Gambling for Bows?

[Jocular]

I'm in SP using a FA/Strafe Amazon, and scrounging for bows. I was lucky enough to snag my current bow off of Hell Andy, but it only left me wanting more.

Namely, Fools mod, IAS, and 2 sockets. But the 2 sockets I can go either way; I don't want to get unrealistic.

View attachment 3998

So that's the bow I'm using. And it's not bad at all, with my Moron's might aura I do roughly 600-2000 strafe damage, more than enough to deal with Hell Act 5 on /p3 especially with the generous %ED to Undead mod. However, I find it extremely annoying to have to invest so many points into penetrate, and lose my amulet, and ring slots to angelics. (Also, hitting the next strafe BP would be nice too). Even with angelics and penetrate, I'm still hitting only ~85%. My AR will only get worse as the Act progresses, especially as I'm only as far as rescuing Anya. This is why I've turned to Gheed in the hopes of finding a sweet rare bow. He's been...unhelpful at best.

So has anyone ever gambled a usable bow, or are the odds just too ridiculously low?

P.S. I know I could make Harmony easily enough in a 4os elite bow, and I have the runes...but I like rares for the style points.

 

[Archone]

Whats your lvl? I use to lvl my toon to at least 90+ before I start to worry about ar.

 

[Jocular]

Level 84, with 20 into vit, 70 into strength and the rest into dex. I get what you're saying, but I'd much rather see fools mod spawn on my bow than have to get it with my rings/ammy. With 10 into penetrate, I'm at 9550 AR. Calculating in my eth rune, I'm hitting at about 87% for the average monster. Which is not bad at all, sure, but I'd really like to see it hit the 95% mark.

 

[zaphodbrx]

Rare bows aren't very good unfortunately.
Make 'harmony' in a +3 GMB. You need +skills for FA.

edit: sorry, didn't see the P.S.
Try lycander's or bloodraven's charge, they're not bad.

 

[Jocular]

Rare bows aren't very good unfortunately.
Make 'harmony' in a +3 GMB. You need +skills for FA.

edit: sorry, didn't see the P.S.
Try lycander's or bloodraven's charge, they're not bad.

I have neither Lycander's or Bloodraven. And as I said before, I'd much rather use a rare bow than a unique or runeword. I've made countless bowazons on bnet using stuff like WF, Faith, Ice, Lycander's, Buriza...I'm playing SP (and recently stopped playing classic), and I'd like to use a rare bow than not.

Rare bows can be great, just the majority of them are horrible. Just look at this thread http://www.purediablo.com/forums/sh...ERDAVE-show-us-your-BOWS!&highlight=superdave

Part of the fun is that it's a bow you found (or maybe traded for, I dunno), and that it's a true unique, rough edges and all. I would use my rare over wf any day. Not for the damage obviously, but because I think it's pretty cool, and it performs well in Hell.

Back on topic though! Does anyone think that gambling for bows is a waste of time, and money? Or is it a worthy endeavor that will one day net me a beautiful rare bow?

 

[Archone]

If +9000 ar isnt enough, then get a higher lvl.

I suffice with 2000ar on my WW barb, which (so far) is the only Physical dmg dealer I have this ladder. He hits about 75% of the time.

And hes lvl 93. So if you want to have a higher chance to hit a monster, get a lvl and watch the difference in hit chance vs the same monster!


Peace

 

[Jocular]

Guys, I appreciate the advice on my AR. However, I hoped that wouldn't be the main area of discussion of this post.

Would someone please testify on whether or not gambling for bows is a efficient use of my funds, vs gambling for gloves or boots?

 

[zaphodbrx]

I gamble a lot with gold find barbs. And let me tell you, 99.9% of the gambled stuff is crap.
For a great rare you want cruels, fools, mechanics, alacrity, amplify damage and a +3 bow skills staffmod on a zon bow. Good luck getting that. You'll have an easier time making a faith, which is why most ppl do that. And faith is still better.

 

[Jocular]

What type of item do you gamble most? I used to gamble a ton on bnet for amulets/rings. I actually found some cool things that way, not to mention a cats eye once, and a bunch of crappy set amulets. Would you say that's the best way to go for gambling in your experience?

I know Faith is better. Don't worry. The problem is is that this is SP, and my cumulative rune wealth comes out to probably 1.2 ohms at the moment.

 

[zaphodbrx]

The probability of getting a great rare is VERY low. Let's consider cruels, fools, mechanics, alacrity, amplify damage. Just to get those affixes is 1:290666681 . Then if you want the perfect roll on cruels etc and then add the fact that the base has to be a +3 GMB and its probably in the realm of 1 in 40 mega zillion. On the other hand, the probability of a random monster dropping, say Jah, is about 1:300000

That's why ppl make runewords or use uniques. It's not because rares aren't good, but because a good rare is.. RARE!

To answer your question, I gamble ammys and circlets mostly, also rings, gloves and boots some times.

Also, you might want to check out Median XL mod. Rerolling rares, shrine crafting and MO means you can make your own weapon from scratch depending on where you want to go with it. And they can be the strongest items in the game, better than any RW or unique.

 

[Jocular]

Yeah, I've looked at Median XL before, and it's just not for me. Thanks for the tip though.

Found anything worthwhile from your gambling? Or have they generally been pretty crappy?

 

[zaphodbrx]

Been a while since I did it actually, but there was some decent stuff. 2/20 circlets, 2/10 ammys with great mods, etc.
Never gambled bows though..

Off topic, but if you're interested, Torchlight 2 has a very powerful gambling system and it is quite worthwhile to gamble there.

 

[Jocular]

I've played Torchlight...it just wasn't for me unfortunately :/

Wish it was