Assassin Build Guide for Diablo 2 Resurrected Lightning Trap Assassin. This is anEnd Game Assassin Buildthat can get you throughNightmareand evenHellDifficulty in Diablo 2 Resurrected. If you are looking for anEnd Game Assassin Build, then this Guide is for you.
Diablo 2 Resurrected Assassin Build | Lightning Trap
While playing the Lightning Trap Assassin in Diablo 2 Resurrected, your objective will be to move around the battlefield quickly laying traps that will destroy your enemies for you. You’ll be using theLightning Sentry Trap, which shoots lightning bolts that pierce through enemies and deal very high damage, and theDeath Sentry Trap, which explodes enemy corpses as well as firing lightning bolts.
This Diablo 2 Assassin Build is intended to be used forNightmareandHelldifficulties starting around around Lvl 40. you may start the game with this build, but I personally recommend you use ourFire Trapper Buildinstead, and then respec into this one. If you are already playing and want to respec into this build though, the easiest way to do it is by claiming theDen of Evilreward fromAkaraat the Rogue Encampment. You’ll get 3 respecs (1 for each difficulty) and you’ll need to be on the same difficulty to reclaim them.
Assassin Build Guide Stats | Lightning Trap
Like most Builds in Diablo 2 Resurrected, ourStatsdistribution will focus on assigning enough points into Strength to meet equipment requirements, and then assigning everything else into Vitality to gain as much Life as possible.
Having aHellfire Torchand anAnnihiluswill greatly reduce your stat investment into Strength. These unique charms provide between +10-20 to all Attributes and +10-20 to all Elemental Resistances. Having both in your inventory will save you between 20 and 40 stats points that you can spend into Vitality, greatly increasing your health pool. The additional passive resistances will also allow you to depend less on +All Resistances equipment, opening up more options.
If you don’t have a Hellfire Torch or an Annihilus yet, I strongly recommend that you get them as soon as you may. Perfect rolled ones are very expensive, but you can get bad rolled ones for very affordable prices. Make sure to get a low roll when you are starting off and then upgrade it when you have enough money.
Assassin Build Guide Skills | Lightning Trap
The Lightning Trap Assassin focuses on theTrap Skill Tree, but you’ll also need to spend some points into theShadow Disciplines Tree. You’ll use the following Skills when playing this Diablo 2 Resurrected Assassin Build:
Lightning Sentry
This Sentry periodically fires lightning bolts that pierce through enemies in a straight line dealing very high lightning damage. It can shoot up to 10 times, at which point it will explode.
You can only have 5 traps of any type active at the same time, so ideally, you’ll want to cast 4x Lightning Sentry and 1x Death Sentry per battle. Be aware that you might need to re-cast them if they ran out of shots.
Death Sentry
Similar to Lightning Sentry, this trap periodically fire Lightning Bolts, but additionally, it will explode nearby enemy corpses dealing 40% to 80% of the corpse life as both physical and fire damage in a large AoE.
This trap usually creates a chain reaction where as soon as an enemy dies and explodes, all enemies start dying to subsequent explosions. Since enemy' health pools are greatly increased with each difficulty, the corpse explosion only gets better as you progress further into the game.
Burst of Speed
This Spell increases both your Movement Speed and Attack Speed. Different to other Skills, traps are not affected by Faster Cast Rate but their cast speed is affected by Attack Speed instead. This means that a higher Attack Speed will mean more traps laid in less amount of time. The extra movement speed provided by this skill is very useful as well, allowing you to quickly travel through the map, or run in circles while enemies die to your traps.
You might have noticed that I didn’t assign any points intoFadefor this guide. The reason for this is that you can’t use Fade in combination with Burst of Speed. Since you need the Attack Speed, this is the best option.
Mind Blast
This is one of the best crowd control skills in the game. When used, it stuns enemies around a medium AoE and has a chance to convert them into your allies.
While stunned, enemies won’t attack and will remain still. Additionally, converted enemies will lure enemy attention, allowing you to lay down traps from safety.
If you find yourself having trouble with an area at any point in the game, just swap to this skill and constantly cast it over your enemies while your traps finish them off.
Shadow Master
This skill summons a Shadow Ally that will randomly use Assassin skills to buff itself or to help you fight against enemies. Similar to other summons, you’re able to cast it as many times as you want.
The most relevant thing about this summon, is that its Elemental Resistances are not affected by difficulty level and they don’t have a 75% cap as players do. Because it can cast Assassin’s abilities, when your Shadow uses theFade Skillit might end up with more than 100% elemental resistances, making it immune to all elemental damage types. This makes it into one of the tankiest summons in the game, making it a perfect meat shield for this build.
Level 40 Assassin Skill Distribution
Since this guide begins at Lvl 40, you’ll want to first focus on your Lightning Sentry and Death Sentry, and then work towards completing Charged Bolt Sentry and Shock Web as each of them increases your Lightning Sentry damage. Once those are maxed, you can then spend the rest of your points into Shadow Master.
You should have around 43 skill points at lvl 40 (39 from levels, and 4 from Quests). You should have your Skills placed in the following manner:
LEVEL 40 ASSASSIN SKILLS
Points Spent
Fire Blast (Pre-Requisite)
Shock Web (Pre-Requisite)
Charged Bolt Sentry (Pre-Requisite)
Claw Mastery (Pre-Requisite)
Psychic Hammer (Pre-Requisite)
Weapon Block (Pre-Requisite)
Cloak of Shadows (Pre-Requisite)
Shadow Warrior (Pre-Requisite)
Level 90 Assassin Skill Distribution
At level 90 you should have 101 skill points to distribute, 89 from Levels and 12 from Quests, and they should look like this:
LEVEL 90 ASSASSIN SKILLS
Budget Equipment | Lightning Trap Assassin
It’s important to note that Traps act as separate entities from the Assassin, meaning that equipment that provide +Damage, +Lightning Damage, -Resistances and any other category won’t have any kind of effect on your traps.
For this reason, you’ll want to get as much as +Skills as possible, as it’s the best way to increase your trap damage. For the rest of your equipment you’ll want to focus on maxing out resistances.
When you are starting off you’ll obviously have less gear, so here are some cheapRunewordsand Unique items that you can use while you search for better gear.
When it comes to gloves you’ll want to focus on defensive stats such as Life and Resistances.
For the belt you’ll want something with Life and Resistances.
You’ll want to search for Faster Run/Walk speed on your boots as well as Resistances and Life.
You’ll want to search for rings that have life, stats and resistances.
attempt to find an amulet that provides Stats, Health, resistances or +Assassin Skills or +Traps.
For charm’s you’ll mainly want to look for +Life, +Mana and +Trap Skills.
Optional Equipment | Lightning Trap Assassin
Once you are reaching max level you’ll want to start searching for the following equipment to complete your character.
Harlequin Crest (Unique):The +2 to all skills is great for our damage output and the extra life, mana, and the damage reductions it provides helps with survivability. If you can afford a Cham rune, then you can socket it here to avoid being Frozen.
Heart of the Oak (Runeword): This weapon provides +3 to all skills as well as +All Resistances. If you have Enigma equipped, the Faster Cast Rate will greatly increase the speed at which you’re able to use Teleport.
Spirit (Runeword):This shield provides +2 to all skills and +25-35% FCR. It also provides many defensive stats such as Elemental Resistances, Faster Hit Recovery and Vitality.
If you are having trouble finding a 4 slot shield, just find aMonarch Shieldwhich can usually be found at the start of Hell Difficulty, and take it toLarzukafter completing theSiege on Harrogathquest.
Call To Arms (Runeword)+Spirit Shield (Runeword)– TheCall to Arms Runewordprovides you with theBattle CommandandBattle Ordershouts which are great buffs.
Enigma (Runeword): This armor provides +2 to all Skills as well as a lot of strength and life. In addition, it provides you with the Teleport spell which allows you to quickly navigate through the map.
Arachnid Mesh (Unique): This belt provides and +1 to all skills increasing our damage output. The additional mana and FCR come very handy as well.
When it comes to boots you have a few of different options:
2xStone of Jordan: These rings provide +Skills as well as increasing your maximum mana.
For charm’s you’ll mainly want to look for +Life, +Mana and + Skills.
What Mercenary to Select & Gear to Use
You’ll want to get theAct 2 Holy Freeze Mercenary(from Act 2 Nightmare) for this build. TheHoly FreezeAura is great for dealing with large crowds of enemies.
When it comes to equipment, you’ll want to get anInfinty Runewordfor the weapon, aFortitude Runewordfor the Armor andAndarie’s Visagefor the helmet.
TheInfinity Runewordis very important for this build, as it greatly Reduces enemy’s lightning resistances, allowing you to even kill lightning immune enemies.
Final Tips
When fighting in smaller spaces, you might have difficulties staying away from your enemies while your traps finish them off. If this happens, just use Mind Blast to stun them as enemies tend to be together during these situations.
Make sure to keep casting your traps during fights as they can quickly run out of ammo and explode. The Death Sentry has only 5 shots so keep an eye on it at all times.
attempt to cast your traps close together to maximize damage and lure your enemies close to them. If your traps are far away from each other they’ll take much longer to kill enemies
Remember to use Mind Blast against enemies that are giving you trouble or against large crowds.
If you cast your Shadow Master in town it will usually buff itself, making it much tankier during fights.
Stay tuned for moreDiablo 2 Build Guides, and be sure to check out ourDiablo 2 Resurrected Wikifor more information about the game!
