WWS strafer, need some advice

K

Konfu

New member
WWS strafer, need some advice

OK, I have never played anything with a bow, so it's time to try.
I want to keep this zon cheap, just to have some pvm fun, I'll probably end up investing alot in her, but for now lets keep it low-budget.

I can get a WF, no problem, a gave (borrowed) one to my friend so I can always get it back, but since I'm a DS maniac, I want to use WWS (I use Death Cleaver on my barb just for the beautiful DS animation, looks very cool) so...

I'll aim for 86 lvl to do the imbu quests, so thats 97 skill points.
Skills:
Passive:
1 in all
17-20 valk (I will probably max this)
20 penetrate (cool skill name for a lady :))
20 pierce
Bow:
20 strafe
1 freazing arrow (is it worth the 2 pts?)

Would it be worth it, puting like 3-4 pts in CS for my valk? Only hard pts invested synergise her, right? Or will she be fine with +skills from ani and skillers?

Items:
WWS uped with 2x shael
Duress
crafted 20ias gloves with knockback (and passive skills if I can get/make them)
Nosferatu's Coil
Wartravs for mf and dmg (I know gores would be a little better)
Shako or what...? this is the hardest choise for me...
Cats eye + 2x raven or a dual leech ring with gosu mods (and this was supposed to be low budget...)

OK, now the questions... I'll be aiming for 105 IAS (8/2 bp)
Another tempting option is using drakuls for the godly mods, but then I loos knockback, is it that important? I would have to use Twitchthroe with a 15 ias jewel to get the 105 ias then. The LT from draks will override the amp dmg from WWS? This would be bad...
And if I won't be able to get a gosu ring with dual leech (my rings are for my barb, so they have str, not dex, etc) where the hell should I get mana leech... I know that TR helm is great, but it's so DAMN UGLY! I want style!
I have a 30 frw 3 sock tiara on a mule, so I could socket it with up to 45 ias, but that doesn't solve the leech problem...
As for armor, duress looks cool for a strafer, the ow and cb are great, how important is FHR on a pvm strafer?

OK, got to go and hit the city, saturday night fever :)
Waiting for feadback, thnx :)
 
Cheap amazon play..... yeah, right....

I don't have answers to all your questions, but I can throw a few thoughts in.

Skills:
Passive:
1 in all
17-20 valk (I will probably max this)
20 penetrate (cool skill name for a lady :))
20 pierce
Bow:
20 strafe
1 freazing arrow (is it worth the 2 pts?)
Click to expand...

Freezing Arrow does help against some monsters in hell, even with the inherent reduction in freezing time. I wouldn't put a whole bunch of points in here, as you will eventually get a boost from anni, torch and skillers. If you have something with Ignore Target Defense, that would help immensely. I also have points in Immolation Arrow, and I will sometimes switch between Freezing and Immolation, then back to Strafe

I wouldn't put as many points into Pierce, as you get declining returns beyond a certain point. Again, skill charms, anni and torch will help you there. You definitely want to have the Valk as close to 20 as possible, either through investment of skill points or through the charms route.

One of the more significant things I've seen in hell is the consistent presence of physical and elemental immunities. I do not remember seeing any monsters that have both physical and elemental, though. I've made a point of carrying bows that offer either elemental and physical damage, and alternating them depending on the situation. Magic damage also is good, as there aren't very many monsters that have immunity against magic. To that end, I've found Magic Arrow to be quite effective, to the extent that I've used it as a secondary attack skill after Strafe, and use it on monsters with physical immunities. The focused damage rate can take them down quickly, especially with ghosts.

As far as equipment goes, Harmony is quite effective, especially on a matriarchial bow. It was good for use up through act 3 Hell, where the lack of hit points became a problem. Another inexpensive option is the Mavina set, which gives serious levels of both cold and magic damage, and a nice dose of + skill mods. While you might not see frequent drops of the pieces, I managed to trade for the various parts of the set for Pgems, and it has been good enough that I was able to finish Act 5 with it. Obviously, WindForce has an advantage as far as physical damage goes, but I would be concerned about elemental damage ratings.

Knockback is an excellent thing to have, although I've noticed that some of the more powerful monsters don't seem to be impacted by it as much. If I wasn't wearing the Mavina set, I would be insisting on having Knockback somewhere in with what I equip. I went for IAS and Magic Find when crafting, and eventually scored a pair of gloves with both mods.

Crushing Blow is not as effective for Amazons, so I wouldn't worry about Gore Riders. I'm quite happy with my War Travs. I am as yet undecided on what the best Zon helm would be. For the longest time I was concerned about maintaining my MF level, so I was naturally using Harlequin while switching to more defensive headgear for higher level fighting. Acquiring Mavina's meant acquiring the diadem, and it's actually pretty fair, but only if you have the full set. I'd be curious about Andariel's Visage, but I've not had the chance to work with it yet. Nightwing's Veil offers resistances and both + to all skills and an added bonus to cold skills while reducing requirements, and the dexterity will boost your attack rating. But since my Zon's main purpose is to work the MF angle, neither of these would be suitable for me personally unless I socketed them. Your purposes might be different.

As far as armor goes, I've heard good things about Duress. For an amulet, I'd go for Highlord's Wrath as opposed to Cat's Eye, with the + skills and IAS. Rising Sun and it's Fire Absorb can be helpful against Diablo. RavenFrost is a must have for one ring, while I would be interested in Wisp Protector for the other, or at the very least a second RavenFrost. Dual Leech might be a good thing, but you'd have to have serious amounts of it in order for it to be effective in Hell. I'd also consider Tgod's Belt, as it also has lightning absorb. Of course, these options here can be expensive, that is true, but it is difficult staying within a budget when dealing with Hell. That's why I work on my MF levels, as that gives me a chance to acquire some of these more expensive items, either through drops or through trades. Also, I work on maintaining a stock of Pgems, which are useful in trades and can get you some good stuff.

Good luck on your efforts.
 
IAS.
Crushing Blow.
Amp Damage (Atma's Scarab).
Speed speed speed.

Remember the merc. I used a Holy Freeze merc and a Blessed Aim merc, but they don't compare to the Might merc.

Use decoy and valkyrie too.

And remember: speed kills, and amp. dam. thrills!

haha :thumbsup:
 
Agree with previous.. Might merc is the best way to go IMO. also never forget Decoy and Valk.

My Merc has Eth Upped Duriels, Eth Upped COT, and SUP INSight CV.. He rarely dies(only during CS runs..damn Maiden)

But MisterMayor is Right..you want Speed so IAS is important... I crafted a pair of Gloves.. with 1 to Bow Skills, 20 IAS, 4LL, 8 CB, 10 DEX, 19to Life.. so I would advise anyone to play around with crafted items.. and try to get some nice mods.. to add to your needs

*Sphinxman3:thumbsup:
 
Thnx for the input.
Ofc I'll have a might merc, didn't mention it as something obvious.

I could just give her my barbs forti, but it might be a bit heavy for her, and I don't like switching items betwean posts. I hope Duress will be OK.
TR mask > gaze, andi etc... but still so damn ugly... shako would be nice, but I loose the leech (mana :/)

Still would like to know:
1. how important is fhr on a strafer, will it help dodge animation etc? She wont be hit to much, and if she is she is most very likely to die co.. (noobe question, but I never played a zon...)
2. Will LT from dracs override amp from wws?
3. dures + rare/crafted gloves or drac + twitchtroe (ias jewel)
4. do +skills synergise my valk? CS, dodge etc. or just hard points invested?
5. how much AR should I aim for? :)

Now I'm planing:
WWS 2x shael
Duress
TR mask
Nosferatu coil
20 ias gloves with KB
wartravs
cats eye (or some 2ama 10frw with lots of dex etc if I can ever make one)
2x raven

So my ias: 40wws+20gloves+20cats+10nosf+15jewel in TR = 105 :)

ps. I'm planning to give her like 80-100 base vita.
 
1. how important is fhr on a strafer, will it help dodge animation etc? She wont be hit to much, and if she is she is most very likely to die co.. (noobe question, but I never played a zon...)

>>> FHR is normal as far as i know (dodge unaffected?). But realize the strafe animation takes as long as it takes you to shoot all your shots. That can be problematic. Strafe safely by keeping your distance and having merc/valk/decoy around to intercept threats.

2. Will LT from dracs override amp from wws?

>>> I think yes. I dont use Dracul's -- there are many better gloves to use and curses to use (amp damage, decripify).

3. dures + rare/crafted gloves or drac + twitchtroe (ias jewel)

>>> Personally i like the Enigma + crafted gloves (IAS + Crushing Blow + MF)

4. do +skills synergise my valk? CS, dodge etc. or just hard points invested?

>>> The only way to synergize anything is with hard points placed in the skills that are required. +skills items do not help synergies.

5. how much AR should I aim for? :)

>>> Just check your %chance to hit from time to time and vs. different mobs. You probly want to aim (haha) for 90% or better chance to hit on avg. Also remember the penalty for phys damage in Hell difficulty. For this reason, amp. dam. or decripify will make a world of difference (you will actually do damage when you hit!). I think it is true: better to increase AR with charms than pumping dex.

Your EQ >... ...< Some thoughts
WWS 2x shael -- super fast! any way to use 15% IAS jewels with other
mods instead of shaels?
Duress -- Enigma, Chains of Honor come to mind.
TR mask -- can you find a Stealskull? (uniq armet)
Nosferatu coil -- or Goldwrap?
20 ias gloves with KB -- knockback is very nice/essential!
wartravs -- Nosferatu/GoblinToe _OR_ Goldwrap/Wartravs
cats eye -- I am using Atma's Scarab with some success, but then
I dont have another source of Amp Dam.
2x raven -- maybe 1 ravenfrost is enough? stick in that dual leech
ring in the other slot :)

Merc -- Might merc is obvious? Heh took me a few years to figure that one out :) However, I like using Doom runeword for the HF aura, or The Reaper Toll for the decripify. But with your WWS, you might find it annoying if the merc wiped out your AmpDam all the time. Other nice goodies for my merc have been the Guillame helmet and Gloom armor (nice for the chance for Dim Vision).

At players8, my Amazon is my fastest killer next to an insane Paladin (BoTD + fanat. + might merc with decripify). Biggest prob. with my amazon is the long fights vs. Baal. She strafes everything (except Baal), uses multishot in a few cases and lightning fury in others. Generally a fun char to play! Good luck with yours!
 
OMG!
I couldn't wait to test this build, so I did it the easy way, and made a strafer like that on single player.
Now I'm gonna make one on-line ASAP, cause this must be LOVE!
This is great!! I love her!!
I used lava gloves for the ias, couse the hero editor I used didn't have to good items in the database, and they worked great, the enchant is cool, boosts my ar to like 12K, so I hit 95% in 1 akt normal and 90% in chaos sanktuary! And that's just with basic gear! But I'll still stick to 20ias with KB and skills.

What a wonderfull fealing, it's like fireing an assult rifle, the speed is just WOOT!! I'm lovin it!

Two funny things:
1. found a WF on single player in the pits, was just testing the killing speed in different akts :P
2. when I took a combat shrine (whatever the name), my ar was boosted to 128K!! don't know what happened, it sounds insane...

Oh, since I love her so much I'm gonna make her a fortitude, is it worth it?

About my items, I can get every item in the game, but not RW with HR, I just don't buy them, I hate the idea of playing using dupped runs or items... The same goes for jewels and charms (I have some very nice ones that I found or cubed, like a 3/19/20 that droped from the high council in travi, self found items like this are always better), so don't suggest anything with bers and jahs, couse it was a real pain in the *** cubing 4 bers for my barb... (eni and beast, bouth 100% legit)

EDIT:
I know that synergies work only with hard points, but I read in some guide that since this is not a normal synergy but kind of a hiden bonus, then + skills help... blablabla.
 
Konfu said:
Skills:
Passive:
1 in all
17-20 valk (I will probably max this)
20 penetrate (cool skill name for a lady :))
20 pierce
Bow:
20 strafe
1 freazing arrow (is it worth the 2 pts?)
Click to expand...

Is it worth to max Pierce?
I got 9 points into Pierce for a 69%, but putting more looks like a waste of skillpoints.
 
Konfu said:
Oh yes, I put 15 solid pts in it for the 80% :)
Click to expand...

Come on, 9 points you got 69% and u spend 6 additional points for only +11%? Isn't that a waste of skillpoints?

By the way how much Critical Strike should I have? I put 7 points but I'm currently using WWS which already has Deadly Strike.
 
I'm puting my single player strafer through a lot of testing now.
I put 3 pts, but ONLY for my valk to have better chance to CS.
CS and DS can't stack, so if using WWS it's in general a 1-3 point wonder...

Btw. I'm so [EDITED] pissed... just found CHAM on single player... [EDITED] I could use it on Bnet :(
 
Konfu said:
I'm puting my single player strafer through a lot of testing now.
I put 3 pts, but ONLY for my valk to have better chance to CS.
CS and DS can't stack, so if using WWS it's in general a 1-3 point wonder...

Btw. I'm so [EDITED] pissed... just found CHAM on single player... [EDITED] I could use it on Bnet :(
Click to expand...


PLEASE WATCH THE LANGUAGE. THANK YOU.
 
on pierce my reccomendation 1 point + skills = 8 + razortail belt = 100% well worth a belt slot and it even gives you 15 dex although the other mods are useless
 
If you have +skills, give multi-shot a try. Especially with cows.
It can be amusing especially if you have enough pierce.
Too bad CTC is only for the middle arrows.
If it was every arrow, then a brand bow would decimate cows, casting about a 100 bone spears a second.
 
sell that 3os 30frw tiara ^.^, its worth alot, if not dont waste 15% ias jewels in it at least 120/45 it :)
 
New questions:
I've noticed that the cold dmg and duration from charms and items (like duress etc) stack with the dmg from FA, that makes it a great one-point-wonder! It can realy kill in hell with just one point in it. And lets talk about GREAT crowd control!
Question:
1. how does the chance to cast amp dmg look with such a area efective spel? does the 2% only work for the monster that gets hit with the arrow, or all the monsters in the "splash" area? That would be a much higher chance, and I noticed that amp seems to cast more often when using FA, but it may just be an accident...
2. is knock back always the same? or is the power of KB somehow different sometimes? depending on the item (WF, nef run, crafted gloves etc.) or the monster?
3. since I fire tons of arrows (like... 20?) per sec with strafe (80% pierce), wouldn't it be nice to have more chance to cast amp or something? anything apart from atma and wws has a chance likt that? can rare gloves or something spawn with a mod like that? (tha arrows that pierce also have the chance to cast amp, right?)
4. does any of the fire arrows do anything good? Worth 1 point?
 
1. Whenever a monster gets hit with an arrow, there would be a chance to cast the Amp, and depending on what level the Amp is, it would have a certain radius, and all monsters that were in the vicinity of that radius when it is triggered will be cursed.
2. Knockback is affected by the size of the enemy.
Vs. large (eLarge): 32/128 = 25%
Vs. small (eSmall): 128/128 = 100%
everyone else: 64/128 = 50%
3. Yes, the arrows that pierce and continue on also have a chance to trigger Amp. If you already have 80% pierce, the Amp from WWS or Atma's alone is enough; you won't need any more sources of Amp.
4. The fire arrow skills are mediocre even with full investment. With one point, you'll barely tickle Hell monsters.
 
What I ment in 1 was:
1 arrow casts amp, thats obvious, but the "splach" efekt hits lets say 5 monsters, so is the chance to amp only for the one that was hit by the arrow, or all fire? for wws it would be 2% vs 10% to cast :)
 
The Amplify Damage would be triggered only by the physical damage (ie. the arrow actually hitting a monster).
 
Log in to Reply / Create Site Account
Remove Ads - Go PurePremium

Latest posts

Back
Top