What would you consider the best build for dps(in PvP) as a Darkness Assassin? 31/0/10, 23/1/17, or....? I'm more used to madness, but I want to try out darkness, but still want to be a dps not full on tank.

23/1/17. You can still pull decent numbers DPSing as 31/0/10 but since the nerf a few patches ago I would go with the hybrid.

Start of with full darkness then eventually mess around with all the other hybrids.

(27/0/14 is my favorite.)

Start of with full darkness then eventually mess around with all the other hybrids.

(27/0/14 is my favorite.)

Yeah I actually like full darkness, since wither is just soooo good. Harnessed Darkness proc is great too. I've been pulling 500 dps games with over 150K protection as well.

The thing for me about the hybrid build, is that unless death field crits(which with my gear and without recklessness) only crits about 25% of the time, when it does NOT crit it hits nearly the same as wither, on top of that it hits only 3 targets. Now if I DO crit, I will admit it hits like a truck, and out damages a full 5 wither even if you only get 2 people in your death field. Also wither grants a charge toward harnessed darkness which is greatly helpful with force management(not having to rely only on shock) and makes you get it quicker.

I run 37 points into darkness, full DPS gear with a shield gen. 600k damage/300k protection, 20+medals, topping the damage charts etc. games are not at all uncommon. I might do a video at sometime but I generally dislike doing so as they typically are seen as epeen waving.

essentially you just swap your guard as needed, taunts when they're off cd, keep throwing out wither/discharge into crowds, shock/thrash/maul as you get procs then 3stack HD lightning. Rinse/repeate/use cool downs as they're available/situationally useful.

I tried the hybrid for a while with deathfield but I've personally found the hand of darkness+conspirator's cloak+wither to be much more useful as a general rule. Especially now with no instant whirwind.

Waiting for 3 stacks of Harnessed Darkness before using Force Lightning is generally a terrible idea against any class besides an Operative healer. However since Operative healers are probably the alpha class of 2.0 this turns out to be not as bad as it sounds.

Basically you want 2 stacks of HD on a target in melee range and 3 stacks of HD on a target outside of melee range. Since Operative healers are almost guaranteed to be never in your melee range for more than a few seconds, saving 3 stacks of HD for them is very safe.

Waiting for 3 stacks of Harnessed Darkness before using Force Lightning is generally a terrible idea against any class besides an Operative healer. However since Operative healers are probably the alpha class of 2.0 this turns out to be not as bad as it sounds.

 

Basically you want 2 stacks of HD on a target in melee range and 3 stacks of HD on a target outside of melee range. Since Operative healers are almost guaranteed to be never in your melee range for more than a few seconds, saving 3 stacks of HD for them is very safe.

You're joking right? I hope you're joking...

You ALWAYS, ALWAYS strive for 3 stacks... This gives you uinterruptibility, higher damage and heals, none of which 2 stacks or less provides. It's not that difficult to get to, and as a tank you're more survivable.

Right now, operative healers are impossible to solo. You will only end up in a stalemate. All classes are generally defeatable against darkness spec... The healers being the more difficult ones to kill.