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"Delwin" <watercool@gmail.com> wrote in message
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UXQe.43858$Hk.7528@pd7tw1no...
> Hannes Brunner wrote:
>> Delwin schrieb:
>>
>>> I am playing single player. Just finished off Baal and am now playing
>>> in Nightmare level. I am getting my ass kicked! There is reason to be
>>> cautious of a gang of quillrats or zombies. I have a bunch of good
>>> gear, level 46 Assassin into martial arts. Dual claw mostly.
>>> It is really slow going to get anywhere. I am going to the sunken
>>> tower, but am slaughtered by the time I get to the last floor.
>>> I do a lot of 'strike & run, let the poison work and strike again' kind
>>> of stuff. There are times where a gang of zombies are tougher than the
>>> bosses in normal level.
>>> Does anyone have a bit of advise for me? Is level 46 too low? Perhaps
>>> I just need to craft a better set of weapons, armor, and so on.
>>>
>>> Any hints you got are appreciated.
>>
>>
>> Assassins have access to one of the best skills in the game for solo
>> play: Cloak of Shadows. One point wonder. It's a great crowd control
>> skill, allowing you to adjust the pace of the battle. Another great skill
>> for that purpose is Mind Blast. Oh, and not to forget Shadow Master. You
>> say you play MA, so why bother with skills from the shadow tree? Because
>> you get so much out of the few skill points investments.
>>
>> If you want more advices, please tell us how you have distributed your
>> skill and stat points so far. Their are so many viable MA variants with
>> different needs for crowd control.
>>
>> ---
>> Hannes
> Another fellow mentioned resistances. He is right; my resistances are way
> down, but Fade helps.
> Here is the breakdown of my points distribution:
> MA
> Dragon Claw 9, Fist of Fire 6, Claw of Thunder 8, Dragon Tail 4,
> Tigerstrike 2, Dragontalon 1.
> Shadow Disciplines:
> Claw Mastery 9, Burst of Speed 1, Weapon Block 8, Fade 2
> Character:
> Str 100, Dex 89(Circlet +7), Vit 81, Engy 54 (Rune Spiral ring +7)
>
> Putting extra points into Dragon tail was probably a mistake, but I wanted
> to use my runed shield and kick.
> I brought the Str to 100 because there was a piece of armor I wanted.
> Speaking of armor; I read about a runeword 'stealth' using Tal-Eth in two
> socket armor, but have been unable to make it. I have tried hard leather
> and another piece, but they do not make 'Stealth' armor. Any ideas?
>
> I think I have done ok with the distribution of points. Any
> criticisms/comments are welcome.
> Thanks.
> delwin
I play realms, ladder, hardcore only, so take this with a grain of salt, but
.........
Generally speaking, I have better luck if I plan out my endgame attack
skills, and then only put points into those that I must to get there. If it
were me, I'd not put so many points into claw mastery so early, only
dropping a point into it when my attack rating dropped. If you are questing
in areas that are far above your level, you may need to point those points
in early. I prefer to use a shield and claw early on too, so I can use
those precious skill points in shadow skills until later in the game.
However, if you want to use two claws, I'd only put a couple of points into
claw blocking until at least character level 50. You simply won't need it
until then.
I'd plan on using burst of speed, rather than fade, whenever possible. Your
attack speed, and killing speed will be much better, and with a modest
amount of life leach, you won't need fade except in rare situations. It's a
life saver when you need it, but I rarely use it in normal, or even
nightmare.
Get a shadow warrior or shadow master as soon as possible. I prefer the SM,
she's a little tougher (better resistances), but she has a mind of her own.
The shadow warrior will follow your commands like a robot, only using the
skills that you have active on your left and right attack buttons. Not only
can they kill stuff, they take some heat off your character when mobbed.
I wouldn't put ANY points into energy with a martial arts assassin. Drink
potions until you get a mana steal item, and use items to boost mana if
necessary.
As mentioned, cloak of shadows is the martial arts assassin's dream skill.
A single point will do, in fact you don't want more than that in it (takes
too long to be able to re-cast it)
Mind blast is really handy when dealing with tough mobs.
"Stealth" works in any two socket armor that's not magic, rare, or unique.
Look for grey writing. It will look grey on the ground, and the description
will be grey. If it's blue writing (magic), it won't work. This is great
armor for mid normal (I usually use a two socket breast plate), and I often
use it all the way through nightmare on range attack characters. By mid
nightmare, I'm usually able to find something better for my melee
characters.
Ruben
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