Wake of Fire Assassin is a very chill and straight forward build. She has great mobility and clears density with ease. The Wake of Fire / Death Sentry Assassin aka "Fire-Trapsin" lays down Traps that auto attack from a distance. As of Patches 2.6 and 2.7, both +x% Elemental Skill Damage and -% Enemy Fire Resistance apply on Trap attacks.
Her Fire and Physical Damage Skills are supported by Lightning Sentry as well, making Immunes easy to deal with. Death Sentry's Corpse Explosion deals massive area damage as soon as a corpse is around, starting a domino effect. This allows the Assassin to clear areas like The Secret Cow Level effectively.
Burst of Speed and Teleport provide high mobility that makes the Fire-Trapsin a real joy to play.
Very Tanky ✔ High Mobility ✔ Beginner Friendly ✔ Low Entry Budget Option ✔
❌ Best in Slot Is Expensive ❌ Slow Build Up For Damage ❌ Bad Act Boss Farmer Early On ❌ Requires Infinity For High Damage
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. The following setup uses Flame Rift, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need Conviction and Lower Resist. Equip a Wand of Lower Resistance and an Infinity Giant Thresher on your Mercenary.
Counteract the negative effect of Flame Rift with a Rare Ring or Fade.
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.
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Death Sentry 2. Cloak of Shadows 3. Mindblast 4. Shadow Master 5. Burst of speed 6. Fade
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Wake of Fire 2. Fireblast 3. Wake of Inferno 4. Death Sentry 5. Lightning Sentry
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Damage
Wake of Fire* is the primary Damage Skill of this build. The Assassin lays down a Trap that shoots a piercing Fire Wave in the direction of its closest target, dealing Fire Damage to every monster in its path. You can have a total of 5 Traps active at a time.
Death Sentry* complements the damage of Wake of Fire by using Corpse Explosion, which causes nearby corpses to explode for Fire and PhysicalDamage. If there are no bodies to target, it fires off a weak Lightning bolt if it’s close enough to a target. You can have a total of 5 Traps active at a time.
Fire Blast* deals massive Fire Damage in an area around the projectile when it lands. Use this to supplement your damage while traps are deployed, helping provide those first few bodies for Death Sentry.
Wake of Inferno* lays down a Trap that has high single target damage. Since the Trap’s missile is very slow moving, this is only used on targets that won’t move around a lot. You can have a total of 5 Traps active at a time.
Lightning Sentry* is a secondary Damage Skill of this build. The Assassin lays down a Trap that shoots a piercing Lightning Bolt in the direction of its closest target, dealing Lightning Damage to every monster in its path. You can have a total of 5 Traps active at a time.
Burst of Speed* provides you with a massive movement speed and Attack Speed buff. This increases your mobility and the rate at which you lay your Traps.
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* makes the area around the Assassin become extremely dark and Blinds enemies. This drastically decreases their aggro range and their Defense. Incredibly useful in dangerous Areas with large amounts of ranged monsters.
Weapon Block* provides an alternative way to Block attacks when dual-wielding Claws. This is a very strong ability!
Shadow Master* summons another Assassin that randomly uses Skills from the Assassin Skill Tree, even if you don’t put Skill Points into those Skills. The Summon’s Skill level benefits from allocated Skill Points, increasing its damage output.
Fade* provides you with a massive Resistance, Damage Reduction, and Curse Duration Reduction buff. Each Soft Point grants 1% Damage Reduction. (Soft Points include + Skills from gear and buffs)
Teleport* lets you cover large distances over almost any gap and wall on the map when cast. Your Character gets relocated to your cursor in any unoccupied target location on your screen.
* 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. Greater Talons and Greater Claws are the best. 2) Weapon Block requires you to dual wield Claws.
Slot
Item Options
Desirable Stats
Weapon
Cunning Greater Talons of Quickness1 Plague Greater Talons Heart of the Oak Flail Wizardspike Bartuc's Cut-Throat Suicide Branch Spirit Crystal Sword
x% Chance to cast level x Lower Resist when struck Level x Cleansing When Equipped +x to All Skills +x to Trap Skills [Assassin Only] + to Assassin Skills +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Weapon Block [Assassin Only]2 +x to Wake of Fire[Assassin Only] +x to Fire Blast [Assassin Only] All Resistances +x Socketed [x]
Off-Hand
Cunning Greater Talons of Quickness1 Plague Greater Talons Spirit Monarch Stormshield (Eld Rune Rhyme Bone Shield Lidless Wall
x% Chance to cast level x Lower Resist when struck Level x Cleansing When Equipped +x to All Skills +x to Trap Skills [Assassin Only] + to Assassin Skills +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Fade [Assassin Only] +x to Wake of Fire[Assassin Only] +x to Fire Blast [Assassin Only] Elemental Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x% Cannot Be Frozen Socketed [x]
Weapon-Swap
Call to Arms Crystal Sword Wand of Lower Resistance Staff of Teleportation
+x to All Skills +x to battlecommand +x to battleorders Level x Lower Resist [x/x Charges] Level x Teleport [x/x Charges]
Off-Hand-Swap
Spirit Monarch Rhyme Bone Shield
+x to All Skills x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Helmets
Cunning Circlet of the Magus Rare Circlet Harlequin Crest (um rune) Crown of Ages Lore Cap Wisdom Tarnhelm Peasant Crown Rockstopper
+x to All Skills +x to Trap Skills [Assassin Only] +x to Assassin Skills +x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x to Dexterity +x Life Elemental Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x% Cannot Be Frozen Socketed [x]
Body Armor
Enigma Mage Plate Treachery chains of honor Smoke Skin of the Vipermagi Skullder's Ire Stealth
+x to All Skills +x to Assassin Skills +x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Increased Attack Speed +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x Life Elemental Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Socketed [x]
+x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x Life Elemental Resist +x%
Amulets
Mara's Kaleidoscope Cunning Amulet of the Whale Cunning Amulet of the Apprentice Caster Crafted Amulet Rare Amulet
+x to All Skills +x to Trap Skills [Assassin Only] +x to Assassin Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x to Dexterity +x Life Elemental Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Rings
The Stone of Jordan Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Nagelring Fortuitous Ring of Fortune
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x to Dexterity +x Life Elemental Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Charms
Grand Charm Large Charm Small Charm
+1 to Traps (Assassin) Grand Charm + Life + xx% Faster Hit Recovery + xx % Faster Run / Walk + Maximum Damage Elemental Resist +xx% +x to Attribute
Monster Fire Immunity Is Sundered +x to All Skills +x to Assassin Skills +x to all Attributes Resistances +x 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 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.
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
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.
Gear Progression
Early-Game
Mid-Game
End-Game
Insight (any Polearm)
Insight (Elite Polearm)
Infinity Thresher
Smoke (Any Body Armor)
Treachery (Any Body Armor)
Fortitude (Body Armor, 700++ Base Defense)
Any Helmet with Resistance / Life
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest
Andariel’s Visage (Ethereal)
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
Cast Burst of Speed and run to the farming location of your choice. Keep it up at all times!
If you skilled into Shadow Master summon it whenever it drops. It acts as a meat shield and uses random Skills from the Assassin's Skill Tree. Alternatively, you can summon it as a decoy to get out of scary situations.
For High Density farming:
Use Fire Blast after casting up to 5 Wake of Fire Traps spread out to maximize the attack's surface area. As soon as the first enemies are dead, cast 1-2 Death Sentrys for their Corpse Explosion.
If you get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of enemies, you can use Mindblast to Stun and convert the closest monsters to redirect aggro. Against ranged monsters, lead with Cloak of Shadows which Blinds every enemy in range and stops their ranged attacks.
For Single Target farming:
Cast 5 Wake of Fire Traps on top of your target. Creating a minimal distance between your Traps and the monster leads to a higher chance to hit the monster when it moves around.
Add Fire Blast to provide additional damage.
Quick note for Baal Waves:
Cast 4 Wake of Fire Traps spread around the position in which the waves spawn and 1 Death Sentry far enough away, so it doesn't use its Lightning Skill. The 4 Wake of Fire Traps can target down monsters from the waves and Death Sentry starts casting Corpse Explosion right away.
Immunities
Before you have access to Infinity you rely on Lower Resist from your Wand of Lower Resistance to break some monster Immunities or deal additional damage to tanky targets.
Utilize Lightning Sentry for Fire Immune/Resistant monsters when applicable.
Death Sentry deals Fire AND Physical Damage use this to aid you in dealing with immune monsters.
Flame Rift breaks ALL Fire Immune monsters and brings them to 95% resistance. Pair this with a source of Lower Resist and Conviction.
Late-Game
Start your runs by buffing yourself with Battle Command 2 times and afterward with Battle Orders from Call to Arms.
Switch to the Weapon Swap with the most +x to Skills for Burst of Speed and cast it.
Get your Mercenary’sconviction Aura from Infinity to be in range to maximize damage output from your Traps.
Min-Max: Lay your Wake of Fire traps with your main Weapon Swap and switch to your Secondary with Gemmed Crystal Sword, and Phoenix Monarch to maximize your damage output.
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.
Faster Cast Rate (FCR)
Faster Cast Rate (FCR) speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for at least the 65% FCR Breakpoint. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.
Frames
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
FCR
0
8
16
27
42
65
102
174
Increased Attack Speed (IAS)
This build relies solely on Increased Attack Speed (IAS) from Burst of Speed for faster attack and Trap setting animations using Weapons with a Weapon Speed Modifier of -20 / -30. Consult the d2planner for breakpoints with IAS on gear and/or different bases.
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 can become Hardcore viable with key changes to the Skills, Stat Point allocation, and items. Review the changes below before building this character, as they may differ significantly from the normal build.
Stat Point Changes
Put enough Stat Points into Dexterity to reach 75% Chance to Block.
Skill Point Changes
Allocate points into Fade rather than Burst of Speed. It's used to tank up for combat situations.
Item Changes
Equip a Stormshield with an Eld Rune for maximum Chance to Block and Reduced Damage by x%.
Hit +65% Faster Cast Rate with Magefist, Arachnid Mesh, a +20% Faster CastRare Circlet, and a +10% Faster Cast Rate Amulet or Ring.
Use Heart of the Oak Flail instead to reach the Breakpoint at +102% Faster Cast Rate, if you don’t have the recommended BIS Claws.
Build Variants
Starter
Standard
Hardcore
Setup
The Starter Variant of the Wake of Fire Assassin relies heavily on +x to Skills to deal damage. Shop Anya in Act 5 for Cunning Greater Talons. Lore, Stealth, Spirit Crystal Sword, and Ancients' Pledge are easily obtainable sources of Life, Resistances, and Faster Hit Recovery. A rhyme provides Cannot Be Frozen. Being frozen reduces your trap laying speed, so this feels very comfortable.
Mercenary
Equip your Mercenary with a Body Armor and Helmet that provides Resistances and Life. Insight is an easy Runeword to make that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Hire the Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Fire Immunes.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Death Sentry 2. Cloak of Shadows 3. Mindblast 4.Shadow Master 5. Fade
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Wake of Fire 2. Fireblast 3. Wake of Inferno 4. Burst of speed
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Standard Wake of Fire Assassin is well-rounded in clear speed and Utility. To reach 102% FCR, use Spirit Monarch, Magefist, Arachnid Mesh, Caster Crafted Amulet, and 2 Rare Rings. Use Cunning Greater Talons of Quickness for +6 to wake of fire and Flickering Flame Diadem. Plague Greater Talons is a great alternative to those expensive +6 Claws. With Flame Rift, a 6 Facetted Crystal Sword, and Phoenix Monarch, you can farm anywhere you'd like. To maximize your damage, use a second Cunning Greater Talons of Quickness instead of Spirit Monarch.
Mercenary
Hire a Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Single Target and Fire Immunes. Infinity Giant 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. Death Sentry 2. Cloak of Shadows 3. Mindblast 4. Shadow Master 5. Burst of speed 6. Fade
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Wake of Fire 2. Fireblast 3. Wake of Inferno 4. Death Sentry 5. Lightning Sentry
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
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.
Setup
The Hardcore Wake of Fire Assassin provides you with the maximum survivability while sacrificing as little damage as possible. Important Breakpoints: 65% FCR and 48% FHR. Stormshield with an Eld Rune gives us easy access to the maximum Chance to Block and Damage Reduced by 50%. If you want to reach the Breakpoint at +102% Faster Cast Rate, or you don't have access to the Plague Greater Talons, you can exchange them for Heart of the Oak Flail. This variation decreases damage, but increases safety with even more Resistances. Use Flame Rift instead of Entrapping Grand Charm of Vita to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Hire a Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Single Target and Fire Immunes. Infinity Giant 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. Death Sentry 2. Cloak of Shadows 3. Mindblast 4. Shadow Master 5. Burst of speed 6. Fade
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Wake of Fire 2. Fireblast 3. Wake of Inferno 4. Death Sentry 5. Lightning Sentry
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Put enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear, Dexterity to reach 75% Chance to Block, and the remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Mechanics
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.
Burst of Speed
Cannot be active together with Fade
If cast a second time, the second instance always overwrites the initial buff, even if it is a lower Skill Level at the second cast.
The 3 variables (Duration, +% Walk/Run Speed and +xx% Increased Attack Speed) scale with the Skill Level (slvl).
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.
Summary
Spread out your 5 Wake of Fire Traps to maximize your damage’s surface area.
Place 1-2 Death Sentrys after the first monster dies to blow up the surrounding mobs with Corpse Explosion.
Keep your Mercenary close to enemies to apply his Conviction Aura.
Utilize Death Sentry is used for Fire Immune monsters.
Use Fire Blast to increase damage output after your Traps are deployed.
Keep up Burst of Speed at all times on Softcore Characters.
Use Fade instead of Burst of Speed if you want to cap your Resistances and Physical Damage Reduction.
Cloak of Shadows and Mindblast are great sources of Crowd Control.
Wake of Fire is one of the coolest looking Skills in the game and is incredibly satisfying to pilot when combined with Death Sentry. The easy access to powerful Crowd Control and high damage output rewards a highly mobile playstyle.
Good luck!
Credits
Updated by Teo1904 Original Author BTNeandertha1 Reviewed by MacroBioBoi and Teo1904