The Trap Assassin, previously regarded as underpowered and basically laughed at, is now becoming one of the more dominant builds in PvP. This Assassin is built with one thing in mind, stun: to make your opponent immobile, while slowly chipping away at their life. You will be using mainly Traps to deal damage, and these seemingly harmless attacks become very powerful when combined with another skill: Mind Blast. This skill creates a stunning effect on your opponent; they will actually reel back whenever they are struck, and will momentarily be unable to move. This gives you the opportunity to lay traps and slowly work down their life. Also, your Shadow Master, the most powerful Minion in the game, can hit for tremendous damage while your opponent has trouble moving. For more basic information about the Assassin class in general, and other need to know facts, go here.
Glossary of Terms: Im just putting down a few terms, which some people may not know.
Desynch When the rate at which Diablo refreshes the on-screen activity falls behind the actual activity; it causes a loss of synchronization. Usually happens with mass amounts of run/walk and very graphical intensive situations. Makes people appear to teleport.
Stun Lock When you hit someone with a Mind Blast, and then proceed to lay several traps around them. This puts them in a sort of lock which makes it hard for them to move.
Mouse Lock When you target someone who comes on your screen, then you hold down right mouse button and can switch between your skill keys, still being able to hit them. They can move off screen, up to about 2 screens away, and you can still have lock on them. This is great for Mind Blast and Dragon Flight. People who get good at this are what separate good trap sins from average ones.
RMB Right Mouse Button, that button on the right side of your mouse
yeah.
Sin: AssasSIN
Without further ado, lets check out the build.
Gear
Gear, charms, & stats
Hat - Shako with JAH Rune. As far as caster classes go, there isnt a better all around hat to use than the Shako, +2 skill, +2 stats, and +life/mana per slvl, also has 10% DR to aid in achieving max Damage Reduce, which is 75%. JAH isnt exactly cheap, so another thing to socket would be a Perfect Ruby which adds 38 life, or a Perfect Skull which adds +5 Life Regeneration and 19% Mana Regeneration, both very good mods.
Amulet - +3 Traps amulet of the Whale (81-100 life). There are few others amulets you could use. Some say cats eye, the 30% r/w and 25 dexterity add up to 75 life which is good, but I prefer the traps amulet. Another good one is +2 Sin amulet with life.
Weapon - Wizardspike with IO Rune. All around best caster weapon, you need the mana big time, as mana is low, and IO is +10 Vitality, so thats another 30 life. Another thing you could socket in it would be a rare jewel with stats/resists, but those are hard to come by.
Armor - Shaftstop with JAH Rune. Shaftstop is a great armor for this build, as it adds 30% DR getting us up to 40% total, and adding 60 life. I went with the JAH rune again for the 5% Increased life, which adds a generous amount of life.
Shield - Stormshield with -15% requirements and +9-15 All Resists jewel. This is a very good jewel, with 15% Requirements, it drops the strength requirement to 133, saving 23 points spent in strength, which can now go to vitality, adding 69 life. The resistances are nice as well on both the shield and jewel. Stormshield also adds 35% DR, which now puts us up to 75% exactly, which is the cap.
Gloves - Magefist. Mana Regeneration, +1 Fire Skills for 1 more level of Wake of Fire [WoF], and 20% Cast, all around good gloves. Another idea to try is Frostburn gauntlets for more mana, but I feel then Mind Blast would be too slow, 12 frames as opposed to 11.
Rings - 2 Stones of Jordan, best caster ring in the game, +1 All Skills and +25% Increased maximum mana.
Belt - Trang-Oul's Belt. +66 life, 25-50 mana, and the all-important Cannot be frozen mod, which is very important so you dont turn blue and slow down.
Boots - Waterwalks. Very good caster boots; up to a possible +65 life and 15 dexterity, these boots can add 110 life.
Charms - 10xTrap with life, 10x20 life small charms, preferably some with mana.
Weapon Switch - 2x+3 Shadow Disciplines Claws for casting Burst of Speed and Shadow Master with, same concept as Battle Order weapons.
Gear in stash: I have a Thundergod's Vigor and a Ravenfrost in my stash for dueling sorceresses, also have 2 Trap Charms with 12% FHR, so if I need to drop a frame in recovery, I can. And last but not least a Maras Kaleidoscope, which I toss on when Im dueling other trap sins.
Statistics
Stats with gear on can be seen in the picture above, but if anyone wants to know base stats they are as follows. Also when building your Assassin keep this in mind, enough strength for Stormshield AFTER all your gear is on, enough dexterity for 75% Block (Put your mouse over defense to find out) with Stormshield, and the rest into Vitality.
Base stats at level 95.
Attribute Stat
Strength 131
Dexterity 196
Vitality 218
Energy 25
Skills
As with any build, skills are quite important in dueling. With this one, we will be maxing 2 Traps, Mind Blast, and Shadow Master for our minion.
Dragon Flight I recommend putting one point in this early on, as you will use it for chasing necromancers, amazons, and anything else that runs from you. After you max the 4 main skills, I suggest putting the rest of your points here, it would add some AR and Damage which is good for hitting sorceresses and amazons.
Shadow Master One of the most powerful minions in the game, also good for taking those Thunderstorm and FoH hits for you, definitely max this, she also hits pretty hard. =]
Mind Blast Some debate as whether to max this or not, but Im still convinced it should be. This is what triggers the stun, whenever you hit your opponent with this you will notice the swirlie thingie above their heads. When anything hits them (trap, your shadow, etc.) they will go into recover, temporarily rendering them immovable.
Wake of Fire While not doing like much damage wise, with 5 of these going shooting 5 waves each, the damage can stack up quickly. And, since its fire based, many opponents resists will not be maxed. Use this in conjunction with Mind Blast.
Lightning Sentry Your other source of damage, place these on the ground for a more long ranged attack, hit them with a Mind Blast when they come on screen, and slowly wear them down. I usually use these as a starter trap, especially against amazons. Place a few near them, theyll shoot, move in, hit your target with a MB, lay more traps, and work on getting them stunned.
For a more detailed look at skill placement look at the following pictures:
Traps:
Martial Arts:
Shadow Diciplines:
Thats the basic run down of how to put together a trap sin; there isnt a lot of variance in gear as everything serves a purpose.
Class Tactics
In this next section I will break down how to duel in general, and each class with a few builds mixed in.
Amazon
Amazons, the most infamous and overpowered class in Diablo, but thankfully with a good build and skills, you can take these ladies down.
Javazon Advantage: You. The 1, maybe 2 - 100% Javazons that you may duel arent exactly very fair duels, for them. With amazons having no way out of stun lock with the exception of desynch, it is heavily favored to you. Just lay down a few traps and move around them while hitting them with a few Mind Blasts. Stay out of reach of their jab, and dodge Lighting Furies that they shoot at you. Slowly wear them down and you should win.
Hybrid Advantage: Them. A good hybrid will basically be a bowazon, as in java form they have little chance, so follow the section below.
Amazon hiding behind a shield, or Bowazon Advantage: Them. The dreaded bowazon: every class worst nightmare. Fortunately, trap sins have a better chance against them then most other classes do. The trap sins advantage is the ability to stop amazons from leeching. Yes, we can stop them from shooting, cutting their lifeline, all thanks to stun lock. Charge right at the amazon, zigzagging where you can to dodge some arrows. As soon as you see her, Dragon Flight in and lay some LS traps, this should cause the amazon to run. Hit her with a few Mind Blasts, then WITHOUT letting go of rmb, hit your flight key. You should teleport to the amazon, as soon as you are next to her, lay more LS and hit with more mb. The only time you should be letting go of rmb is to regain mouse lock after flight. Youll see what I mean after you duel some amazons, you lose mouse lock after flight, so you have to get it again. Thats basically it, just stay all over the amazon, never giving her a chance to attack, and you should win. Another thing is, try to get her to run into some WoF, this is hard to do as against fast amazons I dont even use WoF, but once in a while you can lay a trap and WoF will hit. This literally roasts amazons right on the spot.
Assassin
Sins, a very versatile class that can handle any situation, and also fun to duel.
Pure Martial Sin Level 1 Traps - Advantage: You. Overall, these are heavily stacked in your favor, as most people dont know how to tweak for trap sins. I usually switch to walk, insuring my block is 75%. Lay down some LS and WoF, hit them with a MB, and keep them stun locked. Be wary though, a good martial can take you down, with 85 lightning resistance, 80 fire resistance, dwarf+tgods, it takes a lot of traps to wear them down. And they can stun lock you, as any good martial sin will have level 1 traps. So if you get stun locked, run, as they will be Flighting in to claw you to ribbons.
Hybrid Sin 1 Maxed Trap Advantage: You. Same as dueling a martial sin except you have to be careful, they have traps too and you can be stun locked easier then against a martial sin, and it hurts more. So just run when you get stun locked, stay on them, and watch for claws.
Trap Sin 2 Maxed Traps Advantage: None. A very fun duel, stun wars as theyre called. Basically, max your lightining and fire resistances, and I usually agree with the other trap sin before hand as to wear no absorb, as it makes the duel too long. So, basically I usually put LS at the edge of screen and let them keep my opponent moving. Keep placing them and work your way closer, once you have them on your screen, toss a few WoF next to them and hit MB. Hammer down on LS+WoF+MB and slowly work them dead. If you get stun locked, RUN, do not Flight towards them and do not try to cast anything, just run. You should be able to get out and get out of mouse lock range, then proceed to lay more LS at the edge of the screen and WoF lock when they come on screen. This is a fun duel, and whoever stuns the longest, wins.
Necromancer
A quick caster who likes to shoot (often) invisible, irresistible, and unblockable little balls of homing magic damage.
Artillery Necromancers (from solt) Advantage: Them. Your standard necro, Bone Spirit and sometimes Poison Nova. Treat them as an amazon, and use the same tactics. Stay on them with LS+MB, Dragon Flight in to stay close. Good thing is with necromancers, you can sometimes get them in WoF lock and wear them down this way. Always keep them on screen as to avoid Invisible Bone Spirits.
Barbarian
Close ranged dominator, Barbarians can take a lot, and can give even more.
WW Barb Advantage: You. The standard Barbarian, lots of r/w, life, and WW. First, I hit my run/walk key so Im walking, to insure 75% block from those great desynch WWs. I usually try to use only LS vs barbs as WoF tends to desynch a lot. So, put 5 LS on the ground, and hammer down MB on their head. Stay moving and dodge WW when you can. Its going to take a lot of patience as barbs can take a beating, but you should be able to whittle away their health and claim victory.
Hybrid Barb ½ Throw, ½ WW - Advantage: You. These you have to treat a little differently, again switch to walk for blocking purposes. And stay on them with traps, thing is, while in lock, they can still use Double Throw, so stay moving and avoid harpoons, which tend to sting a lot. Use LS more than WoF for its range and less desynch, and slowly work them down.
Throw Barb All Throw Advantage: You. Again, treat these like dueling an amazon. Stay on them with LS+MB and DODGE a lot. Harpoons hurt, big time, so dont be afraid to back off in youre getting hit. Play give and take with the throw barb, if you chase them too much you can take unnecessary hits from harps. So back off, let them come to you, and then proceed to stun lock them.
Paladin
With plenty of variations in build these can be quite versatile fighters as well, but usually more in a support role.
Advantage: You.
All the different builds are basically treated the same, if theyre melee, keep them stunned and out of reach. If theyre magical, chase them and lock them. Things to watch out for are Smite, if a smiter gets close he can hit you while stunned, and even put you in a smite lock. Also, charge will get them out of stun, so be careful of that.
Sorceress
Magical ice throwing she-hulks, one of every classs hardest duels.
Frozen Orb/Thunderstorm Sorceress Advantage: Them - Standard build, used by about 99% of sorceresses on both realms.
Gear I swap out: Trangs belt goes, I put a Thundergod's Vigor on, and a Ravenfrost in place of a Stone. Also, your lightning resist may not be 85%, get it there through charms/maras, etc.
Overall this is one of the hardest duels as a trap sin. My recommendation is to put 5 WoFs down in a half-circle underneath you. The sorceress will do fly-bys trying to orb you, be ready to dodge. You have to keep moving, and when she comes on screen, hit her with mb, then use mouse lock to place traps near her. Its basically trial and error until you get her stun locked. One thing about these duels is, theyre all or nothing. Either you lock her and win, or she orbs you to death. There isnt a lot of middle ground, so just f.y.i.
Druid
Advantage: Who doesnt have an advantage over druids? lol, poor druids. Just lock and keep them away from you. They have no real way out of stun lock except desynch.
Well that about wraps things up, hopefully it helped to bring about a new type of build in dueling.
Thanks
Thanks: I basically made this build what it is today, there were a few trap sins before me, but none of them took it very seriously and tweaked it out. Thanks to Nicqui who spent lots of time helping me get gear/charms and her Javazon basically leveled my first trap sin to 98, and my second to 95. So gg to her. =] Thanks to everyone out in the legit dueling community for keeping it competitive and tweaking against me to have the duels more interesting.
Few things to be aware of, Tgods+Guardian Angel will make your LS heal, as will the Rising Newbie (Sun) amulet, which is about the most overpowered absorb in the game. So if people have to resort to either of these, this tells you a lot about them. I have no problem using a Lower Resist wand against them, none at all. So again, just f.y.i. Its not too much of a problem, most people understand how overpowered it is and wont use it. But you occasionally run into a few people who cant handle an honest loss (hi gp) and will do anything even to the point of cheating to win. So again, just be aware.
I prolly wont be on bnet for a while, so if you have any questions or anything else.
gunderwood@email.com and Ill get to as many as I can, I wont have internet for a while so if I dont reply right away, thats why. Yall take care, duels were fun.
-Max