Green's Combat Guide Part 2: Assassin At Endgame

Hey guys, I’m back with another combat guide. Assassin is probably the most intricate and versatile class in the game, with many styles of play and advanced maneuvers. It’s also a class that works well with every element and playstyle. It’s also my favorite class, and the one I have the most knowledge in. However, I cannot possibly cover every style of Assassin, so please add more information if you have any. This is a discussion for learning, and I would love to know more about playing this wonderful class.


Throughout the game, Assassin stays at a heightened level, always above the powercurve. This is due to its versatile, synergizing, and powerful abilities. When it comes to sheer combat effectiveness, Assassin is parallel to none up until the Hawkeye major id lands in the hands of archer. In any given boss room, Assassin is sure to dominate the arena, wiping out any low priority targets and dealing major damage to the boss. At endgame, Assassin’s role remains the same. It boasts some of the highest DPS legendary weapons and mythics in the entire game. It also has many variations of playstyles, some of which it is the most powerful in, such as heavy melee and spellsteal.

Endgame assassins can either go the melee route or spell route. In regards to melee, heavy melee is an increasingly popular option due to its low funding costs and surprising damage output. In regards to spells, Spellsteal is the more effective option but requires more mechanical skill. Spellspam Assassin, though is the less effective option, is still extremely powerful in any given combative scenario.


SPELL ASSASSIN:

Remember, while making combos, it is important to note that every spell can deal damage at the same time. Smoke bomb ticks can deal damage during a multihit, Spin attack can deal damage during multihit, and so on. Also, for spellspam assassins, while using vanish try to minimalize the amount of time spent in vanish so that mana ticks are not consumed. Also, lessening the costs of vanish and spin attack are imperative, as those are the two spells used most in combat. FUN FACT: Multihit’s knockback is cancelled by spin attack since it is a stun. Therefore, for spell assassins, you’re going to want to use spin attack right before and during a multihit for maximum DPS. This is INCREDIBLY useful for combos. Use this information to fuel your own combos, as combos are directly influenced by your build constraints. For example, my Cataclysm assassin is capable of reaching 1 mana spin attacks for multiple casts. Therefore, I’m able to spam spin attack during a combo because it doesn’t cost me much mana at all. However, a different build would not be given the same luxury. Vanish will give you a considerable DPS boost. However, it is not limited to just the initial attack. The vanish strength boost lasts 2 seconds after casting, so all spells and melee attacks will still have an 80% damage amplifier. Also remember you can switch off of your weapon, punch, or cast a spell to escape vanish. Note that Assassin is the least forgiving when you mess up a combo, as you will be right in the enemy’s face without any mana, so be very careful when initiating. When you finish a combo, switch off of your current weapon. This will immediately halt any spells active. Smoke bomb is a good DPS amplifier spell, but note that you should not use it just for damage. Its DPS is one of the lowest in the game, almost equivalent to just regular melee. Instead, use it as a damage booster for melee, multihit, or spin attack. With regards to spellsteal, use melee throughout the multihit or smoke bomb duration.

MELEE ASSASSIN:

Forgive me if I am not as thorough or accurate as the spell Assassin section, I am not as familiar with melee Assassin as I am with spell assassin. Feel free to add constructive criticism, corrections, and additional information in the comments. Do not reply how stupid I am and how I need to outcast myself from the wynn community because I wrote wrong words on the internet, nobody likes people saying unnecessarily mean-spirited things. Anyways, Heavy melee, if you didn’t know, centers around a newly buffed Main Attack Neutral Damage. This adds a hilariously large amount of neutral damage onto your melee attack. This works well with Quake, a powder special acquired from two tier 4+ (In proper builds it's Tier 6) earth powders added to a weapon. Another element in heavy melee is the slow attack speed. Slower attack speed in wynn allows you to trigger lifesteal, mana steal, and build up your powder special faster than faster attack speeds. All of these factors synergize and work together to become Heavy Melee. Class buffs such as Assassin’s vanish, Shaman’s totem boost, and Warrior’s war scream can also increase the damage of heavy Quake. This can result in MASSIVE burst damage over a relatively minute amount of time. Heavy melee assassin is the most powerful variant of heavy melee, as Assassin’s vanish buff increases quake’s damage by a massive margin. This style of play also puts emphasis on certain spells. Vanish in heavy melee assassin is paragon in importance, as it is the main factor on why Heavy melee assassin works so effectively. Vanish in HMA works both as a damage buff, a movement speed buff, an initiator, and an aggro clearer. Spin attack is also useful on HMA as it allows for enemies to be primed for a quake so they cannot escape. Multihit and Smoke bomb are less important in heavy melee, though they can be used like they normally would. However, I do not recommend using them over regular melee attacks. The core of assassin in HMA, though is customized drastically, is not different to that of Spell assassin. In both playstyles, one has to get up close to a foe using vanish and then assault them with their various damage outlets. In both styles of play, if one makes a mistake, then they will be left defenseless and in close proximity to the enemy. If one wishes to make the change from Spell Assassin to Heavy melee, it won’t be a very drastic transition at all, though it will take time to master.
Tierstack Assassin is much different than any other style of Assassin. More than anything, it requires the user to be vigilant and circle strafe with quick movement speed provided by the various tier stacking equipment. Vanish is still vital in Tierstack, but not as much as in HMA. Spin attack is more vital in Tierstacking as it is capable of stunning a boss for a few seconds as you unload your barrage of punches at it. Tierstack is much squishier than HMA, as Tierstacking equipment give much less health than it. However, it usually also provides a considerable amount of agility, which can help in surviving an otherwise lethal attack


There you have it, my coverage for endgame assassin. Ofcourse, there are MUCH more options and information that you might find handy. Hope you enjoyed or found something useful. For future forums posts I’ll make something more fun. I already have so much in mind.

 

I’m just gonna post my advice about assassin from another thread here because it fits and provides some extra detail:

 

For heavy melee assassin I like to use vanish and only vanish. Vanish in, hit. Vanish out. Keep repeating until you don't get mana steal and then try to run and avoid getting hit while you're waiting for your melee to recharge. Just make sure vanish never costs more than 5 mana and that your always able to sprint.

 

nice guide, but aside from just separating melee and spell, it'd be nice to organize it a bit further than that since currently it's mostly just two large blocks of text
it's a good guide, and i'd hate for some of the tips in it to go to waste since one might find it hard or troublesome to read

 

damn pop off green

 

at least say t4+
90% of the time the powders will be t6