Switch PvP dailies to something like. # WZs completed ## Medals awarded. You don't get completions without staying. You don't get medals by AFKing. And even though I have experienced DQs and crashes, a 10-15 minute debuff upon leaving a WZ is not overly draconian. In any case if completions and medals are the goal, then even if I come into a WZ with a definite loss in progress, I am motivated to complete the WZ and acquire as many medals as possible in that time period.

As some have pointed out, for deception assassins, stealth provides much of your energy regen and empowers much of your burst out of stealth. Just a few things I've learned. Something about the way the game is coded pushes you out of combat when you deliver a killing blow. It doesn't always work, but you should be in the habit of hitting stealth the instant your target turns from red to gray. Hot key-ing stealth is a must. I often find I can re-stealth even in a large group of enemies in the immediate aftermath of a kill. True of all specs, but more important for deception bc of the energy regen and the ability to use spike. Spike is great when your target is engaged with another foe. Its poor as an opener for a true 1v1. The damage is poor and the resolve you generate can cost you on the low slash or electrocute you will need later in a longer 1v1 fight. Better to open with voltaic slash and begin your rotation. The 15% movement rate increase from obfuscation is under-rated. This plus the better stealth it provides translates into a tremendous amount of freedom of movement- which is what deception is all about. The 2 points in static cling is under-rated. I see deception specs without this and scratch my head. 12 second slow that doesn't generate resolve on a 6 second cooldown? This is almost a tree defining ability. And an essential part of any melee train. With static cling no one is getting away from you. They may stop and kill you, but they aren't getting away. (short of force leap or something...) I think the game is pretty well balanced. You should have to make some sizable sacrifices to have a max DPS toon. But that's what you want in a competitive group PvP situation. The deception assassin is great at creating 2v1 situations where the target dies and dies fast. You wont always put up the highest damage in a WZ but you should be the favorite for KBs each time- because you actually kill folks.

I'm in the same boat. They shouldn't do the maintenance at the same time every time. Bioware somehow thinks this isn't a big deal. And to most people, it isn't. But to people who play late on the west coast it means the game is down half the time. This week was especially bad. Prepare for this thread to be consolidated into a larger thread which can be ignored as a single unit. Rotate your maintenance BIOWARE.

Madness has always been great for extended 1v1. Now its better. edit: err...balance

What I meant was - shock is a force attack which means it can't be defensed (parry/dodge) or shielded. Using the terms as described here. http://taugrim.com/2012/01/19/understanding-swtors-avoidance-and-mitigation-mechanics-for-tanks-in-pvp/

This is my theory as well. Super Shocks that bypass defenses is not interesting gameplay. Especially as, at launch, these shock combos actually required dark charge, which was already on its own merits the best all around stance/charge. Even the raze change can be traced to the fact that energize produced a guaranteed crit which produced near guaranteed crits from exploitative strikes making raze proc too reliably. Raze was, frankly, better with dark charge rather than the stance from its own tree.

well, no. It doesn't have to be at the same time every time. I completely understand that this is a good time for maintenance for most gamers. The problem is that it affects a small group in a very large way. (He wrote after logging off again at 11:59)

But seriously. So many updates (good) all take place at 12am Pacific. This is primetime for Pacific coast players. I work. Come home. Spend time with the girlfriend. Eat. Hang. and so about 11 I can start playing. So each time you update I essentially lost the day because thats when I can play 11-1ish at night. So I'm just asking you to mix it up a bit.

That's great. But, again, you don't need to go dark charge (and use guard) to get these medals. Taunts should be part of every deception assassin's arsenal, regardless of medals, because they help you win. And yes you can get 10k+ protection just off taunts.

Right, you are not going to use them effectively until you keybind them. You need to use them in-between skills on the gcd. slash/taunt/slash/jolt/shock etc. For me taunt and AE taunt are 1 and shift 1 - but I use a nostromo so I have more options.

I typically try to play the counter to stealth classes. I knew as an assassin could easily play as a stealth hunter with the right spec. (though, so far I have never spec'd darkness) I also wanted to play a class that would really reward good movement / positioning. And then another part of me wanted to break my habit of playing hybrids and focus on being a pure offense character. So, so far I am fairly happy with the class. I have leveled and played as pure deception (48 currently) and I'm getting good results. I wish maul were completely reliable.

Correct. do not require. Seriously, the main thing to take away from this thread is to use taunts. Regardless of medals they are powerful. They cost no energy and are off the GCD. Anytime you are in a crowd - mass mind control. When at range as you close on a target fighting any ally and you are out of stealth - Mind control. Anytime you are crawling up someone's back as they DPS another -mind control. Seriously, giving a DPS class 2 taunts is a real gift. Players just have to get in the habit of using them and its 2-3 more medals / WF even as a pure DPSer.

You could say the same about surging charge... surging charge just empowers discharge and induction and saber conduit / static charges. These stances are ability gatekeepers. Lightning charge is necessary for rage(crushing darkness) and discharge, 2 of the 3 core DoTs of a madness build. But, yeah, unless you are running at least a 16 point madness build, there is no point.

Yes. Out of combat you will still move the same as others as obfuscation does not stack with sprint. However, once in combat, you will move 15% faster than another player.

yes. very repetitive. tons of unnecessary travel.

Slows don't effect resolve. You can make this work for you though by speccing into static cling and having a 12 second! slow on a 6 second cooldown. Thats not so crappy at all. The resolve bar is often confusing and still allows too much CC, but it is a big improvement over other systems in that you can actually see an opponent's resolve bar and make decisions based on it. Managing resolve on your opponent is one of the main things that we do as assassins, but its certainly something I still struggle with...

Doesn't work in PvP. Players are considered champions (or higher) and the ability does not affect them. I don't use it in PvE so I wont get used to it.

I don't really agree with the spirit of this post. If 80% of assassins are rolling in dark charge, despite being heavily spec'd in other trees, thats a serious design problem. So these proposed changes do succeed in balancing out the viability of the trees somewhat. Deception remains basically unchanged and madness received a buff. The question of Assassin's overall power is a completely different question honestly. It's also one thats hard to address. I think one of the other reasons for the recent changes was to limit the shock super combos. Being able to take Induction and Energize in the same build probably proved too good, especially as shock pretty much bypasses all defenses. (And defense in general has proven to be less effective in PvP than the Devs intended). Maybe "too good" is the wrong way to put it- maybe "too good to pass up". I think they envision shock, like discharge, as a core ability that every spec uses and modifies in some way, but that you can't just cherry pick all the shock based talents to concentrate your build around a single ability. It would be nice to have some statement about their intentions here. The 100 change to charges shows that they do not want an assassin changing roles mid-combat. But not WHY they don't want that. In any case I do see a certain amount of logic in these changes and class balance in this game remains remarkably strong, especially so close to launch, so I find the call for heads to roll absolutely ridiculous.

Unfortunately your build is going to take a hit in the next patch. Induction is no longer going to work with dark charge so you need to go another path anyway.

certainly the 100 force to change charge shows that they want to make it as hard as possible for players to change rolls mid fight. Previously you could spec deception to allow yourself the flexibility to switch to dark charge gain some survivability or guard a healer. I guess they felt you didn't take enough of a DPS hit for doing so...

I was noticing yesterday, while PvEing that Maul would often fire off without completing its animation. It still worked, but I still got the "hesitation" animation rather than the full "Stab" animation. Pretty easy to spot because the duplicity buff disappears.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=260938): Sith Inquisitor Assassin All Saber Charges now cost 100 Force. Lightning Charge’s Discharge now also deals damage when applied. Overall damage dealt by this ability has not changed. Darkness Charge Mastery: No longer increases the duration of Lightning Charge’s Discharge effect. It now increases the damage dealt by Lightning Charge. Energize: This skill now also triggers from Assassinate. It now triggers from damage dealt (rather than ability use) such that each hit of Assassinate, Thrash, and Lacerate have an individual chance to yield the Energize buff. The chance to trigger has been reduced to 30% per hit. Harnessed Darkness: Stacks of Harnessed Darkness now last 30 seconds. Using Wither now yields a stack of Harnessed Darkness. Deception Induction: Now requires the Surging Charge skill to be purchased and requires that Surging Charge is active in order to trigger the Induction buff. This skill now also triggers from Assassinate. Madness (Shared Tree) Crackling Charge: Now additionally lowers the cooldown of Discharge while Lightning Charge is active. Raze: Now triggers from activating melee attacks that hit a target affected by Lightning Charge’s Discharge effect. This effect now triggers more easily but cannot trigger as frequently. Death Field: Heals the caster for 1% of maximum health for each target struck. This healing effect can no longer crit and no longer consumes Recklessness charges. Devour: Now doubles the amount of healing generated by Death Field and Parasitism.

Blue level adrenal / stim (consumed on use) - 100% effect/efficiency Purple level adrenal / stim (re-usable Biochem only) - 80% effect / efficiency Green level adrenal / stim (consumed on use) - 80% effect / efficiency Purple level adrenal stim (re-usable anyone can use) - 60% effect / efficiency This would create a market for the blue level consumables (actual consumables) when you need the absolute best effect and reduce the benefit gap that biochem users now enjoy (and I am one of them).

That was my first negative reaction to this concept is just that discharge becomes pretty worthless. The value of surging charge isn't in the actual charges but in what it does to discharge., so this build lowers the cooldown of discharge and makes it hit harder but its the weak AE dark charge version- which feels like a PvE ability. Not saying build can't work. I too always look at better ways to spend points in the deception tree other than saber conduit and static charges.

With Khem, you just choose the most arrogant answer most of the time, except when it comes to dealing with slaves / subordinates. He likes tough talk. This all completely different from the major light side / dark side choices you make deep into the conversation trees. You'll take some hits on these but its really not much of a deal.