Diablo II Expansion Pack A Guide to the Elemental Assassin Version 1.0 By Gros Loup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ Legal Stuff ~~~~~~ Diablo II, Diablo II Expansion Pack, the Assassin, and all other things that are said in this Guide are all owned by Blizzard Entertainment. This is an unlicensed FAQ, and may be distributed free of charge anywhere, anytime as long as you have two things. 1) Permission from me (Gros Loup). To receive this permission just e-mail me at blaine_hollett@hotmail.com, but I don't check it very much. How to contact me quicker will be in later sections. 2) This FAQ/Guide must be un-altered, down to the last letter. Typos, extra spaces in between words, it's all going to be accounted for. If you tamper with this guide in anyway, well, you'll be sued. For a lot of money. ~~~~~~ Table of Contents ~~~~~~ 1. Introduction/Why an Elemental Assassin? 2. Skill Overview 3. Basic Walk-Through/Strategy 4. Stat Points 5. Boss Battles 6. About Me 7. Thanks ~~~~~~ Introduction/Why an Elemental Assassin? ~~~~~~ Well, I'm Gros Loup (translated into Big Wolf from French). Though my nickname may say something, I am not French. It's just a silly nickname from school. Anyhoo, enough about my name. I enjoy a challenge. That's why this isn't a guide about a Barbarian who slashes away with Whirlwind, or a Sorceress who spams Frozen Orb and Nova. If you want to read a guide about them, go somewhere else. But I enjoy such non- stereotypical characters to no end. My friends and I have formed our own personal 'Guild', if you may, about these 'underdog' characters (Having said that though, a new Patch is on its way, which is supposedly supposed to make all skills that have been made be useful in some way... Sheesh). I have tried Elemental Druids, Trapassains, Naked Sorceresses, Summon-Only Necros, No-Summon Necros, Blaze-Babes, Mage-a- zons... You name it, I've tried it (Though I'd like to thank LoK's guides at lurkerlounge.com for giving me some of these ideas...) But when I told my friends I was going to do a Martial Art Assassin, they almost beat me up. But then I told them there was a twist. Ok. You're probably wondering what an Elemental Assassin is now, right? If you aren't, you should get a cookie. An Elemental Assassin could be a Trappassain without Death Sentry/The Whole Blade Tree, but it's not. It's a Martial Artist Assassin who uses the three 'underdog' Charge-Up skills with no Finisher. These charge-ups are, Fists of Fire, Claws of Thunder and Blades of Ice. Well, not so much Blades of Ice, but you get the picture. ~~~~~~ Skill Overview ~~~~~~ The worst thing that could happen to you in D2X with an Assassin (especially a Martial Artist) is to place your skill points in the wrong Skills, and then when you want to start pumping points into a new Skill, you don't have any left over, or not enough in a good one to accumulate new ones. In this section I'll give you my opinion about each skill, but I'll leave the points you want to put in each skill up to you. Remember though, this is a Elemental Assassin guide, so I won't be recommending maxing Tiger Strike, though normal Martial Artists would need this skill as their backbone. Also, don't just use these skills in the way I say to. Be creative and find how each skill works best for you. I'm not always right, you know. One last thing: To make you use your own creativity, I am only including a Martial Arts skill tree over-view. Use Shadow Disciplines and Traps however you like. Though, if I am flooded with requests for some, I ~will~ add guides to those. I highly doubt I'll be flooded with anything but hate-mail for blasting some highly-used Skills in this Overview. Tiger Strike (Charge) Pre: None Mana: 1 Tiger Strike would normally be the backbone for a Martial Artist, but for an Elemental Martial Artist, you won't need it. Though maxing it does give you a fabulous amount of boosted power and only cost one measly mana, you may only want to put one point in it if you want Cobra Strike (for leeching) or Phoenix Strike for more raw Elemental damage. Dragon Talon (Finisher) Pre: None Mana: 6 This is your first finishing move. If you read the intro, then you should know that my Elemental Assassins do NOT use a Finisher, but if you find you're Elemental attacks are not doing as much damage as they should, go for Dragon Tail. This skill does poor damage at level 20 but does give 3 attacks at once. If you must max it, go ahead. Fists of Fire (Charge) Pre: None Mana: 2 This is the first Elemental Charge-Up your Elemental Assassin will get, and it will be your back-up skill for any Lightning Immunes you may find. It may have crappy damage at level 20 (201-205), but it's reliable and if you charge it three times, then you have that 201-205 burning for 2.5 seconds in a 2 yard radius. If you cast it several times (for it has a measly mana cost) you will have some char-broiled enemies. However, if you want to use a Finishing Move, this could be easily replaced by Dragon Tail. Dragon Claw (Finisher) Pre: Dragon Talon Mana: 2 This is another Finishing Move, and a so-so skill. It requires two claws, so if you're even tempted to go for Finishers but are using a Claw & Shield, then you should just put one point in it and forget it. Though if you max it, it gives more than double your normal damage and attacks with both claws at once, so that could add up to a lot of damage if you have two awesome Claws (Which are RARE in the D2X World, and cost a fortune on the Realms). Cobra Strike (Charge) Pre: Tiger Strike Mana: 2 Cobra Strike is a good skill to have to take some pressure off. It only needs one point to be useful, but it does require having a point in Tiger Strike. If you want Phoenix Strike (I don't suggest to), then you'll have this skill anyway. The way it works is the first charge gives your claws some Life Leech (40% at level 1) which is great when you get stuck in an icky Stair Trap and are running low on potions. The second Charge gives 40% Life AND Mana Leech at level one, which could help you in a Stair Trap when you're running out of Life and Mana. Plus the extra mana will help you spam out some more Claws of Thunder Novas, to help ease the pain. The third charge gives 80% Mana and Life leech at level one, but in my opinion the last charge or more skill points in this skill are just gravy being poured onto an already fine turkey (Odd analogy, yes). Claws of Thunder (Charge) Pre: Fists of Fire Mana: 4 Claws of Thunder are my baby, and are going to be your main source of damage. After the first charge you have a Sorceress's Lightning spell equipped on your claws and will dish out the most reliable (but lowest) damage that this skill has to offer. And, it is a mimic of the Lightning spell, so it shoots in one straight line. Charge #1 is great for fighting solo-bosses like Diablo, but a poor choice when fighting mobs. Charge #2 gives it a Nova spell on your claws, so as soon as you attack one enemy, a big ring of electricity will spread out and maul your enemies. This Charge is my personal favorite when dealing with mobs, for it WILL hit all enemies in its radius, unlike Charge #3 (this will dish out a max of 465 damage to each enemy). Charge #3 will give you a lot of power and a lot of Charged Bolts. When maxed at level 20 each bolt will do a max of 740 damage, which will deal a hurting on most enemies. It may not be great for tightly packed enemies, but a loose circle of enemies should feel the wrath of Charge #3. There is a downside for Charges #2 and #3, though. The minimum damage for both will always be 1, no matter how many skill points are in it, which turns away most people from this skill. BUT, why would I try this skill/character without some weakness or challenge? Dragon Tail (Finisher) Pre: Dragon Talon; Dragon Claw Mana: 10 I don't like this Finisher. It deals a kick with a percentage of fire damage tacked onto it, but I find it somehow un-reliable. Sure, when maxed, this kick will do a lot of fire damage (240%) and a fair chunk of boosted power (173%), but I don't like the way this attack works. The explosion adds a great effect to this attack, but this skill could never find a permanent home on my hot-key mania keyboard. If you want to use a Finisher though, this is the choice for an Elemental Assassin. It adds on more Elemental Damage. If you were to max this, you could throw Fists of Fire out the window, freeing up more skill points. Blades of Ice (Charge) Pre: Fists of Fire; Claws of Thunder Mana: 3 This is my least favorite of the Elemental Claw trio, but it has its uses. It works the same way Fists of Fire works, with Charge #1 adding damage of the Element, Charge #2 adding a radius of the damage (this time it's greater than Fists of Fire, though being at 3.3) and Charge #3 adds a Freeze Duration (though it's NOT freeze, it's chill, plus more time is tacked on with more levels into this skill) which at level 20 is 11.6 seconds long. What's disappointing about this skill is not the damage, seeing that it's 231-251 at level 20, but the fact that to get ANY chill effect you must charge this skill three times. It was hard for me to adjust to this skill after I was so used to killing everything with just Charge #1 and Charge #2 of Claws of Thunder. Blades of Ice is a nice skill, and I recommend you put ATLEAST five points in this skill, for it will save your ass a couple times if you remember to charge this skill three times. And also, if you max this skill, then, well, look at the chill duration. That's ELEVEN (DECEMIL) SIX SECONDS OF CHILL EFFECT. And if you just leave it at level five, it still gives 5.6 chilling effect which will give plenty of time for you to get your ass out of an icky spot. But this skill will not help you in a Stair Trap. I suggest using Claws of Thunder for that. Flight Dragon Flight (Finisher) Pre: Dragon Talon, Dragon Claw, Dragon Tail Mana: 15 CASTING DELAY: 2 Seconds Dragon Flight has me pulled both ways. It gives a great AR and Damage bonus even at level one, but it Teleports and kicks. The teleporting makes me have no real solid opinion about this skill. It Teleports to THE NEAREST ENEMY, so in dueling say, a Necromancer you could just teleport into one of his useless Skeletons or a Bone Wall. Or when dueling a Druid, you could smack into a measly Vine. Or when dueling an Amazon you... Well, you get the picture. You could always accidentally Teleport into an LEB which you would have normally just left alone, or you could hit one of Diablo's useless minions and just have wasted 15+ mana. So, it's your call. Again, however, if you chose to use a Finishing Move to pack more punch, I recommend Dragon Tail. Also, it has a Casting Delay, but shouldn't get you too worried, because the skill will be over by the time it's up. PHOENIX STRIKE (Charge) Pre: ALL CHARGES Mana: 4 (Note: All of the Sorceress damage 'quotes' are before the Masteries are added in, mind you.) This is the Charge-Up of choice for most Martial Artists when dealing with Physical Immunes (Tiger Strike would maul anything else), for it delivers a different Element for each charge-up (but Charge #1's element does not carry over to Charge #2). This may be what I hate the most. Charge #1 unleashes a fiery Meteor, one of the Sorceress's most damaging Fire Spells. But for Phoenix Strike, they have SEVERELY toned down the damage for Meteor. A level 20 Sorceress Meteor will do 888-908 damage; where as a Level 20 Phoenix Strike Meteor does 370-390. Big difference, eh? AND the Meteor still takes a while to land. Chain Lightning's damage however is a little better. A Sorceress's Slvl 20 Chain Lightning will do 1-281 damage, where a Slvl 20 Phoenix Strike Chain Lightning will do 1-353. Even though it is a step up from the Sorceress's Chain Lightning attack, the damage could be upped and the radius could be improved by Claws of Thunder's Charge #2. The last charge is called 'Chaos Ice Bolt', but it looks more like Frozen Orb to me. This Frozen Orb wanna-be will do 156-172 at level 20, whereas a real Frozen Orb would do 262-367 damage. So, if you really want to use this skill I suggest you play a Sorceress, for you will get much more bang for your buck, unless you're dealing with Chain Lightning. Just LOOK at the Meteor damage difference! BIG NOTE: If you are using Claws of Thunder or Blades of Ice (haven't tried Fists of Fire, though I really should) you MUST have at least one Assassin-Only, Claw-Class weapon in the weapon slot you are using upon charge. Don't think you can use a Lightsabre for charging Claws of Thunder. ~~~~~~ Basic Walk-Through/Strategy ~~~~~~ In this section, I tell you a basic idea of how to use your main skills (Fists of Fire, Claws of Thunder and Blades of Ice) to a certain extent, and how to generally get through the game. Do not follow this guide perfectly, or you will become a walking, talking clone of me. That's bad. So, if you find a certain skill to be more useful when in a certain position, don't hesitate to make your life easier because I said to do it a different way. Just have fun! A. Your Infant Years with Fists of Fire As an Elemental Assassin, you don't get much to work with at the beginning. But then again, the basic enemy doesn't get much of a chance to hit you, for in my opinion, the Assassin has kick-ass opening stats and just eases through Act 1. At level 6, you get your first glimpse of Elemental Assassin-ness. At its first few levels, the damage of Fists of Fire is really poor. REALLY poor. So, until you get a few points in this back-up, you should really charge it up the full three times to get maximum use out of it. Fists of Fire is really good for taking out Blood Raven, but taking it past Charge #1 with her is just pointless, because she is constantly one the run. Also, Andariel is really easy with a moderate level Fists of Fire, because she has an automatic -50% resistance to Fire. You shouldn't even HAVE Claws of Thunder when you face her, anyway. Take Fists of Fire past Charge #1, all the way up to Charge #3 because she doesn't tend to move that fast. It you can keep her in one spot, and then the burning will REALLY help. B. Your Teen Years with Claws of Thunder In my opinion, you really need to max Claws of Thunder. As fast as humanly possible. You should get this lovely skill at about mid-Act 2, unless you were really sand-bagging in Act 1. I can't express how much this skill is going to carry you through-out the game. If you at least have it at a moderate level for Duriel, Mephisto, Diablo or Baal, then it really shouldn't take much time. It's Charge, Charge, and Unleash. And they're ALL DEAD. Claws of Thunder Charge #2 is my favorite, especially in tight jams like a Stair Trap. With it's low mana cost, and the fact that you shouldn't be using a Finisher, you could clear out any Stair Trap or flanking with just a few Novas, and if you get max damage, then it will only take one. And don't worry if a Lightning Immune Unique is hoarding you, just get his minions out of the way and hack at him with Fists of Fire/Blades of Ice. It will be much easier then tackling him first. B. Your Mid-Life Crisis with Blades of Ice I shouldn't have something against Blades of Ice, but I do. The first time I tried it, I was completely robbed because it said 'Freeze Duration', not 'Chill Duration'. I was really heart-broken. But, Blades of Ice can really save you in tight spots. If you're facing down some Flayers or some speedy enemy, charge Blades of Ice up to Charge #3 and they're easy pickings. Also, if you're low on health, running low on potions and just plain forgot you had TPs (like this will ever happen to a Vet...) and you desperately need to get away, but you'll be caught, Charge #3 will save you. It will chill the enemy for long enough (even at Slvl 1) for you to get away. Even though I have some odd hatred towards Blades of Ice, it has saved my behind many, many times because of it's nice, long chill duration. ~~~~~~ Stat Points ~~~~~~ For my two Elemental Assassins (one Multi-Player currently retired and one Single Player, in Nightmare Act 3) I have followed the same pattern for Stat Points. From Act 1 Normal to Act 1 Nightmare, I always do 2Str/2Dex/1Vit. It has seemed to work both times very efficiently, for I haven't have need for much life because constantly pumping Dexterity is bringing my Block Rate up high enough (I always start doing Claw/Shield) to weather most blows efficiently. After I start Nightmare Difficulty, however, I always switch to 1Str/2Dex/2Vit. Because the Monsters are more heavy-hitters now, I need more Life to weather these blows yet I still need accuracy and Block Percentage. I should already have more than an abundance of Strength to wear all equipment by now, so it seems to work fine enough for me. If I seem to be lacking in either Hitting/Blocking or I seem to keep dying, I go 3Dex/2 Vit, or 2Dex/3Vit, depending on my situation. I don't tend to have this sort of problem, though with my Multi-Player Elemental Assassin once I hit Hell I was going 2Dex/3Vit until I retired, because I really needed to be able to stay alive through the sudden leap in attack power from Nightmare to Hell. So: In Normal Difficulty you should do: 2Str/2Dex/1Vit In Nightmare Difficulty you should do: 1Str/2Dex/2Vit, but is open to changes depending on situation. In Hell Difficulty you should be doing: 2Dex/3Vit It seemed to work for me. ~~~~~~ Boss Battles ~~~~~~ The following guide is for Bosses in Normal Difficulty, for in Nightmare and Hell Difficulties, you will have (probably) a different set of skills, sets of equipment and generally nothing will be the same. An Elemental Assassin will struggle slightly in Normal a little bit because she won't get so much punch from her attacks, but in Nightmare you should see her bloom nicely. Blood Raven- Your first boss. Are you scared? Probably not. If you read above, you should know that you should have Fists of Fire before you tackle her or you will find yourself actually becoming one of her "Army of the Dead". Don't bother too much about her minions; though if they get over- whelming, then take them out. Go after her with Fist of Fire charged once and keep hitting and re-charging Fists of Fire once until she's dead. It's really that simple. Swallow a few Red or Blue Potions if you need to keep up with her, but no abundance should be necessary. If her minions do surround you, then don't mind charging up Fists of Fire twice or three times to get rid of big clumps of them at a time. Griswold- I always have had a passion of killing the Griswold. I always shout out in Multi-Player games "GRISWOLD = MINE". Just because he's so fun to kill. I actually measure my strength of the character when facing the Griswold. By now, you should have a moderate (4-5) Slvl for Fists of Fire at least. Unlike Blood Raven, don't hesitate going all the way up to Charge #3 on Fists of Fire for this 'retired' Blacksmith. He's SLOW. Watch out for his curse, because it seems to attract minions over to you and start slaughtering you. If his minions become too much of a problem, roast them with a fully-charged Fists of Fire. It should flambe those Death Clans and Skeletons. The Countess- I have a tendency of calling The Countess "The Fire Biatch", just because she should be the first heavy-duty Fire Enchanted Boss you face. She isn't that hard, but some her fire spells will hurt. Even just a tiny bit of Fire Resistance will help. But there's a problem. Where she's Fire Enchanted she has a certain level of Fire Resistance higher than most other Act 1 Bosses, so Fists of Fire should either be put away or spammed like crazy. If you do spam Fists of Fire to no end, don't bother taking it past Charge #1 because she tends to move around similar to Blood Raven, so it would be pointless. Stack up on Poison Charms if possible and she should fall like a tree and give some nice drops along with the shiny chest she promotes. Andariel- I skipped The Smith because he just falls victim to your Fists of Fire. By Andariel you should have a few points invested in Fists of Fire, so it shouldn't be much problem. Spam Fists of Fire Charge #3 as often as possible because she's weak to Fire. And I mean WEAK. She gets caught in a patch of fire and her health should drain. She might drop a few goodies, which is always good. She isn't actually that hard. Just carry some Antidote Potions and maybe a few Stamina potions before you tackle the poison-spewing wench. If you get low on health, you can run around the pool of blood in room 1 throwing Fists of Fire charged fully back at her, and just repeat until she dies. Radament- Most people hate facing this undead-summoning, sewer-dwelling Aardvark, but I find he's pretty easy. He drops a free +1 Skill Point book, which is always a plus and he doesn't have too much health. Watch out for his poisonous breath, however. Just lure his minions away and slaughter them where he can't revive them if it gets too hard. The Summoner- No biggy, but WATCH OUT FOR HIS FIREWALL. It is powerful if you don't have enough resists to Fire. If you get in close enough, spam out Fists of Fire Charge #3 and watch the Summoner die. If you have Claws of Thunder, then use Charge #1 and he'll plummet into a ball of fire. Duriel- TO MAKE DURIEL MUCH EASIER, HAVE ATLEAST LEVEL 2 CLAWS OF THUNDER. Yeah. It may take a little sand-bagging, but it works. Go through the False Tombs a couple times if you must, but Claws of Thunder at level two will really help. A LOT. Watch out for his Chill attack, and have some resists to Cold. I don't see why people worry about his "Charge" attack so much. In Normal difficulty, at least if you use Charge #1 a few times then he shouldn't get the chance to use his infamous 'Charge' attack. Really. The Council- If you have a moderate (4-7) Slvl for Claws of Thunder then there is no problem with these guys. Spam out some Novas and watch them fall. Watch out for one of them exploding, or something. I don't remember the Council too much with my Elemental Assassins, because, well, they didn't last that long. Mephisto- Mephisto has a lot of resists, but I find him to have a lower resist to Cold, if anything. If you can get your Blades of Ice up for him then he shouldn't be too much of a problem to you. But if your Blades of Ice just don't pale in comparison to your Claws of Thunder, then don't mind spamming out a constant stream of Charge #1. Hephasto- I have had some problems with him, unlike how Trapassins have to use minimum effort by just going on another side of a lava stream and just hammer him with traps. Sadly, your Elemental Assassin will not be able to unload her charges from across a river of lava, so you resort to using something I like having in Weapon Slot #2. Throwing Weapons. A stack of good-damage Javelins, or a stack of Balanced Axes all do the trick. Get a river of lava in between you and keep flinging your projectiles at him until he dies. Make sure to have more than one stack though, it could take a while. Diablo- Ah, a big bad guy with the dreaded Red Lightning Stream. I've had some great victories and terrible losses against this guy, but I didn't really find to much trouble with him. Claws of Thunder will once again be your weapon of choice. Charge it up just once, and it should have enough damage that you can give Diablo a beating. Make sure to crank Fire and Lightning Resists up for this battle, though. You don't want to be caught in a Red Lightning Stream with him just millimeters away from death. Nihlathak- There are a couple ways you can go about killing him. You can do the old 'lure the minions away to the slaughter', which works fine and dandy for those who have patience, but for people like, me, just rush him. Don't bother with his minions. Without Corpse Explosion, he just has some poor Artic Blast copy-off. I love Artic Blast personally, but his just puts all Artic Druids to shame. The Ancients- You are going to need a Barbarian Mercenary to tank for you here. Make sure he's wearing the best armor you can possibly give him, but make sure he can dish out some damage, as well. He's able to tank against one Ancient, and if you have a Shadow of any type they can 'distract' the third. Use Claws of Thunder once more, only charged once for the most reliable damage against them. Kill the first one, and hope that your Barbarian can tank/kill the second Ancient while you go and give your Shadow support. If two isn't dead by the time you've helped your Shadow, well, then, it's three against one. Baal- I didn't have much problem with him. His minions should fall to your Nova, and your Lightning Charge #1 should wipe out Baal. Baal doesn't have an 'uber' spell, like Diablo's Red Lightning Stream, but he does dish out some damage. If you managed to hang on to your Barbarian from the Ancients fight, well, you have a moderately easy Boss battle on your hands. Just keep watching your Red Orb and don't be afraid to chug some Red Potions. ~~~~~~ About Me ~~~~~~ My handle over the internet is Gros Loup, though I don't think my parents would like it much if I gave out my real name seeing I'm still at the young, innocent age of twelve. I don't think they'd like me saying my age, either, but oh well. I live in the second largest province in Canada (land mass wise, not population) and in the debatably oldest City in North America. Figure that one out. I love Diablo 2: Expansion to no end. As stated above, my e-mail address is blaine_hollett@Hotmail.com Though it is once in a blue moon that I check it, but the planets must also be aligned. If you want a quicker way to contact me, get my MSN Messenger account at the same e-mail address or my AIM Account of ElC0olMagnifico (the first 'o' in Cool is a zero). ~~~~~~ Thanks ~~~~~~ The following people all deserve thanks: - Blizzard Entertainment and Blizzard North for making SUCH AN AWESOME GAME. Though sometimes they can make me a little pissed off, at times, they ultimately made a great game. - Anyone who in their right minds put this Guide on their website. - All my friends, who I won't ramble off to avoid missing someone. Let's just say that all the 'crew' deserves thanks. - The Underdog 'Guild'. I can thank these guys to no end for giving me support in my zany ideas for character builds. Like Naked Sorceresses who use NO spells (this was a DOOZY). - Anyone who e-mails me with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism about this Guide. If anyone wants to flame me or my guide, then please do it behind my back to spare me the tears. -_-;;