01-23-2004, 01:20 AM
I have made 3 Blade Fury assassins now, and I have the following information to share that you may or may not be aware of:
1) Blade Fury uses AR. You will definately want lots of it. Options are claw mastery (if you use claws), Ignores Target's Defense, Visionary helms (+%AR), 1 or 2 angelic rings with either the armor or amulet (or both, for an additional 50% MF and +1 skills) for a huge level based +AR boost, an off hand katar with the fool's or Hawkeye prefix, +AR charms, or an eth socketed weapon.
2) The reason Adeyke suggests to not raise Blade Fury above 1 is that it gets a puny damage bonus, and increases the mana cost per blade. The ideal Blade Fury assassin would likely have +1 to Blade Fury on a primary or off-hand Katar, and never put a point in it, due to the way +assassin or +trap skills don't work on skills you don't have a point in (+ all skills, such as that gained from Tarnhelm and the Angelic amulet individual set bonus do work though). This is really just wishful thinking, however, as you would obviously want more than just the +1 to blade fury on the claw.
3) Get the following affects if you can: Knockback, Ignores Target's Defense, Freezes Target, Chance to cast on Striking, and Prevent Monster Heal. Blade Fury attacks so quickly that many of these abilities are extremely useful-- being able to keep a unique in stunlock from knockback is extremely helpful, as is freezing or slowing targets. Note that Monster Flee and Hit Blinds Target are also extremely useful, except for the fact that they will overwrite other necro curses that you might want on them, so you may or may not like them. Shadow Killer, the unique Battle Cestus, is a fantastic Blade Fury weapon. It does lots of damage, freezes the Target, has -25% target's defense, and also has a 33% chance to cast a decent level frost nova on striking. It doesn't have knockback or PMH, but you can get those from Cleglaws or crafted Hit Power gloves, and Hwannin's belt, respectively. I will have a Delerium Diadem when I get to 64 with my latest assassin, I can't wait to try out that level 18 Confuse on striking. (Yes, I chose the Diadem for the potential bonuses it will give to my Shadow)
4) Do not use venom with Blade Fury unless you have PMH when you get to hell difficulty. Venom truncates the length of any other source of poison damage to .4 seconds, which means it will not counter monster regen in Hell Difficulty.
5) You are going to have loads of points left if your only plans are the 1 point in Blade Fury and 20 in Venom. I suggest maxing Fade. This way, you can use dual claws for an extra AR bonus (get a Fool's claw in your off hand), and you will have 20% physical resistance, which is always nice. Also, Max Claw Mastery, as even if you have ITD, you will need AR against act bosses and such. With maxed Claw Mastery and a Fool's claw, your AR will be in the 10k+ range at 75 (I think it was 13k, I am at work, so I don't have the notes I made for my BF assassins). The damage boost from Claw mastery is nice, too.
6) Get 1 point in cloak of shadows, and use it. Don't go over 1 point, as it lasts too long and cannot be recast (it is on a really weird special timer), which will prevent you from getting new monsters with it before the last one wears off. This will lower their defense, and keep them out of your face because of the blindness. Also, if you play hardcore with halfway intelligent people, they will love it regardless of the annoying darkness effect.
7) If you are one of those super rich folks, get a Demon Limb for your weapon switch. The Enchant charges will do wonders for your AR, and add some usable fire damage.
8) People rave about crushing blow for Blade Fury. I had an Ethereal Strength Wrist Sword, and the 25% crushing blow chance just didn't seem to do squat. In Hell difficulty, with Maxed Claw Mastery and that claw, I really couldn't kill a thing even in a 2 player game (I don't play hell hardcore solo). I guess if you had 100% it might be significant, but I just didn't see much benefit. I say go for the raw damage if you can get it. I should note that I didn't have anything for countering monster regen, so that may have been a significant factor, so if you can get both, test it out.
Well, thats all I have to add for now. Have fun.
1) Blade Fury uses AR. You will definately want lots of it. Options are claw mastery (if you use claws), Ignores Target's Defense, Visionary helms (+%AR), 1 or 2 angelic rings with either the armor or amulet (or both, for an additional 50% MF and +1 skills) for a huge level based +AR boost, an off hand katar with the fool's or Hawkeye prefix, +AR charms, or an eth socketed weapon.
2) The reason Adeyke suggests to not raise Blade Fury above 1 is that it gets a puny damage bonus, and increases the mana cost per blade. The ideal Blade Fury assassin would likely have +1 to Blade Fury on a primary or off-hand Katar, and never put a point in it, due to the way +assassin or +trap skills don't work on skills you don't have a point in (+ all skills, such as that gained from Tarnhelm and the Angelic amulet individual set bonus do work though). This is really just wishful thinking, however, as you would obviously want more than just the +1 to blade fury on the claw.
3) Get the following affects if you can: Knockback, Ignores Target's Defense, Freezes Target, Chance to cast on Striking, and Prevent Monster Heal. Blade Fury attacks so quickly that many of these abilities are extremely useful-- being able to keep a unique in stunlock from knockback is extremely helpful, as is freezing or slowing targets. Note that Monster Flee and Hit Blinds Target are also extremely useful, except for the fact that they will overwrite other necro curses that you might want on them, so you may or may not like them. Shadow Killer, the unique Battle Cestus, is a fantastic Blade Fury weapon. It does lots of damage, freezes the Target, has -25% target's defense, and also has a 33% chance to cast a decent level frost nova on striking. It doesn't have knockback or PMH, but you can get those from Cleglaws or crafted Hit Power gloves, and Hwannin's belt, respectively. I will have a Delerium Diadem when I get to 64 with my latest assassin, I can't wait to try out that level 18 Confuse on striking. (Yes, I chose the Diadem for the potential bonuses it will give to my Shadow)
4) Do not use venom with Blade Fury unless you have PMH when you get to hell difficulty. Venom truncates the length of any other source of poison damage to .4 seconds, which means it will not counter monster regen in Hell Difficulty.
5) You are going to have loads of points left if your only plans are the 1 point in Blade Fury and 20 in Venom. I suggest maxing Fade. This way, you can use dual claws for an extra AR bonus (get a Fool's claw in your off hand), and you will have 20% physical resistance, which is always nice. Also, Max Claw Mastery, as even if you have ITD, you will need AR against act bosses and such. With maxed Claw Mastery and a Fool's claw, your AR will be in the 10k+ range at 75 (I think it was 13k, I am at work, so I don't have the notes I made for my BF assassins). The damage boost from Claw mastery is nice, too.
6) Get 1 point in cloak of shadows, and use it. Don't go over 1 point, as it lasts too long and cannot be recast (it is on a really weird special timer), which will prevent you from getting new monsters with it before the last one wears off. This will lower their defense, and keep them out of your face because of the blindness. Also, if you play hardcore with halfway intelligent people, they will love it regardless of the annoying darkness effect.
7) If you are one of those super rich folks, get a Demon Limb for your weapon switch. The Enchant charges will do wonders for your AR, and add some usable fire damage.
8) People rave about crushing blow for Blade Fury. I had an Ethereal Strength Wrist Sword, and the 25% crushing blow chance just didn't seem to do squat. In Hell difficulty, with Maxed Claw Mastery and that claw, I really couldn't kill a thing even in a 2 player game (I don't play hell hardcore solo). I guess if you had 100% it might be significant, but I just didn't see much benefit. I say go for the raw damage if you can get it. I should note that I didn't have anything for countering monster regen, so that may have been a significant factor, so if you can get both, test it out.
Well, thats all I have to add for now. Have fun.