Level 99 Crit Blade Vortex Assassin^3.25

Notes

=====Act 1:=====
Pick up sapphire rings for Merveil
Keep your flasks updated, swapping out lower level ones for higher level ones as you find them.
Sell Armourer Scraps and Blacksmith's Whetstones for Wisdom Scrolls
Sell magic items unidentified for transmutation shards
Sell rare items identified for alteration shards
Keep an eye out for three links. G-G-G, B-B-B and G-G-B.

Kill Hillock in the Twilight Strand. (Pick everything up)
Enter Town - Choose Ethereal Knives for Quest Reward from Tarkleigh.  
					 Link Ethereal Knives and Chance to Poison.
                     If you got a piece of armour from Hillock with G-G equip it. If not, check Tarkleigh. (G-G-G would be even better.) 
                     Try to buy a 3-link wand from Nessa. Preferably B-B-B or B-B

Unlock the Submerged Passage waypoint
Kill Hailrake in the Tidal Island
Enter Town - Choose Quick Silver Flask for Quest Reward from Nessa
                     Choose Spell Cascade for the Medicine Chest Quest Reward from Nessa. 
		             Choose Frost Blink for the Second Glyph Quest Reward from Tarkleigh. (The First Reward Does Not Matter)
	 				Buy one Flame Wall, one Pierce, and two Arcane Surge. (or mule better yet, mule level 1 Arcane Surge gems from a witch)
					 Link Flame Wall and Spell Cascade, link both with first Arcane Surge if possible. 
                     Link Frost Blink and second Arcane Surge.
                     Link Ethereal Knives and Chance to Poison with Pierce preferably, or a third Arcane Surge if possible. 
	                 
                     Don't stress out about links too much. If you can't find them, its OKAY. You'll get linked gear eventually and some of these colors will probably even change shortly.
                     The main thing is to have:
				     Flame Wall + Spell Cascade
                     Frost Blink + Arcane Surge
                     Ethereal Knives + Chance to Poison
                       
Unlock the Prison waypoint
Enter Town - Choose Added Cold Damage for Prison Quest Reward from Nessa.
                     Link Ethereal Knives, Chance to Poison, and Added Cold Damage
                     Buy Unbound Ailments and Void Manipulation if you can afford them and start leveling in open socket or on the backbar.

Kill Brutus in The Prison
Unlock the Prisoner's Gate waypoint
Enter Town - Choose Clarity for the Brutus Reward.
                     Optionally Buy Flame Dash to replace Frost Blink, link with Flame Wall & Arcane Surge

Unlock the Cavern of Wrath waypoint
Enter Town - Choose Blade Vortex for the Merveil Reward from Nessa, start leveling in open socket or on the backbar.
                     (If you don't have sapphire rings you can vendor 1 blue gem + 1 iron ring to obtain a sapphire ring)

Kill Merveil in Merveil's Caverns


=====Act 2:=====
Pick up topaz rings for the Vaal Overseer.
Help Alira

Kill the Great White Beast 
Enter Town - Choose Quick Silver Flask for Quest Reward from Yeena.

Kill Fidelitas in the Chambers of Sins
Enter Town - Choose Herald of Agony for the Blackguard Quest Reward from Gruest.
                     Buy Blade Blast if you can afford it and start leveling in open socket or on the backbar.       

Kill The Weaver in The Weaver's Chambers
Enter Town - Choose Deadly Ailments Support for the Maligaro's Spike Reward from Silk, start leveling in an open socket or on the backbar.
                    
Kill the Vaal Oversoul in the Ancient Pyramids (The Caverns)
					 (If you don't have sapphire rings you can vendor 1 blue gem + 1 iron ring to obtain a sapphire ring)

=====Act 3:=====
It's at about this point when Unbound Ailments starts to outperform Added Cold Damage in our Ethereal Knives setup.
Althought early on, Added Cold Damage might still feel better as it is upfront damage rather than damage over time.

Additionally, Efficacy, Pierce, Controlled Destruction, or Faster Casting are all good 4th links for our Ethereal Knives at this point.

Keep an eye out for: G-G-G-G, G-G-G-B, G-G-B-B, and B-B-B-G 
But Save all 4-links in your stash, you never know when you might need one.

Fight Piety in the Crematorium
Enter Town - Choose Despair for the Clarissa Quest Reward from Maramoa.
                     Buy Plague Bearer from Clarissa and start using it when you can.
                     Buy Grace and Malevolence from Clarissa if you can afford it and start leveling in open socket or on the backbar.

Kill Gravicius
Fight Piey in the Lunaris Temple
Enter Town - Choose Bladefall for the Gravicius Quest Reward from Maramoa, start leveling in an open socket or on the backbar.

Help Siosa in the Library if you want any of the following early for some reason:
Determination, Molten Shell, Steel Skin, or Herald of Purity.
But you can honestly probably just wait until Lily in Act 6.


==1st Labyrinth==
Complete this around the time you fight Dominus. 
Either a little before or a little after.
Noxious Strike is our first Assassin ascendancy.


=====Act 4:=====
Keep an eye out for
B-B-G-G (Blade Blast)
B-B-B-G (Bladefall)

Complete both Kaom and Daresso's Dreams. 
Then Help Dialla activate the Cannon, unlocking Belly of the Beast. 
We're going to go and get any gem's were missing at this point and swap to Bladefall/Blade Blast.

Return to Yeena in Act 2
                     Buy Faster Casting if you weren't already using it in your Ethereal Knives setup. 

Return to Petarus and Vanja in Act 4
                     Buy Increased Area of Effect, link with Blade Blast, Chance to Poison, and Unbound Ailments 
                     (You might need to defeat piety again in the belly of the beast before Increased Area of Effect becomes available for purchase, but I think it should be unlocked at this point)
					 (You can stop using Chance to Poison in favor of something like Cruelty or Void Manipulation once you have the small passives near the Spell Slinger noteable.)
                     Buy Unleash, link with Bladefall (level 1), Spell Cascade (level 1), and Faster Casting.

                     Optionally you can swap to BV as soon as you get Unleash, just make sure to pick up the duration node: Exceptional Performance, near the center of the tree,
                     Blade Vortex, Unleash, Sadism and Void Manipulation best 4 Link to start with G-B-G-G


=====Remaining Acts=====
Bladefall / Blade Blast should be able to carry your damage through the rest of the campaign.
You'll want to wait to swap over to Blade Vortex until after you've picked up the duration node: Exceptional Performance, near the center of the tree, close to the scion start.
Although, if you want to you could probably modify this build fairly easily and just keep running Bladefall / Blade Blast into maps.