WATCHMEN

Written by: InariOkami

Intro

A little bit about myself. I'm currently 72-11 in ranked, sitting at 1956 rating. I've played since early January (don't quote me on this) and am valor 90 (just to show I have a decent amount of experience). I've dedicated a lot of time since I hit level 10 to learning how Assassins work, all three specs, in and out, reading forums constantly and experimenting whenever I can. I leveled in deception up to 30, then respecced to madness. I PvPed as madness for 6 weeks after turning 50, then respecced deception for 2 weeks, and respecced to darkness with a short 3 week stint as "Arika" hybrid. I have full augmented war hero and the spec I'm using right now (and for the majority of the time since 1.3 came out) is 23/1/17. But that''s enough about me...onto the guide!

Competitive Ranked Warzones and You

1.3 has brought a lot of changes to the Assassin. It was a hard hit to us in our tanking department and an indirect nerf to our burst tree. Those are the facts; but despite their best efforts, we're still the mufuggin double-bladed glowstick running big boys. In all seriousness, 1.3 has brought a whole new meaning to PvP in the form of ranked 8 man premades...and that is TEAM PLAY. Every spec in this game (I use the term every very loosely) brings something to the game. While most classes are specialized into one specific role or niche, the Assassin has and always will be a "jack-of-all-trades". We don't tank as well as Juggernauts and we don't deeps as hard as marauders, but we bring something to the team that no class can equal us in: utility and versatility. Taunts, huge amounts of CC, guards, force shroud, force speed, force pull, force lovin'...we have it all (almost...how about that force leap Bioware? ) We fulfill 5 niches in a team comp, each of which will be explained in depth. But before that, I have to address an all-too-common question on this forum: Daddy, which spec do I have to be to win in PvP?

Specs

Here, I'm going to list the 4 specs that fulfill the 5 roles that I talked about earlier...
31/0/10
Full tank. Run with Shield generator.
Peeler- Your job is to give your healser some good lovin'. Stick to them like glue (always, ALWAYS, within 15 meters), and make the life of the DPS attacking him living hell. Call out your CCs, tell him when he's safe to cast, peel peel peel. Save spike for uninterruptible big hitters like ravage/master strike, rail shot, and 3x harnessed force lightning/pebble throw. Use overload in sync with their big escape. Stun and pull as necessary.
Solo Objective Guarder- Turn on the setting for auto target closest enemy, sit in stealth, and spam mind trap in case there's a pesky stealthy around you somewhere. Always call out if you get sapped in case there's two stealthies.

23/1/17
This spec screams utility. Run with all DPS gear and focus, priortize power and surge.
Peeler- This spec does what the 31/0/10 spec does in peeling but focuses more on burning DPS down rather than being a pain in the ***. A DPS who's focused on a healer is the most vulnerable thing in the game, as they're usually watching healers' cast bars and health bars. Use CCs the same way as mentioned above. One thing to mention is that you're not as durable as 31/0/10 so you need to watch your health bar when guarding a focused healer, as depending on how hard he's getting focused, you can drop if not paying attention. If you're getting too low, call it out and take off your guard (best to tell another tank to pick it up until you can guard again).
Fray Fighter- This spec has strong burst in the form of shock, death field, maul, thrash, and assassinate. It's CC is unrivaled by any spec in the game. Your whirlwind should almost always be on cooldown. Coordinate focus with your other DPS. Whirlwind priorities go to healers healing your focus (who should also be a healer), then tanks/dps trying to peel you off. Call out whirlwind at least 2 seconds before using it so whoevers on the target can switch to yours to avoid breaking it.
Ninja- If you guys haven't noticed already, instant whirlwind gives me a hard-on, for this role ESPECIALLY. It has won my team extremely clutch victories by itself. Something this spec is very potent at is solo capping objectives. In a heavily contested, tied Civil War or Voidstar, many teams will send 7 to the point of contest and leave 1 tank to defend. Head over to it, get in position to cap from stealth, and from there do one of two things. If their CC breaker is up (which you should assume unless otherwise verified by a teammate or yourself), fake a fight by opening with stun, and once they pop it whirlwind them, and IMMEDIATELY start capping. There will be a .25-.5 second window where they'll be able to stop the cap, but if executed right, latency will be able to cover you on that. Make sure to tell your team when you're doing this so you can be sure the other team doesn't send someone else to stop you while you're capping.

0/13/28
Our strongest full DPS spec. It brings consistency in that it has no required setup for its burst and is very unpredictable. You will need a lot of protection (if you have an extra guard on your team, make sure to ask for it) but if kept up, you will hit like a truck. It still retains decent utility in the form of instant whirlwind (plz dont nerf bioware) and taunts, which should be spammed on cooldown everytime regardless of spec.
Priority Burst- This role utilizes the spec's advantages to the fullest. It retains some of the qualities of a 23/1/17 fray fighter, such as the ability to whirlwind a healer focusing your focus and stop long range caps with death field, but plays like a burst would. It's capable of bringing down an unguarded healer by itself. You can focus the same targets as the fray fighters or switch to an unattended healer and make their life hell (if whirlwind is down this is a preferable option to focus firing since the team focus should have 2-3 dps already on them).
Ninja- See 23/1/17 ninja.

7/3/31
The madder, angrier version of Madness sorcerers. In all honesty, we're inferior to sorcerers in the madness department. Anything we can do in damage, they can do from 30m away. However, that's not to say it's not viable. We still bring strong utility here with whirlwind, creeping terror, and did I mention...TAUNTS TAUNTS TAUNTS. And madness Assassins get a viable form of burst as opposed to madness sorcs who just run around dotting everything in sight. Onto business...
Support DPS- This is what madness, regardless of AC, does best. Dots, dots, dots. Now, there are varied opinions on exactly how to maximize your support for your team. Here's my take. Wait in stealth until an initiator (maras/pyros/fraytankasins) finds the target and starts beating on them. Look for the tank guarding them, and aim your death field to hit both the tank and the DPS. Once that happens, pop discharge on both the healer and the tank, creeping terror as appropriate, and refresh the dots as necessary. Whirlwind any healer that gets in the way of this. This will burn the guarder down. Death fields will hit him for 150% damage (100% on him, 50% from guard), he'll take 150% damage from discharge, and then 50% of whatever the healer takes. If executed properly, he'll die before the healer does or be forced to drop his guard. Everything else is fairly simple, just use taunts on cooldown, refresh dots as necessary on priority targets, raze crushing darkness and whirlwind as much as you can. Your burst comes in the form of maul, assassinate, thrash, shock, and crushing darkness to an extent.

But Daddy, What About Deception!?
If anyone recognizes me from these forums, it's most likely my avid dislike to the deception spec. Many will call me and similar people "elitists" and "people who don't understand how to play it". I played this spec extensively, and I want to love it. But it's simply not viable in any situation for ranked. It's fun by all means, and great to play in regular warzones. But this is a guide on competitive ranked warzones, and I will give my input accordingly. I'm not an elitist, simply a realist. As a frequent peeler, I can tell you first hand that shutting down a deception assassin is ridiculously simple. They are a one-trick pony, and once you shut down their initial burst, they're incapable of anything significant for another 75 seconds. Anything they can do, a 23/1/17 or 0/13/28 can do much, much better. Any team that runs a deception assassin is unfortunately gimping themselves. I understand that people love this spec to death, and I do as well since it's an ideal image of an Assassin, but it's simply not viable in large-scale ranked PvP. It's tuned for small-scale (think 2v2 or 3v3 arena in WoW) but even there it's inherently flawed beyond ignoring. And sadly, it's going to stay that way until Bioware decides to buff it.

General Things You Should Know and Do
1. Communication. In ranked, the team that communicates better wins. Call out focuses, CCs, peels, caps, movements, incomings, saps, and generally anything that crosses your mind.
2. A good attitude. Be willing to adapt to losses, learn your mistakes and what you could've done better. Always, always be friendly with your teammates. A hostile environment will only lead to more losses. It's a game and should never be escalated beyond such. If someone else on your team messed up, don't be afraid to let them know and tell them what they should do to fix it, but don't get aggressive and start blaming them. Everyone makes mistakes.
3. Losing is okay. The way rating is setup in this game guarantees that you will reach your "true" rating over an extended period of time. The last game I played, League of Legends, had a very similar ELO system, and the primary reason I left was because of the sense of superiority people had. They believed they deserved a better ELO and were being held back, or just got extremely unlucky and lost 15 matches in a row and got stuck in a terrible bracket where they couldn't carry themselves out. That's not the case; in an ELO system, your wins and losses will average out to your real ELO that you belong at. So don't get upset if you lose a lot in a row, if you stick with it, you'll arrive at where you belong.
4. Learn how other classes work. In order to do anything, peel, focus, distract, incapacitate, you HAVE to understand how said class works. For instance, try not to put a marauder at full resolve before 30%. Don't put a mercenary healer at full resolve unless you're certain you can bring them down before they're back up. Save your sprint to break sniper roots, force shroud to stop pyro burst...etc. Ask your guildmates what they do as their class and figure out how you can better your strategy against them.
5. TAUNT

Gear
Each spec needs a particular gear setup. Here it is (feel free to let me know you think should be tweaked).
31/0/10 Tank
Defense to 25%, Rest to Shield and Absorb. Augments should be done accordingly. Expertise to 1100. Survivor for obvious reasons. Ditch all accuracy.
23/1/17
Ignore crit, go straight for power and surge. Keep accuracy at around 95%. You'll go over the surge soft cap, that's fine since it'll only be by a couple percent. Expertise to 1100. Augments should be either willpower or power, your choice (the difference is minimal despite what many have argued).
0/13/28
Crit to 24-25%, Accuracy around 95%, rest to power and surge. Expertise to 1100, augment should be either willpower or power. 4 piece war hero stalker set bonus.
7/3/31
Crit to 23-25%, rest to power and surge. Accuracy around 95%, expertise to 1100. Augments should be willpower or power. 4 piece war hero force master set bonus.

Huttball
Our favorite game. The strategies for huttball are so diverse and extensive that it needs its own section. As assassins, our versatility truly shines here, and more roles come into play. We are the second best ball carriers in the game (damn you juggernauts, damn youuuu), and the best pass receivers in the game. Stealth in rated huttball is so ridiculously broken, it's not even funny. Onto strategem...
Team Strategy
In rated, whoever controls the middle, controls the game. There are various ways of doing this. You can put one operative permanently stealthed in middle ready to flashbang as the ball resets with a sniper up top picking people off, or keep 2 melee DPS/tank + 1 healer to control the combat. Snipers are amazing for dominating the middle, and I recommend running one specifically for this task. Predation is invaluable here for running with and to the ball. Never, ever run the ball with nobody ahead of you. You should constantly keep someone capable of running the ball in front of you ready for a pass and a sorcerer ready to pull. Always be prepared to get pulled and yanked everywhere, specifically to fires. Tell everyone to specifically watch out for people setting up to pull your carrier into fire, or to pull their carrier across the fire. Always be ready to knock potential receivers into the pit or intercept their passes. Make sure you can't get leaped to by the carrier, as well as ensuring they can't leap push leap you straight to the endzone. Key pass zones are the top middle platforms between the two highest fires and the sandbags to the left and right of the first bottom fires. If you see the carrier drop to the pit, make damn sure he's not getting ready to leap or pass to someone. If there is nothing you can do to prevent the score, make sure you control the middle for a counter score. DO NOT KILL the people who just scored. Keep them cc'ed or preoccupied at your endzone so they can't assist their team with the counter.
Specific Assassin Strategies
There are multiple roles we can fulfill in huttball. Here they are...
Ball Carrier- 31/0/10 does this best, but 23/1/17 can carry for a little as well if necessary. Your job is to get to the receiver at all costs and get the ball to him. Save force shroud for either crossing the fire (which you should avoid as original carrier) or grabbing the ball at the middle without getting cc'd. A common trick is pulling a carrier on their side of the map into a fire and scoring immediately after getting the balll, but this is quite hard to execute in rated (try as often as possible however, they'll at least have to blow a major mobility CD to stay alive).
Receiver- My personal favorite, also known as the goal whore. This is best accomplished by stealthing as much as possible, avoiding combat whenever you have the ball, and sitting at the aforementioned areas of the top mid platform or the sandbag. Top mid is preferred, but that can get predictable. We are the best scorers in the game because of our 5 second invulnerability to CC. The best way to avoid getting pulled or intercepted is to wait until the ball leaves the carrier's hands to unstealth, and when you unstealth force shroud immediately. This role is best done as 23/1/17. When running to the goal line, whirlwind, stun, and pull as necessary to make sure you get there. If your force shroud is going to wear off before you score, let your team know to eliminate pullers. You can also do this by pulling them to you before they can. If you receive at sandbags, ignore the fire and force shroud+speed through it, you'll be fine.
Support- Support can be given as any of the roles mentioned in the Specs section, but it can take on a new role here too. Stealth once again is invaluable here. If they're carrying, find their receiver or puller and rip them a new one. When I say that, your priority should first be to pull into fire, if not that, then knock into the pit, and if not that, intercept the pass without getting CC'd (force shroud ), and as a last resort, kill them. Stay aware at ALL times for others setting up and scout for other stealth receivers in your free time at the sandbags, top mid, and endzone ledge. Madness assassins should use creeping terror to root potential receivers and pullers in fire, and if not them, carriers. First priority always goes to receivers and pullers because a carrier without those two is a sitting duck (unless they're an assassin past the first fire...).

Each team develops their own strategy over time. Find yours, but be very adaptable. Whoever adapts faster in huttball, wins.

Civil War
Early Game
Call out who's going where. It's best for assassins to go right (their easy cap) to stall them as long as possible. To accomplish this, don't unstelath yourself until absolutely necessary, just sap the cappers over and over until they find you. When they do, wait for anyone with fulll resolve to go back to normal, then shroud+vanish, repeat. This will give your team at least a 30-40 point advantage and give mid less resistance. If you're going mid, tell your team to push the other team back as far as possible so you can cap while fighting. Call out line of sighting/pillar humping by enemy healers. If solo defending, stay stealthed and call numbers as soon as you see someone or get sapped.
Mid Game
Advantages become clear here. If mid hasn't already been capped, it's slowly being won by one side. This is usually around the 450-250 stage. If you're winning mid, keep the pressure on while pushing them back, but be careful that they don't send them to your capped side. If you're losing mid, don't mad rush the side. Keep sending as many as you can mid and send 2 stealthies (a marauder can compensate if there's only one) to their side. If they have only one defending, it's an easy cap for you (sap sap sap). If there's two, burn one down and immediately afterwards one of you needs to cap while the other keeps the survivor CC'd. As a tankasin, the best way to accomplish this is to pull them, then spike->stun/whirlwind.
Late Game
Around the 250 mark, it becomes comfortable for the winning team, and desperate for the losing. At this stage, it's best to send 6 to their capped side and send 2 stealthies to use the aforementioned strategy at mid if you're losing. If you're winning, do what you can to prevent that strategy from being used on you, and put 2 on each turret with 4 roaming. When mid isn't being contested, keep one on watch duty, looking at their side to see if they're going under the tunnel.

The Voidstar
Attacking
Call out which side is going to be zerged. A very effective strategy at the start here is to send 6 to the zerg side, and one warrior to their drop box (the box they drop onto when they leave the gate) to AOE mez them. After that, put the warrior on the opposite side of the zerg (if left is zerged, send them right). If you have more than one, send both of them to chain mez so you can burn their cc breakers off the bat. While this is happening, you should be stealthed at the center, watching to see how many they send to each side. In the original confusion caused by the mezzes, it's likely they'll send more than necessary to the zerg side. If they send 2 or less to the warrior side, follow him and burn them down for the cap. If they send 3 or more, go to the zerg side and help with the push. If you get the door, make sure to tell your team to not kill ANYONE. You need to be stealthed at this point so that when the door explodes you can quickly cap the bridge. Your team needs to keep them distracted at the tunnel while you head to the door opposite the bridge you just capped.. If you're using one of the instant whirlwind specs, use the "ninja" tactic I described earlier if there's one person defending. If it fails, start splitting your teammates at this point. Keep 3 on each door with 2 roaming to confuse them. If you get the bomb, repeat the strategy of the first door to get the force field controls and the last door.
Defending
Do what you can to avoid being confused at the start. Put one tank at each door. Stealthed tankasins are best for defending an uncontested side. Keep 2 people with mobility boosts of some kind on float duty, ready to move as necessary. If you lose the first door, do whatever you can to get to the bridge controls as fast as possible. Try to hold them there as long as possible, use battle rezzes, whatever you can. On the second door defending, repeat the first door defense but instead of 2 floaters, keep a ranged dps at the very middle ready to back up the uncontested side. If door is lost, repeat bridge control strategy, and door strategy for last door.

Novare Coast
I despise this warzone so I'm going to keep it short. As far as I know, the best strategy to win here is to send 1 to side, and 7 to mid. Assign 2 people to permanent cap duty and just tlel them to spam cap from different angles to try to cap it. The other 5 should try to aoe to prevent the other team from doing the same. Once again, stealthed tankasin is best for guard duty. This is all about AoEs , AoEs, AoEs. Once you establish the advantage, it's hard to lose.

Conclusion
I hope this guide helps the assassin and shadow community maximize their potential. Don't follow this guide word for word; find your own strategies and learn how to counter them. Adapt, be positive, have fun, play the game .