Cassia

This is from the Diablo universe.

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Cassia is a Ranged Assassin Hero from the Diablo universe. She is the same Amazon the player can control in Diablo II.

After shattering the Worldstone, the young Amazon Cassia had changed. She had seen hatred, terror, and destruction firsthand. If the Askari were to survive the coming darkness, they needed an army. She would begin their training immediately.

Background Edit

A powerful warrior, Cassia belonged to nomadic bands who roamed the plains near the South Sea. The wandering of these groups often brought them into conflict with other peoples, so Cassia was accustomed to fighting to defend her own. She was much sought after as a mercenary—Cassia was loyal to those who hired her, as long as her own ends were also served.

Gameplay Summary Edit

Cassia is an Assassin that can be played as either a focusing on poke or high sustained damage. She is unique as her trait, Avoidance, makes her extremely resilient against basic attacks as long she is moving. In addition, she passively deals increased damage to enemies under blind effects. These combined makes Cassia a natural counter for any Hero that relies on physical damage.

Overall, Cassia can fit into many team compositions due the flexibility of her gameplay style, however, she gains added value if her allies can also blind enemies, further increasing her bonus damage uptime.

Strengths Edit

• Avoidance naturally makes her a strong counter to Heroes that rely on basic attack to deal damage.
  • For instance, Tracer's rapid, weak attack barely tickles her, and Cassia is better able to wander around a sieged Sgt. Hammer than most.
• Passively deals bonus damage to blinded opponents.
• Flexible talent tree, allowing her to focus on either poke through abilities, or sustained damage through basic attacks.
• Has access to an area of effect burst oriented talent at level 1, Charged Strikes.
• Can gain a powerful tool of self-sustain through the level 4 talent Ring of the Leech.
• Lightning Fury provides Cassia with a very effective poke, specially if talented into.
• Blinding Light covers a decent area of effect.
• Fend is a powerful finishing move, specially if opponents are affected by some kind of crowd control.
  • It also provides decent waveclear if minions are blinded.
• Ball Lightning can deal massive damage under the right circumstances.
• Valkyrie is a powerful displacement tool if Cassia has proper setups and/or follow ups to do so.

Weaknesses Edit

• Has lower Basic Attack range compared to other ranged Heroes, making engaging somewhat more difficult.
• Since Avoidance only works against basic attacks, enemies who focus on spell damage (like Jaina, Li-Ming, and Kael'thas) can send Cassia scurrying in a hurry.
• Has no mobility outside of Fend, which once cast, commits Cassia to that position, which can often leave her vulnerable if poorly timed.
• She finds difficult to compete against other ranged Assassins that can often outperform her in terms of damage and utility.
• Both Heroic Abilities are relatively easy to avoid if the enemy team is not under crowd control.

Abilities Edit

Lightning Fury (Q)
Mana: 30
Cooldown: 4 seconds

Hurl a lightning javelin that deals 175 (+4% per level) damage to the first enemy hit and splits into two lightning bolts that deal 175 (+4% per level) damage to enemies in their path.

Blinding Light (W)
Mana: 70
Cooldown: 15 seconds

After 0.5 seconds, Blind enemies in the target area for 2 seconds.

Passive: Cassia deals 20% increased damage to Blinded targets.

Fend (E)
Mana: 40
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Charge at an enemy, and upon arriving channel for 1.5 seconds, dealing 78 (+4% per level) damage to enemies in front of Cassia every 0.25 seconds. Deals 50% reduced damage to non-Heroes.

Traits Edit

Avoidance

While moving unmounted, Cassia gains 65 Physical Armor against Heroic Basic Attacks, reducing the damage taken by 65%.

Heroic Abilities Edit

Ball Lightning (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Throw a ball of lightning at an enemy Hero that bounces up to 6 times between nearby enemy Heroes and Cassia, dealing 180 (+4% per level) damage to enemies hit.

Valkyrie (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Summon a Valkyrie that rushes to Cassia after 0.75 seconds, pulling the first enemy Hero hit, dealing 225 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds at the end of her path. The Valkyrie knocks back all other enemy Heroes in her way.

Talents Edit

Tier 1, Hero Level 1 Edit

Thunderstroke
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

Quest: Hit Heroes with Lightning Fury.
Reward: After hitting 20 Heroes, increase Lightning Fury's damage by 100 (+4% per level).
Reward: After hitting 40 Heroes, Lightning Fury gains a second charge and its Mana cost is reduced from 30 to 15.

Charged Strikes
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)
Cooldown: 20 seconds

Activate to increase Basic Attack damage by 20% and cause Basic Attacks against non-Structures to bounce to nearby enemy Heroes for 8 seconds.

Seraph's Hymn
Tier 1 (Hero Level 1)

Reduce Blinding Light's Mana cost from 70 to 40. Basic Attacks against Blinded enemies reduce the cooldown of Blinding Light by 2 seconds.

Tier 2, Hero Level 4 Edit

Ring of the Leech [Passive]
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Cassia heals for 25% of the damage she deals to Blinded enemies.

Inner Light
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Whenever Cassia is Stunned or Rooted, Blinding Light is cast at her location.

This effect has a 6 second cooldown.

Passive: Blinding Light's radius is increased by 25%.

Plate of the Whale
Tier 2 (Hero Level 4)

Regenerate 5 Health per second while Avoidance is active.

Quest: For every 5 Basic Attacks absorbed with Avoidance, it regenerates an additional 1 Health per second.
Reward: After absorbing 75 Basic Attacks, increase Cassia's maximum Health by 10%.

Tier 3, Hero Level 7 Edit

Impale
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Enemies below 50% Health take 50% increased damage from Fend.

War Traveler
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)

Cassia gains 4% Movement Speed every 0.5 seconds while Avoidance is active, up to 15%. This bonus is reset when Cassia stops moving or uses an Ability.

Surge of Light
Tier 3 (Hero Level 7)
Cooldown: 0.25 seconds

After taking 500 damage with Avoidance active, Cassia can activate Avoidance to deal 225 (+4% per level) damage to enemies around her.

Tier 4, Hero Level 10 Edit

Ball Lightning (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Throw a ball of lightning at an enemy Hero that bounces up to 6 times between nearby enemy Heroes and Cassia, dealing 180 (+4% per level) damage to enemies hit.

Valkyrie (R) [Heroic Ability]
Tier 4 (Hero Level 10)
Mana: 60
Cooldown: 60 seconds

Summon a Valkyrie that rushes to Cassia after 0.75 seconds, pulling the first enemy Hero hit, dealing 225 (+4% per level) damage and Stunning them for 0.5 seconds at the end of her path. The Valkyrie knocks back all other enemy Heroes in her way.

Tier 5, Hero Level 13 Edit

Grounding Bolt
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Lightning Fury Slows enemies hit by 20% for 1.5 seconds.

Thundergod's Vigor
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Enemy Heroes hit by the primary missile of Lightning Fury reduce its cooldown by 1 second.

Lunging Strike
Tier 5 (Hero Level 13)

Increases Fend's range and area by 20% and its duration by 0.5 seconds.

Tier 6, Hero Level 16 Edit

Pierce
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

The primary missile of Lightning Fury now pierces, but splits only when hitting Heroes.

Penetrate
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Enemies take 3% increased damage from Fend each consecutive hit.

Martial Law [Passive]
Tier 6 (Hero Level 16)

Basic attacks against Stunned, Rooted, or Slowed enemy Heroes deal bonus damage equal to 3% of the Hero's maximum Health.

Tier 7, Hero Level 20 Edit

Infinite Lightning
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Ball Lightning can now bounce indefinitely, and its cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds every time an enemy Hero is hit.

Imprisoning Light
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Upon impaling a Hero, Cassia's Valkyrie creates a wave of light that deals 200 (+4% per level) damage to nearby enemies and Roots them for 3 seconds.

Titan's Revenge [Passive]
Tier 7 (Hero Level 20)

Cassia's Basic Attacks now ignore Armor, and her Basic Attack range is increased by 2.

Talent Builds Edit

• Lightning Fury Build: focused maximizing Lightning Fury's poke damage and spam capacity. The core of this build lies in the level 1 talent, Thunderstroke, which allows Cassia to use the ability more often by granting it another charge and reducing its mana cost; and Pierce at level 16, which allows Cassia to maximize the damage potential and hit multiple Heroes at once. This build is recommended when facing multiple ranged assassins focused on ability damage ("mages").
• Fend Build: focused on maximizing Fend's raw damage to make it devastating with the right setup, while allowing Cassia to blind her opponents more often thanks to Seraph's Hymn, meaning more damage uptime. This build is recommended when the allied team features heavy crowd control abilities (such as stuns and roots) and when the enemy team has no reliable interrupts to prevent Cassia from channeling Fend.
• Charged Strikes Build: focused on improving Cassia's Basic Attack damage through the key talent Charged Strikes, which allows her to put constant pressure on enemy groups. The synergy of the build lies in three other talents that allows Cassia to maximize her damage output: Grounding Bolt at level 13, which pairs perfectly with Martial Law at level 16, and lastly Titan's Revenge. This not only makes Cassia a very strong Basic Attacker, but also makes her a threat to Warriors and other high health Heroes. This build is recommended against a strong frontline featuring multiple Melee Heroes.

Tips Edit

• Mastering "stutter-stepping" is key when playing Cassia, to both maximize her damage output while keep her under the effects of Avoidance.
• Ring of the Leech is an essential talent for Cassia's survival, as it adds a very much needed self-sustain tool, easily outclassing the other talents in this tier.
• Use Lightning Fury to poke enemies from a safe range, while hitting with basic attacks.
• Try to hit as many opponents possible with Blinding Light to maximize the damage output (and also healing if Ring of the Leech is taken).
• Try to use Fend as a finishing move to execute targets; save it when they're under crowd control effects such as stuns and roots to ensure all the hits will land.
• Use Ball Lightning when opponents are clustered, or to win 1v1 situations.
• Use Valkyrie is to interrupt opponents' channeled cooldowns, or to pull low mobility Heroes who are out of position.

Matchups Edit

Pairings Edit

While Cassia pairs well with most Heroes due the flexibility of her talent tree and gameplay style, she shines when paired with Heroes that can provide additional sources of blind, as well strong crowd control to allow her to hit the opponents more effectively.

Effective against Edit

Cassia's entire kit is built around combating Basic Attackers, as she can heavily mitigate damage thanks to her trait, and blind opponents.

Effective foes Edit

Cassia is greatly hindered against teams that feature heavy spell damage, since she has no forms of escape or ways to reduce that kind of damage. Raned burst oriented "mages" can easily worn her out, specially since her basic attack range is lower than other ranged Heroes.

Skins Edit

Amazon Warmatron (base)

Amazon Warmatron	Wild Cassia	Wondrous Cassia	Soaring  100

Pirate Queen  100

From their secret hideout in Kraken's Cove, Cassia’s fleet of ships unfurl their black sails on a mission to loot and plunder. Mistharbour will soon bow to a new pirate queen.

_{This skin is related to the Mistharbour themed-skins.}

Pirate Queen	Bloodsail	Seafury	Velvet  150

Whirlpool  150

Warmatron  100

After her victory against the Prime Evils, Cassia ascended through the ranks of the Askari to become their most legendary commander. The Warmatron’s battle armor is a gift from Queen Xaera herself.

Warmatron	Deadwalker	Caldeum	Aranoch  150

Askari  150

Lunar  150

Though Cassia was skeptical of the Nexus's Lunar Festival at first, the act of honoring ancient gods and elders rings true to her Askari roots. She now gladly takes part in the festivities.

Lunar	Azure	Honored	Jade	Midnight

Trivia Edit

• Accordingly to her in-game lore and interactions with the other Heroes, Cassia has been transported into the Nexus after the events of Diablo II.
• The "Wondrous" variation of her base skin is a reference to Wonder Woman.
• Many of Cassia's abilities and talents make references to the Amazon's abilities and talents in Diablo II.
• Many of Cassia's talents make references to items obtained in Diablo II.
  • The level 1 talent Thunderstroke is the name of an unique Javelin .
  • The level 1 talent Seraph's Hymn is the name of an unique amulet (however, it is aimed at Paladins).
  • The level 4 talent Ring of the Leech references the sufix "Leech", that can be found in random magical items, which causes attacks to steal life per hit.
  • The level 4 talent Plate of the Whale references the sufix "Whale", that can be found in random magical items, and increases the user's maximum life.
  • The level 7 talent War Traveler is the name of an unique pair of boots.
  • The level 13 talent Thundergod's Vigor is the name an unique belt. This item also returns in Diablo III.
  • The level 20 talent Titan's Revenge is the name of another unique Javelin.

Patch changesEdit

•  (Patch April 24, 2018) Note: Soaring Cassia skin added.
•  (Patch February 6, 2018) Note: Lunar skins added.
•  (Patch October 17, 2017) Note: Whirlpool Pirate Queen and Velvet Pirate Queen added.
•  (Patch September 26, 2017) Note: Aranoch Warmatron Cassia, Askari Warmatron Cassia skins added.
•  (Patch September 20, 2017) Note: Basic Attack damage increased from 125 to 130.
•  (Patch April 12, 2017) Note: Pirate Queen Cassia’s eyes have been uncrossed.
•  (Patch April 4, 2017) Note: Added.

External links Edit

• Cassia at the Diablo wiki

Heroes

Assassins Alarak • Cassia • Chromie • Falstad • Fenix • Gall • Genji • Greymane • Gul'dan • Hanzo • Illidan • Jaina • Junkrat • Kael'thas • Kel'Thuzad • Kerrigan • Li-Ming • Lunara • Maiev • Malthael • Mephisto • Nova • Orphea • Ragnaros • Raynor • Samuro • The Butcher • Thrall • Tracer • Tychus • Valeera • Valla • Varian • Zeratul • Zul'jin Specialists Abathur • Azmodan • Gazlowe • Lost Vikings • Medivh • Murky • Nazeebo • Probius • Sgt. Hammer • Sylvanas • Xul • Zagara Supports Alexstrasza • Ana • Auriel • Brightwing • Deckard • Kharazim • Li Li • Lt. Morales • Lúcio • Malfurion • Rehgar • Stukov • Tassadar • Tyrande • Uther • Whitemane Warriors Anub'arak • Artanis • Arthas • Blaze • Chen • Cho • Dehaka • Diablo • D.Va • E.T.C. • Garrosh • Imperius • Johanna • Leoric • Mal'Ganis • Muradin • Rexxar • Sonya • Stitches • Tyrael • Varian • Yrel • Zarya