ASSASIN NEEDS HELP

[Iceman]

Hi all

First of all i want to say hello to everyone. Iam propably the newest member since i have just registered.
I have been playing D2 for about 3 years now but only in single player games.

I have just started playing with an assasin and I would like some help.
I need to know what is the best way to train my assasin? I suppose that claws are the best for my character am I correct?
I would also like to know if all the items that are mentioned at other topics can be found only in internet games? do I have a chance of finding some of the cool items in a single player game or a LAN?

thanks a alot

[Yogi_Baar]

There is no best way to train an assassin. Each build has its perks and its downfalls.

Personally, I prefer Trap Specialists, while some people like Martial Artists or pure Shadow builds. It all depends on your playing style. If you specify what kind of build you want, I'm sure there are experienced people here that can help you.

As for cool items, I guess you mean "Ladder only" items. I think I saw on this forum that those items can also appear in single player games, so you're basically not missing much.

EDIT: By the way, welcome to the Lurker Lounge. :)

[Iceman]

thanks a lot

I think that i will follow your idea and prefer the trap specialist. But isn't a bad idea to focus only in one area (only traps). I believe that yes you should focus at traps because this is how you like play but shouldn't you spent a few SP at, at least, one of the other two (shadow - MA)? I don't know if my thoughts are correct. What do you think?

[arrunique]

If you are single player you can't rely on finding any particular item or high level runes. That means you will be limited to gear you find shopping or making yourself. Builds which rely on weapons to do damage are more gear dependent than builds which rely on skills.

I've only played a blade fury assassin to a high level so that is all I really know.

Skills to place in order:

1 blade fury (no more)
1 cloak of shadows (no more)
20 shadow master
20 death sentry
20 claw mastery
20 venom

Get an act 2 nightmare might merc to support both you and your master

rest fade, weapon block

Advice on build:
- ias doesn't matter so don't worry about it
- you only use mana to cast death sentry so you dont need mana leech
- your buff master and merc and cloak of shadows are great defense so you don't need life leech
- only the primary claw does damage so put one with good skills in the secondary
- the runeword malice (Ith El Eth) in progressively higher damage claws should get you through normal
- constantly recast cloak of shadows, the recast timer stops mattering once you hit nightmare and baddies take longer to kill
- between maxed venom, your master and death sentry you should be able to take care of physical immunes by the time you get to hell.

In order to get more bang for your venom buck you might want to buy a wand with lower resist charges and keep it on your switch.

I think this is probably the most fun build I've ever used.

[bigeyedbug]

In order to get more bang for your venom buck you might want to buy a wand with lower resist charges and keep it on your switch.

I think this is probably the most fun build I've ever used.

Are you not using two +3 Shadow Claws on switch? Or are you rotating the equipment? That would be too much of a PITA for me, especially since my pack is almost completely full of charms. I could dearly use the Lower Resist, but I think the buff to Fade, Venom, and Shadow Master is indespensible.

I have nearly an identical Assassin at L84, but with a lifesaving point in Mind Blast as well. You're right--Fun as Heck.

[Yogi_Baar]

Your thoughts are entirely correct. When I said "Trap specialist" I didn't mean the Trap skill tree exclusively. Sorry for being vague there. Perhaps there's already a build called "Trap specialist" that focuses exclusively on traps, but that's not what I meant.

I do indeed put points into the Shadow tree, simply because they're great utility spells IMHO. The Shadow Master is indispensable for me because I mostly play solo, so that one will get maxed on all of my assassins. As for the others, I'm going to keep a single point in them (venom will get none) since I'll rely on +skills to make them better and most are even great at slvl 1 (like BoS, CoS and MB). The only possible exception is Fade, because resists are simply a must plus it frees up equipment slots for MF, which is nice in no-twink.

I cannae say anything about MA assassins in 1.10 since I've only had one of those in 1.09, and never touched them again.

FWIW.

[Todd]

Welcome!

As pointed out above, the only real difference between single-player and realms is that you can't count on finding/trading specific gear. While this is significant, it doesn't really invalidate much of the strategy you find elsewhere. Just keep an eye on the gear. If a post or guide is centered on a unique, irreplaceable piece of gear, that's probably out of the question in single-player. But most good guides and strategy are more concerned with general principles than specific items. Naturally, skill-centered builds (like a sorc or trap assassin) lean more in this direction than item-centered builds (most martial arts assassins). But if you study up on the various cube recipes and item crafts, you may find that you can make a decent approximation of the unique gear mentioned in guides.

Also, don't pass up on the benefits of single-player. Two things, mostly. 1) Your maps don't reset. You can run NM or Hell Countess in much less than 5 mins, depending on your char. While the very high-end runes will probably never drop, you can count on seeing mid-level ones given a bit of time. You can run Meph quickly, too, though the chances of you finding just the item that you need are pretty small. 2) You can set the player count with "/players X". Set that number to something that gives you just enough killing speed, and stick with it. My single-player paladin played in players-5, and made level 75 before leaving NM without a single repeat of an area apart from very few Countess and Meph runs.

[Iceman]

[QUOTE]2) You can set the player count with "/players X". Set that number to something that gives you just enough killing speed, and stick with it. My single-player paladin played in players-5, and made level 75 before leaving NM without a single repeat of an area apart from very few Countess and Meph runs.


Thanks a lot for all your help.
can you please explain what you mean by that because i don't get it. :(
Do you mean that you get play in a 5 players game alone? Is there a patch for ''players x'' because I dont have it? and if yes where can i find it?

[adeyke]

In a single player game, you can hit enter, type /players 5, and hit enter again. It's like if you were saying "/players 5". This will make monsters have more hitpoints but give more experience and more drops, as if there were 5 total players in the game, though you'll really still be alone.

(The 5 can be anything from 1-8, really).

[Iceman]

OK now I get it.
This works only in single player mode? Lets say that you have a LAN with two PC's and you start a game is there anything like the above for LAN?

[adeyke]

It does work in TCP/IP games as well, but only if the host (the one who created the game) gives the command, not the clients. Note that, if there are 4 players, only /players 4 through /players 8 work. You can't make it simulate there being less players than there really are.

[Iceman]

OK
Thank's a lot for the help I will try it out. :)