The Wrath of Matriarch Tisiphone

[LouB]

Tisiphone is my third Amazon and first in D2R. Way back in 1.10 a Fishyzon and the second was a Strafer using the full M’avina’s set in 2011. I made a Wrath bow for my Fury Wolf’s Merc and coupled with the changes to Strafe it was time to do another Bowazon and see just how viable Wrath really is. Looking for a character name I started looking at Amazon names and then started thinking about the word Wrath which led me to the Furies or Erinyes and to Tisiphone, the Avenger of the Murdered.

For those who haven’t switched to D2R or haven’t done any Bowazons in D2R you may not be familiar with the changes Blizzard has made to Strafe. It now has two synergies (Multi shot 5% damage per level and Guided Arrow with 10% damage per (level). Strafe now also has a bonus per level to AR.

My initial thought was to again do the full M’avina’s set and just put Wrath on the Rogue, but that is just using Wrath as a support weapon, which I already know works well. So, Wrath went to Tisiphone.

Since Wrath casts Decrepify I didn’t need The Reaper’s Toll or Lawbringer and I decided to go with a cold Rogue wielding Faith. I thought about making an Ice bow, but I don’t have any Jahs and I don’t want to use the two Bers that I do have.

I mostly play Melee characters and tend to get antsy when my resists aren’t at 75%. So, there is no way I’m going to go with negative resists in Hell. However, I don’t really want to use Chains of Honor again so didn’t try to max resistances. I also wanted to see how far I could get in Hell at /p8 setting and also wanted to have at least 200% MF.

Initially I thought I’d distribute the skill points like this:
20 Guided Arrow
20 Strafe
20 Valkyrie
16+ Critical Strike
5+ Pierce
3+ Decoy
1 Magic arrow, Cold Arrow, Multi shot, Inner Sight, Dodge, Slow Missile, Avoid, Evade, Penetrate.

However, I realized that I didn’t need 20 in Valkyrie and that I did want 20 in Multi Shot and what I ended up with was:
20 Guided Arrow
20 Strafe
20 Multi Shot
15 Valkyrie
12+ Critical Strike
3 Pierce
1 Decoy
1 Magic arrow, Cold Arrow, Inner Sight, Dodge, Slow Missile, Avoid, Evade, Penetrate.

This turned out to be one of the safest builds I’ve done. Just one death in Hell Act 3 Sewers. There were a pack of Stygian Dolls across a sewer channel, and I didn’t give a second thought to just strafing them. I think I took four out at once, but I was too close, and the blast took me down. My conclusion is that Wrath has zero problems completing the game.

Rune Finds: 2 Lums, Ko, Fal, Lem, an Um from the Hell Forge and a Pul.

Finds: Blood Raven's Charge, Gargoyle's Bite, Thunderstroke, Tal Rasha's Horadic Crest.

Spoiler: Stats

Name: Tisiphone
Class: Amazon
Experience: 1452673915
Level: 88

Naked/Gear
Strength: 104/164
Dexterity: 298/352
Vitality: 113/158
Energy: 15/60
HP: 563/718
Mana: 145/212
Stamina: 264/264
Defense: 74/1325
AR: 1460/2004

Fire: 203/163/103
Cold: 164/124/64
Lightning: 179/139/79
Poison: 158/118/58

MF: 201 Block: 47
GF: 163 FR/W: 25
FHR: 12 IAS: 30
FCR: 0

Magic Arrow: 1/12
Fire Arrow: 0/0
Cold Arrow: 1/12
Multiple Shot: 20/31
Exploding Arrow: 0/0
Ice Arrow: 0/0
Guided Arrow: 20/31
Strafe: 20/31
Immolation Arrow: 0/0
Freezing Arrow: 0/0

Inner Sight: 1/10
Critical Strike: 12/21
Dodge: 1/10
Slow Missiles: 1/10
Avoid: 1/10
Penetrate: 1/10
Decoy: 1/10
Evade: 1/10
Valkyrie: 15/24
Pierce: 3/12

Jab: 0/0
Power Strike: 0/0
Poison Javelin: 0/0
Impale: 0/0
Lightning Bolt: 0/0
Charged Strike: 0/0
Plague Javelin: 0/0
Fend: 0/0
Lightning Strike: 0/0
Lightning Fury: 0/0

w/o boosts W/Fanaticism W/HoW&Fana
GA Damage 629-1176 706-1293 732-1332
Strafe Damage 631-1180 709-1297 735-1336
Strafe AR 10521 12725 13787
Chance to hit Baal 75% 77% 78%

Of course these numbers ignore the 725% damage to demons and the 259% damage to the undead

Final Gear
Weapon: Wrath +2 Matriarchal Bow
Switch: Harmony +3 Ashwood Bow (for the +5 to Valkyrie)
Helm: Rare +2 Amazon Coronet (I hate the look of the Harley)
Armor: Tal Rasha’s Guardianship (Fortitude when I was at players 8)
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Belt: Nosferatu’s Coil
Boots: War Traveler
Ring 1: Raven Frost (I don’t need it for the “can’t be frozen” but hard to beat the AR, Dex and cold absorb.
Ring 2: Wisp projector for the Lightning absorb, MF and Heart of the Wolverine
Amulet: Mara’s for the resistances and + skills

Spoiler: Gear stats

Tisiphone's Wrath
Matriarchal Bow
PulLumBerMal
Two Hand Damage: 20 - 47
Durability: 25 of 48
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 87
Required Dexterity: 187
Fingerprint: 0x56d6a3c3
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
30% Chance to cast level 1 Decrepify on striking
5% Chance to cast level 10 Life Tap on striking
+2 to Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)
+375% Damage to Demons
+100 to Attack Rating against Demons
+259% Damage to Undead
Adds 85 - 120 Magic Damage
Adds 41 - 240 Lightning Damage
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
+10 to Energy
Cannot Be Frozen
4 Sockets (4 used)

Laying of Hands
Bramble Mitts
Defense: 87
Durability: 12 of 12
Required Level: 63
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xdcb3082
Item Level: 84
Version: Resurrected
10% Chance to cast level 3 Holy Bolt on striking
+20% Increased Attack Speed
+350% Damage to Demons
+25 Defense
Fire Resist +50%

Loath Casque
Coronet
Defense: 38
Durability: 30 of 30
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0x5e563379
Item Level: 99
Version: Resurrected
+2 to Amazon Skill Levels
26% Enhanced Damage
+19 to Minimum Damage
5% Mana stolen per hit
Replenish Life +8
+12 to Mana
All Resistances +13
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Realgar Jewel of Bliss

Realgar Jewel of Bliss
Jewel
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x37ed60d
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
26% Enhanced Damage
+10 to Minimum Damage

Wisp Projector
Ring
Required Level: 76
Fingerprint: 0x2d49374f
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
10% Chance to cast level 16 Lightning on striking
+12 Lightning Absorb
18% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 7 Spirit of Barbs (11/11 Charges)
Level 5 Heart of Wolverine (12/13 Charges)
Level 2 Oak Sage (15/15 Charges)

Raven Frost
Ring
Required Level: 45
Fingerprint: 0x238320f9
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+220 to Attack Rating
Adds 15 - 45 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
+19 to Dexterity
+40 to Mana
+20 Cold Absorb
Cannot Be Frozen

Mara's Kaleidoscope
Amulet
Required Level: 67
Fingerprint: 0xd69d9b58
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
+2 to All Skills
All Stats +5
All Resistances +28

Tal Rasha's Guardianship
Lacquered Plate
Defense: 925
Durability: 55 of 55
Required Level: 71
Required Strength: 34
Fingerprint: 0x95218f9
Item Level: 87
Version: Resurrected
+400 Defense
Cold Resist +10%
All Resistances +30
Lightning Resist +10%
Fire Resist +10%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15
88% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Requirements --60%
1 Sockets (1 used)
Socketed: Tal Rune

War Traveler
Battle Boots
Defense: 130
Durability: 48 of 48
Required Level: 42
Required Strength: 95
Fingerprint: 0x8aa4ac5b
Item Level: 86
Version: Resurrected
+25% Faster Run/Walk
Adds 15 - 25 Damage
+171% Enhanced Defense
+10 to Strength
+10 to Vitality
40% Slower Stamina Drain
Attacker Takes Damage of 9
42% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+30 Maximum Durability

Nosferatu's Coil
Vampirefang Belt
Defense: 57
Durability: 14 of 14
Required Level: 51
Required Strength: 50
Fingerprint: 0xda7fb930
Item Level: 96
Version: Resurrected
+10% Increased Attack Speed
7% Life stolen per hit
Slows Target by 10%
+15 to Strength
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+-3 to Light Radius

Harmony
Superior Ashwood Bow
TirIthSolKo
Two Hand Damage: 51 - 93
Durability: 46 of 48
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 56
Required Dexterity: 77
Fingerprint: 0x21d6e2f4
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
Level 10 Vigor Aura When Equipped
+3 to Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)
223% Enhanced Damage
+1 to Attack Rating
Adds 55 - 160 Fire Damage
Adds 55 - 160 Lightning Damage
Adds 55 - 160 Cold Damage Over 5 Secs (119 Frames)
+5 to Valkyrie
+10 to Dexterity
Regenerate Mana 20%
+2 to Mana after each Kill
+2 to Light Radius
Level 20 Revive (25/25 Charges)
4 Sockets (4 used)

Bow Progression
Artic Horn 9-25(full Artic set)
Edge 25-29
Insight +3 Ashwood Bow 29-40
Harmony +3 Ashwood Bow 40- 54
Harmony Superior Diamond Bow 54-58
Harmony +3 Grand Matron Bow 58-63
Wrath +2 Matriarch Bow 63

I was surprised by the full Artic set easily lasting till level 25. I even upped the bow, but it then became a level 30 bow and at 21-52 damage did much less damage than the Insight Ashwood bow at 62-96.

Armor Progression
Artic Furs 9-25
Stealth Mage Plate 25-29
Peace Mage Plate 29-51
Treachery Wire Fleece 51-58
Duress Wyrmhide 58-59
Fortitude Wire Fleece 59-78
Tal Rasha’s Guardianship 78

Peace is a decent armor, but it has no resistances so once in Nightmare a switch was needed. However, Fade never got cast and I quickly switched to Duress and the Fortitude which I would have kept except for the desire to get the MF over 200.

I toyed with the idea of making Bramble for the thorns and mana regeneration, but decided against it because it offered no lightning resistance.

Helm Progression
Biggin’s Bonnet 5-67
Loath Casque Coronet 67

Along the way I tried several other helms, but none of them could beat the 30% ED and I didn’t really need any of the other stats that they offered. I think Biggin’s is highly under rated, beside Biggin’s Bonnet doesn’t look stupid! No green ear flaps!

I played at Players 8 through Normal and Nightmare and in Hell as far as the first arm of the Arcane Sanctuary. I did a second arm at Players 5 and then decided to switch the Armor and dropped to Players 3 for the rest of Hell.

Spoiler: Charms in pack

Fletcher's Grand Charm of Balance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x6766a5e2
Item Level: 84
Version: Resurrected
+1 to Bow and Crossbow Skills (Amazon Only)
+12% Faster Hit Recovery

Acrobatic Grand Charm of Sustenance
Grand Charm
Required Level: 42
Fingerprint: 0x926e02aa
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
+1 to Passive and Magic Skills (Amazon Only)
+21 to Life

Serpent's Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 40
Fingerprint: 0x644e941a
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
+16 to Life
+15 to Mana

Gheed's Fortune
Grand Charm
Required Level: 62
Fingerprint: 0x84f3cf9a
Item Level: 99
Version: Resurrected
153% Extra Gold from Monsters
Reduces all Vendor Prices 14%
39% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Beryl Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0xa02228b6
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
Poison Resist +5%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Sapphire Small Charm of Storms
Small Charm
Required Level: 37
Fingerprint: 0x5e0ab40b
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
Adds 1 - 20 Lightning Damage
Cold Resist +11%

Hellfire Torch
Large Charm
Required Level: 75
Fingerprint: 0xcfaf4a24
Item Level: 99
Version: Resurrected
5% Chance to cast level 10 Firestorm on striking
+3 to Amazon Skill Levels
All Stats +12
All Resistances +13
+8 to Light Radius
Level 30 Hydra (10/10 Charges)

Annihilus
Small Charm
Required Level: 70
Fingerprint: 0xbedd8e04
Item Level: 99
Version: Resurrected
+1 to All Skills
All Stats +18
All Resistances +16
+8% to Experience Gained

Sharp Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 83
Fingerprint: 0x917feb3b
Item Level: 96
Version: Resurrected
+9 to Maximum Damage
+54 to Attack Rating
+45 to Life

Shimmering Grand Charm of Vita
Grand Charm
Required Level: 69
Fingerprint: 0xa236bb77
Item Level: 79
Version: Resurrected
+37 to Life
All Resistances +13

Coral Small Charm of Good Luck
Small Charm
Required Level: 33
Fingerprint: 0x4f928dc9
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
Lightning Resist +8%
7% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

Coral Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0xf1802b92
Item Level: 81
Version: Resurrected
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +8%

Amber Small Charm of Vita
Small Charm
Required Level: 39
Fingerprint: 0x4f7dfbd4
Item Level: 85
Version: Resurrected
+18 to Life
Lightning Resist +10%

Emerald Small Charm of Greed
Small Charm
Required Level: 32
Fingerprint: 0x1e0ce573
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
Poison Resist +10%
10% Extra Gold from Monsters

My cold rogue was equipped with
Vampire Gaze
Duress Wrymhide
Faith Diamond Bow

Spoiler: Rogue stats

Name: Klaudia
Race: Rogue Scout
Type: Ice - Normal
Experience: 86160218
Level: 88
Dead?: unknown

Naked/Gear
Strength: 142/142
Dexterity: 215/215
HP: 1530/1530
Defense: 1280/2883
AR: 2284/687484

Fire: 177/137/77
Cold: 207/167/107
Lightning: 177/137/77
Poison: 177/137/77

Vampire Gaze
Grim Helm
Defense: 252
Durability: 24 of 40
Required Level: 41
Required Strength: 58
Fingerprint: 0xa9f8b212
Item Level: 88
Version: Resurrected
Adds 6 - 22 Cold Damage Over 4 Secs (100 Frames)
8% Mana stolen per hit
8% Life stolen per hit
+100% Enhanced Defense
15% Slower Stamina Drain
Damage Reduced by 18%
Magic Damage Reduced by 15

Duress
Superior Wyrmhide
ShaelUmThul
Defense: 1351
Durability: 13 of 24
Required Level: 50
Required Strength: 84
Fingerprint: 0xbe8a5f77
Item Level: 78
Version: Resurrected
+40% Faster Hit Recovery
12% Enhanced Damage
Adds 37 - 133 Cold Damage Over 2 Secs (50 Frames)
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
33% Chance of Open Wounds
+187% Enhanced Defense
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Cold Resist +30%
All Resistances +15
3 Sockets (3 used)

Patrick's Faith
Superior Diamond Bow
OhmJahLemEld
Two Hand Damage: 144 - 175
Durability: 33 of 40
Required Level: 65
Required Strength: 89
Required Dexterity: 132
Fingerprint: 0xee5b2c73
Item Level: 80
Version: Resurrected
Level 15 Fanaticism Aura When Equipped
+1 to All Skills
339% Enhanced Damage
Ignore Target's Defense
300% Bonus to Attack Rating
+75% Damage to Undead
+50 to Attack Rating against Undead
Adds 120 - 120 Fire Damage
All Resistances +15
10% Reanimate as: Returned
75% Extra Gold from Monsters
4 Sockets (4 used)

 

[snickersnack]

Nice build! Did you give much thought to stacking +damage charms? I see that you have one sharp charm, and maybe you couldn't squeeze in more. Did you have much trouble with animal enemies?

 

[LouB]

I had zero problems with anything. The closest to a problem was running low on Mana killing skeletons and skeleton archers.
Baal also caused some mana problems, but I simply switched to GA which at a half point of Mana per arrow meant I didn't have a problem.

The Sharp and Shimmering GC were more for the life than anything else. I would have preferred adding more to minimum damage, but charms are poor for that and I decided to use the socket in Tal's armor for a Tal rune to boost Poison resistance. I figured that if I was having problems I could always remove the Tal and put in another jewel with +min damage, but I never really gave it a second thought. There was another reason why I didn't about trying to stack +damage charms - Heart of the Wolverine from Wisp Projector. It worked quite well and the repair was only 6600 gold per use.

The old guides I read said 100 to 120 in Vitality was all that was needed. However after doing three Fury wolves and a Wolfbarb, I had problems with a life below 1,000 had to pump the life numbers and those two GC were about the best I had. I had one near death shortly after equipping Wrath where the life tap saved me, which is probably why I used the GCs.

Speaking about life tap it actually is quite useful. Decrepify does go off 6 times more often but it only overwrites some of the life taps because decrepify is only cast over 4 yards while a level 10 life tap is cast over 8.6 yards. So, by the time you have killed a pack and start to move on you find more monsters that are already under the Life Tap curse.

 

[SirName]

Nice! If I count correctly your base damage was 54-81! Surprising something like that is enough for P3 Hell (with enough ed and decrepify). Would you mind sharing what the LCS displays as damage output?

 

[maxicek]

It is so purple! Good choice on the coronet, but aren't you affected by the max damage bug with the socketing?
Congratulations on the Matriarch.

 

[LouB]

@SirName It's in the stats data, but I won't make you search
W/O boosts W/Fanat w/Fanat & HoW
GA Damage 629-1176 706-1293 732-1332
Strafe Damage 631-1180 709-1297 735-1336
Strafe AR 10521 12725 13787
Chance to hit Baal 75% 77% 78%

@Maxicek She's a Goddess so deserves to wear the royal color! Actually Tisiphone wore a red dress and I thought about making Fortitude in a Dusk Shroud so she would be all in Red.

Hey, at heart I'm just a Noob and now you've forced me to do some homework! Ok, I've heard of the bug, but never looked at to see exactly what it was. In this case all I knew was that the LCS numbers went up! I went to the AB and dug up the following. At this point I think your right, but it is confusing. What I highlighted in Red says the bug doesn't affect me since I' doing a ranged attack and the jewel only has a min damage affix, but what's in green says it does since the helm has a +9 min damage bonus. Went back and looked at the LCS numbers without the Coronet and they were 455 - 1151.

If a Jewel with an Enhanced Damage prefix also has a Maximum Damage affix and it is set in an armor socket, or it is set in an armor which already has a Maximum Damage bonus (a circlet or shield with such a bonus, or another Jewel already set in another socket), then the character screen does not apply its Enhanced Damage to maximum attack damage. Its Enhanced Damage is also not applied to the actual maximum attack damage of a melee attack, but it is applied to that of a ranged attack unless the Jewel has both a Minimum Damage affix and a Maximum Damage affix, or it is set in an armor which already has a Minimum Damage bonus as well (in which case its Enhanced Damage is not applied to either minimum or maximum attack damage). This bug still applies even if the attack does not apply Maximum Damage bonuses.