WSK Baal Zon builds

[smilts]

WSK Baal Zon builds

Ive been thinking about a Zon build and wanting to run wsk and Baal. First off is the Fishy zon the best build for the job or is there other zon builds that you the sp people prefer. Ive only ever done 2 or 3 zons and only one in the past few years so sadly its one character class I know nothing about. Thnx for suggestions.

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Fishyzon's probably best if you're clearing the WSK too, but if you're just after the minion waves/Baal, then going pure-LF works just as well (synergized LF & CS = faster kills, which outweighs what you loose against the few immunities you'll fight), in my experience.

 

[ProtoMagus]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Haven't played one yet myself to know, but what about an LF/Strafe or LF/MS hybrid? Not sure it would make a good Baal runner, but maybe for WS K?

 

[Pavel1]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Haven't played one yet myself to know, but what about an LF/Strafe or LF/MS hybrid? Not sure it would make a good Baal runner, but maybe for WS K?

LF/strafe makes a good runner for both Baal & WSK. I've got one that is about 90% LF and 10% strafe, she is lvl 95 now and does most of my MFing. I like her more than my fishfyzon because the jav skills are stronger when you don't need to spend 41 points to bow tree. One point to strafe was enough. On the other hand I maxed penetrate since she relies on mana leech with LF also, but that would not have been necessary - demon limb would do the same...

Anyhows with harmony mat bow & might merc she's able to clear WSK quickly and kill minions at /p8 while wearing about 200MF without changing gear in between. I don't have that much experience about fishyzons, they propably can do the same or better, but LF/starfe also works and the equipment doesn't have to be top notch either.

 

[stephan]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

LF/physical bow is harder because they require different things from gear and stats. Also, one of the more notable LIs in the WSK (Gloam type) has very high physical resists.

On the other hand I maxed penetrate since she relies on mana leech with LF also, but that would not have been necessary - demon limb would do the same...

LF is autohit with the physical Javelin, so you didn't need to max it for that.

 

[Pavel1]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

LF is autohit with the physical Javelin, so you didn't need to max it for that.

That I didn't know, but it makes no difference here, I needed to hit with strafe also. It does make me look more noob though - zero surprise there.:grin: As for the gloams, Reaper's is the standard moron stick and decrepified gloams drop quickly. Them explosing dolls are far worse.

LF/physical is harder if you're going fifty-fifty, but bow as a back up attack can work with fewer skill points and still be effective. Kijya's builds on the amazon forum are good for grabbing ideas.

 

[pharaoh1]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Big question: do you have Infinity? If so, go pure lightning, as the aura will break almost all the lightning immunities you're likely to encounter in the WSK. It will break normal gloam immunities, and I think it will break the beetles too. Lightning enchanted bosses of normally-immune types will, of course, be unbreakable, and the lightning skeleton mages are unbreakable too, if I recall (been ages since I've run my boltress through the WSK, or anywhere else). Of course, the skeleton mages can be ignored if you're playing a LF zon; you should have 85+ lightning res and 20 absorb from T-God's. If you find a boss one you want to kill for the drop, using Jab shouldn't slow you too much.

However, if you want a backup, I'd say a fishyzon is your best bet. That way, you can use a lower-requirement bow, as you don't need to worry about physical damage; you can focus on MF and +skills to help both sides of your build. Freezing Arrow is made of win anyhow, so you can't go wrong with it.

 

[Rhone]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Another vote for Fishyzon.

LF is as good as it gets for clearing large groups, CS is as good as it gets for dropping Baal (and other big enemies (e.g. frenzytaurs) that get hit by all the bolts). For your backup skill, the poison jav skills are out because gloams are immune to both lightning and poison.

Strafe is certainly an option (I think LF/strafe is what Nightfish used before trying LF/FA and finding it to be better), but strafe and CS/LF don't fit well in terms of gear--for LF and CS you want lots of +skills, but for strafe you want things like higher AR and DS. FA is like CS and LF in that you just need +skills and don't need to worry about AR.

Also consider that the most dangerous thing you'll face in CS is gloams, which in addition to being LI also have very high physical resistance. FA takes them out quicker. Strafe not only kills them slower but makes it harder to dodge the lightning.

And FA just plain rocks, especially when you have high pierce and a group clumped together. It's no LF, but IMO it comes a lot closer than strafe.

 

[Thomh]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

you should have 85+ lightning res and 20 absorb from T-God's.

I find that to be overly defensive, but there are lots of different opinions on this


@OP: Another vote for Fishyzon in the WSK. LF/Strafe or multishot will work reasonably well, but as others have said the skills doesn`t really cooperate, and gloams have high physical resistance. Another bad thing is the fact that the really good bows can have pretty steep requirements, making your build a little fragile.

That being said, I would recommend neither I find a good old fishymancer to be both faster (with a teleport switch or amulet with charges), safer and can carry more MF when running the WSK.

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Also consider that the most dangerous thing you'll face in CS is gloams...

I would say it's Dolls by a mile. They move so fast that they can swarm you easily, and one LF at that point is about like zealing under IronMaiden.

... and I think you meant WSK.


I also agree with Thomh about the belts: Razortail >>> all, for an LF amazon.

 

[RobbyD]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

OK - I'm interested in this because I have an UbAr 1337 1.09 BuriZon (currently running 1.09 Hell Countess and WSK/Baal) that I am thinking about taking to 1.13 and respecing for WSK running. Now, she has a good roll on a Nef-socketed Buriza (main attack), and a perfect roll Lycander's Aim (switch for casting Valk and Decoy), so the gear needs are there for the physical punch. Right now her maxed skills are FA, GA with pumped CS, Multi-Shot, Valk, Evade, Dodge, and Avoid. Not a single point in Jav skills.

She currently runs with Lionheart Wire Fleece, Stealskull, IK Belt, rare ammy with +skills, 15% resist all, & MF, War Travs, and LoH. Might merc with Hone Sundan and Blackhorn's Face (for MSLE).

Now, I scored a 1.12 Tal's armor for rushing a bud to Mat in 1.09, and I have traded for a 1.12 WWS, Dracul's Grasp and 2 Reaper's Tolls. I also have an incredible collection of 1.09 gear, including Titan's Revenge and Thundergod's Vigor (currently in use by my Barb for MSLE invulnerability) so I'm thinking that, with some respec, I can utilize my gear to make an immediately viable WSK/Baal runner.

So, here's my thinking - replace LoH, Stealskull, Lionheart, and IK Belt with Dracs, Tal's Fugly, armor, and Thundergod's Vigor, replace Lycander's Aim with Titan's Revenge (adding a nice shield - I hear Moser's is a popular choice, with PDiamonds), and respec, removing all GA, Dodge, Evade, and Avoid points and investing in Charged Strike/LF.

Does this seem viable? Do I need to look out for some additional gear? Does WWS = Buriza in physical damage effectiveness? Should I make Melody?

 

[Rhone]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

@poops: Er yeah, I meant WSK, whoops. I had CS on the brain because I was experimenting with running it with my Fishyzon and TombReaver Barb.

I never really have any trouble with dolls though. If I'm being more cautious and using decoy, they swarm the decoy and die at a safe distance from one LF. When they do swarm me I just take a step back before LFing and only one or two hit me (blast radius seems to be pretty small). I'm sure %DR from Stormshield and Shako help my zon shrug off some of the damage.

I find the gloams more irritating because they can kill the merc quicker and they spread out (so it takes longer to FA them down... still better than strafe though).

And yeah, I stubbornly stuck with t-gods for a bit but Razortail really does make a noticeable difference in kill speed against larger groups.

 

[smilts]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Thnx for the advice everyone. I'm going to stick with a strait fishyzon skillwise. Gear i was thinking about Shako, Skulders, Razortail, WarTravs, Titans, SS, Mara's, SOJ's, Matriarch Melody and resist charms. I think pretty standard. Not sure how much difference the 31 MF from travs will make compaired to other options. Got a A2 merc.

 

[Rhone]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Looks good, Smilts. Pretty close to what I use on my Fishyzon, except I use Tal's armor instead of Skullder's (for the resists) and a -35 Wizendraw instead of Melody. And I don't have any SoJs yet.

 

[o1d_dude]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Teh FishehZon FTW.

 

[Thomh]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Thnx for the advice everyone. I'm going to stick with a strait fishyzon skillwise. Gear i was thinking about Shako, Skulders, Razortail, WarTravs, Titans, SS, Mara's, SOJ's, Matriarch Melody and resist charms. I think pretty standard. Not sure how much difference the 31 MF from travs will make compaired to other options. Got a A2 merc.

Looks good, but I second using Tal`s armor instead of Skullder`s. I think it`s better to use a pair of rare boots with 30%FRW, some LR and MF instead of War Travs, but that really depends on what you have in the rare-boots-department.

 

[QED]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

The M'avina's set works nicely for a bow Amazon wanting to do some MF action. You can run WSK or Pits very easily and safely with this character. You do trade off some MF for resists with this build but I found this to be safer, as I was playing HC at the time.

Since moving to SP and playing softcore, my fishyzon runs the WSK with good results. Charged Strike is a much better Baal killer than the M'avina's set Amazon. Cheers.

 

[smilts]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

So Im taking it that the loss of one skill and some mf is worth the extra resis?


I believe one of the few zons I tried was a M' Avinas zon and I didnt care for her so much but she may have only been a partial setter.

 

[Rummski]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Smilts - Yeah, my Fishy is much safer with Tal's over Skullder's. I use a upped shaeled WWS over my Melody as well...

They are a lot of fun, it's the char I use the most for MP Baals as well.

 

[smilts]

Re: WSK Baal Zon builds

Why Witchwild String if you dont mind me asking? The magic arrows is nice and the resist but it doesnt seem to add much else to a the build at least at first glance I may well be missing something as usual.