Current Stealth Class Status? - Phoenix Freeshard

Been gone for a long time with a newborn baby.

Would like to roll a new stealth class and get back in the game. Just curious how things are now or if stuff changed? Last I saw was Assassins were very strong with NS on top and SB at the back for assassins. Archers were getting destroyed in melee and Scouts were at the bottom of the barrel because of no self buffs. There were talks of charges being removed and 1 potion to do all buffs. Is that a thing now? How are the stealth classes balanced now after all this time?

Thanks for the reply

Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:36 AM by The Skies Asunder

Welcome Back!

The item buff charges were changed to be the same value as potions, and there is a single potion that gives all buffs now. The stealth values were also changed so that archers can see assassins from a bit farther away than before, and won't constantly be eating perfs. The armor vulnerability values have been reduced from 10% to 5% as well, so SB benefitted slightly from that (Note that the resistance portion of armor tables is unchanged). The Con portion of Str/Con debuff proc from weapons no longer stacks with the Con/WS debuff, so that hurt SB a bit. Lifebane cannot be applied with each attack anymore either, as it only resets the duration, but doesn't restart the tick interval at the time of the new attack. So you can't apply it with every attack as a damage add anymore. Ranger and Hunter are both viable, though Ranger seems to be the more popular choice. Scout is pretty bad, as far as I have heard from Scouts. I haven't played one though, so I can't tell you for sure that they are the worst... but they are. I think all three assassins are still in a good place overall, and you wouldn't be making a poor choice to roll any of them. Good luck!

Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:42 AM by Sindralor

BladeNS > SlashInf=SB > ThrustInf
Pierce NS is just trolling at this point imo

Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:46 AM by Pirhana7

The Skies Asunder wrote: ↑
Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:36 AM
Welcome Back!

The item buff charges were changed to be the same value as potions, and there is a single potion that gives all buffs now. The stealth values were also changed so that archers can see assassins from a bit farther away than before, and won't constantly be eating perfs. The armor vulnerability values have been reduced from 10% to 5% as well, so SB benefitted slightly from that (Note that the resistance portion of armor tables is unchanged). The Con portion of Str/Con debuff proc from weapons no longer stacks with the Con/WS debuff, so that hurt SB a bit. Lifebane cannot be applied with each attack anymore either, as it only resets the duration, but doesn't restart the tick interval at the time of the new attack. So you can't apply it with every attack as a damage add anymore. Ranger and Hunter are both viable, though Ranger seems to be the more popular choice. Scout is pretty bad, as far as I have heard from Scouts. I haven't played one though, so I can't tell you for sure that they are the worst... but they are. I think all three assassins are still in a good place overall, and you wouldn't be making a poor choice to roll any of them. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I would have thought that Scouts would have been in a better place since everyone would have close to the same potion buffs now.... Any mo blocking scout out there? what classes should assassins avoid starting fights with ? Friars, champs, VWs?

Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:54 AM by The Skies Asunder

Necromancer, SM, BD, Champ, and Friar are the ones I would watch out for as difficult matchups. Obviously tanks can be rough sometimes too, if they have a bit of realm rank. You will likely spend a lot of time fighting other stealths though.

Fri 6 Dec 2019 2:47 AM by Riac

hell nah, and with any luck the rest of the archers will join them in the trash can.

Mon 2 Mar 2020 7:24 AM by Lawdawg

I'd say the hunter is maybe the bottom of the barrel right now, though I haven't played scout. With assassin poisons, its just not fair, and the hunter doesnt have the tools to make up the difference. Str/con debuff, disease, automatic 22% haste debuff, etc. . Hunter can purge it , just to watch your hp drop 40% from the debuffs, and then get reapplied due to the super easy weapon swaps.

There's a terrible imbalance atm with hunters.

Wed 4 Mar 2020 6:31 PM by Siouxsie

Lawdawg wrote: ↑
Mon 2 Mar 2020 7:24 AM
I'd say the hunter is maybe the bottom of the barrel right now, though I haven't played scout. With assassin poisons, its just not fair, and the hunter doesnt have the tools to make up the difference. Str/con debuff, disease, automatic 22% haste debuff, etc. . Hunter can purge it , just to watch your hp drop 40% from the debuffs, and then get reapplied due to the super easy weapon swaps.

There's a terrible imbalance atm with hunters.

+1 This ^^

Wed 4 Mar 2020 7:03 PM by Riac

moral of the story....don't roll a lame ass archer class.

Wed 4 Mar 2020 8:19 PM by shintacki

Riac wrote: ↑
Wed 4 Mar 2020 7:03 PM
moral of the story....don't roll a lame ass archer class.

Or if you do, do what 90% of all archers do and just camp the keep task and pincushion anything that gets close.

Fri 6 Mar 2020 2:49 PM by Rhox

Sindralor wrote: ↑
Fri 6 Dec 2019 1:42 AM
BladeNS > SlashInf=SB > ThrustInf
Pierce NS is just trolling at this point imo

I don't feel you are qualified to answer this question.

That being said your information is spot on!!

Thu 12 Mar 2020 9:08 AM by SlowMo

Did come back after about 1 year.

My toon is a sara thust inf, still wondering if its worth to go down the respec race/slash route. I do remember, when I left most would have voted for slash briton.

I´m sitting at around 6 P and 20k feathers unsure about the invest and what prizes are.
Would need new weps and 1 or 2 armor peices at least.

For how much do BP´s trade these days?

I appreciate any help/advice

TY
Mo