notes on v1.10 (beta) Assassin Blade skills

[Crystalion]

I've spent enough time observing v1.10 beta Assassin Blade skills that what I can share about their actual effects off of the top of my head might be useful to some students of mechanics...

Shield, as has been noted repeatedly, is messed up in the mpq data for 3/128 weapon damage instead of the skills described 1/4 weapon damage, which would be 32/128. If I had to guess I'd say they'll fix this and leave the Blade skills otherwise alone (for release).

All 3 skills now "add" in "weapon" damage, setinel/fury/shield: 3/8, 3/4, 1/4. Although the display (as of beta) doesn't show AR for the skills, Fury definitely needs it (probably the other two do as well, I can't say at this time).

By "weapon" though, they essentially mean what your damage would be from a normal attack (i.e. Str/Dex bonus, whatever adders bonus, weapon damage). All the types of damage remain their own type, just reduced.

Other reports and "common sense" suggest all three attacks are blockable. I believe this without having run a PvP test--easy enough to do if you wish to be sure.

Prior to v1.10 Shield would not trigger the LE of LEBs (iirc--I remember Hurricane and Rabies wouldn't, I am less sure about Blade Shield) and this deserves v1.10 testing.

Blade Sentinel is not a ranged attack per se, in that you can't "shoot" it over obstacles you couldn't walk over. I do not recall if this means you can't shoot it through the bars in the Jail (etc.) but I think not. It is, like charged bolt, a bit "fickle" in its pathing. I won't try to do justice to it in words, as it is a low level skill so you can start up a char and see it for yourself without too much time/effort. The key factor for Sentinel is that it "pierces" in the sense of hitting a target and continuing on to try and hit other targets, *including* coming back and hitting the same target again. With a 4 second lifetime and a 2 second recast timer this attribute is effective but not uber (the cool whirling blade animation travels a bit too slowly to hit a single target more than 3 times during its lifetime and twice, in practice, seems far more likely).

If your merc or shadow is tanking/blocking a crowded doorway and you have (normal or on a switch) good phys/elem/poison damage then targeting this on the other side of the doorway can generate a lot of hits (whirlwind's kid brother, eh?). Because, like charged bolts, there is a small amount of "attraction to target" for the blade, it would be an option to just throw one out every couple of seconds as you're playing "keep away" from the nasties (I killed normal Duriel this way, fyi, because I was not yet a studly bootysin). All in all, unlike versions prior to v1.10 this seems like a worthwhile one-point skill (afaik the benefits to pumping it are effectively non-existant).

None of my tests showed any effects/procs transfering from the character to either Sentinel or Shield (flee, open wounds, knockback, etc.) but I did notice that chill duration transfered (I had 7 cold charms on at one point) whereas cold duration did *not* transfer for Blade Shield). This is a huge nerf for Shield, which I now view as a utility spell for chilling/poisoning (to prevent regen) for melee assassins, and otherwise not of much use. Since your Shadows count as "melee assassins" it is good that they keep Shield up (and better if the 3/128 => 32/128 fix comes through) but Shadow Masters essentially lose the poison pseudo-PMH effect also keep Venom up perpetually, which I would not recommend for a "utility" Shield user, as the period between Shield strikes is much longer than 0.4sec Venom (pre-monster duration reductions) cap.

Blade Fury, as I and others have noted elsewhere, is really nice. Of all the other class skills, it is conceptually closest to Bowazon Multishot. Both work at 3/4 and are ranged attacks costing mana carrying damages and effects (including leech). Blade Fury seems like it has a fixed casting rate (several per second) without the need for/benefit from IAS or faster cast items. Blade Fury is spammable in the same way that Inferno/Artic Blast are. That is, you can pretty much keep it going and aim it where you like (useful as the "start to cast" time has a little bit of overhead). The *key* difference between BF and MS is that MS requires bows but that BF works with whatever weapon type you wish. Obviously this allows the use of a shield for blocking (or dual claws which also can block, via passive skill). (tech note: at least in single player, you can actually still get off a weapon switch while continuing BF if BF is also selected as the skill on the switch).

Since, in the beta, the AR isn't displayed for Blade Fury, I haven't seen anyone puzzle out how its AR is being calculated or what it does/doesn't benefit from as boosters. IIRC it does benefit from ITD.

Because a user of Blade Fury can still block without giving up melee damage if they are a kick artist (Dragon Talon is a very good melee skill, as of v1.10 beta) they can change between ranged/melee "fighting modes" without using up their weapon switch or taking time to do so. AFAIK neither quantity or durability of weapon is consumed (ala Bowazon Magic Arrow) making the BF Assassin potentially a world class "throwing" class (AR being the key impediment to deal with).