I want to become a more solid Assassin

I've become a solid support over time and I have yet to be called a hacker. I find this unfair.

I wanna be called a hacker for being awesome and I thought my assassin game could use some work. I've been reading over the Shadow Sutra and other assassin guides but there are some situational tips I need. Taking out turrets has been hard for me if there is firebase watching fore example.

There are only three problems.

1.) I am honorable

I cant stand to go assassin so I can practice if there are no supports or tanks on the team. I just cant do it. The thing is being that committed to having a balanced team nets me very little time to play assassin.

2.)I have homework

This can be dealt with. Its just I did not know English12 would be this bad and I am too overwhelmed to play. Though I'm not loosing studying time to MNC.

3.) Too many GODDAMNED TANKS

There are just so many of the egg shaped bastards and the worst part is that they are good at what they do.

In comparison to the other classes, the Assassin is very objective minded.

The primary job of an Assassin is to kill bots. Generally, you can kill backjacks in one lunge from behind and be out ASAP, often right under a Tank's nose. If a Tank isn't leading a charge, then feel free to attempt a grapple on the target only if it will further your goals.

Secondary, use Shurikans to Harass enemies. Many times, even Tanks will be forced into retreat when faced with an onslaught of shurikans, and can also be one of the few ways to hinder a very good sniper. Don't do this against a Gunner.

Third, use juice to kill turrets.

When the Moneyball is down, it falls upon you to ensure it stays down. Sometimes this could mean sitting in cloak and waiting for the one opportunity, for this part, I advise Cloak 3. Against most teams, you can even camp on a wall and lay uncontested siege to the opposing team's moneyball while they were out trying to push bots.

I keep my assassins equipped with gold level ROF for the shurikens because I've found this to be extremely useful in a number of situations. For one you can take down Heavies much faster then you would ever imagine even from a really good distance. My main use though is turrets. For the firebase situation you mentioned Gold ROF shurikens take them down really fast. It only becomes difficult if a support is actively healing. Once the firebase is down I soften up what's most likely a rocket turret with more shurikens then cloak run in and smoke bomb it. This will deactivate the turret leaving you free to slice away. If a firebase is right next to a turret you could smoke bomb and it should deactivate both. You'll probably be killed once the firebase reactivates but in some situations it's worth taking one for the team.
Another little trick for when multiple turrets are up is using your target as cover. In many cases you can position yourself so that the turret you're trying to take down is in between you and the other turret firing at you. This works really well when taking down shave ice. The target you're trying to take down will actually give you some cover you will take some damage but if you work it right you can take it out and survive long enough to get the hell out of there.

I've been watching Obsydianyte's videos and I must say that I did not know that those pathways were available across the maps.

Seeing an Xbox assassin play was amazing. I suppose I was not using the lunge move right or accurately.

Hey there Neo. It's great that you are taking an active interest in wanting to get better. No matter what the activity in life, one should always strive to advance. I would recommend watching more videos and reading guides to expand your knowledge.

Marmalade made an excellent guide on the forums that I would highly recommend you take a look at. You can also watch videos of any class really. I find that there are many things to learn from playing the different classes and some of these skills are cross-compatible with other classes. Xeno's videos can be a great aid in learning how to win in pro vs. pro situations as he is a very smart player who knows when he is in over his head. Sunny Dove also produces good videos with great commentary. Commentaries can be useful for hearing what a player thinks about a given situation.

I (shameless plug incoming) also make videos that are mostly assassin based. Feel free to take a look at any of these and ask questions when you have them. Most players are very nice and willing to help in whatever way possible.

Good luck!

Rogue Blades

I play Assassin as my secondary (Gunner is my main). But, I've run into situations where there are just too many heavies (gunner and Tank) as well. I always try to keep in mind that my primary job is to keep the bot line pushed back. If I can't do that on the front line, I'll use my manueverability and invisibility to get to the back lines. Sure, those guys might be up near my base wrecking everything, but they can't do jack if there's no bots to breach the moneyball shields. So in situations like that, I try to stay behind the heavies and slash the crap out of their bots. I don't even try to engage them unless I got teammates activly engaged. Eventually, they'll figure out I'm back there and I'll have to escape - but if nothing else I've taken the pressure off my team enough that they can start pushing back.

Rest of the posts above me are good as well. I agree with them all.

Add me on steam (Vlane) and I should be able to help you with your assassin play.

Videos and stuff is also very nice but learning through practice is the best way in my opinion.

I've made quite a bit of progress and I have now got the hang of using the number keys to upgrade quicker. This has also made me a better player overall.

I might need some indepth tips as there are pathways I've seen Obsydianite take but are not on the PC.

Spunky cola has a pillars that you are supposedly able to lunge across in the Xbox version but in practice this does not work.

Also I cant seem to do the Dash-Smokebomb with any regularity.

The main thing to remember as an assassin is that shurikins WILL kill players in a heartbeat. The biggest thing I see with newer assassins is not utilizing this amazing weapon.

You crazy, you can switch to dagger and lunge away from mortars way faster than they can dodge your kins. They regen so slowly it's easy to pick them off or force them farther back than they want to be.

And if you've been watching xbox assassins remember this, as a pc player you can turn MUCH faster while lunging. Use this to your advantage. Lunging around corners can get you that extra time you need behind cover to smokejump away safely(or cloak, or dash).

Wouldn't they use a Minigun instead?

The damage falloff for those things is atrocious. At any decent range they should be using their mortars.

Don't fire shurikens at a nearby enemy gunner who's firing at the full minigun rate. If he's any good he'll point that thing at you and kill you in under a second. If you're lucky and they're preoccupied you can easily kill them in 1 or 2 mags.

When I die it's usually because I continue engaging a target after my first attempt did not kill/grapple them. If you lunge at someone and the dodge get the hell out. Don't run around trying to grapple them.

Biggest thing that helps me in my assassinating, learn your cloaked smoke-jump well!

Seriously, that skill is a life saver, and when combined with Lunge, means i can get to pretty much anywhere on the map in a few seconds (and when you can do this, the other team gets to be paranoid :twisted: )
Gunner seen you??? Jump over a wall!

These are elemental things that every assassin should know. Nothing big.

Psychological warfare. The yummiest warfare there is.

If the assassin could get solid would she be a man?

/hurrjoke

In order of priority (IMO):

1) Kill bots. Sword+charge+slash = dead Blackjack(s), assuming your charge didn't hit them from behind (if it did, it killed them). One slash kills Slims. You are a wrecking ball vs Bots. One group of 2 Blackjacks and 4-5 Slims takes 3-4 swings, charge included. Bots = Juice, Juice = #2 is much easier.

2) Shuriken turrets when not pushing a lane. It'll take... maybe 7-8 clips to down one? Dunno, probably poorly estimated. Bots are a big help here, smoke bomb the turret to keep them alive longer. If you have juice, though, pull out your sword and press control to turn into the Loltrain, unleashing a merry LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL from turret to turret. L1 Rockits go down in 3-4 swings, L2 in 4-6, and L3 in... 8-9? Smokebomb L3s, even when juiced. Make L3.3's your priority unless they're overhealed, because downing 3 L1/2's is better than barely downing a single 3.3. Always start with the tightest-clumped group to minimize juice wasted while running to the next turret. Note that Lazer Blazers and Long Shots can be taken out with 4-5 sword swings without juice, save for L3 LB's, which take a few more. Shuriken Shaveices due to their high health and slowing effect.

3)Assassinate stragglers/Harrass enemy offense. `Sins are quick enough that you can dash in, get a potshot charge on someone, and dash out before they get a bead on you. Shurikens are also very effective on slower classes. By drawing their attention, you keep it off of your turrets/bots long enough for help to (hopefully) arrive.

As far as Assassination matchups go...

Note that all of this assumes you have the sword, plus L2 cloak and dash for flexibility, and that the target is alone enough that help won't come mid-grapple.

Loadout: Armor, Skill, RoF.

Assassin: Most `sins spam grapple. You don't necessarily need to be cloaked, just watch them chasing you down, keep hopping, and countergrapple them. If the facestab doesn't kill them, one swing/charge will finish them, but I would mash space to get a hop in first so they don't countergrapple you. If they're cloaked and trying to flank you, listen for the hum and chargegrapple if you can. They'll be all "WTF M CLOACKED", though good ones will grab you out of your charge. Bonus Points: Get them to chase you into a tank. <3

Assault: Has charge w/autograpple, jetpack, bomb. Get the jump on him and he's toast. If he hovers, run and wait for him to follow. Use terrain to get behind him again. Don't chase him into his bomb. Don't get charged, the throw is usually a ring-out. His Assault Rifle can chew through gold armor at close range, though your speed can make aiming rather difficult. The Grenade Launcher also deals good damage, so don't stand where he's spamming for too long. Bot groups are not good cover against them.

Gunner: He is squishy. lololololol is he squishy. Charge+backstab = dead Gunner. If he's been overhealed, unless he's left with red health, I would retreat. If the grapple ends up as a facestab, same thing. Hop immediately after the grapple ends to avoid a countergrapple/slam, and unless he's popped his slam, don't forget about it and do NOT get beneath him. Just keep in his face, hop a lot, and swing away at him until he drops. Charge also deals ~150 damage even at point-blank, so that's useful as a finisher (though it can bug and not swing immediately sometimes, leaving you open for grappling).

Sniper: F**king hate the pricks. Smokebombing right behind them works only if they're A) Stupid, or B) Unaware of your presence. Don't run off after a failed backstab only to smokebomb, they'll hear it and watch for you. If they come in to grab you out of their ice traps, you can still grapple them, just time it right and they're usually dead, hop/swing to finish if they're not. Most will flak+uzi, though, so listen for that hum and avoid their traps. Grapple at L2 and 3 = ring-out most of the time.

Support: If he's got his Firebase there, wait until it's distracted, OR get him between you and it when you backstab. You have an armor boost while grappling, so at full health and done quickly (IE charge `round a corner and backstab immediately), you'll have time to kill him and smokebomb a retreat. Regen health, THEN get the Firebase with Shurikens at range. Also, don't underestimate the Hurt/Heal gun. Its range is decent, and it can kill you surprisingly fast from red health. His shotgun will 2-shot you even through gold armor. Airstrikes are easy to avoid thanks to the `Sin's speed.

Tank: If he's not packing armor, charge+backstab = dead tank. If he's alone and unaware, go for it if you're feeling cocky and absolutely sure you can pull it off (don't forget about lag here). If he has even the slightest idea you're there, leave him alone, because his charge+deathblossom = dead you. A charge+facestab can kill a tank at under 50% health, though armor lowers that number. Shuriken are better at downing the World's Slowest Corndog Man. (You think that's all armor he's wearing? Pff. It's only 1" thick. The rest is all him.)

I feel the need to comment on this as both the Sin and Gunner are the classes I play the most of.

It's my opinion that the Sin is the Gunner's natural prey. Yes, the gunner is squishier than he looks, but he's much more likely to survive a face stab than the other "squishy" classes. And don't even bother going for the backstab without the sword unless you know he's damaged or he's occupied with one of your teammates.

The key thing with the gunner is that you should never approach an alert one cloaked. He doesn't even have to look at you - he even gets a whiff there's a cloaked assassin nearby and he'll be hitting the ground with his smash attack which may ring you out at the worst, or damage and daze you at the very least And let me tell you, a dazed assassin is easy to finish off with the minigun at that point. The key thing here is he doesn't even have to see you, only sense you are there and "BAM!" - your flying out of the ring.

It's not to say you shouldn't go for them. If you got the sword and they are preoccupied, lunge at their back and do the deed. Otherwise, approach with caution - an alert gunner is your worst enemy.

Gunners don't seem to survive my charge+backstabs often, if at all - I've got plenty of memories of backstabbing one during the initial push (that handstand on the shoulders into facestab with feet is awesome) that ended in a dead Gunner. Either very few pack armor, or the charge adds enough damage to overpower it.

Or an alert anyone, for that matter.

Hop over the slam if you see it coming, and if you can't get out of the way, smokebomb - you cannot be moved while performing the smokebomb animation (I think. I know this applies to charges, but not so sure about slam/ejectors. You can be grappled.)

My experience is that 50-75% of the time, if I charge around a corner and then facegrapple a Gunner, I can get the element of surprise and finish them with a few simple swings while hopping over the countergrapple/slam. Approaching one head-on without cover is just asinine. However, once you're in their face, most of them seem to have a hard time dealing adequate damage to kill you before you finish them off if you're not already a pincushion and you don't let them grapple you.

EDIT: added my loadout to my previous post; it's important to some of the strategies.

Why are people speaking of sin v gunner and NOT mentioning the shurikens? One clip, that's all it takes. Shurikens are fantastic against the heavies.

It's like people forget that the shuriken launcher exists.