Heather's Guide to the Shadow Knight

Introduction: What is a Shadow Knight and why should I make one?

Hi, my name is Heather, and I am an Assassin addict. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/shuriken.gif

Back in the summer of 2004, after playing around with a Passion phase blade and taking a look at the non-paladin zeal breakpoint tables, I developed a build that I dubbed the "Shadow Knight" -- an assassin, largely focused in the Shadow Discipline skills, who uses the Zeal oskill granted by the "Passion" runeword as her main attack. I expected it to be a relatively underpowered variant, and decided to solo Hell as a challenge to see how viable the build actually was.

As it turned out, Knight_Shadow's success blew me away. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

I've now decided to condense my experiences with my favourite character of all time into a build guide.

There are many reasons to want to try a Shadow Knight.

• She can go anywhere and kill anything. Soloing hell up to the Chaos Sanctuary was easy going, and even after that point it was quite manageable.
• She can go anywhere and kill anything more safely than just about any other melee build. With the sheer number of tools at her disposal, there is no situation that a well built Shadow Knight cannot handle, with the possible exception of the dreaded Lag Monster.
• And most importantly, she is, hands down, one of THE most fun characters to play, ever. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif (Don't believe me? Try one and see.)
• Oh, and she gets mad style points. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif

Much ado about breakpoints and base weapon speed (or, let's get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way)

The tables look a bit ugly, but the information is useful.

General assassin breakpoints for easy reference

Assassin Hit Recovery Breakpoints

FHR	Hit Recovery Speed in frames
0	9
7	8
15	7
27	6
48	5
86	4
200	3

Assassin Blocking Breakpoints

FBR	Block Speed in frames
0	5
14	4
32	3
86	2
600	1

(The information for both of these is pretty widely available, but I happened to take it from diabloii.net's tables.)

Zeal speed

I am not going to list every possible breakpoint for every possible base weapon speed here, because I am going to assume that you are sensible and want a sensible zeal speed and are planning on making your runeword in something with a sensible base speed. If you want to make "Passion" in a legendary mallet or thunder maul, be my guest, but you can work out the math yourself since you're no doubt going to be using BoS.

How to do the math yourself

1. Use the tables below to figure out what EIAS you need to reach your desired breakpoint.
2. Take that number, and add your weapon speed modifier as it appears on the Arreat Summit. For instance, if you are using a Legendary Mallet, add 20 to your number from step 1. If you are using a Phase blade, subtract 30 (okay, add -30 if you still want to call it addition).
3. Take your number from step two, and subtract any IAS you are getting from Burst of Speed, Fanaticism, etc. For instance, if you are running level 7 BoS, (which gives a 41% attack speed bonus) subtract 41 from your total. If the result is zero or negative, you've already reached your breakpoint.
4. If the result from step three is positive, look it up here in the EIAS to IAS conversion table. This will tell you how much IAS you need from equipment to reach your breakpoint.
5. Since "Passion" comes with 25 IAS already, subtract 25 from your total from step 4 to see how much more you need.

Example:

I want to zeal with a Legendary Mallet, a one handed swinging weapon.

I need 75 EIAS to reach a 4-frame zeal attack. I take 75 and add 20 for the Legendary Mallet's base speed. (running total: 95)

I will be running level 11 BoS. I subtract 46 from my total. (running total: 49)

I look up 49 in the EIAS to IAS conversion table, and discover that I need 83 IAS to reach my goal. I subtract 25 from 83 and find that I need 58 more IAS from elsewhere in my gear even running BoS.

I decide to use a Phase Blade instead. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

Zeal attack speed tables

As I said, I'm not going to include every possible breakpoint. Zeal is a multi-hit attack and therefore needs to be reasonably fast, so I'm only going to include base weapon speeds that you're actually likely to want to use. I'm also only going to give you numbers that are useful. If you need 175% IAS on top of what you get from the runeword, you're not going to want to do it, so I'm not going to bother listing it.

All information here is taken from this post in the "Amazon Zeal Attack Speed" thread in the tech archives, one of the most useful threads ever. If you really want to know how fast you would zeal with -20 EIAS or with one handed thrusting weapons (none of which can get four sockets so it's kind of irrelevant), look here.

These lists assume you are not running BoS and have no handly source of fanaticism, and tell you how much IAS you need on top of the 25% you already get from the "Passion" runeword in order to reach a given breakpoint for zeal "follow-up" speed (i.e. the rate at which the zeal attacks happen, not the starting/ending animations).

1-handed swinging weapons

Any one handed weapon that can get four sockets falls into this category, so unless you are making a two handed Knight, this is the information you want.

Base speed -30 (phase blade)

• 5 frame zeal out of the box
• 4 frame zeal with 47 additional IAS

Base speed -10 (war spike, scourge, caduceus, cryptic sword)

• 6 frame zeal out of the box
• 5 frame zeal with 17 additional IAS
• 4 frame zeal with 117 additional IAS (approaching the limits of feasability here)

Base speed 0 (berserker axe, conquest sword)

• 6 frame zeal out of the box
• 5 frame zeal with 38 additional IAS

Base speed 10 (small crescent, ettin axe)

• 7 frame zeal out of the box
• 6 frame zeal with 10 additional IAS
• 5 frame zeal with 64 additional IAS

2-handed swords

Base speed -10 (champion sword)

• 9 frame zeal out of the box
• 8 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with 55 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 77 additional IAS

Base speed -5 (highland blade)

• 9 frame zeal out of the box
• 8 frame zeal with 21 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with 70 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 90 additional IAS

Base speed 0 (balrog blade)

• 10 frame zeal out of the box
• 9 frame zeal with 4 additional IAS
• 8 frame zeal with 31 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with 88 additional IAS
• 7 frame zeal with fastest start/end animation with 117 additional IAS

Base speed 5 (colossus blade)

• 10 frame zeal out of the box
• 9 frame zeal with 12 additional IAS
• 8 frame zeal with 43 additioanl IAS
• 7 frame zeal with 108 additioanl IAS

Base speed 10 (colossus sword)

• 11 frame zeal out of the box
• 10 frame zeal with 2 additioanl IAS
• 9 frame zeal with 21 additioanl IAS
• 8 frame zeal with 55 additioanl IAS

Building a Shadow Knight

Well, here's the quick and dirty version: take one assassin, add a "Passion" runeword melee weapon, and there you go.

If you want some tips on making an effective, zealot-optimized build, though, please read on.

Stats

Here's the easy part. Build her like you'd build most characters.

Strength: enough for gear. If you play softcore, be careful that you're not "strength tiering" so much that you can't equip your corpse properly.
Dexterity: enough to maintain max block with your end game shield of choice. This will also help your AR. This assumes you are using a shield of course. If you decide to go two-handed, then only enough to equip your gear, and be prepared to work hard to raise your chance to hit in other ways.
Vitality: everything else.
Energy: huh?

Skill choices

Well, your main attack skill, Zeal, and one of your backup skills, Berserk, are both coming as an oskill on your weapon. This leaves a lot of points to devote to crowd control and utility skills. And that, of course, is a Good Thing, because an assassin has all sorts of fun and deadly tricks in her arsenal. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif

Recommended must-haves

From the Martial Arts Tree:

Dragon Flight - 1 point
This is a utility skill all melee assassins should have. Its label of finishing move is kind of a misnomer, since you really use it to begin a series of attacks, not end one, but whatever (yeah I know it's because it releases charge-ups, it's still silly). Besides the fun and style points of telekicking into a mob, it can be a valuable safety tactic for closing the gap with ranged attackers, or for a quick escape option if you leave a few live critters behind you. It's also nice for mobility if you're in an area full of archers or quill rats and you want to walk to maintain your max block rate.

From the Traps Tree:

Blade Fury - 1 point
This gives you what most other melee builds would kill for: a ranged attack for when you don't want to get up close and personal with no need for a weapon change.

Death Sentry - 1-20 points
Because blowing stuff up is fun and helps take down groups quickly. At least one point here is a must especially if you plan on playing with Nihlathak on anything like a regular basis. Add more points to increase the corpse explosion radius. If you really want, you can rely on a shadow master to cast it for you, but you've got the points to spend so cast it yourself to spam before and during an engagement with a mob.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

Shadow Master/Warrior - to taste
It's nice to have a friend to pack a bit of punch and distract nasty things that would otherwise be attacking you. I like the Master, but others enjoy the more controllable Warrior. I won't attempt to make any arguments either way, just pick your minion of choice and build her to a sufficient level that you're happy with her. I personally prefer a maxed, level 30+ master, but YMMV.

Fade - 1-20 points
This keeps your resists up and gives you 1% of physical damage reduction per level for whatever level it is cast at. Even if you decide to skimp on points and use Treachery, at least 1 point plus adders is nice to get that initial Fade up before the chance to cast kicks in. Personally I recommend 5-15 hard points, to cast at a level of at least 15-20 after +skills, but if you really want to max your safety with the %damage reduction, max it. You have the points to spare with this build.

Cloak of Shadows - 1 or more points
For shutting down enemy AI. The -defense properties are also nice. You probably won't need to use it in a party, and your kill speed should be fast enough unless soloing in a high player count game that you probably don't want to increase the duration too high lest you be constantly outpacing your CoS timer, but if you're one of those who likes a high level of CoS, don't let me try to dissuade you. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

Mind Blast - 1 or more points
Crowd control, crowd control, crowd control. Need I say more? At least one point is a must unless you really really hate the monster conversion property, and pump it higher for a better stun duration.

Optional but useful

From the Traps Tree:

Blade Shield - 1 point or more (for duration)
Sadly, it's not really good for much. But it sure looks cool, and it only costs 1 point if you've already got blade fury.

Fire Blast - any multiple of 3 hard points
This is a prereq for Blade Fury and Death Sentry, and you won't actually be using it, but if you have points to burn, add a couple of extra to give Death sentry an extra shot per trap.

From the Shadow Disciplines Tree:

Burst of Speed - 1 point
You already have a point here as a prerequisite to Fade, but I'm putting it on the list becaues it's nice to have hotkeyed for getting where you want to go quickly. More than one point is not recommended even if you want to keep it running for the IAS boost, since 1 plus adders should still be sufficient for that.

Venom - 1 point or max
Its usefulness is debated, but unless you are worried about monster regen and don't have a handy source of Open Wounds, it doesn't hurt to at least throw a token point in for that extra bit of damage against non poison immunes. Max it if you like or leave it at one point plus adders or leave it alone altogether, there really isn't much point to anything in between.

Miscellaneous

One point plus adders in all skills
For beefing up your shadow minion's skill levels and/or for Shadow Warrior control.

Honorable mention prereq skills for early levels

From the Traps Tree

Blade Sentinel - 1 point
The frisbee is fun, reasonably effective at low levels, and a prerequisite to blade fury anyway, so it's worth a hotkey while you don't yet have all your skills using up all that valuable keyboard real estate.

Wake of Fire - 1 point
You'll never use it once you get Death Sentry (or probably for the last few levels before you get it either), but it owns the first few acts. Wonderful for the act 3 jungles in Normal.

Not very helpful

Lightning Sentry (or any other traps but Death Sentry and the blade skills)
You're a Shadow Knight, not a trapper. Get your prereq points and move on.

Any of the martial arts skills except for Dragon Flight
Unless you're putting points here to beef up or control your shadow, these aren't very useful to this build. If you want, you can use your 1 point shadow minion buffers/remote control buttons to help with leveling until you are able to weild your Passion, but other than that, the MA skills aren't very helpful to or even compatible with a zealing or berserking assassin's play style.

Claw Mastery and Weapon Block
Well it's pretty obvious, but since I want to be thorough here it is. You can't make the "Passion" runeword in a claw, so get your prereq points and move on. The only claws you'll be using are +skills claws for buffing your fade/venom/shadow.

Whichever shadow minion you don't use
Pick one and go with it, don't waste points in the other. There is one situation where it is helpful to use the warrior even if your main minion is the master, but even there you don't need more than 1 plus adders to cast her.

Equipment

Ah, what build guide would be complete without the list of Phat Lewt with which to adorn your creation? (Well, maybe a "totally-n00d" guide, but it was meant to be a rhetorical question.) Before I get into the obligatory dropping of item names though, I'd like to cover some basic considerations.

The 5 S's

1. Speed. Consider the base speed of your weapon, and how much IAS you will need from your gear to reach the speed you want.
2. Skills. In order to get a five-strike zeal attack, you need at least slvl 4 zeal, which means getting at least +3 all skills (not +assassin skills, not +paladin skills) from your items. Theoretically you could make your "Passion" runeword in an item with a +zeal staffmod, but good luck getting that to happen. http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif
3. Safety. As useful as the assassin's skills are at managing the battlefield, this is still a melee class, and so glass cannon couture is not "the in thing" on a build like this, even in softcore. Resists, blocking, fast hit recovery, life, damage reduction, leech, elemental absorb if you have it, all are important things to have.
4. Strike. A bit of a silly word for it, but I needed something that started with "S" to go with the theme. What I mean is having damage to deliver (of various kinds), and being able to deliver it (i.e. chance to hit). If you've played a character before that didn't have much in the way of skill-based AR boosts, you know that it will take some work to be able to hit things in hell.
5. Style. Different people place different emphasis on this. If you're one of those people willing to be seen pairing a dusk shroud with Guillaume's Toaster Face on an assassin, then this probably isn't much of a priority. To many of us though, it is a very important consideration.

1-handed vs. 2-handed and other base weapon considerations

To be added

To trech or not to trech

"Treachery" or "trech" as it is sometimes called, is a lovely little runeword introduced in 1.11 that costs a relatively modest shael-thul-lem. It gives +2 assassin skills as well as some other tasty mods, most notably 45 IAS and chance to cast level 15 Fade when struck.

Could a Shadow Knight use it? Sure. The IAS boost is great for zeal, and the chance to cast fade and venom would free up skill points for other things. But it's not necessarily the best choice for this build. It's godly for a non-assassin melee or ranger build, and awesome for a skill-point-starved assassin build like an MA sin or a trapper, but my view is that the Shadow Knight has the skills to spare that she might as well put in the points and use an armor that has more helpful melee mods like crushing blow, open wounds, stat boosts, etc.

My opinion only of course, though -- your proverbial mileage may vary. Feel free to try Treachery with your Shadow Knight, but be conscious of how choosing it will affect your skill point distribution, which is why I made a special note of it here (no reason to invest more than one point in Fade, for instance).

Playing strategies: the art of Knighthood

Handling anything the game can throw at you: the Shadow Knight soloing in Hell

Stair traps

No well-prepared assassin should need to fear visiting the Countess tower, Ruined Temple, or any other "high risk of ambush" location. The secret to surviving stair traps is to stun everything before your screen even loads. How do you do this? Easy!

Remember how earlier I said there was a situation where the shadow warrior was useful even for those who normally use the master? This is that situation. If you put mind blast on your right mouse button and take a shadow warrior down the stairs with you, she will immediately spam it at anything lying in wait, before you can even see what's there. Cloak of shadows also works nicely for this. The warrior doesn't need to be a high level as she only needs to survive long enough for you to get your bearings -- once any potential ambush hazards are taken care of, you can switch back to the master.

This trick, incidentally, makes an assassin the ideal party member to be the first to enter a potentially trapped area.

It's also a trick that I can take no credit for whatsoever. I learned it from this thread in the assassin room, which is highly recommended reading no matter what kind of assassin you are playing.

Ranged Attackers

In most areas, cloak of shadows will be all that's necessary to shut down the AI of ranged critters. In large open regions with high densities of spread-out monsters, though, like the siege areas of act V when they are crawling with quill rats and burning dead archers, this may not be sufficient as you will no doubt constantly be waking up more attackers at the edges of your cloak radius.

To deal with this, turn off run. When you are walking, you have full blocking. If you don't have a shield... well you might want to consider using one here if you have enough dex to give you even a halfway decent chance to block. Use dragon flight frequently to close the gap with those annoying ranged mobs. And do use CoS when you are able. A shadow warrior (rather than master) will help keep it cast if you put CoS on the right mouse button.

Dolls and FE's

Some creatures are just meant to be handled from a safe distance -- nasty explosive death-pops are not the bane of melee fighters for nothing. Happily, the Shadow Knight has no need to melee if she does not wish to. Cloak and mind blast to stop those scary little ankle biters from rushing, and pick them off at your leisure with blade fury, smug in the knowledge that most other zealots would give an arm and a leg for a ranged attack that only costs a hotkey and four skill points (including prereqs) instead of a weapon switch.http://www.theamazonbasin.com/d2/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Credits

Heather Fleming, July 2006. Some information taken from this thread in the Assassin Forum, May-July 2004.