Ambush
From Duels Content
Paths > Path of the Sword > High Path of the Assassin > Ambush
Contributed by GastrointestinalFury & NinjaVega:
The highest art form in the assassins bag of tricks is the Ambush.
Type: Opener (Tier III), melee, bleeding, Debuff
Duration: 1 round attack + 5 rounds of bleeding + variable duration absorption debuff (see below)
"Open confrontation will trigger over-powering resistance. Thus the key to victory is the ability to use surprise tactics" -- Sun Tzu's the 'Art of War'
- Always attack first with an extra initial attack that automatically hits (cannot Crit or Extreme) then causes Bleeding for 5 turns. Also reduces opponents absorption by 10% for a # of turns equal to your Precision divided by 30.
- Always attack first with an extra initial attack that automatically hits for 2x damage (cannot Crit or Extreme) then causes Bleeding for 5 turns. Also reduces opponents absorption by 10% for a # of turns equal to your Precision divided by 30.
- Always attack first with an extra initial attack that automatically hits for 3x damage (cannot Crit or Extreme) then causes Bleeding for 5 turns. Also reduces opponents absorption by 10% for a # of turns equal to your Precision divided by 30.
- Always attack first with an extra initial attack that automatically hits for 4x damage (cannot Crit or Extreme) then causes Bleeding for 5 turns. Also reduces opponents absorption by 10% for a # of turns equal to your Precision divided by 30.
- Always attack first with an extra initial attack that automatically hits for 5x damage (cannot Crit or Extreme) then causes Bleeding for 5 turns. Also reduces opponents absorption by 10% for a # of turns equal to your Precision divided by 30.
Information
Ambush is a skill that allows the Assassin to catch their opponent off guard hitting them in a weak area for up to 5 times the damage they would normally do leaving them bleeding and in a weakened state.
Strategy
The Ambush skill is very wordy, but actually quite simple. Because it's based on what you actually hit for (you cannot do critical or extreme damage), you're going to want as much strength as you can muster in order to maximize your initial hit. Your opponent will then Bleed for 5 turns, and that Bleed damage is based on how much you Ambushed for; the higher the Ambush the more the Bleed damage. This isn't all. Because you've caught your opponent off guard, they're in a weakened state meaning they've now lost 10% of their absorption, which can be a pretty big deal against FA and other tank builds.
Before you rush out and put all your stat points into strength remember that you're going to need some Stamina in order to make it through the duel. Once the Bleed runs out, you're on your own. Chances are you're not going to have the critical or dodge % of a standard Assassin because you're heavily invested in strength. The saving grace here is that you're going to be hitting harder than usual thanks to that strength and the 10% reduction in absorption, but you're still going to need to be very careful about your stat distribution or you're going to find yourself too weak to compete, even after dealing the kind of damage Ambush is capable of.
Companion skills: Weapons of Stealth, Offensive Power (increase weapon damage and overall offensive ability to finish off an opponent quickly)
Equipment
Duel "Maelstrom Fury's" rule the day here. This gives you all the strength you need to for a huge Ambush, while freeing up stat points to go for criticals or stamina. If you're unable to get ahold of one of these beauties (like most of us) than daggers do a fine job, you'll just need to supplement them with a little bit of strength. In the case of daggers you're going to want to attempt to get your critical % fairly high for when Bleed runs out, so you can finish off your opponent. The Weapons of Stealth and Offensive Power low path skills are obviously a must here.
As for armor it's mostly up to you. If you've invested a lot of stat points into strength you'll want some Speed/Perception to get a nice critical % or you can go with heavier armor for Strength/Stamina and invest more points into Speed/Perception. Ambush allows for a fair amount of flexibility in stats/armor, but you'll want to concentrate on Strength, Precision, and Stamina overall.
Final Thoughts
Ambush is capable of giving a large preemptive strike before the duel even starts which is a great advantage, as well as causing Bleed for 5 turns which will do a large bulk of your actual opener damage. This combined with your critical hits can make for an extremely tough offensive build.
To take any ranks in Ambush, a duelist must have at least one rank of shadow meld and 5 points in any combination of tier II openers.
