Phoenix Strike question

[davidmcc]

Just found myself a nats mark, so I'm going to build a nats set/bartucs phoenix striker.

Obviously I want to max PS itself, but how many of the synergies should I look at maxing as well? Is it worth doing all three (FoF,CoT and BOI) or should I just max one or two?

Any other thoughts where to put skills? At the moment I'm thinking 1pt in BoS and a few in shadow master, plus pre-reqs. Don't want to touch traps at all.

Any advice would be great

[Spectrus]

http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=599

That seems to be a guide for exactly your planned equipment. I also agree with his advice on point placement for the synergies: Fists of Fire and Claws of Thunder. The cold synergy never really gets to a good amount of damage, and does its freezing regardless of the level of the synergy (I think). So I don't see any reason to max that.

1 in BoS, some Shadow master, some pre-reqs sounds good. If you're lacking in AR (shouldn't be, all the charge-ups have boosted AR and boost AR for the finishing), Claw Mastery can fix some of that. Also, if you're going claw/claw, then you should aim to raise Weapon Block to 50% or so.

[BIGeyedBUG]

Obviously I want to max PS itself, but how many of the synergies should I look at maxing as well? Is it worth doing all three (FoF,CoT and BOI) or should I just max one or two?

Usually two, sometimes just one or one and a partial. Almost never all three except if you're just doing it for goofs. Two gives you good damage versatility in combination with your physical and misc. damage, without taking up too many points. The most common choices by far are fire and lightning for the reasons Spectrus gave. Although if you like the idea of going with cold, you can use a synergized BoI very effectively as long as you're dual claw.

Any other thoughts where to put skills? At the moment I'm thinking 1pt in BoS and a few in shadow master, plus pre-reqs. Don't want to touch traps at all.

Any advice would be great

Standard build for me would be

20 Phoenix, CoT, FoF
10 Shadow of choice
1-4 Weapon Block (aiming for about 10 or so after +skills)
1 DS, BF, Fade, Mind Blast, all Finishers, and prereqs.

That's HC and lousy equipment oriented. If you're playing SC, or have your choice of twink gear, you could drop BF and Fade. BF is fun though, so I'd take it anyway.

You can do without DS, but it does make things a ton easier.

[maxicek]

Personally I would go 0 points in Shadow Master / Warrior and put the points into Death Sentry instead.

It's a fun build though, I have one in mid Nightmare at the moment.

[davidmcc]

Thanks for the advice guys. I was thinking fire and light too, except that I often (last time I used PS at least) used to get a third charge without trying to. I guess I just need to get used to firing them off quicker!

I'll have +12 to shadow skills, so 1 in wpn block should be plenty. I'm skipping fade altogether since I cant see that I'll ever use it (no I'm not planning to take on uber trist:grin:).

That leaves me with
20 PS
20 CoT
20 FoF
3 prereqs

1 each in claw mastery, p hammer, BoS, claw block, CoS and mind blast

=69 skills

I'm thinking just normal attack to release the charges since it's faster than DC

I guess then I can decide to get shadow master and/or DS. I could also get dragon flight, but I dont think I'll bother somehow.


Just for fun, this is my gear:

Nats set
Bartucs
String of ears - or Tgods?
magic +3 to MA gloves
Highlords
Raven
Rare - something with LL and resists I guess

With 5 MA skillers and a torch, she should have +18 to MA, +12 to shadow.

Wont be my the most uber-badass character ever, but should be fun :thumbsup:

[Spectrus]

Dragon Flight isn't very useful, but I like getting Dragon Claw. The AR boost from it will possibly be helpful, with the huge number of +skills you have.

For your belt, it sort of depends. At least until you start meeting Gloams, String of Ears is probably a fine choice. But tgods for Gloams for sure...

[BIGeyedBUG]

I'm thinking just normal attack to release the charges since it's faster than DC

Technically it's faster...if you hit. DC has a slower attack but gives a great AR bonus even at 1 point and +skills. Also, unless your CtH is very high, 2 chances to release over 10-12 frames is often more effective than 1 chance every 7.

I guess then I can decide to get shadow master and/or DS. I could also get dragon flight, but I dont think I'll bother somehow.I wouldn't play without DF and a Shadow, though a lot of it is just because they're fun. There's really nothing quite like an Assassin and her shadow collecting a bunch of charges and then both releasing on the same target on the other side of the screen.

DS is both amusing and incredibly powerful, but it can also be fun trying to play without it.

[davidmcc]

Good point on the DC. I'm already noticing the super low AR, so I feel its worth 2 points. And if I do that, then its only 2 more for DF, so I think I'll throw that in too.

But I'm going to skip DS. Powerful yes, but it just doesnt feel right with this build, as I was thinking of making a completely trap-free sin for the first time.

Thanks for the advice all :smiley:

[Skullbash]

If you're having problems with AR, you could throw some points into claw mastery.

[davidmcc]

I guess I will. With 20 in the 3 MA skills, 20 on shadow master and 14 in various pre-reqs/1pt wonders, I'm done by lvl 83. Cant think of anything else, so the rest go to claw mastery I guess