advice for my melee sin, please

[cichla]

I'm a sin newb. my lvl 90 char wears:

natalya's full set
metalgrid ammy
string of ears
laying of hands or bloodfist
raven frost and either nature's peace or dwarf star
shadow killer (unique battle cestus) in off-hand, i'm told the attack speed doesnt matter now but its already got a shael in it.. is it true that the shael does me no good when i dragon claw? I'd like a chaos claw but not sure I want to buy an ohm this badly (would be taxing on funds). The frost nova that blurps out every second or three is pretty nice, anyway.


current skill point distribution, ignoring +skills
20 dragon claw
1 shadow master
1 mind blast
2 burst of speed
20 claw mastery
1 dragon flight



There's 49 skill points undistributed at this time.

1370 hitpoints. With charms I can get all res to 75 in hell.

I have no points in Traps, and I do not really want to use any points in Traps, either. But if you still feel its just too valuable to have a point in death sentry, mention it.

With + skills,
my claw block comes to lvl 7 46% (further points will give +1% chance each)
my burst of speed is level 9 (further points will give +1% increase to atk speed and run)
shadow master and warrior are lvl 7


I'm interested in the shadow minions. I fancy the thought of maxing one of them out. I hear that shadow warrior does not get + resists per level, but the arcane sanctuary states it gets +4 resist all per level, which max out at 75. This is actually better than the master, which has 67 resist all at level 20. However, in practice, my lvl 7 shadow warrior does not seem able to kill ANYTHING in hell diff, because her damage is so pathetically low. The shadow master, stranglely, can actually kill an a1 zombie 1v1 melee if you give her about 5 minutes (haha).
Why is this? does the master have some hidden damage bonus?


Shadow minion aside, I am thinking that I should just add points to Claw Block, BoS, and Cloak of Shadows. Maybe mindblast. I'm told Tiger Strike is ineffective with dragon claw.


I'd appreciate some advice and answers to the questions I've asked. Thanks! :)

[Kalkanor]

hhmmm i would put 1 point in BF if u are haveing problums with IM
out of the 2 Shadows i would max master her AI seems to b better and if u have a problum with PIs she can use traps but if u want more control go with SW she uses the same skills as u its like haveing 2 of u^^
also venom(cant spell) is a very handy skill

[Sass]

I have no points in Traps, and I do not really want to use any points in Traps, either. But if you still feel its just too valuable to have a point in death sentry, mention it.Mentioning :yes:

[Tanksaabas]

This is actually better than the master, which has 67 resist all at level 20SM can be triple immune actually if she casts fade... But dont use the shadows as a mean to kill monsters. Sometimes they get lucky and do something useful , but otherwise they are just a cool minon/tank/extra target for monsters to chew on.

Death Sentry is a really nice skill. You dont need to max DS or its synergy but I suggest putting 3 hardpoints in fireblast then if you go to DS.

[Master Zap]

Since your using the Nat's set, and having fun with your Shadow cestus, I'd suggest you round out your build with phnx strike. At that point whichever charge you like the best , I'd syngerise it. Shadow claw is quite good for coi, and it tends to be the easiest charge to use on phnx strike. Now your set against any target in the game. You'll do good physical damage, have access to fire,light and cold on tap.

I'd 1 point death sentry myself, or find that chaos claw you want with innate death sentry on it. This would save some skill points, but clearly not the easiest item to come by either.

Here's a great build for nat's set

The C/C Natalya's Phoenix Striker
Author: skygoneblue
http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=599

20 phnx strike
20 claws of ice

I'd skip on tiger strike/dtail combo. With Nat's boots being a low damage boot type base, it's giving up a ton of damage vs Shadow Dancers/ double up'd goblin toes /Gores/rare Mirrored boot/mymerdian



How do you like that max dragon claw in play? I bet your AR is fabulous

[cichla]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I maxed out Block and Shadow Master, they are level 26/27 now; 60% chance to block. I put 1 point in Death Sentry, so it and all the prerequisite trap skills are level 4.

I know its frustrating that I can't kill phys. immune monsters now, but ah well.


My dragon claw AR is 13,500 or so. Without the metalgrid, its 9,500. I love that ammy so much now. A bot dropped it on the ground in town just before starting a Baal run. If I ever fight a barb, he'll have to deal with Iron Maiden AND Iron Golem, lol.

My shadow master is relatively durable now, and quite useful in my nihlathak runs. She seems almost as durable as my a2 merc, and of course she doesnt require a town trip and 50k to resurrect

I still have 4 skill points unused.