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Phoenix Strike Assassin Guide


The Phoenix Strike Assassin uses the elements of Fire, Lightning, Cold, and Physical to send her enemies screaming in terror! Also known as the "PS Sin," she is a devastating force against mass density and Act Bosses alike. She utilizes a unique mechanic of building up charges that are unleashed with a finisher move.

With the new mosaic Runeword, the Martial Arts tree has become an absolute powerhouse. You can have a 100% uptime on your charge-up skills when dual-wielding these claws. Charge up every single Martial Arts Skill you want to unleash them all with dragon talon to annihilate your enemies! The only thing you need to be aware of: You need to hit a target with a finisher move every 15 seconds to keep your charges up! And did we mention that you could pass for a Christmas tree?

You want to do Ubers as well? Go right ahead! This build blows them up faster than most builds! Only small adjustments are required!

Ideal Standard Setup

Phoenix Strike

Dragon Talon

Teleport

Claws of Thunder

The Phoenix Strike Assassin also has a lot of utility through the Skills Fade, Cloak of Shadows, and Mindblast. These skills provide her with great Crowd Control, Resistances and Physical Damage Reduction, making her quite versatile in combat.

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 ✔
Multiple Damage Sources
Incredibly Unique Gameplay ✔


Requires Build Up For Damage
Hard To View Charges In Combat
Lots Of Hotkeys While Charging Up


Sunder Charm Setup

Patch 2.5 introduces a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms.

Sunder Charm Setup

Gear Changes

With the 4 damage types you never necessarily NEED to use a Sundering Charm. The Standard variant of this build utilizes Crack of the Heavens as the primary focus is Lightning Damage. To Min-Max efficiency in any Zone you farm you can use Cold Rupture, or Flame Rift

Counteract the negative effects of Sundering Charms with your small Charms. You can also replace your Gore Rider Myrmidon Greaves with Rare Myrmidon Greaves. You don't need Crushing Blow for most farming zones.


Terror Zones

The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build on the Starter or Budget setup. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.

Best

The Secret Cow Level - High Density, Easy Mobility
Tal Rasha's Tombs - High Density, Many Elite Groups
Worldstone Keep + Throne of Destruction - High Density, Many Elite Groups
Chaos Sanctuary - High Density, Many Elite Groups, Bosses
Tristram - High Density, Many Elite Groups

Worst

Blood Moor + Den of Evil - Low Density, Few Elite Groups
Arreat Plateau - Low Density, Few Elite Groups
Burial Grounds + Crypt + Mausoleum - Low Density, Trash Mobility,
Spider Forest + Spider Cavern - Low Density, Few Elite Groups
Act 2 Sewers - Trash Mobility


Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Weapon Block

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Dragon Talon
3. Claws of Thunder
4. Tiger Strike
5. fists of fire

You can invest 1 Skill Point into shadow warrior for an additional meat shield.

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Damage

Phoenix Strike* is your main Skill. It gains up to 3 Charge orbs from successful melee hits. Charge 1 drops a Fiery Meteor, Charge 2 gives a Chain Lightning effect dealing Lightning Damage, and charge 3 releases a circular patterned Cold Damage attack that Freezes Monsters. When combined with a Finishing Move like Dragon Claw you can choose when to utilize your charges and how.

Dragon Talon* is the primary finisher move. With dual Mosaic you can use all charge-up skills in rapid succession, creating a massive aoe damage explosion on your screen!

Dragon Claw* is a dual-claw attack Finishing Move that expends 2 charges. It naturally grants Attack Rating, but always hits if you have multiple Charges. This finisher is primarily used on low player counts.

Fists of Fire is a Fire Charge-up Skill that grants up to 3 Charges. Charge 1 adds Fire Damage to your attack, Charge 2 is an instantaneous AoE Fire Explosion and Charge 3 is an AoE Fire Explosion that leaves a pyre for a duration.

Claws of Thunder is a Lightning Charge-up Skill that grants up to 3 Charges. Charge 1 adds Lightning Damage to your attack, Charge 2 is an AoE Nova, and Charge 3 is an AoE Lightning attack that releases Charged Bolts in all directions.

Blades of Ice is a Cold Charge-up Skill that grants up to 3 Charges. Charge 1 adds Cold Damage to your attack, Charge 2 is a Cold Explosion, and Charge 3 is an AoE Cold Explosion that Freezes enemies for a duration.

* Increased Attack Speed Skills (IAS)
* Faster Cast Rate Skills (FCR)

Utility

Fade* provides you with a large amount of +x All Resistance, Damage Reduction, and Curse Duration Reduction when cast. Each Soft Point grants 1% Damage Reduction. (Soft Points include + Skills from gear and buffs)

Dragon Flight* is a Finishing Move that teleports you to a target and attempts a Kick attack. It naturally grants Attack Rating, but always hits if you have any Charges. This Skill is great for mobility as a pseudo Teleport.

Mindblast* stuns your enemies in a small squared shape area around your cursor and has a % chance to convert enemies hit. Converted enemies fight alongside you for a short period of time.

Cloak of Shadows* Blinds enemies around the Assassin. This drastically decreases their aggro range and their Defense. Incredibly useful in dangerous Areas with large amounts of ranged monsters.

Weapon Block* provides a Chance to Block when dual-wielding Claw type weapons.

Claw Mastery* provides Attack Rating, additional Damage, and Critical Strike Chance when wielding Claw type weapons.

Shadow Warrior* summons a mini-Assassin that mimics your Skills.

* Faster Cast Rate Skills (FCR)
* Skills that do NOT utilize either FCR or IAS


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) These Claws ideally have low requirements. Runic Talons and Greater Talons are the best.
2) Death's Hand and Death's Guard together grant Cannot Be Frozen, +30% IAS, and +15 All Resistances.
3) Hsarus' Iron Stay and Hsarus' Iron Heel are great for boosting your Attack Rating in the early game.
4) Angelic Halo and Angelic Wings are great for boosting your Attack Rating significantly. You can even add another ⁣Angelic Halo to stack even more Attack Rating!

SlotItem OptionsDesirable Stats
Weaponmosaic1
Mosaic Greater Talons1
Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Plague Greater Talons1
Magic Claws
Magic Claws
+xx% 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 All Skills
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+ to Assassin Skills

+x% Faster Hit Recovery
x% Increased Attack Speed
+x to Attack Rating
+x% Chance of Crushing Blow
+x to Phoenix Strike [Assassin Only]
+x to Claws of Thunder [Assassin Only]
+x to Weapon Block [Assassin Only]
+x to Fade [Assassin Only]
Socketed [x]
Off-Handmosaic1
Bartuc's Cut-Throat
Plague Greater Talons1
Jade Talon
Spirit Monarch
Stormshield
Magic Claws
Magic Claws
Rhyme Bone Shield
+xx% 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 All Skills
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+ to Assassin Skills

+x% Faster Hit Recovery
x% Increased Attack Speed
+x to Attack Rating
+x% Chance of Crushing Blow
+x to Phoenix Strike [Assassin Only]
+x to Claws of Thunder [Assassin Only]
+x to Weapon Block [Assassin Only]
+x to Fade [Assassin Only]
Socketed [x]
Weapon-SwapCall to Arms Crystal Sword
Staff of Teleportation
+x to All Skills
+x to battlecommand
+x to battleorders
+x to battlecry
Level x Teleport [x/x Charges]
Off-Hand-SwapSpirit Monarch
Lidless Wall
+x to All Skills
HelmetsGriffon's Eye
Magic Diadem
Rare Circlet
Harlequin Crest
Crown of Ages
Lore Cap
Guillaume's Face
Wisdom
bulwark
ground
temper
hearth
+x to All Skills
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+x to Assassin Skills

+x% Faster Cast Rate
+x% Faster Run/Walk
+x% Faster Hit Recovery
+x to Attribute
+x Life
X Resist +x%
Damage Reduced by x%
Cannot Be Frozen
Socketed [x]
Body ArmorEnigma Mage Plate
Chains of Honor Archon Plate
Duress Light Plate
Treachery Light Plate
+x to All Skills
+x to Assassin Skills

+x% Faster Hit Recovery
x% Chance of Crushing Blow
X Resist +x%
GlovesMagefist
Dracul's Grasp
Blood Crafted Gloves
Rare Gloves
Magic Gloves
Death's Hand2
+x to Fire Skills
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+x% Faster Cast Rate
x% Increased Attack Speed
+x to Attribute
X Resist +x%
BeltsArachnid Mesh
String of Ears
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Thundergod's Vigor
Death's Guard2
Hsarus' Iron Stay3
+x% Faster Hit Recovery
+x to Attribute
+x Life
X Resist +x%
Damage Reduced by x%
Magic Damage Reduced by x
Cannot Be Frozen
BootsAldur's Advance
War Traveler
Waterwalk
Natalya's Soul
Gore Rider
Hsarus' Iron Heel3
+x% Faster Run/Walk
+x% Faster Hit Recovery
x% Chance of Crushing Blow
+x Life
X Resist +x%
AmuletsMara's Kaleidoscope
Highlord's Wrath
Blood Crafted Amulet
Magic Amulet
Angelic Wings4
+x to All Skills
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+x to Assassin Skills

+x% Faster Run/Walk
+x to Attribute
+x Life
X Resist +x%
RingsThe Stone of Jordan
Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
Raven Frost
Rare Ring
Angelic Halo4
+x to All Skills
+x to Attack Rating
+x to Attribute
+x Life
X Resist +x%
Cannot Be Frozen
CharmsGrand Charm
Large Charm
Small Charm
+x to Martial Arts [Assassin Only]
+x% Faster Run / Walk
+x% Faster Hit Recovery
+x to Attack Rating
+x to Attribute
+x Life
X Resist +x%
x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Unique CharmsAnnihilus
Hellfire Torch
Gheed's Fortune
Cold Rupture
Crack of the Heavens
Flame Rift
Monster X Immunity Is Sundered
+x to All Skills
+x to Assassin Skill Levels
+x to all Attributes
All Resistances +x

+x% to Experience Gained
x% Extra Gold from Monsters
x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Reduces all Vendor Prices x%

Farming Spots

The areas below are efficient farming locations that make use of the build’s strengths. Other farming spots might not be as effective due to immunities or bad layouts. These areas are strong without a Sunder Charm.

Anything that has a in the "Starter" column can be farmed with the Starter or Budget Variant.

Act 1

AreaStarterRewards
MausoleumAll Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
The CountessRunes
Key of Terror
The PitAll Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
AndarielUniques
Sets
Jewelry
The Secret Cow LevelRunes
Runeword Bases
Charms / Gems / Jewels

Act 2

AreaStarterRewards
Stony TombsAll Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
Ancient Tunnels-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
SummonerKey of Hate

Act 3

AreaStarterRewards
Arachnid Lair-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Lower KurastRunes
Runeword Bases
Charms / Gems / Jewels
Jewelry
Temple Runs-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Travincal-Gearing
Runes
Charms / Gems / Jewels
Gold
MephistoUniques
Sets

Act 4

AreaStarterRewards
City of the Damned-All Item Types
River of Flame-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
Chaos Sanctuary-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
Diablo-Uniques
Sets
Leveling

Act 5

AreaStarterRewards
Eldritch the RectifierGearing
Gold
Leveling
Shenk the OverseerGearing
Gold
Leveling
Pindleskin-Gearing
Gold
Leveling
Thresh Socket-Gearing
Gold
Drifter Cavern-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Nihlathak-Key of Destruction
Leveling
Icy Cellar-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Worldstone Keep / Throne of Destruction-All Item Types
Max Area Level
Leveling
Baal / Waves-Uniques
Sets
Max Area Level
Leveling

Mercenary

Your Mercenary serves an incredibly important role to the overall success of your build. They can be a front line tank, provide a pivotal Aura, and/or deal Physical Damage to kill enemies with Immunity to your Skill set.

Act 2 Desert Mercenary

The Act 2 Desert Mercenary is hired from Greiz. He can be equipped with a Spear or a Polearm, a Body Armor and a Helmet. 
Every Act 2 Mercenary has access to an Aura and uses Jab as his base Attack. The Aura activates once the Mercenary has engaged in combat and remains active between traveling to and from town. The Auras available are based on what difficulty you hire the Mercenary from.

Might, Infinity

Infinity, Might

Use a Desert Mercenary with Might Aura to deal with enemies that are immune to your main damage source.
Equip him with Infinity to reduce enemy Resistances and Defense with Conviction Aura, drastically boosting damage.

Mercenary Gear Options

Your Mercenary needs maximum Resistances, Life Leech, a high damage Weapon, and high Defense and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive reliably. Cannot Be Frozen is also a great stat for maintaining Mercenary DPS and leech. Ethereal gear is preferred since it doesn't lose durability.

SlotEarly-GameMid-GameEnd-Game
WeaponInsightInsightInfinity
Body ArmorSmoke
Lionheart
Treachery
Duress
Shaftstop
Duriel's Shell
Fortitude
Treachery
HelmetBulwark
Temper
Ground
Cure
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Vampire Gaze
Crown of Thieves
Stealskull
Kira's Guardian
Rockstopper
Andariel's Visage

The Mercenary is hard to keep alive until you have the minimum gear recommended in this guide. Remember you can drag Healing Potions onto the portrait, or shift + 1/2/3/4 to directly feed them a Healing Potion from your Belt. The Mercenary also gains bonus Resistances from Thawing Potions and Antidote Potions.

If your Mercenary dies in battle, you can revive them from any of the Mercenary NPCs in each Act. This does come with an increasing cost, capping at 50,000 Gold. Keep that in mind and decide if the Mercenary is currently worth the cost.

Playstyle

General (Prior to dual mosaic)

  • Start your runs by switching to the Weapon Swap with the most +x to Skills and Cast Fade and, if you opted into it, Shadow Warrior.
  • Shadow Warrior summons another Assassin that mimics your Skills and acts as a meat shield. Resummon it whenever it dies or as a decoy to get out of scary situations.
  • Use Phoenix Strike to gain charges against enemies, then discharge with Dragon Claw to clear out the first few enemies. When there are corpses, cast 1-2 Death Sentrys to help clear out density.
  • If you get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of enemies, use Mindblast to Stun and Convert or Charge 3 Phoenix Strike to Freeze everything in place for a moment.
  • Cast Cloak of Shadows to Blind every enemy within its radius and stop their ranged attacks.

Dual mosaic

You are now ready to become a Christmas tree! We don't use death sentry at this point, so make sure to respec your skill tree.

  • Move towards your farming spot and use the following sequence of attacks to charge up all of your abilities along the way.
    • Phoenix Strike: Only 2 Charges! (We want to use the Lightning Charge)
    • Claws of Thunder: 3 Charges
    • Blades of Ice: 3 Charges
    • Dragon Talon to refresh the timers.
    • Tiger Strike: 3 Charges
    • Cobra Strike: 1-3 Charges****
    • fists of fire: 3 Charges
    • Dragon Talon to refresh the timers.
  • After the last Dragon Talon you need to hit a target once per 15 seconds to keep up all of them.
  • This combination of skills freezes everything that isn't Immune to Cold and does massive area Fire, Cold, and Lightning Damage. Upgraded Boots provide massive damage with dragon talon.

**** Cobra Strike does NOT give you sustain if you have a Skill Level 34 or higher Fists of Fire active because it converts all your Physical Damage to Fire. You have to choose between sustain and damage here!

Immunities / Highly Resistant Enemies

  • This build does not face any issues with Immunities as it has access to 3 Damage types in phoenix strike. Choose the charge that has the highest damage your enemy is not immune/resistant to.
  • A Lower Resist Charge Wand, and/or Infinity are great ways to drastically increase your damage output!

Late-Game

  • Start your runs by buffing yourself with Battle Command 2 times then Battle Orders from Call to Arms.
  • Use Teleport to move around and find targets to hit with a finisher within 15 seconds.

Keeping Charges Up

In some spots you are not able to keep your charges up due to long spawn times (Diablo/Baal).

  • For Diablo: Before you hit the final Seal, use Mind Blast to convert a monster. The monster does not die when the final Seal is activated. Use it to keep up your charges until Diablo has finally spawned.
  • For Baal: Once you have killed the final wave in the Throne of Destruction use Teleport over the left or right wall to refresh your charges. Make sure you are back before he stops laughing. Once he moves in, you now have enough time to reach him.

Ubers

  • A fully geared Phoenix Strike Assassin destroys the Ubers very quickly. The biggest challenge is to keep your Mercenary alive for maximum damage output!
  • Open all 3 Portals next to each other and close to the Town Portal locations. You want minimum town time to keep up your charges when switching Portals.
  • Charge up your skills in the Forgotten Sands. Duriel is usually very close and you can take a few hits from him.
  • Enter the Matrons Den and Furnace of Hate after you have killed the previous Mini Uber. Get to an enemy as quickly as possible and use a finisher move to keep up your charges!
  • If you are very very fast, you can open the Portal to Tristram immediately after killing the last Mini Uber, then jump into the middle and use a finisher move on one of the Ubers. Have a few Full Rejuvenation Potions ready for this! You CANNOT fight all at once! Pull away Mephisto to deal with him in a 1 vs 1.
  • If you are not fast enough for this, put your Portal next to the Waypoint. Lure Eldritch in Frigid Highlands close to the Waypoint and use him to re-charge your skills. Enter Tristram and pull Mephisto to the left. Use one of the Skeletons he spawns to refresh your charges.

Breakpoints

Breakpoints in Diablo 2 are the minimum values required to reduce the frames of an action. Below are the important breakpoints considered for this build. For more information on the mechanics involved, check out our in-depth Resource: Breakpoints.

Increased Attack Speed (IAS)

Increased Attack Speed speeds up your attack animations. Weapon bases have different IAS breakpoints. Values for recommended weapon options provided below. Consult the d2planner for other bases.

Mosaic

Frames987
Phoenix Strike Gear IAS72660
Frames37302928
Dragon Talon with 7 kicks Gear IAS251846

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR) increases survivability. Aim for at least the 48% FHR Breakpoint.

Frames9876543
FHR0715274886200

Hardcore

For all Hardcore gameplay, your primary focus is increasing your Resistances, Damage Reduction, Chance to Block and Maximum Life. This can mean sacrificing overall power level for a more secure playstyle.

This build is Hardcore viable. If you are unaccustomed to this playstyle, we recommend trying this build on Softcore to gain experience on how to successfully pilot it.


Build Variants

Starter

Setup

The Phoenix Strike Assassin relies on specific stats to ensure smooth gameplay. Most important is Cannot Be Frozen, which you get from hearth. Gain as much +x to Sills / Martial Arts / Phoenix Strike on Claws, and Gloves. Both can be shopped from Anya in Nightmare. The Spirit Shroud grants +1 to all Skills and Cannot be Frozen, which allows you to switch to lore. The 2-piece Set combinations Angelic Wings + Angelic Halo, and Hsarus' Iron Stay + Hsarus' Iron Heel bring much-needed Attack Rating while you charge up your phoenix strike. They also grant Life, Resistances and Faster Run/Walk, which are your final needs to get going!

Mercenary

Focus on giving your Mercenary Resistances and Life. Insight is a pretty easy Runeword to farm that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Get the Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Immunes. Put on Bulwark and smoke for easy survivability.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Shadow Warrior
5. Dragon Claw
6. dragon flight
7. Death Sentry

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Fists of Fire
3. Claws of Thunder
4. Death Sentry

Attributes

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

Budget

Setup

The Budget Phoenix Strike Assassin balances the core utility requirements with as much damage as possible. raven frost satisfies the need for Cannot Be Frozen. Dual-wielding mosaic is the core of this build to gain a 100% Chance to not use charges and refresh charge timers when using a finisher (Dragon Claw or dragon talon).

The combination of Harlequin Crest, and String of Ears, and fade cap out your Physical Damage Reduction. treachery gives +45% Increased Attack Speed to get great Attack Speed Breakpoints for your charge-up Skills.

Mercenary

Focus on giving your Mercenary Resistances and Life. Insight is a pretty easy Runeword to farm that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Get the Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Immunes. Put on Bulwark and treachery for easy survivability.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Shadow Warrior
5. Dragon Claw
6. dragon flight

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Fists of Fire
3. Claws of Thunder
4. blades of ice

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

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

Standard

Setup

The final version of the Phoenix Strike Assassin is reached when you don't need to worry about your defenses, as you are overwhelming enemies with brute force and crowd control! Dual-wielding mosaic are the core of everything. You can get up to 59% Chance to Block with weapon block. Dracul's Grasp are used for the occasional proc of life tap to keep you healthy against very tanky monsters. Griffon's Eye and Arachnid Mesh grant 45% Faster Cast Rate which is a decent Breakpoint for Teleport from Enigma Mage Plate. The remaining gear is used to achieve as many +x to Skills and capped Resistances with fade.

Mercenary

Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Immunes. Infinity Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Shadow Warrior
5. Dragon Flight
6. Weapon Block

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Dragon Talon
3. Fists of Fire
4. Claws of Thunder
5. Blades of Ice
6. Weapon Block

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

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

Magic Find

Setup

The Magic Find variant of the Phoenix Strike Assassin reaches more than enough damage to quickly annihilate anything in its path on a low player count. It combines mobility with as much Magic Find as possible. Replace Magic Gloves and Rare Boots with Chance Guards and wartraveler for more Magic Find. You don't need the damage from Shogukusha's Grand Charm of Vita on low player counts, use Gheed's Fortune and Small Charm of Good Luck. You won't be capped for Resistances with pure Magic Find charms, make sure some of them have Resistances! With a Fortuitous Ring of Fortune, Kenshi's Amulet of Luck, and Harlequin Crest you can reach upwards of 500% Magic Find!

Put Wizardspike + Spirit Monarch into your Weapon Swap to reach the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint for teleport.

Mercenary

Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Immunes. Infinity Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Shadow Warrior
5. Dragon Flight
6. Weapon Block

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Dragon Talon
3. Fists of Fire
4. Claws of Thunder
5. Blades of Ice
6. Weapon Block

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

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

Ubers

Setup

The Ubers variant of the Phoenix Strike Assassin aims to overcap Lightning Resistances to make Uber Mephisto an easy task. Replace Mara's Kaleidoscope with a Caster Crafted Amulet, and The Stone of Jordan with a Rare Ring. Fill up your Inventory with Charms that provide Life and Resistances.

Rare Myrmidon Greaves are replaced with upgraded Gore Riders to add +x% Chance of Crushing Blow to your damage. You can opt into using Guillaume's Face instead of Griffon's Eye for even more Crushing Blow but less general damage.

Mercenary

Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Immunes. Infinity Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed. Proc fade from treachery to increase his survivability before entering any Ubers Portal.

Skills

Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Cloak of Shadows
2. Mind Blast
3. Fade
4. Shadow Warrior
5. Dragon Flight
6. Weapon Block

Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Phoenix Strike
2. Dragon Talon
3. Fists of Fire
4. Claws of Thunder
5. Blades of Ice
6. Weapon Block

Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression

Attributes

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


Mechanics

Next Hit Delay

You might be overwhelmed with the pure area of effect you seem to get when all charges are going off at the speed of almost 8 kicks per second. Be aware that not all the damage you "see" on the screen actually applies due to Next Hit Delay.

The 2nd and 3rd charge of both Claws of thunder and phoenix strike apply a 4 Frame (0.12s) Next Hit Delay. Until the NHD runs out, no other NHD-projectiles deal damage to them. Instead, they simply pass through the target affected. This means a large portion of your Claws of thunder and phoenix strike damage goes to waste.

All that being said - It is still best to have all charges up to deal the maximum area damage possible!

Death Sentry

Death Sentry is in the unique situation, in which in combines 2 Skills (Lightning Sentry and Corpse Explosion). Both Skill effects have certain conditions in which they occur and use up remaining shots from the maximum shot count. This means that a Death Sentry with a maximum of 7 Shots can use, for example, 5 x Lightning and 2x Corpse Explosion).

  • Base amount of available shots is 5, which can be increased by putting Skill Points into Fire Blast. Every 3rd Skill Point, Death Sentry gain +1 shot to a maximum of 11 (with Fire Blast Base Skill Level 18).

The Lightning Sentry part will only be used, if there are no corpses in the sentries' awareness range (10 2/3 yards).

  • The lightning beam behaves exactly as Lightning Sentry:
    • Monsters are pierced.
    • Travels in a straight line.
    • Every monster on the travel path takes Lightning Damage.
  • Death Sentry shoots at a rate of 31 Frames per cast (Every 1.24 seconds) before they expire. This rate cannot be influenced.

The Corpse Explosion is used when there are corpses within its Awareness Range (10 2/3 yards) with the following mechanics:

  • Death Sentry shoots at a rate of 31 Frames per cast (Every 1.24 seconds) before they expire. This rate cannot be influenced.
  • The Corpse Explosion is weaker than its Necromancer counterpart, dealing only 40 - 80% of the monster's regular base Life.
  • Damage does not increase with higher player count.
  • Its damage is split into 50% Physical Damage and 50% Fire Damage.
  • When the corpse's Monster Level > Character Level the damage is multiplied by Character Level / Monster Level.
  • Within the Area of Effect, the damage is always afflicted. It cannot be blocked by any means.

Teleport

  • Teleport instantly moves you to a selected square on the visible screen in which you can stand. The game tries to to place you within a small radius around your cursor even if it would be impeded normally.
  • Teleport is not obstructed by walls or other impediments but can fail if your cursor is not completely passed those impediments when cast. Your Mercenary and Minions are teleported with you, Traps do not.
  • Certain Minions in large quantities can become “stuck” in position after teleporting. Move away from that position to give them the chance to spread out.
  • You can “extend” the visible screen by opening UI-windows like the Inventory or the Character screen. Continuously cast Teleport and drag your mouse to the edge of your screen.
  • The Mana cost of Teleport decreases with additional Skill Levels down to 1 Mana per cast.
  • You can use “ESC” to open the menu in single player to pause the game after a Teleport to determine if you are safe.

Video Guide


Summary

  • Use a sequence of phoenix strike, claws of thunder, blades of ice, and fists of fire to gain all charges. Make sure to use dragon talon or dragon claw to refresh the charge timers with mosaic equipped.
  • Place 1-2 Death Sentrys after the first monster dies to blow up the surrounding mobs with Corpse Explosion.
  • Keep your Mercenary close by for the Infinity Aura and additional DPS.
  • Utilize Dragon Flight on enemy targets for mobility, similar to Teleport.
  • Keep up Fade at all times.
  • Cloak of Shadows, Mindblast, Shadow Master and Charge 3 of Phoenix Strike are our sources Crowd Control.
  • Battle Command + Battle Orders boost your survivability and damage output.

With patch 2.6, the Phoenix Strike is one of the most powerful builds in Diablo 2! With all charges active, you can just blow up everything in no time!

Good luck!


Credits

Updated by Teo1904
Original Author BTNeandertha1
Reviewed by MacroBioBoi

Changelog

Feb 6th 2023
Updated to Patch 2.6 - Full guide rewrite

Sep 21st 2022
Updated to Patch 2.5 - Added Sunder and Terror Zone sections - Added Gear Options - Added info in variants