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| Phoenix-Hawk |
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| 2. Burst of Speed,
Fade, Venom, and Weapon Block | 8/22/2004
00:00:00 PM GMTST |
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Burst of Speed, Fade, Venom and Weapon Block:
While Weapon Block is passive and always on when equipped with two claws and at least one point in this skill prior to 1.10 you had to choose between Burst of Speed, Fade and Venom. Weapon Block is unchanged but in the case of the other three you can now have Venom on at all times, it's just Burst of Speed and Fade you can't have on at the same time as each other. So with two claws you can be using Weapon Block to block some attacks that defeat your defence, Venom to add to your damage and either Burst of Speed or Fade at the same time.
Diminishing Returns
Burst of Speed, Fade and Weapon Block are very useful skills but after a few skill points they don't help you very much. Now that we have synergy skills to worry about putting too many points into a skill that does not help other skills and gives little benefit is something you should avoid. Over the course of the game you're bound to pick up some +skill items so put in as many points as is useful then let those +skill items do the rest.
Burst of Speed
This is pretty straight forward, when active you be able to move and attack more quickly and that is always good, particularly for the physical damage geared builds.
You do not need to invest too much in this one to get the full use out of it though. I'd suggest three actual points in then let +skill items do the rest for melee builds. You shouldn't completely rely on Burst of Speed for your increased attack speed and movement rate though, get other times that help those out as well.
See the "Assassin Attack Speed Notes & Reference" post for more info regarding attack speeds and related tips.
Fade
For melee builds Burst of Speed will generally be what you'll be using most of the time but for your typical range builds Burst of Speed does not help too much so Fade would be the personal aura of choice. This will increase your resistance, decreases the lengths of curses and also gives an unlisted 1% physical damage reduction bonus per skill level. While melee builds will be using Burst of Speed most of the time that does not mean you should completely ignore Fade, if you don't have enough resistance gear popping on Fade instead of Burst of Speed at times will mean you attack and move more slowly but it could save you which even in non-hardcore games can be important considering the experience point loss and slow experience gains in higher levels.
Typically about five points in here will do it for builds that will be using it most to all the time. If it's for a melee build and you haven't managed to collect much in the way of resistance gear a couple points or so here might not be a bad idea if you have the points to spare.
Weapon Block
This is just for those using two claws, for the rest it's just a prerequisite for Shadow Warrior and Shadow Master. To see the merits and draw backs of both dual claw and claw shield check the "Dual Claw vs Claw & Shield" post from earlier on in this thread.
For builds using this skill about five actual points in it and then letting +skill items do the rest generally seems the way to go.
Venom
Venom adds poison damage to your physical attacks, even kicks (currently it only displays this in the character info screen with Dragon Tail but you do add poison damage with the others when active). As more points go in the added damage you get per skill level goes up 5 points every eight levels by the looks of it (you get +15 per level after level 1, then +20 per level after level 8 and +25 per level after level 16, likely goes up to +30 per level after level 24 and proceeds in this same manner). Basically any build other than trappers that only use elemental traps can make good use of this skill. The key here is not the damage but the duration, if the damage was 400 then if you just keep swing away with a fast attack rate that works out to 1000 poison damage per second due to the short 0.4 duration this skill uses. This can be helpful with physical immunes and works with all the blade skills (although at reduced damage levels according to the damage percentage of the blade skill).
Put in as much as you need, generally it's a 0 or 20 point skill though but you don't need to be in a big rush to level it if there are other good skills to boost.
Last Edit: Jan., 22/2004 |
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