"Initiative" – Black Desert Online [Ninja PvP]

"Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door." - Kyle Chandler Back in 2011, I played Perfect World International as an Assassin. In many ways, PWI's Assassin and BDO's Ninja were very similar - both were originally designed as single target skirmishers; both were designed to be glass cannons; and neither of them are going to be your top pick for "frontline in mass pvp". But, my PWI guild, Regenesis, had other plans... See, we had to fight against 3 other guilds simultaneously every week in something called Territory War (similar idea to BDO's Node War), and that meant that we needed to constantly innovate new strategies if we wanted to stay on top. From these innovations, is where my style of playing Assassin as a frontline class first originated. Of course, like all things, it was easier done in theory than in practice. What I was expected to do was to act as a vanguard - i.e. go in, use my high damage to cause chaos and secure a forward position, then pull back and let ranged classes move in and finish the job. What actually happened was that I died. A lot. But that is only to be expected. After all, not only was I going against the original design of my class, but the fact that my gear was very much below average didn't help much either. For comparison, on BDO, I am now softcap in a little over 8 month; but on PWI, it took me around 3 years to get something equivalent (which is quite a step up by comparison). Nevertheless, my guild still saw value in what I did. Because what ultimately mattered is that we were up 1v3, and our best bet was to kill 2 of the weaker guilds as fast as possible. We didn't have time to turtle or approach things slowly. We needed to get in and out in under 6 minutes, and if that meant we needed to force our way through, then so be it. So I persisted in my role, and the rest is history. However, to have performed my role for so long meant that I fundamentally shifted my mindset. I was no longer a glass cannon damage dealer, I was a frontline support. K/D ratio didn't matter, it was about the objective. My guild pushing forward was more important than my personal survival. And most important of all, I had to learn to force engagements, make opportunities happen when they needed to happen, not just take them as they come - time is of the essence. Good things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. Now, even 6 years after I left my guild on PWI, what I've learned continues to drive my decision making process today, and will most likely continue to shape my future gameplay for years to come. So while some may say that I should wait for opportunity to knock before making my move, what I've practiced all these years was instead to take initiative and just beat down the door myself. It is for that reason that despite being an assassin class, you may nevertheless see me being the one to initiate the engagement - some of which is showcased in this video. It is not because I intend to outgear everyone, and it is not because I am playing recklessly on purpose for montage footage. It is just what I believe needs to be done. After all, it's better to have lost than done nothing at all, say nothing at all... I hope you enjoy the video! Music: Shogun feat. Tania Zygar - Find Me Character: CollegeTuition - Lv. 62 Ninja - Family AllLuckNoSkill Gear: https://imgur.com/M4m0RyK 551 GS 255 AP / 255 AAP / 296 DP