Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce ifr

[Doctor Dweedle]

Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Im leaning towards Botd because it has Dual Leech but Windy has Knockback so im unsure..

Also if anyone knows of another good bow then please let me know.

Also im not useing a Faith simply because it isn't going to keep me alive. Too my knowledge it does not contain Mana or Life leech.

 

[droid]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

WF WF WF, its max damage at high levels blows BOTD out of the water. BOTD is fools gold for bowazons.

You dont need dual leech, as you're going to have LL from something else anyway - Andy's is the obvious source, since you want the IAS and STR anyway, but if not then a leech ring (with +res or what have you) is usually the other place to get it. WF has enough ML to fill your bulb with every volley usually, and yes KB is an absolute must-have for bowas, and a lot harder to find elsewhere than LL.

Same deal for Faith...it will keep you alive because its an awesome bow and the bowazon's best defensive strategy is always "kill them before they can hit you". Aside from Ravenfrost, there isnt a "must have" ring for bowazons - many just double up on Ravens - so that second ring slot is always available for a dual leech ring to solve your leech needs.

 

[stefan]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

BOTD aint that good, the leech is obtainable from things like dual leech rings, andy's face, etc.
however Faith has some really nice mods especially for HC
it has ITD, so you wont need AR. also the 10% chance to reanimate as returned
it has even got some @

so i would choose between faith and WF, because BotD aint that usefull on a bow
if you get a faith GMB you should try to get the aura atleast 14 i thought, otherwise you wouldnt need a certain IAS BP
it would also be usefull to get knockback from other equipment if you use faith

 

[crawlingdeadman1]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

1) dont make botd in a bow.
2) if you do, use a crusader.
3) dont make botd in a bow.

dual leech is easy easy easy to get on helms. it's also fairly easy to get on rings and other equipment.

ps. dual leech isnt going to "keep you alive" in HC with a bowazon. proper play > leech. you're not a tank, dont act like one.

 

[zrk]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Actually bowas are a tank, out of necessity at least. Though it rarely happens(but more often for aggressive players engaging in herding etc, desiring to kill faster), sometimes it does that bowas have to take blows from monsters and survive. There are so many death reports in the hc forum where characters fail because an unlucky boss pack/lag/whatever bad combination happens and their low life/low res character didnt have a buffer to handle it. Dont make the same mistake. Remember, monsters can do 1500+ damage in a single hit, be prepared

 

[crawlingdeadman1]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

sounds like poor play style.

 

[SlainByPain]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Well, lag can cause horrible things to happen.

I've always wanted to attempt to find a use for BOTD crusader, though.

 

[zrk]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

That is a value judgment. However the objective truth is, that for speed optimal game play, taking hits is a necessity.

The fundamental precondition of damage output alteration is the concept of movement dependent damage characteristics. In the sense of the planar domain of input specification dynamics, solutions exist between the characteristics of subjects of damage and object of damage output.

 

[KremBanan]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

sounds like poor play style.

For hardcore yes. But in softcore, I find myself rushing into battle on several occasions. I survive, but I wont reccomend it for Hardcore.

 

[droid]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

That is a value judgment. However the objective truth is, that for speed optimal game play, taking hits is a necessity.

How fast will your gamespeed be in HC if you get killed? I thought the whole point of HC was that you play with a more conservative (if not paranoid) mindset than SC...yes, you sacrifice some killspeed but thats the price you have to pay not to get ghosted.

Even then, I wonder if its "necessary" at any time for a bowie to take hits in the name of faster running. With skills like Strafe and MS that can KB and hit well off-screen, and merc/valk/decoy to tank, there's really never an excuse to let a monster get into melee range, even in monster-stuffed levels like Cow.

Its always ranged monsters that are the biggest problem for my bowazon in SC. Getting alphastruck by a boss pack of archers with nasty mods is my #1 cause of non-lag-related death. Lag is probably your biggest enemy in HC, too, I would imagine, so that's probably going to be the biggest "bottleneck" you have to build around. You never want to run into a combat scenario so aggressively that a 3 second lag spike will leave you dead, so that means unless you're playing on Blizzard's servers themselves, that you're forced to take a more conservative tack regardless.

 

[MinionOfBoredom]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Half tangential, but one of the best HC bows in my experience is the Silence Rune Word.

200% Enhanced Damage
+75% Damage To Undead
Requirements -20%
20% Increased Attack Speed
+50 To Attack Rating Against Undead
+2 To All Skills
All Resistances +75
20% Faster Hit Recovery
11% Mana Stolen Per Hit
Hit Causes Monster To Flee 25%
Hit Blinds Target +33
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
30% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items

It's far from the fastest killer by a stretch, but 25% HCMtF and Strafe will make virtually every single monster cower in fear of you. This, combined with Hit Blinds Target, will make it very hard to die.

And the 75% resist all is just icing on the cake.

 

[crawlingdeadman1]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Half tangential, but one of the best HC bows in my experience is the Silence Rune Word.



It's far from the fastest killer by a stretch, but 25% HCMtF and Strafe will make virtually every single monster cower in fear of you. This, combined with Hit Blinds Target, will make it very hard to die.

And the 75% resist all is just icing on the cake.

i agree, it's a fine bow. relatively easy to get the runes for it before they upped the drop rate, now it should be even easier.

OT: btw OMG IT'S MoB! what have you been doing!?

 

[MinionOfBoredom]

Re: Whats better for a HC Bowazon? Botd Hydra or Windforce

Well, for starters, I've been growing up, which I admit is a rather arduous process.

God. It's literally been years. So much changes.

I've been playing SCII and trying to get really good at it. It's more competitive and less grindy than DII, and I guess I just got sucked into it. Also, the Median mod for DII kinda took me away from the cLoD scene, and it's pretty hard to go back.

I might start up a USEast account again and make myself an Annihilus farmer Paladin, then a bowazon, then a javazon.