Goofy Bear Assassin Idea

[JanusJones]

Okay, so hear me out - no really, stop laughing. Aw c'mon, you don't have to be like that!

Seriously, though, I had an idea today that struck me as mildly entertaining and possibly (just possibly) not entirely terrible either. With a Grief Phase Blade (max IAS required - 40%) an Assassin in Bear Form hits 5 fps. Not the lauded and insanely low speeds possible with a Jeweler's Claw of Silly Speed, but VERY respectable, I'd say - especially since a Druid can't hit that speed in Bear form (why, Blizzard, why?!).

So that leaves us with some slots open and some possibilities. The two main issues, as I see them, are 1) Attack Rating (no Claw Mastery means your AR is REALLY going to be in the toilet!) and 2) Damage. 2) is more easily handled than 1), so I'll deal with it first. Slap on a Phoenix Shield and some Fortitude Armor and you've got a base 600% ED - not too shabby when combo'ed with the Bear's base damage boost. Not great, mind you, but not too shabby. Let's all recall that this is clearly NOT a character designed for maximum effectiveness :xmas17: .

Next, of course, there's the obvious (and classic) melee 'sin passive: Venom. With a pair of Trang Oul's Claws and some decent pre-buff gear, this should do some significant damage. Don't hesitate to swap out the Fortitude for a Bramble, either, if you've got a good spawn - remember, the cool thing about +% poison damage is it adds TWICE, just like Fire Mastery does to Enchant - once at casting, then once again on hitting.

Now we come to that first (and obnoxious) issue: Attack Rating. The way I see it, there's almost no way to get around using the partial Angelic's for jewelry. Simply put, the AR is NECESSARY. However, for PvM (which this character is CLEARLY destined for - she wouldn't have a hairy chick's chance in Hell in PvP!), Grief has the ever handy ITD and -% Defense on hit mods to help you out. Granted, this won't do you much good with bosses, but c'est la vive.

Okay. Now we get to the extras. Other equip should include Verdungoes (supplemental life and DR to help you max out at 50% with Fade), Gore Riders (Deadly Strike and CB), and Guillaume's (CB and Deadly Strike - yay!). Now if you can't afford a Cham for your Guillaume's, I think swapping out an Angelic Ammy for a Ravensfrost is a do-able substitution. You could also throw a Kira's on instead of Guillaume's but the damage loss would be considerable.

So, in the end you'd have:

50% DR (provided a lv. 35 Fade prebuff and a perfect Dungoes - achievable, but high! You could also, of course, go with Stormshield and get perfect block if you don't have access to Phoenix, but I like the extra damage myself)

600% base physical ED BEFORE the effect of your Werebear level

Huge Defense (Fortitude's base Defense + Chilling Armor + Bear Defense ups = very respectable defense . . . especilly for an Assy!)

Big fat Poison damage

50% Deadly Strike

And you'd be hitting at 5 fps. Not too shabby, eh?

As far as skills go, you'd have to go for the obvious choices:
Maxed Fade
Maxed Venom
Maxed Shadow Master
Maxed Blade Shield (hell, it's the only passive left - duration is good, right?)
. . . and you'd still have points laying around. You could always sink a bunch of points into a trap or two and keep it on your right-click to be used by a Shadow Warrior, I suppose, but I think the Master's Mind Blast will be pretty invaluable to an Assy who can't use the skill herself. Get yourself a nice Act 2 merc (Defiance or Might, your choice) and see what you're capable of!

Well, whaddaya think, folks? I know I'm crazy, but doesn't it seem like (with uber-equipment and a lot of help from rushing friends) it might be a fun and (relatively) viable PvM character?

Happy holidays! :xmas5:

[Baranor]

Seriously, though, I had an idea today that struck me as mildly entertaining and possibly (just possibly) not entirely terrible either. With a Grief Phase Blade (max IAS required - 40%) an Assassin in Bear Form hits 5 fps. Not the lauded and insanely low speeds possible with a Jeweler's Claw of Silly Speed, but VERY respectable, I'd say - especially since a Druid can't hit that speed in Bear form (why, Blizzard, why?!).

Odd? Could have sworn we can let our lill bears run at 4 fps, but hey, perhaps that's just me ;)

[ilkori]

Sounds more like AcidRane's Auradin guide than anything else. OTOH, you won't have to worry about Phoenix hurting your DS too much since you can't really cast it yourself.

I think the comparison here would be between a pure physical build (i.e. this one) and a claw-based one that uses more procs. You've got better raw damage on this build, and ITD is amazing. CB with speed is absolutely devistating. It's interesting anyway.


Actually, ya know what... I think a claw-based speeder one would be the best way to do a dual Dream sin. Then use a 4-facet armor with as many spare facets as you can stick in the claw. It'd be fun, anyway.



-----
Arg, now I've gone and done it. I spent the last while looking up weapons for the TS/Dtail build by fishy. (in the compendium) I think you can belt out much higher damage, and be able to use traps at the same time. The results are kinda scary once you look at the possibilities for a 10-frame charge and release (40 frames per sequence) - that's with a 2-handed weapon. Nutso. I need some sleep. Hopefully this idea is still going when I get a chance to post again.

[Valvolux]

Baranor is spot on, werebears (druid) can hit 4fps.

Without claw mastery i don't see your AR getting high enuff, angelics alone just wont cut it. Grief may look great, but the Openwounds+ Venom is what does the real damage for a bearsin, so 4fps-3fps is kinda needed to make up for poor AR.

'Phoenix' Shield i never liked because of the huge dex req. to maintain 75 block, but if it works for you go for it.

[JanusJones]

Ah yes, the silly phase-wielding Fireclaws bear. I always forget them. Somehow they never seem . . . well, like WEREBEARS to me. After all, they do nutz for physical damage. Yeah yeah, 20k of fire damage . . . but somehow, having to wield a goofed-out shaeled phase just seems - I dunno - dissappointing.

Remember the ITD if you're worried about AR. Sure, it won't swing it for bosses, but maybe you could use a Blessed Aim merc - it's crazy, I know, but it just might work!

And I kind of figured on skipping max block. Remember, it's only really *necessary* for PvP characters - many of my high levels do FINE without it. In this case, I figured the damage would be worth a bunch more than the block, what with the DR, life ups, resists, and huge defense. Bears are, after all, primarily defensive forms for non-druids, which means damage is the real concern.

Merry X-mas! :xmas9:

[Valvolux]

I think block isn't just for pvp, pack of frezytuars is gonna rip you to shreads without block in melee. As for 'huge defence' from werebears, i really doubt 5k is gonna stop much from hitting you.

As for your stuff about fireclaws just use a botd zerker if you want some physical damage if a 110 phase annoys you so much.

If 20k fire damage at 4fps is "dissappointing" then don't hold ya breath on a sinbear mate.

[JanusJones]

You read me wrong, friend. 20k isn't disappointing, it's just kind of sad to me that BEARS, the big beefy tanks, are, in fact, elemental melee fighters on the order of enchantresses. The idea that scrawny, strung-out looking dog-boys out-rank bears in terms of sheer brawny butt-kicking is stylistically disappointing, to say the least. Sort of like the fact that Blizzard made most two-handed weapons nearly unusable for most serious players - you can dish out more damage with a silly crystallin sword than you can with an enormous, evil-looking scythe, for example. Sigh.

But hey, I play characters based more around style than cookie-cutter effectiveness - it's more fun that way. I've got the stuff to do what I want, and I've been playing this game for YEARS now - the reason I haven't moved on is that the possibilities are so endless. I enjoy the fact that gameplay can be so different with different builds, and part of why I haven't quit is because I keep thinking up new ways to challenge myself.

So yeah, I don't expect a bear-sin with Grief to be a balls-flaming, butt-kicking masterpiece. But any idiot can build one of those - just throw a Grief on a smiter and join the ranks of the brain-dead. I don't play for power, I play for fun. The idea here was to get people's opinions on a silly (but possibly not entirely un-viable) build. You'll notice in my intro to this thread I asked readers to stop laughing - the reason being I know how silly my idea was!

In regards to block, however, I must respectfully disagree. I have yet to play a single melee fighter, barring a pally or two, who had maxed block - and I've done very well for myself, thank you. My kicksin has something like a 27% block, I believe, and I've soloed Uber-Trist with her multiple times now. My Poison-javazon wields Spirit . . . you do the math. In any case, I think block is the refuge of the non-tactical player - and often a good offense and a hefty red globe make for a an easier time of it.

[Valvolux]

Yup i get the whole trying somein different thingy, and i agree about how underpowered werebears are compared to almost all other chars.

I still think blocking 3/4 of all melee/ranged attacks is greater than 100-300 life gain thru more vitality. If you survive fine without block, go with it.

More bears on bnet the better i say.

[nickedoff]

Then use a 4-facet armor with as many spare facets as you can stick in the claw.

Or crescent moon phase.

[JanusJones]

Or crescent moon phase.

Crecent Moon won't even hit 5 fps, unfortunately - but I understand completely! Static Field's just plain good ol' fashioned PvM fun.

:xmas10:

[ilkori]

Without claw mastery i don't see your AR getting high enuff, angelics alone just wont cut it. Grief may look great, but the Openwounds+ Venom is what does the real damage for a bearsin, so 4fps-3fps is kinda needed to make up for poor AR.Grief has ITD. Beast would be better against bosses anyway since it has some OW and CB... not to mention the Fanat aura.

[JanusJones]

Grief has ITD. Beast would be better against bosses anyway since it has some OW and CB... not to mention the Fanat aura.

Yeah, and I figure on a Blessed Aim merc for taking care of the rest of business. But Beast is still so . . . slow! I might just stick with swapping in Angelics when I need 'em, since my pre-buff gear is going to be +shadow skills claws.

I think I only really want to do this to see a bear with a Blade Shield. It kind of looks like it's cutting halfway through the bear's torso, since it doesn't re-size for the bigger form.

Good fun!

[WhiteAlien]

Yeah, i remember when i made my first dream sorc. It was kind of very funny seeing big bear with holy shock aura, frozen armor and big ugly ES ball sticked above the head. Some newbies was asking how druid can get ES :).

The sorc is somehow easyer in this whay, coz u can have 12-15k AR with 2 angelics, good defense from frozen armor and realy nice dmg.

Whats ur bearsins AR anyway?

[order]

a demon limb could also be used to boost ar with enchant charges (lasts about 20 min)

[-Ferro-]

what speed does bears reach with grief pb, 7 or 8?

about maxing venom, dont think it worths the try since grief is continuosly casting it, *sigh*

[JanusJones]

what speed does bears reach with grief pb, 7 or 8?

about maxing venom, dont think it worths the try since grief is continuosly casting it, *sigh*

Ah, but you forget one of the often-overlooked facts about Venom, my friend. Though a high-level Fade is overridden by a lower level casting, a lower level Venom or Enchant is NOT! Woot!

Also, get this - with a 40% IAS Grief Phase, you hit 5 fps.

Not bad, eh? :xmas30:

[-Ferro-]

Wow, you mean you cast venom from skill, lets say lvl 40, and then you cast again venom from grief when striking, and the higer lvl venom remains? good.

Also, you saying an assasin in bear shape, using grief pb, hit at 5, right? On the other hand, a druid in bear shape with grief pb hits at 8 or 7 (if u have some OWIAS). This is so nice indeed, bears only can hit at 5-4 with shaeled white items and the like, very low damage weapons.

[JanusJones]

Wow, you mean you cast venom from skill, lets say lvl 40, and then you cast again venom from grief when striking, and the higer lvl venom remains? good.

Also, you saying an assasin in bear shape, using grief pb, hit at 5, right? On the other hand, a druid in bear shape with grief pb hits at 8 or 7 (if u have some OWIAS). This is so nice indeed, bears only can hit at 5-4 with shaeled white items and the like, very low damage weapons.

Yep, that's what I'm saying! :xmas9:

Bosses might be annoying without any AR, of course. But still, as a PvM character, it might be kind of amusing!

[nickedoff]

...This seems too good to be true. Can someone confirm, please?

Why don't you use Treachery too, then? That's another source of venom. And how come Whirlwind and Kicksins don't take advantage of this?

[ilkori]

Confirmed: if a new source of venom is cast, it will only override if it is the same level or higher level than the existing.

Note: Fade/BoS will override regardless of what level they are at.


More people don't use it because, frankly, there are better options. This seems best suited as a low level/budget equipment for elemental Martial Artists, Trappers, and Hybrids. A pure kicker, for example would prefer Duress.

[JanusJones]

Confirmed: if a new source of venom is cast, it will only override if it is the same level or higher level than the existing.

Note: Fade/BoS will override regardless of what level they are at.


More people don't use it because, frankly, there are better options. This seems best suited as a low level/budget equipment for elemental Martial Artists, Trappers, and Hybrids. A pure kicker, for example would prefer Duress.

Or Fortitude. :xmas30:

I must concur. Treachery is, sadly, a waste on most (if not all) Assassins. That said, it can be godly on some other classes - Zons (strafers especially) and Throw-barbs especially.

But hey, how bout this bear? Fun stuff, eh? Still haven't made it - I've also been thinking about doing a dueler, and started a poll on the PvP forum (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=412339). Gotta decide what to make next! Vote if you've got an opinion . . .