Post by lantra on Jul 9, 2013 17:34:12 GMT
I have gotten the question many times (almost never) Lyntra, how are you so good at PvP? Well part of the reason is I PvP a lot, another part is Assassin's are OP (rogue/warrior/deathknight for you wow players), and lastly are the secrets I will share below. I will focus primarily on Deception Spec for this thread, but I also will share my hybrid spec which is a lot of fun, but I am still working out the kinks.
A. DECEPTION
1. YOUR BUILD
The first step to assassinating everyone you see, is to properly allocate your talent points. This is my current Deception build that I am using here (This is an offensive build, with focus on doing more damage. My Defensive focused build here)
1.1 First Tier Deception:
You can see I have taken every talent point. Each one is vital to my build and my play style, Chain Shock will help a lot with your burstiness when you pop recklessness. Dark Embrace is just necisary, that 6 seconds of extra force regen can sometimes give you the edge you need to win any battle. It also effects you while you are in stealth... so when you use Force Cloak, wait a few seconds (if you can) for your force to be fully recharged. Avoidance, is just all around extremely important for PvP, Force Speed, Jolt, and Unbreakable will are all vital weapons in your arsenal.
1.2 Second Tier Deception:
On this tier assassin's mark and obfuscation are the two talents that are necessary in any Deception build. Obfuscation is a great talent that gives you more mobility when you are stealthed. (As I will talk about later mobility = survivability). Insulation is a nice defensive talent, if you really want to put points into it 30% extra armor can be a big help.
1.3 Third Tier Deception:
This is another tier where I take everything. All these talents are vital to deception based assassin's. Surging Charge and Induction are pretty obvious they are some bread and butter talents that significantly boost your dps. Darkswell I know is one not a lot of people take, but it's an amazing talent. Every time you exit stealth you have a 25% damage reduction you can use, and it restores 15 force (could be the difference between a killing blow, and being killed). Not to mention when you Force Cloak you can still get healed. Deceptive power is another one most people don't take, but 10 extra force points can also be the difference between a killing blow and being killed.
1.4 Fourth Tier Deception:
Here duplicity and fade are the only two I take. Fade is a great defensive talent that will allow you to black out more and vanish more. Duplicity is a must have, it's a HUGE dps increase. However I think the slow talents are pointless, an assassin has so much maneuverability that it's a waste of talent points to focus on slows. If you are getting kited a lot, your doing something wrong (will cover later).
1.5 Fifth Tier Deception:
This is another tier where every talent is a must have. Low slash is a great incapacitate that will allow you to maneuver behind an opponent (and later grant Duplicity on a separate timer). Saber conduit is worth it for the extra force and to get to Electric Ambush. Electric Ambush is going to a staple for good burst DPS, allowing you to have recklessness almost every fight (and in long fights you can vanish to get it back.) Entropic field is an ok one, it's gonna be at three charges for the majority of any fight because of how much Assassin's crit.
1.6 Sixth and Seventh Tier Deception:
Take all of them. They are all extremely useful talents. Sith Execution is obvious, and so is nerve wracking. And impose weakness will give you a duplicity off low-slash or spike. Both very useful. Volatic Slash will replace thrash on your bar, and it has a handy dandy effect when you can stack it up to 2 times. (More on move priorities later in the guide.)
1.7 The rest of your talents:
The most important talents out side of deception to pick up are Charge Mastery (a 9% armor pen) and Exploitative Strikes (Which will really help your Burst). The rest is purely about taste. Thrashing Blades and Torment are nice to have DPS boosts, but not really necessary. Electric Execution might also be a good one to dump points into for bigger surging discharges. For defensive, I don't really think Sith Defiance does much (or if it even stacks with Entropic Field) so I prefer lightning reflex for a more defense based build.
2. Move priorities:
A solid rule of PvP there is no such thing as a rotation. Always use your attacks on a priority basis. Now that being said I will give you some examples of how I start most fights, and finish them.
2.1 Basic Priority
This is assuming you are fighting out in the open.
1. Maul (with duplicity up)
2. Recklessness (If it is up use it, also if you have a good healer with you, use overcharge saber)
3. Discharge (with recklessness)
4. Shock (with recklessness)
5. Assassinate
6. Maul
7. Shock (With 2 stacks of volatic slash)
8. Dishcharge (with three stacks)
9. Volatic Slash
10. Shock
11. Slash
12. Force Lightning
2.2 Defensive Priority
1. Saber Ward
2. Black Out
3. Overcharge Saber
4. Force Cloak
2.3 CC Priority
1. Spike
2. Low Slash
3. Electrocute
2.4 Example
Coming out of Stealth to initiate a fight, I always lead with Spike (Triggering Duplicity) Then Maul. Right after that I would burn Recklessness, Discharge and shock. By now you should have another maul up, voltaic slash (or maul if you can) once or twice until you get it, THEN Low Slash (if you don't need to do so before because you are dying.) Which will give you another Duplicity. So at this point you will be energy famished, and if you are in a 1vs1 fight, use force cloak (ignoring the other defensive cool downs in this case) to restore energy. Then start the process over again (Recklessness will more than likely be up again).
2.5 The Why
Why I put a CC priority and a Defensive priority is to remind you to manage your cool downs. Electrocute is great, Once every minute, so avoid using it unless you really need it, because nothing is worse than needing it, and not having it up. Also you always have to keep an eye on the Resolve Bar next to the enemy player's name, when it gets FULL WHITE, he is immune to CC. Managing that bar can help you keep a player locked down. For defensive abilities, Saber Ward is a GREAT ability but it has a long cool down and unlike CC's I suggest burning it MORE often than not. Black out has a shorter cool down (and recharges instantly when you stealth) but I still suggest only using it when saber ward is off cool down. Overcharge saber is also a nice 10% heal, but really it's best for increasing your DPS, so watch out for using it defensively. And of course, Force Cloak can be used offensively and defensively and it's a staple of the class, so be wary in using it.
3. GEARING
Coming soon.
4. TIPS AND TRICKS
Coming Soon.
B. 0/18/28 Hybrid
Coming soon. Link to build here
Please feel free to post any questions/suggestions.
A. DECEPTION
1. YOUR BUILD
The first step to assassinating everyone you see, is to properly allocate your talent points. This is my current Deception build that I am using here (This is an offensive build, with focus on doing more damage. My Defensive focused build here)
1.1 First Tier Deception:
You can see I have taken every talent point. Each one is vital to my build and my play style, Chain Shock will help a lot with your burstiness when you pop recklessness. Dark Embrace is just necisary, that 6 seconds of extra force regen can sometimes give you the edge you need to win any battle. It also effects you while you are in stealth... so when you use Force Cloak, wait a few seconds (if you can) for your force to be fully recharged. Avoidance, is just all around extremely important for PvP, Force Speed, Jolt, and Unbreakable will are all vital weapons in your arsenal.
1.2 Second Tier Deception:
On this tier assassin's mark and obfuscation are the two talents that are necessary in any Deception build. Obfuscation is a great talent that gives you more mobility when you are stealthed. (As I will talk about later mobility = survivability). Insulation is a nice defensive talent, if you really want to put points into it 30% extra armor can be a big help.
1.3 Third Tier Deception:
This is another tier where I take everything. All these talents are vital to deception based assassin's. Surging Charge and Induction are pretty obvious they are some bread and butter talents that significantly boost your dps. Darkswell I know is one not a lot of people take, but it's an amazing talent. Every time you exit stealth you have a 25% damage reduction you can use, and it restores 15 force (could be the difference between a killing blow, and being killed). Not to mention when you Force Cloak you can still get healed. Deceptive power is another one most people don't take, but 10 extra force points can also be the difference between a killing blow and being killed.
1.4 Fourth Tier Deception:
Here duplicity and fade are the only two I take. Fade is a great defensive talent that will allow you to black out more and vanish more. Duplicity is a must have, it's a HUGE dps increase. However I think the slow talents are pointless, an assassin has so much maneuverability that it's a waste of talent points to focus on slows. If you are getting kited a lot, your doing something wrong (will cover later).
1.5 Fifth Tier Deception:
This is another tier where every talent is a must have. Low slash is a great incapacitate that will allow you to maneuver behind an opponent (and later grant Duplicity on a separate timer). Saber conduit is worth it for the extra force and to get to Electric Ambush. Electric Ambush is going to a staple for good burst DPS, allowing you to have recklessness almost every fight (and in long fights you can vanish to get it back.) Entropic field is an ok one, it's gonna be at three charges for the majority of any fight because of how much Assassin's crit.
1.6 Sixth and Seventh Tier Deception:
Take all of them. They are all extremely useful talents. Sith Execution is obvious, and so is nerve wracking. And impose weakness will give you a duplicity off low-slash or spike. Both very useful. Volatic Slash will replace thrash on your bar, and it has a handy dandy effect when you can stack it up to 2 times. (More on move priorities later in the guide.)
1.7 The rest of your talents:
The most important talents out side of deception to pick up are Charge Mastery (a 9% armor pen) and Exploitative Strikes (Which will really help your Burst). The rest is purely about taste. Thrashing Blades and Torment are nice to have DPS boosts, but not really necessary. Electric Execution might also be a good one to dump points into for bigger surging discharges. For defensive, I don't really think Sith Defiance does much (or if it even stacks with Entropic Field) so I prefer lightning reflex for a more defense based build.
2. Move priorities:
A solid rule of PvP there is no such thing as a rotation. Always use your attacks on a priority basis. Now that being said I will give you some examples of how I start most fights, and finish them.
2.1 Basic Priority
This is assuming you are fighting out in the open.
1. Maul (with duplicity up)
2. Recklessness (If it is up use it, also if you have a good healer with you, use overcharge saber)
3. Discharge (with recklessness)
4. Shock (with recklessness)
5. Assassinate
6. Maul
7. Shock (With 2 stacks of volatic slash)
8. Dishcharge (with three stacks)
9. Volatic Slash
10. Shock
11. Slash
12. Force Lightning
2.2 Defensive Priority
1. Saber Ward
2. Black Out
3. Overcharge Saber
4. Force Cloak
2.3 CC Priority
1. Spike
2. Low Slash
3. Electrocute
2.4 Example
Coming out of Stealth to initiate a fight, I always lead with Spike (Triggering Duplicity) Then Maul. Right after that I would burn Recklessness, Discharge and shock. By now you should have another maul up, voltaic slash (or maul if you can) once or twice until you get it, THEN Low Slash (if you don't need to do so before because you are dying.) Which will give you another Duplicity. So at this point you will be energy famished, and if you are in a 1vs1 fight, use force cloak (ignoring the other defensive cool downs in this case) to restore energy. Then start the process over again (Recklessness will more than likely be up again).
2.5 The Why
Why I put a CC priority and a Defensive priority is to remind you to manage your cool downs. Electrocute is great, Once every minute, so avoid using it unless you really need it, because nothing is worse than needing it, and not having it up. Also you always have to keep an eye on the Resolve Bar next to the enemy player's name, when it gets FULL WHITE, he is immune to CC. Managing that bar can help you keep a player locked down. For defensive abilities, Saber Ward is a GREAT ability but it has a long cool down and unlike CC's I suggest burning it MORE often than not. Black out has a shorter cool down (and recharges instantly when you stealth) but I still suggest only using it when saber ward is off cool down. Overcharge saber is also a nice 10% heal, but really it's best for increasing your DPS, so watch out for using it defensively. And of course, Force Cloak can be used offensively and defensively and it's a staple of the class, so be wary in using it.
3. GEARING
Coming soon.
4. TIPS AND TRICKS
Coming Soon.
B. 0/18/28 Hybrid
Coming soon. Link to build here
Please feel free to post any questions/suggestions.