The GodSin
Hey everyone,
My name is Tsuri, and this is my GODSIN build, also known as the mosaic assassin. Feel free to share your insights in the comments. With time, I will update this guide with new insights.
There are many options for this build, in terms of skills, gear, and charges. This guide presents my preferences, and each reader should take it as guidelines that can be adjusted to their own playstyle, rather than a strict build.
Although this guide is not finished, I noticed that many users ask for it, so I decided to share my thoughts on the matter.
Skills:
1 point in claw mastery
1 point in weapon block
1 point in burst of speed
1 point in fade
Maximize phoenix strike
Maximize blades of ice
Maximize claws of thunder
Fist of fire - skill it so you reach up to 30 points. I prefer 27 points with full gear***
1 point in cobra strike
Put the remaining points on tiger strike (more physical damage = more leech)
***Fist of fire has a hidden modifier that converts 3% physical damage to fire per level. Therefore, at level 34, you get 0 physical damage, which is why there is no leech with cobra.
Gear:
Head: Griffon's Eye with 25% FCR, 1 skill, and, of course, enemy lightning resistance and +lightning damage with a lightning facet in it.
Armor: Enigma - still the most beautiful gear in D2 - with all-around sick stats, such as tele, str, dr, and so on. The teleport is essential to keep the charges activated between hits.
Weapon: Two Mosaics - you must use two to get 100% to not consume charges. I use Suwayyah as a base because it is a slow base, and I want to hit the 4-frame IAS breakpoint, not the 3-frame BP because of the maximum hit delay that may cause less effective hits. However, any other base is good. Keep in mind that damage is irrelevant, so you can use a low-requirement base. Just try to get good relevant skills (PS, BOI, COT, FADE, DF (saves you 3 skill points)).
Belt: Arachnid Mesh with 20% FCR. With Griffon's Eye, you get 45% FCR, so you hit the 42% FCR BP and, of course, +1 skill.
Boots: Upgraded Gore Rider - the highest kick damage boots base with less STR requirement than Shadow Dancers and all those nice melee additions (CB is nice; this character does Ubers and DC).
Amulet: I have two options here - one cheap and the other expensive:
Mara's Kaleidoscope - skills, resistances, and stats. No need to explain; it is a sweet item.
Crafted amulet with 2 Assassin skills or 2 Martial Arts skills, 20% FCR (must be 20%), and try to get resistance on it. That amulet can be expensive, depending on the stats. With a 20% FCR amulet, you hit the next FCR BP, which is 65%, a very nice thing to have for the flow of this build.
Rings:
Slot 1:
Raven Frost is full of good stats for us, such as dexterity, cold absorption, and mana. But the main stats I'm after here are "cannot be frozen" and attack rating (which is more important than it seems).
Slot 2:
Stone of Jordan OR Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band - it depends on whether you prefer more mana or more life. The 3-5% life leech is nothing compared to the Cobra Strike, so there's no need to take that into account. The ring is for the skill.
Gloves:
This is the hardest slot for me to decide on, so I'll try to explain my insights:
Magefist - 20% faster cast rate, +1 to fire skills. With that, you can get 65% faster cast rate with Mara's Kaleidoscope, and the +1 to fire skills means more Fist of Fire damage (not sure about Phoenix Strike).
Dracul's Grasp - 5% chance to cast Life Tap on hit, and with Dragon Talon, that means a good chance. The Cobra Strike leech doesn't work that well on Ubers (not sure why yet, will update). So the Life Tap is a lifesaver here and makes Ubers really easy.
3 martial arts gloves - without IAS to keep the 4 frames IAS, that adds a solid amount of damage.
2 martial arts + adds gloves, crushing blow, strength, dexterity, resistance, life, etc. - a very nice option that adds a decent amount of damage and also helps a lot with survivability.
Inventory:
Assassin Torch
Annihilus
Resistance small charms to get maximum all resistances
One small charm with 5% Faster Hit Recovery
Fire Sunder - this is against monsters that are resistant to all elements, which you can find at Uber Tristram and Uber Izual. You can skip them, but I like to melt the whole screen.
Yes, you have physical damage, but it's single target, and only about 20% of it is not converted to fire. So it works, but it's too slow for this super-fast build.
Rest for Martial Arts, 2 of them with 12% Faster Hit Recovery (12+12+5(from small charm) = 29 Faster Hit Recovery, which hits the 27 Faster Hit Recovery breakpoint).
Mercenary:
I still have issues deciding on a mercenary because all the monsters melt so fast. At the moment, I use the following:
Act 1 mercenary:
Harmony bow - for Vigor
Flickering Flame - to fix the -resistance from Fire Sunder
Ethereal Duriel's Shell for resistance, still looking for better options
Charges:
Max:
Cobra Strike
Tiger Strike
Fist of Fire
Claws of Thunder
Blades of Ice
Changing depends on area:
Phoenix Strike:
Bosses, Ubers: one charge for Meteor.
Max area of effect: 2 charges, Chain Lightning, also good against Stygian Dolls - low life, high damage, cleans them nicely.
Freeze in dangerous places: 3 charges.
Gameplay:
Main Guidelines:
COWS:
Full charges, (Phoenix Strike 2 or 3, depends on playstyle)
Teleport only if you went far from the nearest meat pack, mainly Dragon Flight on the pack and then Dragon Talon.
BAAL:
Full charges are necessary, with Phoenix Strike 2 or 3, and 3 charges are particularly effective against souls.
In Thorn of Destruction, I jump on every wave that spawns to keep the charges alive. If Wave 3 manages to cast Hydra (try your best to prevent it), I wait until all the enemies are defeated, then teleport back to fight monsters for 10 seconds before returning for the next wave.
When facing Baal, he has high defense, so it's harder to charge on him. I use the tentacles that he casts at the entrance for charging, but keep in mind that you will lose some charges until he reaches that area.
I go for 1 charge for each elemental and max Cobra, just to save time, as the meteor will do most of the work.
CS:
Full charges are also necessary here, with Phoenix Strike 2 or 3 depending on your gameplay style.
I teleport and use Dragon Talon on all packs, which melts them quickly and easily.
Against DIA, just 1 Phoenix Strike is enough, but you can go for max Cobra if you want. This guy is easy to defeat, and you can just hit him once for the first charge of Phoenix Strike, then give him around 5 hits and move. The meteors will get him after that.
UBERS & Diablo Clone:
It's important to get charges before facing these enemies, as they all have high defense and are difficult to charge on.
Full charges are necessary, with Phoenix Strike 1. You might consider using 0 Fist of Fire for more leech.
Your gloves should be Draculs for life tap.
NOTE about life leech:
Life leech is calculated based on the damage you deal, not on your maximum life. For example, if you deal 100 damage, you will receive 6 life.
Life leech only works with your physical attacks, such as melee attacks and arrows.
Life leech doesn't work on certain enemies, and you need to use the life tap curse to be able to receive health from them.
Good ideas will be added to the guide over time. Good luck and have fun with your sick new build!
This post was edited by holysword on Mar 2 2023 07:33am
D2:R