d33pthought
28-02-2004, 03:14
I came up with this after struggling through act 1 hell with my massive-damage single-elemental paladin and wondered "Is there a way to get around all these irritating-as-all-heck immune monsters? Then it struck me (ow): Bone necros don't have to worry about immunes..they do mostly magic damage which no monster except some uniques can even resist. So, how to put this in a zon? well:
First you take an often-overlooked skill like Magic Arrow, and an often-thought junk bow like Witchwild String....
By the end, you'll have an Amazon that looks something like this:
20 Magic Arrow (from Witchwild)
9 Multishot (enough to get 10 arrows)
20 Guided Arrow (for those hard-to-reach monsters)
15-20 Strafe (Start with 15, and let gear get the rest)
The Magic Arrow converts 20% of the physical damage to magic damage at level 20, so there's that, and then Guided Arrow for those teleporting imps in act 5 (GA may or may not be magic damage, I'm not sure). Strafe and Multi are just for when you have too many targets and too little time.
That's just half of it, though: What about those really fast critters like the undead rogues that like charging en masse? Put a spear on weapon switch and you got them covered:
20 Jab (poke! poke! pokeypoke poke!)
1 Impale (Let gear pump this bad mofo skill)
15-20 Fend (For when you're the center of unwanted attention)
Stat Points:
Ideally, you'll be finished this at level 99, so I'll just assume you've got a bunch of points to work with here.
Strength:135
Dexterity:250
Vitality:175
Energy: 20
Those scores include the starting numbers:
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 25
Vitality: 20
Energy: 20
So in reality, you'd be spending
115 points in Strength
225 points in Dexterity
155 points in Vitality
and absolutely 0 points in Energy. I can justify that by the fact that your primary and secondary attack skills are free and very cheap with leech(Magic Arrow and Strafe), respectively.
That's it! Unfortunately, as Amazons go, and especially for this one, they're very gear-dependant. So here's the rundown of what you should get if you can afford it:
Witchwild String: with whatever you think is best in the sockets. Upgrade this bow if you can. It's worth it, and almost crucial to your survival in Hell mode.
Lycander's Flank: Sure, there's better spears, but I grabbed this off the top of my head. If you've got a better one, use it!
Kira's Guardian: Resists will never EVER hurt in this game. You get 40 off the bow, and a minimum of 50 to everything off this circlet. It's really cool, too, cuz you can't be frozen with it on.
Chains of Honor: Awesome armor. Sure, you can get Enigma, but for what practical reason aside from the strength and mf bonus? With CoH you get 65% resist all, +2 all skills, life leech, damage reduction and enhanced damage to demons and undead. Get it if you can!
Laying of Hands: Great pair of gloves. 300% enhanced damage against demons, 50% fire resist, and 20% increased attack speed. Good stuff.
Verdungo's Hearty Cord: This belt will help you stay alive. It offers a huge bonus to Vitality, a bit of damage reduction, and life regeneration. The stamina bonus is icing on the cake.
Boots: There's so many choices for boots that I won't recommend one over the other. Things to look for, though: High resistances, faster run/walk speed, stat bonuses are extra nice.
Jewelry: I would suggest using Carrion Wind and Raven Frost for your rings. Raven Frost provides cold absorb, always useful, and the ever-critical Attack Rating boost in the form of + Dexterity and Attack Rating outright. Carrion Wind's biggest plus is the Defense vs. Missiles, with life leech and poison resist coming in second and third.
Amulet: Cat's Eye. Attack rating is crucial in late Nightmare and Hell difficulties, not to mention that this amulet lets attack faster and walk/run faster as well. The +25 to Dexterity should help your bow damage as well. The defense bonus is nice too, but if you need defense more than anything, try Metalgrid...or building a Barbarian :idea: .
Dueling IS possible using this build. Possible, but it is not the primary function. The whole point of this build is to kill as many non-physical immune monsters as quickly as possible, at range or in melee combat, while still being able to kill physical immunes through magic damage and/or any elemental charms/jewels/gems/runes you may elect to use.
Magic Find at your discretion. Just be careful where you do it: lots of elemental monsters are a pain if you're caught without decent resists.
Disclaimer: All of these gear recommendations are how I would do it personally. Feel free to experiment, because hey, that's how I got to writing this guide to begin with. Any comments/questions/constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks :thanks:
First you take an often-overlooked skill like Magic Arrow, and an often-thought junk bow like Witchwild String....
By the end, you'll have an Amazon that looks something like this:
20 Magic Arrow (from Witchwild)
9 Multishot (enough to get 10 arrows)
20 Guided Arrow (for those hard-to-reach monsters)
15-20 Strafe (Start with 15, and let gear get the rest)
The Magic Arrow converts 20% of the physical damage to magic damage at level 20, so there's that, and then Guided Arrow for those teleporting imps in act 5 (GA may or may not be magic damage, I'm not sure). Strafe and Multi are just for when you have too many targets and too little time.
That's just half of it, though: What about those really fast critters like the undead rogues that like charging en masse? Put a spear on weapon switch and you got them covered:
20 Jab (poke! poke! pokeypoke poke!)
1 Impale (Let gear pump this bad mofo skill)
15-20 Fend (For when you're the center of unwanted attention)
Stat Points:
Ideally, you'll be finished this at level 99, so I'll just assume you've got a bunch of points to work with here.
Strength:135
Dexterity:250
Vitality:175
Energy: 20
Those scores include the starting numbers:
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 25
Vitality: 20
Energy: 20
So in reality, you'd be spending
115 points in Strength
225 points in Dexterity
155 points in Vitality
and absolutely 0 points in Energy. I can justify that by the fact that your primary and secondary attack skills are free and very cheap with leech(Magic Arrow and Strafe), respectively.
That's it! Unfortunately, as Amazons go, and especially for this one, they're very gear-dependant. So here's the rundown of what you should get if you can afford it:
Witchwild String: with whatever you think is best in the sockets. Upgrade this bow if you can. It's worth it, and almost crucial to your survival in Hell mode.
Lycander's Flank: Sure, there's better spears, but I grabbed this off the top of my head. If you've got a better one, use it!
Kira's Guardian: Resists will never EVER hurt in this game. You get 40 off the bow, and a minimum of 50 to everything off this circlet. It's really cool, too, cuz you can't be frozen with it on.
Chains of Honor: Awesome armor. Sure, you can get Enigma, but for what practical reason aside from the strength and mf bonus? With CoH you get 65% resist all, +2 all skills, life leech, damage reduction and enhanced damage to demons and undead. Get it if you can!
Laying of Hands: Great pair of gloves. 300% enhanced damage against demons, 50% fire resist, and 20% increased attack speed. Good stuff.
Verdungo's Hearty Cord: This belt will help you stay alive. It offers a huge bonus to Vitality, a bit of damage reduction, and life regeneration. The stamina bonus is icing on the cake.
Boots: There's so many choices for boots that I won't recommend one over the other. Things to look for, though: High resistances, faster run/walk speed, stat bonuses are extra nice.
Jewelry: I would suggest using Carrion Wind and Raven Frost for your rings. Raven Frost provides cold absorb, always useful, and the ever-critical Attack Rating boost in the form of + Dexterity and Attack Rating outright. Carrion Wind's biggest plus is the Defense vs. Missiles, with life leech and poison resist coming in second and third.
Amulet: Cat's Eye. Attack rating is crucial in late Nightmare and Hell difficulties, not to mention that this amulet lets attack faster and walk/run faster as well. The +25 to Dexterity should help your bow damage as well. The defense bonus is nice too, but if you need defense more than anything, try Metalgrid...or building a Barbarian :idea: .
Dueling IS possible using this build. Possible, but it is not the primary function. The whole point of this build is to kill as many non-physical immune monsters as quickly as possible, at range or in melee combat, while still being able to kill physical immunes through magic damage and/or any elemental charms/jewels/gems/runes you may elect to use.
Magic Find at your discretion. Just be careful where you do it: lots of elemental monsters are a pain if you're caught without decent resists.
Disclaimer: All of these gear recommendations are how I would do it personally. Feel free to experiment, because hey, that's how I got to writing this guide to begin with. Any comments/questions/constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks :thanks: