ShadyPhoenix
04-03-2006, 17:29
After reading the incredibly comprehensive guide by JanusJones on a Ninja variant (here (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=392666&pp=10) (which is amazing - he persuaded me to try this ostensibly terrible build out)), realizing that Frost Zealots are incredibly lame, and being completely underwhelmed by my Strafezon, I decided to try my hand at making a Ninja that can do it all: PvM, PvP, Organ hunting, and, gasp, Ubers!
Gear:
I am on a budget here, despite making a low Str req Fort, so I can't get OMG TEH GODLEEZ equipment just yet. Maybe after a couple of Uber runs, but, one never knows.
Weapon: Fleshripper
Not only is it affordable, extremely versatile, and incredibly effective, it looks TOTALLY SWEET. I'll probably socket it with either a Psn die facet for bonus poison damage.
Armor: Dusk Shroud Fortitude (?)
It looks lame, but man oh man does it have lovely mods for me. Mine spawned with 30 All Res, too, so, :D
However, it has significantly lower resists than CoH (this can be made up for with Fade of course, but is this worth it?). Which is better for me, given the rest of my gear?
Helm: Guillaume's Face
I've always been a fan of this helm, so I jumped at the opportunity to use it for this character. CB, OW, the works.
Shield: Stormshield (?)
35 PDR, massive Str bonus, good cold and lit resists, excellent block rating, seriously, do I need to tell you why SS is good?
I can't afford Phoenix. 4 HRs? Pfft. Maybe when rune prices finally plummet to being worth less than a Confederate note after Appomattox, sure, but until then heck no. Any other suggestions?
Gloves: No idea.
Far, far too many good chioces. I'll probably carry around 4 pair (Dracul's, Trang's, Laying of Hands, 10% CB IAS +2 MA Crafted (God willing)) to use depending on the situation.
Belt: Dungo's
JJ's guide said that IK Belt is the best (almost completely for the resists), but, I find that depressing at best. I've been thinking that Dungo's is better for me, because life is good, as is PDR (Dungo + Stormshield is tech). Plus, I get max stamina! OMG OMG :jig:
Boots: Up'd Gores
Combined with Guillaume's Face and Fleshripper, this ensures that I get lots of lovely effects going off with each kick. And I get more max stamina. I'll be unstoppable!
Rings: Raven Frost x2
I'm uninventive. A BK would be nice, but they're expensive, and rare rings are likewise incredibly expensive. If I find one, excellent, but I think I'd do well with two Ravens.
Ammy: many
This is where I can use a lot of techy stuff. Mara's for skills and resists, Cat's Eye for LOTS of great mods, Highlord's for skills, DS, and IAS, Atma's Scarab for Amp Damage, rares with random great mods... the possibilities are astounding.
I think that this is all incredibly saucy. I'll switch things around when doing different things, of course, but admit it - we're all lazy and like to have "root" gear that we use for the majority of situations.
Stats:
I'm feeling slightly avant-garde about this, so I'll put 200 points into Energy.
...
Yeah. Enough Str for gear, enough Dex for gear/max block, and the rest into Vit. Le duh.
Skills:
Here's where I'm concerned. It's no problem to switch gear around to meet needs as they arise, but investing skills into the wrong places can mean a wasted however many hours spent leveling a character. Perhaps I am crazy for trying to make a character than can effectively PvP, PvM, and Uber, but that's why the ladies get restraining orders for me. Or something.
I plan on taking this char to clvl 85.
1) I'm lazy, and leveling after that is boooooring.
2) Clan Honor, blah blah whatever.
3) 85 is a nice, round number.
This gives me 96 skill points to fiddle around with. With only two definite skills to max, this leaves some room for customization, and, my favorite, TECH!!!11
Martial Arts:
20 in Dragon Talon
1 in Dragon Flight
2 in prereqs
(24 total)
If you want to know why I'm maxing Dragon Talon, hit the back button and go back to reading about "1337 OMGWTF HAX0R PK LOLZ", or whatever it is you kids do these days.
Dragon Flight is effective, but only as a utility skill. It is not the source of my damage, and it is largely only a means for either transportation to a caster's face, or to position myself effectively in PvM battle. I think. I've never actually maxed it, so if someone could help me out here, <3.
Shadow Disciplines:
1 in Burst of Speed
1+ in Fade
20 in Venom
1+ in Shadow Master
1+ in Mind Blast
1+ in Cloak of Shadows
5 in pre reqs
30+ total
With a -20 base weapon speed, I need 68 IAS (0 BoS) to reach the minimum FPA for the first kick. Even with 20 IAS gloves, a Shael in Fleshripper, and random assorted IAS from gloves, helms, and wherever else, I doubt I'll reach this. So, begrudgingly, I will have to use BoS for the most part. 1 point should suffice, of course. However, this is relevant to how many points I should put into Fade. Because I'm most likely using Fort, my resists will be not so hot, and dying to fireballs, orbs, and bone stuffs is bad news bears. Any advice here?
Venom = your life total is mine. We all know to max this, of course.
With Zons, maxing Valkyrie is a good idea because you get a big, fat tank to keep enemies at a tolerable range while you pump them full of lead. Er, wood. With a Ninja, I'm going to be in the thick of battle (although I won't be tanking much), making a tank needed much less. 1 point should be good enough for a distraction, but I'm again quite unsure.
Mind Blast is awesome, but is it worth investing more than 1 point in?
When I first read "max Cloak of Shadows," my first thought was "lol," followed closely by "wtf," soon followed by "noob." But it makes sense, both from an aesthetic flavorful point of view and an effectiveness point of view. The -def% is useless against opponents, as kick AR is incredibly high (though in PvP it could conceivably be very effective against Iron barbs and Exile pallies), but the +def% works well with the rest of my high defense gear. Think of it as a low rent Defiance. I think.
Traps:
1+ in Death Sentry
1 in Blade Fury
6 in pre reqs
8 total
Corpse Explosion is hot sauce. Having it available on a trap that does it automatically for you that can double as a stunlock outlet, a respectable damage source, and a really cool way to make use of superior playing ability is, as they say, ricockulous.
Blade Fury is good, yes, but only as 1 pointer. JJ explains why.
That gives me a grand total of 62 used points, giving me a full 34 to play around with. Which is a lot. I could use this to max Death Sentry and a synergy for it, making a bastard Trapper/Ninja hybrid, which may just be what I'm looking for. Any suggestions here?
Well. I'm pretty much done typing now. If you made it this far, congrats!
Gear:
I am on a budget here, despite making a low Str req Fort, so I can't get OMG TEH GODLEEZ equipment just yet. Maybe after a couple of Uber runs, but, one never knows.
Weapon: Fleshripper
Not only is it affordable, extremely versatile, and incredibly effective, it looks TOTALLY SWEET. I'll probably socket it with either a Psn die facet for bonus poison damage.
Armor: Dusk Shroud Fortitude (?)
It looks lame, but man oh man does it have lovely mods for me. Mine spawned with 30 All Res, too, so, :D
However, it has significantly lower resists than CoH (this can be made up for with Fade of course, but is this worth it?). Which is better for me, given the rest of my gear?
Helm: Guillaume's Face
I've always been a fan of this helm, so I jumped at the opportunity to use it for this character. CB, OW, the works.
Shield: Stormshield (?)
35 PDR, massive Str bonus, good cold and lit resists, excellent block rating, seriously, do I need to tell you why SS is good?
I can't afford Phoenix. 4 HRs? Pfft. Maybe when rune prices finally plummet to being worth less than a Confederate note after Appomattox, sure, but until then heck no. Any other suggestions?
Gloves: No idea.
Far, far too many good chioces. I'll probably carry around 4 pair (Dracul's, Trang's, Laying of Hands, 10% CB IAS +2 MA Crafted (God willing)) to use depending on the situation.
Belt: Dungo's
JJ's guide said that IK Belt is the best (almost completely for the resists), but, I find that depressing at best. I've been thinking that Dungo's is better for me, because life is good, as is PDR (Dungo + Stormshield is tech). Plus, I get max stamina! OMG OMG :jig:
Boots: Up'd Gores
Combined with Guillaume's Face and Fleshripper, this ensures that I get lots of lovely effects going off with each kick. And I get more max stamina. I'll be unstoppable!
Rings: Raven Frost x2
I'm uninventive. A BK would be nice, but they're expensive, and rare rings are likewise incredibly expensive. If I find one, excellent, but I think I'd do well with two Ravens.
Ammy: many
This is where I can use a lot of techy stuff. Mara's for skills and resists, Cat's Eye for LOTS of great mods, Highlord's for skills, DS, and IAS, Atma's Scarab for Amp Damage, rares with random great mods... the possibilities are astounding.
I think that this is all incredibly saucy. I'll switch things around when doing different things, of course, but admit it - we're all lazy and like to have "root" gear that we use for the majority of situations.
Stats:
I'm feeling slightly avant-garde about this, so I'll put 200 points into Energy.
...
Yeah. Enough Str for gear, enough Dex for gear/max block, and the rest into Vit. Le duh.
Skills:
Here's where I'm concerned. It's no problem to switch gear around to meet needs as they arise, but investing skills into the wrong places can mean a wasted however many hours spent leveling a character. Perhaps I am crazy for trying to make a character than can effectively PvP, PvM, and Uber, but that's why the ladies get restraining orders for me. Or something.
I plan on taking this char to clvl 85.
1) I'm lazy, and leveling after that is boooooring.
2) Clan Honor, blah blah whatever.
3) 85 is a nice, round number.
This gives me 96 skill points to fiddle around with. With only two definite skills to max, this leaves some room for customization, and, my favorite, TECH!!!11
Martial Arts:
20 in Dragon Talon
1 in Dragon Flight
2 in prereqs
(24 total)
If you want to know why I'm maxing Dragon Talon, hit the back button and go back to reading about "1337 OMGWTF HAX0R PK LOLZ", or whatever it is you kids do these days.
Dragon Flight is effective, but only as a utility skill. It is not the source of my damage, and it is largely only a means for either transportation to a caster's face, or to position myself effectively in PvM battle. I think. I've never actually maxed it, so if someone could help me out here, <3.
Shadow Disciplines:
1 in Burst of Speed
1+ in Fade
20 in Venom
1+ in Shadow Master
1+ in Mind Blast
1+ in Cloak of Shadows
5 in pre reqs
30+ total
With a -20 base weapon speed, I need 68 IAS (0 BoS) to reach the minimum FPA for the first kick. Even with 20 IAS gloves, a Shael in Fleshripper, and random assorted IAS from gloves, helms, and wherever else, I doubt I'll reach this. So, begrudgingly, I will have to use BoS for the most part. 1 point should suffice, of course. However, this is relevant to how many points I should put into Fade. Because I'm most likely using Fort, my resists will be not so hot, and dying to fireballs, orbs, and bone stuffs is bad news bears. Any advice here?
Venom = your life total is mine. We all know to max this, of course.
With Zons, maxing Valkyrie is a good idea because you get a big, fat tank to keep enemies at a tolerable range while you pump them full of lead. Er, wood. With a Ninja, I'm going to be in the thick of battle (although I won't be tanking much), making a tank needed much less. 1 point should be good enough for a distraction, but I'm again quite unsure.
Mind Blast is awesome, but is it worth investing more than 1 point in?
When I first read "max Cloak of Shadows," my first thought was "lol," followed closely by "wtf," soon followed by "noob." But it makes sense, both from an aesthetic flavorful point of view and an effectiveness point of view. The -def% is useless against opponents, as kick AR is incredibly high (though in PvP it could conceivably be very effective against Iron barbs and Exile pallies), but the +def% works well with the rest of my high defense gear. Think of it as a low rent Defiance. I think.
Traps:
1+ in Death Sentry
1 in Blade Fury
6 in pre reqs
8 total
Corpse Explosion is hot sauce. Having it available on a trap that does it automatically for you that can double as a stunlock outlet, a respectable damage source, and a really cool way to make use of superior playing ability is, as they say, ricockulous.
Blade Fury is good, yes, but only as 1 pointer. JJ explains why.
That gives me a grand total of 62 used points, giving me a full 34 to play around with. Which is a lot. I could use this to max Death Sentry and a synergy for it, making a bastard Trapper/Ninja hybrid, which may just be what I'm looking for. Any suggestions here?
Well. I'm pretty much done typing now. If you made it this far, congrats!