User:I am bobo/Critical Fox

Attributes and Skills

 * Your optional slot is quite flexible, but there are a few especially good options, most of which will be based on your setting (PvE or AB).
 * Resurrection Signet is obviously an important choice in PvE, but near-useless in AB.
 * Way of Perfection is useful as a long-term heal, and can serve to keep Way of the Assassin active (the downside is the short duration and small heals at lower levels of Shadow Arts).
 * Critical Eye will grant a huge boost to energy-management, not to mention the sizable extra Critical Hit chance.
 * Siphon Speed is a huge boon in AB especially, allowing you to chase down other Assassins and force one-on-one fights (which is an optimal situation for this build in many cases).
 * Expunge Enchantments is a very useful enchantment removal skill, which will serve well in AB (though not so useful in PvE). Especially deadly against Elementalist Tanking builds and 55 Monks.


 * If survival is an issue, you can go A/D and switch Shadow Arts for Earth Prayers (see Variants, below). The A/D variant loses a bit of the original build's flexibility, but more then makes up for it in pure staying power.

Equipment

 * Nightstalker's Armor is recommended.
 * Daggers with an "of Enchanting" mod is best, and preferably a "+15% while enchanted" or "+15% while in a stance" mod. Daggers of Xuekao may be the best green daggers for this build.
 * The build's defense is high enough that you'll be able to afford the HP loss from adding Superior runes to the build. A Superior Daggery Mastery can increase both your damage output and your critical hit chance by a small amount. You should always be careful with having too many high-end runes on a single build though, as the health loss might outweigh the offensive boosts.

Usage

 * The build centers around keeping three key skills up at all times: Shroud of Distress, Critical Defenses, and Way of the Assassin. In the heat of battle, you'll need to remember to check your status bar often, and make sure to keep all your skills up as much as possible.
 * When first initiating battle, activate Shroud of Distress as you charge. Right before you engage, activate Critical Defenses (make sure not to activate this skill too soon, or you run the risk of not getting a critical hit fast enough to recharge it). Once you engage, activate Way of the Assassin. Be careful when first starting this all, as you will lose a pretty sizable chunk of energy. Once you get a few hits in, your energy should recharge quite quickly.
 * Make sure to use your attack chain often, as it will deal a large amount of consistent, unblockable damage thanks to your high critical chance. Keep an eye on your status at all times. When anything starts to run out, make sure to re-activate it right away. Pay special attention to Critical Defenses in particular. When your target dies, make sure to switch to a new target as quickly as possible to keep Critical Defenses up.
 * Shroud of Distress serves two major purposes here; keeping Way of the Assassin active, thanks to its long duration, and also granting you a very sizable amount of evasion when your health gets low. At seven Shadow Arts, it should last for 44 seconds (not counting any bonus from Daggers of Enchanting). This should be more then enough to last the duration of the battle, and the recharge time is one second longer, in case you need to re-activate. With your Enchanting Daggers, you can easily keep it up constantly.
 * Keep in mind that you have an increased chance of a critical hit when attacking lower-level monsters (this increased chance is more easily noticeable when attacking creatures around level 10 or below). Target a nearby spirit or a weaker monster if you're in desperate need of a critical hit (Ritualist Spirits are normally easy to find in AB).
 * When facing foes with Enchantment removal, keep in mind that Critical Defenses will almost always be the first to go, regardless of the order you activate your enchantments. This is because whenever you land a critical hit, Critical Defenses will re-apply itself, thus moving back to the top of the list. If you know that you're going to be losing an enchantment, it's probably a bad idea to get yourself in a fight with another melee character.

Counters

 * There are a few counters, but most of them are too narrow to consider a real threat. Your main worry is Enchantment removal and the Blind condition. When Blinded, your best bet is to get out of combat. Without a critical hit, you'll lose Critical Defenses and be easy prey for most attacks. Enchantment removal can also get rid of Critical Defenses, but this can normally be fixed by killing whoever is wielding the enchantment removal.