~ Duelling Strategies: ~ In the following section I will try to show you how I try to duel with my PvP Assassin. Of course every player has a different play style, this is only meant as a rough guide.
Let’s start with the hotkeys: Note: This is just how i use the hotkeys and how i recommend to use em, it is still up to you to choose!
Y = Teleport
A = Mindblast
A = Wake of fire
X = Lightning sentry
C = Shadow master
D = Psycho hammer
F = Dragon talon
V = Fire blast
Q = Cloak of shadows
1-4 = Mana pots
5 = Burst of speed
6 = Fade
7 = Blade shield (in case you have this skill)
8-9 = Battle orders
General information about Traps, your Shadowmaster, etc... Trap distance: The distance before a trap disappears depends on whether you are running or teleporting.
If you teleport the trap will disappear after round about 1.5 screens distance.
If you walk/run the trap will disappear after round about 2.5 screens distance.
Shadow master: Except playing vs. a smiter with LT you should always have your shadowmaster up for several reasons:
- If you chain lock tele the shadow master often hits your opponent when u land on him, that keeps the stun chain up.
Stun: Here is were to separate the wheat from the chaff!
The perpetuation of the stunning sequence is one of the most important things to play your Assassin successfully!
The most common mistake Assassin players make is, that they fire MB on their opponent before they lay a trap. This means for your opponent that he can prepare himself to escape when u stop fireing mindblast to cast a trap. Therefore your stunning sequenze must look like this:
Trap – MB – further Traps - MB So why is it superior to start with a trap instead of mindblast? My opponent can escape easily while my trap starts fireing since i do not have any possibility to stun him up!
That might be true, but within the time the trap starts fireing (9 FPA4 ) your opponent will be busy analyzing the situation, which means that he might escape, but if he stands still, keeps fireing at you, and you can get him locked with 1 trap up, your stun chain has begun!
Within your stun chain timing is very important. Try to break your MB exactly at the moment your trap is fireing at your opponent, this will grant that he will not escape!
Lightning sentry vs wake of fireAs a Trapsin you have 2 types of Traps for your disposal:
- Lightning sentry (longe range damage dealer)
- Wake of fire (AoE5 stunner)
As initial Trap for your starting stun chain WoF is superior to LS since it has a faster fireing rate, and grants you more possibilities to break your MB to cast more Traps.
Especially for a TvT Assassin WoF is very important since you are acting more as a stunner than as a damage dealer. Remember the swirl over your opponents head – every kind of damage will set your opponent into the FHR animation and keep him stuck!
Remember that 2 WoF’s will grant maximum output unless you are stunning several areas of the map in a TvT! 2 WoF’s will hit the target approximately once every 8-9 frames, which is enough to stunlock most characters. It requires 4 LS to achieve a similar stunning capacity.
Duelling strategies: ~ Amazons ~ Bowamazon Difficulty: Medium - Hard
Setup: 102 FCR / 86 FHR / Max block / Burst of Speed!
Strategy: Max block setup is a must vs bowazones. Never forget to cast cloak of shadows and never attack without your shadowmaster.
Important at this duel is that you always keep the mindblast lock up. Try to catch them in a bad position (corner them near walls or trees) use wake of fire and also use your kick to slow them (if you are using a Bug Belt) and Fireblast them!
The bowa should never escape your mindblast lock!
Javelin Amazon Difficulty: Easy
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C
Strategy: Try to place many wakes of fire and fireblast her, she will be permanently in FHR/dodge animation, should be an easy win for you!
~ Assasins ~ Trap Assasin Difficulty: Very easy – very hard
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C
OR 102 FCR / 48 FHR W/S Hoto/Spirit Monarch Setup
Strategy: Those mirror duels are a pain, I don’t have much to say here else than play def!
If you see that your opponent has the same movement and it feels like you are moving and placing traps parallel, switch your gear to a hoto and spirit setup and strap a TG on, because than you have an advantage when you are running away from the traps. Your opponent will lose more life because his clawblock is 0 when he is running away, and you have a TG on to sorb!
~ Necromancer ~ Bone Necromancer Difficulty: Hard
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C / Burst of Speed
Strategy: Max Life Setup and a offhand GT with 2 x Fire facets if you are a Fireblast build.
Put on max volume to hear were invisibles crashing walls!
Try to get close to them, get a mindblast lock, place some wofs and some lightning sentries and than jump them. The fire blast will do the rest!
Small tip: If you are on screen and see xx spirits close to you, don’t try to tele away, run instead! Your frw is faster than the spirits fly and you don’t have any cast delay with running!
~ Barbarian ~ Bvc / Bva's Difficulty: Moderate
Setup: 102 FCR / 86 FHR / Max block / Burst of Speed!
Strategy: Burst of speed and your maxblock setup will be a pain in the arse for the barbarian!
Place your traps in a cube form, this has the most efficiency and will cause the most damage vs. barbarians!
High MB damage is here very good because barbarians will most likely play with 8 DR only vs. you!
Another possibility is to pre-bo and use Widowmaker “um” at switch, this will be a sick surprise for the barbarian!
Try to play flexible, for instance just jump the baba once you have your mb lock up, he will be surprised and most likely make a mistake!
It’s a case of staying away from him – but close enough for your traps to hit him as you randomly zip about avoiding his ww’s.
~ Paladin ~ Smiters's Difficulty: Moderate
Setup: 102 FCR / 86 FHR / Max block / Burst of Speed!
Strategy: This one is for me always one of the hardest duels due to the mass desynch of Paladins.
I’d recommend to use mblock setup with fade on (to reduce the curse duration in case he casts LT on you)
move a lot, play on distance, always place a wof like half a screen away to see when the smiter is synching towards you!
Second possibility would be to use a chaos and fury, eventhough you have extremely low AR, the WW will hit when the pala is charging.
And second effect is, that you avoid hits if you whirl.
Hammerdin Difficulty: Moderate - Hard
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C Setup
Strategy: Use your running speed. When he is trying to jump you just southwalk (run/tele vertically up and down the screen) . Be patient and let him come, don’t jump him or run around the map, there might be invisibles everywhere!
Alternatively you can use a chaos here again to avoid getting hit by the hammers!
Use the full battle field but never forget that he might have u still locked, so tele more than 2 screens away from him before you place your new traps!
~ Sorceress ~ Fireball sorceress Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C Setup
Strategy: Strap on your fury claw firsthand. No abs ofc, this would be bad mannered if you consider that your shadow master is prolly fire immune and you have your clawblock too!
Try to get a mindblast lock on her, keep it up, place wofs and jump her with Dragon Talon. Probably this will be enough to win, if not continue chasing her down, the OW will let her die slowly!
Lightning sorceress Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C Setup
Strategy: Do the same as above mentioned! Try to avoid lightning bolts of the sorc, this is an absolute clawblock killer!
Blizzard sorceress Difficulty: Moderate - Hard
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C Setup
Additional: Use as much as CR as possible, all your scs, rings, whatever you find and do not forget your Griffon Cham!
Strategy: First you switch on as much res as you got – I am using 9 x 20/11 cr and 1 x 5fhr / 11 cr vs. Blizzard sorceress.
Put on your Griffon “cham”.
Mostly duel the same as vs. other sorc, but stay alert, they can be bitches!
~ Druid ~ Wind Druid Difficulty: Easy
Setup: 102 FCR / 48 FHR / C/C Setup
Additional: You can also play a 102 FCR Max block storm setup with Burst of Speed!
Strategy: High Fcr and high DR are necessary to survive these duels!
There are not many good Ele Druids around, but if you meet one you need to play very very sly!
Chase him, but don’t be too aggressive, always move so that between you and the ele druid there are at least 2-3 traps.
I’d highly recommend to always place 1-2 WoF’s directly under your feet in case the druid jumps you!
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4 FPA = Frames per attack
5 AoE = Area of effect