Anubis
10-18-2008, 01:33 AM
Anubis' Trapsin Guide v2
Table of Contents
I- Introduction
II- Changes
III- Frequently Asked Questions
IV- Skills
V- Stats
VI- Gear
VII- Various Strategies
VIII- Conclusion
I- Introduction
This is a guide to help you, the Diablo gamer, make a good, maybe godly, Traps Assassin, commonly known as the trapsin.
II- Changes
I haven’t made very many changes to the build itself, other than gear upgrades. My main changes were idealistic. I’ve been spending a lot of time dueling with this build, and have rebuilt once or twice since this was written. I have dropped the BM ideas about Mind Blast, the way people play their chars these days mb is essential. Also, I have found the significance of FCR. I am still 5% short of the 65% breakpoint, but the FCR is needed for mb lock. When I find my ideal ammy I will be better off.
III-FAQ
What is a Trapsin?
A Trapsin is an assassin trained mostly in the arts of the Traps skill tree.
She sets her traps and lets her merc/master distract/tank the enemies.
How expensive are they?
Honestly the Trapsin is cheaper than most other builds.
Most of her gear is magical and can be bought from Anya in act V.
Is a Trapsin good at PvP and PvM?
Although most people believe Trapsins are cheap duelers, I think
they can be viable duelers. Nothing is better at town gaurding than a
Trapsin. (Of course town guarding is BM and would only be used
against other BMers. Right?) With the right playing style and the
right merc you will be able to solo hell.
Does Faster Cast Rate affect traps?
NO! Increased attack speed affects traps. the game reads them as "minions" not "spells."
Direct quote from Arreat Summit, "Faster Cast Rate- Cast Rate items will reduce the time it takes to cast spells. Cast Rate items stack so the more you put on, the faster you can cast spells. While you may not want to sacrifice to wear an item with Faster Cast Rate, it certainly helps to have it on any items you wear. Faster Cast Rate Items will not improve casting speed of Assassin Traps. Faster Cast Items will not help skills with Casting Delays."
Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/casterequipment.shtml)
Do facets or Griff's work with traps?
NO! to go along with the whole minion idea, Direct quote from Arreat summit-"Certain items will allow a player to lower an enemy's resistances and/or heighten elemental damage. These items will not function with most traps as some traps are minions of the character and the damage is not generated directly from the character in question." the "some traps" refers to all traps except Fire Blast and Shock Web.
Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/assassin-traps.shtml)
How much IAS do I need to hit the highest breakpoint?
Use this IAS calculator (http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english) to judge how much IAS you will need. The IAS is all dependent on what claws you use. Use this calculator to determine what level BoS to have and/or if you should get IAS jewels.
What breakpoints should I aim for?
This guide is not made for FCR. But should you choose to aim for FCR here is the FCR breakpoints:
Assassin
FCR Frames
0% 16
8% 15
16% 14
27% 13
42% 12
65% 11
102% 10
174% 9
remember: fcr only affects Mindblast and teleport. But, with the right ammy and helm the 65% is easy to get, I am personally 5% short of the bp.
The faster hit recovery (FHR) breakpoints are as follows:
Assassin
FHR Frames
0% 9
7% 8
15% 7
27% 6
48% 5
86% 4
200% 3
86% is usually what people aim for, but 48% is feasable. without trex you wont have any FHR with this build.
IV- Skills-
In order by tree, all skills are based on my level 90 trapsin on U.S. East Non-Ladder (used to be ladder)
Trap Tree
Fire Blast- 1, Prerequisite
Shock Web- 20, Synergy
Charged Bolt Sentry- 20, Synergy
Lightning Sentry- 20, Main Trap- max legit damage available is somewhere near 15k, mine does 12k easily
Death Sentry- 20, Synergy, Mob destroyer
All Others- none
Shadow Discipline Tree
Claw mastery- 1, Prerequisite
Claw Block- 3, I have level 18 with 3 skills points in and I have 56% chance to block physical and elemental attacks, some people think it's a one point wonder, but I like to have a little over 50% chance. You feel free to only put one point here. I have used hero editor to make a sin with 60% claw block, and I think this would work, but I don’t feel like remaking my online sin to test it.
Burst of Speed**- 1, this is a good skill because IAS affects trap casting speed, not FCR, but fade is the main buff of this build.
Fade- 1-10, I have 3 so far and it is level 18 without bo's. It adds 63% all res, 18% physical res, and curse length reduced by 80%. I suggest adding points into either this or Mind Blast when all others are done
Shadow Warrior- 1, prerequisite
Shadow Master- 1, one point wonder, it's practically a second assassin
Psychic Hammer- 1, prerequisite
Cloak of Shadows- 1 prerequisite
Mind Blast- 1, one point wonder used in duels, I'll explain later
when you run out of places to put your skills, I suggest fade, shadow master/warrior (whichever you chose) and claw block as good places for them.
V- Stats
Same as all other builds
Strength- enough to wear gear, don't forget annihilus and torch benefits
Dexterity- enough for claws, don't go for max block, there is no shield (DUH!)
Vitality- all points
Energy- none
VI- Gear- A- what I wear, B- best possible gear, C- second best alternative
Helm
A-2 sin/ 20% FCR circlet with Um rune in it.
B- rare +2 all skills/reses/str/2os with 15ias/15 all res jewels** or um/shael runes
C-magical +3 traps/100 life with 2 15 ias/ 15 all res jewels- best of both worlds, skills, life, ias AND reses
Gloves
A- Magefists- for mana and FCR
B- depends, need more mana? Go for Frostburns, want fcr? Go for Magefists or Trang’s
C-Magefists- decent mana regeneration, some caste rate to help you teleport, if you feel the need.
Body Armor
A- Enigma- teleport, +2 skills, str mod, common sense
B-Enigma- It's the best
C-Chains of Honor- same skills, 65 all res, +20 str mod, no teleport =(
Amulet
A-+2 traps/all res 20 amulet- slight upgrade from the +3 traps, yet not a mara's
B-some say Mara's, some say 2 all/traps rare with str/res mods. Choice is yours.
C-+3 traps/any other beneficial mod (I.E.- all res/some res, life, str, dex (for the claws), mana)
Rings
A-SoJ- common sense, +mana, + mana regen, +skills
B- SoJ- There's a reason I use it...
C- rare all res/str rings, Raven Frosts for CBF and dex.
Boots
A-War travs- faster r/w, str/vita mod, mf
B-probably eth treks
C-rare boots with good reses and faster r/w, or Nats- great faster R/W and dual reses.
Belt
A-Arachnid-+skills, 5% max mana, and fcr
B-Arachnid- Can't be beat.
C-verdungo's? It's very hard to find a second best behind that which is arachnid's mesh...
Weapons
A- two greater talons claws, one with base 20% ias other without. Both have random mods, but the important ones are +2 sin skills, +3 Lightning sentry, socketed with 15% ias/15% all res jewels.
B-dual claws with +2 all skills/+3 lightning sentry socketed with 15% all res/ 15% IAS jewels**
C-hoto/spirit- it really pains me to mention it, but people want/use it so...there.
Switch
A-6 Bo CTA/ Spirit- bo's obvious, +shadow discipline skills tree for shadow master and fade/burst of speed
B-6 Bo CTA/ Spirit- every character (minus barbs) should have it
C-any bo cta/spirit(or lidless)- something is better than nothing right? Or possibly even wands with Lower Resist charges on it.
Charms
A- 9 +1 traps gcs and at least 40+ to life, perf torch, 12/18/8 anni, scs= two +dex/ 5 all res sc’s (needed dex for new claws) random FHR and life scs/res
B- 9 +1 traps gcs with +45 to life, perf torch/anni, scs= 5 all res/20 life/maybe some 5 fhr- thats the absolute best
C- any mix of +life/mana gc/sc, all res, fhr, fr/w, any torch/anni
Merc
A-1 off perf eth infinity colossus voulge, eth duriel's shell, tal rasha's helm
B-perfect eth infinity colossus voulge, eth glitched fortitude in a high defense armor (i.e. sacred armor), eth andy's visage (with pruby) or tal's helm.
C- any infinity (it's a must), any high defense armor with reses, any life leech helm
VII-Various Strategies
PvM
This is a very fun and effective build for pvm. The only catch is you MUST keep your merc alive in Hell. The infinity will break all immunities minus those of a super unique monster. My general strategy is to set traps and let my merc/shadow master tank the badguys. It's not a very good idea to try to tank too much. When killing in an area where Iron Maiden is abundant, like the Chaos Sanctuary, my main strategy is to place traps and keep teleporting to keep my merc next to me. I let the traps kill everything and I generally keep out of the thick of it. The idea is that even if the merc gets iron maidened I can teleport to safety and port and cure his curse in town. It's time consuming but very effective, and cost efficient. I'd rather pay the 100 gold per TP than 50,000 gold per merc. The main reason to keep your merc alive is because of the infinity. infinity has conviction which breaks most lightning immunes and it has alot of damage. helping your merc kill light immunes that are too tough to break.
PvP
There are two ways to play a trapsin in pvp, defensively and offensively. Obviously they differ greatly, and their application is based on the type and playing style of your opponent.
Defensive- This is the easiest way to play a trapsin. Literally cast traps and don't get hit. I find this to be effective vs very few classes. You can use it vs overly arrogant barbs, but watch out they might tele and/or survive long enough to pwn you. But I'm not going to give you step by step instructions for every class. This build is to help you make a good to godly trapsin, not hold your hand and teach you the game.
Offensive- This is a very difficult strategy to perfect. it requires you to keep teleporting/avoiding your opponent and simultaneously cast traps around you. it's the only way to beat a sorc. You must keep in mind that when a trap is set it will only stay there if you stay within a one and a half screen radius of it. That's approximately two teleports. Now, I usually place 3 traps near a corner in the map and teleport out to lure the opponent where they are. when they take the bait, which they inevitably will (at least once), cast your remaining two where you are standing at that moment, they will teleport on or near you. the 2 are to keep them back and/or stun them. this is where mind blast comes into play. you get the opponent caught up in your first three traps, hopefully within range of the two "safety" traps, and you try to mind-lock them. cast mind blast continuously and hope their FHR is low. this only works in pubs. (aka vs non-elites) The reason you shouldn't do this vs elite duelers is they usually have high FHR which will beat your stun effect and let them out, thus they "catch you with your pants down"
**- read the FAQ's about whether or not you should use these jewels or level BoS.
VIII- Conclusion
This is my trapsin, and my general idea of what I belive makes a trapsin good, if not godly. If you have any questions feel free to contact me either here on diablo2.com
or via Email at LclAnubis55906@yahoo.com. If you have any constructive criticism I would gladly consider your comment and possibly even revise my guide.
Table of Contents
I- Introduction
II- Changes
III- Frequently Asked Questions
IV- Skills
V- Stats
VI- Gear
VII- Various Strategies
VIII- Conclusion
I- Introduction
This is a guide to help you, the Diablo gamer, make a good, maybe godly, Traps Assassin, commonly known as the trapsin.
II- Changes
I haven’t made very many changes to the build itself, other than gear upgrades. My main changes were idealistic. I’ve been spending a lot of time dueling with this build, and have rebuilt once or twice since this was written. I have dropped the BM ideas about Mind Blast, the way people play their chars these days mb is essential. Also, I have found the significance of FCR. I am still 5% short of the 65% breakpoint, but the FCR is needed for mb lock. When I find my ideal ammy I will be better off.
III-FAQ
What is a Trapsin?
A Trapsin is an assassin trained mostly in the arts of the Traps skill tree.
She sets her traps and lets her merc/master distract/tank the enemies.
How expensive are they?
Honestly the Trapsin is cheaper than most other builds.
Most of her gear is magical and can be bought from Anya in act V.
Is a Trapsin good at PvP and PvM?
Although most people believe Trapsins are cheap duelers, I think
they can be viable duelers. Nothing is better at town gaurding than a
Trapsin. (Of course town guarding is BM and would only be used
against other BMers. Right?) With the right playing style and the
right merc you will be able to solo hell.
Does Faster Cast Rate affect traps?
NO! Increased attack speed affects traps. the game reads them as "minions" not "spells."
Direct quote from Arreat Summit, "Faster Cast Rate- Cast Rate items will reduce the time it takes to cast spells. Cast Rate items stack so the more you put on, the faster you can cast spells. While you may not want to sacrifice to wear an item with Faster Cast Rate, it certainly helps to have it on any items you wear. Faster Cast Rate Items will not improve casting speed of Assassin Traps. Faster Cast Items will not help skills with Casting Delays."
Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/classes/casterequipment.shtml)
Do facets or Griff's work with traps?
NO! to go along with the whole minion idea, Direct quote from Arreat summit-"Certain items will allow a player to lower an enemy's resistances and/or heighten elemental damage. These items will not function with most traps as some traps are minions of the character and the damage is not generated directly from the character in question." the "some traps" refers to all traps except Fire Blast and Shock Web.
Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/skills/assassin-traps.shtml)
How much IAS do I need to hit the highest breakpoint?
Use this IAS calculator (http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english) to judge how much IAS you will need. The IAS is all dependent on what claws you use. Use this calculator to determine what level BoS to have and/or if you should get IAS jewels.
What breakpoints should I aim for?
This guide is not made for FCR. But should you choose to aim for FCR here is the FCR breakpoints:
Assassin
FCR Frames
0% 16
8% 15
16% 14
27% 13
42% 12
65% 11
102% 10
174% 9
remember: fcr only affects Mindblast and teleport. But, with the right ammy and helm the 65% is easy to get, I am personally 5% short of the bp.
The faster hit recovery (FHR) breakpoints are as follows:
Assassin
FHR Frames
0% 9
7% 8
15% 7
27% 6
48% 5
86% 4
200% 3
86% is usually what people aim for, but 48% is feasable. without trex you wont have any FHR with this build.
IV- Skills-
In order by tree, all skills are based on my level 90 trapsin on U.S. East Non-Ladder (used to be ladder)
Trap Tree
Fire Blast- 1, Prerequisite
Shock Web- 20, Synergy
Charged Bolt Sentry- 20, Synergy
Lightning Sentry- 20, Main Trap- max legit damage available is somewhere near 15k, mine does 12k easily
Death Sentry- 20, Synergy, Mob destroyer
All Others- none
Shadow Discipline Tree
Claw mastery- 1, Prerequisite
Claw Block- 3, I have level 18 with 3 skills points in and I have 56% chance to block physical and elemental attacks, some people think it's a one point wonder, but I like to have a little over 50% chance. You feel free to only put one point here. I have used hero editor to make a sin with 60% claw block, and I think this would work, but I don’t feel like remaking my online sin to test it.
Burst of Speed**- 1, this is a good skill because IAS affects trap casting speed, not FCR, but fade is the main buff of this build.
Fade- 1-10, I have 3 so far and it is level 18 without bo's. It adds 63% all res, 18% physical res, and curse length reduced by 80%. I suggest adding points into either this or Mind Blast when all others are done
Shadow Warrior- 1, prerequisite
Shadow Master- 1, one point wonder, it's practically a second assassin
Psychic Hammer- 1, prerequisite
Cloak of Shadows- 1 prerequisite
Mind Blast- 1, one point wonder used in duels, I'll explain later
when you run out of places to put your skills, I suggest fade, shadow master/warrior (whichever you chose) and claw block as good places for them.
V- Stats
Same as all other builds
Strength- enough to wear gear, don't forget annihilus and torch benefits
Dexterity- enough for claws, don't go for max block, there is no shield (DUH!)
Vitality- all points
Energy- none
VI- Gear- A- what I wear, B- best possible gear, C- second best alternative
Helm
A-2 sin/ 20% FCR circlet with Um rune in it.
B- rare +2 all skills/reses/str/2os with 15ias/15 all res jewels** or um/shael runes
C-magical +3 traps/100 life with 2 15 ias/ 15 all res jewels- best of both worlds, skills, life, ias AND reses
Gloves
A- Magefists- for mana and FCR
B- depends, need more mana? Go for Frostburns, want fcr? Go for Magefists or Trang’s
C-Magefists- decent mana regeneration, some caste rate to help you teleport, if you feel the need.
Body Armor
A- Enigma- teleport, +2 skills, str mod, common sense
B-Enigma- It's the best
C-Chains of Honor- same skills, 65 all res, +20 str mod, no teleport =(
Amulet
A-+2 traps/all res 20 amulet- slight upgrade from the +3 traps, yet not a mara's
B-some say Mara's, some say 2 all/traps rare with str/res mods. Choice is yours.
C-+3 traps/any other beneficial mod (I.E.- all res/some res, life, str, dex (for the claws), mana)
Rings
A-SoJ- common sense, +mana, + mana regen, +skills
B- SoJ- There's a reason I use it...
C- rare all res/str rings, Raven Frosts for CBF and dex.
Boots
A-War travs- faster r/w, str/vita mod, mf
B-probably eth treks
C-rare boots with good reses and faster r/w, or Nats- great faster R/W and dual reses.
Belt
A-Arachnid-+skills, 5% max mana, and fcr
B-Arachnid- Can't be beat.
C-verdungo's? It's very hard to find a second best behind that which is arachnid's mesh...
Weapons
A- two greater talons claws, one with base 20% ias other without. Both have random mods, but the important ones are +2 sin skills, +3 Lightning sentry, socketed with 15% ias/15% all res jewels.
B-dual claws with +2 all skills/+3 lightning sentry socketed with 15% all res/ 15% IAS jewels**
C-hoto/spirit- it really pains me to mention it, but people want/use it so...there.
Switch
A-6 Bo CTA/ Spirit- bo's obvious, +shadow discipline skills tree for shadow master and fade/burst of speed
B-6 Bo CTA/ Spirit- every character (minus barbs) should have it
C-any bo cta/spirit(or lidless)- something is better than nothing right? Or possibly even wands with Lower Resist charges on it.
Charms
A- 9 +1 traps gcs and at least 40+ to life, perf torch, 12/18/8 anni, scs= two +dex/ 5 all res sc’s (needed dex for new claws) random FHR and life scs/res
B- 9 +1 traps gcs with +45 to life, perf torch/anni, scs= 5 all res/20 life/maybe some 5 fhr- thats the absolute best
C- any mix of +life/mana gc/sc, all res, fhr, fr/w, any torch/anni
Merc
A-1 off perf eth infinity colossus voulge, eth duriel's shell, tal rasha's helm
B-perfect eth infinity colossus voulge, eth glitched fortitude in a high defense armor (i.e. sacred armor), eth andy's visage (with pruby) or tal's helm.
C- any infinity (it's a must), any high defense armor with reses, any life leech helm
VII-Various Strategies
PvM
This is a very fun and effective build for pvm. The only catch is you MUST keep your merc alive in Hell. The infinity will break all immunities minus those of a super unique monster. My general strategy is to set traps and let my merc/shadow master tank the badguys. It's not a very good idea to try to tank too much. When killing in an area where Iron Maiden is abundant, like the Chaos Sanctuary, my main strategy is to place traps and keep teleporting to keep my merc next to me. I let the traps kill everything and I generally keep out of the thick of it. The idea is that even if the merc gets iron maidened I can teleport to safety and port and cure his curse in town. It's time consuming but very effective, and cost efficient. I'd rather pay the 100 gold per TP than 50,000 gold per merc. The main reason to keep your merc alive is because of the infinity. infinity has conviction which breaks most lightning immunes and it has alot of damage. helping your merc kill light immunes that are too tough to break.
PvP
There are two ways to play a trapsin in pvp, defensively and offensively. Obviously they differ greatly, and their application is based on the type and playing style of your opponent.
Defensive- This is the easiest way to play a trapsin. Literally cast traps and don't get hit. I find this to be effective vs very few classes. You can use it vs overly arrogant barbs, but watch out they might tele and/or survive long enough to pwn you. But I'm not going to give you step by step instructions for every class. This build is to help you make a good to godly trapsin, not hold your hand and teach you the game.
Offensive- This is a very difficult strategy to perfect. it requires you to keep teleporting/avoiding your opponent and simultaneously cast traps around you. it's the only way to beat a sorc. You must keep in mind that when a trap is set it will only stay there if you stay within a one and a half screen radius of it. That's approximately two teleports. Now, I usually place 3 traps near a corner in the map and teleport out to lure the opponent where they are. when they take the bait, which they inevitably will (at least once), cast your remaining two where you are standing at that moment, they will teleport on or near you. the 2 are to keep them back and/or stun them. this is where mind blast comes into play. you get the opponent caught up in your first three traps, hopefully within range of the two "safety" traps, and you try to mind-lock them. cast mind blast continuously and hope their FHR is low. this only works in pubs. (aka vs non-elites) The reason you shouldn't do this vs elite duelers is they usually have high FHR which will beat your stun effect and let them out, thus they "catch you with your pants down"
**- read the FAQ's about whether or not you should use these jewels or level BoS.
VIII- Conclusion
This is my trapsin, and my general idea of what I belive makes a trapsin good, if not godly. If you have any questions feel free to contact me either here on diablo2.com
or via Email at LclAnubis55906@yahoo.com. If you have any constructive criticism I would gladly consider your comment and possibly even revise my guide.