4 aps sage claw sin

Mauntille - Heavens Tear wrote: »

If all you want is a clawcher with the ability to self bloodpaint, then what you've got is fine.

But, just a high APS isn't what makes sins (especially sage) good at tanking and solo'ing, so don't expect to do much more than you're doing on your archer. In all honesty, you really are better off making a BM to do your farming and maybe raising up a sin as a buff bot.

As for getting into Nirvana squads, I can't speak for Raging Tides, but I refuse to take a clawsin to Nirvana. The best squads are formed from people you know anyway, so you shouldn't buy into the "4/5 APS im so pr0" garbage that's on world chat. I'm currently at 2.86 APS with R8 daggers and I have no problem getting a Nirvana squad when I want one.

So if APS and paint is all you care about, grats, you've got another mindless APS toon. Just keep in mind that it'll mean you're effectively a gilled-BM that doesn't know about HF.

Mauntille - Heavens Tear wrote: »

There's a few things that help sins tank. Since I'm sage, I'll be commenting with that slant. Demons have their advantages as well, I'm just not as familiar with them, so I'll let others speak on that part.

While technically you can switch back and forth between claws and daggers for dps and skill use respectively, it isn't something that I would recommend. I'm sure there are a few people that pull it off, but most that I see just end up being an afk [Walk-behind] [attack] [3rd spark] toon. While most bosses go down before the Passive buffs are up, longer fights and purges require you to recast. Staying with pure daggers gives you one less thing to deal with during a complex fight.

A good assassin will combine both skills and APS to maximize their effectiveness. You should be shooting for:

Spark -> Active Skill (see below) -> APS until spark is about to wear off -> chi skill as needed -> repeat



Passive (applicable to both claw and dagger)

Focused Mind: At level 10, there's a 25% chance that the damage received from an incoming attack is reduced to 1. As you mentioned going through FF, this is essential if you want to survive large pulls. My gear isn't complete yet, but even with my below-par HP and p.def, I can any and all of the phys hallways because of that skill. For the big room, I'm still pulling half and half if I'm truely soloing. I don't have quite the DPH to tackle them all at once on my own, but I can pull and tank them largely because of Focused Mind.

Tidal Protection: 50% chance to evade a negative status effect (66% if sage). This is a Godsend for soloing and difficult bosses. Essentially, 2 in every 3 stuns, seals, and debuffs miss while this is active. For FF, this applies to Shocktrooper, anything involving Dragoons, the Bishop Boss, Fragrance, the Nix, and both Holeens. In TT, I generally use it on the GBA boss and a fair amount in 3-2 and 3-3.

Bloodpaint: Self explanatory.

Deaden Nerves: Also self explanatory.

(Sage) Wolf Emblem: If you're dead set on using claws, the Sage version is the only one that's practical to consider as it lasts for 30 minutes (as opposed to 30 seconds). This increases the damage dealt on critical hits by 220% as opposed to the normal 200%. Sins, like Archers, are known for their high crit rate, so it's a sizable increase in damage output.



Passive (applicable to daggers only)

Dagger Devotion: Self explanatory.


A quick precursor- some of these skills require some chi. It takes some practice and focus (heaven forbid you actually have to pay attention!), but it's possible to stay permasparked and buff/debuff. Grab a genie and stick Cloud Eruption on it if you're having trouble or really want to go all out.



Active Skills - Buffs

Power Dash: Increase your crit rate by 40% (50% if sage). How does Sage spark with an 89% crit rate at 2.86 APS sound to you?

Sage Raving Slash: Gives you the frenzy buff. While this isn't as useful when tanking, it's nice to throw it on during a spark. I like it when cutting through smaller bosses in TT to get to the (harder) cash bosses. In Nirvana, if you aren't tanking, it's a great asset.

Sage Slipstream Strike: Chance at an APS boost. I'm not sure if I've just had better luck with it than others, but it seems to proc more than the advertised 30% for me.

Maze Steps: 10 (or 12 if Sage) seconds of immunity to movement debuffs. Basically, it's an extra almost-vacuity for trickier bosses.

Sage Shadow Escape: Self purify and gain one spark. As long as you're fighting something that's above your stealth level (meaning [?] at endgame), this can be used to clear debuffs on bosses like Fragrance, GBA. Otherwise, it's a free spark if all of your other spark gaining skills happen to be on cooldown.



Active Skills - Debuffs

Subsea Strike: This one isn't as useful for soloing single targets due to the 2 spark cost, but if you're in a squad with strong DDs, this will increase everyone's damage. It's the same concept as a BM choosing whether to 3rd spark, use HF, or both.

Ribstrike: This is a damage mitigator and not a damage increase. Basically, make the boss hit less. It only lasts for 30 seconds, so it needs to be reapplied every other spark, but definitely worth the seconds spent channel/casting it. The Sage version is nice to open on bosses for the STA effect, but it's moot point if you're also considering Deicides. Plus the add is useless after the initial proc. In the long run, the Demon version has the advantage.


This isn't by any means an exhaustive list of skills, nor even an exhaustive list of useful skills, but these are the ones that I've found most relevant to tanking and Nirvana. APS/DPS is only half the story. Survivability and DHP have to be considered as well.