Finishing move

[Eldan]

Finishing move

I have never played D2 before, and now i am starting an untwinked TS/CS/PS c/c sin. That being said I have read multiple builds and have seen many variances in finishing move preferences. It seems DC is more effective for a c/c sin but i would personally rather go with DT for crowd control... is this an okay build or does it really not matter at all? Did everything i say make sense? so many abbreviations :shocked:.

 

[BildBenny]

If you're going to use the middle-line charge-ups (Tiger Strike/Cobra Strike/Phoenix Strike) you might as well go with a Claw/Shield setup, IMHO, since these can only give you 1 charge at most per 'click'. The charge-ups on the left-hand side of the Martial Arts tab, on the other hand will potentially give you two charges per 'click', if you're weilding two claws.
Tiger Strike works really well coupled with Dragon Tail. At least on the character sheet (stats menu). It's problem is that it is dependant on monsters' Physical AND Fire resistance.

 

[Silent Shaddow]

just 2 literate what was said, if u use dt on a physical immune then you do 0 dmg... this has been confirmed manytimes, dc in my oppinion is just a worst dt and 4 me offers very little bonuses to make up for the lack of AoE
-silent

 

[BIGeyedBUG]

I really like Dragon Claw (usually at just one point) the best for general purpose use for most elemental charge-up characters, regardless of whether they're focusing on the Strike charges or not. Great AR bonus, two chances to hit in a fairly short amount of time, hard to interrupt PvM, and simple to use. It does mean going Claw/Claw though, and the other finishers have their uses too.

Normal Attack. Fastest release. No AR bonus though.

Talon. Good AR bonus, good option for non-dual wielders. Can be a fast attack cycle if the level is kept low. Knockback can be inconvenient or good depending on how you play. Poor finishing damage unless you wear heavy boots or make more of a hybrid build.

Tail. Area Knockback is great fun most of the time, and it works very well in conjunction with Claws of Thunder or Blades of Ice. Works great with Tiger Strike--enough so that that's it's own build. Poor AR bonus though, slow, and fairly easily interrupted.

Flight. Really fun, but mostly a utility or specialist skill because of the delay, timer, and desynch issues.

So that advice is mostly geared to the elemental charges. If you're thinking you really want to focus on Tiger Strike that changes things a lot... most likely toward a full Dragon Tail build, though that's not the only possibility.

 

[Eldan]

thanks for the info, VERY HELPFUL

ive got one more question, on a different topic. ive been looking at the IAS info at http://e.domaindlx.com/JRichard/D2/aas22/ and though i know it is important i cant make heads or tails out of it... i just get that there is some balance u should have between BoS and ur weapon speed. If anyone could make this clearer i would love it. Plz remember i have no background info.

 

[BIGeyedBUG]

It's a little complicated, and would take more time than I have right now to explain it. Maybe somebody will have the time to do so, but my advice would be to google the indiablo weapon speed calculator and start playing with some numbers.

I think the main thing is to play around with some of the skills and get a general idea of what you'd like to play. Once you figure that out, it's much easier to talk about the specifics of skill points, equipment choices, and attack speed.

To narrow it down a little, the most popular charge-up Assassins are Phoenix Elementalists (several kinds) and Dtailers, followed a long way off by some "pure" Tiger Strikers. There can be a lot of overlap, especially if you're creative, but they tend to be seperate build plans because they have different needs.

edit: I'd almost say that the best thing to do with your first Assassin is to not think about skill plans and the perfect build too much, and just play with the skills and start figuring out the game. There's a lot to enjoy, and a helleva lot of depth to the Assassin skills, and I think a lot of people are better off not sweating the details too much on their first character. That may not suit you specifically, but I think a lot people are better players in the long run for ignoring the guides and advice at first, making some discoveries and mistakes, and drawing their own conclusions.

So you could say that my advice is not to pay any attention to my advice. :scratch: