The Dragon Talon Assassin, aka "Kicksin", is the best build to kill the Uber Bosses on an Assassin. The combination of Patch 2.5 and 2.6 make this build a force to be reckoned with! With her incredibly fast Kick speed, she applies Crushing Blow hits in quick succession, dropping the Ubers in no time.

Patch 2.5 introduced some buffs to the Martial Arts Skill Tree, mainly allowing finisher moves to ALWAYS HIT when any charge of a charge-up skill is used. With Patch 2.6, we now have the ability to have charges up at all times using dragon talon (or any other finisher move) every 14 seconds. This is achieved by dual-wielding the new mosaic Runeword, granting a 100% Chance to not consume charges AND refreshing the charge timer when using a finisher move.

This allows us to comfortably utilize tiger strike and cobra strike for a lot more sustain and damage!

Ideal Standard Setup

Dragon Talon

Fade

Teleport

tiger strike

This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Assassin Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.

Very Tanky ✔
Beginner Friendly ✔
Fast Paced Boss Kills ✔
Reasonably Cheap On A Budget ✔

❌ Low Mobility
❌ Some Gear Requirements
❌ Not Suited For Group Play
❌ Little To No Area Clear Mechanics

Sunder Charm Setup

This build does not benefit from the new Sunder Charm because the Dragon Talon Assassin focuses on killing the Ubers with Physical Damage. None of the targets are Immune to Physical, which nullifies the positive effect of bone break. You only suffer the negative effect, which just increases the difficulty.

Terror Zones

This build is not designed for farming large areas with high density. Don't farm them!

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Weapon Block (more later)
4. Cobra Strike (more later)

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Dragon Talon
2. Tiger Strike
3. Fade
4. Weapon Block (Up to 61% Block)
5. Fade
6. Claw Mastery

Put any remaining Skill Point into Cobra Strike or into the optional Shadow Warrior.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Damage

Utility

Attributes

Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!

Strength

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.

Dexterity

Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.

Vitality

Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.

Energy

Don't allocate any Stat Points into Energy. This build gets enough Mana from gear, buffs, Charms, and Mana Potions.

Essentials

Gear Options

While every Stat in the Desirable Stats column is useful for this build, we highlighted the Priority Stats in Teal so you can easily identify the Most Important Stats on them.

Hover over any Item to see a pop-out with the full Item description.

Gear/Base Notes: Any Items with specialized or niche uses have a superscript that refers here.
1) Wizardspike allows you to easily increase your Resistances.
2) Until you have Dracul's Grasp this is your main source of Life recovery.
3) Only use Death's Hand + Death's Guard in combination with each other.
4) Upgrade your Boots to the highest base possible, using the Horadric Cube recipe.

Slot	Item Options	Desirable Stats
Weapon	Mosaic Greater Talons Stormlash (Shael Rune) Beast Berserker Axe Black Flail Wizardspike¹	x% Chance for finishing moves to not consume charges When a finisher is executed this way, it now refreshes the expiration timer of the stack +x to Assassin Skill Levels +x to Martial Arts (Assassin Only) +x to fade +x to weapon block +x to cobra strike x% Chance to cast level x Static Field on striking +x% Increased Attack Speed x% Chance of Crushing Blow All Resistances +x
Off-Hand	Mosaic Stormshield (Jewel) Sanctuary Moser's Blessed Circl (2x perfect diamond	x% Chance for finishing moves to not consume charges x% Increased Chance of Blocking X Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x%
Weapon-Swap	Call to Arms Crystal Sword Wand of Life Tap²	+x to All Skills +x to battlecommand +x to battleorders Level x Life Tap (xx/xx Charges)
Off-Hand-Swap	Spirit Monarch	+x to All Skills
Helmets	Guillaume's Face (Jewel) Crown of Ages (Um Rune + Shael Rune) Kira's Guardian Rockstopper	x% Chance of Crushing Blow X Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x% Cannot Be Frozen
Body Armor	Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud Enigma Mage Plate Duress Duriel's Shell (Um Rune)	+x% Enhanced Damage +x to Teleport X Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x% Cannot Be Frozen
Gloves	Dracul's Grasp Blood Crafted Gloves Death's Hand³ Magefist	x% Chance to cast level x Life Tap on striking +x to Martial Arts (Assassin Only) +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Faster Cast Rate X Resist +x%
Belts	Arachnid Mesh Thundergod's Vigor Verdungo's Hearty Cord String of Ears Death's Guard³ Blood Crafted Belt	+x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x% to Maximum Lightning Resist +x Lightning Absorb Damage Reduced by x% Cannot Be Frozen
Boots⁴	Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves Goblin Toe Mirrored Boots Shadow Dancer Myrmidon Greaves	Kick-Damage (UPGRADE YOUR BOOTS!) +x to Shadow Disciplines (Assassin Only) +x% Faster Run/Walk x% Chance of Crushing Blow x% Chance of Open Wounds
Amulets	Metalgrid Mara's Kaleidoscope The Cat's Eye Highlord's Wrath	+x to All Skills +x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Increased Attack Speed +x to Attack Rating X Resist +x% All Resistances +x
Rings	Wisp Projector Raven Frost Rare Ring Rare Ring	+x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Attack Rating X Resist +x% Resistances +x Lightning Absorb x% Cannot Be Frozen
Charms	Grand Charm Large Charm Small Charm	+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only] +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Attack Rating +x to Attribute +x to Life X Resist +x%
Unique Charms	Hellfire Torch Annihilus	+x to All Skills +x to Assassin Skills +x to all Attributes All Resistances +xx%

Farming Spots

Mercenary

Playstyle

General

Buff yourself with Fade. Keep this buff up at all times.
Engage in combat to receive the enchant buff from your Mercenary. You can do this anywhere, Eldritch the Rectifier North of the Frigid Highlands Waypoint is a very close candidate for it.
Cast Life Tap on your targets. This is your main Life recovery when attacking.
While moving towards the Mini Ubers (Lilith, Uber Duriel, Uber Izual), use Mind Blast to Stun your enemies, or Cloak of Shadows to blind them.
Engage your targets with Dragon Talon. To close the gap you can use Dragon Flight.
Clear out the area before engaging the Mini Ubers. This makes these fights a lot easier. Use Death Sentry to help you in this task with its Corpse Explosion.
Split up the Ubers in Tristram to face them one by one (Uber Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal). Focus purely on the Boss to kill them off as quickly as possible. Clear out spawned monsters afterward if necessary.

Dual-Mosaic

Buff yourself with Fade. Keep this buff up at all times.
Enter the red Portal to the Forgotten Sands first and engage Uber Duriel with Tiger Strike and Cobra Strike until you have 3 charges of both.
Switch to Dragon Talon to finish him off.
After you have killed one of the Mini Ubers, you have 15 seconds to pick up the organ, get into the next red Portal and use Dragon Talon on any enemy to keep your Tiger Strike and Cobra Strike-charges up. If your charges run out before you can, find a target to recharge them and progress to the Boss of the area. Rinse and repeat until you have all 3 Organs.
If you can pick up the final organ, open the Portal to Tristram, and engage an enemy within 15 seconds, this is most efficient.
For players with slower loading screens:
Put the Portal to Tristram next to the Waypoint. Lure Eldritch and his minions close to the Waypoint and get your Tiger Strike and Cobra Strike charges. Then enter Tristram, lure Mephisto towards the left to kill him by himself. Once he is dead, you can just jump into the center and engage both Diablo and Baal at the same time.
Check out our Uber Tristram Guide for a more detailed explanation of that process.

Late-Game

Add Battle Command and Battle Orders to the list of your buffs, prior to Fade.
Optional: Utilize your Horadric Cube to put Arachnid Mesh, Magefist, and a Faster Cast Rate Ring into it. Use these items when you use Teleport from Enigma to move around.
While not required in the late game, you can continue starting your fights by casting Life Tap. You instantly have the Life recovery you need to sustain yourself in the fights. dracul'sgrasp eventually casts lifetap for you.

Breakpoints

Hardcore

Build Variants

Budget

Standard

Setup

This budget version of this build is capable of killing Ubers. We recommend a minimum Level of 90 before attempting Ubers, otherwise you'll struggle with your hit chance! The new Mosaic Runeword is a game changer. If you can afford to dual-wield them, check out the Standard Skill Tree!
The main focus is to get as many Resistances as possible and use Boots upgraded to the highest base. Cannot Be Frozen and Attack Rating are also extremely important.
Sources of Cannot Be Frozen can be Kira'sguardian, Duriel's Shell, or Ravenfrost. A good source of Attack Rating is the combination of Angelic Halo, and Angelic Wings.
Crushing Blow is extremely important to kill Ubers quickly.

Mercenary

The Fire version of the Iron Wolf provides you with up to +452% Attack Rating by applying Enchant. He will NOT survive the Ubers, so don't worry about keeping him alive. He only buffs you if you're in combat. Run out to any Waypoint you have and find random monsters to trigger it. Add as many +x to Skills as you can to boost his Enchant. Hexfire Shamshir, Ormus' Robes Dusk Shroud, Flickering Flame, and a Lidless Wall are his optimal setup until he has enough Strength for an Ethereal Spirit Monarch.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Dragon Flight
2. Burst of Speed
3. Cloak of Shadows
4. Mind Blast

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Dragon Talon
2. Fade
3. Venom
4. Death Sentry

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear and Dexterity to reach 75% Chance to Block. Put remaining points into Vitality.

Setup

We dual-wield the new Patch 2.6 Runeword mosaic to permanently have the damage from tiger strike and sustain of cobra strike.
Upgraded Gore Rider and Guillaume's Face provide the necessary Damage and Chance of Curshing Blow, you don't need to worry about being Frozen. Dracul's Grasp, brings even more sustain when fighting the Ubers.
With Enigma lets you teleport around, allowing you to keep up your charges easily, even on long distances. Balance out your Resistances with fade and Charms.

Mercenary

The Fire version of the Iron Wolf provides you with up to +452% Attack Rating by applying Enchant. He will NOT survive the Ubers, so don't worry about keeping him alive. He only buffs you if you're in combat. Run out to any Waypoint you have and find random monsters to trigger it. Add as many +x to Skills as you can to boost his Enchant. Hexfire, Ormus' Robes, Flickering Flame, and an Ethereal Spirit Monarch are his optimal setup.

Skills

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to wear your gear. Put remaining points into Vitality.

Mechanics

Teleport

Static Field from Stormlash

Summary

Keep Fade buff up at all times.
Gain your Tiger Strike and cobra strike charges and keep them up with dual-Mosaic. Use Dragon Talon once every 14 seconds to refresh their timer.
Cast Life Tap before engaging your targets.
Add Battle Command and Battle Orders to the list of your buffs as soon as you have them available.
A High Level Character makes fighting Ubers a lot easier, as it increases your chance to hit.
The new Act 3 Fire Mercenary gives us a great source enchant, drastically boosting our Attack Rating!

If you don't want to keep slaughtering Ubers with the most commonly used Smiter, you should try out the Kicksin. With dual mosaic she can clear them faster now!

Good luck!

Credits

Written by Teo1904
Reviewed by MacroBioBoi

Area		Rewards
Lilith		Diablo's Horn
Duriel		Baal's Eye
Izual		Mephisto's Brain
Mephisto, Diablo, Baal		Hellfire Torch

Frames	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9
FCR	0	8	16	27	42	65	102	174

Total Frames (All 5 Kicks)	29	24	23	22
Gear IAS	2	5	18	46

Frames	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
FHR	0	7	15	27	48	86	200

Frames	5	4	3	2	1
FBR	0	13	32	86	600

Dragon Talon Assassin Guide

Sunder Charm Setup

Terror Zones

Skills

Damage

Utility

Attributes

Strength

Dexterity

Vitality

Energy

Essentials

Gear Options

Farming Spots

Mercenary

Act 3 Iron Wolf Mercenary

Fire

Playstyle

General

Dual-Mosaic

Late-Game

Breakpoints

Faster Cast Rate (FCR)

Increased Attack Speed (IAS)

Mosaic

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)

Faster Block Rate (FBR)

Hardcore

Build Variants

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Setup

Mercenary

Skills

Attributes

Mechanics

Teleport

Static Field from Stormlash

Summary

Credits