Hi all. I'll try and be brief; this is the culmination of a lot of research, some of which i've posted at the Amazon Basin. I'm absolutely stunned nobody has seen how incredible this all is in combination, though a lot of people have hit on different aspects here and there on various forums. (edit: my apologies; I guess I should have posted this in the Armory!)
What is a ninja build?
A ninja build is an Assassin who strikes not with claws or traps but from the shadows. This assassin is built around the skills usually percieved to be "Ninja-like".
No wait. Who am I kidding? The goal of this build is to abuse the living heck of out Crushing Blow. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here's a fully equipped character ready to go:
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/kicktest.d2s (Note: Rattlecage is slightly buggy on this char)
Kicktest: level 99 "ninja" build. Not ideal, but the power is easily seen. Yes, it was Shadowmastered up. If this is a problem for you, move on. I consider it "proof of concept".
Note: You may need to allocate 1 point into Dragon Flight. I don't think I did that on that character version. She also doesn't have a Mercenary purchased, and next to no money. Oh well!
Suggested Equipment
Entire Orphan's Call set, including Guilliame's Face
Rattlecage
Goblin Toe light plated boots
Angelic Rings + Amulet
Any weapon socketed with "Crescent Moon". (Switch weapon: The Fetid Sprinkler)
NONE of these items has a level requirement above 50. Most of them fall below 40. This character reaches her end game long before she reaches any sort of "high" level.
With this equipment, the following abilities are granted:
85% Crushing Blow (Guilliame's + RattleCage + Goblin Toe)
50% Hit Causes Monster To Flee (RattleCage)
25% Open Wounds ("Crescent Moon")
Chance to cast level Static Field on striking ("Crescent Moon")
Chance to cast Chain Lightning on striking ("Crescent Moon")
Skills
In essense, the build focusses on the following abilities:
Blade Fury (1 point)
1 point is all you will ever need, for reasons I will state below.
Dragon Talon (20 points)
Four kicks. Notice there's no chargeup? You'll see why later.
Cloak of Shadows (1-20 points)
The ultimate crowd control spell and the core of this build. Lasts forever. After a while, the duration gets to be a PITA as it cannot be recast (by you) until the original has worn off. So 20 points might be overkill.
Venom (1-20 points)
We now know Venom keeps poison duration at 0.4 seconds. So this might be a one point wonder when you can stack on poison charms.
Fade (8 points)
Hits a nice breakpoint: 50% resist all.
Mind Blast (8 points)
Again, a nice breakpoint: 30% chance to convert. An additional 12 skill points only adds 6% more :( This is a 'backup' skill - if Blade Fury, CoS and Dragon Tail don't get rid of the problem for you, use Mind Blast to either divide and conquer or just give yourself enough time to run like hell.
Dragon Flight (1 point)
A great combo move. You'll see why later.
So what's the point?
The point is simple. Apply Crushing Blow as many times as possible as fast as possible. Against > 1 monster, employ Cloak of Shadows, and under cover of dark rush up and kick it. In my experience most things are either dead or well on their way after just ONE Talon - in Hell difficulty!!
This character can, with careful play, work her way through Act 5 Hell with only the equipment and skills listed above. Her greatest difficulty quite naturally comes from Physically Immune monsters who are also immune to the effects of Chain Lightning, Venom and Static Field. With those I suggest you either party or put something on the weapon switch to remove the Immune to Physical problem (The Fetid Sprinkler does just fine with Decrepify, IIRC.)
Anything not physically immune is basically dead meat. It is quite frankly laughable how fast you can eliminate monsters with Dragon Talon. But that's not all. If the flee irritates you, use Dragon Flight to close the gap and follow up with a Dragon Talon (yes, the latter can be done right after the former, for FIVE yes FIVE kicks in quick succession). And each kick is almost certainly applying Crushing Blow (and Static Field, and Chain Lightning, and Venom, and... you get the idea?).
If you're not comfortable rushing things and kicking them, even under cover of darkness, there's always Blade Fury. Since Crushing Blow, Venom, Hit Causes Monster To Flee and Chance To Cast [spell] On Striking are imparted to the thrown blades, the Assassin can land a flurry of blows that both kills monsters (through Crushing Blow combined with Venom) and weakens and thins out huge hordes via Static Field, Chain Lightning and Hit Causes Monster To Flee.
Weapon damage is meaningless. Traps are meaningless. Martial Arts - beyond speedy multiple kicks - are meaningless. It's all about "Crescent Moon", Blade Fury, Dragon Talon and Cloak of Shadows. Attack with skill, from the deepest shadow, for it is your ally.
The character listed above for download happens to be wielding a three socketed axe that I bought from Farah IN NORMAL, ACT 2. I put the "Crescent Moon" runes in it myself. You might also notice that she has a whole bunch of unallocated skill and stat points. *yawn*
Don't worry. This is not simply a hacked up level 99 char. I am currently in the process of playing my third assassin through Normal difficulty, maxing strength and Dragon Talon as I go, with the intent to have 115 strength by the time I can find a Guilliame's. By far, the hardest part of this build will be collecting the equipment. But once you have it you're good to go into Hell.
The best part of this character is that unlike everything else, Crushing Blow scales up with monster life. No matter how many hitpoints Blizzard sees fit to give a Quill Rat in hell, Crushing Blow WILL take off 1/4 of it (or 1/10 with a ranged attack). Although there appears to be a dramatic nerfing of Crushing Blow in /players 8, it is still possible to kill in Hell - it simply takes a bit more time and patience.
I guess i'll leave off here, and let you all ponder what i've written and take a look at the build. There's plenty of ways it can be shoehorned into other builds (such as trapper, if you want to forgo kicking, or a martial artist). If nothing else this character makes the most awesome supporting player i've ever seen, easily capable of owning anything not Physically Immune as long as she can get a good sequence of Blade Fury / Dragon Talon on it. Combined with a Fire/Cold sorceress... :D
It's not unusual at all for me to stand there and wait for monsters to walk into range of my kicks. Here's some images to help prove my point:
1. Me versus Snow Drifter champions. The one on the floor died in one kick; guess what i'm in the process of doing to the next one?
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/drifter.jpg (drag n drop)
2. Thresh Socket before Dragon Talon. My SM was at level 1 and died in 1 hit.
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/thresh1.jpg (drag n drop)
3. Thresh Socket after ONE Dragon Talon kick sequence. Note: /Players 1, Hell.
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/thresh2.jpg (drag n drop)
What is a ninja build?
A ninja build is an Assassin who strikes not with claws or traps but from the shadows. This assassin is built around the skills usually percieved to be "Ninja-like".
No wait. Who am I kidding? The goal of this build is to abuse the living heck of out Crushing Blow. Nothing more, nothing less.
Here's a fully equipped character ready to go:
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/kicktest.d2s (Note: Rattlecage is slightly buggy on this char)
Kicktest: level 99 "ninja" build. Not ideal, but the power is easily seen. Yes, it was Shadowmastered up. If this is a problem for you, move on. I consider it "proof of concept".
Note: You may need to allocate 1 point into Dragon Flight. I don't think I did that on that character version. She also doesn't have a Mercenary purchased, and next to no money. Oh well!
Suggested Equipment
Entire Orphan's Call set, including Guilliame's Face
Rattlecage
Goblin Toe light plated boots
Angelic Rings + Amulet
Any weapon socketed with "Crescent Moon". (Switch weapon: The Fetid Sprinkler)
NONE of these items has a level requirement above 50. Most of them fall below 40. This character reaches her end game long before she reaches any sort of "high" level.
With this equipment, the following abilities are granted:
85% Crushing Blow (Guilliame's + RattleCage + Goblin Toe)
50% Hit Causes Monster To Flee (RattleCage)
25% Open Wounds ("Crescent Moon")
Chance to cast level Static Field on striking ("Crescent Moon")
Chance to cast Chain Lightning on striking ("Crescent Moon")
Skills
In essense, the build focusses on the following abilities:
Blade Fury (1 point)
1 point is all you will ever need, for reasons I will state below.
Dragon Talon (20 points)
Four kicks. Notice there's no chargeup? You'll see why later.
Cloak of Shadows (1-20 points)
The ultimate crowd control spell and the core of this build. Lasts forever. After a while, the duration gets to be a PITA as it cannot be recast (by you) until the original has worn off. So 20 points might be overkill.
Venom (1-20 points)
We now know Venom keeps poison duration at 0.4 seconds. So this might be a one point wonder when you can stack on poison charms.
Fade (8 points)
Hits a nice breakpoint: 50% resist all.
Mind Blast (8 points)
Again, a nice breakpoint: 30% chance to convert. An additional 12 skill points only adds 6% more :( This is a 'backup' skill - if Blade Fury, CoS and Dragon Tail don't get rid of the problem for you, use Mind Blast to either divide and conquer or just give yourself enough time to run like hell.
Dragon Flight (1 point)
A great combo move. You'll see why later.
So what's the point?
The point is simple. Apply Crushing Blow as many times as possible as fast as possible. Against > 1 monster, employ Cloak of Shadows, and under cover of dark rush up and kick it. In my experience most things are either dead or well on their way after just ONE Talon - in Hell difficulty!!
This character can, with careful play, work her way through Act 5 Hell with only the equipment and skills listed above. Her greatest difficulty quite naturally comes from Physically Immune monsters who are also immune to the effects of Chain Lightning, Venom and Static Field. With those I suggest you either party or put something on the weapon switch to remove the Immune to Physical problem (The Fetid Sprinkler does just fine with Decrepify, IIRC.)
Anything not physically immune is basically dead meat. It is quite frankly laughable how fast you can eliminate monsters with Dragon Talon. But that's not all. If the flee irritates you, use Dragon Flight to close the gap and follow up with a Dragon Talon (yes, the latter can be done right after the former, for FIVE yes FIVE kicks in quick succession). And each kick is almost certainly applying Crushing Blow (and Static Field, and Chain Lightning, and Venom, and... you get the idea?).
If you're not comfortable rushing things and kicking them, even under cover of darkness, there's always Blade Fury. Since Crushing Blow, Venom, Hit Causes Monster To Flee and Chance To Cast [spell] On Striking are imparted to the thrown blades, the Assassin can land a flurry of blows that both kills monsters (through Crushing Blow combined with Venom) and weakens and thins out huge hordes via Static Field, Chain Lightning and Hit Causes Monster To Flee.
Weapon damage is meaningless. Traps are meaningless. Martial Arts - beyond speedy multiple kicks - are meaningless. It's all about "Crescent Moon", Blade Fury, Dragon Talon and Cloak of Shadows. Attack with skill, from the deepest shadow, for it is your ally.
The character listed above for download happens to be wielding a three socketed axe that I bought from Farah IN NORMAL, ACT 2. I put the "Crescent Moon" runes in it myself. You might also notice that she has a whole bunch of unallocated skill and stat points. *yawn*
Don't worry. This is not simply a hacked up level 99 char. I am currently in the process of playing my third assassin through Normal difficulty, maxing strength and Dragon Talon as I go, with the intent to have 115 strength by the time I can find a Guilliame's. By far, the hardest part of this build will be collecting the equipment. But once you have it you're good to go into Hell.
The best part of this character is that unlike everything else, Crushing Blow scales up with monster life. No matter how many hitpoints Blizzard sees fit to give a Quill Rat in hell, Crushing Blow WILL take off 1/4 of it (or 1/10 with a ranged attack). Although there appears to be a dramatic nerfing of Crushing Blow in /players 8, it is still possible to kill in Hell - it simply takes a bit more time and patience.
I guess i'll leave off here, and let you all ponder what i've written and take a look at the build. There's plenty of ways it can be shoehorned into other builds (such as trapper, if you want to forgo kicking, or a martial artist). If nothing else this character makes the most awesome supporting player i've ever seen, easily capable of owning anything not Physically Immune as long as she can get a good sequence of Blade Fury / Dragon Talon on it. Combined with a Fire/Cold sorceress... :D
It's not unusual at all for me to stand there and wait for monsters to walk into range of my kicks. Here's some images to help prove my point:
1. Me versus Snow Drifter champions. The one on the floor died in one kick; guess what i'm in the process of doing to the next one?
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/drifter.jpg (drag n drop)
2. Thresh Socket before Dragon Talon. My SM was at level 1 and died in 1 hit.
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/thresh1.jpg (drag n drop)
3. Thresh Socket after ONE Dragon Talon kick sequence. Note: /Players 1, Hell.
http://www22.brinkster.com/craziel/img/thresh2.jpg (drag n drop)