Aion Assassin Gear and Stat Information Guide

[Mempo-KT]

Assassin Gear and Stat Information Guide - New Forum Edition

Current Version 2.02 - 24/10/2017

Welcome to the updated guide, to suit NA running patch 5.6 - http://static.ncsoft.com/aion/store/PatchNotes/AION_Patch_Notes_071917.pdf . This guide was rewritten from scratch using version 1.51 as a reference. Much of the old game, which was still competetive in patches past, is now obselete. You must gear again completely regardless of your previous success.

TL:DR 5.6 BREAKDOWN

• Augment costs are massive now so get your lazy ass a PvE set
• Clerics/Chanters have finished building their first sets, so both block sets and MR sets are likely going to be widespread
• Godstone Suppression is now your god and saviour. Para Godstones are obsolete beyond middle tier gameplay.
• We are weak before we get Slayer of Darkness, so gitgud

 

Preface

Congratulations. You are playing the best class and are interested in possibly learning more about the game and your capabilities. Two boxes ticked. Good enough.

This guide aims to spread "advanced general knowledge" in an easily ingestible way and to comment on how stat availability affects our gameplay as Assassins in PvP.

You will need to have a working understanding of your class' skills before you can make full use of what is stated here. The one thing I can recommend most is familiarising yourself with other class's stat availability using a gear calculator;

https://aiondb.ru/tools/equipment/wizard/

It should be your #1 reference while gearing up once you understand how stats work and what gear is available.

Discourse is important throughout when refering to abreiviations.

"Who the shugo are you?"

I have been playing Aion for 6 years after being finally convinced by a good friend that it was worth a shot. Stat efficiency perfection is my goal in Aion, and along this path I have learned a lot. I feel indebted to the Aion community for giving me such a great hobby, and I am giving back in the form of sharing my knowledge as a long time player. I loath grinding and love pleb stomping.

                   

I am not the best Assassin in Aion. I do however think I am an amazing specimen given the Australian internet infrastructure I have to work with. 

If while lurking the forum you see a post of any of the following you should take their opinion into account; they are all a worthy fount of knowledge. Their names may change during the forum update and coming server merge, and I will update if possible.

• Aethyria
• Chiisaichan
• Delessa
• Feel
• Jake - DN
• Venturo
• Vinley

Moom00 also posts some amazing stuff, so definitely read what he has to say.

Now lets get started. I will structure the guide by going through the character profile tab, top to bottom, left to right (the proper way), then referring to gear and stigmas, and then lastly to Creative Points, PvP and other topics. Note that I am not currently an active Aion player, and I typically only log in once or twice a week very briefly. Fortunately I was never fed and learnt how to fish, thus I am still able to pass on useful knowledge.

Info

Attributes

This displays your base stats in white and your bonus archdaeva stats in green. Your base stats indicate the unique factors about your class, while the archdaeva bonuses add additional ordinary stats. Most notable, the Assassins' 110 Base Power means they receive a small bonus to Attack from all Base Attack sources. Increasing these stats with archdaeva bonuses will not increase these base attribute effects.

Statistics  

 

Physical Offensive Stats

When dual wielding your chances to hit and crit in both magical and physical strikes is determined only by your 'Main Hand' Acc, Crit and MagAcc. In light of this and the weight they carry in the current gear meta, having your strongest weapon in your mainhand will typically net greater success given you are able to AAC/Weave comfortably with it. Gear isn't exactly all that diverse, so we will cover a tier list later on.

Note that in all circumstances until 50% target crit strike chance, critical strike is going to be your most important offesnive stat. You cannot skimp out on Crit Strike in favour of more Attack; it is the hallmark of a plebeian.

Attack

Attack is your physical damage output modifier before stat modifications. It is diminished directly by Physical Defence. You can increase your attack via a stronger tier weapon, enchantments, manastones, augmenting/conditioning, supplementary stats, food, candy and some titles.

Hovering over your Attack Stat will show two numbers; what I call White Attack on the left, and Green Attack on the right. This is where we begin to see that not all Attack is created equal. You will have observed in game that when using Attack Buffs (Devotion, etc) they do not function off of your full attack, but instead off of your White Attack. Your skill tooltips will only increase when you equip a higher tier weapon regardless of White or Green attack increases.

Increasing Attack Effectively

As observed, all Attack is not equal, thus we are able to determine which are the most effective in increasing our damage output. Due note that all forms of attack will increase your outgoing damage on both skills and auto attacks, but some are affected by outside factors and have a continued effect elsewhere.

• Weapon Base Attack - White - Is affected by Power trickle and affects skills bases, buffs and attack swings
• Enchanted Attack - White - Is affected by Power trickle and affects buffs and attack swings
• Weapon Supplement Attack - Green - Is affected by Power trickle and affects attack swings. This is the attack bonus attached to the weapon, not including augmented/conditioned attack
• Other Attack Sources - Green - Affects attack swings only. This includes attack from manastones, titles, etc

                                            

Weapon Attack eclipses all others in terms of effectiveness, but obviously however is likely going to be the most expensive to increase. When gearing up, calculate the Kinah/Attack ratio for your most viable upgrades and simply continue to chose the one with the most value.

Composite Manastones can certainly still be useful, but These stones are outdated, and you should be trying to acquire as much useable archdaeva gear as possible to take use of the Archdaeva manastones. While very efficient use of Attack 6/Crit/Acc composites and Power 7/8/9/10 will net the highest attack currently possible, you are scarificing a working level of MagAcc and hefty amount of PhysDef, and ultimately you will be less effective.

Accuracy

Accuracy affects your chance to hit versus the Block, Parry and Evasion defensive stats.

Whether or not you hit is a 4 Roll check.
    1. Are you skill blind?
        -> Yes - Varies. See Quote.
    2. You Accuracy vs Their Block (Accuracy-Block)/10=Block chance - 50% Cap
    3. You Accuracy vs Their Parry (Accuracy-parry)/10=Parry chance - 40% Cap
    4. You Accuracy vs Their Evasion (Accuracy-Evasion)/10=Evade chance - 30% Cap

Quote

6. Not all blinds are created equal. Sandstorm trap 50%. GS blind is 60%. Sin blind is 80%. Cleric blind is 90%. Shimmerbomb is 100%

Each of these rolls are independent.

"How much Accuracy do I need?"

 

Accuracy now being a biproduct of getting Crit Strike has vastly changed the way we approach gearing, but there are some benchmarks we can aim at in order to cover bases.

 

Mid tier Clerics/Chanters can achieve roughly 4.7k block and Templars/Glads sit at a similar level while unstanced. Be wary of the Block Glad, seriously. You laugh now but he will eat your face. Evasion builds are easily countered by Weakening Blow. Upper tier block sets will sit around 5k, but could possibly push up to 5.5k. Any player pushing past 5.5k block is also going to have up to 30k hp unbuffed, so be prepared for a long turtle.

 

I would aim for one of a few benchmarks; 4.2k, 4.7k or 5.1k

Crit Strike

Crit strike modifies your chance to critically hit. Every 10 points of Crit Strike increases your outgoing chance by 1%, and is a simple one roll check. The damage increase from Crit Strikes is applied after Physical Defence modifiers, and is determined initially by your weapon, Daggers being 2.3 times, and Swords 2.2 times.
    

• Your Crit Strike vs Their Strike Resist (Crit Strike-Strike Resist)/10=Crit chance - 50% Cap

Super simple stuff; Crit Strike is your number one stat priority. Bottom line.

As most geared players typically run around with between 500SR and 700SR, gearing to around 1200 Crit self buffed will be effective, but not cover all bases. Due note that Searching Strike has a -300 Crit mod, and Block/MR hybrid sets with SR will eventually become viable meaning 1200 Crit won't be enough to ensure the future of your build.

Socketing a little extra Precision/Crit Strike into your Armour will mean optimizing against a lower/higher SR opponent, and is further possible via swapping between Attack and Crit food.

For the majority of PvE content your buffed Crit should sit at 1400, and 1600 for Bastion of Souls. For many lesser geared players this might seem like an illogical stretch given the vast Attack sacrifice it may require, but so long as your mainhand weapon is respectable there is nothing to worry about.

Attack Speed

Your AA swing cooldown. Your attack speed increases will also reduce skill animation time, thus maximising Attack Speed is vital to making the class work. It will however come naturally with gear, and caps at 50% bonus.

Bonuses available solo are

• 3% from Candies (4% on Premium Candies)
• 9% from Scroll
• 8% on Gloves
• 3% on Title (4% on Limited Titles)
• 19% on Weapon
• 20% with Flurry

Thus, without using Flurry we can achieve 42(+2)% Bonus Attack Speed. As with the other classes, the game almost plays itself after 40% bonus AS, and since damage isn't persistent and comes in strikes, getting in 1 or 2 more attacks results in a very large damage increase in a PvP encounter.

Speed

Your movement speed in Meters per Second (1m:3.2ft). It can be increased or decreased as both a flat amount or % based and caps at 12m/s while on foot and 16m/s in flight.

Bonuses available solo are

• 30% from Scroll
• 22% on Boots
• 5% on Title
• 5% from Prestige
• 20% with Sprinting

Runspeed is the secret OP stat. Having a markedly greater movespeed than your enemy opens up the option to chase during their kite phases and eliminates their ability to do so on you. This sort of control in PvP is an immeasureable asset and I highly recommend getting a 5% title and Prestige if you PvP often.

 

Physical Defensive Stats

Physical Defence

Every 10 points of Physical Defence will decrease the damage from a strike by 1. It has come into our kits naturally as a part of pursueing Power and the difference between between old manastone geared and new manastone geared shines here. Compared to a composite socketed player, an Archdaeva manastoned player could very easily have 1.5k more Physical Defence, and it has a huge effect on ones ability to tank.

Block

Blocking will reduce incoming damage from a melee strike by between 40% and 70% depending on shield quality and enchantment level, capping at a 50% rate. Block capping against a physical opponent will reduce all damage by between 20% and 35% (50% of all damage cut by 40-70%).

It is not possible for Assassins to block. Templars are going to abuse sissy stance in every situation they can, and you will not defeat an equal geared Templar unless you force a missplay.

Parry

Parrying will reduce the damage from a melee Strike by 50% at a max 40% chance, and against parry classes will proc reactive skills. Assassins have no Parry reactive skills.  Gladiators and Chanters are the only classes that benefit from Parry, but often they cannot maintain an effective setup while pursueing a working level. 

Parry capping against a physical opponent will reduce incoming damage by 20% (40% of all damage is reduced by half).

Evasion

Evading a skill will avoid all damage from the strike and end the skill chain if the strike was a skill, capping at a 30% chance.

Evasion capping against a physical opponent will reduce incoming damage by over 30%, as the ending of skill chains will further impact their damage to some degree. I haven't checked honestly, but I'm pretty sure it is not possible for Evasion to be an effective stat given the current availability of Precision and Accuracy.

Strike Resist

Strike resist is rolled against our opponent's Crit Strike to determine their Crit Strike chance upon us. It is gained via Accessories, Manastones, Armour and Enchanting and Archdaeva Agility. For slaughtering undergeared melee players SR can work wonders, but it is useless against over half of the available classes in the game.

While we are deep into the Expansion already, SR sets are low on the priority lists of defensive Clerics/Chants/Temps. They are however capable of reaching over 1.5k SR. I don't presume we will see SR sets from the majority of players ever, as more balanced builds will offer better effectiveness for less investment.

Strike resist capping against a physical opponent will reduce incoming damage by up to 28.2%, becoming less effective versus weapons with lower Crit Strike mods.

Strike Fortitude

Reduces the critical modifier of incoming critical strikes, also serves as a good indicator of the item's tier level, and thus also the tier of remaining set pieces. There is currently no such thing as SF Penetration yet, but I imagine in the future building SF and then mitigating it will become a thing.

SF works by reducing critical modifiers at a 1:.01 rate, thus having 100SF will reduce a daggers critical mod from 2.3 to 2.2. It is acquired naturally as a part of the gearing process for most classes, found on Hats and Belts typically. Yayy.

 

Magical Offence Stats

Magic Boost

Magic boost increases magical damage done by 10:(Innate Knowledge*.01)% and is offset at a 1:1 ratio by Magic Suppression.

While MB does affect the damage portion of our runes, it is simply not viable to rely on our runes for damage, and thus isn't viable to socket. The current MB cap in Aion is 3.2k, but I have read it is going to be increased in 5.8 to 3.3k.

Magical Accuracy

Rolls against your opponent's Magic Resist to determing whether or not your Magical Debuffs and effects land. If your ambush fails to stun, it is possibly a result of this check.

• Your Magical Accuracy vs Their Magical Resist (Mag Accuracy-Mag Resist)/10=Resist Chance, capping at 50%

Shock state resistances are available through some item set effects, skills and is passive on Chain wearers, and will sometimes negate Stun/Aethers Hold/Spin/Knockback/Stumble, etc effects. Using Killer's Eye effectively will remove some of the power behind Shock State resistance.

"How much Magical Accuracy do I need?"

This here is a matter of need and want. Having your magical debuffs and states land reliably without buff assistance gives you a lot of reliable control in fights. Geared full MR opponents however are capable of seeing over 3.7K, thus Assassins are never going to see reliable skills without buff assistance.

Max abyss geared players are seeing 2.3k MR unassisted, so that should be the endgame benchmark, as the new Slayer Form+Oath/Killers will be effective against full MR targets at that stage. Minimal MA I personally would say is 2k, allowing us to attain 2.3k while old Slayer Form is up. As Precision/Will builds become more available as we progress into 5.8, there is a possibility to our MA requirements might shoot up.

Internal MA

 

Some skills have boosts to their MA internally, and this not listed anywhere in game. You may have felt the effects of these, but regardless here is the list of skills that have internal effects.

Damage Portion

• Agony Rune - 1000
• Other Runes - 500
• Fangdrop - 500

Debuff Portion

• Pain Rune - 500
• Shimmerbomb - 1000
• Blinding Burst - 500
• Ambush - 500
• Blindside - 500

Lightning Slash, Venomous Strike and Massacre have no internal MA boosts. Note that Quickening Doom/Shadowfall are Physical effects, and thus not affected by MA. I will go into further detail on Shock State Resistance a little later.

Crit Spell

Functions exactly the same as Crit Strike except for spells, with most casts having a 1.5x Crit Modifier. This is a scary stat as there is no viable way for Sins to combat the huge Crit Spell sorcs are staring at these days and there is almost no room for missplay agaisnt casters.

Healing Boost

Increases healing at a rate of 10:1%. This affects all our self heals, but we can never get enough for it to be used effectively.

Cast Speed

Decreases spell casting speed. Completely irrelevant to Assassins. Note that it doesnot decrease spell cast animation speeds, as that part is still tied to regular attack speed.

 

Magical Defence Stats

 

Magical Defence

Reduces incoming Magical Damage by a flat amount at a ratio of 10:1, similar to Physical Defence. It is not a very common stat, and is regardless encountered as part of the natural gearing process as a part of Armour Enchanting. It does however stack up very quickly, specially against SM and Gunners, whom deal lower damage strikes very rapidly.

Magic Suppression

Offsets Magic Boost at a 1:1 ratio, thus nulifying the damage multiplier on spells from enemies. Super important. You want as much of it as you can get because Casters are very formidable this patch.

It is possible to attain very high levels of MS in the current patch, circa 4k, however this is a very dfficult set to complete, both time consuming and expensive. The best MS stones, +50 are now unavilable in game, thus best in slot MS sets are also unlikely to ever appear. It requires crafting and all sorts of nonsense, but it is none the less 'a thing'.

Magic Resist

Rolls against your opponents Magical Accuracy to determine their spell damage and effect lands on you; (Mag Accuracy-Mag Resist)/10 = Resist %, capping at 50%.

• Typical geared players will have up ~2.3k MR
• Precision/Will geared players will have ~3.1-3.4k MR while maintaining Crit/MA
• Full MR players can attain over ~3.7k MR

We have moved well into the expansion; Clerics and Chanters have finished their first sets of gear, thus MR sets will be moving into their peak of abundance. It is unlikely that Precision/Will sets for Assassins will be viable until 5.8 is in full swing, when stat availability has hit its peak, but it is plausible that very well geared players will see use out of them regardless.

Spell Resist

Rolls against your opponents Spell Crit to determine their chance to crit on you. It is available from Armour Enchanting, Accessories, Manastones, Idians and Archdaeva Will. It is not viable for Assassins to attain a working level of Spell Resist to counter a geared caster, as they are able to see numbers of over 800SR. If you are Precision/Will geared you may start to see early effectiveness, but at a huge offensive sacrifice.

Spell Fortitude

Functions similarly to Strike Fortitude, but to be honest I have no idea. I have only ever had the stat on one piece a few years ago; it's a rather rare stat, and to maximize it would require a lot of level 65 balic crafting. Fun if you enjoy the grind, the gamble and the fashaion, but overall not effective. Not a priority for typical Assassins.

Elemental Resist

Reduces Magical Damage at a ratio 100:7.5%, applied very late in the damage calculation. While it is a very effective stat, it's availability clashes with 0.4% godstone suppression in the headslot and massive stat loss in the belt slot, which has rendered it no longer viable.

Some classes receive it as part of buffs and passives, but as we do not deal magical damage it doesn't really concern us anymore.

Shock State Resistance

 

A stat that is unlisted on the character screen, but is one of the most important stats in the game. Alongside MA checks on the CC portions of our skills, they also face a Shock Resistance check. This stat is covers a broad range of resistances to states such as Stun and Aethers Hold. 

 

• Clerics get some for free; 300 as a passive, which converts to 30%. In truth they need this in group PvP, but it's a very powerful free buff.
• Templars and Gladiators get 800 on their skill Unwavering Devotion. If it's possible, kite this off or prevent it's cast through Silence bury.
• We get it on Breakaway, 500 for 7 seconds.
• Robots MUST get some of it from something somewhere, but I haven't actually learned how to fight them.

Gear

As PvE requirements are set in stone, from here on out we will address PvP only, and note PvE when it is relevent.

With Combat Rating now in the game displaying overall PvP effectiveness on every item as a numerical value it is rather simple to pick a straight upgrade over another. This however doesn't truly reflect what makes some items stand out, and why they are viable options.

Your endgame set should have percent godstone activation suppression on it, %GSS. This is the stuffing.

• Abyss Captain
• Honour/Glory/Hope/Oath
• Ahserion's;

These are your options. They are all viable, with the obviously better pieces being better. They are all good, and all will serve their purpose in providing all the stats you need from them to succeed. Everything else leaves you without %GSS, and without it you aren't playing a game, you're just gambling. MA plays into this as idea as well.

Any augment/conditional accessories will do the trick, but due note that Glory/Hope accessories have skill boosts and higher Spell Resist and Captain Abyss have innate MA. Tempering will ultimately be a greater contributor on stats on your access, as everything else the accessories offer is in abundance. The only issue there is obviously availability. Pray you don't fail those 4-5 tempers.

I will now address each and every viable PvP item set available. I will comment on where they sit in retrospect to the other sets. In order of base level. Due note that PvP augment costs are becoming a little ridiculous, and this cost should be factored into your decisions. Also, Honour/Glory/Hope/Oath gear have a different +20 skill set to the other pieces, and that could hold weight if the options are available.
 

Boundless Honour Level 83
I haven't seen any Honour pieces in Aion NA, but they have the highest stats in the Boundless/Eternal gear chain. I don't know if they are able to be level reduced to a working level of 75, or are capped at the 5 level reduction at 78, but should the former be possible then these pieces are the most most stuffing.

Furious Ahserion's Level 80/75
This is the stuffing. Ahserion's leather has the highest available non-augmented defences and second to best PvP stats across all sets. It's lacks any offesensive stats, and the accessories lack bonus Health Points. The weapons offer base stats higher than any other PvP weapon as well as %GSS, but fall short in PvP attack due to Royal Captain's awesome 2nd tier augment.

All pieces are viable. I recommend using Ahserion's pieces should you acquire one and not replacing it. Most preferable pieces are Ahserion's Sword in the offhand (due to the way Augment attack work in the offhand) and Ahserion's Hat.  This set has the most swagger.

Eternal Glory Level 80/75
This is also the stuffing. The Glory set offers almost identical base stats to Ahserion's, though offer less PvP stats across the board, but does not offer %GSS on weapons or on the head slot. They offer slightly better stats than the Hope set at the cost of a higher level requirement. The set requires conditioning to be effective, but the cost is negligible.

All pieces are viable, though Weapons are not preferred. Accessories are preferred due to high Spell Resist and powerful skill boosts. I recommend using a Glory piece should you acquire one, but plan to replace the Dagger.

Eternal Hope Level 77/72

A lower level availability varient of Eternal Glory that offers similar stats at an earlier level. The level requirement difference and stats are enough to keep this set viable at the moment, but consider replacing your mainhand weapon.

All pieces are viable, though Weapons are not preferred. Accessories are preferred due to high Spell Resist and powerful skill boosts. I recommend using a Hope piece should you acquire one, but plan to replace weapons.

Boundless Oath Level 74/69

A lower level availability varient of Eternal Hope that offers similar stats at an earlier level. This lower level set however offers reduced %GSS and PvP stats. There are no Oath accessories. 

All pieces are viable, and though it is a decent set, it is still a middle tier set, and all pieces should be replaced if you want to compete at the top level. They don't need to be conditioned or augmented which is cool.

Royal Captain's Level 75/70
Current patch Aug2 Abyss gear. The Royal Captain's set is the most preferable of all sets given you can keep up with the hefty augmenting costs. It offers the highest possible PvP defence, %GSS and augmented offensive stats while also providing minor skill boosts. In the coming patch they will be able to be upgraded to the level 80 celestial grade Abyss gear, Aion's first Aug3, thus making this set the the obvious choice in the current game.

All pieces viable. All are preferred. Should you acquire a piece I recommend you use it, and enchant it to at least +10 to be prepared for 5.8 upgrades.

Royal Guards's Level 70/65
Current patch Aug1 Abyss gear. The Royal Guard's gear is rather lacklustre in all slots, but all pieces other than Accessories can be upgraded to Aug2 with AP and Spinel. Obviously it is an upper middle tier set with a viable upgrade path to endgame.

Armour and Weapons are viable. Accessories are a waste. I do not recommend them.

Arena Conquerer Level 70
Entry level PvP gear for players that are gearing up Alts or do not have sets left over from 65 cap. This set offers very little Magic Supression, no %GSS, low base stats and no upgrade path.

No viable pieces; all should be replaced by any other Archdaeva pvp item or completely bypassed in a gearing process in favour of powerful PvE pieces. I would use Apollon's weapons over Arena weapons in the mainhand unless powerfully enchanted.
 

Level 65 Sets
You should ultimately be upgrading from level 65 sets unless they are Elite, socketed with full level 70 Attack 6 composites and enchanted passed +15, in which case they will retain some use due to the high attack they offer, as well as somewhat competitive PvP stats. As it stands only people that had them at 65 should ever still use them, as their AP costs are out of whack with the rest of the game.

You could possibly still use an Elite offhand as a statstick, but you should look to upgrade quickly unless it is a +20 Awakened Asherion weapon. 

65 Elite accessories are still viable, but ultimately should be replaced when the opportunity provides itself. As they do not break on Tempering, they remain a good source of PvP attack, and since the other stats they provide are widely available they will remain a good option to those that already have them.

Manastones

Regardless of what your endgame build is going to be, the majority of your stats will come from your manastone build. It does not matter what the build is, in the current meta your MUST obtain working levels of both Crit and MA to compete, else you are going to limited in your offensive options.

As they come cheap, your minimum should be Precision/Power +6, and ultimately aim to sate either Accuracy, Crit Strike or MA effective zones. For me, and what I understand those zones to be are circa 4.2k Acc, 1.3k Crit and 2.1kMA. Pick one, get it, then stack whatever else you want. I recommend going for 2.1kMA

Wings, Plumes and Bracelets

Seriously, super simple stuff. Unless you have a specific build in mind, the wings with the higher PvP attack will simply be the most effective, thus;

• Royal Captain
• Royal Guard
• Arena Conquerer
• Special Ambassador/Elite Controller
• Wurg the Glacier

Precision/Will Assassins have the choice to go for Tiamat's Glimmering or Episte/Kali wings for the bonus MR, but only the very geared really have the option to opt out of greater PvP stats. There are a few different +20 skill sets available on wings, with the most preferable being spread across a few of them.

Plume options are also rather short and simple. Unless you have a build in mind, the highest Attack plume is going to be best regardless of whether it is a normal or pure plume, as the secondary stat offered doesn't cover the other rather important stat Assassins use, thus meaning you are going to have to socket Precision to a working level of Crit, Accuracy or Magical Accuracy regardless of the plume.

Precision/Will Assassins might want to go with the Crit Strike/Accuracy plume, but since you are going to want to use an Attack/Crit plume for PvE it might be a big much of a stretch to have two viable Pure plumes.

Bracelets are also super simple. You temper, you get PvP stats, temper enough you get sockets. In 5.8 Bracelets will offer up to 6 slots at +10, first slot opening up at 5 as it does now, thus having a higher level bracelet will offer quite a hefy amount of offensive stats. However, due to how little you get from what is possibly a gamebreaking investment, I recommend waiting to upgrade past a +5 until bracelet very late in your overall gearing process.

Godstones Selection

A perk of being able to wield multiple weapons allows Assassins to effectively mix and match Godstones to cover different situations. Choosing a good combo to compliment your needs and playstyle is an important aspect of the game.

For people leveling, don't worry about Godstones. If you find them, don't hesitate to throw a blue damage godstone in anything. They are trash, but the kind you still use cause you are like 'why not' or 'better than nothing'.

Many people dislike Godstones in that they add an aspect, of and to Aion combat that devalues skill and dedication. I can vividly remember being killed by a Discordant Assassin with dual blue para stones late in 4.X after being back to back procced 3 times. While this is very frustrating, they none the less play a part in Aion PvP regardless of the honour involved. 

Much of the reasoning that contributed to Godstone selection in the past is still mostly valid, but with %GSS in the picture this can skew rather quickly, and also slightly further when we take Para and Silence Resistance into the equation.

I will now refer to every available godstone style, comment on their use and viability and my personal opinion.

• Stun 6/7% Proc Rate, 1 Sec duration

Highe proc rate, shortest duration hard CC Godstone. Useful against all classes, but particularly caster classes, as even small interrupts can deter long spell casting. I find they are best used which another Stun godstone, as their high relative proc rate instills a feeling of reliability behind them.

I have used dual Stun in the past and found them to be effective in slowly changing the favor in a battle, and due to their subtle nature their effectiveness they often goes under appreciated.

• Paralyze 2% 5s, 3% 4s, 4% 4s

Useless.

Just kidding, sorta. Considering even modestly geared players can achieve 2%GSS, and upper tier players regularly roll around with ~3%, the once mighty Para has fallen so far from grace that they are a waste of a socket. I have not been paralysed months. 

If you were S/S, possibly dual 4% para could be a useful thing, but then you have to be able to play S/S comfortably to be able to utilise it. Ironically, by the same measure that we determine that 4%x2 is better for S/S would also imply an equal impact on other godstones, thus meaning it is indeed NOT better. But S/S Parax2 on swords is rather visually spectacular, so it gets style points; the true endgame.

• Immobalise 2/3% 10s

Same as para. Their low proc rates have rendered them rather inefficient. I wouldn't bank on Immo to save you, let alone banking on seeing it ever proc at a measly .1% rate. If it did ever proc though, it unlike Para is removeable via GHP.

• Silence 5% 8s, 6/7% 7s

The bass is raw. Silence is a top pick. It retains a useable procrate after %GSS and applies one of the most debilitating effects in the game. Almost all defensive abilities will be locked away if silenced, and they last long enough to invariably turn the tide of the fight if left unchecked.

A good silence proc is typically a death sentence, specially if it occurs late in the encounter. I use Silence in my mainhand in PvP.

• Blind 5/6/7% 8s

Another good pick for the same reasons as silence, though slightly less used simply due to the ability to deny self defence is a greater asset to Assassins than the ability to deny damage when on the offense. A solid blind proc will give you more time against a Glad or Temp to find an opening, and possibly the W if you can turn that proc into a bury or a GHP burn.

I'm a fan of Blind; I have blind on my Offhand Sword, which I share with my PvE set.

• Attack Speed Reduction 5/6% 10s

There is very little that is more frustrating to a player than to be completely denied their ability to function by cutting their AS in half. This reduction is effective against all classes and is a fairly decent pick that is typically available rather cheap. While not ensuring victory with a proc, an early proc can be rolled into Signet Silence later in the fight to continue the effect.

I used ASR alongside MSR late in 4.X and found them to be effective. I currently use ASR on my Mainhand Dagger for PvE.

• Movement Speed Reduction 5/6% 10s

The only thing more frustrating than ASR is MSR. Players are so used to moving rather quickly throughout the world that MSR is really tilting. It seems like a really silly condition to waste a skill or GHP to clear, and is specially useful once you are in the lead. Helps close out kills very quickly. 

I find MSR to be a pretty good pick for the very geared, as an early proc means an easy kill, and in group environments it allows you to move onto new targets quicker

• Poison 10/11% 20s

Provides Assassins with another avenue to poison the enemy, but is otherwise simply a bury tool. And since it functions as a bury tool you need another weapon to swap to ensure you don't reapply the proc and ruin your bury. For real though, Poison proc+VS+Massacre+Encircling will do some real damage if you stack them all up.

• Bleed 8% 10s

A secondary bury Godstone that deals slightly increased damage compared to Poison, but lasts half as long. Considering the damage is of negligible use compared to it's bury capability, I don't see any major reason to use Bleed over almost any other stone. It's just not the best of what is available at anything.

• Elemental Damage Variable

Damage godstones should mostly be reserved for PvE or Fashaion. Their damage bonuses pale in comparison to the effective damage output increase from the CC godstones allow us. They do however look rather knifty, and they can be fun for other various reasons.

Elemental damage stones are actually the true endgame in Aion. When the day comes you are so good, and so geared and you know it you will no longer desire any added benefit from the godstone socket, and simply take dual 22% Fire Godstones for the style points. My man.

Conclusions

Comfort Picks - Blind, Silence
New Meta - ASR, MSR, Stun, Elemental

Bury Weapon - Poison

Ornamental - Immo, Para, Bleed, Elemental

Any combination of the comfort and meta picks will yield the best results, with Silence being considered the most effective at changing the momentum of the battle. Top swagger is with MSR in my opinion, but ASR has an angelic charm to it which suits the Archdaeva theme of the expansion.
 

Stigmas

Stigma choice now is even more loose than in 4.X, as the lesser used ones previously now open up varied playstyles and attack rotations that many players who have never played Assassin will not be aware of, while those versed commonly are now at a disadvantage due to having clear, well known win conditions. It's the classic southpaw dilemma.

I will now proceed to go over every stigma, commenting on their use and my personal opinion. Note that this will continue to refer to PvP.

 

FINAL STIGMAS

Shimmerbomb: 100% Blinds anything hit for 3 seconds, reduces their MA by 500 and also causes everything hit to deselect their target. Most players will simply reselect you and kite for a moment, so it's helpful in interrupting your opponent's momentum. If timed properly it can be useful to cancel opponent casts.

I find it's most useful after hard CC on casters to prevent them from using their RS chain skill, or to clear AT/NR in conjuction with another skill.

Fangdrop: A 20m Ambush that doesn't Stun and instead causes deselect. Although it deals physical damage, it can be resisted, and counts towards clearing AT/NR etc.

If you enjoy having many gap closers in your build it's not a terrible option, but since it deals rather little damage it's definitely not top pick. It's pretty cool though. If I was a gangsta still I would use it.

Resignet Assault: Bursts your current Rune level and then Carves a level 2 Rune, useable at 10m. My favourite of the 3, as when combined with Rune Knife or Massacre it allows you to carve Runes from Range or Kite scenarios.

Note that the SECOND strike which carves the Runes is based on the Physical Crit table, and the two strikes combined can deal an alright amount of damage. The second strike of Resignet is affected similarly to other skills by Attack and Buffs. I am also aware Resignet isn't it's actual name, but I'm not stopping now.

 

 

MAJOR STIGMAS

Scoundrel’s Bond: While flanking (from the behind the 180 degree) you have a 50% chance to deal bonus damage based off of your Base Attack and then heal you for the bonus damage dealt, and it also increases the damage dealt by attacks that deal bonus damage from behind to begin with. The damage stacks up quickly, and is affected by Attack Boost skills, allowing us to melt people. SB alongside a full array of attack buffs will be more than enough power to kill any target in the game within our CC windows.

It's healing component and damage are both very effective given adequate movement skills, and typically will net a lot more damage than QD in an encounter.

Quickening Doom: Deals a chunk of damage and Stuns if the target is already poisoned. I prefer to use it to for early burst/bury combo use with Venomous. It has a short CD and considering Poisoning our enemies isn't all that hard, having another on-demand stun in our kits is deadly, as it helps to link our 30/40s and 1m hard CC windows. Note that you are able to use QD when silenced.

I don't see much QD these days, but it is actually rather effective and many people do not anticipate it. It's surely not as amazing as melting player's HP using SB, but in the event that you don't need extra kill potential to win the fight, extra CC takes the cake.

 

GREATER STIGMAS

Sensory Boost: Increases Evasion, MR and Strike Resist for 12 seconds. Used to be widely used, but has been slowly falling from fashion since the introduction of Breakaway in 3.0. 

I find it's best used to cover an attack rather than a cooldown you can fall back on, however many players will kite to the hills during Sensory less they know for a fact their damage isn't going to be diminished, in which case it becomes a rather useless buff. 

Lightning Slash: Decreases your targets MA, MR and Elemental Defences for 15 seconds. This can actually cripple some players, as debuffs to MA are rare, and it also acts in helping our Magical Effects to stick.

I really like Lightning Slash at the moment. It's debuff is strong, and often goes unnoticed, as well as acting as a mini Oath/Sensory on a short CD. Glorious. I enjoy pairing it with Venomous and QD for burst/bury at the beginning of a fight as it leaves the base assassin kit that we are all comfortable with for ending the fight.

Breakaway: Brilliant overall, gives you a moment of freedom to exact your desires. Clears away any soft-CC and reduces your chance to be hard CC'd by 50% before opponent offensive modifiers. Best used to extend our return damage phase after we Remove Shock buff, or to cover a heavy advance with AT against Rangers and Assassins.

Against other classes options after you GHP, BA is very important. Combined with Calming Whisper it offers reliable CC reduction for it's duration, and good use of BA offers very little counter play. I feel it's use is slowly being limited to Arenas, as it's use in massed PvP is meh. It's not going to save you if you get pulled by a Temp.

Which do I take; Breakaway or Sensory Boost?

Whether or not I take either depends on my MR. If I have between 2400 and 2700 MR unbuffed I take SB, else I always take BA.

Banking on Resists/Evades from Sensory isn't a very solid game plan without the working MR to back it, so I think dropping it would be easier than Break Away. Stacking BA and Calming Whispers onto one skill chain is a good game plan.
 
Apply Lethal Venom: Has a chance to deal bonus damage on each strike. It has a very long cooldown so it is best reserved for PvE. It can however proc off of a Scoundrels Bond proc, making it a very good skill to stack in situations of prolonged Flanking Exposure. The longer you get to be attacking while you have it up the better, thus it doesn't see as much use in PvP

Agony Rune: A chain skill after your Rune Bursts that deals magical damage. In almost every case you are better off using a different skill after a rune burst rather than Agony Rune. If for some reason you run out of skills to use, it can be an o.k filler, but you will quickly run out of mana.

You shouldn't be using Agony in all honesty.

Dash And Slash: Chunk of damage on a gap closer. Will always bring the striker within 1m, so be wary of surrounding mobs in EB/PVE. Having an extra gap closer in your kit can be very useful, but I most often used it for heavy burst.

I used to really like DnS, but since we have good working levels of MA in 5.X, raw damage no longer has a monopoly on our fighting options.

 

NORMAL STIGMAS

Venomous Strike: A 2min on demand Encircling Strike, useful for burying Blinds/Silences/Slows and possibly to Instant Chain into QD. Now that we have decent MA it's a good bury option, but still often falls to the wayside due to its long cooldown. It's nice to have as an option if you are confident with the Assassin's base kit.

Rune Knife: Shares a cooldown with Rune Carve, and is essentially a 20m Rune Carve. Brilliant. Being able to consistently deal damage and carve from range is glorious. Resginet->Rune Knife->(KE)Binding is a great combo to finish off enemies that may having been kiting during their Remove Shock. 

I consider RK to be a modern staple stigma for PvP. Being able to carve and deal damage from a considerable range is such a great asset and I think many will agree.

Eye of Wrath: Ensures that your next strike Critically Hits. Considering you should already have a 50% Crit Strike Chance, this Stigma is overall not very efficient. It has an effective stat coefficient of .75% Crit Strike/Cooldown. Very bad.

Oath of Accuracy: Given +500MA you will reliably land your Rune Bursts and Skill Effects if you use Oath, and also begin to see some reliability when stacked with old Slayer on Will geared enemies. If you have half decent gear you will also see the Accuracy component being effective against sissy stance Temps/Glads.

So long as you have not skimped out on Precision you should have a working level of MA, and at the moment I see oath falling out of fashion.

Deadly Abandon: Bonus green attack based on white attack. If you need/like/enjoy extra damage and can forgo the Stigma slot then it's great. Simple to use and lasts for ages so you can use it outside of Hide to conserve Hidden Buff Slots.

If you are pushing past 1.2k unbuffed Attack you probably don't need DA, but this is a game, and Attack is fun so why not?

Shadowfall: You need Shadowfall, period. Without it your breadcrumbs will be inconsistent.

Shadow Walk: You will need Shadow Walk for EB. Essentially unlimited hide, this gives Assassins enormous fight control, as they are not as often going to be caught out of hide. If you manage your Stealth Timers (Hide 2, SW, RS Hide, WW) there shouldn't be any reason you get caught in a fight you didn't want (Geared Templars).

I don't think Assassins need SW in PvP, as the restealth timer on just Hide usually isn't bad enough to warrant needing SW on top. In the realm of no honour combat, SW is pretty good, as a geared sin can come out of stealth with all guns blazing and sometimes melt a target before they can respond sufficiently.

Searching Strike: Forgo a Weave-Carve combo out of Stealth to strike for a great chunk of damage and also stun. Has a -300 Crit Strike mod. I like Searching Strike, as it turns RS chain hide into a great reengage if you RSd second in the fight, and is always a great opener.

Sigil Strike: Chains from Rune Carve, and is a fast skill, allowing for a very fast Weave-Carve. Also then allows our low cooldown carves to carve up to 5 (Rune Carve Chain + Fang Chain).

It has almost completely fallen from fashion in PvP, and typically Fang Strike chain suffices our carving needs alongside Ripclaw and Massacre.

My Personal Build

RA>QD>BA/LS>RK/VS/SF

I really enjoy opening with a bury, and having more debuff options with LS and VS means I can use burying a little more liberally rather than saving for low HP opponents. I like QD cause its a second stun we can use while silenced, which relieves pressure when buried.

Creativity Points and Essence

How creativity works is demonstrated very clearly and concisely in game, so I will use this section to address effective and efficient use of essence rather than what it does on the whole. A quick TD:LR Priority Version is as follows

• Godstone Suppression
• Passives
• Skill Boosts*
• Precision
• Power
   

Getting extra Power is a bit of a epeen trap, as skill boosts will almost always provide greater damage output.
 

Power vs Skill

There is very little reason after level 70ish to be spending points into Power, specially if you have a fair amount of Power from sockets already. The diminished returns coupled with the huge damage increments available from skill boosts renders the minor increase in Attack negligible. So long as you have open skill boost slots you should be investing into those, as well as covering MOST passive and skill changes before continuing to invest into creative Power. My personal favourites is putting points into the Assassination chain. but you will find most use out of putting creative essence into the Fang Strike chain.

I do NOT take Flash Ambush. If you are finding you are lacking kill potential the extra pace to reach targets that were in movement when you stunned them can aid increasing damage output, but it is a hefty investment for not much at all. If you have a full array decent Essence Cores though, go ahead and take it, but there are better ways to spend Essence.

 

Using Creative Precision

Overall, Precision is a much more efficient stat to stack as its diminished returns are far more lenient than that of Power. It is also a much more important stat to Assassins since we are capable of killing players with 0 socketed Attack/Power anyway, but would struggle without Precision.

But, since skill boosts are available only via some accessories and Creative Essence, we are much better off socketing the bonus required Precision we need through our armour rather than filling the gaps with Creative Precision, as this allows us to funnel more of our points into Passives and Skill boosts. Essentially this covers the idea that 1 Archdaeva Stat is worth less than 1 Creative Essence by virtue that they are more flexible.

 

Spare Essence

Eventually the skill boosts will become so expensive creative point wise that they too become inefficient to keep stacking, thus bringing all the other stats back into focus. Here is when you can afford to invest outside of passives and boosts.

I would invest spare essence into further increasing your build's effectiveness, as trying to cover otherwise weak bases is deterred in Aion by having massive grey zones where increases in stats means nothing at all. Unless you are Precision/Will geared, bonus Will will likely fall into one of these grey zones, and be useless.

Bonus Power, Health and Precision are all viable across many builds, where as Will and Agility often need focus to be stacked to working levels.

 

Abyss

Here I am going to continue adding tips and tricks for Assassins in PvP.

• Judge whether or not you need Killer's Eye. It can be a red flag to your next skill
• Try a Weave-Fang Strike when coming out of Stealth. It is free damage that requires but a single keystroke, and can help a lot when breaking Stoneskin and similar shields.
• Try using Windwalk to kite off an Enemy Remove Shock buff. It's super dirty, but pretty awesome.
• The Remove Shock Chain Hide can be very effective in both offense and defense.
• Try utilising Jumping in order to Weave-Skill while chasing

 

Individual Classes

 

Sin

• Blindside/Blinding Burst will get rid of AT to allow you to Rune Burst. You won't need the mini stun from Blindside if you are about to Pain/Binding.
• Forcing the first RS is often going to ensure the victory.

 

Ranger

• Weave in Aethertwisting after engaging to avoid their Sleep Arrow
• Your best chances come with blowing their RS without using Ambush AT>RK>Ambush(RS)>Carve>Beastial>Kite>FE>Flash>Blind/Shimmer>Binding>GG

 

Gunner

• Gunner's have only got FE for hard resists, so after their RS buff has run out they are rather vulnerable.

 

 

Spiritmaster

• Save Flurry for after they have stripped your immediate buffs.
• Their RS chain is an instant fear, and you can anticipate this after you Stun them.

 

 

Sorcerer

• Your best chances come with blowing their RS without using your on demand resists
• Try to save Ambush and Flash of Speed to drop selection on important casts
• Aggro a nearby mob to prevent them from Sleeping you for full durations 

 

 

Songweaver

• Expect the dance off, and save your on demand resists to ensure no hard cc lands
• Use AT coming out of hide to ensure the SW panics.
• Like Sorcs, aggro a nearby mob to prevent hard CC lockdown after Sleeps/Dances

 

 

Chanter

• Save on demand CC/Interrupt for cancelling their Recovery Spell
• Chanters are scary and I don't really know how to fight them

 

 

Cleric

• Kite away from their Noble Energy/Servant summons to severely diminish their potential
• Clerics are most vulnerable when they go to try and damage you

 

 

Aethertech

• Robots are scary and I don't know how to fight them
• They have this buff that lasts for 10s that reduces mana on every strike. Can't remember what it's called, but it's pretty annyoing

 

 

Templar

• Many Temlars will Doom Lure you the moment they can, and a well timed FE can avoid this.
• Good Templars will hold UD until after RS. An option is to Signet Silence directly after their RS to allow you to prevent them from healing, or bait the GHP to allow you to blind
• I recommend just going absolutely berserk out of the gate the moment a Templar leaves sissy stance and getting a silence bury ASAP

 

 

Gladiator

• Similar to Templars, try to engage before UD goes up so that you have a chance to Aether Hold with Killers Eye+Binding Rune
• Blinding early in the fight to bait GHP will leave them vulnerable to a Silence lockdown allowing you to kill them before Second Wind

 

[Mempo-KT]

Reserved for update info.

Update 2 - Added godstone section, fixed language in a few areas.

Next update planned will be addressing viable builds in the current gear availability meta and possibly begin to branch out into PvP theory.

Version 2.02

17/11/2017

Paging Miss Fox

[Sabreze-DN]

Woah thank you so much for this guide. Your kindness in sharing your knowledge will not go to waste. Much appreciated. 

 

A fellow assasin.

[Vantheria-DN]

On 10/21/2017 at 2:52 PM, Mempo-KT said:

Chanter

• Chanters are scary and I don't really know how to fight them

 

Aethertech

• Robots are scary and I don't know how to fight them

 

lololoolol

 

Me waiting to be hit by the assassin:

 

But no, this is a really helpful guide, thanks! I had a sin once, but my ping was not good enough. Also, she had the incredibly irritating youth voice, so I had to kill her.

[Mempo-KT]

1 hour ago, Vantheria-DN said:

 

 

When I see robots I close my eyes and count to 5. And when I open them I am safe and sound beside my obelisk. 

[Jake-DN]

LegendaryTzu = Jake-DN now

 

 

Feel free to message if you have any questions. 

Only Hard counters for Sin is Gunners and Rangers. Especially with Rune Knife in 5.6. 

Other classes you play counter and against Chanter/Templar/Glad you're royally screwed unless you severely outgear them. 

[Jake-DN]

A little tidbit of info that most people dont realize because even though the game is close to 10 years old, most dont know the basic mechanics:

 

Attack Speed: X = time before each auto attack in seconds. 

i.e. .9 attack speed = .9 seconds before next auto attack. 

This is useful in figuring out a solid flow in Weaving.

 

 

Run Speed: X = Distance in M per second running

 

If you have Run Speed: 10, you will travel 10m in 1 second whilst running. 

 

Most useful in learning the concept of running away from someone to get them to chase you, then jumping/turning back to close 20m+ distance in 1 second. 

[Mempo-KT]

23 hours ago, Jake-DN said:

Only Hard counters for Sin is Gunners and Rangers. Especially with Rune Knife in 5.6. 

Other classes you play counter and against Chanter/Templar/Glad you're royally screwed unless you severely outgear them. 

Literally no room for error, but we can do some pretty hectic healthmelting against the classes that don't get Power. I've become a pretty big fan of blowing KE+Binding into RS just for the chance of the full swagger 100-0

[Killstain-KT]

Really good guide did help me getting even better and little tips for pvp chanter is not that hard normally they will mostly use all theyre knockdown skill at first let them to after the 3 use RS then 5 rune silence ambush binding rune backstab then your silence back up they will run silence stunlock and win never had hard time vs them same apply vs aetherteck but keep your silence for when they destroyed theyre robot for instan recovery so they are dead for sure 

[Aesmerelda-KT]

Thank you for this guide. I am a returning player - starting a new account and beginning from scratch. Hopefully not going to make the mistakes I did 4 years ago lol. Reading the forum guides before building the character is one lesson I have learned. Dumb I know, but it is too easy to think you know how to play this game because you did well in another game.