Synergies, and the Assassin - Long, Agonized (ing) Study
short
unknown reasom (masochism maybe??) I chose to look at the Assassin, the
class I like the least. Perhaps I'm hoping for some improvements, or
something. And, I might have, if anyone is willing to max a skill they
don't plan on ever using.
First things first. Their are only 2 Assassin builds that I enjoyed
playing, and the one doesn't use claws, so I'll go over the other one :)
Includes putting 84 points in the Martial Arts tree.
Max Fists of Fire
Max Blades of Ice
Max Claws of Thunder
and
Max Phoenix Strike (with no intent of ever using it, and only spending the
points for synergy boni only)
According to the AS: Keep in mind these numbers are at lvl 20, with no
synergy bonuseseseses
Fists of Fire = 289-301 Fire Dmg
Claws of Thunder = 1-475 (Nova), 1-780 (Lightning), and 1-740 (Charged Bolt)
Blades of Ice = 231-259
My favorite trick was charging up all 3 skills, and then letting loose with
Dragon Claw (which is supposed to release the charges for both claws, but I
don't remember if it actually did.........Can anyone confirm this?). Doing
this gives you a nice healthy dose of Tri-elemental damage, = to roughly
1010 damage on average, and hitting twice, thats not a bad little chunk.
Now, I added up the damage with a lvl 20 Phoenix Strike, and the numbers
look even better.
Fists of Fire = 982-1023
Claws of Thunder = 2.6-1235 (Nova), 2.6-2028 (Lightning), and 2.6-1924
(Charged Bolt)
Blades of Ice = 600-673
Now, this looks even better, and would average about.......2600 or so
damage. And, if that hits with both claws (I guess I'm going to have to
reinstall the patch, download the characters, and give it a shot) it *might*
be worth it.
So, whatchathink?
Woops!
Almost forgot my question. The one thing I neglected to note, is how long
you can keep a charge, before having to hit something again.
Because, if you have enough time to charge up all 3, and get a few licks of
Tiger Strike in before you let the charges go, that could be lots of fun
too!
But then again, I don't know if all those hotkeys will be worth it. For
the Bosses though, that could be a different story.
short - I worked up some traps ideas too, but I'll save those for later
Lex
> Max Fists of Fire
> Max Blades of Ice
> Max Claws of Thunder
> and
> Max Phoenix Strike (with no intent of ever using it, and only spending the
> points for synergy boni only)
I tried one the other way - used PS as primary attack, and put about 4
points in the other 3 for synergy bonuses.
> My favorite trick was charging up all 3 skills, and then letting loose
with
> Dragon Claw (which is supposed to release the charges for both claws, but
I
> don't remember if it actually did.........Can anyone confirm this?).
It's supposed to, but didn't in 1.09. If they changed it for 1.10 that
would add more fun to the C/C build.
> So, whatchathink?
Sounds okay - but that's 9 *hits* (not just 9 swings) to get your final
attack going.
> Woops!
> Almost forgot my question. The one thing I neglected to note, is how long
> you can keep a charge, before having to hit something again.
I don't know for sure but it's maybe about 5-6 seconds.
> Because, if you have enough time to charge up all 3, and get a few licks
of
> Tiger Strike in before you let the charges go, that could be lots of fun
> too!
TS is better used with the explosive kick finishing move, not the dual claw
(unless it's a champion or boss) and probably better for a C/S build. The
reason is that the kick adds *physical* damage to a radius, so you can add
like 800% damage with a lvl 5 TS to multiple creatures.
Lex
K.os
[snip]
Assassins are my favorites. I re-alloted some skills with Shadowmaster on
my lvl 79 MA assassin (first char I created in D2: LoD) and gave her max PS
and max CoT, to see how it could turn out.
That char is using a full nat's set with a bartuc's and a +3 MA amulet,
giving her a lvl 29 PS and CoT.
The lightning damage on PS is 3-5185, with the new chain lightning graphics
which seem to hit more creatures on the screen, and third charge on CoT is
2-3744 damage for the charged bolts.
I took her out for a couple of NM bloodruns, where my strategy was to
charge up CoT to the third charge and PS to the second (I have maxed Claw
Mastery too and have very high dex and str so I almost always connect,
making charging up the second charge on PS a cinch) before releasing the
whole mess. Every so often I'd add 2 charges of Cobra Strike (lvl 10 with
+9 from items) and refill both bubbles at the same time.
The damage from the combined charges was mowing down monsters like there
was no tomorrow! I had never done bloodruns so fast with my assassin, so
that was boding well. I took her for a spin in hell, and except for the
lightning immunes (which were quickly dispatched by 900-1000ish damage from
the meteors) and releasing ice bolts every so often helped keep the merc
alive without a problem in a couple of bloodruns.
Since then I have reverted back to 1.09 so I could play my online chars,
but I have been putting points in CoT on my online assassin (now lvl 56 or
something in act V NM) because when 1.10 CoT and PS are going to be
incredible assassin skills.
Using Cloak of Shadows is now worth it in 1.10 as it brings up your defense
for a little while, giving a much needed defensive bonus to the assassin.
Assassins in 1.10 look as though they could be even more viable, even
though they're going to be a bit more work at times. (Keeping BoS or Fade
up, keeping CoS on monsters, darting in and out of packs to charge and
release, etc...)
Oh, and just to answer the question on how long you keep charges when no
hitting monsters: 2 seconds.
*-) K.os
--
"He imagined for a moment his itinerary connecting up all the dots in the
sky like a child's numbered dots puzzle. He hoped that from some vantage
point in the Universe it might be seen to spell a very, very rude word" -
D. N. Adams
short
"K.os" <ewigeschl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns93B6C5A11D170...@130.133.1.4...
> In a parallel universe, Anti-short said exactly the opposite of:
> [snip]
>
> Assassins are my favorites. I re-alloted some skills with Shadowmaster on
> my lvl 79 MA assassin (first char I created in D2: LoD) and gave her max
PS
> and max CoT, to see how it could turn out.
>
> That char is using a full nat's set with a bartuc's and a +3 MA amulet,
> giving her a lvl 29 PS and CoT.
>
> The lightning damage on PS is 3-5185, with the new chain lightning
graphics
> which seem to hit more creatures on the screen, and third charge on CoT is
> 2-3744 damage for the charged bolts.
>
good news!
Also, I failed to see that PS get a synergy bonus. This could change my
thinking entirely.
Does it get a bonus from Fists of Fire, Blades of Ice, and Claws of Thunder?
> I took her out for a couple of NM bloodruns, where my strategy was to
> charge up CoT to the third charge and PS to the second (I have maxed Claw
> Mastery too and have very high dex and str so I almost always connect,
> making charging up the second charge on PS a cinch) before releasing the
> whole mess. Every so often I'd add 2 charges of Cobra Strike (lvl 10 with
> +9 from items) and refill both bubbles at the same time.
>
> The damage from the combined charges was mowing down monsters like there
> was no tomorrow! I had never done bloodruns so fast with my assassin, so
> that was boding well. I took her for a spin in hell, and except for the
> lightning immunes (which were quickly dispatched by 900-1000ish damage
from
> the meteors) and releasing ice bolts every so often helped keep the merc
> alive without a problem in a couple of bloodruns.
>
Sweet!! Thats what I wanted to hear. I just might make an assassin after
all.
> Since then I have reverted back to 1.09 so I could play my online chars,
> but I have been putting points in CoT on my online assassin (now lvl 56 or
> something in act V NM) because when 1.10 CoT and PS are going to be
> incredible assassin skills.
>
> Using Cloak of Shadows is now worth it in 1.10 as it brings up your
defense
> for a little while, giving a much needed defensive bonus to the assassin.
>
Hmm, I didn't see that either. Probably because I didn't look at the Shadow
skills :)
> Assassins in 1.10 look as though they could be even more viable, even
> though they're going to be a bit more work at times. (Keeping BoS or Fade
> up, keeping CoS on monsters, darting in and out of packs to charge and
> release, etc...)
>
> Oh, and just to answer the question on how long you keep charges when no
> hitting monsters: 2 seconds.
>
>
Oooh, that sucks. Probably not enough time to charge up all 4 then. 3
should still work, with 2 claws.
short
K.os
[snip]
>> The lightning damage on PS is 3-5185, with the new chain lightning
>> graphics which seem to hit more creatures on the screen, and third
>> charge on CoT is 2-3744 damage for the charged bolts.
>>
> Holy crapola. So, the numbers I looked at were most likely wrong.
> This is good news!
> Also, I failed to see that PS get a synergy bonus. This could change
> my thinking entirely.
> Does it get a bonus from Fists of Fire, Blades of Ice, and Claws of
> Thunder?
Yes, it does. However, it receives the biggest bonus from CoT. Also, CoT is
the most damaging of the three single-element attacks, and so is the second
charge of PS so it made sense to go for the lightning.
[snip bloodruns]
> Sweet!! Thats what I wanted to hear. I just might make an assassin
> after all.
Assassins have always been fun, but now they're going to become a tad less
frustrating. Using MindBlast and Cloak of Shadows can also help make the
game more playable. IE: with the flayers in act 3 and the imps in act 5,
Cloak will make them stand still long enough to kill them.
[snip CoS gives Defense bonus]
> Hmm, I didn't see that either. Probably because I didn't look at the
> Shadow skills :)
I don't remember offhand, and since I'm back to 1.09 I can't check right
now but I think CoS and Claw Mastery are the only skills that got changes
in Shadow Skills. Maybe MindBlast and Psychic Hammer, but I'm really not
sure.
[snip]
> Oooh, that sucks. Probably not enough time to charge up all 4 then.
> 3 should still work, with 2 claws.
It depends on where you are. With a good level BoS and 40% Faster Run/Walk
from natalya's, it's fairly easy to dart from a pack to another, and you
can cover a good amount of ground in 2 seconds!
The blade skills in the traps look as though they could be worth something,
as they now use source damage from the weapon (dunno if they carry over
elemental and effects such as Freeze, Crushing Blow, Knock Back, etc...)
It could be fun to use Blade Fury with a Cranium Basher or something! :-P
Daniel Morris
> Woops!
> Almost forgot my question. The one thing I neglected to note, is how long
> you can keep a charge, before having to hit something again.
>
> Because, if you have enough time to charge up all 3, and get a few licks
of
> Tiger Strike in before you let the charges go, that could be lots of fun
> too!
>
> But then again, I don't know if all those hotkeys will be worth it. For
> the Bosses though, that could be a different story.
>
I did a bit of work with a bulked out 'sin from the item sets.
99 'sin with Nats set and some other Uber claws.
Max Tiger
10 points in PS
10 points in exploda kick (fire damage from TS basis)
4 points in Cobra
4 points in the elemental claws
+6 from various items
Max LS and SM
When a mob approaches I charge Tiger first, hit cobra a couple of times to
dual leech, then charge 2 or three times with Phoenix (depending on what
immunity I may be facing) and make sure to release on a boss/champion or at
least on something leechable if possible.
I still use the maxed LS on PI's I don't want to get close to, letting my
meat shields handle those.
Lex
> hitting monsters: 2 seconds.
This is WAY off.
I did some testing with my level 18 assassin. I took a swing at a monster
using tiger strike and had one spinning ball. Then I didn't swing again.
It lasted 9-10 seconds before disappearing.
2 charges: same thing, laster 9-10 seconds after the second charge. 3
charges: same.
Got 3 charges, waited 7-8 seconds, then I hit a monster again to see if
timer would reset. It did - after the next hit the 3 balls stayed for an
additional 9-10 seconds.
I tried this again with claws of thunder and got the same results.
I don't however know if this increases with character level. I can try
again in 10 levels or so and see if it increases.
Lex
K.os
[snip]
> Got 3 charges, waited 7-8 seconds, then I hit a monster again to see
> if timer would reset. It did - after the next hit the 3 balls stayed
> for an additional 9-10 seconds.
It must have changed in 1.10. Or maybe it's alays been a bit longer than 2
seconds even though they said 2 seconds on the AS. Wouldn't be the first
time they had wrong info up there.
I know that charges do not stay very long but that you have time to find
more monsters to charge up.
Aaron
> Almost forgot my question. The one thing I neglected to note, is how long
> you can keep a charge, before having to hit something again.
>
> Because, if you have enough time to charge up all 3, and get a few licks
of
> Tiger Strike in before you let the charges go, that could be lots of fun
> too!
As long as you keep using the charge-ups, (I.E. No matter if you already
have 3 "circles", and keep using the skill) the charge ups will stay with
you. Least, this is my experience with my assassin so far...
~Aaron
K.os
[snip]
From reading my posts I see I wasn't clear on the fact that as long as you
keep hitting stuff with any skill giving charges, you will keep all your
previous charges. For example, if you have 3 charges of Tiger Strike, Cobra
Strike, Phoenix Strike, Claws of Thunder, Fists of Fire and Blades of Ice,
as long as you can find monsters to keep hitting (or you're facing a
monster with a gazillion hp) you can keep the charges swirling around you.
Releasing all of those with any finisher would probably be devastating.
0tarin
it full of the following hogwash:
>In a parallel universe, Anti-K.os said exactly the opposite of:
>
>[snip]
>
>From reading my posts I see I wasn't clear on the fact that as long as you
>keep hitting stuff with any skill giving charges, you will keep all your
>previous charges. For example, if you have 3 charges of Tiger Strike, Cobra
>Strike, Phoenix Strike, Claws of Thunder, Fists of Fire and Blades of Ice,
>as long as you can find monsters to keep hitting (or you're facing a
>monster with a gazillion hp) you can keep the charges swirling around you.
>Releasing all of those with any finisher would probably be devastating.
2 seconds is definitely off; I recall reading that it was about 8
seconds, but I can't recall where. But yes, hitting monsters with
other charge skills keeps your current charges going too :)
--
0tarin
Known Wombat Stuffer,
Bearer of the badge of non-newbieness,
Officially 81.8181818181818182% Insane.
"All your sanity is belong to us." - Orchid
http://www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame46.html
...
"Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by
washing away from it all that is not gold."
Big Wing Nut!!!
"Aaron" <not...@ccaonline.com> wrote in message
news:beqva1$82v51$1...@ID-196257.news.uni-berlin.de...
You guys should try a SwordSin, mine does 8900 dam. with TS maxed using
Dragon Strike as the finnisher with 1.10 azurewrath. also using the poison
skill in shadow skills maxed.
short
"Lex" <co...@mac.com> wrote in message
news:beqrje$eec0$1...@netnews.upenn.edu...
Ok, I did think it was a bit longer than 2 seconds, but wasn't sure.
short - this is good news!!
John Lame
>
> You guys should try a SwordSin, mine does 8900 dam. with TS maxed using
> Dragon Strike as the finnisher with 1.10 azurewrath. also using the poison
> skill in shadow skills maxed. ^^^^^^^^^^^
Yeah, like I'll ever see azurewrath unless Mickey ends up with lots of extras. :)
John