How make an assassin less squishy?

[Moonlight]

Hello everybody, I'm lv40 Assassin, but I notice that this class have little defensive skills (I have, Ignore Pain maxed that works while Onslaught is active, Dodge Attack maxed, Battle Standard at lv4, and Battle Rage at lv1) sometimes the enemies hit me really hard despite that I have defensive skills, but my major problem is magic, some enemies that use magic are extremly dangerous, like the ghost that throws lightning bolts, other that throws a purple sphere and other throws ice pikes... Do you have any suggestions to counter that lacks in defense and magic defense? any reccomended sets to use?

This is my current build: http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Assassin&master1=6&master2=3&sa=0&m1=4-8-6-1-0-1-8-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=32-6-1-8-6-8-6-5-6-0-1-1-6-0-0-1-0-0-4-0-0

Thanks in advance!

[samwitch]

The only defense an assassin has is the in the poison line under Rogue. The top skill Mandrake when fully maxed has a 50% chance for your target to fumble their attacks for 3 seconds + a 20% change for the target to be confused. If I remember right if you get +4 skills that will increase to 70%. You will need to use Whirlwind and its upgrade to engage casters (or any ranged target) quickly and then your poison will keep them from hitting you. Another option is to get Ancestral horn and let your minions engage to help draw fire from multiple ranged enemies. But the poison line combined with Warfare's multi-target hits will be your main way to not get hit. Depending on gear, poison is also a great way to kill stuff.

[Moonlight]

Originally posted by samwitch:

The only defense an assassin has is the in the poison line under Rogue. The top skill Mandrake when fully maxed has a 50% chance for your target to fumble their attacks for 3 seconds + a 20% change for the target to be confused. If I remember right if you get +4 skills that will increase to 70%. You will need to use Whirlwind and its upgrade to engage casters (or any ranged target) quickly and then your poison will keep them from hitting you. Another option is to get Ancestral horn and let your minions engage to help draw fire from multiple ranged enemies. But the poison line combined with Warfare's multi-target hits will be your main way to not get hit. Depending on gear, poison is also a great way to kill stuff.

Thanks for your reply. When you say Whirlwind you refer to War Wind (Attacks like 4 enemies at round) of Warfare skills? because I don't find Whirlwind skill.

[claudius]

Another fair rogue skill is flashpowder

[Aainiikkusu]

Originally posted by Roxasdualsword:

Originally posted by samwitch:

The only defense an assassin has is the in the poison line under Rogue. The top skill Mandrake when fully maxed has a 50% chance for your target to fumble their attacks for 3 seconds + a 20% change for the target to be confused. If I remember right if you get +4 skills that will increase to 70%. You will need to use Whirlwind and its upgrade to engage casters (or any ranged target) quickly and then your poison will keep them from hitting you. Another option is to get Ancestral horn and let your minions engage to help draw fire from multiple ranged enemies. But the poison line combined with Warfare's multi-target hits will be your main way to not get hit. Depending on gear, poison is also a great way to kill stuff.

Thanks for your reply. When you say Whirlwind you refer to War Wind (Attacks like 4 enemies at round) of Warfare skills? because I don't find Whirlwind skill.

Having War Wind definetly spreads Mandrake much more easily. You should consider putting at least one point in it.

[Atomic Kid]

i think throwing knife also spreads envemon weapon...assiasins defense due to having rouge instead of a more stable defensive mastery has to play underhandedly...you cannot run into every fight and expect to win... tossing poison around to mess with enemiesus, using flash powder which when maxed messes enemies up, and playing smart before engaging is how i notice assasin plays..

both warfare and rogue offer defensive stuff but most of it req manual activiation...ignore pain req you hit the enemy, you have to place battle standard, you have to apply envemon weapon manually before engaging or you'll prob just get recked...war wind like said above can spread it to enemies but its dangerous if it places you in a spot where you receive many hits at once...

however assasin does make up for having to manually shutdown enemies before engaging with very high dps prob among the highest in the game..but like real assasin you cannot just run in without any input and expect to win every single fight, shutting down as many enemies as possible before engaging with flash powder and envemon weapon as many enemies as possible..and then using battle standard to protect you while you do damage...

edit: and as you guessed assasin is squishy by the class combo..i mean its not as squishy as mages,but seeing how most of your protection must be manually applied and you have to play differently compared to a more tanky char who can just run in and kill things...assasin has well...play like an assasin lol..taking a hit without ignore pain, without protection from battle standard, and enemy not suffering from envenom weapon debuffs hurts a lot and later on you'll die really fast if you take too many of those kinda hits..

[Moonlight]

Originally posted by Atomic Kid:

i think throwing knife also spreads envemon weapon...assiasins defense due to having rouge instead of a more stable defensive mastery has to play underhandedly...you cannot run into every fight and expect to win... tossing poison around to mess with enemiesus, using flash powder which when maxed messes enemies up, and playing smart before engaging is how i notice assasin plays..

both warfare and rogue offer defensive stuff but most of it req manual activiation...ignore pain req you hit the enemy, you have to place battle standard, you have to apply envemon weapon manually before engaging or you'll prob just get recked...war wind like said above can spread it to enemies but its dangerous if it places you in a spot where you receive many hits at once...

however assasin does make up for having to manually shutdown enemies before engaging with very high dps prob among the highest in the game..but like real assasin you cannot just run in without any input and expect to win every single fight, shutting down as many enemies as possible before engaging with flash powder and envemon weapon as many enemies as possible..and then using battle standard to protect you while you do damage...

Thanks for your reply, that's true, when I play I don't go with all for the enemies like a kamikaze, I use envenom weapon and blade honing all time, my current weapons are dual Sabertooth and on the other side dual throwing weapons, do you recommend me Flash Powder? cause I thought that Mandrake would do the effect too... I use the Obsidian set, but, magical damage is my nemesis.

[Moonlight]

Originally posted by claudius:

Another fair rogue skill is flashpowder

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it.

[Akelasan]

... also don't forget War Horn. Its a great stun for few sec in prety large area and works vs all non boss enemies...

[Atomic Kid]

maxed flash powder is another tool in the assasin toolkit...being really honest if you think of the assassin like a ninja (or spy from tf2) you cannot play him like conan the barbarian...thats more like a conquerer....but assasin will out dps a conquerer if played well and can survive really well with good tactics...i mean its def more fun...

but ya def max flash powder, max the things in envenom weapon to slow and mass confuse enemies to take them outta the fight...use lethal strike to do insane damage and stun enemies...but ya seeing how shutting down enemies is part of assasins playstyle def max flash powder and use it to take many enemies outta the fight esp if they have a good chance of kiling you..

[Moonlight]

Originally posted by Akelasan:

... also don't forget War Horn. Its a great stun for few sec in prety large area and works vs all non boss enemies...

Oh! that's true, thanks for remind me it, the only downside that I notice is the duration... but you're right!

[ninakoru]

I am playing an assassin through legendary, some considerations:

- Mandrake is the best defensive tool you have, then is the dodge passive from warfare, even dual wield helps a lot. Stuns like war horn or lethal strike buy very little time. Banner is more for bosses, you cannot wait for cooldown for every monster group.

- Spread from a range using throwing knives, war wind if they are melee, or to close up to enemies. Movement/total speed bonuses are really a plus (but not a priority). You need attack speed towards 170%+ with dual wield, also hugely important.

- Resistances are a priority more than ever. Is important to keep a high pierce/poison resist at all times, vitality is important against hades act and bosses. Elemental resists are more situational but having them towards 40-50% on average in legendary is really huge. Bleed is VERY specific, be sure to save bleed resistance gear to the boar bosses and the trolls of act 5.

- On gear, prioritize resistances. Assasin's damage is more than decent without many item support, and you have natural access to stonebinder's (you want to boost dex anyways).

- The main problem for assassins are bosses, you'll need a tanky swap gear only for bosses (resists/vitality!!). As melee the best scenario is to be able to trade damage while chugging pots. If you are not able, it will be a difficult and long fight running forever while waiting for pot cooldown.

[SilentMeteor]

http://www.titancalc.com/TitanCalc.asp?mastery=Assassin&master1=6&master2=3&sa=0&m1=4-0-0-0-0-1-0-8-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0&m2=32-6-1-8-6-0-6-1-6-1-10-1-6-6-0-6-1-0-6-6-1-0-0

[Nicholas]

A Little late but I am running bat wing Life drain as defense for my assassin your health is my health.

[WickedRequiem]

...until you come across undead or construct
Well, mostly undead

[MANCREAM]

I went hard into lifesteal with my assassin, could whirlwind in any group of enemies and instant refill my hp. That combined with being so fast meant I could just run out and heal up with high regen gear whilst throwing knives etc. Only tricky parts are non-bio enemies like undead.