Matriarch Ultima - The Ultimate Assassin
Back in March 2009, someone in the Assassin Forum asked What sin build does most dmg?
Later in the same year, Liquid, Zylo and Ray_Patean completed their Blood Brothers Project which tried to answer the question which character class deserves the title of “Most Damaging Melee Character?”
The stipulations for this were:
All this got me thinking...
How close could an Assassin push these three muscle men?
[highlight]Ultima[/highlight]
Matriarch Ultima - The Ultimate Assassin
Fans of the Final Fantasy series have probably already worked out where the name comes from. Ultima Weapons are the best weapon you can get for each character in the game. There is kind of an echo here to Leeloo in the film The Fifth Element. The assassin herself is the weapon, with all elements optimised to give the maximum damage - which does leave her somewhat fragile in certain areas.
As with all melee characters, it is all about the weapon choice. So lets start with the equipment.
[highlight]Equipment[/highlight]
Weapon: 1.07 Ethereal 'Death' Decapitator
eBoTD Thunder Maul would have given some pretty LCS numbers, but packing on the deadly strike is the easiest way to get the damage up. With Highlord's & Gores I managed 90% Deadly Strike at level 86. Of course in the 1.07 base the Decapitator packed in a huge amount of damage in itself, but all the mods helped. The mana leech meant I didn't need to find it elsewhere, low requirements, an AR boost, 50% Crushing Blow and ctc Glacial Spike to help the safety. If you don't need the IAS on weapon, this has to be the best weapon in the game.
Switch Weapon: Beta 'Call To Arms'
Switch Shield: Spirit
Gave me a vital life boost as well as a +5 pre-buff for Burst of Speed.
Helm: Kira's
Well unfortunately I needed to pack in some resists somewhere, so I had to drop the options of a +3 MA / 80% ED circlet or Guillaume's face for that 100% Deadly Strike. Kira's packed the resists into one place and freed up the inventory space. A nice rare jewel let me pack in a bit more ED too.
Armour: Fortitude
Belt: Verdungo's
Boots: Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves
Pretty standard stuff for a melee character. The boots were upped for kicking.
Gloves: Kenshi's of Alacrity
I needed 20IAS here. Laying of Hands may have been a more practical PvM choice, but that would have meant 180% less ED for a fully charged Tiger Strike. Much less impressive on the LCS.
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: Rare - Death Spiral
I didn't need the Cannot be Frozzen from Ravenfrost as Kira's already covered it, but I wanted some more base AR. The second ring added more AR, life leech and resists.
Inventory
7x Martial Arts Skillers with life, 7x SCs of Vita, both tomes. This covered the must not devote more than 28 inventory spaces (7x4) to charms requirement. The AR was acceptable with just the conviction alone, but I used Enchant charges from Demon Limb for a further boost.
Equipment Readouts:
Charm Readouts
[highlight]Skills[/highlight]
Burst of Speed: 17
23 with pre-buff from Beta CtA and Spirit. With and additional 40IAS, that gave me the maximum 10FPA attack with the Decapitator. And of course an extremely quick movement speed.
Cloak of Shadows: 5/7
I put a few extra points here for the duration, due to my low level of +Shadow skills. Getting the balance here can be tricky - too many points and you end up waiting for the timer to run down after you havewiped on one pack and before you engage the next. Too few and you run the (possibly lethal) risk of it running out mid battle. I think the seven points worked well for me given my damage output.
Mind Blast: 1/3
I put the point here for one reason. Lister and The Minions of Destruction. CoS is not effective agianst these guys, but they get stunned beautifuly by MB, turning them into pussy cats.
Tiger Strike: 20/32
Phoenix Strike: 20/32
I decided to use Phoenix Strike as a backup attack instead of going for the Fishysin route and using Death Sentry as I didn't want the traps to be dominant. I was originally planning on using the second Lightning charge, but it can be difficult to trigger it reliably. The Meteor charge could be dropped at 20 frame intervals and I quite liked the idea of my enemies having to walk in the fire to hit me under conviction.
Dragon Talon: 6/18
A few points in Dragon Talon gave me a 7/3/3/3 fame kick sequence with 65% Crushing Blow. It was useful for boss fights before a few Tiger Strikes took out the remaining life. I also had to use it for a PI FI Hephasto.
Dragon Flight: 1/13
One point in DF was absolutely essential. With such a high level of BoS, it was easy to out distance the mercenary and his all important conviction. DF collected him.
Synergies and Pre-Requisites
Claw Mastery: 1/3
Psychic Hammer: 1/3
Fists of Fire: 20/32
Dragon Claw: 1/13
Cobra Strike: 1/13
Claws of Thunder: 1/13
Dragon Tail: 1/13
Blades of Ice: 1/13
[highlight]Stats[/highlight]
Name: Ultima
Class: Assassin
Experience: 1160220911
Level: 86
Naked/Gear
Strength: 460/469
Dexterity: 20/49
Vitality: 20/59
Energy: 25/25
Life: 1384
Mana: 363
Stamina: 679
Defense: 2211
Fire: 36
Cold: 27
Lightning: 80
Poison: 24
FR/W: 30
FHR: 30
IAS: 40
FCR: 25
[highlight]Mercenary Equipment[/highlight]
Mercenary Type: A2 NM Offensive
Helm: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Armour: 'Treachery' Ethereal Kraken Shell
Weapon: 'Infinity' Ethereal Thresher
[highlight]Finds[/highlight]
Hellforge: Ko NM,Ko Hell. Symmetrical at least.
Despite the complete lack of MF, I did actually have some reasonable finds with this character. I found a few reasonable Exceptional and Elite Uniques. The standout finds were an Andariel's Visage, a Gul rune from The Stony Field, a Serpents SC of Inertia, a Mentalist's skiller and some reasonable rare boots. I also had a drop from Duriel that made a change from Scrolls of Town Portal.
Readouts
[highlight]The Damage[/highlight]
OK, enough of the warm up, if you are still reading by this point you will want to know what the damage numbers were. My calculations and the LCS differ a bit.
LCS Damage (and Hell Baal):
Tiger Strike: 3740 to 12K, 3402AR
Normal Attack: 11K to 34K with fully charged TS. 2913AR
Phoenix Strike: 2484-2784 Meteor, 2416 - 2571 residual fire damage per second.
Dragon Talon: 1375-2342 according to the LCS, 1201 - 1615 according to the Amazon Basin calculator with 65% Crushing Blow at 7/3/3/3 FPA.
By my calculations based on chance to hit, 7500AR is equivalent to 1280AR with lvl12 Conviction. So my worst case normal attack AR of 2913 easily met that requirement.
Calculated Damage
My assumptions at character level 86:
Weapon damage 336 to 1047
327% off weapon ED (Fortitude and Jewel in Kira's)
Strength 469
Level 32 Tiger Strike, fully charged giving 2160% ED
90% Deadly Strike at level 86
Tiger Strike: 4019 to 12522
Normal Attack: 11276 to 35137
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) that is 23332 to 72704, average 59684.
But that is before we add in the 90% Deadly Strike:
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) with DS: 44389 to 138319, average 113548.
Per Frame with DS: 1110 to 3458, average 2839.
Per second with DS: 287743 to 86449, average 70968.
I'll save you checking, unsurprisingly the damage numbers per second are not as high as the Blood Brothers. The trouble is that she just can't hit fast enough. D2 melee is really a speed game, and no matter how much DS and ED you pile on, you can't compete with a 10FPA attack agains a 4 FPA attack. But I will take consolation with whipping all three's backsides in terms of single attack damage.
[highlight]Playability[/highlight]
All that damage is very impressive, but it is like attaching a V8 engine to a skateboard if you can't harness it. I went full Titan, but it didn't make a major difference to the damage numbers. But then with about 1400 life after BO, she wasn't really that much of a glass cannon either. The whole game was played at /players3, except The Ancients. I did try going higher, but she struggled if I got surrounded. Most things died with one whack in the early acts, later acts took about two. All in all, I think she was a pretty well rounded character, with all the right attributes that make a good PvM build.
Crowd Control? Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast.
Raw damage? Average 38K per second.
Crushing blow? 65% at 7/3/3/3 FPA.
PI Solution? Fire damage + Infinity.
Mobility? High FRW from BoS and boots, Dragon Flight.
[highlight]So is she The Ultimate Assassin?[/highlight]
A well equipped lightning trapper can do about 1 to 12K damage with 5 traps firing at 31FPA each. That is about 24.2K damage per second average. So Ultima comfortably beats that. But then lightning pierces and therefore damages more targets. It also benefits more from conviction. So in terms of damage numbers, yes she is the ultimate assassin, but in practically terms she will be out damaged by a trapper. Surely she is the Ultimate Martial Artist.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone that I traded with for the gear (almost exactly a year ago now).
Update:
[highlight]Gear Change - Skull Breaker[/highlight]
Now as many people are aware, OMG has a rather tasty rare by the name of Skull Breaker. In fact it is the rare maul mentioned in the thread from the Assassin forum where this all started. It looks like this:
Skull Breaker
Thunder Maul
Two-Hand Damage: 264 to 1478
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Strength: 243
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc3dcea3a
+440% Enhanced Damage
+184 to Attack Rating
+20 to Maximum Damage
70% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (2: 2 used)
How does it compare to Death?
According to the LCS:
Tiger Strike 3084 - 17K
Normal Attack 8808 - 49K
Now that is nice top end damage, an improvement of 15K to the max damage and 6.5K to the average strike damage. But I know, I can already hear you saying that I have missed out on a load of Deadly Strike. We are going to need to look at the calculations, once more my base numbers differ slightly from the LCS.
My assumptions at character level 86:
Weapon damage 264 to 1478
327% off weapon ED (Fortitude and Jewel in Kira's)
Strength 469
Level 32 Tiger Strike, fully charged giving 2160% ED
47% Deadly Strike at level 86
Tiger Strike: 3281 to 18370
Normal Attack: 9142 to 51182
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) that is 18986 to 106292, average 72132.
But that is before we add in the 47% Deadly Strike:
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) with DS: 27957 to 156515, average 106214.
Per Frame with DS: 699 to 3913, average 2655.
Per second with DS: 17473 to 97822, average 66384.
I actually thought that Skull Breaker would give a bit higher damage even despite the lack of DS, but whilst I was making this edit I found an error in my average damage calcs with DS (now corrected for Death too). So in the end Death was the better choice by about 5K average damage per second. Thanks obviously go to OMG for the loan.
I did enjoy one hit killing Shenk at /P3 with Skull Breaker though.
All out Damage
I was going to do an all out damage version as per the thread in the Assassin forum, but I don't think there is any point equipping a character with almost no resists and the insufficient AR to hit anything. One of the tings I like about this build is that she is, despite the focus on damage, extremely playable.
Back in March 2009, someone in the Assassin Forum asked What sin build does most dmg?
Later in the same year, Liquid, Zylo and Ray_Patean completed their Blood Brothers Project which tried to answer the question which character class deserves the title of “Most Damaging Melee Character?”
The stipulations for this were:
Code:
- Must have 7500+ AR (or Conviction-induced equivalent)
- Must have positive cold, fire, and poison resists
- Must have 75+ lightning resists
- Must not devote more than 28 inventory spaces (7x4) to charms
- Must not carry any poison charmsAll this got me thinking...
How close could an Assassin push these three muscle men?
[highlight]Ultima[/highlight]
Matriarch Ultima - The Ultimate Assassin
Fans of the Final Fantasy series have probably already worked out where the name comes from. Ultima Weapons are the best weapon you can get for each character in the game. There is kind of an echo here to Leeloo in the film The Fifth Element. The assassin herself is the weapon, with all elements optimised to give the maximum damage - which does leave her somewhat fragile in certain areas.
As with all melee characters, it is all about the weapon choice. So lets start with the equipment.
[highlight]Equipment[/highlight]
Weapon: 1.07 Ethereal 'Death' Decapitator
eBoTD Thunder Maul would have given some pretty LCS numbers, but packing on the deadly strike is the easiest way to get the damage up. With Highlord's & Gores I managed 90% Deadly Strike at level 86. Of course in the 1.07 base the Decapitator packed in a huge amount of damage in itself, but all the mods helped. The mana leech meant I didn't need to find it elsewhere, low requirements, an AR boost, 50% Crushing Blow and ctc Glacial Spike to help the safety. If you don't need the IAS on weapon, this has to be the best weapon in the game.
Switch Weapon: Beta 'Call To Arms'
Switch Shield: Spirit
Gave me a vital life boost as well as a +5 pre-buff for Burst of Speed.
Helm: Kira's
Well unfortunately I needed to pack in some resists somewhere, so I had to drop the options of a +3 MA / 80% ED circlet or Guillaume's face for that 100% Deadly Strike. Kira's packed the resists into one place and freed up the inventory space. A nice rare jewel let me pack in a bit more ED too.
Armour: Fortitude
Belt: Verdungo's
Boots: Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves
Pretty standard stuff for a melee character. The boots were upped for kicking.
Gloves: Kenshi's of Alacrity
I needed 20IAS here. Laying of Hands may have been a more practical PvM choice, but that would have meant 180% less ED for a fully charged Tiger Strike. Much less impressive on the LCS.
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Ring1: Ravenfrost
Ring2: Rare - Death Spiral
I didn't need the Cannot be Frozzen from Ravenfrost as Kira's already covered it, but I wanted some more base AR. The second ring added more AR, life leech and resists.
Inventory
7x Martial Arts Skillers with life, 7x SCs of Vita, both tomes. This covered the must not devote more than 28 inventory spaces (7x4) to charms requirement. The AR was acceptable with just the conviction alone, but I used Enchant charges from Demon Limb for a further boost.
Equipment Readouts:
Code:
Death
Decapitator
HelElVexOrtGul
Two Hand Damage: 373 - 1047
Durability: 21 of 21
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 144
Required Dexterity: 19
Fingerprint: 0x64c43885
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion
100% Chance to cast level 44 Chain Lightning when you Die
25% Chance to cast level 18 Glacial Spike on attack
Indestructible
411% Enhanced Damage
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+50 to Attack Rating
Adds 1 - 50 Lightning Damage
7% Mana stolen per hit
50% Chance of Crushing Blow
43% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
+1 to Light Radius
Level 22 Blood Golem (15/15 Charges)
Requirements -20%
Ethereal
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Hel Rune
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Vex Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Gul Rune
Kira's Guardian
Tiara
Defense: 127
Durability: 23 of 25
Required Level: 77
Fingerprint: 0x9891a11d
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
27% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+78 Defense
+9 to Strength
All Resistances +68
Lightning Resist +21%
Cannot Be Frozen
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Wraith Scarab
Wraith Scarab
Jewel
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x61ad1b0
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
27% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Minimum Damage
+9 to Strength
Lightning Resist +21%
Fortitude
Dusk Shroud
ElSolDolLo
Defense: 1377
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 59
Required Strength: 77
Fingerprint: 0x7f9f9547
Item Level: 86
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
+86 to Life (Based on Character Level)
Replenish Life +7
+5% to Maximum Lightning Resist
All Resistances +26
Damage Reduced by 7
12% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+1 to Light Radius
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: El Rune
Socketed: Sol Rune
Socketed: Dol Rune
Socketed: Lo Rune
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Mithril Coil
Defense: 157
Durability: 16 of 16
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 106
Fingerprint: 0xae5a9116
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+10% Faster Hit Recovery
+138% Enhanced Defense
+39 to Vitality
Replenish Life +12
+118 Maximum Stamina
Damage Reduced by 13%
Gore Rider
Myrmidon Greaves
Defense: 187
Durability: 16 of 34
Required Level: 72
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x48b98e1a
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
15% Deadly Strike
10% Chance of Open Wounds
+198% Enhanced Defense
+20 Maximum Stamina
Required Level +7
Requirements -25%
+10 Maximum Durability
Kenshi's Gauntlets of Alacrity
Gauntlets
Defense: 14
Durability: 24 of 24
Required Level: 45
Required Strength: 60
Fingerprint: 0x3c632a87
Item Level: 96
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Highlord's Wrath
Amulet
Required Level: 65
Fingerprint: 0x58d7f811
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
Adds 1 - 30 Lightning Damage
32% Deadly Strike (Based on Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage of 15
Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x37b00278
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+218 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
Death Spiral
Ring
Required Level: 35
Fingerprint: 0x5d610aa3
Item Level: 86
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+104 to Attack Rating
6% Life stolen per hit
+9 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +18%
Fire Resist +12%
Demon Limb
Tyrant Club
One Hand Damage: 92 - 167
Durability: 65 of 65
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 133
Fingerprint: 0x5abc48a2
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
188% Enhanced Damage
+123% Damage to Demons
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 222 - 333 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Fire Resist +16%
Repairs 1 Durability in 20 Seconds
Level 23 Enchant (17/20 Charges)
Call to Arms
Superior War Scepter
AmnRalMalIstOhm
One Hand Damage: 37 - 63
Durability: 80 of 80
Required Level: 57
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0xd24f673
GUID: 0x3ff0f5af 0x14584f 0x0
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion
+2 to All Skills
+40% Increased Attack Speed
271% Enhanced Damage
+150% Damage to Undead
Adds 5 - 30 Fire Damage
7% Life stolen per hit
Prevent Monster Heal
+3 to Vigor (Paladin Only)
+1 to Holy Shield (Paladin Only)
+1 to Sanctuary (Paladin Only)
+10 to Battle Cry
+12 to Battle Orders
+9 to Battle Command
Replenish Life +12
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Increase Maximum Durability 15%
5 Sockets (5 used)
Socketed: Amn Rune
Socketed: Ral Rune
Socketed: Mal Rune
Socketed: Ist Rune
Socketed: Ohm Rune
Spirit
Monarch
TalThulOrtAmn
Defense: 133
Chance to Block: 0
Durability: 86 of 86
Required Level: 54
Required Strength: 156
Fingerprint: 0x6041a4e4
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+2 to All Skills
+26% Faster Cast Rate
+55% Faster Hit Recovery
+250 Defense vs. Missile
+22 to Vitality
+96 to Mana
Cold Resist +35%
Lightning Resist +35%
Poison Resist +35%
+3 Magic Absorb
Attacker Takes Damage of 14
4 Sockets (4 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Ort Rune
Socketed: Amn RuneCharm Readouts
Code:
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x28600945
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+24 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xbdd284e3
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+29 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0xe4b1c3da
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+25 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x2a2b62e4
Item Level: 94
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+43 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0xbce77dc2
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+45 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Life
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x7b44e18
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+14 to Life
Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0x75b7c015
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Martial Art Skills (Assassin Only)
+38 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x5e320b11
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x7281c5c0
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x407df56d
Item Level: 66
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x44eefca3
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xaf1f959a
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Lizard's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x582c108f
Item Level: 81
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+19 to Life
+3 to Mana
Azure Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x7d66782a
Item Level: 85
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20 to Life
Cold Resist +3%[highlight]Skills[/highlight]
Burst of Speed: 17
23 with pre-buff from Beta CtA and Spirit. With and additional 40IAS, that gave me the maximum 10FPA attack with the Decapitator. And of course an extremely quick movement speed.
Cloak of Shadows: 5/7
I put a few extra points here for the duration, due to my low level of +Shadow skills. Getting the balance here can be tricky - too many points and you end up waiting for the timer to run down after you havewiped on one pack and before you engage the next. Too few and you run the (possibly lethal) risk of it running out mid battle. I think the seven points worked well for me given my damage output.
Mind Blast: 1/3
I put the point here for one reason. Lister and The Minions of Destruction. CoS is not effective agianst these guys, but they get stunned beautifuly by MB, turning them into pussy cats.
Tiger Strike: 20/32
Phoenix Strike: 20/32
I decided to use Phoenix Strike as a backup attack instead of going for the Fishysin route and using Death Sentry as I didn't want the traps to be dominant. I was originally planning on using the second Lightning charge, but it can be difficult to trigger it reliably. The Meteor charge could be dropped at 20 frame intervals and I quite liked the idea of my enemies having to walk in the fire to hit me under conviction.
Dragon Talon: 6/18
A few points in Dragon Talon gave me a 7/3/3/3 fame kick sequence with 65% Crushing Blow. It was useful for boss fights before a few Tiger Strikes took out the remaining life. I also had to use it for a PI FI Hephasto.
Dragon Flight: 1/13
One point in DF was absolutely essential. With such a high level of BoS, it was easy to out distance the mercenary and his all important conviction. DF collected him.
Synergies and Pre-Requisites
Claw Mastery: 1/3
Psychic Hammer: 1/3
Fists of Fire: 20/32
Dragon Claw: 1/13
Cobra Strike: 1/13
Claws of Thunder: 1/13
Dragon Tail: 1/13
Blades of Ice: 1/13
[highlight]Stats[/highlight]
Name: Ultima
Class: Assassin
Experience: 1160220911
Level: 86
Naked/Gear
Strength: 460/469
Dexterity: 20/49
Vitality: 20/59
Energy: 25/25
Life: 1384
Mana: 363
Stamina: 679
Defense: 2211
Fire: 36
Cold: 27
Lightning: 80
Poison: 24
FR/W: 30
FHR: 30
IAS: 40
FCR: 25
[highlight]Mercenary Equipment[/highlight]
Mercenary Type: A2 NM Offensive
Helm: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Armour: 'Treachery' Ethereal Kraken Shell
Weapon: 'Infinity' Ethereal Thresher
Code:
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Death Mask
Defense: 114
Durability: 20 of 20
Required Level: 66
Required Strength: 55
Fingerprint: 0x57f84a09
Item Level: 87
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Faster Hit Recovery
10% Mana stolen per hit
10% Life stolen per hit
+45 Defense
+60 to Life
+30 to Mana
All Resistances +15
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Treachery
Kraken Shell
ShaelThulLem
Defense: 942
Durability: 25 of 25
Required Level: 61
Required Strength: 164
Fingerprint: 0x889077aa
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
Ethereal
3 Sockets (3 used)
Socketed: Shael Rune
Socketed: Thul Rune
Socketed: Lem Rune
Infinity
Thresher
BerMalBerIst
Two Hand Damage: 71 - 833
Durability: 33 of 33
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 142
Required Dexterity: 108
Fingerprint: 0x2c532938
Item Level: 80
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
295% Enhanced Damage
-53% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+43 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[highlight]Finds[/highlight]
Hellforge: Ko NM,Ko Hell. Symmetrical at least.
Despite the complete lack of MF, I did actually have some reasonable finds with this character. I found a few reasonable Exceptional and Elite Uniques. The standout finds were an Andariel's Visage, a Gul rune from The Stony Field, a Serpents SC of Inertia, a Mentalist's skiller and some reasonable rare boots. I also had a drop from Duriel that made a change from Scrolls of Town Portal.
Readouts
Code:
Ghoul Tread
Light Plated Boots
Defense: 21
Durability: 17 of 18
Required Level: 29
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0x322ab1e9
Item Level: 88
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+30% Faster Run/Walk
+77% Enhanced Defense
+3 to Dexterity
Lightning Resist +31%
Fire Resist +31%
63% Extra Gold from Monsters
Mentalist's Grand Charm
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x5b527887
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Shadow Discipline Skills (Assassin Only)
Serpent's Small Charm of Inertia
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0xbd0d7379
Item Level: 83
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+3% Faster Run/Walk
+16 to Mana
Gul Rune
Required Level: 53
Version: Expansion 1.10+
Weapons: 20% Bonus to Attack Rating
Armor: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist
Shields: +5% to Maximum Poison Resist[highlight]The Damage[/highlight]
OK, enough of the warm up, if you are still reading by this point you will want to know what the damage numbers were. My calculations and the LCS differ a bit.
LCS Damage (and Hell Baal):
Tiger Strike: 3740 to 12K, 3402AR
Normal Attack: 11K to 34K with fully charged TS. 2913AR
Phoenix Strike: 2484-2784 Meteor, 2416 - 2571 residual fire damage per second.
Dragon Talon: 1375-2342 according to the LCS, 1201 - 1615 according to the Amazon Basin calculator with 65% Crushing Blow at 7/3/3/3 FPA.
By my calculations based on chance to hit, 7500AR is equivalent to 1280AR with lvl12 Conviction. So my worst case normal attack AR of 2913 easily met that requirement.
Calculated Damage
My assumptions at character level 86:
Weapon damage 336 to 1047
327% off weapon ED (Fortitude and Jewel in Kira's)
Strength 469
Level 32 Tiger Strike, fully charged giving 2160% ED
90% Deadly Strike at level 86
Tiger Strike: 4019 to 12522
Normal Attack: 11276 to 35137
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) that is 23332 to 72704, average 59684.
But that is before we add in the 90% Deadly Strike:
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) with DS: 44389 to 138319, average 113548.
Per Frame with DS: 1110 to 3458, average 2839.
Per second with DS: 287743 to 86449, average 70968.
I'll save you checking, unsurprisingly the damage numbers per second are not as high as the Blood Brothers. The trouble is that she just can't hit fast enough. D2 melee is really a speed game, and no matter how much DS and ED you pile on, you can't compete with a 10FPA attack agains a 4 FPA attack. But I will take consolation with whipping all three's backsides in terms of single attack damage.
[highlight]Playability[/highlight]
All that damage is very impressive, but it is like attaching a V8 engine to a skateboard if you can't harness it. I went full Titan, but it didn't make a major difference to the damage numbers. But then with about 1400 life after BO, she wasn't really that much of a glass cannon either. The whole game was played at /players3, except The Ancients. I did try going higher, but she struggled if I got surrounded. Most things died with one whack in the early acts, later acts took about two. All in all, I think she was a pretty well rounded character, with all the right attributes that make a good PvM build.
Crowd Control? Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast.
Raw damage? Average 38K per second.
Crushing blow? 65% at 7/3/3/3 FPA.
PI Solution? Fire damage + Infinity.
Mobility? High FRW from BoS and boots, Dragon Flight.
[highlight]So is she The Ultimate Assassin?[/highlight]
A well equipped lightning trapper can do about 1 to 12K damage with 5 traps firing at 31FPA each. That is about 24.2K damage per second average. So Ultima comfortably beats that. But then lightning pierces and therefore damages more targets. It also benefits more from conviction. So in terms of damage numbers, yes she is the ultimate assassin, but in practically terms she will be out damaged by a trapper. Surely she is the Ultimate Martial Artist.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone that I traded with for the gear (almost exactly a year ago now).
Update:
[highlight]Gear Change - Skull Breaker[/highlight]
Now as many people are aware, OMG has a rather tasty rare by the name of Skull Breaker. In fact it is the rare maul mentioned in the thread from the Assassin forum where this all started. It looks like this:
Skull Breaker
Thunder Maul
Two-Hand Damage: 264 to 1478
Durability: 31 of 31
Required Strength: 243
Required Level: 65
Mace Class - Fastest Attack Speed
Item Version: 1.10+ Expansion
Item Level: 85
Fingerprint: 0xc3dcea3a
+440% Enhanced Damage
+184 to Attack Rating
+20 to Maximum Damage
70% Increased Attack Speed
150% Damage to Undead
Repairs 1 durability in 33 seconds
Ethereal (Cannot be Repaired), Socketed (2: 2 used)
How does it compare to Death?
According to the LCS:
Tiger Strike 3084 - 17K
Normal Attack 8808 - 49K
Now that is nice top end damage, an improvement of 15K to the max damage and 6.5K to the average strike damage. But I know, I can already hear you saying that I have missed out on a load of Deadly Strike. We are going to need to look at the calculations, once more my base numbers differ slightly from the LCS.
My assumptions at character level 86:
Weapon damage 264 to 1478
327% off weapon ED (Fortitude and Jewel in Kira's)
Strength 469
Level 32 Tiger Strike, fully charged giving 2160% ED
47% Deadly Strike at level 86
Tiger Strike: 3281 to 18370
Normal Attack: 9142 to 51182
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) that is 18986 to 106292, average 72132.
But that is before we add in the 47% Deadly Strike:
Per four hit sequence (40 Frames) with DS: 27957 to 156515, average 106214.
Per Frame with DS: 699 to 3913, average 2655.
Per second with DS: 17473 to 97822, average 66384.
I actually thought that Skull Breaker would give a bit higher damage even despite the lack of DS, but whilst I was making this edit I found an error in my average damage calcs with DS (now corrected for Death too). So in the end Death was the better choice by about 5K average damage per second. Thanks obviously go to OMG for the loan.
I did enjoy one hit killing Shenk at /P3 with Skull Breaker though.
All out Damage
I was going to do an all out damage version as per the thread in the Assassin forum, but I don't think there is any point equipping a character with almost no resists and the insufficient AR to hit anything. One of the tings I like about this build is that she is, despite the focus on damage, extremely playable.
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also, congrats :thumbsup:
