Please forgive my lack of knowledge

[kynshny]

i have recently come into possession of a kuko shakaku and a buriza-do kyonon and i am beginning to make a bowazon. however, i would like to ask more experienced players for information before i begin.

Bowazon Questions:
i) both kuko shakaku and buriza-do has "piercing attack". is it still wise to invest in the pierce skill?

ii) is the kuko shakaku upgradable? if so, is it worthwhile enough to upgrade?
(a windforce or wildstring is out of the question; i am quite poor).

iii) the buriza-do has 80% increased attack speed. is it still worthwhile to get even more ias equipment? i seem to have lost the link to the IAS breakpoint tables for bows ... could someone kindly point me in the right direction?

v) i am utterly confused about life/mana leeching, thorns, iron maiden, and immunities.

let's say my weapon does 9 to 20 damage, with 1-20 fire damage. my character screen should show 10 to 40.

if i have life leech of 10% .. would i be leeching around 1 to 4 per hit? would this happen multiple times if the attack pierced through more than one monster?

if i hit a fire immune with my attack, would i only calculate leech from 9 to 20 damage? how about if i was affected by iron maiden or the monster was affected by thorns ... if i melee a fire immune with this attack, would the fire damage be added and returned as well?

vi) i am having a bit of mana problems using the bow skills ... will this improve in the future as i do more damage? or will i always be dependant on blue potions? i am currently using mandald heal as one of my rings. is there any other mana-generating equipment i should keep my eyes open for?

thank you all for your time and patience.

[Yumi Shadowfang]

Let's see...

I) Pierce or no? For the Kuko, yes. For the Buriza, no. Even with the Kuko, you could save a skill point if you need to, and wear a Razortail or something else that gives you better piercing. One point into Pierce isn't a waste in any case though (unless you will never ever use anything else than the Buriza). ;)

II) Kuko is upgradeable once, IF you are on ladder. It costs a Lum and a Pul (and a Perfect Emerald :uhhuh: ) to do, so make sure you're certain you want to make that upgrade since you say you're poor, you probably don't want to waste runes. I can't tell you how good it will be upgraded, but remember that the requirements will get higher...

III) In one word... Yes. ;) The Buriza is a yummy crossbow, but it is still slow even with the 80% IAS. I don't have an IAS chart link handy, but maybe someone else does.

Now, your leech is based on your physical damage. If you pierce, if you hit multiple enemies, no matter how it's done but as long as you deal physical damage, you steal life/mana. UNLESS it's a monster you can't steal from, such as ghosts and skeletons.

Iron Maiden doesn't apply to ranged attacks (thank goodness), so it won't affect you at all. It will kill your merc though, unless he/she is ranged too - and your Valkyrie of course, if you have one.

With elemental skills, you will generally burn quite a bit of mana, at least until you're able to do a lot of damage. It's not bad with Strafe, and yes - as you get higher level and get better gear, your damage will improve and thus your mana steal will be better. I could name some gear here for you to keep an eye out for, but since I have no idea what level you are or how much money you have, I'm just going to say; keep looking for anything with life/mana steal that's better than what you already have. ;)

Must... gamble... for... Circlets... nya!

Ehh, okay, hope that helped you a little bit.

~Yumi

[det]

http://www.diabloii.net/characters/amazon/faq2.shtml#What is IAS?

Here is your IAS link. I think a Buriza stops at 11 frames or so, with IAS gloves you have reached the limit IIRC and could NEF the Buriza.

I personally would not upgrade a Kuko, because that bow is all about the + to skills. I think it becomes a Shadow bow when upgraded with 188 dex requirement.

Quite a few ppl will trade for pgems, so go collect them.

Mana leech will remain a problem with Kuko, due to low damage, but less with Buriza, due to high damage. Your damage will increase with points invested in dex however.

If you'd like to have a Magewrath and are on Europe HCL, I would donate one ;)

[JoJeck]

Nice answers by Yumi :) but let me add one little tip.

Most Zons have mana problems early on and these resolve themselves as you get better gear and and you start doing more damage. As you gain levels your mana pool gains 1 or 2 mana and that is enough without putting any points into energy. The tip is you get yourself some mana charms. I keep a few nice low level mana charms on a mule for starting characters that need mana. Grand charms, for instance, can go up to 59 mana at higher levels and can give about 35 mana at level 29 IIRC. Add a few small charms and your mana pool can be doubled.

[Dealane]

The others about covered everything but i just want to add. Don't waste the runes on the kuko. WWS isn't that hard to find, I have found 3 of them, 2 of which were from act 1 hell lvl and one in nightmare but forget which act. The buriza is great but don't upgrade it. The kuko is the debil and should be used as fire wood hehe. The buriza will get you to act 1 hell without breaking a sweat and for me anywho thats were 99% of my good finds have come from.

[kynshny]

Thank you all for your responses. they are much appreciated!

[kynshny]

Quite a few ppl will trade for pgems, so go collect them.


thanks for the tip! i was pleasantly surprised when someone traded me a ravenfrost for 5 pgems ... i will start collecting them =)


If you'd like to have a Magewrath and are on Europe HCL, I would donate one ;)

Thank you kindly, but i'm on USEast ladder ... thank you for your generousity =)

[hophans]

hmm i just have one question.. i looked at the ias tabel, i got my self a buri but as i see it the fastest it can go is already reached with the 80% include on the xbow.. or is it just me reading it the wrong way ?

[gblan]

ii) is the kuko shakaku upgradable? if so, is it worthwhile enough to upgrade?(a windforce or wildstring is out of the question; i am quite poor).



As others have said, do not upgrade the Kuko. The bow is excellent as is and will serve you well as soon as you can equip it. Even upgraded tho it's power will soon wear thin. You may not be able to afford a Windforce but a WWS is certainly not out of the question for you. There are other fairly easy to acquire bows you should consider also: Goldstrike Arch and Lycander's Aim are two of them. Keep gathering those gems and cube them to perfects. It's like saving up for your bow. Luckily gems are somewhat useful and there are quite a few folks who trade for them. Save those runes from your nightmare and hell forges. Those will definitely sweeten the deal and get you higher quality weapons.

GB