"Striking Tiger, Lashing Dragon" TS/Dtail Assassin Guide (final)

[terflit]

Good guide! :clap:
Someone should sticky this, this build is similar to mine and is soo much more fun than my old hybrid (but mostly trap) assasian. Who wants to wait around and spend forever clearing out levels when you can tank with almost as much speed and ease as a barb.

[lone_wolf]

good guide makes it much easier to plan a good dtail assy

[Ghola]

Excellent guide wildjinn! As a relative newbie this is exactly the sort of guide I'm looking for... a broad overview of various possibilities. I especially like the fact that you don't go in-depth about the calculations involved (no doubt good for some, but they make my head hurt). I also appreciate that your suggestions aren't too dependent on gear - many guides I've consulted here required equipment that I may never actually get.

Two thumbs up! You've talked me into what I thought would be a rather difficult class. I'm starting one tonight.

[Baboon]

Really brilliant guide

I especially love the part where the different build directions are compared with their skill point cost. I think any guide writer should be forced to implement that part

[egervari]

I think dwarf is a bad choice. It offers nothing useful really. You are much better off with a rare ring giving attack rating, dual leech, strength or dex dex and resists. I realize a ring like this is very rare, but even dual leech and attack rating (only 3 mods) is not impossible to find and shouldn't be more than a low to mid rune to trade for.

[wildjinn]

I think dwarf is a bad choice. It offers nothing useful really. You are much better off with a rare ring giving attack rating, dual leech, strength or dex dex and resists. I realize a ring like this is very rare, but even dual leech and attack rating (only 3 mods) is not impossible to find and shouldn't be more than a low to mid rune to trade for.

Required Level: 45
Fire Absorb 15%
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
+40 Maximum Stamina
+40 Life
100% Extra Gold From Monsters
Magic Damage Reduced By 12-15 (varies)
(Only Spawns In Patch 1.09 or later)

Extra AR and Dual-leech is unecessary, IMO, due to the use of Cobra Strike and the absolutely massive AR bonuses conferred by TS, CS, and the DTail AR bonus, but you certainly have a good point in suggesting them. The high level requirements of good dual-leech rings are discouraging, as is their ineffectiveness in hell difficulty withough additional leech gear in comparision to the ease of use of CS.

About the Dwarf Star, though: I really like the effective 30% fire res, Life, and GF for gambling. The MDR in a Dwarf Star is also very useful. While it may have been nerfed awhile ago in terms of constant-damage spells (e.g. Inferno), their recent nerfing has made MDR more useful. Also, good MDR can allow for virtual immunity to elemental attacks with only 75% res all and absorb of each element, which I have found easier to obtain than dual-leech rings. (Dwarf Star, TGod's or Wisp Projector, Ravenfrost)

[color=Yellow]Addition to the guide:[/color]
I have found, after a suggestion from[color=burlywood] jrichard[/color] and some experience, that [color=burlywood]Andariel's Visage[/color] and [color=lime]IK Gloves and IK Belt[/color] are extremely excellent items for use by this assassin build. The Andariel's Visage provides so many bonuses that it's balanced by -30% fire resistance, which is pretty impressive. The IK gloves and Belt together provide IAS, massive stat point increases, significant defense addition and some good resistances. I would upgrade them to "Best" items.

edit: added additional note and clarified.

[royalesse]

Hi, First off... excellent guide wildjinn!!!

I was wondering if you were able to experiment with Amp damage and Deadly Strike. In theory these should be multiplicative to your already obscene physical damage which should in turn raise your fire damage to astronomical heights.

I know it will hurt bonus skill points but this I was thinking about doing with my TS+Dtailer: Using Lacerator as the charge up weapon

Basically, I wanted to swing lacerator 3 times to charge that should activate the Amp damage and then Dtail. My theory is if Phys immunes are immuned to Dtail since no-physical damage is done then shouldn't it work the otherway if double the physical damage is done?

Of course it may not work that way and the Physical resistance works but only if it's positive (kinda like the crushing blow exception)... Has anyone tested?

Thanks

P.S. You can get the lacerator down to a 6 frame TS attack with 95% IAS and a high lvl Burst of Speed, also as a bonus the amp damage will take care of most of the phys immunes except for the stone skin, phys immunes.

Edit: removed the Deadly Strike question since I found my answer in jrichards: kicking basics guide

[wildjinn]

That could certainly work, as would an Atma's Scarab. Using Amp Damage to break physical immunes still leaves them with a very large physical resistance, though, and your elemental source of damage would likely kill PI's faster than a few DTails in that case. The bonus damage is a great idea, though, and would be a good reason to invest in some Amp Damage.

If you want to make a build that can do that, though, go for it--the point is to have fun doing what you're enjoying. [color=burlywood]Lacerator[/color]-wielding Assassins are not super common--you'd have a unique build, which would be very cool. The problem you'd run into with that item specifically is the % ctc cause monster to flee on it. That might drive you nuts, especially if you're trying to group monsters for a good DTail. I would suggest using the Atma's Scarab before the Lacerator for that reason. You could also obtain a ring or amulet with Amp Damage charges on it, which might be the best option.

The other thing to consider is that you may be giving up much potential damage with large +skills on claws. For example, with dual Bartuc's, you'll have +6 to the MA tab, which is a significant boost in damage (adding 60% multiplicative Fire splash damage and +360% additive physical damage from your kick (levels 20->26)). You'll also have +4 to traps or +6 to Phoenix Strike/an elemental chargeup. It's up to you to decide your take on the tradeoff. While I am more of a power-builder, a themed variant of this build could be very fun.

And thanks for your compliment on the guide. I appreciate it.

[royalesse]

Thnx I appreciate the reply. Hit Causes Monster To Flee (HCMTF) is a good point... and still... I need to hit 20 times for Atma's Amp Damage to go off... While with Lacerator I need to hit 3 times, which is excactly what I need for 3 charges of TS.

I'll leave some skill points unallocated just in case I decide late game that (HCMTF) is too bothersome and I want to switch to Claw/Claw and max Weapon block. Damage wise... I'm itchin to see if I can turn a 50 or 60k kick into 100 or 120k.

Also I've been dying to find an unusual way to use lacerator.

Lastly, Arreat Summit changed item possiblities for Chance to cast Amp Damage. It's now weapons only so per weapon that still leaves me with 10 swings and that's assuming that I can find it on 2 good claws.

[wildjinn]

I'll leave some skill points unallocated just in case I decide late game that (HCMTF) is too bothersome and I want to switch to Claw/Claw and max Weapon block.

I've heard from some folks that it's not so bad in hell, since monsters barely run very far. Let me know how that goes. Also, don't bother getting much higher than level 10 w/skills in weapon block. Extremely diminishing returns happen at higher levels, although every points is useful because of the amazing powers of claw block.

Lastly, Arreat Summit changed item possiblities for Chance to cast Amp Damage. It's now weapons only so per weapon that still leaves me with 10 swings and that's assuming that I can find it on 2 good claws.

My bad. I should have known that one. :o I thought it was castable. Perhaps you could find a Reaper's Toll to put on your merc and get a similar effect w/the Decrep if this doesn't work out. It sounds as if it should, though.