Phoenix Strike Assassin Build Skills for Diablo 2 Resurrected

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Phoenix Strike — Main Damage Skill, required
3. 20 points to Fists of Fire — Synergy/Charge Up Skill, required
4. 20 points to Claws of Thunder — Synergy/Charge Up Skill, required
5. 20 points to Blades of Ice — Synergy/Charge Up Skill, required
6. Remaining points to Dragon Talon — Not losing charges makes this finisher the strongest as every kick will launch a full wave of each charge
7. 1 point to Dragon Flight — Useful for teleporting and repositioning Mercenary, required
8. 1 point to Cloak of Shadows — Useful for crowd control, required
9. 1 point to Mind Blast — Useful for crowd control, required
10. 1 point to Burst of Speed — Buffs movement and attack speed, required
11. 1 point to Fade — Buffs damage reduction and Resistances, required
12. 1 point to Venom — Adds some Poison Damage to the Build, required
13. 1 point to Weapon Block — If running two claws, make sure to place a single point into this skill, optional

Phoenix Strike and all of the previous Elemental Charge-up Skills now only use a single charge per Finisher move, creating a lot more damage for this build overall and a unique playstyle where the Player gets to decide if they wish to burn all Charges at once or only one at a time before rebuilding back to maximum Charges.

There are a variety of finishing moves that can be used for this build. Dragon Talon has multiple kicks and can be great for additional Physical Damage. If using Mosaic claws then this is the finisher of choice. Dragon Claw grants Charged up bonuses to both Claws and Dragon Tail has an explosive kick for added Fire Damage. Test them all out for yourself and see which you like best.

For the typical playstyle you will generally run Phoenix Strike with Claws of Thunder and Fists of Fire but you can mix Blades of Ice as well or any combination desired. All the skills are very fun and can be great to use in different situations in the game depending on what Immunities you are facing.

The following section discusses how many attribute points should be allocated to each of the primary stats.

Enough for gear — For a Martial Arts Assassin using a Spirit or Phoenix Monarch, this will be 156 Strength as that is usually the highest Strength requirement for commonly used gear. If choosing to use another shield or claws with lower Strength requirements, then just adjust your Strength to that value. This number always changes based on the gear you are using, though, so make sure to always double check the requirements for each piece of gear you have as well as how much Strength each piece will provide once equipped.

Enough for Gear — Dexterity is great for increasing Block Chance, but if you are not planning on investing points to max that out, it is often not worth taking any additional Dexterity, as the return on Attack Rating and Defense is very low.

Everything else into Vitality — 250+ Vitality. Every excess attribute point should be allocated to Vitality, as long as you can meet the Strength requirements of your items by the time you wish to equip them. If trying to achieve maximum chance to block, you can allocate your attribute points to a mix of Vitality and Dexterity while leveling to maximise your survivability. An approximate 5:3 ratio of Vitality to Dexterity should keep both your Life and chance to blockat a reasonable level until you reach your Dexterity target.

Nothing — Allocating attribute points to Energy in a final build is universally considered sub-par for almost every character due to the widespread availability of Mana Potions. While leveling, if you find yourself struggling with Mana you can allocate a few points to Energy that you can then remove with a respec later on.