My assasin is getting hurt, plenty (and FHR question) ifra

[Kex Doomlich]

My assasin is getting hurt, plenty (and FHR question)

I'm level 22 in act2, and i still havent put point in dualclaw blocking. But anyway I have about 270 life, and if I get surrounded with 3, 4 monsters they start hitting me, and I even dont have a chance to hit back so I have to run away and beat them one by one (this is when playing with /players 8, in players 1 its most shown in places with hordes of skeletons and such)
Is there a way to increase defense? How much should I put in dualclaw block?
How much FHR is desired (by any character, not only assasin)?

 

[skygoneblue]

Weapon Block is an Assassin's compensation for never really having very good defense. I generally ignore my defense when making an Assassin, but maybe that makes me dumb.

I would DEFINATELY put at least one point into Weapon Block - it will totally save your ***.

Also, are you using Burst of Speed? If not, you should be! :thumbsup:

 

[Kex Doomlich]

my BoS is level 14. Higher does not make sense. I'm dual claw attacker, not kicker. And still not sure how am I going to finish her. But I'll come to that in hell, or nm dependable on play quality.

 

[skygoneblue]

Well, you really should never put more than 1 point in BoSpeed anyway. I sure hope it is 14 with your gear, and not 14 base points.

So, in conclusion...

Weapon Block = good. I see no reason not to use one point in it...

 

[St_HotPants]

I agree with Skygoneblue for the most part BoS is a great 1 point skill. The only caveat I would add to that is for non-rich/uber players BoS may be a viable option in assisting you to hit the last, or a milestone breakpoint for your attack.

I know it was for me... my very first char was a Pheonix Assassin and I had to start from nothing. In that case a couple additional points in BoS really had an impact in pumping up my attack speed... even then though more than 4 or 5 points total might be wasteful.

 

[turmania]

I'm level 22 in act2, and i still havent put point in dualclaw blocking. But anyway I have about 270 life, and if I get surrounded with 3, 4 monsters they start hitting me, and I even dont have a chance to hit back so I have to run away and beat them one by one (this is when playing with /players 8, in players 1 its most shown in places with hordes of skeletons and such)
Is there a way to increase defense? How much should I put in dualclaw block?
How much FHR is desired (by any character, not only assasin)?

kex, first of all fhr differs for al chars, u are at eary levels try to get a bloodfist it should help u in the beginning. normally by using 2 bartucs u will already have 60%fhr which is enuf for a decent fhr.
on the other hand i think u have mis placed your skill points. martial arts assasisn is one of the few chars in the game that can lvl the beginning stages very easily. but if u are dual claw user u should have at least had one point in weapon block. and only one was needed in burst of speed.usually most shadow tree is a point wonder.

 

[BIGeyedBUG]

I'm level 22 in act2, and i still havent put point in dualclaw blocking. But anyway I have about 270 life, and if I get surrounded with 3, 4 monsters they start hitting me, and I even dont have a chance to hit back so I have to run away and beat them one by one (this is when playing with /players 8, in players 1 its most shown in places with hordes of skeletons and such)

Recite these 3 magic words that have the power to make you near-invulnerable: "Cloak"..."of"..."Shadows".

 

[Kex Doomlich]

Heh, I just put a point in Cloak and Blocking, things are much better now. And since this is my second assasin build I thought I will probably fu*k it up a little bit (refering to those 14 points in BoS), but its not sucha big damage since its SP char ( :rant: ), for now.

So what you are saying that BoS is a waste of points because I will get enough attack speed in higher levels from gear I'll be using?

How much points do you recommend in Mind Blast?

P.S. Just to say a few things about my play style. I prefer all kinds of a mass destruction, and destroying things as fast as possible. Thats why I beefed BoS so much. I guess I'm very impatient guy (well, you would be 2 if you played on 433Mhz / 32RAM :rant: ).

 

[BIGeyedBUG]

So what you are saying that BoS is a waste of points because I will get enough attack speed in higher levels from gear I'll be using?

Basically, yes. BoS isn't a waste of points--14 points in it is though. It barely gives any benefit after level 8 or 9, and most Assassins end up with at least +6 Shadow skills mid-game. Depending on how many you get, what skill's you're attacking with, and what weapons you use, you might even be able to get by with just the one point.

 

[Abdiel1]

Agreed on Cloak of Shadows. It most certainly will save you from anything short of a boss/champion pack attack, unless of course you're unable to move away from mobs that are beating on you.

Use care when moving into situations, trigger Cloak of Shadows BEFORE you're totally surrounded. Pretty much all ya need to get around, unless it's someplace like cows where there's nowhere to go - then ya might need to get creative with Mind Blast and such to give yourself a space to fight in, even with Cloak active.

Note that sometimes monsters that have already seen you will seem to ignore the blindness effect and still be coming after you. At this point one can Mind Blast the annoyance, which will stop it from chasing you even after the stun has worn off. Alternatively, often if you move back or sideways a bit, and then stop, they'll lose you anyway and you can do whatever ya like. Most mobs that appear to still come at you even while blind are actually moving to where they last saw you.

Get a bit away from that spot and they'll stop and be confused when they get there a good portion of the time. However if you're still quite close to that spot when they get there, they may pick ya up again. The distance ya need to be away from your original spot seems to be a bit variable and is best learned by doing, pretty impossible to quantify - sorry.

Remember that Cloak does not blind bosses, champions, or Oblivion Knights - although you do still get the defense reduction effect on them.

For these guys, unless you have a lot of room to run around in, you either want to be tough enough to tank them (good luck on later levels) or have a Shadow Master/Warrior or Mercenary to tank them, leaving Cloak on to blind any other goofballs running around, and to lower the defense of the mobs in question. No matter how badass you are, some sort of tank that is not you is a damn good idea for mana burn bosses

( Yes, this advice applies in part to levels beyond 22, thinking ahead is good )

Hmm sorry this has turned into a Cloak of Shadows primer heh.. but from the description if your woes I thought it might be some useful information.