Dragon Tail Assassin

Here’s a comprehensive guide for creating a Dragon Tail Assassin build in Diablo II: Resurrected (D2R). This build specializes in dealing high damage to enemies while utilizing the potent Dragon Tail skill in the Martial Arts tree.

Dragon Tail Assassin Build Guide

Overview:

The Dragon Tail build focuses on using the Dragon Tail skill as its main source of damage. This skill offers massive area damage based on the fire explosion radius and can be very effective in both single-target and group situations. This build is built around maximizing your damage output while ensuring mobility and survivability.

Skill Allocation

Primary Skills:

  1. Dragon Tail (Max this)
    • The core damage skill that delivers a powerful kick with AoE fire damage.
  2. Claw Mastery (Max this)
    • Increases the physical and fire damage dealt with your claws.
  3. Phoenix Strike (1-20 points)
    • Useful for charging up elemental damage. It can be used as a booster before executing Dragon Tail.
  4. Burst of Speed (1 point)
    • Increases movement speed and helps with positioning.
  5. Cloak of Shadows (1-20 points)
    • Provides crowd control and makes enemies less accurate, enhancing survivability.
  6. Death Sentry (1-20 points)
    • Provides significant AoE damage via corpse explosions and can serve as a great crowd control tool.
  7. Fade (1 point)
    • Increases your resistances and damage reduction.
  8. Shadow Master (1-10 points)
    • Useful for dealing extra damage and distracting enemies.

Example Skill Distribution:

  • Dragon Tail: 20
  • Claw Mastery: 20
  • Phoenix Strike: 1-20
  • Cloak of Shadows: 1-20
  • Death Sentry: 20
  • Burst of Speed: 1
  • Fade: 1
  • Shadow Master: 1-10

Stat Allocation

  1. Strength: Enough to equip your gear (around 75-100 points).
  2. Dexterity: To maximize your chance to block and increase damage (aim for around 200-250).
  3. Vitality: Allocate the majority of your points here for increased health and improved survivability.
  4. Energy: Generally, do not invest points here; use gear and charms to manage your mana needs.

Gear Suggestions

Weapons:

  • Runeword Claws: “Chaos” or “Fury” for skill bonuses and extra damage.
  • Bartuc's Cut-Throat: For a balance of skills and damage.

Armor:

  • Enigma: Excellent for its teleportation ability, allowing quick repositioning.
  • Fortitude: A solid choice for increased damage and resistances.

Helm:

  • Nightwing's Veil: Increases cold damage and overall skills.
  • Shako: For +skills, life, and mana bonuses.

Belts:

  • Verdungo's Hearty Cord: Increases vitality and damage reduction.
  • String of Ears: Great for damage reduction and lifesteal.

Gloves:

  • Magefist: Provides faster cast rate and added fire damage.
  • Bloodfist: Offers faster hit recovery and extra life.

Boots:

  • Shadow Dancer: For boosted skills and faster movement.
  • Gore Rider: Provides increased physical damage and critical strike chance.

Rings/Amulet:

  • Aim for +Assassin skills, +dexterity, and resistances. Consider using Raven Frost for cold resistance and Cannot Be Frozen.

Playstyle Tips

  1. Charge Up: Use Phoenix Strike to build up charges before unleashing Dragon Tail for maximum damage.
  2. Mobility: Utilize Burst of Speed effectively to move quickly and avoid enemy attacks.
  3. Control the Field: Use Cloak of Shadows to blind enemies, reducing their effectiveness while you deal damage.
  4. AoE Damage: Activate Death Sentry on groups of enemies to clear them out efficiently using corpse explosions.