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SoujiroSeta wrote:

Name: Akihiko Sanada
Character and Lvl: 71 Shadow

Playstyle: Eternal Leech 2 face lightning assassin shadow. Offense is my best defense.


Auras: Vitatlity, Grace, Discipline, Wrath.

Wrath - grace - vitality - reduced mana
Discipline - blood magic - reduced mana

1.7k hp (1.3 after blood magic), 30hp regen/sec, I have 3 modes of combat.


I use 2 styles, dual wield claws and wand + ES/EV shield.

Skills that stay constant in both modes:
Phase run
Spark - spell totem - elemental proliferation
Critical Weakness


Dual wield claw skills
Blood rage
Flicker strike - melee physical - increased critical damage
Dual strike - melee physical - increased critical damage - increased critical strikes
Devouring totem
Enfeeble

Backup skill - frenzy

29% dual wield block chance, 40% chance to evade, 2.4k energy shield


Wand + Shield
Power siphon - lesser multiple projectiles - increased critical damage
Arc - mana leech - increased critical strikes

29% block chance, 45% chance to evade, 2.7k energy shield


Gear that is constant

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Claws

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Wand + Shield
Unfortunately can't link them cause they are on weapon swap, but my wand is the unique moonsorrow imbued wand, and a 1.1k evasion 110 ES shield.




Style

• Dual wield claws

Note: Quality dual strike, and flicker are needed to increase crit chance. The more i crit, the better. Unfortunately quality bloodrage is bugged, so i'm missing out on 4% extra leech.

My main attack is dual strike. I have a total of 13% physical dmg leech. With dual strike, I gain 26% physical dmg leech. I have the unique claws essentia sanguis which give me ghost reaver.

I have 2 modes with claws. Blood rage active, and non blood rage. With blood rage I gain 5% physical leech per weapon ( :'( missing out on 7%) per weapon. Bringing dual strike to 36% physical dmg leech. My 30hp/sec regen is there to offset some of the chaos dmg being dealth to me when blood rage is active.


-Blood rage active

My 3rd and 4th flask are the flask i use the most in blood rage. Especially my 3rd which couldn't have been better. With my 3rd flask i gain an extra 2% physical damage leech per weapon when it's active. Bringing dual strike up to 40% physical leech when blood rage is active. My flasks recharge quickly since i crit often, so don't be afraid to use them.

When blood rage is active I can be very tanky. Coupled with enfeeble and devouring totem to the side for a little extra leech buffer, and i can seem almost impervious to elemental and physical dmg monsters. When my life reduces i use my 3rd flask to refill it. I deal so much physcial and leech back so much when i crit, that I can literally refill 3/4 my energy shield, and more, when i crit with dual strike. Attacking fast is also crucial. The faster i attack, the more damage i deal. The more damage i deal, the more i leech. Hence offense is my best defense.


-Blood rage inactive

This mode is best for maps with chaos damage monsters. I can also run chaos dmg map mods in this mode. I have less leech (26% compared to 36%), but my energy shield recharges when i run away, unlike with bloodrage active where i have to keep attacking to regain any lost energy shield or have devouring totem out refill my ES.

I have frenzy in an open slot for when non-bloodrage adventures are called for. This still allows me to use flicker. With bloodrage, i automatically gain frenzy charges after each kill.


Critical weakness is also a great curse for this mode as well. Spark totem shock stacks enemies and increases my kill speed. I evaluate every situation.

1. Monsters need to die fast, but i need to be a bit tanky: Spark totem + enfeeble curse (both modes). Or crit weakness + devouring totem (better with blood rage active)
2. I'm going to take a lot of hits and need to be as tanky as possible: devouring totem + enfeeble

Ofcourse bodies aren't always on the floor to be devoured, so enfeeble is my tanky spell. Coupled with my 29% chance to block, and 40% chance to evade, you start to see how helpful enfeeble is. I'm blocking and evading so many attacks while leeching back so much more. Hence the tag "eternal leech". At times it feels like my energy shield goes on forever.

I also use phase run to attack. Heck most of the time i forget i can use it for movement and end up running slowly around the place. Phase run gives me 66% extra melee damage. When i'm attacking mobs i just activate it and either flicker or dual strike. When i crit with phase run active on dual strike (with both weapons) i can go from 0 to 100% es, and i'm not joking either. I also use phase run on necros or certain targets in mobs that need to be eliminated. That depends on the risk/reward ofcourse, but don't be afraid to activate it while bein surrounded by enemies and dual strike/flikcer. The extra physical, which gives more leech, will save you many times.

As you can see, with claws i only have single target skills (hence to assassive style), and my only crowd control is spark totem, but devouring totem is more important in this mode for leech.

• Wand + shield

Even with all that leech, I know my limits. This is my "when things go wrong with claws" or I need some crowd control mode. This mode is also the best at handling chaos dmg. Even my non-bloodrage active claw mode can find maps with heavy chaos dmg mobs troublesome.


I only have access to spark totem, and spark totem is strongest in this mode. Moonsorrow imbued wand increases lightning and spell dmg, which increase spark totem's and arc's damage. Critical weakness is the only curse in this mode as well, and is the best.

I play a range-keep away style. I cast spark totem to the side, curse the enemy with crit weakness, and generate power charges with power siphon. When i have 3 charges, then i use Arc. My 4th adn 5th flask are used the most in this mode. Spark totem shock stacks all the enemies, and arc deals 120% more damage. My crit multiplier for spells is at 240%, with the extra dmg from moonsorrow, and 120% from shock stacks, spark and arc get the job done.

This mode is not as powerful as my claw mode, and i don't have ghost reaver, but it's style of play gives me the most survivability. I purposely don't use bloodrage as this mode is not good with it.



The power charges gained from my wand and shield also benefit my claw mode. I can do some crowd control in wand and shield, then switch to claws. With the increased crit chance, i have over 40% chance to crit with claws. If the enemy is cursed with crit weakeness, my crit chance with claws go over 50% for dual strike. The more i crit, the more dmg i deal. The more dmg i deal the more i leech. The more i leech, the more my energy shield seems to never end. Lol, my playstle tagline starts to make a lot more sense now doesn't it. The more offensive i am, the better.

• Conclusion

Each mode comes with it's perks and disadvantages:

Blood rage claws
-Very tanky. Can take the most damage, and sometimes is the only way to survive.
-Increased attack speed, and free frenzy charges for flicker.
-Losing life, which is offset with life regen and flask.
-Not very good when facing many chaos monsters, and can't be used in maps with chaos dmg mods

Non-blood rage claws
-life regen, can handle chaos dmg monsters. Can play chaos mod maps
-Energy shield recharges when i run away. Not losing life.
-Less leech, which is crucial at times for up close combat. Leech is still very good, but the extra from blood rage makes a big difference.

Wand + Shield
-Highest survivability. More energy shield, and more evasion + ranged style
-Best at handling chaos dmg of all types
-Crowd control
-Not as much dmg as claws, not even close. Sometimes some enemies have to die quickly, which can be troublesome.
-Although i have more evasion and more energy shield, due to lack of ghost reaver, i can't take as many hits as i can in claw mode. I can get surrounded when using claws and my leech can offset the damage i'm taking from all angles. This mode you want to get out when monsters jump you from all sides.


This creates a very fun and versatile character, with an on the fly playstyle that is engaging at all times :).