a slight twist on the typical ts/dtail build

[xanth]

I've been wanting to make a new assassin for a while (my fav class) and I already have a lvl 88 assassin with max ps, cot, cm and a pt in cos and use dclaw as a finisher...she can solo hell pretty well on her own and I still have 30ish skill pts left. Rather than just adding ts/dtail to the build, i wanna make a totally new one (im kinda lazy and switching skills so often would get annoying)....anyways, heres my idea...

TS-20
Dtail-20
DS-1?
Blade Fury-1 (why not lol)
cos-1

thats really it...i know its really basic but the idea would to use a really heavy hitting weapon to get the most out of TS (rather than claws which are kinda weak compared to some swords/axes). Maybe BOTD if i could get a hold of one...or something with a lot of physical dmg...

this way, i would get the most out of the ts/dtail combo which could also handle groups and if i wanted to i could use blade fury pretty well since the dmg would be really high... (i would get some cb/ow stuff)

I just like the idea of an assassin using a heavier weapon cause they always look cool with stuff other than claws and i'm kinda bored of the claw based assassins....soo do you guys think i should go with a 1h or 2h weapon and what shield? Also, I'll have lots of points left...i was thinking of putting 20 into ls/ds/cbs (or some synergies) as some alternative dmg making it a real hybrid...if i did that and got to lvl 99 (very unlikely) i would have one hell of a character on my hands but I prolly wont get past lvl 90 sooo how does it look?

[GridReaper]

I'm doing the exact build on my hardcore assassin. She is lvl 31 and rocking.

My only problem is that I have gotten quite comfortable with Cleglaw's set (awesome AR and crushing blow) to be happy with a higher damage weapon that doesn't have the AR bonus.

I'm also adding a little Pheonix Strike for some damage versatility for NM and beyond.

[lextalionis]

Three Hurdles


1. Two-handed weapon penalty to Blade Fury, it halfs the damage before it gives it the Blade Fury reduction in damage. Thus completely eliminating any benefit you might get from running a two handed weapon. So if you do this you'd want to use something one handed with a lot of damage.

2. You will probably have some attack rating problems with Blade Fury. So be ready for this being a problem, and don't think CoS will fix the whole thing. You may have to wear two pieces of Angelic set or some other bonuses for AR.

3. You loose at least +6 to both Tiger Strike and Dragon Tail when you aren't using claws. That's a very drastic reduction in damage.

[jrichard]

thats really it...i know its really basic but the idea would to use a really heavy hitting weapon to get the most out of TS (rather than claws which are kinda weak compared to some swords/axes). Maybe BOTD if i could get a hold of one...or something with a lot of physical dmg...

this way, i would get the most out of the ts/dtail combo which could also handle groups and if i wanted to i could use blade fury pretty well since the dmg would be really high... (i would get some cb/ow stuff)


This lost me. A higher damage weapon won't up your TS/Dtail damage. Only str, dex, skill pts or better boots would do that. All a higher damage weapon would do is up the damage of the hits which charge TS and, quite frankly, you won't find a weapon that will do anything but pale beside TS/Dtail for damage.

jrichard

[lextalionis]

This lost me. A higher damage weapon won't up your TS/Dtail damage. Only str, dex, skill pts or better boots would do that. All a higher damage weapon would do is up the damage of the hits which charge TS and, quite frankly, you won't find a weapon that will do anything but pale beside TS/Dtail for damage.

jrichard

J-

I think he was talking about upping his Blade Fury damage, not his Dragon Tail damage. At least I hoped he was.

[flapserdk]

I have tested a Fleshripper on my asskicker :

+(200-300)% Enhanced Damage
-50% Target Defense
Prevents Monster Healing
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
50% Chance of Open Wounds
33% Chance of Deadly Strike
Slows Target by 20%

And with Gorerider (15 % CB and 10 % OW) and Duress armor (15 % CB and 33 % OW), you got your self a mean kicker. The fleshripper damage is not awsome, but the mods are perfect for kicker, when you make 6 kicks/sec.

[skygoneblue]

The BIG problem that I forsee is...well, I forsee two now that I think about it.

Effective OH swords require a pretty beefy dex investment, as does maintaining good block rate. Obviously more dex = less vit = suck.

The BIG one is that with two claws on, one click can = two charges. A full charge set with a sword requires three attacks at minimum. This will make you extremely reliant on IAS to be able to stay competitive with the enemies in Hell mode.

[BIGeyedBUG]

The BIG one is that with two claws on, one click can = two charges.

Wrong about that, sky. None of the animal charge-ups work that way.

[skygoneblue]

Um...If I have two claws equipped, she swings twice (once with each claw). If each claw hits, you get a charge for each. I see this happen all the time.

[xanth]

hmm thanks for your input...i think im still going to try it though...and see how it works out...maybe venom to boost dmg a little...otherwise i was thinking about making a ww barb cause ive never made a barb before =P

[NightyNight]

Here's what I think about this AMAZING build.

Dude - 20 TS, 20 DTail - That's all you need for MASSIVE DMG (I deal 9-14k dmg with those skills...only lvl 42, I'll pass the 20k dmg for sure).

2 Bartucs obviously ! it will give you 3 to martial arts skills (+2 to all +1 to MA), take 2 of them, that makes+6 to MA, that's some MASSIVE dmg addition), get gloves with IAS, get BoS to 11+ slvl (includes +skills from items), get some fast runnin boots (Gore riders are best for this build...10-15% crushing blow, open wounds and deadly strike, and u melee real fast...you get the point).

After playing with this build for 42 lvles...I'm not even sure if you'll ever need the little elemental dmg that phoenix strike adds for this build...it dosent add too much dmg...maybe 1 skill point to use the chaos ice bolts that completely freezes all nearby enemies for 3.5 seconds in hell...maxing it...dunno, kinda wasting skill points here. Get your shadow master to lvl 17 (includes +to all skills from items), or more if you want him to have more hp and resists, at slvl 17 he gets all of his items, maybe you should max this instead of phonix strike (maxing phonix strike will get you...2k dmg for each elemental (alot less, but since you have, well, i have alot of +to all skills for its synergies it adds lots of dmg to it, maybe a bit more than 2k,but its not significant on hell diffuculty 8 players game [i.e baal runs]).

BoS is your best friend here, you attack and move REAL fast, means u charge-up real fast (1 sec for 3 charges...), again, get atleast 11 points here, as the guide says.

Cobra strike - 1 skill point for 80% life and mana leech...amazing.

dragon flight - maybe 1 skill point for a sort of TP...dunno, i dont think ill ever use this.

On hell diffuclty, when it gets much harder, use Cloack of shadows all the time, it's really good.

If you worry about fire immunes, dont. You deal enough physical damage to take care of those...I speak from experience.

Get a Act 5 barbarian merc for tanking, with BoS on, you wont have fade, means it'll be tough to keep the resists high enough on hell, most important resists are obviously fire and lightning (Eventually they are most important...in act 2 you need lit and psn resists, in act 3 you need fire and psn, act 4 fire and lit, act 5 fire and lit, aim for max and lit resists on hell), so you need this merc for tanking\buffing purposes only, hmmmm....you can get a definace one...dunno, use whatever you think is right for you).

Use whatever items you want, only 2 things u gotta have, gloves with atleast 20 IAS, and gore rider boots (well, you dont HAVE to get these, but it will be the best for this build), all rest items - aim for +to all skills, cannot be frozen, resists, IAS, and STR bonuses (STR is a big factor here, 20 points of STR can mean more than 1k dmg in this build...seriously). When picking an armor, obviously, prefer resists over high def.

That's all what I can tell you from my experience with This build and with all kinds of assassins, although, this is truely the best build, most powerful, and most versatile = most fun, IMO of course.

Good luck (wow what a long msg OMG).

[lextalionis]

get gloves with IAS,

You can get MA skills boosts from gloves, up to I think +3 MA. Other things to remember about +MA skills is that it boosts both TigerStrike and Dragon Tail.

The other thing to look at when you look at the damage out from this combo, is the number of frames it takes to get that large amount of damage off. Obviously it works, but its not quite as strong as people think, because in someways its slower than charge or massive leap attack.

[jrichard]

Um...If I have two claws equipped, she swings twice (once with each claw). If each claw hits, you get a charge for each. I see this happen all the time.

Tiger, cobra, and phoenix only use one claw not both. One charge up per attack. It's the elemental charge ups (Fists of fire, Claws of thunder, Blades of ice) that will give two charges per attack if both claws hit.

jrichard

[skygoneblue]

Well, that explains it then, cuz I'm always using Claws of Thunder and only PS for bosses (meteor).

[Aron Figaro]

Hmmm...well, if you're going to be using a big BotD, why not just use a normal attack to release the TS? You would do a rather obscene amount of single-hit damage if you think about it...maxed TS with a big eth BotD Colossus Blade...*drool*

[skygoneblue]

Is anyone else kinda sick of rune words running everything?

Enigma, Breath of the Dying, Fury, Stone, blah blah blah...

It's like they were made solely for the fact of making a totally ****ty build work. Who in the hell would make a barbarian that only sings? Someone with Enigma and Heart of the Oak! *sigh*

Maybe I'm a purist, but I prefer my uniques and sets to overpowered rune words. :thumbsup:

[omnis]

Is anyone else kinda sick of rune words running everything?
Yes! I've stopped using them too, as have others for the same reason. The game is just too easy when you have everything, especially with some of 1.10's ridiculously powerful synergies.


Hmmm...well, if you're going to be using a big BotD, why not just use a normal attack to release the TS? You would do a rather obscene amount of single-hit damage if you think about it...maxed TS with a big eth BotD Colossus Blade...*drool*
You can't release with DT with a BotD! If you mean without DT, then just realize that DT's +%ed is multiplicative with your final damage after charging up TS.

You can get MA skills boosts from gloves, up to I think +3 MA. Other things to remember about +MA skills is that it boosts both TigerStrike and Dragon Tail.
+2 max

After playing with this build for 42 lvles...I'm not even sure if you'll ever need the little elemental dmg that phoenix strike adds for this build...it dosent add too much dmg
I'm afraid you're in for a rude surprise when you hit hell. While DT is overpowered in normal and NM, it is reduced by physical resistance, and thus not as good in hell. DT will not do any damage to PI's. Phoenix strike's freeze duration goes down in Hell, but goes up with additional skill points, plus you will want it for PI's and probably FI's too. So you WILL want to max it. I would max a synergy too.

[Naliworld]

I'm afraid you're in for a rude surprise when you hit hell. While DT is overpowered in normal and NM, it is reduced by physical resistance, and thus not as good in hell. DT will not do any damage to PI's. Phoenix strike's freeze duration goes down in Hell, but goes up with additional skill points, plus you will want it for PI's and probably FI's too. So you WILL want to max it. I would max a synergy too.

I may have misunderstood you, but the global 50% PDR on all monsters in Hell has been removed in 1.10, so that's another plus for DTail. I do agree that a maxed PS and a synergy will be critical for dealing with PI/FIs, though...

EDIT: Also, the +3 MA mod can spawn, but only on magic gloves. +2 is the max on rare gloves.

[NightyNight]

I may have misunderstood you, but the global 50% PDR on all monsters in Hell has been removed in 1.10, so that's another plus for DTail. I do agree that a maxed PS and a synergy will be critical for dealing with PI/FIs, though...

EDIT: Also, the +3 MA mod can spawn, but only on magic gloves. +2 is the max on rares.

Thanks alot for the info =] guess i'll max Pstrike anyway. Maxing a synergie? nah, I'm only lvl 42 and I've got +9 to MA so far, I think I'll reach +13-14 or even more, that'll be a big enough boost for the synergies.

btw, even if the monsters had 50% PDR, 20-30k:2 is still hella alot of dmg, more than mose charcters can deal anyway.

Again, thanks alot =]

[skygoneblue]

+skills don't matter so much man. What Nali is getting at is that you should max PS and a synergy to deal with physical immunes so that each of the two skills actually gets a bonus from the other.
You can kill a PI with an unsynergized meteor from PS, but it'll take forever and a day.
+skill DO NOT give synergy bonuses.

[NightyNight]

+skills don't matter so much man. What Nali is getting at is that you should max PS and a synergy to deal with physical immunes so that each of the two skills actually gets a bonus from the other.
You can kill a PI with an unsynergized meteor from PS, but it'll take forever and a day.
+skill DO NOT give synergy bonuses.

Dont matter so much? for every +to skills tiger strike recives +60% ED when fully charged...that can be alot of dmg, not only that, you get extra points for block, BoS, and ur SM +to all skills are the key for a successful character (you CANNOT make a really strong one without alot of +to all skills...Ask top ladder players, they probably have +20 or more to all skills lol.

"+skill DO NOT give synergy bonuses" - that I didnt know...well that sux ^^
Hmmmm...what monsters are PI ? The only ones i know about are Revealers on act 2...what else? Im starting to think that I've wasted 2 skill points on prereqs for PS...do I REALLY REALLY NEED PS? If I do...I'll max PS and Fists of Fire, most dmg of the 3.

BTW Why not use runewords? They are MUCH more poweful (speaking of armors) thatn elite unique ones, not That i have Chains of honor (drooling), nor Enigma, nor HOTO, But I'll use Lionheart, which gives+25 to STR (and some other VERY good stuff) = HELLA ALOT OF DMGGGGGGGGGG (talking about TS\DT build of course).

According to the formula in wildjinn's TS\DT build, every 1 pt of STR adds a dmg multiplier of 1% - 25 STR = 25% extra dmg (Am I right?? Is it really so, cuz for like every 5 points of STR i get +500 min and max dmg or so...really).

[lextalionis]

Most important sources of damage for Dtail:

Boots (these are your base damage), you must find your way into Myrmidon Greaves. Both Shadow Dancers and upgraded Goreriders are good and have - requirements that allows you to get into them without hella strength.

Next thing, yes strength itself is a good thing for damage.
Points in Dexterity aren't completely wasted, they don't do double damage like Strength does, but they do add to your base kick damage and they add to your attack rating. If you are using a shield (I don't recommend) it would increase your block rating.

Both these things get multiplied by your level in Dragon Tail. That means even tiny increases in either are getting multiplied by a lot. More points in Dragon Tail also increases your Attack Rating which is very helpful.

Lastly, Tiger Strike has crazy increases per level in its damage boosting capabilities. So again more +MA skills would be very helpful for you.

Ok remember +MA skills add to both TS and to DT, thus they doubly increase your damage, very very important.

One thing to remember about the whole thing is that you are having to attack a lot of times before you can let off this DTail explosion, so your attack speed needs to be as low as possible.
---------------

Now if you are also trying to use PS, you may be a little point weak. But the best idea would be to max PS and then CoT. Against groups use PS, against single targets that are FI/PhI I'd use CoT.

Don't forget PS has the Ice Blast release which works very well at freezing the whole board.

Again here + Skills are very important. Almost every elemental damage is very dependant on your level of plus skills.

I wouldn't heavily invest in the Shadow skills. Not that they aren't useful. Its just that you need to put your points in your offensive skills for this build. One point in WB, CM, MB, BoS might be enough. Get the Shadows if you think you must, but they will probably be weak decoys for you at best.

-----------------
Equip recommendations

+3 MA gloves I have a pair. I think they help this build a lot.
Bartucs are pretty much the best claws you can get.
+3 MA Ammy
Try to get plus skills on your helm too. That should cheaply put you in the decent range.
Try to get + MA Grande Charms in your inventory

[NightyNight]

OK OK I GOT IT.

1 To all shadow skills but venom.

20 Tiger Strike
20 Dragon Tail
20 Claws of Thunder
20 Phoenix strike

On Clvl 83 you will have all this (includes skill quests) which leaves you with 16 Skill points left (if you intend to reach very high lvles...I reach to lvl 85 in a week, maybe less :)

MAXED TS+DT+300 or so STR with 2 bartucs will give you a minimum dmg of 20k...My Assa is only clvl 49 and I deal 13k-20k dmg, and i got like 40 lvles left, that is AMAZING, so far 260 str, 130 dex, not a single point in vit or ene yet,with 440 hp, 170 mana !

Need a tip? STR ! LOTS OF STR! GET IK GLOVES AND BELT (I use boots too, I've got Gore riders on my stash, why I dont use them? because when I remove my IK boots, I lose 1000 (!!!) attack rating, very wierd indeed, if i'll see that I cant make it without the crushing blow deadly strike and open wounds on the gore riders ill use em, if ill do good, and ill probably do good, ill keep using IK boots.

Again, STR is THE KEY for HELLA ALOT OF DMG! 13k-20k on clvl 49 ! AMAZING!

[lextalionis]

IK boots and Goreriders are good boots, but upgrade them. They need to be Myrmiddon Greaves. Then you can pick.

The reason that you are getting such a huge diffenerence in your attack rating is that IK boots have 110 added to your attack rating(more than that if you are wearing more of the IK set, since each item adds more and more AR to your build). Base additions to your attack rating are very very important. They get multiplied by your skills % increases to your attack rating. That's why have both types of increases is very important.

But just as your AR jumps up tons when you make a small increase in your base attack rating. So too will your damage increase dramatically when you upgrade your base damage ie you upgrade your boots from Battle Boots to Myrmiddon Greaves. Myrmmiddons have a pretty high strenght requirement, so that might be a problem for you once you upgrade. But this is so so so so worth it for your build.

If you can't afford to upgrade, then you need to find a normal pair of Myrmiddon Greaves. Regardless of anyother mods, plus AR, CB, whatever else, increasing your base damage will be the biggest help to you. Believe me. So trade for any rare Myrmiddon greaves or upgrade either the IK boots or Goreriders. FYI, the Goreriders will have lower strength requirements if that's an issue, because they have a - requirements mod.

[GenXCub]

You can't upgrade the IK boots. Sets don't upgrade.

But Lex is right. The difference between war boots and myrmidon greaves when you have over level 30 in Tiger strike and Dragon Tail is about 8-9k damage.

[NightyNight]

I'll try to get upgraded gores...My STR is currently at 265...You tell me if that's an issue. I intend to reach 300 STR then pump VIT, I got 450HP without investing a single point into VIT so far...

How much do they cost in runes? - the upgraded gore riders?
Where can I find them? ;/

My most important question...MAX PS and CoT or MAX PS and CoI? I think that CoT will have more dmg...although, those ghosts on act 5, who shoots deadly lightning, are both physical and lightning immune...right?

I'm almost sure that my resists wont be 75 on hell ;/ maybe ice and poison will be on a - ...could be...that's cuz i dont use fade, with this build i use BoS, and I'm very vulnerable...low def and resists :S but EXTREMELY high dmg...Conclusion? I hate obvilion knights and gloams.

Good night.

[xanth]

hmm okay, ive been thinking about it and instead of using a heavy weapon (since im really far from getting a botd or any great 1h big dmg wep) im gonna make a pure MA assassin....since i already have a PS one (with nats) i decided that my other one would be better as a ps one anyway cause mesh boots have crap boot dmg...so heres my build...it may be a little cleched but whatever...

TS-Max
Dtail-Max
Venom-Max (y not? i got extra points)
WB-1-10 (depending on +skills...prolly only 1)
SM-1-10
CoS-1
cobra strike-1
CM-10+
bos-1

gear
helm-orphan/shako (cb vs +skills)
armor-duress
claws-2x bartucs
boots-gores/mryblahblah ones
belt-string (basic but decent)
rings-raven/dwarf
ammy-maras (i was thinking of highlords but this one gives the resists which im gonna need)
gloves-i got some rare cb/dual leech/+str gloves...no +skills..gotta find some

i think its good enough for now...although im not gonna get rushed cause i figured this build would be strong all the way through the levels since ts is so great at lower levels

one more thing...with the ts/dtail combo....what can and cant you hurt? I know you cant hurt PIs but against FIs, is it that u can only dmg the one enemy u release on or can you not dmg them at all...cause then it might be good to put a pt in dclaw to deal with the fire immunes....iono im kinda confuesed..lol

also, why do assassins usually only use one charge up skill...wouldnt it be a good idea to make an assassin thats more of a "chargesin" that would get 3 charges of ts, cobra and ps each...that way you could just deal with a whole screem in 10 attacks total...prolly wiping everthing on the screen out at once...hmm i guess it would take too long right?

[NightyNight]

also, why do assassins usually only use one charge up skill...wouldnt it be a good idea to make an assassin thats more of a "chargesin" that would get 3 charges of ts, cobra and ps each...that way you could just deal with a whole screem in 10 attacks total...prolly wiping everthing on the screen out at once...hmm i guess it would take too long right?

That will take alot of time...And I speak from experience, if you would attack 6 times for 6 charges, that'll be great, but since you MISS ALOT on hell diffuculty, that'll be tough to perform, I use TS most of the time, Cobra when I'm in a need of mana\hp, I dont use PS yet because it's still very weak (slvl12 with +to skills)...Although I do have one use for PS, killing an entire fallen camp on normal with the PS lightning ^^

[lextalionis]

You can't upgrade the IK boots. Sets don't upgrade.
Sorry didn't know that, I'd never tried. But thanks for reiterating the point about boot damage being important.

[omnis]

I may have misunderstood you, but the global 50% PDR on all monsters in Hell has been removed in 1.10, so that's another plus for DTail. I do agree that a maxed PS and a synergy will be critical for dealing with PI/FIs, though...
btw, even if the monsters had 50% PDR, 20-30k:2 is still hella alot of dmg, more than mose charcters can deal anyway.
Although there is no global 50% PDR, monsters still average 30-40% physical resistance. Also, realize that DT's area of effect fire damage is not only reduced by PDR, but afterwards reduced by any fire resistance. This may seem obvious at first, but it's actually very rare for a single type of damage to be reduced by two resists on top of each other each other. This lowers the damage by a huge amount, as the second resist is taken as a fraction of the result of the first reduction.(IOW, the resists aren't just added, making it much worse) Also, monsters' elemental resists have gone up in 1.10, about as much as physical resistance has gone down, negating that seemingly favorable condition above. To sum up, the damage figures listed for DT are hugely inflated like perhaps no other skill, and will be mostly ineffective against a large variety of opponents. Thus the need for a huge investment in strength, some top boots, and a second type of damage.

EDIT: Also, the +3 MA mod can spawn, but only on magic gloves. +2 is the max on rare gloves.
Hmm. Missed that. I haven't seen any yet either. Can you shop for those? I hope I don't have to actually start picking up magic gloves now...

I'll try to get upgraded gores...
A lot of people have mentioned these. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like deadly strike works with kicks, and deadly strike is almost always the best mod on them. Go with shadow dancers.

one more thing...with the ts/dtail combo....what can and cant you hurt? I know you cant hurt PIs but against FIs, is it that u can only dmg the one enemy u release on or can you not dmg them at all...cause then it might be good to put a pt in dclaw to deal with the fire immunes....iono im kinda confuesed..lol
You can do the physical damage only to one target with TS, but you might want to release it with a different finisher. You can apply venom with DC, or why not put one point in blade fury and take care of immunes from a distance?


also, why do assassins usually only use one charge up skill...wouldnt it be a good idea to make an assassin thats more of a "chargesin" that would get 3 charges of ts, cobra and ps each
Well, TS/DT will be better for non-PI's/FI's, and PS would be better for the immunes. So one is usually better than the other. In NM, however, knock yourself out. Be aware that DT can knock enemies out of your meteor area of effect though.

The reason that you are getting such a huge diffenerence in your attack rating is that IK boots have 110 added to your attack rating
I feel it would be more efficient to just use charms. The need for high AR is especially important if you are going to try and use PS, especially since you will probably want to use the first or second charge.(they do the most damage, the third charge's freeze ability doesn't require a synergy) I suggest getting a demon limb and leaving it in your stash. You only have to use it every 10 minutes or so, for a ~+200% bonis to AR. Also, socket your Bartuc's with an Eth or Jah rune.(Jah is not necessarily the better of the two)

[lextalionis]

Thus the need for a huge investment in strength, some top boots, and a second type of damage.

+3 MA Gloves
Hmm. Missed that. I haven't seen any yet either. Can you shop for those? I hope I don't have to actually start picking up magic gloves now...

GORE RIDERS
A lot of people have mentioned these. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like deadly strike works with kicks, and deadly strike is almost always the best mod on them. Go with shadow dancers.


You can do the physical damage only to one target with TS, but you might want to release it with a different finisher. You can apply venom with DC, or why not put one point in blade fury and take care of immunes from a distance?

)

Sorry I"m bad with the quotes and changing text in these things, but I'll try to comment on a few things.

Your first quote about damage is correct... so you only have your choice of two uniques in the game: Shadowdancers or uppedgoreriders. While Shadow Dancers are very good boots, and they argueably are better for a pure TS/DTail build, Goreriders upgraded give the same base damage as Shadow Dancers, but they have the added bonus of giving both DS and CB. CB is very helpful in the game, especially if you are soloing, since it takes a percentage of hitpoints away from creatures. This will work with all your claw attacks and your finisher. DS, while it won't work with your finisher will work with all these attacks which you will make. Each charge up attack has a chance to be double damage and any blade fury attack would have a chance to double damage. It would conceivably also work with Blade Shield (not that that would ever be much damage). So don't look down on Deadly Strike. As far as damage goes all Shadow Dancers will do is increase your Venom Damage. Shadow Dancers do have a number of defensive qualities which are nice since they have +2 your Shadow Tree, it really just depends how developed you are in your Shadow Tree.
Venom damage is pretty low in the game, I think you will find it very hard to have that be a way to kill PI's or FI in hell. In fact, PI alone are hard because you can't do fire damage to anything if you can't do physical damage to a target. It doesn't mean you can't use DTail to attack PI's it just means you have to have a non-PI creature to actually be the target and then the PI's have to be in range of the DTail blast. Its tricky and inefficient.

As a last suggestion you might look at a Malice Claw for its 100% Open Wounds mod, if you are over level 90 it actually does very good damage in Hell and can affect monsters regardless of their immunity.

Oh yeah and since you can't upgrade IK boots, let me just say that they then do a ton less damage than any elite boots available. Any kicker should be wearing Myrmiddon Greaves, or really have a non-physical damage strategy.