Thoughts on assassins in Incursion

Battleborn Battleborn Competitive Multiplayer Discussion
#1

It always seems to be a 50/50 for me. As an assassin, I will either succeed greatly, or crash and burn. The most reliable assassin I’ve played on incursion is Deande. With pendles, being outside of stealth is risky with too many enemy Battleborn around…ill get to that though. With Pheobe, it’s a similar situation. I realise assassins aren’t 1v2/3 type characters, but in a game mode that requires the team to be together to push forward, it’s hard for assassins to really do…anything, unless the rest of the team paves a way for you to get some kills. Getting kills allows you to push further. It’s the assassins job to scope the battlefield, pick a target that’s vulnerable, and take them out (or at least I’m assuming it is so correct me if I’m wrong :confused:)

When an enemy team is grouped up together, it becomes almost impossible to do anything without getting melted. Once you’re in that situation, you almost can’t do anything. As soon as you try to pick of a target, you get destroyed by the enemy team before you can even escape. And at this point, you just feel detrimental to your own team.

My point is, do you feel assassins rely on their team to pave a way for them? To allow them opportunities to pick of targets? Or is it possible for an assassin to carry a team? This is exclusively incursion. Whenever I choose an assassin, it’s always a risk. But maybe I’m personally just not that great with assassins on incursion. Thoughts?

#2

You exactly described my experience when playing assassins on Incursion. Unlike Meltdown where their are two lanes which allows you to sneak into a fight everything in Incursion is stuffed into one lane so a melee assassin that isn’t cautious enough will be targeted very fast especially against a fully ranged team. It’s going to be hard to farm minions and get kills which is your job. It is possible to carry a team as an assassin but it’s much harder and it only happened to me with Deande.

It also depends on map, Overgrowth is by far the worst. The middle area is very small and exposed without many ways to approach it, the shock turret also increases the difficulty for melee characters.
On monuments I’m not sure, the long lanes combines with different ways to approach the middle area and sentries gives room for assassins to gank but sometimes without even average teamwork I still struggle on it because you are still very exposed.
Echelon is where I feel the most confident, the walls hiding the first sentry along with the staircase force most ranged characters to expose themselves a little more to deal damage as well and give you more cover. The route under the lane also help you to escape especially with the supply station. My strategy on Echelon is always to lurk next to the walls next to entrance to sentry entrance where I can’t be seen by enemies, try to get a kills and if a fail escape to the supply station.

The map design of Incursion imo is just not melee friendly and especially assassin friendly.

Edit: An exception to this is Melka, being ranged, small and extremely mobile make it easier to attack and escape and kill more reliably.

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#3

I agree that playing an assassin can be pretty bad when you’re pushed back or the enemy is grouped up. They’re really only good in even fights (1v1, 2v2, ect.) or ganks, where they aren’t taking too much fire from multiple targets or they have a distraction.

Most assassin’s only initiator is also their only escape (with the notable exception of Deande, which is why she performs so well).

I honestly pump max health on assassins and use them as midlane pushers, rather than for singling out and killing targets (which something any battleborn can do, with few exceptions)

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#4

Huh, I can’t play Deande well in Overgrowth but I routinely pull 20+ kills there with Phoebe once I get going

#5

It is possible for an assassin to carry a team, however you need some support in form of healing or shielding and the right timing for when to rush in. If the enemy team is grouped up, it’s your job to find a way to distract them (for example with Deande’s holotwin) and lure one or two of them to you. As an assassin you have to know your territory well and use it to your advantage. Lure them into your territory where you can pick them off. You should always have an escape plan. Most of the assassins do have an ability or helix that allows them to escape. Try and save that one until the very end unless you are 100% sure that you can kill them.

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#6

With pendles, I managed to lure I few people back to thier base. That allowed my team to push forward slightly. I can’t remember if we won or not. But I’ve sacrificed myself before to cause a distraction and give my team the room they needed to push. I remember four of my team members chasing down a benedict back to our base. That was a silly mistake, considering it meant that the enemy team could now easily push. I was Ambra and had the ultimate and staff knock back ready so I was able to hold them back until they returned, still.

#7

Back at their base is a bad place to fight. If you lure them there, don’t start a fight. Just try to keep them busy by getting their thralls for example. If they are fighting the thrall with half HP and don’t have uncloaking you might be able to kill one or both of them, just make sure there are no turrets and stuff.

#8

You could always pick the greatest 1v3 assassin game. Boldur.

#9

Well if your assasin can do his job thats because your team is lacking a disruptor. A pull or push helps to scater the enemy formation.

Thats why Ernest is so annoying, galth and shane are good at this, a good Kelvin can set up kills for your snipers, etc.

Edit: thats why Gali is so good… She is a disruptor, assasin and tank…

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#10

I am glad that I was not the only one experiencing these assassin dilemmas. At times, I couldn’t stand how team dependent some were. Sometimes I want to kill things…sometimes I want to rampage…sometimes I get impatient waiting in the shadows to secure kills…
Well off to killing minions…let us not not think about it

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#11

But that is why I also play BBs like Galilea. For reasons stated above. She is a hard hitting disrupter. If a Galilea jumps into your group from out of the blue damn sky, you have no choice but to scatter a bit or pay the price of your life/taking massive amounts of damage for not paying attention…
Then your hungry lions can move in to secure the kills. The stragglers, the ill.
But even that…is too team dependent for my tastes. Sometimes I do not have the patience for all of that. Especially if your team isn’t even pushing to make a move like that…your team decides that they want to play too “defensive”…that is not helping us assassins out.

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#12

That’s another thing, when the team is too defensive, there isn’t much room for offense for the assassin. I’m not saying an assassin needs teammates to help with kills, but when faced with more than one enemy, your team should at least assist. Instead they stay back and play it safe, too safe. Sometimes you have to be reckless.

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#13

Exactly, and that is usually when everything begins to fall downhill for you -_-

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#14

Or you can stay back, help with minions and kill reckless ppl who over extend.

The only time i feel my team is over defensive is when they scater their dmg to push all the team away instead to focuse dmg…

Example: i was galth we had 2 kid ultra attikus and reyna.

Everytime i was out trying to hook ambra, deande would come and help her. All my team would focuse on their benedict or deande… Both have amazing skills to get out of combat, instead of help me out with ambra.

Sometimes ppl just dont know who is the right target to focuse fire… Thats why i love to play reyna, i literaly tell pubs what to do with my skills

#15

I do feel this is true, but the same can be said for any role, healers need the damage dealers to pave the way and protect them, tanks and defender can push but even they need fall back. It takes proper teamwork to make any role shine and ultimately win the match.[quote=“AForestTroll, post:1, topic:1549522”]
Or is it possible for an assassin to carry a team?
[/quote]

it is possible but very unlikely, the only way i see is if there is a very large difference in skill on both teams where your skill would be the highest.

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#16

Erm… Yeah… Just gonna say this but

Mellka
Phoebe
Pendles
Deande

All these can back door any incursion map… 1 thrall can change the tide of battle … Done this many times… If your teams is pushed back to ur sentry just backdoor to there thrall and kill it as someone try and kill it both you and the thrall will kill the enemy means u steal there thrall

Assassins are not just out to get kills… They also there to backdoor enemy lines and take down there buildables and sneaky capture there thralls

The only assassin that cannot do this job is rath… Because he cannot back door because his double jump cannot reach ledges like the other assassins can

Also he doesnt have the skills for it like the other assassins

Mellka can reach insane heights with claw lung> spike jump > helix air stall

Phoebe can teleport in and when her shields break teleport out

Deande can get height aswell with drop kick > burst dash > holotwin… Also she can holotwin out if she in danger

Pendles can stealth was into enemy base… throw smoke bomb… Take health damage… Smoke bomb out

Rath… Got nothing… crossblade … Catalysm smash… Double jump… Yeah he cannot back door

If you cannot backdoor… Just get a free shard gen gear and a reduce cost of buildables… And make runs to build everythink to tier 3 and keep pushing out thralls and mx bots … you will stay in level with ur team … Also when u turn level 5 you turn useful and then can go for kills against the enemy… Until level 5 you really cannot do much

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#17

The big issue with being an Assassin on Incursion is that you have to be very careful not to fall behind. If the enemy is a higher level, you’re screwed. I often like to take a 0 cost shard gen and buildable cost reducer to ere on the side of caution, as a tight, coordinated enemy makes ganks difficult and tagging minions for exp can be tough for someone like Pendles.

Unlike the other assassins, Rath can poke very, very well and get minion tags with ease via Smash. Eating a smash w/e it’s on cooldown is a major annoyance for the other team as well.

#18

It’s because the maps don’t support very good assassin play because people are usually never alone or in 1v1 situations.

Which is why I usually stay away from picking things like Melka, Caldy, Deande because they require that 1v1 situation and if you play with diligent players this doesn’t happen due to how the map is played.

Like Deande specific. If I’m in the game you better be extremely specific with who you choose to ulti because if I see it: you die. She can be stunned in it (got some pretty coo ghalt trap clips), she can be damaged during it, so she almost never ends up with a full duration. Makes her pretty sub par at every thing else without upper cut. I mean if she doesn’t catch Orendi its pretty game over. More often then not she doesn’t do much because perfect combos from her don’t happen without the game being chaotic.

There’s a reason playing tank Deande became a thing with my friends. More so, the attack speed buff, but yeah. Something something there was a point somewhere.

#19

Mellka is a superb assassin in Monuments - maybe the best for that map. Her biggest threat in Overgrowth is maybe the shock turret in mid. Sure, that thing is a problem for everyone, but it’s especially frustrating that it’ll arc to her no matter how evasive she is.