PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Great guide :thumbsup:

He's diarunned a few of my chars working on this guide, if you want a CS runner capable of handling 8 player games look no further :laugh:
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Great work! Got to finish reading this one. Thanks Kijya.

This is the first guide I have ever stickied......on it's first day posted.

:thumbsup:

:afro:
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Thanks for sticky Dacar :smiley:

Some end here? :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for pointing it out, that's what I get for jumping back and forth while writing :laugh:
Why obedience instead of good 'old Demon Limb? Price of charges?
Click to expand...
I'm personally somewhat against relying on charges, but might be better to mention all possible sources of enchant there :scratch:


Also curious about the amount of life. Is it enough to support melee in 8 player games?
I feel that the lack of high d/a/e (but I've only tried WF strafe and a Faith hybrid so far) and high life would be kind of annoying(deadly) when glooms, casters and whatnot starts going crazy.
Click to expand...
On a higher bugdet base vit can get you to 600-800 life, fairly safe in most cases. On a low budget some vit might indeed be needed, or maybe throw on thundergods and max your resists while traveling in those areas.



some notes i made as i read through:
i like vipermagi as a kind of mini CoH. it doesnt give anything to your bow (aside from a possible jewel) but it gives some resists (if you need it) and a +skill.

chains also has life leech (one of only a handful of armors that does).

you can get ias on boots.... kinda. two sets have partial set bonuses of ias if you have two pieces, IK and sigon. if you really need the ias you can put on the gloves and boots from either set and get 25 ias from IK and 30 from sigon. both are pretty poor options, but they are there.

i realize there are tons of other choices on gear but two shields i've used are mosers (would go under safety) and a faceted tower shield (dont know if headhunters is strictly better, but i didnt quite have the strength for a monach w/ facets and i got it prefaceted).

i've been using a new hybrid i made for this season that has a set up you may be interrested in. she's mostly an mf zon built to run chaos, but can run other places with a few modifications to gear (getting any res whatsoever).
steelskull (ias jeweled)
highlords
skulders (ptopaz)
faith gmb
LoH (would prefer 20ias/kb gloves but i havent made any yet this season)
mf ring (mine is 100mana/24mf)
razortail
ravenfrost
wartravs

i decided to make this a hybrid after getting bored running pits with a strafer, but not being able to satisfactorly finish off diablo with the bow skills. to that end my switch:

thunderstrokes
mosers (2pdiamond)

with this set up and a few mf charms i'm hitting decent player one kill speed in addition to carrying ~340%mf. i'm none to thrilled about my cs damage, but diablo dies most games without the need to pot. since i have such terrible resists i went ahead and put a bit into vit (800 life or so). i also went ahead and pumped valk up a bit and am using a might merc w/ reapers toll for additional tankage. with proper tactics and decoy use i've gotten his deaths down to a manageable once every 2-3 runs (i even went 5 in a row without losing him once). using reapers allowed me to put shako on him for a bit more mf.

congrats once again on the best looking guide i've ever seen.
Click to expand...
Might be a good idea to increase the number of shields mentioned indeed, and Viper Magi may also deserve mentioning.

notes taken :azn:
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Impressive guide! I love the artwork as well.

Note: Strafe has recently been found to have a serious speed bug that makes anything above “9/3” useless when playing on the servers.
Click to expand...
Just to make this clear: the bug is present on SP too. Diablo 2 uses a client/server model for all playing modes.
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Testing the build, with lvl 83 she gained end game gear:
-Andys visage(15ias);
-ds fortitude;
-razortail;
-war travellers;
-Loh;
-maras;
-raven frost;
-rare mana leech ring(4%);
-windforce(shael);
-titans;
-troll nest sanctuary.
Only problem I encountered is mana in java mode, going soon to upgrade the titans and want to heard if this is enough to solve or more leech is needed?Maras is good but can be replaced for a rare +2 with mana leech and Loh can be replaced with a rare java/ias/ml and then the amulet by a crescent moon. My actual merc is a act1 rogue with faith(to be honest in bow mode she uses my setup for Krembanan wf zon with a1 merc faith minus the atmas amulet).What more can I test to fix this mana issue?
HellPlayer
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

the best way i've found is to use an ias/mana per kill jewel in the hat. alternately yoiu can get mana per kill on rings as well i think. higher base mana regenerates faster so increasing your pool may help. ultimately when you run out of mana for fury, switch and use strafe to get it all back (unless you're facing unleechables). if you have only a minor problem, just pot occasionally it wont kill you.

i also see you're using sanctuary. lidless is a really nice mana shield. it has a big chunk of mana per kill and increased maximum as well as 10 energy.
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

I saved from crafting 2 jewells 15ias/2mpk, going to replace the plain ias on the andys for one and test a lidless with the other to see how it works, from a kinda guide for cheap cow runner i remenber the boots waterwalks have it too, will test to see how affect bow dmg whitout war travs, the zon is working good hosting pub chaos runs at this lvl.
HellPlayer
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

good guide - like we were expecting anything else.

though two things. Isn't jab a spear only thing? So you can use it with obedience polearm?
Second, why do you focus on ias in your gear selection and not on skills. They seem atleast as important.

Damn, no I really have to make one.
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

stephan said:
Just to make this clear: the bug is present on SP too. Diablo 2 uses a client/server model for all playing modes.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info :thumbsup:

NASE said:
though two things. Isn't jab a spear only thing? So you can use it with obedience polearm?
Second, why do you focus on ias in your gear selection and not on skills. They seem atleast as important.
Click to expand...
Yeah, my blunder jab cannot be used with polearms of course.

IAS is crucial to make your bowskills work in my opinion, so seems best to list items according how much ias they could carry I'd think. The javelin skills on the other hand work with just 20 base points if needed, well pretty much in any case. But of course when you have the ias you need, skills should be your next priority.



 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Nice guide, I had been wondering on how secondary attacks measure up for a Lightning zon hybrid.

Also what are your thoughts about which auras are most effective from an Act 2 merc? I was thinking Defiance vs. Holy Freeze, but also considering might for the increased leach and especially when using the bow vs. LI.
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

might is the only way to go. i mean if you're not using an ITD bow, have crappy ar, and cant get it anywhere else i guess a blessed aim merc might be alright, but really might merc or an act 1.
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

brownmoses said:
Nice guide, I had been wondering on how secondary attacks measure up for a Lightning zon hybrid.

Also what are your thoughts about which auras are most effective from an Act 2 merc? I was thinking Defiance vs. Holy Freeze, but also considering might for the increased leach and especially when using the bow vs. LI.
Click to expand...
Depends to much on your personal preference when building your hybrid for me to say clearly, but I'd prefer might>HF>defiance on my own if I had to choose. Reason is of course the increased bow damage.

Defiance or holy freeze would increase the time a merc can tank I guess, but I'd rather lessen the time a merc has to tank instead of increasing the time they can tank. Or something like that :azn:

crawlingdeadman said:
might is the only way to go. i mean if you're not using an ITD bow, have crappy ar, and cant get it anywhere else i guess a blessed aim merc might be alright, but really might merc or an act 1.
Click to expand...
iirc there's something messy with penetrate and blessed aim, but could be wrong.



 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

O my Gosh Kijya excellent guide.

As always tho, a few questions :thumbsup:

1. I plan to make this on Bnet later in my life. Hwoever for now, just for SP , therefore who has the best prob to drop WF ? It seems good enuf for my zon.

2. I heard this char is good for 8 player chaos. What skills u use while chaosing? java or bow? If bow, do you use multi a lot Kijya?

3. Im afraid Im going to have AR issues. Any ideas to solve it?

4. What CAN'T this char beat? (in terms of pvm ofc)

More questions to come, LOVE ur zon

Thanks!
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

1. I plan to make this on Bnet later in my life. Hwoever for now, just for SP , therefore who has the best prob to drop WF ? It seems good enuf for my zon.
Click to expand...
Baal has the highest chance, but pindle is your best bet, since you can run him over and over really fast.

For percentage chances I recommend getting yourself ATMA and use its drop calc :wink:
2. I heard this char is good for 8 player chaos. What skills u use while chaosing? java or bow? If bow, do you use multi a lot Kijya?
Click to expand...
I use both, LF when there are tight packs of oblivion knights or venom lords, multi when the enemies are spread out a lot or some LI around, strafe when grand vizier and his pack line up nicely, and CS to kill diablo him self. FA at times when something nasty spawns a bit to close for my liking.

And I do use multi a lot, yeah.

3. Im afraid Im going to have AR issues. Any ideas to solve it?
Click to expand...
Lava Gout gloves, obedience polearm, or other way to get hold of enchant. Enchant is equal to penetrate in terms of giving AR, so a level 10 enchant means another level 10 penetrate on top of the one you gain from skills. A level 20+ enchant is as it you had maxed penetrate on its own.

4. What CAN'T this char beat? (in terms of pvm ofc)
Click to expand...
Ubers, at least not a hybrid as I've built mine. With other gear then the suggested and a healthy chunk of vitality you might be able to beat something in there, but I didn't really intend to make a uber viable build, it's for killing the normal areas in PvM.

Souls pose a problem unless you get yourself maxed res and 600+ life, tgods might be a good idea.

I've done ancients solo in 4p game iirc, tanking and killing them myself, but I think a lower budget hybrid might struggle there.


cheers
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

iLoveSoccer said:
Cheers, is this build good for killing bosses ? will the CS be strong enuf?
Click to expand...
Depends on your budget, but with wealth 8p bosses are pretty easy, and even at lower budgets 1-2p bosses should still be fairly easy.

At the top you're looking at something close to a pure java, if you focus your hybrid towards the java side. My own hybrid is more balanced and I only have a fraction of the cs damage of a full out high budget java, but 5k+ cs still works for me. :azn:

The problem is surviving a hit while you stand close, for this I'd say you need at least 600 life, which might be hard to get on a low budget with base vit. So there you may have to spend some points on vit. Max block and some d/a/e of course help protect you quite a bit, but dia might still 1 hit you should you be amped in a 8p game if you have to low life.



 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Kijya, I realized in the "rich man's list" why don't you use Faith?

Also for merc Im going to use might-based merc, however infi or pride? Is pride good ONLY because of more dmg?

Whats so good about WF? Just the 20 IAS, high max dmg and KB?

Lastly Zon master- Kijya =) , can you post the best bows in order from the best to worst? Let me start: Faith, WWS, WF, Buriza, correct?
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

iLoveSoccer said:
Kijya, I realized in the "rich man's list" why don't you use Faith?

Also for merc Im going to use might-based merc, however infi or pride? Is pride good ONLY because of more dmg?

Whats so good about WF? Just the 20 IAS, high max dmg and KB?

Lastly Zon master- Kijya =) , can you post the best bows in order from the best to worst? Let me start: Faith, WWS, WF, Buriza, correct?
Click to expand...
Check possible alteration 2 under it for faith based build. Cannot compare just the bows, you must compare complete setups, and wf+faith merc does compare quite well to the faith+might&pride combo in terms of damage.

wf+faith combo has a merc that doesn't die to IM, one of the main reasons I prefer it since I run dia a lot (my zon is lvl 96 ... from diarunning since she was 76, I didn't do hell ancients until I was 94 ...).

There are much other things to, but there's already tons of threads on the subject so better look into those instead.


Infi = your build will lean more towards being a pure java, it really buffs up the javelin damage a lot.
pride = more damage, yes, nothing else about it really. Concentration aura does help your bow damage quite a bit, though not as much as infi does to the javelins.



As said you cannot compare bows purely on their own, you have to consider full setups. Faith or WF might be best depending on what area you are running, what skills you use, your wealth, your playstyle, your merc, or who you play with. To many variables.


Bows below those are even harder to compare, and they're far less discussed in general. I'll link you to two comparison threads and hope they'll help a bit towards finding your answer:
http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145812
http://www.purediablo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293297



 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

Kijya thanks those links help a lot.

1 thing though, idk if i missed it, but i noticed that you don't put more than 1 skill point in the bow skills? so its 1 each in strafe, multi, magic, basically all prereq? If i wanna put more in bow, should it be strafe or multi etc?
 
Re: PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

iLoveSoccer said:
Kijya thanks those links help a lot.

1 thing though, idk if i missed it, but i noticed that you don't put more than 1 skill point in the bow skills? so its 1 each in strafe, multi, magic, basically all prereq? If i wanna put more in bow, should it be strafe or multi etc?
Click to expand...
It's discussed in "2.3 Extra Skillpoint Distribution".



 
Log in to Reply / Create Site Account
Remove Ads - Go PurePremium

Latest posts

Back
Top