PvP Bow, trap, kick sin advice? by Queen Mebd

[maxicek]

Bow, trap, kick sin advice?
Originally posted by Queen Mebd, Mar 26, 2007

I've played a couple iterations of bowsins based on BigChief's guide found here. The first time I used the gear almost per item. The second time I built around an Enigma & fcr gear finding the maneuverability it provided invaluable. For the third build of this gal I've been kicking around the idea of moving away from lightning traps (after seeing the range ww/trappers can hit with the + skills on claws I feel a less than synergized ls might not be as useful without the benefit of +6 possible off claws) and adding dragon talon for a close-range option that was otherwise lacking. That said, which route might be the better of the two:

(a) more of a ghost kicker setup
max venom
max mindblast for stun duration
close to max fade for resists and pdr bowside
enough dtalon for 3 kick sequence with gear
one point traps
one point in dflight
one in shadow master
possibly ten or so in clawblock should I ever want to run a c/c setup
all the prereqs of course

(b) more trap oriented
max venom
max wake of fire
max both synergies
enough dtalon for 3 kick sequence with gear
two in mindblast for extra sm use
one point in dflight
one point in shadow master
prereqs
the rest into fade

I suppose it's prudent to post what gear I have/plan on using, as that often helps gauge what the optimal setup could be:

2/20 circlet ~ hopefully, guessing an ias/res jewel(s) in the socket will be best
Cat's Eye ~ for the mobility and dex
Enigma ~ in something light, again for the mobility
Arachnid mesh ~ fcr
Trang's gloves ~ poison dmg and fcr
Ravenfrost ~ for the cbf and dex
fcr ring ~ life, ar, max mana, could upgrade to one with dex
Shadowdancers ~ fhr, dex, solid kick damage
Widowmaker ~ socketed with an um

Switch 1: Death's Web/SS
Possible c/c setup: Fury runic, something else?
Also probably worth mentioning I've got all shadow lifers, would some of these need to be swapped for trap skillers if I went route (b)?

I hope I'm not missing any glaring holes in the gear setup either. Thanks for giving this a read and any feedback posted.

Just about everything seems planned out good. Thats rare.
Only thing is.. you are putting points in fade, so you should know that not all setups work with fade, in fact very few do. You can get fade to work with a c/c setup using 2x runics/gts, w/s with Dweb should be BoS only, use Ber'd SS for 50 DR on BoS.
I don't think you need more than 1 point in fade since the duel matchups you want DR for you usually want SS block as well. I play pretty much pure BoS on my kicksin, even with c/c equipped, although I can fade if I wanted to on claws while keeping kick bp.

For w/s I recommend having Um'd wizardspike and Um'd fleshripper in stash along with Um'd Dweb.

Yeah trap/kick hybrids should be using trap gcs since the traps are supposed to do damage and not tickle. Ive seen both kick/trap hybrids and pure kickers (bowsin hybrids) work as well, so either build is viable vs all, your choice which gameplay suits you better.

maybe using a um wizspike + ss combo would suit your well. this will allow you to achieve 102 fcr when teleing making it easier to distance yourself from opponents.

this will also allow you the option to have high dr, res, max block, ow, and 7/3/3 kick sequence in kick mode.

Um'd wizardspike is great for a lot of matchups, only problem is it lacks a bit of offensive power when dealing with barbs and smiters. Trying to kill them with widow and not having a more offensive switch weapon (to add ow% or -enemy resists) like fleshripper or dweb simply takes a long long time.
Although wizardspike is amazing when going up against blizzard sorcs, bowzons and druids, also really good for playing support in teams, where damage isn't the priority. Makes a kicksin really sturdy vs caster + barb teams, even if you can't damage the barb with a wizardspike setup too well.

Also to note, the best kick/wof hybrid Ive seen in my time on east (char name Kick, played by Chris aka Nado, the character has been long retired though, this was a while back) used a wizardspike/ss setup as his primary gear.

Wow, a whole bunch of feedback all at once, thanks guys. Now that you mention the c/c setup being the only non-BoS setup, I do remember the old bowsin guide mentioning you only need 10~15 ias with a high to decent level BoS. That'll free up the amulet and won't require any additional ias if I come by a circlet with only one socket.

Just ran the numbers through a skill planner, and a full compliment of trap skillers nets 974~1100 WoF dmg, that's a nice base damage when one's used to the huge range of lightning sentries. This will give a short (kicks), medium (traps), and long range (widow) option to play with.

One last question, the widowmaker's socketed with an um at the moment, would it be worth replacing it with a nef for the kb? Thanks again.

I like nef in widowmaker, kb is good to have with guided.
Only time an Um in the widow comes in helpful is if you have an opponent namelocked widowside, all other times you should be on w/s side whenever not shooting guided (trapping, kicking, teleporting) to be safe anyway, and since the bow will take on the ow% characteristics of the active weapon, it doesn't make much sense to have widow Um'd if that's your play style to swap to w/s after shooting a burst of arrows, since that means you will be on w/s side while they are hitting.
Then again it's nice to have 25% OW on widowside if you happen to be switched to bow while some arrows are hitting.

idk I like kb and my bow is nef'd. That's just my opinion though, Um isn't a bad choice because some arrows will hit while you are bowside occasionally.

Your call.