This compendium will attempt to cover all aspects of playing assassins from different players, but will mostly focus on style and strategy from the beginning all the way into Hell. These include the martial artists, trappers, blade fury sins, kickassins, and all variations in-between. There's little need to offer a detailed walkthrough for the game: Diablo II is not rocket science. There are very few situations where you should genuinely be at a loss, but if a specific problem or monster is worth talking about, I'll focus on that but for the most part, you're on your own.
This guide will help explain all aspects of the game that are specific to playing an assassin. Some possible topics, such as "tips on trading for items you want", were not included because they are not specific to the assassin, and though they're in the guide, I'll admit that screwing around with equations and formulas about how damage, speed and the like are made isn't my thing: I'm more concerned about improving my game and if a little math can help you out with that, then so much the better, but all the math in the world won't help if you can't play.
The difference between a bad assassin player and a good assassin player really has nothing to do with equipment, stats or skill point allocation, but knowing how to play the game, an understanding of your character's capabilities, how to deal with the unexpected, and how to keep a party alive. This guide will not magically turn you into a good player, but it will at the very least guide you away from misconceptions that will either prove to be a waste of your time and effort or prevent you from reaching your full potential.
It should be obvious from the many assassin variants that no single guide could possibly cover all aspects of one variant without drifting into the aspects of another. Keep this in mind when reading this guide that although each main section is somewhat self-contained, a greater amount of knowledge can be gleaned by reading all of the sections as part of a greater whole. For example, the Skills section is useful by itself and the Combat section is useful by itself, but they are even more useful when understood in tandem. I have my own ideas about how an assassin should be built and played, but because my knowledge of the assassin is extremely focused, I'm going to try to stay as non-biased as possible, presenting as many builds as I possibly can. Note that this guide is primarily for softcore standard assassins in multiplayer.
Unlike most other guides and FAQs, this compendium will not be set as a static overview, as this would aim at looking at the assassin as a whole — skillsets, stats, templates, playing style, and so forth. Such a singular mindset would involve placing everything into sets of reductive categories. Such a format is fine and well for a guide written by one or two authors with a suggestive style of play, but for a compendium, only a narrative that welcomes discussion, opposing points of view, and perspectives will do. The aim is to bring together players who are most knowledgeable in their particular skill, playing style, build, and mindset. Though there are many sensible ways to play a bowazon, there is no one "correct" way to do so.
I've made every effort to keep the compendium free of critical errors, outdated information and typographical errors, but they'll inevitably sneak in. If you, the reader, notice any mistakes, write to me at my e-mail address <ak404@rfc791.org>, I can turn immediately to the file in question and make a correction or clarification. I invite you to do so.
This section is currently under heavy construction.
last updated: Sunday, July 04, 2004 — version 0.10
© 2004 AK404. All rights reserved.
No Malaysian Crack Monkeys were harmed in the production of this guide.
