How do I build a novice kicker?

[LieutenantDoom]

How do I build a novice kicker?

What are the recommended STR, DEX, VIT, and ENGY of a level 99 Kicksin?

Also should I max out dragon talon (5 kicks) and tiger strike? Which should I use, shadow warrior or shadow mastery?

If I charged up tiger strike, and used maxed out dragon talon, each kick is a separate tiger-strike releasing right? So a level 20 dragon talon is like casting fully charged tiger strike 5 times on a monster?

When I dragon flight someone, do I have a small period of desync or lag?

 

[ilkori]

1) Str/Dex/Vit are the same on almost every build - you want enough str/dex for equipment/blocking and then everything else goes to vita. I don't know why they even have energy as a stat, to be honest. On a kicker that ends up somewhere around 150-200 str, and similar dex depending on the shield.

2) I like to max Talon. Tiger Strike does not work well with Talon, so don't bother.

3) Warrior/Master is mostly a matter of preference. Master is better for beginners, or people who don't like hassles. Personally, I love the Master.

4) No. If you hit with the first kick, it will be the only time Tiger is released. If you miss with the first kick, there is a possibility of Tiger releasing on each of your other kicks. With the huge AR bonus, this doesn't work out to your advantage very often.

5) No desynch/lag that I can tell. DF is a bit buggy though, and can be interrupted. Only try teleporting to a monster/player within about 2/3 of a screen from you. Also, the speed is fixed; no ias or fcr will change it.

 

[LieutenantDoom]

Heres my demonstration builds:

PvM

Dragon Talon 20
Phoenix Strike 20 (for hell mode)
Dragon Flight 20
Cloak of Shadows 20
Shadow Master - Remaining Points

PvP

Dragon Talon 20 (4+ kicks, and chance for knockback)
Dragon Flight 20 (for instant kills against low def opponents)
Mind Blast 20 (For stunning fast runners)
Fade 20 (Lower high resist chars)
Phoenix Strike - Remaining Points. (For fighting hells)

PvP 2

Dragon Talon 20
Dragon Flight 20
Mind Blast 20
Fade 20
Shadow Master -Remaining Points

Which of these three builds would you approve?

Statistics allocation.

150 Strength
150 Dex
Somewhere below 195 Vit (I spent a few points in energy to use dragon talon consistently)
Remaining stats in energy.

Calculated hitpoints

At max, about 843 hitpoints untwinked.

 

[LieutenantDoom]

I took a look at the guide, and I have a question.

How do I properly use venom?

Do I assign F1 as Dragon Talon (right click), F2 as Dragon Flight (right click), and F3 as Venom(left click)?

So to properly engage a enemy.

F2
Right click
F3
Left Click
F1
Right click, repeatedly?

I never played dual-button skills ever since I was toggling auras with my paladin.

 

[Frenzy]

I just keep my Dragon Talon as left mouse button, no hotkey. Right mouse button - F1 Shadow master, F2 Venom, F3 BoS, F4 Fade, F5 Cloak, etc.. F1 cast, F2 cast, F3 cast every couple of minutes.

 

[ilkori]

Phoenix Strike does very little in Hell, unless you have maxed at least one synergy, and have a number of +skills. It's not worth the points you spend, honestly.

Venom is like a personal aura. You cast BoS and Venom (alternately Fade and Venom), then go into the fight.

Cloak of Shadows is not a skill you want to max for PvM (unless you kill really really slowly). It works effectively at 1 point - the main advantage of the skill is blinding everything on the screen.

 

[amphrosyne]

Heres my demonstration builds:

PvP

Dragon Talon 20 (4+ kicks, and chance for knockback)
Dragon Flight 20 (for instant kills against low def opponents)
Mind Blast 20 (For stunning fast runners)
Fade 20 (Lower high resist chars)
Phoenix Strike - Remaining Points. (For fighting hells)

PvP 2

Dragon Talon 20
Dragon Flight 20
Mind Blast 20
Fade 20
Shadow Master -Remaining Points

Which of these three builds would you approve?

Statistics allocation.

150 Strength
150 Dex
Somewhere below 195 Vit (I spent a few points in energy to use dragon talon consistently)
Remaining stats in energy.

Calculated hitpoints

At max, about 843 hitpoints untwinked.

i dont care about pvm so i cant answer that part. but for pvp i know that 843 hit points is crap and 195 vit is pathetically low. putting any points into energy is ludicrous. dragon flight is buggy and will only catch ppl off guard so 1 pt should be enough. and mindblast doesnt stun IIRC just knockback but the damage is juicy. NEVER use phoenix strike or any other strike in pvp. though i havnt experienced this personally, speedlander stated in his guide that 4+ kicks are buggy so i woudlnt recommend maxing talon maybe just 17-18 or w/e he said.

 

[LieutenantDoom]

Is the venom skill a cast once, use for specified duration kind of skill, or does level 1 venom really do 39200 damage on over 196 seconds?

 

[phool]

Venom is a skill similar to BoS and fade; this is what the 196 seconds is probably referring to, the duration for which venom is active on you before being needed to be recast. You don't attack with venom (you could therefore not assign venom to left click, even if you wanted to), it simply adds poison damage to your attacks. The damage stated is applied over 0.4 seconds.

 

[DevilsWrath]

Heres my demonstration builds:

PvM

Dragon Talon 20
Phoenix Strike 20 (for hell mode)
Dragon Flight 20
Cloak of Shadows 20
Shadow Master - Remaining Points

PvP

Dragon Talon 20 (4+ kicks, and chance for knockback)
Dragon Flight 20 (for instant kills against low def opponents)
Mind Blast 20 (For stunning fast runners)
Fade 20 (Lower high resist chars)
Phoenix Strike - Remaining Points. (For fighting hells)

PvP 2

Dragon Talon 20
Dragon Flight 20
Mind Blast 20
Fade 20
Shadow Master -Remaining Points

Which of these three builds would you approve?

Statistics allocation.

150 Strength
150 Dex
Somewhere below 195 Vit (I spent a few points in energy to use dragon talon consistently)
Remaining stats in energy.

Calculated hitpoints

At max, about 843 hitpoints untwinked.

I hope youre not planning on going pvp with any of those builds like you stated. You have absolutely no venom in either of those builds, you're gonna get beaten bad in pvm with no venom. Most of the kick dmg is venom imo...

 

[LieutenantDoom]

Can venom be transmitted via kicks?

Or do I have to use dual claw builds, with high attack ratings and dexerity, in order to draw blood to poison them?

 

[amphrosyne]

venom is transferred through kicks

 

[BowMama]

Does dexterity effect kick damage at all?

 

[Mahric]

Dexterity does increase kick damage, but not nearly as much as strength does. Exact figures will depend on your boots (and possibly other factors), but on my assassin ...

+10 dexterity increases max damage by 9
+10 strength increases max damage by 27