Help with Ilkori-sin Running Dkeys!

[UberB]

I was sick of my blizzard sorc getting killed during Nihlathak runs, and I was also sick of it when Nihlathak was cold immune for like 10 times in a row...so I decided to follow mephiztophelez's advice an made an ilkori-sin, flashdancer variant. I felt it was really fun playing a trap/kicker hybrid, more so because I had decent gear. But I tried doing some Nihlathak runs and I'm lost. I just don't seem to have enough life. Should I be using traps or kicks?

Skills: 20 Death sentry, 20 dragon talon (boosted to 24+ after +skills), 20 lightning sentry, 1 shadow master, 1 blade shield, 1 cloak of shadows, 1 fade, 1 burst of speed, 1 mind blast, 1 prereqs. Rest into Charged bolt sentry

I'm level 82, just enough to equip all my gear (Stormlash being the latest)

Equipment:

Guillaume's Face (substitute with Shako?)
Stormlash w/ Shael
Duriel's Shell, gonna replace it with Duress archon
Stormshield w/ -15req jewel
Draculs
BK, Nature's Peace (should I substitute Nat's peace with Raven?)
TGods
Upp'ed Gores
Mara's

I have max block with about 1.1k life. Should I level more?

On switch: dual spirits. I can hit the 200 FHR breakpoint with four small charms of balance. I have two already, just need to find two more.

I need help in general. If you have ran Nihlathak before with a kick/trap assassin please post your tips. How do i deal with vipers? Should I get a merc? Should I use a shadow? What do you do if one of those demolition dudes explode?

These are all the questions I can think of at the moment :undecided::undecided: , basically just provide all the tips you can.

[wizAdept]

Why would you use nature's peace with a build that uses maxed death sentry? makes no sense. Take off the ring, slap on a raven, start exploding more corpses.

Your hp is kinda low, do you have a cta? even if you still want to use spirit/spirit switch or any other non cta switch its always a good idea to carry a cta in your inv and bo yourself whenever you need to.

Dealing with vipers just.. dont run through the clouds whatever you do. Try to kill them from a distance if you can, blade fury could help here. Or you could just use the panels to tell which direction Nihlathak is in, cloak/mb the vipers and run past them. You dont have to fight monsters if you dont want to, thats what cloak/mb allow you to do.

There is also the option of using a idr setup, I heard that negates the viper clouds pretty well but I haven't tried it myself. Gladiator's bane and some other items, Im sure when mephiztophelez gets around to reading this thread he will give you input on such a setup and how you can avoid damage from the vipers.

[mystified]

with vipers first thing I do is cast Cloak. usually works unless you went too near them.
dunno if you are using burst or fade, but since you have no ias I am assuming burst. which is ok I guess..just that you don't have any source of PDR or PDR%
not so sure on duress part whenyou already have more than enough CB coming from both stormlash, upped gore, and guil face. again not so sure on tgod. hasn't been favourite belt since the days of 8ll 15DR SoE :p
if you are using burst anyway, I;d prolly swap helm for something else. shako sounds good, or 2 assa + PDR helm with sols sounds better.
and as above, i dunno why you'd want nature's. DS owns nihl.
hope you have more fun now :)

[chronowarp]

You'd honestly be better off just using a straight trapper.

[UberB]

Does DS still own Nihl even in 8-player games? Because I read mephiztophelez's Nihlathak guide and he said that he ran Nilly in 8-players using Mind blast, Cloak, Dflight and then Dtaloning Nilly to death. Also how much life should I have? Is CTA necessary?

[mephiztophelez]

There is also the option of using a idr setup, I heard that negates the viper clouds pretty well but I haven't tried it myself. Gladiator's bane and some other items, Im sure when mephiztophelez gets around to reading this thread he will give you input on such a setup and how you can avoid damage from the vipers.
hehe, my reputation preceeds me.

yes, i recommend an iDR rig for Nihlathak Running. specifically, your after Damage Reduced By ~30+ (45+ being gosu idr). this will turn the vipers into mere pests and takes a LOT of the sting out of Corpse Explo's from Nihlathak.

some ways to acheive this are a Gladiators Bane, a circlet or amulet of Life Everlasting. personally, i use a 22 res-all/36iDR circlet along with 50% DR from fade/SS.

now, as to tackling Nihlathak himself. first up, lose that RIP ring. RIP is a mod you REALLY DO NOT want to be carrying as it renders your main killing skill (Death Sentry) useless.

i tend to sprint straight past most of the beasties in the Halls of Vaught and run straight to Nihls room. once i get into that room, i drop a Cloak of Shadows to shut down any ranged attackers. i then throw a couple mind-blasts at "targets of opportunity" (Vipers & flayers & anything close to you being the main ones to target if they are there).

so, now i have a room full of cloaked creeps and a few converts.

target Nihlathak with d-Flight and take Nihlathak himself down FIRST using a combo of Flight and Talon. once he's dead, drop 4x Lit Sentries and 1x Death Sentry and watch in amazment as everything in the room dies.

a CtA is a very nice addition to your kit (extra life is always nice and bugger the 200fhr on the sprint) but it isn't mandatory. i have done thousands of Nihlathak runs without one. i now have one, i like it a lot. 1.1k life is a pretty good effort on a k/t'sin, so your doing well there.

[improvius]

I was making VERY easy dkey runs (1 player games) on my lvl 89 char. I have her set up as a true hybrid so I can play her as either a trapper or kicker as the mood strikes me.

Weapon1:
Azurewrath
StormShield

Weapon2:
2x trap claws (+4 LS each)

Shako
Treachery cuirass (crap defense)
Highlord's
Upped gores
drac's
IK Belt
low torch
shadow GC
trap GC

I found a +3 shadow skill helm that I've been using for buffing Fade and my SM. Without Fade I'd be in big trouble doing these runs. If I feel like killing mobs, I'll throw down some LS and DS on the trap claws, switch to Azurewrath and wade in swinging. Otherwise I'll sprint through just like meph does.

With Fade on, the vipers don't bother me much even if I do get poisoned. I can take them out with DS or kicking without much trouble while my SM distracts them. They tend to be 1-click kills with my kicking weapon. If there are more than 1 or 2 shooting at me, I'll throw down a CoS.

After that, all I need to do is get within site of Nihlathak's platform and cast CoS. Then I switch to the trap claws and put down 3 LS and 2 DS. The room is usually empty in a few seconds. Most of the time I never even see him.