Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

[harbinger]

Always wondered why there is no "shadow clone" skills for the canthan assassin... Could be a nice elite no?

Shadow clones :
10-15 mana 60 sec cooldown 3 sec cast
easily interrupted, cause exhaustion.
For (10-45)sec the assassin summon (1-6) level (10-16) clones.

How does it work :
The assassin summon the clones. They appear in a puff of black smoke around the caster...

Clones use only the attack skills in you skill bar, they cannot use spells.
Clones attack the target designated by the assassin only.

Each clones killed make you lose 5 energy.
If the assassin has no more energy, because too much clones where killed, because a mesmer pumped up you mana or simply because you manage your mana like poo, then the shadow clones all disappear.
If the caster is killed then the clones disappear

Why :
Necro can summon beasts and minion. Clones could be a useful way to compensate if no necro available.

Possible counters :
Clones are succeptible to any conditions a human player would experience... This means :
Clones can be blinded rendering them inneffective
Clones can be trapped, charred, enfeebled, knocked down
Clones are not allies, so IWAY have no effect sorry :P

Let me know what PvP people think of that one, what could make it better balanced etc...

[Grim Daddy]

I can’t speak on the behalf of ArenaNet, but I give you my personal speculations from being around some Assassins and trying out the Assassin as a sub-profession.

Personally, Shadow Clone seems much more reminiscent of the Naruto vidoes that I keep finding on www.gametrailers.com that I find under User Movies. The tactics that I’ve seen work well on a consistent basis remind me of the methods described by the ninja on www.askaninja.com.

The mantra that I’ve seen from most of these Assassins can be best paraphrased from this excerpt from the 17th "Ask a Ninja" pod-cast: "If a ninja does anything anywhere, he doesn't make a sound. And if he does make a sound, it's probably gonna be the last sound you ever hear."—Ask A Ninja: Question 17.

As to whether or not a skill called Shadow Clone should exist for the Assassin, I can’t say for sure. I could see a lot of potential for such a skill in the Deadly Arts attribute line, just to give the Assassin something a little different to do.

I’m going to strongly recommend that you find someone else’s opinion, preferably someone that knows the ins and outs of Assassins instead of someone who’s only familiar with a few parts.

[STINGER]

Maybe if it was only 1 at a time and very costly it wouldnt be so bad but if its 6 at a pop wether it is easily interruptable or not that is out of hand. They also cant have your full skill bar that is too strong. You basically are asking for a Pet that is as powerfull as yourself but stupid.

Minions, pets, Rit Spirits......these things arent big hitting, but when you mass them up it turns into a big increase in the DPS coming from your team. If you can summon 6 guys in one cast it would be like adding 120+ damage per 1.33 seconds or better just on normal attacks alone......(basing this number on 20/attack without a skill). Now lets all be Sins.......56 vs 8???

Not that it would never happen, but it definetly cant happen as you discribed.

[harbinger]

Mmmmmh...

8) I am not a huge fan of Naruto (especially the in game Narutos...) but I deemed the clone technique would be fun to have for assassins :P

So I still believe clones technique could make it to the game one day... :)

Let say :
- Shadow art. Shadow clones...
Enchantment.
You summon a lot of clones that don't do damage but are there to confuse enemy. They "attack" your target but don't do any damage (remember, they are just decoys).

Each time someone want to hit them, the damage counter gives a "evaded". After all, a shadow can't receive damage... And it's a relatively safe indication you might be hitting a ghost... Although the smart assassin can use shadow form or flashing blade to cover himself up and seed doubt in the enemies mind...

A smart party will take enchantment dissipation to wipe out the illusion. That's that simple :) (you can't fool a mesmer...)

Maybe if it was only 1 at a time and very costly it wouldnt be so bad but if its 6 at a pop wether it is easily interruptable or not that is out of hand.
Minions, pets, Rit Spirits......these things arent big hitting, but when you mass them up it turns into a big increase in the DPS coming from your team.

Mmmmmmh (again)

- Deadly art. Doppelganger (no "s", it's a single)
Hex spell.
When you hit a target affected by this hex with a dual hand attack, this summon a clone that attack your target (reminiscent of the celestial elite in Raisu). The damage you deal (you and your clone) is divided by 3-1 (which mean, the more atttribute you put on deadly art, the less firepower you lose)

Now, the shadow clones are shadows, they can't do body block or influence iway etc...

The doppelganger deals less damage unless you specialize in deadly art. It's not like a pet, more like a flesh golem. And even if it counts like a pet, beastmasters are far from being overpowerful... so it would not shift balance that way...

:lol: Anyway, if they find it fun, the people at ArenaNet will now what to do to make it balanced I am sure :D

[Innoccence]

I agree with what Stinger is saying, if it wasn't so costly I'd use the skill :). And perhaps there could be only one resulting in something like this:

Skill: Shadow Clone (Sacrifce 50% Health and Duplicates a form of the Caster as a Shadow. This clone will only use the skills that the Caster uses. This clone dies in 30...160 seconds, if killed the caster is crippled for 4..12 seconds. (Attribute: Shadow Arts))

Something like that? And as you raised in Shadow Arts the Cripple second count would fall and the Shadows length would rise. And as you said it could be an Elite Skill so that you couldn't just go off on any characer and buy it from a Skills person.