Overview
A comprehensive guide about Null Rod Assassin.
Overview
Welcome back, Inquisitors~
I know I should’ve come up with a more genuine name than Space Monk. Leave a comment what do you think is a more proper title to the ultimate stick-beating killing machine~
For millennia, Null Rod has been the most underrated weapon for Assassin class. On one hand, we have giant guns, badass swords, deadly scythes doing the Emperor’ s work. So why the heck are you bringing a stick to a gunfight? Dear young padawan, as a wise kungfu master used to say: “a stick in the hand of a master is stronger than a thousand swords”, I’ll tell you today the secrets of the masters.
Note: This is NOT a beginner build. Many things down here takes a lot of time and credits to achieve, and proper user’s skills to use it to its full potential. Nevertheless, when you master it, it’s really amongst the strongest builds for all contents.
Build in action – UC 23 min
I messed up at 23 min but you can easily do 30 min with this build, which is the max for this patch before you crash.
The weapon: Null Rod
The Null Rod, while being criminally underused, has the potential of being the strongest Multi-target weapon amongst melee assassin’s choices, while also apply tons of debuffs in the process. It is also the only Anti-psyker weapon in the game which fills a very unique niche.
Let’s look at all of the weapon’s skill:
Null Strike – 0.8 sec cd
242 DMG. 303 DPS.
Single Target.
Anti-psyker. Stun. Shock.
Wide Strike – 2 sec cd
220 DMG. 110 DPS.
Multi-Target (Cone-Wide).
Blind.
Null Wave – 4 sec cd
330 DMG. 83 DPS.
Multi-Target (Path).
Knockback. Restrain.
Annullment – 6 sec cd
264 DMG. 44 DPS.
Multi-Target (AoE-Large).
Knockdown. Knockback. Cellrot. Anti-psyker
At first glance, the skills are very underwhelming when compared to other weapon’s skills. All skills have high cd and low dps. Nevertheless, if you COMBINE them together, the cd PERFECTLY line up to become a deadly combo. That’s right. This is not your typical spam 1 button weapon. You HAVE to use all the skills, and more, to achieve its utmost potential. When combining them together, each skill has the HIGHEST raw damage, while also having some sorts of AoE that will hit multiple targets.
Your rotation is quite simple actually: Most of the time, you wouldn’t even need your left click. Start with Wide Strike > Null Wave > Annulment > Rinse and repeat. The cd will be ready each time your combo is done, ready to be used again, especially when you spec into some cd reduction skills that I will show you later. This way, you WILL have the highest DPS among assassin class, even for single target.
Specifically, 2 Relic affixes that you absolutely need for this build to work:
Successfully deflected attack gives you 100 suppression and enemies lose 50 supression.
We have tons of debuffs that we need to apply. Yet, we have NO high suppression attack. This affix is needed not because we need to regen our suppression, but more importantly, it SHREDS enemy’s suppression just by you standing next to them. Especially strong in UC.
Each Killling blow heals an amount equal to the damage dealt.
Many weapons can use this. But Null Rod is THE BEST weapon to use this. Simply because each of our skill are high damage multiple target. Each hit you deal anything close to 1k damage to 2k-3k damage to multiple target. If you ever run out of health > Go pop a group, dealing 3k-5k damage total > full HP. This affix alone trivialize every other heals you’ll ever need.
A side note: other rolls you will need:
+25% damage everytime you deflect an attack. (per hand)
You deflect ALL THE TIME with this build. Free 50% damage right there.
+12% damage when surrounded (per hand)
As long as there are mroe than 3 creeps around you this skill will be activated. And no, you don’t have to stay in melee range even. As long as they are in medium range, they counts. You can also roll this on 2 signums as well, which adds up to +50% damage total when there are at least 3 creeps around.
(I couldn’t even finish rerolling both of them yet :(. Told ya it is an expensive build)
The monk’s robe: Fabricator Distortion Armor
This armour is just amazing. The ability to stop time helps you tremendously when trying to focus bosses, while gaining you surprise status. Remember, you don’t need to stand inside the bubble to gain Surprise buffs. It is 10 sec surprise buff regardless of where you are.
Extremely important affix to have as well:
Kills trigger a shock aura for 2 seconds.
This-is-just-broken. It basically makes everything standing next to you get a shock debuff if they have yellow suppression. Remember your weapon shreds suppression just by you standing close. These two combine together makes you the ultimate debuffer. Of course, for normal mobs, they will just get frozen when you stay next to them. The shock effect lasts for 2 seconds and they basically can’t move nor attack you. On top of it, many of the strongest buffs apply when the target is shocked/slowed/stunned. This opens up for you to target those weaknesses. As you can see, I roll +5% crit chance +10% crit strength against shocked targets on this armor as well.
The belt: Digital Weapon or Rosarius Force Field
Digital weapons: Gives you +30% crit. Use this for normal map/red map for faster clear speed
Rosarius force field: Makes you invincible for 5 sec. An absolute must for UC.
Try to roll +15% chance to drop supply on medium/elite kills. You can semi-spam digital weapon/rosarius force field on bosses.
Perks
Cull the weak: +50% damage against debuffed enemies.
(Take Nephrine Monger if you need more survivability and replace Cull the weak)
Hazard Stimulation: Best Adrenaline regen in the game.
Fluid Attack Strategy: +50% damage after each dodge. Simple damage boost.
Skill choice
Lots of skills. Prioritize Crit and Close combat tree first. Remember you can buy 2 skill points at Merciful Agony in the Chernobog System.
Crit tree: Basic stuffs. Take Berserker Rage if you don’t have the right relic weapon affix yet. Otherwise, you won’t need 1% health heal when you can literarily heal 100% HP from 1 shotting mobs.
Close combat tree: Take them all. See that +20% damage on slowed/shock target? YUM
AoE Tree: All your skills are AoE tag. Take all the damage increase for AoE skills.
If you didn’t unlock the Suppression tree: take the Movement tree to lower your cd. Also helps regenerate your armor skill.
If you already unlock the Suppression tree: Holy crap.. the entire tree is damn broken. Defiance reduces cd by 1 everytime you get hit. You never need any other cd reduction just by taking 1 point here. Evasive Manoeuvre helps you stay in the green all the time. Grim Resolves is taken for the DR, not damage. You kinda lack it as a squishy assassin.
Support: Master Ambusher further enhances your power during Surprise.
Hit Points: You will be regenerating a lot of Suppression from this build, up to 200+ suppression per dodge. Take Regenerative Bionics which will turn those into HP at a very good rate.
