LLD Assassin Gear

[safetypro]

Hi Folks,
As some of you might know, I am starting work on a project to develop a comprehensive Leveling Gear Guide. I don't have experience working with Assassin builds so I'm hoping a few of you might help me in that area.
I did some research into Normal and Exceptional Assassin Katars and the Arreat Summit states that most of the normal and some of the exceptional katars do not have bonus to skill modifications. Can anyone be more specific?

1. If most normal katars do not have +skill mods, which normal ones do?
2. Which of the exceptional katars can have +skill mods?
3. How many +skills can a normal or exceptional katar have?
4. Can either normal or exceptional katars have more than one +skill (eg...+3 to one skill and +2 to another)?
5. Since only Malice and Strength runewords would be available to use in low level katars, would using +skills katars even be a viable weapon for a low level Assassin?
6. Are there any staple Magic or Rare type claws available at lower levels which would be preferable for a low level Assassin?

Thanks in advance
safetypro

[Aqua]

There's a lot of good lld kicker information here (http://www.lld101.com/viewtopic.php?t=19096), here (http://www.lld101.com/viewtopic.php?p=132998),and here (http://www.lld101.com/viewtopic.php?t=11824). Those should answer most of your questions.

[safetypro]

Aqua, that helps a little. Doesn't answer the above questions though. Thanks anyways.:)
I do appreciate any and all input.

[saracen85]

1. no normal katars can get +skills. lowest type to get +skills is the hand scythe.

2. as mentioned. hand scythe and above ie Hand Scythe, Greater Claws, Greater Talons, Scissors Quhab

3-5. there are more details here.. http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=627351

6. you can check AS to see which affixes that are great/suitable for lld.

[safetypro]

Awesome Saracen,
Why didn't I think to look there? Great guide. Looks like it has all the info on katars I need and then some.

[dainbramage]

LLD gear isn't that useful as far as a leveling guide goes - imo it's overkill. It's also generally designed to capitalize on skills which usually wouldn't have more than a single point put into them. Standard twink gear should work fine up till nightmare, where you might want to branch into some +skills and +str.

If you're interested in soloing nightmare at level 18, it might be more appropriate :p.

[safetypro]

LLD gear isn't that useful as far as a leveling guide goes - imo it's overkill. It's also generally designed to capitalize on skills which usually wouldn't have more than a single point put into them. Standard twink gear should work fine up till nightmare, where you might want to branch into some +skills and +str.

If you're interested in soloing nightmare at level 18, it might be more appropriate :p.

dainbramage, you're right. The LLD title was just to catch people's attention and differentiate between llvl gear and endgame gear. I'm definitely only looking for leveling gear and not anything related to PvP. The subject matter of my thread however could be used interchangeably between both.

[dainbramage]

Fair 'nuff.

[safetypro]

In addition to the above, much of the research that I am doing for my guide has been through the LLD community. They've written so much more good information on low level gear for obvious reasons.
I understand you are the resident guru on Assassin builds and I admittedly don't know much about that class. If you could share any information on low level gear set ups for different Sin builds, it would be most appreciated.:)

[Veneteaou]

Dain isn't the resident guru on Assassins... (looks around)... Okay maybe he is...

Anywho, I want to snip a sentance or two I wrote some time ago about leveling in general:

"Act 1: The first thing you want is a mercenary, preferably a Cold Arrow one. Get it a bow with chipped or flawed gems in it and you are in business through to the Barracks. At this time, you should have a couple skills at your disposal that do very little to move you quickly. However, you should be able to get yourself a weapon that can whack your way through to Andy.

The answer to all the bosses in Normal difficulty is patience. No matter how weak you are, all you need to do is deal some damage before retreating to town and you will be making progress. In Andys case, chug the Antidote pots, get the hardest-hitting weapon you can, and go to town (a lot, in a run-away fashion). This fight, even with a Sorceress, shouldnt take more than 10 trips to town.

Act 2: Immediately trade your merc for one with the Prayer aura. Immediately replace all of his gear with this:

- Best armor you have found on your way here
- The best helmet you can shop or find
- A Savage craft polearm : Diamond (any quality) + 1 Staff (any type and quality) + 1 Kris (any quality) + 1 Belt (any type and quality)

If you can, get a socket and a skull in that polearm. If not, take it slow and rely on Prayer to heal between fights. This merc will walk you through Act 2 (and level 20-25). There are not many builds that still have no useful skills, but should you like the challenge of not using any there are plenty of ways you can support your merc in the killing: treat every skill like a 1-point-wonder.

Now for some builds Durry is the single hardest boss fight, so be prepared with a lot of TP scrolls and THAW potions (he does deal cold damage after all). Farm your merc a decent armor/helm combo, then make yourself a Malice runeword. The end result will be an easier fight than you would suspect.

Act 3: Here is your first real option: depending on the gear you have for your Act 2 merc, you may not want to replace him. It is perfectly possible to equip him in Act 2 with gear good enough to get to Act 5 with. If however you have sucky gear on him, replace him with a Cold or Lightning Act 3 merc. He can basically be gearless and still take you to the Trav council. Once there, lure the council members one at a time, and kill them to finish the flail.

At this point, you should stop questing and start farming the council using the flail of awesomeness to get set/rare/Unique gear for an Act 2 merc. He will need to get you through to Act 5 with this gear, so make it good. A good side benefit is that you can, if very patient, hit level 30 in these runs. I have really never had to stay here that long, but it is entirely dependant on how little you can do to support this merc.

Now, I will pause here to mention one small item that easily drops from Duriel and the council that will help you immensely should you come across it: Cleglaws Pincers. With these gloves and some cold damage you can easily stomp on Mephisto and even Diablo if you feel lucky. Not that you should sit farming until they do drop, but they are well worth waiting a bit for. Without them you can still pot/Malice/TP your way through Meph and get into Act 4.

Act 4: Ride that Act 2 merc as best you can. If you lack the necessary skill to work your way though the CS without losing your merc a million times, you will need to hit 30 and start using your main skill to progress here. Diablo will be a test of the patience you have learned, as you may have to TP back to town upwards of 40 times before he dies. Malice again is your friend.

Act 5: With a decent Prayer merc, you can ride the barb NPC fighters to the first WP, even if you have to skip past Shenk. Run Eldritch (the boss just above the WP) until you are able to beat Shenk, at which point you should run them both until level 30+. From there, complete quest 2 and choose between your pimped out Act 2 merc and a barb merc. If you have found an awesome sword, the choice is easy; if you have a great polearm the choice is still easy. Take your time, and beat the ancients soundly with your skill.

From there, it is all a matter of running the minions until you are of the level to advance into NM and do the work yourself."

Taken from http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1318430&p=1&#post1318430

The moral of that story is that leveling gear is mostly unnecessary.

[safetypro]

Veneteaou, Thank you very much.
There are some really good tips in there. I especially like the savage polearm craft recipe. It's a recipe that's often overlooked for the Horadric Cube.

[dainbramage]

I'd just like to throw in that Duriel is ezpekay. Give your merc a few thaws, 2-3 healing pots + savage polearm and duriel is dead from your merc alone, may need some more pots depending on your level/stats on your polearm.


@ven: Considering that ilkori or happyassassin don't post here... At any rate, I do know most lld stuff.