Trap Assassin Tips?

[Roland]

You ain't been around much, huh?

Besides... this is starting to resemble a chat thread. ;) :D

I don't think I've ever seen a single thread, ANYWHERE on the Lounge, in all my years here that didn't at least SOMEWHAT resemble a "chat thread" at some point. ;)

Aye, I'll take you up on that offer of coffee (I just got up). I'm buying. ;) You can get the donuts. :D

[Dixen Andomiel]

- Your best bet is to pick two traps and stick with them. Personally, I prefer Lightning Sentry over Death sentry, but that's me. For one, Lightning Sentry has higher damage from the lightning. For another, it has 10 shots, instead of 5. For a third, it arrives sooner, and thus gets stronger more quickly. However, Death Sentry DOES add a much-needed element to your arsenal: Physical damage, or more accurately, a third damage type. Its corpse explosion ability is very useful for going up against Shaman and Ancient Horadrim, as well as any other corpse-user. And, it can deal significant damage, as well, making it a viable alternative. My main problem with it is its low number of uses, and coupled with its lower lightning damage, I just prefer Lightning Sentry over Death Sentry. But, again, that's a personal choice, as both are VERY viable. Wake of Inferno is a must-have, and will be dishing out the bulk of your damage. It takes a little getting used to, due to the nature of how the trap fires, but it's high damage rate, coupled with 10 shots per trap, make it the only choice for Fire damage. ;)

I checked the AS on the dmgs for LS and DS about a week ago and went back just now to compare notes. The dmg on LS doesn't really start to go much higher (say like 1 or 2 points) until after level 10... but with that kind of point investment I best know what I'm going to be using, eh?

I'm wondering if the difference in "shoots 10 times" vs. "shoots 5 times" is really that different. Now, I've only really been able to use Charged Bolt Sentry up til now, although Wake of Fire has been fun too ... both only shoot 5 times. Obviously one that shoots more often will be more efficient on mana usage, but when it comes to making it through Hell Difficulty wouldn't the dual damage DS be the way to go?

- Shadow Master is typically a better choice for a minion than Shadow Warrior. Why? Shadow Warrior uses the same skills you do. Normally, this can be beneficial, as it allows you to control EXACTLY what your minion uses. However, this actually works AGAINST you with Traps. Since there can only be 5 Traps on the screen at any given time, per owner, whenever your Minion casts a trap, it eats into that limit. If you have your 5 traps placed around monsters already, and your Shadow Warrior decides to cast a trap, the oldest trap you created gets destroyed. Sometimes this won't be an issue, as it may cast it in relatively the same place. But, more often than not, your Warrior will wander off in search of monsters, and fire off a Trap at monsters you aren't currently engaging. This can be, at best, extremely annoying, and at worst downright lethal. For this reason, it's better to stick with a Shadow Master. Plus, your Master will have better stats, and have a much greater variety of skills (such as Mind Blast and Venom), making your team that much more versatile.

I was under the impression that the Shadow Warrior's traps added to your own... When I searched the archive (before posting this thread) I found 13 total threads and I'm quite certain it was mentioned in a number of them that this was case, or it was at least eluded to. In fact, I think it was even mentioned by Elric in one of the 3 threads that were pointed out earlier in this thread. Can anyone clarify... or I can test it with a slvl 1 SW in a few levels.

Thanks for the post Roland... you covered a number of things that I hadn't already seen and gave me a few ideas that I hadn't thought of as well. Thanks, again.

[SwiftSlayer2]

Why stop at just a trap assassin? I had an 82 trap/charge assassin and found that to be the most effective type of assassin I have yet to see. I maxed out Death Sentry, Tiger Strike, Dragon Claw, Claw mastery, and put what i had left into Burst of Speed. I found that I could cast my Death Sentries, kill a cow or 10 with my Tiger Strike/Dragon Claw, and then let the Death Sentry do the work after that. I dont care for Shadow Warrior/Master. Tried it on the first couple of assassins and decided it was a waste of points and just got annoying. This is just my input... been a member for a couple of days after "lurking" around a bit and decided to exercise my right to post. Hopefully I wont make anyone mad by saying something too stupid. :P

D2 account: Swiftslayer2 (Hardcore USEast)

[Roland]

I checked the AS on the dmgs for LS and DS about a week ago and went back just now to compare notes. The dmg on LS doesn't really start to go much higher (say like 1 or 2 points) until after level 10... but with that kind of point investment I best know what I'm going to be using, eh?

The difference in damage is not a HUGE factor, but it is a factor. For me, anyway. The damage is certainly higher with LS over DS, but it's more the mechanics of DS that turn me off to it. If I wanted Lightning damage, I'd have LS. I don't need DS doing it, too. :P Makes it kind of a waste, IMHO.

I'm wondering if the difference in "shoots 10 times" vs. "shoots 5 times" is really that different. Now, I've only really been able to use Charged Bolt Sentry up til now, although Wake of Fire has been fun too ... both only shoot 5 times. Obviously one that shoots more often will be more efficient on mana usage, but when it comes to making it through Hell Difficulty wouldn't the dual damage DS be the way to go?

The problem with DS is NOT that it fires only 5 times, but that it fires ONLY 5 times overall. The difference? It will fire up to 5 times, but that 5 can consist of either ONLY Lightning shots, ONLY Corpse Explosion shots, or a combination of the two. More often than not, it takes more than one full casting of traps (i.e. the 5 limit) to take down monsters in the higher diffs, with higher player counts. This, combined with the fact that DS does LESS Lightning damage than LS, makes you waste most (if not all) of your 5 shots on Lightning, virtually negating the benefit of Corpse Explosion. So, essentially, you're spending MORE mana, getting LESS damage, and LESS shots. And for what? The off chance that you manage to blow a corpse? Just not worth it, IMO. There are LOTS of players who love DS and swear by it. I'm not one of them. As I said, it's a personal taste issue. I hate DS, mostly because it doesn't function nearly as well as it could. It just annoys me. :)

I was under the impression that the Shadow Warrior's traps added to your own... When I searched the archive (before posting this thread) I found 13 total threads and I'm quite certain it was mentioned in a number of them that this was case, or it was at least eluded to. In fact, I think it was even mentioned by Elric in one of the 3 threads that were pointed out earlier in this thread. Can anyone clarify... or I can test it with a slvl 1 SW in a few levels.

Unless things changed in a recent patch, this is not the case. A Shadow Warrior's Traps will eat into your own limit. At least, that was the case when I last played my Traps Assassin (either 1.09b or 1.09d). It's why I don't advocate the use of a Shadow Warrior, and instead prefer a Shadow Master. I suppose there's the slight possibility that I am wrong, but that would indicate an undocumented change, and probably would only be found server-side on the Realms, via a server-side patch. I'd be willing to bet SW traps still eat into your limit. But, test it out. I know for a fact that it USED to, but I can't say with full confidence that it STILL DOES. So, give it a whirl, and find out. :)

Thanks for the post Roland... you covered a number of things that I hadn't already seen and gave me a few ideas that I hadn't thought of as well. Thanks, again.

Anytime. 'Twas my pleasure. I still enjoy discussing D2, even if attempting to play it (in its current state) gives me a migraine by the time my character is loaded. :P

[jhartelt]

Unless things changed in a recent patch, this is not the case. A Shadow Warrior's Traps will eat into your own limit.

I just checked that out. I placed 5 LS and the Warrior 3. all 8 were on screen. unfortunately, I have no place available for uploading a screenshot. just trust me :)

[Brista]

I also think this

In fact both Master's and Warrior's traps are in addition to the character's

[Occhidiangela]

I have seen this frequently.

I drop five Lightning Sentries, and see a Wake of Inferno or two crop up thanks to my Shadow. No 'poof and disappear' noted from my traps.

Io-Ombra has put 65 into Energy. I tried going with 50, but I have not had that much luck with Mana rich equipment, so I ate 15 points I had budgeted for Vitality and put them into Energy.

No more. I am on a crafting jag that will not end until either I make the caster Belt, gloves, and boots that pleases me, or the Eastern Realms Run out of Perfect Amethysts. :P

[Albion Child]

Changed my mind bout what I wrote...

[Rudishoes]

Caster Gloves? You don't need no stinking caster gloves! It's all about the magefists I hear B). I still havn't been able to get my hands on em for my level 43 HC trapsin. And that is also one more point to the fire trap of your choice. :D

For Shadows, leave em at one point each, and let the situation tell you what to play. You may be playing in a group that isn't particularly warm to the idea of conversion, or one that has a thorns merc/mele paladin. Fanatic Moonlords are not fun. :ph34r: In this situation, psychich hammer is invaluable. Its like mind blast for single targets. And if you have either a thorns merc or a mele palladin, you are going to be in no shortage of tanks, as thorns merc usually implies a necro. :rolleyes:

I went with WoF for my fire trap. I like the rapid fire stun-locking. :D
I boosted LS, DS, and WoF to approximately level 10 each, which is turning out to be a bad idea, since I'm starting to have trouble with low damage in a2 nm. If you are going WoF I would suggest getting it to the point where it does decent damage (level 10) and then going all out on LS, putting one point into the other skills as they become available.

-Rudi

[DaethWalker]

My trapper is just a baby......42 or so, and she is still delighting in her Civerb's Icon amulet to let her spam traps.

Heh, I'm still wearing Civerb's Icon at lvl 74. Though I think I probably no longer need it, since I'm also using a Rhyme shield and Gloom's Trap. My mana bulb stays full nearly always, so time to twink or go shopping for a +3 traps amy. :P

As far as which traps to use. Alot depends on your playing style. I have a bad habit of lvling fast in cows, then going back and walking most of the acts solo. Hence, I maxed LS, WoI and DS.

I used LS nearly exclusively in norm and nm, with an occasional WoI and DS tossed in. DS was the trap of choice for cows. And in hell, I find myself using all 3, depending on the situation.

1 pt in SW, until lvl 73, when I actually started walking Hell. I then added about 8 to SM and will continue until my master can hold her own.

1 pt in all requirements and 2 in MB, though I may add another pt or 2 here.

Oh, and 1 pt in TS, which got me through my early lvls. :D

I'm still a little slow in Hell. But, I hope that's mainly due to a low lvl(43) merc and having not switched to my end-game gear yet.

[Telemont]

My trapper has worked out pretty well, though she has a bit of a modular nature. Since I usually party with at least one other person I ended up building it primarily with Lightning Sentry, Death Sentry and Mind Blast.
As was suggested earlier, that Mind Blast really rocks the house not only for adding a bit of physical damage to your output (Unreliable at best) but keeping monsters mostly in place for my stacked Sentries to cut them down. I realize my own weakness to Lightning Immunes, and have some plans to invest in Venom in the future. Perferrably with Demon Machine and Razortail ;) (Which Demon Machine and Lavagout should decently suppliment the loss of BoS!) Now to just get my hands on said Demon Machine! ;)

I chose Lightning Sentry for it's distance, and usually pop a Death Sentry into the mix for the loss of only a little lightning damage. Mindblast is also an incredible teammate skill nearly rivalling that of Terror, with almost none of the drawbacks! :D

[Occhidiangela]

1. Added Mana (though not a lot)
2. Added Mana Regen
3. Resists sometimes
4. Added Stats, sometimes.

Combine with a Caster Belt, and even Boots. Once the resists are created that match everything else (all this accessorizing, how time consuming!)

Voila!

A custom tailored set up for keeping the Mana Ball Full. Screw the cookie cutters, go custom made. And then, hit Nilithak on all three diffs to put your own logo on the items. :)

(Or, go with the cookie cutter and use Frosites or Magefists. :) )

PS, Rudishoes: Some of us like a durable tank, so I max Master after my Traps are taken care of. She is one tough cookie. :)

[Kevin]

Figure this thread is as good as any for asking this.

It's been brought up a couple of times in this thread and I searched the archive, but can I get a confirmation on what level of traps the Shadow Warrior casts? Is it the same as your level or is is half the Warriors level, or is something else? I just couldn't readily find this info, and I would like to actually know how it works.

[jhartelt]

In this old Workshop thread I have found, that the warrior uses skills at roughly SW skill lvl/3.

I had to read through an astounding number of threads in which the same question was raised but never got answered.

[Kevin]

In this old Workshop thread I have found, that the warrior uses skills at roughly SW skill lvl/3.

I had to read through an astounding number of threads in which the same question was raised but never got answered.

Wow, thanks. I had read through an astounding number of threads as well and saw the question asked but never answered.

Found lots of info about what equipment they wear, and what skill level valk uses, but nothing about the shadows and finally gave up. I am impressed and appreciative that you didn't.

I am still amazed that this info isn't more readily available. I would think it would be as important to know as say, how much damage your spells are doing when you cast them. Ah well. At least we have it out here now.

Thanks again.

[Brimstone]

Mindblast is also an incredible teammate skill nearly rivalling that of Terror, with almost none of the drawbacks!  :D

one major drawback, IIRC:

Converts retain auras for a few seconds after they convert back...making party play "interesting" when your converted Frenzytaur retains a merc's Might aura, or the Barb in your party eats a high slvl Thorns hit, etc. Just something for you (and anyone in your party) to keep in mind, especially in HC. Of course, if you already fried said Frenzytaur, what does it matter, eh? ;)