[3.5] CheeQu's CoC Ice Nova Assassin - Up to 7m Shaper DPS + Amazing Clearspeed [In-Depth Guide]

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Hohenheim_ wrote:

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mrpetrov wrote:

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Dkodr wrote:

Didnt Aim Deep admit he was wrong about the damage?

He did - but he was wrong about being wrong.

2H exquisite blade with hits not evaded > dps than Cospri with lyco.

You have to double your aps from 3 to 6 to get the same number of ice nova procs, but the dps benefits are definitely in favour of the 2h exquisite blade.

So after reading over the patch notes, I'm pretty sure you are right with the cooldowns of CoC and all that. So I did a lot of theory crafting last night and this morning.

I came to the following conclusions:

Claw & Shield Craft:
- For my character the use of a crafted foil/claw + shield is strictly a damage decrease and eHP increase (approximately 2% less damage and 5% more eHP). It also doubles the cost of my build due to crazy expensive jewels and the crafted claw + shield.
- For Assassins in general I don't think claw + shield is worth the added cost (however I am coming from the camp that thinks Unnatural Instinct is not cost efficient for the build, if you already have one this changes).
- Getting 7.5 APS as an Assassin is super hard and you give up so much damage and utility to do so. Going for 6.0 APS with no CDR seems like the most optimal route.
- Scion makes MUCH better use of Unnatural Instinct and Might of the Meek. So much more efficient.

Exquisite Blade:
- Going to two-hander route is almost strictly a damage increase for any build (Assassin or Scion). However it will most likely double or triple the cost of your build, depending on how well geared you are. For me it would double the cost.
- Going for 7.5 APS is incredibly inefficient as far as gearing and jewels go. I would be at a damage loss if I hit that breakpoint due to losing so much added damage, % increased damage and crit multi.
- A well crafted sword and incredible jewels would give me around 14% more damage, but not a whole lot more eHP, maybe 300 or so (mostly due to the need to go UI and Mights).

Overall, after going through the Assassin and Scion trees it is clear that Assassin out performs Scion in the damage category if that's what you are after. It just scales better and easier.

Scion makes the best use of UI and Meeks, which has been made abundantly obvious in other threads, nothing new there. Well crafted Jewels and a focus on crit/crit multi will be a more efficient route for Assassin, however you will get a fair bit less eHP (irrelevant enough for Softcore, but crucial if going Hardcore).

A very well crafted claw + shield will win out for less geared characters, while Cospri's and Lyco will win out for better geared ones (better jewels, rings etc.).

A Shaper Exquisite Blade is probably the pinnacle of damage for both Assassins and Scions, however it will be vastly more expensive. Especially if you don't have UI and Meeks available already, as that currently adds like 15ex to your gear even before new jewels and the sword itself.

That was a pretty interesting theory crafting session.

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huyakf1997 wrote:

Sorry if my question sounds stupid but we can't push cooldown recovery speed even further ( on boot for example ) for even more ice nova and frost bolt procs ?

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Seqqsy wrote:

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huyakf1997 wrote:

Sorry if my question sounds stupid but we can't push cooldown recovery speed even further ( on boot for example ) for even more ice nova and frost bolt procs ?

After the 14% min requirement the next breakpoint is somewhere around 52% which you can't possible hit, so no, no need to additionally get it on the boots.

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huyakf1997 wrote:

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Seqqsy wrote:

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huyakf1997 wrote:

Sorry if my question sounds stupid but we can't push cooldown recovery speed even further ( on boot for example ) for even more ice nova and frost bolt procs ?

After the 14% min requirement the next breakpoint is somewhere around 52% which you can't possible hit, so no, no need to additionally get it on the boots.

Wow tks for your quick answer xD Just lvling this build yesterday and OMG !!! This build is already cancer even at lvling stage. With just stupid lvling gears i managed to reach blood aqueduct super easily. I wish i knew this build sooner. Super fun to play and super strong.

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Seqqsy wrote:

Haha no problem. Correct the build is strong, however, in my personal experience, nothing beats storm brand leveling. I just swapped to cyclone at 70.

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huyakf1997 wrote:

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Seqqsy wrote:

Haha no problem. Correct the build is strong, however, in my personal experience, nothing beats storm brand leveling. I just swapped to cyclone at 70.

Tbh i think CoC lvling is much more powerful than storm brand. I follow exacly what lvling section say so i switch right into CoC because storm brand is not that good ( lack of serious dmg even when clearing ). Idk if i did something wrong with storm brand but i know for sure i follow every word the lvling section say. And all i see is CoC outperformed storm brand completely( the point where CoC started to shine is when i had my cruel lab ascendency ). Lvling become a blast after that. The speed can be slow because u use cyclone but the dmg is insane. i've never leveled any build that is easier than this build even with much crazier lvling gears. Maybe you should try lvling with CoC sometime xD
Even so i would like to hear some advice on how to lvling correctly with storm brand. I used storm brand to somewhere around lv 44 or so but i didn't feel it's good enough tbh.