The Assassination Proclamation

Like my rhyme? No? Well you didn't have to.
Also, @Admiral_Trump since he's the best at long forum posts. I don't expect you to play assassin, I just want your opinion on how I did

TL;DR
Assassin is a support class, and should be played as such. An Assassin who plays for themselves is not helping the team. But I guess CTF pubs aren't about team play anymore, as if they ever were.


This is the assassin guide. I know quite a lot of the community thinks Assassin is just "right click left click" but I'm here to add depth to it.

Let's talk about PVP. If you're good at PVP, you don't technically need your insta kill to get you kills. You can take down Ninjas, Mages, Elves, Assassins, Archers (The ones that don't use they're sword. I feel bad for them.), sometimes Pyros, and depending on the situation, Chemists. Just run around them. Assassin is technically the fastest class in running speed, so if you can get in their blind spot, they can't hit you. Chemists are a bit more tricky with pots but if you stay real close (this goes for mage too) you can get healed when they throw down the health pots.

Now for a different type of PVP, that I'll invent a new name for: Block PVP.
Not block as in right click, block as in "You're not leaving". Most of the time you will end up dead, and this type of PVP can be done and is done frequently with other classes, specifically Ninja after the flag carriers ran away. Since you're the fastest running class, you can catch up to the flag carrier quickly, and this will give you something to do rather than saying "My redstone isn't back, I can't do anything". If you're able to stop the flag carrier for even a couple seconds it will help the team (Can you see where I'm going with this take on Assassin?) immensely. Also, blocking medics and other support classes can reduce the chance of the flag carrier getting helped and increase the chances of your teams recovery.

Next up, brain power!
I don't know how other assassin mains play, but I play based on strategy rather than strength. Going around a corner, using redstone and doubling back in a split second can cause the enemy to become confused and get you a kill (A lot of assassin mains already do this). A big part for Assassin is how s/he can watch and predict how both his/her team and the enemies team will move. You're near the blue flag, running around, doin your thing, and see a red name pop in the distance. What do you do? Do you think "That guy's gonna try to cap. Good luck."? No! You think "If I time it right, I can either take out a few defenders (Aim for the Pyros, ninjas and dwarves. Always the dwarves) or distract them long enough for that guy to get the flag and get out.". This, too, is most likely a death sentence, but you're an Assassin. It's not your job to live long and go on 30 killstreaks. Obviously, some cappers are better than others, so it helps if you are able to recognize who it is and play according to how they play. (Hopefully you're getting the picture now).

And now, for my personal favorite! Being an annoying little pest.
A defense can't defend properly if an assassin keeps the pressure on them, and offense can't go on the offensive if an assassin slows them down. One of your best weapons is the fear that other players have of you. It's almost an instinct to most of them. Sees an assassin *blocks*. By using this to your advantage, you can get a lot of free hits in on cappers before they realize "This guy doesn't have redstone". Also, some of the weak armored classes don't have swords so they will either be much more cautious or much more aggressive, keep that in mind.

Map knowledge and observation is key.
If you know the map, you control your pursuers. You could say this for every class, but I find myself being chased a lot more as assassin then say, archer. Also, if you know the common routes for cappers, it's quite easy to anticipate where they will go based just on the first few seconds after they leave the flag room. A lot of the cappers (specifically @Ducksfan101 and @junebugulas) have this odd way of knowing whenever an assassin is going to come at them, so that's why you kill them while they're running back. You need to get in position with enough distance between you two so that they didn't see you get there. Also, watch their heads. Stay just to the side of them. Out of their FOV in F5 but also in first person. They can't stop you if they can't see you. It's like invisibility, but not, and it's much more difficult then pressing 4 when you're ninja.

Hopefully this makes you better, although a lot of regulars could probably be decent at Assassin just based on their other skills. Contrary to belief, Assassin (the way I play, at least) is more about thinking than acting.

 

@Sir_Inge But of course I surely wasn't talking about you heh...

 

@Rhos_ I think it's because of the negativity that comes with it. If you main assassin, you're gonna be "bullied", if you can even call it that.

 

Well if you play for as long as I did you'd know that you can't just sneak up on people like that xD Normally I would have to wait for 2, 3 sometimes 5 minutes to get an oppurtunity.