- May 11, 2022
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Last night I completed my latest character, and I'm really pleased with how the whole playthrough went, so I thought I'd share in a new thread.
vovinam started out wielding dual claws and using Tiger Strike and Dragon Tail. Here are links to early status updates on this character from my thread-of-doom:
Normal:
www.purediablo.com
www.purediablo.com
Nightmare:
www.purediablo.com
It was /p8 all the way until the end of NM.
Normal and NM went by in a flash. I think Traps-based builds are considered to be the fastest for levelling up an Assassin, but my approach can't have been too much slower. My recipe for taking an MA Assassin through to level 70-ish and the end of NM: Get a few early points in Burst of Speed, then max Claw Mastery, Tiger Strike, and Dragon Tail; build up charges, blow stuff up, repeat.
Tiger/Tail was super fun, but I wanted to mix it up a bit, so I used a re-spec early on in Hell to switch to Dragon Talon / Death Sentry build with 'Voice of Reason' (basically, a poor man's Riftsin..?) This was also super fun.
I dialled it down to /p1 in Hell, as that's what I normally do, though I probably could have kept the players setting a smidge higher.
The gear I used throughout much of Hell consisted of:
- 'Voice of Reason' Phase Blade
- Stormshield
- 'Duress' Great Hauberk
- Harlequin Crest (and sometimes Nightwing's Veil when I want to boost my cold damage)
- Rare 2/20 gloves, or Laying of Hands in certain situations
- Double upped Goblin Toe
- String of Ears and then Gloom's Trap (for some reason I can't remember why, mana and vitality, I guess...)
- Carrion Wind and rare ring with resistances
- Rare amulet with life and resistances
- Assorted charms I found along the way (life, resistances, whatever I could find)
My Nightwing's is ethereal and the durability is getting low, so I make judicious use of it.
Skills, stats, etc.:
- Max Dragon Talon, Venom, Death Sentry
- 16 pts Fire Blast (up to 18 pts with +skills from helms)
- About 5 pts in each of Burst of Speed and Cloak of Shadows
- 1 pt to pre-reqs
Strength: 160 (204 w/ gear)
Dexterity: 145 (179)
Vitality: 175 (204)
Energy: 25 (54)
Life: 1089
Mana: 342
Fire/Cold/Lightning/Poison Res.: 47/75/75/75
Trusty mercenary: Magnus the Frenzy Barb
- 'Crescent Moon' Phase Blade and Lightsabre Phase Blade
- Duriel's Shell
- Arreat's Face Slayer Guard
Magnus was not exactly a killing machine, but he could take the heat and rarely died, and he proc'd Static Field from 'Crescent Moon' at a pretty nice clip. Very helpful.
Between me and Magnus, we had cold damage, poison damage, lightning damage, crushing blow. What more could we need? Killing some monsters was slower than others, but there was really nothing we didn't have an answer for. I never skip quests, but with other characters I have definitely had to skip some monsters along the way. Not this time
I quested vovinam up to Crystalline Passage over the last few weeks. Last night I sat down to play with only the goal of rescuing Anya. I got a very favourable monster spawn in the Frozen River and that was a very quick walk in the park. So, I figured I'd see how things looked in Nihlathak's Temple, and just go to bed if things weren't going smoothly. I kept getting good luck in terms of monster spawns everywhere I went, and ended up playing right through to Baal all in one not-very-long session. Nihlathak was no issue, Ancients went down on the first try, WSK was smooth sailing even with Souls in the Throne Room, and Baal and his minions were a piece of cake. All done!
Tonight I will visit the Moo Moo Farm and then see how this gal performs in Terror Zones. I'm looking forward to building her level up higher, finding gear upgrades, and refining the build in general. Still have two re-spec's saved for when the time is right.
Thanks for reading
vovinam started out wielding dual claws and using Tiger Strike and Dragon Tail. Here are links to early status updates on this character from my thread-of-doom:
Normal:
Hello! Another Single Player fan here who wants to join in the fun
Congratulations on the Matriarch. You should make different threads go these characters.
www.purediablo.com
Hello! Another Single Player fan here who wants to join in the fun
Congratulations on the Matriarch. You should make different threads go these characters.
www.purediablo.com
Nightmare:
Hello! Another Single Player fan here who wants to join in the fun
Congratulations on the Matriarch. You should make different threads go these characters.
www.purediablo.com
It was /p8 all the way until the end of NM.
Normal and NM went by in a flash. I think Traps-based builds are considered to be the fastest for levelling up an Assassin, but my approach can't have been too much slower. My recipe for taking an MA Assassin through to level 70-ish and the end of NM: Get a few early points in Burst of Speed, then max Claw Mastery, Tiger Strike, and Dragon Tail; build up charges, blow stuff up, repeat.
Tiger/Tail was super fun, but I wanted to mix it up a bit, so I used a re-spec early on in Hell to switch to Dragon Talon / Death Sentry build with 'Voice of Reason' (basically, a poor man's Riftsin..?) This was also super fun.
I dialled it down to /p1 in Hell, as that's what I normally do, though I probably could have kept the players setting a smidge higher.
The gear I used throughout much of Hell consisted of:
- 'Voice of Reason' Phase Blade
- Stormshield
- 'Duress' Great Hauberk
- Harlequin Crest (and sometimes Nightwing's Veil when I want to boost my cold damage)
- Rare 2/20 gloves, or Laying of Hands in certain situations
- Double upped Goblin Toe
- String of Ears and then Gloom's Trap (for some reason I can't remember why, mana and vitality, I guess...)
- Carrion Wind and rare ring with resistances
- Rare amulet with life and resistances
- Assorted charms I found along the way (life, resistances, whatever I could find)
My Nightwing's is ethereal and the durability is getting low, so I make judicious use of it.
Skills, stats, etc.:
- Max Dragon Talon, Venom, Death Sentry
- 16 pts Fire Blast (up to 18 pts with +skills from helms)
- About 5 pts in each of Burst of Speed and Cloak of Shadows
- 1 pt to pre-reqs
Strength: 160 (204 w/ gear)
Dexterity: 145 (179)
Vitality: 175 (204)
Energy: 25 (54)
Life: 1089
Mana: 342
Fire/Cold/Lightning/Poison Res.: 47/75/75/75
Trusty mercenary: Magnus the Frenzy Barb
- 'Crescent Moon' Phase Blade and Lightsabre Phase Blade
- Duriel's Shell
- Arreat's Face Slayer Guard
Magnus was not exactly a killing machine, but he could take the heat and rarely died, and he proc'd Static Field from 'Crescent Moon' at a pretty nice clip. Very helpful.
Between me and Magnus, we had cold damage, poison damage, lightning damage, crushing blow. What more could we need? Killing some monsters was slower than others, but there was really nothing we didn't have an answer for. I never skip quests, but with other characters I have definitely had to skip some monsters along the way. Not this time
I quested vovinam up to Crystalline Passage over the last few weeks. Last night I sat down to play with only the goal of rescuing Anya. I got a very favourable monster spawn in the Frozen River and that was a very quick walk in the park. So, I figured I'd see how things looked in Nihlathak's Temple, and just go to bed if things weren't going smoothly. I kept getting good luck in terms of monster spawns everywhere I went, and ended up playing right through to Baal all in one not-very-long session. Nihlathak was no issue, Ancients went down on the first try, WSK was smooth sailing even with Souls in the Throne Room, and Baal and his minions were a piece of cake. All done!
Tonight I will visit the Moo Moo Farm and then see how this gal performs in Terror Zones. I'm looking forward to building her level up higher, finding gear upgrades, and refining the build in general. Still have two re-spec's saved for when the time is right.
Thanks for reading
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