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View Full Version : NEVER say never! W/A Dagger Warrior


sgtclarity
07-10-2006, 11:16 PM
Hello and welcome to my first build submission.
Yes, I know the first thing you want to say is "WTF WARRIRO WIT DAGGERS?!?!? U R NOOB"
However, I have tried this build and tweaked it accordingly very vigorously so that it will be acceptable to the general public!

Without further ado, I present the Watch Your Throat build.

*********DISCLAIMER**********
This is an RA/TA Novelty build.
****************************


Professions: Warrior / Assassin

Attributes:
Strength - 12+x
Dagger Mastery - 12
Deadly Arts - 0-3 **
Shadow Arts - 0-3 **

** you may pick either or, depending on what you'd like your wild card skill slot to be. Additionally, you can remove 1-2 level(s) of Strength to boost up whichever third attribute you choose.

Skills:

1. Jagged Strike
2. Fox Fangs
3. Horns of the Ox
4. Falling Spider
5. Blades of Steel
6. Signet of Malice
7. Warrior's Endurance {E}
8. Ressurection Signet

Here, your wildcard slot is Signet of Malice, if you want extra "oomph" in your build or perhaps a little defense this is where you switch it in. Also, Blades of Steel can be substituted for an alternative Dual Attack, but I found BoS most to my liking due it it's high power finishing ability. A quick note, do not try to Jagged Strike before Blades of Steel as it will botch your finisher. As noted in the description, BoS MUST follow an offhand attack. (Falling Spider)


Armaments:

Vampiric PvP Daggers of Fortitude
3/-1
15^50 (or 15% in stance if you prefer)
+30 hp (or whatever you've got is fine)

&

Zealous PvP Daggers of Fortitude
1/-1
15^50 (Probably 15% stance for this one as you'll see why later)
+30 hp (same as above)

-Armor-

Dragon Helm + Strength Rune (Preferably Minor or Major, Sup is kinda pushing it)
Gladiator's Breastplate
Gladiator's Leggings
Stoneskin Gauntlets + Vigor Rune (Best you have)
Knight's Boots + Absorbtion rune (Best you have)

These are the only runes you need, anything else is just extra.
The armor choices are optimal to help not only the build but your survivability in combat as well. Your Knight's boots will give a minimum of 1-4 damage reduction depending on your rune. Your glad's will give you 25 energy to work with for chaining your skills making miscalculations with Warrior's Endurance a bit more forgiving. And of course, the Dragon helm makes you look bad ass (horns of the ox :P) along with the +strength attribute. ^_^

Strategy:

The first thing you may or may not notice about this build is the lack of survivability. This is a DPS build, it lacks all utterances of the word defense. Well, except maybe Signet of Malice, but that's more for offense since it's there to get rid of weakness or blind or any other nasty conditions that might disable you. Another thing it realize as this is a build for picking off not only casters, but sometimes even melee and ranged. The key however to killing whatever it is you want to kill, is to get them alone. Horns of the Ox is a powerful tool in this build, but it requires your target to not be adjacent to any allies for it to work. (Careful, this applies to spirits as well.) Once you get your target seperated from his/her allies however, the rest is clockwork depending on how the opponent is skilled up.
Your chain combo will in most cases look like this:

Jagged>FoxFangs>Horns>FallingSpider>Blades of Steel>Jagged *wait for recharge* foxfangs>horns>falling>(BoS isn't recharged yet)Jagged>Fox>BoS

THAT however, is only IF your target is still alive (or you are)

In many cases, your target won't live to see the second Fox Fangs. There are always stubborn ones though, so be ready to keep chaining if necessary.

-Energy&Recharge-
Ah yes, the big problems, how to fuel these devastating combos and at a fairly spammable rate?
Well, when creating this build I immediately saw several problems.
1. Recharge. Some of the dagger skills have large cooldowns that are usually taken care of by Moebius Strike or something equivalent.
2. Energy. Assassins have Critical Strikes to fuel their skills, as such their skills don't come cheap.
3. Damage. Can this build do enough to make itself atleast equivalent if not better than other warrior builds?

Here are the answers as I found them:

1. Simple, find skills that pack a punch and recharge fast.
2. Find the cheapest skill chain possible, hopefully all with 5 energy costs.
3. In addition to the above, find the most powerful skills availiable.

And with these answers, you see how I chose the skills used in the build. They're each perfectly tailored and suited for death-dealing in the guise of a energy weak Warrior. :[
To recharge energy, you have Warrior's Endurance and Zealous Daggers, with these, you gain 4 energy per HIT. With daggers this means fast energy, and with high strength, there's a very minimal gap between WE's duration and cooldown. In essence, these two things allow you to spit your combo out at the cost of 1 energy per skill, or regain energy lost from your combo at an amazing rate.
In addition, each skill's cooldown (besides Blades of Steel, which is meant to be a finisher) is very short and so multiple skill chains are possible.

-Targetting-

This is the most important part, basically you are sacrificng damage to gain MUCH better armor and a little more tanking ability. You are not inconspicuous however, and if you lack a monk you should be wary of charging into battle where everyone shoots you first. Instead, play the slickster, waiting to slip into battle virtually unnoticed only to emerge with a bang and gank the unsuspecting target. Because you are playing an assassin role, targetting the most frail enemies first is a very viable tactic. But if that annoying wammo really just won't leave you alone, it's ok to lure him off to a dark corner and cut his throat for him. Assists are always vital as well, let your team know who's about to die, just in case you need a little back up.


Well, I think I've covered all the bases and I hope you enjoy trying this build out. Because it certainly has been extremely fun for me to be able play the class I love as a class that gets NO love :D

OH! I almost forgot. Here's a little short of me demonstrating the build. I hope you enjoy it!
(Apologies for the horrible quality, I promise to encode better next time)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2345406285728654289

kang
07-10-2006, 11:31 PM
Not really a bad build, ive seen worse. When I got bored and tried to make one for my W/A nobody had really explored the skills much, but you seem to have a good understanding of it.

I agree with you that Warriors endurance is essential, chains take about 20-25 energy, so in order to keep attacking you need it.

well done

Zazoo
07-11-2006, 01:37 AM
Well Ive played a W/A and had some success with it.

i used a different Elite to get round the Recharges and Energy requirements.

My build is

Leaping Mantis Sting
Jagged Strike
Horns of the OX
Falling Spider
Flourish {E}
Healing Signet
Endure Pain
Res Signet

Flourish has a 10 sec recharge so you can almost always be spamming attack skills and that means every point you put in Strength adds to the damage.
And at Str 15 and 16 you get 7 energy back per attack skill that you recharge.
fills your energy bar every time you use it.

Saphatorael
07-11-2006, 02:35 AM
Well Ive played a W/A and had some success with it.

i used a different Elite to get round the Recharges and Energy requirements.

My build is

Leaping Mantis Sting
Jagged Strike
Horns of the OX
Falling Spider
Flourish {E}
Healing Signet
Endure Pain
Res Signet

Flourish has a 10 sec recharge so you can almost always be spamming attack skills and that means every point you put in Strength adds to the damage.
And at Str 15 and 16 you get 7 energy back per attack skill that you recharge.
fills your energy bar every time you use it.

I made a similar build last month, nice to see that i'm not the only one messing around with W/A daggers AND with Flourish ^^

What my own build lacked though, was attack speed, it couldn't really be called spiking, it was just pounding, using the attack skills in correct order, Flourish, rince and repeat...

sgtclarity
07-11-2006, 05:31 AM
Well Ive played a W/A and had some success with it.

i used a different Elite to get round the Recharges and Energy requirements.

My build is

Leaping Mantis Sting
Jagged Strike
Horns of the OX
Falling Spider
Flourish {E}
Healing Signet
Endure Pain
Res Signet

Flourish has a 10 sec recharge so you can almost always be spamming attack skills and that means every point you put in Strength adds to the damage.
And at Str 15 and 16 you get 7 energy back per attack skill that you recharge.
fills your energy bar every time you use it.
Yeah, I was looking at Flourish and what I decided was that it wasn't worth it because it forces me to cut my combo's for one second to cast it if I need energy. I can't count how many times I've needed to pop Warrior's Endurance in the middle of a chain so I could have enough to BoS. Plus it's a stance, which is uninteruptible and rare to be removed.

Thank for the comments guys, I appreciate this.

Zazoo
07-11-2006, 06:28 AM
I have to agree that the 1 sec casting time isnt great, but on the plus side you should never run out of energy.

I was trying to figure a way of getting Frenzy and Rush into the build but the Res signet is rather important.

Rancour
07-13-2006, 02:28 PM
My build

Tiger Stance
Disrupting Stab
Golden Lotus Strike
Death Blossom/Other Dual-attack
Flourish {E}
Heart of Darkness
Shadow Refuge
Res Siggy

Strength: 9 (+1+3)
Dagger Mastery: 12
Shadow Arts: Rest, think it's 8

With Tiger Stance linked to strength, you can easily throw of two whole strings while still under increased attack speed. There's your numero uno spike skill right there. However, it requires you to use Flourish, so you might not like it.

Then again, I must urge you to use Flourish. WE works, but it's a stance and it doesn't recharge your skills, and on top of that, it only gains half the energy Flourish does.

Now, if you want to use WE... Warriors Endurance + Repeating Strike.

1 energy lost per RS and you don't have to worry about recharge. Your DPS isn't bad, but you can't spike.

Trust me on this one. If you want fast attacks, Flourish is the way to go.

Worried about losing time when Flourishing? You'll gain it back many times in IAS.

sgtclarity
07-15-2006, 12:18 PM
My build

Tiger Stance
Disrupting Stab
Golden Lotus Strike
Death Blossom/Other Dual-attack
Flourish {E}
Heart of Darkness
Shadow Refuge
Res Siggy

Strength: 9 (+1+3)
Dagger Mastery: 12
Shadow Arts: Rest, think it's 8

With Tiger Stance linked to strength, you can easily throw of two whole strings while still under increased attack speed. There's your numero uno spike skill right there. However, it requires you to use Flourish, so you might not like it.

Then again, I must urge you to use Flourish. WE works, but it's a stance and it doesn't recharge your skills, and on top of that, it only gains half the energy Flourish does.

Now, if you want to use WE... Warriors Endurance + Repeating Strike.

1 energy lost per RS and you don't have to worry about recharge. Your DPS isn't bad, but you can't spike.

Trust me on this one. If you want fast attacks, Flourish is the way to go.

Worried about losing time when Flourishing? You'll gain it back many times in IAS.
Well, with my build you get 2 dual attacks that both have + dmg. That's pretty much the spike along with KD from horns of the ox. Then you have bleeding and poison which hurts too.

Yanman.be
07-26-2006, 04:09 PM
I think twisting fangs is better than blade of steel, just because of the deep wound.

TheUndertaker
07-27-2006, 12:23 PM
I'm confused about Rancour's build. You have Disrupt stab and golden lotus stike which are both lead attacks. Then you have death blossom which is a dual attack w/ no offhand preceding it. That can't be done. Please clarify. Thanks.

Kern Wolf
07-27-2006, 09:00 PM
Something else other than a tired wammo build....
Ingenuity.
Congratulations, my friend.

wingzro
07-28-2006, 06:11 PM
Well Ive played a W/A and had some success with it.

i used a different Elite to get round the Recharges and Energy requirements.

My build is

Leaping Mantis Sting
Jagged Strike
Horns of the OX
Falling Spider
Flourish {E}
Healing Signet
Endure Pain
Res Signet

Flourish has a 10 sec recharge so you can almost always be spamming attack skills and that means every point you put in Strength adds to the damage.
And at Str 15 and 16 you get 7 energy back per attack skill that you recharge.
fills your energy bar every time you use it.

no offhand, so horns of the ox will never get off. unless you meant jungle strike instead of jagged.

Ismoke
07-29-2006, 11:40 AM
hey dude tried this build out really fun to play and the animations is awesome, good damage and differnt thanks for sharing!!!!

I found that flourish work much better than WE, at the end of the chain you get almost full energy again which was good to spam that attacks again<


Peace

adsy13
07-30-2006, 05:55 AM
Well this is really to congratulate you, if i had a meadl i would give it to you:D. Keep up the good work and I am hoping for some new builds very shortly ;).

Defendpeace Necros
07-30-2006, 05:59 AM
Wtf Warriro Wit Daggers?!?!? U R Noob

NoHomework
07-31-2006, 07:41 AM
I will never use a build that melees with 12 points in its weapon attribute. You guys do what you want :P

Katari
07-31-2006, 02:53 PM
Just what advandage does using daggers on a warrior give you, compaired to using warrior weapons at 16 weapon mastery?

sumasage
07-31-2006, 04:25 PM
I will never use a build that melees with 12 points in its weapon attribute. You guys do what you want :P

So you like those Req 9 weapons? You cant max dmg of a weapon until you at 12+

NoHomework
07-31-2006, 06:38 PM
O rly sumasage.... lol.

adsy13
08-02-2006, 06:39 AM
Well i have been using this build in AB and it works like a charm u only need a monk to heal :p and it will own most ppl i took out 3 touchers :D

----->go sgtclarity!!!!<-----

(jst swich res for dash it helps with killing fleeing enemys;))

Eldritch Icefist
08-02-2006, 05:02 PM
Hello and welcome to my first build submission.
Yes, I know the first thing you want to say is "WTF WARRIRO WIT DAGGERS?!?!? U R NOOB"


Getting ready to say that, but build actualy looks very solid.Very impressed!

Rancour
08-02-2006, 07:25 PM
I'm confused about Rancour's build. You have Disrupt stab and golden lotus stike which are both lead attacks. Then you have death blossom which is a dual attack w/ no offhand preceding it. That can't be done. Please clarify. Thanks.

Ahh, what a silly-Billy I am; I meant Fox Fangs as the off-hand, Golden Lotus Strike can be used INSTEAD of Disrupting Stab. My mistake, sorry.

sgtclarity
08-17-2006, 05:25 PM
Sorry I'm kind of late on the reply guys, I thought this thread had died ^_^;;

Just what advandage does using daggers on a warrior give you, compaired to using warrior weapons at 16 weapon mastery?
Sadly, as of now, almost none. Other than novelty of course. See, the main thing that really ticked me off about Assassins was that they were so hard to play well and relatively unforgiving if you slip up. Thus, MUCH better AL and the addition of Absorbtion runes were meant to make up for the lower amount of point in Dagger Mastery.

To be very honest, I really only made this to see if it would work, and work efficiently as a DPS build. I adopted the idea that it would create a more durable assassin substitute as I went along. xD

Unfortunately the validity of this build has been lowered pretty dramatically due to the recent armor/rune nerf.

I had a lot of fun writing this guide and playing the build though so I guess it's not a failure.


If you're new to this build, it still works it's just lost some of its finer points.


Thanks for the love and criticism all, <3

Chronos the Defiler
08-17-2006, 07:16 PM
i still think my primary assassin would take you down....

sgtclarity
08-17-2006, 08:54 PM
i still think my primary assassin would take you down....
What do you run? I've killed quite a few assassins with my build so long as they don't cheese on me and bring 50 million evade stances.

CHUIU
08-17-2006, 09:05 PM
Yeah nice self healing. This build can do damge but you cant stay alive for shit. AOD assassins still win vs you and they have much better self preservation.

sgtclarity
08-17-2006, 09:13 PM
Yeah nice self healing. This build can do damge but you cant stay alive for shit. AOD assassins still win vs you and they have much better self preservation.
Like I said, damage, damage, damage. I also stated you could throw in some shadow stepping or whatever.

AoD assassin has more survivability, yes. However, if you're teleporting around everywhere you're not doing much damage. And again, the better armor of warriors puts W/A pretty on par to an A/X depending on the skills used. This build allows you play an assassin but with brawler toe to toe like strategy. You can take a few hits in the chest from a lightning bolt, very much unlike an assassin.

edit: Besides, who needs self healing when you've got a monk to back you up?

Mera Regila
08-17-2006, 09:22 PM
Hmm, I suppose Hammers or Axes would have higher DPS than daggers on a warrior. However this one is pretty cool, Warrior's Endurance is very good for energy management, it's better than florish in some instances because you might not have enough base energy for the combo, let alone it and florish at the end.

Warrior's Endurance>Flourish for this build IMO. GL with the build.