Ice Bowazon + Fire Rogue = Viable?

[Drehnz]

Hey all, I was looking into building a frost Bowazon around the Ice Runeword and I thought it would be cool to have a fire and ice thing going on with me and the A1 Merc. Here's what I was thinking:

Merc:

Weapon
Hand of Justice - Hydra Bow
-Holy Fire and -Enemy Fire Resist fit the theme well, Blaze on Level for style points, Dmg + Ignore Def + Deadly Strike = hit hard. LS, AS, Blind and Freeze = annoying
-The only reason I didn't bring up Faith is because the owner screams fire more than it's victims

Armor
Fortitude - Scarab Husk
-In all honesty I have no clue how it relates to Fire, it just seems necessary to a Rogue merc plus I couldn't find anything that stood out for the theme. Let me know if I missed anything that could

Helm
Steel Shade - Armet
-Fire Absorb + This is just me trying too hard

My initial thoughts:
-Is there a more effective option for the Runeword (Phoenix, etc) or even the choice of bow itself?
-Could Ormus' Robes be useful despite it providing only +Fire% Dmg?
-Dragon Armor?
Replace Steel Shade with 120/45 Helm?
-Are there any other recommendations or thoughts in general?

And most importantly,

Is it viable? In other words what should I expect from this in solo and coop? Thanks in advance!

 

[Namtar]

I'm confident that it's viable. My instinct is that the merc might not contribute as much and that if you want to go with this theme, it might balance out better to have the merc wield Ice and the amazon wield HoJ.

I like HoJ better than Phoenix for both standard attacks and for Immolation Arrow, but both options have their respective perks. I don't really have much experience with fire rogues, but they seem fine. As great as HoJ is, some of the advantages don't really come through when it's given to a merc. Ice runeword on rogue mercs is bonkers all by itself.

 

[Drehnz]

I'm confident that it's viable. My instinct is that the merc might not contribute as much and that if you want to go with this theme, it might balance out better to have the merc wield Ice and the amazon wield HoJ.

I like HoJ better than Phoenix for both standard attacks and for Immolation Arrow, but both options have their respective perks. I don't really have much experience with fire rogues, but they seem fine. As great as HoJ is, some of the advantages don't really come through when it's given to a merc. Ice runeword on rogue mercs is bonkers all by itself.

Thanks for the input, I'll definitely consider switching roles with the bows.

Side Note: Ah Namtar, it's great seeing that name again. I used to be on this forum as Holy Dude a few years ago. Coming back now, I was scared that this forum died.

 

[Namtar]

Thanks for the input, I'll definitely consider switching roles with the bows.

Well, I said it was my instinct, but yeah, I'm not really sure. Perhaps some testing is in order? Most of my experience with bows has been on amazons with a focus on physical damage. But I do know that Ice runeword on a cold rogue is quite strong. The factor it might come down to is how you prefer to use your merc, or even how much you use Decoy or rely on a Valkyrie. It could work either way and I am not confident that one is really that much better than the other.

Side Note: Ah Namtar, it's great seeing that name again. I used to be on this forum as Holy Dude a few years ago. Coming back now, I was scared that this forum died.

Ah, welcome back. Yeah, this place does still see some activity. I haven't been posting a ton, but I still check in pretty frequently.

 

[NoisemakerArrow]

Crusader Bow is better than Hydra Bow. Why did you pick Hydra Bow?

I remember Holy Dude. He made tons of threads in every forum.

 

[Namtar]

Isn't the average damage the same with either bow anyway?

 

[krischan]

Yes, but a crusader bow has lower reqs and it's easier to find.

 

[Namtar]

Well, no way to read Drehnz's mind, but I'd imagine the lower reqs thing is considered a non-issue because it's being wielded by a merc anyway. But I'm with you on the easier to find part.

 

[krischan]

For a merc, I would go for a quicker bow anyway, like a great bow.

 

[Namtar]

Well, well, well, I just checked, and the only time I ever tested a merc with the Ice runeword it was in...

...a great bow. It's been so long that I forgot I ever did that.

So I guess I concur? Seriously, this is mostly outside my experience, but at least from a theorycrafting perspective it seems right. An Ice great bow, by itself with no IAS gear, gives a rogue 11 FPA, while the crusader bow lags behind at 14 FPA. It seems highly unlikely that devoting the armor and helm slots to prioritize IAS in order to compensate for that attack speed gap is worth it. And the real power behind Ice comes from on-hit and proc-based cold damage, not the 210% ED.

Great bow all the way.