Feedback talk:User/Raine Valen/Skill suggestions/Assassin

A quick foreword:
A typical Assassin scenario should look something like one of the following:

Trap & Camp Approach

 * An Assassin splits off under a masking effect like Heart of Shadow.
 * While masked, the Assassin should drop one or two traps in strategic locations and then proceed to camp near those locations, possibly while ganking NPCs in the process.
 * When a trap triggers, the Assassin should be near enough to spike the foe in question.

Target Hunting

 * A sin splits off using a strong movement skill like Shadow Walk.
 * When confronted by a typical split target, like a Ranger, the Assassin uses skills like Shroud of Distress to allow them to close into melee range (while avoiding snares and minimizing damage taken), while being careful to conserve enough energy to initiate their spike.
 * When in range, the Assassin should use a conditional knockdown skill, like Horns of the Ox or Counterattack to begin their spike.

2: The Spike:

 * The Assassin should use an energy-based opening attack like Falling Spider to gain energy for a low-adrenaline attack,
 * Followed by a low-adrenaline attack like Death Blossom,
 * And so on and so forth until they have built adrenaline for a high-adrenaline spike finisher like Blades of Steel.
 * A normal assassin combo should deal 220-300 direct damage against a 60-AL target over a series of 4 attacks, not including Deep Wound, and at a much lower frequency than a Warrior spike.
 * This makes Warriors preferable to Assassins except in small skirmishes, where spike frequency is much less important. At the same time, it leaves Assassins at the top of their niche away from stand.
 * At some point, the spike target should become afflicted with a source of degeneration, like Bleeding or Poison, so that the Assassin can continue to deal damage without being engaged with a target.
 * Additionally, the assassin may choose to accelerate the degeneration process, via something like Enduring Toxin, to increase their chances of scoring a kill before the target can be assisted or relieve themself.

The Retreat:

 * Because Assassins do not have strong, enduring defensive skills or strong off-spike damage, they should lose a battle of pressure if confronted head-on by, say, a Warrior.
 * Instead of sticking around to slowly get killed, an Assassin should make themself scarce after a spike on a target, using something like Shadow Refuge to create the distance they need for a full-on mask like Heart of Shadow.

I hope this makes the profession's intended niche clearer. Please consider any proposed changes with this in mind. &mdash; Raine Valen    1:44, 24 Aug 2010 (UTC)

Never going to happen
The last update says enough of what Anet knows about their own damn game. They know some shit is broken, but have no clue what exactly is broken and why. Your and Tounaku's efforts are not going to be read, especially not one of this magnitude, since it would require some incompetent balancing team (like, is it even more than 1 person?) to incorporate it while making sure not to break things.  Koda   Kumi  21:37, 13 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I once read about a woman who prayed, though she'd long since stopped believing that God was listening. However, she continued to pray if for no other reason than that, if it ever came up, she'd have a longer list of grievances against said God.
 * Anet can either answer this "prayer" or they can not, but they'll never be able to look anyone in the eye and say, "We tried, but we just didn't know how to fix it". Any time they say, "It's too hard", I can call bullshit.  Every proposed skill change is a removed excuse, at worst, and a step in the right direction, at best.  &mdash;  Raine Valen  [[Image:User_Raine_R.gif|19px]]  21:43, 13 Nov 2010 (UTC)
 * Every person who stops praying and starts thinking is one person you can rely on. You cannot rely on Anet's live team because they are praying to keep their jobs. If you want to get shit done, your best action would be to move the above explanation out of the talk page, and into the main tab so they actually see what you are doing.  Koda  [[Image:User_Koda_Kumi_UT.jpeg‎|19px]]  Kumi  22:05, 13 November 2010 (UTC)