Possessed Mines and Possessed Rockets (oh my!)

[mjmxiii]

Nice work gathering information on these toons. I have 4* LVL 80 Assassin and Gunner Possessed Mines, mostly because they look cool... Energy Talisman sets on both (helps raise their low HP stats and keeps team power at 12) with Assassin Barrier talis in Assassin's mandatory slots and Penetrating x2 in the mandatory slot for the Gunner. The only thing that has kept me from flipping them to 5* is their terrible timing. I never have been able to get into a rhythm with em in that sense. They work well with all of my Eddies and keep the power attacks fully loaded when the flow is right.

[Ringe666-7406]

Assassin mind is great with both healing and buff blocking... Decent damage too. Yellow rockets are good for 60% freeze chance (in team with red axis bomber or purple troll, freeze is almost mandatory), but it lacks AoE... I think high chance is redemption for that... As for the red rockets, I play them atm and they are strong af. A bit ungrateful for burning talismans since the target circle is not synced best, but does a really really high damage for a random char.

[Piece of Mind]

Heads up to fans of Gunner Possessed Rockets - they got buffed in the last few updates and now have 3 gold talisman slots and all-round great stats in addition to the Energize passive. I'm thinking 3 Thief and 3 Energy talismans for power and fury generator that makes use of the multiple-hit AoE basic attack. What do you think?

[Kardas]

I've been thinking: since the Assassin Mine's attack consists of 2 hits per character, it could do decently with proc Talismans. The Void set is good for its survival, and similarly Vampire Talismans help keep it alive. Your damage will go down a little bit though.

Still, I've been using it with full Skill Shards for a few months now, and I think I can give it a bit of an in-depth write-up.

Pros:
- Damage is pretty good, as is the case for an Assassin. ATK and MAGIC together may be inferior to straight up True damage, but it's easier to buff (with a PDK or Warrior CotD for instance).
- Heal is still quite strong, and even better if you have a lot of buffs running.
- Rules in the Gunner Dungeon. A Gunner LoL casting a Fury whose effects got blocked becomes a lot more manageable.

Cons:
- That health is still crap. I get it, the Mine is a glass cannon whose death explosion deals damage to people but:
--> The damage is lackluster and the Mine is still worth more alive
--> Requires a reviver (Pharaoh, Vampire Hunter, Grim Reaper, PWS) in the party to truly make use of it.
--> Easily exploited by enemy Angel of Fear and Assassin/Warrior CotD. Using him in Underworld makes that into a liability.
--> The Prisoner laughs at that Passive.
- The required red Talisman makes little sense because:
--> MAGIC is marginally more important for the Mine because that is needed for the heal.
--> Ruins a set up of 2 sets of 3 Talismans. A Void and a Vampiric set would be an interesting supportive glass cannon variant. A purple and Thief/Invisibility/Energy/Blind/Freeze set would also be fun options.
--> If you want more health via a set of Health Talismans, the ATK and MAGIC stats of the Mine will be thrown out of balance, which is annoying.
- For an AoE attacker blocking Beneficial Effects, the Pharaoh Sun Spirit is still better because:
--> PSS's blocking beneficial effects function is AoE like his attack, unlike the Mine.
--> PSS can take more of a hit.
--> Less hamstrung by required Talisman slots.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I still like the Mine and think it's the third best Assassin you can get out of a common GA soul (topped by Storm Eddie and the Assassin Golden Son), but it's got a lot of untapped potential.

[Piece of Mind]

Thanks for the insight Kardas! Would it be okay if I added it to the OP?

I did try to make use of the mine's weird talisman slots with 2 Shock, 2 Burning, and 2 those-Assassin-talismans-that-boost-MAG-and-only-require-two. Sentinel Rockets got a great boost in that both its stats and talisman slots got buffed, the Mine could use that too...

[Kardas]

Thanks for the insight Kardas! Would it be okay if I added it to the OP?

Yeah, that's totally fine

I did try to make use of the mine's weird talisman slots with 2 Shock, 2 Burning, and 2 those-Assassin-talismans-that-boost-MAG-and-only-require-two. Sentinel Rockets got a great boost in that both its stats and talisman slots got buffed, the Mine could use that too...

That sounds like an interesting idea. I mean, it won't help its Health at all, but those proc Talismans could be quite useful

[Piece of Mind]

That sounds like an interesting idea. I mean, it won't help its Health at all, but those proc Talismans could be quite useful

Only the devs (piece of mind be upon them) can help its health now

[Kardas]

Since the Assassin Mine got its Talisman slots changed I have a bit of Talisman commentary on it (and the Gunner Rockets)

If you have a character that deals both magic and physical damage, purple Talismans feel like a better deal as opposed to a red and blue set together, as without set bonuses, a fully maxed purple Talisman has as much ATK as a red one and as much MAGIC as a blue one, while also having their HP and DEF/MR bonus.

Since someone discovered that Void Talismans have a chance of Removing Beneficial Effects, I'd suggest equipping the Mine with those instead of Assassin Talismans, as it complements his Expire move well. Now that 3 slots are purple too, I recommend a Void (Shield) set, a Health (Ward) set, and one last purple (Barrier) Talisman. This will give you about as much offensive power as my previous 3 purple, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 red loadout with a lot more health.

Not sure if he'll be a good choice for PVP though, for 2 reasons:
1. Angels of Fear everywhere
2. That health is still low. If Caretaker complains about his Warrior Imp not having enough health even with 3 green Talismans on it, there's no way the Assassin Mine will. If you have a clever way around though, feel free to try him out in there.

As for the Gunner Rockets, now that multi-hit proc Talismans got nerfed there's not much of a reason to use Burn Talismans on him. Also, because his MAGIC is higher than his ATK, you'll get a bigger ATK bonus out of Assassin Talismans compared to Strength Talismans. Of course, Void and Vampiric are still good options to consider.