Talk: Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support

This little guy is pretty handy even at Level 10, though I feel guilty sending hapless Ebon Vanguard to their deaths against Magni the Bison :p In other news, this is a Spell, so you could do Echo-Chain if you wanted. Or perhaps use Signet of Illusions. (T/C) 09:19, 26 August 2007 (CDT)

Apparently the assassins now die if they get hit once or gain a condition. Even if they are hit for 1 damage. --74.114.199.139 09:27, 26 August 2007 (CDT)

Perhaps they only ever had 1hp in the first place. Reminds me of Pre-Searing Aloe Seed. Still, since they do Shadow Step + Iron Palm, just give them a Condition and they work fine. (T/C) 09:33, 26 August 2007 (CDT)

I remember using Phantasm on one of those things, it died in somewhere around ¼ of a second :P --Gimmethegepgun 03:40, 27 August 2007 (CDT)

While the skill is very, very cool, I find it having 1 hp very bad. A rabbit or even a assassin with BSS could likely kill it. It has the potential to be one of the most powerful skills in the game (remember, it uses a attack chain, it can typically do around 100 damage, just at rank 0) but can also be the weakest offensive spell for 10 energy. I have no idea why the ebon vanguard would employ such weak assassins, it's even more suicidal than Captain Suicide lol. Hopefully A-net may possibly make it have a more acceptable hp before the GWEN goes live, even just 100hp or a ascending hp total with each rank would be very nice. Flechette 04:02, 27 August 2007 (CDT)

I use this skill in one of my Assassin's Promise builds and it works quite well. The tank aggros everything, then you cast and do your chain while the Summoned dude uses his chain for an extra 100 damage. He usually stays alive for the full time, nothing targets him after aggro has been pulled as long as something else is doing more damage to whatever he's attacking. It's a nice damage boost.-Malcheior Sveth 19:22, 22 September 2007 (CDT)

I don't know what this 1HP nonsense is that you people are on about. Last night my EB Sin was tanking Lvl 28 Ice Siege Golems and Ice Imps for the full duration noted on the spell. I'm only Lvl 5 in the EB title track.--Old Man Of Ascalon (T/C) 07:21, 23 September 2007 (CDT)

It was like that in the Preview weekend and for awhile afterwards. Perhaps a patch changed him. (T/C) 01:11, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Where are supposed to be able to get this? Or was it not out in the preview event? 81.156.117.84 07:02, 27 August 2007 (CDT)

Service: Practice, Dummy --Gimmethegepgun 10:29, 27 August 2007 (CDT)

Can we get a video of the little fellow :) ~dumazz

What is the point if you are sending him in right on top of someone that kills him with one it? You have to get withing agro ranger to cast so the bad guys are going to see you as the first target most of the time. I just jumped back to picken to test him out agains low level Charr and they devistate him. Why bother having him last 20 seconds since he dies withing 1 or 2?

I love this skill, does the guy run off to fight other targets when his target dies it is hard to tell since he is so small and lives for 10 seconds at most (for me) at higher levels this could be a funny spike skill 8 players suddenly reinforced by 8 suicidal sins

Surely if they only have 1hp wouldn't protective spirit+Mending make them invulnerable?

No, 10% of 1 (rounded up) = 1. I've tried prot spirit at 1 HP, you still get instant deaths.

In theory protective spirit and SoA should keep them alive and you can keep it up for a full ten seconds so it gaurantees a few chains of atk.Munny 05:18, 2 September 2007 (CDT)

I don't think they have 1 hp all the time I'm at rank 3 and the assassin can take a couple of hits before dieing I think it might work like lv10,1 hp lv11,21 lv12,41 lv13,61 hp. This would also explain why they would be 1HKOd with prot spirit.(Marsc 14:10, 4 September 2007 (CDT))

This is an interesting skill as the description says that you summon the assassin leading you to believe that it is a summoned creature. However, trying to use Swap on him gives an Invalid Target message as does Signet of Binding. He isn't human because dropping EoE, summoning the assassin, infusing myself to 60HP and getting him killed results in no health loss. He isn't a spirit because Draw Spirit gives an Invalid Target message. However, Boon of Creation gives you +health and +energy when you cast Support Assassin so it is a "created" thing. Perhaps the wording of the skill description is wrong, it might need to be changed to "create" rather than "summon". Hooker 15:08, 5 September 2007 (CDT)

It also works with Explosive Growth. Despite the use of "shadowstep", it does actually get created at the point of attack, so it can be a good two-spell AoE attack in addition to the Assassin damage.

KD

Does Stonefist insignia increase the duration of the knockdown to 3 seconds? If so, that makes this skill a little bit more useful for a Warrior. Yes, it's expensive at half of your Energy, but 3 second KD on a Spell that doesn't cause Exhaustion and does large damage is cool. That's enough time for the assassin to finish his entire chain once without fear of counterattack. (T/C) 05:55, 18 September 2007 (CDT)

Only if it's used on a single foe and if a warrior used this, the chances of AoE hitting the sin (and killing) is very likely. Some monsters cannot be KD'd and I find iron palm, if anything, is to let the assassin to always hit his foe with his chain. As for stonefist, you will need to know if stonefist is passed down to a summon as said before, it actually gains from Boon of creation but not from minion or spirit skills. It does the attack chain as a separate entity therefore may not benefit from the insignia. Flechette 06:17, 18 September 2007 (CDT)

The damage it deals is counted as if you are its master. However, I'm of the belief that the knockdown is not caused by you, so stonefist won't trigger. --Kale Ironfist 20:22, 19 September 2007 (CDT)

Well, I guess that Earthbind would still work. Humm, W/E and take Bed of Coals...Synergy! (T/C) 20:27, 19 September 2007 (CDT)

Awesome for Vanquishing

Me and a friend vanquished the entire Droks Run using this little guy, he rocks so much! The best thing he did by far was control the "pulling aggro", whereas sometimes mobs will scatter and come at you, which is bad, but with this guy they all stopped charging us, reversed, and all focused on him, giving our minion army time to engage the foes well away from our party. He also worked wonders on taking out Doylak Masters, a bit of Daze+Assassin Support=No healing for initial spike. Also worked good for kiting, whenever I was getting overwhelmed and my attackers chased me whilst kiting, I just pop this bad little dude off and continue on my way to safety! Much <3 for the Sin! --Old Man Of Ascalon (T/C) 07:18, 23 September 2007 (CDT)

What he said. This guy has so many uses that aren't seen until you have the skill on your bar. He makes my day.

Signet of Illusions

When I use Signet of Illusions on this skill the assassin is 21st level.

As a side comment, try using SoI, pop this guy off, then throw great dwarf weapon on him. The SoI will make a lvl 21 sin, and the GDW give him +21 dmg and 41% to knockdown! I like this combo for picking off that pesky monk in the back 20:05, 03 October 2007 (CDT)

As noted elsewhere -- toss up Explosive Growth before you send him in.OBloodyHell 21:21, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Illusion Magic	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Assassin Level												17	18	19	19	20	21

T.T.H. 12:49, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

That's higher level than you can get with rank 10 Agent. Go go SoI. Rette Alarix 18:13, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Page for the assassin?

Should we not create a page for the assassin, since he seems to have more then 1 hp on higher lvls? (granted, it's not a lot, but mine can take a couple of hits before dying) ---- Hakker 06:45, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

About the > 1 health- mine is level 10 and survived some hits from level 8-20 enemies (Service: In Defense of the Eye). So either this has been fixed or it was never a problem. -- Skax459 05:19, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

banish

does it do double dam to him?

Worth having?

Is this at all worth having on a build or is it just better to have for fun during a run, playing with in low level areas, or during FFF runs or something? Vanguard 15:22, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

It's more fun than good, imho :) -- -- (s)talkpage 17:17, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Righto, I might play with it some time against lower level charr. Does the double-time thing trigger with the ascalon ones, or must it be in the Charr Homelands? Vanguard 20:11, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Yes, you will get the added benefit from any charr, including back in ascalon. A SoI mesmer using the defense ward and this spell makes vanquishing the ascalon areas much easier. Consider echoing it with explosive growth and boon of creation :) fun times

Then again, if you think of him as a damage spell instead of a summon, the skill suddenly becomes rather powerful at 10 EBV rank. 145.94.74.23 09:07, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Echo Chaining FTW!

This guy doesn't have the same limit that the asuran summons do. You can arcane echo, then echo the thing and have 3 of them at once per character, 4 if you mimic someone else or arcane echo and oath shot. 6 if you mimic echo, arcane echo and then oath shot them(in theory, you'd need a battery to support the energy for it). R/Me ninja death squad FTW.Hugh Manatee 12:58, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

http://www.pvxwiki.com/wiki/User:I_am_bobo/My_New_Build ? 68.10.151.87 20:12, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Dune Lizard

Just used him in Thirsty River and he was tagged as a "Dune Lizard".... didn't get a screenie, but I believe I've heard of this before. Tain 19:50, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

I thought that bug only affected enemies... weird. --Macros 19:51, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

The way this works

I can just picture hundreds of sins waiting around in a big room, getting a notification, then teleporting to somewhere random and helping complete strangers fight for 15 seconds, then teleporting back and waiting for another call, to do it over and over again. Doom Box 02:07, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Post a screencap Euler278 15:39, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Of the sin waiting room? lmao Tain 15:51, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Don't forget that half the time only a corpse returns... they must have several stacks of them. Inventory stacks, that is. Felix Omni 14:27, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

Lol, that was mentioned on guildcast by Jenna, about the waiting room. See Talk:skippy RT | Talk - A joyous wintersday to all 14:29, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

This needs..

An effect that a chat bubble with "Ebon Vanguard Assassin, I choose YOU!" appears above the caster. And when it ends, it should say "Return to your cave, Ebon Vanduard Assassin". Or smthing :D --- -- (s)talkpage 19:34, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

or "YOU are the weakest link!!" and "Good...bye..." when it dies or times out.

Vanguard Energy Bonus

I've noticed while using this while skill hunting... every now and then I'm getting a little +2 energy above my head, and being a ranger, I don't have soul reaping or anything :P My only conclusion is that when the assassin kills someone, regardless of wether you have your title on, or wether they are a charr, you gain energy. (I noticed energy gain while fighting luxon outcasts and dragon moss)76.174.39.191 18:57, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Nevermind, I think that energy was above a hench's head or something, upon further inspection. They were just really close to me.76.174.39.191 19:58, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

No it is above your head I have noticed this too. I am relatively sure it is the enery gain he gets from critical strikes. Monk Texas Ranger 23:19, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

At level 20 (maybe before), he gets +3 energy, but not you, for his critical hits. Thus, his dagger mastery is 13 or higher. Susan 04:22, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Critical strikes* Tain 16:15, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

You are correct, and I did mean crit. strikes, but for some reason wrote dagger mast. Susan 13:36, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

His stats are all fudged up. Against a 60 armor target, I was noticing somethin weird - his crit hits do random damage. At first I thought he had sundering daggers and it triggered, but I've seen random numbers come up when it crits. I've also seen him hit a little higher than 45+ with an auto attack, but a player with 16 in dagger mastery hits for exacly 38+. I don't get it =\ P A R A S I T I C 08:01, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Note redundancy

In the notes, it re-mentions the skills the assassin uses. it clearly says it in the description. Gorbachev116 20:26, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Skippy has stats!

I was testing the assassin's DPS on the master of damage, and I noticed he occasionally gains energy (+2) from attacking, showing he has 8-12 in critical strikes (at level 15). Thoughtful 14:03, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Crap, should've looked up. Thoughtful 14:04, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Mid Air Fight

I used him on Kuunvang in unwaking waters mission(Luxon side). He fights in mid-air! Animal Uta 23:15, 03 June 2008 (UTC)

Acts like Teleport , no Shadowstep

If you think its important you can add it as a note. Fukacz

Spawning power

A guildie of mine asked this question "Does spawning power affect the ebon vanguard sins health?" i told him not because he is not created/animated but summoned yet it works with explosive growth and creation is it possible spawning affects the sins health?Hitomiheals 20:25, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

I think it will affect it. If explosive growth is triggered, then it should...--El_Nazgir 17:41, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Spawning Power works on Necromancer Minions, too, which are summoned. --- -- (contribs) (talk) 17:52, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

But spawning power only works if a creature is created/animated not summoned necros animate minions rits/rangers create spirits so is it possible that maybe if it triggers explosive growth and boon of creation its a bug?Hitomiheals 23:52, 14 June 2009 (UTC) 23:50, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

Never mind my last comment jus t learned summon does count as create or animate which is weird it doesnt state ingame maybe now the ebon vanguard sin can tank better if he does have high health from sp

Bug?

Was doing some FFF in Drazach Thicket and noticed the Ebon Vanguard Assassin was tagged wrong, it wasn't mentioned on its page, probably old news though. -Sparrow- 15:59, December 6, 2009 (UTC)

That's a generic bug with tamable animals, it's been spotted numerous times with a lot of different monsters. First time I've seen it on a summoned ally, though. —Dr Ishmael 16:24, December 6, 2009 (UTC)

I've seen it on EVAS sins and spirits as well as enemies. It seems to happen especially often in Drazach Thicket though, possibly because of the wild animals and Warden spirits being so close together. -- Kirbman 04:19, May 26, 2010 (UTC)

Energy shown

Whenever the ebon vanguard assassin strikes a critical hit, it really shows the +2 energy... I noticed today in The Dragon's Lair--Jorre22225 23:49, February 26, 2010 (UTC)

Identified

Nola Sheppard has EVAS on her bar, and when she uses it, the Assassin is named Rigo Bolan, who carries Iron Palm, Fox Fangs, and Nine Tail Strike. (Official Wiki has his page up). And then this quote from Thackery:

"There is actually a sixth member of the falcons. You may have already met him without realizing it."

This all makes me connect dots to label Rigo as the EVAS. He's such an elite member, he can be everywhere at once, and even the same place multiple times. And must have a personal Res Shrine back home. Kaze 09:07, July 10, 2010 (UTC)