NM Chaos

So started an assassin and I still suck due to crap gear. Is NM Chaos runs good for farming or should I try elsewhere? Hell is not really an option as it takes way too long and I will die cuz I am bad. Any help?

Nightmare Chaos especially nightmare Chaos TZ could get you some decent stuff and potentially even some high runes.

Repec to

• Max
  Lightning Sentry
• 1
  Death Sentry
• 1
  Mind Blast for convert
• maybe 3 or 6 points into
  Fire Blast for
  Death Sentry synergy (so you don't have to recast it too often as it gets more explosions per trap)
• some points into
  Burst of Speed for casting speed of traps
• Maybe 1
  Shadow Warrior to get an additional distraction for monsters
• Max
  Lightning Sentry synergies with points left

...get used to the routine of

• Mind Blast until some monsters convert
• into
  Lightning Sentry
• into maybe another
  Mind Blast if convert expires
• into maybe
  Lightning Sentry if traps expire
• into
  Death Sentry after one or two monsters die

...and rock in hell even with bad gear.

Boss fights:

• Hell
  Andariel: Kill packs,
  Death Sentry, if not dead cast traps and walk in circle
• Hell
  Duriel: Cast traps, walk in circles
• Hell
  Mephisto: Lure him to his side of the moat near the portal, position yourself on the other side at the lower Edge of the screen so he cant hit you but stays in position. Cast traps
• Hell Diablo: Get fire resist, cast traps, run in circles
• Hell
  Baal: Avoid
  Nova, cast traps, run around, avoid hits from tentacles

After killing Hell

Baal, farm hell cows like crazy with this setup and get a huge boost in killing speed once you find

Um for building Crescent Moon

Diablo Clone: Possible even naked after applying Prevent Monster Heal, look his page for a tactic with this setup

Mind Blast has plenty of use, but perhaps not so much for all builds or in all game modes.

You can stunlock enemies. Champs/uniques won't be converted, just put into hit recovery and/or stunned. Makes dealing with frenzytaurs or other tough enemies a piece of cake.

You can convert mobs to make them fight each other while charging up your Mosaic charges safely (combine with

Cloak of Shadows for best effect).

You can convert mobs to "bridge" the time gap during

Baal waves or while waiting for Diablo to spawn in

Chaos Sanctuary to not lose your Mosaic charges (the converted enemies will come to their senses mid time gap, allowing you to hit them and refresh your charges).

And finally - when I did my HC SSF playthrough, I used it extensively. Like, all the time. It's a safety thing. Converted/stunned mobs won't fight you.

But sure, if you're on softcore, and you don't play with Mosaic, there are far less situations where you'd need it.