DISCLAIMER:
This is property of KIRBIX (Sean D'Hoostelaere). This may be not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any
public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
In plain English, this means that it is against the law for you to copy this
guide. If you want to print it out, that's fine, but I do not permit its use
anywhere on the web or for it to be used for anything profitable.
_________________
/ \
|*****************|
|Table of Contents|
|*****************|
\_________________/
I. Version History
II. What this guide is for
III. Overview of the assassin (Why go hybrid?)
IV. Skills
a. Martial Art Skills
b. Shadow Disciplines
c. Traps
V. Skill allocation
VI. Stat distribution
VII. Equipment
a. Early Equipment
b. Middle Equipment
1. Weapon
2. Shield
3. Armor
4. Helmet
5. Gloves
6. Boots
7. Belt
c. Perfect Equipment
1. Helmet
2. Armor
3. Gloves
4. Belt
5. Boots
6. Weapon and Shield 1
7. Weapon and Shield 2
8. Jewelery
9. Final listing
VIII. How to Use
IX. Mercenary
X. Contact Me
XI. Credits
This table of contents is very much a quicksearch option. Just press Ctrl+F
to bring up the search bar, and type in any of the above.
For example, if you want the perfect helmet, input VIIa1, and it will come up
down the page.
I. VERSION HISTORY
#############################################################################
1.0 (11/05)-First edition! Should've done this ages ago... glad to be done!
2.0 (1/06)- The Shadow Master sucks; I had to update the entire guide just so
I could make this point clear. So many emails...
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
II. WHAT THIS GUIDE IS FOR
#############################################################################
This guide is designed to teach the reader how to use an assassin that utilizes
both martial arts and traps.
It's very user-friendly, and is capable of taking down nearly anybody it comes
up against.
If you're looking for something a little different (it mixes physical with
magical), and you don't have much money, this build is amazing at almost no
cost.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
III. OVERVIEW OF THE ASSASSIN (Why go hybrid?)
#############################################################################
Dragon Talon assassins are some of the most efficient boss killers around.
The only thing that can compete with Dtalon assassins in sheer killing speed
of individual monsters is the smiter, and even they fall short of a truly
good Dtalon assassin.
However, Dtalon assassins have a large flaw- what happens when they're fighting
2 enemies? How about 40? Suddenly the assassin is fighting for her life,
because her killing power against large groups goes right out the window.
So, why not fix the problem? Dtalon assassins only need 20 points to be
effective, so you've almost got enough points for an entire other build.
Hence, we come upon the ultimate combinatin: use traps with dtalon to have
massive bosskilling power as well as effective crowd control.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
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IV. SKILLS
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There are several skills that the assassin can utilize to her advantage.
I'll touch on all of the skills where you're placing a point. Oddly, the martial
arts skills will be almost completely ignored.
IVa. MARTIAL ARTS
#############################################################################
Utilizing her hands and feet, the assassin can deliver crippling blows to
her enemies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Dragon Talon~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: Unleash feet of fury upon your foe
The first skill at your disposal, and it is by far the best one in the
assassin's arsenal. It is in essence an ehanced version of zeal (and I suppose
it has to be ehanced over zeal- damage is based on your boots, which means it
will never be quite as powerful as a good zeal weapon.)
Max this baby ASAP- it'll be good from level 1 to level 99, guaranteed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Dragon Claw~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Use both claws to mercilessly rake your opponent
A fairly powerful skill, I'm told it is INSANELY fast when your attack
speed is maxed- 4 frames per attack (to give comparison, it's normally 7 at
best...)
But dragon talon gives 6 attacks to dragon claw's 1, and on this build, more
hits comes first.
One point as a prereq and then forget it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Dragon Tail~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: Send a devastating kick at your enemy
Another powerful skill that only attacks once, therefore making it subpar to
the dragon talon.
One point and forget.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Dragon Tail~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 24
Effect: Teleport to your foe and wipe them out with a finishing kick
GREAT skill- it gives her a pseudo-teleport. However, dtalon is far better
overall.
You'll use this skill to teleport, nothing more. One point, and +skills will
pump it into a fairly decent attack on top of the teleportation capabilities.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IVb. SHADOW DISCIPLINES
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These skills range all across the board- the assassin taps into her innate
shadow abilities to give herself all kinds of benefits.
Claw mastery- excellent skill. But... you aren't attacking with your claws.
It's the core prerequisite. 1 point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Psychic Hammer~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: Send a hammer (of the MIND!) at the enemy to knock them back.
I've never actually used this skill... its damage NEVER gets very high, no
matter how much you might want it to, and while it does magical damage on
top of physical damage... 60 damage is still only 60 damage, and traps are
still 100 time better.
1 point as prerequisite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Burst of Speed~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Pumps your characters walking speed and attack speed.
This is one of the best shadow disciplines that the assassin has. Your
assassin gains a MASSIVE boost to her speed, both walking, and in attack. Melee
characters (including your dragon talon) will see an INCREDIBLE change between
when this baby's on and off.
The one downside is that you can't use it while you're using fade, so both of
your incredible skills can't be on at once.
Place one point here, and your +skills will pump it enough. Believe me, you
DO want this skill- you just don't need points here to make it incredible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Weapon Block~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: Use both claws to block attacks
This skill is essential for any claw assassin. Trap assassins happen to be one
of the claw assassins, so you need weapon block. It essentially treats your two
claws as if you were holding a shield, giving you a %block.
One point and nothing more- +skills will keep you boosted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Cloak of Shadows~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: Decrease enemy defense while increasing yours
Assassins have so many wonderful skills... cloak of shadows is ANOTHER useful
skill. Although of no particular use to you, many melee characters will find
this quite beneficial.
You may find yourself using it, and it's a prereq for mind blast. One point.
~~~~~~
~~Fade~~
~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: Raises all of your resists
The unfortunate thing is that you can't use this and burst of speed at the same
time, because both spells are AMAZING.
Up to 75 (although realistically not above 65) in all resists, this skill will
save your ass on many an occassion. If you can't afford good resistance charms,
you may find your assassin lacks resists, and resists are by far the most
important skill for surviving in Hell.
One point, and lots of +skills to pump it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Shadow Warrior~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: Send a model of yourself to attack the enemy; it will use ONLY your
equipped abilities
This is an OK skill- the shadow warrior is fairly dense and doesn't contribute
much to the battle. But, with a high enough level, it does provide a decent
shield that is easily replenished. It will use dragon talon and mind blast,
so long as those are the skills you have equipped. Note that the traps set by
your shadow will destroy the ones you have, so you can't have 10 death sentries
placed.
1 point, and with some good +skills, she'll actually be of some use.
I've gotten MANY emails about Shadow Master- "why not shadow master? Isn't it
better?"
No, it's not. It will use any of the moves in your arsenal, instead of just the
ones you're using. So, it will whip out psychic hammer or fire blast... Yea,
definitely not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ind Blast~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 24
Effect: Damage, stun, and possibly convert your enemies.
Great skill that every assassin should have. It stuns your opponents, and
it has a chance of converting them to your side temporarily. When you're trying
to get that first corpse, it adds to the chaos and allows you to jump in and
take down your guy.
1 point, and +skills will carry you home.
~~~~~~~
~~Venom~~
~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: Add poison damage to your attacks
Venom is an interesting attack. While it doesn't add quite as much poison
damage as most skills, it adds the damage INSTANTLY. Venom does 500 damage
over .4 seconds, while something like poison explosion does 8000 over 9
seconds. They end up doing ABOUT the same damage per second. It doesn't compare
to poison nova, but it certainly comes in second place.
Not only that, but it's a skill that you cast, and it stays in effect, so
ALL of your attacks have poison damage added on. It makes a fairly large
difference in kicking your enemies down.
1 point, and (you guessed it) +skills will push you the rest of the way.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
IVc. TRAPS
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The assassin lays traps for her enemies to inflict all kinds of damage to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fire Blast~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: Toss a firebomb onto your enemies
This skill is actually quite powerful, easily rivaling fire bolt early on.
In the end, it's not very good, and it doesn't fit in with your build.
1 point, as it's a core prerequisite.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Shock Web~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Toss a web of electricity on groups of enemies
Another fairly powerful spell early on, and like fire blast, it doesn't end
up very good.
On a trapper, you'd max this, but for the hybrid, just put one point.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Blade Sentinel~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Send a spinning blade to patrol an area
>_> What a bizarre idea- A spinning blade to patrol an area. BUT, it does have
some merit- if you've got a powerful weapon and some decent +skills, it might
actually hold some enemies at bay for a while.
... who am I kidding? 1 point, and forget it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Wake of fire~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: A trap that sends fire at your opponent
A great PvP skill, but not a great hybrid assassin skill. Needless to say, you
won't use it.
1 point, as it's a prerequisite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Charged Bolt Sentry~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: A trap that sends charged bolts at the enemy
This is the first trap that will serve a purpose to you. While not as good
as lightning or death sentry, this skill is not without its uses, as it can
utterly flood the enemy with CBs.
Max it- it's a synergy for your main traps.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Blade Fury~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: Chuck shurikens at your enemies
Powerful skill, but you've got kicks and traps. If you want to specialize in
blade fury, it's a whole other build.
1 point for prerequisite.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Lightning Sentry~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 24
Effect: Lay a trap to send lightning at your enemies
One of your two primary traps, this one's a keeper. High lightning damage,
and you lay the trap and forget it- while you're kicking enemies, it fires
10 shots of 5,000 damage a pop.
Max this skill- it synergizes with your best skill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Death Sentry~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: Lay a trap that casts lightning AND corpse explosion
Here it is: the trap of traps. This is the skill that your build is built upon.
While not as powerful as lightning sentry in pure damage, it casts a corpse
explosion that can decimate entire crowds in no time flat.
MAX THIS! Absolutely max it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Blade Shield~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: Create a shield around yourself out of spinning shurikens.
This is why you dumped so much into prerequisites. While not being overly
powerful by itself, blade shield will activate crushing blow, which means that
you can get several CBs going off on multiple enemies at once- a mighty fine
pet to have.
1 point- +skills will carry you along, of course!
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
V. SKILL ALLOCATION
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SO, the two main skills of the hybrid assassin are Death Sentry and Dragon
Talon.
20 Death Sentry
20 Dragon Talon
You'll also want 20 points into death sentry's synergy, Lightning Sentry
and then into Lightning's synergy, Charged Bolt Sentry.
20 Lightning Sentry
20 Death Sentry
20 Dragon Talon
20 CB Sentry
30 points remaining
You need blade shield, venom, mind blast, and dragon flight. That adds on 4
points, as well as all the prereqs, which total... oh, 19 points.
20 Lightning Sentry
20 Death Sentry
20 Dragon Talon
20 CB Sentry
18 Points other places
12 points remaining
From there, you can do whatever you want. This build is complete. At level 87,
you can call it a day.
That's a good thing, because level 90 and up is AWFUL to try and get.
NOW, when to distribute?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as is possible, you should max dragon talon. It's a great skill, and
frankly, you don't have much else to do with your points.
Place points into your prerequisite skills as soon as you see them, and keep
pumping dragon talon up to level 30.
By level 35, make sure to already have blade shield, venom, dragon flight
and mind blast. If you haven't maxed dragon talon yet, do so.
From there, put all points into death sentry so that the corpse explosion radii
increases- the more radius, the faster you'll take enemeis down.
After that, it's just a matter of maxing the two synergies for death sentry.
Pretty simple; I'd give level-by-level, but I trust you can figure it out from
here.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
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VI. STATS
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Four stats to consider: Strength, Vitality, Energy and Dexterity.
\ /\ /
Strength
/ \/ \
While is used to determine damage, it doesn't add much. However, it DOES affect
what equipment you can wear.
The strength you need is based on how good your equipment is. The highest
strength that you'll ever need is 156 for the stormshield monarch.
SO, get 156 strength! (With equipment factored in, of course.)
\ / \ /
Dexterity
/ \ / \
With this character, you'll be toting a storm shield monarch. Why? So that when
you're using dragon talon, you have high block.
Now, max block is calculated with the following formula:
Total Blocking = (Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)
SO, if you want 75% block with a stormshield at level 99, here's the equation:
75= 72 (x-15)/188
75= (72x-1080)/188
72x= 15180
X= 211
So, at level 99, you'll need 211 dexterity for maxed block.
Since you're probably not ever going to get to level 99, let's go with
a more realistic goal- level 80. At level 80, 195 dexterity gets 75 block.
SO, get to whatever dex you need to get maxed block at the given level.
REMEMBER- your equipment will provide 50+ dex easily, so take that into account
when deciding how many points to spend.
\ /\ /
Vitality
/ \/ \
The most important of the stats- place every extra point into vitality. You'll
need the life, I guarantee it.
\ /\ /
Energy
/ \/ \
NO POINTS IN ENERGY. You might feel the pinch early on, but by the end it will
not be necessary anymore.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
VII. EQUIPMENT
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Equipment is an interesting situation for the hybrid assassin. She uses melee,
but she uses traps, too, and those qualify as magic.
So, your equipment needs to cover both ends!
VIIa.
Initially, you won't use traps at all because you won't have death sentry yet.
So, get equipment that focuses on the melee aspect of your build. Find the
highest Str. requirement boots that you can find, because with high Str.
requirement comes high damage, and the more damage, the better. You probably
won't have crushing blow yet, so damage is important.
Look for life leech and mana leech as well. You can quickly run low on mana
and health if you're not careful, but leech quickly amends that.
Now, once you get death sentry, you'll need +skills. Specifically, +traps.
Other than that, don't worry about extra stuff. If you're using mana leech, you
won't need mana stuff because when you run low, just pop a minor mana potion
and then kick until you've leeched yourself back to full.
The BEST skills for you are +traps (+3 to all traps? Excellent!) And Crushing
Blow. Crushing blow lowers the enemy's HP by a set percentage- from 1/4 to 1/32.
It quickly decimates your enemies and allows the kicker to take them down in
no time flat. If you can get it, then get it!
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
~~~
VIIb.
NOW, for middle-ground equipment: These are pieces of equipment that should be
EASY to trade for and/or make yourself. Much better than your random vendor
junk, too.
VIIb1 WEAPON
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a weapon, seek the "black" runeword. Socket it into a mace and you have a
weapon that actually could last you until the very end if you wanted.
\Black (3 Socket Clubs/Hammers/Maces) Thul+Io+Nef+
/120% Enhanced Damage
\40% Chance Of Crushing Blow
/+200 To Attack Rating
\Adds 3-14 Cold Damage - Cold Duration 3 Seconds
/+10 To Vitality
\15% Increased Attack Speed
/Knockback
\Magic Damage Reduced By 2
/Level 4 Corpse Explosion (12 Charges)
VIIb2 SHIELD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rhyme gives tons of small bonuses that add up to make a very good shield for
almost no cost whatsoever.
\Rhyme (2 Socket Shields) Shael+Eth
/20% Increased Chance of Blocking
\40% Faster Block Rate
/All Resistances +25
\Regenerate Mana 15%
/Cannot Be Frozen
\50% Extra Gold From Monsters
/25% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
VIIb3 ARMOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rattlecage will provide you with even more Crushing blow, and between
rattlecage and black, you'll have all the CB that you'll ever need.
\Rattlecage (Unique) Gothic Plate
/Defense: 328-335
\+200 Defense
/25% Chance of Crushing Blow
\Hit Causes Monster To Flee 40%
/+45 To Attack Rating
VIIb4 HELMET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peasant Crown gives all-round GREAT bonuses, although it's got nothing on
the harlequin crest... Of course, that's why it's cheap and considered middle
equipment!
Peasant Crown (Unique War Hat)
Defense: 108
+100% Enhanced Defense
+1 To All Skills
15% Faster Run/Walk
Replenish Life +6-12
+20 To Energy
+20 To Vitality
VIIb5 GLOVES
VIIb6 BOOTs
VIIb7 BELT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All three should come from the set of Sigon's Steel. They are good on their
own, and provide very good bonuses when put together, as well.
\Sigon's Sabot (Unique Greaves)
/Defense: 12-15
\Kick Damage: 10-20 (which isn't bad)
/20% Faster Run/Walk
\Cold Resist +40%
/+50 To Attack Rating (Set bonus with 2 Items)
\+50% Better Chance To Find Magic Items (Set bonus with 3 Items)
\Sigon's Wrap (Unique Plated Belt)
/Defense: (10-206)-(13-209)
\16 boxes
/Fire Resist +20%
\+20 to Life
/+ 2-198 To Defense (Based On Character Level) (Set bonus with 2 Items)
\Sigon's Gage (Unique Gauntlets)
/Defense: 12-15
\+20 to Attack Rating
/+10 to Strength
\30% Increased Attack Speed (Set bonus with 2 Items)
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
VIIc. PERFECT EQUIPMENT
###########################################
Now, you've had your mediocre equipment and it's all done you pretty well.
But now it's time to get down to business and work with only the absolute best.
VIIC1.
********
**HELMET**
********
The Harlequin Crest provides bonuses like you would not believe. Since you're
part caster, you must have it, because it's the ONLY caster helmet.
Stick an um into it for extra resists- if you're not using fade, you'll need
them.
/Harlequin Crest (unique shako)
\+2 To All Skills
/+ 1-148 To Life (Based On Character Level)
\+ 1-148 To Mana (Based On Character Level)
/Damage Reduced By 10%
\50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
/+2 To All Attributes
#########################
VIIC2.
*******
**ARMOR**
*******
Chains of Honor is the best defensive runeword on the market. You want the
absolute best? Chains of Honor are second to none.
\Chains of Honor (4 Socket Body Armor)- Dol+Um+Ber+Ist
/+2 To All Skills
\+200% Damage To Demons
/+100% Damage To Undead
\8% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+70% Enhanced Defense
\+20 To Strength
/Replenish Life +7
\All Resistances +65
/Damage Reduced By 8%
\25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
#########################
VIIC3.
********
**GLOVES**
********
As a melee character, you'll be using the only decent melee gloves on the
market- dracul's grasp. Drac's give a chance to cast lifetap, which is FAR
more efficient than using life leech.
\Dracul's Grasp (Unique Vampirebone Gloves)
/Defense: 125-145
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/+10-15 To Strength
\+5-10 Life After Each Kill
/25% Chance of Open Wounds
\7-10% Life Stolen Per Hit
/5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Life Tap On Striking
#########################
VIIC4.
******
**BELT**
******
Two belts tie for first as the best belt- Verdungo's Hearty Cord and Arachnid
Mesh. For you, Arachnid is definitely the choice.
\Arachnid's Mesh (unique spiderweb sash)
/Defense: 119-138
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/Slows Target By 10%
\+1 To All Skills
/+20% Faster Cast Rate
\Increases Maximum Mana 5%
/Level 3 Venom (11 Charges)
#########################
VIIC5.
*******
**BOOTS**
*******
The best boots are without a doubt the gore riders, which give faster run/walk,
crushing blow, deadly strike AND open wounds. Good stuff!
However, if you're on ladder, you MUST "Up" them- place them into the horadric
cube with 1 Ko Rune, 1 Lem Rune, and 1 Perfect Diamond to make them elite-
that means more defense, and more kick damage (which is the important part,
really)
Gore Rider (Unique War Boots)
Defense: 140-162
Kick Damage: 83-149 (o_O VERY nice)
+160-200% Enhanced Defense
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance Of Open Wounds
15% Chance Of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
Requirements -25%
+20 Maximum Stamina
#########################
VIIC6.
*********************
**WEAPON AND SHIELD 1**
*********************
OK, you're gonna have two sets of hand equipment. One will be for your kicks,
and the other will be for laying traps.
Weapon and Shield set 1 will be for your kicks.
Your weapon doesn't need damage, but rather needs damaging qualities. So, the
weapon of choice is a double axe.
"..A double axe? Why?"
Simple- you socket the double axe and insert a runeword- that runeword is Beast.
Beast adds crushing blow, open wounds, attack speed, and Fanatacism. Fanatacism
is a paladin aura that will boost your damage and attack speed ENORMOUSLY.
The best possible option, no questions asked.
\Beast (5 socket axes/scepters/hammers) Ber+Tir+Um+Mal+Lum
/Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
\+40% Increased Attack Speed
/+240-270% Enhanced Damage
\20% Chance of Crushing Blow
/25% Chance of Open Wounds
\+3 To Werebear
/+3 To Lycanthropy
\Prevent Monster Heal
/+25-40 To Strength (varies)
\+10 To Energy
/+2 To Mana After Each Kill
\Level 13 Summon Grizzly (5 Charges)
In your shield hand you'll be using a Stormshield; it's got the second best
block of any shield that an assassin can use, and it has better mods than the
shield that has the best block.
\Stormshield (Unique Monarch)
/Defense: (136-504)-(151-519)
\Chance to Block:72%
/+ 3-371 Defense (Based On Character Level)
\+25% Increased Chance Of Blocking
/35% Faster Block Rate
\Damage Reduced By 35%
/Cold Resist +60%
\Lightning Resist +25%
/+30 To Strength
\Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 10
/Indestructible
#########################
VIIC7.
*********************
**WEAPON AND SHIELD 2**
*********************
Well, there are no specific stats on this one- what you're looking for are two
magical claws. Each claw should have +3 traps on it. Anya sells them in the hell
difficulty, so hit her up for them some time.
Easy, no?
#########################
VIIC8.
*********
**JEWELRY**
*********
You'll tote two rings of the same variety. The Bul-Kathos Wedding band is a very
durable mix between melee and spellcasting.
\Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
/+1 To All Skill Levels
\+ 0-49 To Life (Based On Character Level)
/3-5% Life Stolen Per Hit
\+50 Maximum Stamina
Around your neck, I want to see Mara's Kaleidoscope, and nothing else.
\Mara's Kaleidoscope
/+2 To All Skill Levels
\All Resistances +20-30
/+5 To All Attributes
Total +traps: 15
Total CB: 35 (believe me, that's enough)
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
VIII. HOW TO USE
#############################################################################
OK- I think it's safe to say that you know anything and everything that you need
to about how to create this monster, but I haven't said a word about how to USE
it. So let's begin!
Before entering battle, do your prebuffing: cast shadow warrior and choose your
aura- if you are about to head into a highly elemental area, use fade;
otherwise, burst of speed is your best bet.
Cast Venom, Shadow Warrior and Blade Shield once you hit the fray.
You have three attacks that you'll probably use: Dragon Talon, Death Sentry and
Lightning Sentry. Each has its own use.
You'll start your fights using dragon talon. Use DT to quickly level a couple of
your opponents. After that, set up two or three death sentries and let the
damage flow! The sentries will blow up your corpses, and suddenly all of your
enemies will either be almost dead or completely dead. If some of your opponents
die, the death sentry will pop THEIR corpse, and the chain reaction of Corpse
Explosions will wipe out the entire group.
Lightning Sentry is mainly used for the boss. Drop 5 lightning sentries and
kick the boss with their damage as support.
You might ask "So... why blade shield?"
Well, blade shield can add some damage first, but the damage is pretty
miniscule. Much more important is that it initiates crushing blow as well,
which means that if multiple enemies hit you, they (possibly) will all take a
signficant hit to their health.
..that's all there is to it, really.
By the way- your dragon talon will have an attack rating of about 9,000 and will
inflict anywhere from 2500-3000 damage if you have the equipment I mentioned
above.
As for the sentries, it's around 2500 for death sentry and 5000 for lightning
without charms. Add the charms on (torch, annihilus and as many trap GCs as you
can get), and we're talking 4000 and 8000, respectively. It's not as good as
some trappers can get, but it certainly isn't BAD.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
IX. MERCENARY
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Your mercenary is there to take some hits for you and back up your shadow
warrior, which I guarantee is not going to be your incredible knight in
shining armor, much as you might want her to be.
Your merc will be, without a question, from Act 2. The auras are invaluable for
you and your merc.
Which one, you might ask- after all, there are LOTS of options. For you, the
best option is definitely Normal Defensive. You've got attack rating and you've
got plenty of damage, but you don't have much defense to speak of- you're going
to be a fairly up-front melee class and unless you're using fade you're going
to be left pretty vulnerable.
Now, some may ask- "Why not Holy Freeze? It freezes the opponent and slows them
down!"
Holy freeze chills the opponent, which means that when they die, you get no
corpse. No corpse means no death sentry, and your whole build goes kaput.
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SO, about equipment:
Your merc needs to be able to stay alive- if he's your meat shield, you can't
have him dying off all the time, especially at the cost of 50,000 per life.
So, give him some stuff that will help him stay alive, most specifically, %life
leech. Defense is important too, but he'll have defiance, so a little defense
goes a long way. Life leech will be his core ability for staying alive.
The ideal equipment set up will give him tons of defense, good damage, and
a fairly powerful amount of life leech. That ideal setup is the following:
WEAPON
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All of the elite polearms and spears are fairly durable, but Tomb Reaver
takes the top spot. High damage, massive boost to attack speed, resist bonus,
and best of all, up to three sockets. Put amn runes in those sockets and your
polearm will have 21% life leech! Good stuff!
Tomb Reaver (Unique Cryptic Axe)
Two-Hand Damage: (99-125) To (450-570)
+200-280% Enhanced Damage
+150-230% Damage To Undead
+60% Increased Attack Speed
+250-350 To Attack Rating Against Undead
All Resistances +30-50
10% Reanimate As: Returned
+10-14 Life After Each Kill
+50-80% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+4 To Light Radius
Socketed (1-3)
It's got two downsides, though-
1) It has a 10% chance of reanimating enemies. Now, 10% isn't a lot, so it
won't ruin your chances of Death Sentry wiping everyone out like holy freeze
might have, but it's something.
2) Level requirement is 84, so you won't use it until the VERY end.
If the above two bother you, bonehew is an EXCELLENT weapon that also gets
sockets for amn runes. It's definitely my second choice.
ARMOR
~~~~~~~
Your mercenary gets innate bonuses to resistance, and with the tomb reaver,
he'll also get bonuses from his weapon. Take full advantage of your merc's
high resists and give him an upped guardian angel. When upped, it has close to
1,500 defense and it gives enormous benefits to your resistances.
\Guardian Angel (Unique Templar Coat)
/+180-200% Enhanced Defense
\+20% Increased Chance Of Blocking
/+30% Faster Block Rate
\+ 2-247 To Attack Rating Against Demons (Based On Character Level)
/+1 To Paladin Skill Levels
\+4 To Light Radius
/15% To Maximum Poison Resist
\15% To Maximum Cold Resist
/15% To Maximum Lightning Resist
\15% To Maximum Fire Resist
With your upped guardian angel and your defiance aura, it's 5-6 thousand defense
before you calculate in the innate defense bonus that your merc already has,
and a 90% resist to all! He'll be unstoppable.
HELMET
~~~~~~~~
Andariels Visage has exactly what your merc needs- lots of life leech. It also
has a massive strength bonus, and I didn't mention it before, but the fact is
that your merc will not get 200 strength for a long time, and so the +25-30
from andariels visage gives you a large leg up on that.
\Andariel's Visage (unique demonhead)
/+100-150% Enhanced Defense
\+2 To All Skills
/20% Increased Attack Speed
\8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+25-30 To Strength
\+10% To Maximum Poison Resist
/Fire Resist -30%
\Poison Resist +70%
/15% Chance To Cast Level 15 Poison Nova When Struck
\Level 3 Venom (20 charges)
I know the -fire resist seems detrimental to the rest of his outfit, but
with tomb reaver, you'll have more than enough resists and should STILL be
at 90%.
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X. CONTACT ME
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I'm game to any suggestions people might have, and I don't have a problem with
you asking questions.If you want to ask me a question, send a suggestion or
make comments, send me an Email, and I'll get back
to it as soon as I see it. My email address is kirbix@gmail.com, and you're more
than welcome to ask and comment.
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XI. CREDITS
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Wolfy42- this build was his baby, and while he had nothing to do with the
writing process, he gets co-author credit because it was his brainchild.
So many people benefit from your build- thank you for creating it!
The Arreast Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/)- Best website on the
net for Diablo 2; I owe them a lot of information.
GameFAQs and CjayC- My favorite gaming website, it's a pleasure to write here.
