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Help fellow gamers to defeat Diablo and his brothers. Send your gaming strategies to the webmistress, and we'll post them here.
General Strategies
Amazon Strategies | Assassin Strategies Barbarian Strategies Druid Strategies Necromancer Strategies Paladin Strategies Sorceress Strategies
| Assassin Strategies I've used my assassin for a long time and my strategy is for LOD 1.09 dual weilding assassins: First I'll start with skills. if your going to dual weild don't worry about traps. Put 20 into tiger strike (14X dmg. at lvl. 3 charge when maxed) and 1 into every other charge up. As for finishing moves, I prefer dragon claw because it is specifically for dual weilders. 20 into claw mastery is a must for any assasin. Put about 10 into burst of speed and 5-10 into weapon block. Put points into shadow mastery(your shadow is excellent in diverting attention and contolling crowds of monsters). For equipment, natalya's set is a must! 15% dual leech, 50 to resists, +3 skills, and other good mods. For your other claw I suggest bartucs. As for stats put only enough points in strength for equipment! Dexterity will bring up your attack power just as well as strength, so dump your stats into it. Get a good amount of life, but don't over-do it(I rely on charms for life). NO ENERGY, unless you really want to use traps. Matriarch NinjaGuy, lvl. 82 Back to Top | OK, i got here an assassin lvl 34, my strategy consist in a dual hot-key combo in phoenix strike + cobra strike at primary weapon, and the second button to dragon claw and dragon tail. its very powerful three hits of phoenix and a tail kick, but got a problem... consume HUGE MANA!, so i recommend for avoiding "out of mana situations" toggle cobra + dragon claws, its less mana consuming. For special bosses be patient and summon a shadow master, first use burst of speed, then hit three times with phoenix, and switch it to tiger strike/cobra trike, hit it three times more, and the kill him with dragon tail!!!, its very powerful combination. It the fool has vidala boots (getting trouble on neighborhood? heehh), use dragon flight instead. It worked very well for a li`l fight against a lvl 31 druid (and all his zoo), lvl 33 pally, lvl 32 sorceress and, at last, a necromancer with lvl 46!! (my assassin have lvl 34 at the moment!), so if you train this well, you�ll never be in town looking for potions, because you will beat�em before you use you belt at all, thats all. BlasterMaX, lvl 34 assassin so far Back to Top | I have played my single player Assassin to level 46 so far, and am doing quite well. The only reason I'm posting this is that I seem to have taken a different tack to most people already posted: I have used a non-traps Assassin. I started out investing points in Claw Mastery, Tiger Strike (of course!), Dragon Claw (with high damage on both hands and charges working on both sides, you can rip any one opponent to pieces), Cobra Strike, Fade, Burst of Speed, and Weapon Block. Later, I moved on to Shadow Master and Phoenix Strike. The benefits of these skills are as follows: Claw Mastery is pretty obvious, although the benefits don't seem great. Imagine, though, what your damage would be at level 40 without your 8 points in Mastery. Increase it as you have spare points. Tiger Strike powers up your damage amazingly and, when combined with Cobra Strike, will leech enough mana and life to fully heal you (often). The Dragon Claw augments these two, and you get a better chance of hitting (+AR through charges and finishing move, two attacks). These skills function well even at low levels, and can be increased later, if you feel they merit it. Fade needs more points to be effective against elemental damage as well as curses, but the huge res plus is worth it. Burst of Speed lets you accumulate charges and replenish life (with Cobra Strike) at high speed even at just level 3, and should be used as standard (unless facing cursed or lightning/aura enchanted bosses or in an area with lots of magic throwers, such as the Chaos Sanctuary, where Fade should be substituted). Weapon Block gives you the defensive edge you need, and you should have at least 5 points here (they start returning less on a point after the 5th). That may not sound like much, but it translates into a 42% base chance of blocking, which coupled with high dex as a melee fighter will afford a good block. Later, Phoenix Strike's freeze capabilities (again, even at low level) are instrumental when dealing with unleechable, resurrectable enemies (e.g. Nightmare skeletons in Act II). Finally, the Shadow Master (together with your preferably long range Merc) rounds off your party by adding to it with Mind Blast and dealing respectable damage with her claws (roughly 160 with one non enhanced hit at level 6, as my test showed). Shadow Master is the one skill where you should really sink points, as her increased life, resistance and damage are well worth it. Venom may sound nice, but it can't be used in conjunction with Burst of Speed or Fade, so I advise against it. Dragon Flight is worth investing one point in, for the convenience of teleport. Dragon Tail is an alternative to Dragon Claw, for its radius damage, but recieves no bonus from Claw Mastery, attacks just once and may not do as much damage. Your choice. The various charge up skills not covered above all do elemental damage, which is pretty much offset by the resistance of monsters later on. Maybe you want to put points in one or the other; I couldn't recommend it, as it will take lots of points to get good damage, and those could be spent elsewhere. Psychic Hammer, Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast are not very important, as they either have no really powerful effect or will be taken care of by the Shadow Master. In closing, I know that this plan involves a lot of skills to spread points on, but consider that many of them work well enough with only 3 - 4 points invested and that the combinations they afford are powerful enough to make it worth your while. Opinions welcome. Sal-inis, level 20 Assassin on bnet, 46 single player Back to Top | | Short and sweet: Plan ahead. BoSpeed: 5 pts, more is a waste Phoenix Strike: Max, you'll have to deal w/ Physical Immunes later, and having 3 types of elemental damage in one attack is invaluable. Tiger Strike: If pure melee, max w/ max Dragon Tail for enhanced kick damage, fire damage and knockback through NM, will replace w/ PS in hell. Traps: 1 pt in Death Sentry, a few points in LS for stunlocking monsters and fighting across channels. Finishers: Dragon Claw is viable if dual-clawing, but the only one I use consistently is Dragon Flight (1 pt) to get from Point A to Point B and/or out of packs. Mind Blast: a must, but only a point or two, as conversion rate has diminishing returns. Shadow Warrior: 1 pt, as pre-req Shadow Master: 5-10 until hell, then more if you have it. Great meat-shield, useful at all levels after 30. Claw Mastery: If melee-based, 10-Max, esp. if using normal attack to release charges. Cobra strike: 1-2 pts., let +skills take it higher Note: If melee-based, you will be doing most of your damages in later difficulties w/ charges, not weapons (though dmg rating doesn't hurt). Plan your skills accordingly, esp. taking into account Immunities and how you'll deal w/ them. | |||||||
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I have been playing my assasin since it came out, I have found that you have to max out two traps, Wake of Fire, and Death Sentry. Put points in all martial arts, and alot of points in burst of speed, claw mastery, and block. Get your Shadow master and hot key it so when she dies you can pop her back out, she will take the attention from you. Your best friend isn't a skill, or a weapon, but a act 3 merc that freezes creatures, I am level 72 and he is level 72 also. He freezes stuff, and I light it up. I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on Bar-tuks claws, and a set of rare claws that add +2 skills with monstrous mods. You need to look for these claws. Good armor, plus to skills on rings, amulet, belts,etc. are the way you stand a chance in the sorc's world. My assasin is just a champion, but she is a accomplished sorc destroyer. If you can get somethig to give you teleport, do it. Charge up on creatures in the area, realease with Dragon Flight, it is very effective. Look for me on-line, if I can help you with equipment, I will, anything to take out the sorc's. Whisper Dropkickmurphy. I am always on. I have many lackeys who further the cause of takening sorc's off their pedestal. | |||||||||||||
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I'm now in act 2 of Nightmare, and I have had no problems with the assassin (haven't died once). My strategy is a bit like the necro (stand back, set traps, and let your hirelings fight). On lower levels, invest highly in 'Burst of Speed' and 'Wake of Fire' (You will definitely need speed against Duriel). As soon as you can get it, invest a couple of points in 'Mind Blast'. This will either turn some enemies to your control, or it will stun them long enough for you to get in some good shots (using burst of speed - have it running constantly). When you can get it, invest in 'Lightning Sentry' and 'Shadow Warrior': then let your shadow do most of the fighting while you stand back casting 'Mind Blast' and laying lightning traps. Keep your amazon hireling from act 1 through act 2 (mercs in act 2 are worthless), but when you get to act 3 - trade her for a warrior mage and keep him throughout the rest of the game (he casts glacial spikes which are invaluable in a crowd). Keep them well armed - it's worth it. On higher levels, get 'Shadow Master' (much more effective) and 'Death Sentry' (lots of points on this one!!!). Lay down heavy death sentry traps in act 4 (the corpse explosion goes a long way) as well as in your fight with Baal. Those tentacles don't last long with your shadow and your act 3 merc. This will let you concentrate on Baal(s). I used some points on 'Phoenix Strike' to take out Baal. Lastly, I have opted for the single claw weapon, and have adopted a socketed kite shield with the runes from act 5 (Ral-Ort-Tal). This is what I have done and it is still proving a great solution. Of course... Duriel awaits. Kel Ko Che | |||||||||||||
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I finished normal with assassin clvl39. First to say that I'm primarily using traps. It was almost too easy to level up. The only thing that was a bit difficult was of course Diablo. He didn't kill me (lucky me) but I had to recast my shadow master about 10 times, always putting traps around him, watching Diablo fry and once I had to go back to town. Baal is just a joke. Shadow master killed all his 5 waves of minions (of course with my traps). For Baal it took me 2 (two) mana potion and he was not even close to kill me. He was just standing there burning on my wake of inferno. Then I went to secret level. That was fun. I filled my belt with mana potions, went through portal and just mind blasted them. It was so much fun to see how cows killed their own king. Right now I'm on nightmare with 1,050,000 gold in stash and 200,000 extra (for gambling). Difference between normal and nightmare is that now I'm leveling now really slow. Half of the first act done and not even one level up. I have a rune helm,rune shield,rune armor, really good rare cestus (thanks Diablo),Cow King boots (set item),nagel ring and a manald heal ring. Do NOT forget fade. Even now in nightmare mine lightning and poison resistance is maxed,cold is 65% and fire 50%. Advice is to play assassin, have fun, get a lot of money and gamble. Who knows? Bllizard sad that in patch 1.09 WILL be possible to gamble for set and unic items. assassin lvl40 | |||||||||||||
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my advice to play assassin is to use traps. Main reason is that i hate to die and then have to recover my corpse. It's hard till you get to lvl24 but after that it's soooo cool. I ignored martial arts and put my points into traps and shadow disciplines. Most of the time I'm using a bow (3 socket with emeralds,1 perfect and 2 normal). Because of the bug with inserting emeralds i'm dealing 211 poison damage over 2 sec and i have 4 charms with poison damage so my final damage is 950-979 over 3 sec. Everything dies with 1 or 2 hits. Now on traps. Main trap is wake of inferno and second lightning sentry. For now (lvl 30) wake is on 8 and sentry on 7. If you find anything to give you more mana or regenerate use it. There are runes and sapphires, choose what you want. In act IV keep fade on ALL THE TIME. Each item i have gives me about 20-30% resistance for one element and with fade everything is maxed. Everything before Diablo was easy (Duriel was a problem but not a big one). Oblivion Knights didn't even see me. Just cast traps around them,be half a screen away, shoot arrows and cast more traps. Your shadow master is there to take hits. All 3 super unic ones before Diablo i killed with mana potions (no full rejuv). Diablo is a different story. My mercenary died 3 times and my shadow master about 10 but he didn't kill me. When you hear his voice go in a corner and than star walking VERY SLOWLY toward him casting traps. Always cast one and wait a sec or two to see will it trap start attacking. If it does cast another 4 (5 is max) if doesn't go closer and do it again. He is really fast and his fire nova will kill your shadow but he is really stupid to go after you. He'll case your shadow and mercenary and you should place traps around them. I didn't want to risk anything so i just used traps and shadow running around a LOT. If it gets dangerous go where is ONE SEAL. You can cast portal there without problems. Shadow warrior or master? Warrior dies very quick and use what you're using (traps). Master use everything (mind blast a lot), has more life,with every lvl gets more resistance and deals more damge. Mine killed 5 scarabs without dying. assassin lvl 30 | |||||||||||||
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level 62 assassin .... just began in HELL mode. well, assassin can truly be one of the best characters in the game, since i've basically had no problem getting all the way from ACT I normal to ACT 5 nightmare, up to the point where i had to face the 3 ancients. here's my suggestions... -- i basically didn't bother investing points in any charge up skills other than the good old TIGER STRIKE... yes, max it out and combine it with several points in DRAGON TAIL (max this out if you can, too), then you can easily produce damages in the range of 1500 to 1800 with an AREA effect when you release the charge!! setting these two as your default enables you to kill even in ACT V NIGHTMARE up to 8 monsters in one single kick (provided they all swarm over you). get claw mastery as high as you can, too... though they don't help very much right away, they are passive skills and will build up to prove its worth. -- i would not recommend putting points in DRAGON FLIGHT because the chance to miss is too high. good damage there, yes, but if your target moves around a lot, then you're not likely to get it. -- BURST OF SPEED is a must. no question there... put 4 or 5 points there and you can sit back for a while... until you've maxed out those skills above. -- i didn't bother with phoenix strike, lighting strike and what not because specialization is very important -- this may sound odd... but get a couple points in MIND BLAST. it's not the damage you look for, obviously, but the effect to confuse a group of enemies and get them to kill each other. this is especially useful in ACT 4, where map is small and you get tons of monsters -- and don't listen to those who says traps don't work... trust me when you get to HELL mode, you'd rely on it A LOT.... mostly because your resistance is lowered 80 points below as in NORMAL mode... so it's pretty hard to get physical up close with unique monsters that are aura/lightening/cold enchanted.... i concentrate so much in lightening but it's still not enough in HELL, only 22% resistance. the rest are now in the negative zones... a recommendation is to try to get 3 perfect diamond and put them in a 3-socket shield.. the combined effect should get you about 60% resistance to all. -- invest only in WAKE OF FIRE (or something, the fire blast) and DEATH SENTRY. wake of fire is useful for slow moving enemies... while death sentry is useful in a CROWD.. if there are particular target you're going after, simply place death sentries in their path where corpses are lying around, and wait for the explosion! -- SHADOW MASTER is also useful, though not very much in terms of producing damanges in a battle, but they are very good decoys and deserve about 3 to 4 skill points there. -- for resistance reason, my weapon combination is claw + shield. double claw is good until you get into nightmare, where you should really start thinking about ways to increase your overall resistance. in nightmare ACT 5, you can easily buy shieds that have resistance to all; they range from 5% to 30%(highest i've seen). good thing is, they don't cost that much either. because of this, i would not recommend investing points in dual claw blocking if you're thinking about resistance, since shields can take care of blocking for you. ok, these are skills in a nutshell... --------------- how about monsters? -- the hardest boss over all 5 acts easily goes to DIABLO himself.... BAAL sucks, actually. all you have to do is rush up to him and get your TIGER STRIKE on him quickly. speaking of acting quickly, remember to collect any jewels and runes that can increase attack speed... they are very very good for putting them in socketed weapons. also think about getting gauntlets/bracers that increase attack speed as well. for assassin to survive in D2EX, you need SPEED anywhere you can get it. this is what i have so far -- bracers/gauntlets - 20% increase attack speed helmets -- 30% increase run/walk speed boots -- 40% increase run/walk speed weapon -- 20% increase attack speed if you combine the above with your BURST OF SPEED, you're looking at running faster than the quickest BARB and attacking faster than PALADIN's "zeal" skill. -- watch our for the 3 ancients in NIGHTMARE mode... they can be very very hard to kill... provided you might die a few times. definitely get your hireling (barb is the best) and your shadow master with you when you go in to take the challenge. be patient when you get there... make sure you get shit loads of full rejuvs (i'd recommend leaving extras on the ground so you don't have to open up your inventory when you need quick refills. but do the refills when you have at least one bottle on your belt! otherwise these extra bottles will go right back into your inventory. remember, work on these ancients ONE AT A TIME.... if you encounter ancients that are just crazy on auras/elemental chanted... cheat by save and exit and come back to this level again. they might be equipped with different, but easier, characteristics that are easier to deal with. -- how about HELL? well for starters, it feels like HELL already.... it's mainly due to the resistance level... i'm working on getting the perfect diamond on 3-socketed shiled so they'd give me about 60% of resistance to all right there... CHAMPION DEATHANGEL (lvl 62 assassin) | |||||||||||||
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The question: Claw/Shield vs. Claw/Claw. My answer: Claw/Shield. I've started a second assassin to test the attack speed, et al. of a claw/shield assassin as compared to my 53rd lvl dual-claw assassin. This was particularly important to me, as in Act VI NM, dual-wielding, I had problems getting resists and the claw-block just doesn't seem nearly as reliable as shield blocking, even with close to 10 pts in it. Here's the scenario: Both my set ups are Martial Artists, they love using speed and high AR to go toe-to-toe with anyone and everyone in the game (except LEBs beyond normal difficulty, they're not suicidal). The first run through I posted (dual-wielding) I was lvl 31 when I beat Diablo in Act IV, and I must've used something like 18 full rejuvenation potions. Second time through, claw/shield, I waited only until lvl 28 so I could wear Sander's Taboo (20% IAS, +40 life, 36 Def, 9-12 poison/2sec Heavy Gloves, +50 Def for having Sander's Riptrap also). I used 6 full rejuvenation potions, and never did more than dodge some of his lightning. I haven't noticed much (if any) decrease in my attack speed from one claw to two, and the added resists and better blocking of a shield more than outweigh the possibility of +skills on a second claw at higher levels. Plus, w/ lvl 6 burst of speed, +40% faster wlk/run from Sander's Riptrap and +20% IAS from Sander's Taboo, I (almost literally) fly across the screen. I've ruined myself for playing other classes, as just getting from point A to point B will seem to take FOREVER with anyone else. -Kat, Lvl 30 Assassin -Allaera ni Trien, Lvl 53 Assassin | |||||||||||||
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One of the best combinations in the game is Tiger Strike and Dragon's Tail. Dragon's Tail takes a percentage of the physical damage you do, and applies it as fire damage in a radius. Tiger Strike raises your physical damage up incredibly quickly (level 1 gives a max of +300% on three charges!) which means a huge amount of bonus fire damage (210% of your maximum). I wish I could say that this is an "uber" combo, but I haven't taken the Assassin far enough yet. However, a warning: it seems that a physically immune monster takes 0 damage from your attack (of course, but wait...), and this means that the bonus damage is also set to 0. No physical damage done means no fire damage done. Of course, it suggests that Amplify Damage will double the fire damage bonus.... | |||||||||||||
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I just finished normal world with my level 36 assassin. I think my assassin is at her best, because I still have 33 skill points and 64 character points unused :). Beside, I haven't imbue, socket or personal any of my weapons yet. I only used one skill point in Dragon Talon and couples skill points in Claw Mastery. I don't really know what skills should I pump up now, since I haven't been defeated yet. Anyway, email me if you have any suggestions. [email protected] | |||||||||||||
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This is a strategy for Assassins against Diablo (Normal or Nightmare difficulties). For this you will need Wake of Inferno/Death Sentry, so you won't die (I tried hand-to-hand and died after bringing his health down just a little, but do what works best for you), and Burst of Speed. After he says, "Not even death can save you from me," activate him (get him to move towards you), then go by the edge where the 2 walls meet (to the right or above the big circle on your minimap), and he can't get you FOR A MINUTE OR SO. Cast the traps and let him fry, but when he comes around the edge, watch out. He usually will cast his Red Lightning, so lure him back | |||||||||||||
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I'm about a third of the way through Act V in LoD, and my assassin is lvl 32 now, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on her skills and equipment choices. For reference, I opted for a dual claw-wielding assassin, instead of single claw and a shield. Skills: There are three trees to the assassin skills--traps, martial arts, and shadow disciplines. Thus far I found traps mostly useful in Acts I-III, and playing a lesser role in Acts IV-V, though you should be sure to keep mana potions around as there are times when you can stand across a gap and throw trap after trap across against non-range monsters to make your life a lot easier later on in a map. Martial arts is a tree where you want a little bit of everything through Normal difficulty, but not a lot of any one thing. I have one point in everything except the last two finishing moves, dragon tail and dragon flight. Dragon talon only because its a pre-req for dragon claw--the finishing move that lets you hit with both claws (after patch 1.08), which is my standard attack to release charge-ups. The very fast attack speed of the assassin's claws is HUGE when dealing with her martial arts attacks. Using a few items that increase attack speed and her Burst of Speed ability (we'll get to that), I can fully charge (3 charges of each) Cobra Strike (for the life/mana drain), Phoenix Strike (for the ice bolts, which freeze, not chill, almost everything they touch), and Tiger Strike (at lvl 1 it does +300% dmg) and release them in short order, sending out freezing bolts and healing myself every 4-10 seconds, depending on proximity of enemies, etc. Shadow Disciplines is the tree I will be investing the most in over the next 10-20 levels, as this branch contains Burst of Speed (an absolute must for a meleeing assassin), Shadow Warrior (only 1 point to get to Shadow Master, which is MUCH more useful), Claw Mastery (another must) and Weapon Block (a must for a dual claw-wielding assassin, to replace your shield). Claw Mastery and Weapon Block are passive skills, and well worth a few points invested at lower levels. Burst of Speed, even at level one, provides a very noticeable difference in your attack and movement rate, and I recommend using it every two minutes or so to keep it fresh. Three or four points is all I plan on putting in this; less really, as I have +assassin skills on a circlet. Put one point in the skills needed to get Shadow Warrior, and later Shadow Master, as the Master is your best friend from Lvl 30 on. The Shadow Master costs more up front, but after lvl 8 skill, costs less than a Warrior of the same skill level, and gets better bonuses. As well, the Master will often use abilities you don't think about much and/or may not have put any points in yet, casting fade to drop enemies' defense, or using Mind Blast (?) to temporarily give you a few more allies. That's just the basics on skills, of course, and your own playing style will dictate whether you invest more in other trees than I did. Equipment: For me, two claw-class weapons, as they naturally have a very fast attack speed, and with the increased durability after Patch 1.08, they last a fairly long time unless you're getting seriously punished and are blocking a lot (takes away from weapon durability as well). Mana-drain and/or mana-after-kill weapons or items are VERY important for an assassin. Each of the charge-up abilities uses 1 or more mana EACH STRIKE--4 for Phoenix Strike. The useful traps cost 10-20 each use (max of five out at any one time). So replacing used up mana is necessary. This is why I used Cobra Strike and Tiger Strike up to level 30 almost exclusively, as Tiger Strike increases the amount of damage you do, and hence the amount of life/mana you leech with Cobra Strike (300% at full charge). Fastest walk/run combined with Burst of Speed lets you almost fly around a screen. Great for hit-and-run tactics. The only other note on equipment, since selection will vary widely with the changes introduced in the expansion pack, is don't underestimate the value of the new runes, etc. Rune words aside (they're awesome, but disabled in single player until Patch 1.09), I'm currently using a 3-socket Superior Light Plate instead of a good set of rare armor I had been using because I had two jewels that gave me +3 (avg) to energy--for mana for my traps, etc.--and +25 or more to certain resistances, and a flawless ruby (hadn't made a perfect yet) for +31 to life. Later I hope to make use of some of the nice rune word combinations out there--Runica Database is a good source for them as they're discovered--but in the meantime I'm rolling over the initial stages of Act V (though Diablo was HARD, even at lvl 31). -Allaera Ni Trien, Level 32 Assassin | |||||||||||||
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