Skill Rotation

[Untalented]

To maximize DPS and force, what's the best rotation to use for skills? I'm noticing I have 2 full bars of skills now and having a hard time keeping track. I'm going to try and re-organize based on the most used in what order and such.

[Blorbie]

I'm not really using any rotation, I'd rather say I have a priority list.

Not saying this is the way it's meant to be played either, but this is the way I think I can output the most damage.

 

#1: Keep Discharge DoT up

#2: Use Crushing Darkness when off cooldown.

#3: Maul when enough Force. (Be careful to not Force-starve yourself as you want enough force to use Discharge & Crushing Darkness when they're off cooldown)

#4: Saber Strike, just auto-attack when you don't have enough Force or have skills on cooldown.

#5: IF you are too far away to auto-attack, use shock to get some damage onto your target.

 

As previous said, this is MY priorities, you can obviously tweak them or just ignore them, just wanted to share how I play assassin.

 

(At level 25 you get a skill talent called "Raze" if you choose to go within the Madness tree, it has a chance for your Crushing Darkness to become instant and have no cost, this would grant you more Force for mauling and stop you from casting it, very helpful for this playstyle!)

[Hexix]

So u dont use thrash?

[Blorbie]

So u dont use thrash?

 

Not if I am able to stand behind the target, no.

If I don't have any other choice but to stand in front of the target, obviously I'd have to use Thrash instead of Maul to not stack full Force.

[skulp]

You use Crushing Darkness? Really?

I'm kinda just using Discharge and Shock. Maul when it procs, Thrash when I'm nearing 100 Force and Maul didn't proc or I can't use Discharge or Shock.

[Nithryok]

You use Crushing Darkness? Really?

I'm kinda just using Discharge and Shock. Maul when it procs, Thrash when I'm nearing 100 Force and Maul didn't proc or I can't use Discharge or Shock.

 

^ that.... we have all these skills but they are useless compaired to maul. I dont even use thrash.. normal attacks deal more damage and because you swing 3 times, thats 3 chances for maul effect to proc.

[Luceid]

I find myself, when stuck in front or soloing while my companion is out gathering, using shock to burn my force, since Recklessness only applies to force spells it seems, it's about the only time I get much use out of it. Not sure about Crushing Madness, how effective it is, but I am using it, just cause it is something to be done. While experimenting with Crushing Madness at least, my priority is as follows.

 

1. Crushing Darkness

2. Discharge

3. Saber Strike

4. Maul (If Behind) Above 80 Force

5. Shock (If in-front) Above 80 Force (Recklessness on Cooldown if relying on Shock for a battle)

[Draemos]

^ that.... we have all these skills but they are useless compaired to maul. I dont even use thrash.. normal attacks deal more damage and because you swing 3 times, thats 3 chances for maul effect to proc.

 

Thrash does a lot more damage than saber-strike, it also grants induction for shock.

 

Priority list is something like:

 

1. Voltaic Slash/Thrash x2

2. Shock (w/ 2x induction buff)

3. Discharge

4. Maul (exploit weakness proc)

5. Saberstrike (no energy)

 

You can float Maul around in the rotation, the main focus is that you use it before Exploit weakness fades. So it's priority is higher the lower the time left on the buff

 

If you really want to get fancy, you can throw in Lacerate (3x targets AoE) and Assassinate(<30% health)

Edited December 18, 2011 by Draemos

[Vaestmannaeyjar]

Crushing madness seems more of a sorc tool, I'm actually not using it at all but maybe I should, I'll test that tonight. (I'm lvl 29 atm)

Also note that I'm not using the discharge DoT at all since I got the new saber buff in the tree which makes discharge a direct hit. (sorry not knowing all the skill names by heart yet ^^ )

Edited December 18, 2011 by Vaestmannaeyjar

[Ulasg]

can someone tell me how does discharge works? im lvl 14, using lightining stance and everytime i use discharge, it doesnt do any damage.

 

edit: nevermind, i found it im noob assasin...

Edited December 18, 2011 by Ulasg

[gingerbill]

i see no point in crushing madness as an asassin.

 

i tend to ... use shock when the buff is on to lower cost , use maul when the buff is up for lower cost , and disharge whenever its up . And use normal attacks when i have no power , with thrash if i have surplus power . And of course interrupt whenever i can. oh and the AOE jump skill when im surounded and its safe to use.

[Archaon_Thrax]

Again adds.

 

 

Enter Stealth, go to the middle of the group and use; Overload.

 

This will scatter them, target the nearest enemy (Shift+Tab) and use; Force Lightning.

 

When it ends and the add is still alive, use; shock.

 

If you have Surging Charge, Use; Discharge instead. That Shock might come in handy against the 2nd add.

 

By the time you have Surging Charge you should also have Tumult. When engaging the second add, use; Shock Followed by Tumult. Should take him out easy. If not, throw in a Trash.

 

By the time you killed 2 adds Khem Val should have killed the last one.

 

 

Against a Strong/Elite/Champion Without Surging Charge(Lvl ~15)

 

 

The first thing I do when I attack is enter Stealth mode. Cause of Dark Embrace I have 50% Force Regen while in Stealth and 6 seconds afterwards. While stealthed I run op to my opponent and use; Mind Trap to stun him. I open up with; Crushing Darkness.

 

Followed by; Discharge.

 

Both DoT's should apply simultaneously. Directly after both DoT have been applied I use; Force Lightning.

 

After Force Lightning has ended, I try to get behind my opponent. Whilst possitioning myself, I use; Shock.

 

By the time I'm in melee range, The opponent is usually already in a lot of trouble. When behind the target, use; Maul.

 

This technique deals a LOT of damage and the chance of you overaggroing Khem Val is high. So when your opponent is stubborn and you can't get behind him, use; Elecrocute.

 

 

Against a Strong/Elite/Champion With Surging Charge(LvL 30+)

 

 

Again, enter Stealth mode. Cause of Dark Embrace I have 50% Force Regen while in Stealth and 6 seconds afterwards. While stealthed I run op to my opponent and use; Mind Trap to stun him. I open up with; Crushing Darkness.

 

Followed by; Force Lightning.

 

After Force Lightning has ended, try to get behind the opponent. Whilst possitioning yourselfs, use;Shock followed by; Discharge.

 

By the time I'm in melee range, The opponent is again in a lot of trouble. When behind the target use; Maul.

 

Just like the one before, this technique deals a LOT of damage and the chance of you overaggroing Khem Val is high. So when your opponent is stubborn, you can get behind him by using; Elecrocute. While Electrocuted use either; Tumult or get behind him and use; Maul.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Archaon_Thrax

[Skizzik]

Thrash does a lot more damage than saber-strike, it also grants induction for shock.

 

Priority list is something like:

 

1. Voltaic Slash/Thrash x2

2. Shock (w/ 2x induction buff)

3. Discharge

4. Maul (exploit weakness proc)

5. Saberstrike (no energy)

 

You can float Maul around in the rotation, the main focus is that you use it before Exploit weakness fades. So it's priority is higher the lower the time left on the buff

 

If you really want to get fancy, you can throw in Lacerate (3x targets AoE) and Assassinate(<30% health)

 

What this guy said. So much bad info in this thread. Read the Sticky.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Skizzik

[Blorbie]

You use Crushing Darkness? Really?

Yes, I do.. I've specced my assassin in the Madness skill-tree, where I get the talent Raze, which makes Crushing Darkness get off cooldown, become free of force and become instant.. So why wouldn't I use it?

[octava]

Yes, I do.. I've specced my assassin in the Madness skill-tree, where I get the talent Raze, which makes Crushing Darkness get off cooldown, become free of force and become instant.. So why wouldn't I use it?

 

This.

Have you seen the damage output of Crushing Darkness? It's insane. I even hard-cast it on gold mobs when I level because it's sick.

 

Also: CrushingD is great for madness since you get the "1% hp for every DoT tick-crit"-talent (sorry to lazy to look it up, it's one of them tier 2s.)

[drollzito]

I am playing a decpetion assassin.

So far, I realize there is no rotation, but a priority.

 

1- Discharge (using surging charge) - use it whenever the CD is up. You will only worry abou the dots on a full dps race

2- Maul whenver the buff is up

3- Shock when you have the double stack buff up

4- trash / stash (this is the one you will use the most)

Simple as that....

 

this way you maximize ur dps / force

Maul is not enough dmg / force if you don't have the buff up....

[drollzito]

Thrash does a lot more damage than saber-strike, it also grants induction for shock.

 

Priority list is something like:

 

1. Voltaic Slash/Thrash x2

2. Shock (w/ 2x induction buff)

3. Discharge

4. Maul (exploit weakness proc)

5. Saberstrike (no energy)

 

You can float Maul around in the rotation, the main focus is that you use it before Exploit weakness fades. So it's priority is higher the lower the time left on the buff

 

If you really want to get fancy, you can throw in Lacerate (3x targets AoE) and Assassinate(<30% health)

 

Ya, right on the money, exactly what I do....

[punman]

Thrash does a lot more damage than saber-strike, it also grants induction for shock.

 

Priority list is something like:

 

1. Voltaic Slash/Thrash x2

2. Shock (w/ 2x induction buff)

3. Discharge

4. Maul (exploit weakness proc)

5. Saberstrike (no energy)

 

You can float Maul around in the rotation, the main focus is that you use it before Exploit weakness fades. So it's priority is higher the lower the time left on the buff

 

If you really want to get fancy, you can throw in Lacerate (3x targets AoE) and Assassinate(<30% health)

 

Good grief, thank you ... I hope people read far enough down this thread to see the good information. I'd just like to add that on packs of trash I'll generally Discharge after the first 2x Induction stack which usually finishes off the first mob, then move to the first un-damaged one (or next highest priority target) and open with shock as I run over, because I didn't use up Induction on an almost-dead mob, and at this point it's very rare that Exploit Weakness isn't up, Maul from behind, and then back to the top of the "rotation."

 

Thrash. Say it with me, folks.

 

"Thrash!" Very good! Until you hit level 40, then Voltaic Slash replaces it on your bar. (Assuming full Deception, so far, of course.)

 

You can seriously level just fine well into your 20's with a bar full of Shock, Thrash, Maul, and Stealth, and just keep Surging Charge and Sprint on. Bind all the rest of your buttons to Thrash and you can faceroll.

[gkshow]

I noticed that #4 in that rotation is "Maul (exploit weakness proc)". If EW doesn't proc, what do you do?

 

Also, don't you have to be behind the target to use Maul? So when you want to use it, what do you do?

 

Excuse my noobness but I haven't spent any talent points, just trying to figure out if I want to go DPS or Tank first

[kidbs]

This.

Have you seen the damage output of Crushing Darkness? It's insane. I even hard-cast it on gold mobs when I level because it's sick.

 

Also: CrushingD is great for madness since you get the "1% hp for every DoT tick-crit"-talent (sorry to lazy to look it up, it's one of them tier 2s.)

 

You should have said you were Madness spec to begin with . If you are not Madness spec then Crushing Darkness should not be used.

[kidbs]

I noticed that #4 in that rotation is "Maul (exploit weakness proc)". If EW doesn't proc, what do you do?

 

Also, don't you have to be behind the target to use Maul? So when you want to use it, what do you do?

 

Excuse my noobness but I haven't spent any talent points, just trying to figure out if I want to go DPS or Tank first

 

Once you have 3 points in Duplicity, EW will proc every 10 seconds. I've never had a stretch in which it didn't. I wouldn't use Maul unless EW procs b/c it costs way too much Force and you would be better off doing 2 more Voltaic Slashes instead. The 50% armor penetration buff makes a big difference in the damage that it does.

[gkshow]

Ah gotcha, thanks kidbs.

 

So, you just try to get behind the target or do you use electrocute to stun him?

 

Although so far Khem Val has been pretty good at keeping aggro off of me...

[punman]

I noticed that #4 in that rotation is "Maul (exploit weakness proc)". If EW doesn't proc, what do you do?

 

Also, don't you have to be behind the target to use Maul? So when you want to use it, what do you do?

 

Excuse my noobness but I haven't spent any talent points, just trying to figure out if I want to go DPS or Tank first

 

It's not a rotation, it's a priority list. Meaning, if EW isn't up, Thrash again. Thrash some more until its up. Thrash until the mob dies for all I care, it'll work just fine. Maul is not worth the force cost without EW proc'ed. Better just not to accidentally hit it than to miss an EW proc.

 

If you have an EW proc up and you find yourself facing a mob, you have one of two options. Is it a weak or standard mob? If so, your Shock will stun them long enough for you to run around to their backside and Maul them. If not, or if Shock is down, your Electrocute will stun anyone long enough for you to run around to their backside and Maul them. If your companion has them otherwise occupied, you can just run behind them to Maul, but that doesn't mean don't Shock or Discharge on the way over for extra damage. There are lots of creative ways to make this happen.

[kidbs]

Ah gotcha, thanks kidbs.

 

So, you just try to get behind the target or do you use electrocute to stun him?

 

Although so far Khem Val has been pretty good at keeping aggro off of me...

 

I always get behind the target. Khem Val is pretty good at holding aggro so it's usually not a problem. You'll always want to open from stealth anyway so that you have your Dark Embrace buff up at the start for more force regen.

[gkshow]

Ah ok got it.

 

So, has anyone released any add ons to track "dots" or these types of procs?

 

(i know this should probably go into the proper forum and i'll make a post for it later too)