How is End Game as a Shadow/Assassin?

[rebsten]

I've been playing through all the class stories, trying different advanced classes for each mirror. I already did a Sorc as my Inquisitor so I'm leveling a Shadow now. I'm enjoying the class a lot, in all honesty. My question is, am I going to keep enjoying it?

 

How are we in Ops? How do we fare in PVP? I tend to do a lot of solo unranked warzones on my 65s, I find it fun. That said, the class I seem to enjoy most is my Juggernaut. Decent survivals, at least when they are off cd, and decent damage, though I find i tricky to stay on a target. I've also played Powertech and Sorc at 65, but I find the powertech goes squish way too easily when focused, and the Sorc is too powerful to be any fun.

 

So what am I in for if I push it to 65? I actually already have a 30ish Assassin in adition to the Shadow I'm leveling. I enjoy Imp side a lot more, so I'd probably finish my Shadow for the story and then go back and do my Assassin, so it'd be a bit of extra work but if the class is what I've been looking for, then it's worth it.

 

Any input or advice?

[Greezt]

I've been playing through all the class stories, trying different advanced classes for each mirror. I already did a Sorc as my Inquisitor so I'm leveling a Shadow now. I'm enjoying the class a lot, in all honesty. My question is, am I going to keep enjoying it?

 

How are we in Ops? How do we fare in PVP? I tend to do a lot of solo unranked warzones on my 65s, I find it fun. That said, the class I seem to enjoy most is my Juggernaut. Decent survivals, at least when they are off cd, and decent damage, though I find i tricky to stay on a target. I've also played Powertech and Sorc at 65, but I find the powertech goes squish way too easily when focused, and the Sorc is too powerful to be any fun.

 

So what am I in for if I push it to 65? I actually already have a 30ish Assassin in adition to the Shadow I'm leveling. I enjoy Imp side a lot more, so I'd probably finish my Shadow for the story and then go back and do my Assassin, so it'd be a bit of extra work but if the class is what I've been looking for, then it's worth it.

 

Any input or advice?

 

Shadows are viable in any content. PvPwise, shadow tanks bring the most utility of any of the tanks. Infiltration is weak compared to other burst specs, but has a ton of control, so it's a good spec for unranked warzones (node capping and guarding, etc.). Serenity is a pressure spec, one of the stronger ones right now.

 

the playstyle differs between each spec, but none of them are similar to PT/juggs. They're squishy, so there will be less facetanking on the dps specs. It's more of a finesse thing. You won't have a big problem sticking to your target as serenity, but infiltration can be trickier.

 

I don't do that much pve these days, so someone else can fill this part better than I can. However, SM/HM ops are easy enough that you can bring any class you choose as long as you know what you're doing. I don't know about NiM ops, but I believe all shadows are viable there too.

[sumquy]

dps wise they are a solid meh in both pvp and pve. not outstanding performers, but not bad either. as tanks, they have the highest survivability of the three tanks by a small margin, but they also have a steeper learning curve.

[LudhaninRolgge]

I'm running HM ops on both my Shadow and my Sin so I think I can answer the PVE part ^^

As said by Sumquy, Shadow DPS is not the best, but is far from the worst. Both specs are in the middle of the pack where they belong (at least for Infiltration, Serenity should be a bit higher). I mainly play Infiltration and I have no problem carrying my weight. As for squishiness, Serenity is way squishier than Infi because Infi gets a 30% AOE damage reduction passive and Serenity's self-heals don't compensate for that (after several nerf). All in all, both specs are really fun to play and are viable to bring in any ops.

[rebsten]

Thanks for the feedback, gents!

 

So just to kind of grasp the idea, do they squish easy when not in tank spec? And when they are in tank spec, you mentioned they seem to perform better than jugs but are harder to master? I'm not sure if I'd want to play tank spec, but it does sound kind of interesting. I tried my jugg as immortal but got a little demoralized by how expensive it is. The piss poor pvp gear itemization means you have to play for weeks (it seems) to get a full set of 208 and then fix the terrible armor mods on it.

[Aelanis]

Just so we're clear, I'm going to say, upfront, that my entire response is only relevant to PvE.

So just to kind of grasp the idea, do they squish easy when not in tank spec?

Yes, especially if you're playing Hatred, in which case you typically end up as a smear across the ground when a boss looks at you.

And when they are in tank spec, you mentioned they seem to perform better than jugs but are harder to master?

There's this preconception that Assassin tanking is significantly more difficult than either of the other 2 tank Disciplines. While it certainly has a slightly steeper learning curve, I wouldn't say it's drastically so (especially since tanking isn't especially tough to begin with).

I'm not sure if I'd want to play tank spec, but it does sound kind of interesting. I tried my jugg as immortal but got a little demoralized by how expensive it is. The piss poor pvp gear itemization means you have to play for weeks (it seems) to get a full set of 208 and then fix the terrible armor mods on it.

...you're playing an MMO, were you expecting a non-grindy experience? Tanking in PvE is a little better, since you typically only need to grab 1 of each set piece and another 10 mods from Mk-2 or Mk-4 pieces to get the B Mods. Then again, you also have to roll against 7 other people per piece and rely on them to not suck so that you can kill the bosses, so there is that.

[helpmewin]

I've been playing through all the class stories, trying different advanced classes for each mirror. I already did a Sorc as my Inquisitor so I'm leveling a Shadow now. I'm enjoying the class a lot, in all honesty. My question is, am I going to keep enjoying it?

 

How are we in Ops? How do we fare in PVP? I tend to do a lot of solo unranked warzones on my 65s, I find it fun. That said, the class I seem to enjoy most is my Juggernaut. Decent survivals, at least when they are off cd, and decent damage, though I find i tricky to stay on a target. I've also played Powertech and Sorc at 65, but I find the powertech goes squish way too easily when focused, and the Sorc is too powerful to be any fun.

 

So what am I in for if I push it to 65? I actually already have a 30ish Assassin in adition to the Shadow I'm leveling. I enjoy Imp side a lot more, so I'd probably finish my Shadow for the story and then go back and do my Assassin, so it'd be a bit of extra work but if the class is what I've been looking for, then it's worth it.

 

Any input or advice?

 

All three sins specs are squishy. Sin tank viable in team ranked only coz sorc heal can out heal him pretty fast. If bw call deception and lightning burst specs then vengeance is a burst spec with dot spread mechanic, btw vengence pretty strong for regs(wz), i enjoy to play this spec too. If u preffed to play hatred(dot) u need to find a pocket healer if u don't - prepare to be globaled from time to time and loose a lot of DPS, but hatred still the best pressure melee spec. Deception is good as node guarder or support to kill some one as stealth opener. Darkness do decent DMG and have good burst(17-20K+ shock with reck) with DPS gear. Atm deception have lack of burst, hatred lack of self heals. If u mained juggernaut - sin is a good class to play from time to time. Recomended u to play as tank - they are more viable in the hight end group content.

IMO.

Edited March 19, 2016 by helpmewin

[rebsten]

All three sins specs are squishy. Sin tank viable in team ranked only coz sorc heal can out heal him pretty fast. If bw call deception and lightning burst specs then vengeance is a burst spec with dot spread mechanic, btw vengence pretty strong for regs(wz), i enjoy to play this spec too. If u preffed to play hatred(dot) u need to find a pocket healer if u don't - prepare to be globaled from time to time and loose a lot of DPS, but hatred still the best pressure melee spec. Deception is good as node guarder or support to kill some one as stealth opener. Darkness do decent DMG and have good burst(17-20K+ shock with reck) with DPS gear. Atm deception have lack of burst, hatred lack of self heals. If u mained juggernaut - sin is a good class to play from time to time. Recomended u to play as tank - they are more viable in the hight end group content.

IMO.

 

Thanks for the feedback, this was helpful for a pvp pov.

 

....you're playing an MMO, were you expecting a non-grindy experience? Tanking in PvE is a little better, since you typically only need to grab 1 of each set piece and another 10 mods from Mk-2 or Mk-4 pieces to get the B Mods. Then again, you also have to roll against 7 other people per piece and rely on them to not suck so that you can kill the bosses, so there is that.

 

Well, to be fair, I don't mind a grind, but it's kind of maddening that they make you buy gear filled with utterly useless mods, and then make you rip them all out and replace them. Eventually you'll be BIS, but the real issue is, there's no inbetween. You are either wearing garbage or have BIS, and it's a long time between garbage and BIS, since you need to buy basic, then advanced, and then mod it all. Very time consuming, lots or warzone accommodations.

Edited March 19, 2016 by rebsten

[Aelanis]

Thanks for the feedback, this was helpful for a pvp pov.

 

 

 

Well, to be fair, I don't mind a grind, but it's kind of maddening that they make you buy gear filled with utterly useless mods, and then make you rip them all out and replace them. Eventually you'll be BIS, but the real issue is, there's no inbetween. You are either wearing garbage or have BIS, and it's a long time between garbage and BIS, since you need to buy basic, then advanced, and then mod it all. Very time consuming, lots or warzone accommodations.

 

Then it's really good you didn't play a year ago, when ranked gear costed 3x as much as it does now. Or was it 4x? It was a lot worse.

[sithBracer]

Then it's really good you didn't play a year ago, when ranked gear costed 3x as much as it does now. Or was it 4x? It was a lot worse.

 

It was ridiculous. I think MH/OH was 3500 ranked comms (1 ranked comm = 3 regular comms) compared to the 2k comms it is now. We couldn't even share them across different classes because of the 4 different main stats.

Edited March 19, 2016 by sithBracer

[Aelanis]

It was ridiculous. I think MH/OH was 3500 ranked comms (1 ranked comm = 3 regular comms) compared to the 2k comms it is now. We couldn't even share them across different classes because of the 4 different main stats.

 

Yeah, I remember that. It was really discouraging, and a big part of the reason I never got serious about PvP. It used to take, what, 2 months of grinding at a couple matches a day? It would be more if there hadn't been the old weekly quest. I guess perspective makes it hard to see how the new system could be considered "grindy."

[Iona_Var]

I wish I would've pvp'd when I started playing around 1.5ish so I could have all the centurion and battlemaster shells

[Aelanis]

I wish I would've pvp'd when I started playing around 1.5ish so I could have all the centurion and battlemaster shells

 

Those can be crafted (Battlemaster, at least). Also, they've released numerous reskins of the PvP armor.

[Iona_Var]

Those can be crafted (Battlemaster, at least). Also, they've released numerous reskins of the PvP armor.

 

Well I mainly want the centurian armor for my assassin. I like the battlemaster and to lesser extent, war hero armors, but the centurian looks the best for our class imo.