Overview
An assassin build to take on 99% missions.
Intro
Pros:
- can (easily) do the most difficult missions in the game
- great mobility (berserk MS + high CDR 1 & 2)
- great damage (can get 4000%+ melee damage when low on life)
- great survivability (80/80/60/60/60 defense + 7K+ HP regen when low on life (w/o the inoc))
- great inoculator (massive healing)
- great armor skill (drastically boosts your survivability in certain situations)
- relatively easy to play (mainly because it has no weaknesses)
Cons:
- none
Philosophy
“Conan! What is best in life?”
“Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”
Remember the following:
- maximum damage
- enough defense to survive
- always think “usefulness” (this will weed out 90%+ of your options)
- SPECIALIZE (putting your time, effort, and resources into a single character allows you to strive for perfection, which is FAR more rewarding than variety/mediocrity)
- Always be tinkering. Even though my Sin is very strong, I’m still constantly experimenting and coming up with ways to make her better.
Perks
You can survive the higher difficulties without this, but it makes life a lot easier not having to worry about getting one-shot.
This is one of the most powerful defensive perks in the game.
80% DR (below 50%) is very useful.
The build revolves around this perk, and so it is the only real must-have of the lot.
May very well be the most powerful offensive perk in the game.
Attributes
More accuracy = more base damage = essential.
Having said that, you can mix it up a bit. Just don’t skimp on accuracy. A bit of deviation is acceptable; a lot is not.
Accuracy
Survival
I think Fluidity is bugged. It seems to give way more than 10% dodge.
Bloodlust
Items
Note: When I refer to an item/enchant/doctrine as a “must-have”, please keep in mind that my recommendation is context-dependent (ie, it’s a must-have for my particular build).
There are, however, a few absolute must-haves, such as the relic purity seal and relic inoculator (which are needed for their “+HP regeneration per Berserk token” enchant).
The knockback/knockdown resistance is HUGE. It’s a must-have.
The relic enchant is a useful secondary token generator; especially because it can activate both offensively and defensively.
The CDR soft/hard cap is 40/60. CDR = % damage multiplier.
The 20% efficiency to shock (reduces attack speed) is also useful.
This is the second (and last) source of knockback/knockdown resistance.
The combined 40% makes previously frustrating/difficult encounters (eg, shotgun Ogryn packs) relatively easy.
As for the (main implant) relic enchant, it is probably the most useful of the lot (for this particular build). Max tokens = essential.
The 1/2 purple/pink combo is a staple that is used by many in order to maximize their damage and hit the 150 breakpoint.
Finally, having just a 10% chance to reset our (very) long CD inoculator is enough to ensure it’s always up when needed.
This is a must-have. One of the two relic items that gives +HP regen per berserk token.
The relic enchant is a must-have, as it’s the build’s engine, reliably and quickly generating tokens at the higher difficulties.
The actual belt item is a matter of preference, but I find the teleporter to be generally useful (repositioning/mobility/dodge chance).
I went with an Ordinatus psalm-code in order to faster take down certain elites/champs (heavy armor becomes armor, and armor becomes no armor).
I would classify this relic armor as a must-have as well, only because of the % HP regen enchant.
The 200% doctrine provides “tons of damage”.
Another must-have. The second (and last) HP regen per berserk token item.
Blood Balm is a must-have. It makes initial token generation very easy, and it also helps during tougher fights.
The very long cooldown is offset by the main implant’s enchant (10% chance to reset inoculator cooldown on kill).
Neocore also recently (start of Season 3) fixed a bug that wouldn’t allow me (or, presumably, anyone who uses the same inoculator setup as me) to gain a charge from the supply boxes, so now, you shouldn’t ever run out.
I’d say the relic enchant is an absolute must-have. The 100% crit is very useful (boosts damage by a lot).
Sadly, though, this relic enchant can no longer be rolled (starting Season 3), so don’t waste your resources trying to get it (thanks to Mome Borogove for clearing this up).
I decided to go with a second 200% doctrine because…wait for it…”tons of damage”.
The relic enchant adds a general (meaning it affects all damage) vulnerability stack, essentially allowing you to apply a max of 20 (rather than 10) physical vulnerabilities on an enemy.
Vulnerabilities are very strong in this game, so this signum, by extension, is also very strong.
I don’t know if it’s a must-have, but the extra 500% damage is nice.
Passives
I wish I knew what % values, if any, are multiplicative. Regardless, here are what I consider to be the best passives.
Expose Weakness is nice (adds a vulnerability on crit).
The damage per point investment is quite good here.
Optimal Dispersion is nice, and I sometimes get the feeling that it increases damage by a lot more than it seems.
All of the increased radius/effect range passives are very useful.
Serpent Strike (2) is especially good (massive hit box) when you want to control a large mob and manage your health by shocking them and life stealing off of them, respectively.
Impact Necrosis is very nice, and an additional three point investment for Concussive Trauma seems worth it.
More crits = more damage (way more damage, as crits are multiplicative).
Easily one of the best trees in the game.
Runic Injectors makes Blood Balm even more OP.
If Demoralize is multiplicative, it’s an amazing three point investment (assuming it gives 20%/stack).
Culling helps us to reach the 150 crit strength breakpoint.
Crowd Control makes Shock even more OP.
CDR = essential.
Cardial Overdrive helps in certain life-or-death situations.
Cerebral Feedback works on Temporal Distortion Field (armor skill). This is good.
Reanimator Glands is one of the best passives in the game.
Enhanced Recovery is very good, as Shock hurts our DPS.
Defensive Stance and Skeletal Padding are great one point wonders.
Some DR, health, and damage for three points is a good deal.
Skills/Combos
Certain skills/skill combinations are more effective in some situations. Here are my favorites:
Ceremonial Cuts = left click
Blade Bite = right click
Phasing Assault = 1
Serpent Strike = 2
- Serpent Strike, then shift + Blade Bite to take out big clusters of trash mobs
- Ceremonial Cuts, interspersed with Phasing Assault (more Death Marks = more damage) to take out certain champs/villains/commanders/elites
- hold Ceremonial Cuts + Phasing Assault + Serpent Strike to take out some of the tougher champs/villains/commanders/elites
- Serpent Strike to life steal off surrounding trash mobs (when focusing a tough single enemy)
- Ceremonial Cuts/Serpent Strike to reposition in order to faster take out dispersed clusters of trash mobs (if, for example, you’re playing a purge mission)
- Serpent Strike to take out barrels and other destructible objects that can drop loot
- hold Phasing Assault + Serpent Strike to quickly move around the map
Farming
- Once you’re strong enough, start running the higher/est difficulty Hunt/Assassination missions.
- Be sure to always check the shop for Extreme Fortunes, as you should always be purchasing/using them.
- The goal is to find lvl100 6-enchant relics/reds/morality relics and lvl100 perfect Ancients.
- The item quality secondary enchant is essential for optimizing your farm time. Get it on every single item you can (it can roll on everything, assuming the item has at least one secondary enchant).
- Destructible objects drop loot now (Season 3 patch). This loot is VERY good. Far better than expected. Do not ignore barrels (especially the red ones) and friends. I’ve gotten close to 70 relics/reds/ancients from a single Tropospheric Platform mission by jumping on (2 skill) everything in sight.
- Based on my experience, the Tropospheric Platform and Prometheum Outpost missions are the most rewarding, but any mission with a lot of barrels = a gold mine.
Limit Testing
In order to optimize your Sin, you must perform your testing at the highest difficulties.
As of Season 3, I recommend completing the Crimson VC and using the Purge SM as your training ground, but any similarly difficult mission will suffice.
You can try out different things and see how they compare.
If you are not satisfied with the result, just Alt+F4 and start again.
Unholy Cathedral (140+)
For the first few minutes, you can go AFK.
For the next few minutes, you can attack.
For the remainder of your time, you can literally run circles around the enemies.
If you don’t kill them, they don’t respawn, so you can do this until you get bored.
I decided to stop at 140 for this exact reason (mind-numbing boredom).
You can also attack during this phase, but if you’re going for a record, I highly recommend you just run around like a headless chicken, while at the same time, managing your berserk tokens (do not allow them to drop to zero, as I don’t think you will be able to recover).
Useful links
Here are links I recommend all ambitious players use in order to excel at the game:
Bonus
