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Matriarch Progne_Subis
This turned out to be a lot of fun… I started this gal about a year ago, around when Ceramic Weasel wrote his marvelous Blade Fury manifesto. It is highly recommended reading if you haven’t seen it. Short version is that using max-BF adds a significant chunk of off-weapon damage that isn’t seen on the LCS and can make BF quite an effective killer. I played her through mid-nightmare back then, but abandoned her. I don’t clearly remember why, I think the AR issues were getting frustrating. Well, I’ve been thinking about a BF-build that would really start to come into her own around late nightmare, so I re-specced her into Progne’s stats (skills didn’t change) and pushed her through Hell. She was a TON of fun- very safe, a very effective killer, and an interesting play-style.
Her name is the latin name for the Purple Martin. It’s the largest north American swallow. Live in big colonies, and are amazing fliers. They have this iridescent puplish-black plumage, and are very pretty.
STATS:
Name: Progne_Subis
Class: Assassin
Experience: 917229326
Level: 83
Naked/Gear
Strength: 67/103
Dexterity: 398/400
Vitality: 20/20
Energy: 25/25
HP: 274/786
Mana: 148/189
Stamina: 197/247
Defense: 99/2441
Fire: 90/50/-10
Cold: 119/79/19
Lightning: 90/50/-10
Poison: 102/62/2
MF: 0 Block: 97
GF: 25
FR/W: 33
FHR: 59
IAS: 0
FCR: 25
Skills (after + skills):
Fire Blast: 1/4
Shock Web: 1/4
Blade Sentinel: 1/4
Charged Bolt Sentry: 1/4
Wake of Fire: 1/4
Blade Fury: 20/23
Lightning Sentry: 1/4
Wake of Inferno: 0/0
Death Sentry: 20/23
Blade Shield: 0/0
Claw Mastery: 1/7
Psychic Hammer: 1/7
Burst of Speed: 1/7
Weapon Block: 1/7
Cloak of Shadows: 1/7
Fade: 20/26
Shadow Warrior: 1/7
Mind Blast: 1/7
Venom: 0/0
Shadow Master: 20/26
LCS: Blade fury damage 904-3102
Actual BF damage: I don’t know, but a lot higher
AR= 6637 ( also -50% to enemy defense)
Deadly strike= 68%
Crushing blow = 40%
Slows Target = 45%
Open Wounds = 60%
Chance to block = 75%
Damage Reduction= 28% (fade)
Equipment:
Weapon: Perfect eth Fleshripper socketed with an OhmSpoiler
Helmet: Cruel Cowl (super-sexy circlet)Spoiler
Armor: Fortitude Archon Plate
Shield: Lance Guard (with Ruby jewel – 40% ED)
Switch: CtA/Lidless Wall
Belt: Trang’s belt
Gloves: Cleglaw’s
Ammy: Angelic
Rings: 1x Angelic, 1x awesome dual leech rareSpoiler
Boots: Goreriders
Charms:
4x Mentalists grand charms, 3x Steel GCs (2 of Vita, 1 of balance), 1x entrapping of balance
Steel/Shimmering SCs
Resists (after Fade): 59/75/59/71
Merc: Might with eth Reapers toll (with RjoF), fortitude dusk shroud, Vampire’s gaze
Finds:
Hellforge: Io/Um
Nothing else notable, yet
GoMule item data dump:
Spoiler
Thoughts:
Short version: Lots of fun. Fleshripper is an amazing weapon, and BF hits a lot harder than I thought
Long version:
What a fun skill to use. BF adds a whole bunch of damge (I was 1-hitting a lot of enemies in A5 hell on players 1). The major drawback for BF is that you get absolutely no help with AR, so you have to make some serious sacrifices to hit stuff. Here is where Fleshripper shines. The -50% to enemy defense is a huge help. Also, daggers get ED from dex, not strength, so maxing dex added damage AND AR. Once I found that circlet with 1-99% to AR, (level dependent), I knew I was getting somewhere. Those two, along with angelics, got my CtH high enough that I could swap out a BA merc for a might, and the damage went up a ton. Fleshripper is great in lots of other ways too – the DS, OW, and CB are always nice, and the slows-target is a ridiculously powerful add-on, especially when combined with the knockback and slowing from Cleglaw’s gloves. I found the perfect ethereal one a while back, and wanted to make a build that properly showcased how awesome it is. The Ohm was found a few weeks ago from the Cows, and I think this weapon deserves it…
She was a surprisingly safe character, especially remembering that she had base vita. I often let the BO from CtA lapse, and didn't really worry much about it. 786 Hp was usually plenty for her. Between the knockback and slow, enemies rarely reached her. When they did, she had 28%DR and max block, as well as two healthy tanks. The shadow master didn’t bug me much. This character is not a speed-demon, so the deliberate sneaking up on enemy packs allowed the SM to keep up without poofing too much. She used Death Sentry fairly often, and didn’t waste much time on other traps. At level 28, she had native 79% resist all. When she casted fade on herself, she got even tougher….
I really struggled about where to get leech with her, since pretty much every equipment slot was taken. I used Wilhelm’s belt and a ravenfrost for a while, but liked the Trang’s belt and dual-leech ring better. I got more leech, CBF and a nice chunk of life from the belt – very welcome with a base vita build.
Overall, this was an extremely fun character. BF is just plain cool – and it does make for some creative gear choices. I highly recommend reading Ceramic Weasel’s treatise, there are lots of interesting ideas in his original post and the subsequent discussions.
I can't seem to get my screenshots to upload from my work computer at the moment, if I can figure it out I'll insert them later.
Thanks for reading…
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(which is also one of my personal favorites). That fleshripper is just sick. Maxing dex has a lot of benefits, if only there were a better way of saying it than "no-vita", which just sounds kinda sad, as if you're giving up something. But really you're not giving up anything. 
Maybe we could call it an "acrobat" build or something. But I digress.
. Your hat also reminded me that I had started crafting blood helms at some point. I was hoping for visionary and 10% DS. With some sockets and/or resists, that would be a pretty sweet piece of gear...
That reminds me, you forgot to mention your amulet and the one Entrapping skiller in your inventory. 
Making it around ~22,000 damage per second. 
Originally Posted by bcoe
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