Level 78 Assasin, now what?

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Hi,

my SP Assasin needs some advice on where to put her final points until
level 85 - about 12 skill points. So far, she has:

Death Sentry: 5
BoS : 5
Shadow Mast.: 14
Tiger Strike: 20
Dragon Tail : 20
Pre-Reqs : 19

Damage is very nice due to her DEATH ethereal Silver-Edged Axe with about
448-795 damage. DT would reach 3.1 attacks with BoS 15 and additional 50%
IAS - is it worth it as finisher kick? TS reaches 2.5 attacks with BoS 10
and 40%IAS. Or BoS 12 and 35%IAS..

I've only very rarely used Death Sentry, so I wonder if any more points
would really improve it?

OTOH, Cloak of Shadows is my favorite crowd control skill. With +skills, I
can cast it at level 6.
Is the stun length of Mind Blast reduced in Hell? And can it be enhanced by
cold charms?

Pre-buffed, I cast a level 26 Shadow Master. Should he get any more points
or is that enough already?

I have a LawBringer phase blade on weapon switch. I take it the +damage%
against Undead doesn't show on the LCS? But it still would add up with my
merc's might aura and Tiger Strike? Dragon Talon could be a nice finisher
here?

I usually try to keep skill switching at a minimum, as it just takes too
much time in the middle of a battle.

Thanks,

Oliver

 

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Oliver Wenzel schrieb:
> Hi,
>
> my SP Assasin needs some advice on where to put her final points until
> level 85 - about 12 skill points. So far, she has:
>
> Death Sentry: 5
> BoS : 5
> Shadow Mast.: 14
> Tiger Strike: 20
> Dragon Tail : 20
> Pre-Reqs : 19

I asked myself the same question with my TS/DT Assa I had in the last
season. I placed quite a few points in Dragon Talon, but never really
used that skill. So I don't know .

> Damage is very nice due to her DEATH ethereal Silver-Edged Axe with about
> 448-795 damage. DT would reach 3.1 attacks with BoS 15 and additional 50%
> IAS - is it worth it as finisher kick? TS reaches 2.5 attacks with BoS 10
> and 40%IAS. Or BoS 12 and 35%IAS..

I'm curious: What is the displayed damage with fully charged up TS when
switching to DT?

> I've only very rarely used Death Sentry, so I wonder if any more points
> would really improve it?

Yes. For me, DS is a 'max or nothing' skill. The increased range helps
so much keeping the chain reaction going.

> OTOH, Cloak of Shadows is my favorite crowd control skill. With +skills, I
> can cast it at level 6.
> Is the stun length of Mind Blast reduced in Hell? And can it be enhanced by
> cold charms?

For CoS: the lower the better. My current Dragon Talon chick has only +1
skill. She never has to wait until CoS wears off before moving to the
next pack of ranged attackers.

I'm not sure about stun lenght, but I think not. Cold charms won't help
at all, I'm sure.

> Pre-buffed, I cast a level 26 Shadow Master. Should he get any more points
> or is that enough already?

Methinks it's better to have SM as high as possible than wasting the
points in another skill like I did.

> I have a LawBringer phase blade on weapon switch. I take it the +damage%
> against Undead doesn't show on the LCS? But it still would add up with my
> merc's might aura and Tiger Strike? Dragon Talon could be a nice finisher
> here?

Yes, yes and yes .

> I usually try to keep skill switching at a minimum, as it just takes too
> much time in the middle of a battle.

But you release fully charged TS with DT? I mean, that's the point of
this build, isn't it.

---
Hannes

 

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Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

On Mon, 02 May 2005 09:20:42 +0200, Hannes Brunner wrote:

> Oliver Wenzel schrieb:
>> Hi,
>>
>> my SP Assasin needs some advice on where to put her final points until
>> level 85 - about 12 skill points. So far, she has:
>>
>> Death Sentry: 5
>> BoS : 5
>> Shadow Mast.: 14
>> Tiger Strike: 20
>> Dragon Tail : 20
>> Pre-Reqs : 19

You should put enough points in Venom until at least the
duration is long enough for you when you buff it on switch.
After that, I think Venom is good place for spare skill points
that aren't needed elsewhere. Increasing the stun length
from Mind Blast is another possible place for spare points.


>> I've only very rarely used Death Sentry, so I wonder if any more points
>> would really improve it?
>
> Yes. For me, DS is a 'max or nothing' skill. The increased range helps
> so much keeping the chain reaction going.

My DT Girl has DS maxed and I still feel like a Trap Skiller would
probably be more valuable to her than a Shadow Skiller. Her lvl 22
DS radius is still noticeably less powerful than the ~lvl30 radius
one gets with a trapper.

>> OTOH, Cloak of Shadows is my favorite crowd control skill. With +skills, I
>> can cast it at level 6.
>> Is the stun length of Mind Blast reduced in Hell? And can it be enhanced by
>> cold charms?
>
> For CoS: the lower the better. My current Dragon Talon chick has only +1
> skill. She never has to wait until CoS wears off before moving to the
> next pack of ranged attackers.

Though at lvl 2 you will have to re-cast fairly often and the other CoS
effects are a bit helpful at higher levels (interesting thing about the
defense bonus is that it actually multiplies rather than stacks with
other defense bonuses). I feel that lvl 4-5 would be my optimum compromise
if I could always pick this independently. It's a shame about the
timer thing or CoS might be worth maxing.


> I'm not sure about stun lenght, but I think not. Cold charms won't help
> at all, I'm sure.

Mind Blast stun length is the same on hell and norm level. It does
physical damage and I've never heard of it carrying any charm effects
other than +Shadow skills.

>> Pre-buffed, I cast a level 26 Shadow Master. Should he get any more
>> points or is that enough already?
>
> Methinks it's better to have SM as high as possible than wasting the
> points in another skill like I did.

It's good for all chars to have SM high enough that she doesn't need
to be recast too often. Beyond that, it depends on whether she is
actually expected to make kills or just provide distraction. SM is
less of a killer with a kicker build because she doesn't kick and
therefore doesn't benefit from a higher skill level for kicks.

 

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Hi,

Hannes Brunner <bruhan12@web.de> wrote in
news:3dm2mbF6qprl6U1@individual.net:

> Oliver Wenzel schrieb:
>> Damage is very nice due to her DEATH ethereal Silver-Edged Axe with
>> about 448-795 damage. DT would reach 3.1 attacks with BoS 15 and
>> additional 50% IAS - is it worth it as finisher kick? TS reaches 2.5
>> attacks with BoS 10 and 40%IAS. Or BoS 12 and 35%IAS..
>
> I'm curious: What is the displayed damage with fully charged up TS
> when switching to DT?

11-18K damage at skill level 24. AR is about 6.3K, but that is before a few
swings with my merc's Obedience cryptic axe.
>
>> I've only very rarely used Death Sentry, so I wonder if any more
>> points would really improve it?

> Yes. For me, DS is a 'max or nothing' skill. The increased range helps
> so much keeping the chain reaction going.

Oh well, I guess I'll just forget about these 5 skill points.
>
>> OTOH, Cloak of Shadows is my favorite crowd control skill. With
>> +skills, I can cast it at level 6.
>> Is the stun length of Mind Blast reduced in Hell? And can it be
>> enhanced by cold charms?
>
> For CoS: the lower the better. My current Dragon Talon chick has only
> +1
> skill. She never has to wait until CoS wears off before moving to
> the
> next pack of ranged attackers.
>
Why do you have to wait to approach the ranged attackers? And do you mean
Dragon Talon or Dragon Tail? If I can't get close to some baddies fast,
I'll just switch to Blade Fury.

>> Pre-buffed, I cast a level 26 Shadow Master. Should he get any more
>> points or is that enough already?
>
> Methinks it's better to have SM as high as possible than wasting the
> points in another skill like I did.

I've always loved the thought of another high-powered minion beyond my
merc. I'll save some skill points to see if my SM needs them or they are
better placed in Weapon Block or so..
>
>> I usually try to keep skill switching at a minimum, as it just takes
>> too much time in the middle of a battle.
>
> But you release fully charged TS with DT? I mean, that's the point of
> this build, isn't it.

Sure enough. I have weapon switch on "Q", "W" is Dragon Tail on right, "E"
is Cobra Strike and "R" Dragon Talon. Tiger Strike is on my middle mouse
button.
"A" = CoS, "S"=Blade Fury and "F"=Teleport (also my Hell gear doesn't have
that skill). F2/F3 is BoS and SM.

Regards,

Oliver

 

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Oliver Wenzel schrieb:

>>I'm curious: What is the displayed damage with fully charged up TS
>>when switching to DT?
>
> 11-18K damage at skill level 24. AR is about 6.3K, but that is before a few
> swings with my merc's Obedience cryptic axe.

Hmm I thought it's a bit more. The highest number I ever saw on my
highly twinked char was 27k-43k. With both TS and DT at lvl 43 *g*. In
dual claw mode of course and with max Claw Mastery. In combat gear, she
had 'only' 21k-32k.

>>>OTOH, Cloak of Shadows is my favorite crowd control skill. With
>>>+skills, I can cast it at level 6.
>>>Is the stun length of Mind Blast reduced in Hell? And can it be
>>>enhanced by cold charms?
>>
>>For CoS: the lower the better. My current Dragon Talon chick has only
>>+1
>> skill. She never has to wait until CoS wears off before moving to
>> the
>>next pack of ranged attackers.
>
> Why do you have to wait to approach the ranged attackers? And do you mean
> Dragon Talon or Dragon Tail? If I can't get close to some baddies fast,
> I'll just switch to Blade Fury.

My strategy against ranged attackers: Run close to them in zigzag. Try
to outrun any projectiles. If close enough, cast Cloak of Shadows. Now
this is the most dangerous moment, because first, you stand still and
might be hit from every direction at the same time, and second: when
playing online, it takes a while until critters are blinded. It's even
more dangerous when the CoS timer prevents you from casting and you need
a second try. Once they are blinded, I start attacking. Before CoS wears
of, most critters in range are dead, even with the low duration at slvl 2.

Dragon Talon is so much faster than Blade Fury. NoisyGirl is in a hurry
('Hellrace'), every second counts . I only want to use BF in areas
with Oblivion Knights.

>>>Pre-buffed, I cast a level 26 Shadow Master. Should he get any more
>>>points or is that enough already?
>>
>>Methinks it's better to have SM as high as possible than wasting the
>>points in another skill like I did.
>
> I've always loved the thought of another high-powered minion beyond my
> merc. I'll save some skill points to see if my SM needs them or they are
> better placed in Weapon Block or so..

You have to dual wield claws for Weapon Block to work. You plan to
redress your puppy?

---
Hannes