Shuriken Launcher. (Attention all Assassins!)

The Shuriken Launcher is a highy underrated weapon when in fact it is probably the Assassins most versatile and deadly tool. It will beat Tanks easily at medium-long rage and Gunners at long range but its brutallity does not end there.

Basic Strats

1) When you're in a enemy controlled area assassinations are a not a good idea but the shuriken is. Sneak around your enemy get into the appropriate range and let it rip. Supports, snipers, and (i think) assaults go down in one clip. You can kill slow moving classses before they even realise you are there and if they do cloak and dash away or blade dash to finish them off. Faster classes like snipers and assaults are harder to take down but with practice and good aim you can succeed.

2) Long range pestering is another effective tactic. On some of the more open maps you can use the Shuriken to pester tanks, gunners, assualts, support, and even snipers so basically everybody. You out range them all par the sniper. Now you may not kill the enemy (although it is possible with good aim), you can draw their attention. Most players get ticked off by a sin taking them head on in a firefight making you an agro magnet and if things get too heavy just cloak and dissapear. The agro effect is very effective agaisnt snipers as you can hit them but unless there very good they can't hit your head while you're moving at random.

3) The Shuriken should be your primary weapon. Switching between blade and launcher is pratically an instant process so it won't effect you're style but will make you ready to handle more situations. For example: You turn a corner to see a tank licking his lips. Your blade is useless in this situation but with the shuriken you can backpedel and take down half his life (more with crit and headshot) and then decide between flight or fight. If you're bold you can run and fire at the enemy instead then use a front grab or blade dash to finish (trust me it works).

Remember You can assassinate with launcher equiped.

Other tips.

1) Stay vigilant with your launcher. If you see a gunner, sniper or any class on the other side of the map shooting at somebody fire at him with your shurikens. They will reach and a full clip does good damage. This will confuse most players as they never expect to get full ranged by a sin. If they do notice its shurikens hitting them they will most likely start looking around expecting a grab not another volley from across the map. This may bag you an assist or a kill and could potentially save a teamate.

2) Look for weakened enemys Everywhere! Range is not an issue the shuriken will take them down fast and in a safer manner than the sword.

3) DO NOT BE AFRAID. The launcher is effective in mid-long range firefights. Each individual projectile is not very damaging but they do look very intimdating to less experienced players. Lay down a barrage and watch them retreat in fear. Now if the enemy show's no fear and charges head on concentrate your fire and watch them fall in seconds by shuriken or a blade dash. This works well with bigheaded tanks.

4) If you find your self in a sticky close rage situation with a slow mover smoke-jump and insted of retreating come down with a barrage of shurikens and finish with a grab once the cooldown is finished or use a blade dash.

5) The launcher is a great sin detector. If your hunting another sin or you fear its you who are the prey lay down a wide base of fire to disrupt their shield. This tatic becomes exponentially more effective in closed areas and hallways.

PROTIP: When engaged in a "SINvSIN" duel never grab unless your sure its the kill. Blade dash/strike or shoot first. Most sins go straight for the grab but this leaves them open for the counter grab which with proper timing is unavoidable. Now if you did the above and landed the counter will kill. I have a 100% succees rate with this tactic.

Using the above tips and tactics you will not just become a sack-crushing marauder of the shadows but also a much more valuable asset to your team. If you have any questions or other tips please go ahead and post them. Good luck with your new secret weapon.

Assassinations with the launcher do about 80% damage of dagger assassinations so they'r really is not a huge difference, I always use launcher exclusively until I get the sword. Also turrets go down like fat people on treadmills when using the shuriken launcher so harass like crazy and if someone notices you just cloak away like nothing happened.

(BTW you can also still do melee attacks with the launcher by clicking right stick, dagger feels a bit redundant now?)

I play sniper, so I speak the truth here.

"THERE IS NOTHING MORE ANNOYING THAN ORANGE/BLUE STREAKS FLYING IN-FRONT OF YOU OR HITTING YOU WHILE YOU TRY TO AIM. THERE IS NOTHING MORE ANNOYING THAN BEING KILLED BY YOUR ALREADY BIGGEST PROBLEM, BUT AT YOUR OWN GAME. NOW ITS A KILLER IN-FRONT, BEHIND, AND HALF-WAY ACROSS THE MAP."



Your the reason I swapped out full recoil (Fire Rate) for gobi-numb. (Armor)
Atleast now I can survive a front-stab and a clip of shurikens.

Does shuriken headshots do more damage?

I seem to get better results aiming for the head.

As a "mega-uber-way-overpowered" support class, this is for sure the tool and strategy that has my *** beat 9/10 times.

I ask that you take this down as this makes the assassin "omg-way-too-overpowered". Keep it a secret.

I kid, but this is most-def a obstacle to overcome. I hope the young assassins can study this and give me a darn tough challenge.

Abbreviating assassin to sin annoys me.

Otherwise I agree that it is useful, but I wouldn't use it as any more than deterrence, turret destruction, or killing campers.

Nice shuriken guide. It should also be noted that since the shurikens can bounce off walls you can use this to get people behind walls and such. I especially like to use this to harass people that use the walls on 2nd floor to the sides of the base as cover. Hope that makes sense.

Interesting, do you mind if I add this to my guide? I'll leave a link to your thread including your name for credit.

Go ahead. Your guide helped me alot so i'm happy to contribute.

Alright, thank you. =) Added some other stuff if you're interested in reading.

Yeah, when gunner tries to recovery health by standing between those two glass panels on the arcs above the lanes in Grenade and AmmoMule, ricocheting a clip in there with him makes for a very easy kill.

Man I'm just not seeing the bouncing being effective, a few nights back I made a rapidfire crit shuriken build and basically held the trigger down for an entire match and did terribly. I'll have to try again and figure out why I sucked so bad. That said I always dread the brave assassin who hides in my base waiting for everyone to leave so he can snipe away at turrets.

Edit: Well I tried it again and I was wrong, you can do some outstanding damage if you get some good angles going and for some reason people tend to ignore it even when you've been taking out turrets/people for several minutes.

One way to quickly finish an enemy and avoid dying after a failed assassination attempt is to retreat while spamming the shuriken launcher immediately afterward, especially against other assassins. That's how I tend to rack up shuriken kills in a match. :mrgreen:

Hahaha, this is always my biggest fear when I survive an assassination.

agreed.


in terms of the advice, good stuff, i always use the launcher over the dagger, its grabs are just as powerful, more humiliating, and i can shoot people too

I definitely feel like I've been neglecting the shurikens, but it's helpful to know they're actually quite useful while you're saving up for that all important passive lvl 3 katana.

I'm actually quite surprised on their stopping power, especially on unaware tank and gunners at range and turrets. Being at range myself also helps in cloaking away and aggravating enemies who want pay back. Not to mention I use gold RoF so it helps both sword and shurikens.