TenacityZealAssassin

InsightKnight’s “Tenacity” Build Guide
Assassin Ferocity Zeal Build
	te·nac·i·ty	/təˈnasədē/	noun
 ◦ the quality or fact of continuing to exist; persistence.
PD2 Armory: https://www.projectdiablo2.com/character/InsightKnight
PD2 Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRhVbsA5AH_mOwJQA0GV443S01MnqP1h4hakGmyffYiNLaQuP6LiN8gbDCLIOt_5aZzLszOBvkwzWHH/pub	
==Synopsis==
My goal was to create one of the most balanced melee Assassin archetypes possible that could easily transition between both PvE and PvP while still hitting all necessary breakpoints using minimal gear swapping. I have been a long time Whirlwind Assassin since back in the Lord of Destruction Witch Hunter days but wanted a build that could be just as defensive as it being offensive for all end game content. While this build is not the most effective in terms of speed clear farming it is absolutely capable of surviving all combat in PD2 and may very well be hardcore viable with proper breakpoints. This guide will cover all of core components to making a Zeal Assassin. Please note that Zod/Cham is extremely expensive for most players and so starting a season with this build can be frustrating until you have the Ferocity Runeword to enable Zeal.
==Equipment==
This build uses a combination of gear concepts similar to both Zeal Paladin and Fury Druid in terms of fast attacks with physical damage. The total sustain comes from a combination of immense attack speed, extremely high leech rate and layered defenses. As long as you are leeching life the character can only be one shot killed in almost all instances. Using best in slot gear will grant over +500 total vitality points which allows for roughly +2,000 HP before Battle Orders/Oak have been applied. This is due to the negative requirements jewels stacking together along with Increased Chance of Blocking mods giving back dexterity points that would have been allocated to hit the maximum block chance of +75%. Below is a complete breakdown of all the gear upgrades that can be used as you progress. Any substitute item is acceptable to equip as long as you meet the overall required breakpoint thresholds.
I only list below the exceptional mods on gear not total mods available!
Entry Items:
Weapon - Lawbringer Runic Talons (Amn/Lem/Ko)
 • +20% Chance to Cast Level +15 Decrepify on Striking (-10% Physical Resistance)
 • -50% Target Defense
 • Adds +150-210 Fire Damage
 • Adds +130-180 Cold Damage
 • +7% Life Stolen per Hit
 • Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
 • +200-250 Defense vs. Missile
 • Corruption: None
 • Sockets: Runeword
Shield - Moser's Blessed Circle Round Shield
 • +30% Faster Block Rate
 • +25% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • +10% Curse Resistance
 • +2 Open Sockets
 • +20% All Resistance
 • Corruption: +10% Faster Block Rate, +10-20% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • Sockets: Um/Um - +44% All Resistance
Armor - Treachery Dusk Shroud (Shael/Thul/Lem)
 • +25% Chance to Cast Level +15 Venom on Striking
 • +15% Chance to Cast Level +21 Mind Blast when Struck
 • +2 to Assassin Skills
 • +45% Increased Attack Speed
 • +20% Faster Hit Recovery
 • +30% Cold Resistance
 • Corruption: None
 • Sockets: Runeword
Belt - Nosferatu’s Coil Vampirefang Belt
 • +20% Increased Attack Speed
 • +3-6% Life Stolen per Hit
 • +10% Deadly Strike
 • +10% Slows Target
 • +10-15 to Strength
 • Corruption: +10% Increased Chance of Blocking
Ring - Raven Frost Ring
 • +150-250 to Attack Rating
 • Adds +15-45 Cold Damage
 • +15-20 to Dexterity
 • +5% Cold Absorb
 • Cannot Be Frozen
 • Corruption: +3-4% Mana Stolen per Hit
Amulet - Highlord’s Wrath Amulet
 • +1 to All Skills
 • +20% Increased Attack Speed
 • +0-24% Deadly Strike
 • +30-40% Lightning Resist
 • Corruption: +10% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • Desecration: +2% to All Maximum Resistance
All other gear slots can be filled with any item that you find on the way to maps.
Specialty Items:
Armor (Bossing) - Guardian Angel Templar Coat
 • +1 to All Skills
 • +30% Faster Block Rate
 • +20% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • +1386 to Attack Rating against Demons
 • +6% to Maximum Poison Resistance
 • +6% to Maximum Cold Resistance
 • +6% to Maximum Lightning Resistance
 • +6% to Maximum Fire Resistance
 • Corruption: +3 Open Sockets
 • Sockets: (3x) Jewel - +15% All Resistance, -15% Requirements
 
Best in Slot Items:
Primary Weapon - Hitpower Ethereal Crafted Suwayyah
 • +12% Chance to Cast Level +31 Amplify Damage on Striking
 • +480% Enhanced Damage
 • +Maximum Attack Rating Based on Character Level
 • -20% Target Defense
 • +30% Deadly Strike
 • Repairs +1 Durability
 • +2 Open Sockets
 • Corruption: +70% Enhanced Damage, +25% Deadly Strike
 • Sockets: (2x) Jewel - +40% Enhanced Damage, +15 Maximum Damage, +15 Minimum Damage
Primary Shield - Stormshield Monarch
 • +35% Faster Block Rate
 • +25% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • +30 to Strength
 • +50% Cold Resistance
 • +25% Lightning Resistance
 • +30% Physical Damage Reduction
 • Corruption: +3 Open Sockets
 • Sockets: (3x) Jewel - +40% Enhanced Damage, +15 Maximum Damage, -15% Requirements, +30% Fire/Lightning/Poison Resistance
Secondary Weapon - Call to Arms Crystal Sword
 • +1 to All Skills
 • +6 to Battle Command
 • +6 to Battle Orders 
 • +3 to Battle Cry 
 • Corruption: +5 Open Sockets
 • Sockets: Runeword
Secondary Shield - Lidless Wall Grim Shield
 • +2 to All Skills
 • +20% Faster Cast Rate
 • +10% Increased Maximum Mana
 • Corruption: +1 to All Skills
 • Sockets: (2x) Eld - +14% Increased Chance of Blocking
Armor - Enigma Dusk Shroud (Jah/Ith/Ber)
 • +2 All Skills
 • +5% Physical Damage Reduction
 • +1 to Blink
 • +25% Faster Run/Walk
 • +5% to Maximum Life
 • +74 to Strength
 • Corruption: +3 Open Sockets
 • Sockets: Runeword
Helmet - Ferocity Ethereal Bone Visage (Zod/Cham/Shael)
 • +18 to Zeal
 • +20% Faster Hit Recovery
 • +12% Life Stolen Per Hit
 • +12% Chance to Cast Level 10 Taunt on Striking
 • +12 Magic Damage Reduction
 • Cannot Be Frozen
 • Indestructible
 • Corruption: +3 Open Sockets
 • Sockets: Runeword
Gloves - Vampiric Crafted Gloves
 • +10% Deadly Strike
 • +20% Increased Attack Speed
 • +4% Life Leech on Hit
 • +4% Mana Leech on Hit
 • +10% Bonus to Attack Rating
 • +25% Poison Length Reduction
 • Corruption: +10% Deadly Strike
Belt - Rare Belt
 • +24% Faster Hit Recovery
 • +30 to Strength
 • +30% Lightning Resistance
 • +30% Cold Resistance
 • +10% Physical Damage Reduction
 • +25% Poison Length Reduction
 • Corruption: +2% to All Maximum Resistance
Boots - Hitpower Crafted Boots
 • +30% Faster Run/Walk
 • +30% Faster Hit Recovery
 • +120 Defense vs. Melee
 • +40% Fire Resistance
 • +40% Poison Resistance
 • +25% Poison Length Reduction
 • Corruption: +10% Increased Chance of Blocking
Amulet - Safety Crafted Amulet
 • +2 to Assassin Skills
 • +30 to Strength
 • +10% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • +20% to All Resistance
 • +75% Poison Length Reduction
 • +7 Physical Damage Reduction
 • +7 Magic Damage Reduction
 • Corruption: +10% Increased Chance of Blocking
 • Desecration: +2% to All Maximum Resistance
Rings - Nature’s Peace Ring
 • Prevent Monster Heal
 • Slain Monsters Rest in Peace
 • +3% to Maximum Poison Resistance
 • +3% to Maximum Cold Resistance
 • +3% to Maximum Lightning Resistance
 • +3% to Maximum Fire Resistance
 • +5 Oak Sage
 • Corruption: +3% Physical Damage Reduction
Small Charms - (10x) +5% to All Resistance, +20 Life
Grand Charms - (8x) +14 Maximum Damage, +127 Attack Rating, +40 Life / (1x) +14 Maximum Damage, +127 Attack Rating, +12% Faster Hit Recovery
==Required Breakpoints==
 • +70% Increased Attack Speed
 • +75% Chance of Blocking
 • +86% Faster Hit Recovery
 • +50% Physical Damage Reduction
 • +150% to All Resistance (Including -100% Hell penalty)
 • +90% to All Maximum Resistance
 • +150% Poison Length Reduction
 • +15% Life Stolen per Hit
 • +75% Deadly Strike
==Skill Tree==
For the skill pathing you want to first maximize Cobra Strike early on until the Zeal skill is available as this will be your starter attack. Be sure to only put +1 point into Venom until your Treachery armor is replaced since it will continually overwrite your Venom skill with the level +15 Cast on Striking. I also suggest adding +1 point into Blade Shield immediately for the additional life/mana leech when surrounded by packs. I usually maximize Claw Mastery and Burst of Speed along with Cobra Strike to get the primary offensive bonuses and then move to Venom for additional damage against Physical Immune enemies once Treachery has been dropped. Once allocated Blade Shield will be a few skill points short of maximum but will still reach the +0.4 hits per second threshold so maximizing points is not a concern.
Claw Mastery - +20 Points
Mastery is the core boost of the builds physical damage and scales directly with maximum damage mods. It also provides a good chunk of Attack Rating as well as a passive +23% Chance of Critical Strike that is added to the total Critical Strike calculation of your hits. This combines with Deadly Strike for your overall Critical Strike calculation.
Fade - +1 Point
If you run into a strong Conviction or Lower Resist enemy than switching to Fade may help keep your resistance breakpoints above maximum until the target is killed. This is usually only the case with Uber Tristram or Boss fights. You should be able to get roughly +30% to all resistance bonus when casting using a Call to Arms and +3 Lidless Wall. Keep in mind that the Attack Speed breakpoint will suffer from losing Burst of Speed.
Burst of Speed - +20 Points
Applying Burst of Speed allows you to easily reach the maximum Zeal Attack Speed breakpoint with minimal gear mods. You want to have the highest possible Attack Speed for both total damage output and survivability via life leech. The goal is to leech more life than incoming damage to be effectively immortal other than one shot or multiple burst damage hits. Having increased move speed also is useful for relocating out of danger quickly.
Venom - +20 Points
	Having a method of bypassing Physical Immunity can be very helpful since Amplify Damage will not always break resistance. Once Treachery armor is replaced this skill can be maximized and will add a few thousand damage points to your attack. Venom applies every +0.4 seconds from hits and will also apply via Blade Shield. Be aware that poison damage from Venom does not leech life/mana on hit.
Cobra Strike - +20 Points
	As a starter attack you will want to use Cobra Strike since it provides a great deal of life/mana leech natively and is allocated at the beginning of the skill tree. Cobra Strike will add a large damage bonus to Venom as a passive synergy once maximized. You can also use a Carrion Wind unique ring for an easy -15% Enemy Poison Resist bonus if needed.
Blade Shield - +18 Points
	Casting Blade Shield will give you a continual life/mana leech recovery method via area of effect that is very powerful. This works great when surrounded by monster packs and can also apply Venom hits for additional damage. At high level this skill will hit twice per second and can set off on hit/striking mods from your gear.
Dragon Flight - +1 Point
	Dragon Flight is a great tool to both enter and exit combat. In PvP this ability is perfect for catching high mobility players. Use this skill in combination with Blink to first teleport in range of your target and then Dragon Flight on top of them. You can also Dragon Flight to a distant enemy for escaping if you are being overwhelmed by monster packs.
Tiger Strike - +1 Point
	The passive bonus of Tiger Strike grants an additional melee splash radius of +20% at two and +40% at three total charges. Zeal is not considered a Finisher attack and so this allows for a permanent area of effect increase as long as the charges are active. Having the charge bonus enabled greatly increases clear speed of monster packs which is necessary on a single target build.
Cloak of Shadows - +1 Point
	Cloak of Shadows is one of the most useful skills in your toolkit for PvE combat. Casting this will render ranged attackers idle and can frequently save you from being killed especially by multi-shot archers. I also use this ability in PvP before pouncing via Dragon Flight to shave off defense rating from the target. The defense bonus it gives you is not very useful however since the total amount from your gear is minimal.
Mind Blast - +1 Point
This skill used to be required for PvP in the old days but has since been nerfed and for good reason. I still like to allocate it for nostalgia and fighting Blood Bringers on Tier 4 maps. You can Mind Blast than get a Zeal attack in before being hit and switch back to Mind Blast in a cycle to continually stunlock the Blood Bringers. It is slow but a viable option as melee to deal with them if you have no other ranged utility in the party.
==Mercenary==
I tried to design this build with the fact that Mercenaries will not survive most end game fights and cannot be brought into Boss rooms. A Mercenary is not required on this build at all to meet any specific threshold or breakpoint. There are two options I think are best case support depending on your play style for increased bonuses. Either stacking an Act 5 Might Mercenary with Might aura gear to add a massive physical damage increase or using an Act 5 Whirlwind Mercenary with Doom Runeword for the Holy Freeze defensive layer. There are multiple aura options that will increase your Zeal damage however the Act 5 Whirlwind Mercenary will allow you to break most Physical Immune enemy resistances because of Battle Cry stacking with Amplify Damage. I personally choose Battle Cry over the Might aura bonus for this reason. Please note that the Act 5 Mercenary does not use Faster Hit Recovery on gear and so equipping those mods does not work for them.
==Summary==
Overall I strongly enjoy this build and think it is the best physical melee Assassin archetype I have ever designed in terms of single target combat. The survivability is just insane and I put a great deal of thought into the different gear options to meet all breakpoint requirements while testing different build possibilities. If you favor melee style combat and do not mind losing clear speed via large area of effect, I definitely suggest giving this build a try. The scaling works very well and even with a mid-range claw you will have decent ability to farm Uber/Boss fights. I will update this guide and repost with notations if I find any new tech that enhances the capability of Zeal. Enjoy the build and remember … what I kill stays dead. 😊
InsightKnight
Tenacity v1.0