Critical builds

Critical builds are a type of build used by assassins based around a high rank in Critical Strikes to maximize damage via frequent critical hits. The two most common builds are critical barrage using bows and critical scythes for melee.

Characteristics

• A rank of 13 or 14 in Critical Strikes.
• Rank 12 in the weapon's mastery attribute.
• Way of the Master to increase critical hits.
• Critical Eye for additional energy and to increase critical hits.
• Critical Agility for increased attack speed and extra armor.

Variations

Bow

• Critical barrage include Barrage, Volley, and various Ranger interrupts.
• Another variation uses Incendiary Arrows combined with Disrupting Accuracy.
  • This variation can specialize more in Wilderness Survival and Critical Strikes, making Anniversary Shortbow "Whispers" an interesting weapon.

Scythe

Used by frontliners to take advantage of the weapon's inherent ability to strike up to three adjacent foes. Allows the assassin to take advantage of appropriate Earth Prayers buffs. Although critical hits do not increase scythe damage as much as they do for other weapons, they still allow the assassin to maintain a large pool of energy.

Axe

Axes benefit greatly from critical hits, as it allows to reach their high damage maximum which combined with their fast attack speed provides good dps. Cyclone Axe and Triple Chop can hit several foes at once. This can very effectively fuel "Save Yourselves!" for strong party protection in PvE. Axe also allows to wield a shield for additional armor, and Tactics offers "Fear Me!" for more critical hits, however the spread of attribute points makes it difficult to take full advantage of those.

Other weapons

• Swords are similar to axes, although less interesting, as critical hits have a smaller impact on their damage. Dragon Slash combined with Whirlwind Attack can make up for the lack of AoE skills.
• Critical damage from hammers is significant, but their slow rate of attack makes it more difficult to maintain the necessary buffs.

Evaluation

Pros

• Near constant pool of energy, sufficient to make use of other skills.
• High rate of critical hits deal significant amounts of damage per second to multiple targets.
• Bow-based builds are often safer for assassins, particularly when leading a team of seven heroes or henchmen.

Cons

• Vulnerable to enchantment stripping.
• Little flexibility, especially when dealing with anti-melee teams.