Elite Claws (clvl-44+)

After an assassin reaches clvl-44, they'll be able to use elite weaponry. These are available in the last stages of NM and all of Hell. Elite katars are rlvl-44 to 64. For the assassin, all elite katars are equally good: there is no progressive scheme to elite katars. All of them are fairly balanced in terms of average damage/time, though what is desirable for rare and magical exceptional weapons still applies to elite weapons: magical Cruel (+201-300% ED), Master's (+101-150% ED, +151-250 AR) and Grandmaster's (+151-200% ED, +251-300 AR) katars are exceptionally good end-game weapons.

As far as ready-mades go, the target item for elites ranges from 100 strength and dexterity for the Shadow Killer battle cestus all the way to 118 for Natalya's Mark scissors suwayyah.

• Suwayyah (elite katar): 99 strength/dexterity, 39-52 damage (45.5 avg), very fast attack speed (0); sockets: 3; rlvl-44. While all elite claws are viable choices, the suwayyah is the lightest of the elites. Note that while its minimum damage is 1 point lower than the highest of the elite claws, the scissors suwayyah, its maximum is 1 point higher, making them roughly equal.
• Wrist Sword (elite wrist blade): 105 strength/dexterity, 34-45 damage (39.5 avg), very fast attack speed (-10); sockets: 3; rlvl-46.
• War Fist (elite hatchet hands): 108 strength/dexterity, 44-53 damage (48.5 avg), fast attack speed (10); sockets: 2; rlvl-51. With the highest minimum damage and one of the highest maximum damage of the elite katars, these weapons hit the hardest, but pay for it by being the slowest.
• Battle Cestus (elite cestus): 110 strength/dexterity, 26-42 damage (39 avg), very fast attack speed (-10); sockets: 2; rlvl-54.
• Feral Claws (elite claws): 113 strength/dexterity, 22-53 damage (37.5 avg), very fast attack speed (-20); sockets: 3; rlvl-58.
• Runic Talons (elite blade talons): 115 strength/dexterity, 24-44 damage (34 avg), very fast attack speed (-30); sockets: 3; rlvl-60. The average damage is the lowest of the elite katars, but runic talons are by far the fastest katar-class weapons the assassin can get her hands on. If you need a lot of speed, these are the toys to go for.
• Scissors Suwayyah (elite scissors katar): 118 strength/dexterity, 40-51 damage (45.5 avg), very fast attack speed (0); sockets: 3; rlvl-64. The heaviest of the katar-class weapons.

As before, the list of what goes into a good katar remains the same, though with the greater difficulty of Hell, the requirements have been bumped up a little...

1. Enhanced Damage: This is the most important property, but not the only property. A decent rare or magical katar has at least +200-450% enhanced damage; the more your character relies on elemental damage, the less she'll need +ED%. Two special prefixes to keep an eye out for are Fool's (+[16.5/clvl] AR, +[0.5/clvl] to maximum damage) and Screaming (+[0.75/clvl] maximum damage), as these raise maximum damage by clvl.
2. Increased Attack Speed
3. Bonuses to Attack Rating: In most rares, this will be included with enhanced damage. At this level, you should be able to find weapons with AR bonuses ranging from +151-550 AR. Claws can also spawn with Hawkeye, which gives (+[1.5/clvl]) to AR.
4. Bonuses to Skills: At the elite level, katars can have bonuses to up to three individual skills, a single skill tree, or all skills. Otherwise, there are few changes from the exceptional grade of weapons.
5. Mana/Life Leech: Leeching on katars is good, and if it's dual leech, even better. You should be able to find weapons with up to 7-9% leech at this level.
6. Chance to Cast
7. Elemental Damage: See Elemental Damage.
8. Reduced Requirements
9. Other Assorted Crap

For the most part, this deals solely with katars for martial artists. If you're playing something vastly different, like a trapper, then the priorities will be different.

Remember, the formula for upgrading an exceptional rare katar to an elite rare katar is Fal + Um + perfect sapphire + exceptional rare weapon.

Unique Elite Claws

Though v1.10 introduced more unique elite katars to the game, their power has been somewhat overshadowed by quality rares and rune words. However, as a whole, they're still a force to be reckoned with.

• Jade Talon Wrist Sword: 115-153 damage (134 avg), +190-240% enhanced damage, +1-2 martial arts, +1-2 shadow disciplines, 30% faster hit recovery, 10-15% mana stolen per hit, all resistances 40-50%, rlvl-66. With its high resistances, FHR, and skill bonuses, this weapon simply screams to be used as an off-hand katar.
• Firelizard's Talons Feral Claws: 81-196 damage (138.5 avg), +200-270% enhanced damage, adds 236-480 fire damage, 15% increased attack speed, +1-3 martial arts, +1-2 wake of inferno, +1-2 wake of fire, fire resist 40-70%, rlvl-67.
• Shadow Killer Battle Cestus: 172-201 damage (186.5 avg) +170-220% enhanced damage, -25% target defense, freezes target +2, +10-15 to mana after each kill, 33% chance to cast slvl-8 frost nova on striking, indestructible, ethereal (cannot be repaired), rlvl-78. This is a ladder-only unique. This weapon is ethereal but it's also indestructible. What makes this weapon so nice is the high chance that a frost nova will go off when you hit: while the frost nova itself won't cause a lot of cold damage, the chilling effect will slow down everything surrounding you (provided they aren't immune to cold damage). This weapon is especially nice when used with Blade Fury.

Upgraded Unique Elite Claws

In addition to new unique elite katars, v1.10 also introduced weapon upgrades. Upgrading an exceptional weapon to its elite equivalent can only be done on the ladder using Lum + Pul + perfect emerald + exceptional unique weapon.

More information on unique and rare weapon upgrades can be found at adekye's weapon upgrade calculator.

• Bartuc's Cut-Throat Runic Talons: 133-248 damage (190.5 avg), +150-200% enhanced damage, adds 25-50 damage, 30% faster hit recovery, 20% bonus to attack rating, 5-9% life stolen per hit, +20 strength, +20 dexterity, +2 assassin skills, +1 martial arts skills, rlvl-67.

Unique Elite Weapons of Interest

• Demon Limb Tyrant Club: 105-189 damage (148 avg), +180-230% enhanced damage, +50% damage to undead, +123% damage to demons, adds 222-333 fire damage, 7-13% life stolen per hit, fire resist 15-20%, slvl-23 enchant (20 charges), repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds, rlvl-71. Requiring 133 strength, this weapon is quite heavy, but with 20 charges of slvl-23 enchant, it might just be worth it: the fire damage — a mere 87-111 — doesn't mean much at all, but the +218% AR bonus the spell confers lasts for up to 627 seconds. Place this on a weapon switch for an easy source of AR. Don't use an ethereal Demon Limb — you can't recharge those.

Elite Rune Word Weapons

It's weird, but assassins don't get any rune word claws from clvl-25 to 49; sure, Bartuc's makes up for it, but it's still a bit unusual. Assassins get a couple of options for rune words at this level, with an overwhelmingly dominant choice in Chaos.

More information on runes and rune words can be found at the Runes and Rune Word sections of the Arreat Summit.

• Venom 3-socket weapon (Tal + Dol + Mal): hit causes monster to flee 25%, prevent monster heal, ignore target's defense, 7% mana stolen per hit, slvl-15 poison explosion (27 charges), slvl-13 poison nova (11 charges), +273 poison damage over 6 seconds, rlvl-49.
• Chaos 3-socket katars (Fal + Ohm + Um): 9% chance to cast slvl-11 frozen orb on striking, 11% chance to cast slvl-9 charged bolt on striking, 35% increased attacked speed, +290-340+% enhanced damage, adds 216-471 magic damage, 25% chance of open wounds, +1 whirlwind, +10 strength, +15 life after each demon kill, rlvl-55.
• Wind 2-socket weapon (Sur + El): 10% chance to cast slvl-9 tornado on striking, +20% faster run/walk, +40% increased attack speed, +15% faster hit recovery, +120-160% enhanced damage, -50% target defense, +53 attack rating, hit blinds target, +1 light radius, slvl-13 twister (127 charges), rlvl-61.
• Fury 3-socket weapon (Jah + Gul + Eth): +209% enhanced damage, 40% increased attack speed, prevent monster heal, 66% chance of open wounds, 33% deadly strike, ignore target's defense, -25% target defense, 20% bonus to attack rating, 6% life stolen per hit, +5 frenzy (barbarian only), rlvl-67.