There's already been a decent bit of melee sin discussion on these forums, so instead of rewriting giant blocks of texts, I'm just going to link you to them.
Meleesin discussion:
http://forum.arimyth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4860&hilit=+dragon+clawhttp://forum.arimyth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5636http://forum.arimyth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4213&p=35297&hilit=dtail#p35297http://forum.arimyth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4335&hilit=+dragon+clawThe first two threads are more general discussions on the topic, but should have some useful information on gearing and how you might want to distribute your skills. The last two focus more on Dragon Tail and its mechanics.
Ensley03 wrote:
Would you still say it's worth 1 point just for the added damage on a tiger+claw cb sin?
No. Venom will never do significant damage without reasonable investment in both the skill and the gear to support it.
Also, Tiger Strike + Dragon Claw is suboptimal. The time spent charging up and then preforming a Dragon Claw does far less damage than just using Dragon Claw repeatedly. It also applies CB at a slower rate, especially if the Attack Rating bonus given by TS is superfluous.
This is explained in in-depth in this topic:
http://forum.arimyth.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3621&hilit=+dragon+clawEnsley03 wrote:
Also my cth has never dropped below 95% but my highest character is 68. Is there a point where you start to actually need attack rating in this game? lol
Yes. 20k AR will not be giving you 95% cth in late Hell and definitely not on a big boss. 30k is pretty much what I like to see on my Dclaw sins end-game, if not a bit higher.
Ensley03 wrote:
Ok thanks guys. Any ideas on what to do for weapons? I have 2 Night Hands for level 40 but it looks like there's nothing else to use until I get a great white claw and high runes.
I used rares and crafts for most of the game. Generally though, just seek the highest base type for your level and try to get as much ED% on the claw as possible. A lot of the time, this ends up being rares and crafts thanks to always having 3 sockets and coming in every base type.
If you have them on hand, most of the unique claws are pretty good for the lower end of the level requirement. Firelizards at 85 is the first unique that really shines above rares/crafts, with one ethereal Shadow Killers and one "Darkness" RW being pretty much the end-game dream.
One thing to note about claws is that your main-claw's IAS is the only one factored in calculating Dragon Claw's speed. This means all those rares/crafts that spawned with high ED but no IAS work perfect as off-claws.
However, the base speed of both claws is factored in, so wielding two claws with good base speeds still results in a faster swing.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Also, Death Sentry is worth the 7 points. If not the 26 points. Taking a few seconds to cast 15-25 corpse explosions is something you should consider doing.