Matriarch/Patriarch/Guardian Archive Thread

Originally posted by sirpoopsalot on Dec 25, 2009:

lilMissMolotov - FireBlast / BladeFury matriarch

Sorry for the long writeup, but an original idea deserves a proper level of detail, in my opinion.

Introduction:
After a few cookie-cutters recently, it was time to go for something a little more original.

This character definitely succeeded that far, but I messed up in the planning phase. When I was looking at the skill calculator I misread it - it says FireBlast has a "range" of 3.3 yards, not a "radius" of 3.3 yards. As far as I could tell the difference is that instead of the big, beautiful explosion radius that hit entire packs that I was hoping for, "range" means anything targeted beyond that distance gets my grenades in a long, slow arc, while things targeted inside that distance get a straight/quick throw in the face.

Oh well, live & learn (i.e. learn to read :D).


lilMissMolotov
LCS

Skills:
20 (40) Fire Blast
1 (16) Blade Fury
20 Wake of Inferno
20 Wake of Fire
20 Shock Web
4+ Charged Bolt Sentry
1 (8) Fade
1 (8) Weapon Block
1 Cloak of Shadows
1 prereq's


Gear:
Witchhunters Scissors Quhab of Alacrity (+2 DS, +1 MB, +1 BF, socketed with 2x Resists/FHR jewels)
Cunning Scissors Quhab (+1 DS, socketed with 2x Resists/FHR jewels)
Enigma
Harlequin Crest (13 @resists / 8 dex jewel)
crafted amulet (+2 traps, 15 FCR, +19 @resists, stuff)
Clegaw's Pooncers
Gloom's Trap / Arachnid Mesh
Goreriders
Bul-Katho's Wedding Band (5%)
rare ring (20f/10/10/10 @resists, +100 AR, 10 FCR, 6% mana leech)

Switch:
eth Fleshripper (273 ED, +5 max damage)
Lance Guard (PTopaz)

Charms:
7x Entrapping skillers (+37 life, 50 poison damage, stuff)
Shimmering LC of Vita (7/34)
5x Steel SC of Balance/Sustenance
Ruby SC of Balance
Shimmering SC of Str

Merc, Heather, Cold Rogue
Faith
Fortitude
Garnet Circlet of the Locust

Item Readouts:
Sorry, it's not in order; you're going to have to search through the ATMA dump if you want to see something in particular.

Code:
1: Horadric Cube

2: Entrapping Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x67e80733
28% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

3: Entrapping Grand Charm of Anthrax
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x3da58071
+50 poison damage over 6 seconds
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

4: Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xef348c7d
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

5: Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xa459a166
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

6: Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x8bcd0dd5
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

7: Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 53
Fingerprint: 0xb1eea5a5
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

8: Shimmering Small Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0x63a10878
+2 to Strength
All Resistances +5

9: Flawless Skull
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: 3% Life stolen per hit, 3% Mana stolen per hit
Helms: Regenerate Mana 12%, Replenish Life +4
Armor: Regenerate Mana 12%, Replenish Life +4
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 16

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

10: Entrapping Grand Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 69
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xb029a590
+37 to Life
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

11: Shimmering Large Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xaec818fe
+34 to Life
All Resistances +7

12: Flawless Ruby
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: Adds 10-16 fire damage
Helms: +31 to Life
Armor: +31 to Life
Shields: Fire Resist +28%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

13: Ruby Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x46ab3f3d
Fire Resist +11%
5% Faster Hit Recovery

14: Steel Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x522d5964
+36 to Attack Rating
5% Faster Hit Recovery

15: Steel Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x7fe58822
+33 to Attack Rating
5% Faster Hit Recovery

16: Steel Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x263dfb4
+33 to Attack Rating
5% Faster Hit Recovery

17: Steel Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x494b8105
+12 to Life
+29 to Attack Rating

18: Steel Small Charm of Anthrax
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 49
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0x2e720b86
+34 to Attack Rating
+50 poison damage over 6 seconds

19: Flawless Skull
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: 3% Life stolen per hit, 3% Mana stolen per hit
Helms: Regenerate Mana 12%, Replenish Life +4
Armor: Regenerate Mana 12%, Replenish Life +4
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 16

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

20: Flawless Emerald
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: +59 poison damage over 6 seconds
Helms: +8 to Dexterity
Armor: +8 to Dexterity
Shields: Poison Resist +28%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

21: Flawless Emerald
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: +59 poison damage over 6 seconds
Helms: +8 to Dexterity
Armor: +8 to Dexterity
Shields: Poison Resist +28%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

22: Flawless Topaz
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: Adds 1-30 lightning damage
Helms: 20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: Lightning Resist +28%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

23: Flawless Amethyst
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: +100 to Attack Rating
Helms: +8 to Strength
Armor: +8 to Strength
Shields: +24 Defense

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

24: Flawless Sapphire
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: Adds 6-10 cold damage over 2 seconds
Helms: +31 to Mana
Armor: +31 to Mana
Shields: Cold Resist +28%

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

25: Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 130
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xf56c161f
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+10 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
All Resistances +13
50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+121 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+121 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Scintillating Jewel of Daring
Required Level: 28
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xf3c9ca5b
+8 to Dexterity
All Resistances +13

26: Corruption Clasp
Amulet
Required Level: 53
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 94
Fingerprint: 0xe42275b4
+13 to Mana
+1 to Maximum Damage
Regenerate Mana 10%
All Resistances +19
15% Faster Cast Rate
+2 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

27: Enigma
Light Plate
'JahIthBer'
Defense: 880
Durability: 60 of 60
Required Strength: 41
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xc0fb9fd0
+773 Defense
Damage Reduced by 8%
Increase Maximum Life 5%
+14 Life after each Kill
45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
+2 to All Skill Levels
+60 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
81% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Jah Rune
Inserted into a Light Plate

Increase Maximum Life 5%

Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Ith Rune
Inserted into a Light Plate

15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Ber Rune
Inserted into a Light Plate

Damage Reduced by 8%

Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

28: Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xa7a85a52
+50 to Maximum Stamina
5% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+40 to Life (Based on Character Level)

29: Dread Touch
Ring
Required Level: 74
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x3b0e8889
+100 to Attack Rating
Fire Resist +20%
Lightning Resist +10%
Cold Resist +10%
Poison Resist +10%
6% Mana stolen per hit
10% Faster Cast Rate

30: Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 155
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 82
Fingerprint: 0xb6f702d8
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+188% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

31: Cleglaw's Pincers
Chain Gloves
Defense: 8
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 25
Required Level: 4
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xfe6b3cba
Knockback
Slows Target by 25%

***Partial Set Item Bonuses***
+810 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)
***Partial Set Item Bonuses***


32: Gloom's Trap
Mesh Belt
Defense: 100
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x1ddf224f
+15 to Vitality
+146% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana 15%
5% Mana stolen per hit
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
-3 to Light Radius

33: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

34: Flawless Amethyst
Can be Inserted into Socketed Items

Weapons: +100 to Attack Rating
Helms: +8 to Strength
Armor: +8 to Strength
Shields: +24 Defense

Required Level: 15
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

35: Fleshripper
Fanged Knife
One-Hand Damage: 82 to 322
Durability: 18 of 19
Required Dexterity: 76
Required Strength: 32
Required Level: 68
Dagger Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x65a6f9a2
+273% Enhanced Damage
+5 to Maximum Damage
-50% Target Defense
Prevent Monster Heal
50% Chance of Open Wounds
25% Chance of Crushing Blow
33% Deadly Strike
Slows Target by 20%
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Ruby Jewel of Ire
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xb5710618
+37% Enhanced Damage
+5 to Maximum Damage

36: Lance Guard
Barbed Shield
Defense: 158
Chance to Block:  42%
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x968dae20
+50 to Life
+100% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +40%
Attacker Takes Damage of 47
30% Faster Hit Recovery
15% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Deadly Strike
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Perfect Topaz
Inserted into a Barbed Shield

Lightning Resist +40%

Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

37: Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 133
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 80
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x2b685926
+112% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
Slows Target by 10%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

38: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

39: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

40: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

41: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

42: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

43: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

44: Full Rejuvenation Potion
Heals 100% Life and Mana

45: Witch-hunter's Scissors Quhab of Alacrity
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 40
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 70
Required Strength: 70
Required Level: 42
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x70127de6
+3 to Life
Fire Resist +14%
Lightning Resist +18%
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
Requirements -15%
20% Increased Attack Speed
14% Faster Hit Recovery
+2 to Death Sentry (Assassin Only)
+1 to Mind Blast (Assassin Only)
+1 to Blade Fury (Assassin Only)
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Garnet Jewel of Truth
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x3dc06071
Fire Resist +14%
7% Faster Hit Recovery

Skull Eye
Jewel
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x35ebbab2
+3 to Life
Lightning Resist +18%
Requirements -15%
7% Faster Hit Recovery

46: Cunning Scissors Quhab
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 40
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 82
Required Strength: 82
Required Level: 45
Claw Class - Normal Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x4b525cf3
Fire Resist +12%
Lightning Resist +30%
14% Faster Hit Recovery
+1 to Death Sentry (Assassin Only)
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Ambergris Jewel of Truth
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 48
Fingerprint: 0xf6e55f0b
Lightning Resist +30%
7% Faster Hit Recovery

Garnet Jewel of Truth
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6729adf0
Fire Resist +12%
7% Faster Hit Recovery

Mercenary Items :

1: Fortitude
Archon Plate
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1536
Durability: 58 of 60
Required Strength: 103
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x6827259a
+200% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +29%
Lightning Resist +29%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +29%
Poison Resist +29%
Replenish Life +7
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+121 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

El Rune
Inserted into a Archon Plate

+15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius

Required Level: 11
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Sol Rune
Inserted into a Archon Plate

Damage Reduced by 7

Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Dol Rune
Inserted into a Archon Plate

Replenish Life +7

Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Lo Rune
Inserted into a Archon Plate

+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist

Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

2: Garnet Circlet of the Locust
Defense: 30
Durability: 35 of 35
Required Level: 35
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xbff4144c
Fire Resist +29%
5% Life stolen per hit
13% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
30% Increased Attack Speed
Socketed (2: 2 used)

Emerald Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x6c04c984
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
15% Increased Attack Speed

Emerald Jewel of Fervor
Required Level: 31
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x8322a438
6% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
15% Increased Attack Speed

3: Faith
Crusader Bow
'OhmJahLemEld'
Two-Hand Damage: 64 to 270
Required Dexterity: 121
Required Strength: 97
Required Level: 65
Bow Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x1f6b0f21
+330% Enhanced Damage
All Resistances +15
+120 fire damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Ignore Target Defense
300% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
+1 to All Skill Levels
Level 12 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
10% Reanimate As: Returned
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Ohm Rune
Inserted into a Crusader Bow

+50% Enhanced Damage

Required Level: 57
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Jah Rune
Inserted into a Crusader Bow

Ignore Target Defense

Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Lem Rune
Inserted into a Crusader Bow

75% Extra Gold from Monsters

Required Level: 43
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Eld Rune
Inserted into a Crusader Bow

75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead

Required Level: 11
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion


Finds:
Hellforge: Lem/Mal = pretty decent
Um rune (from a Flayed One, on /players1. Roughly 1:1million odds)
... that's about it.


Notes:
1. It worked! Although the going was a little slow, I'm convinced that with MindBlast and CloakOfShadows any assassin is viable as long as you can out-damage your opponents health regeneration. But Fireblast was still a capable-enough killer on /players1, and BladeFury was tolerable too (despite my equipment's primary emphasis on casting-traps boosts).

2. Look Ma, no tanks! Neither the assassin nor the rogue was designed with melee in mind. The only time I had tanks was when MindBlast would convert a monster or when the rogue's bow would reanimate a corpse. Which, in all honesty, was quite often (and always appreciated). :D

3. Speaking of the rogue, this is the first time I've tried the cold variety. I noticed her arrows travel a shorter distance than the fire rogues' a few times, but it wasn't enough to be a problem very often - and if it was a problem, I had teleport to help. 😉

4. Also speaking of the rogue, after I'd planned 99% of my gear, it became clear that there were 3 things I wanted more of on the build. The cold rogue with Faith solved all three rather nicely: :)
a) a backup element for the Fire & Physical Immunes that I couldn't damage well
b) more IAS for helping my trap-laying speed
c) more AR for helping my bladefury hit

5. She was played as a Fire Blast assassin from about level ~25 forwards. There were only four times where I allowed myself to use anything other than my 5 primary skills (Fire Blast, Blade Fury, MindBlast, Teleport, and Cloak of Shadows).
a) doing a few levelup runs in Normal to get to 42 before going to NM
b) doing a few levelup runs in Nightmare to get the last push to 65 (Enigma & Faith)
c) during corpse retrieval (more on this in a sec)
d) fighting the ancients in hell (ditto)

6. My initial plan was to get to level80 against Mausoleum runs, so I'd have Arachnid's Mesh for most of the journey through hell. But once I got to hell (just before level74) I started to get a little bored with the character, and the extra mana leech on GloomsTrap was appreciated anyways. I must've drank ~500 blue potions with this character, with almost half of them being drunk during the last ~8 areas of Act5 Hell after I'd switched to the Arachnid's Mesh.

The Arach.Mesh did have +1 skill (more damage) and some FCR to help my teleport speed though, which is why I planned on it from the start.

7. Teleport wasn't exactly necessary, but it was a nice compliment at certain times. Mostly it was good for bringing the rogue to the forefront (since her power was about twice as good as mine), or for getting a little more space after Mindblast had converted a foe into a tank for me.

8. It was hard to tell how big the radius of FireBlast's explosion is. Sometimes it would seem to hit monsters that were fairly spread out, while other times it seemed to miss them when they were pretty close together.


Living on the Edge:
A couple of 'events' felt pretty epic, so I'll relate them here.

I had surprisingly few deaths through the game. Only 2, actually. Once in Act2 Hell (Maggot Lair) to a CE/LE/Conviction Beetle (the bolts that came off of him every time he got hit really, really hurt). However, the other death was noteworthy.

Relying on teleport did burn me - when I'd died and couldn't teleport to where my corpse was and was left naked with a largely unexplored and uncleared map. When I got to the Glacial Trail in hell the map had a bunch of gaps, so I jumped over the gaps sticking to the edge. Here's the screenshot of the map after I'd died - my corpse was near the edge where the explored portion ends.

I had missed a few waypoints and at the rate she progressed (and consumed mana) a Save & Exit would've been pure pain (and cheesy). Plus the monster spawn (up to that point) had been very favourable (few FI's, and the ones that were FI were wimps, most things could be leeched with BladeFury, no real dangerous monster types, etc.), so I was reluctant to do it over again.

One other point to keep in consideration here is the build design. No tanking, no hard-points in Mindblast for crowd control, and weak attacks. So I was in a bit of a pickle when it came to my available resources for corpse retrieval. Basically it was my fire skills and my rogue and my ability to run like hell. Fireblast and the rogue weren't fast enough of killers to really be anything safe, which left 'run like hell' - but I knew there was no way I'd pull that off.

So instead, it was back to the drawing board. Enter Wake of Fire. Not extremely powerful, but ~3 traps together put out a decent amount of fire damage, and it's a 'passive' source of damage (meaning I could focus on safety). So I tried it.

It went pretty well until the Extra Fast pack of Abominable's managed to kill Heather. That left me only two options: try and tank them naked, or run like hell. Guess which one I chose ( link). They chased me through 1/2 of the area. Literally. That screenshot was taken when I was ~70% of the way 'home', and was probably the biggest gap I managed to make along the way (we had almost identical footspeed).

However, I did manage to get back up to the Crystaline Passage without getting killed, and after resurrecting Heather she was just enough of a tank the 2nd time that my WoF traps were able to take out the pack. Eventually we worked back and retrieved my corpse.

I can't ever remember being chased by a monster for 1/5th that distance before. It was nerve-wracking, but considering how an oversight in my build-planning almost completely screwed me (after all of the time I spent planning this build down to a 'T'), it was funny at the same time.


The other 'incident' was the battle against the Ancients.

The thrower was Extra Strong + Manaburn, the whirler was Fanat + ExtraFast, and the Leaper was Extra-strong + Holy Freeze. The lack of a 'cursed' mod or dual-immunities seemed pretty fortuitous at first, but if you look at those mods in combo, you can probably see some potential for getting stuck in between a rock and a hard place. I could've rerolled, but I'm stubborn and decided to give it a try.

Once the battle started it became apparent that fighting more than one at a time was a very bad idea. Especially with the Fanat. + ExtraFast + HolyFreeze aura and no one to tank for my side (and the potential to loose my main escape mechanism in teleport from one stray axe). So I managed to eventually separate out the thrower first (I don't know how we got away from the whirler, but we did). The thrower went down very simply with me hiding behind a pillar & lobbing FireBlast & feeding the merc potions, and with the the merc providing the tanking and most of the damage.

Next up to be separated was the whirler. He hurt quite a bit, but with Blade Fury (he's FI) and the merc, we were able to take him down without major incident (while drinking a lot of potions).

Finally was the leaper. The rogue & I managed to pluck away at him, but BladeFury and FireBlast were mostly useless, so the merc did the majority of the damage. We got him to about ~25% life when I disastrously hit the wrong potion row on the belt and fed my merc a mana potion instead of a rejuv. That was the end of Heather for that battle.

Now at this point I do not want to restart the battle, but my trap speed is now silly-slow with FireBlast (like ~30-frames-per-attack slow when under Holy Freeze). I tried pot-shotting from a distance, but that didn't work (his movement was too unpredictable to hit often, and I didn't have the mana to keep it up for long). I tried tanking long enough to get a few FB's in that way, but it also failed and I burned a few healing potions. Next attempt was BladeFury, but that also couldn't do near enough damage to finish him any time before the new year. And I was quickly running out of healing potions. :nervous:

I retreated to take inventory of my remaining options & resources. Basically it was ~12 blue potions, and 1 purple potion and almost all of my skillpoints tied into skills like Fireblast, Shockweb, Wake of Inferno and Wake of Fire... in other words, I wasn't exactly in a position of strength.

After consideration I decided to compromise my FireBlast/BladeFury ideals and lay down a few Wake of Fire traps (afterall, I did spend all of those points in the fire traps, so I should be allowed to use them when under duress). It took about half of my remaining blue potions, but by running around in circles and laying WoF traps eventually I managed to finish Korlic off (I think he just got tired of chasing me).


What would I change in the build?
- Without a doubt, a hard point should be spent in Mindblast. Switching to my claw-weapons to cast it when attacking with Blade Fury was tedious, the omission almost killed me in the Glacial Trail, and it was only good for one extra synergy point anyways. That decision was like spending $500,000 on a luxury car and being too cheap to buy tires for it. :doh:

- My desire to stick with my FireBlast & BladeFury skills almost exclusively was unnecessary. The fire traps do well enough (certainly not overpowered though), and they're far from cookie-cutter skills in their own right.

- Obviously Death Sentry could've been used, even as a one-point wonder. I wanted it as an option (hence the claws I chose), but it was never necessary. It would've sped things up considerably though.

- In reality, a tanking/Insight merc is a much better fit for the idea. You'd have to rethink a few things (backup attack for FI/PI monsters?), but a good place would be Treachery > Enigma (IAS for trap-laying speed) and more in the lightning skill synergies would make a lot more sense.

- In fact, a traditional trapper with FireBlast as the backup attack makes the most sense. But this way is sexier.


Overall:
I'm glad I did it, but I'm glad it's done too. :D

4k fire damage from FireBlast is a definitely lower than I'm used to for most other characters, but it's still adequate. And having tried Blade Fury twice (once fully charged up, this time as a one-pointer / minimal investment) it's definitely got some merit for opening up several build ideas.
 
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Originally posted by skiffcz on Oct 23, 2008:

Matriarch Tixi: Another Cookie Trapper

Well, if you want a short version - she is fun. All the way from moor to baal. She has no weak spots, and she can slice through any area in hell like knife through butter. Also incredibly cheap.

The build is fully synergized lightning trapper without shadows:
At lvl 85
Fire Blast - 20
Shock Web - 9 (all future points here)
Carged bolt Sentry - 20
Lightning Sentry - 20
Death Sentry - 20
Burst of Speed - 1
Fade - 1
Mind Blast - 1
Weapon Block - 1
Prereqs - 3



Final screenie (ilvl 99 green sabre, hm), stats and equip, merc and skills

Wearing sigons tri-combo, two MF rings (22 and 23, no second mods), 4Ptopaz gothic plate, 2Ptopaz +3traps circlet (no second mods), 2x plain cunning blade talons and 2x plain shadow talons/scissors for BoS prebuff. Well, not plain, but useless stuff for trapper like LL or +3 to min damage and such. The best piece is the ammy, you can see it on the screenie. Like I said, darn cheap.

Her weakest spot is moron. He had a period during which he built a serious hatred towards dark archers - they were spanking him badly. I have switched his prayer for defiance, tri-SOL'd Griswolds armor, but the real breaker item was Tals mask, which was donated to me by Sacred Mercenary through Zefru's hosted giveaway - once more, thank you guys, Im grateful grapefruit 👋 Also, defiance was great improvement over prayer - I guess holy freeze would be also nice, but I dont want to change acts because of great LK map. Btw, he is wearing the most kickass item IMO used on this char. Just look on the screenie "merc and skills". Yes, I want you to click on my bloody pics!

Her way up to the Mount arreat was mostly piece of cake. /p8 all Norm and NM, /p1-/p3 in Hell. Not that she could not take more, but it was too slow for my taste. Mostly because Death sentry nerfage on higher settings. Deaths? Oh, yes, laziness to drink juvs or just plain stupidity. She cant die played well, even if merc kicks the bucket - she can run pretty fast you know. Er .. and Hell ancients. LOT of full blueberries, lot of deaths, then one lucky spawn and it was over, but this was far worst fight she fought. Along with high council on p8 (I dont know what I was smoking back then, such a "smart" idea.)

Tips and tricks? Simple:
1, Dont use shadow warriors and such. Ever. Utter Waste (TM).
2, Pay more attention to your merc instead. It pays off big time. He is half of the success.
3. Dont bother with mods other than +skills and IAS. Even then, 30% IAS from sigons combined with BoS was more than enough. I have like +11 to traps without a single skiller, +30 IAS, and from lack of ideas, I have filled everything else with MF. Her gear was end-game in act 5 NM when I bought the claws. Before I went with spirit crystal sword and sigons shield (btw shes really sexy with these).
4, Use Death sentry more (MORE!) and run on p1. Carnage. You will love beetles. And cows. Anything which can make a pack of 10 or 20 around your merc. And count. One. First corpse. Two. Another two corpses. Bang Bang Bang. Everything dead, area clear. Three. Ahhh, its just so beautiful how those bugs pop. Cant get enough of it.
3, On tough fights, Mind blast them, convert them, completely turn the odds in your favour. Miracle.

Final thoughts. If you like casters, try her. If you are lazy, try her. If you dislike wasting skillpoints, try her. You have maybe noticed only 3 pts in prereqs. She will be completed on lvl 96, if you drop weapon block or fade, 94. They were worth a point, even though I have used fade in minimum number of situations - still, it was a big help. Also, I have noticed her to block some convicted gloam lightening and such, so no, it was not mistake to take it. On the other hand, she is not very good in mephing (or Im lame). Pits, pindle, baal, cows on the other hand are easy as pie.

Oh, talking about Baal ... I know, moat-tricking is cheap, but still ... an old trick revisited. Lay traps, wait till they do they job. Repeat as necessary.
 
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Originally posted by stephan on Feb 5, 2007:

Matriarch Yubari

Continuing my campaign of revenge for the eth shako, I made my trapsin Matriarch. It's my first Mat/Pat since I switched to SP and I think it's the first time I did all the quests by myself. Some details:

Name: Yubari
Class: Assassin (trapper)
Level: 81

Strength: 70 (75)
Dexterity: 50 (67)
Vitality: 305 (305)
Energy: 25 (55)

40 stat points remaining

Skills:

1 point in each of the shadow tree except Venom and Shadow Master
20 Fire Blast
20 Charged Bolt
20 Lightning Sentry
20 Death Sentry
1 Shock Web

3 skill points remaining

Gear

2 +3 trap blade talons
2 +3 shadow blade talons on switch
'Lore' runeword in circlet
'Smoke' Runeword in serpentskin
Tearhaunch greaves
Death's Hand
Death's Guard

and some rare jewelry:
Code:
Blood Knot
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0xdb4d3ccd
+11 to Energy
+108 to Attack Rating
+2 to Minimum Damage
Fire Resist +11%
Lightning Resist +11%
Cold Resist +39%
Poison Resist +11%
+1 to Light Radius

Ghoul Touch
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 63
Fingerprint: 0x25858952
+12 to Dexterity
+1 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +11%
Lightning Resist +19%
Cold Resist +11%
Poison Resist +11%

Skull Eye
Amulet
Required Level: 30
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0xabb90984
+7 to Mana
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

I think she got quite lucky in her finds. She got a Lum from NM Radament and another in Hell act3 Spider Forest. She also got a String of Ears from Hell Meph and an eth shako in the pits. The Arm of King Leoric was her best item find IMO. Her NM Hellforge was a Hel rune and Hell gave her a Pul.

I must say I prefer BoS over Fade. She had more than enough resists as it is, and in Hell Fire Blast is more than just a secondary skill (Act 2 and 3 were done mostly without LS, but with FB and DS). The increase in throwing speed was really nice. What I thought would be the biggest hurdle (Ancients) went actually pretty smooth. I figured I would just keep running around laying LS till Talic and Korlic (the non-LI immunes) went down and then I would see how to deal with Madawc. My merc, well, he died almost immediately. I wasn't sure how to keep him alive... I don't have any leech gear like a Tal Mask and these guys hit pretty hard. In such cases it is better to keep the potions for yourself. Anyway, when time came to deal with Madawc he got himself stuck behind a pillar, so all I had to do was throwing FBs next to the pillar, waiting for the splash damage to finish him. :cool:

Next project will probably will be Patting my skellymancer with his new wand, or perhaps a sorceress. I found a circlet with 20 fcr and +1 to all sorc skills, not even half bad.
 
Originally posted by Tanksaabas on Jul 10, 2008:

Matriarch Biatch the trapsin

Hi SPF people. Meet my third patriarch ever. Biatch the trapsin. The name is meh , but I'm not that good at names anyway. It doesn't matter anyways , eh?

This character is rather old , lke a year or so? I usually play with many characters at once because it gets boring when you only play with one character constantly. I usually have 3-4 characters who I quest with.

Otherwise finished her today with a ~2 hour session or so from Frozen Tundra wp up to Baal. Trapsins are quite strong , most of my resistances were in the minuses but I still didn't die once. Didn't have any major NDE's also. Probably the toughest battle was with the Ancients. First try - only one with lit immunity , ok. After a couple od minutes merc dies but I had one of them turned to a golden statue. So I fought on with my trusty shasow. Only that she (the shadow) wasn't in a big mood to fight and was killed with 2-3 hits. Talic had still 90% health and Madawc was ungrazed. Talic also had might aura so I decide to reroll. Next try - merc and shadow went poof in 2 seconds. Reroll - finally no curse , auras and only one lightning immune. But alas , merc died again but this time my sentry had almost but killed both Korlic and Talic so I decided to push on. They both died and only Madawc remained. But I was getting short on mana , I relied too much on my mercs Insight I belive (also had only one row of mana potions :whistling: ). So constantly recasting my shadow to take some heat off so I can throw my firebombs was out of the question. I did manage to get Madawc to only 75% health so I decided to play on. With so little mana I could only run away and throw a fire bomb when my mana regen reached to 7 mana or so (about 1 sec). So I just ran and every 2 or 3 second threw a bomb at him. 15 minutes later I saw the end on my sigths. And finally with a final throw he went poof.

WSK was easy with a couple of gloams in lvl 2 but it wasn't nothing hard. The minion waves went down quickly thanks to the awsome power of the death sentry. Though I had to park this guy. Baal was easy. And as always he dropped crap.

Matriarch Biatch
Level: 81
Experience: 769 917 831

Strenght: 65 (65)
Dexterity: 55 (73)
Vitality: 355 (355)
Energy: 25 (25)

Life: 1493
Mana: 225

Resistances: -28/25/-23/-24 :whistling:

Skills:
Lightning Sentry - 20 (32) 1-4126
Death Sentry - 20 (32) 1-2223
Fire Blast - 20 (32) 2086-2497
Charged Bolt Sentry - 17 (29) rest of the points go here

Shadow Master - 8 (12)

prereques and utility at 1 hardpoints

Gear is rather cheap:

Cunning circlet of the squid
Cunning amulet
Tricksters scissors katar
Witch hunters katar
Skin of Vipermagi
Bloodfist gloves
M'avinas belt
Natalyas boots
Raven frost and Manald Heal

Charms give health , mana , some res , +1 to traps and +1 to shadow disciplines.

Also on switch had wand with lower res charges but never used it , cause I had totally forgotten about it :badteeth:

Merc is lvl 81 holy freeze with insight cryptic axe , duriels shell and rockstopper sallet.

Otherwise not much in the findings department. Only a eth Stone Crusher Mallet and this.

Thanks for reading! See ya later (probably with my fishyzon or frenzier).
 
Originally posted by @TheNix on Jul 11, 2018:

1.14 – 6 of 7: Matriarch Earwing_O – Pure Trapper

Matriarch Earwig_O, the Trapper

Level: 84

St – 77 (84)
Dx – 55 (57)
Vt – 358 (360)
En – 25 (29)

HP 1464
Mana 556

Damage:

L. Sentry: 1 – 6222
Fire Blast: 3122 – 3698
D. Sentry: 1 – 25790 + CE


Resists: (after Fade)

Fire: 75
Cold: 75
Ltning: 75
Poison: 75

Skills:

Fire Blast: 20 (35)
Shock Web: 20 (35)
L. Sentry: 20 (35)
D. Sentry: 20 (35)
CB Sentry: 11 (26)
Fade: 1 (15 – after switch)
Weapon Block: 1 (9 – 49% Block)

BoS & C. Mastery 1 (9)


Equipment:

Weapon 1:

2 x Cunning Blade Talons – socketed with resists jewels

Weapon 2:

2 x Shadow Scissors Katar


“Um” Harlequin Crest

“Treachery” Dusk Shroud

Frostburn

Silkweave

Arachnids Mesh

Highlord’s Wrath

2 x SoJ


Merc (Act 2 - Might)

Rockstopper

“Duress” Scarab Husk

“Insight” Cryptic Axe


Random musings:

Admittedly I did have good gear, but even given that, this build was a piece of piss. No deaths, few scares and absolutely no problems; in other words a typical trapper build! I put a 1.07MPK ring on as soon as I could equip it (level 3) and I never physically hit a monster from then on. The combination of Fire Blast and Shock Web was a killer early on, giving me enough time to beef up Lightning Sentry and then all bets were off. Once I maxed out LS and DS, I then went for FB – after that I pretty much settled into the routine of dropping a few DS and pummelling everything with FB. Funnily enough it was not the Lightning Immune that were the problem but the Fire Immune, but only marginally so. The LI died fast enough with the FB and the CE of DS did the rest of the work. For FI I had to change to LS and Shock Web. FI/LI monsters were a little more of a problem, but not a lot. Bosses and even the Ancients here no match for my LI, although one of the Ancients spawned with FI/LI but the other two fell quickly and my merc dealt with him efficiently enough. I love the LS/DS traps; cast them in an arc, if they don’t go off there are no monsters nearby, if they do, you know the direction/s they are coming from. I decided to go for the increases mana of Frostburn and Silkweave, not to mention the two SoJs, but mana was rarely an issue with the “Insight” merc; overkill really. I decided that the 49% block was enough and I never regretted it. I hit the maximum trap laying speed easily enough so BoS was never an issue.

So, one more and I’ve completed my eighth patch sept. Grief Zealer, here I come, but after I find a few low level items to get him started!!
 
Originally posted by TopHatCat64 on Aug 18, 2008:

Matriarch Shayera - 2H Furysin/BoI SW

Matriarch Shayera

The Planning Stage


Two major goals for this character:

1. Make an effective use of a 2H weapon using Blade Fury
2. Pump up Shadow Warrior so she can both survive Hell and do noticeable damage.

Shayera builds off one thing I learned from my previous mat/pats: If you want to survive in Hell, go big or go home. Belladonna, my previous assassin mat, attempted to turn a Blades of Ice wielding Shadow Warrior into a competent fighting partner but largely failed at since I did not invest a single point in it's synergy Phoenix Strike nor did I prebuff either skill enough. As you can see in my gear section, I pushed my Shadow Warrior as far as I could this time. I only had 1 inventory spot free in my stash it was so stuffed with prebuff gear.

Vang and Crazymatt1 have already shown that 2H Furysin is perfectly viable as long as you have a big enough weapon. I had a eth 298ED ribcracker laying around in my stash. I had acquired it from Neksja back in February without a real purpose in mind, only knowing that something like that could be handy to have around.

For those comic book fans, yes, my assassin is named after Hawkwoman. Her fighting style doesn't really match the superhero, but I loved the name nonetheless.

Observations
Questing? The ancients almost succeeded in taking down my 2 tanks but luckily they held up and I steadily wittled them down with BF. Baal actually was a little dicey because I forgot to equip Kelpie before I ran into the throne so he was jumping all over the place.

My low AR was problematic at times but CoS's -enemy defense helped keep my hit rate respectable. I'm still debating on whether to socket my ribbie with an Eth rune or a 40ed jewel from RibGriller.

Did my Shadow Warrior meet goal number 2? Yes, she did! Throughout normal and nightmare she was regularly freezing and shattering corpses. The SW added a much needed AoE element to my single target attack and the might merc's poking. The moment of truth came in Hell (P1) when I encountered my first PI in the form of a stone skin ghost. At that point I had not yet invested a point in Venom and whatever elemental damage I had was pitiful. After 4 ice explosions, the ghost went down. It wasn't exactly speedy but hey, anyone else have minion that actually does damage you can count on?

Here are the calculations on her Blades of Ice damage after my extensive prebuffing:

A level 45 SW
A level 24 BoI with my questing gear on
A level 48 PS (which I allowed my SW to cast once and then never again, permanently synergizing her BoI at that level)

The Crystalion's formula for Shadow damage:
Half of my level in Blades of Ice now (24/2 = 12)
+ A third of my SW's skill level when she was summoned (45/3 = 15)
= A level 27 BoI

That BoI is then synergized by Phoenix Strike
Half of my level in Phoenix Strike now (48/2 = 24)
+ A third of my SW's skill level when she was summoned (45/3 = 15)
= A level 39 PS (shadow skills synergize past 20)

The total damage is: 1734-1907
Cold duration: 14.4 sec

Not exactly mind-blowing but still a significant amount for a minion. A level 14 fade helped ensure that she died only 4 times the entire game.

As for myself? Cloaks of shadows let me go through most of the game with horrible resistances. It finally caught up to me though when I got blasted by a crowd of gloams out of range of my cloak. That prompted me to switch on some LR charms and T-Gods and it turned out to my characters only death.

Stats
Code:
Blade Fury damage w/ Might + Venom: 2490-3620
Life: 1345 | Mana: 162
Resists: 70/20/72/20
AR: 2433

Str: 177 | Dex: 41 | Vit: 297 | Nrg: 25

20 BoI
20 SW
20 PS
9 Venom
5 Fade
1 BF
1 DS
1 CoS
1 MB
Pre-reqs

Gear
Rich (BB code):
Phoenix Strike Prebuff
+3 MA circlet
+3 MA ammy
+2 Asn Treachery
+3 MA +2 PS claw
+3 MA claw
+3 MA gloves
Dual SoJ's
7 MA skillers

Shadow Warrior Prebuff
+3 Shadow circlet
+3 Shadow ammy
+2 Asn Treachery
Dual +3 Shadow claws
Dual SoJ's
9 Shadow skillers

Questing
Guillame's Face '40% ed jewel'
Angelic Wings
'Lionheart' Archon
LoH
T-Gods
War Traveler
Dual Angelic Halos
Dual +3 Shadow skill claws on switch
4 MA Skillers
3 Shadow Skillers
Lightning resist and AR sc's

And this bad boy:

Ribcracker
Stalagmite
Two-Hand Damage: 475 to 701
Durability: 21 of 130
Required Dexterity: 25
Required Strength: 53
Required Level: 56
Staff Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9fc7f0b8
+15 to Dexterity
+100% Enhanced Defense
+298% Enhanced Damage
+30 to Minimum Damage
+65 to Maximum Damage
+100 Defense
+100 Maximum Durability
Required Level +7
50% Increased Attack Speed
50% Faster Hit Recovery
150% Damage to Undead
50% Chance of Crushing Blow
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired)
 
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Originally posted by TopHatCat64 on Jan 10, 2010:

Matriarch Caldera - Titan Furysin/Trapper Hybrid

Matriarch Caldera


I have returned! And now, a mat...

The Planning Stage
Blade Fury is one of my favorite builds, hands down. After experimenting with a 2H furysin build, I decided to go all out and go pure damage with a titan build. I toyed with pairing blade fury with martial arts but traps do a better job of complementing the mechanics of my main skill.

1. Maximum firepower: Lightning Sentry and Death Sentry are AI controlled and do their work automatically - this is great since any player action will force you to stop firing blades. Once I laid down traps and starting spraying the screen with blades, I was able to get three types of damage down range at the same time.

2. Out of harm's way: Being a glass cannon meant that slugging it out in the trenches would be a dicey proposition. I would also have to change out my ethereal weapon with a normal weapon and lose a lot of BF damage.

Having experimented with a couple different BF builds, I noticed that their number 1 weakness was a poor to-hit percentage. Scanning my choices, Stone Crusher seemed to be an excellent way to solve this problem. Great damage and 40% crushing blow but more importantly: two mods that make it easier to hit monsters. I socketed mine with an Eth rune to emphasize these properties.

The rest of my gear was devoted towards boosting damage (Fortitude, Guillame's, Gore Rider, Laying of Hands), AR (Angelic ammy and ring, Ravenfrost), and resists (2 pdiamond Moser's, Credendum). My weapon switch was 2 trap claws. My charms we're a mix of trap skillers, AR/Life grand charms, and fine small charms.

Caldera on Wikipedia, seemed appropriate with my original Fire Blast focus.

Leveling and Observations
I originally planned on JUST using Fire Blast but it doesn't fire automatically like LS and DS, so I couldn't use it at the same time as BF. I ended upusing it less and less, as I advanced through normal and nightmare but it proved its worth in Hell. When faced with PI bosses, Lighting Sentry often wasn't enough firepower. Chucking Fire Blast bombs was just enough to do the job. I didn't have to park anything.

My AR was still awful for this particular BF build but I was able to hit much more consistently then my previous efforts. Boosting BF AR to a respectable level on a Sin is damn near impossible, -monster defense is a much better bet.

My damage was as I hoped, pretty much everything not unique went down in 3 or 4 blades.

Lack of a castable tank (no shadows) meant that I used Death Sentry as my coalmine canary. Chuck it out ahead of me and watch to see if it shoots. This worked for the most part but it still wasn't ideal since the trap isn't a physical obstacle.

The ancients were a dicey proposition with a titan build. I gotta stand still to shoot blades and standing still is an excellent way to get steamrolled on Mt. Arreat. I couldn't even tank Madawc's throwing axes without losing about half my health bar. I ended up using my time-honored strategy of teleporting around with Naj's Puzzler until I got a 1on2 situation and then whittled them down with LS and blades.

I started this character about 4 months ago and I last played her at the beginning of Hell. At the time I had not yet died. As I advanced through Hell, I ended up dieing 3 times. Once to gloams in A3 (about the only thing that SHOULD kill a sin using CoS - sometimes they end up out-ranging the cloak), once to a conviction boss pack of leapers when I got stuck behind a hut in Kurast (pretty stupid), and finally to a pack of dolls in the Durance (I just plain wasn't paying attention).

Stats
Rich (BB code):
Lvl 82
BF damage w/ eth Stone Crusher and might: 2869-3575
LS damage w/ trap claws: 1-2879
FB damage w/ trap claws: 1411-1718
Life: 600
Resists w/ fade: 75/73/73/73
90% Crushing Blow

Str: 440 | Dex: 20 | Vit: 20

20 DS
20 LS
20 FB
11 BF (por que? See this post in the Sin forum)
10 CBS
4 Fade
1 MB
1 CoS

Gear
Code:
Guillame's '40ed jewel'
Angelic Wings
Eth Stone Crusher 'Eth'
'Fortitude' Archon
Moser's '2 pdiamonds'
Laying of Hands
Angelic Halo
Raven Frost
Gore Rider
+3 trap claw of swiftness / +3 trap claw on switch

Merc: Guillame's / Reaper's / Duriel's

Stone Crusher
Legendary Mallet
'Eth'
One-Hand Damage: 304 to 369
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Strength: 179
Required Level: 68
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xb2f4a320
+22 to Strength
+306% Enhanced Damage
Adds +18 Damage
-50% Target Defense
-100 to Monster Defense Per Hit
150% Damage to Undead
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)
 
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Originally posted by Vang on Jul 31, 2008:

Matriarch Blades

This character wasn't on my list of to-do, but sometimes when you find and awesome item, you just have to use it!

Short build story, I love the Stone Crusher, and always thought and ethereal one would be awesome with Blade Fury, but alas I never found that superb item.

Mainly I wanted a Hammer weapon to take advantage of the extra strength bonus.

While doing a few magic find runs in Nightmare looking for an Oculus, I found a Unique Maul, junk I said, but hey I don't have one yet. So I pick it up and its ethereal, knowing the ED could be good, I look and see..294%ED awesome. Then I thought..two handers get what? 5/8ths the damage? Big Ethereal Bonesnap Ogre Maul..awesome!

Wait..I don't have a Pul rune. So off I go, do some countess, nadda. Turn in the NM 2 hellforges I have..nadda, my sorceress hell hellforge, Mal, Heck, I got to make her anyways, I'll rush a full group to NM, I got to get at least a Lem since I got two or a pul right? Nope. I get an UM though. Callador accepted my asking to break it down into two Pul runes, and out pops this beauty:

Bonesnap
Ogre Maul
Two-Hand Damage: 492 to 680
Durability: 51 of 60
Required Strength: 215
Required Level: 63
Mace Class - Slow Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x622b95
+1 to Strength
+328% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +30%
Cold Resist +30%
Required Level +12
200% Damage to Undead
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used) (Jewel Magical +34ED, +1strength)

With my other runes, I decided the armor Lionheart would be my best bet. So off I go to make her a big old beast with a big stick and I throw ninja blades(Remember its Sanctuary, anything goes :crazyeyes: )

With the theme being blades, I decided to only use blades, my mercenary, and my shadow master to kill, so no traps.

Simple and sweet write up this fine evening:

  • Act1 was handling on /p3 entirely, and went rather fast.
  • Act2 is the dreaded Maggot Lair, but once i got there I completed three paths and my way to the Chamber and straight into act3 in 30minutes.
  • Act3 started out like I did before and said bah, Trav wp given, killed council, Durance Hate WP.
  • Act4, River of Flame wp given, ran over to see hellforge and spawners, I'll pass. Chaos Sanctuary was cake walk, but Diablo on the other hand caused my first death in hell, you can't stand in all his fire spells and expect to live forever
  • Act5, Ancients wp Given, died first time around, second time effectively split all three up and slaughtered them fairly quickly, then Level 2 waypoint given, very easy first setup boars and skeleton mages with something else minor mixed in. Level 3 Frenzy guys, and flayers, but no big deal. Last part was nothing much and Lister had to be left behind as he was physical immune and I couldn't outdamage his regeneration rate.

Thoughts: A fun character. And very enjoyable, if my gear was perfect I could imagine the fun, and if I used a variety of skills would help too. But Mindblast keeps everything off your tail while you rip apart everything with your giant flying endless mauls that look like little ninja stars. Strength gave me 4damage per point, 20 damage each levelup, not bad!

Equipment: A few different uniques might of been awesome to try out, like an ethereal Hellslayer for example, the mighty strength bonus would of added some hurtful damage.

Concerns: I couldn't find anywhere that bladefury goes off attack rating though I thought it went off Attack Rating, and if so I am lucky I hit anything as my base attack rating was below 1k. Mindblast is very powerful(Anyone else notice the expansion pack had two great stun abilites added? Kind of odd, Mindblast and Shockwave, all you need to stay alive if used decently)

End Stats and Gear:
Level 80:

STR: 311/419
Dex: base
Vitality: 129
Resist: Max
Life: 907

Damage w/ Might Mercenary and venom: Blade Fury, 3358-4636, Blade Sentinel, 1710-2352

Skills:
Blade Sentinel: 10,
Blade Fury: 1,
Venom/Shadowmaster/Fade: 20,
Mindblast: 2

Equipment:

Lionheart Wirefleece
Laying of Hands
Ravenfrost
Mahim-oak Curio Amulet
Rare 12str/36light resist/3LL ring
War Travelers
Guillaume's Face(p.amy in it for 10more str)
Thundergod's Vigor
BONESNAP!
Switch: Dual Spirits

Mercenary:
Upgraded Shaftstop(ort rune)
Tal's Mask(shael rune)
Reaper's Troll
 
Originally posted by whichever on Dec 6, 2007:

Trapsin Mat

As this is the first Mat since my comeback, and I started her untwinked, I've decided to write a Mat thread for her. Bear with me.

Matriarch Mason, LS/FB trapsin.

Stats
:
Skills:

Equipment:
Wep 1: 2x 3trap claws
Wep 2: 2x 3shadow claws
PTopaz Shako
2x PTopaz spirit forge
partial sigons: gloves + belt + boots
2x Res/Mana/mf rings.
Res/mf ammy

Manson has been the luckiest character I've had so far. Her drops include:

HF: Um/Fal
Ribcracker
Pul
Gore riders
Nat's Mark
Gargoyle's Bite
Occulus
And last but definitely not least…

Alas, it was my very first Stone Crusher. I''m not as disappointed as I otherwise may be since it’s only my first gold Legendary Mallet.

Merc Choice:
Act 1 Fire Rogue
Kyoko
Harmony Blade Bow
Eth Rockfleece
Crappy Blood craft Helm

Reason of choice: She's named Kyoko!
No, seriously, she was what I thought would work best for this char. She stays back so doesn't attract unwanted attention while I manage the mobs with CoS/ MB. Unfortunately, I couldn't get much good gear for her which made her damage output horrendously low. I didn't choose Ice type mercs because I didn’t want the corpses to shatter but in retrospect, that wouldn't matter because with the equipment I've given her, she doesn't shoot all that often anyway. By the time I realized that her damage output is seriously crappy and overlaps with my backup skill, I decided that I'll just stick with her since she’s been with her ever since the death of Blood Raven. She does, however, have some redeeming features in that of a Harmony bow. With that and BoS, Area running is very fast. Next time though, I'd try for a Ice arrow rogue since that'll complement my skills better and make boss killing that much easier.

Character development:
Manson cruised through the game, barely having any trouble at all with any acts. (Though admittedly, Hell was played alternating between P1 and P3..) However, upon stepping out of town in A3, I decided to park her there for a while. At that time, I couldn’t imagine fireblasting each and every damn one monster to death. So I went back and ran the countess and pits and leveled up to 85 from ~82. I eventually garnered enough runes to make a Harmony bow and with that I proceeded to run through A3, only killing what needed to be killed. The rest went by quickly as most monsters didn't even realize I was there before I left their line of sight.
Manson’s damage output at the end was not high enough to kill efficiently at high players settings, as her backup skill is doing ~2k a pop while being difficult to aim. (I've discovered that when aiming fireblast it’s best not to namelock the monster since that’ll make the lob have a higher arch than needed.) However, I suspect that with better gear and more +skills, I can run any area in the game very efficiently even at higher players settings.

Summary
To conclude a rather long-winded post, I'll say that this char is definitely one of the best I've tried, and incredibly fun to boot. I'd recommend anyone who hasn't had a chance to play a trapsin to try one. You'll love it!
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Wolver on Oct 4, 2009:

Matriarch Soryu - trap assassin

With quite a few chars parked in late NM, I decided that starting something new will give me more joy than finishing any of earlier projects. I didn't want it to be melee character or another sorceress so let me introduce my new child:

Matriarch Soryu a qualified trapping specialist

Some numbers:

Character name : Soryu
Character type : Assassin
Character level : 85
Character exp : 1086474241

Strength : 57/63
Energy : 25/36
Dexterity : 23/55
Vitality : 290/292
Stat Points Rem : 125

Life : 745 / 1088
Mana : 177 / 151
Stamina : 551 / 537

Skills:
Fire Blast 20/40
Shock Web 4/24
Charged Bolt Sentry 20/40
Lightning Sentry 20/40
Death Sentry 20/40

1 point wonders:
BoS 1/7
Weapon Block 1/7
Mind Blast 1/7
Cloak of Shadowa 1/7

+prerequisties

Skill Points Rem: 6

LCS


Hardware:

Whacking mosters with anything I could and switching to 1.09 Ravenclaw when available,
Level 29: 2xSOJ - one switched to Raven eventually because getting slowed makes me angry even if it happens on rare occasions, SotV, Frosties, Peasant Crown (that's when fun started)
Level 42: Loading bunch of skillers and things went even funnier ;)

Final items readout:

Code:
Entrapping Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x46ccdbac
+27 to Life
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 53
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xe040063b
+35 to Life
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Strength
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x20671a39
+3 to Strength
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Life
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 79
Fingerprint: 0xf43d7c6d
+10 to Life
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xf96d4d96
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x40c0d430
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Flame
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x99e07ec9
Adds 1-2 fire damage
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Greed
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xd993a421
12% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Tangerine Small Charm of Inertia
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 27
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 59
Fingerprint: 0x548a7fed
Lightning Resist +3%
3% Faster Run/Walk

Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0x9fe4e256
+20 to Life
+6 to Mana

Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 68
Fingerprint: 0x9933237
+19 to Life

Small Charm of Sustenance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 17
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 80
Fingerprint: 0x2e9f7981
+15 to Life

Small Charm of Balance
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 29
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x1916dce1
5% Faster Hit Recovery

Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 84
Fingerprint: 0xe8c7cd13
+16 to Life

Harlequin Crest
Shako
Defense: 117
Durability: 9 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 62
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0xcb22d80d
+2 to Strength
+2 to Energy
+2 to Dexterity
+2 to Vitality
Damage Reduced by 10%
74% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+2 to All Skill Levels
+126 to Life (Based on Character Level)
+126 to Mana (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Perfect Topaz
Inserted into a Shako

24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Required Level: 18
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion

Ghoul Scarab
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x8b3fe552
+9 to Energy
+10 to Dexterity
+4 to Maximum Damage
Fire Resist +17%
Lightning Resist +17%
Cold Resist +54%
Poison Resist +17%
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels

Skin of the Vipermagi
Serpentskin Armor
Defense: 279
Durability: 17 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x8cd0afcb
+120% Enhanced Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 11
All Resistances +34
30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x3bc39a82
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+227 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x66a95ab5
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Skull Clasp
Plated Belt
Defense: 11
Durability: 22 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbbc7f46a
+11 to Maximum Stamina
Fire Resist +27%
Lightning Resist +26%
Replenish Life +6
24% Faster Hit Recovery
12% Chance to cast Level 4 Charged Bolt when struck
Plague Slippers
Wyrmhide Boots
Defense: 57
Durability: 10 of 12
Kick Damage: 65 to 100
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x77a9a42
Lightning Resist +39%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
30% Faster Run/Walk

Fiend Finger
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 22
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Strength: 45
Required Level: 35
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 93
Fingerprint: 0x474a3c15
+1 to Strength
+90% Enhanced Defense
Lightning Resist +27%
Cold Resist +15%
22% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
20% Increased Attack Speed

Cunning Scissors Katar
One-Hand Damage: 9 to 17
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 45
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0xbb710daf
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Cunning Scissors Katar
One-Hand Damage: 9 to 17
Durability: 68 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 55
Required Strength: 55
Required Level: 45
Claw Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x92474e89
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Defiance mercenary:
VGaze, eth shaft, 2xshael 1xamn Hone Sundan


Gameplay:

Fast and extremely enjoyable. Normal and nightmare /p8 solo,
Hell act1, 2, 3 /p8 MP game with forum members, act 4, 5 solo /p3. She was dispatching enemies with such ease that I was too lazy to switch some of her equipment later on (entered hell in early 70-ish still running with ravenclaw). No hard times at all. When things were going hot some mindblast or cloak of shadows (come on Gloamy thing, why did you stop shooting? :)) and then electrocution and/or fire bombing solved situations easily. Dual immune uniques were not hard when stand alone against mercenary (and psychic hammer when needed).

Death status: twice. One was Durance of hate lvl 3 hell difficulty, standing face to face with Bremm enchanted with conviction (absolutely avoidable, my fault as feeling of immortality started growing in me). Second can't remember but I am sure it happened.

Nicest fight: /p3 hell ancients. Before merc decided to evaporate I had brought Korlic and Talac health bars to half. When left alone Soryu started running like crazy leaving gifts for following ancients. After a while only me and lightning immune Madawc were still standing. We started a very long run and shoot contest finished with him returning to Altar and me with empty belt, 39 life points left and expert dodger and fire blaster degree.

Finds:

Pityful

Code:
Baranar's Star
Devil Star
One-Hand Damage: 129 to 159
Durability: 60 of 172
Required Dexterity: 44
Required Strength: 153
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x82d0dc6a
+15 to Strength
+15 to Dexterity
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 1-200 fire damage
Adds 1-200 lightning damage
Adds 1-200 cold damage over 7 seconds
+100 Maximum Durability
50% Increased Attack Speed
200% Bonus to Attack Rating
150% Damage to Undead

Natalya's Mark
Scissors Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 120 to 153
Durability: 45 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 79
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x11441025
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 12-17 fire damage
+50 cold damage over 4 seconds
40% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
200% Damage to Demons
200% Damage to Undead

Expert's Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 81
Fingerprint: 0xf89037ae
+1 to Combat Skills (Barbarian Only)

Fletcher's Grand Charm
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 42
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 54
Fingerprint: 0x9e44c98a
+1 to Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)

Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
Required Level: 39
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0x9fe4e256
+20 to Life
+6 to Mana

Hone Sundan
Yari
Two-Hand Damage: 103 to 209
Durability: 28 of 28
Required Strength: 101
Required Level: 37
Spear Class - Normal Attack Speed
Unidentified
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x368097c3
+187% Enhanced Damage
+20 to Minimum Damage
+40 to Maximum Damage
45% Chance of Crushing Blow
Repairs 1 durability in 10 seconds
Socketed (3: 0 used)

Hellforges: Io/Io, highest rune found questing: Io. I see a pattern here but I don't like it.

What is next:

I will play this character a lot more as I simply love her ;) Probably tune her a bit throwing a skullders or tal's armor on her back, socket claws with res and other nice mod jewels (depends on armor decision), switch one trap skillers for gheed and run WSK. Of course there is the shadow master thing but concept of being alone suits me more. Still can't decide what is better switch for Baal's meeting: a lower res wand or some weapon with CB and a point in blade fury, we will see.

Yes, it is complete cookie cutter but she is sooooo nice character to play :)

That's all folks, over and out

Wolver
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by xxnothing on Apr 3, 2009:

Matriarch Aria - Natalya's set Traps Assassin

I'll spare you all any sort of dramatic back story, as I'm no writer. ;) Most of you will be familiar with the Lightning Traps Assassin type build, the only out-of-the-norm highlight of my build is the use of Natalya's set.

Character

Code:
Character name  : Aria
Character type  : Assassin
Character level : 82
Character exp   : 833988463

Strength        : 118
Energy          : 50
Dexterity       : 64
Vitality        : 220
Stat Points Rem : 53
Skill Points Rem: 7

Life            : 1018 / 872
Mana            : 518 / 190
Stamina         : 464 / 445

Gold (Inventory): 161700
Gold (Stash)    : 1966753

Skills

06 - Fire Blast
01 - Shock Web <--- possible future points here
20 - Charged Bolt Sentry
20 - Lightning Sentry
20 - Death Sentry
11 - Shadow Master <--- Possible future points here
1 in all Shadow Tree prerequisites, plus a point in Venom (don't know why I did that).
Currently have 7 unspent skill points.

Gear
Code:
Aria's Natalya's Totem
Grim Helm
Defense: 223
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 59
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0x954171be
+11 to Strength
+24 to Dexterity
+38 to Mana
+161 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
All Resistances +18
Socketed (1: 1 used) --- Perfect Sapphire

Aria's Natalya's Shadow
Loricated Mail
Defense: 664
Durability: 34 of 36
Required Strength: 149
Required Level: 73
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x31d789c3
+199 Defense
Poison Resist +25%
72% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
+2 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
+82 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)  --- 3x perfect topaz


Aria's Natalya's Mark
Scissors Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 120 to 153
Durability: 62 of 68
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 118
Required Strength: 118
Required Level: 79
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xcf7a5e66
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 12-17 fire damage
Adds 1-74 lightning damage
+50 cold damage over 4 seconds
40% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
200% Damage to Demons
200% Damage to Undead
100% Chance to cast Level 41 Nova When You Level Up
+3% to Lightning Skill Damage
-4% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
Socketed (1: 1 used) --- 3/4 lightning facet

Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots
Defense: 156
Durability: 65 of 66
Kick Damage: 23 to 52
Required Strength: 65
Required Level: 25
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x68554292
+113 Defense
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +20%
+50 Maximum Durability
40% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 20% (Based on Character Level)

Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Greater Talons
One-Hand Damage: 79 to 140
Durability: 42 of 69
(Assassin Only)
Required Dexterity: 79
Required Strength: 79
Required Level: 42
Claw Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xbea6215e
+20 to Strength
+20 to Dexterity
+159% Enhanced Damage
+25 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
8% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)

Frostburn
Gauntlets
Defense: 48
Durability: 23 of 24
Required Strength: 60
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x187dd58d
+18% Enhanced Defense
+5% Enhanced Damage
+30 Defense
Adds 1-6 cold damage over 2 seconds
Increase Maximum Mana 40%

Gloom's Trap
Mesh Belt
Defense: 102
Durability: 13 of 16
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 36
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x47d497b5
+15 to Vitality
+149% Enhanced Defense
Regenerate Mana 15%
5% Mana stolen per hit
Increase Maximum Mana 15%
-3 to Light Radius

Blood Necklace
Amulet
Required Level: 40
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x1a546c0
All Resistances +16
5% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +7
43% Extra Gold from Monsters
+1 to Assassin Skill Levels

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x9b83db18
+20 to Mana
Adds 1-12 lightning damage
Increase Maximum Mana 25%
+1 to All Skill Levels

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0x23dab8a1
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+179 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Charms
Gheeds - 130/28/11
2x Mentalist
3x Entrapping
Various SC's with resists, life, mana.

Merc
Durga, Holy freeze. Wearing Duriel's, Rockstopper, Reaper's.

Gameplay

Normal was played mostly untwinked. Towards the later acts I started twinking on gear to help feed mana to my traps. Things like Frostburns, Heavenly Garb, etc.
Nightmare was a joke. The traps destroyed everything without mercy. Ran Baal until level 74. towards the end of NM I was wearing my most powerful set up... Shako, Skin, Chancies, Silkweave, Bartuc's Lidless Wall, etc. I was looking for +skills, +mana, mana regen, mana after kill.
Once in Hell I ran the pits until level 79 when I could equip the entire Nat's set plus the Bartuc's on the off-hand. I lost some +skills, a bunch of mana related mods and MF. I didn't miss the MF, but I definitely gained a sudden craving for blue potions! Most of Hell was easier than I expected, considering my focus on a single element. Between the Shadow Master and the Merc (wielding a Reaper's Toll) most LI monsters went down relatively quickly. With surprisingly decent damage for a normal attack I even helped out occasionally, running up to take a few swipes at the less dangerous monsters. Eventually a body would drop, and I'd toss on a Death Sentry and watch the chain reaction happen. :)
Ancients were a pain the butt. They kept spawning LI, my merc would get pwned, and after getting myself knocked down to ~10 HP, I'd TP out, res the moron and try again. Eventually I got it where only Madawc was LI. My tactic was to just run all over the place, dropping traps as I went. Any attempt at making a stand would result in the merc disintegrating rapidly, and I needed him to help with the one LI dude. Slowly but surely the other two went down to the traps. At that point my SM, the merc and myself teamed up to pummel Madawc into submission.
Getting to and killing Baal was pretty easy. I saw nary a Gloam in the WSK or the throne room. Baal's drop was less than spectacular.

She had no deaths, but quite a few NDE's.

Not many notable finds. Plenty of S/U items, but I don't recall anything that really stood out. She did find that Gheeds, and Pindleskin dropped the Bartuc's she's got (which is a teeny bit better than the one I had originaly given her out of my ATMA stashes). Forges were Hel/Fal.

I really enjoyed playing this character, and I'll continue to use her for random MF runs here and there. I'm torn on whether or not to keep the Nat's set on, or swap it out with more effective gear. :scratchchin:

Thanks for reading!
 
Originally posted by zaphodbrx on Mar 27, 3013:

Matriarch Blaise - Firetrapper/Bowsin ( no vita )

Matriarch Blaise - fire trapper bowsin

Another quick mat. I had two ideas running around in my head, one to make a moderately effective fire trapper and another to use an assassin with bows, somehow. I ended up combining the two and this is the result..

LCS

Skills

20(36) Wake of Inferno
20(36) Wake of Fire
20(36) Death Sentry
20 Fireblast
1 in CoS, MB, Shadow master, fade, dragon tail and all the prereqs
no spare skill points ( just complete )

Gear

Faith Greatbow
Chains of Honor
Hailstone circlet ( rare diadem - 2 skills, dual leech frw )
Highlord's wrath
Dracul's grasp
Gore rider
Razortail
Ravenfrost
Bul-Kathos wedding band
switch: CtA/lidless wall

Merc: A2 might, Tal's, infinity, eth forti

Inventory: 7x trap skillers, some with life

Gear readouts

Code:
Hailstone Circlet
Diadem
Defense: 106
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 67
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 86
Fingerprint: 0xe235b7ad
+75% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +19%
8% Life stolen per hit
8% Mana stolen per hit
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
15% Increased Attack Speed
30% Faster Run/Walk
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Faith
Superior Great Bow
'OhmJahLemEld'
Two-Hand Damage: 53 to 231
Required Dexterity: 107
Required Strength: 121
Required Level: 65
Bow Class - Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x76b75d99
+280% Enhanced Damage
+65% Enhanced Damage
All Resistances +15
+120 fire damage
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Ignore Target Defense
300% Bonus to Attack Rating
75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
+2 to All Skill Levels
Level 12 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
10% Reanimate As: Returned
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xbb02c976
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
31% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)

Chains of Honor
Dusk Shroud
'DolUmBerIst'
Defense: 783
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Strength: 77
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x8f593e49
+20 to Strength
+70% Enhanced Defense
Damage Reduced by 8%
All Resistances +65
8% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +7
25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
200% Damage to Demons
100% Damage to Undead
+2 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xb41ee340
+18 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+196 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Ring
Required Level: 58
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x96736520
+50 to Maximum Stamina
4% Life stolen per hit
+1 to All Skill Levels
+42 to Life (Based on Character Level)

Dracul's Grasp
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 141
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 76
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xbfc4a14e
+13 to Strength
+114% Enhanced Defense
8% Life stolen per hit
+10 Life after each Kill
25% Chance of Open Wounds
5% Chance to cast Level 10 Life Tap on striking

Blaise's Razortail
Sharkskin Belt
Defense: 98
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 20
Required Level: 32
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x817d6c69
+15 to Dexterity
+127% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Maximum Damage
+15 Defense
Piercing Attack [33]
Attacker Takes Damage of 85 (Based on Character Level)

Call to Arms
Double Axe
'AmnRalMalIstOhm'
One-Hand Damage: 19 to 49
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Strength: 43
Required Level: 57
Axe Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xb007b9e
+281% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5-30 fire damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
40% Increased Attack Speed
+6 to Battle Orders
+1 to Battle Cry
+5 to Battle Command
Prevent Monster Heal
+1 to All Skill Levels
Socketed (5: 5 used)

Lidless Wall
Grim Shield
Defense: 300
Chance to Block:  45%
Durability: 70 of 70
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 41
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0x57744076
+10 to Energy
+99% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 10%
+1 to Light Radius
20% Faster Cast Rate
+1 to All Skill Levels
+3 to Mana After Each Kill

Thoughts

The name is taken from one of the rogue mercs, it also sounds like 'blaze' and this was a fire based character, I also blazed through the game, completing it in like three days.

I will say that this character was much, much easier than I thought. I'd heard that the fire traps don't do much in hell but when I started it, seemed like I was one shotting everything so I bumped it to p5. It remained there for the first three acts, then took it down to p3 for A4 and A5, with p1 from ancients to Baal.

This gal is primarily fire based- wake of fire wipes out everything not fire immune really. But what I really liked was wake of inferno. Unlike the other inferno spells this one does NOT seem to be bugged- it provides a really powerful flamethrower attack that roasts anything in its path. I used it primarily against bosses and tougher monsters. Five flamethrowers focusing one target brings it down really quick, like woooosh! ( I'm 90% sure these are actually better than light traps in this regard, judging from the way they took down p5 hell mephisto and such like ). Wake of fire has gigantic aoe. Death sentry was added for some CE goodness ( and also synergy ), and along with the bow normal attack and merc fire immunes were not much of a problem.

On the bow side the damage is kind of low, but it's okay. AR is insane though, and that doesn't even take into account the reduced defense from conviction and that faith is ITD anyway. I really wish there was some gloves with +strafe oskill or something, please blizzard? Also, continuously loading arrows is such a pain for any bow character.

Having 800 hp is a little dangerous but not much really, with CoS and MB, shadow master is pretty good CC. Only two deaths overall - once in A1 to quill rats, another to tomb vipers.

PI/FIs were a bit of a pain to take down only with the lightning damage of death sentry, luckily there weren't very many.

Random screenshots: 1 2 3 4

Finds: Eth thunderstroke ( +3) from Hell Duriel. Yeah basically nothing.

This build is suggested for anyone with faith bow. Even without it probably.

Bonus Mat - Asha, the titan Bladefury sin

Asha is a respec-a-sin, don't remember what the original build was. Anyway the name is again from a character in Asoiaf. Asha uses throwing axes. I guess blade fury with an axe is pretty close. No vit here either. Vit is for noobs. Or HC.

LCS

Bladefury LCS is quite inaccurate btw. Damage is more than that. Deadly strike at 82%.

Skills

20 Blade fury
20 Venom
20 Death sentry
6 Burst of speed
12 Fire blast
1 Fade, CoS,MB, dragon tail, etc.

Gear

Eth Botd Berserker axe
Lance guard ( Um )
Guillame face ( Um )
Fortitude SA
Highlord's wrath
Gore rider
Laying of hands
Nosferatu coil
Raven frost
Chaos grip ( rare ring )
switch: CtA/spirit

in stash: Demon limb

Merc: A2 might, Tal's, treachery, reapers

Inventory: Mostly steels of sustenance.

Gear readouts

Code:
Guillaume's Face
Winged Helm
'Um'
Defense: 217
Durability: 40 of 40
Required Strength: 115
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 88
Fingerprint: 0xa2fd9ab1
+15 to Strength
+120% Enhanced Defense
All Resistances +15
30% Faster Hit Recovery
35% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
Socketed (1: 1 used)

Breath of the Dying
Superior Berserker Axe
'VexHelElEldZodEth'
One-Hand Damage: 172 to 508
Required Dexterity: 37
Required Strength: 100
Required Level: 69
Axe Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Indestructible
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xd41c3bda
+30 to Strength
+30 to Energy
+30 to Dexterity
+30 to Vitality
+371% Enhanced Damage
+9% Enhanced Damage
+51 to Attack Rating
12% Life stolen per hit
7% Mana stolen per hit
+1 to Light Radius
Requirements -20%
60% Increased Attack Speed
-25% Target Defense
Prevent Monster Heal
200% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Indestructible
50% Chance to cast Level 20 Poison Nova When You Kill an Enemy
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (6: 6 used)

Fortitude
Superior Sacred Armor
'ElSolDolLo'
Defense: 1890
Durability: 67 of 67
Required Strength: 232
Required Level: 66
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x56ac2694
+200% Enhanced Defense
+12% Enhanced Defense
+300% Enhanced Damage
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Fire Resist +30%
Lightning Resist +30%
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Cold Resist +30%
Poison Resist +30%
Replenish Life +7
Increase Maximum Durability 12%
+1 to Light Radius
25% Faster Cast Rate
12% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
20% Chance to cast Level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+96 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (4: 4 used)

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 83
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 63
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0x6cd64442
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%
20% Increased Attack Speed
350% Damage to Demons
10% Chance to cast Level 3 Holy Bolt on striking

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xbb02c976
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
32% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 148
Durability: 34 of 34
Kick Damage: 39 to 80
Required Strength: 94
Required Level: 47
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 87
Fingerprint: 0xd6309797
+20 to Maximum Stamina
+175% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xc643beec
+16 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+218 to Attack Rating
Adds 15-45 cold damage over 4 seconds
20% Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Chaos Grip
Ring
Required Level: 48
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 91
Fingerprint: 0xb1df7f62
+8 to Strength
+14 to Dexterity
+2 to Minimum Damage
Lightning Resist +29%
Cold Resist +10%

Nosferatu's Coil
Vampirefang Belt
Defense: 62
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Strength: 50
Required Level: 51
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 99
Fingerprint: 0x7df16b58
+15 to Strength
5% Life stolen per hit
-3 to Light Radius
10% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Slows Target by 10%

Thoughts

This one is a much more standard ranged damage dealing character, focusing on physical damage rather than traps. She does more damage than the bowsin and has a faster attack. One nuisance here is attack rating, I always have to use enchant to get it up and even then its not very much ( around 4500, though eth in weapon makes up a bit ).

She's quite strong actually. Maybe not in the later areas of the game but things like p8 pits are,like, no sweat man. I think bladefury is the only way one can have a ranged titan character. Maybe not as strong as physical bowas but pretty good and death sentry gives nice support.

Choice of fade or BoS depends on area. She had good resists even without fade, and max trap laying speed ( bladefury doesn't depend on ias btw ) without burst of speed. Not really sure why I made her that way. As I said, it's a respec-a-sin and I put her gear together some time back. Earlier, I used an eth jade talon as the weapon with max claw mastery.

Okay that's all for now. Assassin sept is nearly complete.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Colorless Green on May 13, 2008:

Matriarch Katya, Natalya's CoT/FoF/PS Assassin

I've been planning for quite some time to make a char for each of the eight class-specific sets, and I've finally gotten around to putting those plans into action. Here's the second (I made an IK barb years ago).

Matriarch Katya, Level 83 Natalya's CoT/FoF/PS Assassin

Str: 70 (127)
Dex: 66 (136)
Vit: 349 (389)
Ene: 25 (30)

Life (no BO): 1528
Mana: 268
Resists (Hell): 75/55/75/57
PDR: 45%
FHR: 87% (4-frame)
CoT Damage (per skill tree): 1-5148 direct/2-3133 nova/2-5044 cb
FoF Damage (per skill tree): 2247-2471 direct/1817-1934 burn
PS Damage (per skill tree): 2760-3084 fire/3-6984 lightning/514-552 cold
DC Damage (per LCS): 520-933/767-1000
DC AR (per LCS): 8391/8184

Skills:
FoF: 20(34)
CoT: 20(34)
PS: 20(34)
DC: 1(15)
DFlight: 1(15)
Claw Mastery: 18(28) (this would be maxed if I levelled more)
All other shadow: 1(11)
All other MA: 1(15)

Equip:
Natalya's Totem (Ral)
Natalya's Shadow (Shael/Shael/Hel)
Dracul's Grasp
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Natalya's Soul
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Stone of Jordan
Raven Frost
Natalya's Mark (unsocketed)
Bartuc's Cut-throat (Jewel of Truth)
Nothing on switch (I probably should have used CtA, but it wasn't really necessary, and I'm lazy)

Might Merc:
Tal's Mask (IAS jewel)
Treachery Wire Fleece
The Reaper's Toll


Anyways, I believe I've come to the conclusion that I don't particularly like charge-up skills. I don't find them hard to use in general or anything, I just don't really enjoy them. Phoenix strike in particular wasn't really my favorite skill. I found it rather difficult to reliably choose which element to use, and the meteor suffered from all the problems meteor always does (like, the monster moving, or failing that, it just taking a long time) so that I wound up using FoF over PS pretty much exclusively - the only place where PS was particularly useful was on act bosses or other very high hp targets.

CoT was used pretty much exclusively through norm/NM. Once I hit hell, I used CoT or FoF depending on which immunes were absent in the area, or if there were both LI's and FI's, depending on which I found more annoying. I think I might prefer FoF to CoT for general non-immunes, which kinda suprised me. The reason is that, counting the burn damage, it's a lot easier to focus the damage to a few monsters. CoT works well for scattering monsters (which pretty much all seem to be FI anyways) and for large groups, but assassins aren't really supposed to take large groups head-on, so it didn't come up much. Back in NM when I twinked on kenshi's everything and a handful of MA skillers and had something over level 40 CoT and everything died to the nova, it was fun, but that didn't last.

Given how defensive I wound up making the equipment, there wasn't really anything particularly *dangerous* at any point - the only thing that could really injure me is a lot of quick hits from stunning monsters, or a lot of quick hits from FHR-inducing monsters, which is why I went to 4 frame FHR, which isn't something I do in PvM very often. Even with this, though, it didn't make hit recovery less annoying - any time I encountered one of these situations my attacks got interrupted so much that it wasn't really that easy to fully charge an attack. Basically, an annoyance rather than an actual danger.

I played on p5 through most of hell and only dropped to p1 when I gave up and decided I didn't really like the char and just wanted to finish it. Ancients weren't particularly tough, though I did reroll them a couple times due to dual immunes, which I don't generally do. Once I hit a roll without any FI/LI's, it was pretty easy, since I just picked one, namelocked it, then switched between a chargeup and DC until it died.

No particularly interesting finds, don't remember what the HF was which means it was something useless.

If I actually liked the char and wanted to improve it, I'm fairly certain that this could be pretty impressively powerful if built focused almost entirely on offense and not using the set. This would require much more frequent use of CoS and MB due to the lack of defense, but I was able to take out just about everything with one cycle of pick-a-chargeup on p1 with my current stats, and switching out the set and defensive stuff brings the damage pretty high.

Next up, finishing up a frenzier I stalled months ago, and probably a trang's necro.


-CG
 
Originally posted by dkthomas29 on Jan 8, 2006:

Introducing..... Matriarch Carmen

My assassin finally made Matriarch!!

Here are the stats.

Character name : Carmen
Character type : Assassin
Character level : 87
Character exp : 1266590847

Strength : 177
Energy : 53
Dexterity : 120
Vitality : 180
Stat Points Rem : 0
Skill Points Rem: 0

Life : 885 / 762
Mana : 203 / 203
Stamina : 402 / 402


Entrapping Grand Charm x 3

Toxic Small Charm
+100 poison damage over 5 seconds

Small Charm of Vita x 3
+18 to Life


Natalya's Totem
Grim Helm
Defense: 238
+12 to Strength
+27 to Dexterity
+153 Defense
Magic Damage Reduced by 3
All Resistances +10

Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 lightning damage
20% Increased Attack Speed
+1 to All Skill Levels
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
32% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)

Natalya's Shadow
Loricated Mail
'ThulRalOrt'
Defense: 549
+158 Defense
Fire Resist +30%
Lightning Resist +30%
Cold Resist +30%
Poison Resist +25%
Poison Length Reduced by 75%
+2 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
+87 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Socketed (3: 3 used)

Carrion Wind
Ring
+126 Defense vs. Missile
Poison Resist +55%
9% Life stolen per hit
10% Damage Taken Goes to Mana
8% Chance to cast Level 13 Twister on striking
10% Chance to cast Level 10 Poison Nova when struck
Level 21 Poison Creeper (3/15 Charges)

Nosferatu's Coil
Vampirefang Belt
Item Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0x911b1e16
+15 to Strength
5% Life stolen per hit
-3 to Light Radius
10% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Mana After Each Kill
Slows Target by 10%

Natalya's Soul
Mesh Boots
Defense: 127
+87 Defense
Lightning Resist +25%
Cold Resist +22%
+50 Maximum Durability
40% Faster Run/Walk
Heal Stamina Plus 21% (Based on Character Level)

Dracul's Grasp
Vampirebone Gloves
Defense: 137
Durability: 12 of 14
+14 to Strength
+108% Enhanced Defense
8% Life stolen per hit
+7 Life after each Kill
25% Chance of Open Wounds
5% Chance to cast Level 10 Life Tap on striking

Cruel Song
Runic Talons
One-Hand Damage: 48 to 119
+74% Enhanced Damage
+7 to Minimum Damage
Adds 1-11 lightning damage
+3 to Shadow Warrior (Assassin Only)
+2 to Fade (Assassin Only)
+3 to Wake of Inferno (Assassin Only)
Hit Causes Monster to Flee 50%
5% Chance to cast Level 3 Fire Bolt on attack
+43 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+1435 to Attack Rating (Based on Character Level)

Imp Barb
Greater Talons
One-Hand Damage: 45 to 68
+97% Enhanced Damage
+128 to Attack Rating
+4 to Minimum Damage
4% Mana stolen per hit
20% Increased Attack Speed
+3 to Fade (Assassin Only)
+1 to Cobra Strike (Assassin Only)

Natalya's Mark
Scissors Suwayyah
One-Hand Damage: 120 to 153
+200% Enhanced Damage
Adds 12-17 fire damage
+50 cold damage over 4 seconds
40% Increased Attack Speed
Ignore Target Defense
200% Damage to Demons
200% Damage to Undead

Firelizard's Talons
Feral Claws
One-Hand Damage: 68 to 164
+211% Enhanced Damage
Fire Resist +53%
Adds 236-480 fire damage
15% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Wake of Inferno (Assassin Only)
+2 to Wake of Fire (Assassin Only)
+2 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)

Mercenary Items :

Corpsemourn
Ornate Plate
Defense: 1838
+8 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
+172% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +35%
Adds 12-36 fire damage
24% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
6% Chance to cast Level 2 Iron Maiden when struck
Level 5 Corpse Explosion (28/40 Charges)
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (1: 1 used)

Giant Skull
Bone Visage
Defense: 379
+26 to Strength
+34% Enhanced Damage
+276 Defense
Adds 1-61 lightning damage
Knockback
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
Socketed (1: 1 used)

The Reaper's Toll
Thresher
Two-Hand Damage: 36 to 432
+207% Enhanced Damage
Adds 4-44 cold damage over 1 seconds
15% Life stolen per hit
Requirements -25%
Ignore Target Defense
33% Deadly Strike
33% Chance to cast Level 1 Decrepify on striking

SKILLS:

Death Century 20/27
Lightning Centry 20/27
Phoenix Strike 17/24
Dragon Talon 17/24
 
Originally posted by Darkflight on May 17, 2005:

Matriarch OleMartin

I've matriarched my first non-sorceress char.
It's a TS/DT assa with death sentry, and she completed all quests. Although i haven't used socketing/imbue yet.
Her stats is:

Level 80
Strenght:115
Dex:120
Vita:235
Nrg:25
These are base values.

Resistances:69/75/75/75

Equipment:
Full Natalyas Odium with all socketes open
Gerkes Sanctuary/UM
Highlords Wrath
Credendum
2x Raven Frost
Draculs Grasp

I was really impressed with the killing speed of her, even in the WSK she killed at VERY high speed, though only on players 1. I'm going to build one character of each class who uses the class-specific sets. I just have to complete some of them, but i have full Nats, Iks and Aldur. The others all lack 1 item.
 
Originally posted by Doctor Clock on Mar 15, 2010:

(re)Introduction and Matriarch Smoke

(re)Introduction: I'm Doctor Clock. I like diablo 2, the SPF, books, hiking, and Paladins. I don't post much but I lurk a lot. Shin guards equipped.

Well, I've been away from Diablo for some time doing other things but I got the itch again recently and finished up an Assassin I had parked in mid nightmare. She's a Kicker/trapper hybrid thingy. To be honest, my knowledge of Assassins prior to this character was something along the lines of: "Oh yeah, that class exists". So, playing her was quite a learning experience.

Matriarch Smoke level 86 Assassin

Stats w/ gear:

Str: 156
Dex: 224
Vita: 226
Ene: lol

DT kick damage: 614-993
12746 Attack Rating

Lightning Sentry damage: 1-2357

HPs: 1210
Resistances (with fade):
75/75/85/72

Items:

Head: Guillaume's Face
Neck: Mara's Kaleidoscope
Weapon: Crescent Moon Phase Blade
Shield: Moser's Blessed Circle
Armor: Treachery Archon Plate
Gloves: Dracul's Grasp
Belt: Thundergod's Vigor
Rings: Raven Frost/ Manald Heal
Boots: upped Gore Rider

And an inventory full of Resistance/life charms, 1 Trap skiller, and a Gheed's Fortune.

Holy Freeze Merc:

Vamp
Reaper's
Duriel's



Skills (with gear):

9 Shadow Master

24 Dragon Talon

18 Charged Bolt Sentry
25 Lightning Sentry
25 Death Sentry

And 1 point in most of the other skills.


Notable finds:
Jala's Mane
Death's Fathom (15% meh)
4os eth Berserker Axe (needed one for a Frenzy Barb I want to build)
Wraith Flight
Hell Hellforge: Um rune (don't remember NM Hellforge)



Thoughts:

I don't remember much of anything from Normal or the first half of Nightmare. I used a Crushflange until I could equip Crescent Moon. That's about it.

All in all, I only have good things to say about this character. Kicking is fun, Dragon Flight is awesome, Death Sentry makes everything dead, etc. I had a real blast playing this character. She had a lot of skills to use and I could adapt my play style on the fly. If things got dangerous, I could sit back and spam Mind Blast while keeping my trap ups, or just charge in and deal out some sweet five-toed justice.

What I liked best was that there was no down time. Of course, Death Sentry did the majority of the killing, but there was still plenty to do before the corpses hit the floor. I never felt like I was sitting around waiting for corpses the way I do when I play a Fishymancer, which I really enjoyed.

I also liked how playing her was a real visual treat. With Lightning Sentries shooting off, my Shadow Master doing whatever it was she was doing, bodies exploding, Crescent Moon procs, and the myriad of Assassin skills, it was actually fun to watch her in action.

Overall, very powerful, very safe, and doesn't require terribly uber gear. Played through Normal and NM on /players 8, Act 1 Hell on /players 8, and the rest of Hell on /players 5. Only had problems with Hell Ancients, Hell Baal's Minions, and a few nasty unique packs. Lightning Immunes were annoying, but 50% CB + Merc + Death Sentry wore them down.


She's tired after fighting the Prime Evils and will retire. I usually don't play my characters much after Pat/Mat. Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by EasyG on Jun 27, 2012:

Introducing Matriarch Krift, the CTC-dancer

Hi there and welcome to my first mat-thread.

I am planning at a Dancer (Kick/Trap-Sin) since my restart for an attempt at a lvl99 character. After I dropped a Gul and since I don't have stormlash, I decided to make Rift Runeword for her, a very fun dancer weapon. It is made in a caduceus instead of war scepter to enhance bladed shield damage. She was kinda parked in early hell, while I was mfing and anya shopping with my sorc to gather some nice equipment for her, hoping for the pretty standard equipments (gorerider, guillaumes, draculs etc).
And then I dropped this, a near perfect Medusa's Gaze :ponder::
Medusa's Gaze
Aegis
Defense: 453
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 83 of 92
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 187
Fingerprint: 0xd5e2294b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 7 Lower Resist when struck
100% Chance to cast level 44 Nova when you Die
9% Life stolen per hit (5-9)
Slows Target by 20%
+180% Enhanced Defense (150-180)
Cold Resist +79% (40-80)

Requirements -15%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
I simply had to use this strange shield, it seems so awesome for my hybrid assassin. I became enthousiastic and started to think what items I could use more for Krift and after some looking around at arreat summit and my stash, I decided to focus at CTC items and make one big fireworks character. Here is the result of items:
Helm:
Obviously Andariel's Visage. It gives +2 skills, massive STR to equip my shield, massive poison resist, lifeleech, the attackspeed to reach 8/3/3 kicks and most importantly: ctc poison nova when struck
Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 336
Durability: 12 of 20
Required Level: 83
Required Strength: 102
Fingerprint: 0x9055a8d9
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova when struck
+2 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
10% Life stolen per hit
+117% Enhanced Defense
+30 to Strength
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
Fire Resist -30%
Poison Resist +70%
Level 3 Venom (16/20 Charges)
Amulet:
Mara's Kaleidoscope
, the rising sun would have fitted the theme more, but I dont have it and mara's was also really needed to make this char viable.
Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xc2a2defe
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +5
All Resistances +29
Weapon: The core item: Rift Cadaceus, with a nice +10 stats roll. It adds nice elemental damage to my kicks and 2 very nice ctc's, forb being the main reason why this build works so good.
Rift
Caduceus
HelKoLemGul
One Hand Damage: 37 - 43
Durability: 68 of 70
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 78
Required Dexterity: 56
Fingerprint: 0x6920f9c6
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 16 Tornado on striking
16% Chance to cast level 21 Frozen Orb on attack
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 160 - 250 Magic Damage
Adds 60 - 180 Fire Damage
+1 to Vengeance (Paladin Only)
All Stats +10
+10 to Dexterity
38% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
Level 15 Iron Maiden (40/40 Charges)
Requirements -20%
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: Ko Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Socketed: Gul Rune
Armor: Treachery Scarab Husk. The 2 ctc skills save me 3 skillpoints, not to mention this armor is simply awesome for this build, providing the atkspeed, skills, fhr and resistance needed. Also lowish def so I get more ctc when struck.
Treachery
Scarab Husk
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 455
Durability: 10 of 28
Required Level: 51
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x272a96c
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Shield. Medusa's Gaze. The shield which made me make this build and it is awesome, providing me the cold res, lifeleech and the very nice lower resist:
Medusa's Gaze
Aegis
Defense: 453
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 83 of 92
Required Level: 76
Required Strength: 187
Fingerprint: 0xd5e2294b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 7 Lower Resist when struck
100% Chance to cast level 44 Nova when you Die
9% Life stolen per hit
Slows Target by 20%
+180% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +79%
Requirements -15%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
My cold and poison resist were covered, just about 100 fire resist and 60 lightning resist to go.

Gloves. This was a hard choice not to use draculs, but I didnt want to overwrite lower resist with the life tap curse. Looking at gloves, there is one glove that would be realy really awesome: Lava gout. It gives fire resist, ias, elemental damage to my kicks and the very very nice ctc enchant. Sadly I never dropped these pretty common gloves with my sorc, so I had to use a pretty similar alternative: Laying of hands. It would bring me very far bumping up my fire resist and comes with ctc Holy bolt when striking. Sadly the ED to demons doesnt work with kicks.
Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 80
Durability: 6 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x58b03c4e
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%
Boots: If I would have had goreriders, I might have used them telling my self open wounds is also some kind of ctc, but I dont have them, and maybe luckily. Because these boots are way more in theme and also bump my fire resist further: Infernostride Ctc blaze is very cool, everyone must admit that. On top of that max fire resist and some elemental damage, all very nice.
Infernostride
Demonhide Boots
Defense: 104
Durability: 8 of 12
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x605888e4
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 8 Blaze when struck
+20% Faster Run/Walk
Adds 12 - 33 Fire Damage
+149% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+10% to Maximum Fire Resist
Fire Resist +30%
61% Extra Gold from Monsters
+2 to Light Radius
Just lightning resist to go and 1 item to go

Belt:No questions asked: Thundergods Vigor It actually doesnt give lightning resist, but it offers so much to this build. lots of needed Str and Vit, elemental damage to be added to kicks. max lightning resist and offcourse the CTC FoH. Other option could have been snowclash for the CTC Blizzard. I will have to get my lightning resist from charms and rings.
Thundergod's Vigor
War Belt
Defense: 144
Durability: 16 of 24
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 110
Fingerprint: 0xdd3928c3
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 7 Fist of the Heavens when struck
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
+3 to Lightning Strike (Amazon Only)
+3 to Lightning Fury (Amazon Only)
+172% Enhanced Defense
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+10% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+20 Lightning Absorb

Rings: Raven frost for CBF, elemental damage, AR, dex and cold absorb from which I dont have 85% resist. and a rare ll, light resist ring, bringing me to 27ll. I havent many good rings yet. If I would have had carrion wind or wisp projector, I would have used those for the CTC's.
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x8ac47eaa
Item Level: 66
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+222 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+17 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

Bone Finger
Ring
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0xb2bb2a62
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
8% Life stolen per hit
+45 to Mana
Lightning Resist +17%
Poison Resist +16%
I do have a very good charms selection for this character, totalling:
-187 AR
-+1 to martial art skills
-42 light resist
-16 fire resist
-5 poison resist
-5 cold resist
-89 HP
-29 FHR
-1 dex
-5 stamina
-3frw
-1-26 light damage
-22-39 fire damage
-375 poison damage (28 because of venom)
Here are some of the best charm readouts:
Flaming Large Charm of Vita
Large Charm
Required Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0x8452ab78
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 22 - 39 Fire Damage
+35 to Life

Steel Small Charm of Storms
Small Charm
Required Level: 49
Fingerprint: 0x56e83678
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+32 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 26 Lightning Damage

Toxic Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0xbc5add6b
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 100 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
+12 to Life

Toxic Small Charm of Sustenance
Small Charm
Required Level: 55
Fingerprint: 0x1e899948
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 100 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
+13 to Life

Pestilent Large Charm of Vita
Large Charm
Required Level: 58
Fingerprint: 0xe0ca6d21
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Adds 175 Poison Damage Over 6 Secs (150 Frames)
+29 to Life
Switch: I have 2 claws to lay down my traps, especially the second claw is awesome and saved me 4 skillpoints for bladeshield.
Cunning Blade Talons of Simplicity
Blade Talons
One Hand Damage: 10 - 14
Durability: 62 of 69
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 35
Required Dexterity: 35
Fingerprint: 0x5f948f39
Item Level: 97
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
Requirements -30%

Cunning Scissors Quhab
Scissors Quhab
One Hand Damage: 19 - 40
Durability: 67 of 68
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 82
Required Dexterity: 82
Fingerprint: 0xdd8feffe
Item Level: 97
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Lightning Sentry (Assassin Only)
+2 to Dragon Flight (Assassin Only)
+1 to Blade Shield (Assassin Only)
Let's for fun sum up the CTC skills:

On attack:
-16% Frozen Orb lvl 21

On striking:
-20% Tornado lvl 16
-25% Venom lvl 15
-10% Holy Bolt lvl 3

When Struck:
-15% Poison Nova lvl15
-5% Fade lvl 15
-10% Lower Resist lvl7
-5% Blaze lvl8
-5% FoH lvl7

On Death:
-100% Nova lvl44

For my merc I choosed a prayer/insight merc since my leech was pretty low with infernostride and so I didnt have to worry about manaleech at all. He also used treachery and andy face to stay in theme.

Here are my stats on main switch, elemental damage is not shown at kick damage so you should add `160-250 magic damage, 94-252 firedamage, 15-45 cold damage, 2-76 light damage, 375 poison damage and lvl15 venom to each kick.
stats with Fade lvl15 and inventory
Name: krift
Class: Assassin
Experience: 905601991
Level: 83


Naked/Gear
Strength: 132/197
Dexterity: 113/156
Vitality: 235/270
Energy: 25/40
HP: 918/1035
Mana: 148/233
Stamina: 466/471
Defense: 28/1611
AR: 100000529/2100024213


Fire: 125/85/25
Cold: 173/133/73
Lightning: 118/78/18
Poison: 150/110/50


MF: 0 Block: 41
GF: 186
FR/W: 23
FHR: 49
IAS: 85
FCR: 0
As you can see I pumped a lot of dex, since I planned to go max block orignally but later gave up on that :), also I added 10 to much str, so I could equip the shield before i had to wait for andy visage. I nicely reached the FHR breakpoint of 48. On switch my lightning sentries did 1-5312 damage.

Time for some interesting thoughts and information:
BladeShield All riftsin guides say that bladeshield works with ctc on attack skills, so that is awesome with rift, triggering free orbs. I have been trying to trigger FOrb in the blood moor for like 10 minutes, but it doesnt work, so in conclusion bladeshield is rly useless. Thanks all my poison charms, the listed shield damage is about 200. t trys to hit each 25 frames to targets within short range and uses AR of base attacks. After I found out that it doesnt work with Frozen Orb I stopped buffing it each 80 seconds. Another thought is that maybe bladed shield didnt work because I prebuffed it at switch with a + bladed shield claw without rift equiped and tryed to trigger forb at main without any points in bladed shield.

Rift It is indeed really awesome weapon with kicker. I tested with various psettings. At p1 it rly kills champions with forb alone. At p3 it weakens them so far that deathsentries finish the job with eas and also at p8 I rly noticed the forbs doing a big part of the damage. I can imagine that a dedicated build with nightwings veil and facets and maybe infinity will work great at p8.

Medusa Gaze I read at some guides that ctc when struck works when you block and some say that it doesnt work. I tryed to test it but with only 41% chance to block and all these low chance ctc skills it was rly hard to test and I cannot make a conclusion. I can say that medusa gaze is pretty awesome. In some situations all my ctc when stuck skills triggered. For example when ghouls were penetrating me with their attacks or when the WSK was filled with flayers. Also the hydra's of baal's 3rd wave guaranteed a lower resist trigger. As soon as lower resist triggered my killing speed quadruppeled. Frozen orb, lightning sentry and death sentry rly increased a lot in efficiency. Also the fight vs Baal (without any crushing blow) went suddenly much faster as soon as LR triggered. I havent been able to find anyone suggesting this shield for k/t assassin, but I do suggest it as an option for the poor man without infinity.

Infernostride These boots kinda suck haha. such low damage, it really made me sad. Upped Goreriders and a might merc are the way to go. I hope I drop them soon.

CTC-skills in generalAwesome! I loved all the fireworks at my screen and it is time to show it, so i clicked a few times at screen while fighting in wsk.
picture1 has blaze, poison nova, frozen orb, tornado and fade/venom.
picture 2 has lower resist, frozen orb, fist of heaven, blaze and fade/venom, finishing it at picture3 with another tornado and orb.
1584990521922.png
1584990543349.png
1584990561694.png
Normally the screen would also show some death sentry's but I didnt cast them here to be able to give the ctc's a chance to trigger, before everything died.

Shadow Warrior: I did put 1 point in shadow warrior, trying to make him lay death sentries, while I was kicking with dtalon. It worked decently and I dont regret using the 2 skill points I needed to invest at him. I can still max out my lightning sentry synergies, finished at lvl 98. But this means I will have to go without fade/venom.

Some mistakes I made
-I thought Hel allways removed 20% requirements, so I wasted a hel rune instead of a jewel at my shield.
-I made my first treachery in a superior (15% durability) archon plate, it gave me insaaaane repair costs and I had to put the armor at my merc and make a new treachery armor, wasting a Lem rune. Good that I discovered this with such cheap RW. Does superior %ed armors also give increased repair costs?
TreacherySuperior Archon Plate
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 474
Durability: 69 of 69
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0xa9c75c4d
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
5% Chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck
25% Chance to cast level 15 Venom on striking
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+45% Increased Attack Speed
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cold Resist +30%
50% Extra Gold from Monsters
Increase Maximum Durability 15%
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Future plans
In the near future I will put all the MF I can at Krift and she will farm NM cows for me with her lightning sentries. I rly could use some skillers and want to find that cow king set.
In the far far future I plan lvl 99 for her, I allmost have nothing of the equipment yet, but this is about the plan to do p8 baal runs with decent mf:
-Shako
-Stormlash (i need to check ias needed to reach 7/3/3 with the bos lvl ill get with this setup.
-mara's
-Chains of Honor
-Stormshield
-Undecided on gloves. likely crafted with mana leech and ias or draculs if needed.
-belt: undecided. many nice uniques possible, likely thundergods since i will have to run to baals room or IK to fill in resistance.
-upped goreriders
-ravenfrost
-bkwb or carrion wind or some rare.
-lightning sentry switch claws
-some resist jewels in the sockets and Burst of speed buff

undecided about merc might/freeze likely, also undecided about weapon. infinity is a dream, but CoH is priority. Goal is to get minimal 1-8k traps on switch

gheeds and trap skillers as GC's. shimmering SC's.

Thanks for reading this massive post 👍
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by Enrico on Aug 20, 2008:

Introduction and a matriarch thread

Hi, a longtime lurker and a player here. I've been playing Diablo 2 from the day it was available, but more seriously about 2 years. About year ago i lost all my characters and items due harddrive crash. Well, started again shortly and this following character is my 7th character which finished hell since. I also have mat/patted Bone/summon-hybrid necro, CL/FO sorc, Immortal king barb, Fireclaws bear druid, Fury wolf druid and MS/FA amazon.

Matriarch Annabel, kicker/trapper assassin, level 83

Stats:

Strength : 90 (202)
Dexterity : 125 (190)
Vitality : 270 (290)
Energy : 25 (45)

life : 1134, mana : 223
75% block, 35% damage reduction, 50% crushing blow

Resistances:
Fire : 65
Cold : 75
Lightning : 75
Poison : 56

Skills:

Dragon Talon : 20 (24)
Burst of Speed: 5 (8)
Venom: 20 (23)
Cloak of Shadows: 1 (3)
Mind Blast : 1 (3)
Charged Bolt Sentry : 2 (5)
Lightning Sentry : 20 (23)
Death Sentry : 20 (23)
+preg

Gear:

Guillame's face socketed with +15 res jewel
Lionheart Dusk Shroud
Bartuc's Cut-Throat socketed with shael
Stormshield socketed with um
Rare +1 assassin skills, res, +6 strength amulet
Soul drainer
Credendum
Upped Goreriders
Rare lifeleech + res ring
Ravenfrost

Random charms, mainly +res and +attack rating

Mercenary:

Durga, level 83 might merc
Tal Rasha's mask
Reaper's Toll
Ethereal Duriel's Shell

Gameplay was normal and nightmare p8, hell p3 all way except ancients were p1. All in all this was very enjoyable character, basic gameplay was kick, trap, repeat. I never liked assassin much, but i have played similar assassin before and found it very powerful. Kicker/trapper is also nice character that it's very powerful early on. Normal and nightmare were very easy, few deaths (IM), at the end of nightmare i could equip all my end-game gear and began hell.

Act 1 was very easy, no suprise. Act 2 was also quite easy, but there I encountered my biggest problem: my mercenary would die very easy. This was my biggest problem all the way to the end, many times when my mercenary got overwhelmed he died instantly. It didn't happen a lot, but it was quite annoyance. Act 3 was very easy.

Act 4 was easy, except chaos sanctuary: my merc died in there about 15 times, hole place took 30 min to clear. Act 5 was easy, no big problems. Ancients went down easily: only Madawc was lightning immune, first kicked him to death, he cursed me, then layed LS until my curse was broken and then kicked Korlic and Talic death.

Overall this was very powerfull character. Almost all time either decrepify or weaken were active. My character was also very sturdy, having 75% block and 35% damage reduction and quite good life. She is very strong against single monsters and strong against mobs.

LCS
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by @ffs on Apr 11, 2019:

Matriarch Slash – Fancy Furysin Turned Cow Runner

This is the fourth Mat/Pat of this sept of characters that only use things found by my two untwinked 99er characters. (Though in her case there is a little asterisk – see below.)

I'm not very experienced with Assassins. I had previously played one standard LS/DS Trapper, one physical Kicker and one Rift-Kicker. So I used this character as a testing ground for all kinds of builds and gear variations.

And boy she went through a lot of transformations. But starting at the beginning: I started her sometime late last year as a change of scenery from when my untwinked Necro was approaching 99. There were three items I had obtained from my 99ers which I wanted to use with her:

1) Stormlash
2) Last Wish
3) This fantastic circlet:

1584991036241.png

Originally she was planned to be a K/T Sin using Stormlash. I floated the idea of such a build as a cow runner, but couldn't test her at the time. That was basically between breaks from diving in the Caribbean. :) But I was itching to play her, and finally got around to it after RFL R1 ended.

The Questing

Pretty uneventful. She started with Envy jeweled stuff and switched to Wake of Fire once it was available. This was used all the way through NM, adding better gear such as Stealth, Spirit, SoJs etc. along the way while levelling up. She only respec'ed to a DS-centered build at the beginning of Hell. I equipped Enigma at lvl 65 and didn't even properly quest in Hell, but rather rushed through to A5 to gain more levels to equip her end game gear. Her first death only came after Mat – I may have a Guardian one day after all. ;)

Then came the long phase of trying different setups and skills. I knew I wanted to play a hybrid and use skills I hadn't used before, but being rather unexperienced with Assassins, I didn't know what exactly to look for. This was what I tried with her:
  • DT/DS Kick/Trap hybrid with Stormlash
  • DT/DS Kick/Trap hybrid with Last Wish
  • BF/DS Furysin with Stormlash
  • BF/DS Furysin with Last Wish
The respective Stormlash variants were better offensively. The Last Wish setups on the other hand were super tanky – and moreover allowed use of Defiance Merc since it provides Might. Very similar for DT vs BF: The DT variants had higher damage potential but some survivability issues, whereas BF was a little slower but very safe and easy gameplay.

Generally I came to really like Blade Fury. The fact that it can trigger a huge variety of effects (CtC, leech, CB etc.) makes it super fun to play around with using different weapons. Could even go with things like Rift or Lacerator.

Here is a video of two casual P7 Pit runs with Blade Fury, one with Stormlash and one with Last Wish:


She was eventually Mat'ed with this gear and build:
Code:
2/20/48 life/19@ (46 FR) circlet
2/9/adds amulet
Enigma BP
Last Wish PB
Spirit
Magefist
Raven
SoJ
Arachnid Mesh
Waterwalk

CtA/Spirit switch

Defiance Merc with Infinity/Forti/Andy

Code:
20 DS
20 LS
18 FB
20 BF
1 BoS
Pre-reqs
Rest Shadow Warrior
(The Shadow Warrior died a lot even with higher health...)

Mat Pic:

1584990946317.png

The Finds
Just D2 giving me the finger while leveling at Pindle:

1584990925327.png

The Cow Build

After killing Hell Baal I got around to Cow runs. I tried all of the above approaches here as well, but in the end respec'ed her to the more powerful FB/DS build. But for a long time I stuck with Last Wish – I really liked the Defiance Merc + Might from Last Wish (despite not making use of its other effects).

At one point I also included a Phoenix shield from my general stash, removing her "twinked by untwinked characters" status – but only after Mat. :p It then took me some time to get the idea of including Beast to power up the Merc further. This turned her into one hell of a Cow runner. Some more information on her in this post and this one. Runs on P5 are very fast:


Gear and build:
Code:
2/20/48 life/19@ (46 FR) circlet
2/9/adds amulet
Enigma
Beast
Phoenix
Magefist
Raven
SoJ
Arachnid Mesh
WT

CtA/Spirit switch for teleporting on 102 FCR BP

Might Merc with Infinity/Forti/Andy

Code:
20 DS
20 FB
20 LS
1 BoS
Pre-reqs
Everything else into FB synergies

As mentioned in the R1 thread, from the initial runs already I would say that this is one of the strongest Cow builds I've ever played. Might be the best option even.

EDIT: GoMule Dump with Beast setup:
Code:
Name:       TBU_Slash
Class:      Assassin
Experience: 1655999931
Level:      90

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   61/187
Dexterity:  20/40
Vitality:   439/449
Energy:     25/35
HP:         1545/1821
Mana:       158/238
Stamina:    730/730
Defense:    5/1426
AR:         100000064/100000351

Fire:       76/36/-24
Cold:       49/9/-51
Lightning:  49/9/-51
Poison:     49/9/-51

MF:         159       Block:      6
GF:         124
FR/W:       70
FHR:        0
IAS:        40
FCR:        69

Fire Blast: 20/36
Shock Web: 16/31
Blade Sentinel: 0/0
Charged Bolt Sentry: 20/35
Wake of Fire: 0/0
Blade Fury: 0/0
Lightning Sentry: 20/35
Wake of Inferno: 0/0
Death Sentry: 20/35
Blade Shield: 0/0

Claw Mastery: 1/9
Psychic Hammer: 1/9
Burst of Speed: 1/9
Weapon Block: 0/0
Cloak of Shadows: 1/9
Fade: 0/0
Shadow Warrior: 0/0
Mind Blast: 1/9
Venom: 0/0
Shadow Master: 0/0

Tiger Strike: 0/0
Dragon Talon: 0/0
Fists of Fire: 0/0
Dragon Claw: 0/0
Cobra Strike: 0/0
Claws of Thunder: 0/0
Dragon Tail: 0/0
Blades of Ice: 0/0
Dragon Flight: 0/0
Phoenix Strike: 0/0

Entrapping Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x89576e8a
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xbbbf8459
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Storm Visage
Tiara
Defense: 45
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xb00949e6
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+20% Faster Cast Rate
5% Life stolen per hit
+86 to Life
All Resistances +19
Fire Resist +27%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Perfect Ruby

Perfect Ruby
Required Level: 18
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 15 - 20 Fire Damage
Armor: +38 to Life
Shields: Fire Resist +40%

Enigma
Breast Plate
JahIthBer
Defense: 823
Durability: 50 of 50
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 30
Fingerprint: 0x3aad8739
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+45% Faster Run/Walk
+1 to Teleport
+757 Defense
+67 to Strength (Based on Character Level)
Increase Maximum Life 5%
Damage Reduced by 8%
+14 Life after each Kill
15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
90% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Based on Character Level)
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Jah Rune
Socketed: Ith Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Ith Rune
Required Level: 15
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Maximum Damage
Armor: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
Shields: 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Arachnid Mesh
Spiderweb Sash
Defense: 119
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 80
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x1929bcaa
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Slows Target by 10%
+90% Enhanced Defense
Increase Maximum Mana 5%
Level 3 Venom (11/11 Charges)

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0xd254e37b
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+187 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+20 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
Cold Absorb 20%
Cannot Be Frozen

War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 131
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x97e53e9b
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+25% Faster Run/Walk
Adds 15 - 25 Damage
+174% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
40% Slower Stamina Drain
Attacker Takes Damage of 10
46% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+30 Maximum Durability

The Stone of Jordan
Ring
Required Level: 29
Fingerprint: 0xa1b64dff
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
Adds 1 - 12 Lightning Damage
+20 to Mana
Increase Maximum Mana 25%

Stone Heart
Amulet
Required Level: 89
Fingerprint: 0x1304babb
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
+9% Faster Cast Rate
+19 to Strength
+20 to Mana
Regenerate Mana 10%
65% Extra Gold from Monsters
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Horadric Cube
Fingerprint: 0x62927415
Item Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Magefist
Light Gauntlets
Defense: 25
Durability: 18 of 18
Required Level: 23
Required Strength: 45
Fingerprint: 0xb04447f2
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Fire Skills
+20% Faster Cast Rate
Adds 1 - 6 Fire Damage
+30% Enhanced Defense
+10 Defense
Regenerate Mana 25%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x8eafc4d7
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xa61cd51
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xdb0b9287
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Tome of Identify
Fingerprint: 0xe1f3fefa
Item Level: 12
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Entrapping Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xfca58ea4
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
32% Extra Gold from Monsters

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xa2feb6ee
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x494a16c3
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x8826285
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xe97fd16f
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life

Entrapping Grand Charm of Greed
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xbdbd894b
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
27% Extra Gold from Monsters

Entrapping Grand Charm of Quality
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x47d7a402
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
+2 to Maximum Damage

Entrapping Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x139e6c93
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)

Entrapping Grand Charm of Venom
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x6689fa13
Item Level: 69
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Trap Skills (Assassin Only)
Adds 15 Poison Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Super Mana Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 250%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x2a1cd346
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Full Rejuvenation Potion
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Replenishes Mana 100%
Replenishes Health 100%

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8ce9b481
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8ce9b481
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8ce9b481
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8ce9b481
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x8ce9b481
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x2a1cd346
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Tome of Town Portal
Fingerprint: 0x2a1cd346
Item Level: 95
Version: Expansion 1.10+

Call to Arms
Superior Crystal Sword
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 26 - 82
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 33
Fingerprint: 0xb0023ca7
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
274% Enhanced Damage
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+2 to Battle Command
+4 to Battle Orders
+4 to Battle Cry
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 14%
Ethereal
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Ral Rune
Required Level: 19
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
Armor: Fire Resist +30%
Shields: Fire Resist +35%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Ohm Rune
Required Level: 57
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Enhanced Maximum Damage
Armor: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Cold Resist

Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 138
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xd284b43b
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+98 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+6 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn Rune

Tal Rune
Required Level: 17
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 75 Poison Damage Over 5 Secs (125 Frames)
Armor: Poison Resist +30%
Shields: Poison Resist +35%

Thul Rune
Required Level: 23
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 3 - 14 Cold Damage Over 3 Secs (75 Frames)
Armor: Cold Resist +30%
Shields: Cold Resist +35%

Ort Rune
Required Level: 21
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
Armor: Lightning Resist +30%
Shields: Lightning Resist +35%

Amn Rune
Required Level: 25
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Life stolen per hit
Armor: Attacker Takes Damage of 14
Shields: Attacker Takes Damage of 14

Beast
Double Axe
BerTirUmMalLum
One Hand Damage: 18 - 47
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 43
Fingerprint: 0xcbcdd5db
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Level 9 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
+40% Increased Attack Speed
268% Enhanced Damage
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
25% Chance of Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
+3 to Werebear
+3 to Lycanthropy
+30 to Strength
+10 to Energy
+2 to Mana after each Kill
Level 13 Summon Grizzly (5/5 Charges)
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Tir Rune
Socketed: Um Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Lum Rune

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Tir Rune
Required Level: 13
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +2 to Mana after each Kill
Armor: +2 to Mana after each Kill
Shields: +2 to Mana after each Kill

Um Rune
Required Level: 47
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 25% Chance of Open Wounds
Armor: Cold Resist +15%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%
Shields: Cold Resist +22%
Lightning Resist +22%
Fire Resist +22%
Poison Resist +22%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Lum Rune
Required Level: 37
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +10 to Energy
Armor: +10 to Energy
Shields: +10 to Energy

Phoenix
Monarch
VexVexLoJah
Defense: 135
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0xa5d0e331
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
100% Chance to cast level 40 Blaze when you Level-Up
40% Chance to cast level 22 Firestorm on striking
Level 12 Redemption Aura When Equipped
371% Enhanced Damage
-28% to Enemy Fire Resistance
+391 Defense vs. Missile
+50 to Life
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
+10% to Maximum Fire Resist
+16 Fire Absorb
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Socketed: Jah Rune

Vex Rune
Required Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist

Vex Rune
Required Level: 55
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 7% Mana stolen per hit
Armor: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Fire Resist

Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist

Jah Rune
Required Level: 65
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Ignore Target's Defense
Armor: Increase Maximum Life 5%
Shields: +50 to Life

Mercenary:

Name:       Vikhyat
Race:       Desert Mercenary
Type:       Off-Nightmare
Experience: 88459248
Level:      90
Dead?:      false

            Naked/Gear
Strength:   195/222
Dexterity:  157/157
HP:         1967/2057
Defense:    1444/5163
AR:         1970/1970

Fire:       152/112/52
Cold:       182/142/82
Lightning:  182/142/82
Poison:    252/212/152

Andariel's Visage
Demonhead
Defense: 356
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 83
Required Strength: 102
Fingerprint: 0xe5f9c31
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
15% Chance to cast level 15 Poison Nova when struck
+2 to All Skills
+35% Increased Attack Speed
28% Enhanced Damage
10% Life stolen per hit
+130% Enhanced Defense
+27 to Strength
+10% to Maximum Poison Resist
Fire Resist -30%
Poison Resist +70%
Level 3 Venom (20/20 Charges)
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Realgar Jewel of Fervor

Realgar Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x56b44962
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+15% Increased Attack Speed
28% Enhanced Damage


Fortitude
Great Hauberk
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 3363
Durability: 26 of 26
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 108
Fingerprint: 0x3e08afe8
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
+25% Faster Cast Rate
300% Enhanced Damage
+200% Enhanced Defense
+15 Defense
+90 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +28
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune

El Rune
Required Level: 11
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +50 to Attack Rating
+1 to Light Radius
Armor: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius
Shields: +15 Defense
+1 to Light Radius

Sol Rune
Required Level: 27
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: +9 to Minimum Damage
Armor: Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Damage Reduced by 7

Dol Rune
Required Level: 31
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Hit Causes Monster to Flee 25%
Armor: Replenish Life +7
Shields: Replenish Life +7

Lo Rune
Required Level: 59
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Deadly Strike
Armor: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Lightning Resist


Infinity
Cryptic Axe
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 192 - 884
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 155
Required Dexterity: 93
Fingerprint: 0xab150a5b
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
50% Chance to cast level 20 Chain Lightning when you Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
293% Enhanced Damage
-48% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+45 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30/30 Charges)
Ethereal
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ber Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Mal Rune
Required Level: 49
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: Prevent Monster Heal
Armor: Magic Damage Reduced by 7
Shields: Magic Damage Reduced by 7

Ber Rune
Required Level: 63
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Armor: Damage Reduced by 8%
Shields: Damage Reduced by 8%

Ist Rune
Required Level: 51
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Armor: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Shields: 25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

***

Thanks for reading! And thanks @maxicek for the Assassin FAQ, fantastic resource for Assassin noobs like me. It was consulted very often and I learned a great deal about the class.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by humbuggerer on Oct 4, 2010:

Matriarch Jaggascicle - Anabolic Aggressin

Name: Jaggascicle
Class: Assassin
Experience: 922243054
Level: 83

Naked/Gear
Strength: 351/399
Dexterity: 114/140
Vitality: 20/20
Energy: 25/25
Life: 60/571 (1172 w/ battle orders)
Mana: 0/0
Stamina: 0/60
Defense: 28/1849
AR: 11978 // 13117

Resists:
Fire: 35
Cold: 75
Lightning: 80
Poison: 28

Damage: 1991-4112 // 3684-5303 w/o venom

Traps:
Death Sentry: 14/16
1 in pre-reqs

Shadow:
Claw Mastery : 20/22
Burst of Speed : 5/7
Venom : 20/23
1 in pre-reqs and 1 pt wonders

Martial Arts:
Dragon Claw : 20/22
1 pt pre-reqs and DFlight

Roundup: Vitality?? pfft. She did the first three acts at /p3 without any major issues, but in A4 things got bogged down severely. Those pit lords (fire-breathing demons with wings) constantly running away, and taking about six attacks (both claws x6) to kill. Did I mentioned she used a rare claw with 100% hcmtf? Very annoying. After dropping to /p1, things were a breeze thanks to fast kills and DS. I never felt like her life pool was too small. (Then again, it wasn't really that small, after all).

She was like a Ferrari: high performance in the right environment, prone to break down, and terribly impractical. The purpose was to get her displayed damage as high as possible while maintaining 10-frame Dclaw. She used WSM bugging, and of course a CtA buff was necessary. And BoS/venom. Every time I switched weapons, I needed to re-bug her claws. And then I had to re-select DClaw since it deactivates unless two claws are equipped. Did I mention impractical?

Gear:

Upped Bartuc's (s/ Ruby Jewel of Daring)
Loath scratch rare war fist (100% hcmtf, 428 ED after s/ Ruby Jewel of Virility) (a nice gift from Anya!)
swap weapon: CtA/'spirit'
'Fortitude'
Kira's guardian (+70 s/ Vermilion (+15) Jewel of Spirit (7))
Corpse fist crafted blood gloves (+2 MA, 10% CB, 30% CR)
Gore rider
Glyph Cord crafted blood belt (+52 life, +15 str)
Witch-hunter's amulet of the whale (+100)
Dwarf star
Viper eye rare ring (dual leech, AR, 29% LR)

charms: Life, max damage mostly

Code:
Loath Scratch
War Fist
One Hand Damage: 232 - 286
Durability: 25 of 64
Required Level: 58
Required Strength: 108
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x9467876b
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+125 to Attack Rating
+7 to Maximum Damage
+4 - 7 cold damage with 4 sec Duration
+1 to Venom (Assassin Only)
Hit Causes Monster to Flee
Level 1 Enchant (11/11 Charges)
+5 to Strength
428% Enhanced Damage
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Virility

Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Runic Talons
One Hand Damage: 105 - 197
Durability: 28 of 69
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 115
Required Dexterity: 115
Fingerprint: 0x961abee6
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+20 to Strength
+25 to Minimum Damage
+50 to Maximum Damage
5% Life stolen per hit
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels
Required Lvl +7
30% Faster Hit Recovery
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+25 to Dexterity
236% Enhanced Damage
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Ruby Jewel of Daring

Fortitude
Archon Plate
Defense: 1446
Durability: 55 of 60
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 103
Fingerprint: 0x83cca9fd
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
All Resistances +28
200% Enhanced Defense
300% Enhanced Damage
25% Faster Cast Rate
+12 Damage Taken Goes To Mana
20% Chance to cast level 15 Chilling Armor when struck
93 to Life (Based on Char Lvl)
+1 to Light Radius
+15 Defense
Damage Reduced by 7
Replenish Life 7
5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
4 Sockets (4 used)

Corpse Fist
Sharkskin Gloves
Defense: 49
Durability: 13 of 14
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 20
Fingerprint: 0x946eec0b
Item Level: 91
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+6 to Strength
+19 to Life
24% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +30%
3% Life stolen per hit
10% Chance of Crushing Blow
+2 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)

Glyph Cord
Mesh Belt
Defense: 57
Durability: 13 of 16
Required Level: 56
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0x97cfd4f2
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+15 to Strength
+52 to Life
41% Enhanced Defense
Cold Resist +12%
2% Life stolen per hit
8% Chance of Open Wounds

Kira's Guardian
Tiara
Defense: 110
Durability: 20 of 25
Required Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0xa5179e86
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+65 Defense
20% Faster Hit Recovery
Cannot Be Frozen
All Resistances +70
+7 to Life
+15 to Maximum Damage
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Vermilion Jewel of Spirit

Witch-hunter's Amulet of the Whale
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x172f0345
Item Level: 92
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+100 to Life
+2 to Assassin Skill Levels

Viper Eye
Ring
Required Level: 74
Fingerprint: 0xa210fc4c
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+96 to Attack Rating
+4 to Maximum Damage
Lightning Resist +29%
7% Life stolen per hit
6% Mana stolen per hit

Dwarf Star
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x120c8cc9
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+40 to Life
+40 Maximum Stamina
15% Heal Stamina Plus
Magic Damage Reduced by 13
100% Extra Gold from Monsters
15% Fire Absorb

Gore Rider
War Boots
Defense: 152
Durability: 29 of 34
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 94
Fingerprint: 0x3dc37f24
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+20 Maximum Stamina
182% Enhanced Defense
+10 Maximum Durability
Requirements -25%
30% Faster Run/Walk
10% Chance of Open Wounds
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike


Comments: Thanks to a healthy level of BoS and WSM bugging, no ias was needed on her gear to hit the 10 frame Dclaw breakpoint, so I stuck ED jewels in both claws. The blood crafts were nice for the life bonuses and LL, and the belt also provided some extra chance of OW, which was about all she had to take out PIs (venom is a joke skill). I've been lucky enough to find a perfect Kira's and gamble a perfect magic amulet. Lucky me.


Emilio the Mighty Moron:
Storm bite rare battle scythe
'Treachery'
Vamp gaze


Code:
Storm Bite
Battle Scythe
Two Hand Damage: 22 - 59
Durability: 32 of 65
Required Level: 38
Required Strength: 82
Required Dexterity: 82
Fingerprint: 0x3358502e
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
23% Enhanced Damage
+36 to Attack Rating
+4 to Maximum Damage
+9 - 26 cold damage with 1 sec Duration
40% Increased Attack Speed
80% Damage to Undead
+96 to Attack Rating against Undead
5% Chance to cast level 1 Amplify Damage on striking

About the moron's weapon: I wanted the might aura (for reasons which should be obvious), and so a moron was necessary. And the biggest problem was dealing with physical immunes, so of course I started with a Reaper's, but found that I didn't like the way it negated CoS, especially against those ghost-type monsters that stack up. And so I gave the merc his new toy. The result was a more fragile moron, of course, but he wasn't that bad, as long as I kept an eye on him. (mind blast is a skill I'm learning to love.) When amp triggered, it was byebye bad guy.

Gameplay: CoS, hackhack *monster flees*, hackhack *flees*, DS, DS, MB (to save the merc's ***), MB (to keep the next baddie from fleeing), hackhack, hackhack, hackhack...


Find:

Crimson Jewel of Fervor
Jewel
Required Level: 31
Fingerprint: 0x612a5cff
Item Level: 75
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Properties:
+7 to Minimum Damage
15% Increased Attack Speed

HF: mal

screen shots: rough neighborhood
stupid ghosts
carnage
Chance to hit?
grrrr



Final thoughts: Building a base-vita character was easier than I thought it would be, partly because of the sin's awesome CC, and partly because I've managed to accumulate the gear necessary for it. I thought her killing speed was a bit weak, considering all the effort I put into her gear. Then I played a 'grief'/'death' (1.12 sword bases) WW barb, and realized that Dclaw wasn't so bad after all. (And DS totally rocks).

Fleeing monsters are really annoying!!! That is all.

Thanks: Maxicek for the aggressin guide.
This forum for being so awesome.
The reader.
 
Last edited:
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