Assassin's Strike Not Going Off

[Apparition]

A couple of friends of mine raved about Stalkers for months, so I finally made one a while ago.  Fiery Melee/Energy Aura Stalker, level 50.  I really do like it, but there's one thing that I really dislike.  For whatever reason, Assassin's Strike does not go off sometimes.  I don't have any hard numbers, but I'd say probably somewhere around 20% - 25% of the time.  I know that I'm in melee range.  I didn't move, the mob didn't move, and the animation will start... but nothing happens, and the Assassin's Strike power icon shows that I did not actually use it.  Sometimes not even the animation starts.  Then I have to hit AS one or two more times to actually land it, and by that time the mob is usually dead already.

 

I never heard of this problem by others, so I thought maybe it was just me or the way that I play, and just stuck with it.  But it got annoying enough that I mentioned it to some friends, and one of them mentioned that it happens to her as well.  So it's not just me.

 

FWIW, I play by keeping my left hand over WASD, and my right hand on the mouse.  I have no idea if that makes a difference, but thought I'd mention it.

 

Any ideas?

[Pzn]

Sounds like you're momentarily hidden and trying to activate the interruptible version.  Could you be triggering the chance to hide proc and attempting to use AS after?

 

[kiramon]

For the Interruptible version, your character actually is moving if you dont want for the server to catch up a sec,... so if you are moving and try do it immediately after stopping, it wont work... cuz technically you're still moving.

 

Might not be what's happening, but it could be that

[Omega-202]

It's kind of a known finnicky thing with slow AS and slow snipes.  Pretty sure its always been a thing since I1, as I recall it being an issue on my baby Energy Blaster hover sniping his way through Perez.  

 

You might think you're not moving, but for some reason, the game thinks you are and the animation gets interrupted.  

 

It's part of the reason I don't use the slow versions any more, now that fast AS and snipes are a thing.  

[Apparition]

5 minutes ago, Omega-202 said:

It's kind of a known finnicky thing with slow AS and slow snipes.  Pretty sure its always been a thing since I1, as I recall it being an issue on my baby Energy Blaster hover sniping his way through Perez.  

 

You might think you're not moving, but for some reason, the game thinks you are and the animation gets interrupted.  

 

It's part of the reason I don't use the slow versions any more, now that fast AS and snipes are a thing.  

Yeah.  I played a few different Stalkers between Issues 6 and 12, and IIRC I kept encountering this issue back then as well and eventually stopped playing them.

[Omega-202]

2 minutes ago, Apparition said:

Yeah.  I played a few different Stalkers between Issues 6 and 12, and IIRC I kept encountering this issue back then as well and eventually stopped playing them.

If it helps, you really don't need to ever use slow AS, and if anything, slow AS is usually a poor use of your Hide crit.  With today's fast paced, AoE focused metagame, it's usually better to use your opener on your strongest AoE, even if you only have a 50% crit chance on it.  

[Saikochoro]

Yeah I’ve had this happen before. I think it does probably have to do with the server catching up and thinking you are still moving. 
 

I rarely use slow assassins strike. I pretty much only use the fast version. But when I do use the slow version, I wait a split second before casting it and that seems to resolve most of the issue. 
 

Though honestly fast assassins strike with the stealth proc into your heavy hitter is where it’s at 😁

[tidge]

It still happens, but not at the 20% rate. Less than 1% of the time: AS will animate, but not record a hit (or miss) in the logs or with a visual indicator. The surest way to observe this (very rare) is with a /Bio stalker and turn on offensive adaptation... the extra damage will register, but the AS will not. This can happen whether Hidden or not.

 

If you have run up to a target with 'follow' and then the target moves, the AS will be interrupted. The same happens with any WASD movement.

 

There has been an observed effect that clicking the AS power (or hitting the keyed number) will not trigger the power. This is more common, but only occurs when Hidden. I think one of the older Stalker Guides mentions this as well. As near as I can tell, this is due to some asynchronicity between the client and server checking/keeping track of different things (different animations, Hidden status, and such).

 

It does take a little bit of getting used to the last two effects.. Stalkers are not simple button mashers.

[Apparition]

Okie, so it's definitely not just me then.  I'll just write the AT off as something not for me.  Thanks!

[Mr. Vee]

Don't write it off without trying it without using AS from hide as Omega described. Crazy speedy crit-happy stalkering is really fun.