otterscrubber Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 A little confused on spec. My Assassin is only lvl 14. So far I am deception specced. I picked this at random for no great reason. Although I've read a little bit on forums that it is not a bad way to go up to level 20. Although I've heard great things about madness, but other than folks saying it is good it is a little vague on why it is good. What are the advantages of each spec? Why is madness considered by some to be better? I want to tank a bit and I'm not sure which spec does that best. Thanks for any breakdown info anyone can provide in a nutshell. But feel free to add some detail as that would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
otterscrubber Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 Ok, so upon further research I have determined the following: Darkness: Tanking spec, still does good dps Deception: Stealthy, sneaky, backstabby dps killah! Madness: Melee/Ranged hybrid dps with CC. Yes? If so, i'm interested in hearing folks opinions on which is best for : 1) Levelling PvE, mostly solo 2) Levelling in a flashpoint with a small group or perhaps duoing with another person consistently 3) PvP I'm guessing Darkness is best for #1, Deception is best for #3 and Madness is decent but not exceptional for all 3? Agree or disagree with this very basic overview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonicks Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Bah. Wrong thread... Edited January 24, 2012 by supersonicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankalp Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I am full deception at lvl 44. I have done no pvp atm. Deception is good for lvling as you get useful stuff early on. madness is really bad with this. Tank is hard a lower lvls as your first companion is a tank too. This is another reason why Deception is good till 30ish. After 30 you get the pirate which is ranged DPS, so lvling as a darkness assassin becomes easier. Once you get your healer at lvl 38-40ish, its awesome for me coz now I can take down elites real quick. Mobs are easier too and you dont need to seethe as much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJCobbSalad Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Ok, so upon further research I have determined the following: Darkness: Tanking spec, still does good dps Deception: Stealthy, sneaky, backstabby dps killah! Madness: Melee/Ranged hybrid dps with CC. Yes? If so, i'm interested in hearing folks opinions on which is best for : 1) Levelling PvE, mostly solo 2) Levelling in a flashpoint with a small group or perhaps duoing with another person consistently 3) PvP I'm guessing Darkness is best for #1, Deception is best for #3 and Madness is decent but not exceptional for all 3? Agree or disagree with this very basic overview? 1) Deception until mid 30's or so, then you can switch to Darkness if you want, but I did Deception the whole way and it was fine. You don't get to the good talents in Darkness until the 3rd or 4th tree, which is why you want to avoid it for a while in the early levels. Deception gives you useable talents right off the bat with your first few talent points. Plus the better stealth and speed boost from Deception make skipping mobs and finishing quests a lot easier/faster 2) Doesn't really matter, Deception or Madness if you want to dps, Darkness if you want to tank. In my experience I've found Madness to be a pretty hard spec to play. Deception isn't easy either as it has a lot of buffs to watch for to maximize dps, but not as bad as Madness which requires something like 11 spells in the rotation. Madness seems to be geared more towards Sorcs than Assassins (we share that tree with Sorcs) but if you spend time with it I'm sure it's more than viable. 3) Some type of Darkness Hybrid with your choice of Deception or Madness probably. Assassins are really squishy in PvP so if you're going to get really into it you should definitely get up into the Darkness tree a bit for the self-heals and better survivability, and then mix in either Madness or Deception talents depending on which you prefer. The PvP lvl 50 set bonuses favor Madness over Deception by a lot. /Edit - BW, can you stop with the autocorrect on the forums? DPS is a pretty standard term for an MMO, chancing it to dos every time I type it is really annoying >.> Edited January 24, 2012 by DJCobbSalad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdia Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Is Deception then the best for solo pve till high level? Just confused because I have also read that it's the worst choice. Regardless, I'm going to spec Deception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyfy Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) 1) Deception until mid 30's or so, then you can switch to Darkness if you want, but I did Deception the whole way and it was fine. You don't get to the good talents in Darkness until the 3rd or 4th tree, which is why you want to avoid it for a while in the early levels. Deception gives you useable talents right off the bat with your first few talent points. Plus the better stealth and speed boost from Deception make skipping mobs and finishing quests a lot easier/faster 2) Doesn't really matter, Deception or Madness if you want to dps, Darkness if you want to tank. In my experience I've found Madness to be a pretty hard spec to play. Deception isn't easy either as it has a lot of buffs to watch for to maximize dps, but not as bad as Madness which requires something like 11 spells in the rotation. Madness seems to be geared more towards Sorcs than Assassins (we share that tree with Sorcs) but if you spend time with it I'm sure it's more than viable. 3) Some type of Darkness Hybrid with your choice of Deception or Madness probably. Assassins are really squishy in PvP so if you're going to get really into it you should definitely get up into the Darkness tree a bit for the self-heals and better survivability, and then mix in either Madness or Deception talents depending on which you prefer. The PvP lvl 50 set bonuses favor Madness over Deception by a lot. /Edit - BW, can you stop with the autocorrect on the forums? DPS is a pretty standard term for an MMO, chancing it to dos every time I type it is really annoying >.> That autocorrect would either be your phone (IPhone is notorious for it) if you're posting from it like I do from work, or your browser. I don't think BW has an autocorrect feature on here, unless I missed something. In which case if I did, just tell me to shut up and go away. Back in topic though and to the OP, Darkness is a great spec albeit a bit slow to level I thought. Great survivability and still respectable DPS. Madness I switched to at 32 after running up in Darkness and I am loving the hell out of but is a bit twitch response oriented. You really have to pay attention to AoEs cooldowns and buffs. As for deception I haven't tried it yet but I did start working the Shadows equivalent (Infiltration) the other day so we'll see what happens. All in all though you can pick any of the specs and still be able to fit into a Tank or DPS role with the right gear and rotations. Also be flexible with your stances, do the stance dance if you need to. That is one of the things I love about the class but turns a lot of people off to it. So be flexible and have fun, and no matter what spec you take you'll do just fine. Edited January 24, 2012 by Hyfy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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