[Mystikat]

I apologize in advance for the noobish question, but I wanted to make sure I was doing this right.

As an up and coming Thief, I've just passed 60 and am loving Assassin. I have been building an AGI+ setup that I use for TA only, and I have a +DEX setup that I've been using for SA or SATA + Dancing Edge prior to 60. My question comes from when I want to TA+Dancing Edge the tank for hate. From what I've gathered, I need to keep the +AGI equipment on when I hit the mob after using Trick Attack to get the full damage spike. However, since AGI does nothing for Dancing Edge, I was curious if I should continue to swap in full +DEX for Dancing Edge when using TA+DE on the tank, or if I should have a separate Dancing Edge macro for Trick Attacks that keeps on the +AGI gear I macro in for it.

Trying not to be one of those sucky Thieves out there,

~Mysti

[Havok]

I don't understand people who don't read wiki before they commit to a new job, but here it goes:

TA/TAWS: Macro in agility.

SA/SAWS/SATA/SATAWS: Macro in dexerity.

For any instance of TAWS, macro-ing in hybrid items that offer DEX and AGI (ie; oily trousers, enkidu's Leggings) certainly don't hurt, but AGI is still king of the assassin trait.

[Matsuo]

^ this.

Also, I'm getting a bit of "do I need to keep the AGI on for the WS itself?" from your post. If not, ignore this, but your post was giving off that vibe. If that is part of your question, yes for both DEX/SA & AGI/TA, the stat gear must remain equipped during the attack the job ability is being applied to, as it is added as damage at that time.

[Tozi]

For TA only, AGI is king. For TA + a multi-hit weapon skill like DA, there are a few other things to consider.
1. TA will only guarantee that you will land the 1st hit of your weapon skill.
2. the added damage from the AGI will only affect the 1st hit of your weapon skill.

What this means is that adding all that AGI, will only grant adiitional damage to that 1st hit, and do nothing for the additional 4 (or 5 hits if you are /nin). The most important stat for consistent, high damage on Dancing Edge is ACC. Landing all hits of DA will do more damage than landing 3 or 4 hits, no matter what AGI gear you wear. When you're comfortable with your ACC, start adding in DEX. DEX is a modifier in DA, and will add damage to each hit of the weapon skill. DEX also has the added bonus of adding ACC and critical hit chance. Any gear that adds DEX and AGI at the same time is great. After the ACC and DEX, I'd fill any remaining equipment slots with AGI and attack.