themephs
06-16-2008, 01:48
Related Video: http://files.filefront.com/Tyranny+PVP+Mephs+Assassi1wmv/;10657429;/fileinfo.html
Most of you reading this already know how the shielding system in the game works. You always aim for the unshielded side of a mob, that is, if they have 0 shields on their right side, you should be attacking with UR swings/combos for max damage.
Right. But if your target is neutral (1 shield all sides), what side do you attack? As an assassin in PVE and PVP, you obviously want to maximize your damage and hit the unguarded side of your target. But if all 3 sides are guarded, you say, what now?
This guide is mostly just to clarify the use of directional shielding to your advantage. I've had many people in PVP ask me how I do so much damage as an assassin, and that I'm the first sin to pump out so much damage for my level. The answer is really simple: I'm amazing.
But really all I'm doing is taking advantage of the fact that The back side of a target always has 0 shielding.
PVE Applications
I've grouped with some amazing Guardians, tanks experienced from previous MMOs and the like, many who brag on and on about how no one pulls aggro from them no matter how hard they try. I don't encourage making it a practice (pulling aggro that is), but I've found these guys to not really understand that DPS'ers probably aren't utilizing the shield system to their max potential.
When I run anything PVE wise where I'm not the main target, I am ALWAYS getting critical hits. We're talking a 50%+ parse on my crit rate for all combo based damage. This is because I'm using the shielding system to my advantage.
Now on the topic of aggro management in PVE: My assassin has maxed subtlety (my PVE one anyway), I give the tank about 5-8 seconds to build threat before opening. If I could draw a diagram of my positioning it would look like this:
.....(me)
......O ...|__| (mob facing down)
.............o <-- tank
At this point let's say the mob has 1 shield on all sides (neutral position). This leaves the back side open, from my position that would be all UL attacks. I stealth attack UL and follow up with Grim Corruption. As soon as the combo starts I hit Swift Strikes (max rank), and start moving behind the mob.
.....(me)-> O
...........|__| (mob facing down)
.............o <-- tank
Now from here all MID attacks are vulnerable, as the majority of my damage comes from mid attacks, this is the most advantageous start up. The GC starter buffs my dark weapons procs and my overall damage in general, but now I need to dish it out. As I'm heading to the rear of the mob I start hitting it with the followups to my SS combo, and then stop before using the final move, hit Corrupting Strikes, and then finish the SS. Immediately after finishing a max rank SS, I start up a -1 downrank SS and use that too. With Corrupting Strikes this puts out some serious pain on a stationary mob.
By this point if I still haven't pulled aggro I do Cunning 6, followed by Cunning 5, all mid attacks, and pray I still don't pull, but even with the best of tanks and maxed subtlety (yes even the general feat that reduces aggro) I just tend to yank if off of them.
But basically you should be moving around the mob to use your combos and hit the unshielded backside of them. Mainly this is because it's hard to judge when the target will shift their shields about and you want to always be assured maximum damage.
PVP Applications
Using the above example, I always try to land combos (mid combos) directly on someone's back side. In PVP you should assume EVERYONE runs around with directional shields set to neutral, and most won't react fast enough with them when they realize what's stabbing them from the shadows.
ALWAYS sneak attack from the direct behind, with a mid attack, or at least if you approach from the side attack to their unguarded side. Head on is the worst position for a sneak attack.
Now in combat your opponent will always be moving, here's some ways you can "guarantee" you get a back swing in.
Technique #1: "Stun-Jousting" Typically you'll joust a combo by letting it sit idle on the last key in the combo and time it to go off when you see an opening to strike. If you can master this, even better for the purpose of this tip. What I will do is gear up my hardest hitting combo. Now instead of just running up and jousting your target with the combo, sit on the 2nd key to the combo, or 2nd to last, and double tap forward, active block and then snipe the 2nd to last swing in on them. It doesn't always work, but you can get a 1 second stun in just before the final key, shift to their behind, or favorable position to hit their back, and punchasize them in the face, HARD.
While this technique is not commonly reliable, it works a lot of the time on the first swing, and is amazing vs. targets that think circle strafing will win them every game. The difference in hitting the direct behind of a higher armor target with a Cunning 6 vs. hitting them normally on a 1-shield side is immense. I took another barbarian from 75% to dead using this tactic who was trying to circle around me and just auto attack me to death. The damage is that intense if you use it right. Note: I had landed 2 ranks of GC on him before I did this also.
Tip #2: Backsnare->Combo Sometimes this works and sometimes not, if you are in a close enough range and someone starts to book it upon realizing they are losing, you are almost guaranteed the win right here. Even if they're at 50% hp, a lot of the time this WILL finish them off.
Immediately sprint to stay in range, and just auto attack MID from behind until you see the daze effect hit them. Start your hardest hitting MID combo with the least possible keys involved, and launch, directly on their ass, directly behind them. The constant snaring will usually keep them in range long enough, and expose their weakest side to you for the entire combo duration, usually dropping them with no escape possible. This entirely depends on whether you have the stamina to keep a sprint burst up long enough to snare them, and then enough stamina to finish the combo, and also whether the snare hits or not.
Tip #3: Avoiding the same happening to you Just as easily as you can pull these tricks off on others, a good opponent may be doing the same. Try to keep your face towards your target if you use directional shielding to mitigate their strongest blows. IF someone looks to be aiming to land a back strike on you, you should be ready to pop CDs to potentially avoid it. Cat's paw, now working from behind is essential to this avoidance.
But then again, you can't expect to find many good players that utilize these techniques or know enough about directional shielding to abuse it like I do :P.
Hope this sheds some light on increasing your damage output. This can exponentially increase the damage you do to any class, even soldiers. (I've brought d-stance guardians down a good 70% of their HP in a few seconds hitting my damage combos from behind and using bleeds).
Most of you reading this already know how the shielding system in the game works. You always aim for the unshielded side of a mob, that is, if they have 0 shields on their right side, you should be attacking with UR swings/combos for max damage.
Right. But if your target is neutral (1 shield all sides), what side do you attack? As an assassin in PVE and PVP, you obviously want to maximize your damage and hit the unguarded side of your target. But if all 3 sides are guarded, you say, what now?
This guide is mostly just to clarify the use of directional shielding to your advantage. I've had many people in PVP ask me how I do so much damage as an assassin, and that I'm the first sin to pump out so much damage for my level. The answer is really simple: I'm amazing.
But really all I'm doing is taking advantage of the fact that The back side of a target always has 0 shielding.
PVE Applications
I've grouped with some amazing Guardians, tanks experienced from previous MMOs and the like, many who brag on and on about how no one pulls aggro from them no matter how hard they try. I don't encourage making it a practice (pulling aggro that is), but I've found these guys to not really understand that DPS'ers probably aren't utilizing the shield system to their max potential.
When I run anything PVE wise where I'm not the main target, I am ALWAYS getting critical hits. We're talking a 50%+ parse on my crit rate for all combo based damage. This is because I'm using the shielding system to my advantage.
Now on the topic of aggro management in PVE: My assassin has maxed subtlety (my PVE one anyway), I give the tank about 5-8 seconds to build threat before opening. If I could draw a diagram of my positioning it would look like this:
.....(me)
......O ...|__| (mob facing down)
.............o <-- tank
At this point let's say the mob has 1 shield on all sides (neutral position). This leaves the back side open, from my position that would be all UL attacks. I stealth attack UL and follow up with Grim Corruption. As soon as the combo starts I hit Swift Strikes (max rank), and start moving behind the mob.
.....(me)-> O
...........|__| (mob facing down)
.............o <-- tank
Now from here all MID attacks are vulnerable, as the majority of my damage comes from mid attacks, this is the most advantageous start up. The GC starter buffs my dark weapons procs and my overall damage in general, but now I need to dish it out. As I'm heading to the rear of the mob I start hitting it with the followups to my SS combo, and then stop before using the final move, hit Corrupting Strikes, and then finish the SS. Immediately after finishing a max rank SS, I start up a -1 downrank SS and use that too. With Corrupting Strikes this puts out some serious pain on a stationary mob.
By this point if I still haven't pulled aggro I do Cunning 6, followed by Cunning 5, all mid attacks, and pray I still don't pull, but even with the best of tanks and maxed subtlety (yes even the general feat that reduces aggro) I just tend to yank if off of them.
But basically you should be moving around the mob to use your combos and hit the unshielded backside of them. Mainly this is because it's hard to judge when the target will shift their shields about and you want to always be assured maximum damage.
PVP Applications
Using the above example, I always try to land combos (mid combos) directly on someone's back side. In PVP you should assume EVERYONE runs around with directional shields set to neutral, and most won't react fast enough with them when they realize what's stabbing them from the shadows.
ALWAYS sneak attack from the direct behind, with a mid attack, or at least if you approach from the side attack to their unguarded side. Head on is the worst position for a sneak attack.
Now in combat your opponent will always be moving, here's some ways you can "guarantee" you get a back swing in.
Technique #1: "Stun-Jousting" Typically you'll joust a combo by letting it sit idle on the last key in the combo and time it to go off when you see an opening to strike. If you can master this, even better for the purpose of this tip. What I will do is gear up my hardest hitting combo. Now instead of just running up and jousting your target with the combo, sit on the 2nd key to the combo, or 2nd to last, and double tap forward, active block and then snipe the 2nd to last swing in on them. It doesn't always work, but you can get a 1 second stun in just before the final key, shift to their behind, or favorable position to hit their back, and punchasize them in the face, HARD.
While this technique is not commonly reliable, it works a lot of the time on the first swing, and is amazing vs. targets that think circle strafing will win them every game. The difference in hitting the direct behind of a higher armor target with a Cunning 6 vs. hitting them normally on a 1-shield side is immense. I took another barbarian from 75% to dead using this tactic who was trying to circle around me and just auto attack me to death. The damage is that intense if you use it right. Note: I had landed 2 ranks of GC on him before I did this also.
Tip #2: Backsnare->Combo Sometimes this works and sometimes not, if you are in a close enough range and someone starts to book it upon realizing they are losing, you are almost guaranteed the win right here. Even if they're at 50% hp, a lot of the time this WILL finish them off.
Immediately sprint to stay in range, and just auto attack MID from behind until you see the daze effect hit them. Start your hardest hitting MID combo with the least possible keys involved, and launch, directly on their ass, directly behind them. The constant snaring will usually keep them in range long enough, and expose their weakest side to you for the entire combo duration, usually dropping them with no escape possible. This entirely depends on whether you have the stamina to keep a sprint burst up long enough to snare them, and then enough stamina to finish the combo, and also whether the snare hits or not.
Tip #3: Avoiding the same happening to you Just as easily as you can pull these tricks off on others, a good opponent may be doing the same. Try to keep your face towards your target if you use directional shielding to mitigate their strongest blows. IF someone looks to be aiming to land a back strike on you, you should be ready to pop CDs to potentially avoid it. Cat's paw, now working from behind is essential to this avoidance.
But then again, you can't expect to find many good players that utilize these techniques or know enough about directional shielding to abuse it like I do :P.
Hope this sheds some light on increasing your damage output. This can exponentially increase the damage you do to any class, even soldiers. (I've brought d-stance guardians down a good 70% of their HP in a few seconds hitting my damage combos from behind and using bleeds).