finishing move help

[comiction]

quick intro, i am making my first assassin, i dunno anything aboiut assassins but i am learning fast... my Mfr will work hard, so any gear is no problem, my main charge up skill will be phoenix strike, i plan to put stats in dex for max block and then rest into vitality just like always and for the sake of it we will say i'm leveling to 99 so that all 112 stat points can be talked about....

i was curious what's good about all the finishing moves?
what makes one better than another?
does venom work for claws and kicking?
which weapons/boots should i get?
what are all the off beat skills i should get? (like... obviousely i should get phoenix and synergies... but not obviousely should i get venom? or weapon block?)

thanks in advance :D

[Sass]

i was curious what's good about all the finishing moves? Each one has a fantastic use.

Dragon Talon is the fastest attack in the game, and with the right boots, is the quickest way to deliver massive amounts of Crushing Blow. With good enough boots, it can hit 1K x 4-5 kicks. Pretty sweet.

Dragon Claw has massive AR and a nice damage boost. It requires 2x claws, so claw mastery and Weapon Block pair up beautifully. If you have high damage claws (like a nats set), you can have a hefty DClaw.

Dragon Tail racks up MASSIVE damage due to the way it adds damage. The ED% is added to other ED%. Also, half is fire, and explodes in a radius, dealing fire and KB. Very useful with Tiger Strike.

Dragon Flight is like teleport, but with damage. Good much? A draw back is that it can easily be interrupted leaving you kicking the air. However, it is great for some transportation in PvM.

what makes one better than another? The only thing that matters is your build. DTalon kickers are great (there's an Uber kicker that uses it stickied at the top of this forum) and can use the finisher as a main attack. DClaw works well with nat's set and benefits from strong claws. DTail is like Talon, but can be mixed with Tiger and maybe traps. All 3 are viable builds. DFlight is a one point wonder.

does venom work for claws and kicking? Yes it does.

which weapons/boots should i get? Depends on build. As a rule of thumb, Kickers want Myrmidon Greaves. Either a Shadowdancer or an Upped Gores works. These have massive kick damage. DClaw finishers use strong claws with high ar to unleash a charge (usually phoenix strike). You'd have to decide what kind of build you'll like, then start to think about which one would work best for you.

what are all the off beat skills i should get?At least one into Blade Fury and one into Death Sentry. The ranged attack is nice to have, and with Death Sentry, well, it blows corpses up; it's great for clearing rooms.


For a PvmM Phoenix Striker, I'd suggest looking at this (http://strategy.diabloii.net/news.php?id=599). It doesn't mention them, but I highly recommend the one point in the two traps I mentioned.

[comiction]

ah, that guide is pretty much perfect, thanks a lot :D:D:D

[Scudstorm]

Don't forget normal attack. It's the fastest finishing-move if getting out the charges is your only concern (Phoenix strikers come to mind). This is assuming that you have enough AR to make it consistent, otherwise DClaws is probably better (massive AR boost, off-hand hit will release the charges if the first swing misses).

Other than Blade Fury and Death Sentry, most of the shadow tree is worth 1 point if you're a martial artist, with potentially more points into Shadow Master (or Warrior), Weapon Block for dual-wielding (50% is a nice goal, 60% if you really want a lot of it, but 1 point with +skills is often good), and Fade (but I recommend using Burst of Speed over it, unless you really need the resists/DR).