PVM Dtail build for ladder reset?

[d00m2k]

Hey I'm making an assassin for the ladder reset, and chose the dangerous Dragon Tail build. However I have a few questions, and please keep in mind I want to be viable in 8ppl hell difficulty games:

First, stats: do I have to get 208 str for mymidon greaves? It looks like I have to for the best possible kick damage. What about dex? is 79 enough (for greater talons), or is there a point to getting 115 dex for runic talons?

Skills:
Obviously I'm going

20 TS
20 Dtail
1pt in things like Mind Blast, Death Sentry

What about the rest? Some concerns:
Physical Immunes -- do I need an alternate damage for these? Venom, or lighting, or....?
Vitality -- 208 str and 79 dex will leave me with low life for HC. Should I max Fade for physical resist or weapon block (or both) to compensate?
Attack Rating -- it can be tough to connect in hell difficulty, and I need to build charges as fast as I can. Should I put points into claw mastery? How many?

Thanks for any help. I posted this in the Assassin forums and didn't get much help. Keep in mind this is for ladder reset, so gear will be crappy.

[PhatTrumpet]

... Dragon Tail build... viable in 8ppl hell difficulty games...
There aren't many cookie cutter builds that are viable in 8-player hell games, so I highly doubt you'll have much luck with something as un-cookie-cutter-ish as a DTail Asn.
First, stats: do I have to get 208 str for mymidon greaves? It looks like I have to for the best possible kick damage. What about dex? is 79 enough (for greater talons), or is there a point to getting 115 dex for runic talons?
Personally, I'd only aim for 156 str. Why? That's just enough for upgraded Gore Riders. Decent Myrmidon Greaves are tough to get, so I'd rather just wait until I can trade for some Gores (~Pul), get the runes to upgrade them (Ko + Lem), and save those 42 stat points for vit (rather than spend millions of gold gambling boots and/or spend hours upon hours running the pits for magical Myrmidons and praying for a half-decent craft).

I assume you plan to go dual-claw as opposed to claw-shield. I'd get at least enough dex to use a Jade Talon (105). Seeing as 105 is damn near the 115 required for Runic Talons, you might as well go all the way to 115 dex.
Physical Immunes -- do I need an alternate damage for these? Venom, or lighting, or....?
I would probably go ahead and max Lightning Sentry and Death Sentry. If, however, you're entirely against the idea of becoming a hybrid, you might consider maxing Pheonix Strike and Claws of Thunder. Either way, yes, you'll need an alternate damage type for phys immunes.
Vitality -- 208 str and 79 dex will leave me with low life for HC. Should I max Fade for physical resist or weapon block (or both) to compensate?
Don't max either one. Get Fade up to where the resist bonus starts to level off and get Weapon Block up to where the chance to block starts to level off. Diminishing returns can get pretty nasty with these two.
Attack Rating -- it can be tough to connect in hell difficulty, and I need to build charges as fast as I can. Should I put points into claw mastery? How many?
Maxed Tiger Strike with one point in Claw Mastery should be enough. If you find otherwise, make liberal use of Cloak of Shadows. If you're still having trouble, get some additional AR from gear/charms.

[STINGER]

I would normally say I see a IM death coming in hell but odds are you wont make it past the Fire Enchants in NM without other people doing alot of the work.

This build is worthless in too many places.....

If you want to make a kicker that has diversity you could consider Dragon Talon, with alot of crushing blow and use Blades for a range attack around IM. Could go heavy poison if you want also.

One nice thing about a build like this is you can get Goblin Toes as a drop very early in the game, maybe Norm Meph. I know they are slow, btu they are good. YOu can up them once and they are solid damage......I killed Diablo Clone with them.....sure the last 1/10 or so of his life took a while but the point is he died.

Any item with Crushing helps to, so even early items like Rattlecage, crushflange, and I think a couple cheap runewords can make you pretty sick early.

With your Shadow skills, Fade, Mind Blast, Shadow, and Cloak you can be a very hard to kill character. Its simply a matter of thinking "throw" first and kick second after you read the mobs mods.

You can even add a level 1 Death Sentry for CE to up killing speed.

I am 100% positive if you search the forums you can find a number of Talon builds.........

I made one in both Season 1 and 2, good challenge but yet very stable and sturdy as long as you use your head.

I did a Tail build in Season 1........just like you want to do, she tore thru Norm an NM and really blew in Hell......

[bigD72]

I did a Tail build in Season 1........just like you want to do, she tore thru Norm an NM and really blew in Hell......
Does wonders on the Ubars and Clones from my experiences however. A little Prevent Monster Heal, some absorb, ALOT of CB, ALOT of stacked resists, and you're good to go dominate.

Although, even for that, I'd probably prefer a smiter.