Bowazon?..worth making or...

[Ether3al]

Hey guys, I haven't really made a bowazon in 1.10 and was wondering if they are viable to make it through hell difficulty. Any help would be appreciated.

[My_Immortal6]

No. Bowazons are crap and should only be made in emergencies and after being prodded with sharp objects.

[Serdash]

Do people just refuse to read FAQ's now? :uhhuh:

http://forums.rpgforums.net//showpost.php?p=1354331&postcount=25

[colony]

No. Bowazons are crap and should only be made in emergencies and after being prodded with sharp objects.I wouldnt go that far, but they aren't the easiest zon build by a long way. If you go with strafe then you will need a realatively fast bow with good damage.

They can make it through hell quite easily as long as you have a way of dealing with PIs

edit: who? me? not read a FAQ? who told you? :teeth:

[My_Immortal6]

Do people just refuse to read FAQ's now? :uhhuh:

http://forums.rpgforums.net//showpost.php?p=1354331&postcount=25

That's what I was referring to. If you can't read an FAQ then you can't make a Bowazon.

[Serdash]

That's what I was referring to. If you can't read an FAQ then you can't make a Bowazon.
Either that or you never learned to read.

DID YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS? DID YOU?!

Oh... you did? Wait... whats this you're talking about kicking me in th--*dies*

[Zarhrezz]

Is it possible to make a Hell viable Bowazon without top of the line gear? Yes. Just don't expect to handle more than players 1 Hell, since you might as well crawl all the way.

To deal with higher players Hell, you'll simply need to get your hards on a Windforce, perhaps an upgraded Goldstrike Arch or Witchwild String is good enough too...but even then I have my doubts about players 8 unless you completely forget about life, defense and resists and go for pure damage. Of course in that setup, you might kill in players 8 but each 'oops' means death.

[Rizzo]

Is it possible to make a Hell viable Bowazon without top of the line gear? Yes. Just don't expect to handle more than players 1 Hell, since you might as well crawl all the way.

To deal with higher players Hell, you'll simply need to get your hards on a Windforce, perhaps an upgraded Goldstrike Arch or Witchwild String is good enough too...but even then I have my doubts about players 8 unless you completely forget about life, defense and resists and go for pure damage. Of course in that setup, you might kill in players 8 but each 'oops' means death.

that's why a good merc tank is invaluable :)
Go for dexazon all the way, yeah!

[Zarhrezz]

Yay forum down glitching.

[Zarhrezz]

that's why a good merc tank is invaluable :)
Go for dexazon all the way, yeah!

Even with a good merc, you're still going to die quite often on your average high-players run. And I won't even mention areas with monsters with ranged/piercing attacks.

[Rizzo]

Even with a good merc, you're still going to die quite often on your average high-players run. And I won't even mention areas with monsters with ranged/piercing attacks.

I know. Amazons have been nerfed too much in 1.10... too bad :(

[Serdash]

I know. Amazons have been nerfed too much in 1.10... too bad :(
Lies. Lies and fabrications.

GA piercing wasn't a nerf, it was a bug fix. ;P

Multi is just as good as ever.

Strafe was nerfed... I'll admit that... si teh ubar sux0r.

The rest is pretty much good. Especially the better Valks.

[Rizzo]

Lies. Lies and fabrications.

hehe :lol:




Strafe was nerfed... I'll admit that... si teh ubar sux0r.

But why are everyone using strafe now then?

[Serdash]

I didn't mean strafe WAS teh ubar sux0r. I was just saying it sucked that it was nerfed.

Strafe is just more efficient in most situations now.

Strafers pwn. If you have Windforce that is.

[rplusplus]

Of course it is worth it to make one. Just make the best one you can and when you win the game you can post your ascention and be able to say you did it.

R++

[Spook_Cell]

If you're worried about now killing in hell just make a hammerdin and everyones happy.

[Serdash]

If you're worried about now killing in hell just make a hammerdin and everyones happy.
Yeah except for the people that are always like,

"OMF LIEK D00D TEH HAMARDEN R TEH CHEZ0R OMG U SUX0R I H8 U OMGOFMOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO NUB!!!1"

[Spook_Cell]

Yeah except for the people that are always like,

"OMF LIEK D00D TEH HAMARDEN R TEH CHEZ0R OMG U SUX0R I H8 U OMGOFMOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO NUB!!!1"

No I'm just saying that bowazons are viable in 1.10 just don't expect to crush everything during WSK runs on p8 without uber gear.

[essojay]

If you ask on bnet, people will say "OMFG BOWAZONS R TEH N00BLARZ LMFAO!11!1!!!one!1eleven!11!!11!" Just ask my Tal's Sorc's merc, who - if you would remember - had become l33t from overuse by bnet n00bs.

But SPF is different. People enjoy playing underpowered builds. Besides, bowazons don't actually suck as much as people tell you they do.

You can get through the game (players 1) without l33t gear, although a really good bow (e.g. up'd GSA, WF, WWS) is necessary to have comfortabe killing speed.

[Kaptain_Insano]

I went to make a bowazon untwinked and had to switch to a hybrid strafer/LF because i had a crap for equip and LF is not as gear dependent. I found a skystrike in NM and used it all the way through NM although at times it was hurtin. I didn't have any other great equip to go with it either which didn't help. I now have atma and built a meteorb for MFing and found a WWS, a buriza, and magewrath. I m going to rebuild a strict bowazon and try strafe and freezing arrow as my main skills. It will be easier getting to hell with some of the equip i found with my sorc: razortail, laying of hands, tals mask, steelskull, skullders ire, some other decent gear as well all found in NM. When i can i will upgrade my wws if i can get the runes to do so. Hope that helps. I want to make a hell pit runner out of her eventually. My meteorb doesn't do well down there.

[dantose]

Is it possible to make a Hell viable Bowazon without top of the line gear? Yes. Just don't expect to handle more than players 1 Hell, since you might as well crawl all the way.

To deal with higher players Hell, you'll simply need to get your hards on a Windforce, perhaps an upgraded Goldstrike Arch or Witchwild String is good enough too...but even then I have my doubts about players 8 unless you completely forget about life, defense and resists and go for pure damage. Of course in that setup, you might kill in players 8 but each 'oops' means death.
Windforce? never seen one. Mat. bowzon? got one. Hellrack or eagle horn can do you just fine the whole game and it is possible to do it with worse stuff.

Oh, I also had all negative resists.

EDIT: Remember when magazons were "teh suxxor +1" back in 1.09? guess what my first mat was then? untwinked, with points put in nonviable skills in the jab tree and bow tree?

ANY build will make it to early hell. Most builds can kill baal.

[whomhead]

a merc for a bowazon is really just icing on the cake. they've got the Valk. this babe is ridiculously powerful. i max valk for all of my bowazons (others probably disagree with this, but :p to them) and with my last bowazon the Valk tanked two (2!!!) of the ancients while i dealt with the other one. it was unbelievable. and of course you can make it through hell with an untwinked bowazon w/o uber-1337 gear. just don't play her like a barbarian - take your time, use decoy and valk to scout ahead of you, and don't run into situations that are unknown and you can easily get Matriarch... or even Guardian.

[Zarhrezz]

Windforce? never seen one. Mat. bowzon? got one. Hellrack or eagle horn can do you just fine the whole game and it is possible to do it with worse stuff.

Oh, I also had all negative resists.

EDIT: Remember when magazons were "teh suxxor +1" back in 1.09? guess what my first mat was then? untwinked, with points put in nonviable skills in the jab tree and bow tree?

ANY build will make it to early hell. Most builds can kill baal.

I never said you can't mat a bowzon without a Windforce. I said that you won't be able to kill reasonably fast in Hell without one (or one of the other top notch bows). I used a Passion Matriarchal Bow (note: an elite type bow, 200%ish ED) through Nightmare on players 8 and that went fine. Once I hit Hell though, momentum was completely gone at players 8. The character in question was designed as a Strafe pitrunner, but she simply lacks firepower with her current bow to do anything but players 1 pit runs. To handle higher settings, she'll need a much better bow. And the Hellrack on switch can't handle players 8 either, tried it and the result wasn't good. At all. Hellrack is nice for PI killing at lower player settings, but at players 5+, you'll need better.

If I can mat her? No problem. The challenge in the game isn't getting through Hell at players 1 (besides perhaps the Ancients for some builds), it's handling player setting in the 5+ range...and as far as I've seen, a Strafezon without an uber bow can't handle that.

[dantose]

I never said you can't mat a bowzon without a Windforce. I said that you won't be able to kill reasonably fast in Hell without one (or one of the other top notch bows). I used a Passion Matriarchal Bow (note: an elite type bow, 200%ish ED) through Nightmare on players 8 and that went fine. Once I hit Hell though, momentum was completely gone at players 8. The character in question was designed as a Strafe pitrunner, but she simply lacks firepower with her current bow to do anything but players 1 pit runs. To handle higher settings, she'll need a much better bow. And the Hellrack on switch can't handle players 8 either, tried it and the result wasn't good. At all. Hellrack is nice for PI killing at lower player settings, but at players 5+, you'll need better.

If I can mat her? No problem. The challenge in the game isn't getting through Hell at players 1 (besides perhaps the Ancients for some builds), it's handling player setting in the 5+ range...and as far as I've seen, a Strafezon without an uber bow can't handle that.

the original question was:


Hey guys, I haven't really made a bowazon in 1.10 and was wondering if they are viable to make it through hell difficulty. Any help would be appreciated.

I personally have no interest in pit runs. I like to play the game. Hitting Mat./Pat. usually means that character is retired for me. Bowzons are hell viable. Are they pit p8 viable? I don't know and don't particularly care.

[tragor]

Bowazons are quite viable, but they definitely require strategy and close attention. The only bowazon I ever had was a Conqueror. She didn't die 'cuz Hell was too hard. She died 'cuz I thought I'd see how she did on a higher players setting and then got swarmed. :grrr:

She was a strafer with a shael'd WWS. Kill speed was quite good, all things considered. I've already started her replacement.

I say go for it.

Edit: Oh, yeah, definitely need that Valk.

[Ether3al]

Ty for the advise and tips. About reading the FAQs, i wanted peoples opinions, sorry

[Todd]

Yup, what dantose said...

Since when did we start evaluating builds on the basis of p8 Hell in this forum? If someone asks whether a character is "Hell viable", I certainly don't assume that means "run p8 WSK on auto-pilot".

So yes, Bowazons are certainly Hell viable. I'd say they're just about the same as any other physical damage based build like a Barb, Furry Druid, or Melee Pal. If you play purist untwinked, then they're very tough. If you've got a small amount of gear stashed away, then they're easily playable in Hell at low players settings. For a Bowazon, a Witchwild String is a top-notch bow and not very hard to find. So is an good upgraded Lycander's Aim. In fact, both of those are generally regarded more highly than Eaglehorn, and some would even prefer a WWS to a Windforce. A lot of it is really a matter of style - more than other characters, IMO, playing a bowazon well requires constant awareness of tactics and terrain and longtime bowazon players have their personal favorite approaches to these problems.

Fun character - not the all-powerful cannon she was in days of old, but definitely still very playable.

[raz]

I'm playing an untwinked 1.10 bowazon right now. She is in fact my first ever character. I started her before I ever found this place, or faqs, stashes, etc. I just finished Act II/hell with her. Didn't have many problems. Currently have negative resistances (working on that now). I used a Kuko Shakaku Cedar Bow in late nightmare and through hell so far. She is now level 80, just a few ticks from 81. I have no skills maxed yet, 17 for Valk, some in Magic Arrow, Pierce, Penetrate, etc. And dare I say, using my first Merc. The rogue nobody uses. She is also level 80, good resistances, using a Cliffkiller bow.
So, I don't know if it's possible to reach the end or not, but so far for me, hasn't been a problem. (Except for Duriel, that [insert expletive here]).
Anyway, good luck. This is definitely the place for answers. Has helped my lots, only wish I found this place before I started. May have a better build.

Raz

[loverat]

Yep they are viable, I have a multizon who uses magic arrow and freezing arrow, valk, decoy and might merc. Matting at /players 1 was challenging but doable - you certainly can't play mindlessly without dying. She is now my pit runner on /players 8 with a death once every 50 runs or so usually due to my stupidity and running into boss packs of archers with curse :D As always for ama's I suggest swift rejuve fingers and casting the decoy and/or valk forward rather than drawing all the mobs to you.

[DeathMaster]

Is it just me, or there must be something wrong.

I recently mat my strafe zon with ease. Most of time I just kept my right mouse button pressed and wait everything on and off screen to die.

I don't have big damage bow either. I did P8 all the way normal and NM (apart ancient, and NM baal). I beat hell at P1, but as I just found out I can handle P3 with no problem what so ever.

My listed damage after might aure from merc:
MA - about 860 max
strafe - above 800 and some 100 less than MA damage, can't record how much exactly

Edit: I wouldn't say bowzon is overpowered, but it is still a easy build compare with melee.

[ArkAngel]

Would a wws or goldstrike suffice? Or must they be upgraded?

[nemar]

If you look at the first 3way dance tourney, I make an bowazon HC killing baal in Hell without any green or unique item and without using any rune-word

So I can say a bowazon is perfect viable.

first only the bowazon can kill the ancien in Hell with a spell level 1 : magic arrow (and +40 run boots).

only the bowazon use decoy for strategic placement !

only the bowazon can hurt a monster who is not on the screen (with straphe)

only the bowazon use slow missile ! use it in act V in hell and you'll anderstand the power of this spell

only the bowazon can knockback more 10 monsters in the same time !

take an offensive act2 merc and a walkyrie lvl20 for the more powerful armor.

take some strafe for fun and passive for good usage.

only one problem with the bowazon : the bow.
a elite Matriarchal Bow make only Dmg 20-47 so you must absolutly find a very very good bow for use in hell (or crosbow) with high +x dam and extra spell like prevent to heal. a lot of poison or lighting damage charms could be an good idea also

[N'thraXX]

Is it just me or is there a good reason why the Build Guides in the Stickied FAQ don't work. (Haven't been working for a long while.)

Also I can't get the FAQ link to work.

[Zarhrezz]

Is it just me or is there a good reason why the Build Guides in the Stickied FAQ don't work. (Haven't been working for a long while.)

Also I can't get the FAQ link to work.

I have that problem with most links to posts too. No clue why it doesn't work.

[ArkAngel]

Same here, its a dead link for me :(

[crazy_bear]

Just wanted to add my bit:

I made an untwinked guardian bowazon. Sure, she was not a fast killer, she only ever found a Kuko and never upgraded, but she also was never in a lot of danger because of the Valk, merc and decoy. Act V Hell was a breeze because all those scary ranged attackers never bothered her. I never had problems with PI because MA and FA (or IA) all do non physical damage. Only thing I wish she had that she didn't was corpse control. Hell ancients is probably easier with a bowazon than almost any other char because of the Valk.

If I can make guardian with a bowazon, anyone can, so they must be viable.

[Todd]

Would a wws or goldstrike suffice? Or must they be upgraded?
You would have to upgrade a WWS to be comfortable. Goldstrike would be passable without the upgrade - Goth->Hydra only adds a small bit of damage, at the cost of a substantial strength req.

[DX-Crawler]

Bowazon is very viable but the thing that sort the good bowazon from the bad ones is the points you have placed in the Passive tree. Most of my point always end up in that tree.

DX

[ArkAngel]

You would have to upgrade a WWS to be comfortable. Goldstrike would be passable without the upgrade - Goth->Hydra only adds a small bit of damage, at the cost of a substantial strength req.

Hmm..thanks for the info. I may make a bowazon after I finish with my current projects.