06-19-2004, 04:05 PM
TS/DTailers have an few issues they need to address. They're still a great build, but you need to adjust your build to meet these conditions.
First, they are helped far more by plus skills and strength than anything else when it comes to increasing their damage.
Second, Dtail has a speed penalty. You won't be able to use Fade to make up for resists and PDR unless you have truly (un)godly gear.
Finally, Dtailers have immunity issues. Due to the way the damage is calculated, they are ineffective against physical immunes and their effectiveness is really reduced against fire immunes.
I'll tackle the immunities first. The most commonly used method of dealing with this one is to use phoenix strike with some points into synergies, claws of thunder being the first choice of most players. That means adjusting the build to provide for 20 phoenix and at least 10 claws of thunder.
Next, although i said you would need to use burst of speed instead of fade to get a fast attack speed, don't put anymore pts into burst. It has lousy diminishing returns. Let plus to skills gear raise it for you. Don't forget that you can put two shadow claws on your weapon switch to prebuff BoS. That's six +shadow skills right there.
That brings us to the rest of your gear. From my above statements we need to look for +skills or str, resists and PDR in that order. My favorite Dtailer setup goes like this:
Crown of ages helm - This will provide resists and the majority of the PDR this setup provides. It also has those 2 lovely sockets for making up what lacks in the setup. It's hard to replace this helm, but if you need something more easily obtainable your Nat's set helm or Vampire Gaze will work. The nat's helm will give you the resists while the vamp gaze will bring you leech and PDR. Use whatever fits best into your playstyle.
Chains of honor armor - This one's pretty expensive, but is there a class or build that couldn't list it towards the top of its armor choices? If you can't get this one, a very nice option is a lionheart runeword armor. Even if you have the means to come up with the Chains armor, use a lionheart to bring your assassin up to the level requirement for it.
Dual Bartucs with dual shadow claws on switch - The only option i'd suggest for these would be to use a Jade Talon as a second claw instead of a Bartucs if you are hurting for resists.
IK gloves and belt - Huge str bonus, dex, AR, and 25 IAS. I haven't used anything else on a kicker since I tried this pair out for the first time. They're inexpensive to come up with, also.
Shadow dancer boots - Some prefer upgraded Gore Riders here, but i find more use out of the bonus to dex and the + shadow skills on these boots.
Ravenfrost ring - This one shouldn't need an explanation. :)
Manald heal ring - The only source of mana leech in this setup comes from this ring slot. A nice dual leech ring would work better if you have one.
Mara's ammy - This is better than Highlord's wrath in my opinion. The deadly strike from highlord's won't apply to your kicks and the IAS on the highlord's is really not needed considering you have 25 IAS from the IK set pieces and BoS kicks in more than what you need to bring you up to fastest attack speed.
Enough +shadow skills charms to bring casting of your shadow up to level 18 - I have to say, i generally prefer the Shadow Master rather than the Warrior, but to each his own. At level 18, the shadow master has all of her rare gear and is at a breakpoint for figuring her skill levels
Whatever +martial arts charms you can fit into your inventory after that. The more you can come up with, the better.
If you can come up with the preferred gear listed above you should be able to have max resists in hell, 23% PDR and (depending on the charms you have) around level 35 TS and Dtail.
For stat points, I like to go with very high str. I'll put enough in vitality so that it's at a base level of 150 and enough into dex so that it's at 150 counting gear. Everythingelse i put into str.
Finally (yes, i'm gonna quit ranting soon :) ), that brings us to the skills setup.
20 TS
20 Dtail
20 PS
10 CoT
1 into the usual support skills: mind blast, cloak of shadows, fade, burst of speed, death sentry, and cobra strike.
Enough into your shadow to hit level 18 after charms and shadow claws
Even with your having put more than these levels into some skills already, you should still be able to bring this build about. Extra points you have after filling all of this i would put into CoT.
That concludes this rant, thank you for your patience if you are still reading this. :)
jrichard
First, they are helped far more by plus skills and strength than anything else when it comes to increasing their damage.
Second, Dtail has a speed penalty. You won't be able to use Fade to make up for resists and PDR unless you have truly (un)godly gear.
Finally, Dtailers have immunity issues. Due to the way the damage is calculated, they are ineffective against physical immunes and their effectiveness is really reduced against fire immunes.
I'll tackle the immunities first. The most commonly used method of dealing with this one is to use phoenix strike with some points into synergies, claws of thunder being the first choice of most players. That means adjusting the build to provide for 20 phoenix and at least 10 claws of thunder.
Next, although i said you would need to use burst of speed instead of fade to get a fast attack speed, don't put anymore pts into burst. It has lousy diminishing returns. Let plus to skills gear raise it for you. Don't forget that you can put two shadow claws on your weapon switch to prebuff BoS. That's six +shadow skills right there.
That brings us to the rest of your gear. From my above statements we need to look for +skills or str, resists and PDR in that order. My favorite Dtailer setup goes like this:
Crown of ages helm - This will provide resists and the majority of the PDR this setup provides. It also has those 2 lovely sockets for making up what lacks in the setup. It's hard to replace this helm, but if you need something more easily obtainable your Nat's set helm or Vampire Gaze will work. The nat's helm will give you the resists while the vamp gaze will bring you leech and PDR. Use whatever fits best into your playstyle.
Chains of honor armor - This one's pretty expensive, but is there a class or build that couldn't list it towards the top of its armor choices? If you can't get this one, a very nice option is a lionheart runeword armor. Even if you have the means to come up with the Chains armor, use a lionheart to bring your assassin up to the level requirement for it.
Dual Bartucs with dual shadow claws on switch - The only option i'd suggest for these would be to use a Jade Talon as a second claw instead of a Bartucs if you are hurting for resists.
IK gloves and belt - Huge str bonus, dex, AR, and 25 IAS. I haven't used anything else on a kicker since I tried this pair out for the first time. They're inexpensive to come up with, also.
Shadow dancer boots - Some prefer upgraded Gore Riders here, but i find more use out of the bonus to dex and the + shadow skills on these boots.
Ravenfrost ring - This one shouldn't need an explanation. :)
Manald heal ring - The only source of mana leech in this setup comes from this ring slot. A nice dual leech ring would work better if you have one.
Mara's ammy - This is better than Highlord's wrath in my opinion. The deadly strike from highlord's won't apply to your kicks and the IAS on the highlord's is really not needed considering you have 25 IAS from the IK set pieces and BoS kicks in more than what you need to bring you up to fastest attack speed.
Enough +shadow skills charms to bring casting of your shadow up to level 18 - I have to say, i generally prefer the Shadow Master rather than the Warrior, but to each his own. At level 18, the shadow master has all of her rare gear and is at a breakpoint for figuring her skill levels
Whatever +martial arts charms you can fit into your inventory after that. The more you can come up with, the better.
If you can come up with the preferred gear listed above you should be able to have max resists in hell, 23% PDR and (depending on the charms you have) around level 35 TS and Dtail.
For stat points, I like to go with very high str. I'll put enough in vitality so that it's at a base level of 150 and enough into dex so that it's at 150 counting gear. Everythingelse i put into str.
Finally (yes, i'm gonna quit ranting soon :) ), that brings us to the skills setup.
20 TS
20 Dtail
20 PS
10 CoT
1 into the usual support skills: mind blast, cloak of shadows, fade, burst of speed, death sentry, and cobra strike.
Enough into your shadow to hit level 18 after charms and shadow claws
Even with your having put more than these levels into some skills already, you should still be able to bring this build about. Extra points you have after filling all of this i would put into CoT.
That concludes this rant, thank you for your patience if you are still reading this. :)
jrichard