The Spy tree and You. A guide to the Assassin.

**Montoia**

First off, i'm Montoia of Les Enfants Terribles on the Vector server. Most know me as quite the ruthless assassin on the current combat system. I've never used any sort of hacks and the other offensive trees I own are Duelist, SMG Specialist, and the Martial Arts trees. Needless to say, I've invested plenty of time into the Master Assassin tree in live, and it is my favorite of them all. It takes strategy to be a good assassin, especially if you don't use MKT as well, like me.

So I was a bit dismayed when I heard how bad the new tree is in CR2.0. I've been playing with them, and i'm confident now that I can stand with the best of the fighters, almost undefeated in any of the duels i've had in QA.

So to all you nay-sayers: The Spy tree is not broke.

First off, as you should already know, Spys rely on Thrown stats. Currently I have 30 Focus, 30 Perception, and 13 Vitality. As Machete told me "Max out two stats and throw the rest in Vitality." Been good so far.

Secondly, as much as I hate to admit it, Spy's will not be using interlock as much as we will ranged. Meaning if you are like me and simply wanted Master Assassin, you're outta luck. That tree has very little in free-fire attacks that don't require being stealthed. The Master Assassin tree is now secondary, as in my opinion and trial and error, Master Knife Thrower will be primary.

So if you're gonna go this route as a MKT/Assassin, you will find out that Find Weakness is your friend. Unlike live, it raises your Thrown damage, as opposed to lowering the targets resists. More damage is always a plus, noting the reduced damage output of MKT's. And of course with using ranged attacks, as well as sneak attacks, use the POWER tactic! It makes a world of difference!

Deadly Throw, Neuro dart, and Sever Artery all lower movement speed. So in the case of /duels, they are a must. A common tactic I use is as soon as the duel starts, turn to Grab tactic, break shield, might take another hit to break in some cases. Switch to Power, then hit with a Neuro dart. Suplex, then finish the poor **bleep** with knives in IL. Roll out and apply a punt for more fun!

In PvP, things get more complicated. As a merv, I will be on the recieving end of a zerg, so stealth is always handy. And now with our new Shield Jammer tool, killing will be much easier! When sneaking on an unsuspecting target, using the shield jammer will reveal you, but only for a second before you go back to sneak. MAKE SURE TO HAVE YOUR OWN EVADE ON!. 1 second is more than enough time for the target to grab you into IL. Then things get much tougher. Anywho, get thru his shield, Suplex or Diving Frankenstiener for max damage in Power tactic, use Backroll Escape to ensure a withdrawl from IL, and finish off with Free-Fire knives. Nothing to it.

This is only a basic guide to the Spy tree, i'm still figuring a lot of it out myself. Any additions/suggestions are welcome! I hope I helped someone out there with this! SMILEY

**krytical**

Militis

Very informative indeed

/ThumbsUp

RockyB

Great to see someone who likes the new spy tree. Good louck with it SMILEY

**Tytanya_MxO**

Good work Montoia the MKT branch does seem to be the better of the two, PvE I dont have any issues though for PvP I dont think we should just accept the Assassin has to remain so ineffective in isolation. I was also concerned by a thread elsewhere mind, that suggested the Suplex was to be nerfed as that seems pivotal in generating an adequet build.

**Montoia** · 03/26/2006 08:29:01

I doubt Suplex will be nerfed. It's not like other trees can spend 4 memory in this tree to get the ability. It's a stealth attack, and it does the damage it should.

Message Edited by Montoia on 03-26-200608:29 AM

Kivo

Mon the spy tree is broken. I'll explain...As you clearly stated all spy damage is based off of the Thrown style. This is far different than the old system as there were only two main styles, Melee and Ranged. However, in cr2.0, there are still only two styles usable in ranged combat and interlock. Those are of course melee ranged/IL and ballistic range/IL. This presents a major problem for a lot of spies, even if you are able to kill the majority of your opponents. All your specials will do Thrown damage, but once you IL or shoot at them, it reverts to melee/ballistic. Your stats and abilities are most likely not geared towards melee or ballistic attacks if you are a spy. Therefore, when you shoot at someone you will do very little damage, in my experience below 50 usually. However, gunman and martial artists can do hundreds with standard ranged or IL attacks.

My suggestion, which I have stated multiple times, is to make a spy combat system. This could be done in two relatively simple ways that I can see. First, you could make it look exactly like the Self Defense style, but with the spy buffs and any damage delt by it would be Thrown damage. Second, you could do basically the same thing but make freefire spy stuff look like thrown knives. I think either way would work, but something has to be done.

Last, but certainly not least, is single 1 on 1 IL. I have stated before that spies who rely on IL abilities such as Bulldog are more than severly nerfed with this. If the target is already in IL the spy cannot do any damage with IL spy attacks. The way to fix this is to make the IL attacks become freefire attacks when the target is already in IL. The attacks would still require Stealthed and to be behind the target, and would have a 4 second use timer so they would do the same damage as if they were in IL.

Spy may be decent in duels and okay in PvP, but go try to mission with it. Try to take on a few NPCs your level or above without HJ'ing away and coming back. The devs have stated that no build should have to HJ away from a group of 3 NPCs the same level as the player, so it's a good test of balance.

**Montoia**

Even in live, the Spy tree is definatly not for missioning. And I have taken plenty of NPC's my level out using my build. I do prefer the old spy tree over the new one, but they're not going to re-revamp it. This is just how it is now.

My 'Spy Style' martial arts lets me contend with Grandmasters. Not sure about anyone else. I'm rather starting to like the new spy tree.

**darkhaze**

like hackers..spies are not meant for interlock..they are supposed to be a quick hit for damage and withdrawl. nothin should be done to make them more effective in interlock. i do agree that some of the spy abilitys should be able to be used in freefire..like bulldog or punt..but i think the animations that would require will keep this from happening. good post monty

**Tytanya_MxO**

Broke or not the spy tree has been overnerfed, Spy's have got a raw deal relative to all other tree's and it should be a priority for attention by the devs.

timmydaman

Good explaination, but everyone else is whining but they shouldnt be spy is not a main tree meant for interlock

**Pyroclasam**

I really can't understand everyone's claims that the spy is broken. Fine, your moves do thrown damage, your stats are specced for thrown damage but hey guess what, if you are a spy worth your salt your stats are also specced for Melee Damage Resistance, the same stats ALSO just so happens to increase melee damage. Ergo even when moving to just your normal punches and kicks you can crank out decent damage. If you still don't think that's enough, every spy tree now has a host of knife attacks they can fall back on which do your thrown damage. If you make good use of the shield jammer then you can have your target defenceless and unable resist your attacks.

As for how to keep landing those sneak attacks, the distance you need between you and a hostile to activate sneak or invisability successfully is not all that far. I also reccomend looking into the master shadow tree as it has the highest DPS on a sneak attack I have seen (I think it's Driving Frankensteiner). They have also added ranged Sneak Attacks which are a VERY nice thing to have, espescially if your target aint expecting spies. I took 1,200 damage off a leg throw because I forgot to turn on my Hyper-Sense.

As far as I'm concerned the spy tree HAS improved, several formerly useless branches are now versetaille and VERY handy and over all it can just kick butt now espescially with the new interlock system that doesn't punish you for low combat tactics by ensuring that you never win a round.

Kivo

Pyro read my post on the previous page. I explained that even though you may have a little of the right stats, it doesn't do much because your title buff and other built in buffs of the tree are only thrown damage buffs, no other types of damage is applied.

**Pyroclasam**

Never said it would keep you from being WHOOPED by an MA in Interlock. Hell as a spy you should get out of interlock ASAP, I'm just saying it should HELP a little.

Besides that when you need a quick escape you have back roll, side flip, Smoke Bomb, Canny Strike that can get you out of interlock in a hurry. I'm still saying Spy is not broken or useless or unbalanced, people just need to remember that it is NOT a martial arts tree and it has a totally different play style.

**Wendigo**

For anyone who thinks the Spy Tree is too weak:

Go on the Playtest Server right now. There are a host of Spy and Hybrid Spy builds owning PvP right now. It's to the point where you can't get a straight fight in anymore, because every MA has some spy tossed in too. Spy works fine.