Solo Amazon with Split Javelin & Some Bow? (normal difficulty)

T

ToddMcF2002

New member
I’m wondering how viable my Amazon is after solo’ing up to Izual in Act IV last night. Mephisto wasn't so bad but I had to kill Izual from the safety of the stairs which has me questioning my skills allocation and the lack of a merc. Level 28 here. I’ve split my skills between Javelin and *some* bow to get to exploding arrows and dodge/critical passives. I couldn't resist the exploding arrows and there are 3 requirements so I'm looking at 6 total point investments there. I know I shouldn't dilute my Javelin path too far but its so much fun switching tactics on the fly. I've got pretty good gear and will grind some more before moving on because I can't find a good spear or bow with sockets yet.

Points allocations:
- 16 Javelin points (5 jab, 3 poison, 6 power strike, 1 charged strike, 1 lightning bolt)
- 6 passive points (3 crit, 1 dodge, 1 avoid, 1 penetrate)
- 6 bow points (1 magic, 1 multi arrow, 2 fire, 2 explode)

My question is whether I am risking hitting a brick wall supporting minimal bow or is this kind of split acceptable? Thanks.
 
My first advice is to ignore everyone and continue with your unorthodox "1 point in everything"-style build. I'm guessing this is your first character. Have fun with it.

Answer to your question:
For Diablo 2 characters, you want to focus on 2, maybe 3, offensive skills and max those (20 points). Pump one at a time, or do a bit of a combo. Level 30 skills are (in general) far more powerful than lower level skills. Charged Strike + Lightning Fury will get you through the game. Keep a mind out for which skills synergize (boost) each other - those two do.

A bow/java hybrid is totally viable. Many of the best/favorite builds do this, with Frozen Arrow coupled with the two above skills the likely favorite. You can also go with strafe or multishot instead of Frozen Arrow. However, going hybrid means you need two decent weapons. Elemental skills are less item-dependent than physical, so even without great gear you should not struggle too much.

Your fire arrow points aren't wasted, but for the skill to be viable they will need continued investment. I'm a big fan of Immolation Arrow, although it isn't that strong compared to other amazon skills. But I would say go with heavy investment in lightning skills and keep using javelins, and choose a secondary attack that is either fire, physical or poison damage (one of those, not all three).

Other general advice:
You can simulate more players in the game to gain more experience and find more items. Hit enter and type "/playersX" - without quotes, and replace "X" with a number one through eight.

Izual has a TON of hit points. So don't worry too much about your difficulties. A lvl 28 zon with scattered skills will struggle on him, though. And if Izual was tough for you, Diablo will be much harder.

You can go back and run Mephisto and the High Council in Act 3 for a bit. Use that players setting feature and you'll gain a few quick levels, maybe a neat item. Pump your charged strike skill. Gamble, looking for a javelin/throwing spear that has replenish quantity and mana leech; +damage and life leech are good mods too. If you want to keep with a single-pass style, just take it slow and kill every monster and pop every chest. If you don't want to boost the player setting for easier levels, then you'll have to use more creative strategy and fast clicking.
 
Interesting reads guys thanks. I have 3 unspent skill points. I have to grab Plague Javelin to get to Lightening Fury and I've got 3 points in Poison Javelin so that's an OK backup with synergy bonuses and I have a poison bow. I also grabbed Immolation Arrow because its free damage for the same Mana and has good synergies to where I am. I think touching cold is out at this point. So it looks like it will be all lightning Javelin going forward with fire from the bow, poison a weak Javelin backup. Should I put a few more points in Crit?
 
I've always found Izual to take longer to kill than Mephisto.

Don't put points into crit unless you're going to be doing physical damage. In other words, if you aren't going to use Strafe, Guided arrow, Multishot, Jab, Fend, or Impale, don't bother with it. Spell damage doesn't crit.
 
Most popular build runs Lightning Fury, Charged Strike and Freezing Arrow. Your gear can focus on +skills and IAS etc, no need to worry much about physical damage or AR. Ideally would end up with something like:

L20 LFury
L20 Ch. Strike
L20 Freezing Arrow
L20 Cold Arrow (the one that gives FA more damage)
1 pt each prerequisite and passive skill

And you can complete that around L81 I think. Extra points into whatever you need.
 
JoeBruce said:
My first advice is to ignore everyone and continue with your unorthodox "1 point in everything"-style build. I'm guessing this is your first character. Have fun with it.
Click to expand...

This. It is kind of a right of passage, we all started like that :)

Welcome to the forum.
 
I've focused in on my Javelin path but I have a good cold damage bow now so I can slow things down. I did some grinding, improved gear and gained 2 levels. I took on Izual again solo last night and I didn't have to run this time. I had to Kite a bit but not run away at least. So I'm doing something right!
 
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