Why are Assassins so underpowered?

Yes, my main character is an Assassin. If you ever see me in game, I guarantee you that I will be an Assassin. Now here are the issues I have.

Assassins can grapple for an insta-kill in most situations. Awesome. But wait, what else can they do? NOTHING.

That sword of theirs can't do anything, to be completely honest. The only time I find it useful is when the grapple didn't kill my opponent, in which case the sword can usually finish them off.

Shuriken Launcher? Good for killing turrets. Maybe. It's weak against turrets, so generally in the time it takes you to kill a turret you've already died once. Also, when aiming at a player, you will generally miss because of the time it takes for the shuriken to actually reach the player.

An Assassin's play strategy is, for the most part, limited to grapple, wait, repeat. And now what is this? They can't cloak while coming out of a grapple? Yay! Now they are nearly useless! Do you know what Supports generally do? They sit at their firebase and don't move. I took pleasure in taking them out. Now, I can't. Why? Because that firebase will murder me long before I am able to get away.

So what classes are Assassins good against now?

Supports? Obviously not. Sure, they MIGHT be able to kill them, but the Assassin will die in the process.
Tanks? Nope. They can actually survive a grapple. And the sword can't even hurt them.
Snipers? Maybe. Assuming they don't get caught in the trap (which happens most of the time considering they can't seem to jump over traps)
Assaults? Yeah... they fly. And guess what happens when the fly? You can't grapple them.
Gunners? Assassin't can take maybe, MAYBE, 5 shots from that gun. Then they die. And I have gone up against far too many gunners that survive a grapple from behind.

So yeah, while an Assassin's grapple is usually an insta-kill, that's ALL they can do. And that's further nerfed by the insane recharging time.

Basically, Assassins need more than a grapple to be effective in this game. As of now, I don't actually know any other person who can use an Assassin and go positive in a Crossfire match; generally i see them at 1-5 kills and 5-10 deaths, if not more. I am proud to say that as an Assassin, my overall KDR is above 1, but with the new cloaking update, I don't know that it will last.

Im guessing you haven't tried putting armor 3 , spending your time clearing lanes and not try to run around and grapple people, so you're probably in the rogue assassin stage where you think your invincible but don't know what the assassin is actually supposed to do

Armor 3? As in gold sponsor? Because I do have that. I do indeed take out bots; the Assassin is pretty good at that. However, I think that an Assassin needs to be balanced against other classes as well. Even if it may not be the Assassin't job to go around taking out players left and right, there should at least be a class that the Assassin would have an advantage against.

And please, refrain from posting comments such as "you think your invincible." I have been playing long enough, and I do not wish to be treated like a newcomer to the game - one who has only just started using an Assassin.

Also, do you have any particular credentials that allow you to make that statement? You seem to think that you are some kind of Assassin expert. I'm not saying that you aren't, but from what you've said it seems like you've never used the class.

Then you have surely been killed by an assassin as another class, watch how they do it, you get alot of insight from playing all the other classes and seeing thier weaknesses

What are you talking about? I've had armor 3 on my assassin since I've gotten the game, the assassin still can't handle much.

And I know my role as an assassin. I always clear lanes. But what if there's a support with his firebase taking out your bots? I can't re-cloak during the grapple, the smoke bomb wont last long enough for me to grapple, and if he's healing it, you can't shuriken it.

You obviously don't realize that as an assassin, yes you do kill bots and turrets, but you are an ASSASSIN. You're supposed to sneak around and be able to assassinate people, but without re-cloaking it's pretty hard.

I'll be glad to switch to support every game now and camp my firebase, seeing how I'll be invincible to assassins.

i'm level 80, I have a 2.7 K/D, and I have been maining assassin since my first custom class.

I know how to play assassin, this update just seems to nerf them quite a bit.

You're too nice, I was going the opposite direction and guessing that he's just a terrible Assassin. Anyone who plays an Assassin and doesn't focus on lane clearing, turret destroying, Pro supporting is just wasting his teams time and taking up a position that could be utilized by someone who knows their role.

Assassins are perfect at taking turrets out, even firebases cannot be healed fast enough while they're shooting shurikens at them. Robots hit the floor fast with an Assassin in the lane. Know your role, jabroni, you'll be a much more valuable asset to your team than trying to be all QQ lone Assassin who face-rushes a Gunner or Support. You're not there for kills, you're there for teamwork because that's ultimately where you will shine, you fragile little flower you.

I do slightly disagree here. If you mean against other players, not much, if anything. When playing alone. Playing with friends is a different story, but as this seems to be under the impression that you went into a random game to have fun, then, yes, Assassin's have little else going for them other than their grapple. True, their Smoke Bomb stuns/disables turrets/bots, but this is hardly a balance for the rest of her underpowered features. The only other redeeming feature that I can think of is the rate that she gains juice. But, considering Supports, and more notably, Snipers, can gain it just as fast, if not faster (I'M LOOKING AT YOU SNIPERS), it's not much of a consolation.

She is by no means useless as she currently is. Even now, she can be a humongous pain in the *** for mulitple reasons. But, something, out of multiple solutions, needs to be done to give her a buff or two.

Again, a slight disagreement here. It unlocks a new taunt to let n00bs know they got pwnzrd. It does MUCH more damage, at least vs. bots/turrets. And it guarantees a one hit kill on anyone from behind, except for Tanks, of course.

I agree it's not a favorable weapon. Though, it's still a good one. Using it determined to take on another player and win is foolish. Using it to: A) Harass an enemy being attacked by another teammate. B) Attack enemies around corners. (btw, love shooting under the ramp directly underneath the clock in Ammo Mule when people hide.) C) Target bots/turrets from a distance; are still quite effective. Still, god help you if your shuriken catches the eye of a support hell bent on keeping that turret alive.

I believe a VERY important part of an Assassin's play strategy also consists of destroying bots, and, more importantly, turrets. I could explain in more detail, but I hope the reasons are obvious enough, as I believe they are. I do NOT agree with the new DLC that will stop Assassin's from cloaking mid grapple. I believe that's a legitimate action, whether it was intentional or not on the developer's part. If you take that out, then take out other simultaneous actions, such as reloading and taunting, and switching weapons when an Assassin grapples you mid animation. It's only fair. If I grab that Support, either he can't shotgun me immediately out of coming out of a grapple, or I can cloak and tell his firebase to suck it.

Now without the cloaking? Not much, unless they're off on their lonesome. Which applies to all classes, to that's not saying much.

Well, I don't think Assassins SHOULD be able to take on Tanks. Well, not the same way they take on everyone else at least. I mean, come on.... they're TANKS.

Assassin's are practically useless against Snipers, unless he's being teamed up on. Which, again, applies to all classes, so that doesn't mean much. What happens when he stands ON a level 3 trap? You CAN'T Assassinate him, your skills/grapple are drained. Then, he grapples you, with his overpowered **** punt. Srsly, Snipers need a nerf pretty bad. Either traps, grapple, and his rate at which he gains JUICE. But, that's a whole 'nuther topic all together.

Well, they only fly in defense if they know you're around, so I feel they're fine as is. That, and they will (normally) die when grappled from the front, so I don't have any problems with Assaults.

Now, I have to disagree with this. Gunners are my Assassin's b*tch. I get them from behind, and as such, never have to fear the minigun. I have not played against a Gunner that survived a grapple from behind. Maybe Gold Armor? If that's the case, I do the same thing I do to overhealed Gunners. Either lunge into them, and then assassinate them, or slash them a few times and then assassinate them. Now, I don't understand why you move at a snails pace when get shot by them. That's some serious bullsh*t. It doesn't work when anyone else shoots you, so it shouldn't work when HE shoots you.

When taking into consideration every other class's recharge time for grapples, the Assassin got screwed over here... hard. When her grapple is virtually the ONLY thing she's got goin' for her, even though it causes massive damage, 15 seconds is just WAY too long. 9 would be much more acceptable, or, at the VERY most, 10.

But 15? You have GOT, to be freakin' kidding me.

Yeah, most Assassins suck... hard. And even though K/D doesn't mean that much in this game, it's ALWAYS better to kill more, and die less. Making that even harder for the Assassin to achieve is just plain wrong.

I'm pretty sure the assassin is also there for being an assassin, and sneaking around to kill people as well, but I guess I don't know what I'm talking about.

I agree with some of that, Randomdude. Yes, every player should be taking out bots and helping their team get to the Moneyball. But the simple fact remains that Crossfire is and will forever be a PVP style game. Few players actually try to escort bots, all they want to do it kill other players. While my play style does involve killing bots, sometimes you have to kill players as well. And unfortunately, the Assassin is now unable to kill players in many situations.

I do very much agree with your statement about the cloak. I think it is ridiculous that Assassins can no longer cloak in mid grapple. Without that, they have no way of escaping from Firebases or turrets, further impairing their ability to, well.... assassinate.

Also, I never said they should be able to take out tanks, I was just stating the reason that they could not. I don't expect the Assassin to have an advantage against every class.

I don't expect them to have an advantage against every class, but every single class has a counter for them. Which, tbh, I don't really like.

Oh, and I suppose the other team is just going to let you take out their bots, right? What does an Assassin do, exactly? They assassinate people. Clearly, you have a very obscure view of how to play this game. Who in their right mind wants to do nothing but sit there and "support their teammates?" Granted, that is what some classes are better at. However, to only sit there and do that as an Assassin is a waste of the class and ultimately this game. A Crossfire match should consist of killing players in addition to bots. To do only one over the other is ridiculous.

Umm... no. Even w/a level 3 cloak's crit ability that's not true. I've assassinated a Support, and usually there's enough time for the Support to respawn, run back over and start healing up his as yet undestroyed firebase, despite that I've been shooting at it the whole time.

I've been using Assassin as my main since day one (Lev. 59) and I "know" how to use her. That doesn't mean the Original Poster is incorrect in their statement. These changes neuter (spayed?) the Assassin to such a point that it makes her almost useless.

Yeah, I'm not saying you should place bots in the highest regard. Just that I believe it's something Assassins excel at.

And, now, Assassins are going to have an even HARDER time playing their role as ASSASSINS, and will be shoved into the role of designated bot killers.

Also, I never meant to imply that you thought Assassins should be able to take on Tanks, just that I think Assassins vs. Tanks are balanced as is.

Even without assassinating the support, I've tried killing a Firebase while the Support was healing it. Often enough I was unable to kill it faster than it was being healed. And yes, Supports can come back before you've had a chance to kill the Firebase.

*points at Justice Pie*

TROLL!


But, srsrly, you're kinda wrong. Completely.

You're there for teamwork, but that's about as far as saying anything logical extends. And, considering it applies to ALL classes.... well, nothing you said there will be put in a strategy guide, kay?

Now, I MAY be wrong here, (no sarcasm) but if I remember correctly, a Support outheals any damage you can do with Shuriken. I believe this applies to a Firebase as well, but I can't say with 100% certainty. At least, at first. Once Support upgrades his skills, I'm positive he outheals damage to his Firebase.

You are an ASSASSIN. Go ahead and guess what they do. I'll give you a hint. Think, Ubisoft.

That's right, Assassins ASSASSINATE. Shocking, I know. You ARE there for kills. When there's a stubborn Gunner, a camping Support, or an eagle eye Sniper, it's YOUR job to get the kill, and let your team breathe easy. Or, are you saying that you don't think killing enemies contributes towards a team's victory?

You specialize in killing other player more than any other class. Every other class excels in an area better than you, except for being sneaky, and taking people out instantly.

And, btw, if you're going JUST after bots/turrets, you're better off being a Tank, or a Sniper.

Precisely. Assassins ARE there for support. And they support by taking out enemy players who oppose the Assassin's teammates. You can't ask for more than that.

Well, good luck assassinating that sniper sitting in the base, next to that lazer blazer. Or that annoying support healing his firebase. Or that gunner upgrading a rock-it turret.

=/

You do realize that Gunner's f*cked, right?

Not with a rockit turret shooting you, as you cant recloak during grapple.

Rockit turrets shoot you while you're grappling, then about 2-3 times while your cloak is activating. Without juice, I doubt you'll survive.