Best Diablo 2 Resurrected Assassin Build
Let’s talk everything Diablo 2 Resurrected Assassin
The year is 2010, I come home from school and turn on my PC. I start Diablo II up and use my Assassin to decimate all the enemies in front of me. Life is good. The year is now 2022 and I do the same thing, except this time I’m coming home from work and launching the remastered version; Diablo 2: Resurrected.
There are 7 playable classes in Diablo 2 with many players favoring the Necromancer, Sorceress and Paladin. Sadly, the Assassin is not the most popular or selected character class in Diablo II: Resurrected and I was no exception to this. I always favored the Sorceress or Necromancer. At launch, the Assassin wasn’t even playable. It was only later on that the Assassin and Druid were added. It was my friend who started playing the Assassin and when I saw him jolting across the fields cross bowing everything in his wake, I decided to give the Assassin a try. And I was not disappointed. The Assassin has a variety of builds allowing for multiple playstyles. And with the right equipment and skills, the Assassin can become the ultimate “jack of all trades character”.
In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the Assassin, how to play the Assassin, as well as go over some of the best builds currently being used. Before we go over some of the builds, these are the skill points you will want to invest in that will really benefit the Assassin:
▪ Dexterity – This increases the chance to block and increases the Attack/Defense Rating. It also boosts the damage of a few specific weapons such as the Assassin-specific Claws. Dexterity should be your primary focus while playing the Assassin.
▪ Vitality – This will increase your Assassins health allowing you to tank more hits. This is also an important stat to focus on, as most of the builds for the Assassin doesn’t include using Heavy Armor.
▪ FCR + FHR – This will allow your Assassin to cast abilities quicker and recover from stunning hits faster. Both are important if you want to be jolting around the battlefield.
Diablo 2 Resurrected Assassin Builds
There are a few builds currently making the rounds in Diablo II: Resurrected, including but not limited to; The Trapsin, the Elemental Assassin, The Bladesin and the Chaos Runeword Assassin. There are a few more but these have to be the most used/most popular. In this article we will focus on the Trapsin, the Bladesin and the Chaos Runeword Assassin. I am focusing on Trapsin because it is such a fun class to play and almost anyone can play it, making it a beginner friendly build. Chaos Runeword for PVP players and Bladesin because it is my favorite build with a ton of potential and raw damage.
(Related Article: Diablo 2 Resurrected Runes and Runewords Guide)
1) Trapsin – This is a beginner friendly build. Tank hits? Check. Handle crowds of enemies? Check. Easy to play? Check. The Trapsin does it all. These are the traps I would recommend focusing on:
▪ Death Sentry
▪ Wake of Fire
▪ Wake of Inferno
▪ Lightning Sentry
Recommended skill points
These are the skills I would invest points into, as well as how many points to invest into each skill. As traps are the main focus with the Trapsin, you should invest 20 points into the traps that you will be using.
Fire Blast – 20
Death Sentry – 20
Lightning Sentry – 20
Wake of Fire – 20
Wake of Inferno – 20
Mind Blast – 3
Burst of Speed – 1
Claw Mastery – 1
Cloak of Shadows – 1
Charged Bolt Sentry – 1
Psychic Hammer – 1
Shock Web – 1
Weapon Block – 1
Recommended weapons and equipment
Weapon - Bartuc’s Cut Throat and Firelizard’s Talons
Head - Harlequin Crest or Griffon’s Eye
Chest Armor - Ormus’ Robes
Gloves - Frostburn
Feet - Sandstrom Treks
Waist - Arachnid Mesh
Neck - Mara’s Kaleidoscope or Telling of Beads
Ring 1 - The Stone of Jordan
Ring 2 - Bul-Kathos’ Wedding Band
Unique Charms - Gheed’s Fortune, Hellfire Torch and Annihilus
Grand Charms - Entrapping Grand Charms of Balance
Small Charms - Shimmering Small Charms of Balance
Runewords - Enigma (Jah + Ith + Ber) and Lore (Ort+ Sol)
2) Chaos Runeword Assassin Build – This build focuses primarily on PVP
Recommended skill points
Shadow Master - 20 points
Fade - 20 points
Venom - 20 points
Claw Mastery - 20 points
Weapon Block - 1 points
Dragon Flight - 1 point
Blade Sentinel - 1 point
Burst of Speed - 1 point
Recommended weapons and equipment
Weapons - Bartuc’s Cut-Throat, Firelizard’s Talons or Stormlash
Shield - Moser’s Blessed Circle
Head - Stealskull or Vampire Gaze
Chest Amor - Natalya’s Shadow
Gloves - Soul Drainer or Trang-Oul’s Claws
Feet - Shadow Dancer
Waist - String of Ears or Verdungo’s Hearty Cord
Neck - Highlord’s Wrath
Ring 1 - Raven Frost
Ring 2 - Situational
Unique Charms - Gheed’s Fortune, Hellfire Torch, Annihilus
Grand Charms - Entrapping Grand Charms of Balance
Small Charms - Shimmering Small Charms of Balance
Runewords - Enigma (Jah + Ith + Ber), Chains of Honor (Dol+ Um + Ber+ Ist), and Treachery (Shael + Thul + Lem)
3) Bladesin – My all-time favorite build to play on the Assassin. There are so many opportunities and possibilities with this build. Below are the skill points that I invested into the respective trees: Shadow Disciplines and Traps.
Ultimately with the Bladesin, you want to Max out Blade Fury and Venom. Further on you can add additional points into Fade, at your discretion.
Weapon - ETH Death Berserker Axe or Last Wish
Shield - Phoenix
Head - Guillaume's Face
Chest Armor - Fortitude
Gloves - Steelrend or Laying of Hands
Feet - Gore Rider
Neck - Angelic Wings
Waist - Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Ring 1 - Raven Frost
Ring 2 - Angelic Halo
Charm 1 - Assassin Hellfire Torch
Charm 2 - Annihilus
Charm 3 - Any Charm with Maximum Damage, Attack Rating, and Life
Charm 4 - Trap Skiller Grand Charms with Life
Charm 5 - 10 Small Charms with Life, Resistances, Mana, or Faster Hit Recovery
(Related Article: Best Diablo 2 Resurrected Druid Builds)
Mercenary
If you are playing as the Trapsin I would recommend hiring the Defensive (Holy Freeze) Desert Guard Mercenary in Act 2, Nightmare Difficulty to slow enemies, allowing you to kill them with your traps easier. If you are playing as the Bladesin, I would rather opt for the Offensive (Might) Desert Guard Mercenary instead, to improve the overall damage. You can give your Mercenary the Infinity weapon, Andariel’s Visage Helm and Fortitude Chest Armor to use.
Conclusion
Whether you want to slay a ton of enemies at once, lay traps for unsuspecting foes or go toe to toe with other players, the Assassin can do it all. It’s a pity that it’s not a more favored class because I personally would love to see the Assassin get more attention. It’s such a fun class to play. If you do not have an Assassin, go make one now. If you are in need of some D2R Ladder Items for your Assassin or need some power leveling done, you can come to us, or read: Diablo 2 Resurrected Best Leveling Guide.
Diablo II: Resurrected is currently playable on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and even the Nintendo Switch.