New to Assn.. Question about Phoenix Striker Charge Up skills! :)

[RetroStar]

Im making a Pheonix Striker and its my first assn so I have no clue about anything with charges. These are my questions about the build:

Do I charge up using the Phoenix Stirke skill and release the charges using one of the Dragon moves?

Also do I charge up three times to release ALL of the fire, ice and lightning skills at once?

If I finish using a dragon move, would I need a high dmg from the boots or are the dmg from phoenix strike enuff?

Thnx for all the answers! :)

[Notropon]

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/assassin-martialarts.shtml
this is what i would call basics. i am sure you would be able to find your answers in most faq's, fan pages and old threads.
with sucha small reseach you have done, i am litterally impressed that you were able to find this diablo page

[BIGeyedBUG]

--You can release charges with any of the Dragon finishers or Normal Attack.

--No. Charge once for meteor, twice for lightning, 3 times for ice. There's no way to stack the charges of Phoenix.

--It's most common for PSers to use Normal Attack or Dragon Claw, but I know someone who uses Talon and likes it a lot. The classic build doesn't worry about finishing move damage, but you can incorporate it in your build if you want.

[RetroStar]

thnx for the answers! so if PS releases the things for each charge.. and if I use 2 claws, wouldnt one hit fromy my 2 claws have 2 charges already? So I wouldnt be able to release meteor?

[skygoneblue]

Using two claws has no effect. The first claw to connect will release the appropriate charge, and the second claw will either just do a normal hit, or swing at midair.

[Dark Assassin]

Would it be possible that in some upcoming patch all PS charges get relesed together ???
That would make this skill so much better !

[skygoneblue]

Uhh, I doubt it...

What's wrong with the skill as it is now? I can easily make an argument that is the single most versatile skill in the whole game.

[Dark Assassin]

More damage is always better, sometimes it is difficult to get exactly one or two charges.

[skygoneblue]

... :scratch: You can only get one charge at a time per attack (even with two claws)...

...unless counting to 2 or 3 is difficult for you... :lol:

[Dark Assassin]

Try counting to 2 when you are in a game with 7 sorcs messing up your screnn with constant meteors, surrounded by tons of Lister minions, stunlocked and with the green life bar dropping faster and faster!

Also, there is a big chance no to hit with the claws or maybe even to hit too fast.
Think about it!

[skygoneblue]

Dude, I have made plenty of PS-based assassins in my day - I am well aware of the visual difficulties surrounding the game.

This is why I generally pick on a monster on the outside of the group, then release the charges in the middle. Better visual field, and better effect for the release.

[Dark Assassin]

I konw you are the master of Martial assassins.
The next one I will try out is your PS...
But before I will do some HC sorc for MF and a HC Necro for killing the noobs...

[BIGeyedBUG]

Try counting to 2 when you are in a game with 7 sorcs messing up your screnn with constant meteors, surrounded by tons of Lister minions, stunlocked and with the green life bar dropping faster and faster!

Hmm, I just tried it and was successful counting to 2. Guess I'm just talented. B)

Seriously though, it's mostly just a matter of practice. You sound pretty new to the skill, just give it some time. It's not the easiest skill to use, but that's a lot of what's cool about it. And when you get good at releasing the correct charge, it's really impressive.

Also, there is a big chance no to hit with the claws...

Shouldn't be. If you're building her properly, you should be hitting close to 95% of the time.

[skygoneblue]

He's right. The charge skills give a decent AR bonus on their own, and if you are using a bartuc, you can easily get another 20% to your AR.

[Dark Assassin]

I only used PS when I was a sin noob because I thought it would be cool to burn and freeze the monsters in lightning storms at the same time.
But this did not happen.
Now with the synergies and skygoneblue's guide I will give this skill some new tries ...
:lol: :drink:

[skygoneblue]

:lol: Let me know if you have any questions bro - I'll do what I can to help out!

[Dark Assassin]

I will start my studies in some weeks and will not have too much time for D2.
So how will I be able to get in HC my mf sorc to Hell Mephisto and my HC necro to killer level 85 so that I can start the new SC sin?
:lol:

[skygoneblue]

Easy - get PKed in HC and you won't have any characters to worry about! :thumbsup:

[Dark Assassin]

I am not the average Bob, I want to kill him !!!

[skygoneblue]

Just make sure he doesn't go kill a bunch of people in a school after you do it! ;)

[Dark Assassin]

He is the noob, we are the assassins...

[Notropon]

Shouldn't be. If you're building her properly, you should be hitting close to 95% of the time.
i just started this build(or one very close to it), as my first new char on the ladder. she was doing fine in normal(like most builds) but now in end nm, she is having serious AR problems. it's insane. her AR is about 1k-1.7 k on various attacks. i boosted her dex a lot to improve it, but now i am above 100, and really want to end this madness, and start putting points into vit. so tell me, wtf do i do about it? i am like as poor as you can be on ladder, so i guess the most obvious answer would be :"build a mf sorc and do some runs". but right now i am really just wants to play on my asn, so is there anything else that i can do?

thanks

[Naliworld]

Piece together a few PGems and buy yourself an Angelic Ring and Amulet(if you don't have a good second ring, but two Angelic Rings), or, alternatively, Hsaru's Belt and Hsaru's Boots(may be a bit harder to get hold of, but worth it if you have good jewelry you want to continue using).

[BIGeyedBUG]

I play untwinked mostly, so believe me, I'm familiar with the problem. Yeah, that AR is horrible. First off, I almost never have it higher than 115, but that's kind of unusual. If you're claw/shield seriously consider pumping DEX. That way you get AR, blocking, and some extra physical damage as well.

Other than that:

--Collect AR charms, especially ones with a useful 2nd mod. Remember that straight AR will be multiplied by all your %AR bonuses, so a 110 AR GC is a lot better than it seems.

--Shop, gamble, or trade for other AR gear. The scaling AR mod on claws is really nice. So are rare rings with AR bonuses if they offer other stuff you want.

--Get your +skills. Obviously the AR bonus goes up with level, but +Assassin will improve both Phoenix and CM giving you a double bump. I don't like pumping CM itself, but some people do. The lower your base AR, the less helpful it'll be.

--Get your level up. The To Hit formula factors in a level comparison, so it's extremely helpful to be equal or higher level than what you're fighting. I really like to keep my level 3-5 higher than the area level in NM and early Hell, although I don't have the patience to do it later on.

--Use -def. This can help *a lot*. Cloak of Shadows, eth runes, ITD, Rogue mercs. My end game weapons always have either a Shael, an IAS jewel, or an eth in them.

Basically, remember that you should place a priority on AR and be ready to make sacrifices to get it. That's one of the reasons I've started using BA mercs, even though HF is so much more powerful.

Hope that helps.

[Notropon]

Thanks a lot..
wonder why i didn't think about the angelic combo before, but hey, that is what i use the forum to.

[Sober_Irishman69]

imo, the best charge of PS is either the lit one or the cold one. Ppl go for the 3rd one (chaos ice bolt or w/e) i guess since its like orb. I go for the lit one... that lightning web of chain lightning is nasty lol, anyone try this?

[skygoneblue]

Well, the ice charge of PS is good for freezing, but the damage sucks.