Intro

A little bit about myself. I'm currently 72-11 in ranked, sitting at 1956 rating. I've played since early January (don't quote me on this) and am valor 90 (just to show I have a decent amount of experience). I've dedicated a lot of time since I hit level 10 to learning how Assassins work, all three specs, in and out, reading forums constantly and experimenting whenever I can. I leveled in deception up to 30, then respecced to madness. I PvPed as madness for 6 weeks after turning 50, then respecced deception for 2 weeks, and respecced to darkness with a short 3 week stint as "Arika" hybrid. I have full augmented war hero and the spec I'm using right now (and for the majority of the time since 1.3 came out) is 23/1/17. But that''s enough about me...onto the guide!

Competitive Ranked Warzones and You

1.3 has brought a lot of changes to the Assassin. It was a hard hit to us in our tanking department and an indirect nerf to our burst tree. Those are the facts; but despite their best efforts, we're still the mufuggin double-bladed glowstick running big boys. In all seriousness, 1.3 has brought a whole new meaning to PvP in the form of ranked 8 man premades...and that is TEAM PLAY. Every spec in this game (I use the term every very loosely) brings something to the game. While most classes are specialized into one specific role or niche, the Assassin has and always will be a "jack-of-all-trades". We don't tank as well as Juggernauts and we don't deeps as hard as marauders, but we bring something to the team that no class can equal us in: utility and versatility. Taunts, huge amounts of CC, guards, force shroud, force speed, force pull, force lovin'...we have it all (almost...how about that force leap Bioware? ) We fulfill 5 niches in a team comp, each of which will be explained in depth. But before that, I have to address an all-too-common question on this forum: Daddy, which spec do I have to be to win in PvP?

Specs

Here, I'm going to list the 4 specs that fulfill the 5 roles that I talked about earlier...

31/0/10

Full tank. Run with Shield generator.

Peeler- Your job is to give your healser some good lovin'. Stick to them like glue (always, ALWAYS, within 15 meters), and make the life of the DPS attacking him living hell. Call out your CCs, tell him when he's safe to cast, peel peel peel. Save spike for uninterruptible big hitters like ravage/master strike, rail shot, and 3x harnessed force lightning/pebble throw. Use overload in sync with their big escape. Stun and pull as necessary.

Solo Objective Guarder- Turn on the setting for auto target closest enemy, sit in stealth, and spam mind trap in case there's a pesky stealthy around you somewhere. Always call out if you get sapped in case there's two stealthies.

23/1/17

This spec screams utility. Run with all DPS gear and focus, priortize power and surge.

Peeler- This spec does what the 31/0/10 spec does in peeling but focuses more on burning DPS down rather than being a pain in the ***. A DPS who's focused on a healer is the most vulnerable thing in the game, as they're usually watching healers' cast bars and health bars. Use CCs the same way as mentioned above. One thing to mention is that you're not as durable as 31/0/10 so you need to watch your health bar when guarding a focused healer, as depending on how hard he's getting focused, you can drop if not paying attention. If you're getting too low, call it out and take off your guard (best to tell another tank to pick it up until you can guard again).

Fray Fighter- This spec has strong burst in the form of shock, death field, maul, thrash, and assassinate. It's CC is unrivaled by any spec in the game. Your whirlwind should almost always be on cooldown. Coordinate focus with your other DPS. Whirlwind priorities go to healers healing your focus (who should also be a healer), then tanks/dps trying to peel you off. Call out whirlwind at least 2 seconds before using it so whoevers on the target can switch to yours to avoid breaking it.

Ninja- If you guys haven't noticed already, instant whirlwind gives me a hard-on, for this role ESPECIALLY. It has won my team extremely clutch victories by itself. Something this spec is very potent at is solo capping objectives. In a heavily contested, tied Civil War or Voidstar, many teams will send 7 to the point of contest and leave 1 tank to defend. Head over to it, get in position to cap from stealth, and from there do one of two things. If their CC breaker is up (which you should assume unless otherwise verified by a teammate or yourself), fake a fight by opening with stun, and once they pop it whirlwind them, and IMMEDIATELY start capping. There will be a .25-.5 second window where they'll be able to stop the cap, but if executed right, latency will be able to cover you on that. Make sure to tell your team when you're doing this so you can be sure the other team doesn't send someone else to stop you while you're capping.

0/13/28

Our strongest full DPS spec. It brings consistency in that it has no required setup for its burst and is very unpredictable. You will need a lot of protection (if you have an extra guard on your team, make sure to ask for it) but if kept up, you will hit like a truck. It still retains decent utility in the form of instant whirlwind (plz dont nerf bioware) and taunts, which should be spammed on cooldown everytime regardless of spec.

Priority Burst- This role utilizes the spec's advantages to the fullest. It retains some of the qualities of a 23/1/17 fray fighter, such as the ability to whirlwind a healer focusing your focus and stop long range caps with death field, but plays like a burst would. It's capable of bringing down an unguarded healer by itself. You can focus the same targets as the fray fighters or switch to an unattended healer and make their life hell (if whirlwind is down this is a preferable option to focus firing since the team focus should have 2-3 dps already on them).

Ninja- See 23/1/17 ninja.

7/3/31

The madder, angrier version of Madness sorcerers. In all honesty, we're inferior to sorcerers in the madness department. Anything we can do in damage, they can do from 30m away. However, that's not to say it's not viable. We still bring strong utility here with whirlwind, creeping terror, and did I mention...TAUNTS TAUNTS TAUNTS. And madness Assassins get a viable form of burst as opposed to madness sorcs who just run around dotting everything in sight. Onto business...

Support DPS- This is what madness, regardless of AC, does best. Dots, dots, dots. Now, there are varied opinions on exactly how to maximize your support for your team. Here's my take. Wait in stealth until an initiator (maras/pyros/fraytankasins) finds the target and starts beating on them. Look for the tank guarding them, and aim your death field to hit both the tank and the DPS. Once that happens, pop discharge on both the healer and the tank, creeping terror as appropriate, and refresh the dots as necessary. Whirlwind any healer that gets in the way of this. This will burn the guarder down. Death fields will hit him for 150% damage (100% on him, 50% from guard), he'll take 150% damage from discharge, and then 50% of whatever the healer takes. If executed properly, he'll die before the healer does or be forced to drop his guard. Everything else is fairly simple, just use taunts on cooldown, refresh dots as necessary on priority targets, raze crushing darkness and whirlwind as much as you can. Your burst comes in the form of maul, assassinate, thrash, shock, and crushing darkness to an extent.

But Daddy, What About Deception!?

If anyone recognizes me from these forums, it's most likely my avid dislike to the deception spec. Many will call me and similar people "elitists" and "people who don't understand how to play it". I played this spec extensively, and I want to love it. But it's simply not viable in any situation for ranked. It's fun by all means, and great to play in regular warzones. But this is a guide on competitive ranked warzones, and I will give my input accordingly. I'm not an elitist, simply a realist. As a frequent peeler, I can tell you first hand that shutting down a deception assassin is ridiculously simple. They are a one-trick pony, and once you shut down their initial burst, they're incapable of anything significant for another 75 seconds. Anything they can do, a 23/1/17 or 0/13/28 can do much, much better. Any team that runs a deception assassin is unfortunately gimping themselves. I understand that people love this spec to death, and I do as well since it's an ideal image of an Assassin, but it's simply not viable in large-scale ranked PvP. It's tuned for small-scale (think 2v2 or 3v3 arena in WoW) but even there it's inherently flawed beyond ignoring. And sadly, it's going to stay that way until Bioware decides to buff it.

General Things You Should Know and Do

1. Communication. In ranked, the team that communicates better wins. Call out focuses, CCs, peels, caps, movements, incomings, saps, and generally anything that crosses your mind.

2. A good attitude. Be willing to adapt to losses, learn your mistakes and what you could've done better. Always, always be friendly with your teammates. A hostile environment will only lead to more losses. It's a game and should never be escalated beyond such. If someone else on your team messed up, don't be afraid to let them know and tell them what they should do to fix it, but don't get aggressive and start blaming them. Everyone makes mistakes.

3. Losing is okay. The way rating is setup in this game guarantees that you will reach your "true" rating over an extended period of time. The last game I played, League of Legends, had a very similar ELO system, and the primary reason I left was because of the sense of superiority people had. They believed they deserved a better ELO and were being held back, or just got extremely unlucky and lost 15 matches in a row and got stuck in a terrible bracket where they couldn't carry themselves out. That's not the case; in an ELO system, your wins and losses will average out to your real ELO that you belong at. So don't get upset if you lose a lot in a row, if you stick with it, you'll arrive at where you belong.

4. Learn how other classes work. In order to do anything, peel, focus, distract, incapacitate, you HAVE to understand how said class works. For instance, try not to put a marauder at full resolve before 30%. Don't put a mercenary healer at full resolve unless you're certain you can bring them down before they're back up. Save your sprint to break sniper roots, force shroud to stop pyro burst...etc. Ask your guildmates what they do as their class and figure out how you can better your strategy against them.

5. TAUNT

Gear

Each spec needs a particular gear setup. Here it is (feel free to let me know you think should be tweaked).

31/0/10 Tank

Defense to 25%, Rest to Shield and Absorb. Augments should be done accordingly. Expertise to 1100. Survivor for obvious reasons. Ditch all accuracy.

23/1/17

Ignore crit, go straight for power and surge. Keep accuracy at around 95%. You'll go over the surge soft cap, that's fine since it'll only be by a couple percent. Expertise to 1100. Augments should be either willpower or power, your choice (the difference is minimal despite what many have argued).

0/13/28

Crit to 24-25%, Accuracy around 95%, rest to power and surge. Expertise to 1100, augment should be either willpower or power.

7/3/31

Crit to 23-25%, rest to power and surge. Accuracy around 95%, expertise to 1100. Augments should be willpower or power.

Huttball

Our favorite game. The strategies for huttball are so diverse and extensive that it needs its own section. As assassins, our versatility truly shines here, and more roles come into play. We are the second best ball carriers in the game (damn you juggernauts, damn youuuu), and the best pass receivers in the game. Stealth in rated huttball is so ridiculously broken, it's not even funny. Onto strategem...

Team Strategy

In rated, whoever controls the middle, controls the game. There are various ways of doing this. You can put one operative permanently stealthed in middle ready to flashbang as the ball resets with a sniper up top picking people off, or keep 2 melee DPS/tank + 1 healer to control the combat. Snipers are amazing for dominating the middle, and I recommend running one specifically for this task. Predation is invaluable here for running with and to the ball. Never, ever run the ball with nobody ahead of you. You should constantly keep someone capable of running the ball in front of you ready for a pass and a sorcerer ready to pull. Always be prepared to get pulled and yanked everywhere, specifically to fires. Tell everyone to specifically watch out for people setting up to pull your carrier into fire, or to pull their carrier across the fire. Always be ready to knock potential receivers into the pit or intercept their passes. Make sure you can't get leaped to by the carrier, as well as ensuring they can't leap push leap you straight to the endzone. Key pass zones are the top middle platforms between the two highest fires and the sandbags to the left and right of the first bottom fires. If you see the carrier drop to the pit, make damn sure he's not getting ready to leap or pass to someone. If there is nothing you can do to prevent the score, make sure you control the middle for a counter score. DO NOT KILL the people who just scored. Keep them cc'ed or preoccupied at your endzone so they can't assist their team with the counter.

Specific Assassin Strategies

There are multiple roles we can fulfill in huttball. Here they are...

Ball Carrier- 31/0/10 does this best, but 23/1/17 can carry for a little as well if necessary. Your job is to get to the receiver at all costs and get the ball to him. Save force shroud for either crossing the fire (which you should avoid as original carrier) or grabbing the ball at the middle without getting cc'd. A common trick is pulling a carrier on their side of the map into a fire and scoring immediately after getting the balll, but this is quite hard to execute in rated (try as often as possible however, they'll at least have to blow a major mobility CD to stay alive).

Receiver- My personal favorite, also known as the goal whore. This is best accomplished by stealthing as much as possible, avoiding combat whenever you have the ball, and sitting at the aforementioned areas of the top mid platform or the sandbag. Top mid is preferred, but that can get predictable. We are the best scorers in the game because of our 5 second invulnerability to CC. The best way to avoid getting pulled or intercepted is to wait until the ball leaves the carrier's hands to unstealth, and when you unstealth force shroud immediately. This role is best done as 23/1/17. When running to the goal line, whirlwind, stun, and pull as necessary to make sure you get there. If your force shroud is going to wear off before you score, let your team know to eliminate pullers. You can also do this by pulling them to you before they can. If you receive at sandbags, ignore the fire and force shroud+speed through it, you'll be fine.

Support- Support can be given as any of the roles mentioned in the Specs section, but it can take on a new role here too. Stealth once again is invaluable here. If they're carrying, find their receiver or puller and rip them a new one. When I say that, your priority should first be to pull into fire, if not that, then knock into the pit, and if not that, intercept the pass without getting CC'd (force shroud ), and as a last resort, kill them. Stay aware at ALL times for others setting up and scout for other stealth receivers in your free time at the sandbags, top mid, and endzone ledge. Madness assassins should use creeping terror to root potential receivers and pullers in fire, and if not them, carriers. First priority always goes to receivers and pullers because a carrier without those two is a sitting duck (unless they're an assassin past the first fire...).

Each team develops their own strategy over time. Find yours, but be very adaptable. Whoever adapts faster in huttball, wins.

Civil War

Early Game

Call out who's going where. It's best for assassins to go right (their easy cap) to stall them as long as possible. To accomplish this, don't unstelath yourself until absolutely necessary, just sap the cappers over and over until they find you. When they do, wait for anyone with fulll resolve to go back to normal, then shroud+vanish, repeat. This will give your team at least a 30-40 point advantage and give mid less resistance. If you're going mid, tell your team to push the other team back as far as possible so you can cap while fighting. Call out line of sighting/pillar humping by enemy healers. If solo defending, stay stealthed and call numbers as soon as you see someone or get sapped.

Mid Game

Advantages become clear here. If mid hasn't already been capped, it's slowly being won by one side. This is usually around the 450-250 stage. If you're winning mid, keep the pressure on while pushing them back, but be careful that they don't send them to your capped side. If you're losing mid, don't mad rush the side. Keep sending as many as you can mid and send 2 stealthies (a marauder can compensate if there's only one) to their side. If they have only one defending, it's an easy cap for you (sap sap sap). If there's two, burn one down and immediately afterwards one of you needs to cap while the other keeps the survivor CC'd. As a tankasin, the best way to accomplish this is to pull them, then spike->stun/whirlwind.

Late Game

Around the 250 mark, it becomes comfortable for the winning team, and desperate for the losing. At this stage, it's best to send 6 to their capped side and send 2 stealthies to use the aforementioned strategy at mid if you're losing. If you're winning, do what you can to prevent that strategy from being used on you, and put 2 on each turret with 4 roaming. When mid isn't being contested, keep one on watch duty, looking at their side to see if they're going under the tunnel.

The Voidstar

Attacking

Call out which side is going to be zerged. A very effective strategy at the start here is to send 6 to the zerg side, and one warrior to their drop box (the box they drop onto when they leave the gate) to AOE mez them. After that, put the warrior on the opposite side of the zerg (if left is zerged, send them right). If you have more than one, send both of them to chain mez so you can burn their cc breakers off the bat. While this is happening, you should be stealthed at the center, watching to see how many they send to each side. In the original confusion caused by the mezzes, it's likely they'll send more than necessary to the zerg side. If they send 2 or less to the warrior side, follow him and burn them down for the cap. If they send 3 or more, go to the zerg side and help with the push. If you get the door, make sure to tell your team to not kill ANYONE. You need to be stealthed at this point so that when the door explodes you can quickly cap the bridge. Your team needs to keep them distracted at the tunnel while you head to the door opposite the bridge you just capped.. If you're using one of the instant whirlwind specs, use the "ninja" tactic I described earlier if there's one person defending. If it fails, start splitting your teammates at this point. Keep 3 on each door with 2 roaming to confuse them. If you get the bomb, repeat the strategy of the first door to get the force field controls and the last door.

Defending

Do what you can to avoid being confused at the start. Put one tank at each door. Stealthed tankasins are best for defending an uncontested side. Keep 2 people with mobility boosts of some kind on float duty, ready to move as necessary. If you lose the first door, do whatever you can to get to the bridge controls as fast as possible. Try to hold them there as long as possible, use battle rezzes, whatever you can. On the second door defending, repeat the first door defense but instead of 2 floaters, keep a ranged dps at the very middle ready to back up the uncontested side. If door is lost, repeat bridge control strategy, and door strategy for last door.

Novare Coast

I despise this warzone so I'm going to keep it short. As far as I know, the best strategy to win here is to send 1 to side, and 7 to mid. Assign 2 people to permanent cap duty and just tlel them to spam cap from different angles to try to cap it. The other 5 should try to aoe to prevent the other team from doing the same. Once again, stealthed tankasin is best for guard duty. This is all about AoEs , AoEs, AoEs. Once you establish the advantage, it's hard to lose.

Conclusion

I hope this guide helps the assassin and shadow community maximize their potential. Don't follow this guide word for word; find your own strategies and learn how to counter them. Adapt, be positive, have fun, play the game .

Nice guide ; )

Thx.

Thank you for the guide. I am not level 50 yet but close to it and looking into ranked WZ builds.

Question about 23/1/17 spec... you recommend running with all dps gear and focus. I am assuming you are running with Dark Charge.

Wouldn't Hallow (2/2) talent be a waste since you are not running with a shield generator?

Thank you for the guide. I am not level 50 yet but close to it and looking into ranked WZ builds.

 

Question about 23/1/17 spec... you recommend running with all dps gear and focus. I am assuming you are running with Dark Charge.

 

Wouldn't Hallow (2/2) talent be a waste since you are not running with a shield generator?

It's for the 10% heal on overcharge saber. You get that at level 50.

Good post.

Shinarika complimented me. Life is complete.

Infiltration while not the best still feels viable to me. It's a fine line with buffs and nerfs. A buff to infil and all of a sudden it's " omg any shadow not running infil are gimping there team." with that being said here's what I'd like to see.

-all shadows- increase force range back to 15 meters like in beta. I want to be more of a melle caster hybrid. I'm not in favor of reworking shadow spec to be a backstab spamming rogue. Scoundrels fill the rogue archtype just fine IMO.

-all shadows- increase melle range to 6 meters. In EU lore characters who wield double sabers add crystals to make the blades longer. They should have greater range.

-shadows and scoundrels- been said many time, dots should not break stealth after using a vanish ability. Add to this either a 1.5 second immunity after vanish or, lower cool downs on vanish abilities.

-infiltration- this is my favorite . Tell me if this is too op. clairvoyant strike- increases damage and reduces the force cost of the next TWO projects by x amount. Stacks twice. No time limit to use the projects.

This I think would make infil viable in pvp compared to the tank and hybrid specs. And includes a buffs to all stealth users.

Infiltration while not the best still feels viable to me. It's a fine line with buffs and nerfs. A buff to infil and all of a sudden it's " omg any shadow not running infil are gimping there team." with that being said here's what I'd like to see.

-all shadows- increase force range back to 15 meters like in beta. I want to be more of a melle caster hybrid. I'm not in favor of reworking shadow spec to be a backstab spamming rogue. Scoundrels fill the rogue archtype just fine IMO.

-all shadows- increase melle range to 6 meters. In EU lore characters who wield double sabers add crystals to make the blades longer. They should have greater range.

-shadows and scoundrels- been said many time, dots should not break stealth after using a vanish ability. Add to this either a 1.5 second immunity after vanish or, lower cool downs on vanish abilities.

-infiltration- this is my favorite . Tell me if this is too op. clairvoyant strike- increases damage and reduces the force cost of the next TWO projects by x amount. Stacks twice. No time limit to use the projects.

 

This I think would make infil viable in pvp compared to the tank and hybrid specs. And includes a buffs to all stealth users.

While I don't know about those specific buffs, I can tell you that I'm bouncing back and forth between 7/31/3 and 13/28. Thing is I am needed as DPS. Issue is our DPS specs are underpowered. Still.

So... defining a role but realizing it's true capability is still too limited.

Turn on the setting for auto target closest enemy, sit in stealth, and spam mind trap in case there's a pesky stealthy around you somewhere.

Lol.

If their CC breaker is up (which you should assume unless otherwise verified by a teammate or yourself), fake a fight by opening with stun, and once they pop it whirlwind them, and IMMEDIATELY start capping. There will be a .25-.5 second window where they'll be able to stop the cap, but if executed right, latency will be able to cover you on that.

This only really works when you can get the initiative with Mind Maze. Only a baddie would pop his CC breaker on a 4 sec stun. Mind Maze, then commence to start the cap. The opponent will have to blow their CC breaker and then are easy meat for Force Lift. Your angle near the turret will determine your cap success with the FL on Civil War. Your opponent range will determine your cap success with FL on Voidstar, i.e. angle to LOS for CW and drag the opponent away a bit from the node for VS.

Novarre Coast is a little different. I've never been able to solo CC cap a bunker successfully the way I can CW or VS. Instead, I do the normal approach, flip what I can, and then stealth when the opponent returns, wait till I'm out of combat, and then reapply Mind Maze and am home free if they haven't called for help. Even if they have called for help, your team can now more easily flip the primary bunker they are pressuring as the opponent peels off to stop you. It's one of my favorite WZ gambits.

3. Losing is okay. The way rating is setup in this game guarantees that you will reach your "true" rating over an extended period of time.

Actually, the matchmaking system currently in place for RWZs is a complete disaster. Your current RWZ Win/Loss ratio is good evidence of this. Without XServer queues, Rating will continue to be a joke as the high rated teams will continue to get fat off of PUGs and lower rated opponents, and high rated teams will continue to dodge one another so they don't lose.

So you will probably be right once we get XServer queues. However, it certainly isn't the case right now.

31/0/10 Tank

Defense to 25%, Rest to Shield and Absorb. Augments should be done accordingly. Expertise to 1100. Survivor for obvious reasons. Ditch all accuracy.

Adding defense is okay, but the virtue of the Survivor set is in the set bonus. The -SK cd and +5% damage bonus is huge. So use the armor mods and pretty much nothing else. +Shield and Absorb should be avoided like the plague. Add DPS mods instead.

Expertise 1100 is not sufficient for a Tank imo, 1250-1300 is much better and makes you a lot more sturdy. Personally, I don't think anyone should be rolling into RWZs with under 1200 Expertise. I'm curious as to why you like the 1100 mark?

After that, put the warrior on the opposite side of the zerg (if left is zerged, send them right). If you have more than one, send both of them to chain mez so you can burn their cc breakers off the bat.

Oooh...me likey.

I still think the middle tree is the best for burst dps. Its just that so many had been tank build with dps gear that this "nerf" has gotten alot of folks in an uproar. Our survivalbilty is still great, with our CC's if your smart on how you use them (defensive mostly) you should be alright.

I know I can take down Full WH/BM sages fairly easy, which should be priority number 1.

My second focus I do is focus on Sents. Attach and 30% damage debuffs. They are harder to take down, but I can make them pop all their cool downs and rely on my team to take them down from there.

Just my .02. I dont have the rank wz or valor rank to back up my claim. I just know what I do and it works for me. And my server is doesnt have alot of scrubs on it (The Fatman)

Thanks for the superb guide, TC, I had been wondering about the different specs that are viable for rateds, and am glad you included the 7-3-31 as I have been full balance since early access and enjoy it too much to change.

I just have a quick question - you state that you think that spec's crit should be about 25%, don't you think it should be a bit higher? We get a nice amount of self healing from DoTs that crit, plus it is always nice to get the added burst of an FiB crit when Force Potency is on cooldown.

Im asking as Ive just arrived at the tuning and tweaking stage of gearing after completing my War Hero set - and have pretty much guessed that 30plus crit is the way to go.

Thanks again, and hope to run into you when X-server queues finally hit!

...but we bring something to the team that no class can equal us in: utility and versatility. Taunts, huge amounts of CC, guards, force shroud, force speed, force pull, force lovin'...

errr... Mind Maze (out of combat skill), whirlwind and stun.. is that really that much a number to call 2 abils as «huge amount»?

errr... Mind Maze (out of combat skill), whirlwind and stun.. is that really that much a number to call 2 abils as «huge amount»?

umm with 23/1/17 skill u do have a huge amount :

1- mind maze

2-force lift 30m

3-force stun 30m

4-spining kick

5-FiB (Balance aoe 30 m )

6-force pull 30 m

7-guard and tuants

8- speed

9- stealth if u wanna count that

and u do a good amount of dmg with a dps set

umm with 23/1/17 skill u do have a huge amount :

 

1- mind maze

2-force lift 30m

3-force stun 30m

4-spining kick

5-FiB (Balance aoe 30 m )

6-force pull 30 m

7-guard and tuants

8- speed

9- stealth if u wanna count that

 

and u do a good amount of dmg with a dps set

OP is said exclusevelly about CC.. i remind you his exact words:

Taunts, huge amounts of CC, guards, force shroud, force speed, force pull

It would be silly to count the same abils several times.. no?

sorry, but if we are talking about CC, there is (from your list): [2], [3]..

[1] is not reliable enough `cause both you and enemy must be out of battle and such situations are somewhat rare in real WZs..

[4] is very small CC.. it`s neat but ill not count it as real CC..

Or maybe i misunderstand what the CC is? CC = Crowd Control aka Immobilizer?

Imagine the situation from PvE:

Healer is shouting: «somebody CC the gold enemy!»

Tank goes in stealth to the gold mob and spin kick it..

All the party trying to understand what the hell Tank is doing..

OP is said exclusevelly about CC.. i remind you his exact words:

Taunts, huge amounts of CC, guards, force shroud, force speed, force pull

It would be silly to count the same abils several times.. no?

 

sorry, but if we are talking about CC, there is (from your list): [2], [3]..

[1] is not reliable enough `cause both you and enemy must be out of battle and such situations are somewhat rare in real WZs..

 

[4] is very small CC.. it`s neat but ill not count it as real CC..

 

Or maybe i misunderstand what the CC is? CC = Crowd Control aka Immobilizer?

Imagine the situation from PvE:

Healer is shouting: «somebody CC the gold enemy!»

Tank goes in stealth to the gold mob and spin kick it..

All the party trying to understand what the hell Tank is doing..

you are right for some reason i was thinking about the about the utility not only cc before i post my replay

errr... Mind Maze (out of combat skill), whirlwind and stun.. is that really that much a number to call 2 abils as «huge amount»?

I can't think of all the shadow equivalents right now since I play an assassin, but I'll list them here

1. stun

2. whirlwind

3. mind maze

4. knockback

5. spinning kick

6. force pull

7. force slow/wither (count this as a half I suppose)

Thanks for the superb guide, TC, I had been wondering about the different specs that are viable for rateds, and am glad you included the 7-3-31 as I have been full balance since early access and enjoy it too much to change.

 

I just have a quick question - you state that you think that spec's crit should be about 25%, don't you think it should be a bit higher? We get a nice amount of self healing from DoTs that crit, plus it is always nice to get the added burst of an FiB crit when Force Potency is on cooldown.

 

Im asking as Ive just arrived at the tuning and tweaking stage of gearing after completing my War Hero set - and have pretty much guessed that 30plus crit is the way to go.

 

Thanks again, and hope to run into you when X-server queues finally hit!

Since balance is a sustained pressure spec, crit isn't as important as power. It's helpful to make it a bit spikier but it's not as much a priority as consistent damage increase is. The self-healing on balance is fairly low at any rate, 5% extra crit chance wouldn't have that much of an impact on the healing. I find 25% to be enough because it puts you at 30% buffed and 90% with FP up.

1. Force Stun

2. Force Lift

3. Mind Maze

4. Force Wave

5. Spinning Kick

6. Force Pull

7. Force Slow/ Slow Time

Fixed for anyone who aren't aware of mirror abilities of the Assassin. These are the Shadow's version.

Since balance is a sustained pressure spec, crit isn't as important as power.

Also, I want to second this. I've noticed that 30% crit as Balance is a bit of an overshot. I've been finding good success with power stacking on Balance.

Thanks a lot for the replies, I have now set my guildy to task and got him making me lots of Willpower augments to replace the crit ones he made me when 1.3 hit. He must really like me right now

Also bumping this, as it is SUCH a comprehensive guide, and probably deserves a sticky if Im being honest.

Fixed for anyone who aren't aware of mirror abilities of the Assassin. These are the Shadow's version.

 

 

 

Also, I want to second this. I've noticed that 30% crit as Balance is a bit of an overshot. I've been finding good success with power stacking on Balance.

I am 39 Tank DPS, is 25% Crit and 60% crit multiplier about right?

Since balance is a sustained pressure spec, crit isn't as important as power.

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Also, I want to second this. I've noticed that 30% crit as Balance is a bit of an overshot. I've been finding good success with power stacking on Balance.

Thoughts on recommended crit for Balance/Madness - the numbers cited are before the +3% crit Talent for our Stance or include the Talent bonus?

Really curious here since I haven't been under 30% crit (including Talent, excluding Agent/Smuggler buff) in quite a long time. My gear is currently is too high on Crit but not much I can do about that in the short term (Full time Long Commute internship boosting my resume but killing my summer).

Would it be too much of a hamstring to throw in some +power BM mod/enh to replace +crit WH mod/enh? Or should I just take a deep breath and ride out the Rated PUGs?

Thoughts on recommended crit for Balance/Madness - the numbers cited are before the +3% crit Talent for our Stance or include the Talent bonus?

 

Really curious here since I haven't been under 30% crit (including Talent, excluding Agent/Smuggler buff) in quite a long time. My gear is currently is too high on Crit but not much I can do about that in the short term (Full time Long Commute internship boosting my resume but killing my summer).

 

Would it be too much of a hamstring to throw in some +power BM mod/enh to replace +crit WH mod/enh? Or should I just take a deep breath and ride out the Rated PUGs?

After. To be honest though, anything less than 27% and you'll be fine. I would reslot with BM power mods yeah, especially if you're over the crit soft cap (30% untalented, unbuffed). Madness just doesn't need that much crit.

After. To be honest though, anything less than 27% and you'll be fine. I would reslot with BM power mods yeah, especially if you're over the crit soft cap (30% untalented, unbuffed). Madness just doesn't need that much crit.

I used to be a bit over the soft cap but swapping around gear has lessened that a bit - I'm hovering between 31 and 32 (28-29 without Talent). Seems like I don't need to worry about losing all that +crit when I upgrade to WH implants/ear/genny. That's good to know.

Initially I figured I'd let it get up high naturally from how our unoptimized gear works out, just to see what kind of bump I'd get from increased self-healing. Its there, but feels like not enough to justify that much +crit (over +power), so its nice to see the gut feeling match up with others' opinions.

Thanks for the reply.

I'd like to echo your thoughts on deception.

I am a dedicated deception player, and have had good success in warzones prior to ranked. But ranked is a whole different level. I am under some pressure from my ranked group to make the switch.

I don't want to. I really don't. I want to be that one guy who figured out how to make deception work, but it's really really hard. My burst DPS isn't enough in RWZ to kill anybody. The hp pools, expertise levels, taunts and guards and heals are too much. My sustained DPS is abysmal, and regularly score the lowest of all DPS classes on the damage charts. My utility is eclipsed by the darkness assassins on my team. Were I the only assassin, my force speed and CC abilities might have come in handy. But I am redundant. Force pull is the nail in the coffin on utility. I cannot tank focus fire long enough or well enough for my healers to keep me up.

My one niche ability, the thing that I can do that the tanksins can't, is my complete shutdown of a healer. Between my 9 sec disrupt, my low slash, my kb, my vanish/spike, and my electrocute, he won't be getting any casts off. However, a marauder in the same position would probably just kill the healer outright.

Deception needs some serious help.

1. Vanish has to grant pop immunity for at least a second or two, and purge dots.

2. Stealth has to be more useful in general. It has to be harder to detect, for one. It has to be easier to stealth, for two. Spike should do about 10x the damage it does right now or apply some debuff. Mind trap needs its in-combat requirement removed, and the target cap removed as well (with probably a force cost increase). There needs to be talents to improve this stuff. Like mind trap duration.

3. Either burst from marauders/pts/snipers needs to be toned down, or we need to catch up. We also need better force regen, or our sustained dps will continue to lag behind.

4. Our survivability is a joke, considering how well a tankasin survives with little dps difference. We need ways to restealth more often. The combat timer is too prohibitive.

Or maybe we're all just playing it wrong altogether. Maybe there's some way that I can't figure out to play a deception assassin effectively.

... the crit soft cap (30% untalented, unbuffed).

Where do people even get crazy information like this?