Weapon/Shield and Dual Claw kicker PvP Assasin
Patch 1.10
Index
1. Introduction
1.1 Abreviations
1.2 I want to duel on non-ladder now
2. Breakpoints
3. Advantages
3.1 Weapon/shield build
3.2 Dual claw build
3.3 Dual claw or weapon/shield build
4. Disadvantages
4.1 Weapon/shield build
4.2 Dual claw build
5. Dual claw or weapon/shield build
6. Explanation and clarification of dragon talon
6.1 Important notice about off-hand claw when dual wielding
7. Attack types blocked by weapon block
8.1 Open wounds
8.2 Deadly strike and critical strike
8.3 Crushing blow
9. Mercenary selection
9.1 Leveling your mercenary
10. Equipment introduction
10.1 Equipment socketing
11. Weapon/shield build
11.1 Martial Arts Tree
11.2 Shadow Disciplines Tree
11.3 Traps Tree
11.4 Skill/builds summary
11.5 Leveling advice
11.6 Stat point distribution
11.7 Weapon
11.8 Inventory
11.9 Equipment/build summary
12. Dual claw build
12.1 Martial Arts Tree
12.2 Shadow Disciplines Tree
12.3 Traps Tree
12.4 Skill/builds summary
12.5 Leveling advice
12.6 Stat point distribution
12.7 Weapons
12.8 Inventory
12.9 Equipment/build summary
13. Why not max fade
13.1 Weapon/shield resistances with low level fade
13.2 Claw/claw resistances with low level fade
13.3 Conclusion on fade
14. Why max venom
15. Maxed mind blast or one maxed trap
16. Strategies and tactics introduction
16.1 Basic player versus player information
17. Weapon/shield strategies and tactics
17.1 Amazon
17.1.1 Jabber / Bow / Lightning Fury
17.1.2 Lightning Fury / Lightning Strike / Charged Strike
17.2 Assasin
17.2.1 Trapper
17.2.2 Kicker
17.2.3 Whirlwind
17.3 Barbarian
17.3.1 Berserk/Whirlwind
17.3.2 Throw/Whirlwind
17.4 Druid
17.4.1 Hurricane aka. wind druid
17.4.2 Fireclaw bear/wolf
17.4.3 Rabies bear/wolf
17.4.4 Fury wolf
17.4.5 Rabies/Fury wolf
17.5 Necromancer
17.5.1 Poison and Bone Necromancer
17.6 Paladin
17.6.1 Smite/Charge
17.6.2 Blessed Hammer/Smite/Low-level charge
17.6.3 Zeal/Charge
17.6.4 Smite/Fist of Heavens
17.6.5 Fist of Heavens
17.6.6 Blessed Hammer
17.7 Sorceress
17.7.1 Meteor/secondary spell
17.7.2 Blizzard/secondary spell
17.7.3 Lightning/secondary spell
17.7.4 Frozen Orb/Thunder Storm
18. Dual claw strategies and tactics
18.1 Amazon
18.1.1 Jabber / Bow / Lightning Fury
18.1.2 Lightning Fury / Lightning Strike / Charged Strike
18.2 Assasin
18.2.1 Trapper
18.2.2 Kicker
18.2.3 Whirlwind
18.3 Barbarian
18.3.1 Berserk/Whirlwind
18.3.2 Throw/Whirlwind
18.4 Druid
18.4.1 Hurricane aka. wind druid
18.4.2 Fireclaw bear/wolf
18.4.3 Rabies bear/wolf
18.4.4 Fury wolf
18.4.5 Rabies/Fury wolf
18.5 Necromancer
18.5.1 Poison and Bone Necromancer
18.6 Paladin
18.6.1 Smite/Charge
18.6.2 Blessed Hammer/Smite/Low-level charge
18.6.3 Zeal/Charge
18.6.4 Smite/Fist of Heavens
18.6.5 Fist of Heavens
18.6.6 Blessed Hammer
18.7 Sorceress
18.7.1 Meteor/secondary spell
18.7.2 Blizzard/secondary spell
18.7.3 Lightning/secondary spell
18.7.4 Frozen Orb/Thunder Storm
19. Thanks to
1. Introduction
Hello, I'm eclipse from the european realm. Since the first day of LOD I have fancied assasins, one of the reasons I fancy assasins so much is the fact that they are very versatile and can cope with almost any situation. I wrote a guide for a dual claw assasin in 1.09 but since the new patch have hit the realms alot of changes have happened, both good and bad.
One of the main differences in PvP is the fact that leeching has been nerfed to 1/10th of the amount it was back in 1.09. So now the days of the superleeching chars, that would return to full health after one success full shot is over. Also the cap for physical damage reduction has been changed, so that all chars now can have a maximum of 50%.
In this guide I wont be taking in perspective any of the rules from the different dueling leagues that are out there, due to the fact that the rules are very different from league to league. What I will be taking in perspective is what is bad manner and not among common duellers, some things can be discussed wether they are bad manner or not. If a such item is available to this build I will notify about this and leave the decision up to you and those you duel with, DON'T come telling me that I encourage bad manner, because I'm not
A last thing to mention is that I have orientated this guide toward ladder play with concern of the items, if you want to duel on non-ladder I suggest you should read section 1.2 where I have made a more detailed description about equipment for non-ladder.
Enjoy the guide.
1.1 Abreviations
Allres - Resistance to all
AR - Attack Rating
ATDo X - Attacker Takes Damage of X (in integer)
BM - Bad Manner
BoS - Burst of Speed
CB - Crushing Blow
CBF - Cannot be Frozen
CR - Cold Resistance
CS - Critical Strike
CTB - Chance to Block
DEX - Dexterity
DF - Dragon Flight
DS - Deadly Strike
DST - Death Sentry Trap
DT - Dragon Talon
EIAS - Effective Increased Attack Speed
FBR - Faster Block Rate
FCR - Faster Cast Rate
FHR - Faster Hit Recovery
FPA - Frames Per Attack
FPS - Framer Per Second
FR - Fire Resistance
FRW - Faster Run/Walk
IAS - Increased Attack Speed
LL - Life leech (in percent)
LR - Lightning Resistance
LS - Lightning Sentry
MA - Martial Arts
MAX - Maximum Damage
MB - Mind Blast
MDR - Magic Damage Reduction (in integer)
MF - Magic Find
MIN - Minimum Damage
ML - Mana leech (in percent)
Mods - Modifiers
NGR - Energy
OH - Off-hand (The claw that DOESN'T transfer effects to kicks)
OW - Open Wounds
PDR - Physical Damage Reduction (in percent)
PR - Poison Resistance
PvM - Player versus Monster
PvP - Player versus Player
RepL - Replinish Life
R/W - Faster Run/Walk
SM - Shadow Master
SD - Shadow Disciplines
STR - Strength
VIT - Vitality
WB - Weapon Block
WoF - Wake of Fire
WSM - Weapon Speed Modifier
WSM - Basespeed
1.2 I want to duel on non-ladder now
After having seen several posts about people being a bit confused about what to do when they are 'stuck' on non-ladder where neither Shadow dancer or upgraded gore riders are available i thought of adding this section.
First off i should say that the kicker build wont be as effective with semi good boots, however the damage will be the same. You should look for myrmidon greaves, these are the determining factor. Your options to gain a pair of decent kicking boots are these.
1) Look for 'white' myrmidon greaves and have them imbued by Charsi with Act I quest 5, you might just get fantastic mods.
2) Look for rare myrmidon greaves and hope for great mods.
3) Reroll your rare myrmidon greaves for better mods with either of the following recipes.
3A) 1 Perfect Skull + 1 Rare Item + Stone of Jordan = 1 High Quality New Rare Item of the same type
This formula has the possibility of creating a higher quality Rare Item than the following formula. ilvl = int(.66 * clvl) + int(.66 * ilvl) That is, the ilvl will be equal to .66 times your clvl (rounded down) plus .66 times the input item's ilvl (also rounded down).
3B) 6 Perfect Skulls + 1 Rare Item = 1 Random Low Quality Rare Item of the same type
You can use this formula to get another chance at a Rare Item of the same type. ilvl = int(.4 * clvl) + int(.4 * ilvl) Player level matters. This formula will not work on items larger than 3x2.
4) Craft for a nice pair of myrmidons greaves with the following recipe.
Safety Boots
Magic Myrmidon Greaves + Ort Rune + Perfect Emerald + Any Jewel
+ (10-30)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist + (5-10)%
Magic Damage Reduced By (1-2)
Damage Reduced By (1-4)
5) Upgrade a pair of nice greaves/war boots to myrmidon greaves with the following recipes.
5A) 1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal (Basic) Rare Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
5B) 1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor = Elite Rare Armor
The item type is upgraded.
2. Breakpoints
Breakpoints are the thing that determines your speed of performing an action, the amount of times you can manage to cast a spell or perform an animation is determined by
(25 frames/second) / (frames/animation) = animation/second
So if you take 11 frames to complete an animation you can do
(25 frames/second) / (11 frames/animation) = 2.27 animation/second
Faster Hit Recovery
This is the amount of frames it will take for your character to reach "upright standing" position after having recieved a succesful hit.
0% - 9 frames
7% - 8 frames
15% - 7 frames
27% - 6 frames
48% - 5 frames
86% - 4 frames
200% - 3 frames
4680% - 2 frames
I suggest heading for either 48% or 86% depending on your choise of equipment.
Good means of gaining FHR
ED/FHR jewel - 7% (per jewel - Don't use a jewel unless it has other good mods)
Shael rune - 20% (per rune)
Bartuc's Cut Throat - 30% (per claw)
Crafted belts - 10, 17 or 24%
Shadow Dancer - 30%
Faster Cast Rate
This is the amount of time it takes your character to complete a spell casting, the higher the amount the faster you'll cast the spells.
0% - 16 frames
8% - 15 frames
16% - 14 frames
27% - 13 frames
42% - 12 frames
65% - 11 frames
102% - 10 frames
174% - 9 frames
The only good sources of FCR for kicker assasins
Ring - 10% (per ring - Preferably with leech on too, leech is more vital than FCR)
Amulet - 5-20% (A good one would be +1-2 skills, +7-20 FCR, +leech, +stats these are very rare)
Faster Block Rate
This is the rate at which you will block attacks, the more attacks you're able to block per second the less times you will get hit during a fight.
0% - 5 frames
13% - 4 frames
32% - 3 frames
86% - 2 frames
600% - 1 frame
There aren't really any good sources of FBR for dual claw assasins except for Guardian Angel, but this armor is only good use vs. elemental attackers it's no use searching for FBR if you're dual claw wielding.
Increased Attack Speed
All weapons have a basespeed, depending on the basespeed they will require a certain amount of IAS to reach their maximum attack speed. Below is listed the most common breakpoints for achieving maximum kicking speed.
WSM [-30] Slvl 1 BoS + 19% IAS
WSM [-20] Slvl 3 BoS + 29% IAS
WSM [-10] Slvl 2 BoS + 40% IAS / Slvl 4 BoS + 29% IAS
WSM [0] Slvl 5 BoS + 40% IAS / Slvl 9 BoS + 29% IAS
For further breakpoints I refer to fuzzbox IAS table located at
http://www.purediablo.com/characters/assassin/ias.shtml
Blocking
For blocking with a shield the total amount of blocking is determined by
Total Blocking = (Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)
Blocking = A total of the Blocking on all of your items. (e.g. the shields base chance to block)
For blocking with weapon block the blocking percentage is determined by the skill level and is not altered by any sources of 'increased chance to block' like amulets, eld runes etc. The breakpoint for weapon block is listed below.
Weapon Block Level - % Chance to block
10 - 50%
15 - 55%
19 to 20 - 57%
21 to 22 - 58%
23 to 25 - 59%
26 to 30 - 60%
>30 - 61%
This guide is optimized for using 60% chance to block at all times when using dual claws or 75% chance to block when using shield.
3. Advantages
3.1 Weapon/shield build
- Capable of 75% chance to block when standing still and walking.
- Harder to gain resistances compared to dual claw build.
- Higher damage than dual claw build.
- 50% PDR is easily obtained.
- Lots of weapons to choose from.
3.2 Dual claw build
- Capable of 60% chance to block when stading still and running around.
- Can block almost any type of attack, including elemental/magic attacks.
- Higher protection versus elemental attackers.
- Easier to gain high chance of inflicting open wounds.
- Higher amount of life than weapon/shield build.
- Easier to gain resistances.
4. Disadvantages
4.1 Weapon/shield build
- Reduces blocking to 1/3 of the maximum when moving around.
- Lower amount of life than dual claw build.
4.2 Dual claw build
- Maximum of 61% chance to block if the gear shouldn't be sacrificed.
- Lower damage than weapon/shield build.
- Harder to obtain 50% PDR.
- Less weapons to choose from.
- Low efficiency versus melee attackers.
5. Dual claw or weapon/shield build
After having been asked the question about which build is the strongest numerous times, I have decided to write this section about it. First of all let me clarify that both build have their strengths and weaknesses. From experience with both build I can now surely say that the best mageslayer build of the two (caster slayer) is the dual claw build.
The dual claw build obtains resistances much easier than the weapon/shield build and has quite high chance of blocking elemental attacks where as the weapon/shield build can't block elemental attacks at all with a shield. The dual claw build's damage is however noticably lower than the weapon/shield build's. The damage difference is ranged, depending on the build, from 200-400 lower damage which is quite alot.
The weapon/shield build's advantage in this comparison is that it has the better overall performance and is much more versatile than the dual claw build. The weapon/shield build is much stronger versus melee attackers where the dual claw build is quite weak. The lack of elemental protection is where the versatility comes into the picture, with the weapon/shield build you are able to switch for dual claws and have a lower chance to block elemental attacks but atleast it's better than none at all.
To conclude this section, there is only a few words more. If you want a mageslayer and your main goal is to hunt caster characters and have fun with that you should go for the dual claw build, should you however wanto to duel melee characters and have a decent chance, then you should go for the weapon/shield build as it can hunt both classes with good performance.
6. Explanation and clarification of dragon talon
There is alot of talk about what dragon talon does and doesn't to sum it all up and clarify it all read this section.
Dragon talons maximum attack speed is 7 frames for the initial kick of 7 frames. After the initial kick each subsequent kick reaches a maximum speed at 2 frames.
When determining the speeds for dragon talon and dual wielding claws, you should use the average WSM of the two claws. So if you have a WSM -30 and a WSM -10 claw, you will have an average of [(-30)+(-10)]/2 = WSM -20.
For each 6 levels in dragon talon you will recieve 1 extra kick, so level 6 is 2 kicks, 12 is 3 kicks and so forth.
The effects are transferred to dragon talon attack:
X% Life Leech
X% Mana Leech
Elemental Damage
Magical Damage
Chance to cast X on striking
Crushing Blow
Open Wounds
Prevent Monster Heal
Ignore Target Defense
Hit Blinds Target
Hit Causes Monster to Flee
Hit Freezes target
Hit Slows Target
The following modifiers is not transferred to dragon talons attack:
Deadly Strike
Critical Strike
+Max Damage (both on and off weapon)
+Min Damage (both on and off weapon)
+X% Enhanced Damage (only on weapon)
+X% Chance to cast X on attack
Damage of dragon talon is determined by the formula
MinDamage= (str + dex - 20) / 4 * (100 + skill_bonus) / 100 + BootMinDam * (100 + (str * StrBonus / 100) + skill_bonus + non_weapon ED) / 100.
MaxDamage=(str + dex - 20) / 3 * (100 + skill_bonus) / 100 + BootMaxDam * (100 + (str * StrBonus / 100) + skill_bonus + non_weapon ED) / 100.
This equation needs to be worked left to right following the mathematical order of operations. Drop decimals when you get them from division.
If you want the formulaes explained in detail I refer to jrichard's thread about kicking, it can be located at
http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=127905.
Here’s the list of boots and their damage:
Name mindam maxdam StrBonus
------------------------------------------------
Leather Boots 3 8 120
Heavy Boots 4 10 120
Chain Boots 6 12 120
Light Plate Boots 8 16 120
Plate Boots 10 20 120
Demonhide Boots 26 46 120
Sharkskin Boots 28 50 120
Mesh Boots 23 52 120
Battle Boots 37 64 120
War Boots 39 80 120
Wyrmhide Boots 65 100 120
Scarabshell Boots 60 110 120
Boneweave Boots 69 118 120
Mirrored Boots 50 145 120
Myrmidon Greaves 83 149 120
An excel chart for calculating damage can be found at
http://www.purediablo.com/cgi-bin/d....161/loaded/diablo2/utilities/dragontalon.zip
6.1 Important notice about off-hand claw when dual wielding
When dual wielding claws, the only effects that are transfered to the kick are those of the right hand claw (your left, the assasins right hand - also refered to as your off-hand claw). Effects on the secondary claw will NOT be transfered to the kick this does also apply to any amount of IAS on the off-hand claw, however IAS from gear will still count to you total IAS when dual wielding.
7. Attack types blocked by weapon block
After patch 1.10 was released weapon blocks abilities was changed alot, now it no longer just blocks melee attacks but it will also block various types of elemental attacks, making it very useful against casters. Below is the list of elemental attacks that are blockable and unblockable.
Class-based Elemental Skill list(note: some monsters use the below skills, like Fetish Shamans using Inferno):
Chain/Lightning/Sentry/Phoenix Strike - Blockable
Wake of/Inferno/Artic Blast - Unblockable
Blade Fury - Blockable
Blade Sentinel - Blockable
Blade Shield - Blockable
Poison Nova - Blockable
Teeth - Blockable
Bone Spear - Blockable
Bone Spirit - Blockable
Blessed Hammer - Blockable
Fist of the Heavens - Blockable
Smite - Blockable
Fireball - Blockable
Firebolt/Hydra - Blockable
Phoenix Strike/Meteor - Blockable (only impact damage is blocked, residual flames unblockable)
Firewall - Unblockable
Blaze - Unblockable
Blizzard - Blockable
Ice Bolt/Frozen Orb/Phoenix Strike - Blockable
Fissure - Unblockable
Hurricane - Blockable
Molten Boulder - Unblockable
8.1 Open wounds
In patch 1.10 open wounds have changed alot, so far its causing ALOT of pain and drains your life very quickly, I suggest utilizing this, and i'll do that later on in this guide.
Open wounds causes the player affected by it to loose life for a given amount of time, it works far better than poison as it can't be resisted. The only way to reduce the effect of opwn wounds is to use health potions or replnish life. As replenish life would take insane amounts to counter a high level open wounds, health potions are the only way. And in PvP health potions is BM, so there is basically no way of countering the effect of open wounds in 'legit' PvP.
The player affected by open wounds loose life according to this formula
Duration: 200 frames (8 seconds - There are 25 frames per second).
Samples of damage.
Clvl=1-15: 25*(9*Clvl+31)/256
Clvl=16-30: 25*(18*Clvl-104)/256
Clvl=31-45: 25*(27*Clvl-374)/256
Clvl=46-60: 25*(36*Clvl-779)/256
Clvl=61-99: 25*(45*Clvl-1319)/256
Clvl 10: 11.8 per sec over 8 seconds for a total of 94.5 damage.
Clvl 30: 42.6 per sec over 8 seconds for a total of 340.6 damage.
Clvl 50: 99.7 per sec over 8 seconds for a total of 797.7 damage.
Clvl 70: 178.8 per sec over 8 seconds for a total of 1430.5 damage.
Clvl 90: 266.7 per sec over 8 seconds for a total of 2133.6 damage.
The damage is divided by 4 for a player target. In addition, for a missile versus a player target one should divide the damage by 8 instead. Versus bosses and champions (could be just bosses or special bosses) the damage is divided by 2
All items with open wounds have a percent chance of inflicting it with every hit. Like poison, it is not stacked, but reset with each new successful hit and triggering.
So as you see the open wounds can very quickly drain a players life, this makes it very useful vs. all classes as they can't just run if they get affected but have to stay and fight in order to leech the life back.
8.2 Deadly strike and critical strike
Deadly strike and critical strike both have a chance of triggering a double damage effect. The deadly strike effect is applied after all other damage bonuses. Critical strike and deadly strike exclude each other.
The formula of dealing double damage with deadly strike and critical strike is:
Chance of double damage = CS + (DS/100)*(100-CS)
Let's assume you have 33% DS and 68% CS, the calculation will look like this
Chance of double damage = 68% + (33/100)*32%
Chance of double damage = 68% + 10.56%
Chance of double damage = 78.56%
In all 78.56% and NOT 101% as the two factors added will give.
But since this is a kicker build it wont be nessesary to get DS or CS gear, since DS and CS DOES NOT work with dragon talon.
8.3 Crushing blow
This is a chance of reducing a monster's health by X% in a single blow.
Default: 25%
vs. Players: 10%
vs. Hirelings: 10%
vs. Champions, Uniques, Bosses: 12.5%
with missile weapons: 6.25%
The life removed is also scaled with number of players. So that if a monster has 450% more life due to 8 players (or whatever the value is) the life removed is further reduced by the same amount (450% would equal multiplying by 4.5 so the life removed by Crushing Blow is divided by 4.5).
Physical resistance does apply to Crushing Blow damage, but only if the resistance is positive. Crushing Blow Items stack in most cases. Crushing Blow is calculated after your normal damage. So, after doing the damage that you would normally do, there is a chance you will reduce the health of the monster by X% after that. If you have more than one item with Crushing Blow, the probabilities will be added together. There will be one random check for a Crushing Blow. There is no check for each separate item, so one can not get multiple Crushing Blows in one attack.
Chrusing blow can be very deadly when doing exp runs and leveling you character, it's very vital to you in order to level your kicker build, no matter which you choose.
9. Mercenary selection
Mercenaries is a very good idea to use if you're planning on leveling alone and questing to gain the extra bonuses from these. When choosing a mercenary you should be looking for the following factors for a kicker.
- Crowd control
- Damage
- Meat shield/distraction
Basically there are two types of mercenaries in the short run that makes a good choise for a kicker. Act I Rogue Scouts and Act II Desert Mercenaries. One could augment that act III or act V mercenaries could also provide this, but I have the following augmentation that these do not provide the suffice amount of help that you're searching for.
Another thing to be aware of is the fact that no mercenary will last long in nightmare/hell if they aren't equipped very well. They must be heavily equipped in order to survive and be of alot of use.
Act I - Rogue Scouts
These are really great in the beginning, granted at a low level they can add alot of help. You should equip them with some of the following equipment.
Helm - 2/3 sockets helm, socketed with +20 poison or +max jewels.
Armor - 3/4 sockets armor, socketed with +20 poison or +max jewels.
Bow - 3/5 sockets bow, socketed with +20 poison or +max jewels.
The only downside about these archers is that they wont last long beyond act II, they have a high tendensy of getting themselves into trouble and dying. Therefor i suggest using them to aid you leveling/progress to around act III and the ditch her for an act II desert mercenary.
Should you choose a rogue as a mercenary I suggest choosing a cold arrow rogue and equipping her with some of the following gear.
Helm - Vampire Gaze / Stealskull / Crown of Thieves
Armor - Shaftstop / Duriel's Shell
Bow - Windforce / Eaglehorn / Any decent high damage bow
Act II - Desert Mercenaries
These are the best mercenaries in the long run, they provide all the things you're searching for provided you equip them well too.
Might Aura (Offensive) - This mercenary can seriously pack a punch, at decent level and equipped with a nice weapon he can easily solo small groups of monster which is very nice while you're handling other buisness, like another group. His might aura gives a small boost to your kick damage but it's not alot, only in the 200-300 range.
This mercenary should be chosen to have a tank and a fighter.
Holy Freeze Aura (Defensive) - This mercenary isn't packing as much damage as the might aura, but he gives you great advantages versus large groups. The holy freeze aura really gives you some more time to react, which can be really nice, like when you're being mobbed by 10+ monsters. Besides from this he can also kill fairly quickly with the right weapon.
Equipping an Act II mercenary isn't very challenging nor very expensive, i suggest the following gear. It's listed in an order of preference with helm and armor, the weapon is up for you to decide since there are so many nice ones.
In the beginning i suggest giving your merc a 'low-level' elite polearm socketed with 'Honor' (Amn + El + Ith + Tir + Sol). This should help him alot staying alive.
Helm - Vampire Gaze / Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest / Crown of Thieves
Armor - Shaftstop / Ethereal Duriel's Shell / Duriel's Shell
Good weapons of choise
'Crescent Moon' (Shael + Um + Tir)
Use an elite ethereal polearm for this, REALLY packs a punch.
'Honor' (Amn + El + Ith + Tir + Sol)
Use an elite ethereal polearm for this, REALLY packs a punch.
Tombreaver - Cryptic Axe
Ethereal version has unbelievable damage.
Bonehew - Ogre Axe
Ethereal version has nice damage, not as good as tomb reaver.
Viperfork - Mancatcher
Insane speed, not superb damage.
Act III - Iron Wolves
They provide crowd control through cold, but they are required to hit their target in order to make any crowd control and they usually get them selves into trouble. The damage is quite low too and in hell the cold duration wont be very long. Overall a bad choise.
However a lightning type mercenary could be an option as the damage can go alot higher than cold damage, look below.
Should you choose a such mercenary anyway for whatever the reasons might be I suggest equipping him with some of the following gear and choose a lightning mercenary.
Helm - Grisson's Eye / Harlequin's Crest
Armor - Shaftstop / Skin of the Vipermagi / Duriel's Shell
Sword - RW Crescent Moon
Act V - Barbarians
True meat shield with lots of health and damage but they provide nothing but a single target damage and in hell they wont last for a minute versus a crowd of monsters.
Should you however choose a such barbarian i suggest using some of the following gear.
Helm - Vampire Gaze / Stealskull / Crown of Thieves
Armor - Shaftstop / Duriel's Shell
Sword - The Grandfather / Doombringer / Honor / Upgraded swordguard / Any decent high damage sword
9.1 Leveling you mercenary
Some of the best places I've found to level my act II mercenary are these, all are in hell mode and level 41+ mercenary.
Act I - Countess runs / Black Marsh
Act I - Pit runs
Act II - Canyon of The Magi
Hope this helps out choosing YOUR mercenary, because all mercenaries can work well. It's all about equipment and playstyle.
10. Equipment introduction
With patch 1.10 came alot of new items and runewords, also came the 50% PDR cap in PvP. This brought along alot of new perspectives to the assasin builds, especially with open wounds, chrushing blow etc.
I will be doing a rating of the the equipment i mention during this section and a summary in the end where I mention the 'optimal' setup. After the name of the item there will be a X of 5 grade, this grade determines the usefulness of the item. The grades are these
0-1 - Absolutely the last resort, don't use this item unless you really have no other options, won't provide you very good usefulness but a slight amount.
1-2 - Has minor mods that are useful, don't use this unless you haven't got anything better.
3-4 - Has fair mods, provides a good amount of usefulnes but can be better.
4 - Quite good item, provides alot of good mods and is very useful in combat.
5 - The best item you can get for the purpose.
I won't be mentioning the exact stats of the items, but only roughly go over the stats if they are important in the decription of the item.
Another important perspective in the equipment is mana leech, in order to be able to kick and cast spells at all times, you will need mana. Without mana you're basically screwed, so you will need one or multiple sources of mana leech. I suggest atleast 10-20% mana leech in order to have a 'healthy' mana supply.
10.1 Equipment socketing
When sockting your equipment be aware of the facts written in section 5, which types of modifiers work with dragon talon and which that don't. Below I have listed some useful options for socketing your equipment.
Um
Very useful rune, one of the best for this build. In a weapon it will add 25% chance to inflict open wounds and in a non-shield piece of equipment it will add 15% resist all. In a shield it adds 22% resist all.
Cham
If can afford a such rune you can socket it in a non-weapon piece of equipment to gain CBF. This will leave room for another ring which can - with the right mods - be more powerful than ravenfrost.
Jah
Expensive rune and powerful too, in a non-weapon piece of equipment it adds 5% maximum life which is very useful to you.
Ber
Not the most useful rune of them all, the 8% PDR is hardly needed and the 25% CB will only be useful for leveling and there are cheaper means of gaining CB for leveling. Useful for claw/claw build to squeeze the last bit of PDR needed to reach the 50% PDR cap.
Shael
Useful for obtaining breakpoints to reach 7/2 FPA. The FHR is hardly needed as there are other means of gaining this, than to waste a socket.
Cold/Lightning/Fire Rainbow Facets
Completely useless, I only put them in here to say that lightning facets do NOT add to trap damage neither does the fire facets.
Poison Rainbow Facets
Potentially of use, they can beef up the venom poison damage a little bit but not alot. If you use a couple of them they can give a nice little boost, many small rocks make a mountain you know.
ED jewel
Hardly useful, but if you can get ED/STR jewel these can boost the kick damage a little bit. Hardly worth using a socket on unless it's a rare jewel and has other nice mods.
IAS jewel
With extra mods on these jewel they can become very powerful. Mods like AR/resistances etc. are very useful mods on this kind of jewel, good for reaching the 7/2 FPA breakpoint if you're using fade.
Rare jewel
These are potentially the most useful jewels you can get your hands on. They can have powerful mods. Look for a jewel that has one or more mods from the following list: Strength, Dexterity, Enchanced Damage, -15% Requirement, Resistance(s), Faster Hit Recovery. The list is mentioned in no specific order of preference.
Helm
Vampire Gaze [15-20% PDR 6-8% LL 6-8% ML] - {Grade 3/5}
Very nice helm, first of all it offers some of the mana leech you'll need in order to keep the mana supply high. Secondly it has life leech and PDR. This helm combined with stormshield provides the 50% PDR you'll need. A good choise of helm, perhaps not the best.
Harlequin's Crest [+2 Skills, +1.5 Life/level, +1.5 Mana/level, 10% PDR, +2 all stats] - {Grade 4/5}
Another very nice helm, the skills aren't that important unless you are dual claw where it would benefit the shadow disciplines and weapon block skill. The extra life and mana is a godsent, but they aren't fatal. This is the helm you would want to wear vs. characters where you wanna keep the distance and use traps, also it's highly adviceable vs. casters since you wont be needing any excessive PDR because they are using elemental attacks.
Andariels Visage [+2 skills, 20% IAS, 25-30 strength, 8-10% LL, 70% PR, 10% MAX PR, -30% FR] - {Grade 5/5}
Awesome helm, probably one of the best. It has +2 skills, IAS, LL. The only downside of this helm is the -30% FR, but if you're able to make up for these through other gear, this is one of the main helms you'd want if you're able to get ML through other means than helm, f.x. rings/amulets.
Stealskull [5% LL, 5% ML, 10% IAS, 10% FHR] - {Grade 2/5}
This could be a poormans vampire gaze, it's not the best helm you can get your hands on, but it's better than none. I would suggest this helm as a last resort if you aren't too rich.
Crown of Thieves [9-12% LL, 25 Dexterity, 50 Life, 33% FR] - {Grade 2/5}
A great helm actually, many nice bonuses, this might be the poormans andariel's visage. Has almost similar stats. A good option if you're a little poor.
Crown of Ages [+1 Skills, 10-15% PDR, 20-30% allres, 30% FHR, 1-2 sockets] - {Grade 5/5}
Probably the most expensive of the mentioned helms. Many people cry out that this is the 'über' helm and THE helm. I disagree with them on this. Yea sure it's a nice helm, but really, andariel's visage beats it anytime of the day. The resistances can be made up for quickly through charms, and the 20-30 extra resist all would only benefit you in hell. I have given it grade 5/5 due to the fact that it isn't completely useless.
Guillaume's Face [+30% FHR, 35% CB, +15 Strength] - {Grade 5/5} (For leveling purposes only)
This is probably the most awesome helm for a kicksin when you're leveling. The 35% CB is simply an amazing add to your kill speed. Therefor it recieves the high grade, it has absolutely no use for PvP purposes, so don't eve nthink about using it.
Armor
Shaftstop [30% PDR, 60 Life] - {Grade 2/5}
This is THE armor for gaining PDR, but it doesn't really provide anything else. A good choise for gaining PDR with dual claws, a cheap alternative to Leviathan.
Guardian Angel [30% FBR, 15% MAX Allres, 20% ICtB] - {Grade 5/5}
This is an über armor for gaining resistances vs. elemental attackers. Both the weapon/claw and the dual claw build should utilize this armor when facing heavy elemental damage.
Rattlecage [25% CB, 45 AR] - {Grade 1/5}
Not exactly a superb armor, but it has good usefulnes when leveling, i thought i'd include this one because of the 25% CB that is very useful when leveling.
Boneflesh [5% LL, 25% OW, 35 AR] - {Grade 1/5}
An ok'ish choise if you absolutely don't have any other better, the 25% OW is ofcourse always useful.
Toothrow [40% OW, 10 Strength, 15% FR] - {Grade 1/5}
Better than beforementioned boneflesh, actually an ok choise of armor if you're a poorman.
Duriel's Shell [+1 life/level, 20% FR, 20% LR, 20% PR, 50% CR, CBF, 15 Strength] - Grade {4/5}
This armor, even though it's common and cheap, is actually one of the best armors you can get a hold of. It provides alot of great mods that you need. Upgrade this armor and you have one piece of great shiny armor.
Leviathan [15-25% PDR, 40-50 Strength] - {Grade 5/5}
Amongst the PDR armors this is the king for kickers. The 40-50 extra strength will give you a REAL boost in kÃck damage. This armor is a GREAT alternative to the 'Crown of Ages setup', see the equipment summary for dual claw kicker.
Tyrael's Might [20% R/W, 20-30 Strength, 20-30% allres, CBF, -100% req] - {Grade 3/5}
Some would argue this is better than Duriel's Shell, but I disagree. It provides almost identical mods but instead of +1 life/level it adds 20% R/W. I would anytime choose ~80+ life over 20% R/W and the fact that this armor cost a farm makes it less useful than Druiel's Shell.
Arkaine's Valor [+1-2 To All Skills, 0.5 vitality/level, 30% FHR] - {Grade 2/5}
A good armor indeed, not exactly the best choise for a kicker. Offers a great amount of extra life but besides that the +1-2 skills and 30% FHR isn't really worth filling up your armor slot for, you can do much better.
Lionheart [+20% ED, Req -15%, 25 Strength, 20 Vitality, 15 Dexterity, +50 Life, 30% allres] - {Grade 5/5}
(Hel + Lum + Fal)
This is probably one of the best armors for a kicker, if you can't afford an Enigma armor i would aim for this runeword in an elite armor. It provides tons of great mods and a huge life boost too. It's relatively cheap too.
Bramble [Slvl 15-21 Thorns Aura, 50% FHR, 25-50% To Poison Skill Damage, 5% Max CR, 30% FR, 100% PR, Slvl 13 Spirit of Barbs (33 Charges)] - {Grade 2/5}
(Ral + Ohm + Sur + Eth)
Great runeword, only downside is that it's pretty expensive with the Ohm and Sur rune. The mods aren't fantastic but nice, a 50% increased venom damage would always be nice and the thorns aura is a sweetener too.
Chains of Honor [+2 Skills, 8% LL, 20 Strength, 65% allres, 8% PDR] - {Grade 3/5}
(Dol + Um + Ber + Ist)
Favoured by many, and I must say it's a great armor too, has a little expensive touch though. Mods are just great, with this armor you definately wont worry about resistances. But if it's for resistances only you're using this, I suggest going for a 'Smoke' armor instead, it's much cheaper.
Enigma [+2 Skills, 45% R/W, +1 To Teleport, 0.75 strength/level, Increase Maximum Life 5%, 8% PDR, 15% Damage Taken Goes To Mana] - {Grade 5/5}
(Jah + Ith + Ber)
Most likely the most expensive of the mentioned runeword armors to make and also the best. The mods are simply fantastic and it beats all the above armors by a mile, the reason I rated other armors the same as this is because of the cost. It's so expensive to make.
Some consider the +1 teleport as BM - But hey, you're not going to use it, so why care. You have dragon flight.
Stone [60% FHR, +250-290% Enh. Defense, 16 Strength, 16 Vitality, 15% allres, Slvl 16 Clay Golem (16 Charges)] - {Grade 2/5}
(Shael + Um + Pul + Lum)
Nice, cheap and good mods, and it comes with a pet!
Belt
String of Ears [10-15% PDR, 6-8% ll] - {Grade 2/5}
One of the better belts, the reason you should choose this would be from the PDR. The leech isn't that vital since it's nerfed greatly in PvP.
Nosferatu's Coil [5-7% life leech, 10% ias, 15 strength, slows target 20%] - {Grade 1/5}
An ok belt actually, the downside is the slow target which is seen as BM by many.
Thundergod's Vigor [20 Lightning absorb, 10% MAX LR, 20 strength, 20 vitality] - {Grade 3/5}
This is one of the best belts you can wear vs. lightning elements, some would say it's BM but really that's a widespread oppinion, the numbers saying it's BM is just as great as the number that don't. Superior stats too, a very nice belt.
Verdungo's Hearty Cord [30-40 Vitality, 10% FHR, PDR 10-15%] - {Grade 5/5}
Probably the best belt you can get your hands on, if you can get a perfect one you're set to go with belts.
Crafted blood belt [5-10% Open wounds, 1-3% life leech, 10-20 life, extra mods] - {Grade 1-5/5}
(mesh belt/mithril coil + Tal rune + Perfect ruby + jewel)
This could potentially beat even the verdungo's hearty cord, looking over the mods this belt can have 24% FHR, 3% LL, 10% OW, +30 strenght, resistances etc. a real sweetheart of a belt if you're lucky to craft a good one.
Boots
When choosing boots there are one class and one class ONLY that is your choise - myrmidon greaves. These are the only boot class that can give enough damage to your kick.
Gore Rider [30% FRW, 15% deadly strike, 15% chrushing blow, 10% open wounds, -25% req] - {Grade 5/5}
These are THE boots you can get your hands on if you're able to upgrade them. The mods are amazing and the -25% req for a pair of myrmidon greaves is just sweet. These are the boots you'd want.
Shadow Dancer [30% FRW, 30% fhr, 15-25 dexterity, 1-2 shadow disciplines, -20% req, Ladder Only] - {Grade 5/5}
Very nice boots, some say they beat gore rider, but really I think it's a matter of taste. These have the sam kick damage and about the same potential, a little higher requirements, though.
Rare Greaves/War Boots/Myrmidon Boots [-req, FRW] - {Grade 1-5/5}
(1 Ral Rune + 1 Thul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Normal (Basic) Rare Armor = Exceptional Rare Armor.
(1 Ko Rune + 1 Pul Rune + 1 Perfect Amethyst + Exceptional Rare Armor = Elite Rare Armor.
Potentially a pair of rare myrmidon greaves or myrmidon class that has been upgraded can beat both gore rider and shadow dancer. Be sure to get one with FRW and -req. Other sweet mods would be +stats, +resistances. Good choise if you're non-ladder and don't wanna wait untill the ladder season ends to get a pair of shadow dancers or upgraded gore rider.
Crafted Safety Recipe boots [5-10% FR] - Grade {1-5/5}
(Myrmidon Boots + Ort Rune + Perfect Emerald + Any Jewel)
This is a good alternative to the two unique boots and they are cheap to craft too. Myrmidons are easily bought at Anya in hell and the other pieces of the recipe can be bougth for a nickle. Look for a pair with
FRW, -req, stats, resists on. Potentially these can be just as powerful as rare boots.
Gloves
Dracul's Grasp [7-10% life leech, 25% open wounds, 10-15 Strength, 5% CtC Slvl 10 Life tap on striking] - {Grade 5/5}
These are THE gloves if life tap isn't considered BM, they have all the mods you are searching more or less and the life tap just makes them even better, a real diamond among gloves.
Steelrend [+30-60% ED, 10% CB, 15-20 Strength] - Grade {5/5}
This too is one of the diamond among gloves, the steep strength requirement isn't to be taken notice of since you will have plenty of strength. A true damage enchancer, use these if you have the mana leech you need and dracul's grasp isn't allowed.
Soul Drainer [4-7% LL, 4-7% ML, 8% CtC Slvl 3 Weaken on striking] - {Grade 4/5}
Should dracul's grasp be disallowed these are actually very nice too, dual leech and gives you the ML you're searching. Weaken isn't such a bad spell too.
Crafted blood gloves [3-6% life leech, 5-10% crushing blow, extra mods] - {Grade 1-4/5}
(sharkskin gloves/vampirebone gloves + Nef + Perfect Ruby + jewel)
These should be the last resort, get some with dual leech and +stats on. A pair with +martial arts would be great too. Can potentially beat souldrainer.
Shield
Stormshield [+25% ICoB, 35% FBR, 35% PDR, 60% CR, 25% LR, 30 Strength] - {Grade 5/5}
This is absolutely, positively THE shield you would want. It ruled in PvP back in 1.09 and it still hasn't been detroned. It has so many nice mods on it, a real beauty.
Moser's Blessed Circle [+25% ICoB, 30% FBR, 25% allres, 2 sockets] - {Grade 4/5}
This is probably the shield you'd like vs. elemental attackers, with 2 perfect diamonds in it brings it to a stunning 63% resist all, very nice amount if you're low on resists vs. one or more elements.
Swordback Hold [20% ICoB, 50% open wounds] - {Grade 2/5}
Actually a good shield, but only because of the open wounds. If your resistances can handle it, this is a good shield vs. sorceresses since it remarkably raises your chance to inflict open wounds.
Lidless Wall [+1 Skills, Maximum Mana +10%, 20% FCR, +10 Energy] - {Grade 5/5}
This shield in itself is useless, but if you combine it with a call to arms weapon you have an extra level of battle order which means more life.
Sanctuary [20% FHR, 20% FBR, 20% ICoB, 20 Dexterity, 50-70% Allres, Level 12 Slow Missiles (60 Charges)] - Grade {5/5}
(Ko + Ko + Mal)
If you're one of those types who prefer to wear a shield all the time, even when dueling casters this is a great shield. It adds an awesome amount of resistances combined with a few other useful mods. The most useful mod is however the slow missile charges. If you are allowed to use the charges these work wonders with casters.
Amulet
When choosing an amulet the things that matters most are stats and skills. Leech is secondary and should be obtained through one or two rings.
Atma's Scarab [5% CtC Slvl 2 Amplify Damage on Striking, 20% AR, 75% PR] - {Grade 3/5}
This is a very nice amulet when you're levling but for PvP it's most likely BM, not many people think positive when they hear the words chance ot cast amplify and PvP combined.
Crescent Moon [10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana, +45 Mana, 3-6% LL, 11-15% ML] - {Grade 3/5}
Nice amulet actually, not the best, but the leech is stunning. This definitively provides you with enough mana leech to keep your kicking on the go.
Metalgrid [+400-450 AR, Level 22 Iron Golem (11 Charges), Level 12 Iron Maiden (20 Charges), 25-35% Allres, +300-350 Defense, Ladder Only] - {Grade 3/5}
This is actually a very nice amulet, even though it lacks stats, skills and leech. The huge AR bonus can be a real help versus paladins, barbarians and other high defense chars which you'd like a better shot hitting with dragon talon and dragon flight. The extra mods and pets on it is just a plus.
Crafted Blood amulet [+1-2 Skills, 1-3% LL, X% ML, extra mods] - {Grade 3-5/5}
These are potentially the most powerful amulets you can get your hands on. They come with almost all mods, 1-4% LL, upto 8% ML and stats, skills, resistances etc. A good one is dual leech 5-8% ML with 15-20 in strength or dex, or combined and +1-2 skills. Downside with these types of amulets are that the best usually have a very steep level requirement such as in the 90+ range.
Rare amulet [+1-2 Skills, leech, stats] - {Grade 3-5/5}
This could potentially be an even more powerful amulet as rares can have enormous stat points boosts and resist boosts without having too steep level requirements.
Rings
When choosing a ring the most important is mana leech and stats. Other modifiers like attack rating and dexterity are great stuff to have on them too, life leech is the least important as leech is very nerfed in PvP.
Ravenfrost [CBF, 15-20 Dexterity, 20% Cold Absorb, 150-250 AR] - {Grade 2-4/5}
Sweet ring, favoured by many since not many CBF sources are around. A good ring when facing cold attacks too, the extra mods is just a plus. Ravenfrost is also a good source of gaining attack rating, it easily adds 2-4k extra AR.
Carrion Wind [8% CtC Slvl 13 Twister on striking, 6-9% LL, 55% PR, 10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana] - {Grade 3/5}
Since twisters have a stunning effect this is actually a very nice ring, it's not the best but the twisters actually makes it very useful.
Bul Khato's Wedding Band [3-5% LL, +0.5 Life/level, +1 All skills] - {Grade 1/5}
Semi-useful ring. Wouldn't choose this over other rings, but the mods are ok'ish for kickers.
Rare single/dual leech [>6% LL, >4% ML, extra mods] - {Grade 3-5/5}
Poetentially the best ring(s) you can get your hands on. With a maximum of 9/9 dual leech and capable of having mods like resistances, dexterity and strength makes these among the top rings.
Crafted single leech [>6% LL, extra mods] - {Grade 2-4/5}
Capable of having 11% life leech and stats, these rings shouldn't be chosen for leech only since leech has been nerfed greatly as mentioned before. Get one with nice resistances and lots of stats.
