my sin

[niebliss]

my sin

1 DS
1 Blade sheild
20 FoF
20 phoenix
20 SM
20 CM

Rest in prereqs and fade/BoS.

Idea: Turn on Blade sheild w/ KB/slow/CB/amp. Build fire damage with pheonix and use DS to lubricate the killing cycle.

Might merc? Maybe barb w/ static armor and gaze. I was thinking blessed aim merc may work out too with a fast, KB, CB stick.

I would also have blade fury for more CtC fun!

The direction my gear would go would be % to cast and firedamage. I want CB, KB, cold/slow, maybe with OW and some others as I have the oppertunity. I also will be figuring out slots for facets and shizzle - that being my main damage medium. I'll probably have a wand with LR on switch.

 

[niebliss]

I am also debating on FoF or CoT.

Claws of thunder:

Although it takes an extra hit with PS it is very fast.
Has a larger but more irregular damage distribution process.
stronger on casters because it will jump at them (accross the screen) and wipe them out and the same time as melee.
I don't have to worry about microing the monsters into coming close and staying in confined burning patches.

Fists of Fire:
Slower but heftier damage dealing.
Probably stronger on bossses.
Leaves burning areas that I can lead monsters into and work with.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Also... and I think this is very interesting...

Lots of players these day go with a 7x15 archetype when it comes to their skills. That means instead of putting 20 points into 4 skills they put 15 into 7.

I was thinking of maybe lowering or scrapping CM and adding points into CoS, Venom, or fade. What do you guys think?

 

[Naliworld]

Actually, most of the time, CoT does much more damage than FoF point-for-point(the exception being single enemies and bosses, like you said). For practical purposes I would go with CoT; though it's weaker on bosses it's much more flexible. You also always have Pheonix's Meteor charge on bosses, though unsynergized it's a little weak(though once you max CoT and have a few spare points you could dump them in FoF). Here's a messy comparison:

<all below damage numbers are averages>
Slvl 20 CoT (synergized with 20 PS)
Per 3 charge release, 962 Charged Bolt damage x 8 (16 are released, let's assume half hit) + 618 Nova damage + 1014 Lightning damage
Total damage per release = 9324

Slvl 20 FoF (synergized with 20 PS)
Per 3 charge release, 717 impact damage + 648 residual flame damage/sec
Total damage per release = 1365

As you can gather it'll take an extremely long time for the stacking of residual flames to come close to CoT's damage. Not to say FoF isn't viable, simply that if you want pure efficiency, CoT's the way to go.

You also should be aware that BShield does not trigger off CB/OW/KnockBack/CtC on striking(eg. Amp Damage), though Deadly Strike works, IIRC. All the above mods work fine with BF. Though, a word of caution, knockback is the last mod you want to get on a chargeup Assassin, trust me on this. It will really mess up your chargeup rhythm as you constantly have to walk a few steps forward every time you charge an orb. Doubly so with FoF, since you'll be knocking critters out of the flame patches.

CoS/Fade(or BoS) are mainstays for every Assassin, but with the notable exception of Fade, CoS and BoS are usually kept at 1, no more than 5-7 points, due to diminishing returns on BoS and practical problems on CoS(do a search on this, you'll get lots of hits). However, you probably won't be using Fade as you'll need a fair bit of IAS to hit the 5 frame break. Venom is a decent point dump, but it's supplementary damage at best in PvM, so it's a better idea to make sure your CoT/PS/FoF is up to scratch first(i.e. maxed). I'm not so sure about the 15 x 7 rule for Assassins, as the Shadow Disciplines skills don't really synergize each other, between CoT/FoF, PS, DS you should have enough attacks to choose from.

 

[BatTheMan]

I found Meteorsin to be very viable and also super fun. Takes a little while to get used to release the first charge of pheonix strike very fast, get fastest frame speed with that. It's so nice to see 4 meteors land one after the other in like 1.5-2 seconds. Max PS and FoF. +to Ma is key here. if you can try getting level 30 or plus. x2 tucs and some charms with some items. It takes care of boss easy. Charge 3 PS and freeze them
then Boom Boom Boom Meteor it's done.

A technique to release fast meteor is put F2 on Pheonix Strike and F1 on Arrow and hold down your mouse button and switch between F2 and F1 gets frustrating at first, but once you get it. It's nice.

go 20 CoT 20 Ps 20 FoF. Claw Mastery isn't critical, because PS gives a nice boost to AR and you kill with your spell not your claw. If you find any ar problem
use Demon Limb's enchant.

Hope this helps.