Building my 3rd assasin in 5 years of D2, a PvP wannabe kicksin...

[Fongalv]

lol...Ive kinda given up on cookie cutter builds and since S3 has started, Ive only made characters which I rarely played, assys being one of the least played chars, much less a kicksin...Ive always enjoyed "customizing/streamlining" my characters but this time im kinda stumped on some issues here...

Ive read through all the fantastic guids, kick/trap, kick/fury monk, pure kicker, etc and have since gained considerable knowledge about this class...from what Ive seen, I consider kick/ww the stronger PvP builds around?

please bear in mind Im not extremely rich, maybe somewhere about average wealth on bnet...

"end" items i am considering are:

helm
2s 28str giant skull(already have)
nats(already have)
2 assy 30str 30frw some resistall circlet(considering trading for it)

ammy
metal grid
highlords
2assy +str +life +resist

weapon
death warspike range2(got this cheap frm a friend)
beast zerker(considering making)
285% fleshripper(already have)
azurewrath(already have)

shield
SS the one and only choice eld or sheal???

armour
duress prolly, still dunno if I shld make it in a 3s sacred I got cuz its not light and thus "slows"

gloves
dracs also the one and only choice

rings
raven and some rare +str one...

belt
tgods prolly also only choice

boots
+2/18 dancers(already got)
195 gores(dont feel like blowing a lem to upgrade yet)

no torch
no anni
2 shadowgcs
12fhr 100+ar gc
5fhr sc so I got 40(duress)+30(dancers)+12+5=87

ok now for my questions...
1) Ive just found out that dtalon has inherent KB on last kick, which kinda irritated me a bit, what would happen if I use giant skull? KB after EVERY kick?
as of now, im quite inclined towards nats snice they give def/resist/str/dex, or even the rare circlet cuz of the frw as I plan to use fade mostly. what should I put into the GS if i were to use it?


2) the only issue I have with the ammy choice is cuz of weapon choice. I realised I needed ias for 8/3/3/3/3 and i just felt that using a beast will free up this slot together with glove slot and also ias jewels. if I go metalgrid+beast, AR= :clap:

3) as for the weapon, Im using a death cuz i got it cheap...lol...it actually did work rather nicely when I tried dueling with it just now...the glacial spike does help a little, but now the problem of it being range2 is irking me...would I be better off with azurewrath or fleshripper? again, a beast zerker seem to solve alot of problems...

4) im still not so sure of making duress in a sacred cuz even tho its medium, i think it still slows a little when not using BoS? I already have a 575 one in stash, just considering if I shld make in a hauberk or something...

5) for PvP i gather that cb is less impt than OW?

haha now I so feel like making a ww/kicker but that would take another 3HRs...I know most of the choices would be ultimately based on personal preference/playstyle but nevertheless any comments will be appreciated...

[Fongalv]

I think something screwed up here...shes now lvl 76, and had problems killing in act5 hell 1player game...

currently using tucs, giantskull, SS, guardian angel, ravenfrost, shadows dancers, dracs, tgods...

maxed fade/talon/venom...
>1k talon damage, >1k life, 75 block, low resists cept for light...

the major problem I just realised is that...MB/CoS/lifetap OVERRIDES each other...

do I really have blow 2pts(+preq) into blade fury to weaken the packs?

[ilkori]

You have no Crushing Blow! Talon is not worth using in PvM unless you have Crushing Blow, and in large quantities. I only see 10% from Giant Skull. Also, the WW/kick/stun guide is mostly good in PvP due to the WW/stun portion. Kickers are fun to duel with, but I haven't seen a lot of good PvPers who play them when they really want to win. WizAd3pt would be the main exception. Anyway, onto the questions.

1) The knockback only triggers on the last kick. Since Talon already does that, it means Knockback does nothing for this skill.

5) Yep, CB is far less useful in PvP. It isn't worth going after, but it's good if you have it.

[Fongalv]

hmm...ok...guess i shld switch back to the death then...its just that Im a few str shy of using SS which helps in turn to equip dancers...

have to wait till I get a new helm and torch b4 I can dump the GS and tucs...

how bout the CoS/Lifetap overidding each other? dracs are like must haves, esp in pvm which is what I do atm, but i get swamped so very often, even when I do try to be very carefull...+I got CoS on rmb and shadow keeps casting it too...

I know this would sound like a lack of "skill" or play style, but I would just like some comments on how you pro assassin players usually use/do when swamped...

[ilkori]

Getting swamped with a pure kicker just plain sucks. There's no two ways about it. Kick/Trap builds tend to rely on traps and play back when the going gets that tough. A strong Merc and Shadow both help keep the heat off, but there are times even they don't help much. I use Master because she won't CoS when I need the Life Tap. When I can, I'll do the CoS before getting into the fray, then Life Tap will do better holding its own. Since you are using the Warrior, I'd put Mind Blast on RMB if it gets too dangerous.

If all else fails, I sit back and do nothing but Mind Blast while drinking blues. My mercenary/party/Master will eventually knock them out.

That's just my method. I'm sure there are others out there.

[Fongalv]

arh...dint know bout master not CoSing...betta go read up bet the 2 then...

nayways I just got a cheap duress for pul...and i think im doing better already, esp with more resists now...

thanks for the imputs...il go test it more...