that the miniscule HP is justified by benefits of max EXP. Sorry, I'm finding higher hp than pure DEX build to be key in survivability. Sure, I may need to hit the mob an extra time or 2 due to less DEX but so what, I'm stuning that bad boy and he aint hurting me much!

I use range attack to pull him in then stun immediately - the rest is history.

Whatever you do, and direction you decide - remember you play for fun, so listen to all perspectives you can - look for common thoughts and then do your own thing taking all those ideas into concideration!

Remember, there will always be critics to ridicule whatever you do, some peeps just "have to be right!" And those peeps want everyone else to know how right they are! LMAO

Juat have FUN damn it!

Ophida - Dreamweaver

Personally I use a lot of health pots on my assassin. I also tend to team up with a friend who plays a psy, who pretty much heals me after every kill. The Apo pots are also really useful if you're cheap. Faster hp recovery = less down time meditating.

SpiderBait_x - Lost City

This isnt in reply to any specific post or question but i thought it might be useful for som ppl out there..

this mainly wud concern ppl from lvl 29 plus considering the skill i mention..

Basiclly.. Tackling slash.. regardless of if the mob is gonna try kite me or not this is a god send.. i mean i cant use my chi fast enough.. i near spark on everymob i kill..
Thnx to shadow escape i always hav a spark to start with.. then i tacklin slash > Spark > normal hit mob.. they are dead in second and thnx to the 50 bonus of skill plus the chi from normal hit i almost always hav a spark again straight away and just repeat.. i kill all mobs my lvl with ease and only get hit like 2 or 3 times..