Frozen Orb* is the Rift Assassin's Primary Damage Skill triggered by Rift. These Cold Damage orbs pass through enemies, shooting tiny bolts of ice outward in all directions; it explodes at a set distance, dealing its highest damage.

Dragon Talon* is a Secondary Damage Skill that serves as the main trigger of Frozen Orbs from Rift. It executes a series of Physical Damage kicks onto the selected target, applying the Kick Damage from Boots.

Death Sentry* is a Secondary Damage Skill used for additional AoE damage. It uses Corpse Explosion which causes nearby corpses to explode for a 50/50 mix of Fire and Physical Damage. If there are no bodies to target, it fires off a weak Lightning Bolt if it’s close enough to a target.

* Increased Attack Speed Skills (IAS)
* Skills that do NOT utilize either FCR or IAS

Dragon Flight* allows you to reposition yourself and your Mercenary, teleporting both to a targeted monster. This Skill is great for mobility as a pseudo Teleport on a Starter or Budget setup (see Build Variants).

Venom* is a buff that adds Poison Damage to every attack while active.

Blade Shield* casts a shield that deals a fraction of your Weapon's Damage as Physical Damage to enemies in proximity of the Assassin. It mainly serves to trigger additional Frozen Orbs from Rift on this build.

Burst of Speed* provides you with a massive Movement Speed and Attack Speed buff. This increases your mobility, your Dragon Talon Attack Speed, and the rate at which you lay Death Sentry Traps.

Mind Blast* briefly 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* temporarily Blinds enemies around the Assassin. This drastically decreases their aggro range and their Defense. It is an incredibly useful Skill to use when facing dangerous ranged enemies such as Burning Souls and Dark Archers.

Shadow Warrior* summons a mini-Assassin that mimics your Skills on your Right-Click. You can utilize their ability to lay Death Sentrys to reduce the amount you have to cast. It also acts as a damage sponge or distraction.

Shadow Master* summons a mini-Assassin AI that uses Skills independently of your own. It mostly serves as a damage sponge and distraction. Shadow Master is tankier than Shadow Warrior against most monster types.

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 + to Skills from gear and buffs).

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Use a Desert Mercenary with Might Aura for a significant damage boost. Equip him with Infinity to reduce enemy Resistances and Defense with its Conviction Aura, drastically boosting damage and Chance to Hit. This Aura is also capable of breaking monster Immunities, including Cold and Fire.

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. Mercenary Types and Gear Options at each Gear Level perform equally well in different situations; choose based on Farming Spots and/or personal preference.

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.

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.

Faster Cast Rate speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for at least the 65% FCR Breakpoint on either the main weapon loadout or Weapon-Swap for Enigma Teleport cast speed. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.

This build solely relies upon the Increased Attack Speed from Burst of Speed for faster attack and trap setting animations using Weapons with a Weapon Speed Modifier of -10 (Rift War Scepter or Voice of Reason). Consult the d2planner for Breakpoints with IAS on gear.

Faster Hit Recovery increases survivability. Aim for at least the 27% FHR Breakpoint.

Faster Block Rate increases survivability on certain Build Variants. Aim for the 32% Faster Block Rate Breakpoint where applicable.

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.

The Rift Assassin can become Hardcore viable with key changes to Gear, Stats, and Skill Point allocation. Review the changes below before building this character in Hardcore, as some of these changes differ significantly from the Standard Build.