Ava
28-09-2007, 15:42
The Riftkicker
by Ava
Version 1.0
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INTRODUCTION
In version 1.10, which already seems like a lifetime ago, a whole new set of runewords were introduced, one of them being the “Rift” runeword. Now, Rift works a little different from its big brothers “Breath Of The Dying”, “Grief”, “Death”, “Beast” and the countless other weapon runewords that most melee fighters tend to use. Rift does not rely on physical damage, but focusses on Elemental Damage and Chance to Cast (CtC) modifiers to do damage. It offers no Enhanced Physical Damage, but does great Fire and Magic damage and has a high chance to cast Frozen Orb (on Attacking) and Tornado (on Striking).
Some time ago, I read a guide in the paladin forum called the “Riftadin” Guide, focussing on making a conviction paladin who, by using Rift (and Dream) crushes his enemies with elemental damage. I started thinking… wouldn’t it be cool if there was a skill that could transfer the great mods on Rift and still do good physical damage. Well, we’re in luck… Dragon Talon does exactly that.
This guide shows how to build a Riftkicker; an assassin who uses Dragon Talon as her main attack and uses Rift as her main weapon. I will explain exactly why this build is both powerful and awe-inspiring. Another great thing is that while you really do need some decent items, you don’t need any (duped) highrunes, except for a Gul rune to make your Rift weapon (but that can drop from the hellforge). Remember that Rift is a ladder-only runeword though.
ABOUT RIFT
Let me start by giving you an overview of the powerful Rift runeword and explain why it’s such a powerful weapon.
Rift (HelKoLemGul)
4 Socket Polearms/Scepters
20% Chance To Cast Level 16 Tornado On Striking
16% Chance To Cast Level 21 Frozen Orb On Attack
20% Bonus To Attack Rating
Adds 160-250 Magic Damage
Adds 60-180 Fire Damage
+5-10 To All Stats (varies)
+10 To Dexterity
38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
75% Extra Gold From Monsters
Level 15 Iron Maiden (40 Charges)
Requirements -20%
Well, the first thing you see is that it no enhanced damage. That is what scares off most other classes when they’re considering this weapon. But we don’t care about that because weapon damage has no effect on kick damage anyway. In fact, we can make it in the lowest possible weapon and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Elemental damage however, does transfer to your kicks and this weapon has a lot of it. Hardly any monsters are immune to magic, so you’ll do a lot of damage to almost anything.
The weapon has a chance to cast on striking/attacking mods. We’re kickers who will strive to kick at 8/3/3/3/3 frames. That’s 20 frames for five attacks (25 frames is one second). That means that if you keep kicking, your chance to cast Frozen Orb will trigger almost every second regardless of how many times you actually hit, and with a high enough attack rating, your Tornado will be close to that also. The 20% bonus to attack rating helps a little with that.
Stat bonusses are always a plus, and the only variable on this runeword. A perfect +10 stats Rift weapon would be really nice, but it’s not like it’ll make or break the build. Still, more strength and dexterity means you can spend more points in vitality which will keep you alive.
Damage taken goes to mana is something you want against mana burners. It will give you enough mana to start kicking again and leech back the mana you just lost. Seriously, mana burners can be a pain without this. The other mods are gravy. Who wouldn’t want his enemies to drop 75% more gold?
You might say: “But Ava, this weapon has no increased attack speed, no crushing blow, no open wounds, no +skills, no great Ignore Target defense mod and no leech. Why should I bother with this weapon?” The answer is simple: you don’t need them… not on your weapon at least.
The weapon can only be made in a War Scepter (or the Exceptional/Elite version of it). All other scepters can only have a maximum of 3 sockets and we don’t want to wield a heavy polearm. A War scepter has a WSM of –10 so you need 30% increased attack speed to reach the 3-frame followup kick and you can easily get them with some strategic gear choices. By the way, you need 95% to reach the 7 frame initial kick breakpoint. Unless you’re a speed freak and have some very specific gear (mentioned later) forget about that one.
As for the Crushing Blow and Open Wounds, get them somewhere else. With specific gear, you can get over to 50% crushing blow (possibly higher) without really sacrificing anything. Open wounds will be at an acceptible level too.
As for +skills and Ignore Target Defense… you’re just going to have to learn to live without them. No seriously, your attack rating should be high enough to hit almost constantly and +skills are not all that important. You will be using a weapon switch to cast your Shadow Master, Fade, Blade Shield and Venom anyway. Yes, I said Blade Shield, but let me come back to that later.
STATS
This is the boring section where everyone says the same thing:
· Enough strength to wear your equipment (you need 156 for upgraded Gore Riders)
· Enough dexterity for max block
· The rest in vitality
· Nothing in energy.
Well, I’m forced to agree. If you feel that you have trouble hitting things, feel free to spend some more points in dexterity though. Try to keep strength as low as possible as it does very little for you.
SKILLS
Martial Arts:
Dragon Talon: 20
Your main attack, so it makes sense to max it. Don’t get British and try to get exactly 24 points after skills. More points = more attack rating = good. Lvl24 after +skills is a minimum.
Dragon Flight: 0-1
Teleporting to your enemies is good. Want to catch those archers hidden behind that extra stong bosspack? Just teleport to the archers and kill them first. One point is enough as it is only a utility skill. On the other hand, if you feel you have better use for your skillpoints, feel free to ignore it.
Prereqs: 0-2
Traps
Blade Fury: 1
Every assassin comes across situations that are just too sticky to just jump right in the middle (the Chaos Sanctuary coming to mind). This skill allows you to attack your enemies from a distance. Blade Fury transfers elemental- and venom damage (3/4), crushing blow and CtC on striking modifiers, but sadly, CtC on attacking mods will not work here. It’s a utility skill; nothing more, nothing less. And well… it’s a prerequisite anyway.
Blade Shield: 1-5
Most people scoff at this skill. It transfers no Crushing Blow, no Open Wounds, no CtC on Striking modifiers and the damage is ridiculously low. It will however trigger CtC on Attacking modifiers and we just happen to have the most powerful one. This skill shines when you’re swarmed and, well, it’s extra damage that can never hurt. More points increase the duration with 5 seconds per point and increase the physical damage from very low to just plain low. At higher levels, it costs a ridiculous amount of mana to cast, but don’t worry; with a little mana leech, your mana bulb will be filled with one series of kicks. If you have a few +skills, one point is usually enough, but feel free to add a few more if you’re unhappy about the duration.
Death Sentry: 1+
What’s there to say? Everybody loves this skill and with a good reason. It blows up corpses, which damages nearby enemies and prevents the corpse from being resurrected. Remember that the damage is 40-80% of the life that the monster would have in a 1-player game. More points increase the radius, which is good. Depending on personal preferences, maxing it is a definite possibility.
Prereqs: 6
Shadow Disciplines
Cloak of Shadows: 1
Probably the most useful 1-point wonder in the world of Diablo. One quick cast will blind everything within a fixed radius of the caster. It also lowers their defense and increases your defense. Monsters that are in range will attack with a normal attack (Gloams will not shoot lightning, Venom Lords will not use inferno) and those not in range will just stand there doing nothing unless provoked. The blinding effect does not work on bosses and, sadly, it does not work on Oblivion Knights either. More points will increase defense bonusses and the duration. The latter might not be a good thing because this skill has one small flaw: you cannot cast it again until the previous one has expired.
Fade: 5+
Fade gives you resistances and reduces poison and curse duration. The skill has severe diminishing returns, but it also grants a hidden +1% Physical Damage Reduction per point. This includes +skills, so a lvl30 fade will give you 30% Physical Damage Reduction. Make sure you have 50% Physical Damage Reduction with this skill and your equipment. This great skill allows you to concentrate your gear more offensively. Note that Fade reduces shrine duration too, so when you see a shrine you like, cast Burst of Speed, touch the shrine and then cast Fade again.
Mind Blast: 2
A great skill and, together with Cloak of Shadows and on occasion Blade Fury, this is the assassin’s way of dealing with sticky situations. I personally like Cloak of Shadows best in most situations, but it’s still a great skill. Two points will encourage your shadow master to use it more often.
Venom: 1+
A melee build with only one point in Venom? Yes, that’s right. Venom has a very low duration, but it’s still 10 frames and this assassin attacks a lot faster than that. Still, its worth one point at least and you can max it if you want. Keep in mind that when you switch to the slower Blade Fury, Venom suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting.
Shadow Master: 20
A powered shadow can tank like an expert and even do some decent damage. You can try with a few points less if you feel you have better use for your skill points (which you don’t, but you can feel it if you want), but slvl17 (after +skills) is a bare minimum.
Prereqs: 5
Total points needed for core build: 63
This means that your core build could be complete at clvl52. After that, you can spend your points in Death Sentry, Venom, Blade Shield and Fade. Personally, I put a few extra points in Death Sentry until I was happy with the range and then maxed Venom. At this point, I’m busy maxing Death Sentry all the way. Should I ever get that far, my remaining points will probably be placed in Blade Shield.
EQUIPMENT
* = don’t bother
* * = use this if you really don’t have anything better
* * * = decent choice
* * * * = not the best, but close enough
* * * * * = top choice
Weapon
“Rift” War Scepter / Caduceus: * * * * *
Well, it’s a Riftkicker, so this one’s mandatory. It costs a little more than a Gul so it can be made without using duped gear if you’re lucky enough to get a Gul from the hellforge. You have enough strength and dexterity for a caduceus, so you might as well make the most of it, but if you only have a 4-socket War Scepter, it really doesn’t make much difference. Remember that Blade Shield uses durability, so don’t make it in an ethereal weapon and also remember that scepters with paladin mods cost a lot more to repair. One word of caution, if you’re specifically looking for it, a 4-socket scepter is rare, but remember you can use the “Ral + Amn + Perfect Amethyst + Item” to put a random amount of sockets in an item.
Helm
Guillaume’s Face: * * * * *
This great helm offers 35% Crushing Blow, 30% Faster Hit Recovery and 15 strength, which are three great mods. It’s quite heavy, but you need a lot of strength for your boots anyway. It’s cheap (I got mine for 5pgs on the new ladder) and definitely the best for this build. I really don’t see any reason not to use this.
Harlequin Crest: * * * *
Far less than a Guillaume’s Face, but it offers a lot of life and mana as well as 10% physical damage reduction and 2 skills. Against tough bosses (like act bosses), Crushing Blow is indispensible, but if you’re just pitrunning or something, this helm can be good too, especially since it has 50% magic find.
Rare circlet: * * * *
It must at least have +2 assassin skills, much life, resists and 2 empty sockets or don’t even bother. After that, look for faster run/walk, resists, strength and damage reduction. Even faster cast rate has its uses. A good one is incredibly rare and expensive, so unless you have an absoluty godly circlet lying around, stick with Guillaumes. If you do have it… I’d still stick with Guillaumes.
Armor
“Duress” Archon Plate: * * * * *
Faster hit recovery, massive cold damage, Open Wounds, Crushing Blow and some decent resists in one nifty package. The defense is also good, so make it in an armor with a good base defense, like an Archon Plate.
”Lionheart” Archon Plate: * * * *
Even cheaper than Duress, the Lionheart is a great armor, giving you decent resists and major life and stat bonusses. The defense is terrible though and it lacks some of the mods that make Duress so amazing, like Elemental damage and Crushing Blow. Still, this armor is a perfectly acceptible second choice with runes that almost everyone can afford.
Skin Of The Vipermagi: * *
Really a last resort armor, but the resists are nice and it offers +1 to all skills. Don’t forget to upgrade it for added defense.
Shield
Stormshield: * * * * *
It won’t come as a surprise that this shield is considered the ultimate shield for this build. You’re a melee character and you’ll therefore want 50% Physical Damage Reduction. This shield offers 35% Physical Damage Reduction as well as good blocking, some resists a nice strength bonus and a free socket. Try your very best to get it.
Gerke’s Sanctuary: * * * *
Good shield for this build. It offers a very good blocking rate, good resists and both physical as magic damage reduction. Socket it with a shael to make up for it’s pitiful block speed.
Whitstan’s Guard: * * * *
This shield looks pitiful as it offers nothing more than good blocking. The blocking is both high and fast though and that means you have to spend less points in dexterity to receive max block. However, you can socket it any way you want to, it’s cheap and it offers a 35 life bonus when combined with Guillaumes Face. If nothing else, this is a great leveling shield.
Moser’s Blessed circle: * * *
Resists and good blocking as well as two sockets. No matter how you socket it, one of the above three shield will probably work beter though.
“Sanctuary” shield: * *
Amazing resists, which, together with Fade, will make sure you won’t have any trouble in that area. It has decent blocking rate and blocking speed and it has a nice dexterity bonus. The blocking is not all that good however and you have no free sockets.
Gloves
Crafted “Blood” gloves: * * * * *
Using the “Blood” recipe in the horadric cube (Nef rune, perfect ruby, any jewel and magic heavy gloves), you can potentially get the greatest gloves. At level 71+, it will have three fixed mods and four random mods. The fixed mods offer Crushing Blow (5-10%), life leech (1-3%) and life (15-20) which is good by itself. Now imagine to add things like mana leech, increased attack speed, martial arts skills and maybe even resists. Godly.
Good crafted blood gloves may be rare, but they can drastically increase the effectiveness of your Riftkicker. The increased attack speed can give you the 3-frame kick breakpoint, you can get the mana leech you need, you can get +Martial Arts skills that make you reach slvl30 for 6 kicks, and all that with life, life leech and crushing blow as fixed mods. Gloves should be taken quite seriously.
Rare gloves: * * * *
They can’t have crushing blow and are therefore not as good as their crafted counterparts, but they can have all the other mods that crafted Blood gloves can have. Since it has no crushing blow, you need to be a little more picky here. 20% IAS, mana leech and +2 Martial Arts skills are almost mandatory here.
Draculs Grasp: * * *
Life leech, life after each demon kill, chance to cast life tap, open wounds and strength make for a great pair of gloves. It has no crushing blow, no increased attack speed, no mana leech and no martial arts skills though and that’s a big sacrifice. Also, remember that Life Tap overrides Cloak of Shadows.
Bloodfist: * *
Very common, but useful nonetheless. Faster hit recovery and some increased attack speed as well as a nice life bonus. The above options are far better, but if you can’t afford those, this is a good bet.
Boots
Gore Riders (upgraded): * * * * *
Crushing Blow, Open Wounds and a good kick damage. Upgrading them means a big boost in your base kick damage, but remember the strength requirements.
Goblin Toe (2 x upgraded): * * * *
With its 25% Crushing Blow, this is a decent enough choice if you don’t have Gore Riders. However, remember that it has no faster running and it has a lower kick damage, and that’s a big price to pay. I know that your physical kick damage isn’t your main killer, but remember that how much you leech depends directly and solely on this physical kick damage.
Shadow Dancers: * * * *
Potentially +2 to shadow disciplines, dexterity and faster hit recovery. They’re already elites so they will have the same kick damage as Gore Riders. They require more strength to wear and Crushing Blow is really important, so if you have Gore Riders, use those. If you use Stormshield, the strength won’t be a problem though, and the mods on these boots are admittedly nice.
Belts
Nosferatus Coil: * * * * *
Solid, yet affordable, choice. With 10% increased attack speed, strength, life leech and 10% slow, this is a great belt if you don’t need the physical damage reduction that Verdungos Hearty Cord can offer. I’ve tried other belts, but I always come back to this one. Remember that with a good pair of gloves (with 20% Increases Attack Speed), 10% more increased attack speed is all you need for the 3-frame breakpoint. These belts aren’t all that expensive as most characters prefer Verdungos, String of Ears or Arachnid Mesh over over this one.
Crafted “Blood” belt: * * * * *
Using the “Blood” recipe in the horadric cube (perfect ruby, tal rune, any jewel, magic belt) will create a belt that has the potential to be truly amazing. It has three fixed mods (5-10% Open Wounds, 1-3% Life Leech, 10-20 to Life) and after clvl70, you will get four random mods with this. Try getting one with 24% faster hit recovery, massive strength (up to 30) and even more life (up to 60 more). If you have a really good one, it can easily match Nosferatus, but they’re pretty rare.
Verdungos Hearty Cord: * * *
Old reliable. What character can say no to 15% physical damage reduction and +40 to vitality (120 life for an assassin)? Well, we can. With a Stormshield and a decent fade, you won’t need the physical damage reduction and while a big life bonus is nice, remember that the belt offers little else. If you’re rich enough to have Call to Arms, or if you often party with a Barbarian or a Druid, remember that the life gained from Verdungos doesn’t increase with Battle Orders or Oak sage.
Rings
Raven Frost: * * * * * / * * *
Absolutely crazy mods. Cannot be Frozen, a lot of dexterity, attack rating, mana, cold absorb and even a little cold damage. Equip at least one. A second one is a possibility, but only if you really can’t get better.
Rare ring: * * * * *
These could be awesome. Look for a ring with life leech, life, strength and resists. More mods could make this ring even better. Good rare rings are really… well, rare… so just use one of the other options if you don’t have this.
Bul Kathos’ Wedding Band: * * * *
Life, life leech and +1 skill. The choice for a second ring if you can’t get a good rare. You want one with the maximum 5% leech though, which makes it expensive.
Carrion Wind: * * * *
Good life leech (up to 8%), poison resist and a nice chance to cast Twister on Striking. Twister stuns (shortly, but it does), which really does help. The other mods are pretty useless though, especially since you already got Damage to Mana from your weapon.
Wisp Projector: * * *
The ring of choice if you have a problem with Gloams or other lightning-based creatures. The chance to cast lightning looks pretty, but is kind of useless, so all you really have is the 20% lightning absorb. This however does mean that the damage you take from lightning is almost halved, so even if you just slap it on in special occasions, it’s something to keep in mind. It also has charges of Oak Sage and some magic find.
Amulet
Rare amulet: * * * * *
Potentially awesome. Look for one with +2 assassin skills, life, strength and resists. These aren’t easy to come by but you can try gambling amulets like these when you’re a high enough level.
Blood amulet: * * * * *
Can be just as awesome as a rare. Offers three fixed mods (5-10% faster run/walk, 1-4% life leech and 10-20 life) and from lvl71, you get four additional mods. If those mods happen to include assassin skills and resists, this can be an amazing amulet
Mara’s Kaleidoscope: * * * *
Great resists and +2 skills. Two wonderful mods, but a rare one or crafted one can have both of these mods and much more. If you can’t get one of those rares, this is an excellent choice.
Cats Eye: * * * *
This amulet lacks resists and +skills, but it offers increased attack speed, faster run/walk, massive dexterity and some nice defense bonusses. If you don’t need the resists that a rare or Mara’s Kaleidoscope can offer, this is an excellent choice, even if you don’t need the increased attack speed.
Highlord’s Wrath: * * *
Deadly strike doesn’t work, but the increased attack speed is handy, just like the +1 to all skills. If you don’t desperately need the increased attack speed, don’t bother though. The bonus to lightning resist is a nice gravy mod.
Metalgrid: * * *
Massive attack rating and fantastic resists. If you’re having trouble hitting things, this is the way to go. It lacks other good mods though and it’s only usable at very high levels. Remember that the Iron Golem has the tendency to disappear for no apparent reason from time to time, so keep that in mind if you decide to use the Iron Golem charges.
Charms
If you don’t have max resists yet, use some charms to max them. After that, load up on life charms. An Annihilus charm and a Hellfire Torch are obviously very welcome, but don’t feel bad if you don’t have them. If however you don’t have them, make sure you have at least +4 to your Martial Arts tree to get 5 kicks. Use one or more Martial Arts skill charms if necessary. Besides that, don’t bother with skillcharms unless you have one with a lot of life.
MERCENARY
Having a mercenary has enormous benefits as he/she is able to do additional damage and may even be able to help you do damage in some way. In the style of this guide, I will give you several good mercenary options, some of which are a little stronger, and some of which are a lot cooler.
Act1 Rogue
IMHO, the weakest of all the mercenaries. She needs a powerful weapon to do any damage, is a pain when it comes to AI and dies very frequently. The Inner Sight she can cast is nice though. Harmony is a very nice affordable weapon for them.
Act 2 Town Guard
A solid, though very common, choice. With the right gear, these guys do tons of physical damage and can tank like the best. A Defiance or Holy Freeze one would be the best choices, but you could do very well with a Might one too. Basically, they need a high-defense armor, max resists, a high-powered weapon and a decent amount of life leech. Iron Maiden is a problem though. If you can afford Infinity, that’s just not fair to the other mercenaries.
Act 3 Iron Wolf
Nobody seems to like these guys. Their damage isn’t really great and they’re more fragile than the Town Guards. Still, they offer additional crowd control and are just plain cooler to look at. Unlike the rogues, they can block which keeps them alive longer. The fire ones are weak (Inferno is bugged), but the cold and lightning ones are pretty decent, especially when you have some good gear for them. +Skills and faster cast rate are important, but don’t forget resists and defense. I like putting a Gerke’s Sanctuary (usually Hel’d) on them as it gives them close to max block, good resists and damage reduction.
Act 5 Barbarian
If you ask me, these guys have no real advantages over the act2 Town Guards. Their damage is usually lower and they have no helpful auras. Basically, they need a high-damage weapon, high defense and life leech, just like the act2 mercenary. A lot of people use Azurewrath on these mercenaries.
Personally, I use an act3 lightning mercenary, because lightning is the damage type this build doesn’t have and because it looks really cool. If you really want the most powerful one, it’s an act2 mercenary, just like it always is.
TIPS
A Riftkicker doesn’t have the life of a wolf druid or a barbarian. She doesn’t have the defense of a beefed-up paladin and she doesn’t have the benefit of dodging attacks like an amazon nor does she have a powerful Energy Shield like a sorceress. Simply put, an assassin’s direct defense sucks. Jumping right in the middle of an extra strong bosspack and kicking away is a surefire way to get killed very quickly. A Riftkicker, like any other assassin, needs to be cunning and that is what this chapter is all about.
Make good use of your Shadow Master. Always have one up and don’t be ashamed to heavily prebuff him. Using a +2 Shadow Dancers boots, a +3 Shadow Disciplines circlet, a +3 Shadow Disciplines amulet and two +3 Shadow Disciplines claws give you a whopping +14 to your Shadow Master and since your Shadow Master will rarely die at higher levels, this is a big permanent bonus.
Cloak of Shadows (CoS) is an important skill and should be used often. Just walk towards a crowd and as soon as they’re in range, cast CoS and pick them off one by one. It isn’t always that easy of course, but very often it is. Is baal’s throne room filled with Gloams and are your partymembers dying at an alarming speed? Just barge into the room and cast CoS. Gloams stop firing and everyone will call you friend and love you. Really, CoS is a multifunctional skill. Use it often.
If you feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to use Mind Blast as it will give you the much needed breathing space. Imagine a double bosspack off Frenzytaurs storming towards you. You simply Mindblast the group a couple of times until one or two crack and become converted. You can now attack one of them while they’re busy fighing among each other.
Repeat after me: “I will not push my luck against Oblivion Knights”. Really, this is what Blade Fury is for. If you get Iron Maidened while you’re kicking, you will most likely die. Remember that CoS doesn’t work on Oblivion Knights. Believe me (insert deep sigh here), I tried.
Bosses are easy. You’ll simply be leeching too much for the bosses to have any chance. The only bosses who can potentially give you any problems are unleechables (some undead and PIs), as you cannot leech from them. With Venom and the Elemental damages from Rift (and Duress), he will fall soon enough, but without leech, you’re far more fragile. Make good use of your supporting skills in these situations.
Continued in next post
by Ava
Version 1.0
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INTRODUCTION
In version 1.10, which already seems like a lifetime ago, a whole new set of runewords were introduced, one of them being the “Rift” runeword. Now, Rift works a little different from its big brothers “Breath Of The Dying”, “Grief”, “Death”, “Beast” and the countless other weapon runewords that most melee fighters tend to use. Rift does not rely on physical damage, but focusses on Elemental Damage and Chance to Cast (CtC) modifiers to do damage. It offers no Enhanced Physical Damage, but does great Fire and Magic damage and has a high chance to cast Frozen Orb (on Attacking) and Tornado (on Striking).
Some time ago, I read a guide in the paladin forum called the “Riftadin” Guide, focussing on making a conviction paladin who, by using Rift (and Dream) crushes his enemies with elemental damage. I started thinking… wouldn’t it be cool if there was a skill that could transfer the great mods on Rift and still do good physical damage. Well, we’re in luck… Dragon Talon does exactly that.
This guide shows how to build a Riftkicker; an assassin who uses Dragon Talon as her main attack and uses Rift as her main weapon. I will explain exactly why this build is both powerful and awe-inspiring. Another great thing is that while you really do need some decent items, you don’t need any (duped) highrunes, except for a Gul rune to make your Rift weapon (but that can drop from the hellforge). Remember that Rift is a ladder-only runeword though.
ABOUT RIFT
Let me start by giving you an overview of the powerful Rift runeword and explain why it’s such a powerful weapon.
Rift (HelKoLemGul)
4 Socket Polearms/Scepters
20% Chance To Cast Level 16 Tornado On Striking
16% Chance To Cast Level 21 Frozen Orb On Attack
20% Bonus To Attack Rating
Adds 160-250 Magic Damage
Adds 60-180 Fire Damage
+5-10 To All Stats (varies)
+10 To Dexterity
38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
75% Extra Gold From Monsters
Level 15 Iron Maiden (40 Charges)
Requirements -20%
Well, the first thing you see is that it no enhanced damage. That is what scares off most other classes when they’re considering this weapon. But we don’t care about that because weapon damage has no effect on kick damage anyway. In fact, we can make it in the lowest possible weapon and it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Elemental damage however, does transfer to your kicks and this weapon has a lot of it. Hardly any monsters are immune to magic, so you’ll do a lot of damage to almost anything.
The weapon has a chance to cast on striking/attacking mods. We’re kickers who will strive to kick at 8/3/3/3/3 frames. That’s 20 frames for five attacks (25 frames is one second). That means that if you keep kicking, your chance to cast Frozen Orb will trigger almost every second regardless of how many times you actually hit, and with a high enough attack rating, your Tornado will be close to that also. The 20% bonus to attack rating helps a little with that.
Stat bonusses are always a plus, and the only variable on this runeword. A perfect +10 stats Rift weapon would be really nice, but it’s not like it’ll make or break the build. Still, more strength and dexterity means you can spend more points in vitality which will keep you alive.
Damage taken goes to mana is something you want against mana burners. It will give you enough mana to start kicking again and leech back the mana you just lost. Seriously, mana burners can be a pain without this. The other mods are gravy. Who wouldn’t want his enemies to drop 75% more gold?
You might say: “But Ava, this weapon has no increased attack speed, no crushing blow, no open wounds, no +skills, no great Ignore Target defense mod and no leech. Why should I bother with this weapon?” The answer is simple: you don’t need them… not on your weapon at least.
The weapon can only be made in a War Scepter (or the Exceptional/Elite version of it). All other scepters can only have a maximum of 3 sockets and we don’t want to wield a heavy polearm. A War scepter has a WSM of –10 so you need 30% increased attack speed to reach the 3-frame followup kick and you can easily get them with some strategic gear choices. By the way, you need 95% to reach the 7 frame initial kick breakpoint. Unless you’re a speed freak and have some very specific gear (mentioned later) forget about that one.
As for the Crushing Blow and Open Wounds, get them somewhere else. With specific gear, you can get over to 50% crushing blow (possibly higher) without really sacrificing anything. Open wounds will be at an acceptible level too.
As for +skills and Ignore Target Defense… you’re just going to have to learn to live without them. No seriously, your attack rating should be high enough to hit almost constantly and +skills are not all that important. You will be using a weapon switch to cast your Shadow Master, Fade, Blade Shield and Venom anyway. Yes, I said Blade Shield, but let me come back to that later.
STATS
This is the boring section where everyone says the same thing:
· Enough strength to wear your equipment (you need 156 for upgraded Gore Riders)
· Enough dexterity for max block
· The rest in vitality
· Nothing in energy.
Well, I’m forced to agree. If you feel that you have trouble hitting things, feel free to spend some more points in dexterity though. Try to keep strength as low as possible as it does very little for you.
SKILLS
Martial Arts:
Dragon Talon: 20
Your main attack, so it makes sense to max it. Don’t get British and try to get exactly 24 points after skills. More points = more attack rating = good. Lvl24 after +skills is a minimum.
Dragon Flight: 0-1
Teleporting to your enemies is good. Want to catch those archers hidden behind that extra stong bosspack? Just teleport to the archers and kill them first. One point is enough as it is only a utility skill. On the other hand, if you feel you have better use for your skillpoints, feel free to ignore it.
Prereqs: 0-2
Traps
Blade Fury: 1
Every assassin comes across situations that are just too sticky to just jump right in the middle (the Chaos Sanctuary coming to mind). This skill allows you to attack your enemies from a distance. Blade Fury transfers elemental- and venom damage (3/4), crushing blow and CtC on striking modifiers, but sadly, CtC on attacking mods will not work here. It’s a utility skill; nothing more, nothing less. And well… it’s a prerequisite anyway.
Blade Shield: 1-5
Most people scoff at this skill. It transfers no Crushing Blow, no Open Wounds, no CtC on Striking modifiers and the damage is ridiculously low. It will however trigger CtC on Attacking modifiers and we just happen to have the most powerful one. This skill shines when you’re swarmed and, well, it’s extra damage that can never hurt. More points increase the duration with 5 seconds per point and increase the physical damage from very low to just plain low. At higher levels, it costs a ridiculous amount of mana to cast, but don’t worry; with a little mana leech, your mana bulb will be filled with one series of kicks. If you have a few +skills, one point is usually enough, but feel free to add a few more if you’re unhappy about the duration.
Death Sentry: 1+
What’s there to say? Everybody loves this skill and with a good reason. It blows up corpses, which damages nearby enemies and prevents the corpse from being resurrected. Remember that the damage is 40-80% of the life that the monster would have in a 1-player game. More points increase the radius, which is good. Depending on personal preferences, maxing it is a definite possibility.
Prereqs: 6
Shadow Disciplines
Cloak of Shadows: 1
Probably the most useful 1-point wonder in the world of Diablo. One quick cast will blind everything within a fixed radius of the caster. It also lowers their defense and increases your defense. Monsters that are in range will attack with a normal attack (Gloams will not shoot lightning, Venom Lords will not use inferno) and those not in range will just stand there doing nothing unless provoked. The blinding effect does not work on bosses and, sadly, it does not work on Oblivion Knights either. More points will increase defense bonusses and the duration. The latter might not be a good thing because this skill has one small flaw: you cannot cast it again until the previous one has expired.
Fade: 5+
Fade gives you resistances and reduces poison and curse duration. The skill has severe diminishing returns, but it also grants a hidden +1% Physical Damage Reduction per point. This includes +skills, so a lvl30 fade will give you 30% Physical Damage Reduction. Make sure you have 50% Physical Damage Reduction with this skill and your equipment. This great skill allows you to concentrate your gear more offensively. Note that Fade reduces shrine duration too, so when you see a shrine you like, cast Burst of Speed, touch the shrine and then cast Fade again.
Mind Blast: 2
A great skill and, together with Cloak of Shadows and on occasion Blade Fury, this is the assassin’s way of dealing with sticky situations. I personally like Cloak of Shadows best in most situations, but it’s still a great skill. Two points will encourage your shadow master to use it more often.
Venom: 1+
A melee build with only one point in Venom? Yes, that’s right. Venom has a very low duration, but it’s still 10 frames and this assassin attacks a lot faster than that. Still, its worth one point at least and you can max it if you want. Keep in mind that when you switch to the slower Blade Fury, Venom suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting.
Shadow Master: 20
A powered shadow can tank like an expert and even do some decent damage. You can try with a few points less if you feel you have better use for your skill points (which you don’t, but you can feel it if you want), but slvl17 (after +skills) is a bare minimum.
Prereqs: 5
Total points needed for core build: 63
This means that your core build could be complete at clvl52. After that, you can spend your points in Death Sentry, Venom, Blade Shield and Fade. Personally, I put a few extra points in Death Sentry until I was happy with the range and then maxed Venom. At this point, I’m busy maxing Death Sentry all the way. Should I ever get that far, my remaining points will probably be placed in Blade Shield.
EQUIPMENT
* = don’t bother
* * = use this if you really don’t have anything better
* * * = decent choice
* * * * = not the best, but close enough
* * * * * = top choice
Weapon
“Rift” War Scepter / Caduceus: * * * * *
Well, it’s a Riftkicker, so this one’s mandatory. It costs a little more than a Gul so it can be made without using duped gear if you’re lucky enough to get a Gul from the hellforge. You have enough strength and dexterity for a caduceus, so you might as well make the most of it, but if you only have a 4-socket War Scepter, it really doesn’t make much difference. Remember that Blade Shield uses durability, so don’t make it in an ethereal weapon and also remember that scepters with paladin mods cost a lot more to repair. One word of caution, if you’re specifically looking for it, a 4-socket scepter is rare, but remember you can use the “Ral + Amn + Perfect Amethyst + Item” to put a random amount of sockets in an item.
Helm
Guillaume’s Face: * * * * *
This great helm offers 35% Crushing Blow, 30% Faster Hit Recovery and 15 strength, which are three great mods. It’s quite heavy, but you need a lot of strength for your boots anyway. It’s cheap (I got mine for 5pgs on the new ladder) and definitely the best for this build. I really don’t see any reason not to use this.
Harlequin Crest: * * * *
Far less than a Guillaume’s Face, but it offers a lot of life and mana as well as 10% physical damage reduction and 2 skills. Against tough bosses (like act bosses), Crushing Blow is indispensible, but if you’re just pitrunning or something, this helm can be good too, especially since it has 50% magic find.
Rare circlet: * * * *
It must at least have +2 assassin skills, much life, resists and 2 empty sockets or don’t even bother. After that, look for faster run/walk, resists, strength and damage reduction. Even faster cast rate has its uses. A good one is incredibly rare and expensive, so unless you have an absoluty godly circlet lying around, stick with Guillaumes. If you do have it… I’d still stick with Guillaumes.
Armor
“Duress” Archon Plate: * * * * *
Faster hit recovery, massive cold damage, Open Wounds, Crushing Blow and some decent resists in one nifty package. The defense is also good, so make it in an armor with a good base defense, like an Archon Plate.
”Lionheart” Archon Plate: * * * *
Even cheaper than Duress, the Lionheart is a great armor, giving you decent resists and major life and stat bonusses. The defense is terrible though and it lacks some of the mods that make Duress so amazing, like Elemental damage and Crushing Blow. Still, this armor is a perfectly acceptible second choice with runes that almost everyone can afford.
Skin Of The Vipermagi: * *
Really a last resort armor, but the resists are nice and it offers +1 to all skills. Don’t forget to upgrade it for added defense.
Shield
Stormshield: * * * * *
It won’t come as a surprise that this shield is considered the ultimate shield for this build. You’re a melee character and you’ll therefore want 50% Physical Damage Reduction. This shield offers 35% Physical Damage Reduction as well as good blocking, some resists a nice strength bonus and a free socket. Try your very best to get it.
Gerke’s Sanctuary: * * * *
Good shield for this build. It offers a very good blocking rate, good resists and both physical as magic damage reduction. Socket it with a shael to make up for it’s pitiful block speed.
Whitstan’s Guard: * * * *
This shield looks pitiful as it offers nothing more than good blocking. The blocking is both high and fast though and that means you have to spend less points in dexterity to receive max block. However, you can socket it any way you want to, it’s cheap and it offers a 35 life bonus when combined with Guillaumes Face. If nothing else, this is a great leveling shield.
Moser’s Blessed circle: * * *
Resists and good blocking as well as two sockets. No matter how you socket it, one of the above three shield will probably work beter though.
“Sanctuary” shield: * *
Amazing resists, which, together with Fade, will make sure you won’t have any trouble in that area. It has decent blocking rate and blocking speed and it has a nice dexterity bonus. The blocking is not all that good however and you have no free sockets.
Gloves
Crafted “Blood” gloves: * * * * *
Using the “Blood” recipe in the horadric cube (Nef rune, perfect ruby, any jewel and magic heavy gloves), you can potentially get the greatest gloves. At level 71+, it will have three fixed mods and four random mods. The fixed mods offer Crushing Blow (5-10%), life leech (1-3%) and life (15-20) which is good by itself. Now imagine to add things like mana leech, increased attack speed, martial arts skills and maybe even resists. Godly.
Good crafted blood gloves may be rare, but they can drastically increase the effectiveness of your Riftkicker. The increased attack speed can give you the 3-frame kick breakpoint, you can get the mana leech you need, you can get +Martial Arts skills that make you reach slvl30 for 6 kicks, and all that with life, life leech and crushing blow as fixed mods. Gloves should be taken quite seriously.
Rare gloves: * * * *
They can’t have crushing blow and are therefore not as good as their crafted counterparts, but they can have all the other mods that crafted Blood gloves can have. Since it has no crushing blow, you need to be a little more picky here. 20% IAS, mana leech and +2 Martial Arts skills are almost mandatory here.
Draculs Grasp: * * *
Life leech, life after each demon kill, chance to cast life tap, open wounds and strength make for a great pair of gloves. It has no crushing blow, no increased attack speed, no mana leech and no martial arts skills though and that’s a big sacrifice. Also, remember that Life Tap overrides Cloak of Shadows.
Bloodfist: * *
Very common, but useful nonetheless. Faster hit recovery and some increased attack speed as well as a nice life bonus. The above options are far better, but if you can’t afford those, this is a good bet.
Boots
Gore Riders (upgraded): * * * * *
Crushing Blow, Open Wounds and a good kick damage. Upgrading them means a big boost in your base kick damage, but remember the strength requirements.
Goblin Toe (2 x upgraded): * * * *
With its 25% Crushing Blow, this is a decent enough choice if you don’t have Gore Riders. However, remember that it has no faster running and it has a lower kick damage, and that’s a big price to pay. I know that your physical kick damage isn’t your main killer, but remember that how much you leech depends directly and solely on this physical kick damage.
Shadow Dancers: * * * *
Potentially +2 to shadow disciplines, dexterity and faster hit recovery. They’re already elites so they will have the same kick damage as Gore Riders. They require more strength to wear and Crushing Blow is really important, so if you have Gore Riders, use those. If you use Stormshield, the strength won’t be a problem though, and the mods on these boots are admittedly nice.
Belts
Nosferatus Coil: * * * * *
Solid, yet affordable, choice. With 10% increased attack speed, strength, life leech and 10% slow, this is a great belt if you don’t need the physical damage reduction that Verdungos Hearty Cord can offer. I’ve tried other belts, but I always come back to this one. Remember that with a good pair of gloves (with 20% Increases Attack Speed), 10% more increased attack speed is all you need for the 3-frame breakpoint. These belts aren’t all that expensive as most characters prefer Verdungos, String of Ears or Arachnid Mesh over over this one.
Crafted “Blood” belt: * * * * *
Using the “Blood” recipe in the horadric cube (perfect ruby, tal rune, any jewel, magic belt) will create a belt that has the potential to be truly amazing. It has three fixed mods (5-10% Open Wounds, 1-3% Life Leech, 10-20 to Life) and after clvl70, you will get four random mods with this. Try getting one with 24% faster hit recovery, massive strength (up to 30) and even more life (up to 60 more). If you have a really good one, it can easily match Nosferatus, but they’re pretty rare.
Verdungos Hearty Cord: * * *
Old reliable. What character can say no to 15% physical damage reduction and +40 to vitality (120 life for an assassin)? Well, we can. With a Stormshield and a decent fade, you won’t need the physical damage reduction and while a big life bonus is nice, remember that the belt offers little else. If you’re rich enough to have Call to Arms, or if you often party with a Barbarian or a Druid, remember that the life gained from Verdungos doesn’t increase with Battle Orders or Oak sage.
Rings
Raven Frost: * * * * * / * * *
Absolutely crazy mods. Cannot be Frozen, a lot of dexterity, attack rating, mana, cold absorb and even a little cold damage. Equip at least one. A second one is a possibility, but only if you really can’t get better.
Rare ring: * * * * *
These could be awesome. Look for a ring with life leech, life, strength and resists. More mods could make this ring even better. Good rare rings are really… well, rare… so just use one of the other options if you don’t have this.
Bul Kathos’ Wedding Band: * * * *
Life, life leech and +1 skill. The choice for a second ring if you can’t get a good rare. You want one with the maximum 5% leech though, which makes it expensive.
Carrion Wind: * * * *
Good life leech (up to 8%), poison resist and a nice chance to cast Twister on Striking. Twister stuns (shortly, but it does), which really does help. The other mods are pretty useless though, especially since you already got Damage to Mana from your weapon.
Wisp Projector: * * *
The ring of choice if you have a problem with Gloams or other lightning-based creatures. The chance to cast lightning looks pretty, but is kind of useless, so all you really have is the 20% lightning absorb. This however does mean that the damage you take from lightning is almost halved, so even if you just slap it on in special occasions, it’s something to keep in mind. It also has charges of Oak Sage and some magic find.
Amulet
Rare amulet: * * * * *
Potentially awesome. Look for one with +2 assassin skills, life, strength and resists. These aren’t easy to come by but you can try gambling amulets like these when you’re a high enough level.
Blood amulet: * * * * *
Can be just as awesome as a rare. Offers three fixed mods (5-10% faster run/walk, 1-4% life leech and 10-20 life) and from lvl71, you get four additional mods. If those mods happen to include assassin skills and resists, this can be an amazing amulet
Mara’s Kaleidoscope: * * * *
Great resists and +2 skills. Two wonderful mods, but a rare one or crafted one can have both of these mods and much more. If you can’t get one of those rares, this is an excellent choice.
Cats Eye: * * * *
This amulet lacks resists and +skills, but it offers increased attack speed, faster run/walk, massive dexterity and some nice defense bonusses. If you don’t need the resists that a rare or Mara’s Kaleidoscope can offer, this is an excellent choice, even if you don’t need the increased attack speed.
Highlord’s Wrath: * * *
Deadly strike doesn’t work, but the increased attack speed is handy, just like the +1 to all skills. If you don’t desperately need the increased attack speed, don’t bother though. The bonus to lightning resist is a nice gravy mod.
Metalgrid: * * *
Massive attack rating and fantastic resists. If you’re having trouble hitting things, this is the way to go. It lacks other good mods though and it’s only usable at very high levels. Remember that the Iron Golem has the tendency to disappear for no apparent reason from time to time, so keep that in mind if you decide to use the Iron Golem charges.
Charms
If you don’t have max resists yet, use some charms to max them. After that, load up on life charms. An Annihilus charm and a Hellfire Torch are obviously very welcome, but don’t feel bad if you don’t have them. If however you don’t have them, make sure you have at least +4 to your Martial Arts tree to get 5 kicks. Use one or more Martial Arts skill charms if necessary. Besides that, don’t bother with skillcharms unless you have one with a lot of life.
MERCENARY
Having a mercenary has enormous benefits as he/she is able to do additional damage and may even be able to help you do damage in some way. In the style of this guide, I will give you several good mercenary options, some of which are a little stronger, and some of which are a lot cooler.
Act1 Rogue
IMHO, the weakest of all the mercenaries. She needs a powerful weapon to do any damage, is a pain when it comes to AI and dies very frequently. The Inner Sight she can cast is nice though. Harmony is a very nice affordable weapon for them.
Act 2 Town Guard
A solid, though very common, choice. With the right gear, these guys do tons of physical damage and can tank like the best. A Defiance or Holy Freeze one would be the best choices, but you could do very well with a Might one too. Basically, they need a high-defense armor, max resists, a high-powered weapon and a decent amount of life leech. Iron Maiden is a problem though. If you can afford Infinity, that’s just not fair to the other mercenaries.
Act 3 Iron Wolf
Nobody seems to like these guys. Their damage isn’t really great and they’re more fragile than the Town Guards. Still, they offer additional crowd control and are just plain cooler to look at. Unlike the rogues, they can block which keeps them alive longer. The fire ones are weak (Inferno is bugged), but the cold and lightning ones are pretty decent, especially when you have some good gear for them. +Skills and faster cast rate are important, but don’t forget resists and defense. I like putting a Gerke’s Sanctuary (usually Hel’d) on them as it gives them close to max block, good resists and damage reduction.
Act 5 Barbarian
If you ask me, these guys have no real advantages over the act2 Town Guards. Their damage is usually lower and they have no helpful auras. Basically, they need a high-damage weapon, high defense and life leech, just like the act2 mercenary. A lot of people use Azurewrath on these mercenaries.
Personally, I use an act3 lightning mercenary, because lightning is the damage type this build doesn’t have and because it looks really cool. If you really want the most powerful one, it’s an act2 mercenary, just like it always is.
TIPS
A Riftkicker doesn’t have the life of a wolf druid or a barbarian. She doesn’t have the defense of a beefed-up paladin and she doesn’t have the benefit of dodging attacks like an amazon nor does she have a powerful Energy Shield like a sorceress. Simply put, an assassin’s direct defense sucks. Jumping right in the middle of an extra strong bosspack and kicking away is a surefire way to get killed very quickly. A Riftkicker, like any other assassin, needs to be cunning and that is what this chapter is all about.
Make good use of your Shadow Master. Always have one up and don’t be ashamed to heavily prebuff him. Using a +2 Shadow Dancers boots, a +3 Shadow Disciplines circlet, a +3 Shadow Disciplines amulet and two +3 Shadow Disciplines claws give you a whopping +14 to your Shadow Master and since your Shadow Master will rarely die at higher levels, this is a big permanent bonus.
Cloak of Shadows (CoS) is an important skill and should be used often. Just walk towards a crowd and as soon as they’re in range, cast CoS and pick them off one by one. It isn’t always that easy of course, but very often it is. Is baal’s throne room filled with Gloams and are your partymembers dying at an alarming speed? Just barge into the room and cast CoS. Gloams stop firing and everyone will call you friend and love you. Really, CoS is a multifunctional skill. Use it often.
If you feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to use Mind Blast as it will give you the much needed breathing space. Imagine a double bosspack off Frenzytaurs storming towards you. You simply Mindblast the group a couple of times until one or two crack and become converted. You can now attack one of them while they’re busy fighing among each other.
Repeat after me: “I will not push my luck against Oblivion Knights”. Really, this is what Blade Fury is for. If you get Iron Maidened while you’re kicking, you will most likely die. Remember that CoS doesn’t work on Oblivion Knights. Believe me (insert deep sigh here), I tried.
Bosses are easy. You’ll simply be leeching too much for the bosses to have any chance. The only bosses who can potentially give you any problems are unleechables (some undead and PIs), as you cannot leech from them. With Venom and the Elemental damages from Rift (and Duress), he will fall soon enough, but without leech, you’re far more fragile. Make good use of your supporting skills in these situations.
Continued in next post