assasin weapon question

[yuchenix]

i couldn't decide on if to have 2 weapons or 1 weapon 1 shiled
what is the advatage of having 2 weapons??????
plz help thx!

[Shade]

From Elric's Lurker Lounge Posting Etiquette
http://www.geocities.com/elricofgrans/lounge.html

4) Please post in real English. If English is not your first language (or even if it is *cough*), we do not mind spelling or grammatical errors...we do not mind typos from anyone either. However, we do not appreciate '|337 5|o33|<' or any unnecessary shortenings of English words - common abbreviations such as 'lvl' or 'dmg' are fine though. If you do not follow this rule, you will be flamed or ignored completely.

[MadScientist]

When you use two claws you can use Weapon Block and the finishing move Dragon Claws. AFAIK Weapon Block hast a very short blocking animation (4 frames?) and is unaffected by your DEX score and all items that grant increased chance to block. The other advantages of having two claws are the possible +skills from your off-hand claw (double Bartucs grant great bonuses to skills).

With a shield you can get more resistances and your blocking percentage can be higher than with Weapon Block.

In the end it depends on your playing style. Personally I like double claws better - it reminds me of Wolverine B)

The Mad Scientist

[Occhidiangela]

You can't increase blocking speed with claw block, which you can with a shield.

I think it all boils down to personal preference, and the argument for the dual unique claws, due to plus skills, is a pretty good one for an MA assassin. :)

[Snorelax]

I don't recall this being true at all. Ruvanal or adeyke had a post in the AB assassin forums (which isn't very useful at the moment :P) on claw block speed where they said you could drop it. I think it also said that claw block speed was 3 frames at 0 FBR and 2 frames at 90, a lot like Holy Shield. Block speeds could be totally off though, and they could be the same speed as the assassin's normal block speeds.

Edit 1: Note that the FBR required to get to a 2 frame block should be unattainable without a shield, so for all practical purposes, no, FBR can't make you block faster. :)

Edit 2: I should really start checking things before I post. From http://www.hut.fi/~tgustafs/hitrecovery.html

Furthermore, FBR speeds up the assassin's Weapon Block. It has the same speed as blocking with a shield, i.e. the normal FBR break points for the assassin apply to it. In some cases, also the weapon wielded affects the block speed.

So the assassin has 5 for her base weapon block frames. My question is does a weapon's base speed count as FBR for this? So if I was using dual Bartucs would I get 60% FBR?

[Crystalion]

Edit 2: I should really start checking things before I post. From http://www.hut.fi/~tgustafs/hitrecovery.html

This reminds me of a question I've not seen addressed in v1.10...
From the v1.10 readme:

‘Block lock’ has been eliminated. When a player character has just blocked an attack, the player cannot block again for a short period of time, the length of which increases as Blocking speed increases.

Note that Blocking speed increasing is supposed to be *good*, so "can not block again" getting a longer period from it is an interesting situation.

In other words, what I initially wondered when first reading this, is if they are now granting, iirc ala v1.0 D2C, "autoblock" without blocking animation frames for a period of time after an initial block? If they are that is really really good for fast blocking shield users (like Holy Shield Palys). If they aren't, then to eliminate block lock they are penalizing the player by effectively taking away their shield for a while after every block (which is something Amazons might enjoy with lock for their evade/avoid/dodge skills, but which, imho, sucks for shield users).

[Snorelax]

From some testing others did on the basin, it does indeed work as a passive block a la D1, so that the faster your blockrate, the less you display the blocking animation when your character blocks. I haven't tested it myself, and there weren't many other posts in the thread so I'm not sure if more than a few people looked at it, but it wouldn't really make sense for them to penalize you for adding more FBR.

Note that if there is indeed passive blocking without the animation, this makes the max DR cap of 50% much less harsh and makes Whistan's Guard the best physical damage reduction item in the game, even moreso than it is now.

Holy Shield DR paladins should be just about physically immune now :)

[Crystalion]

From some testing others did on the basin, it does indeed work as a passive block

So the tech question of interest, is what is the passive block effect base time (duration in frames) and extension to it for FBR? Seems hard to test, so any code readers care to comment?

Ironically, if the base is based on the base blocking time, then the exceptionally slow block base frames of an Amazon with a non-thrusting weapon might be attractive.

It might be interesting, as you say, to throw a Whitsun's guard on a Paly with Holy Shield and some other items to see if you could get the 1 frame blocking breakpoint and how long the passive might last.

One might assume that the "passive" form of blocking would *not* require a rnd roll vs. the 75% max chance? If so, even a character with poor Dex and thus a poor chance to block, could nonetheless benefit from a shield if they had decent FBR.

And finally, a burning question: do monsters (and minions/act 3 hireling etc.) benefit from this "passive" blocking effect as well? This would seriously clip the effectiveness of some attacks vs. such monsters (Dragon Talon, Zeal, etc.).

[Snorelax]

Pretty sure the game would be checking for blocking while you're in "passive block mode", as if it didn't it would be raising your theoretical block rate quite a bit if you were being mobbed.

[Mad Man]

I take a simpler view of this. I am a MA assassin. Sure, I like the plus skills that you get from the extra weapon (and assassin weapons with plus skills are notoriously easy to find in ten minute old pub cow games - it appears that I am the only person to ever pick them up). Anything to pump up skills is a good thing. But regardless of any other cosnderation, I think assassins look silly with a shield. This is basically enough for me. Call me shallow but there it is! :D

[LavCat]

But regardless of any other cosnderation, I think assassins look silly with a shield.&nbsp; This is basically enough for me.&nbsp; Call me shallow but there it is!&nbsp;&nbsp; :D

I have to disagree. I have an assassin with a chipped emerald katar and a shimmering small shield of remedy. The shield is purple of course and goes quite well with her leather outfit.

Whatever turns you on, I guess.

[Occhidiangela]

What gives a weapon FBR? A safety gem perhaps, OK, what else? A Shael gives it IAS.

I had thought that BoS does NOT yield FBR: are you telling me that IAS is translated into FBR for claw class weapons? If so, thankee for the update, but I am wondering, how sure are we that it works that way?

I am in the dark, as in, there is a cloak of shadows hovering over my head on this topic. :(

I guess what I am asking also is the interpretation of Tommi's comment here:

Furthermore, FBR speeds up the assassin's Weapon Block. It has the same speed as blocking with a shield, i.e. the normal FBR break points for the assassin apply to it.&nbsp; In some cases, also the weapon wielded affects the block speed.

Does this mean that when as Assassin wields a shield, her weapon also blocks, or checks for block, at the FBR of the Shield she has in hand? That does not make sense to me, but hey, I thought I would ask.

[adeyke]

AFAIK, the only source of FBR for assassins would be Guardian Angel, dropping the block rate from 5 to 4. The only other sources of FBR are on shields.