Twin Fang Assassin [1.3]

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FallenAngel
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INTRODUCTION

The Twin Fang Assassin is a melee Assassin making use of the Twin Fang Strike skill in the Claw tree. The build makes use of Assassin’s fast attack speeds, heavy spell damage, innate avoid, physical damage reduction and life leech to run through enemies like a hot knife through butter. This build is somewhat similar to the melee Paladin – both are essentially ‘melee casters’, i.e. both attack in melee, but the main source of the damage comes from the procs produced on attack, rather than from the weapon itself.

Pros:
    Incredibly cheap gear (No Sets or Sacred Uniques needed)
    Fast kill speed
    Good for farming
    Good boss killer

Cons:
    Glass canon (you will die many times even with optimal gear setup)
    Some skill switching required
    Respec required for certain Uberquests


TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. Abbrevations
2. Key Skills
3. Hatred
4. Terror
5. Destruction
6. Basic Uberquests
7. Black Road Challenge
8. Hard Uberquests
9. Videos



ABBREVATIONS


TFS: Twin Fang Strike
WOTS: Way Of The Spider
WOTP: Way Of The Phoenix
PB: Perfect Being
SR: Shadow Refuge
QOB: Queen Of Blades
IAS: Increased Attack Speed
FCR: Faster Cast Rate
FHR: Faster Hit Recovery
FBR: Faster Block Rate
FRW: Faster Run / Walk
LOA: Life On Attack
MOA: Mana On Attack
TU: Tiered Unique Items
SU: Sacred Unique Items



KEY SKILLS


Offensive Skills

Twin Fang Strike: The attack skill around which our build is based. It is a claw skill which produces short ranged fire and poison spirals from your character, hitting enemies all around you. The fire and poison missiles are enhanced by spell damage, which coupled with enemy resistance piece can produce devastating damage in a small area.

Way of the Spider: It is a passive skill which adds flat poison damage to our attacks and gives a boost to the poison damage component of Twin Fang Strike.
Way of the Phoenix: It is a passive skill which adds flat fire damage to our attacks and gives a boost to the fire damage component of Twin Fang Strike.

Beacon: It is an Uber skill which can only be accessed after our character hits level 90. When activated, it periodically targets a nuclear strike at a random nearby location, dealing heavy elemental damage. The damage is enhanced by our character’s energy. It also gives an incredible speed boost to our character.

Queen of Blades: When activated, it periodically casts shurikens at our enemies, dealing a portion of our weapon’s damage. This is useful early on in the game, but becomes redundant towards mid game when our main damage starts coming from spells.

Defensive Skills

Bloodbath: Our innate skill. Our This claw based skill leaches a percentage of our maximum life on kills, and therefore is essential for our survivability – especially early in the game.

Shadow Refuge: Our second survivability skill. It is a buff which reduces a percentage of incoming physical damage to our character for a brief period of time after we hit any enemy. It also gives a boost to our walk/run speed and increases our poison damage

Perfect Being: Our third survivability skill. It is a passive skill which gives us a chance to avoid incoming attacks. Avoid is essential to our character because of our low HP (Hit Points) and almost non-existent defense rating.

Image Prismatic Cloak: It is an Uber skill which can only be accessed after our character hits level 90 and we complete the Ennead challenge. It is a passive skill which reduces a flat amount of income physical as well as magical damage.

Blink: When cast it teleports you to the desired location on screen, and stuns enemies at the destination. This is very useful when faced with large monster packs. You can blink on top of them and finish them with TFS when then are stunned.

Vampiric Icon: It is an Uber skill which can only be accessed after our character hits level 90 and we complete the Black Road challenge. When cast, it generates a symbol on the ground which leeches a portion of enemy’s HP when they step on it. If used correctly, it can be a lifesaver in tough situations.


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HATRED



Stats

Strength: Enough for gear
Dexterity: Enough for gear
Vitality: None
Energy: The rest

Skills

WOTS: Max
WOTP: Max
QOB: Max
PB: Max
TFS: Max
SR: Max
Crucify, Batstrike, Shadow Dancer, BackStab: 1 pt each
Blink: The rest

Gear

Weapon:
Shedim
Shedim
Assassin Claws

'Eld'
Runeword Level: 8
+5 to Maximum Damage
25% Bonus to Attack Rating
+30% Damage to Undead
Adds 13-25 Poison Damage over 1 seconds
+(30 to 50)% Enhanced Damage
-10% to Enemy Poison Resistance
Poison Length Reduced by (11 to 20)%
+(6 to 8) Mana after each Kill
->
Spellgrip
Spellgrip
Wrist Blade (4)

(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 2
Required Dexterity: 20
Item Level: 1
Innate Lightning Damage:
(10.0% of Dexterity)
5% Chance to cast level 10 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+1 to Assassin Skill Levels
5% Attack Speed
5% Cast Speed
Adds 5-6 Lightning Damage
-2% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-2% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-2% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(11 to 15) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(3 to 5)%
Socketed (1)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 20
Required Dexterity: 39
Item Level: 31
Innate Lightning Damage:
(15.0% of Dexterity)
10% Chance to cast level 18 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
15% Attack Speed
15% Cast Speed
Adds 14-20 Lightning Damage
-4% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-4% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(9 to 11)%
Socketed (2)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 39
Required Dexterity: 83
Item Level: 51
Innate Lightning Damage:
(20.0% of Dexterity)
15% Chance to cast level 26 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+3 to Assassin Skill Levels
25% Attack Speed
25% Cast Speed
Adds 40-60 Lightning Damage
-8% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-8% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-8% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(15 to 17)%
Socketed (2)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 48
Required Dexterity: 169
Item Level: 77
Innate Lightning Damage:
(25.0% of Dexterity)
20% Chance to cast level 38 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+4 to Assassin Skill Levels
30% Attack Speed
30% Cast Speed
Adds 120-160 Lightning Damage
-12% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-12% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-12% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(18 to 20)%
Socketed (3)

Shedim runeword gives poison damge to our attacks, and reduces poison resistances of enemies. We will switch this for Spellgrip at the earliest - Hunting Banshee on attack, +skills, enemy fire pierce, resists, FCR, flat energy make it the best early game item for this build.

Shield:
Leoric's Legion
Leoric's Legion
Bladed Shield (4)

Defense: (64 - 72) to (127 - 144)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 8
Required Dexterity: 55
Item Level: 10
+(6 to 8)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(4 to 5)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 20) to Vitality
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (1)
Defense: (246 - 273) to (418 - 463)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 25
Required Dexterity: 81
Item Level: 36
+(11 to 13)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(7 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 40) to Vitality
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)
Defense: (631 - 687) to (1031 - 1122)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 43
Required Dexterity: 170
Item Level: 51
+(16 to 18)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(10 to 11)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(51 to 60) to Vitality
3% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (5)
Defense: (938 - 1014) to (1527 - 1652)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 52
Required Dexterity: 353
Item Level: 85
+(18 to 20)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(12 to 13)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(61 to 80) to Vitality
4% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (6)

Enemy poison pierce, vitality bonus, lots of reanimates make this a very good option.

Body Armor:
Lumen Arcana
Lumen Arcana
Body Armors

'Ith'
Runeword Level: 18
+1 to All Skills
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(3 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(25 to 50)% Enhanced Defense
+2 to Light Radius
->
Queen of Glass
Queen of Glass
Ancient Armor (4)

Defense: (315 - 344) to (630 - 688)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength:
33 to 34
Item Level: 29
15% Cast Speed
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 125) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (899 - 969) to (1718 - 1852)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength:
57 to 60
Item Level: 40
25% Cast Speed
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2084 - 2224) to (3911 - 4173)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength:
175 to 186
Item Level: 67
35% Cast Speed
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(276 to 325) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(41 to 45)%
Cold Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (3013 - 3202) to (5650 - 6005)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
323 to 344
Item Level: 85
40% Cast Speed
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(326 to 375) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(46 to 50)%
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

Lumen Arcana provides +1 skills and enemy resistance pierce early in the game. When we level up and can afford to spend some points in strength, we can switch to Queen of Glass. It provides us resists, FCR and upto -20% enemy pierces, so is the best early game armor for our build.

Helm:
Stillwater
Stillwater
Bone Helm (4)

Defense: (73 - 85) to (106 - 123)
Required Level: 10
Required Strength:
29 to 30
Item Level: 19
1% Chance to cast level 8 Mana Sweep when Attacked
+(11 to 15) Spell Focus
+(21 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 100) to Mana
Regenerate Mana +(5 to 7)%
+10 Mana after each Kill
Requirements -(6 to 8)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (277 - 312) to (371 - 418)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength:
55 to 56
Item Level: 36
1% Chance to cast level 12 Mana Sweep when Attacked
+(21 to 25) Spell Focus
+(51 to 70)% Enhanced Defense
+(126 to 150) to Mana
Regenerate Mana +(10 to 12)%
+20 Mana after each Kill
Requirements -(10 to 12)%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (716 - 831) to (933 - 1083)
Required Level: 45
Required Strength:
183 to 188
Item Level: 51
1% Chance to cast level 20 Mana Sweep when Attacked
+(31 to 35) Spell Focus
+(81 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Regenerate Mana +(14 to 16)%
+28 Mana after each Kill
Requirements -(14 to 16)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1195 - 1352) to (1553 - 1757)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
350 to 359
Item Level: 85
2% Chance to cast level 28 Mana Sweep when Attacked
+(36 to 40) Spell Focus
+(121 to 150)% Enhanced Defense
+(251 to 300) to Mana
Regenerate Mana +(18 to 20)%
+35 Mana after each Kill
Requirements -(18 to 20)%
Socketed (4)
or
Umbaru's Jinx
Umbaru's Jinx
Mask (4)

Defense: (116 - 126) to (195 - 209)
Required Level: 7
Required Strength: 30
Item Level: 10
+(0 to 1) to Necromancer Skill Levels
15% Hit Recovery
+(6 to 10)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(21 to 40)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(31 to 50)% Enhanced Defense
+(51 to 100) Defense
Poison Length Reduced by (11 to 20)%
Physical Resist 1%
(6 to 10)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (1)
Defense: (416 - 448) to (546 - 587)
Required Level: 24
Required Strength: 60
Item Level: 31
+(0 to 1) to Necromancer Skill Levels
30% Hit Recovery
+(11 to 15)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(41 to 60)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(61 to 80)% Enhanced Defense
+(151 to 200) Defense
Poison Length Reduced by (21 to 30)%
Physical Resist 2%
(11 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (3)
Defense: (927 - 994) to (1163 - 1249)
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 210
Item Level: 51
+(0 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
45% Hit Recovery
+(16 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(61 to 80)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(91 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
+(251 to 300) Defense
Poison Length Reduced by (31 to 40)%
Physical Resist 3%
(21 to 30)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1422 - 1515) to (1759 - 1876)
Required Level: 50
Required Strength: 420
Item Level: 77
+(1 to 2) to Necromancer Skill Levels
60% Hit Recovery
+(21 to 25)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+(81 to 100)% to Summoned Minion Attack Rating
+(121 to 140)% Enhanced Defense
+(351 to 400) Defense
Poison Length Reduced by (41 to 50)%
Physical Resist 4%
(31 to 40)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)
or Honorific helm
TFS consumes a lot of mana, so a helm like Stillwater takes care of our mana needs early in the game. Other options are Umbaru's Jinx mask (Fire & Poison spell damage) or an honorific helm cubed with fire and poison spell damage. The later option is better if we are not able to spare attribute points to put into strength.

Belt:
Rainbow
Rainbow
Belts

'Eth'
Runeword Level: 15
+5% to Spell Damage
+(6 to 10)% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Regenerate Mana +(5 to 10)%
Elemental Resists +(10 to 15)%
(6 to 8)% Magic Find
+2 to Light Radius
->
Moonwrap
Moonwrap
Sash (4)

Defense: (16 - 18) to (20 - 21)
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
5% Cast Speed
+3% to Spell Damage
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(11 to 15)%
Cold Resist +(11 to 15)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (119 - 129) to (131 - 141)
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
15% Cast Speed
+9% to Spell Damage
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (331 - 353) to (370 - 395)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 125
Item Level: 51
25% Cast Speed
+15% to Spell Damage
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (493 - 524) to (542 - 576)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 77
30% Cast Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Cold Resist +(36 to 40)%
Socketed (2)

Rainbow runeword provides us with a little spell damage boost and decent resists initially. We should switch this for Moonwrap sash as soon as possible since the later gives awesome spell damage, good resists and has very low strength requirements.

Gloves:
Iblis
Iblis
Gloves

'TyrSur'
Runeword Level: 90
+40 Spell Focus if Sanguine Covenant is Active
+10% Maximum Mana if Solar Flare is Active
+(37 to 42)% to Fire Spell Damage
(25 to 35)% to Energy
Regenerate Mana +(10 to 15)%
Fire Absorb 4%
+10 to Light Radius
->
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%

Iblis runeword provides fire spell damage and a good energy boost early on. Subsequently we should switch this for Kali runeword which will give us +2 skills, 10% max fire resists and fire splash proc on kill, which is further boosted by our fire spell damage.

Boots:
Wake of Destruction
Wake of Destruction
Greaves (4)

Defense: (90 - 102) to (135 - 152)
Required Level: 9
Required Strength:
17
Item Level: 19
+(4 to 6)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(11 to 13)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Requirements -20%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (333 - 369) to (462 - 512)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength:
33
Item Level: 36
+(7 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 17)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(26 to 30) to Energy
Requirements -25%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (854 - 930) to (1152 - 1254)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength:
158
Item Level: 59
+(10 to 12)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(19 to 21)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Requirements -30%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1274 - 1378) to (1713 - 1853)
Required Level: 52
Required Strength:
272
Item Level: 85
+(13 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(23 to 25)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Requirements -40%
Socketed (4)
or Honorific boots
Wake of destruction gives us fire & poison spell damage, resists and energy factor to spell damage. But due to high strength requirements, it is convenient to use an honorific pair of boots cubed with fire and poison spell damage.

Rings:
Empyrean Band
Empyrean Band
Ring

Required Level: 40
Item Level: 40
1% Chance to cast level 18 Singularity on Kill
(3 to 5)% to All Attributes
Maximum Life +3%
Maximum Mana +10%
(5 to 15)% Gold Find
or Rare ring with +1 to all skills.
Dual Empyrean Bands are best - Singularity proc on kill, increases max life & mana, and attribute bonuses.

Amulet:
Angel Heart
Angel Heart
Amulet

Required Level: 40
Item Level: 40
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
(5 to 10)% to Strength
(5 to 10)% to Dexterity
(15 to 25)% Bonus to Defense
+(3 to 5) to Light Radius
or Rare amulet with +1 or 2 to all skills.
Angel Hearts give us +1 skills and strength & dexterity bonuses which are required for equipping the above items.

Gameplay

We start off with a claw and shield. We should use crucify as our main attack which deals good damage to mobs and single targets alike. At level 6, we get access to WOTS and SR. SR gives us bonus (buff) which reduces a percentage of physical damage inflicted on us, as well as boosts our attack rating and poison spell damage for a short duration. I like to set my left mouse button as SR, and switch right mouse button with Crucify / TFS / Bloodbath as needed. We will hit enemies with SR to activate the buff, then kill them off with our other skills. Hitting the enemies with Bloodbath once in a while is good as it will heal us when we kill monsters for a short period.

We can do Tristram runs and kill Griswold for Gift Boxes till we get Spellgrip. Else we can carry on with Shedim and look for Spellgrip later on. TFS should melt our enemies early on. Mana will be the only concern here. If we can get Stillwater early, then there will be no stopping us. We should disenchant any unwanted TUs that we find to arcane shards using the Catalyst of Disenchantment dropped by the Smith.

Any unique item + Catalyst of Disenchantment → Arcane Shards + Catalyst of Disenchantment
Arcane Shards x5 → Arcane Crystal


By the end of Act 1, we should be having most of our early game gear. We will try to increase our resistances as much as possible before proceeding to Act 2; so we will be socketing our items with Bloodstones, Onyxes, Amber and Turquoises as needed. Spare sockets can be filled up with Tal Runes.
We can hire a Shapeshifter Mercenary from Act 2 for his Bloodlust aura. I personally do not use Mercenaries much, but they can be useful for leveling up quicker.

In Act 3, we can farm Mephisto in order to get Arcane Crystals, which can be used to upgrade our existing unique items to the next tier, or create any new tiered unique items which we require. Since higher tiers of uniques have high strength and dexterity requirements, we have to make sure we have the requisite strength and dexterity before crafting the uniques.

Any non-sacred item + Oil of Enhancement + Arcane Crystal x2 → reroll item as unique
Any non-sacred unique weapon/armor + Arcane Crystal → return unique item as next higher tier


In Act 4, we can get the Catalyst of Destruction by killing Hephasto. This can be used to create base items for making our runewords.

Any weapon/armor + Catalyst of Destruction + rune → reroll item as superior quality + Catalyst of Destruction

In Act 5, we can get Mark of Infusions by completing Larzuk's quest. These can be used to create honorific items.

Magic weapon/armor + Mark of Infusion → return item as honorific

We can cube our honorifics with mystic orbs. The main stats we are looking for are: +fire spell damage, +poison spell damge, +Energy, +Dexterity, FRW, in that order. Towards the end of Act 5, we will have to complete the Level 1 challenge (described below). By the time we finish Hatred, we should be around level 54-60.


Level Challenge 1

Image

We have to complete this before reaching level 50. I recommend heading to Tran Athula (Act 2 -> Halls of the Dead -> Island of Skatara -> Tran Athula) immediately after reaching level 48, which will enable us to use max skill levels of our skills. The area is filled with amazon archers which deal a lot of damage. We should ensure we walk, and not run in order to make use of whatever defense rating we have. If we have Leoric's Legion shield, then its reanimates will do the tanking for us, making it much safer for us to navigate the area. Else we can also cube any honorific items on us with skeleton reanimate mystic orbs. Don't forget to cube the Prism with the resistances scroll rewarded by Malah after rescuing Anya.


Image

TERROR



Stats

Strength: Enough for gear
Dexterity: Enough for gear
Vitality: None
Energy: The rest

Skills

Beacon: 1pt
Prismatic Cloak: Max
WOTS: Max
WOTP: Max
PB: Max
TFS: Max
SR: Max
QOB, Blink, Crucify, Batstrike, BackStab: 1 pt each


Gear

Weapon:
Spellgrip
Spellgrip
Wrist Blade (4)

(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 2
Required Dexterity: 20
Item Level: 1
Innate Lightning Damage:
(10.0% of Dexterity)
5% Chance to cast level 10 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+1 to Assassin Skill Levels
5% Attack Speed
5% Cast Speed
Adds 5-6 Lightning Damage
-2% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-2% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-2% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(11 to 15) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(3 to 5)%
Socketed (1)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 20
Required Dexterity: 39
Item Level: 31
Innate Lightning Damage:
(15.0% of Dexterity)
10% Chance to cast level 18 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
15% Attack Speed
15% Cast Speed
Adds 14-20 Lightning Damage
-4% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-4% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(9 to 11)%
Socketed (2)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 39
Required Dexterity: 83
Item Level: 51
Innate Lightning Damage:
(20.0% of Dexterity)
15% Chance to cast level 26 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+3 to Assassin Skill Levels
25% Attack Speed
25% Cast Speed
Adds 40-60 Lightning Damage
-8% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-8% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-8% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(15 to 17)%
Socketed (2)
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 48
Required Dexterity: 169
Item Level: 77
Innate Lightning Damage:
(25.0% of Dexterity)
20% Chance to cast level 38 Hunting Banshee on Melee Attack
+4 to Assassin Skill Levels
30% Attack Speed
30% Cast Speed
Adds 120-160 Lightning Damage
-12% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-12% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
-12% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(18 to 20)%
Socketed (3)

Upgraded to tier 6.

Shield:
Leoric's Legion
Leoric's Legion
Bladed Shield (4)

Defense: (64 - 72) to (127 - 144)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 8
Required Dexterity: 55
Item Level: 10
+(6 to 8)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(4 to 5)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 20) to Vitality
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (1)
Defense: (246 - 273) to (418 - 463)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 25
Required Dexterity: 81
Item Level: 36
+(11 to 13)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(7 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 40) to Vitality
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)
Defense: (631 - 687) to (1031 - 1122)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 43
Required Dexterity: 170
Item Level: 51
+(16 to 18)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(10 to 11)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(51 to 60) to Vitality
3% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (5)
Defense: (938 - 1014) to (1527 - 1652)
Chance to Block: 4%
(Assassin Only)
Required Level: 52
Required Dexterity: 353
Item Level: 85
+(18 to 20)% Bonus to Poison Skill Duration
-(12 to 13)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(61 to 80) to Vitality
4% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (6)

Upgraded to tier 6. Be careful about the high dexterity requirements.

Body Armor:
Queen of Glass
Queen of Glass
Ancient Armor (4)

Defense: (315 - 344) to (630 - 688)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength:
33 to 34
Item Level: 29
15% Cast Speed
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 125) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (899 - 969) to (1718 - 1852)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength:
57 to 60
Item Level: 40
25% Cast Speed
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2084 - 2224) to (3911 - 4173)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength:
175 to 186
Item Level: 67
35% Cast Speed
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(276 to 325) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(41 to 45)%
Cold Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (3013 - 3202) to (5650 - 6005)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
323 to 344
Item Level: 85
40% Cast Speed
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(326 to 375) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(46 to 50)%
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

Upgraded to tier 6. Be careful about the high strength requirements.

Helm: Crafted circlet
A circlet crafted with Fascinating or Shimmering shrines with +2 or 3 to skills and good spell damage and pierce. We should add fire spell damage and poison spell damage mystic orbs to pump up our damage.

Belt:
Moonwrap
Moonwrap
Sash (4)

Defense: (16 - 18) to (20 - 21)
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
5% Cast Speed
+3% to Spell Damage
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(11 to 15)%
Cold Resist +(11 to 15)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (119 - 129) to (131 - 141)
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
15% Cast Speed
+9% to Spell Damage
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (331 - 353) to (370 - 395)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 125
Item Level: 51
25% Cast Speed
+15% to Spell Damage
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (493 - 524) to (542 - 576)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 77
30% Cast Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Cold Resist +(36 to 40)%
Socketed (2)

Upgraded to tier 6.

Gloves:
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%

We will remake this runeword in a tier 6 leather gloves (low strength requirement), and fill the first 3 sockets with jewels. See the Jewel Crafting section for more details.

Boots:
Wake of Destruction
Wake of Destruction
Greaves (4)

Defense: (90 - 102) to (135 - 152)
Required Level: 9
Required Strength:
17
Item Level: 19
+(4 to 6)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(11 to 13)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(6 to 8)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(24 to 40)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Requirements -20%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (333 - 369) to (462 - 512)
Required Level: 27
Required Strength:
33
Item Level: 36
+(7 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 17)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(10 to 12)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(58 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(26 to 30) to Energy
Requirements -25%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (854 - 930) to (1152 - 1254)
Required Level: 44
Required Strength:
158
Item Level: 59
+(10 to 12)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(19 to 21)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(14 to 16)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(92 to 109)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Requirements -30%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1274 - 1378) to (1713 - 1853)
Required Level: 52
Required Strength:
272
Item Level: 85
+(13 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(23 to 25)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(18 to 20)% to Poison Spell Damage
+(109 to 126)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Requirements -40%
Socketed (4)
or Honorific boots
We can keep our Hatred boots. We will upgrade the TU boots to tier 6, or add additional mystic orbs to the honorific ones.

Rings: Rare rings with +1 to all skills and fire/poison spell damage / pierce.
We can keep the Empyrean Band(s) if we need more strength / dexterity.

Amulet:
Teganze Pendant
Teganze Pendant
Amulet

Required Level: 60
Item Level: 70
+1 to All Skills
+10% to Fire Spell Damage
+10% to Lightning Spell Damage
+10% to Cold Spell Damage
Maximum Life +(3 to 5)%
Maximum Mana +(20 to 30)%
Elemental Resists +10%
+(13 to 38) Mana after each Kill

This Amulet gives us +1 skills, increased life & mana and resistances. More importantly, it gives us +100 Mana on kill, which will take care of our higher mana requirements going forward.

Gameplay

In Act 2 Terror, we'll see that the monsters start hitting us pretty hard. We will die if we directly confront a large mob. To survive till we hit level 90, we can make use of Blink to jump onto enemies, stun them, and finish them off. We should never blink to the center of the mob, rather just to the front/side of it.

We should be continuously upgrading our weapons as we advance through Terror. TFS would be having really steep mana requirements by now, so we should look at items with +mana on kill, and Teganze Pendant amulet. We can also cube our claw with +MOA mystic orbs to make up for mana requirements. We will have to do the Ennead Challenge before reaching level 80 and Level Challenge 2 before reaching level 90 (see details below).

At around level 90 (Act 3-4), monsters will start dropping sacred rare items and shrines. We can craft our items using these sacred rares. If we are able to get a base or a magic sacred item instead of a rare, then we can use the reward from Charsi's quest to covert the items to rare, and then use them for crafting. We should store all shrines that we get our hands on, because shrines and crafting will be an essential part of our gameplay going forward.

Rare/Crafted Sacred item + Shrine → reroll item as crafted + Shrine (-1 charge)

At level 90, we will get access to our uber skills - Beacon, Way of the Griphon and Phase Bomb. Way of the Griphon adds lightning damage to our attacks, but since we are relying on fire and poison missiles, this is of no use to us. Phase Bomb is also not an option since it does not allow us to attack enemies with weapons. So we will use Beacon. It will give us a velocity boost which will also allow us to walk rather than run.

We will get the Catalyst of Learning by killing Izual in Act 4. Any set items, sacred uniques, rings, amulets, jewels and quivers which are not useful to us should be converted to signets of skill and consumed. We will have to consume 500 signets by the end of the game.

Any sacred unique item + Catalyst of Learning → Signet of Learning + Catalyst of Learning
Any set item x1-25 + Catalyst of Learning → Signet of Learning x1-25 + Catalyst of Learning

Ennead Challenge

We have to complete this before reaching level 80. We will go to Kurast 3000 BA (Act 2 -> Kurast Docks -> Torajan Jungles -> Kurast 3000 BA) in Hatred difficulty. The area is filed with totems which make enemies nearby invulnerable. The totems are themselves surrounded by skeletons. So we will have to kills the totems first, and then kill the skeletons. By now our character would be quite strong, so the skeletons and Ennead Necromancers would be of no problems to us. Each necromancer has a 1/7 chance of dropping our class charm, so we may have to run this multiple times before we get the Shadow Vortex.

Image

Level Challenge 2

We have to complete this before reaching level 90. We will go to The Proving Grounds (Act 3 -> Flayer Jungle -> Swamy Pit -> Level 3) in Terror difficulty. The Death Projector is at the center of the room, surrounded by untargettable templars. The trick is to lure all but 1 templar to the room in the bottom left corner of the map, and then blink outside, trapping them. Then we will run around the boss, dodging its instakilling spinning Mindflay attack and the other templar's attacks. We can transmute our class charm with a perfect gem once the boss is dead.

Image

The Dexterity - Energy Conundrum

TFS damage is enhanced by both dexterity as well as energy. So should we max out or energy, or our dexterity from here? Or do we go for a half dexterity - half energy build?

Full dexterity: Putting points into dexterity enhances our attack rating, and also increases our chance of blocking and weapon damage from our claw. But in order to achieve max block (75%), we will have to make a dedicated dexterity based build - we will have to equip Abandoned shrine crafted gear, and socket them with perfect amethysts. While this will make us defensively very good (coupled with damage reduction from SR & Prismatic Cloak and avoid from PB), our damage output will suffer. We will also have a very low mana pool, and it will take hours to complete ubers. Hence it is not an optimal setup for us. Nevertheless, we will still use this setup for certain ubers described in the later part of this guide.

Full energy: Putting points into energy gives us mana, and allows us to use Fascinating & Shimmering shrine crafted gear, along with Zod crafted jewels for additional spell damage. We will not be needing block for most part of the game, because we will be killing enemies quicker than they can hit us. We are not too much reliant on attack rating because we don't need to actually strike the enemies to inflict damage - the fire and poison twisters are triggered even if we miss, and those are the key source of our damage. If we want to make use of our flat fire and poison damage from WOTS & WOTP, then SR's attack rating bonus is more than enough.

Half dexterity - half energy: This will give us neither max block nor descent damage output and hence should be avoided.

Jewel Crafting

We will keep all jewels with item level 90 or above that we find. (Item level of items can be viewed if one is using Plugy). These jewels can be converted to crafted jewels by using runes, arcane shards and oils of craft.

Jewel + Rune + Oil of Craft + Arcane Crystal/Shards → Rune + Arcane Shards (-1) + Crafted Jewel with added bonuses

We will be using 'Zod' runes while crafting, as they provide us with spell damage. We should aim for the following stats on our jewels in order of priority: At least 2% spell damage, flat life, FHR, IAS, FBR. Jewels can have upto 4% fire / poison damage. Also remember to upgrade your jewels before socketing them.

Jewel + Oil of Luck → Jewel with added bonuses: +2 to Strength and/or +2 to Dexterity and/or +2 to Energy and/or +2 to Vitality


Image

DESTRUCTION



Stats

Strength: Enough for gear
Dexterity: Enough for gear
Vitality: None
Energy: The rest

Skills

Beacon: 1pt
Prismatic Cloak: Max
WOTP: Max
PB: Max
TFS: Max
SR: Max
QOB, Blink, Crucify, Batstrike, BackStab: 1 pt each
WOTS: The rest

The reason we choose to max out WOTP and not WOTS is that fire damage stacks, unlike poison. Because of our insane attack speed, most of our damage will come from the fire procs which will add up and do multiplied damage. The poison procs however, will not be added up, rather will only trigger the highest amount in the damage range.

Gear

Weapon: Crafted Claw
Any crafted claw with Fascinating or Shimmering shrines, having +4 Assassin skills, fire and/or poison spell damage, fire and/or poison pierce. A fire / poison based proc is an added bonus.

Shield: Crafted Assassin Shield
Any crafted Assassin shield with Fascinating or Shimmering shrines, having +4 Assassin skills, fire and/or poison spell damage, fire and/or poison pierce. It is better to use a Totem Shield rather than a Bladed Shield because of lower dexterity requirements.

Body Armor:
Queen of Glass
Queen of Glass
Ancient Armor (4)

Defense: (315 - 344) to (630 - 688)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength:
33 to 34
Item Level: 29
15% Cast Speed
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 125) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (899 - 969) to (1718 - 1852)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength:
57 to 60
Item Level: 40
25% Cast Speed
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2084 - 2224) to (3911 - 4173)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength:
175 to 186
Item Level: 67
35% Cast Speed
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(276 to 325) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(41 to 45)%
Cold Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (3013 - 3202) to (5650 - 6005)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
323 to 344
Item Level: 85
40% Cast Speed
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(326 to 375) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(46 to 50)%
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
or Crafted Body Armor
Queen of Glass is still useful in end-game. Alternatively a crafted quilted armor with Fascinating or Shimmering shrines, having +2 skills, fire and/or poison spell damage, fire and/or poison pierce can be used.

Helm: Crafted circlet
Keep the same circlet.

Belt:
Moonwrap
Moonwrap
Sash (4)

Defense: (16 - 18) to (20 - 21)
Required Level: 1
Required Strength: 25
Item Level: 1
5% Cast Speed
+3% to Spell Damage
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(11 to 15)%
Cold Resist +(11 to 15)%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (119 - 129) to (131 - 141)
Required Level: 17
Required Strength: 50
Item Level: 31
15% Cast Speed
+9% to Spell Damage
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (331 - 353) to (370 - 395)
Required Level: 35
Required Strength: 125
Item Level: 51
25% Cast Speed
+15% to Spell Damage
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (493 - 524) to (542 - 576)
Required Level: 43
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 77
30% Cast Speed
+20% to Spell Damage
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Cold Resist +(36 to 40)%
Socketed (2)
->
Witchhunter's Rope

+1 to Assassin skills, good fire and poison pierce. Ideal for us.

Gloves:
Kali
Kali
Gloves

'LumKo'
Runeword Level: 48
15% Chance to cast level 13 Seal of Fire on Kill
+2 to All Skills
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
-214 Defense
5% to Strength
Maximum Fire Resist +4%
Fire Resist +25%

Keep the same gloves.

Boots: Crafted boots
A crafted pair of boots with Fascinating or Shimmering shrines, having +2 Assassin skills, fire and/or poison spell damage, fire and/or poison pierce.

Rings: Rare rings with +1 to all skills and fire/poison spell damage / pierce.
Keep the same rings. Replace with better ones if you find them.

Amulet: Rare amulet with +3-5 to all skills and fire/poison spell damage / pierce. It'll be great if we can find one with chance to cast Hymn on Kill.

Alternate Gear Setup

Witchhunter's Attire
Witchhunter's Attire
(Assassin Claw Set)

Witchhunter's Crucifix
Witchhunter's Faith
Witchhunter's Hood
Witchhunter's Ire

Set Bonus with 2 or more set items:
-10% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Maximum Block Chance +10%

Set Bonus with 3 or more set items:
50% Chance to cast level 24 Crucify on Melee Attack
+150 Life on Melee Attack

Set Bonus with complete set:
+5 to Assassin Skill Levels
-20% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+15 to Way of the Gryphon (Assassin Only)
25% to Dexterity
Fire Absorb 3%
Lightning Absorb 3%
Cold Absorb 3%
+150 Life on Melee Attack
2% Reanimate as: Returned Archer


This set has impressive stats and should be used if available. One might argue that by using 2 claws we will lose the benefits of a shield, but hey, we are not using block, so what's the point of using a shield for the sake of it?

Gameplay

Destruction game style will be pretty much similar to Terror. We will activate Beacon & QOB, blink on enemies, activate SR, and kill them off with TFS. Killing the Sorcerer in Act 2 will give us the Dark Tome, which we will cube with our class charm to get the dark portal skill. The dark portal can be used to get access to certain ubers after killing specific monsters in the game.

During sometime in Destruction, we will have to create our crafted claw, shield and boots. We will cube our crafted claw with LOA and MOA mystic orbs. This will ensure that we will not run out of mana, and are leeching life continuously. Bloodbath will no longer be needed since we will have LOA. For other crafted items, we will cube with +fire spell damage, +poison spell damage, FHR and FBR.

There will be a few monsters on Destruction who will be immune to both fire and poison (for e.g. Maghda in Act 4). Such monsters can be killed by using the Ice Whirl Oskill found in our Spellgrip weapon, or any other cold/lightning/magic spell we have access to.

We will get Monster Tokens by killing veteran monsters (Clawstorm Terror, Fairy Witch, Glowing Blob, Landmass and Bane Hunter) in Terror and Destruction. We will cube our class charm with 1 of each token to get additional bonuses.

While we are advancing through Destruction, we will be completing certain basic Uberquests. We will then be completing the Black Road challenge in Terror Difficulty. Finally, we will be completing the end game ubers.

Speed Breakpoints

The game renders all character animations (walk/run, attack, hit recovery, block) in frames per second. We need to acquire stats which increase our IAS, FHR and FBR so as to reach certain breakpoint levels, which will reduce the number of frames for each animation. The breakpoints we should be targeting with our claw setup are as follows:

    IAS: 78 for 5 frames/sec
    FHR: 86 for 4 frames/sec
    FBR: 86 for 5 frames/sec


Image

BASIC UBERQUESTS



1. Horror under Tristram
► Show Spoiler


2. Binding of Baal
► Show Spoiler


3. Death Projector
► Show Spoiler


4. Creature of Flame
► Show Spoiler


5. Assault on Mount Arreat
► Show Spoiler


6. Island of the Sunless Sea
► Show Spoiler


7. Khalimgrad
► Show Spoiler


8. Infernal Machine
► Show Spoiler


9. Torajan Jungles
► Show Spoiler


10. Legacy of Blood
► Show Spoiler


11. Akarat
► Show Spoiler


12. Jitan
► Show Spoiler


13. Lord of Sin
► Show Spoiler


Now that we have our set of basic charms, we will head to Terror, where we will complete the Black Road Challenge.


BLACK ROAD CHALLENGE


We will start a game on Terror difficulty in order to complete this challenge. The challenge has 5 trials. We will do them in the order below:

1. Trial of Fear
Location: Act 1 -> Tristram -> The Butcher's Lair
We have to kill the Butcher and cube our charm within a few seconds after killing it. Strategy is same as Destruction.

2. Trial of Greed
Hopefully we would have enough gold by from the Island of Sunless Sea uber. We have to keep 666,666 gold in our inventory and cube our class charm. If there is not enough gold, we can farm and sell 2-3 sacred armors in Act 5.

3. Trial of Contrition
Location: Act 5 -> Arreat Summit (kill Talic, then use Dark Portal)
We have to kill King Koth and cube our charm within a few seconds after killing it. Strategy is same as Destruction.

4. Trial of Knowledge
Location: Act 2 -> Stony Tomb -> Fauztineville
Image
This trial is the very reason we completed our basic ubers first before starting with the Black Road Challenge. We have to retrieve 5 brains from Fauztineville. This area is filled with tough monsters which have different immunities to different elements. Thankfully no monster is immune to both fire and poison, so we don't have to worry. Our character will be strong enough with the basic charms to have great killspeed as well as survivability. We might still have to use blink here sometimes to stun enemies before will kill them. Cube the 5 brains with the class charm to complete this trial.

5. Trial of Blood
Location: Act 2 -> Halls of Pain -> Island of Skatara -> Tran Athula
We have already done Tran Athula on Hatred difficulty. Terror also won't be much of a problem for us. Skeleton reanimates will come in quite handy here. We have to lure the lightening priestess to the cold one (or vice versa) and kill them both almost at the exact time, then cube our class charm. Because of our high killspeed one of the priestesses may die when being lured, and we will need to remake the game. To prevent this form happening, we may have to turn off Beacon and QOB before approaching the priestesses.

After all trials are complete, cube the class charm with 2 Arcane Crystals to complete the challenge and get access to Vampiric Icon, along with 150 life and mana each.


Image

HARD UBERQUESTS


We will now complete whatever remaining ubers on Destruction.

14. Rathma Square
► Show Spoiler


15. Kurast 3000 BA
► Show Spoiler


16. Lord of Lies
► Show Spoiler


17. Judgment Day
► Show Spoiler


18. Quov Tsin
► Show Spoiler


19. Cathedral of Light
► Show Spoiler


20. Terul
► Show Spoiler


21. Toraja
► Show Spoiler


22. Destruction Baal
► Show Spoiler


23. Bull Prince Rodeo
► Show Spoiler


24. Triune
► Show Spoiler


25. Duncraig
► Show Spoiler


26. Archbishop Lazarus
► Show Spoiler


27. Ureh
► Show Spoiler


28. Viz-jun
► Show Spoiler


29. Tran Athula
► Show Spoiler


30. Xazax
► Show Spoiler


Remaining Ubers
► Show Spoiler



VIDEOS





CONCLUSION

The melee Assassin is one of the strongest and most agile characters in the same. Sadly, the build seems to have lost its popularity of late. Because of the buffs given to TFS in patch 1.3, I decided to give the build a try. This is my first Median XL guide, so any kind of constructive feedback on bettering this guide will be much appreciated.

Finally, a round of thanks to ChuckNoris for his TFS miniguide which I used as base for making this; Somnus for consolidating the uberquest maps for easy access; and to Marco, SuchBalance, Rishab, Whist and the entire team for making this great mod. Cheers!
Edited by FallenAngel 5 years.
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I think you forgot to mention destruction fauzinville in harder uber section.

As for the build, I was experimenting with it quite a bit this season. I think key to lategame success is to go block route and try to minmax it so you still get decent enough damage. Mana problem can be solved with proper mana on attack setup.
Twin fang got buffed quite a bit, despite already being good, because it isn't very popular. So to get good damage you really don't need go full energy to deal enough damage with it. No energy costs us damage via lack of EF bonus as well, which is important to note.
I think with proper endgame gear and all charms you can get block without filling every socket with dex.
Then there is qustion what spell damage type to focus on, with limited resources, if you can't cap pierce on both poison and fire spell.
Difference between those two is mainly, that fire spell can put enemies in hit recovery, while poison no matter how strong, can't. Poison also doesn't benifit that much from spamming (tries to roll high dps from bracket but doesn't stack).
There is definitely room for minmaxing this for lategame. Block pretty much quadruples ehp against physical damage.
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FallenAngel wrote:Finally, a round of thanks to ChuckNorris for his TFS miniguide which I used as base for making this
it's looking good overall , but there are some things to be mentioned :

- TFS benefits from energy and dexterity to gain extra damage, so wasting a lot of STR in early game is not something to go for . TU's that require above 200 str to wear are gimping the build as you could use those points somewhere else with more benefits - energy grants more mana and more spell damage... so...(the TU helms ,boots and armor require close to 400 ... ) , therefore in order to have the most efficiency out of it the helm and boots before honorifics must be either rares or cheap rw's created in leather armors for low stats required to wear . the Queen of glass also needs -%requirements jewels in order to be equiped without much str investment .

- lc1 can be done at level 50 , no need to be 49 or lower , the challenge does not need that . you gain no xp in hatred TA so you can go at level 50 with no danger of overleveling.

my only 2 cents for now , as i haven't played the TFS build in the new 1.3 patch , but for sure the updates to mid/end game Lanaya will come in June

my 1.2 feedback about it viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18769&p=170730&hilit=tfs#p170730 . besides the TFS damage boots and less mana cost in 1.3 , nothing looks different since then unfortunately ...

good luck !
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cowking
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FallenAngel wrote:Finally, a round of thanks to ChuckNorris for his TFS miniguide which I used as base for making this


It shows.
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HechtHeftig
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LOA and LOM are triggered simply on targeting the monsters in melee, and not necessarily hitting them. This will ensure that we will not run out of mana, and are leeching life continuously.


This is simply wrong. (dunno what LOM is, but I assume you meant MOA since you mentioned it in the sentence before) You have to hit the enemy in order to gain Life/mana on attack. You will notice this especially against actbosses in destruction, since they have avoid. You don't hit = you oom.

By the way: Have you tried using a honorific claw for terror? It's really not that expensive and since you said your build struggles in terror before level 90, you could give it a try. Cubing it with MOA, LOA and AR makes sure you survive everywhere in terror (except maybe act 5).
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Crash
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Would be nice to see a few videos if you're able. Curious in how it actually plays versus reading about it.
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aerial wrote:There is definitely room for minmaxing this for lategame. Block pretty much quadruples ehp against physical damage.

Thanks. Will give it a try using different gear combinations.

ChuckNoRis wrote:the Queen of glass also needs -%requirements jewels in order to be equiped without much str investment .

Agreed. I'll mention it when on the next edit.

HechtHeftig wrote:This is simply wrong. (dunno what LOM is, but I assume you meant MOA since you mentioned it in the sentence before) You have to hit the enemy in order to gain Life/mana on attack. You will notice this especially against actbosses in destruction, since they have avoid. You don't hit = you oom.

Thanks for pointing this out. I got confused between Life on Striking and Life on Attack. The former works for melee as well as missile attacks, but the later works only for melee. Both require the target to be hit though.
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aerial
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Skill definitely has damage, anyone who has caster sin, for example limpet, can just respec and with full ene setup, even with about 200%ish fire/poison (so gear without proper spell damage) and no pierce other than from charms, you gonna get very good damage output. IIRC I had about 17k blossom and 30k/s poison, and that alone can steamroll through jungle for example. That is with -10 pierce from charms..

Fire damage stun, plus fact that melee mobs just can't get us because they die, makes it work. Of course if you run into any area with lot of ranged enemies, with such setup (no block, i used 0 defense passive as well, so just dodge), you gonna get wrecked instantly. But with block I think it might be viable.

As it was mentioned before, you do need to hit to get mana on hit, you can notice that while leveling other classes, how from infinite mana with some moa MO on gear, once you get to act boss with high dodge, you suddently start to lose mana rapidly, because so many of your swings misses.
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aerial wrote:Skill definitely has damage, anyone who has caster sin, for example limpet, can just respec and with full ene setup, even with about 200%ish fire/poison (so gear without proper spell damage) and no pierce other than from charms, you gonna get very good damage output. IIRC I had about 17k blossom and 30k/s poison, and that alone can steamroll through jungle for example. That is with -10 pierce from charms..

Fire damage stun, plus fact that melee mobs just can't get us because they die, makes it work. Of course if you run into any area with lot of ranged enemies, with such setup (no block, i used 0 defense passive as well, so just dodge), you gonna get wrecked instantly. But with block I think it might be viable.


Well, I tried it out with Block. I actually played it from the very start without investing even a single point into energy.

Of course you can manage mana/life with a honorific claw. And I had enough FHR and FBR to reduce my block rate and hit recovery by 2 (or 3) frames (dunno exactly anymore. I have no access to my data until friday) And had about 48% block.

Ubers in general weren't a problem. But farming was. Seriously. TA didn't work at all. Duncraig didn't work either because I only had 7 k fire dmg and 15 k poison damage, so I didn't have enough killspeed. All I was left to do was either Nilathak in Dest (usually 1-2 deaths if lucky. 10+ deaths if unlucky) or Nilathak in Terror (usually 0-1 deaths at most), but farming Nilathak 500 times? No thanks. The only place in destruction I could actually farm was K3K and Torajan Jungles. But Torajan Jungles was too slow and K3K was too unsteady for me.

I think I made the mistake of doing the same thing I always do - focusing on defense and block instead of damage and killspeed.
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Have you considered taking Tiefling Form? Seems like a good idea to get +dex +energy factor and HP. And i don't believe sin has that much defense to begin with anyway.

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