A question about IAS Breakpoints, particularly for a Bowzon that uses Strafe and Multi/FA/GA

Jamie

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Dec 27, 2012
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As long as I have been playing this game and as long as I have been building characters and using the IAS calculator or looking at builds that take IAS BPs into account, I should have a firm grasp on this, but I don't. I have no problem with FCR or FHR, but IAS and I start getting confused on whether or not I am doing it right.

I just traded for a WF and now went from:

Code:
Wraith Flight
Spider Bow
Two Hand Damage: 118 - 233
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 64
Required Dexterity: 143
Fingerprint: 0xf2161b96
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
366% Enhanced Damage
+11 to Minimum Damage
+143 to Attack Rating
+94% Damage to Undead
+121 to Attack Rating against Undead
Knockback
Required Level +7

to this

Code:
Windforce
Hydra Bow
Two Hand Damage: 35 - 500
Durability: 28 of 55
Required Level: 73
Required Strength: 134
Required Dexterity: 167
Fingerprint: 0x9fa8b47a
Item Level: 84
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+20% Increased Attack Speed
250% Enhanced Damage
+262 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
8% Mana stolen per hit
Knockback
+10 to Strength
+5 to Dexterity
Heal Stamina Plus 30% 1 Sockets (0 used)

I obviously have a slower bow now and I need to figure out what to put in the WF and if my gear needs slightly adjusted or not. I honestly may have been using gear that made no sense with the Spider Bow, but I am still in A2 Hell with her and haven't decided to pinpoint endgame gear. Now that I got a WF and was able to make another Fortitude that she can permanently have and not need to borrow from my Zealdin, I want to get my final gear(or as close to it for now) figured out.

I currently have on:

BOW: Windforce with a free open socket
HELMET: a 3socket Great Helm /w 28 Life and 3x Jewels that total 45%enhanced damage and 45% IAS
ARMOR: Fortitude
GLOVES: Laying of Hands <LoH>
BOOTS: War Traveler's
BELT: Razortail
AMULET: Atma's Scarab
RING1: 8min dmg/3%LL/10%allresist/19%fireresist/level4 telekinesis charges
RING2: Raven Frost

So I have 20%IAS on my WF and 65%IAS from rest of gear (45% from Helmet and 20% from LoH Gloves)

With the German calculator (I think German lol), does it even matter if you put down your on weapon IAS or off weapon IAS? It appears that it shows the same IAS BPs whether I put down IAS or not, as long as I select Hydra Bow as my weapon? Am I correct in the interpretation that 46%IAS and 80%IAS are the last two Strafe BPs with a Hydra Bow and that is the amount of IAS I need off weapon? Or is that counting on weapon and off weapon added together and it doesn't matter if I reach 80 via adding a Shael in the WF and adding it with my off weapon? Does the IAS on and off weapon differ here? Does it mean my 20 IAS on Windforce plus 65 I have off weapon, gives me 85 and puts me at the max breakpoint that Strafe can reach?

Whether I put the 20 on Weapon and 65 off, or put 0 for both and use Hydra Bow, it shows 56, 89, 147 as the reasonable breakpoints for a regular attack. Does that mean for Frozen Arrow, Multi Arrow or Guided Arrow, 56,89,147 is the IAS% I need on weapons AND non weapon items to hit each breakpoint? Having 20 on bow and 65 off weapon, would I be correct in that I reach 10 Frames and am 4 short(85) of hitting 9 frames(89)?

Is that how I interpret the Strafe and non-Strafe IAS breakpoints? Reach the numbers listed in weapon AND off weapon IAS added together, with both counting for the same amount?

If so, this leaves me a tough question on what I want to do with my gear. I have a 24ed/15ias Jewel that would allow me to hit the 89%/9 Frame BP if I put it in the Windforce. I could shoot for a higher ED/IAS Jewel through trade. If I use a Shael in the Windforce, that would allow me to ditch the Great Helm w/ 28 life, 41%ED and 45%IAS and instead use a a two socketed helm with 2x ED/IAS Jewels. CoA is probably too much strength to bother, Giant Skull would allow me to have less Strength to use the Windforce and Crushing Blow(I know not great on ranged) or IDEALLY, a super good Amazon Circlet style helm that has 2 sockets.

Any Bowazon expertise would be awesome. I haven't played them seriously since 1.09 was the current, up-to-date patch.
 
As a reference, I throw @J-Dog's WF/Faith build link to start with.

Afterwards, when using the calculator, I add off weapon IAS and on weapon IAS. For Strafe on a Matriarchal bow it requires 37 IAS for last breakpoint, for Hydra bow 80.

As there's already 20 on WF, it then needs 60 from other sources.

Same process for Standard/magical attacks.

From my knowledge, the only skill that doesn't take into account off weapon IAS is Whirlwind...but don't take it for granted.

Anyway I'll be glad to be corrected by some experts too ;-)
 
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After refreshing on the 2 frame Strafe bug, short answer:

Yes, 80 total IAS is enough when Strafing with a Windforce. You can go a little higher (89) to reach the next BP when using any other bow attack. Doubt the higher BPs (147+ IAS) are worth it considering the gear sacrifices.
This changes to 20 total IAS for Strafe and 92 for maximum speed with other attacks, when using a Faith merc with level 15 Fana.

Long answer:

Make tea/coffee and google strafe 2 frame bug :D
In summary, there's very little use in hitting the bugged 2 frame Strafe. I guess that's why the weapon speed calc doesn't even show it.
 
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@Jamie In most cases it doesn't matter whether IAS is on the weapon or off-weapon, it's simply added together if you use both input fields in the calculator. So yes in this case it doesn't matter which input fields you use. There are separate field because this is not the case for all skills. As mentioned, Whirlwind only cares about on-weapon IAS. Another example are shapeshifting Druids, or oskill shifting builds with that use Beast or Wolfhowl. While off-weapon IAS does have an effect for them, the IAS on the weapon itself is far more important for shapeshifters and along with WSM dictates the attack rate range that can be achieved. Dual wielding Assassins are another special case where it matters where exactly the IAS comes from. In each case breakpoints are also affected by attack rate increasing skills of course (Fanaticism, Burst of Speed, Frenzy...).
 
Okay that is good to know, thank you everyone. Basically I have to decide on putting an Ed/ias Jewel in WF(possibly my 24/15) and keeping 45IAS in helmet and LoH or putting a Shael in the WF and somehow finding a 2 socketed Amazon Circlet that I can put two kinds of 15ias jewels in. It seems like Shael+Amazon Circlet would be the best setup, but probably will be really hard to find/pay for. That will get me to the 89BP for using Multi Arrow/FA/GA. I use Strafe the most, but I definitely use the other attacks enough to take them into account.
 
You could also swap Atma's with Highlord's Wrath. The amp proc is no doubt nice, but I remember it doesn't go off that often even on strafers.
With HLW you get 20 IAS, +1 to skills, 30+ deadly strike and 35 LR, quite an amazing amulet.

Which merc are you using? With either Reaper's Toll (A2) or Lawbringer (A5) you can get a relatively cheap and reliable source of Decrepify.
 
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@Albatross Yeah, I don't know why I didn't take an amulet switch into more consideration. I have a Cat's Eye in my stash that will give me 20IAS. For some reason I was in love with the amplify, but I just acquired a second Reaper's Toll so I don't have to move the one on my Zealdin around. So I am using Decrepify and Amplify and probably don't need the amplify when he is just going to cover it up anyway lol. I took a break in Act 2 and resumed there after getting the WF and the Poison Resist was nice, but I probably would do better overall with the Cat's Eye. I have yet to find a Highlord's, I haven't been very lucky with amulets. I have hardly found any unique ones and still haven't found Highlord's or Mara's.

With Highlord's or Cat's Eye I can still hope for a 2 socketed Circlet one day and use an Ohm in the WF, or I assume Ohm would be the best option. I don't know if people use Jah for ITD, but I would rather spend an Ohm. An Ed/Min Jewel might be an option too? The minimum damage is a lot lower than I was used to using this:

Code:
Wraith Flight
Spider Bow
Two Hand Damage: 118 - 233
Durability: 18 of 20
Required Level: 55
Required Strength: 64
Required Dexterity: 143
Fingerprint: 0xf2161b96
Item Level: 99
Version: Expansion 1.10+
366% Enhanced Damage
+11 to Minimum Damage
+143 to Attack Rating
+94% Damage to Undead
+121 to Attack Rating against Undead
Knockback
Required Level +7 1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Nef Rune

My life and resists are pitiful and the build is pure damage and reliant on my Merc and Valkry taking all of the damage. But she is clearing the game on 8 players pretty easily so far and I am at the end of A2.

I'm glad you brought up the IAS in the amulet, I forget about that being a good source.
 
Yeah, amp becomes a bit redundant when Reaper's comes into play. Cat's Eye is a decent substitute until you find a HLW and those come when least expected so... don't expect it :D

Not sure about the socket, haven't actually played a bowie, although I've put much thought into trying one some day. Probably a 30-40% ED/11-15 max damage* jewel if you don't need extra IAS, though nowadays an Ohm rune is more common that that kind of jewel. Don't waste a Jah though, ITD doesn't work where you need it most anyways (bosses). If you need to improve her chance to hit you can use an Eth rune. Cheap -25% target defense, halved vs bosses, but still effective and no big deal if you decide to unsocket.

There's no need to worry about minimum damage, especially on a fast attacking build like a strafer. You might get some unlucky streaks but the RNG will even out as long as you continue firing those arrows. It's better to think in terms of average bow damage which is about 270 for WF (guessing your zon's level) vs 175 for Wraith Flight. The name keeps confusing me because I think you were somehow using the unique ghost glaive on a bowazon :)

* max is better only because the roll is higher than what you can get from min

My life and resists are pitiful and the build is pure damage and reliant on my Merc and Valkry taking all of the damage.

Sounds like regular bowie to me ;)
 
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Yeah, amp becomes a bit redundant when Reaper's comes into play. Cat's Eye is a decent substitute until you find a HLW and those come when least expected so... don't expect it :D

Not sure about the socket, haven't actually played a bowie, although I've put much thought into trying one some day. Probably a 30-40% ED/11-15 max damage* jewel if you don't need extra IAS, though nowadays an Ohm rune is more common that that kind of jewel. Don't waste a Jah though, ITD doesn't work where you need it most anyways (bosses). If you need to improve her chance to hit you can use an Eth rune. Cheap -25% target defense, halved vs bosses, but still effective and no big deal if you decide to unsocket.

There's no need to worry about minimum damage, especially on a fast attacking build like a strafer. You might get some unlucky streaks but the RNG will even out as long as you continue firing those arrows. It's better to think in terms of average bow damage which is about 270 for WF (guessing your zon's level) vs 175 for Wraith Flight. The name keeps confusing me because I think you were somehow using the unique ghost glaive on a bowazon :)

* max is better only because the roll is higher than what you can get from min



Sounds like regular bowie to me ;)

Yeah. I'm pretty sure I am going to go Ohm. Versus bosses I have the option to use guided arrow and avoid the issue with defense(I believe?). I hit Embalmed in the Pit Viper level 2 room at 86% with FA and 83% with Strafe. And basically pierce every shot, so I have yet to notice any issue with dropping monsters quickly, even on P8 and with the previous bow.. not the glaive haha.. I'm not sure if A3/4/5 in Hell will start to give me issues with AR versus Defense, but I can keep pumping into Penetrate(adds 10% AR each skill) an Dexterity to make up for it. I also have 44 stat points remaining because I just respec'd for the WF and wasn't positive in the direction with stats I needed to go. Most likely it will be more Dex for a ton more damage and AR. With Might, Decrep or Amp(no longer) and a Windforce that hits the best Strafe and second best realistic normal BP(I think only a 15 Fanat Faith could realistically hit the next BP without IAS all over for gear), I drop things very quickly. An Ohm seems like the cheapest option to throw in the WF. 50ED on a bow that maxes out at 500 damage at level 84, should be nice(I'm not sure if the ED plays a role in the absurd max damage addition it has, probably not I think? But still is a huge boost on a Hydra Bow from 250 to 300ED, plus the crazy max damage.).

I have Titan's+Tiamat's on secondary to kill the physical immunes that can't be broken or for certain situations where the elemental damage and 75% block helps with Jab. I could probably try to use a CtA to help out my Merc and Valkry, but it hasn't really been an issue and I think I'd still die rather quickly with or without a CtA. I have a +3 passive circlet, gloves and amulet in stash and switch to Titan's for prebuff Valkry. My Merc basically never dies and the Valkry only really has issue in large swarms of usually poison or elemental damage.

If I could one day find a Rare Amazon Circlet with 2 sockets, that would be wonderful. Something like this would be great if it had two sockets. Would gladly swap out the 41ed/45ias/28 life hat and put two ed/ias jewels in this if it had two sockets...

Code:
Bitter Cowl
Circlet
Defense: 29
Durability: 18 of 35
Required Level: 66
Fingerprint: 0xc3b83b50
Item Level: 80
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Amazon Skill Levels
7% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +9
+63 to Mana
All Resistances +19
Magic Damage Reduced by 3

Or even 15ias/15 all resists.. but I think just avoiding life and resists all together is going to be my build and just stay behind my Merc and Valk at all times. It is working so far. I'm not sure how well Diablo or Baal and his minions will go on P8, but I'll soon find out lol.

If anyone reading this has any 2 socketed Amazon Circlets that they are willing to trade, send me a PM or post in here lol!!!! It feels like the last piece I need, besides the possible upgrades on the max damage charms I have in my inventory.

I'm not sure if I want to move my 20/230 Raven Frost and 50% War Travs from my Zealdin to her. The Raven Frost makes sense, as it would help her a bit more than the 15/185 she has right now. I just have to decide if I want my Zealdin or Bowzon to have that perfect feel to it in the OCD number department. I really love my Zealdin and love doing Trav with him and CS and some other areas. But I think the Bowzon will clear CS and every place but Trav quicker, but with less MF by far. The Zealdin I can get away with having a lot of MF and still be strong, so maybe the 50 travs should stay on him and the 42 on my bowzon. I worry about unimportant details often...

My Zealdin has 201 MF and is basically invincible. Also have my Eth Reaper's Toll on his Merc, as I feel he needs the damage help more than the Bowzon. My Bowzon only has the 42 from War Travs lol. I don't know how important it really is to clear areas with 42 vs 201 MF. I've been intrigued by MF since I began this game, but it's hard to really tell sometimes how much it really works in areas outside of bosses. I know it obviously does numerically, but I don't know if I notice it visibly. Honestly if I want to clear areas with a ton of MF, I just use my Blizzard Sorc and she can destroy any place in the game, outside of the Pits and Act 5 areas that nobody bothers with anyway. I have 159 MF on my Javazon, but I mainly just Cow with her. I am excited to see how the Bowzon does in the Cows. Surely not as good as Javazon, but will be fun and reminiscent of 1.09 days.
 
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The funny part about this is that I have been trying to acquire Faith runes for awhile now and I finally found the last Sur I needed in AT and then I went and got a WF lol. A lot cheaper and now I have a Ber, 2 Sur and an Ohm. I want to put the Ohm into that WF real badly, but I am worried about missing something and having to take it out later lol. It takes me like 10 minutes to make an expensive runeword I get so paranoid of messing up lol. I feel like @Albatross cleared up any issues and the Ohm is the easy, relatively cheap choice right now. But I still have a slight doubt of something, for some reason.
 
I'm pretty sure I am going to go Ohm ... guided arrow and avoid the issue with defense

Should work nicely, even if it needs to go out at some point it's not as rare as it used to be pre 1.13. And yes, guided arrow will always hit.

As far as MF goes the biggest return on investment is up to about 200MF. So it would be better to have more, but only if it doesn't slow down killing. Builds which don't specialize in MFing usually have a hard time stacking it.

I want to put the Ohm into that WF real badly, but I am worried about missing something and having to take it out later

You can write down all the numbers on a piece of paper, maybe that will help :D
 
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@Albatross It is very clear right now. I guess I am worried about some change in gear in the future. The biggest example I can think of off the top of my head would be if I found or traded for an extremely good Amazon Hat that only has/can get one socket. +2ZON SKILLS/Visionary(1%attack rating per level)/20% all resists/30%FRW/20DEX/30STR... I mean I am obviously never going to find that LOL.

But if I were to something even remotely close to that, maybe life, LL, individual resist stacks or other mods in place, or the original perfect one(minus one mod replacing two sockets instead), I think I would be obligated to put 1 socket into that circlet and begin using that with 15%IAS and then would need the IAS in the bow again(15 I believe, so ED/IAS ideal).

But like you said finding or trading for an Ohm Rune isn't that difficult anymore. So seeing how my setup is what it is, unless I get a 2 socketed Amazon Circlet that is pretty good or a very good 1/0 socketed Amazon Circlet, I might as well enjoy the Ohm for now.

Maybe I will post a specific trade thread about looking for the whatever really good Amazon circlets are out there, along with maybe another few items like a better ED/IAS Jewel or two and some potential upgrades on the max damage charms. I am starting to think that since my life is basically at "die instantly" level, there are options where I can go for more damage/AR and leave the life out of the equation. Or add in things like MF, Resists, dex/str or maybe other usable mods on it.

But you are right, I should draw out a page and the items, breakpoints, increased attack speed and the possibilities going forward to improve on her to get towards end game gear. I can waste an Ohm that I may have to take out later, but I will make sure any of the good jewels stay out until I know I have gotten an item as good as I am going to get. I'll maybe post the trade thread for a little while before I officially stick the 'OHM' in.. just incase I end up going a 1 socketed Amazon Circlet and need to go IAS in bow.

Anyone reading this, I am looking for Amazon Circlets! lol. If you have any good ones, especially with 2 sockets... let me know!

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I'm half asleep so I hope most of this is readable and legible lol.
 
+2ZON SKILLS/Visionary(1%attack rating per level)/20% all resists/30%FRW/20DEX/30STR

I wouldn't count on that happening anytime soon. Besides, that Ohm will mean nothing if you get your hands on a headpiece like this ;)

But you are right, I should draw out a page and the items, breakpoints, increased attack speed and the possibilities going forward

I see I got you interested in writing down stats. I think most of us use excel spreadsheets. They come with a bit of initial overhead, but are much easier to modify, not to mention it's primary purpose of doing all the math for you.

Thanks for all the helpful advice! I'm half asleep so I hope most of this is readable and legible lol.

No worries, that's how I operate about 70% of the time, it's also why you'll often see "edited" on my posts.
 
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@Albatross Oh I know it would take a miraculous moment for something like that to fall lol. Like Powerball or hit by lightning odds. I was dong the overexaggerating on how good an Amazon Circlet can form and how it can be a huge game changer and complete my build, outside of charm upgrades. Realistically I am thinking something more of a +2/Strengh and or Dex at some level, resists, maybe 30% FRW, 2 sockets and Visionary would be amazing. All of those on one would be amazing and I know that will likely never, ever happen. So just some combination of a few good stats at varying levels is the goal. Unless somebody is hoarding a really good one and is wanting to trade it.

The dilemma I would get in, would be if I find a very good Amazon Circlet that didn't spawn two sockets and then I'd have to probably have to remove the Ohm and put a ED/IAS Jewel in the Windforce. But if I can find a good to great Amazon Circlet without 2 sockets, I wouldn't mind pulling out the Ohm Rune and swapping it up.

I need to start a thread to see if anyone has a pretty good Amazon Circlet, hopefully with two sockets, and see if I have enough wealth, runes, gems, etc to afford one that has quality stats that I would like. I don't know what Amazon Circlet based helms exist out there or if somebody has some good ones that they want to trade, but I would love to find that person and that Circlet. Who knows how long it would take to find through playing lol. I guess I will turn to gambling on purely circlets and coronets for the foreseeable future and hope one lands in my lap. I have found some pretty damn good non-Zon ones, but not 2 socketed.. which is crucial for the 30%IAS needed.
 
You can also save all of your perfect skulls and reroll rare diadems. It's an unlikely roll, but it will never happen unless you keep trying :)

I was bout to dump all of my Pgems for rune upgrades or maybe some other items, but maybe I will save the Perfect Skulls. Are you referring to the 6 PSkulls and one rare item formula? What does the one random "low quality" text mean? Does that mean it is the lower of the normal/exceptional/elite pattern or the same type or what? Will it still have the ability to spawn the 3 prefix and 3 suffix? Is it just in terms of item level?

I was always confused on the lower quality text. And obviously I am not going to do the SoJ+Rare Item+PSkull lol. That seems like something that was made for when SoJs were duped to all Hell back in the 1.09 era lol. But it says it makes it higher grade.

From what I understand, it is item level? As long as I can get the 3x prefix and 3x suffix and that the circlets are high enough level to spawn the desired mods, I would be willing to try.
 
This is the best answer I found, link to thread on lurkerlounge.

adeyke said:
There are four different types of circlets:
Circlet (qlvl 24, magic_lvl 3)
Coronet (qlvl 52, magic_lvl 8)
Tiara (qlvl 70, magic_lvl 13)
Diadem (qlvl 86, magic_lvl 18)

Since these all have a magic_lvl, the alvl formula is simply:
alvl = max(ilvl, qlvl) + magic_lvl (capped at 99)

From this, we see that circlets always have alvl 27+, coronets always have alvl 60+, tiaras always have alvl 83+, and diadems always have alvl 99.

Or, put another way, the minimum ilvl you need to have alvl 90 (necessary for +2 skills) is 87 for circlets, 82 for coronets, and 77 for tiaras, while diadems will have it at any ilvl.

So use diadems. They'll always have a chance at +2 skills, no matter what the starting ilvl is, no matter what your clvl is, and no matter how often you reroll them. The same cannot be said of the others (if you have a very high clvl character and a very high ilvl tiara, you could reroll it once and still have a chance, but that's it).

BTW, you have the formula wrong. It's floor(.4 * clvl) + floor(.4 * ilvl), not floor(.4 * (clvl + ilvl)).
 
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@Albatross That bottom message is a quote straight taken from somebody else, telling them their formula was wrong in another post.. correct? lol

But yes, I should start saving plan Diadems and cubing 6 PSkulls with them. It seems like a quick drain on PSkulls, but if I can't find one via trade, that is one of the best avenues I can take.

My plan, IF I can't find somebody who has one for trade. After all, since I chose not to make a Faith and got a Windforce instead, I now have some runes available to possibly acquire a very good Amazon Circlet, is to try these:

1) I like to run Trav a lot with my Zealdin on PLAYERS 5(I once read that PLAYERS 3 for TRAV is the best method, but a lot more items and gold seem to drop on PLAYERS5 and I don't notice a huge difference in the time length of my runs. Perhaps somebody could mention if I am missing something and should drop back to PLAYER 3 runs, instead of PLAYER 5 runs.) I save the very nice amount of gold that drops and in sell all of the magic/rare items that end up being bad or I'll grab up items I know typically will get 35,000 when Cain identifies them if I have space in my inventory. So each run nets me a ton of gold.

I can use all of that gold to gamble on Circlets and Coronets. My Zealer is level 92 and my Blizzard Sorc is level 93. I'm almost positive for amulets, level 93 is the level that assures all amulets will reach the +2 skill threshold. 92 means most will, but not every single one. I am not sure how that works for Circlets and Coronets that are gambled though. If you or anyone knows that answer, it will help. If all or basically all circlets/coronets will be high enough iLvl for +2 skills, I will leave on the Zealdin and gamble on him. If the one level boost to 93 is THAT important, I can transfer the gold. But even if at 92, like amulets, only one gamble roll will put it below the +2 threshold, I think it would save time by just gambling on the Paladin and be happy that somewhere probably around 7/8 of all circlets/coronets will be high enough iLvl. Not worth the hassle of moving the gold for 1/8 lol.

2) I can save my Perfect Skulls and find/trade for plain Diadems and possibly plain Tiaras(I am a little confused on if when transmuting them, if the character I transmute them on matters or only the item level of the Tiara(or other level circlets or plain items). I am also confused on why the wording on Arreat Summit lists it as "low quality" (6 Perfect Skulls + 1 Rare Item = 1 Random Low Quality Rare Item of the same type
You can use this formula to get another chance at a Rare Item of the same type. ilvl = int(.4 * clvl) + int(.4 * ilvl) Player level matters. This formula will not work on items larger than 3x2.). Does the "low quality" not mean anything here? I certainly can't spend Sojs for "higher quality rare" when I haven't found one this Single Player restart, or even the others from what I remember. I don't think since Bnet have I found one years ago. It may take awhile to get Diadems saved up, but I will do that and if anyone reading this runs across any Diadems or Tiaras in high level areas, save them up!

Technically, most of the places I run should be high enough level to use Diadems, Coronets and Tiaras (coronets are ugly though lol). But I need to know IF player level of transmuter matters and IF so, how does that play into it? This will be a slower process, unless people out there have a bunch of qualifying Diadems/etc in their stashes and would trade them for reasonable prices.

3)Last plan is that I don't think I have used only but maybe one imbue reward on every character I have. I have been saving all of them from normal to hell and knew not to waste them, unless I was playing a playthrough where I limited myself to imbuing at moment of completion. So I have quite a few imbue quest rewards sitting and waiting. I didn't know if I wanted to use things like Amazon Javs, Druid Pelts, Barb Helms, Paladin Weapons, Assassin Claws or all of the Circlet style classes. I can use all of those imbue quests to try to get lucky on an Amazon Hat. That will require me to amass even more Diadems, though.

I haven't checked the rules of Imbuing items, so I don't remember how much item level and character level play a role in the process or if difficulty matters at all (the difficulty that you use the quest reward in; norm/nm/hell)

I'm sure I can check Arreat Summit or somebody here, or you lol, knows the formula for the imbue quest reward. So I have 6 characters that have all 3 of their imbue quest rewards available to use (levels 84,84,86,90,92,93). I also have a few characters that have their normal and nightmare imbue quests available and a host of others that have their normal imbue quest available. If character level didn't matter and it was all on item level, creating characters to get to the imbue quest reward, would be a great way to get tons of shots. But I have to imagine that character level matters. Any info on IMBUING, would be awesome!!!

4) Back to the Trav running with my Zealdin, that is a such a mine for yellows that I'm bound to keep running into plenty of rare circlets, coronets, tiaras and diadems(if possible in Trav). But I am not certain if Hell Travincal is a high enough area/monsters to drop rare circlet style hats that can spawn +2 skills. That one someone may be able to clarify for me, hopefully :)..

I also Run Hell Cows with my Enigma wearing Javazon(she is the one who earned the right to my only Enigma lol) quite a bit. The sheer number of items being dropped, may be a great place for me to find the plain circlet based items to transmute in the cube or to do an imbue quest on. Again, I am not positive, but I think that Diadems may be able to drop in Hell Cows? And whether Diadems can or cannot drop in Hell Cows, Coronets and Tiaras should be high enough level from Hell Cows, to be able to spawn +2 skills through the transmute method and hopefully the imbue method? That information would be awesome. Again, I believe I have read that PLAYERS 3 is the best game to run Hell Cows in, but I always run them on PLAYERS 5. A lot more items drop and it can make it a little difficult to look through, check and ID stuff and to pick up potions/gold/etc to clear out space to make sure I don't miss an item. But Javazon with Griffon's, Eth Titan's, Infinity and lots of plus skills, means that the cows drop practically instantly, regardless of the PLAYER LEVEL.

Should I run Hell Cows on the highest level that I can kill the cows almost instantly on? Or does too many items cause problems and a slow down in searching through too many items? I know people base the PLAYER LEVEL on runs, with clear/kill speed versus amount of and item drop payoff. But I saw P3 pop up for a lot of places, like Hell Meph, Trav, Hell Cows. If I can kill Hell Cows comfortably on P5 or even P7, should I run them at that?

My Blizzy Sorc has been doing AT mostly lately, but she is capable of running any area in the game that isn't called the Everything is Cold Immuned Pits and the Act 5 spots of Shenk/Eldritch/Threshsocket/ are possible, but would be really dumb to run on a Sorc that would have to static and watch Merc kill, when other Characters can whipe through them in seconds lol. When I get the urge to level, I take her and do Baal Runs on P8, which will be a place where all the items should be high enough level for my methods of getting +2 Circlets.

If anyone has a simple way of explaining to me where my thought process is on point and where it is off, how imbuing is calculated for the items in question, such as what level the plain items would have to be to do the 6Pskull transmute on my level 93(currently) Sorc(if level or difficulty matters), the difference between the 6x PSkull "low quality" transmute versus the SoJ+PSkull "high quality cube recipes.. not that I'll ever use the second one. I just want to make sure I can get 3 Prefix+3 Suffix possibly or even close to that much. I also asked some other questions throughout. I hate to be needy and annoying, but if anyone can help me out with some answers on this, that would be greatly, GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!

My first offensive play with be to see what is out in the market, but being able to find or create my own Amazon Circlet, or Circlet style hats, would be very rewarding and fulfilling! I just have a feeling it will be a super long adventure to pull it off and I don't even completely understand the precautions I have to take in order to make sure I am not imbuing or transmuting hats that can't even spawn +2. The amulet system was a little bit easier for me to figure out lol.

I do appreciate all of the help and following up with my responses that you have done @Albatross !!!! You are very helpful!!!! You even read through all of my long, rambling, what's on my mind posts!!!! Thank you, so much!!!! For reading and replying, lol!!!!
 
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One other thing I brought up in there, but it wasn't really the point of what I needed help in, in order to make sure I was imbuing and transmuting the correct level of items to be eligible for the +2 skills mod, was running Hell Cows and Travincal on PLAYER 5, instead of PLAYER 3. Or any PLAYER LEVEL for that matter. Same for any areas of the game. I run Hell Ball on my Blizzard Sorc at PLAYERS 1 until I get to where the minions spawn, PLAYERS 8 on Wave 1, PLAYERS 1 on Wave 2(save time chasing around cold immune skeletons with teleport/merc lol), PLAYERS 8 on Waves 3-5 and then I kill Baal on PLAYERS 3.

I would do Baal higher, but I don't think he really drops any more items, or at least it's at a super low rate of getting extra items, on PLAYERS settings higher than 3. Plus even though killing Baal isn't dangerous or difficult, his massive life pool and frequent decoys make it take forever to kill Baal on higher PLAYER SETTINGS.

One last question, is it okay and considered appropriate and not BAD MANNERS to change the PLAYERS SETTINGS as I do the Baal Runs? I believe I have asked this question before and found that most people follow a certain pattern for Baal Runs like I do and that it is perfectly okay. But I haven't asked in awhile and I don't want to miss some of the unwritten rules of SP D2, like baseball....lol. I am more concerned about the PLAYER LEVELS of the Trav, Hell Cows and other areas I am running and if the super small time difference between P3 and higher settings like P5/P7 really pay off so little that it isn't advised. In the case of Travincal, PLAYER 5 SETTINGS clearly drop a lot more gold and tons more items and always more rare items with possibilities and more of a chance I get some charms, jewels, jewelry and especially Facets in which I NEVER find.

BEING ABLE TO GAMBLE CIRCLETS AND CORONETS ON MY LEVEL 92 ZEALDIN WILL BE BY FAR THE QUICKEST WAY TO ACCUMULATE RARE CIRCLET STYLE HATS. SO IF THEY ARE ALL, OR EVEN A 7/8 CHANCE OF BEING A HIGH ENOUGH iLEVEL TO BE IN THE +2 SKILLS CATEGORY OR POOL, THEN THAT WOULD BE VERY HUGE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ME!!!!!!!! I BELIEVE THAT IS HOW THE AMULETS ARE CALCULATED FOR GAMBLING AT LEVEL 92 AND AM HOPING IT IS THE SAME, OR POSSIBLY A BETTER 100%, ON MY LEVEL 92 ZEALDIN. DO NOT WANT TO SWAP GOLD TO MY BLIZZER EVERYTIME HE FILLS UP, WHICH IS VERY QUICKLY THE WAY I DO TRAV RUNS LOL.

Sorry, did caplocks on what I am currently doing. But any and all answers are super important to me. I'll even throw you guys some Perfect Gems for being able to be my teacher and being able to explain or at least spread the answers to me! @Albatross or any of you guys can PM your email and I'll reimburse you for the research and information on the manner. I am so excited to be playing a Bowzon and rounding her out with the best possible gear I can muster up for a Windforce Bowazon! It has been since 1.09, since my school days, probably a little over 15 years, since I have played an actual, serious, Bowzon that can be effective. They were far and away my favorite characters to duel with back in the day and outside of the 50+ Sorceresses I have made in my D2 career, the Bowzon is my second favorite character thanks to them being such a blast in 1.09.

I was depressed when 1.10 killed them, or basically made them so much different, harder to figure out and needy of absurdly expensive gear to even be somewhat competitive. Nobody understood how they went from arguably the best PvP character, to something nobody could figure out and PvP with. Of course knowledge, some buffing and new gear since early 1.10 has advanced and they are back to being fun characters.

Thanks to @hackedagainanda to trading me a Windforce and getting me back on getting my Bowzon rolling! Nothing quite as satisfying as clearing huge groups of monsters, from behind your Valkry and Mercenary, while you Freeze them with Freezing Arrows and then spray Strafe and/or Multi Shot across dozens of monsters and watching them drop like flies, due to having super high bow damage and almost no life or resists, lol! Not advised for HC I would say, they are basically walking glass..cannons..
 
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When gambling the ilvl will be randomly something between clvl-5 and clvl+4.

So with your level 92 character worst case is 92-5 =87

According to the data linked by Albatross that is the required level for circlets to get +2 skills. What luck :)

So any ciclet type you gamble at 92 will be eligible for +2 skills.

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Edit: for gambling amulets with +2 skills you need to be 95+ (for 100% chance every time). However 93 is enough if you craft the gambled amulets (and don't want to spend time checking ilvl in Gomule/Atma first).

Switching players setting is fine. Play with what you like. Higher player settings increase drops but if it slows your runs it might reduce overall effectiveness.
 
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