Assassin leveling spec advice lvl 36+

[Zeuligan]

I turned 36 yesterday and are progressing along trying to hit 50 asap without loosing out on story and fun, so no stress, but I have problems and need advice.

 

I play with Khem, 95% of the times and have a 5/33/3 build in mind.

But should I spec differently while leveling?

Maby go tank and switch to a healer companion or go hybrid and take a healer/dps companion?

 

I dont have any problems with killing. Mobs die fast, often after 1 maul or one maul+ Assassinate. But I do have problems with Khem dieing or getting very low on health, making me spend more or less every or atlest every 2nd pull, waiting for him to get back to full health with a Seethe, making leveling slow.

 

If it's an Elite mob with one or two adds, I would say that atlest 80% of the times I loose Khem, but allways manage to kill the mob.

If its a champion same level we are both dead extremely fast.

 

So, should I look over Khems gear or maby respec for a more "easy" journey,

I do love PvP and play on a PvP server, but would be ready to sacrifice some PvP strength in favor of leveling, and rather respec and turn to PvP when hitting 50.

 

 

I have also spent 4 points into Darkness and 3 into Madness (almost done) early, making me think I gimped out my DPS due to not going as high into Deception that I otherwise could, but not sure if that is loosing me DPS or not. I got low slash with my last point yesterday (lvl 36)¨

 

 

Advice on what to do from here is much appriciated.

[HuwPewPew]

I'm currently 39 and had similar issues.

 

Going against a single elite with Khem was just plain DPS race. I wasnt 100% anal about keeping my gear and his gear at its absolute peak, since I dont think any class should be completely tweaked out to the max to be able to do well at solo leveling.

 

Anyway, I decided that letting Khem tank was just plainly a pain in the arse. So I decided to try the 23/0/18 spec outlined in the sticky and with the new healer companion I recently picked up, I am properly indestructable (solo questing)

 

It has Dark Ward so you mitigate hell of a lot more damage and get some self healing since you'll be using dark charge and a shield generator.

 

Kept my gear the same and to be honest, (becuase I have Death Field and the Raze talent from maddness) my dps hasnt suffered all that much since you also get the cheap shock which can proc another one at 50% damage (which is quite often)

 

Give it a try yourself and see what you think.

[Zeuligan]

Respeced yesterday and played lvl 36-37. NOT a very good decision it turned out

 

As I dont have any healer companion yet.

 

Not sure if its smarter to respec again back to Deception, then respec an other time once I get my healer companion (2-3lvls I guess).

 

Any input is much appriciated...

[Xezzy]

First of all I would lower the downtime by either mounting after a fight or dismissing your companion and resummoning. Saves you quite a bit of time if you are yourself at full hp.

 

I haven't checked if skills of companions propperly save the state of activation now as it should. but if it does, CC is your friend.

Turn of AoE abilities of khem or your companion of choice when you have a strong mob in there. CC the strong and burn down the small ones.

Keep using your stuns as often as possible, as you/companion will take less damage thus less downtime.

Interrupt! This seems obvious but my experience was, that after each area you are in has the same "type" of mobs. After a few pulls you know what abilities they have and which hurt and interrupt those.

[Zeuligan]

Thx for the input, very good

 

I felt like the dissmiss resummon action was more of a bug or almost exploit so haven't used it, but if it is working as intended, well then it is a very good advice

 

Are you also talking about "staying" Deception then?

[Malloc]

Respeced yesterday and played lvl 36-37. NOT a very good decision it turned out

 

As I dont have any healer companion yet.

 

Not sure if its smarter to respec again back to Deception, then respec an other time once I get my healer companion (2-3lvls I guess).

 

Any input is much appriciated...

 

Don't be afraid to pull the robot companion out in a pinch. It's a passable pocket healer until you get Talos.

 

I went for the 31/0/10 spec for wither. It drops my DPS a bit, but the 5% damage reduction and the slow they recently added to it have been handy. I usually have Andronicus out unless I'm fighting content designed for a group. It's a little slower going then deception or the darkness/madness death field/raze spec, but it's very workable.

[tacoknite]

32-39 are pretty terrible levels for assassin.

 

My suggestion, stay with your spec at this time as assassin is probably the fastest spec to level in.

 

i would make sure you do your daily pvp, space combat, and que warzones while questing.

 

when you hit 40 dump your commendations on gearing out talos. It's easy mode after that.

 

right now make sure you are rotating your taunts with khem too. it helps alot. Khem is an annoying micro managed companion.

[Heaviermetal]

Ive played a BH DPS Pyro powertech, and a Tank Juggernaut through those levels and it wasnt easy for them either. Stop thiking your class sucks, when in fact, the level of diffiiculty has ramped up for all classes.

 

The only class I no infact that has the easiest time leveling and can run some Heroic 2+'s alone are Sorcs; do to the healing tree and bubble shield with kem Val. This I have seen done from 2 other Guildies. '

 

Anyway my 2 cents

Edited January 20, 2012 by Heaviermetal

[jkcheng]

Considering going this build which has worked very well for me on my way to 50: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200ZhGMMzZcMcRr.1

 

The full build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200ZhGMMzZcrcRrMkrc.1

 

I used this build with Khem pretty much all the way to 50 as I never bothered gearing up the other companions. I also stuck with Khem as he is the only companion that allows me to use Maul whenever EW is up due to the position requirement.

 

This build saves a lot of time b/c of Death Field letting you dispatch those 3 to 4 weak mob groups really fast, a Death Field with Recklessness sometimes kill 2 outright. It also works very well against groups with 1 Strong with adds as it reduces the time the Strong is beating on Khem since you can kill the adds so much faster. You can also cast a Death Field, put a Discharge on the Strong before going off to finish up the adds. It not only allows you to damage mobs you're not targeting, but when you pick up Deathmark and Calculating Mind DoTs also replenish your Force.

 

A full Deception build is just to single-target focused to be the most effective build for leveling imo. Also do keep Khem's gear as up to date as you can, not only does it help him mitigate damage, but it also increases his dps which in turn helps him hold aggro.

[jkcheng]

Ive played a BH DPS Pyro powertech, and a Tank Juggernaut through those levels and it wasnt easy for them either. Stop thiking your class sucks, when in fact, the level of diffiiculty has ramped up for all classes.

 

The only class I no infact that has the easiest time leveling and can run some Heroic 2+'s alone are Sorcs; do to the healing tree and bubble shield with kem Val. This I have seen done from 2 other Guildies. '

 

Anyway my 2 cents

 

The poster never mentioned his class sucks compared to others, this was not a QQ thread. The biggest issue the Assassins have while leveling is because we get our healing companion very late and we can't do any heals ourselves plus we're melee with Light armor(so we can't drop the targets' health down to half b4 the targets even start hitting us).

 

Once you get Talos though, will be just as easy to solo stuff as Sorcerers do, tho they do also get a 1min CC that can be cast during combat. A lot of Heroic 2+ content you can simply stealth to the objective and fight just the boss to claim the quest reward. I was able to solo Wookie Revolt in Corelia as well as Freeing the Fallen for Belsavis daily.

[runesteen]

Here's my two cents - I'm currently lvl 36 1/2 and I have gone Darkness all the way and using my precious, cute little jedi padawan as my comp.

 

I have absolutely no trouble at all with packs, normal packs of 4-5 leave me at 70% health and comp at 100%, strong + 2-3 normal leaves me at 30-40% health and taking on elites is just fun and no problem whatsoever.

 

I do have the most upgraded mods in my gear and all I spend my marks on ar mods or upgrades for my comp - havent bought gear since lvl 20 pvp gear, I just continuously upgrade my mods.

 

Before lvl 36 (from 20 to about 32-33) I was Deception and struggled like a mofo - died from elite mobs and struggled bigtime with strong + normal packs.

 

I recommend Darkness if you want swift, easy almost no downtime levelling.

 

I plan on respeccng Deception when I get my healing comp from Hoth tho....gonna test and see if it works for me - if it doesnt, back to Darkness.

 

This calss can be a major pain, but keeping your gear and skills up todate will make it so much easier and fun.

 

Still hate the Maul crap tho - standing behind the target and getting red letters on your screen....annoys the crap out of me

[Redcoat]

It's kind of annoying in that level area. I used Ashara and had her attack first. I would pick off mobs one by one and let her take the blunt of the damage. Once you get Talos you won't use anyone else.

[MrCute]

I dunno about you guys. But my Madness Assassin seems to be doing fine.

 

At start, I was using Khem Val as my tank while I do a dps role. I just switched my companion to Ashara and now I do the tanking. Yup, madness specs on tank stance. My gear is above average though since my Sith is decked with flashpoint loots. At 33, I have lots of gear from Boarding Party. I also have won some loots for my companions. I also have some loots already from The Foundry now at 35 but I cant use them yet since it's for level 37.

 

What cant you kill as an Assassin? Of course Heroic 4, you need a party. But for the rest, it's not hard. You just need to learn how to play the class.

 

You cant realy die. Just Force Cloak and escape death. Then revive your companion and kill the remaining mobs.

 

Electrocute is so uber. You can slap a mob for few seconds without it hitting you back. Then you can reset the cd of Electrocute.. sorry forgot the name of the ability. Then make a 2nd Electrocute. After that, you should be way ahead in hp against the elite mob youre attacking.

 

Elite mob usually have a heavy hitting ability. But you can dodge on it. Dont step on the mark on the ground where he is pointing. He's spitting frontal cone attack like fire in front of you? Cmon, go behind him when he does that. And you can usually INTERRUPT them. Jolt them. Jolt on CD? Use Electrocute. Electrocute on cd? Use Overload, etc.

 

On multiple mobs, it's not that hard. Start with Stealth. Then Mind Trap the hardest hitting mob and kill the softer mobs. Make sure you turn off your AoE attacks and your companion AoE attacks so you wont break your mind trap. When all the softer mobs die, its time to slap the mind trap mob. Use the 2 sec cast time Crushing Darkness and finish him off.

 

Another thing, before you start the fight, put buffs on yourself. Use stims if you have one. I have Biochem so I have those. On midfight, use Adrenals, relics and ability like Recklessness to improve your damage. You dont have relics? You have 2 slots and you dont have any?

 

I believe all the fights while leveling is forgiving. We dont need to be tank spec'd to tank regular mobs or regular dungeons. We just need to know how use our class effectively.

 

No wonder you cant kill mobs, you didnt learn your skill/ability of your level. LOL.

[Zeuligan]

I dunno about you guys. But my Madness Assassin seems to be doing fine.

 

What cant you kill as an Assassin? Of course Heroic 4, you need a party. But for the rest, it's not hard. You just need to learn how to play the class

 

 

lots of text

 

 

No wonder you cant kill mobs, you didnt learn your skill/ability of your level. LOL.

 

 

Very confused by your post. I have never said I had problems killing stuff, rather on the contrary as my post say I can kill mobs in one or two hits. Doesn't say I cant play either.

 

I asked if it was smarter to go an other spec for less downtime due to Khem taking a beating on most pulls and I have to spend time healing him up, often when I'm at full health, before next pull. Something that alot of friendly and helpfull people have answered very well.

 

Think your post is rude and have nothing to do with my original post.

 

 

 

To the rest of you. Thank you very much for all the helpfull and thoughtfull posts. Thx alot

[Zeuligan]

Will open up this thread again

 

Now I'm lvl 42 and have Talos and I understand what everyone is saying in theese forums. I just love him. Feels like I just cant die. I pull 5-6 mobs with 1 strong and come out with full HP.

 

I have choosen to gear abit more defensive with Defense, Absorption and Shield. But that is also one of my problems. I can kill elits 2-3 lvls above me and never go below 50% and often come out the fight with full HP. But it takes LONG time, very long time. Of course this is due to not go full DPS stats and spec.

 

So to my question. To increase my DPS, what should I do?

Make sure to mod Willpower, Crit, Surge, Alacrity and take away any defensive, like Defense, Absorption and Shield and maby even change my spec and go more to a full Madness?

Or maby even just realize that I'm atm playing more like a tank and go full tank spec?

 

This is how I spent my points so far

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rcbMkrcZZf0fok.1

 

 

Just to make sure I dont get any "QQ" replies. I'm NOT complaining. I love my class and I LOVE the game. Just trying to find the best balance to get the most out of him.

Edited January 23, 2012 by Zeuligan