Lessons of Assassins

Please add to this topic, for i do not know all about Assassins.

Lesson 1: Combo Attacks
-----------------------------
The Assassin Class has 3 types of attacks linked to daggers: Lead , Off Hand, and Dual.

Lead Attack. Although this is mostly the first attack used, it isnt always. But all Lead attacks will theoretically be successful, whether any secondary benefit is met or not. No Lead attacks HAVE to meet a condition, but they are often better if done so. Lead attacks are just as powerful as Dual attacks, for their affects can help lead to others by other attacks.

Off Hand Attack. This attack is more often performed after a lead attack, although some can be performed after off hand or dual attacks, must hit knocked down or hexed foes, must be enchanted yourself, or may not require anything at all, such as the Palm Strike.

Dual Attack. With the exception of Exhausting Assault that follows a lead attack, all Dual attacks follow an Off Hand Attack. This attack is very devastating in many ways. One is the fact that it is TWO attacks in one. This advantage can counter Ripostes, and makes blocking more hard, being they must block both attacks. If you plan on using a skill that follows this skill, such as Moebius Strike, you are only required to hit with one of the two attacks to proceed.

Failing. Attempting to use a attack without having it's requirement will cause it to "fail". The energy and time will be consumed, but the skill will recharge instantly. Although many people see the negative part of this topic, Failing actually has its ups.
For example: A Mo/W uses Shield Bash as you close in on her. Shield Bash blocks the next attack skill used against them, and if the blocked skill is melee, the performer is knocked down. You can get around this defense by simply failing with a silly attack. Since failed attacks do not hit, the monk cannot "block" it, thus you are not knocked down. Now that his stance is over, you can start your real combo. See how you can prevent some things by failing?

Most attacks are as followed: L -> O -> D (L = lead, O = offhand, D = dual)
Though there are others such as: L -> O -> D -> O -> D
------------------------------------ or: O -> D -> O -> D ... (repeating)
------------------------------------ or: L -> D -> O -> D

Magical Spells that mimic these attacks:

Some skills, in the Deadly Arts category, are spells that are treated as a " Lead Attack or an Off Hand Attack ". The advantage of this is that they will not "miss" or be "blocked". But the down side is that for the best effect, you must use Deadly Arts as another attribute well.

Dividing the Attacks:

If you look, some skills with common names have common effects. Such as "Fox" attacks which cannot be blocked (Nine-Tailed Strike i would count as fox), "Lotus" attacks that if used properly, give you energy, and "Ox" attacks, that cause the foe to be knocked down if conditions are met.

BE FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS OVER THIS LESSON (there might be a lesson 1.2)

can you recommend any elite skills for an assassin? mine is lvl 20 but i havent found any good elite skills

It really depends on the attributes you contribute to, as well as your playing style, if you can tell me those two things, ill try my best to come up with a good one.

I'll list a few that I like and some details just to see if it interests you:

Moebius Strike: 5,A,2 : Dagger Mastery : It is an offhand attack that follows a dual attack. It deals +?? damage and if the attack hits a foe below 50% health, it recharges all of your other attack skills instantly.
This skill is great for an assassin chain because if you use a dual attack, you can make an infinite loop of that combo (hints its named after the Moebius Strip, a figure with 1 side and 1 edge). This infinite loop can help leave some skill room for any defensive skills you need. I often use it along with Death Blossom for alot of burst damage, or an Ox Dual attack for continued knockdowns if foe is < 50% health. Just to give you some ideas

Assassin's Promise: 5, 3/4 , 45 : Deadly Arts : This elite hex is applied to your foe. Although it does nothing while applied, it has a great effect when your foe dies. It lasts ?? seconds, gives you ?? energy and all of your skills are recharged (exception to rez/sunspear rebirth signet). Although the timing can be hard sometimes, this skill is great when you have alot of skills with long recharges. It is really hard to pull off on a healer, but it is usually predictable and effective against others.

I'll say some other good ones later, hope these helped

i rely on shadow arts, dagger mastery and critical strikes mostly
and ty i will wiki and cap these skills

So no Deadly? no problem.

A couple of good Shadow Arts ones are:

Hidden Caltrops : 5,1, 8 : This Hex spell lasts for 20 seconds on target foe, and the next time that foe takes damage while moving while under this hex, or if this hex is removed, then that foe takes 15...63 damage and is crippled for 5...17 seconds.
It is a good tool to use with Iron Palm. It's knockdown effect will trigger regardless. Since foe will be either hexed for 20 seconds or crippled for 5...17 seconds, it gives you plenty of time to use Iron Palm. Also works well with shadowstepping followed by dagger attacks. Hidden Caltrops is one of those skills that teaches the foe not to move. So your attacks will be quick since the foe will either be still or crippled.

and one I would like if i could use it:
Beguiling Haze : 15, 1/4 ,20 : This spell causes you to shadowstep to target foe, and that foe is dazed for 3...8 seconds. This skill is great because it shuts down casters and shadowsteps you at the same time. It also helps trigger Iron Palm. Besides the high energy cost and recharge, this skill inflicts Dazed unconditionally. Then from there, your dagger attacks will interrupt and also deal damage well.

One more you might want to consider if you fight enemies with enchantments:
Assault Enchantments: 5,1/4,2 : This skill must be used after a dual attack, and it removes all enchantments from target foe.
I know you're thinking "you mean i have to do a dual attack before using this?" , but the unthoughtful part of this is that since a part of a chain lasts for i believe 20 seconds, you can spam this skill until it the combo is dropped. Great to take out skills like reversal of fortune and guardian.

Lesson 1.2 : Follow-up skills
--------------------------------
Assassins have plenty of follow-up skills. Attacks following other attacks are what I consider follow-ups, but I will discuss another type, the type without attacks.

Many follow-up skills are simple effects. Many popular ones are Impale (Deadly), Entangling Asp (Deadly), and Assault Enchantments (C. Strikes). These skills will be IN a chain, but will not refresh or apply any new combo effect, like L, O, and D would. I'll make a 6-skill combo.

Dancing Daggers - Entangling Asp - Mantis Touch - Blinding Powder - Signet of Shadows - Signet of Toxic Shock

If i make them relations to L-O-D and condition terms, it would be like:

(treat as L) - (req L) - (req L) (treat as O) - (req O) - (req Blind) - (req Poison)
Combo - Followup - Combo - Followup - Followup - Followup

Any more questions, post me, I will be thinking of the next topic for Lesson 2!