New to MA Assassin, please help:

[deathbyfish]

New to MA Assassin, please help:

I've made a few trappers in the past, as I have always overlooked Martial Arts as just a weak and pathetic skill tree. But I have done some experimenting, making an assassin using only the MA tree, and I've found that not only is it a strong tree, it is also a very fun build to play with. Now that was without using any skills like Burst of Speed, Fade, Cloak of Shadows, Shadow Master, etc.

But now that I know how good they are, I wanted to make one properly. This is where I need help:

This will be mainly a PvM assassin. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

-Is the best combo for PvM Tiger Strike / Dragon Tail?

-Burst of Speed / Weapon Block / Claw Mastery / Shadow Master: How should I distribute my points amongst these 4 skills? Like what should I max, and if not max, how many points?

-How should I distribute my stat points? I plan on using dual claws, so I won't be using dex for block.

Assume for this that I have the best possible items.

 

[deathbyfish]

Edit that guys, I'm going to be using a shield and getting enough dex for max block, so cancel out weapon block. Still, how should I distribute my stat points? Should I just get enough str for gear, or keep putting points in it?

 

[basketball]

Edit that guys, I'm going to be using a shield and getting enough dex for max block, so cancel out weapon block. Still, how should I distribute my stat points? Should I just get enough str for gear, or keep putting points in it?

first, im happy u picked this build. its so fun and u dont know how much .
ok now for a small guide:
str:about 200 b4 +str items. it will pump ur kick dmg.
dex:min for Max block and best claw (118 dex, with +dex items)
vit: all the rest. pump it. itll help u 2 survive.
ene: NOTHIN AT ALL.

skills:
MA tree:
TS - 20
Dtail - 20
PS - 20
CoT/BoI - 20 (choose one. CoT for the Huge DMG or BoI for the crowd control and freezin duration.
pre - 4 +1 in Cobra strike for mana and life rep.

SD tree:
its really ur choice here.
i aint usin Venom cause i dont need it. u gettin huge dmg from CoT and TS.
claw mastery-1
weapon bloack-1
psychic hammer-1
Clock of shadows-1 (Gr8 Skill. one of the best skills in game, use it alot).
shadow warrior-1
shadow master- 7 or 8. depends on u.
now the hard part:
BoS and Fade.
if u usin a shiled use only BoS cause i guess ull have high res from the shiled.
put like 5 in it and the rest in COS.
if u aint usin a shiled, fade will help u alot in many situations.
remember u cant use both fade and BOS at the same time.

if u have more questions ask
and have fun playin SIN.

 

[phool]

I've got a couple of points, having read Basketball's post. About the the SM lvl; I'm sure that the critical levels are 8 and 17, at which point they start using exceptional and elite equipment. Personally my MA sin maxed SM and a lvl 28 (prebuffed with a +2assa, +3SM claw and treachery) makes an excellent tank - which you'll need a lot. If you're killing enemies quickly, a high lvl of CoS slows you down. Lvling it is good for the near-ITD - though, as CoS doesn't work on act bosses either you're better of getting -def% elsewher - but bad because of the increased duration. I prefer PS to CoI personally, if u need more crowd control than your shadow provide, and its more versatile. If u end up with the points to spare, synergising PS with with CoT causes it to rapidly become a lot better for lightning damag - a lvl 25 PS with lvl 10 CoT synergy does 2-2500, while a lvl 25 CoT with lvl 10 PS synergy does about 1-2000 (1200 nova). Just a thought, and good luck with a fun build :thumbsup:

 

[phlegmatic]

There is also the option to go with a phoenix-striker, my favoritebuild of D2 because it is so viable. It is very rare that monsters come with fire, lightning, poison and physical resistance, if I put it that way.

Until you get the Natalya-set things will be a bit rough though, but once you have it, along with a few MA-skillers that are quite cheap to come by, this build will be rock solid! Since 1.10 I have had 3 Phoenix-strikers and I am to make a new one.

There should be a guide to the Phoenix-striker/Nat-sin in the sticky at the top.

I do not know if TS/DTail is better for PvM than the Nat-sin - I have never played with a TS/DTail-build myself - but I do know that the Nat-sin can hold her own, in act5 hell too. Both builds are quite item-dependent.

With my sins[] I went for CoT, FoF and PS and on the first build I decided to put points in venom as I leveled up. I am not sure I would do that again, but hey, you will be hitting a lot with the claws so it is nice to add some poison-damage, as a bonus sort of thing. But the skillpoints could maybe be better used elsewhere, I'm not sure.

The thing with the Shadow Master/Warrior is that she is nice to have around but I wouldn't invest many points in her, a merch with good gear makes her kind of obsolete. She kills too slow for my taste but she is spamming MB for me, that I can take.