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Notes

In this guide I will say how to use an assassin, not what builds to run. I will suggest skills, but this guide was finished Friday, November 23rd, so any skill changes since then are not noted in this guide. Some of what I will say is opinion and just personal preference, a lot of it is not.

Terminology
Sin = Assassin
Ele = Elementalist
Necro = Necromancer
IAS = Increased Attack Speed
IMS = Increased Movement Speed
PvE = Player Vesus Enviorment
PvP = Player Vesus Player
PvX = Player Vesus X (X being a variable, so it means you play PvP and PvE)
UAS = Unlocked all Skill
UAX = Unlocked all X (X being a variable, however this is more commonly used as "I unlocked everything, including equipment")
RA = Random Arenas
TA = Team Arenas
AB = Allaince Battles
HB= Hero Battles
HA = Hero's Asent
GvG = Guild Vesus Guild
Hard Res = A ressurection skill that has a recharge, so you can use it multiple times
Prot = Protection
Protted = A foe that has a lot of protection on them
Asscaster = Signet Spiker
Signet Spiker = A build that is commonly used
Tank = A build that is made to soak up damage, but not deal it. Commonly thought of as a warrior, although every class can play it.



Purpose of the Class


Make Things Die, Duh

Assassins are a complicated class which has many different purposes in both PvE and PvP. They are most notable for their expertise in spiking solo as they have high additional damage which is unaffected by armor and dual attacks, allowing assassins to attack twice in the same second. Also they have some of the quickest and most deadly skills which contain deep wounds allowing for easier spikes (for example Impale or Twisting Fangs).

They are also great for pressure, or consistent damage with some builds. Builds like the many Moebius Strike builds deal great amounts of pressure as well as using combos with recharges that are very short so by the time that the dual attack is finished, the lead attack has recharged.

Assassins can be very effective runners using the elite Shadow Form, which makes all spells against you fail and all attacks miss, making runs much easier so long as you can either survive until the recharge (If you run out in the middle of a mob) or have it run out where there are no mobs. Also skills like dash make for a faster run but also it is a great deaggro skill.

Assassins can also be farmers too with a few select builds. 2/3 of them use shadow form because it makes you virtually invisible while you can deal large amounts of damage to mobs or as seen in the sliver sin, bosses.

While in PvP they are very strong and can be what loses it for some teams, mostly in Random and Team Arenas, and most notably Hero Battles, many people (Not as much anymore with recent buffs made) believe that assassins are very weak in PvE. This is because many see assassins as a spiking class, which is utterly useless in PvE due to the fact that most mobs in Factions, Nightfall and GW:EN have much larger mobs. However certain elites and build combinations prove that wrong such as Moebius Strike and Assassin's Promise.

Weakness



With such high DPS and the ability to have most people on the floor in about 5 seconds there has to be a balancing factor, which there are many.

First off, interrupting or making one attack in chain miss can throw off a spike and leave assassins useless until recharge.

Second, their healing relies on enchantments, which are very easily removed in both PvE and PvP.

Third, they're normal attacks don't deal over 40 damage even on critical hits, and thats 16 dagger master.

Fourth, since they use both hands they can only have 1 fortitude mod, putting them back 30 health.

Fifth, which can also be a strength, is their ability to attack twice in a second, skills like insidious parasite will activate twice and there is no stopping the second strike.



Skill Naming

Most skills in the Assassin profession follow a pattern, so finding certain words means the skill does a certain effect.

Golden

If the skill name has the word golden in it, it requires an enchantment to get an effect whether it be a deep wound or for it to just hit.

Black

If the skill name has the word black in it, it requires a hex to get an effect whether it be to hit or to cripple the foe.

Mantis

If the skill name has the word mantis in it, it has the ability to cripple a foe but has to meet certain conditions.

Ox

If the skill name has the word Ox in it, it has the ability to knockdown a foe but has to meet certain conditions.

Defense
If the skill name has the word Defense in it, it gives a condition to the next foe that hits you.

Powder

If the skill name has the word Powder in it, it is a skill that causes blind, but it is not an attack.

Way of ___

If the skill name has the word Way of (the) ___, it enhances your attacks/attack skills.

Siphon

If the skill name has the word Siphon in it, it degrades a foe in one way and buffs you in the same way.

Palm

If the skill name has the word Palm in it, it deals damage by touching the foe, and has a 3/4 casting time.

Dagger

If the skill name has the word dagger in it, it throws a dagger at the enemy, and has a half range casting range. The exception being Sharpen daggers which both breaks this rule and the Way of ____ because it effects the next few attack skills.

Prison

If the skill name has the word prison in it, you shadow step to that foe and they move slower.

Lotus

If the skill name has the word lotus in it, you gain energy if you hit.

Falling

If the skill name has the word falling in it, it requires a knocked down foe to hit.

Fox

If the skill name has the word fox in it, it makes your attack, or attacks unblockable (Way of the fox or fox fangs for example)

Spider

If the skill name has the word spider in it, it causes poison.

Signet

If the skill name has signet in it, it works off of either a hex or condition.



Tactics

PvE

"Assassins are meant for spiking one target at a time which is useless for PvE. Thankfully no class completely follows what they are 'meant' to do." ~...Okay that was meIn PvE you job is to not only take out the most worrisome enemies but also have the ability to do ANOTHER spike right after taking out that person. There is one simple way to do this, pick attack skills with short recharge times like Shattering Assault.

Also the hex Assassin's Promise is great for spiking one person and then another because of the energy gain. One of the more common ones is Moebuis strike which combined with Death Blossum is devastating to the very commonly balled up enemies in PvE.

Positioning

In PvE, depending on the group, assassins are a combination of a backline and a frontline character. In Pug groups where monks are not as good as they could be most of the time, it is best to play it safe. If you start to take damage, run to the backline(Or at least until the enemies deaggro).

In good groups with reliable monks it is ok to stay in the frontline because enemies most of the time will deaggro by themselves if you start taking no damage or are enchanted heavily. This isn't to say you are a tank, rush in and stay in fighting. It just means you are more free if you trust your monks. If you can see your monks have good builds then your set.

Shadow Stepping

This is tricky and doesn't follow the rules of normal positioning. Wait for your group to aggro the enemies, meaning stay in the backline. Then once the monks are close enough that if you do shadow step, you aren't completely out of range and extremely vulnerable. Rushing in and shadow stepping once YOU are in range means the monks have to catch up to you and they are 1/2 of the aggro bubble in back of you.

When you equip a shadow step it is common for some people to take another shadow step to get out, making them a hit and run assassin. Shadow walk and dash are very common example of this. It allows you to quickly get in and do lots of damage to your enemies and if you run into trouble you have a quick way to deaggro them, usually closer to the monks.

Not all shadow stepping takes you to a target. A few skills like Viper's Defense and Heart of Shadow shadow step you to a random nearby area. This can be helpful when a few things happen:

1. You rubber band, these skills fix this and puts you out of danger.

2. You are surrounded by melee enemies, this shadowsteps around them.

3. You are low on health, this gets you out of danger and in Heart of Shadow's case, it heals you as well. This gives monks more time to save you.

Although many say that these skills may take you too far away, this is most of the time false. About 90% of the time you will still be in the aggro bubble of your monks especially if they are heros. These skills can be extremely helpful when trying to get the survivor title, but don't want to resort to Critical Barrage type builds.

Targeting



Your targets should normally be spell casters, unless there are none. In that case go for which ever is causing the most damage to your team. In the case that there are spell casters a lot of the time you want to go for the monks, however most smite monks you should just skip. Then if you see an elementalist they are a huge target especially ones like Rain Titans, Rain of Terrors or Siege Ice Golems.

Another big factor of who you target is dependent on what build you are using. If you are using for instance Siphon speed and Shroud of Silence you can use Siphon Speed on one target, then use Shroud of Silence on another, then kill the person with Siphon speed on. That shuts down one caster and leaves the other one exposed. If you are using a hexed based build and you know there is hex removal (Like Am Fah Mesmers), then take then out first and then finish off the rest. That's why it's better to research an area for hex removal so you don't have to.

Escaping



Escaping simply means deaggroing the enemies so they go after someone else. This can be done in a few ways. A simple way which requires no skills to be used is to switch to a high health/armor set and run back towards your monks until they stop attacking you.

Another relatively common way is to take a shadow stepping skill that works on allies. Death's Retreat is an example which even heals you. This can be harder because it takes a small amount of time to click on a backliner and then use the skill, especially if you still only use your mouse to activate skills.

Another strong way is using skills like dash or dark escape and simply run out like the first example. This can be used in combination with the first one as well for even more armor. Another somewhat common one is to use skills like Aura of Displacement or Shadow of Haste to get in, and get out. This is much easier than a shadow step that targets an ally because it reduces it to only one step, which is to click on either another skill or an icon.

Escaping shouldn't take a long time. Once you are no longer the target go back in and continue to attack the enemies. Very rarely enemies try to target you after just deaggroing off of you.

Build Type

In PvE you actions should change depending on your build and the area you are using it in. Most builds in PvE are one of the following:

1)Repeated Spikes (Assassin's Promise is a good example)

2)Endless Pressure (Moebius + Death Blossum is an example of this, or any combo that doesn't end because of short recharges [L-O-D])

Also these have other factors which effect it which are:

*Hex based

*Enchantment based

*Condition based

Some builds are not restricted by these but many are. This is why it is a good idea to see if any monsters in the explorable area have direct counters to your build such as going into Perdition Rock with an AoD build or fighting the Am Fah with a Shroud of Silence type build.



PvP

"If you can run a build given to you and can follow orders, you can PvP. Things like infusing and interrupting and knowing what to do where and when comes with experience, thats why people look for the title." ~ Someone in TA.

Assassins most common purpose in PvP is spiking, mostly in Hero Battles. They can be extremely deadly in 4 v 4 matches and in Gvg they can be deadly gankers when paired with others, such as Burning Arrows rangers or Weapon of Remedy Ritualists.

Shadow Stepping



This is a huge advantage in PvP. Spikes are easily caught if you have to run to the target, with shadow stepping that factor is almost completely gone. If you run into a battle using your shadow step, you have to run towards the target, so its fairly easy to see who is going to be targeted. Then the monk knows who you are going to attack, can can pre-prot the target. To use this effectively, get into the battle without spiking. Then when then start auto-attacking enemies so the monk wastes his prots/energy/heals. Then when the monk is focused on that enemy, spike them.

Targeting

It's not as simple as target the monk anymore. Auto-attack enemies to distract the monk and switch to another without any protection on. Attacking people with protection on with you attack skills is asking for the spike to be blocked.

Build Creation

Purpose

Before you begin to make a build think about where you are going to use it first, and what purpose it will serve in you group. Assassins have a few jobs that they are very good at doing. These are spiking, pressuring, farming and running. While they are not the absolute best at #2 and 3, they still have the ability to do it. Each of the four have certain things that need to be in the build to make it effective and viable. Below I have all four kinds of builds and ways to make new ones, along with example builds that clearly show all the characteristics of it.

Spiking

Spiking is what the assassin class is best at, because it was made for that very purpose. Most spiking builds drain a lot of your energy so it is important to have some form of energy gain/management. Dual attacks are extremely strong and beyond that the effects happen twice, making dual attacks essential for most spiking builds (not including sig spiker builds).

The best way to test a spiking build is to go to the Great Temple of Balthazar and test it against the armor 60 target. If you kill it cleanly (without having to use normal attacks to finish off the last bit of health) then try to kill the 80 in one run, then try the 100. The most effective builds can kill the level 60 armor targets in under 5 seconds. This test doesn't mean to take 7-8 attack skills and attack the 100 armor, because it will take much longer to finish off the target (adds on about 3-5 more seconds). A good sin build for spiking has about 4-5 attack skills (including things like impale).

Deep Wound

This is key to all spiking builds. If you don't have a deep wound the chances are a monk can heal right over it or if there is no monk (such as in AB or areas in PvE) then it may take a few extra hits to kill it. Some of the most effective builds use twisting fangs or impale for their source of deep wound. Other builds such as signet spikers use Augury of Death to get the deep wound because it will not interrupt their combo if it does activate(if they get to 50% hp, it interrupts all actions and shadow steps you to them).

Important things to note about deep wound is that it can not kill the enemy, it takes one more bit of damage (even if it only deals 0 damage) to "activate it". If they only have 30 health left and they just suffer from a deep wound, their health is brought down to 1, NOT 0. Another important thing to know is that even if someone had 80,000,000 health, deep wound can only bring them down 100 health as a maximum. So at 500 health, a deep wound stops lowering it by more. Also, while it is extremely rare to see, a monk can "heal themselves to death". If they are suffering from a deep wound at about 30ish health, they technically have -70 health. So if they health themselves for any less than that number, it raises it to for example -30 health, thus activating the deep wound and killing them.

Degeneration



This isn't completely necessary, but many times you will become blind, knocked down, die or what ever and can't finish the spike, but they are almost dead. This can get the last few points of health off so long as they don't have healing or a monk. The most common degeneration types assassins have are bleeding and poison.

Increased Attack Speed (IAS)

This is and extremely important part of spikes because it reduces the time it takes to use all the attacks skills by a lot. What normally would take around 6-10 seconds only takes about 5 or less. It also gives less time for monks to react, increasing the chance of the spike to be a success. Some of the most common forms of IAS are flurry, Tigers Stance, and Lightning Reflexes. Flurry is seemingly bad but because it only effects base attacks, and not bonus damage, it only removes about 40-50 damage from a spike making it a strong spammable IAS. Tigers Stance has a decent recharge and no negative effects in it and its recharge fits the shadow prison build. Lightning reflexes allows you to block the enemies attacks against you, being helpful when attacked by other assassins that didn't plan for it. The down side being its high recharge time.

High Damage



Assassins have very quick high damage in most skills they have. One of the most common high damage skill is blades of steel, as it can hit for ~80 damage to a 60 armor target and beyond that the bonus damage ignores armor, as do all bonus damages.

The best high damage comes from dual attacks, as the damage happens twice, not just once. This is why Black spider strike and black lotus strike are extremely common amongst spiking builds, because it allows you to use two dual attacks. This followed with impale allows for extremely strong spikes that can kill some of the best monks.

Snare



This is key, because unless you are moving faster than normal (IMS = Increased movement speed), a monk can just run away from you and you won't be able to get your spikes in. It also allows for the enemy to get more time to think of a plan that they wouldn't have if you did have a snare.

There are two snare skills that are miles ahead of the rest, and those are siphon speed and shadow prison. Siphon speed is great because you are technically moving 66% faster than your enemy. Also even if this hex is removed, it only has a 5 second recharge, making it a great hex. It can also be used to simply run away faster, giving it more than one purpose. Shadow Prison allows you to shadow step to the enemy, thus surprising them, AND it allows you to snare them. This also being a hex allows for the use of black spider strike and black lotus strike, making it a very popular elite.

Crippling and knocking down are also very effective ways of snaring someone. As of lately Grenth's Grasp is a very common elite to see with the release of Trampling Ox. Other skills that work well are Black Mantis Thrust and Shadowy Burden. Black Mantis thrust is good to lead into Jungle Strike, which works off crippled foes.

Shadowy burden, so long as it is your only hex on them, can raise 90 damage on a 60 Al target, to 112 (Blades of Steel), while also giving you a small snare. Hidden Caltrops is also a good snare, as it deals damage too, however you need to hurt them while running first AND the hex ends when they do so it is better to take 2 hexes if you plan to make a hexed based build out of this elite.

Some snare skills are just not worth taking such as:

Mantis touch - while it has spell cast range, it requires a lead attack, so you have to be to them already. Also it deals no damage, making it a weak spiking skill

Caltrops - Not as bad as mantis touch but it costs way to much energy for its effect, and is outclassed by others.

Extra Effects

Many things can be added to spikes to make them even more effective. Such things include:

*Enchantment removal -

Expunge Enchantments, Shattering Assault, Dark Apostasy and Assualt Enchantments are among the best of this. Many times, especially in AB, people stack up on enchantments to weaken spikes and make themselves invisible. Enchantment removal makes that useless and have them have to recast everything. It takes about a second to notice, 1/2 to react, anywhere from 1/4 to 2 seconds to fix it. By then you should be done your spike.

*Hindering (Can mean a lot of things, but basically, they can't do stuff they normally could due to a hex/enchantment/condition)

Very few skills do this but the best examples are Shroud of Silence and Shadow Shroud. Shroud of Silence, while it hurts you too, absolutely sends monks into panic mode and unless they preveil or hex breaker it, they're going to die so long as you snared them.

Shadow Shroud is much less common in Assassin builds, but if very effective in team spikes to prevent prot monks from using their enchantments. Hindering can be dazing someone making Beguiling Haze a good elite.

*Shadow Stepping

This is nearly key for spiking, but with a snare you don't need it. This adds the element of surprise into your spikes, giving monks less time to react. This is yet another reason why Shadow Prison is extremely popular in PvP. While this does help you surprise the enemy, it can also get you out of range of you monks, leaving you exposed.

*Unblockable

This is nearly key, but you can get around it. Things like expose defenses are great for doing this.

Pressure

Pressure builds are useful because you are constantly using attacks, and are either able to switch targets easily or are doing AoE damage. They are not necessarily fast, definitely not as fast as spike builds but are helpful as they make monks waste their energy and eventually make them run out and die, as opposed to a spike which can be blocked every 10-20 seconds, leaving monks with plenty of energy to keep it up for ever.

Assassins do not have as many pressure builds as other professions, however the few they have are effective.

Consistent Damage

Consistent damage can be achieved in two ways; Moebius strike and a repeatable combo. Moebius strike allows you to repeat a section of a combo which are the dual attacks. A repeatable combo would be three attacks with similar recharges that can be used over and over again. An example would be Golden Fox Strike --> Wild Strike --> Shattering Assault. The recharge really should never get over four seconds, or else there is a big gap in the damage. Also if the recharges aren't similar or match such as Golden Fox Strike --> Wild Strike --> Twisting Fangs, it won't be as effective.

Extra Effects

*Constant Snare

Siphon Speed is a great one, anything that cripples with a short recharge is another good one to use.

*Unblockable

Foxes Promise and the Golden Fox Strike --> Wild Strike --> Shattering Assault combo are great for this.

*Extra Bonus damage

Things like the Conjures or the IMBA PvE skills that add extra damage are great.

*Hindering (see spikes)



Thing NOT to do

Beyond the obvious I am going to just list everything you should never ever do with an assassin unless your goal is to die. Note that some of these apply to certain places, while some apply to all:


Do NOT run into combat without your monk in your bubble. (Not including Gvg ganks, when there are no monks with you)

Do NOT have more than 5 attack skills. (ALL)

Do NOT attack melee if there are other spell casters, especially monks, around. (Does not apply everywhere)

Do NOT make dagger chains that involve more than one type of weapon (Sounds crazy to do but I once saw a build that used backbreaker and falling spider in the same build on wiki).

Do NOT sacrifice originality for effectiveness. Elites are over used for a reason, don't try to avoid them when they are obviously the best choice for an area. (ALL)

Do NOT try to make "Sin Tank Builds" because sins are not tanks, they are damage dealers. Taking critical defenses and calling it a sin tank is fine, it's just not a tank. (ALL)

Do NOT attack protected targets, go for ones that are not under protective enchantments. You can fake a spike on them by running to them and then switching to someone else though. (ALL)

Do NOT stay for that one last dagger attack if you are being heavily attacked, it can get you killed. (ALL)

Do NOT try to kill someone in PvP because of what they said, be a heartless emotionless fighter and go for the targets that truly are hurting your team. Not to mention it's very predictable. (ALL)

Do NOT try to combine things from other professions if they use it more effectively (Ex: IW Sins, MM sins, or the wonderful sin tanks). Golden Phoenix strike and Death Blossom and then all protection/healing skills IS NOT A BUILD. At least not a good one). (ALL)

Do NOT take mending or any other kind of regeneration skill to counter the effects of a vampiric weapon. Just use weapon swapping. (ALL)

Do NOT use less than 3 attacking skills. Attacking skills, doesn't mean attack skills. (Discluding the "Fear inspiring Sin")

Do NOT take a bad enchantment if you need an enchantment just because it has a long duration. Think about it first and pick one that fits the build. (ALL)




The Skills

Assassins have four skill attributes available, and a few non-attribute skills. These are Critical Strikes, Dagger Mastery, Deadly Arts, Shadow Arts and No Attribute. All of these (Not including the No Attribute line) follow a certain pattern in the skills, however all the skills in the attribute do not follow what the attribute does. For instance, Shadow Arts is made for healing and protection, yet Shadowy Burden snares the enemy and removes 20 armor if there are no other hexes, not very much like shadow arts.

One major thing about assassin skills is that there are only 2 skills that have more than a 1 second cast time (not including the attack skills), so all of the skills activate really quickly. Those skills are Sharpen Daggers and Signet of Twilight.

Critical Strikes



This attribute is mainly working off of critical hits. Most skills either cause a critical hit, raise critical hit percent chance or give a special effect if you cause a critical hit.

Dagger Mastery



This is where most of the attack skills are for assassins. This attribute only has one skill that doesn't fit in with the rest, Flashing Blades.

Deadly Arts



This is where nearly all of the hexes and signets that deal damage are, discluding 5 hexes that aren't. All of the signets work off of conditions, whether it be healing or damage. A few skills don't follow this pattern though, such as Way of the Empty Palm or Vampiric Assault.

Shadow Arts



This attribute is hard to define, as it does many things. It has the ability to shadow step, heal, protect and give conditions to the enemy, but usually the pattern they follow is, tactical skills and defensive skills.

No Attribute

These follow no pattern. They can shadow set, remove enchantments, hex and even knock people down.



Secondary Professions

Assassins can combine with all the professions with at least one skill, some better than others. Below is a list of all the good skills and a short debion of why they fit well with assassins.

Mesmer

Web of Disruption. It's a hex, so it can lead into a combo very well that is hex based. Also it is a good interrupt.

Fragility. Assassins can deal lots of conditions quickly so this can add a good 50 damage to a combo. While this is true, I don't personally recommend putting it on the assassin's bar. Better placed on a mesmer's bar.

Fevered Dreams. Like Fragility, assassins can deal lots of conditions, and this is both a good hex and make all those conditions AoE.

Signet of Midnight. Works well with Signet of Malice. Not recommended outside of a 1 v 1 scrimmage if even there.

Monk

In PvE only, hard resses.

Restful Breeze. Great for ganking and just overall a great heal in between spikes.

Mending touch. Great condition removal, as it removes two conditions.

Warrior

Tigers Stance. Good for spike builds.

Flurry. If you don't mind losing 20-50 damage from a combo this is better than Tigers stance.

Wild Blow. Stance removal and it's an auto crit which is good for builds that rely on critical hits.

Elementalist

Conjure _____. More damage to a spike is good, this does that.

Mark of Rodgort. Not common, lots of energy cost but constant burning is nice if you have a way to manage that energy cost (Ex. Way of the Empty Palm)

____ Djinn's Haste. If you already have attribute points in there, take it.

Necromancer

Parasitic bond. Quick recharging hex with a heal if you kill the person. Good for hex builds however it means you can't have any IAS.

Plague touch. Good for condition removal.

Ranger

Barrage. Critical Barrage builds.

Volley. Critical Barrage Builds.

Savage Shot. Critical Barrage Builds.

Disrupting Accuracy. Good in combination of high chance to get a critical hit.

Storm Chaser. Good for running builds

Ritualist

Warmonger's Weapon. Deadly good spell casting interrupts, about 2 ever second means very few will get out.

Wailing Weapon. Not as effective as Warmongers but good for the same reasons, just with melee.

Wielder's Boon. Good heal for those who have a weapon spell in their bar.

Brutal Weapon. Good for bonus damage, just don't take a prot monk.

Dervish

Vital Boon. Good recharge enchantment.

Mystic Regeneration. Good healing.

Whirling Charge. Good IAS and IMS.

Grenth's Grasp. Good snare and is great when used with Trampling Ox.

Paragon

Remedy signet. Take a wild guess.



Dagger Modification Selection

Because assassins double strike and are made to be spikers and high damage dealers, some mods are just better than others. These are them.

Tang

The best dagger tangs available are zealous, vampiric and sundering, simply because the assassin attacks very fast so they're effects happen more often. Zealous is extremely important in high energy combos, and in combos where those are not necessary it is nice to have vampiric or sundering mods deal additional damage.

Other good mods are the elemental mods. They can combine well with things like Grenth's Grasp and the conjure spells.

Silencing can be good when using a daze build make it last a few extra seconds.

Handle

The best choice for this is Fortitude and arguably of mastery as of mastery will give you more bonus damage as well as dagger damage.

Inscrip.tion

15^50 is the best, however some builds will always work around something like a hex or an enchantment or a stance so they may be better to take. Also +5 energy is great to take, and if you really want to you can take a negative energy set and take 15 -5e.

Other Weapons

These are not Daggers.

Sword and Shield:



Sword:

+5 energy
+30 health
Any head mod will do.

Shield:

+30 health
+10 armor vs X damage (Bring one shield for every kind of damage)

Why? This is you "Oh no, I'm being spiked" set. Put this on and you have +18 armor, +5 energy and +60 health. It's plus 18 armor because if you don't meet the requirements for the armor on a shield, you get half what it's worth. 16/2 = 8. And then +10 armor from the +10 armor vs X mod. 10 + 8 = 18.

Spear is good for activating deep wound after a spike if they get away somehow.

This may seem minor, but in PvP and sometimes in PvE, you need ever advantage you can get. If it saves you once and doesn't take up a skill slot, its worth taking.

Runes/Attributes

Most of the time, an assassin doesn't need more than a minor for his build. Only for farming builds like the sliver sin should one take a superior rune (For Shadow Arts). Depending on the build the attributes change but for most dagger builds, you want 12-15 dagger mastery and at least 9 critical strikes (So if weakened, you still get +2 energy on critical hit). The reason for not using superiors is because it is simply not worth it. For example:

Death Blossom at 15 dagger mastery does +45 damage. At 16 it does +47 damage. Thats a guaranteed +2 extra damage, which is not a lot. The major takes away 35 of your total health, which is a pretty big amount. The superior takes away 75 health, which is a huge amount. So in this case you are losing an extra 40 health for +2 damage, or technically +4 since it's a dual attack. Worth it?

Armor



This picture isn't 100% correct, but these types of pictures take way too long. Take a minor dagger mastery rune and more health runes, especially on the legs. Also get a +50 health rune instead.

An assassin, as a frontline character with weak protection skills and low armor for a frontline character, needs at least 550 health, and thats the very minimum. Also some spikes can from the start cost 30 energy to start, you should have at least 30 energy, unless the build needs more like a beguiling haze type build. Any less than that and you are risking 1) Your life and 2) Effectiveness. Experiment with the runes, placing them on different parts of your armor until you have the highest energy and health you can get.

Gadiel

This is a very good guide (skimmed through it) I think you should add stay away from earth mages... they are most likely going to have your assed owned before you manage to pull one damage ,if they have the cheap no crit, all dmg they take is earth, and cant be hit by spells from Nightfall. Not cheap at all... you cant dispell, or damage him... lovely while he spams your *** with spells... "even" better huh (with my sin i would love to point out how many times that screwed me over...)

Squeak2

Very nice! I didn't read ALL of it (Damn long) but the parts I did read were done skillfully. Also that quote from someone in RA/TA I think that mighta been me cause I remember saying something similar to that one day. Not EXTREMELY long ago, but long enough...