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20 Tiger Strike
20 Dragon Claw
20 Claw Mastery
20 Shadow Master
10 Burst of Speed
10 Weapon Block
1 in Dragon Talon, Cobra Strike, Psychic Hammer, Cloak of Shadows, Fade, Shadow Warrior,
and Mind Blast.
Sound like something that can make it through Hell?
Its seems like the TS charged DC combined with CM would REALLY hurt.
And the shadow Masters Traps would Kill Phys Immunes.
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Seems like it would have problems dealing with large crowds. The assassin has an abundance of area-of-effect charge-ups, though, which make it much easier to get that sort of thing.
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The Shadow master uses Death Sentry, which I beleive spits out lightning bolts and blows up corpses.
Great for crowds.
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Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but I remember, from back when the expansion was new and I was going all crazy over it, but doesn't the Shadow Master only use skills that you have at least one point in? In that case, it won't use Death Sentry unless you put points in it anyway, and I imagine there are quite a few prerequisites you'd have to get around.
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This comes right from the Arreat Summit:
Shadow Master
Casting Delay: 6 Seconds
Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Claw Mastery [1], Psychic Hammer [1], Weapon Block [12], Cloak of Shadows [12], Shadow Warrior [18]
Effect: This discipline allows an Assassin to project an even more powerful shadow avatar. The Shadow Master has access to ALL of the Assassin skills.
The Shadow Master has Resistances, higher Attack Rating, and less Mana Cost at higher levels when compared to the Shadow Warrior. Most players choose the Shadow Master for play past level 30 although the Shadow Warrior offers more control over which skills and spells she casts.
Shadow Masters have a base strength and dexterity equal to their level * 10.
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I have a nat set. It looks so great, I made a character named NATAWA. I got bored with her around lev 40.
Get a calc and do the number-punching. Claw, melee assassins won't be doing damage, ever. Sad but true. (Go to hell. I mean, to to hell diff, and check out the number of martial artists there. Bleeh.)
IF you want to go melee, make a kicker. Tiger strike+Dragon tail will give you a huge damage, and also an area of effect.
What to do with a nat set? I have no clue whatsoever.
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So what, thats that end of my little build?
Right then and there?
Should I keep working on her or just give it up right now? :(
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Well, we're not all the same. What's pain for me can be fun for you. I did have kickers though, and they are truly fun. Knockbacking AOE kicks for 20k+ damage is always fun.
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Fun isnt my main concern. I want to know if there really is a problem with thgis thing!
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Blue Eagle,Jun 15 2004, 01:01 PM Wrote:Fun isnt my main concern What on earth are you playing the game for, then? :)
You don't know what you're talking about.
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Quote:I want to know if there really is a problem with thgis thing!
I would say that relying on your master to kill phys immunes will cause alot of headaches for you. The master does *not* use the skills you would like it to very often. It will mindblast when you want Death Sentry, it will Dragon Flight when you want Mindblast, ect. Yes, it could kill them all for you, but it will be very tedious going vs any phys immunes. I expect you will skip phys immunes completely.
With frequent use of mindblast/cloak of shadows you can get an MA assasin through hell, but don't expect to be a big killer in large hell games(well except a good kicker I suppose). As for 10 in burst of speed, take a look at a weapon calculator and determine how high lvl BOS you will need to reach max attack speed. 10 points in BOS which has such diminishing returns may not be worth it.
Also, you may actually be better off with fade instead. Many MA assassins have been using fade more often due to the hidden damage reduction(1% DR per point in fade. You may attack slower, but you'll live alot longer if you can max DR %. Well, I'm colored on the subject as I play HC only.
Of course though, if you have super gear it could be a cakewalk.
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Blue Eagle,Jun 14 2004, 11:26 PM Wrote:20 Tiger Strike
20 Dragon Claw
20 Claw Mastery
20 Shadow Master
10 Burst of Speed
10 Weapon Block
1 in Dragon Talon, Cobra Strike, Psychic Hammer, Cloak of Shadows, Fade, Shadow Warrior,
and Mind Blast.
Sound like something that can make it through Hell?
Its seems like the TS charged DC combined with CM would REALLY hurt.
And the shadow Masters Traps would Kill Phys Immunes. Sorry, I don't have time for the long, fluffy explanations but here goes:
-I think it's counterproductive to plan a build around that many skill points. I try to plan around 95 points at the most.
-TS and DC are a waste together. Individually they're great--so choose one or the other to max.
-You can get by with less points in SM, BoS, and WB. I aim for level 18 for the SM after +skills if I'm scratching for points. You want no more BoS than will get you to your max attack speed after +skills and accounting for IAS. I usually aim for level 10 WB after +skills. CM might also be a good place to shave some points, if you're not totally bent on max phys damage.
-As has been pointed out already, relying on a SM's Death Sentrys for PIs is a mistake. I would take some of those skill points and put them into one or more of the following: Death Sentry, Venom (this should get at least 1 point, almost regardless of whatever else you do), CoT, BoI, or PS. The first two are useful with minimal investment; not so with the last three. Alternatives would include relying on your merc and/or equipment to deal with PIs.
-A ranged option is a necessity if you plan on any solo play. BF is often a good choice for this.
I hope that's helpful.
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