Bladesin Build

Although rarely played, the Blade Assassin can actually become a decent character when geared appropriately. One difficulty for players to handle is the time lag before Blade Fury begins to shoot, requiring a little bit of positional knowledge and skill. Otherwise, Bladesins are decent boss killers due to their fast attack speed when combined with plenty of % Chance of Crushing Blow.

• 1 point to all prerequisites

• 20 points to Blade Fury — Main damage skill, required

• 20 points to Blade Sentinel — Synergy and Damage, required

• 20 points to Blade Shield — Synergy and Damage, required

• 20 points to Venom — Increases overall damage, required

• 1 point to Mind Blast — Conversion and crowd control, required

• 1 point to Cloak of Shadows — crowd control, required

• 1+ points to Fade — Increased Resistances and Physical damage reduction, required

• 20 points to Death Sentry — Useful for blowing up dead corpses and dealing area of effect damage, required

The following section discusses how many attribute points should be allocated to each of the primary stats.

How much Strength Does a Bladesin Need?

Enough for gear — For a Bladesin using a Spirit Monarch, this will be 156 Strength as that is usually the highest Strength requirement for commonly used gear. If choosing to use another shield or claws with lower Strength requirements, then just adjust your Strength to that value. This number always changes based on the gear you are using, though, so make sure to always double check the requirements for each piece of gear you have as well as how much Strength each piece will provide once equipped.

How much Dexterity Does a Bladesin Need?

Enough for gear, which should be around 150. Dexterity is also great for increasing your Block Chance, but if you are not planning on maxing it out completely, Dexterity is not worth investing into over Vitality; its return for Attack Rating and Defense are insignificant at best.

How much Vitality Does a Bladesin Need?

Everything else into Vitality; 250+ points. Every excess attribute point should be allocated to Vitality, as long as you can meet the Strength and Dexterity requirements of your items by the time you wish to equip them. Not only does this increase your Life total, but this also increases the chance for Healing Potions to crit, doubling their healing output. Further, additional Life reduces the chance that you will be put into hit recovery.

How much Energy Does a Bladesin Need?

Nothing. Allocating attribute points to Energy in a final build is universally considered sub-par for almost every character due to the widespread availability of Mana Potions. While leveling, if you find yourself struggling with Mana you can allocate a few points to Energy that you can then remove with a respec later on.

You can either hire a Defensive (Holy Freeze) or Offensive (Might) Desert Guard Mercenary in Act 2, Nightmare difficulty, depending on whether you want to slow monsters for added safety or improve the overall damage of your Mercenary.

• Weapon: Pride or Infinity

• Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude

• Helm: Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune