Shanksies v1.10 Pit Strafer Guide (FAO Crow / Elly) [Archive]

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Shanksie1337

21-04-2004, 18:05

Shanksies 1.10 Pit Strafer guide

Hi there folks
This is long post (get a cup of Tea ready), this is the final version, with some changes made due to the feedback (ty all). The versatility section didn’t turn out as planned, and there are still some grammatical errors that Word has missed and I am too blind to see after 27 read thrus. Still I hope to have produced a useful document that can answer some of the questions that people have regarding this build.

*Aim:
After reading these forums for some time you see the same old questions asked over and over again, so I am writing this guide with the aim of having all (well most) of the answers in one place.
This guide is based on a pit running pure strafer on Ladder – some of my choices are ladder only but where possible I will list alternative methods for NL / poorer / richer players. I only play ladder so that’s why I am limiting it this way. Plus if I have these items on ladder I can assume most others do as well as I am relatively new to D2.
Once complete and at a decent level (~78-80) she will be able to solo Hell Pits in an 8 man game.
This guide is mainly geared to a strafer using a Windforce as it seems that everyone finds a WF then thinks “I’ll make a strafer to run the pits”, other bows are of course mentioned, but the bulk of this guide is WF based. The build is Hell viable with many of the main bows/xbows, but imho it only excels with a high damage bow.

*Stat points:
Str – enough for gear – extra str doesn’t give extra damage.
Dex – as much as you can spare – more dex = more damage.
Vita – personal preference and gear/charm dependant. I recommend 50 min and ~800 life as an aim.
Mana – BASE.

Those who have already have the items before building the char are at an advantage as you can easily work out where to stop investing in strength, but as I guide I’d say you can go up to 95 easily (for WT’s / 97 for Eagle)), any more than that will be bow dependent – Windforce mainly – 134 str rqd.

*Skill points:
Strafe – 20
Penetrate – 20
Valk – 20*
Pierce – 70% min – more as desired
Critical Strike – 50% min – more as desired
D/A/E – 1 min – more as required (depending on +skills I aim for the 40-50% region).
Plus prerequisites skills for Strafe

*Valkyrie is always a point of debate for any zon build, my reasoning for maxing the valk is twofold:
1. As a meat shield more life = better shield for you
2. As a meat shield to help keep our merc alive and take her share of the hits.
At a minimum I suggest slvl 17 including +skills.

As you can work out this leaves many spare skill points unspent, and spending them is entirely up to you. I tend towards extra points into:
Pierce – more pierce improves your arrow chance to pierce the 1st / 2nd /3rd etc etc target.
Critical Strike – better chance to do double damage.
D/A/E – if you feel you are getting hit too much...
Decoy – both to use in its own right and as a synergy for your valk (more life for valk)

All points spent in the passive tree also benefit your merc/valk so I always prefer to spend them there as opposed to trying to hybrid my zon with either J&S skills or the Cold / Fire arrow branches.

*Equipment:
This main area for debate over equipment is the balance between IAS (increased attack speed) and mf (magic find). Personally I have played with both full mf (30IAS) and full IAS (120IAS) and have to mention that the killing speeds are not that different. I will try and list both mf and IAS options so you can try both sides for yourself. I also realise that IAS can be added to helm, armour and bow via socketing but I will leave those permutations up to you as there are far too many to list here.

Also unlike some chars – mf sorcs for example – a strafer is very dependant on good gear, mainly because her damage is based on equipment as opposed to +skills. This is one of the reasons I stress this guide is referring to a WF based zon, simply because other bows lack the damage.

Key
PT = socketed with perfect topaz
LL = life leech
ML = mana leech
Res = resistances
ED = enhanced damage
IAS = Increased Attack Speed
CBF = cannot be frozen
DR = damage reduction to physical
N/A = Not available
ITD = Ignore target defence

Bow
The main item for any bowazon and a pit strafer is no exception, I am sure we are all familiar with the main bows, (and the not so mainstream ones too), but for the purpose of this guide I will list the main 5 or so.

Windforce – the daddy of bows and the best attainable for most ladder players – huge damage, knock back and ML make this bow hard to beat.
BoTD runeword – too expensive for the majority of legit ladder players – but an excellent choice if available (I have never owned one, and I am not likely to in the near future so I’ll leave it to others to extol it’s virtues). Also as you don’t get ETH bows it does seem a waste of a Zod to make a BoTD bow/xbow.

Those are the 2 end game bows for most players, however some players prefer using bows from this list:
Lycanders Aim – upgraded or not – none upgraded it makes an excellent levelling bow, and upgraded it can be used by those without a WF.
WWS – upgraded or not (or both) - %amp + 2 sockets + Deadly Strike
Eaglehorn – less damage but ITD means hitting is easier – some prefer this to a WF.
Buriza / Langer Briser / Goldstrike Arch, plus many others that I have not listed.

The reason I list so few is that for a strafer speed and damage are the main aims for a bow and whilst many bows offer a myriad of mods, the above bows are available to all purses and can provide the killing power/speed we need. I am sure that some people have a godly rare bow that is comparable with any of the unique bows, but as with all rares, the number of possible mods makes it impossible to go into more analysis.
Bows (like everything else in D2) are a matter of preference and affordability, those I have mentioned are the bows I guess the vast majority of the realms are using.

Just a note on socketing the bow
MF can of course be added to a bow via a jewel or an IST rune but I STRONGLY recommend against it as there are far better options for socketing in bows. For example – Amn / ED / IAS / mana per kill / Shael / Nef etc etc.

Helms
MF = Shako “pt” / ptopaz helm / SteelSkull
IAS = SteelSkull / Mavinas Diadem
Other = Tal’s mask (dual leech + res + life) / Peasant crown (poor mans shako) / Vampire Gaze (DR + Dual leech) / Crown of Thieves (LL + dex).

Armour
MF = Skullders Ire “pt” / Enigma runeword / ptopaz armour / Chains of Honor runeword / Wealth runeword.
IAS = anything socketed with IAS jewels – some ppl like Jewellers xxx of the xxx – where this is a socketed magical armour with a natural + to life socketed with ED/IAS jewels. / Twitchthroe (usually upgraded if possible). Good/legit ED/IAS jewels on ladder cost a fortune, off ladder 40/15’s are widely duped and readily available.
Other = Lionheart runeword (quite simply an excellent armour) / Duriels / Spirit Forge / Shaftstop.

Belt
MF = Goldwrap (30mf + 10 IAS) – upgraded if possible
IAS = Goldwrap / Nosferatu’s Coil (IAS + LL)
Other = Razortail (a pure strafer should have plenty of skill points available to get high pierce) / Verdungos (DR + life) / Thundergods (str + life + L absorb) / String of Ears (LL + DR)

Gloves
MF = Chanceguards – upgraded if possible
IAS = Laying of Hands (20 IAS + excellent bonus to damage vs demons) / Rare/Crafted Gloves with 20IAS and nice mods.
Other = Set (see below)

Boots
MF = War Travellers (WT’s)
IAS = N/A
Other = Cow Kings boots (mf + dex) / Set (see below) / Waterwalks (life) / Silkweaves (mana per kill) / Goreriders (damage mods)

Amulet
MF = magic or rare with mf
IAS = Cat’s Eye (20IAS + dex) / Highlords (+skill + deadly strike + IAS)
Other = Mara’s (attributes + resistances) / Eye of Etlich (Cold damage + freeze time + LL) / Crescent Moon (dual leech) / Atmas Scarab (% to cast Amp damage – see notes on mercenary).

Rings
MF = magic or rare with mf / Nagel ring
IAS = N/A
Other = Ravenfrost (a must have ring for any zon) / rare or magic with useful mods (see below).

Charms
Annihilus is a must if u can – and with everyone DC hunting they can usually be traded for a decent Hell forge drop.
Gheeds
Skillers – Bow and Crossbow are NOT needed – a strafer kills with damage not skills. Passive and magic are useful as they boost the passives for you, your merc and your valk.
Life sc’s – aim for 800 life (or a level you are happy with) and then fill with either:
Mf charms
Poison damage charms

Set combinations that give useful partial bonus’s and/or have useful individual items
IK = Gloves / Belt /Boots
Mavina’s = Gloves / Belt / Helm
Sigons = Full for levelling as a javazon / Gloves / Belt / Boots
Vidala’s / Artic = for levelling as a bowazon
Angelic = Rings*2 / Amulet

A note on Mavina’s set
The bow on mav’s set has quite low damage and this means that the full set is of little use to a pure strafer. The full Mav’s set is quite useful for a FA based zon and there is already a guide by Freyas sticked on these forums.

Mod’s to aim for in your equipment
+attributes – in this order dex = vita > str > energy. If you can get any of the 3 main attributes from your gear this means you have more stat points left to use in the dex/life trade-off.
+cannot be frozen – usually from a ravenfrost – stops us getting slowed down by cold.
+damage - for example on the WT’s – as this get’s multiplied up by bonus’s.
+faster run/walk – FRW – helps us get into good safe positions quickly.
+IAS – personal preference and there is a direct trade-off with IAS and mf, more mf = less IAS so experiment about and find a balance you are happy with.
+knock back – crowd control and keeps us from taking hits.
+life – keeps us alive and helps us get near our ~800 life target.
+life leech – helps keep us alive, ~7LL is enough depending on your damage.
+mana – enables us to keep strafing those non leechable monsters.
+mana leech – strafe costs 11 mana and so you need some method to refill the mana pool, ~7ML is enough depending on damage (more damage = more leech as leech is a % of damage).
+mf – the main purpose of this zon.
+passive & magic – good boosts to valk etc if u can get them from rare/crafted gloves.

Mods I feel are not/less important
+crushing blow / open wounds / deadly strike etc – as we need to get IAS and mf into our gear we really have no spare equipment slots to account for these mods and I know my zon kills fast enough without them. Some bows have these mods on them already, but imo these mods do not make up for the lack of raw damage.
+IAS – put both places as too much is a waste and u need to ensure you don’t have excess IAS – for example 100 IAS is a waste as you are not any faster than if you had 90. Experiment about and find the IAS/MF trade off you are happy with.
+resistances – wherever you play your merc valk and decoy should be taking the hits, the majority of monsters in the pits do physical damage, but u can play anywhere in the game with very bad resistances as the merc valk decoy should always be taking the hits. My strafer has MINUS 60 res all.
+skills – strafers kill with damage not skills (like a furyzon), some +skills is nice to boost the passives.

The tables in there nice form can be seen here:

http://www.diabloii.net/characters/amazon/faq2.shtml#What%20is%20IAS? – cut and paste this link into IE then click on “10. Whats is IAS - UPDATED”

Bow IAS table – which I had to butcher as the formatting doesn’t work in the forums :/

FPS____[10]____[5]____[0]____[-10]
15/4_____0
14/4_____4______0
13/3_____11_____6_____0
12/3_____22_____15____9______0
11/3_____35_____27____20_____8
10/3_____56_____46____37_____22
9/3______89_____75____63_____42
9/2______120____102___86_____60
8/2______147____125___105____75
7/2______292____240___200____142

In the above table a WF (and BoTD in Hydra or Crusader bow) is [10].
WF IAS with some possible solutions:
12/3 – 22 (clean WF[20] and IAS belt[10] = 30 IAS)
11/3 – 35
10/3 - 56
9/3 – 89 (Sheal’d WF[40] + IAS belt[10] + IAS amulet[20] + IAS gloves[20] = 90 IAS)
9/2 – 120 (with IAS jewels this is easily possible but at the cost of mf)
8/2 – 147 (don’t even try as you would have ~0 mf)
7/2 – 292 (lol! I dare you)

The below table is for Crossbows, with a Buriza being [10].

FPS____[10]____[0]____[-10]____[-40]____[-60]
22/6_____0
22/5.5____2
21/5.5____3
20/5.5____7
19/5_____11_____0
18/5_____19_____7_____0
17/4.5____27____14_____3
16/4.5____37____22_____9
15/4_____50_____32____18
14/4_____70_____48____30______0
13/3.5____95_____68____46______4
12/3.5____138____99____70______16______0
11/3______215___152___109_____35______8

These tables have all been taken from the Amazon FAQ at the top of this (and every) page via the left hand side drag down menu.

*Mercenary:
For me there is only one choice for a strafer – the Act2 Nightmare Offensive Might merc:
My reasons are:
Act2 – because we will equip him with a Reapers Toll weapon and this is of huge significance to the build.
Might – might provides an excellent boost to our damage – in some cases it can add 30% to our strafe damage, plus the might aura gives boosts to both our merc and our valks damage (plus anyone in our party).

Other mercs have there uses, but none get close to the might merc, holy freeze is nice, as is blessed aim. But both those merc’s are supplanted with knock back and high AR/penetrate respectively.

Mercs Equipment
Helm – Anything with high life leech – Tal’s Mask / SteelSkull / Crown of Thieves etc.
Armour – Anything with high defence (upgraded where possible) and good mods – Duriels / Shaftstop / Skullders / Leviathan / Stone runeword, basically anything with 600+ defence.
Weapon – the most important item for the whole build imo, this is even more important than your choice of bow! – Reapers Toll (ETH is possible) – socketed with Amn.

Our merc is going to take huge amounts of damage and be in the front line for all attacks so lots of LL is vital to keep him alive. I aim for 20+ LL and with my preferred set up he has ~30 LL.

Why Reapers?
As a pure strafer the only thing we fear are Physical immunes (PI), now for pit running the only PI you are likely to face are PI uniques as none of the normal monsters spawn PI. However for ease of play in other areas where PI’s can spawn – Act2 + Act3 spring to mind, then you need some fast way of making them vulnerable to you.
The Reapers has 33% to cast decrepify on striking. Once triggered this means that every monster affected will lose 50% to physical resistances as well as having slower attack and movement speeds.
This affect will mean you do much more damage to those monsters and also it will remove any PI you encounter, even Stoneskin PI.

There are other methods of removing PI from monsters that can be used, and for those on NL you will have to try one of these methods as the Reapers Toll is Ladder only.
WWS bow has 2% to cast Amplify damage
Atmas Scarab amulet has 5% chance to cast Amp damage.
There are other sources of both Amp and decrepify and rares can spawn with either as a mod.

*Levelling Strategy:
As with everything in D2 ppl have many ways to do things and each prefer there own methods/ideas.
As we are going to be a pure strafer, with no non physical attack bar a few optional pdsc’s we are going to have problems in certain areas – Act2 and Act 3 spring to mind so if you are levelling by questing you really need to party for these acts. It is possible to solo quest the whole game, but the PI ghosts in both acts are a real pain for our strafer.
For those who do it the fast way, ie rush from a mate through the important quests and then baal running this is the easiest way to do it.
Normal quests until clvl 21 (usually this means end of Act2 – mid Act3)
Then cows until 25
Rush all remaining Acts & Ancients (& any key quests) and then baal runs until ~clvl 45
Nightmare rush (remembering to hire an Act2 Offensive merc) and Ancients
Nightmare baal runs until lvl 73 (for WF), or until you are lvl 75 (so merc can wear Reapers)
Now you have some choices:
1. Straight to the pits – in 1 man games – excellent for levelling up our merc (he needs to be lvl 75 for the Reapers).
2. Baal run to level up the merc
3. Go back through Normal + NM and do any/all quests that u missed and want/need to do.
4. Hell questing – A1Q1 / A1Q5 / A2Q1 / A3Q1 / A3Q4 / A4Q1 / A4Q2 / A5Q1 / A5Q3 are all the decent quests (on all difficulty levels).

Whichever you choose sooner or later you will want to venture into the pits to start mf’ing.

*Pit Running Strategy:
Start small and solo the pits in a single game and work your way up to a “difficulty” you are happy with at your level. The pits are an excellent place to level up our merc, so keeping him alive is a priority, and going back to town as soon as he is dead is sensible too.
Once you both are lvl 75 (or higher) you should be ready to make things harder for yourself, thus increasing the drops and the exp gained.
So join Hell questing games, or any games where there are a few players and give the pits a try.
Some Pit tips:

1. Use the Outer Cloister Waypoint and go backwards through the Monastery Gate and into the Tamoe Highlands. Follow the path and at some point it will fork/split with one branch leading to the Pits and the other leading towards the Black Marsh. If you take the wrong fork simple go back and take the other way. It helps to play with the map on as the entrance to the pits is shocking purple in colour and is easily seen on the map when not visible on screen.
2. If in doubt over mf/ias trade-off go full IAS for the first few runs, and gradually cut down on the IAS until you reach a comfortable point.
3. Learn the layouts, we want to kill everything as all monsters can drop good items, you soon learn how to “find” the way down to level 2 last as there only a limited number of map layout variations.
4. Strafelock – the bane of all strafers – once you have fired a strafe you will be unable to move or do anything for 1 or 2 seconds, so think before you fire and don’t be afraid to run back behind your merc/valk before you start firing. With practise you almost won’t notice the strafe lock as you will happily strafing away from a position of safety behind your merc and valk. I must say that if in doubt I always fire, as if I fire I hit and I leech so any damage taken is quickly nullified. The only dangerous area is the start of the second level when u can be faced with too many archers to be able to leech more than you loose.
5. Take it slow, your merc & valk will lag behind – she can be recast in front should u need.
6. Decoy can be used, especially near corners/intersections, however the only place I ever use it now is right at the start of the second level, just by the flame torch by the first stairs. This way if there are several archers she gets hit first and I know to be a little more cautious.
7. Use Strafe to “scout” ahead, with an empty screen fire one strafe – if 1 arrow appears there are no monsters in range so move forward. If several arrow shoot of then there are monsters in range (and in the direction of the arrows), so you can cast a decoy that way (and Valk), and advance slowly shooting off strafes. Just repeat this method until you feel comfortable with your char, and the layout of the pits.
8. In your belt keep 16 FULL rejuv’s – you will pick up so many from the pits that it’s a waste to have single life/mana potions in our belt. Plus with good ML/LL we shouldn’t need to drink potions, they are more for our merc should he run into a large pack.
9. Beware of monsters who explode on death, they can wipe ~700 life in one blast – a rejuv is in order here.
10. If your Valks heath gets into the yellow – retreat and recast, this is much better than trying to recast a dead valk.
11. The pits are not like Meph, where some rare/unique/set drops every run, some runs will produce nothing better than a flawless gem or 2, but the beauty of the pits is that unlike meph anything and everything can drop. So many runs are needed to produce results and I am dubious regarding some ppl’s claim to have found x shakos, y Stormsheilds and x Tal’s armours in 10 runs.

Shanksie1337

21-04-2004, 18:08

*Versatility:
After the feedback from the draft it became clear that there was some call for a section that discussed modifications to gear/charms/skills with the goal of helping our strafer in other areas of the game.
In her current state, she is not limited to endless pit runs, and there are other areas that can be mf’ed with no changes made. These include – Eld / Shenk & Pindle but I am sure there are more. Personally I am happy to take her into a baal run with no changes made to the existing setup, but others may cringe at the thought of -60 res all and Burning Souls.

The 4 main areas that can be changed are:
1. Equipment
2. Charms
3. Stat points
4. Skill points

Both 3 & 4 need a lot of pre planning and so I won’t spend too much time on them, instead I will concentrate on the 2 aspects of any character that can be changed easily and quickly.

Equipment & Charms
Because a strafer gets damage from gear and not skills it means that a highly efficient strafer is not a cheap build to make. So if you are new/poor then I’d suggest a sorc to run meph to get a supply of good gear and tradable.
Again I will stress that WF / BoTD are you main aims, as both provide the killing power we need. Rare bows have the possibility to spawn with as good, if not better mods than a WF, but I’d guess they are even rarer/costly than the WF. There are other good bows out there, but they all require alterations and sacrifices in order to fit the main mods on our zon.

I had planned to make this section much more in-depth but to list all combinations/permutations would take pages and pages. Instead I’ll list a few mod changes that you can consider, and leave the actual item list up to you.

Leech - As a rule less bow damage needs more IAS. This is because you will be doing less damage with one strafe, so we need to compensate with a faster strafe rate, and this may push mana costs up.

IAS/mf trade-off – One of the simplest methods to improve her longevity is to cut down on the mf gear, and increase IAS or some other aspects that you deem necessary.

Resistances – obviously minus 60 res all scares some ppl, and there are several easy solutions, again not all listed. Tal’s armour to mf in or several of the runeword armours if mf isn’t the priority.
Other easy sources of resistance are – rare/crafted jewellery – UM socketing in armour/helm – charms (either as the main mod, or as a second mod on a life/mf charm) – good rare/crafted boots (mf / frw / res are a commonish spawn) – same with rare/crafted gloves (ias / mf / res).

Life – for some areas you will lose your merc often – Chaos Sanctuary or anywhere with those pesky Doom Knights – so more life is usually called for as you will spend most of your time with just the 1 tank, and lose the precious might aura.

Open Wounds / Crushing blow / Deadly strike – are all useful, and if you want to sacrifice some mf, then they can certainly help your killing speed.

Stat & Skill points
With the above build, and depending on how high you level her and +skills gear, you will certainly have 20+ spare skill points to spend. For those who don’t want to, or can’t rely on the merc to solve the PI issue, then investing skill points in either the J&S or B&XB tree can provide a second form of attack.
The main two to consider are:
LF – Lightning Fury – Doesn’t need synergising and we already have pierce, so 23 points gets you a nice maxed Lighting attack on switch. (if you use Titans & Lidless on switch you can have +5 extra J&S skills)
FA – Freezing Arrow - Spending 15-25 points in FA and Cold Arrow can produce a useful backup skill to help slow and kill those PI you encounter. Having a bow with +skills can be of use here, as unlike strafe some +skills can increase the damage. Cold Charms and anything that increase cold damage/duration would also be of great use.

I suppose you could always go melee with Jab/Fend etc – but I have to admit I tried them once, and they really weren’t for me!

Lastly there is the possibility of using slightly different stat distribution.
If the WF wasn’t for you, then you would free up ~30 stat points that could be used elsewhere.
You could also balance the dex/vita equation slightly differently and put more into vitality, as the zon my build produces is very dex heavy.
It is possible to alter the stat point distribution, but this really needs planning well in advance and obviously can’t be undone at a later time, so tinker at your peril.

*Versatility: (Addendum)
It seems that I failed to get my versatility message across with my first attempt. (But it does say some things I like so it’s staying).
The main point I failed to get across was this guide is for a pit running strafer, and this is why I suggest the gear that I do, and why I place such emphasis on a WF.

If however you:
A) Don’t have a WF
B) Don’t like the WF you own
C) Don’t want to mf in the pit

I.e. you want to play as a strafer, not a WF based pit running strafer!

Then the character you built based on this guide is just as viable in all areas on Hell, you just need to select some different gear. Those people that think that you must have a WF in order to build an efficient strafer couldn’t be more wrong and many people will in fact claim that for a PvM strafer there are actually better bows, and certainly better equipment choices than the ones I have suggested above.

The reason I suggest and stress WF/BoTD is that my pit strafers’ equipment is all about pure bow based damage, with no extra damage mods like CB / OW / DS. So the damage you see on the character screen is pretty much close to the real damage I do to the monsters (excluding the effect of decrepify from the mercs Reapers Toll). I suggest this method as this frees up all other equipment slots for IAS+MF. But for a more versatile, play anywhere strafer, there is absolutely NO need to get all your killing power from your bow as the lack of MF frees up many more equipment slots.

A pure strafer can kill anywhere in the game with ANY bow/xbow with the right gear (and tactics).
You simply get your damage from all your equipment:
DS from Highlords Wrath
A whole bunch of good mods from Gore Rider boots
Extra damage to demons from Laying of Hands
Blood Gloves can provide many useful mods as well.
The equipment list is endless.

Many ppl on these forums will tell you they own a WF and prefer to use other bows, with WWS, Lycanders, Eaglehorn and GSA being high on the list.

With other bows the listed damage on the character screen may be much lower, but the real damage you deal to the monsters once all the mods have been added will be much higher, and then increased again with decrep. The WF also has a much larger damage range, so some zon players prefer bows that give a much tighter, more predictable damage output. Although having tried both upp’d WWS and WF on my zon, the average damage is higher for the WF in all cases. But that said, the only way I can tell which bow I am using is the lack of ML on the WWS causes me to drink blue pots/switch back to WF for mana leech. So if I had a second source of ml then they would be equal as killing speeds are about the same.

Another thing to mention is that the WF has a base speed of 10, and as many of the other bows you could use have faster base speeds, this means that would be less need to cram as much IAS into your equipment in order to hit the faster strafe speeds.

I just suggest a WF because if I had to play a naked character in the pits, equipped with just a bow, no armour, boots, gloves, jewellery, charms etc, I would pick a WF.

*PvP Section:
I don’t pvp, and from what I can gather the WF is banned in many duels due to the Knock back mod. I may in the future try pvp’ing using a different bow. I am sure some ppl pvp with strafers, but from what I have read elsewhere a bowazon is not the best char for pvp.

*My setup (for those that care):
“Windiekins” lvl 88 Strafer – skills as above with spare skill points put into P&M tree

WF “Shael” 8%
Shako “pt”
Skullders “pt”
Goldwrap “upgraded”
Chancies “upgraded” 33% - I sometimes use LoH to get 90 IAS but I find I really don’t need them.
War Trav’s 46%
Cat’s Eye
Ravenfrost 20/24x
Rare 8LL +10dex +etc ring

Gheeds 36%
Anni 13/10/10 – I use it for the +10% to exp
Life sc’s * 6
1290 in pdsc’s
Passive & Magic Skiller
Cube / Keys / Scrolls
= ~350 mf with a 2*4 empty space in inventory (so I could add 8*7 = 56 more mf).

With gear on:
Str – 140
Dex – 395
Vita – 115
Energy – 30

~8k AR / 1.2k def
830 life / 350 mana
-60 res all in Hell

Normal Attack – 1567-4005 // 1680-5134 – (second figures are with the might aura)
Strafe – 1224-3487 // 1308-4336

“Leharas” lvl 88 might merc
ETH Reapers Toll “Amn”
Leviathan “pt”
Tal’s Mask “pt”

397-2250 // 642-4133

*Disclaimer:
This guide is simply a collection of replies I have given regarding my experiences with strafing in the pits; everything is open to opinion/preference and budget. In D2 there are very rarely right/wrong ways of doing things and I am sure everyone disagrees with some point of this guide. I am equally sure I have missed points/items/strategies/options etc; this wasn’t an attempt to produce a definitive list, more a summary of what has worked/failed for me in my time pitting.

I hope it has helped those that read it needing help and I wish you all better luck mf’ing in the pits than I seem to have had.

Shanksie

Shanksie1337

21-04-2004, 18:12

lastly sorry for the guide spam, but this is the final final version that i think may be winging it's way into the stragtegy compendium.

The verision already stickied on top of this sections does contain all this (with the addendum posted somewhere amongst all the replies), so if you have read the stickied one, dont bother read this, although if u read from top to bottom i am typing this too late :p

And if possible, comments on the stickied version plz :D

shanks

Backdoor Bandit

21-04-2004, 19:13

Congrats on the sticky :worship:

I told you it would work! Tonight I will find some time to read the final through, but I am sure it's fine. Now we just gotta hope the ladder-season ends soon, so we can start to rock the realms together :yep:
My strafer is waiting.........

-Backdoor Bandit

Kersch

22-04-2004, 08:58

May I ask, why 20 penetrate? Does a high level zon with massive dex not have 95% hit rate against pretty much everything already?

Shanksie1337

22-04-2004, 12:49

May I ask, why 20 penetrate? Does a high level zon with massive dex not have 95% hit rate against pretty much everything already?
in a word, no.

my lvl 86 zon with 420 dex still has about 88% (with max pentrate)

and bah! all my lovely veiws :p

Furinol

22-04-2004, 15:43

in a word, no.

my lvl 86 zon with 420 dex still has about 88% (with max pentrate)

and bah! all my lovely veiws :p

just wanted to thank you Shanks. After getting a meteorb and a skellimancer into the eighties I read this guide and am currently pushing her through the nm baal runs into the 70s. I have a couple pieces of equip that I still need to trade for but am having the best time with this character of all of mine. Great guide.

:buddies:

willluk

23-04-2004, 02:15

hi there shanksie, i just built a pit strafer shes lvl 75 atm but with all the mf gear how do you get such high dex and vit? and how about resists? mine are -60 or worse :o...thx for the great guide :thumbsup:

Shanksie1337

23-04-2004, 13:21

hi willuk

hi dex is due to spending all stat points on dex, apart from about ~20 or so *my current strafer has 85 vita in full gear. Life is from the Shako and from sc's, either plan life sc's, or where possible 100 pdsc's with life as a second mod.

As for resists, mine are also all about minus 60, for the pits this is more than enough as there is very lillte, if any elemental attackers in the pit, but obviously if you want to play with her elsewhere you may want to up the reisits a little.

willluk

24-04-2004, 01:30

ah maybe thats where i have gone "wrong"...i dont have str or many life charms so that might explain it! having a hard time though in the pit with more than just myself playing. but anyway thx for the help and ill stop spamming your sticky :P

Shanksie1337

24-04-2004, 02:29

willuk - don't worry about spamming my sticky, i'll gladly reply to any queries you may have.

if i have the time i'll go get some1 to pk her so i know how much life she has naked, but i'd guess ~450-500 (then about 100 from shako and 120 from life sc's and some from an 18 stat anni.

Shanksie1337

24-04-2004, 03:32

just checked

Naked, with no charms/items/anything she has:
104 str
351 dex
55 vita
15 energy
387 life
144 mana

so she is getting 350-400 life from items/charms.

rummy

25-04-2004, 00:49

First off, great guide :clap:. I've recently acquired the funds to get a windforce, and you're guide has inspired me to make a pit-runner. Anyways, on to the question. I'm looking at changing a few things with skills, mainly one point penetrate and max frozen arrow/cold arrow. First, wouldn't a razortail be a valid option (to save points in pierce, you DONT use the ias from goldwrap to hit a breakpoint so why not?). Because I'd go with base penetrade, I'd hire a blessed aim merc. Now, would you reccomend this? I'd lose, what, 900 or so max dmg from the might merc but I'd still have excellent attack rating (should be at least as high as with max penetrade). Is the gain of a powerful frozen arrow worth this? Maybe it's better to stick with pure pierce for mfing and leave a build like this for general pvm? Opionions? Suggestions? Comments? Thanks a ton for you're time, and once again, great guide :winner: .

Shanksie1337

25-04-2004, 03:14

@rummy

ok my thinking (pissed so bear with me):
If you are going to run the pits you will simply not need FA/CA as there are NO PI's in the pit, bar the very rare unique boss, (and reapers on merc/WWS on switch will take care of this for you). So these points you spend will, imho, be wasted.
This leads nicely onto the second point, the "beauty" of this build is that you have so many spare akill points. We max penetrate because:
1. we have loads of spare skill points remaining and strafe has no synergies, so we max penetrate to ensure we hit as often as possible (no AR bonus from a WF).
2. This also goes for peirce, sure once u have 20 in strafe/valk/penetrate, thenb put more in peirce by all means, on my zon, once the build was complete at ~clvl 78 i have alternated a point in CS, then a point in Peirce, then CS etc. You have so many spare skill points that u can easily afford to get high peirce without having to use a razortail (i use the Goldwrap for the extra mf/extra gold, if it had 0 IAS i woul dstill use it).
A Blessed aim merc may save you points in penetrate but again u dont need to scrimp and save with skill points, so imo:
might merc + pe.netrate > bless aim merc + whatever skill u spend those spare points on.

In summary you really wont need any other bow skill other than strafe to clear the pits in an 8 man game, so maxing penetrate (to make sure u hit as often as possible) and having a good level of peirce (my zon has iirc lvl 17 peirce = 82%) are the best use of skill points.

by all means spend those points in FA/CA but dont come crying to me when u realise you spent ~30 skill points in skills you never use :D

rummy

25-04-2004, 05:35

Freyas

29-04-2004, 11:33

FA can be useful in some instances, but I'd definately agree with Shanksie that it is not needed for the pits. In fact, the pits is one of the worst areas for FA, since half of the monsters(2/4) that can possibly spawn are cold immune(melee rogues and skeletons- and I usually end up with both in most games). While FA can be very useful in leveling and playing in other parts of the game, I find that I don't use it very much in the pits- the main use that I've found for it is freezing archer packs(which can be very helpful). However, you can get the same bonus from just having a level 1 FA, which you can get by investing some of the spare points that you'll have with a pure strafeazon. Having a ravenfrost and possibly a couple of sc's with cold damage should give you a decent freeze duration, so you can keep the archers frozen while you strafe them to death.

Anyhow, great guide, Shenksie, and congratulations on the stickie!

EdvinMedvind

05-05-2004, 11:22

xeyloderixed

05-05-2004, 20:43

i'm building my first ladder 1.10 bowazon in hc, and i just have a few questions.

(1) i hate windforce, and by hate i mean really, really dislike it. i want to use witchwild instead, and recently traded for a perfect one. will this make a difference in damage output? assuming this is the gear i am using:

witchwild, 2 shael
cats eye
shako
skullders
5/4 dual leech ring
raven
wartravs
goldwrap
rare +2 bow, 20 ias, dual res, mf gloves
a ton of 3 max scs, 7 mfscs, and 20 lifers

(2) is raven necessary? or are there better alternatives? i've seen a few use nature's peace, for the life and rip, but i'm not sure if it is necessary. on a related note, is 5/4 leech enough with the witch? i think the mana leech is low, but i haven't really tested it seeing as my zon is currently lvl 36 and dont even have my non perfect witchy on (for pubbies, in case of pk).

(3) for solo pit running, is travs better than gores? from the feedback from the hc forum, travs won the vote.

(4) i am aiming for 9/2 strafe with this setup. it this decent/too little/too much for the pits? i just went with this one because it is easily achievable with my current gear selection; i can easily switch the gloves to chancies to put me at the next lower bp.

thanks.

Shanksie1337

05-05-2004, 21:25

1 - i have a WWS on switch, and only the difference in colour reminds me which bow i am using (bar the lack of ML), the numbers will look much lower (as displayed on your char screen), but once the other mods: Amp, and gores if worn, the actual killing speed is, imo, the same.

2 - a ravenfrost is simply the best ring for a strafer, and if there was LL in a WF, i would wear 2. Obviously u are HC and are tempted by the life from the sage on the natures, but in my experience monsters seem to target it first, so it will usually be the first thing to die. As for the PMH it's really not needed in the pits, as the fallen are taken down with 1 arrow. If you want to try the natures out, u could always cast the sage by stash, then swap and put on the raven (and put the natures in your inv if a recast is needed).
As for the leech - i am unsure, WWS has the same killing speed, but i am not sure if the extra damage, from OW etc on gores, counts towards a leechable total. With HC i'd be tempted to priortise LL, (i am sc, but if i am lazy, i can just toe to toe tank everything in the pit, they will damage me, but i will leech more than enough back, my life level goes up and down like crazy, but i have yet to die in the pits).
Depending on what else u had planned, you could get a nice 8-9 LL ring to use and have some bow with ML on switch to provide a source of ML - ofc there is always mana pots). My strafer doesn't use potions ever, her belt is simply a space to store 16 Full rejuv's - which i then mule out, and refill the belt in a run or 3.

3 - i have to agree, travs hands down, the str + vita boost, coupled with the extra damage and the frw means that even if they lacked mf they would be my first choice.

4 - My advise would be to try the one that u can make the easiest, in this case 9/2 (if my maths is up to it, you have 90 with the gear listed), so as you say, if u try this and feel u may be able to cope with a slower firing speed, then give the chanices a whirl. Equally so, if u think you want to try a little bit extra, then a single IAS jewel in the the shako or skullders would take you up to 8/2.

I have to admit, my main knowledge lies in SC and with WF, if she reads this, i hope Leissa Wyrmbane can add her knowledge of HC and WWS as she has much more experience in both these areas than i do.

Liessa Wyrmbane

05-05-2004, 23:09

Hi xeyloderixed,

Shanksie already covered your questions quite efficiently, but I might just as well reply here too since he even mentioned me by name :)

(1) With my strafer I actually kill better with WWS than with WF, but that's mainly because she was build to use WWS and you can't just slap another bow on her and compare. I'm currently building another identical strafer to use WF just so that I can compare the two bows on equal grounds. In summa summarum, don't worry about your kill efficiency with WWS.

(2a) Raven is not necessary, but simply too good to ignore. With Strafer you WILL want a very good attack rating (I have 11k) and you will also want very high dexterity with WWS, so Raven Frost really is ideal ring.

(2b) My second ring is Nature's Peace because I felt like I needed more life (my ama is base vita). It is, however, not necessary and I might replace it with a second Raven Frost because I feel I already have enough life now (~850 life).

(2c) I once tried playing with 7/4 dual leech ring as my only source of leech and I think it was enough to get by, but I prefer having a bit more both life and mana leech.

(3) War Travs are better.

(4) Monsters in The Pit don't have that much hit points and 9/2 Strafe with WWS demolishes them quite easily. I'm a speed freak however and I went with 8/2 Strafe setup since it's only 15%IAS more and I like the fact that I can react 1 frame faster.

There's one thing that I feel I have to mention. That is the importance of 100% piercing. With Strafer/Elemental zon you don't want 80% piercing. You don't want 85% piercing. Heck, you don't even want 95% piercing. What you do want is 100% Piercing. The thing is, Windforce is a very forgiving bow because of it's great damage. One can play badly and without any tactics and do fine just holding your right mouse button down till everybody around you is dead. However, that is not the case with lower damage bow like WWS. To get the maximum kill efficiency with low damage bow, one must learn the art of herding monsters and utilizing your 100% pierce and good attack rating. The difference between 85% (lvl 20 Pierce) and 100% is HUGE when you're killing packs of lined-up monsters. I did the math a while ago and I can post some numbers if you want more convincing :)

Regards,
Liessa

xeyloderixed

06-05-2004, 01:18

thanks for all the suggestions!

now for more question -.-

so raven is on one finger (as i suspected), and the other one is for leech. liessa already said that 7/4 is enough although of course more is needed. and i also like shanks' idea of a ml bow, so i'll put a lycanders on switch.

i guess there's only 1 question left: piercing. i was planning to use goldwrap to get 90 ias, enough for 9/2 strafe, but if piercing is important (and the only way to get 100% now is razor) is is worth it to socket shako with 15 ias and switch the belt to razor? or even better (or worse) keep the goldwrap and put an ias jewel on shako for an 8/2 strafe? as liessa said, 9/2 is enough, but i haven't actually tested them.

thanks in advance.

Shanksie1337

06-05-2004, 01:28

Cario

06-05-2004, 02:15

(2) is raven necessary? or are there better alternatives? i've seen a few use nature's peace, for the life and rip, but i'm not sure if it is necessary. on a related note, is 5/4 leech enough with the witch? i think the mana leech is low, but i haven't really tested it seeing as my zon is currently lvl 36 and dont even have my non perfect witchy on (for pubbies, in case of pk).

I think this low level of LL is sufficient for a sc WWS zon, as from what I can remember, your LL amount increases by 150% once amp triggers. This should be sufficient for most SC zons.
My WWs zon was using the 5/5 stealskull leech as only source of leach and I didn't have any problems.

In HC it obviously depends on the amount of risk you fancy taking.

Cheers,
Cario

xeyloderixed

06-05-2004, 03:36

I think this low level of LL is sufficient for a sc WWS zon, as from what I can remember, your LL amount increases by 150% once amp triggers. This should be sufficient for most SC zons.
My WWs zon was using the 5/5 stealskull leech as only source of leach and I didn't have any problems.

In HC it obviously depends on the amount of risk you fancy taking.

Cheers,
Cario

wow, ty for this response. exactly what i needed.

ok i got all my questions answered. time to actually test her! a little poor on the charm side (only 2 3max so far, and a 9 max), dont know how many vitas i'm going to end up using on her (not many, until she finds me the goods!), and only 1 7mfsc. we'll see how she does.

btw, i'm doing base vita :scratch: and this is hc :cheesy: hope i don't die!

Liessa Wyrmbane

06-05-2004, 10:16

personally i think Liessa places too much emphasis on 100% peirce (but as already stated, she prefers the WWS, and i prefer the WF, so if i was unbiased i may back her). You can and will kill very fast with ~80% or so, almost certainly you will kill faster with 100%, but it's a tradeoff, Peirce & MF(Goldwrap) or Peirce & LL(Nos Coil), and this is gonna be down to personal preference again.
For magic finding 100% piercing is of course not necessary. For example, I replace my Razortail with Tal rasha belt when I do MF (along with my armor for TR armor). And with a high damage bow like Windforce the 100% piercing is not needed either. I'm just saying that if you take a bow with much less damage like, lets say upgraded Riphook, and go to hell Pits you will notice the difference of 85% and 100% piercing. However, if you don't herd/line up the monsters or at least attack them from the best angle, the whole point of piercing is moot.

Here's a quick mathematical example. Let's say you have 5 monsters lined up so that an arrow can hit them all.

Your chance to hit the nth monster is:
cth(n) = cth^n * ctp^(n-1)

cth = Chance to Hit (example 100% = 1.0)
ctp = Chance to Pierce

For example, if you have 85% chance to hit and 85% chance to pierce your total chance to hit (and damage) the 5th monster would be:

cth(5) = 0.85^5 * 0.85^4 = 0.231 (23%)

Now let's say you have 100% pierce:
cth(5) = 0.85^5 * 1.0^4 = 0.443 (44%)

Now let's say you have 100% pierce and 90% chance to hit (like do):
cth(5) = 0.90^5 * 1.0^4 = 0.590 (59%)

Now let's say you have 100% pierce and 95% chance to hit (Ignores Target's Defense for example):
cth(5) = 0.95^5 * 1.0^4 = 0.773 (77%)

Lining up monsters so that you can hit 5 of them is not that hard. If I'd calculate the same thing with 10 monsters then the difference would be HUGE.

xeyloderixed

06-05-2004, 18:56

@ liessa
thanks for the heads up on pierce. my zon is now lvl 72 and she jusr did her 4th pit run. you are right; pierce is unnecessary at that area, although i can see the uses. since i'm done with all the other skills (strafe, penetrate, valk) i'm starting to put points in pierce, and it really helps. i think i'm gonna end up with 10 base, which should give me enough (~70?)

@cario
good thing i listened! my vanilla 5/4 dual leech is doing just fine, good enough to clear the pit without using any pots

thanks again shanks, liesse, cario. here is my current setup

shako (topaz)
skullders (topaz)
goldwrap
170 ed 2 shael wws
travs (45)
rare 20 ias dual res 23 mf gloves
20 dex raven
5/4 dual leech ring
cats eye

26 max total in charms
around 100 life in charms
7 mfsc

497 life (lol!)
this is a bit low, but from the (few) runs i did, it's enough to last you 2 hits, which is fine by me. i will, however, try to get myself some 20's with the (i hope) good stuff she will find :uhhuh:

90 str
rest in dex (approaching 400)
-10ish, -10ish, 10ish, 10ish res
500ish-890 strafe (with a low 50s lvl might merc)

lextalionis

08-05-2004, 07:52

What about an upgraded Langer Briser?

Shanksie1337

12-05-2004, 15:17

What about an upgraded Langer Briser?
it definately has it's uses as a switch weapon for an extra 30-60 mf.
As a main weapon it has some nice mods - the kb, open wounds and the nice Lightning damage are all attractive mods, but you'd need 109 IAS to get 11/3, which isn't bad for a xbow , but i can't help think that strafers really should be using bows as speed is king.

Admittedly i haven't tried an upgraded langer, and i probably will never bother spend the runes to upgrade one.

If you have one, could you tell me the damage plz - tho ofc this will be greatly enhanced by the OW.

Starseed

13-05-2004, 22:28

Hmm, well after my post here about my sucky zon a few hours ago, I decided to check your thread and decided to restart a pure strafer. :)

My question is.. is Crit. Strike worth anything? Should I put anything into it aside from 1 point as a pre-req or just leave it there and up it with +skills?

Also, would base vit be suicide (I play in sc) or with carefully playing & +life, would that be ok?

Shanksie1337

14-05-2004, 15:56

Hmm, well after my post here about my sucky zon a few hours ago, I decided to check your thread and decided to restart a pure strafer. :)

good choice :D

My question is.. is Crit. Strike worth anything? Should I put anything into it aside from 1 point as a pre-req or just leave it there and up it with +skills?

CS is godly :D - it's a % to do double damage (and as we already do nice damage it's even better).
On my current strafer i maxed strafe/valk/penetrate - then put a point into CS, then Peirce, then CS. I am happy with ~80% Peirce so i am concentrating on my CS. I currently have lvl 17 CS = 65% chance to do double damage - very very nice, then imagine this in conjunction with decrepify - even nicer.

Also, would base vit be suicide (I play in sc) or with carefully playing & +life, would that be ok?

As for vita, it's preference - C Elegans plays with about 500 vita and dies very very rarely, or so she tells me :D, i have about 750 vita - i plan on losing some of the vita sc's once my new char has been leveled up enough to use them. My advice would be to try base, and keep ~30-50 spare stat points and use them if u feel u need them. You really shouldn't be hit very often, if at all, and aslong as u are firing and leeching it's almost impossible to die.

MafCallow

14-05-2004, 20:47

Hiya bro - kudos again on the fine guide.

I've finally finished my IK WW barb, and decided I can go no further with my Hammerdin without a decent shield - so I'm gonna save up for a HoZ :p

...in the mean time, I've decided it's timet to start my Strafeazon!

Having now read through all of the guide, I shall add further kudos :)

One question though:
Do you have any thoughts for good levelling equipment?
Currently I'm using Full Sigon's, Angelic Rings+Ammy, and superior short spears from Act2's Charsi (I forget her name). At about lvl 30, I'll probably have moved onto my usual next set of gear, namely a Viper's, Peasants, rare jewellery, Tearhaunch, some Uniq leach gloves (maybe Soul Drainers - I'm gonna check my mules at some point). Do you have a recommended range of equipment for lvls 30->~70?
You said you'd lend me a Lycander's Aim, so I assume that's your bow of choice (rares aside) for this kinda time.

Thanks for your guide, and any extra help you can give me :)
Oh - and thanks for the bow, etc. :D

Maf

Starkey

17-05-2004, 02:20

Gonna try this build, can it also do crypt and masoluem as there lvl 85 areas also

Shanksie1337

17-05-2004, 14:47

Gonna try this build, can it also do crypt and masoluem as there lvl 85 areas also
with ease :D

No PI's (or even Poison Immunes - so the pdsc's help)
nice straight narrow corridors to keep the monsters bunched up
doorways are even better bottlenecks to spam strafe through
no great number of ranged attackers (on the few runes i did anyways) so our lack of sheild is no worry
No elemental attackers so our low resists aren't a problem either.

They aren't as quick to find as the pits, and imo they lack monsters so less exp and lower number of drops. But i suppose it's a nice break from pits/eld/shenk etc.

KeNnY-DK

17-05-2004, 15:55

could someone give a link to nos coil? i cant seem to find it anywhere :P
also shanksie, VERY! great guide i have told u this but i think u should hear it again, i have always been a sorceress kinda guy, but the strafer convinced me that sorceress are lame, and amazons are great :clap:

Shanksie1337

17-05-2004, 16:59

Nosferau's Coil
Vampirefang Belt
Defense: (56-63)
Durability:14
Required Strength:50
Required Level:51
16 Boxes
+15 to Strength
10% Increased Attack Speed
(5-7)% Life Stolen per Hit
-3 to Light Radius
+2 Mana After Each Kill
Slows Target By 10%

KeNnY-DK

17-05-2004, 21:48

hmm... I think ill just settle with my Goldwrap. I am a magic finder anyway :uhhuh:

geeber

17-05-2004, 21:52

Hiya, I just started my own strafazon and i have a few question:
a)I was wondering about a base vit strafazon. I've seen base vit zons everywhere and i was wondering if its too risky to sink every spare point into dex, or do i need SOME vit?
b)Has anyone with a strafazon ever found truly good items? I imagine people have or we wouldnt be discussing this, but i like reassurance.
c) I was having a little trouble deciphering the IAS chart cuz my comp is screwy, if u wouldnt mind could you list the ammount of ias i need for a good strafe rate-say, 9/2 or something?
d)GREAT GUIDE!!!
-geeber

Shanksie1337

17-05-2004, 22:55

A. imho base vita wouldn't be too much of a problem if:
- you wear shako (nice +life)
- you have some vita sc's to increase it a bit
i am sure some manage base vita with no shako and little vita sc's but it's all about how much risk you want. You can easily do NM baal's with base vita, i'd try base vita in the pits but keep ~30 spare stat points incase you want a little more life.
Also you will kill very fast with ~350 dex, so u don't have to worry too much about loss of damage if you do want a little vita.
fyi my current strafer has:
85 vita = 79x life (inc sc's and shako)
44x dex

B. Yes - Nightwings - Eth Col Blade (sold for Vex) etc plus all the normal goodies to be found on other mf areas, such as Shako / Ocy / Skullders etc. The pits are all about quality as opposed to quantity so bear with it if you manage a few runs with no decent drops. It's also an excellent place to lvl the merc :D

C. 89 needed for 9/3, 120 needed for 9/2 and 147 needed for 8/2 iirc.

D. ty :D

geeber

17-05-2004, 23:23

Thanks for the prompt reply. So do you think I should shoot for 9/3 or 9/2? I think those are the only reasonably attainable. How about the mf balance?

n00bee

18-05-2004, 00:34

where are the pits? :scratch:

geeber

18-05-2004, 00:43

New question: how can i possibly attain 89% ias while still haveing mf?

Shanksie1337

18-05-2004, 01:10

@n00bee - take the outer cloister waypoint in act1, and head back to the tamoe highlands, the pit is a cave area that can be found simply by following the path (it will fork, with one way leading to the pits, and one way going back to the black marsh area.

@geeber
1. actually my zon has 70 IAS = 10/3 (a little waste maybe, but i have LoH in stash to get me to 90 if needed (i remove the chancies)). So with this in mind i'd say 9/3 was plenty, tho some would insist that 9/2 is the only way to go - my advise, try 10/3 (56IAS) and take it from there.

2. as for 89 IAS
40 from "shael'd" WF
20 from Cat's Eye
10 from Goldwrap
leaving you 20 to find, and the easiest way imo is to use LoH (Laying of Hands set gloves) = 90 IAS. Tho there are ofc many many options :D

With Skullders "pt", WT's, Shako "pt" & Gheeds plus mfsc's you can get 300 mf easily, and 400 mf should be possible.

geeber

18-05-2004, 01:29

thanks shanksie

Starkey

18-05-2004, 02:51

crypt and masuolem are easy to find, just behine raven blood in cold plains act1

Shanksie1337

18-05-2004, 02:54

hehe i know where they are, but from the Cold Plains wp they can be an arse to find.

geeber

18-05-2004, 05:59

Hey Shanksie, sorry to pester but i was wondering if u could post your current strafazons skill...ive been looking and couldnt find it.

andyishuge

18-05-2004, 06:17

well, I guess this is going to be my next character. Won't be starting her for a while, as I am currently working on 2 others, but regardless, hella decent guide. One of the best and most in depth on the boards, I'd say.

Shanksie1337

18-05-2004, 14:56

@geeber:
1 in Cold Arrow + Magic Arrow + Multi Shot + Guided Arrow (all prereq for Strafe)
20 in strafe = 24 with + skills

1 in all P&M
2 in D/A/E - shoulda left them at base but nvm = lvl 6 with + skills
20 Valk = 24 with + skills
20 Penetrate = 24 with + skills
17 Critical (including + skills)
17 Peirce (including + skills)

With Gear ON:
144 str
443 dex
85 vita = 806 life (i am about to remove about 3*20 life sc's)
35 energy (base) = 347 mana

Once i have self enchanted with Demon Limb:
8898 => 14359 AR (an increase of 5461)
1497-4720 => 1563-4803 (strafe damage including might aura)

@andyishuge - (nice name) and ty

geeber

18-05-2004, 21:50

thanks again shanksie!(sorry to keep bumping the guide)

geeber

19-05-2004, 00:45

Well, i got my strafazon running the pits and i have yet another question for anyone who does pit runs: approximately how long does it take to find the pit and do a full run? im getting number around 12-15 minutes and that seems slow to me.

Shanksie1337

19-05-2004, 00:51

i dunno how long it takes me, less than 11 minutes tho - as i am still enchanted when i kill Eld/Shenk. Once you do more runs you realise there are only so many possible layouts of the first level, so you can make sure you find the steps down once you have cleared all the first level.

i'll go do a few and see how long it takes me :D

geeber

20-05-2004, 01:02

Sorry, it's me again :-D. One final question-I hope-I was wondering about where to spend skill points between critical strike and pierce? Which is more important? Also, how did u get your damage so high? I think my strafe caps out at about 2500 so far, which is a lot lower than yours?
Thanks
-geeber

Shanksie1337

20-05-2004, 02:36

did 3 timed runs:
7 mins, 9 mins and a 8 mins, so av of 8 mins, but thats killing every monster on both levels, plus everything i encounter between wp and pits. (in games with, on average 4-5 ppl - full games are such an arse to find).

I think critical strike and pierce are about equal, CS means more damage on 1 target, pierce means you hit a few more targets, so you obviously want both skills to be as high as possible. So i tend to alternate - cs - pierce - cs etc.

As for my damage - it's mainly due to pdsc's, tho my higher level (i am now lvl 89), means i have more dex - 448 - , and the max damage on the WF is higher - based on clvl), and both these will give me more damage.

geeber

20-05-2004, 02:59

thanks again shanksie

teaandbiscuits

20-05-2004, 04:23

Great guide shanksie, just gathered some half decent equipment and am starting her act1 norm now :D

Just one small equipment setup suggestion that i'm not sure has been mentioned yet, Tancreds Boots+Amulet together give the following noteable stats:

Heal Stamina Plus 25%
+10 to Dexterity
30% Faster Run/Walk
+78% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items

Not too bad! very cheap as well.

CoRRuPt-OnE

20-05-2004, 04:27

chk again i think its +10 strength not dex, would of been a perk tho

Edit: Nevermind i not paying attention....

Shanksie1337

20-05-2004, 05:04

@Teaandbiscuits - i did forget about them, i used to use them ages and ages ago, long before i was rich enough to own a skullders. But since then i have realised that Tancreds Hobnails are almost as rare as Tal's Armour - those bloody boots are in TC3 which is soooo full it's not true.
As for the ammy the same is also true, more bosses can drop Tals ammy than can drop Tancreds - at least according to d2data. So whilst they should be cheap they may set you back a little more than you'd expect :scratch:

Also another downer is that your ammy slot is one of the best slots for getting IAS, and as speed is vital to strafe you would almost certainly need to find 20 IAS somewhere else to make up for the lack of IAS from the ammy. (Besides i think the Cat's Eye amulet is almost as key as a WF or Reapers - i rate the ammy that highly for a strafer).

Thanks for the imput, i will add them to the next version of this guide - to be posted if/when the forums die again.

EdvinMedvind

20-05-2004, 15:43

C. 89 needed for 9/3, 120 needed for 9/2 and 147 needed for 8/2 iirc.

This is for WF right?

Recently it was suggested by some people at the Amazon Basin that the strafe breakpoints for bows with base speed 10 (such as WF) are:

80% IAS 9/3
120% IAS 9/2
157% IAS 8/2

See here: http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=183692. The original thread at the Amazon Basin is very difficult for me to understand, but they seem to know their stuff.

Shanksie1337

20-05-2004, 16:21

Thanks for you input Edvin :D

I saw that when Liessa Posted it here, but atoetd ppl have been using the old ones for so long that they can't be too inaccurate. Plus in terms of gear i really recommend, especially with a goldwrap, you main options are 70 or 90 IAS (depending on gloves).
So if you aimed for 9/3 you'd end up with 90IAS - even if u wanted to get 80.

40 from WF (i have tried a plain high ed jewel in here, and it really isn't needed/effective, so even if you have access to ED/IAS's - or any good IAS jewels - i'd save them for a different bow/build/char).
20 from Cat's Eye
10 from Goldwrap
= 70 = 10/3 (what my strafer has - and kills very well with)

for those who wanted to get 9/3 i suppose the 80 would allow you to use 1 IAS jewel as a possiblility, but for a pit runner the best choice, imho would be:

20 from Laying of Hands
= 90 = 9/3 whichever numbers you trust.

Ofc if you use a Razortail (or any other non IAS belt) you would then get 80 much easier than 90, but with this build you have so many spare skill points you can get high peirce from skill points, thus leaving you free choice of belt.

I am considering editing the latest version of the guide to incorporate both sets of numbers, but i think i'll wait to see which becomes the established bp's first and just include that one.

EdvinMedvind

20-05-2004, 17:01

LovelyGods

21-05-2004, 21:18

is that 292 ias on wf even possible??? anyone explain how to get this?

Shanksie1337

21-05-2004, 21:32

i'd say it was impossible
(just loose numbers btw - i am not putting too much thought into this, so there may be a better/higher option i have missed somewhere.

20 ammy
10 belt
20 gloves
45 helm
60 armour
=155

So you need shed loads from a bow :D a 6 shael bow would be 120, even so you'd still fall short, and your almost certainly kill faster with the 147 (or 157 - depending on whose stats we follow) bp.

Using a WF i'll risk saying the 292 is impossible :)

Lilly.m

23-05-2004, 08:32

I just read a post that had max (legit) IAS at 285...leaving you 7 short with no possible way to get it. That was with 6 shael bow, so max WF would be significantly more out of reach.

I can't seem to find the thread so let's see if I can remember.

6 Shael Bow: 120
Armor: 60
Helm: 45
Ammy: 20
Sigons Boot + Gloves: 30
Belt: 10

Yep, 285...making max WF 205?

Shanksie1337

23-05-2004, 13:37

tbh it was always going to be impossible, a WF isn't as slow as the WWS fans make out, but 292 IAS when you can get only 40 from your bow, and none from rings or charms was never going to happen, which makes me wonder how the heck somebody worked out there was a bp there at all. But maybe there are some godly IAS dupes/hacks out there.

I have been meaning to try my strafer with 147 IAS for some time, but i will have to try 157 now, just to be sure of achieving that last bp (depending on whose figures we trust. I think i'll go speed her up now and see how she plays :)

Loinje

24-05-2004, 16:49

would a GSA be a suitable bow to use whilst lvling up/until i can get a WF?

det

24-05-2004, 17:10

I would imagine it is..having already 50 IAS on it. You might like it so much that you upgrade it..never forget the +damage to Demons and Undead.

Actually I am never in a hurry to find the pits, as there are so many monsters and bosses on the way that nice items and runes can drop there..if for nothing else, i can sell them and keep gambling away. Just got a +2 zon skill circlet. Valk now cast at lv 21...gogogo

Lilly.m

25-05-2004, 12:07

You sure can use it to level! GSA is my favorite bow, period. :winner:

Gremlin

25-05-2004, 12:55

Hi. I only play useast HCL. I think about making a strafer. But for hc survival is critical (duh!). Im planning to use buri(possibly with shael. havent looked up the exact ias from my gear. Planning on the 135 ias braekpoint), so i was wondering how i can get enuf res (dont wanna take any chances), and enuf leech. Then when i was looking on summit i saw the diciple set. What do you guys think about it? Im planning to use full diciple and the tals helm, ravenfrost and im not sure about the econd ring slot.

Shanksie1337

25-05-2004, 15:24

@ Loinje - GSA is a sexy bow, and as already stated by others it's a very capable main bow on it's own.

@ Gremlin - depending on the figures u follow, the IAS bp for the Buri is 138. You get 80 from Buri, and 20 from Laying of Hands. Leaving you 40 short. So a Shael in the xbow means you'd still have to IAS jewel both Helm and Armour to hit 138. The bp below 138 is 95, which you'd get by doing nothing, so maybe that would be worth a test at least before you commited to getting the extra 40 IAS. If 95 was fast enough for you, you could Nef the xbow for some knockback for extra safety.

As far as your possible gear goes, i'd say it was an excellent choice:
80 res all from Full Disciple + Tals
10 dual leech from Tals Helm is more than enough.
3 (iirc) +skills from the Disciple set will give a nice extra boost for P&M
+74 fire res
+18 cold res
+ 35-50 poison res

so with 3*Anya's done you'd have:
75 (84 really) fire res
28 cold res
45-60 poison res
10 lightning res

I have never (yet) played HC, but 10 L res would worry me, so if i were you i'd want some extra L res from the sockets in either/both Tals Mask / Dark Adherent. So your choice of IAS bp will affect you here, as if you want more L res and 138 IAS, you will need 2 good IAS/L res jewels (which i can't imagine being too cheap). If on the other hand, you stuck with 95 IAS you could simply pgem/rune the helm/armour to add extra res's.

The Ravenfrost is a must, and the 20 Cold Absorb will help you with cold attackers.

So this leaves you a ring slot free, so some more res's (cold/light) here maybe, and more LL really can't hurt as it will ofc help you stay breathing.

Hopefully someone with more HC experience will reply too :D but i hope i have helped a little :)

Gremlin

25-05-2004, 17:42

U helpd alot. I think i'll stick to the 95 breakpoint to begin with. Then i can always change gera afterwards. I think i'll socket the buri with nef. I'll reply in a feq days when ive started to run hell with her

McFlipp

26-05-2004, 19:44

Hi guys,

I'm making this Strafer too. But i'm doing it at HC. I'm currently lvl 70 and i have about 105 str, 190 dex and 130 vita and base energy.
I'm wearing an upgraded WWS without anything in the sockets yet. But what i'm concerned about is my dmg. It's only 300 - 480 or so!! With 21 strafe and an upgraded WWS... I read about 4500 dmg... Well obviously i can't kill with 300 - 480 dmg, so what to do to improve it all a bit? Besides I don't own a windforce :(

Shanksie1337

26-05-2004, 20:01

This build really doesn't require a WF - i have edited the next version to make that even clearer. With a WWS you won't get anywhere near 4500 damage but don't worry, you aren't supposed to with a WWS.
The WWS main killing features are Amp damage and the Deadly Strike.
The Amp will obviously up your killing power, and in order to help it trigger more often, and to increase you killing power in general i'd suggest putting 2 Shael runes in the bow. You haven't listed the rest of your gear but there are very few equipment combinations that would make the 2 Shaels a bad idea.

The Deadly strike is a % to do double damage, and obviously the higher you level the higher this % is. It isn't reflected on your character screen, but it translates directly into a 1.7 multiplier to your damage at your current level, so your "real" damage is: 510-816 - and as you level up this will increase.

Another factor is your Dex, my WF zon has 448 dex (at lvl 89), and this helps increase her damage greatly. Depending on your life level, and how much you feel comfortable with, more dex will increase your damage aswell, which in turn will get "secretly - ie not shown on the char screen" multiplied by Amp and Deadly Strike aswell.

You can also get damage/dex/elemental damage from charms, which can greatly increase the numbers aswell - my 4.5k damage includes about 1.4k from poison damage small charms, so thats nearly 33% of my listed damage explained away.

The WWS is all about speed, even more so that other strafers using a different bow, it's all about damage over time, and your damage per arrow may be lower, but the increased speed will more than make up for this, making the damage over time for both bows much more comparable.

Hopefully one of the WWS HC players will give you a better reply if they see this :D

Lilly.m

27-05-2004, 11:08

How does DS work in conjunction with CS? I plan on switching from GSA to WWs soon, just realized I might not need to start pumping CS after all...thanks.

Shanksie1337

27-05-2004, 14:12

lilly.m they roll seperately, i can't remember which rolls first, but the results are the same.

Say you have 60% CS, and 45% DS, your chance to do double damage is:

60 + ( 45 x 0.40 ) = 78%

45 x 0.40 = 18, so:

60 + 18 = 78%

the 0.40 is because DS will only roll when you fail CS (in this example 40% of the time), and of the 40%, it will succeed 18%, thus giving 60+18 = 78% to do double damage, they don't stack so you can never get quad damage.

hope this helps

Lilly.m

27-05-2004, 22:40

Yeah that's what I wanted to know. Bummer you can't get 4 x :rant:

EdvinMedvind

27-05-2004, 22:48

Also I've heard that DS doubles all damage while CS only doubles physical damage.

BTCcore

28-05-2004, 00:31

Hey, I was wondering would Widowmaker be a suitable switch instead of WWS (I just lost mine x-fering :( ), or should I just find another WWS?

Shanksie1337

28-05-2004, 16:31

Hey, I was wondering would Widowmaker be a suitable switch instead of WWS (I just lost mine x-fering :( ), or should I just find another WWS?
To me the widowmaker is a bow for all other chars, but not for a zon.

personally i hate the widowmaker - dunno why, no solid reason - the widowmaker has some nice mods, the magic arrow, the ITD and ofc the +3-5 GA, but i just don't like it. As a switch it would be better than nothing, but i'd just trade for a WWS - as they don't cost much, i can't see some1 asking more that 10 pgems for one, but that would depend on realm etc.

Maybe someone with a more positive outlook on the widowmaker will have some nicer things to say about it.

AdunaCCDanimoth

28-05-2004, 18:02

Shanksie, I love the guide. I really do. My problem is that after my long abscense from bnet, my only MFer, a Skellymancer, got deleted. I would like to have something for a Pit Runner, but with my source of item income gone, I lack just about everything your guide says is needed. Just as an outside thing, can you recommend something for an Untwinked character? Thanks in advance.

- Aduna

Shanksie1337

28-05-2004, 19:00

Aduna, firstly ty - glad u like it :D

secondly - if you are making a pit runner as a "get rich quick" character - then i wouldn't as she isn't.

My advise for anyone new / restarting D2 is to make a mf sorc to run meph - as this guarentees lots of exceptional uniques that will be of use, either to wear, or to trade. Then as you get some better gear "as better read - not shop bought" then try a strafer because imo they are quite dependant on good items (and a blizz sorc for example isn't).

The "mf strategy" behind a pit runner is that you won't find a unique every run, infact u may go 5 runs without finding one, but you always have the chance that anything could drop and so have a chance at scoring REALLY rich from one drop, that makes up for the xx fruitless runs. This is the total opposite from a meph running sorc for example where u will get quantity but not quality. So having both is a real advantage as you can mf where the mood takes you.

If you are determined to make a strafer (plz do, you will love her), then going untwinked will be a challenge, as a strafer gets damage from items/charms as opposed to +skills. So i'd wait a little, go spank meph/andariel etc with a sorc and with the drops you will be able to equip your strafer with the items i mention, ie:

Tal's Mask
razortail / Goldwrap
WWS / GSA / Buriza
Lionheart
WT's / Waterwalks
Laying of Hands

etc

All these items should be available to trade for pgems on your realm, and Nightmare Mephi/Andy can drop all of them (or at least 99%). In 2 days i have raised ~150 pgems by flogging my drops from andy/meph - i have in the past bought a WF for 90 pgems, and everything else in the guide, bar BoTD, is available for much much less - i play EU Ladder SC.

The reason i am shying away from "untwinked" gear is that you will need several mods from your gear to be effective, and those mods really are only available from the gear i list. Getting: IAS / Damage / Life / MF etc on an untwinked strafer will be almost impossible and so she will not be anywhere near as effective. So with a little effort, and a little help from a mf sorc, your strafer can be effective, plus u would gain a useful rushing char in the sorc.

Sorry i can't be much more helpful :S

AdunaCCDanimoth

28-05-2004, 19:07

It's not a get rich quick character as it is something fun to play and find decent stuff now and then to shuffle around my characters. As for an MF Sorc, IMO if I want someone that can kick tail with elements and looks good about it, I'd take a Trapsin. ( I dig chick that dig black, rawr....) Another problem that comes up is that I don't play on the heavily populated East/West servers, but on the Europe one instead. So the idea behind massive amounts of trading sort of dwindles. Yes, there are rather large trading places on Europe, but not the kind you can see on East or West.

Anyway, thanks for your help. I'll see what I can do about trying to find something to get items with.

Shanksie1337

28-05-2004, 19:35

lol the reason i mention a sorc isn't looks, but speed, but each to his/her own but nothing beats a sorc for getting started and finding those useful items.

As for your views on limited Europe trading, you haven't ever posted on the Europe trading boards on these very forums, give it a go :D

http://www.rpgforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=22

It may not be as big as the US ones but if it doesn't solve your trading needs i'll dress up as a nun :D

As for massive amounts of trading, where do you think the vast majority of my 2k posts have been? :p (bar this thread)

AdunaCCDanimoth

28-05-2004, 19:40

Thats another thing about me. It's not about speed, it's about having a good time playing. Sure, I don't pull off the X00 runs a day some people get, and to be honest, I don't really want to. Thanks for the trade thread link, but I've never really been a trader either. Once in a while I'll do a bit, but thats only when I need to make room on mules or something.

Anyway, I'm going to try to make an MF Strafer on Euro. If it doesn't work, Hey I tried and had a good time, if it does, you can just say it was a success story for your build.

- Aduna

AdunaCCDanimoth

28-05-2004, 20:44

Sorry to pull a double post.

First game I bring my future Strafer into, I find both a Biggens and a Hand of Broc.

Good omens to come?

Shanksie1337

29-05-2004, 17:20

i'd say - i have found more shako's that biggens :D

chipmc

29-05-2004, 23:31

I recently made a strafer and decided to make her a pit strafer. My equip setup is a little different though. Shako, Tal's armor, Chancies, and an up'ed Goldwrap. Still missing the Travs though, hoping I'll find some in the pits. :)

I've only been running the pits for a few days now, but she's gotten some decent finds. Namely a +1 Valor and a Lycanders Flank. Add to that a whole bunch of useless junk and she's finding more rares and uniques on average than any mf character I've attempted to build in 1.10.

Great guide.

Shanksie1337

30-05-2004, 18:25

infairness Tal's armour is probably better for several reasons, it's just ugly :D

and ty - glad you like it :D

Pepsi-goa

30-05-2004, 20:51

u fancy looks over mf? isnt that what the pit runner is about? btw the things in pit are far more ugly than u, i mean ur amazon tom ^^

Shanksie1337

30-05-2004, 21:32

u fancy looks over mf? isnt that what the pit runner is about? btw the things in pit are far more ugly than u, i mean ur amazon tom ^^

actually yves i fancy both mf and looks over resistances but nm :p

Pepsi-goa

30-05-2004, 21:38

actually yves i fancy both mf and looks over resistances but nm :p

though elemental dmg is pain in the ***, and today u told me full tal is better than mf set up, BECAUSE of the res

Shanksie1337

31-05-2004, 00:20

thats for a sorc wearing the full set u numpty :D (Full set bonus's)

not a zon just wearing 1 part :D

Shanksie1337

03-06-2004, 15:39

asgeir

05-06-2004, 23:06

Hi there! Just dropping by to say thanks for a great guide, a while ago I built a zon quite similar to the one described in this guide to run the pits. It has worked great and due to the fact that I have found some nice items I have become quite wealthy. :)

I am currently experimenting with different gear setups and I think you should mention a 'Silence' runeword crusader / hydra for those who can afford it. The Blind target / cause monster to flee works better than knockback imo and in combination with CoH you will have max resists. The 30% mf boost is also nice for those who absolutely need to maximize their mf.

Again, thanks for a great guide. :thumbsup:

sorcyone

07-06-2004, 08:29

Seeing as this has been asked in another post i'll add it here aswell

This is in the updated guide and will be added to the forums if/when they die :D

*My Ideal PvM Setup
Well I am sure this will provoke some discussion, but here is what I’d consider ideal PvM gear:

Bow: WF “shael”
Switch: Demon Limb
Helm: Shako “ED/dex”
Armour: Lionheart or Chains of Honour (never tried one)
Gloves: Laying of Hands
Boots: Gore Riders or War Travellers
Belt: Nosferatu’s Coil
Ring1: 20/250 Ravenfrost
Ring2: 20/250 Ravenfrost
Amulet: Cat’s Eye

If non ladder u may need WWS on switch to be able to remove PI's as your merc won't be able to use Reapers Toll

[P.S. as i am ladder i can't / won't get 40/15's or BoTD Bows and i have no experience of using them]

I keep demon limb in stash and WWS on switch. The Enchant lasts 11 minutes. It's not something you cast after every battle, since you only get 20 charges, and they are quite expensive to cast (about 23k each I seem to remember).

Doesn't Highlords give you more damage from the +1 skills and deadly strike, and along with the +35 lightning resistance, make it much better for PVM ?

Shanksie1337

07-06-2004, 10:16

sorcyone

08-06-2004, 10:40

lol i did write a really long reply but it got deleted :( - so heres a short version.

asgeir - glad u liked it, i overlooked the Silence bow, ty for mentioning it.

sorcyone - hehe originally i did write " Amulet: Cats eye or Highlords" but after a little testing i personally found that the cats eye a much better option.
Strafers will already have either high DS from WWS, or a high level of CS already. My current zon has lvl 18 CS = 66%, so even at clvl 99 a highlords only adds 12.5% chance to do double damage. The +skill is only really of use to your passives, and the L res is simply not needed - i reiterate that strafers really don't need resistances. The 1-30 L damage is nice, but the 25 dex on a Cats eye will add more damage to your zon, and this will be physical leechable damage to boot.
Every mod on the cats eye is of use, the dex, the defensive mods - esp the 100 def vs missiles, and the frw is usefull for godd positioning.

You can put a WWS on switch, but if you have access to a reapers this really will remove 99.5% of all PI's you face, plus i am too lazy to bother swapping them over when i so very rarely encounter a PI in the pit, yet alone a PI that remains unaffected by the reapers. For those who play a little more in other areas, or for those on NL, having the WWS on switch is the only way to go, but those who have access to a reapers will find that they almost never need to use the WWS.
and fyi - it's ~9.2k a charge for enchant, which is a little more affordable :D

Yes I use Reapers. It's sweet. I also have a rare thresher with amp damage and more base damage from Reapers I should try out.
But I find many monsters who are still immune, or die too slow even with Decrepify, so I switch to WWS and use just the magic arrow.

As far as resists go, you are right for pure pit. But general PvM I have died too many times to gloams, I insist on decent lightning resist.

With the Cats Eye, you should factor in the +1 skills gives more penetrate, pierce, crit, the whole dodge tree, better valk. And the extra 12.5% chance for double damage is still worth a whole lot more than 25 dex, especially for a zero vita strafer. I already have 400 dex, might merc, LOH etc. The 25 Dex only adds about 4% damage. And I believe the double damage also increases your leech. It can be hard to focus on the hidden damage bonuses.
The run faster is nice, but really you can get that from charms and you really don't need it PvM anyway IMHO.

Shanksie1337

08-06-2004, 15:04

bast0s

08-06-2004, 17:44

[OT Mode=on]
I love this thread :thumbsup: !
It is not said : "Buy this, wear this, use this, all other items suck". We have people discussing about pros and cons for different items, and giving us precious clues to make personal choices, knowingly and accurately. It's refreshing ! Thx to all, and specially to the author.

Cheers :drink:

bast0s (won't spam no more)
[OT Mode=off]

cracked sash

08-06-2004, 21:13

would you recomend enigma 4 MF?

I am considering

Mav's Helm (+soc 15 ias jwl = 45ias) or pt shako
Cats eye (20ias)
LoHands (20ias) also have 20 ias +2 passive & maj 21 mf rare gloves
CoH Achron 4 PVM (or Enigma Achron 4 Pits)
Goldwrap (10 ias) /Verdungos or Arachnid Mesh a possibility
50% mf wartravs
Shael'd 8% WF (40 ias)

1 bow skiller, perfect gheeds, 19/19/10 Anni, 24% res all in other small charms

I ruined my eth Skullders Ire by upgrading it. My merc will wear that when he gets enough str. My vit will be low, but hey I'm SC... who cares. I was going to go no vit, but now I am unsure (since no shako pvm ias games) This char IS for pit runs in hell, but you want to be able to do hell Hellforge quest solo for the drop with every character you make. That is not always easy.

-Sash

sorcyone

09-06-2004, 05:33

hehe, it's all about preference tbh - yes the +skill is nice but:
- I already have max penetrate + demon limb for AR (~15k) = 90-95% to hit anything.
- Pierce is 82%. 1 extra skill takes that to 83%, yes i know i get extra chance to pierce the 2nd, 3rd etc monster, but even in the pit it's unlikely you will get more than 3 in a line anyway.
- As for the Valk, she is already at lvl 24 with 2.5k life and pretty invincible already.
- The D/A/E imo (and i play SC) are base, and with +skills they are all in the 40-50% range already and an extra skill would only add 1-3% to each anyway. Staying alive isn't a problem.
- CS is also already 66%, an extra skill takes that to 67%, yes the DS will help with leech obviously, but the simple fact remains that the 7% from the belt keeps me on full health always anyway, so extra leech isn't useful. (maybe for HC this would be more useful). The extra DS is also nice, but when 1 strafe kills 95% of the monsters, and 2 strafes kill everything that isn't champion/unique the difference is not noticable imo. And a decent strafe speed really helps keep both the killing and the leeching fast. So it's not a case of "being unaware about hidden bonuses" it's simply a case of being aware and realising they aren't as vital as you may think :p
- The frw isn't essential, but it does speed everything up generally and it would take quite a few charms to get 30 frw, and i am not going to bother fanny about with teleport.

For those who demand high resistances there are ofc many ways to make up for the 35 L res. In general - CoH adds 65, 3* Anya adds 30, an anni adds 10-20 = 5 to 15 res all in Hell, with no other source of resistances - get 11 L res as a second mod on some vita or luck sc's, 50 F res from LoH and the Ravens sort out Cold, Poison can be ignored - if u really must then drink an antidote and thawing potion once in a while.

Basically imo - Cat's Eye and Passive & Magic skiller (if u really want the extra passive skills) is a far better choice than Highlords + frw charms + dex charms etc. [Originally i had 2 P&M skiller on her but found i really didn't need the +skills as the strafer kills with equipment not +skills - yes the +skills may help keep her alive, but this wasn't an issue].

Not that i am rubbishing your build, but in my guide i do state that base vita isn't really the "best" option, simply because you will do enough dex/gear based damage already and can afford to put some points into vita. Also what helm is your zon wearing, and what life does she have? Because the extra points, 85 vita in gear, plus shako + charms give my zon ~750 life which means she can play with the gloams if she has to. I am not saying it's easy down in the wsk, but it is possible if i am careful - but in all honesty i use a sorc to Baal anyway :D. She can play in anywhere in the game with negative resists - i usually pit run on Hell questing games (only way to get a nice 8 man game), and if the questers need help i am more than happy to go to whatever act/area they need help on and lend them a hand without worrying that my resists will get me killed (and laughed at).

I'll end with the same point i started with - it's all about preference really - having fully considered the options i'll stick by saying that imho a cats eye is the best choice - some i know will prefer a different option/setup.

I agree with what you are saying. But COH is way out of my price league because of the Ber (at least on my realm - there was none or very little rune duping so high runes are extremely rare).
With the Highlords, I was mainly focusing on the deadly strike adding significant damage, even with high CS. But as you say if you don't need the extra damage even in 8 player games then Cats eye is sweet for the running. I will have to see.
My life is about 840 (lots of life charms and shako) at level 84. I am currently approaching Ancients (and hating those PI blood lords, even with Decrepify my merc dies - merc has Reapers, eth rockstopper, eth shaft).
My valk is cast at level 27. I put lots of points into the dodge tree (which also helps my valk never die), and have nearly maxed Avoid. This lets me be very aggressive in moving. Going through the pits I can run without being careful which makes it a bit faster and easier. My penetrate is low, but with demon limb, everything is 90% + to hit so I see it as a poor investment.
Yeah I know the returns on Avoid are low - currently on 68% and its like 1% per 3 levels lol, but it's a matter of increasing returns, thats only 32% chance to be hit by ranged weapons, and face it - they are the only real danger. Sure it's SC but at high levels death costs a lot of exp.
So my aggressive moving gets me killed only by those gloams hence the need for lightning resists (even with using sc like 19 life 8 light res, and 13 life 11 light res). But I have really digressed from your original purpose which was pit running so feel free to ignore me.

Shanksie1337

09-06-2004, 14:48

@Bast0s - glad u like the guide/thread - imho any guide that says "A = good, B = crap" really isn't a guide, more a rulebook - but that may just me :D
You hit the nail on the head - it will be your char, for you to play so it's only common sense for you to make "personal choices" depending on your play style and preferences.

@cracked sash - regarding enigma - tbh m8 i am totally the wrong person to ask. I have very bad/negative veiws about enigma and i really don't think any of char's will ever wear one. (and yes i probably could afford one if i really wanted). I think it's a totally over-rated and over hyped item - it may be of some use in pvp but i don't pvp. Imo none of the mods are really any use for a strafer - or rather they are all nice, but you can live without them very very easily and that would save you a Jah + Ber - which isn't to be sniffed at.

[Sorry to sound all negative - for some reason i have focused all my hatred on the Enigma :o can i just ask your thinking behind using one?]

As for running RoF - my zon can happily run it in 8 man games - the merc may die if i am not too careful. If you want to run it asap (ie lvl 40-75 depending on when decide to step up to Hell) to get the rune i'd strongly suggest partying with a trusted friend. Or failing that - make a game with your zon (or whatever char need to do A4Q2) - go afk for 5 mins, or do whatever so the game is permanent - then get some nice high level char in to clear the area and kill the Armourer - return with quester - pick up hammer and get rune :D)

@sorcyone - as i stated i have never tried a CoH - again i could probably afford a CoH if i really wanted one, but i simply wouldn't use it as she does very well wearing her Skullders and i am not so rich that i'd want a CoH lying about unused.
LOL i agree - if i ran wsk like i ran the pits i'd die in a heartbeat - pit running i run everywhere and 95% of the time my merc/valk are several miles behind me whilst i toe to toe strafe the pants of everything. About the only thing i slow down for pitwise is champion/SUniques as they tend to hurt if they Corpse Explosion on death. When i do end up in the wsk i totally change my play style - which isn't natural to me, and play really defensive - out come the decoy and i hide (and by hide i mean hide about 237498234 screens) behind merc / valk / decoy.

Reapers (daft question but i assume you have already socketed it "Amn"?)
Eth Shaft - is this socketed with anything?
My i suggest u try giving him - Tals Mask - cheaper with some res's (at high levels mercs get really good natural res's), some +life and a whopping 10 LL.

My pit strafers merc has:
Tals Mask "pt"
Eth Reapers "Amn" = 19 LL (iirc) [ giving a total of 29LL ]
Eth Duriels or Upp'd Shaftstop {depending on what mood i am in, and what i am doing with my other chars mercs} - both socketed with good ED jewels.

cracked sash

09-06-2004, 21:11

I say enigma because I upped my eth skullders and my zon needs to be lvl 329820 with 239239839 str to wear it (lol)

And enigma is great pvm, if used with a low str barb build, which is the char I would be stealing it from.

But I am not going to use it. After reading about a bit I am going with CoH. Sure ist only 25 MF, but 65 res and 7 LL 8 DR ain't bad at all. MF is great unless you can't efficiently kill. I personally would rather have a little less MF and be a fast killer, at least with a Zon build.

Thanks for the River of Flame tip! I never knew you could sneak in with a higher lvl char and kick a** in the forge, then return with the quest char and pick up the hammer. That is going to come in handy, my bada** barb will destroy for my wind druid that just can't hang (full aldurz sux). I have tried it before, but I guess I did not make the game with the quest character first.

btw- Eth Skullderz is socketed with a ptopaz for the extra MF. No it does not need a Zod, since Eth Skullderz' comes with the auto repair mod. :uhhuh:

-Sash

babydeeg

18-06-2004, 09:37

She is now a lvl 88. I find she is not just limited to the pits, she can solo the chaos sanc in hell, hell trav as well as doing pindle and she rarely dies. I have done quite a few pit runs now and she's found an alma negra, giant skull and arachnids mesh :) to name a few. GREAT guide Shanksies!!!!!

Her equip:

Delirium/ptopazed shako
COH
WF/Lycanders
Nosferatu's/Goldwrap
War Travs
Raven Frost/CGrip
Demon Imp
Rare Vampirebone gloves with 2 to passive skills and some mf

Stats with non mf equip:

Str 180
Dex 330
Vit 186 (over 800 with + life on equip more with shako)
NRG 31 (more with shako)

Oh and she's awesome in hell baal runs

FrozenSolid

19-06-2004, 10:10

Whats skills should i now put my points into?
Ive maxed Strafe, Valk, Penetrate, 10 Pierce, 5 DAE.
Is CS really that important? I mean since im using wws i already have a high chance of doing double dmg and since they cant stack whats the point?

FrozenSolid

19-06-2004, 11:24

And one more q about wws. Whats with the "Fires Magic Arrows"?
Are they magic in the sens that they dont consume real arrows or do they have the same stats as if i would have lvl 20 MA (same attack rating, dmg?).
Because it doesnt say so in my character screen.

Shanksie1337

19-06-2004, 18:51

@frozen i assume u play HC? otherwise 5 into D/A&E is a little excessive :D
peirce is always good, so maybe more into that, maybe more into decoy (if u use it much). It does depend what level you are, and what gear you use, but if all else fails extra CS wouldn't be a bad thing, or you could simply save them.

CS is excellent - but with DS from WWS i agree that taking CS very high is a total waste for what would only be maybe an extra 5% chance to do double damage. They can't stack, but they do add, so points into CS aren't wasted and pure strafers with WWS will always have TOO many skill points to use. HC players seem to add extra to D/A/E, but for SC there is little point so adding that extra bit of double damage is about the best use of the points, unless you want to branch out into jab? or some other hybrid skill.

as for the "fires MA" as far as i know it's the same as the Magic Arrow skill, but they don't stack so points into MA are not going to improve this.

TripDaddyX

19-06-2004, 21:46

Shanksie,Thanks for the wonderful guide.I would have gotten around to posting sooner,but I've been busy leveling my Strafer :).

Level 91 MFZonTypeR.Not to bad for 3 weeks work,and several rereadings of this guide.

SKills
20 Valk
20 Strafe
20 Penetrate
20 Freezing Arrow
1 D/A/E
1 Critical
8 Cold Arrow
And Prereq.

I was wondering if I should go for FA Synergy(CA) or Passive Skills with my remaining skill points.Can't seem to make up my mind.

92 Mil till 92 !!

Thanks For the Guide.

Trip

Xero(GoH)..

21-06-2004, 00:18

Hey Shank,
I'm new to the Amazon forum and have a few quick questions if u do not mind. And others please feel free to answer also.

1.Would my BoTD Hydra(394%) be viable for this guide?
2.How much mf should a basic pit strafer have?
3.Does this sound like a fine equip set-up?(question is sorta related to 1.)
Bow:Botd Hydra
Armor:Skulders(pt),ShaftStop
Helm: Shako(um),Gaze
Jewelery: Highlords amutlet, Raven frost, and a Bk ring(4%)
Boots: Low War Travs
Gloves: Rare dual leech ias gloves
Belt: Verdungoes
Charms: i Have abot 2k in poisen and close to 150 in life
Thanks for all ur help
Xero

Xero(GoH)..

21-06-2004, 00:22

O and i forgot to mention please if any of u would like to baal mf or duel my account is BoneCrusher- and i play on useast scl.
Thanks agian
Xero

Shanksie1337

21-06-2004, 18:16

@trip - if i was HC - i'd go passive, but for SC more damage all the way :D

@Xero:
1. I'd imagine so - never tried a BoTD - but having just been playing with a Crusader Silence Bow for about 10 runs and having no problems i really can't imagine you having any problems with a BoTD.
2. Up to you - usually more mf = less killing speed, so ppl find there own balance they are hapy with.
3. Imho that gear is overkill - ie you will kill insanely fast and you could probably lose some damage/speed and up the mf with little slow down in run time - but this goes back to point/question 2
[lose the poison charms imho - you really will kill them way before they can die of poison :)]

and glad to help.

And uf i am on europe so i can't.

Xero(GoH)..

21-06-2004, 18:51

Thanks Shank,
Anyone needa trade for some psn charms mainly small 100's small 50's and large 175's IM on East scl
Thanks,
Xero

aka_spud

25-06-2004, 22:15

hi all im new to this forum, i mosly hang in the trading forums but i need some advice about my new strafe -zon. ive made lots of bow using zons before and i think i have a pretty good hang of it. i dont need an mfer as i use my sorc for that so im just interested in making a max damage strafe zon. im not quite filthy rich but i hae saved up enough that i can basicaly equip it with whatever i want as its the only character im working on at the moment. mf is no issue so i will wear lots of ias/dex/ar equipment and im mostly wondering about what you think of the various high end bows specifiacly the following
i cant afford 40/15s for all my socketing but thats really my only limit

ohmed wf
BotD hydrabow
uped ohmed buriza
2xohmed hellrack (or ohm/shael)
BotD collossus x-bow (to me this seems like a good idea but no one uses one, what am i missing?)
uped ohmed perfect ed goldstrike

any opinions yall have on this would be apreceated

Shanksie1337

29-06-2004, 18:55

ok spud, lemme see....

ohm'd WF - bit of a waste - as damage over time is what you want with strafe, and if mf isn't an issue then lots of IAS is what you want - and the Ohm takes up a nice spot for a Shael. You may be able to get the required IAS from your gear, but you may wish you had kept the WF clean.

BoTD hydrabow - better IAS (60 on bow iirc) so less pressure to get IAS on your gear. Thats about all i can say, as i will never own a BoTD bow/xbow.

Buriza - too slow really, and u really didn't put an Ohm in a buri ? :scratch: (more runes than brains :)).

Hellrack - as buriza - you didn't really put 2 Ohm's in a Hellrack !? :scratch: (serious case of too many runes).

BotD Xbow - imho you are missing speed - and a BoTD Xbow - sigh :)

Upp'd Goldstrike - an excellent bow - nice speed and excellent mods but lacks any leech, so you will have to get both leech from other sources.

Sorry to say, but imho you have wasted a whole bucket of Ohm's, i admit that i haven't tried half the bows you mention, and i certainly won't be Ohm'ing bows anytime soon. But honestly i can't see much beating the WF, maybe if some1 lends me a BotD to test i may change my mind, but for bang for your buck, nothing beats a WF.
If you find you really don't need to Shael the WF, then i'd be tempted to Amn it, which would allow you to wear an extra Ravenfrost and/or razortail belt (if you don't plan on wearing Nosferatu's Coil).

If you have more runes/riches then fill her inventory with max/ar/life charms to send her killing power through the roof.

Helio Crap

05-07-2004, 18:48

Nice guide. :thumbsup: I certainly took some notes. I'm gonna try to follow your guide the best I can...*Runs to put it in favorites*

azE

07-07-2004, 21:12

Alright, time for my input:

Got my ama to lvl 80 now, all quests done. Stats with items/charms:

150 str
343 dex
120 vita
31 energy

Equipment:

Shako ptopaz
Skullders ptopaz
Wf 8% shael
Upped goldwrap
50% wt
Cats eye
20/213 raven
rare ring: 8% ll, 2 str, 8 dex, 11% all res, 23% fire res
rare gloves: 20%ias, +2p&m, 3% ml, some minor mods
Charms is basicly anni, gheeds, some poison dmg charms, a few life charms and one p&m with fhr.

With all this I got -41% all res, -24% fire res and 765 life. So she's rather week when doing anything outside the pit (ancients was HELL! :p ), but in the pit she works great. And you don't have the problems with immunes in the pit, like my sorc does. (I do miss the teleport to get me there though, should maybe get an enigma :lol: ) I got just above 300% mf with that equipment, and that should probably be enough. I don't run out of mana, as the leech very well covers that, and life usually isn't any problem, as I most of the time got both valk and merc in front of me.

I currently have 18 unused skillpoints that I'm thinking of putting in critical strike (51%) and pierce (69%). Anyone got another suggestion? As I mentioned, I don't really get hit alot, mainly any elemental dmg that is dangerous.

Short summary would be: Nice guide :thumbsup:

Shanksie1337

10-07-2004, 15:51

thanks azE :D good summary!

and ty also Helio

@azE - As for the unspent points thats the beauty of this setup/build, you will find that you don't need to spend them anywhere, so it's up to you, some options are:
Valk - if you haven't maxed valk you may aswell
Pierce - Up as high as you like, but suffers from serious diminishing returns at higher levels
CS - same as peirce
LF - depending on how high you plan to lvl, you can get an acceptable LF going on switch.
FA - is sometimes useful if your zon ventures outside the pits (which she is perfectly capable of doing easily). Another great place for your zon is the River of Flame, but there seems to be a high occurance of PI's in the RoF, and it isn't unusal to encounter one with an unremoveable PI - I use base level Cold Arrow to help kill them. But it is possible to kill them with the poison damage sc's that i think you traded for.
I have ~1500 in pdsc's and i can kill PI's, it just takes time. Only once ever have i had to leave PI's alone - Fanatic PI Armourer with a PI/CI might burrower thang in the same area iirc and both were stubbornly clinging onto PI.

On my zon i took both Peirce and CS and added a point alternatively
CS > Peirce > CS etc and they are both ~lvl 18 now.

Currently making a completely untwinked version of this build on the new Ladder and i really don't think she will work at all well. I am pretty certain that this build needs the gear, but what the hell :)

sorcyone

14-07-2004, 03:14

thanks azE :D good summary!
...

Currently making a completely untwinked version of this build on the new Ladder and i really don't think she will work at all well. I am pretty certain that this build needs the gear, but what the hell :)

Shanksie, Let us know how you go. I want to make a strafer too. I think it just needs a good bow. Any exceptional unique will be enough to start me.

I started a LF zon as I thought it was pretty equipment independent. The lack of leech, constant trips to town for javelins, and slow killing especially against groups - I gave up, and switched to a skellymancer which was dead easy. I also found probably the only build that can solo diablo with a level 12 char :lol: (clay golem + iron maiden).

Brewer

18-07-2004, 18:45

this is an awesome build shanksie, and ty..shes currently lvl 86..., this guide is a great help to people who dont play alot, and dont have alot of time to experiment, my question is, is it worth putting mf on my merc, im not sure if it helps, but my merc seems to have no problem staying alive, and i think he can afford it....but like i said, i dont have alot of time, and would appreciate the advice, cheers :drink:

Shanksie1337

23-07-2004, 18:14

thanks Brewer, glad you found it useful.

As for mf on a merc - sure why not if he is staying alive, but i don't think it'll make a whole lot of difference as you will get 95% of the kills unless you think "let merc kill, let merc kill" which can just slow you down.

Brewer

24-07-2004, 18:37

that just aswred another question, i thought the more mf in your group the better, but thats not the case, ty :drink:

DjSlayer

27-07-2004, 10:59

Just a couple of questions:
Why not max GA? Less mana intensive and can target the monsters that you can't leach from.

Does poison dmg work with mf now? It did not do that back in 1.09.

Have some more comments later on

- D.J.

JohnnyShotMe

28-07-2004, 00:20

1) Nice guide.
2) You said in the guide to get passive charms and not bow charms because you want to max damage but I was under the impression every point adds 5% to strafe damage. Doesn't this add up or do you figure the extra point going toward crit strike, penetrate, pierce etc outweigh the gain on the strafe?

Shanksie1337

28-07-2004, 14:06

@DJSlayer - max GA instead of ? or aswell as? either way i personally prefer strafe for single targets and even if they are non leechable the chances are one of your burst will hit something u can leech of (for example strafing Baal and u can leech of those tentacle thingies)

As for "Does poison dmg work with mf now? It did not do that back in 1.09." you have lost me there :scratch:

@Johnny - Thanks :D

as for B&XB skillers, they would be my third choice by a long way for adding damage.
The 2 "better" ways are:
1. Passive Skillers for extra Peirce + Penerate + CS + Valk + Decoy + D/A/E.
2. +max charms - if u get a nice +10 max +AR + life GC this will improve your zon SOOOO much more than either of the skiller options. Or for more verstility use +3 max sc's with a huge range of mods: life / ar / etc etc tho you "lose" +1 max that you could have got from a perfect +max GC.

Some numbers from my lvl 81 Hybrid Strafer using an Upgraded WWS:

Base = 600-900 // 762-1136 (where the 2nd pair are with Might Aura from merc)

B&XB Skiller = 605-906 // 765-1143

+9 Max GC = 600-947 // 762-1196

toshin

30-07-2004, 14:52

Hi just wanted to share my experiences with my bowazon maybe it will help some people.Its basically the same as yours with a small twist on the skills/stats/items

I got a pit strafer on the new ladder without much expensive gear. She is the ultimate glass cannon/ bolt puncher without a single point in vitality and very few pts in str. I can do pits in under 6 min. I usually do meph + shenk + pindle + eldritch + pits together in 1 mf run in under 15.

I have also been hepling people on US east ladder doing free rushes on all difficulties. I can do all of hell except ancients. Only thing I have trouble with are ancients and souls.

I went a different route and maxed critical strike first then penetrate and pierce instead of pierce and penetrate first.

Level 86

Max Strafe
Max Valkeyrie
Max CS
Max Penetrate
6 in pierce

Base Stats
88 str
397 dex
20 vit
15 nrg

Mf Gear:
Perfect Steal Skull with P topaz
Grizwold Armor with 3 Ptopaz (i wear it because of str boost)
WF 7ml shaeled
Goldwrap
Wartravlers
39 Chancies
30 nagels
23 Mf ring
Cat's Eye

Mf is 363

Stats
147 str
457 dex
49 vit
34 nrg

487 HP
AR - 8414
AR with demon limb enchant - 13731
Dmg /w might 333 - 3480 (i dont use any psn charms)

Only thing expensive there is the wartravs the rest is worth um or less.

My rushing Gear/baal run gear
StealSkull
Razortail
WF 7 ml
Lioheart Mageplate
Wartravs
Laying of hands
2 x 17dex ravenfrost
Cat's Eye

Stats
152 str
521 dex
69 vit
44 nrg

Resist -
Fire 36
Ice 6
Light 7
Psn -17

702 HP
AR with demon limb enchant - 17435
Dmg /w might 453 - 4068 (i dont use any psn charms)

Again the only thing the is really expensive is the travs which can easily be replaced by goreriders.

Hope this helps..

cuibono

31-07-2004, 11:45

The difference between 85% (lvl 20 Pierce) and 100% is HUGE when you're killing packs of lined-up monsters. I did the math a while ago and I can post some numbers if you want more convincing :)

Regards,
Liessa

I've always been told Pierce is capped at 95%. Could someone state the gospel truth on this one?

n3v3r

04-08-2004, 08:44

What's up shanksies, first off, awesome guide and sorry for postin on your sticky even though you have said it doesnt matter.

Well you inspired me to make a pit strafe zon and i have achieved some of my goals. She is currently level 80 and her gear is:

Shako pt
Windforce "Shael"
Skulders pt
Chancies 35%
Goldwrap
Raven Spiral
Raven Frost

I have i think 260 mf and have been running pits. I still need war travs and cats eye which i am working on but I haven't found a single unique in about 15-20 pit runs. Does this have anything to do with the fact that I am non-ladder or that my merc is not leveled yet?

Thanks for the guide I am havin alot of fun with her and congrats on the sticky.

Shanksie1337

04-08-2004, 13:22

Sorry - i haven't a clue if 95 or 100% pierce is the cap - personally i aim for 100% if i am wearing a razortail, and ~75% if i am not.

Thanks n3v3r - glad you posted here, makes it easier for me to find, and you are much more likely to get a reply.

Your lack of finds is just bad luck, tho tbh it isn't uncommon to have many fruitless runs in the pits, but when that TC87 item drops you will be glad you weren't running mephi :D

I don't think that NL or low level merc are the issues at all (tho i am surprised your merc is still a low lvl after ~20 runs as i find the pit one of the best and easiest places to level a merc).

If you get bored running the pits you can run several other areas aswell for a bit of variety:
Eld + Shenk
River of Flame
Chaos Sanctuary (tho Diablo himself is a huge pain in the botty)
Travi
Ancient tunnels
Crypt
Mausoleum
Hell Cows (tho obviously not as fast as a Furyzon)
plus too many more to mention

Stick with it, and when that nice item does drop, it will make everything alright.

YeaFU2Buddy

05-08-2004, 06:08

Hey this is my first strafe-a-zon my last pit runs zon was a old multi-shot/GA hybrid from 09 lvl 92, well she takes forever to kill so i thought i would make this since she can kill faster

Here is the gear for her please tell me if this will work for her:

08 WF Shael'd WF (40% ias)

Shako Ptopaz

COH Fleece

Dire Greeves (30% FRW, 20% FHR 5% fire res, 41% cold res, 35% light res, 33% MF)

Gale Grasps

Perf Tal belt

2x 20 dex 2xx Ravens

Cats Eye

In stash:

24 6% smfc

Perf Gheeds(160/15/40)

Cube

Anni (1/16/15/9)

That gives me:

90% IAS

11% ml

11% ll (might be lacking in LL but merc will protect me)

16% DR =/

Res as follows:

Fire: 15

cold: 51

Lighting: 45

Poison: 10

Total Stats at Lvl 80: (after items/quests)

Strength: 134

Dex: 407

Vita: 50

Mana: Base

(I think I calculated correctly)

Skills: (after items/quests)

Penetrate: lvl 27

Strafe: lvl 25

Pierce: lvl 12 (75% chance)

Crit Strike: lvl 15 (63% chance)

Valk: lvl 27

D/A/E: lvl 8

Total Mf: 336%]

Well there it is I figured I could get better help here from shanksies then making a whole new thread, great guide btw it has inspired me. Please any ideas would be very nice.

I have my own little advice COH should be the choice use of all Strafing PVMers it has possibly the mods for a amazon:

+2 To All Skills

200% Damage To Demons

+100% Damage To Undead

8% Life Stolen Per Hit

+70% Enhanced Defense

+20 To Strength

Replenish Life +7

All Resistances +65

Damage Reduced By 8%

25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

My Merc: Act 2 might merc

Uppd eth Shaft

08 Gaze

Bonehew 2x amn (looking to get something different)

That gives him all the dr he needs plenty of ll and his res will be just fine

I have all my gear but im still looking into other options, I like my chars well thought out before I make them.

Please any advice would be appreciated..

-sean

Shanksie1337

05-08-2004, 15:35

lol yeafu2 - firstly thanks for editing your post, i saw it before you removed all the failed colours, and i was thinking "ffs man edit the damn thing!" :)

Secondly, well done, you win the award for "the longest post with the least words" post - i would have understood if u had pressed enter 23476 times less, but maybe i am just being picky :p

*scrolls up for 14 minutes*

Gearwise:
Tbh you know the answer to that, you are using top notch gear, a few dupes and a high end runeword so ofc it will work pvm. Infact i think you have a serious case of "overkill" and you could add more mf and drop some of the better items simply because you won't need them unless you play like a drunk Stevie Wonder on LSD.

On a similar note, and if at all possible, you have too much leech, you will do probably do more damage then my zon, and my zon plays with 8/8 leechwise - and even that is more than enough.
Your res's are fine, more than fine infact - you are not a melee char and so imho you have no real need for any resistances unless you Baal run, and even then 90% of the time someone will teleport you to the throne room.

If it were me, i'd swap the CoH + Tal's Belt for Skullders + Goldwrap, but thats just me. I doubt your killing speed will suffer at all, and you should be able to survive easily.

Which brings me nicely down to the CoH, yes it is a nice armour, very nice infact, but it isn't needed. By all means if you have 21307432 HR's then go for it, but a plain old skullders will more than suffice, and will give you more mf - which is the whole point of this char. If I can add more mf without suffering then i will do so, and from past experience a CoH is not needed on a strafer - you don't need:
65 res all
+2 skills
PDR
Rep Life
70% eDef

and if you were using legit gloves you wouldn't really need the dmg to undead/demons either (assuming you opt for LoH).

Mercwise:
upp'd eth armour? i hope you got a good roll!
dunno what a .8 gaze is as i only started playing from 1.10 (and a .8 wf for that matter).
Bonehew is ok, but if u have the wealth for dupes and CoH's, then i'd get your merc a nice Reapers Toll (ETH if u can find somebody willing to sell one). I'd also go for a better anni if at all possible if you are trying for the uber zon your gear indicates.

I'll also ask what u plan on doing with PI's - as you have no Amp/Decrep - hence the Reapers Toll on the merc, tho you could always have a WWS on switch

In summary my advise would be, make her your way, with your gear. And then at least try the less uber options and see if you suddenly become crap or not.

YeaFU2Buddy

05-08-2004, 20:30

Lol sorry about the spaces, i spent 20 min removing the colors cause stupid me wrote the entire thing in word...... just lazyness on my part.

Well as for my mercs armor i really dislike shaft, mainly because it only has 2 useful mods.

I think i will try and switch out dire greeves for 50% wartravs, and gale graps for 40% chancies

Well as for the 08's:
08 gaze is basically a perf gaze 8% ll 8% ml but 25% dr
08 Wf: instead of having +10 str +5 dex it just has +35 dex and always has 8% ml.

Well i will totally get reapers toll on merc then.

Thanks again for the guide and advice really appreciated.

Shanksie1337

07-08-2004, 19:48

imho there are a few usefull mods for a merc and a Shaft has: pdr, life, defence, adn i cant find too many better armours for the price - even an upp'd shaft

thanks for the info on .8's

and you won't beleive the difference a reaper will make :D

ebyworx

07-08-2004, 21:50

Shanksie you mention that you are using pdsc's, but doesn't poison reset on every hit? wouldn't it be better to use 7%mfsc's or 3/20/20's?

Shanksie1337

07-08-2004, 22:25

i could use 7mfsc's but the real difference between 300 and 400 mf is not a lot so i perfer some damage - yes 3/20/20's could be used, but, (and i am not getting moral here), i have tried to keep both the zon, and the guide as legit as possible. Any char will own if use dupes and wheres the skill in that?
I could use max/ar or max/life or max/ar/life sc's but i perfer having some other form of damage, plus on a slightly silly note - the pdscs give me bigger damage numbers :o

ebyworx

07-08-2004, 22:56

ok, good morality check(I don't use 3/20/20's either just a suggestion). What about zon skill charms and res all charms? I just don't see using poison with such a fast attack speed. I am using a mass amount of 7%mfsc's and I am finding quite a few more uniques now.

btw, great guide. I am just trying to help with my experiences

Shanksie1337

08-08-2004, 01:00

regarding zon skill charms - Strafe is Items intensive and gets very little benefit from B&XB skillers (a 10 max gc is a much better option). A nd my Passives are all at a good level so a P&M is not as good as a max gc.

The reason i use pdsc's is that i am very aggressive when i play, so a regularly have 15-20 monsters on the screen so strafe only hit some of them so there is a few seconds for ther pd to take effect. tbh i prolly should dump them and use something else - but i am a gnats chuff short of 6k damage with 170 IAS and i want to try that before i bite the bullet and go pure physical.

thanks, glad u liked it, and no worries any comments are always welcomed.

ToasterStrudel

09-08-2004, 19:15

Currently making a completely untwinked version of this build on the new Ladder and i really don't think she will work at all well. I am pretty certain that this build needs the gear, but what the hell :)

This is my current dilemma. I am making an untwinked strafer on USEast HCL
I started out using complete vidalas (which kinda sucks btw) I am thinking about ditching vidalas for a 4% mana leech ammy I found and a zephyr rune worded Arabalest but I am not sure if even that will be enough for me to quest drop NM andy till I get something good. We'll see though

If anyone wants to donate a 2 socket elite bow (crusader or whatever WF base bow is...) that would be sweet or maybe even a :gasp: ko rune so I can make a melody bow

ToasterStrudel

10-08-2004, 17:38

Update: I switched out my vidalas bow for a Zephyr rune worded Arabalest. I noticed a small increase in damage and can safely solo normal Mephy now. Hopefully i'll get something I can trade for a kuko or skystrike and start quest dropping nm countess and Andariel

Shanksie1337

13-08-2004, 21:19

hehe, i started to make a new L untwinked zon, but after about an hour i got totally fed up of being poor :)

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 16:41

You can't solo Hell Baal with your guide.

TK

Shanksie1337

14-08-2004, 17:41

i can :) - tho admittedly not in the mf gear i suggest.
Swap Skullders for CoH, put a Highlords on for the Cat's Eye, put a Tgods on for the GoldWrap, an uWWS for the WF etc etc and you can solo Hell Baal.

Infact with the right gear this build can kill anything, anywhere. Obviously some areas will be harder to do than others, and some chars/classes will be able to do some areas faster but there is no area you "can't" do. The build is much more versatile than i lead you to believe in this version of the guide. If/When the forums die i'll post the latest version which has much more emphasis on the versatility of the build. This guide started out as an mf guide, but the more i played with her the more obvious it was that with the right "questing" gear she can play solo anywhere and the latest guide version reflects this. Infact the most upto date version is titled "Shanksies Strafer Guide"

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 21:00

I don't believe you. The first bunch of Gloams you run into will kill you, period. You have too low of life and zero resist and Gloams move around too fast (teleport). The first time you hit Strafe and one of them t-ports near you, you are dead.

TK

Shanksie1337

14-08-2004, 21:06

i think you need to read all the words in my first reply, then it may become clear :)

*HINT* - the bit where i change gear to sort out the "too low of life and zero resist" you mentioned.

god knows you are right if i tried it in the mf gear - i had to try it once, and it wasn't pretty.

EDIT - infact now that i think about it, getting zapped by gloams is hardly unique to zon-kind, pop on any Hell Baal game and watch gloams do 8 man take downs. Very few chars are built to withstand mass gloam attacks in their "normal" gear, but with a few adjustments to the gear they will fare much better and this zon is no exception.

I don't bother with Hell Baal with my strafer as i no longer keep all the gear needed in my stash and there are far easier ways/chars to run Baal but it is possible if you really want to swap in/out some decent "survivabilty" gear. But lets be honest, if u run Hell Baal you will teleport there a high percentage of the time anyway.

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 21:12

Shanksie1337

14-08-2004, 21:18

hehe - so you think it's "impossible" ?

or are we just agreeing that it's a royal pain in the botty?

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 21:23

hehe - so you think it's "impossible" ?

or are we just agreeing that it's a royal pain in the botty?

It's a royal pain in the butt? :)

TK

Shanksie1337

14-08-2004, 21:32

In which case i think we'll say it's discussion over as we seem to be "arguing" over nothing really :D

go us!

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 21:47

In which case i think we'll say it's discussion over as we seem to be "arguing" over nothing really :D

go us!

Well, we were "arguing" over whether or not this was a viable Baal runner; a character that could reach level 90+. I don't see that it can, unless you're an expert leecher.

I mean, level 1-80 is a gimme. It's actually harder for most characters to go from 1-30 than it is to go from 30-80. I have my amazon "assembly line" and when I'm doing Normal and Nightmare Baal runs, 75% of the people in the game don't do anything but stand there.

TK

Shanksie1337

14-08-2004, 21:58

You don't have to Baal run for the exp, tho it is the best way - my current strafer is lvl 92 and she gets the vast majority of her exp from lots of mf runs on all act's of hell. Infact she was lvl 91 before i actually took her on a Baal run as i was to busy mf'ing with her - 80 to 90 is much easier than 90+. I will take her Baal running in her mf gear - but only if there is a BO handy and a few melee chars to hide behind until all the gloams are dead, then it's sit back and strafe away :)

I suppose i could level her more, but i have newer chars i am making, and yet more i plan to make so it will be sometime before i dust her off and take her for a strafe somewhere.

If you mean viable baal runner - as in solo mfing then no don't bother - it's a waste of time - tho i sometimes do a private baal run with my m8's strafer (based on my guide) and i'll use my Zealot for the Gloams (95 L res + 28 L Absorb - come to Daddy gloams :D). Ofc his Strafer takes care of the OK's for me so i don't get IM'd.

I hate leechers on any difficulty and tbh i try and kill them by leading monsters to them, tho i am SC so it's not a totally evil thing to do :)

ToadKiller

14-08-2004, 22:12

You couldn't pay me to play a melee character (well, okay, I guess you COULD pay me, but...). This game hates melee. That part of your guide is 100% correct: you want to deal the most damage from the furthest distance that you can, and the only time you should get near a monster is by accident.

TK

Zarhrezz

15-08-2004, 01:56

A few months back at 'the other place' the latest IAS tables for multi-hit skills were published/developed and they explain quite a few things about IAS tables that earlier assumptions/tables could not explain. Strafe also falls under these tables and some breakpoints are different than assumed before. These are the tables...note the lack of 7/2, since it simply does not exist.

Strafe breakpoints for bows
-10 WSM Bow - Hunter's, Composite, Razor, Double, Blade, Great, Matriarchal
0% IAS 13/3
2% IAS 12/3
13% IAS 11/3
15% IAS 10/3
37% IAS 9/3
60% IAS 9/2
80% IAS 8/2

0 WSM Bow - Long, Short Battle, Stag, Short War, Cedar, Short Siege, Ashwood, Rune, Ward, Diamond, Shadow
0% IAS 13/3
13% IAS 12/3
26% IAS 11/3
29% IAS 10/3
56% IAS 9/3
86% IAS 9/2
113% IAS 8/2

5 WSM Bow - Short, Edge, Spider
0% IAS 14/4
6% IAS 13/3
19% IAS 12/3
34% IAS 11/3
37% IAS 10/3
68% IAS 9/3
102% IAS 9/2
133% IAS 8/2

10 WSM Bow - Long Battle, Long War, Reflex, Large Siege, Gothic, Ceremonial, Hydra, Crusader, Grand Matron
0% IAS 15/4
3% IAS 14/4
11% IAS 13/3
26% IAS 12/3
42% IAS 11/3
46% IAS 10/3
80% IAS 9/3
120% IAS 9/2
157% IAS 8/2

Some notes on the notation:
The second number means the same thing as before: the number of frames needed to shoot every arrow that comes after the first arrow.

The first number means something slightly different now. It is actually the number of frames needed to shoot the first arrow + the number of frames needed to finish up the strafe animation. Because of how the animation process works, this is not the same as the number of frames needed to do a normal attack.

For easy reference, here are tables for normal attack speed.
-10 WSM bows - Hunter's, Composite, Razor, Double, Blade, Great, Matriarchal
0% IAS, 12 frames
8% IAS, 11 frames
22% IAS, 10 frames
42% IAS, 9 frames
75% IAS, 8 frames
142% IAS, 7 frames

0 WSM bows - Long, Short Battle, Stag, Short War, Cedar, Short Siege, Ashwood, Rune, Ward, Diamond, Shadow
0% IAS, 13 frames
9% IAS, 12 frames
20% IAS, 11 frames
37% IAS, 10 frames
63% IAS, 9 frames
105% IAS, 8 frames
200% IAS, 7 frames

5 WSM bows - Short, Edge, Spider
0% IAS 14 frames
6% IAS 13 frames
15% IAS 12 frames
27% IAS 11 frames
46% IAS 10 frames
75% IAS 9 frames
125% IAS 8 frames
240% IAS 7 frames

10 WSM bows - Long Battle, Long War, Reflex, Large Siege, Gothic, Ceremonial, Hydra, Crusader, Grand Matron
0% IAS, 15 frames
4% IAS, 14 frames
11% IAS, 13 frames
22% IAS, 12 frames
35% IAS, 11 frames
56% IAS, 10 frames
89% IAS, 9 frames
147% IAS, 8 frames
292% IAS, 7 frames

On another note:
A very fun bow for a strafezon that I'm currently using is a Passion Matriarchal Bow. It's fast, it's decent damage and way high chance to Blind with some chance to cause monsters to flee is just perfect. Also the +B&C skills don't hurt. Especially the added protection from the Blind effect is really sweet. Oh, and let's not forget the 80% (I got a perfect score there) AR...

Shanksie1337

15-08-2004, 12:31

Thanks for posting the table :) - saves me the trouble of finding it :)

also i use a Silence Crusader sometimes for a change and the Blind/Flee is lots of fun :D

igb81

16-08-2004, 15:45

A nice way to boost AR is to keep a demon limb on switch, and cast enchant on yourself. AR boost is really nice, and the little fire damage added is also a bit more damage :-)

Shanksie1337

16-08-2004, 15:50

Thanks for the tip igb81, it is already in the updated version of the guide, and if/when the forums die i'll post it here. Tho i'm a little shocked that it's not already been mentioned somewhere in one of the replies on this thread.

EDIT - having searched for it, there is a brief mention on page 2, and a bigger mention in a discussion on page 4 - tho i agree it should be mentioned in the main text of the guide, but that has already been corrected - tho you'll have to trust me on that :)

*wishes he has some webspace to host, then he could edit when he needed/wanted*

igb81

16-08-2004, 16:48

no problem. Being a lazy boy, i used the search method to check if someone had posted anything about it, but i looked for ghoul instead of demon.. :-)

Kdawg

17-08-2004, 06:19

I think I need help w/ my gear.
I have mine geared for the 2 frame strafe breakpoint. This is her gear and she only gets 238mf. Any suggestions to improve?

Mav's diadem w/ 15 ias
Skullder's w/ 15 ias
Shael Wf
Angelic rings/ammy for ar
War travs
LoH
Goldwrap

I have also used death glove/belt but recently changed to that combo for the extra mf, damage to undead and fire res.
Thanks for any suggestions.

Shanksie1337

17-08-2004, 13:03

@Kdawg - as you are posting on this thread, i'll assume you followed the guide and have a high level of Penetrate - if this is so, then you really can lose the Angelics and free up ALL your jewellery slots for better things. As you mention an mf total i'll assume you are for PvM and so the Angelics are really not needed - if this is for a PvP zon then i'll bow out now as i know naff all about PvP.

If you didn't / haven't invested well into penetrate, then i'd do so asap as the 20 skill points (which you should have plenty of), will free up 3 jewellery slots.

If you drop the 3 piece Angelic then you have lots of options. (if you really worry about AR, just precast Enchant on yourself from a Demon Limb).

1. You can keep all your other gear the same and top up on the mf - 2*30 Nagels + decent mf ammy will add ~90 mf to your total.
2. I'd be tempted to improve her killing power, so you can mf faster - I'd put a nice LL ring in one slot (hopefully with +mf +max +min +ar +dex etc) as i don't see any LL in your setup. And an as-good-as-you-can-get Ravenfrost in the other slot. For the amulet i'd put on either a Highlords or a Cat's Eye (i prefer the latter), this gets you 20 IAS and so you can Ptopaz either your helm/armour for an easy +24 mf.

There is nothing really wrong with your mf total - more is ofc nice, but a zon is never going to get ~600 mf like sorcs etc do. I aim for as near to 300 mf on my zon's, and 10*7 mfsc's + 40 Gheeds = 110 mf from charms, so less than 200 mf from gear and a Skullders will add a large portion aswell.

ebyworx

18-08-2004, 05:14

kdawg you may also want a way to deal with phys immunes, if you do drop the angelic stuff you can add an atmas scarab, it is good times with max pierce

ming

19-08-2004, 07:43

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and haven't played much since 1.09. I've noticed an emphasis placed on strafe versus multi. I've never tried strafe so I'm not sure how effective it is compared to multi. My zon is lvl 99 and is a hybrid from 1.09 wearing the equipment as follows:

Helm: Ptopaz Shako
Amulet: Cat's Eye
Bow: Windforce (clean)
Armor: 160/60
Gloves: 20% IAS, 17% MF, +2 Bow and Crossbow Skills Crafted
Rings: Plague Master and Perfect Raven
Belt: Razortail
Boots: Perfect War Travs

I've seen WWS a lot? What is this? Is it worth making a new amazon compared to my current one? Has anyone tried a BOTD bow yet? If not, I will be getting my hands on one soon. Thanks for your help.

Shanksie1337

20-08-2004, 13:30

The WWS is a Witchwild String bow, best upgraded to Diamond Bow.
As to whether it's worth making a new zon, tbh with the gear you wear it's a pointless exercise as she will be a killing machine either way.
Yeah i have tried a BoTD bow, and for PvM my advise is to stick with the WF as it's a waste of wealth to make a BoTD for a build who already kills very well. For PvP the debate about WF / BoTD is long running and do a search and i am sure you'll find plenty of threads.

Ysanduil

21-08-2004, 06:05

Does the BOTD work better? Regardless that the WF works fine cuz i have one and was wondering if i was better off to get a wf to play with

Shanksie1337

21-08-2004, 12:04

it's personal preference imho as there is no significant change in killing speed when switching between wf/botd. Personally i hate the fact that PNova spams like made as you kill many monsters with each strafe, and ofc you are miles away from the monsters so they don't even get damaged by the Pnova.

If you have a botd i wouldn't bother change to a WF, but if a WF happens to fall into your lap it wouldn't hurt to take it for a spin.

msoerensen

21-08-2004, 12:20

i have found that its nice to use lava gout gloves they have chance to cast lvl 10 enchant on striking i rarely do more than 2 or 3 strafes before it kicks in, and boost my ar.

Ysanduil

23-08-2004, 00:48

Just wanted to say i have a wf with a 40/15 and a botd near perf crusader and wf is the far better of the 2 as long as u have enough life leech elsewhere

Shanksie1337

08-09-2004, 10:27

thanks for the replies ppl

msorensen - nice tip - totally forgot about them lava gout :D

Polaris

11-09-2004, 21:42

CoRRuPt-OnE

12-09-2004, 00:40

I have heard that a psn mancer with enigma can do the pits faster than any other char.

Ed_MarloZon

12-09-2004, 20:52

Thanks for the fast reply :thumbsup: . I'll follow you're advice then and make a pure strafezon for the pits if you don't really need a backup attack. Thanks again :).

I would have to say No backup is needed I have built a Pure Strafer and have not needed another backup anywhere in the game not just the pits, if you run into PIs I have a WWS on my act 1 merc the merc I decided to use but I Reaper's Toll on a MIght merc or WWS On switch will work just as good.

Ed_MarloZon

12-09-2004, 20:54

Hi, I was looking around..

and I plan to build a pitter..

just wanted your opinion on what you think is the fastest pitter out there..

i want to just go in and out of games very fast

i should pretty much be able to get some high enditems for the char..

im deciding between either a strafer, hammerdin, wind druid, or some type of sorc

with the latter 3 chars, i factor in teleport into killing speed as well with enigma/skills..

As stated somewhere in all these replies you want to kill every monster in the Pits not just the bosses, so that is the power of the starfer doing pitruns is that they can kill everythig pretty quick. If you want a fast teler to just kill the bosses I would go with a Hammerdin or Blizz Sorc.

Polaris

12-09-2004, 21:44

yes, i realize that, but i've heard that hammerdins or wind druids can be very good if built right.. but wasnt sure..

Shanksie1337

12-09-2004, 22:48

My strafers are miles faster than my hdin. About the only thing that is quicker with a hdin is tele'ing to the pits. But as it's mf, killing the monsters on the way to the pits isn't exactly a bad thing, infact i have had quite a few nice items drop on the way to the pits.

Polaris

12-09-2004, 23:14

k, thanks a lot

Razherrt

17-09-2004, 19:48

Okay this is rediculous my strafer is having a crappy time dieing and or just sucking trying to run the pits lol. Whats wrong?

ChampionsHalo level 75 PitStrafer

valk 20
penetrate 20
strafe 20
working on peirce and crit strike

base nrg
base vit
100 str
315 dex

3 socket pt tiara
skullders ire pt
laying of hands
magic boots with 25% mf (lol)
crescent moon 14% ml 5% LL
wws with 1 sheal
2 crappy mf rings
belt -sigons (don't have goldwrap)

It just seems like my strafe dmg with WWS is super gimp 133-310 is that normal? heh

If you could help me with equipment suggestions or what not...plus how do you level your merc up, i like can't cause dmg is too gimp for nightmare cows and he dies real fast.

should i switch out my crappy mf boots for gore riders or something, and also sigons for nightsmoke.. idk plus i only have like 250 life :scratch:

Shanksie1337

17-09-2004, 20:11

Stats seem fine, tho base life with lesser gear is going to be very hard. I'd put some into vita, or get some good charms.

gearwise i'd suggest:
Belt: Razortail - pierce is king, or nos coil for ias/LL.
Bow - is that a 1.10 WWS? - they have 2 sockets now. ShaelShael is the way to go. Also for Hell you really need the upgraded version (Pul+Lum+Perfect Emerald). If you are NL and you can't upgrade, then i'd suggest a different bow: Lycanders / GSA / Eaglehorn / WF heck even a Buriza.
Boots: WT's (the +damage get multiplied by your dex and adds some nice damage).
Rings: At least 1 should be a Ravenfrost, dex, ar and cold damage.
Helm: Anything really - if you are having trouble mf'ing then you need to lose some mf and gain more killing power. Any of the helms in the guide will serve you better.
Amulet: No IAS - and with your low damage the leech is a waste.

What level is your merc and what items does he use?

In summary whats wrong is that you haven't read the guide :D
You are firing a low damage bow very slowly. Lose some mf, add some killing power and a heavy dose of IAS. I don't know how "rich" you are, but no matter your budget aim for IAS, +damage, +life and lose LOTS of mf until you can kill well.
As stated in the guide you can only really mf with a strafer if your gear is good, a poor char really should try a sorc / hammerdin to mf with. If your budget can't stretch to some better gear, then make a mf sorc/hdin and increase your wealth/items quickly. Once you have dressed your strafer in better gear you will be a much better killer/mf'er.

Razherrt

18-09-2004, 05:07

Yeah Thanks for the quick reply ^.^ unfortunately guess im not rich enough, my friend provides me stuff he could give me a razor tail though and yes im that poor my witchwild only has 1 sheal, with an open socket lol and forget about wartravs ^.^ But guess im off to make a blizzard mf sorc =/

Goatica_is_back

19-09-2004, 18:16

Damnit tom, still stickied :thumbsup:

Shanksie1337

19-09-2004, 18:40

yeah sorry :o

yves?
podler?
or some other strange being?

londra

20-09-2004, 09:02

yeah sorry :o

yves?
podler?
or some other strange being?

Thats yves all right...

Goatica_is_back

21-09-2004, 12:06

Thats yves all right...

Yeah, alive and well, :thumbsup:

Shanksie1337

21-09-2004, 17:08

lol yves that didn't take long, infact i am suprised you managed 7 posts considering your thread on ETF - nvm.

f4t4bb0t

25-09-2004, 19:39

Hiya shanksie :D Great guide and i plan on starting one soon. I've got a queston or two frist. How does this setup work in 6-8 player cow games? I want to run pits and cows with her but don't know if i should go the hybrid route and put 20 into LF. If i do that, would it be enough without the synergys to kill the cows faster than strafing in the first place?

Shanksie1337

25-09-2004, 20:06

I made a LF/Strafe hybrid to run cows with. It's possible to strafe Hell cows - which i do when my titans are replenishing or if i am low on mana so it's a perfectly viable solution, however a little more care is needed when planning gear/skills.

for info on my hybrid search the forum for "dexabrid"

but to answer, yes 20 LF no synergies kills cows faster than strafe.

Gangles

28-09-2004, 17:37

Hey Shanksie,
sorry for the seperate post wasn't sure you still checked this.
Yeah I am wearing a goldwrap belt just forgot to add that.
So it looks like cats eye, shaeled WF, Laying of hands, and Rare ring. Shouldn't be too hard to srounge up except the WF, and Rare ring. I think I will empty my mules for cheap and see if I can't get a few of my 60 chars to the forge and cross my fingers.

Thanks for the advice and I will let you know how she does when I get her suited up and into the pit.

btw, I currently am using a WWS with nef amn runes and she is so much fun. I love just peltin monsters with arrows as they slide backwards from the knockback. I was considering putting a point in frozen arrow is there any need for this or will pits be easy enough?

Gangles

Shanksie1337

29-09-2004, 10:32

For getting a LL ring, once you have sold all the 35k items you find in the pit you'll have oodles of money to gamble a nice ring.

Also for trading a WF, i would be suprised if you couldn't trade one for a nice chunk of pgems, last ladder season i bought a WF for pgems, iirc it was ~80.

Gangles

29-09-2004, 18:15

Cool thanks Shanksie I have her at 72 right now in the pits in solo games with a shaeled eagle horn, she kicks arse already. I can't imagine what its going to be like with LL ring and WF. I am starting to get pretty excited. She is a mean machine.

Gangles

Gangles

30-09-2004, 04:36

I also would like to know what time I should be shooting for in the pits per run. I don't teleport and I do kill one the way to pit and kill everything on my way to pit lvl 2. I do not have the levels memorized so I find lvl 2 I go down immediately but usually I search all of lvl one for the steps. Just wondering what kind of speed I should be doing them. 5 minutes seems fast but attainible once I get all my gear and maybe a fraction of your 1337'ness in pit skills.

Gangles

Shanksie1337

30-09-2004, 12:39

haha leave the 1337'ness out of it
I registered as Shanksie (my usual online moniker) but used a hotmail account, then when i managed to get a non hotmail account the nick "Shanksie" was taken - by me i assume, even tho i couldn't use it, so i had to use some numbers and these were better than some random ones imo.

anyways back on track
there are about 7 or so pit layouts, and sooner or later you will get more familiar with them, so you will develop an instinct as to where to explore last to find level 2.
Anywhere from about 8-15 minutes is a decent time if you kill everything on the way there, and then every monster on both levels.

If you get bored of pitting you can try (but are not limited to):
Act1: The Pits / Crypt / Mausoleum / Cows (not as quick as LF, but still an easy run)
Act2: Ancient Tunnels
Act3: Travincal
Act4: River of Flame / Chaos Sanctuary / Diablo
Act5: Eldrich / Shenk / Pindle / Ancients Way / Crytaline Passages / Worldstone Keep (tho a slight swap of gear may be in order - namely a Thundergods and a boost in L res for the Souls) / Baal

Tock97

07-10-2004, 19:24

HI, Ive a question. My only good bow/xbow I have is a Hellrack. This xbow will do great damage and a lot of +% attack rating. Only problem is the high str req. Will this be a bad idea? And what should i put in the 2 sockets? Some shaels or is speed not such a issue because strafe is already so high? I also am planning of using Lava Gout gloves instead of Laying of Hands because of the enchant and it also has 20% speed.

Thanks

Shanksie1337

09-10-2004, 14:35

Personally i wouldn't plan a strafer around a Hellrack, as you will at some point find/trade a better bow, and all the str u invested in to use the Hellrack will be wasted. I suppose you could whack a Hel in one of the sockets, as for the other one - Shael (tho haven't even looked at the BP's for the hellrack) / Nef / or some funky jewel. Not saying a Hellrack is a bad choice, i have never tried it, i just think there are much better choices. One of these days i may get tempted to use strange bows/crossbows on a strafer, and a Hellrack would be well worth a look at.

The main reason i use LoH is the damage to Demons (or is it undead :scratch: ), not the 20 IAS. If i were going to use a pair of gloves primarily for the IAS, i'd craft a nice pair. You can get your enchant via DemonLimb on switch, u will have the str for it, and i assume u may put some points into penetrate, so the enchant on the Lava Gouts is almost redundant.

jareds

09-10-2004, 20:33

hey there shankies
nice giude. straight up.
the only problem is i am on NL so about the merc decrep thing.
i have to put a eth bonehew on my merc for the magic dmg. and those physical immunes get in the way so i had to put about 8 skills into frozen arrow to do anykind of decent dmg.. anyways a lil help too
get a NM act 2 merc.. lvl him yourself. he has might which can increase your dmg quite a bit. my strafers at 82 and so is my merc. he never dies (because of the 2400+ stone armor i have on him :) also i suggest putting a gaze on your merc instead of your suggested helms. he should get enough LL anyways from the dual amns. i pretty much live off of my merc. anyways nice guide and use him well.

Shanksie1337

09-10-2004, 23:21

thanks for the comment jradse (yes i did that on purpose, spelling my name is quite easy considering it's right in front of you, but i digress).

Reapers on NL seem to go quite cheap, you don't need an Eth reapers, you are more interested in the ctc decrep than the damage for your merc. NL ppl seem to think Doom > all for a merc, so take advantage of this and buy up the reapers you see offered, i have picked up Reapers on NL for ~Um (EU NL).

You realise the magic damage from the bonespear on a bonehew is about like ~200 damage? I can't beleive you have encountered many PI's in the pits (or anywhere else bar the WSK), keeping an Atmas in your cube/stash/inv is all you need to do.

As for recommending a Might merc, you may want to read my guide again, but thanks for the thought anyways. Regarding his helm, at lower levels when his natural res's are low, a Tal's helm > Gaze, but once he is ~85+ then his natural resistances are quite high, so if you feel it's worth the effort then by all means swap his helms over, but once they get that high only IM and for some reason Bartuc and his minions can do him any real harm. (oh yeah, Hell travi is a pain in the arse for keeping merc/valk alive, but nothing seems to fix that).

ebyworx

21-10-2004, 05:16

Shanksie1337 I have started hitting more of the tc85 areas with a lot of success, I am having a few problems tho. Rushing in act 4 I have to grab another char to kill D, ancients are brutal, Baal is disturbing to deal with and DC is outright frightening. I usually grab a barb to deal with them, any strat on how to kill the big nasties?

Shanksie1337

26-10-2004, 18:33

sorry for the late reply - been on hols :D

Firstly i'd skip Baal and DC - simply put there are much better chars to kill these bosses with. It is possible to kill DC and Baal with a zon, but you need to tweak her like mad, especially for DC.

Ancients are also a huge pain in the butt - but as with DC there is no mf'ing involved here, so again i'd just use a different char. A crappy reply i know, but a realistic one - if you must kill these with your zon then feel free, but i have neither the time or the inclination to feck about taking 20 minutes to do what i could do in 60 seconds with either a hammerdin or a decent WW barb.

There is a thread somewhere on the zon forum about a zon designed specifically for DC hunting, but tbh it seems somewhat pointless to me when a barb / pala / sorc are much better choices.

Now after my rant, here is my method of killing Diablo:

Keep the merc dead until u face the last set of seal guardians (i save the crappy ghost L immune things that are by the 2 seals in the North West / Top of the CS).
1. Hit the seal, and kill as normal, the mercs might aura should trigger.
2. Run like fook to the centre of the pentagram where D spawns and cast a decoy right where D spawns.
3. Try and time it so you cast a Valk directly on D as soon as he spawns (i have maxxed Valk so she stays alive quite well)
4. Then run close to D so the Merc starts tanking.
5. Once the merc & valk are tanking retreat and try and get so you are shooting D's back as he tanks your minions.
6. Recast Valk if needed before she dies, keep the merc alive with pots, if u can be bothered recast decoy too. If timed right you will take no damage from Diablo whatsoever as your minions take all his attacks - the pink blast will not harm either minion if they are close enough. Throughout the fight Diablo will be either Amp'd or Decrep'd depending on you and your merc's setup and will die pretty quickly - ie under a minute.

Sometimes it's a poo as he wipes out your merc before he can get safely close, but if u do a TP somewhere close, u can just pop thru and spend 50k to get him back.

On average it goes smoothly for me maybe 75% of the time, but even when it goes tits up it's only your minions dying and not you.

ian_linington

27-10-2004, 14:30

Hello there,

I just wondered if you could give me a few pointers,

Equip:
Shako "pt"
Cat’s Eye
Skullders Ire "pt" / Lionheart in a dusk
"Clean" Lycander's Aim
Upd Goldwrap
Sigon Gloves /Laying of Hands
Sigon boots / War Travellers
Ravenfrost

Using the sigons set for the 30% IAS and 10% LL

I've got 1 P&M Skiller and a gheeds. I have a 6% WF in my stash which I can use in a few levels time (currently lvl 66)

At the mo I'm only looking for a ll ring so that I can swap out the sigon stuff, but any other suggestions on any other stuff I should change ?

Could you give me a clue on what sort of charms I should get to fill her out with ? poison or max dam/ar/@ (sc/lc/gc) which ones will add the biggest bang for buck ? Never really stacked poison charms so is there any trick to it ? I assume that I should be looking for the highest damage over the shortest period but do all the charms need to be the same duration time ?

I'm trying to up my damage (this will happen a lot at lvl 73 :) ) at the moment with my might merc I currently do 760 ish max on strafe.

Currently having a ball with her and not even in hell yet :-) Thanks for the guide

Cheers

Ian L.

Shanksie1337

28-10-2004, 18:10

making a cuppa, then i'll edit and reply :D

Shanksie1337

28-10-2004, 18:30

bah, my edit button is being silly again :(, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't :scratch:

I'll assume you have leveled up to wear the WF by now (sorry for the late reply:o)

Your first priority should be IAS, as damage over time is the key with strafe. With this in mind i suggest that you "Shael" your WF.

WF "Shael" = 40 IAS
Cats Eye = 20 IAS
Goldwrap = 10 IAS
LoH = 20 IAS
=90 IAS, which hits the 89 bp (or the 80 bp if u follow the "new" bp's from the Amazon Basin).

This leaves you with 2 rings and Boots to fill. The WT's and the Raven are pretty much standard but you didn't mention your second ring but i concur that LL on this ring would be my choice to. A rare LL ring with +dex, +mf or some other useful mods would be my choice, but for uniques a BK or a Carrion would do the job. 5% LL should be more than enough to keep you alive if you get into safe positions. You could also consider swapping the Goldwrap for a Nosferatu's Coil and then swap the LL ring for a Nagel to maintain the mf.

Charmwise (hehe just made that word up, go me!) - i'd suggest mfsc's if you are happy with your killing speed. Otherwise max charms are useful as they will increase the amount you leech and will also be boosted by the merc might aura and any Critial/Deadly strike that triggers. Max charms can also have +ar and +life as second mods, so these are doubly useful (and expensive). Poison damage charms are the cheaper option but they do help kill faster but don't get boosted my Might/CS/DS. For stacking them you don't need to get them to be over the same duration, so the more the merrier :)

You could increase your killing speed by swapping the Goldwrap for a Razortail, and replacing the Ptopaz in the Shako for an IAS jewel. This may also release the P&M skiller as you should be getting somewhere near 100% pierce, so 3*7mfsc's help make up for the lost mf.

With a WF and a decent dex total coupled with a might merc, you should have no problems killing monsters, so mfsc's would be my choice.

ian_linington

28-10-2004, 20:57

With this in mind i suggest that you "Shael" your WF.

Yep just done that :-)

I found so far :-
GC 10/66/5 str
LC 6/32/10 life
LC 4/48/24 life

but not sure if they are any good and worth keeping ?

I've just realised how important a high dex is (for damage) only got 234 dex at the mo ^_^ but got 125 stat points left ... so time to dump them into dex :-)

I'll see how it does to start with.. I may swap the armor to an upped twitch with an ias jewel to increase the speed (need to check bp's)

Next job is to level my merc from 50 to 75 :surprise:

Oh well... back to the fun !

Cheers for a fun guide !

Ian L.

Shanksie1337

29-10-2004, 16:10

ian_linington

29-10-2004, 16:33

all the max charms are worth keeping, for the exact benefit simply have a look at the char screen and remove/add them to your inv, the boost is quite nice especially if you are "mighted" up from the merc.

fyi after 89, the next bp = 120 (for both the old and the new figures)

Personally for PvM i think 9/2 is a bit excessive, 9/3 should kill plenty fast but you may be a speed freak :)

Thanks for the help mate. I'm gonna give the next bp a shot purely cos i thought 9/3 was fast and want to show off how fast she can be ! (I think I'm hooked now)

From the look of the char screen the charms are adding more damage than poision ones would, I've got a couple of all res charms (and an anni) that I'm using for questing but they will go when I start mf'ing for propper.

I'm going to be cheating a bit, as I saw the comment about using demon limb for enchant... as I can run 2 copies at the same time I'm in the process of lvling an enchantress so that will take care of a lot of ar and damage (I think i was hitting 14k ar and the enchantress was only lvl 50 ish :surprise: ) Also don't need a CTA cos I can bring in a bo'ing barb :-)

Did my first run of the pits last night and it all went fine with large -resists, best fun I've had in ages !

Found a nice pair of gloves for her +2 P&M, 20% IAS and 21% MF so I'm happy.

All I can say is this guide has changed my world :) Thanks for taking the time to do it !

Cheers

Ian L.

royalesse

30-10-2004, 19:51

Out of curiosity... how come no one seems to really espouse carrion wind as a 2nd ring? I made a Xploder / Strafer and absolutely loved carrion wind on her. It made a safety zone around her for about 10 yards or so since twister would go off so often. Since twister stunned no baddies ever got to me.

It's kinda nice to be a zon and never get swamped. Has anyone else tried it? :scratch:

Shanksie1337

30-10-2004, 20:02

Whether I have KB or not i never seem to get swamped, i play my zons as a ranged char and i never let monsters anywhere near me. I'd prefer some other more useful mods on a rare ring.

cracked sash

30-10-2004, 20:39

I just found a carronwind. It has more ll than a perf Bk ring or my rare dualk leech and fireworks(twister). I have KB on my WF, and I pit so fast that I do get surrounded. I know I should have better patience but I will try it out when the ladder ends. (carrionwind on ladder, strafer off).

thanks for the idea.

-Sash

GobboViPeR

08-11-2004, 11:53

What do you guys think of my equip.

Shako with ptopaz
Skullders with ptopaz
War Travellers
Chance Guard
Nagelring x2
Goldwrap
MF charm
BoTD bow

and offcourse a set of arrows ^^

with some MF charms added to it ive got 418 MF. These with sucky war travellers and no greeds.

I use the BoTD bow for his very nice dual leech wich means i could use my ringsslots for nagelrings. Althought i know i could have used the runes for better stuff.

Shanksie1337

08-11-2004, 13:14

Hi Gobboviper - welcome to the forums :)

Atm you have 70 IAS on your gear (60WF + 10Goldwrap) - the next strafe breakpoint is either 80 or 89 IAS depending on which numbers you follow. Imo swapping out the chancies for a pair of Laying of Hands will have a 2 fold effect on youy killing power. You will reach the next strafe bp, and you will also benefit from the ED to demon. Your mf total is more than fine, mf suffers from drastic diminishing returns and imo anything over 300mf is overkill. Of course of you trade for a gheeds, and get better WT's you will more than make up for the lost mf from your chancies.

Pisken

10-11-2004, 07:28

I recently made a "pit strafer" for fun just to see how she was playing with....i must say FUN and really laid back playstyle :P .... but with some experementing i got a really good suggestion on the bow section....

GOLDSTRIKE ARCH !
+200-250% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+100-200% Damage To Demons (varies)
+100-200% Damage To Undead (varies)
50% Increased Attack Speed
5% Chance To Cast Level 7 Fist Of Heavens On Striking
Replenish Life +12
+100-150% Bonus To Attack Rating(varies)

Its far better in the pits than the WF considering ALL monsters there are either undead OR demons , my pitruns are quiet abit faster with GsA than WF in 4+ player games.
And another thing , Stealskull is what i prefeer (ptopz) over the Harle , dual leech and Ias ... and far more cheap :P

My current Eq :

Stealskull (ptopz)
Wealth Wyrmhide (had one laying around)
Upped chanceguards
Upped Goldwrap
Eth WarTravellers (only 48%)
RavenFrost
Nagelring
Magic ammy 59life and 33%mf (has Atmas if i meet a Pi boss)
Upped Goldstrike (SHAEL) i guess a ed/ias jewel will do too to hit the BP
Various charms life/mf/max/ar/poison

this is maybe the "budget" pitstrafer build :)

chien

10-11-2004, 14:55

Pisken

10-11-2004, 19:44

my Gsa was quiet crappy regarding ed% but makes quick work of any undead/demon (and "base" dmg is 240max) so it works on other monsters too.

Lvl req was 70 (if i remember right , i have "realm down" now)
Str / dex is the same as hydra bow str 134 , dex 167 .

I upped my around lvl 73-74 just to compare to my WF , but GsA was my main lvling bow all NM baalruns :) ... when i started to use WF i was somehow dissapointed regarding speed , and looked closer to my GsA stats and saw that they rocked as a pit bow (well , almoast all monsters in D2 is undead/demons)....

So if u have a GsA , there is no "waste" of LUM+PUL+Pemerald to upgrade it , atleast I thinks it wins over WF.

The 5+5%leech on my stealskull is enuff to keep my bulbs full alltime :) , so the manaleech on WF is not needed , the only thing i miss somewhat is the knockback , but its just to avoid being surrounded :)

GsA has 100-150% AR too , no point having ****load of dmg if you dont hit anything , its especially noticable in +4ppl pitruns , if i switch to WF my hit % drops to 75-80 something %... GsA has 90 something %

Think that a perf GsA has 450% ED on the majority of monsters..... :)

cracked sash

11-11-2004, 01:55

Pisken

11-11-2004, 06:11

I dunno , i SHAEL'ed mine .... best of all would be a ed/ias jewel.
Speed kills :)

chien

12-11-2004, 16:44

Ok, I've tried Upped, Shaeled GSA with PT stealskull. It kills ok but I found it is annoying to activate FoH from GSA. It seemed to make your strafe interrupted and delayed in between strafe cycle. (FoH is triggered so often :( just like Holybolt from LoH glove) And those low level FoH/Holybolt really can't kill anything in Hell. So, I go back to Shako/WF.

Another thing is anyone like Atma ammy over cat's eye? I do have my merc with Reaptor's, but many times, the knockback effect from WF just prevent my merc from casting Decryp. I found it is easer to trigger Amp from Atma ammy than wait my merc to trigger decryp in many cases (I like to rush in frontline :lol: and shoot everyone myself before valk and merc can catch up). It not only removes the PI but increase damage to whole group A LOT :thumbsup: !! But, I do miss 20% IAS and 30% FW from cat's eye,though.. Any good suggestion?

Chien

Chinesef00d

18-12-2004, 11:15

HEy with the addition of the new runeword Bows that all include ITD, wouldnt it change the build drastically since you wouldnt need to max penetrate?

Shanksie1337

21-12-2004, 11:17

just a post to say i have given up D2, so i won't be posting on this thread anymore.

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year all

gah one last reply:

@Chinese - true, tho some ppl didn't chose to max penetrate anyway, as they either used a demon limb (or some other form/source of enchant), or they simply settled for a lower chance to hit. You will still need AR to hit Unique monsters, and champions iirc, so it isn't a totally useless skill.

bye

OJ-simpson

22-01-2005, 22:21

does this guide work outside the pit?

spocker

22-01-2005, 22:54

yes. i followed this guide very closley and i use all the mf gear when doin pit but if i have to do something harder like the chaos sanc. i switch shako for gaze, skullder for lionheart, goldwrap for t-gods or string, chancies for dracul grasp, and nagels for ravenfrost. im sure I could do it without all that leach gear, but i'd have to play alot safer and stay back, it would just take longer.

imag1narytreck

09-02-2005, 00:56

I have a lvl 65 Straferzon to which I don't know which merc is best suits my amazon. Mainly for MF.Her Equipments would be:

Faith GMB (rolled a lvl 15 fanat but 1 to all skills)
Shako Ptopaz
Highlords wrath ammy
Enigma (tryin to get skullders/eth)
upd goldwrap
raven frost
nagel
upd war travs

With that being said, which merc is the best? and what should I equip her with the rest of her gear?

bill_n_opus

19-02-2005, 05:09

Nice guide but with a small error ...

The Reapers has 33% to cast decrepify on striking. Once triggered this means that every monster affected will lose 50% to physical resistances as well as having slower attack and movement speeds.
This affect will mean you do much more damage to those monsters and also it will remove any PI you encounter, even Stoneskin PI.

This is incorrect. There are Stoneskin PI's that even Amp Damage cannot remove, much less Decrep. Amp being 100% physical resist removal compared to Decrep at 50% and 50% slow.

They aren't that common but it doesn't mean that they don't exist.

Still, Reaper's is probably one of the end game polearms for an Act2 merc for sure unless you are looking at Boss killing of which an ethereal upgraded Hone Sundan/Kelpie Snare would be top choices as well. HS for the 45% crushing blow and 3 sockets and KS for the 75% slow.

A good thread about Decrep Vs Amp is here:

http://forums.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=309985&highlight=decrep

pcbypclol

27-02-2005, 16:25

playing HC on asia3
takes me 7minutes avg per pit run

stat - lv 85
(stop levelin at 90; 2stat quests uncompleted)
str: 90 now (114 later)
dex: 39X with eq
vit: 100 base

skills
20 strafe , pene, valk
1:1 cs:pierce
3,1,3 evasion skills

eq:
shako 'pt
ire 'pt
LoH 20 (chancy when i have a eff WF)
WT
dual leech rings
RF
Cat Eye 20
E Bow 20 shael (WF - raisin fund)
Goldwrap 10
70%ias - pretty damn fast

gheed,usc,life sc
893 life
304 mana
(2by4 spacing)

merc<--- all the monsters in pit dun do dmg to him

(QUESTION)
a) which shud i use:
gaze or stealskull'pt
shaft or ire'pt
thresher (not tombreaver-cause no ll, 33% decrep, ITD)

altho all he does is take dmg, i strafe all the monster down
but i could let him kill unq monsters and let my mf boost by (74+124=198)
330 mf on ama now
198 merc
520% if merc kills

everything seems fine but nothing much drops
b) how many runs inorder for me to get a good item (shako etc) average?
average of 10-20 runs i get 1 good item

c)does the level of your charac affect the chance of finding unq items?

FrostyOne

04-03-2005, 23:50

WOW!!! There's a guide for my favorite character :thumbsup: !!! My Build is a little different than the ones mentioned here but I'll spell it out for ya anyways.

Current Level: 89

Base Stats
Str: 110ish
Dex: 310ish
Vita: 110ish
Nrg: 20

Skills:
Max Strafe
Max Critical Strike
Max Frozen Arrow
4 Valkeri
12 Penetrate
10 Pierce
Pre-reqs and a few saved

Current MF Gear (for Pit and Countess running):
Helm: Steal Skull upped 50MF + 15ias jewel
Boots: 48 War Traveler
Belt: Goldwrap upped
Armor: Archon Enigma
Gloves: Crafted +2 passive 20ias 10CB 5str 17life 24mf
Bow: +3 GM Brand (Used an upped Buriza with 38ed jewel FOREVER)
Rings: 30 Nagel, Ravenfrost
Ammy: Rare with +2 skills and 30MF (Gambled with my 94 Barb)
Switch: Wizardspike and Spiritward

Current A**kicking Gear:
Helm: Guilliams with 40ed jewel
Boots: Gorerider (or Morrowalk if I'm feeling greedy)
Belt: Verdungos 38/15
Armor, Gloves, Bow: Same as above
Rings: 6/6 Dual leach, Ravenfrost
Ammy: Highlords

Charms:
3x Passive GCs, 35 Gheeds, 2x 13 res GC, 5x 20 life SC, 1x 5res all w/18 life.

Desert Might Merc:
AmnAmn ETH Tomb Reaver (used Reapers Toll until I got Brand)
ETH Sup Hellforge Plate Wealth
Stealskull

Pretty much like the builds listed on this thread but with FA instead of Valkeri and more focus on CS, CB, DS instead of attack rating. I like FA for the crowd control and obviously for the physical immunes in the Forgotten Tower. It's my left click attack and my right click I toggle between Strafe, Teleport, Valkeri. I decided against putting a ton of points of points in Valkeri because I know act2 mercs are pretty tough and besides I can recast a Valkeri anytime, doesn't matter how much life she has. I made Brand instead of Faith just to be a little different from all the other zons I see, althought I think Faith is really meant to be for act1 mercenaries. The upped Buriza (you might be laughing) actually kicks some serious *** at lvl 87 was doing over 500 max base damage with 100% Piercing, 35 dex, and extra freeze length for FA. Not a laughable bow as far as I'm concerned. I knew I would not be using it forever so I had some points set aside for Pierce when I upgraded. Major weakness in this Build is as always resists and life, but once you get the hang of it you shouldn't be getting hit at all, and leaching back any spell damage you might take. But of course, don't expect to last 2 seconds in Worldstone Keep. But why do Worldstone when you can do the Pits??

A few words on the Pits: Yes, you can get some killer uniques down here, BUT, at least on USwest ladder, there aren't really many Uniques that will trade for more than an UM rune (I can think of maybe a dozen that will trade for higher than that but I have found only 3 or 4 of them doing Pit runs.) Getting to high runes by just selling Uniques and Set items is definatly the long road. The real treasures down here are the socketed and ETH elites you will find. The Horodric Cube is your best friend. Adding sockets to an item only cost you 2 low runes and 1 pgem and you stand a chance of turning out an item that will sell for IST or more. Things to watch for: 500+ defence armors, ETH or no ETH Colossus Blades, ETH or no ETH Berserker Axes, ETH Elite Polearms, Mat and GM bows, Phase Blades, ETH or no ETH Paladin Shields with over 35 resist all or enhanced damage, and Monarch Shields. Of course, if you aren't playing on ladder these probably aren't worth nearly as much. Running Countess will keep you supplied on low runes but don't expect anything amazing from her (I found 2 Um and 1 Mal in countless runs this ladder, easily approaching 300 runs and I think that's a low guess.) Use your extra Pgems and Runes to reroll Grand Charms and Craft amulets and gloves (remember to use HIGH level items for crafting, items from the pit are good but if you are over lvl 85 I suggest getting your items for crafting with Gamble.) DON'T sell your pgems for runes unless you are desperate, you are just making someone else rich. Anyhow hope you all like the strafe-zon as much as I do!!!

See you on the Realms,
FrostyOne

WuTangClan

23-06-2005, 18:39

nice guide i give you mad props i was wondering if instead of the wf i use the ruen word harmony as an ending bow i compared the 2 and all together harmony does more damage and has alot of elemntal damage so PIs wont be so bad please some 1 reply so i can finnish making this sucker

wutangclan

yelopen

04-08-2005, 20:24

Does a strafezon have to have penetrate and all? Since I was thinking about making one of these, but added GA in case I want to go PvP with it?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

shrapner

07-11-2005, 11:36

eh. put a bit much in vita. but only b/c i dun like dieing that much and im short on charms..

maxed strafe, penetrate 17 into valk and got A/E/D and CS at 50% Pierce at 70%

5k AR doing roughly 2k if i remember correctly.

only lvl 80 ATM but my res sucks major..

wondering where i should put my spare skills..

merc using gaze and eth shaftshop atm. trying to get eth reapers toll as well

my equip setup for mf.

Tiki

03-01-2006, 20:28

here is my problems

im staring a pvm (no mf) strafe bowazon and i was wondering if
1)Faith was a good choice
2)Fort was a good choice
3)Verdungo
4)Um'd Gaze

thx

Gondor_2k

13-01-2006, 17:05

i would like some input on my gear:

Ptopaz steelskull
WF (shael)
HL amu
ravenfrost/nagel rings
upped goldwrap
loh gloves
WT boots
and upped crow caw armor

anything i could do better?

Gondor_2k

13-01-2006, 23:00

hmm cant seem to find the edit function..

just got my sefl a forti 25, 1
and use perf change guard

anything ells that could be better?

CoRRuPt-OnE

14-01-2006, 02:19

keep the loh gloves for the pits. Its like adding a 350ed jewel in your bow.

Gravijah

18-01-2006, 01:51

Is there a point in putting more than one point in penetrate if you use faith? It adds 300% AR and that's more than Penetrate at 20 IIRC... Plus ITD, for everything but uniques/champs/etc (IIRC)

Veilside

18-01-2006, 14:49

Is there a point in putting more than one point in penetrate if you use faith? It adds 300% AR and that's more than Penetrate at 20 IIRC... Plus ITD, for everything but uniques/champs/etc (IIRC)

no, with just under 400 dex my faith ama has about 12k ar which is more than enough.

Ballingen

17-04-2006, 19:36

My pitrunner got about 700mf and 30k attack rating :) Found 3 arach on my first pitrun.

Auberdahn

29-06-2007, 17:59

Oh Lordy 3 Arachs I Better Get Busy With My Plushies

deadbeater

30-08-2007, 03:42

3 arachs? wow!

zerth

03-08-2008, 13:26

Thanks for this guide. It helped a lot deciding how to build my pit strafer. My current setup is (single player by the way):

Shako (15ias/26ed)
Highlord's Wrath
Skullder's (15ias/30cr)
Windforce (Amn)
Razortail
Laying of Hands
War Travs
Ravenfrost 20/234
Rare ring (res, ml, mana, ar)
Bunch of vita and scintillating scs

Base vit, nrg, 134 str, rest dex (about 50 saved atm)

Merc has:
Shaftstop
Vampire Gaze
Reaper's Toll

Skills (hard points)
20 strafe, 1 prereqs, 20 penetrate, 13 valk, 1 all passive tree, 5 Pierce, rest saved (will go to CS, valk/decoy, A/D/E)

I am thinking of swapping Highlord's for Atma's. This way the merc can switch to eObedience and losing 9/3 strafe to 10/3 is not such a big deal. In this case I will also switch the rare ring to a BK4 (losing mostly 111 ar and 10@).

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Dekadez

03-08-2008, 19:04

Why no Shael in the WF?

zerth

03-08-2008, 20:13

Needed the ll. I tried to have some MF (i.e. ~250) in the setup and Shako >> Stelskull. Also I kind of liked the idea of always pierce with combined razortail and slvl 9 pierce, which admitedly is not very important in the pit...