@@ Line 733: / Line 733: @@
 [[Amazon Skills#Passive & Magic|'Passive & Magic']] tree will further benefit the chosen skills in this tree, as will two other, non-passive skills: "Decoy", which creates an immobile decoy, and "Valkyrie", which creates an ally, a minion much like the Necromancer's, to fight for you or just distract monsters, giving you free shots at them.
+Socketed bows can be very useful at early levels, especially with sapphires for cold damage and skulls for mana and life steal. They aren't the super low level weapon they were in D2C anymore, since Clvl requirements have been added to gems, but early on you can probably do a lot better with a bow that has 2 or 3 chipped or flawed gems in it than with any other bow you'll find at that point.
+'''Bow Damage''' = [(Bow Damage + ED from bow) +min/max damage from equipment] x (Dex/100 + ED from equipment other than bow + ED from skills + 1)
+In simplest terms, your bow + equipment damage is multiplied by your dexterity. If you are doing 50-200 with your bow and other equipment, and you have 200 Dex, you'll deal about triple your bow damage to targets. Critical Strike will then double this total damage, if successful.
+In addition to increasing damage, each point of Dexterity also adds to your Attack Rating and Defense.
+'''The Paladin's +% damage Auras''' (Might, Concentration, Fanaticism) are of tremendous help to a Bowazon, since they up her physical damage substantially. Many Bowazons consider a Might merc mandatory in D2X, but this depends on how fast you want to go, how much damage your bow does, and where you are playing. Might mercs are certainly the most popular hirelings for Bowazons.
+Every skill in this tree works the same with bow and arrows, or crossbow and bolts.
+==Magic==
+[[Image:magic-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* None
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Creates a magical arrow". Icon was previously for a skill called "Safe Shot", way back in the early development days before "friendly fire" was removed from the game.
+This skill allows the Amazon to fire a bolt or arrow even when her quiver has run dry, creating the arrow/bolt from pure magic. More points in this skill lower the mana cost and raise the damage. The damage dealt at base is the same as a normal arrow/bolt from your bow/crossbow, and even at Slvl 1 it should be easy to steal enough mana per shot to keep using this skill indefinitely.
+Just one point is recommended in this skill, for emergency use.
+==Fire==
+[[Image:fire-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* None
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrow with flame". This skill adds a small amount of fire damage to your arrow or bolt attack, and can be helpful as a small light source as well.Until V1.09 this skill was nothing more than a prerequisite for the later fire damage bow skills. This changed greatly in v1.09 though, when a new, undocumented feature was implemented. Now when using Fire Arrow your total physical damage is calculated, and half of that is converted to fire damage, while half still counts as physical (which lets you leech as well). So if you are doing 1000 damage, 500 becomes fire, and 500 stays physical. If you get Critical Strike to work that shot, you'll do 2000 damage, which goes 1000 fire and 1000 physical.
+The "1/2 damage to fire" calculation is completed after all other bonus damage, including Critical Strike, and it also includes the +damage to Undead or Demons you find on some items. Try some Laying of Hands set gloves with Fire Arrow on PI demons, and you'll be amazed.
+Fire Arrow always hits; there is no AR checked. If you shoot the monster, it will be hit and take damage. You can combine this with guaranteed piercing (such as on a Buriza) and make Fire Arrow a very useful skill. Try it when you have multiple monsters in a straight line, especially if your AR isn't very high; it can be great to kill either type of monster in the Bloody Foothills.
+Keep in mind that monsters may resist or be immune to Fire Damage, and use it wisely.
+The 50/50 damage split works at any level of Fire Arrow, and the increased fire damage from the skill is tiny, so do not add more than one point to this skill.
+==Cold==
+[[Image:cold-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* None
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrow to slow targets". The weakest of the cold-based arrows, this skill adds cold damage to each arrow, and chills (not freezes) the monster it strikes. While less powerful than Ice or Freezing Arrow, with some skill points the chill can last a very long time, and the mana cost for this skill is quite low. Chilled monsters have a 20% chance of shattering upon death. (Frozen monsters have a 100% chance of shattering.) The arrow hits for physical damage as well as the added cold damage, so you can leech with this skill.
+==Multi-Shot==
+[[Image:multishot-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Magic
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Fires multiple arrows". Perhaps the most useful of all the bow skills, Multi-Shot splits one arrow into many, each arrow doing 75% of your normal full damage. (They did 100% damage in D2C prior to v1.08.) More points in this skill increase the number of arrows and mana cost, but never add to the damage or accuracy. The spread of the arrows is controllable, but you can never hit any individual monster with more than one arrow per Multi-shot. Even if you fire 10 arrows right into a monster, it will only take damage from one of them, with the other nine continuing on (possibly hitting other targets). This makes this skill great for doing minor damage to every monster in a large group at once, but useless for doing big damage to any individual monster; you'd do bigger damage to a single target with your basic Attack skill.
+There are many other benefits from "MS". The arrows continue well off of your visible screen, so you can use it for scouting, or even to kill things that aren't yet visible. It's also great to slow the advance of a mob, if you have some sort of cold damage on your arrows.
+Multi-shot can be used with precision; the spread of the arrows is variable, depending on where you point when you click to use the skill. Briefly, if you target something right next to your Amazon, the arrows spread widely, while if you point at the edge of the screen your arrows will stay much more tightly-clustered. You can even target a particular monster, and if it moves off your screen, you'll continue shooting at it, possibly sending out your arrows in a much tighter bunch than otherwise possible.
+This skill combines well with Pierce, since once you have that skill fewer arrows from Multi-shot are enough to hit more targets. Conversely, more points in Multi-shot can somewhat mimic the effect of Pierce, since only one arrow will hit each target, with the others continuing on to hit monsters behind them.
+Around 8-10 points in Multi-shot is sufficient for most areas of the game. If you're firing more arrows than you have targets, you are basically wasting shots, after all. However if there are more targets than shots, you're wasting time, so strike a balance. The Cow level is the biggest exception to the normal MS needs, since if you gather up a big herd, you really can't have too many arrows going out.
+==Exploding==
+[[Image:exploding-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Magic
+* Fire
+* Multi-Shot
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to explode". A more powerful version of Fire Arrow, minus the "always hits target" bonus. As the name suggests, this skill enchants an arrow to explode into flame upon impact with a target, either a monster, or even a tree or a wall, if you miss a monster. The impact is an explosion that can damage nearby monsters as well.
+The actual area of explosive fire doesn't increase with added skill points, but as you can see from the screenshot it's large enough for one shot to cover a reasonably sized group of foes.
+The damage from this skill is fire and physical, but due to a bug you can't leech with it. This applies to unique weapons that fire Explosive Arrows as well, such as Kuko Shakaku.
+Exploding Arrow is an "always hits" projectile though, so you don't need any AR with it.
+More than one point in this one isn't recommended, since the added fire damage is tiny compared to the monsters' hit points, or your base arrow damage. Any +fire damage you have on your equipment (or charms) is added to the explosion, which helps the damage, but it's still far weaker than Fire or Immolation Arrow.
+==Ice==
+[[Image:ice-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Cold
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to freeze enemies". A more powerful version of Cold Arrow, this skill adds ice damage to your arrow, and will freeze a target solid, rather than just chilling it. The damage isn't much more, and the freeze time is much shorter than the chill time of Cold Arrow, but every monster that dies to an Ice Arrow, or while frozen from it, will shatter. This is most useful with minions, since then their Shamans can't resurrect them.
+The added cold damage isn't very high, and if you want to do cold damage you should be waiting to put points into Freezing Arrow. One way to use this is to map it to your left click, rather than normal attack.
+The arrow hits for physical damage as well as the added cold damage, so you can leech with this skill.
+==Guided==
+[[Image:guided-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Magic
+* Cold
+* Multi-Shot
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to seek enemies" Guided arrows have limited tracking ability, and if fired in the general direction of monsters will turn and home in on one of them. These arrows can't corner and pursue as tightly as Bone Spirits, but the arrows move much more quickly so are harder to avoid. There is a small 5% damage increase per skill point (the damage bonus did not work until v1.04 fixed it), and the mana cost decreases as well.Guided Arrow is the best PvP skill, since you can fire it in the general direction of an opponent, and let the homing aspect take over, since it works even off the Amazon's visible screen (though it won't change direction if it's very far off). It's also very useful to scout ahead, since you can fire Guideds off in the direction you are going, and if your leech blue or red swirl lights up, you know it has hit. The Guided will hit only one monster, which will then activate that monster to come towards you where you can easily kill it alone.
+They are also very good for getting the kill on Shamans, Oblivion Knights, Corpse Spitters, Fetish, or anything else that runs away or dodges, including teleporting boss monsters. Also note that the mana cost decreases every point, so at higher levels you will begin to easily steal enough mana per shot to use the skill indefinitely, even if your bow damage is low.
+In v1.09, this skill has become the most powerful Bow skill due to the buggy including of Pierce. Prior to v1.09 Guided didn't pierce. Now that it does it's by far the fastest single-target killing skill, since you get at least two hits with every single Guided, if there's room around the monster for it to pierce and hit again. This will probably be changed in v1.10, since it's technically a bug.
+There is some skill required to use it properly with piercing. You need to not target something against a wall. If you do then don't point at the monster, point next to it. Your shot will go straight to where you point, then turn to home in on the target. After it hits it will make a 180 and return for another hit on the same target. The same goes for using it when there are multiple targets; you want to shoot it to one side or the other, so it has a clean hit on what you are aiming at.
+One oddity is that if you have knock back the monster will always be knocked away from you, even if you shoot the arrow past the monster, and it hits them coming back towards you.
+Guided (with good Piercing) is the best boss killer at this point, and most characters are maxing it out. This isn't really necessary, and if your bow isn't big on physical damage, then more points in Guided won't make much difference on damage, so you're just adding them to cut the mana cost. If you have a big damage bow, then more points in Guided will make you faster on the kills, but even with one this is a very powerful skill.
+==Strafing==
+[[Image:strafing-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Magic
+* Cold
+* Multi-Shot
+* Guided
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to strike multiple enemies". A very powerful Bow skill, Strafe was the skill of choice for most high level Bowazons prior to v1.04 fixing the bow damage bug. Since then Multi-shot has become more popular and generally more effective, but Strafe still can be used to great effect, though it requires proper positioning. Strafe was nerfed in D2X by being capped at 10 arrows, no matter the skill level.Care must be taken when using this skill, since the Amazon is locked into place while firing her arrows, and if there are a lot of targets within range, monsters can close in on her while she's shooting. This isn't much of a danger in D2X, with just 10 shots, unless you're chilled or being effected by Holy Freee (or both). As with Multi-shot, some form of cold damage to slow the monsters down is very useful with Strafe.
+Strafe becomes most effect once you have a Valkyrie to attract the monsters, and a Decoy should be used also, to get the demons clustered in a tight pack and give you an extra shot. You should use it on stationary monsters, or ones coming right at you; strafing at a target moving to the side will usually miss. The main benefit of Strafe over Multi-shot is the damage bonus, and the possibility of hitting the same monster with more than one arrow. Proper positioning is essential to using this skill well, and the Amazon will often need to move around the pack of demons, while their attention is on her Valkyrie, to get the most shots hitting the demons from the best angle.
+Prior to v1.09 and Piercing Guided, Strafe was the Amazon's best way to kill individual monsters. It's still useful for that, though you need a lot of AR to make it anywhere near as effective as Guided. Strafe is best used now (if it's not your main skill) to clean up the last few monsters on a screen, especially if they are scattered all around. You can also use it in a battle on a "broken field" when there are targets in all directions, but not grouped well enough for you to get numerous hits with Multishot.
+A useful trick is that you fire an extra shot for every minion or party member within 13.3 yards (up to the max # of shots for your Slvl of Strafe). So if there's a single target and just you, you'll fire 1 arrow with Strafe. If you have a Valk and merc, you'll fire three arrows. If you have a Valk, merc, Decoy, and two Paladins, you'll fire 6 arrows, all at the same monster. This was an awesome sight back in D2C if you had a Revive-happy Necro or two, and high level Strafe: 50 arrows per use was an amazing sight, especially when they were all at one target, such as an Act Boss. You could literally type messages mid-shot and not miss a beat.
+Strafe is useful with one point, if you're going to use it a lot you'll probably want to get it up to the maximum arrows, which comes at Slvl 10.
+==Immolating==
+[[Image:immolating-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Magic
+* Fire
+* Mutli-shot
+* Exploding
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to burn enemies". A great-looking spell that adds fire damage and creates a mini-firewall under the feet of every target struck. (Multiple targets may be hit each shot if there are points in Pierce.) More points in Immolation Arrow up the initial fire damage and increase the damage per second a monster is in the fire, at the cost of more mana. Immo Arrow was the biggest damage per shot of any Bow skill in D2C, but it's been heavily nerfed in D2X with the addition of a casting delay, and the time cut on the firewall it creates. You can only shoot an Immo arrow every second now, and the mini-firewall they leave lasts just three seconds. In v1.09 the much-improved Fire Arrow does far more fire damage if you have a big damage bow. Immolation is now popular mostly for the novelty and pretty graphics, or else by Magezons, who use mostly elemental damage, with a less-damaging bow. It can still stack pretty well, and alternating it with other arrow attacks (such as Freezing Arrow) is the typical elemental bow strategy.
+The arrow hits for physical damage as well as the added fire damage, so you can leech with this skill, though it's hard to leech enough to keep firing it at higher levels, due to the heavy mana cost. The one-second firing delay is actually sort of handy there, since you can alternate with Guided or Strafe or Multishot to leech back the mana each Immo costs.
+==Freezing==
+[[Image:freezing-arrow-icon.gif]]
+'''Prerequisites:'''
+* Cold
+* Ice
+'''Casting Delay:'''
+* None
+'''Synergy Bonuses:'''
+* None
+'''Description:'''
+"Enchants arrows to freeze multiple monsters". The only Clvl 30 skill in the Amazon's Bow Skill Tree, Freezing Arrow is much like Cold Arrow, but adds an impressive splash of freezing shrapnel that will freeze the target, and any other monsters nearby. The drawbacks are a high mana cost and a freezing time and blast radius that don't increase with more skill points.Freezing Arrow is a great defensive skill, able to stop entire packs in their tracks. This one is very useful to keep your merc or Valk alive, and also to shatter corpses if there are shaman about. A good % in Pierce is a great help with this skill, enabling you to cut right through any mob with freezing splashes.
+Unless you are playing an elemental Bowazon like a Frost Maiden, you'll probably want just one point in this skill, and want to use it just every now and then, to freeze mobs. It's very useful to control groups of monsters, keeping them from scattering when low on hps, healing themselves or others, being resurrected, or killing your merc. It can also help kill PI monsters, though the damage isn't high enough to count on it as a real killing tool, especially with the high mana cost at higher levels.
+Cold time (freezing or chilling) is 1/2 as long on Nightmare and 1/4 as long on Hell, so it helps a lot if you have other cold damage (such as from Buriza, Ravenfrost, or charms) since their cold times add to your Freezing Arrow time. With a Ravenfrost and a couple of charms you can get monsters to stay frozen for 3 or 4 Multishots. If you want them frozen, you should alternate, Freezing, MS, MS, MS, Freezing, MS, MS, MS, Freezing, etc. This deals the best damage while keeping monsters totally immobile.
+The arrow hits for physical damage as well as the added cold damage, so you can leech with this skill.
 [[Category: Amazon]]

Old Amazon Skills (view source)

Revision as of 01:59, 22 October 2006