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Wake of Fire Assassin Guide

Season 8A

Last Updated:August 10, 2024|Change Log

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.

Ideal Standard Setup
Ideal Standard Setup

Wake of Fire

Death Sentry

Fire Blast

Lightning Sentry

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 ✔
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.

Best

The Secret Cow Level - High Density, Easy Mobility, No Immunities
Tal Rasha's Tombs - High Density, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access
Flayer Jungle + Flayer Dungeon - High Density, Quick Access
Stony Tomb ONLY - Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
Far Oasis - Easy Mobility, No Immunities, Quick Access

Worst

Chaos Sanctuary - Immunities, High Elemental Damage
Travincal - Immunities, High Elemental Damage
Durance of Hate - Immunities, High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage
Cathedral + Catacombs - Trash Mobility, Immunities
Arreat Plateau - Low Density, Few Elite Groups

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

Damage

Utility

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

Farming Spots

Mercenary

Playstyle

Breakpoints

Hardcore

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

Burst of Speed

Teleport

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

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