Final skill placement, kicking question.

[DrJackDaniels]

Hello,

Could use a little advice for my trapper. I maxxed out all the usual trap skills and
I'm now in the position of having 8 skill points left. I use a merc with Infinity so light immunes are not problem, however sometimes I feel the need for some melee having only played ww asa previously. So I figure since I'm using shadow dancers anyway why not add some kicking skills to my armory. With + skills from equipment torch and anni I got +18 to all skills, if I wear gloves with +2 martial then +20 to kicking skills. What would be the best way to spend my final skill points?

Thanks.

[ilkori]

PvP or PvM? This makes a huge difference.

Also, if this is PvM, you'll want gear with Crushing Blow for it to be worth the investment.

[DrJackDaniels]

Shes 95% Pvm, my gear setup is Shako, Enigma, Maras, Arch, x2sojs, Shadow Dancers, x2 Claws 2Asa 3Light sentry and Loh gloves. As you can see there is 0 crushing blow in that setup so I would have to lose some trap damage to get crushing blow.

I could maybe swap out Loh gloves for crafted gloves with crushing, and maybe take out arch for crafted belt with crushing blow but I'm not sure if that will even get me to 30% crushing blow.

As a last resort I suppose I could remove Shako and replace it with Gulliams face for 35% CB and throw on crafted gloves for extra 10% take me to a respectable 45%.

That will leave me at +16 to all skills and if I can get +2 Martial with crushing blow +18 to kicking with 8 points to spend(1 has to go in venom).

Is it worth it? I wonder.

[ilkori]

Can you get a Last Wish? If you can, I'd put that on switch with a Spirit shield for your melee and teleporting. The +trap claws you have are awesome, but you need FCR and CB - and the LW/Spirit combo provides both. It means you'll need to tote the CTA somewhere else (Cube), but it works.

[DrJackDaniels]

Thanks for input ilkori, now you have got me really thinking. I have a Death ba and an eth Stormlash sitting on a mule somewhere, so I could use one of those. However I can afford a Last Wish but have been loath to buy it since it has so few uses.

Now, since Asa(along with necs) are my favourite Classes and considering I have never built a martial artist you have inspired me to do so. :clap: No point in having a half assed trapper/kicker when I can have a good one of each eh?

A question about last wish,
Will Mercs might aura stack last wishes or highest overrides?

[ilkori]

Highest overriedes. Pride with Defiance/Holy Freeze could be fun.

The Eth Stormlash would be another incredible weapon, and it would work as a pure range weapon with Blade Fury. If you aren't planning on Zodding it, then a Jah would work really nice on normal critters. Then again you have traps...

I haven't gotten to play around with that kind of equipment yet. :p

[wizAdept]

Shes 95% Pvm, my gear setup is Shako, Enigma, Maras, Arch, x2sojs, Shadow Dancers, x2 Claws 2Asa 3Light sentry and Loh gloves. As you can see there is 0 crushing blow in that setup so I would have to lose some trap damage to get crushing blow.%damage to demons/undead does not work on kicks. So definitely switch the gloves.

Adding kicks to your build is a great way to cover yourself against immunes, but taking away cta take away some of the tanking ability trappers have, unless you dont mind buffing but that gets annoying. You will probably want to switch around what setups you use for pvm and pvp, since the two are different.

Luckily for pvm, kickers and kick/trap should be able to solo hell without bo (although it does give a huge boost) with proper gameplay. Currently I'm using Jah'd Stormlash/Um'd SS and Jah'd Azure/Spirit weapon switches on my pvm (pure) kicksin, and too lazy to buff cta most of the time, I do fine without it, your build should as well, buff if you want of course.

As far as your weapon choice, the problem with using stormlash on a mainly trapper build is chances are you will be using kicks mostly against lightning immune enemies, in which case one of Stormlash's best mods, the static, will be useless.

I would recommend either Last Wish phase or Jah'd Azurewrath as your switch. Last Wish is the better bosskiller choice, however Azurewrath is the fastest weapon for going through any undead though, which can take out a lot of physical or light immunes that Last Wish would be slower against.

With either weapon you aren't going to make 7/3 trap speed on fade however. (need 46 ias on -30 wsm) However you only need 18 ias to reach 8/3 kicks, and for pvm it isn't that important to have the initial kick being 7 frames. (although it does help)

Azure already has 30 ias, so use draculs with it, since lifetap makes kickers invincible in pvm.
If Last Wish, go with ma/cb/20ias gloves.

You should also be somewhat concerned with your faded trapset speed c/c side, so try to get fast claws, but that can get incredibly pricey for a pvm build.

I would probably swap out one of the rings for fcr/stats, you dont look like you reach base str with that dancers setup, so this should boost your vit some, also brings you past the 27+ fcr breakpoint, which is good to have for pvm since cloak/mindblast is key. In pvp you should consider a circlet and trang gloves for 65+, dueling with only 20 or 27 fcr will put you at a disadvantage.

As far as your choice of skill ring, bk is probably a better choice than sojs once your character gets to a high enough level that mana isn't a problem. If you want you can also put 1 point in cobra strike for full mana rejuv whenever you need, your weapon switch will have itd so charging up in pvm is very fast and easy. I like having this skill on all my pvm melee-using assassin builds, not sure how tight you are on skill points with your build however.

I assume cham'd shako, correct?

To be honest, this is slightly overkill for pvm, so you'll do fine. If you want to optimize, this is the direction I would recommend. Hope my critique helped.

[Oniko]

Some really good advice there -- I'll add my two cents:

Since you're running a skill build, you're going to take a really, really big hit everytime you lose a + trap skills. I would personally keep your setup, put 1-2 points to Talon (to get you to 4 kicks), and craft Blood gloves like crazy until you get the 20 ias, 2 MA, and 5-10 Crushing blow. If you want to add a tiny bit over the top (I'm assuming you're using Fade), you can stick 1 point into Venon, for another 300 or so psn damage.

For my own trapsin, which is very, very similar to yours, I simply decided to pump Fade to get that 50% DR.

I do think Dancers are better than the classic e-treks called for the build, if anything for that 30 FHR.

Cheers

[DrJackDaniels]

Wow gents had heard the Asa forum had seen better days, but thanks for the useful and insightful posts.
@ ilkori
Highest overriedes. Pride with Defiance/Holy Freeze could be fun. :( Level 35 might aura :lol:
The Eth Stormlash would be another incredible weapon Already have zodded it and yes I love it(Unfortunately so does my Zealot). :D
@ wizAdept
%damage to demons/undead does not work on kicks. So definitely switch the gloves. Dracs put into her Stash :thumbsup:
Adding kicks to your build is a great way to cover yourself against immunes My merc carries Infinity so light immunes are not a problem for me, I just wanna Kick cuz I love melee. She will use Eth Stormlash on switch for kicking, will it reach the 8/3 without additional ias?
I would probably swap out one of the rings for fcr/stats One fcr ring placed on her finger.
I assume cham'd shako, correct? Yup.
To be honest, this is slightly overkill for pvm I love it.
@ Oniko
Some really good advice there Sure is.
I would personally keep your setup, put 1-2 points to Talon (to get you to 4 kicks) Kicktastic...DT it is.
craft Blood gloves like crazy until you get the 20 ias, 2 MA, and 5-10 Crushing blow The gods of craft can be cruel, I may trade for them to save my sanity.
you can stick 1 point into Venon Done.
I do think Dancers are better than the classic e-treks called for the build Dancers all teh way for me.

Thanks again lads.