WitchWild String Sockets?

wacktapaz

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Dec 2, 2010
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WitchWild String Sockets?

Hi.
Just found a close to perfect WWS bow and will be atempting to make a Strafeazon with it.
My question is when planning on strafe as main skill, what will then be the best to put in the 2 sockets of the WWS bow?
I've just read chipmc' guide on this build, who says the best would be 2 shaels', but I've also read some newer posts where people say that IAS isnt important when you use strafe.
So what would be the best to socket with?

Thanks!
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

if you don't need the shaels (as in, you've already hit the breakpoint you want), there are several options:

An eth run will lower enemy defense by 25%, severely increasing your chance to hit them. This is the cheapest useful option.

Ists, if you're MFing

If you don't have any other kind of knockback, feel free to slap a nef rune in it.

Other then that, i'd go for jewels
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

+1 for NefEth if you dont have KB elsewhere. Nothing improves your DPS as efficiently as improving your to-hit chance with Eth, and doubly so for WWS where you want to proc early and often. Except maybe a Jah :)
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Shaels won't do much compared to Eth or ED/max jewels:
Code:
IAS	attack speed [ticks]	attacks per second
0	6/3/3/3/10		6.25
13	6/3/3/3/9		6.41
26	5/3/3/3/9		6.57
29	5/3/3/3/8		6.75
56	5/3/3/3/7		6.94

I would go for 2xEth but that depends on whether you think knockback is necessary :)
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

knockback is useful, if you have it somewhere else, 2xeth sounds good.
anything more pricy seems like a waste.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

what do you need an eth for. zons already have huge attack rating thanks to high dex and penetrate skill. if anything i'd use one slot for a jah (ignores target def) to dispel this concern altogether. against boss who are immune to itd , you can always use guided arrows (they autohit unless blocked).
the other slot might be for an ed/max jewel. i don't like nef all that much.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Leo, budget items, remember? Considering that you can easily replace WWS later if you can afford more expensive bows, why put a jah in it? Seems like an economical waste unless you got plenty of those jahs lying around and are planning another bowzon.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Leo, even considering our baseline AR, Eth is still a huge bonus to our DPS, especially at the price. If you have, say, an 83% chance to hit on average in Chaos Sanctuary, and Eth raises it just to 89% (purely random numbers), thats a 6% total increase to your DPS. There's diminishing returns on pumping AR/dex for to-hit trying to get to that 95% cap, so decreasing defense is the best way to boost your DPS. Even an Ohm might not give you that much, if you already have high dex and enough off-weapon ED.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Leo, budget items, remember? Considering that you can easily replace WWS later if you can afford more expensive bows, why put a jah in it? Seems like an economical waste unless you got plenty of those jahs lying around and are planning another bowzon.
depends on perspective. a good ed upped WWS is worth a fortune on eu sc nl. jahs aren't a big deal compared to the price of a wws. it's not just budget people who make this kind of chars, remember. i've recently made several set based chars just for fun, even though i could have spent those hr's on much better things.



 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Well, wacktapaz and I play on ladder and the prices are quite different there. I got a perfect non-upped WWS for a pul, and I am honestly disappointed in the damage. Running an Atma's and a Harmory in a ceremonial bow I do pretty much the same damage if not more as I do with WWS, even though I socketed it with eth and some ed and max damage jewel.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

...did you up it though? :)

obviously it makes a huge difference, boosting the base damage to Elite level. Ceremonial bow's base damage (30) is closer to an upped WWS (36) than a nonupped (21.5), which is why the Harmony is so much more impressive. However, by the time you get to Hell, the big elemental boost from Harmony ceases to be as useful and you'll want the big physical/magic attack from WWS and its much higher rate of proccing Amp.

And yeah I always assume SC Ladder unless the OP states otherwise, and they usually do
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

It does less damage but it has a big chance to do double damage (crit) and chance to cast amplify damage = double the damage again.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Bowas already have 70% crit from CS, so any other bow is gonna do double damage most of the time in any case. Amp will double and often triple your damage in Hell but the proc chance is just too tiny in my experience. Your mileage may vary ;)
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

More precisely, by the time you're in Hell, most monsters have at least some Physical resistance, so Amp actually is usually closer to tripling your damage than doubling it.

(ie. 100%->200% is double, 50%->150% is triple)

but Hubb is right, the 2% on WWS is not very reliable. You need 100% pierce and Eth in the bow to really get the hitrate you need to see regular procs. Even better yet, pair it with an Atma's Scarab for a 6.9% chance to proc Amp.

I'm running with a Blood Ravens Charge that I found this ladder until I get my Windforce. Its pretty comparable to what an upped WWS will do, paired with Atma's for Amp and Cleglaw's for KB. The ED takes the place of the crit chance, and the AR bonus takes the place of the Eth. I switched to a Buriza briefly, then I really noticed that the loss of that to-hit bonus was significant; I was leeching and killing faster with BRC. Harmony's going to have the same trouble, with the added trouble of having lower base physical damage, so you leech less. Amp and Crit from WWS will both enhance your leeching as well.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

So, for strafer, IAS is not that important? I'm trying to reach the 105% bp w/ 2xshaels treachery & a 20% glove. She shoot like a machine, I reckon a huge different before the 2 shaels. Should I get rid of that or this is just a personal taste?
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Witchwild string w/ 2x shaels.
i prefer mostly on the chipmc's guide.
 
Re: WitchWild String Sockets?

Bowas already have 70% crit from CS, so any other bow is gonna do double damage most of the time in any case. Amp will double and often triple your damage in Hell but the proc chance is just too tiny in my experience. Your mileage may vary ;)

In practical terms, the proc chance on Amp, using a skill like strafe, is pretty high. I have played several bowazons using WWS and it procs on many-a-monster mob. Procs enough that I was never worried about my damage not being high enough.



 
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