What the heck is a trapper? An Assassin that uses one of two elemental traps, either:
20 Fire Bomb 20 Wake of Fire 20 Wake of Inferno
OR
20 Shock Web 20 Charged Bolt Sentry 20 Lightning Sentry
PLUS:
1-3 Burst of Speed 20 Fade 1 in requisites for/and Death Sentry 1 Blade Fury 1 Claw Mastery 1 Weapon Block (If using dual claws or going for Shadow Master)
(You can change Fade into another skill to max if you wish to do so, like Shadow Master in ex; I say Fade because of the res boost and +1% DR per point.)
91 points. I could basically describe some of the differences between fire and lightning trappers:
With Fire:
Fire Bomb is a ranged attack with an AoE detonation point. Area is 4 yards. Wake of Fire emits waves of fire that extend with every point in this skill. Wake of Inferno is just that, a trap that executes one second of Inferno. This skill is best used on monsters that are often stationary or cannot move.
With Lightning:
Shock Web is more of a "ranged placement" skill that attacks monsters in its AoE every 0.9 seconds. Useful if you're taking out weak trash early on. Charged Bolt Sentry releases charged bolts. Multiple hits can occur with the bolts, but the chances of it happening decrease as the bolts scatter outward. Lightning Sentry fires a bolt of lightning. If facing narrow areas, monsters that are often stationary or cannot move, or monsters in a line, this could be an option for deployment.
But now, there are two options that I have added: Death Sentry and Blade Fury.
Blade Fury will take out monsters immune to your trap element. Death Sentry will explode corpses whose monsters are in the explosion radius.
Weapon Block (or "claw block" as few will say) can block some things a normal shield cannot. Plus, Weapon Block is static, which means that blocking is not dependant on DEX when factoring chance. The chance you see on Weapon Block is guaranteed.
Trappers aren't for everyone, though, but if you want to give one a try, this will at least give you a general lowdown. You can also search this forum for extra advice on being a trapper.
You'll need some patience on being a trapper and you will be most often using your weapon and mana pots until you can get decent mana recovery and mana steal with your Blade Fury. Also, don't forget about the Eth rune, it greatly increases your chances to hit with your blades.
You will be looking for Increased Attack Speed modifiers when being a trapper. Trap placement is modified by your attack speed. So, the more IAS you have, the faster you can lay traps. Traps will be placed at your feet, so it is important to have IAS so you can lay down a trap and move.
When a boss executes a "source counterattack" where he will strike the attacker, he will go after the trap, so if you move out quickly, you won't be in his way. Traps only die if they run out of shots, so you can use a weak sentry as a kind of decoy to attack the boss while you gather your strategy with the group.
And finally, what I suggest for a decent trapper is enough STR/DEX to wear your claws, some boost in Energy if you have mana trouble early, but otherwise use the rest of your stat points in Vitality. A trapper that cannot survive well is a useless trapper, so if you die often, you've flawed somewhere in your build. (Rework your strategy or team up!) There are sources where you can gain boosts to your life, mainly rubies and blood-crafted rings. (Blood-craft rings are also a good source of +STR and life leech.) Charms with + to Life are a great find as well, especially if you play Hardcore (A bonus if you find one with resists or a + to skill tab).
Dual wielding claws is an advantage over claw-shield in many factors, since later claws can spawn + to skills, including +1-3 to the trap you use (I overlooked this one, thanks!). Claws can spawn with resistances - don't forget that.
I haven't tested this thoroughly, but I am led to believe that -% to enemy resistance might/might not work, although +% to skill damage does.
Anything else I've failed to mention here? I'm sure I did since it's early in the morning since I've typed this up!
EDIT: Extra suggestions added, 3/26/10 20:00 EST
_________________ Go and terminate with extreme prejudice Most people just take steps. I take dubsteps.
Last edited by NewBastige on Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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