Assassin Leveling Build Guide: Diablo 2 Resurrected 2.4 Ladder

[@grumpyolddude439]

I decided to play a 'Sin build, which for all of these years (I started on Diablo way back before D2 even), I had not played this class. Your guide, immediately showed me a few things I was going to do "wrong". I only play SP offline, so some of the high level special gear, I'll likely never see but...who knows, maybe I can get absurdly lucky for once. :) Just completed Act I Normal....she OWNED it. SP, offline, Players 8, she absolutely crushed it. By the time I found the runes off the Countess, I wound up lvl 19 just a bit before getting to Anduriel, so both the STEALTH and Leaf were in play. I dont think I've ever had that much fun, in Act I. TY for an EXCELLENT class guide video.

[@Roy200906]

gg!! short & solid guide! still few points missing. additional tip for 2.4: Death's Guard has only 2 stackable rows. But in 2.4 it can now have 4 rows by using the new set item upgrade recipe. (Tal + Shael + P-Diamond) Also, something you haven't mentioned: There is also an option to get Cannot be Frozen cheep which is RW Rhyme Shield. (Sheal + Eth)

[@levelont5560]

@Rhykker mind giving an update here?

[@FatDaDDa]

This is a leveling guide, not an optimal min max guide. Infinity is really great, but most folks aren’t getting those unless they put in over 500 hours

[@kosterix123]

ooh that's really cool

[@Jarhead402011]

Yo this was huge. I was hating how deaths guard only had 2 rows. Thanks for this!

[@MattAttack11]

@@FatDaDDa If your idea of min-maxing is making a rhyme shield and upgrading a set item you're doing it wrong lmao

[@KaldonWK]

Yet another well put together guide! Well done. Love the editors note at the end that covers the 2 monsters that are required to be killed, that are immune to fire while you are still a fire build. Well done nothing seems to be out of sorts! I see you added in the ability to get a broad sword from the cow lvl this time ;)

[@grumpyolddude439]

For the 1st time in 22 years of playing this game, I managed to kill Diablko w/o dying at least once. TY, TY, TY...for this guide!!! :) I have managed to complete NORMAL now, w/o dying...took 9 cow runs to get a crystal sword, and 2 dropped. 1 plain white, and 1 white w/3 sockets. Now, to move on to NIGHTMARE!!

[@benjiskitts]

Why do we need the crystal sword . He doesn't mention why we need it ?

[@grumpyolddude439]

@@benjiskitts to make SPIRIT Runeword for +2 to all skills, +100 +/- Mana

[@warrenjohn]

Thanks for this guide! Always loved the Assassin she was my favorite to play back in the old days...

[@he77hawk.71]

Yeah but in the old days she wasn’t absolutely fucking hideous

[@Choptron27]

Love your vids man! Lord this brings me back, I wish I could remember my account info from like 15 years ago, but it’s cool you mentioning things from those days too… “cow runs no king” and there’s always one that tries to do it anyway lmfao

[@kittykisses2257]

Stopped by to drop a comment and a like. These guides seem great for new players.

[@Nem_FFXIV]

your translation of written guide into video format is phenomenal, keep em comin!

[@HBaker40]

Thank you for the guide brother, going to give this shot!

[@Mocorn]

I played my first game last night with a friend. Picked assassin (he's druid) and lucked into the trap tree and dagger by accident. I've been tossing firebombs and stabbing things and sometimes i toss out a couple whirlyblades. I've discovered that belts have extra slots so potions go there. We managed to do a couple quests and have activated a couple waypoints. I use weapon swap to carry an extra weapon to sell etc. We're very new as you can tell but we're having fun :) what would be some good early game coop tips for us moving ahead? Vital things that you don't want to miss etc?

[@Wolfspirt19]

love this guide. it was very well thought out and yes i am following this guide to level my assassin. THANK YOU for the great advice

[@willemstander8400]

Coming in clutch Rhykker! Thanks bro

[@he77hawk.71]

😢 man I was really hoping for a melee build That focused on the martial arts tree

[@stpnpl]

I feel you.. I have been playing the Cobra Strike build since I was 10 years old... Looks like martials arts build are not meta..

[@he77hawk.71]

@@stpnpl yeah apparently the trap assassin is the strongest tho I’m pretty sure trap just stands for his nighttime job especially with how horrible they made the character look

[@greygoose8213]

@@stpnpl melee builds were never good as starters, I think that's what these guides are for- the leveling process. After you level as trapsin there are many good options :)

[@he77hawk.71]

@@greygoose8213 you know what I meant

[@ujaku_]

Hell yeah man, love to see D2 content!

[@bakacs1n]

I would love to have a viable physical assassin build ..

[@higheastdeno7584]

Try light traps with cold claw skill. Shadow summon. Not at game right now so stats and gear unavailable:) Im at lvl 89. Its 👌

[@raymonddey7403]

Hope you’re still playing new runeword makes melee sin viable

[@Rego1313]

In 2.4 Death Sentry no longer is a synenergy with Lightning Sentry, thus putting the 20 points in will severly hinder your damage output, at lvl 40 with only skills from usual suspects (Lore+Spirit) Lightning Sentry will deal 1-897 damage if keeping Death Sentry topped (en ignoring Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast which would be a shame as these skills are OP 1 point wonders), while if you only put 1 point in DS and rest in synenergy it would be 1-1444 over 60% more. At 35 this would be Synenergized 1-929 while with DS topped would mean 1-727. Personally I'd say 1 Point BoS after respec, 1 point in Mindblast and prereq, max LS and dump rest in synenergy. Leveled Assassin quite often as a first character and Mindblast is more than worth it when pushing through and in endgame, one of the game's best 1 point wonders, I'll take a 1-893 LS with Mindblast and CoS over a 1-929 LS without them any day. Possible fun new way this ladder is Blade Sentinel, Blade Fury, Blade Shield, starting Fire traps is probably still faster, but its new and its damage is pretty good and works well with 1 or more points DS aswell and Pattern is an easy to get Runeword that is a good way to get a decent claw soon. But most of all its just for the extra fun of a new thing for seasoned players.

[@wermagst]

You want blast radius on DS corpse explosion though.

[@Rego1313]

@@wermagst True, but I would not prioritize DS during the leveling proces and you will really hurt your LS damage by putting points into DS.

[@wermagst]

@@Rego1313 You should put just enough points in it, so that the radius becomes actually usable. Once you have enough +skills from gear, you can respect it back to 1.

[@CablesCodex]

I can't get through hell with all the lightning immunes..what should I do? Respec to get fire blast?

[@Rego1313]

@@CablesCodex Depends a bit on your current level and gear. D2 is a game were you'd do good to farm some levels and gear before attempting the next difficulty. I usually become something like 70 or 75 before doing Hell, exception is early Act 1 Hell which I might actually do first for the extra skill point and sometimes to run the countess should my build have little issues with this part. You should have a decent amount of + skills before taking on Hell with a trapper, Treachery, +2 all traps (or all skills) for mainhand, +1 for offhand and Lore or better should be minimum I guess (you can farm Monarch for offhand spirit in act 5 nightmare or act 1 Hell. That all said, I think that you need a second element in Hell, so yes Fireblast is almost a must, if your not high enough level yet I'd level up a bit and max out Fireblast, if not a respec is wise imo. I have LS and FB maxed, 1 point in Mindblast and 1 in Fade before I go into Hell, the rest is divided between Charged Bolt Sentry, Shock Web and Death Sentry, depening on gear, when I move to Hell at 70 or so. But you should not forget that you have more weapons and tools than Lightning Sentry, you should always place atleast 1 point in Death Sentry (and later more, likely you should have more already) as this will help killing everything past the first kill (including Lightning Immunes), Cloak of Shadows (lowering your enemy defense and raising yours is good, but it will also make ranged attackers stop firing because they don't see you) and Mindblast (this skill is incredible in hard situations, if your not using it a lot, you need to start doing so, 1 point Mindblast, 1 point Death Sentry and a Merc can by themselves get you through much of the game without other skills). Even humble skills like Psychic Hammer can have use sometimes when using it properly (the knockback can lock monsters in place when backed to a wall allowing your merc to have a go at them for free). And ofcourse you have a mercenary and trappers can make very good use of these, using Mindblast to have monsters attack each other and possibly CoS to keep your merc even more safe, you can have him deal with the first few lightning immunes before the Death Sentries will do the rest (ofcourse having Fireblast is very much adviced to help the merc or even do it for them), which merc depends on what you have, but an Act 2 Might/Freeze/Prayer are all very good (Prayer only if using Insight to double the healing, Might for faster first kill and Freeze is very good for defense, yes some shatter (about 25%) but it's worth it) or Act 5 Frenzy actually a very good choice nowadays (make it tanky with life and lifeleech, fast attacks and at least some crushing blow), don't feel like spending runes on you merc is a waste, they are very important to get through some situations so giving it a Treachery for example is not a waste at all.

[@HaythamAlshamlan]

Isn’t the cow level only accessible on difficulty levels that you’ve already completed?

[@KilonBerlin]

yes

[@a3lorenzo]

I love you. Your guides are always well detailed.

[@TIMIPURI]

just want to mention about the mercenary part that in act 3 you are able to get the ice user who can also deal with the fire immune monsters and from a range

[@juxyper]

8:58 the note about 60 strength is actually really good one - most heavier belts, gloves and boots that could give you multiple resistances are nearly capped at 60 so you could try many of them on. Did this myself by instinct, 47 felt too low for the gear I wanted to get

[@grimeval1429]

guide for leveling a Phoenix Strike Assassin pls...

[@DEviceJR]

Still overall fairly good and relevant even now after all the patches. Couple things for people who might be looking at the new season and specifically in HC. First off, Fade imo is 1000% better than burst of speed in HC. You are hamstringing yourself not looking into at least one point into fade for yourself at all times, with it active up at all times this gives you more flex in your gear loadout for other important stats (or DPS). Also you want to only respec in NM AFTER you get Spirit Sword and Ancients Pledge ready to go else Fire Traps and Leaf will be your bread and butter til then.

[@tundrastreaming]

what's the point of buying a shitty dagger from charsi if your starting katar does more damage? It also has 'very fast' attack speed

[@harrybryan9633]

So, I have watched several of these. What you appear to be saying is that it doesn't matter what class I choose, I'll be using the exact same equipment.

[@Rhykker]

For leveling, there are certain items that are 1. very strong and 2. easy to get, so many classes end up using them, yeah. BUT if you get lucky drops, then that could change things!

[@pedaleou]

yeap that's the runewords effect on this game and its hard to gat any lucky drops instead of those easy runes... could have been fun if those never existed at all... but everyone seems to love how does it work...

[@brainwasher9876]

Definitely the most fun character to level.

[@0Rthx]

Laying traps the way u want dont work on consoles. Gotta lay them at the target mostly

[@fortasbendras5926]

wow whay a great guide thank you so much

[@GorcStew]

thx very in depth

[@Larcaled]

i think that leaf is bugged doesn't give me mana for kill or i miss something?

[@mathieulefebvre7812]

wort saying if you dont have access to infinity max fireblast so you can kill one imune and let death sentry wreck the rest

[@jackschleich9475]

in the original game in early 2000s I got to level 80 and played the bonus pandemonium levels, but it was too tedious to continue. Hopefully being older and more informed, would be less painful this time.

[@markpaegel7364]

So from 12 to 17 and on should all my attribute points be going into vitality? Just want to be clear

[@tvbuu]

When you say remake the game to get the runes do you mean exit the game then go back in or ?

[@lynthux]

Yes remake a completely new game.

[@0Rthx]

So are we looking for white weapons as broad sword and crystal sword or it can be gray with alrdy few sockets in them?

[@Rhykker]

If it already has sockets, it must have the correct number of sockets (4) or it's useless

[@jackschleich9475]

the most frustrating thing about guides is that the reality of what the game drops is different and more recent patches require you to improvise into success.

[@he77hawk.71]

Please do Amazon next with a javelin or bow build

[@cerior]

How do you kill the grand visier in normal when he's immune to fire with this build?

[@lht5dy31]

Maybe a dumb question. But is a ladder build different from a solo play build?

[@jonathanh4443]

Long Swords have a faster attack speed you will need to add to dex to use it but it gives you a faster attack, it also looks better. Maxing Fireblast is needed if you want to get through A3 Hell. It's far better than putting pts into charged bolt sentry. I will still be prioritizing maxing it before Hell even in 2.4.

[@tommyliu7020]

Is it because a3 hell had a lot of lightning immune?

[@KilonBerlin]

They recently in season8 did something with the assain, made it stronger or mosaic is a new runeword? can some1 explain me what they did? only the runeword or did they change something with the skills? dont know what mosaic does, will have to google it...

[@michaelandreasen993]

As always, a great guide 🤘

[@adaml3010]

well fuck me i didnt think i wwanted to play ladder but after this smooth guide vid i might wanna

[@kingzeveney6844]

using this build for ladder 2

[@CablesCodex]

act 1-2 hell is taking forever. Followed the whole guide and level 62. So many lightning immunes. Should I respec early and max out fire blast??? 😭😭

[@jpatty5964]

Why 5 into burst of speed so early on? I can see one just to go a bit faster but five seems like a lot. Why wouldn’t it be better to put the 4 other points into fire blast for the extra 40% damage to wake of fire when we get it?

[@DaisyChaine]

how do you “make a new game” to farm the countess repeatedly??

[@lucasbishop6696]

Save and quit then start the game again

[@mikemikehate]

Hey Rhykker some of your skill allocations would require some updating for 2.4 just saying, plus you could get much more by going hybrid instead

[@WizAquila]

Can you provide an updated order if his is outdated? Thanks homie!

[@tommythunder7498]

Traps are amazing but this patch I will go with the blades trap side of the skill tree 🌳

[@higheastdeno7584]

Looking for the buff numbers on the new blades skills

[@CaliMotivate]

I know a year has gone by but by the time im level 4 i only have 3 points in fireblast at lvl 4 and then u want me to put one into claw mastery am i missing something here or did something change

[@VanTran-tq5zc]

I got 6 socket crystal sword after talked larzuk, CS received from Cow lvl. 6 sockets is uselesss ?

[@ldferguson1991]

So what do you do about the colenzo or whatever his name is the fire immune first minion boss from baal?

[@calripplebear1293]

SUMMARY: Stats - (at the given levels, put all your points into those stats) L1-8 - Vitality L9 - Strength (ability to use 3 slot belts) L10 - Vitality L11-12 - Energy L13+ Vitality Skills - (1) 1 pt in Fire blast (2) get a dagger (3) 3 pts more into fire blast (do Den of Evil!) Note: gather enemies for more effectiveness. (4) L5 - put 1 point into "claw mastery" (to gain access to "burst of speed") (5) L6-7 - put 1 point into "burst of speed" each of these levels. Note: keep this buff up always. (6) for difficult mobs, keep 'strangling gas' potions as a 2ndary weapon early on to defeat hard bosses. (7) Once in the Black Marsh, keep farming the Countress to get runes: Tal, Eth, Tir, Ral. Save them for later (used to make Runewords) (8) At level 8, put a point into "Fire Blast" (to make a total of L5 there) (9) At level 11, put all points into "burst of speed" (totaling L5) (10) At level 12+ put all skill pts into wake of fire until it is maxed. Note: for remaining points AFTER maxing Wake, put those into fire blast. (11) At L17, make stealth armor. Get 2-socket (non-magic) leather armor, as it's the highest you can do with 25 str. Then add TAL rune, then ETH rune to the armor to make stealth armor. (12) At L19, make leaf rune (weapon). Get a 2-socket short staff (from Akara in act 1; have to wp out and in to reset or go out of town and back in) to make: insert TIR rune, then RAL rune in that order. (13) Before L24, shop at Act 3 Ormus for a staff of teleportation (mimimum Lv: 19).

[@rolandoresurreccion8216]

I have a question. I overlevel a bit im only in act 1 of nightmare.. and have all the gear including wand of lower resitance. can i swap to lightning and death sentry while im still at act 1 but already 38

[@attilaiski411]

Hi. Those runes are basic so yes I can get them but that what I do not understand why if I use the same basic and correct runes they not gonna give the same result as you got?

[@DjZephy]

Are you talk8ing about tal eth? It has to be a socket body armor (it won't work in a helmet). Also, if it's a 3 open socket armor it won't work, it has to have exactly 2 sockets.

[@jackschleich9475]

certain dex items require 50 to 70, so I put a small amount into dex.

[@TheAlex82]

on hell difficulty most monsters are immune to lightning so how do you kill them?

[@jomacajo]

Can a two socket short staff with no magic can have 50 undead damage?

[@CT2507]

I have done 10 cow runs and not a single socketed crystal sword dropped. Only 1 regular crystal sword and 1 regular broadsword. Im kinda stuck. If i dont find a crystal sword with 4 sockets i cant continue, since that sword seems to be vital for this build. I wish i had known from the start that this build depended a single drop from the cow level. Would have chosen a diferent build i think.

[@lynthux]

You probably already know by now since this comment is 4months old but take a white crystal sword with no sockets from cow level to Larzuk in act 5 after completing the first quest in act 5 and he will add 4 sockets to it.

[@zion5637]

Pretty much same build as pre patch. Looking for interesting new builds based on patch changes

[@ZedNull.]

Your Katars already have very fast attack speed, why buy a dagger?

[@Jan3Sobieski5]

i don't get how this is one of the best builds. I'm at lvl 50 with spirit, ancient's pledge, lore, stealth. LS is at 23, DS is at 22 as per this guide. My merc has Insight but dies constantly. In NM, I had to cheese Meph and it took forever. These traps don't do much damage. 1-752?

[@Dragnous420]

you can skip the baal waves if you know how :P

[@enemyz4663]

I used wrong sword for spirit...any help?? pls

[@matthewnipp820]

Curious to know how to break immunities beast in hell lol

[@wody_woah]

I tried for several hours and a few days and no rune drops.

[@Xandos88fhtagn]

This video is kinda useless to me :( I've played a trap assassin as my first character, stuck in act1 hell due to the vast majority of mobs immune or high resistance to lightning, and lower resistance wands do not do what they should, or at least it takes ages to put them down...and I can't farm for infinity runeword for merc since runes drop in hell :F, suggestions? I'm doing a physical char to be able to farm proper equip, seems trap assassin should be a secondary character am I right?

[@schwann145]

For the most part: skip em. You don't have to kill everything so if an area has a lot of lightning immunes, just run past them. For the unavoidable areas (chaos sanctuary seal guardians, a5 ancients, etc) you just have to rely on a lower res wand, fire blast, and your merc.

[@near--zero]

always hated that there are enemies who gate certain builds even all the way back on normal.

[@zhaf]

How do I beat the Ancients in hell difficulty? The one Ancient that always spawns Lighting immune is kicking my ass solo and my mercenary can’t survive.

[@maximos905]

Are you using an Act 2 merc? If so, switch to an act 5 merc. Hes a stronger tank. Find a wand with lower resist charges, that could help break his lightning immunity if not itll still help you damage him using fire blast or fire traps

[@zhaf]

@@maximos905 I use act 2 merc. He dies pretty fast. I'm not making a dent on him using lightning centry after casting lower resist from the wand and fireblast barely does any damage. I'll try act 5 merc next time I play.

[@maximos905]

@@zhaf try cloak of shadows on him too as well as a shadow master

[@schwann145]

Go back to nightmare and level some more to get a higher Fire Blast. It's a pain but it's pretty necessary. Single element characters (trap sins, javazons, some sorcs) all have a _really_ tough time in hell.

[@jackschleich9475]

I don't like that endgame requires a second or third victory on hell level to get that 99

[@ItsMeProday83]

Getting every time Crystall Swort with 6 sockets when I add them at Larzuk?!...wtf

[@lynthux]

Make sure the crystal sword/broad sword is coming from Normal difficulty cow level and larzuk will add 4 sockets.

[@zetulescu5164]

401408 gold for Gnarled Staff of Teleportation...where do i get all this money?

[@billbog25]

While this guide will make you OWN normal and nightmare difficulty.... in Hell difficulty you won't be able to leave town without dying. And just forget about your merc. Struggling in Hell....

[@АлексейИванов-ш2к9с]

Dath trap no need more than 1 since 2.4...

[@kaelos4]

Yeah those vids seem to be based on pre 2.4 guides.

[@schwann145]

You still want to invest points to cover more area. Death Sentry isn't very helpful if it's not hitting things, after all.

[@seehafenzwerg2087]

Works this leveling guide for mosaic assassin build?

[@rdtheskald]

God how i wish someone would ressurect Shadow Flare , if you know that game and you finished all 4 acts you are a VETERAN

[@alwaystheirtocomment]

bug rush to hell and chaos till 60 then cbaal run till 96. EASY

[@kristopherleslie8343]

the druid is the best Area of Effect killer in early game lol duh

[@dustinlkjh]

you are saying his name wrong bro

[@kosterix123]

everybody loves ryker but he doesn't know shit. 12:43 no way you're gonna find this magefist in nm. smoke or treachery. I think treachery is better. 12:54 skin of the viper magi come on this is hell stuff. Even with +6 to all you just don't deal enough damage on A5NM/7 at clvl 75. trapsin is the easiest, most straightforward build but you will run into a wall, and need fire traps as well. Grinding at NM just to get to hell.

[@Keamyl]

Why the dagger at the start???

[@repHAWAIIxJPN]

1:45

[@nohandlemebruh]

Has anyone just typed out this advice in a list?

[@FatDaDDa]

Wait, where was John Carpenter?

[@michaelmayhem350]

Sad he's basically re-uploading these without much consideration to 2.4 changes. The sorc one is still recommending blizz/meteor the same build people usrf before lod lol

[@CaptRoku]

It also seems like no changes are being made to the Maxroll website, such as tier lists. There's no way it is the same at this point. Here's to hoping that it's forthcoming.

[@dimitriwoiciechowski6561]

Lol he says prOHcess instead of prAhcess kinda funny

[@Icy233]

Dude what the hell is this? What kind of assassin spits fireballs left and right... Looks more like a mage guide. When I played assassin class back in the day I was throwing around shurikens and that was lots of fun.

[@DjZephy]

The problem is it's so obvious you just googled all of this information.

[@paulpearce5204]

keeps talking about cow level, yet you need to have completed the game to get to cow level on the difficulty you beat.

[@mackmaclean7902]

wow this guide was useless for any endgame stuff

[@TheChadarad]

That’s why it’s called a “leveling guide” and not an end game build champ

[@t2av159]

Trapsin .... yawn boring

[@creepergod1080]

😅 no idea what you just said