Long overdue: Matriarch Audrea, FA/Strafe M'avinazon

[intersilva]

Introducing Matriarch Audrea:

I made this character at least a year ago, and she's been Matriarch for nearly as long, but never got around to showing her off. This M'avina's set marked the second time I'd completed the set in my D2 career, and this time I was determined to give it a better fate than rotting in a stash.

Audrea went through a couple different skill layouts, and reached Matriarch with no Valkyrie, though it features prominently in her current setup. She was a very fun character to play through the entire game. She got as much time in AT as my blizz sorc even though she was a little slower and had half the MF. With just a little care she was very safe and had an active playstyle that I found engaging. She did okay at WSK as well but AT seemed to really suit her skillset. She's retired for now, I restarted recently and am focusing all of my energy on an untwinked hammerdin. Once he's where I want him I'll start working on untwinked characters again, bringing Audrea and my blizz sorc back to life.

Without further ado....

Naked/Gear
Strength: 90/135
Dexterity: 315/406
Vitality: 110/120
Energy: 15/15
HP: 554/575
Mana: 145/210
Resists: 74/74/74/75
MF: 198%

Gear:
Audrea's M'avina's True Sight (Ptopaz)
The Cat's Eye
Audrea's M'avina's Caster (Nef)
M'avina's Embrace (Ptopaz)
M'avina's Icy Clutch
M'avina's Tenet
Ravenfrost 17/196
Carrion Wind 9%LL
War Traveler 50% MF

switch:
Tyrant Limb (Hel)

Inventory is a few resist charms to bring everything up, 1 grand and 5 small cold damage charms adding ~45 avg cold damage all together and one Sharp GC of sustenance (8/68/21). Yes I personalized two of the set pieces, and yes I think I'm real funny.

Might Merc:
Andariel's
Eth Dusk Treachery
Eth CV Insight

20 CA
20 FA
1 Strafe
+prereqs

10 CS
8 Pierce
20 Decoy
10 Valk
+prereqs

LCS:

Spoiler

Long term I'd like to replace cat's eye with HLW and socket Cold Facets instead of Topazes but otherwise I consider her a complete character, and one I still enjoy doing runs on. It would be cool to replace Carrion Wind with a godly dual-leech ring so I could spam more FA, but it's not a serious issue and the twister procs are fun and add a little extra security.

I eventually settled on strafe as a one point wonder (7 with +skills) per some often-referenced advice I came across here, which freed me up to invest more into Decoy and Valk, both decisions which further increased my safety. I didn't really need them, but it makes the playstyle even more relaxed. I found that by pushing dex hard and using demon limb I didn't miss the AR from penetrate, which further freed up skill points. By the time I did my final respec I had more points than I knew what to do with. I could also see a really good case for skipping valk and d/a/e and putting those points into MA, which I use about as often as strafe. I really just missed having a valk, she looks cool and I get lonely playing SP sometimes, so minions it is.

In closing, Audrea doesn't quite hit like a frostmaiden with Ice and Infinity at her disposal, but she is incredibly safe and relaxing to play, has a huge degree of flexibility in skill points, can handle any combination of enemies the game can concoct, and looks stylish as heck.

 

[T72on1]

Congrats on the Mat !!!

How did you find mana management on this character? I have an Ice Frostmaiden in late Hell, and absolutely love that character ... except for the fact that I'm constantly out of mana.

Edit: o yes, if you haven't already, don't forget to post about your Mat in this thread as well.

 

[maxicek]

Congratulations on the Matriarch.

My (multiple) M’avina’s sets are collecting edust still, but I have a character in progress. Maybe one day.

 

[Ghonn]

Good read. I recently completed my M'avina's set and have a lvl 10 bowazon in line, a character I've never tried before. I too am interested in mana management. Insight of course helps, but I'm not sure whether a manapool that small becomes a problem without leech? Hell, I don't even know if the build is mana-hungry or not

 

[intersilva]

Insight and 5% ML on Mav belt is just enough to give her the choice between sustained, slightly lower DPS by rotating FA with Strafe or MA, or shatter everything and chug blues. I keep a row of blues in my belt and usually opt for the second, especially on bigger packs, but it varies situationally. She struggled in the early 70s when she first equipped the set, and even blues could barely keep up. This led me to make some changes including a Might merc and the sharp GC, which made an appreciable difference in her ability to leech. She would definitely be more self-sufficient with a good dual leech ring, but I'm not holding my breath.

This character has really taught me that breakpoints aren't everything, and that an effective Frostmaiden needs a balance between FA spam and physical damage to sustain her killing. Her ability to leech as a caster sets her aside from most other casters, and for me utilizing all of a character's abilities to their fullest potential is a big part of the fun. If I were to make an Ice Frostmaiden, which is something I eventually plan on, I would definitely design her with this balance in mind when selecting a bow base and making gear choices.

 

[Jocular]

Great mat! One of my all time favorite builds, there's nothing quite as satisfying as watching FA be sent into a crowd and blow everything up

 

[Delsy]

"This character has really taught me that breakpoints aren't everything" - what do you mean by this precisely? There must have been some strong impressions by the wording you used.

Also why so many points invested into Valkyrie? Points in Strafe would be better spent.

 

[intersilva]

When I first got her into her current gear, which hit the IAS breakpoints I'd originally been aiming for, she shot too fast for her regen to keep up with. Until I got my physical damage higher, the faster attacks weren't making a difference because she spent more time waiting to regen.

She reached Mat with no Valk and max Strafe, when I did her final respec I decided to keep strafe low intentionally to avoid getting locked down for too long. I didn't find that the extra %ed amounted to much. Strictly speaking you're totally right, even CS or MA would probably be better choices, but I decided on Valk because I like having her around and felt like beefing her up.

Edit: Likewise with regard to breakpoints, when making Ice I would opt for a slower, higher-damage base for better leeching i.e. GMB over MB. Not saying this is right or wrong, just a preference, apologies if that was unclear.

 

[Ghonn]

Oh yeah, I completely overlooked the mana leech that comes with Mav belt. Luckily I have some damage charms available as well.

Thank you for the insight

 

[Mir]

Congrats on the mat!

A frostmaiden (with this set) is one of my favorites. Bow as a weapon, strong attack, good 2nd skill, nice graphics, max valk...everything you can ask for in a char that focus on bow skills.

If you going to run some areas with her in the future, consider the first 2 levels of nihlathaks' temple. Narrow corridors with mostly PIs and LIs = Lots of fun for FA/Strafe build.

 

[T72on1]

This character has really taught me that breakpoints aren't everything, and that an effective Frostmaiden needs a balance between FA spam and physical damage to sustain her killing. Her ability to leech as a caster sets her aside from most other casters, and for me utilizing all of a character's abilities to their fullest potential is a big part of the fun. If I were to make an Ice Frostmaiden, which is something I eventually plan on, I would definitely design her with this balance in mind when selecting a bow base and making gear choices.

I hear where you are coming from. Definitely a good take on things. What I find unfortunate about an Ice Frostmaiden is that she can completely destroy Hell /p8, and then you run into CIs or you run out of mana, so you have to leech again, and then, when using Strafe or Multi, even /p3 feels slow in comparison.

Btw, I agree with you on maxed Strafe. Yes, it adds some damage, but a full strafe cycle just locks you down in place for too long.