Guild Wars 2

Everyone seems to hate on Assassin’s gear saying full zerk is better, but I don’t think this blanket statement is universally true.

As far as I can calculate, if you aren’t in a position to backstab (e.g. soloing) and don’t have other +critical chance or +precision modifiers other than Fury (i.e. no banner of discipline), mixing in 2-3 pieces of assassin’s gear can actually increase DPS.

Factors which favor Zerk are group play (easier backstab and banners etc.), and factors which favor Assassin’s are high Power (e.g. Bloodlust sigil shifts favor slightly toward assassin’s, as does traiting high in power) and lower critical chance (e.g. not using signet of Agility, or not having access to Fury).

Just thought I’d throw that out there, since I hate absolute statements.

If you want to know it more precisely when it’s better to switch some Berserker gear with Assassin gear:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/85254-power-vs-precision-berserkers-vs-assassins/

pve assassin’s gear ok
Precision rune(Rune of Lyssa)
+Assassin’s armor
+Assassin weapon(without precision signets)
+Trait
+Agility signet
=80% crit chance + fury=100% crit chance

WWW heavy armor targets->assassin’s gear useless

Cool, thanks for the chart Desert – handy reference, and captures all the relevant factors without getting bogged down in specific traits/bonuses etc.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone say that Zerker is ALWAYS better, but it is better unless you already have a ridiculously high amount of power through Might/Bloodlust stacks. You’re almost always better off with Power over Precision, and the chart linked basically says exactly that.