The Naughty Nurse

[jamesixgun]

Ok. So I've been playing the Assassin for a long time, mostly Martial Arts types with a couple of trappers thrown in. I usually get bored partway through Nightmare, if not before, and I only play single player so I rarely get all that groovy stuff talks about. I only ever defeated Hell Baal with an Auradin and really want to take a few more characters all the way before DIII comes out (though I doubt this is the character to do it with).

Anyway, I've got an idea for a new Assassin build and I'm looking for some feedback before I get too excited about it. It's called "The Naughty Nurse:" 'Nurse,' since she's primarily concerned with the health of her patients; and 'Naughty' since she likes to steal their life, poison 'em, then blow up their corpses.

She'll be a heavy weapon/shield type with a bow or something ranged on switch.

She'll use Cobra Strike, Venom, and Death Sentry primarily, with mid-level DTalon and DTail for discharge, low-level Mind Blast thrown in for some stun power, mid-level BoS for attack speed, and probably a mid- or high-level Master for some tanking. I'll also probably use an Act 1 cold merc until I can get a Nightmare Act II holy freeze or might dude.

Any advice or thoughts or comments or whatever will be appreciated.

[Sass]

Well, in the SP forum, many have made Matriarchs, many untwinked. Check out some of them for inspiration.


As for your build, Cobra would work with Tiger and DTail. The dmg is high, they are hell viable, and the venom is good (maybe not maxed; it'll be hard to in sp), and one into ds (Corpse explode ftw). Don't neglect MB, CoS and some kind of shadow and you're essentially set.

[Scudstorm]

She'll be a heavy weapon/shield type with a bow or something ranged on switch.

Hmm... Why not use Blade Fury as your ranged attack?

[jamesixgun]

Thanks for the input.

@ Sass- I did check out the SPF and found it quite useful and somewhat more appropriate for this character. The Naughty Nurse won't be using Tiger Strike, since it doesn't really fit with the theme: ie. Naughty Nurses poison their patients, steal their life, then blow up their corpses.

@ Scudstorm- Blade Fury is a great idea. Since she's a healthcare professional, the Naughty Nurse will use some blades and scissors, so she'll be a C/S instead of HW/S.

I'll post a more complete guide shortly, thought it's still just an idea. I started building her, but ran into huge problems with killing speed, damage, etc. (7 deaths before the Act 1 Normal Jail. Jeez.)

[jamesixgun]

The Naughty Nurse: A guide in progress.

Note: this is a theme build, probably not suitable for PvP, and is only intended for someone wanting to attempt an unusual assassin build (maybe not that unusual, after all the Naughty Nurse is pretty much a Hybrid build). I’ve not had much success with this character (7 deaths before act 1 Jail), but I’m pretty much a noob. Experienced players may find some fun in this character, but the Naughty Nurse is pretty much meant to illicit laughs from readers.

Contents
Intro
Why Play?
1. Abbreviations
2. Skills
3. Skill Allocations
4. Attributes
5. Strategy
6. Equipment
7. Play Style and Rationale

Intro-

The Naughty Nurse is primarily concerned with the health and well being of her patients, but, since she’s Naughty, she likes to show commercials for ED treatments and Anti-Depressants to confuse the sick. Then, when they show up at the doctor’s office, she poisons them, steals their life, kicks them out the door, and blows up their corpses.

Why Play?
The Naughty Nurse is not godly. You will probably die quite often. So why attempt this build? Why not? It’s a bit beyond my noobish abilities, but could be a fun challenge for some people.


1. Abbreviations used in this guide
TS- Tiger Strike
DTalon- Dragon Talon
CS- Cobra Strike
DC- Dragon Claw
DTail- Dragon Tail
CM- Claw Mastery
PH- Psychic Hammer
BoS- Burst of Speed
WB- Weapon Block
CoS- Cloak of Shadows
F- Fade
SW- Shadow Warrior
SM- Shadow Master
MB- Mind Blast
V Venom
FB- Fire Blast
SW- Shock Web
BS- Blade Sentinel
CBS- Charged Bolt Sentry
WoF- Wake of Fire
BF- Blade Fury
LS- Lightning Sentry
DS- Death Sentry
IAS- Increased Attack Speed
AR- Attack Rating
FRW- Faster Run/Walk
C/C- Claw/Claw
C/S- Claw/Shield

2. Skills-

1.1 Martial Arts:
Tiger Strike - 1 (pre-req, will not use. See Rationale, below)
Dragon Talon - 1, or 10, or 20
Cobra Strike - 20 This will be your main attack.
Dragon Claw- none or 1 (pre-req)
Dragon Tail- 10 or 20 depending on use. (Mix DTalon and DTail 10 each, or Max one or the other)

1.2 Shadow Disciplines:
Claw Mastery - 1 (pre-req, and she’s a Nurse, not a surgeon)
Psychic Hammer – 1 (pre-req)
Burst of Speed - 3+ (see Rationale, below)
Weapon Block - 1 (pre-req)
Cloak of Shadows - 1
Fade - 1 (pre-req)
Shadow Warrior - 1+
Mind Blast - 1+
Venom - 20

1.3 Traps:
Fire Blast - 3 (synergy with Death Sentry)
Shock Web - 1 (pre-req, and provides early defibrillator services)
Blade Sentinel - 1+
Charged Bolt Sentry - 1 (pre-req, defibrillation)
Wake of Fire - 1 (pre-req)
Blade Fury - 1+
Lightning Sentry- 1+ (pre-req, defibrillation, synergy)
Death Sentry- 1

This will require a minimum of 90 skill points (or 88 if you stay away from DTail

3. Skill Distribution-

Level 2-5 (with Akara skill), in this order: CM, DTalon, FB, TS, MB
Level 6- BoS
Level 7-9- prereqs: SW, BS (DC if you’re going to use DTail)
Level 10-11, save
Level 12- CS, CoS, CBS
Level 13- WB
Level 14- WoF
Level 15- BoS (2)
Level 16- BoS (3)
Level 17- save
Level 18- SWarrior, BFury
Level 19- Fade
Level 20- DTail (if you use it, if not DTalon)
Level 21- DTalon (2)
Level 22- CS (2)
Level 23- save
Level 24- MB, LS
Level 25-26- FB (2, 3)
Level 27- DTalon (4)
Level 28- CS (3)
Level 29- save
Level 30- V, DS
Alternate V and DTalon/Tail/BFury until max, add in BoS if your Attack Speed seems low. Then Max CS. Add to MB, synergies as needed and as points allow.


4. Attributes-

Strength- enough for gear (more adds to kick damage)
Dex- enough for max block (more adds to Attack Rating)
Vit- everything else
Energy- none (a few points if you hate drinking blue pots)

I suggest sticking with 2-2-1 (Str, Dex, Vit) until you’re happy with Str, then go 2-3 (Dex, Vit) to keep up your AR.


5. Strategy: (after level 30)
Cast BoS, V, SW
Spam MB, cast DS, Blade Fury a few of the uninsured
Charge CS, DTalon/DTail the patient out the door, watch corpses explode
Lather, rinse, repeat


6. Equipment-
Note: I only ever play Single-Player and have little experience with high-level Assassin gear, so this is a pretty limited section. I did find some interesting stuff with a Holy Freeze Zeal-adin that I took to Guardian last year, but since I don’t have any muling programs it all went to the town vendors or got left on the ground.

Claws- IAS and life steal are primary concerns. Blade Talons (and their exceptional/elite counterparts) have the highest base Attack Speed, so they’re pretty useful. Bartuc’s will probably be one of the best, though any Blade Talons will be fine.

Shield- anything with high resists, block rate, damage reduction, etc.

Boots- Nat’s, fast walk, stuff to increase DTalon Damage.

Armor- Replenish life stuff, maybe Nat’s if you find it/have it already, MF stuff, +resists, +skills, etc.

Helmet- same as armor

Jewelry- life/mana steal, MF, pretty much the same as above.



7. Play style and Character Rationale:

Since Nurses use scissors and scalpels, the Naughty Nurse will use Claw-class weapons.

The Naughty Nurse is a C/S Assassin. In addition to the increased def from a shield, you’re not going to be using any C/C skills, so dual claws are useless for this build.

Nurses tend to run only in emergencies, and Naughty Nurses rarely, if ever, run. The character will be a fast walker. Walk speed = 2/3 run speed. With a level 3 BoS, walk speed = run speed without BoS if my calculations are correct. If you’re used to running, like me, this may prove a bit annoying, but Naughty Nurses don’t run. Also, running effects block rate, so you’ll get better blocking by walking.
You’re a Nurse, not a surgeon, so you’re not a master of your blades. So put one point in claw mastery only as a pre-req. However, you will throw them at patients when they come into the office asking about various prescriptions and complaining of headaches.

As a Nurse, you do have access to assistants and orderlies. Shadow Warriors and Mercs are acceptable, but Shadow Master is not. The Naughty Nurse tries to stay away from healthcare professionals with more knowledge of the profession than she.

In extreme cases, Nurses may use defibrillators to revive patients. Naughty Nurses have other uses for defibrillation equipment. So the Lightning Traps are acceptable in some cases. Fire Traps, not so much.

Nurses, even Naughty ones, don’t start fires. However they may, on occasion, employ various cauterization tools. Dragon Tail is acceptable for this purpose. Should you choose to deploy DTail in this build, you could substitute it for DTalon or mix the two.

Cloak of Shadows use: I know this skill helps most assassins, and I guess it fits in with the theme, since Nurses often make patients fill out forms until they croak, so go ahead and use it as you see fit.

There you go, The Naughty Nurse. Comments, suggestions, critiques welcome, but remember that I'm fairly noobish (despite playing often since 2001 or so), so please be gentle.:smug: