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#1
Mar 4 2007 12:52pm
Xepo's Assassin Handbook
The JSP Version

Table of Contents

Frequently Asked Questions
  • Why is Enigma superior to Bramble?
  • What is Trap-Locking?
  • What is the purpose of maxing Mind Blast?
  • How does Venom work?
  • Does Venom negate deadly/critical strike?
  • How much IAS do I need for 9-frame trap laying?
  • What is the Anya-Bug?
  • What are the Assassin's FCR breakpoints?
  • What are the Assassin's FHR breakpoints?
  • Greater Talons vs Runic Talons
  • Weapon Block
  • Fade
  • Primary Claw
  • Whirlwind
  • Claw Positioning Bug
  • Dragon Flight
  • Foolsclaw
Ghost Assassin
  • Build
  • Visualization
Calculators
  • Whirlwind Damage
  • Increased Attack Speed
  • Attack Rating / Chance to Hit
  • Open Wounds Calculator
Credits

This post was edited by Lajo on Nov 14 2010 11:36am
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#2
Mar 4 2007 12:52pm
Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Enigma superior to Bramble?
    Mobility, to a certain extent, is far more important than the damage you deal. ( Mobility >>> Damage )

    Lots of people connect 'a good pvp character' with 'high damage' and thus see a bramble armor as the obvious answer to their Whirlwind assassin armor question. I agree that a ~6K attack looks funky, but think about it; what use does an awesome attack has when you can't hand it out to anyone?

    That is the first problem bramble causes; with bramble you'll have to resort to walking/running and Dragon Flight. Dragon Flight is an amazing skill, but unfortunately its way too slow, interruptible and buggy to fully rely on. Walking/Running brings along another problem; while doing so, your claw-block will drop to 0%.

    Obviously, your lack of mobility will have a tremendous effect on your chances of winning. Competent casters will no doubt take advantage of your predictable movement. You can't safely exit hammer-fields or regroup when a smiter triggers life-tap on you, et cetera, et cetera.

    Lets take a look at Enigma. The most important thing is, of course, the +1 to teleport. Teleport allows you to move unpredictable, keep up your claw-block and surprise opponents who are 2 screens away. Enigma increases your walking/running with 45%, even though I just classified running as something 'not desired' it's inevitable; so when you have to, the faster the better. Furthermore, enigma provides strength; although its not needed when you make certain decisions (i.e. no angelics, no shadow dancers), it helps to stay at base or close to base strength. Last, but certainly not least; enigma increases your base life with 5%. Whoever thinks that is useless is retarded and should quit this game a.s.a.p.

    Enigma goes hand in hand with a 85% decrease in damage opposed to bramble. That's pretty much, but you gain such more valuable things. Besides, this loss can be limited to only 40% with the use of bramble as a prebuff armor.

    For the people who skip anything that is somewhat longer than 3 words, or for those who like things in a nutshell;

    Bramble
    • High damage
    • Predictable movement
    • Little active claw-block
    • Slow
    • Less life

    Enigma
    • Relatively low damage
    • Mobility
    • (Always) active claw-block
    • More life
What is Trap-locking?
    Trap-locking refers to the act where you prohibit your opponent from moving/fleeing/attacking with the use of Mind Blast and (low level) Traps.

    Your opponent wont be able to do anything because he is constantly forced into Hit-recovery. Normally, you'll have to deal an amount of damage that equals at least 1/8th of someone's life to put him into this recovery animation. Along with Mind Blast you won't (Read [What is the purpose of maxing Mind Blast?] for more info on why). The traps that are used to set up this lock are Lightning Sentry and Wake of Fire.

    Locking can be done in many ways. Almost every character needs a different approach. The following diagram shows a way to lock non-jumpy opponents;

    << image removed >>
    Namelock your opponent with your right mouse-button pushed down. Switch your right skill to MB, switch MB to LS, switch back to MB, switch to WoF. Tele -> WW

    Now, to clear up what I meant with 'jumpy opponents'; some people take a run for the hills as soon as you mind blast them once. Naturally, the method you see above won't work since they are long gone before your first trap even sets in. Thats why you'll have to master different techniques versus different opponents. As an example, you could place one or more WoF's prior to your first mind blast, so that the traps will already be hitting.

    I hope its clear that there is no 'perfect way to lock'. There is no real formulae you'll have to live up to. You don't necessarily have to use LS and WoF. Mess around a bit with combinations and use whatever suits your playing style.

    Some tips though; WoF is your best friend when facing Amazons. Since WoF shoots its waves so fast, the amazon will be busy doing two things; either evade/dodge the waves or being put into a hit recovery animation, when you are on top of her she'll be blocking as well. In other words; way too occupied to attack, nice for us.

    Due to its long range, Lightning Sentry works better versus fast running opponents.
What is the purpose of maxing Mind Blast?
    With Mind Blast you can gain a little bit of control over your opponent; it pushes them back and prohibits their movement (it's effectiveness is affected by your opponents grade of FHR).

    Sure, alright, awesome... why would I max it? There are two reasons to do so;

    Ever noticed that little swirl that appears above one's head after a mind blast? Whenever that swirl is visible, the character will be put into hit recovery by anything that hits him. Regardless of the amount or type of afflicted damage. The duration of the swirl increases every level until it reaches its maximum of 10 seconds at skill level 41. A longer duration helps you setting up and maintaining a proper lock.

    Secondly, a high level mind blast hurts. A lvl 50 mind blast sports 336-346 damage, 28-29 damage after the PvP penalty and 50% DR. That sure looks like it would be just a small tickle to any character. That is true, but even tickles leave bruises after a while. A high level mind blast along with 65% fcr or higher can't be ignored on the long run. Beside that, it's fun as hell to kill people who lack DR with merely mind blast. Mind Blast is also a good finisher for 1 life runners.

    A third argument used to be that a high level mind blast would cause your Shadow Master to cast it more often. However, after a series of tests I have been unable to find any relation at all between the level and the frequency of which the Shadow Master uses the skill in question. If you have any extra thoughts, arguments or findings on this matter, don't hesitate to contact me.

How does Venom work?
    Venom is, without a doubt, the most effective poison damage source in the game. The reason why is because it's duration is so amazingly short.

    This duration is 0.4 seconds on Normal difficulty. On nightmare and hell difficulties however, it will become a bit longer. This is because Nightmare and Hell have a hidden Poison length penalty; -40% for Nightmare and -100% for Hell. This means that with these penalties the duration, aswell as the damage gets multiplied. On Nightmare, a 1000 dmg attack in 0.4 seconds becomes a 1400 dmg attack in 0.5 seconds. On Hell, this 1000 dmg attack in 0.4 seconds becomes a 2000 dmg attack in 0.8 seconds.

    For the thinkers among us; I whirl with 4 frames between each hitcheck, a longer duration takes more frames to complete the attack, doesn't the -100% PLR penalty mean trouble to me? The answer is No, you will always deal more damage on Hell than you would on Normal. Go here for clarification: << link removed >>

    +% Poison skill damage modifications; logically, a +25% item (such as on Trang-Oul's Claws) would increase your damage with 25%. Completely true, but that is not all. +% modifications act twice on venom; the first time occurs when you cast venom, the second time when venom is active and you keep wearing the item that gave the bonus.

    Let's say your venom skill displays 1000 damage. You equip an item which grants +50%. Your skill will now display 1500 damage (1000*1.5). When you cast venom and take a look at your character screen, without taking off the +% source, you'll notice that your damage has increased not with 1500 but with 2250! (1500*1.5) Unequipping the +% source will cause the added damage to drop to 1500.

    Another one of venom's great features is that it completely bypasses Energy Shield and Bone Armor.

    Unfortunately, venom is dominant in relation to other poison damage sources. It will convert all durations to 0.4, 0.5 or 0.8 seconds. Great, extra damage, right? No, only the duration is converted, not the damage. As an example, Ill show what happens to a 290 poison SC;

    A 290 SC deals its damage in 10 seconds. Along with venom, this becomes; 290*(0.4/10) = 12 psn damage, without the PvP penalty and 75% resists. So every 290 SC will increase your damage with 12/6*0.25 ~ 1. The morality of this little story: DO NOT USE POISON CHARMS ALONG WITH VENOM.

Does Venom negate deadly/critical strike?
    No. Same goes for any other elemental attack. This misunderstanding originates from the fact that the DS/CS spark animation is being overridden by the cold/lighting/fire/poison animation.

    This can be proven with the following test;
    With Hero Editor, we create the following;
    • A 78-79 damage claw with 100% deadly strike.
    • An assassin with level 40 venom.
    • An opponent with 5000 life, 0% DR and 75% poison resist.
    The test is as follows; You hit the opponent and write down how many life he has lost. According to this number you can conclude if DS occured yes or no.
    • Physical Damage: 104 - 105 / (17 - 18 PvP damage)
    • Poison Damage: 1075 - 1095 (45 - 46 PvP damage)
    • ---
    • Minimum Life loss with DS/no venom: 17*2 = 34
    • Maximum Life loss with DS/no venom: 18*2 = 36
    • ---
    • Minimum Life loss with DS/venom: 17*2 + 45 = 79
    • Maximum Life loss with DS/venom:18*2 + 46 = 82
    Hits without Venom:
    • 5000 -> 4966 = ∆ 34
    • 4966 -> 4932 = ∆ 34
    • 4932 -> 4896 = ∆ 36
    • 4869 -> 4862 = ∆ 34
    • 4862 -> 4826 = ∆ 36
    Hits with Venom:
    • 5000 -> 4921 = ∆ 79
    • 4921 -> 4841 = ∆ 80
    • 4841 -> 4760 = ∆ 81
    • 4760 -> 4680 = ∆ 80
    • 4680 -> 4598 = ∆ 82
    As you can see, the results live up to the rules we set earlier.

How much IAS do I need for 9 frame trap laying?
    At the following page you can find a dynamic table with IAS values: << link removed >>

    If you somehow don't understand the concept, please go to the following page: << link removed >>. It's an adjustable graphical interface which should be comprehendable for everybody.

What is the Anya-Bug?
    Anya is that lovely lady you have to rescue in Act5. Mala then gives you a scroll of resistance which grants you +10 to all resistances. This quest can be done each difficulty, so you'll end up with +30 to all resistances from this quest.

    Giving those nice resists is awfully kind, too bad there is a small catch; Whenever you die in a game, those +30 to all resistances disappear. This can not be seen on screen, but they are gone.

    Re-entering the game each time you die solves this problem.

What are the Assassin's FCR breakpoints?
  • 16 Frame cast
    • 0%
  • 15 Frame cast
    • 8%
  • 14 Frame cast
    • 16%
  • 13 Frame cast
    • 27%
  • 12 Frame cast
    • 42%
  • 11 Frame cast
    • 65%
  • 10 Frame cast
    • 102%
  • 9 Frame cast
    • 174%

What are the Assassin's FHR breakpoints?
  • 9 Frame recovery
    • 0%
  • 8 Frame recovery
    • 7%
  • 7 Frame recovery
    • 15%
  • 6 Frame recovery
    • 27%
  • 5 Frame recovery
    • 48%
  • 4 Frame recovery
    • 86%
  • 3 Frame recovery
    • 200%

Greater Talons versus Runic Talons
    Runic Talons have a higher base damage than GT's, damage = good, so people tend to use Runics. But, let's take a closer look at the actual difference between the two:

    We have to following:
    • Both claws with a 350% ED Chaos runeword in them.
    • Level 30 Claw Mastery (151% ED)
    • 120 Strength
    • 120 Dexterity
    The formulas to calculate a claw's damage (on-screen) are the following:
    • Statbonus: ([Dexterity x 0.0075] + [Strength x 0.0075] + 1)
    • Minimal Damage: {((Statbonus) + (%Enhanced Damage/100)) x Min-dmg on Weapon}
    • Maximal Damage: {(([Dex x 0.0075] + [Str x 0.0075] + 1) + (%Enhanced Damage)) x Max-dmg on Weapon}
    Lets start with the Greater Talon:
    • Min-dmg on Weapon: (21 * (3.5+1)) = 94,5 = 94
    • Max-dmg on Weapon: (35 * (3.5+1)) = 157,5 = 157
    • Statbonus: ([120 x 0.0075] + [120 x 0.0075] + 1) = 2.8
    • Minimal Damage: {((2.8) + (151/100)) x 94} = 405,14 = 405
    • Maximal Damage: {((2.8) + (151/100)) x 35} = 676,67 = 676
    So, this greater talon has a total damage of 405 - 676. That is an average of; (405+676)/2 = 540,5

    Lets move on with a Runic Talon:
    • Min-dmg on Weapon: (24 * (3.5+1)) = 108
    • Max-dmg on Weapon: (44 * (3.5+1)) = 198
    • Statbonus: ([120 x 0.0075] + [120 x 0.0075] + 1) = 2.8
    • Minimal Damage: {((2.8) + (151/100)) x 108} = 465,48 = 465
    • Maximal Damage: {((2.8) + (151/100)) x 198} = 853,38 = 863
    This runic has a total damage of 465 - 863. That is an average of; (465+863)/2 = 664

    Woah, so a runic has 123,5 more average damage?! Yes, too bad that is without the PvP penalty. After this penalty, the difference is only; (123,5*0,17) = 20,99 = 21. Add anoter 50% Damage reduction and we have a difference of only 10 damage.

    The damage difference between greater talons and runic talons is pathetic, on top of that, a runic talon requires way more strength and dexterity. This means that a greater talon is superior to a runic because it gives you way more options of gear swapping while still staying at base strength/dexterity.

    All in all: Use a greater talon, not a runic! (well, ok, unless you dont have any problem-giving gear-swaps and you'll be able to use runics with base str/dex anyway)

Weapon Block
    Weapon block is yet another amazing Assassin skill. It allows you to block anything; Fireballs, Blizzards, FoH, Smite, Hammers et cetera, et cetera. The only exception are so called 'ground-spells' such as a Firestorm or the fire that Meteors leave behind. Second sweet thing; it only requires skill points, so you'll get block along with high life.

    There is one major downside though. With 'ordinary' blocking, your chance to block drops to 1/3rd of it's original value when you run. For Weapon block, this penalty is way worse; it drops to 0% when you run or walk. It stays at it's full capacity when standing still, attacking or teleporting. This is one of the reasons why Enigma is so vital.

    Weapon block takes 5 frames to complete and can only be sped up by 1 frame with the use of Guardian Angel. For the people who don't believe me on the speed matter: << link removed >>

    Weapon block suffers from so called deminishing returns; you'll have to spend more points each time you want 1% extra block. In my opinion, 60% (level 26) is a nice percentage to achieve without wasting too much skill points.

Fade
    Fade is the skill that makes an assassin translucent. It's an amazing skill for three reasons;
    • It provides resistances.
    • It reduces the durations of curses.
    • It provides physical damage reduction.
    Curse length reduction is priceless, I think anyone will know why; you can't get rid of curses like life-tap, iron-maiden, amplify damage or lower resists fast enough.

    Fade grants 1% DR each level; a level 20 fade (whether this level is obtained by spending skill points on fade or due to +skills does not matter) will add an addition 20% DR to any DR you might already have (or not). Fade's level is only important when you cast it, that means you can prebuff fade to reach the maximum of 50% DR when you duel.

    Determining the amount of skill points you need to spend on fade to obtain 50% DR is easy;
    • Base Fade level = 50 - (DR from gear + skills from gear);
    Lets say you are using the following gear:
    • Shako
    • Enigma
    • Arachnid's Mesh
    • Trang Ouls Claws
    • Gore Riders
    • Mara's, 2x Raven Frost
    • 9x Shadow skillers. Torch, Annihilus.
    • CTA, Lidless, Battle Command
    • ---
    • DR from gear = 10 (Shako) + 8 (Enigma) = 18
    • Skills from gear = 2 (Shako) + 2 (Enigma) + 1 (Arachnid) + 2 (Mara's) + 13 (Inventory) + 1 (CTA) + 1 (Lidless) + 1 (Battle Command) = 23
    • Base Fade level = 50 - (18+23) = 50 - 41 = 9.
    So, with that setup, you'd have to spend 9 points on fade and cast it with your CTA switch while Battle Command is active to reach 50% DR.

Primary Claw
    Positioning of claws matters, a lot. Whenever the game looks around for mods (IAS, open wounds, crushing blow, et cetera) to add to or use for attacks like kicking, blade fury and trap laying it only looks at your primary claw.

    Now, basically your primary claw is the claw you equip first, regardless of its position. However, when you switch your weapons tab, to use battle orders for example, the game forgets which claw you equipped first and just takes the claw above the gloves as primary.

    Because of this, its best to consider the glove-side slot as the primary claw slot:

    << image removed >>

Whirlwind
    Whirlwind is a dynamic attack which makes hit checks at your opponent at certain intervals while you are in range. These hit checks are made either each 12th, 10th, 8th, 6th or 4th frame. A lower frame means potentially more hits and thus more damage.

    Faster run and walk increases your ww-speed aswell. Not as in how many hit checks are done, but in how fast you whirl from A to B. It does have a certain effect on the total amount of hit checks though; since you are moving so fast, you are less long in range as when you would be moving slower and thus you will perform less hit checks. This is a good thing though, imagine what will happen when you whirl slow as a turtle; a paladin will be able to smite you even though you are whirling away and bone spirits catch up with you when you do a drive-by-whirl versus a bone necro.

    The frame at which whirlwind operates is determined by the speed of the claw in question. You calculate claw speed by subtracting the IAS on the weapon from it's base speed. You can find base speeds at the Arreat Summit. Base speeds are listed between brackets; [x]

    Whirlwind Frames / Claw speed
    • Every 12th frame
      • 33 or higher
    • Every 10th frame
      • 32 to 25
    • Every 8th frame
      • 24 to 10
    • Every 6th frame
      • 9 to -12
    • Every 4th frame
      • -13 or lower
    Example:
    • We have a War Fist with 20% IAS on it. The base speed of a War Fist is 10. The speed of this claw is; 10-20 = -10. This claw has hit checks every 6th frame.
    As you might know, there are certain claws with base speeds of -20 and -30 (such as runic talons and feral claws). These claws do not need any additional IAS. This is important to know to determine whether a o-so-godly looking claw is really that useful; no 4 frame WW is crap.

    This leads us to one of the most common screw ups: Ethereal Jade Talons. These eth claws need to be socketed with a Zod rune, which means that they stay at 6 frame hitchecks (base speed op -10 with no addition IAS) and will deal less damage than a non-eth one (with an IAS jewel) would. So whenever you go looking for a Jade talon, make sure you look for a nice non-eth one and place a IAS/x jewel in it.

Claw Positioning Bug
    This positioning bug is IAS related, it allows you to reach the fastest attack breakpoints with far less IAS than normal.

    Normally, the base speeds of the two claws you wear are averaged; A suwayyah [0] along with a Runic Talon [-30] results in an average speed of ((0) + (-30)) / 2 = -15. Based on this number, the various IAS breakpoints are set. The lower the number, the less additional IAS is required.

    With this bug things change; instead of averaging the two claws a totally different formulae is used to get to that final speed number.
    • RC = Base speed right claw (above the boots)
    • LC = Base speed left claw (above the gloves)
    • ---
    • (( [RC] + [LC] ) / 2 ) + ( [RC] - [LC] )
    In order for this bug to show up, you must equip your fastest claw first above your boots. Then you equip the other. This order is absolutely crucial. Lets run the two claws we used before through this formulae;
    • Our Runic Talon is the fastest claw, so we equip it first above the boots (so it's our 'boots claw'), then the suwayyahs above the gloves (our 'gloves claw');
    • (( [-30] + [0] / 2 ) + ( [-30] - [0] ) = -15 + -30 = -45.
    -45! That's three times faster than with 'ordinary' equipping. Mind though, whenever you switch weapons to cast Battle Comman for example, the positioning is reset and everything is calculated as it should. You'll have to re-equip claws in the proper order.

    Personally I think it's too much of a hassle to exploit this bug, but those who wish to should check out the table at the bottom of this page: << link removed >>

Dragon Flight
    Dragon Flight is a teleport-attack skill. It teleports you to your enemy and tries to deliver a kick. In 1.09 this used to be an amazing skill, mainly because it reached for over 2 screens. Now, it has a few extremely annoying features; one of them is that it reaches for 1 screen only. Dragon Flight also needs a clear line of sight, so any trees, puddles or houses between you and your opponent will interrupt the skill.

    A Dragon Flight animation takes 23 frames and cannot be sped up in any way. Even though it's a slow and highly interruptible skill, it still is an awesome skill to hit casters. The most frequently used tactic is to chase with teleport and when near, initiate Dragon Flight to kick in.

    The things that work with Dragon Flight (and with kicks in general) are;
    • Life Leech
    • Mana Leech
    • Elemental Damage (Venom included)
    • Magical Damage
    • Chance to cast X on striking
    • Crushing Blow
    • Open Wounds
    • Prevent Monster Heal
    • Ignore Targets Defense
    • Hit Blinds Target
    • Hit Causes Monster to Flee
    • Hit Freezes Target
    • Hit Slows Target
    • + Attack Rating (Fools included)
    • + % Enhanced Damage
    Please note that any of these modifications are only applied when they are found on any gear EXCEPT your secondary claw. Any mods on your secondary claw are disregarded.

    Things like Elemental Damage, Magical Damage and +AR on your claw will not appear on your character screen, while in fact, they do get applied.

Foolsclaw
    A fools claw refers to a claw with the 'Fools' mod. This is a prefix which grants AR and max damage based on your characters level. This type of claw is used to, what else, boost your Attack Rating.

    When looking for such a claw you should pay attention to it's speed; it has to hit 4 frame hit checks with Whirlwind for it to be effective.

    A valuable thing you can have on a fools claw is Knockback. Although its not a must, its nice enough too look for it or even socket your claw with a Nef. It comes to personal preference on this one really, so try it out and see what you like. If you decide to discard knockback or you have it as an auto-mod, socket your foolsclaw with UM('s). The more chance to trigger open wounds the better.
    An example of a pretty awesome fools;

    << image removed >>

    The IAS is for holding up 9 frames trap laying. This brings us to another rather important part; the position of the claw. When you equip your fools as a primary, you'll notice that your Whirlwind attack rating will rocket, which would imply that both your claws operate with that amount of attack rating. This is not true, only your fools will benefit from the AR; this test will show you: << link removed >>

    Despite this, it still best to equip the fools as a primary; when you whirlwind, the first hit will be your primary claw, after that both claws will hit every x frames. Versus some opponents, you'll only get one chance to hit them. Naturally, you would like this chance to be as high as possible, with your fools being the claw with the highest AR/chance to hit you'll have to make it your primary claw.


This post was edited by Lajo on Nov 14 2010 11:41am
Member
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Joined: Jan 24 2007
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Warn: 100%
#3
Mar 4 2007 12:53pm
Ghost Assassin

Here you will find all the necessary items for a proper ghost-build. Like usual, gear choices are heavily subject to debate, which is fine; all builds have their own strengths and weaknesses. The build you see below is the one I am most comfortable with.

Gear
  • Helmets
    • +3 Shadow Disciplines, 20fcr, 2 sockets circlet [15IAS/30LR jewel + Shael]
    • 3 sockets, 20fcr circlet [15IAS/30CR jewel + 15IAS/30CR jewel + 30CR/7FHR jewel ]
    • 3 sockets, 20fcr circlet [Shael + Shael + Shael ]
    • Kiras Guardian, 70% to all resistances [15ias/30lr jewel]
  • Torso
    • Enigma Breast Plate/Mage Plate
  • Belts
    • Arachnid's Mesh
    • Thundergods Vigor
  • Gloves
    • Trang Oul's Claws
  • Boots
    • Waterwalks [65 Life, Upped preferably]
    • Tri-resist boots [xx LR/CR/FR Resistance]
    • Sandstorm Treks [70% PSN resistance, 15 Vitality] Note 1)
  • Weapons
    • Chaos, Greater Talons [+3 venom, +x mindblast, +x dragon flight]
    • Fury, Greater Talons [+3 venom, +x mindblast, +x dragon flight]
    • Fools Greater/Blade Talons of Quickness [Fools, 40% IAS, Um + Um / Um + Nef]
    • Jade Talon, +2 Shadow Disciplines, 50% to all resistances [15IAS/30LR jewel]
    • Jade Talon, +2 Shadow Disciplines, 50% to all resistances [15IAS/30CR jewel]
  • Jewelry
    • FCR Amulet [+2 skills, 5%fcr, mana, dex/life, fire resistance]
    • 2x Raven Frosts [20 Dexterity]
    • 2x Angelic Rings + 1x Amulet
  • Miscellaneous
    • +12% FHR Shadow Skiller
    • +5%FHR/mana SC
    • Demon Limb, Tyrant Club [Hel]
    • Thawing Potions Note 2)
  • Inventory
    • 8x Shadow Discipline Skillers [Life as high as possible]
    • 1x 12% FHR Shadow Skiller
    • Assassin Torch, Annihilus
    • xx 20 Life / xx Lightning Resistance SC's Note 3)
    • xx 20 Life / xx Mana SC's
    Note 1)
      Sandstorm Treks are used to raise your poison resistance. Instead of these, you can drink poison antidotes. These will add 50% poison resistance and +10% Maximum resistance for 30 seconds. The time however, stacks, so if you drink 10 potions you'll have +50/10 for 300 seconds. Sandstorm treks still come in handy for stacking versus Poison necro's though, but since there aren't really many of those around you could as well drop the Treks (you could use a Jade talon instead and have less chance on open wounds in those rare situations). Keep in mind that relying on Antidotes only will leave you extremely vulnerable once their duration has ran out in the middle of a duel.
    Note 2)
      Thawing potions are a handy tool to stack some extra cold resistance versus Blizzard sorcs. As with antidote potions, thawing potions add +50% cold resistance and +10% Maximum resistance for 30 seconds. Drinking an x amount of potions will make the effects last for x*30 seconds. You, of course, don't have to actually keep these in your stash.
    Note 3)
      The amount of LR small charms you'll have to use greatly depends on the overall quality of your gear. Try to get a minimum of 150% LR with standard gear on (or 180% if you hate rejoining due to the anya-bug), to see what I mean with 'standard-gear', please scroll further to "What to use versus who?". Also try to have 395% LR (or 425% due to anya) along with Kiras, Jade and your resist-boots. 395% is needed to fully negate all of a pure FoH's -% LR. If you wish not to do so, change your amount of LR accordingly. Fill the space you have left with life/mana sc's.
Stat Points
    This is the easiest part; you'll most likely be able to dump everything into vitality. However, before you do so, check if you got the proper amount of dexterity to equip a Jade Talon (105 dexterity required) along with your FCR amulet and Tri-resist boots. If you have sufficient dexterity, search for an amulet with high-life. Otherwise, look for one with dexterity. If your funds or patience doesn't allow you any of these two options, put some of your stat points into dexterity.
Skill Points
    Shadow Disciplines:
    • Claw Mastery: 20
    • Psychic Hammer: 1
    • Burst of Speed: 1
    • Weapon Block: 9 Note 1)
    • Cloak of Shadows: 1
    • Fade: 18 Note 2)
    • Shadow Warrior: 1
    • Mind Blast: 20
    • Venom: 20
    • Shadow Master: 1
    Traps: Note 1)
    • Fire Blast: 1
    • Shock Web: 1
    • Charged Bolt: 1
    • Wake of Fire: 1
    • Lightning Sentry: 1
    Martial Arts: Note 1)
    • Dragon Talon: 1
    • Dragon Claw: 1
    • Dragon Tail: 1
    • Dragon Flight: 1
    Note 1)
      Put enough points in Weapon Block so you'll have 60% block (lvl 26)with the least +skill points on your gear. Add another point to take account for a run out Battle Command (no must)
    Note 2)
      Skill just enough points to reach 50% DR with the most +skill points on your gear. When you follow this build exactly, that would be 8 points when you cast Fade with your BO switch/arach/+3 shadow helmet.
    Note 1)
      If you have either WoF or LS on your chaos claw (the claw you'll always wear), you won't have to spend points on the skill or its prerequisites.
    Note 1)
      Same as with traps, you don't have to skill Dragon Flight when it comes with your Chaos.
    What to do with skill point left-overs? You have a few options; 1) pump your Dragon Flight or Dragon Talon (if you plan on using kicks). 2) Get Bladeshield. 3) pump your Shadow Master. Personally, Id choose Dragon Flight; I dislike the use of Dragon Talon, I dislike the short duration of Bladeshield and Shadow Master does pretty fine with just one point in it.
What to use versus Who?
    Different opponents require different items to be used. Here are the gear changes I advise you to make according to the one you are duelling. As standard (read; pub-gear) you use the following;
    • +3 Shadow Disciplines, 20fcr, 2 sockets circlet
    • Enigma
    • Arachnid's Mesh
    • Trang Oul's Claws
    • Tri-resist Boots
    • 2x Raven + 5% FCR amulet
    • Chaos Greater Talons
    • Fury Greater Talons
    • 1x 12% FHR Shadow Skiller
    Note 1)
      When the list says "Fade", its under the assumption you cast it with the standard gear, this is only really of importance when duelling physical damage based characters. "Burst of Speed" can be cast with any gear.
    Note 2)
      The use of stack gear versus Paladins completely depends on the Paladin in question. V/T's -% LR can range from just -100% to around -160%. FoH paladins can have up to -210%.
    Bow Amazon
      Cast Fade. Use Sandstorm Treks if she uses poison, otherwise, equip Waterwalks.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    CS Amazon
      Cast Fade. Equip Tri-resist boots. Slap on a Thundergods if you experience difficulties.
      [65% FCR/42% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Plague Amazon
      Cast Fade. Use Sandstorm Treks / Antidotes.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Trap Assassin
      Cast Burst of Speed. Equip the 60% fhr helmet and place the extra 12 FHR shadow skiller / 5fhr sc in your inventory for the 86% FHR bp. Use Jade talon / Tri-resist boots according to your LR. I don't recommend using a Thungergods, since speed is key.
      [65% FCR, 8% DR, 86% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    WW/Hybrid Assassin
      Cast Fade. Use Waterwalks/potions or Sandstorm Treks.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Bone Necromancer
      Same setup as versus a Trapper, but use Waterwalks instead or resist-boots.
      [65% FCR, 8% DR, 86% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Poison Necromancer
      Cast Fade. Use Sandstorm Treks / Antidotes.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Whirlwind Barbarian
      Save and Exit.
    Smite Paladin
      Cast Fade. Change gear according to your hit-rate. First you should try with just a fools-claw. If you hit too little, add enchant. If you are still hitting like shit, equip one or two angelic rings. Wear Waterwalks.
      [65%/42% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    V/T Paladin
      Cast Fade. V/T's mostly don't invest heavily in conviction/-res gear, you'll probably have sufficient stack with your tri-res boots. Use Jade-talon along with enchant instead of a fools claw if this is not the case.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    FOH Paladin
      Cast Fade. Equip Kira's guardian, Jade talon and the tri-resist boots.
      [42% FCR, 50% DR, 48% FHR, 10fpa Traps]
    Hammer Paladin
      Cast Burst of Speed. A Hammerdin's defense isn't usually that high, so use a Fury along with enchant or just your fools. Wear Waterwalks.
      [65% FCR, 8% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Blizzard Sorceress
      Cast Fade. Equip the 90CR/7FHR circlet and the CR Jade talon. This setup grants you a fair amount of stacked cold-resist and a higher FHR bp.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 48% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Other Sorceresses
      Cast Fade. Use standard gear.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Element Druid
      Cast Fade. Equip waterwalks.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
    Werewolf Druid
      Cast Fade. Equip either waterwalks or Sandstorm Treks, depending on wheter the druid is a fury/rabies hybrid or not. Use enchant or equip a fools claw.
      [65% FCR, 50% DR, 27% FHR, 9fpa Traps]
Visualisation
    To see how a ghost can be, check the following: << link removed >>


This post was edited by Lajo on Nov 14 2010 11:42am
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#4
Mar 4 2007 12:53pm
Calculators

Whirlwind Damage
    << link removed >>

Increased Attack Speed
    << link removed >>

Attack Rating / Chance to Hit
    << link removed >>

Open Wounds Calculator
    << link removed >>


This post was edited by Lajo on Nov 14 2010 11:43am
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#5
Mar 4 2007 12:54pm
Credits


Morotsjos / Matias
    For sharing his ghost assassin gear and always willing to give a second opinion on lots of crazed ideas.
Faulk / Aki
    For helping me out bigtime with testing all sorts of setups and features on open battle.net
m72mc / Mikael
    For proof-reading, bug-reporting and providing suggestions to fine-tune the various calculators.
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#6
Mar 4 2007 12:59pm
Pretty. It's nice to have all of this information in one thread.

I like the new calculators too.

This post was edited by VickIsSick07 on Mar 4 2007 01:04pm
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#7
Mar 4 2007 01:20pm
credits are wrong.
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#8
Mar 4 2007 01:53pm
nice you made a d2jsp version also. gratz.. wink.gif
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#9
Mar 4 2007 02:54pm
wow, wtf am i doing in credits^^???

HAHAHA TOMMY NOOB
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#10
Mar 4 2007 02:55pm
Quote (faulk @ Sun, 4 Mar 2007, 21:54)
wow, wtf am i doing in credits^^???

HAHAHA TOMMY NOOB


:'(
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