Rate my 1337 withcyzon!

[rikstaker]

CHARACTER; Preity (useast-ladder)

CURRENT STATS:
Lvl:66
str:95
dex:307(450 is the aim)
vit:63/life:406

Build purpose;Farming pits/cows with 0% mf for socketables

GEAR: (Current/arranging)

Weapon:169% upped witchy.Shael/Shael
Gloves:Sigons/LOH-lots of demons in pits & fire resists are welcome.
Belt:6% Nosferatu's coil-slow,ias, & mana after kill-no mana probs against skellies.
Armor:Twitchtroe-IAS allows me to wear Atma ammy & its really sexy >.<
Helm:Biggins bonnet (:D)/Rockstopper with 15%ias & 40% undeaad dmj jool-resists/dr & looks.
Boots:Sigons sabot/Nat's boots-resists & frw.
Ammy:Atmas scarab-2% amp from the bow isnt enough & from my understanding the bow dishes out real dmg only if amp is in effect & with the combined amp from the ammy,I manage to trigger it consistently within the first volley.Besides I am already at the 105% break so I dont need any more ias from cat's eye.
Ring1:218/16 raven-pretty much self explanatory.
Ring2:113 ar,4% ml,6%ll,4 dex,all resist 10%.

Total ias;105%

I havent leveled my might merc yet,but I have eth insight/shaft planned for him.

Strafe dmg:399-628 sans might(1k max is the goal at clvl 90,with might but I doubt I'll manage that).But if I manage that I'll be dishing out 4k actual with deadly & amp active.woot! :D

Strafe Ar:5263.I plan to use enchant from demonlimb as well,after putting on nat's helm to equip the thing.

SKILLPOINTS:

Strafe:max
critical:2
penetrate:11/will max
pierce;10/?
valk:11/will max
evade:6/left over
avoid:3/left over
dodge:1/left over
All prereqs & freeezing arrow:1

Experiences:Drew a lot of wows in nm baal runs,I used to run to the throne in runs without sturdy palas/sorcs,Freezing arrow works wonders against souls & drew appreciation from struggling party members except for a noobleman summoner who was against the idea as he wanted to revive them :rolleyes:.

She surprises quite a few peeps with her dmg & I get asked what bow are u using?

Dies from 1-1.5 hits from frenzy-minos but I dont get close too often,but lag is a problem.

Amp always triggers within first volleye & I am very happy with that,as that means my mercenary wll be doing double dmg too.

I am very satisfied with the build,BTW:nice guides chipmc & Shanksie.

BTW:What is next delay,I need a detailed explanation?

Rik

[Lensor]

I am lvl 87 with my HC strafer/FA wizzyzon atm. She gives just over 1k max/arrow (dont have a fortitude yet, we wants it..). So 1k by 90 should be easy to obtain. As I understand, you are on SC, so you can pump dex to the max for even more dmg (being on HC, I like to have atleast some vita, cant afford alot of 20sc..)

Why did you put 2 in critical? Seems like a waste of one skillpoint (but prob you already figured that one out..)

If you can stand a little bit of mf, you could get yourself a pair of low% WT. They are quite cheap, and really boost your damage.

You could always socket your demon limb with hel to be able to carry it (=no need for nat helm)

As you are not using razortail, my tip would be to max pierce, esp if you are doing cows, but I guess that is a matter of taste.


I am no expert, so take my input for what it is. ;) Continued good luck with your zon!

[rikstaker]

Thanx for the tips.1k is just so delicious.low% travs seems a good idea.

I put two in critical since I lack +to skill gear,at level 90 with the deadly from bow & 25% critical,I have just 93% chance of double dmg,since cs/ds dont stack.If I get myself a passive g/c I'll be able to push further to 100%.
:) .Besides my valk might just be able to kill her quill rat. :D

Rik

[Decebal]

Hi Rik!

Some input from me too :D

Amulet - you might consider Cats eye instead of Atmas! Amp damage from WWS should be enough imo! Another option might be Highlords but thats overkill when using WWS.

Gloves - Laying of hands are your primary choice if u want to do pits and cows! I dont think that anything else is needed! Another option might be Lava Goat - might be another option enchant (less than demon limb though), fire damage and more.

Armor - Thitch is nice but there two more options (besides of course Fortitude and CoH). I would suggest Lionheart and Duress. Lionheart i cheap and duress is a nice armour as well! Make it in dusk or archon plate! Depends on your str at the moment! If u really need Twitch then uppgraded to at least an exceptional armor!

Helm - Well if u have enough IAS why not use Crown of thieves? Nice dex bonus, and life leech! Another option might be mav helmet but that might not be needed cause u have a lot of ias. Another option is Shako with 15 ias jewel.

Boots - I would suggest Gore riders. Why? Well u said u wanted to do pits and cows without MF. The those voots are the best imo. Sure with trav u get mf, more damage, vita and str. It depends if u need the attributes on trav.

Belt - Nosferatu is nice. LL, 10 ias + slows enemies down (and many more). Using nosferatu u have to max pierce.

Ring 1 and 2 - Raven + dual are optimal here! Good choice!

Charms - well posion small charms are an option. sc with life/ar/res are another option too! How about GC with max damage/AR/life? Those might come in handy as well!

What merc are u gonna use? I suspect act2 nm offensive with might aura!

/Dec

P.S. I didnt calculate the total IAS with the suggested gear above!

[CoRRuPt-OnE]

Hi Rik!
Armor - Thitch is nice but there two more options (besides of course Fortitude and CoH). I would suggest Lionheart and Duress. Lionheart i cheap and duress is a nice armour as well! Make it in dusk or archon plate! Depends on your str at the moment! If u really need Twitch then uppgraded to at least an exceptional armor!


I agree with having lionheart as an option because i use it as well. However, duress shouldnt come close to a bowzon any day. Melee builds will benefit more from this armor than any other build and just doesnt benefit a ranged build like this.


@RiK- Dont think you needed to put much points into vit. 50 at max maybe.
For your damage you should be aiming for 1200-1400 with might Aura on or at least 1k-1.2k

[Decebal]

Agree with you Corrupt-one that Duress is better for melee! But it works rather nice for a bowazon as well! I tried it and its not that bad! ;)

/Dec

[itsPizzarific]

looks pretty good to me .. like other ppl have been saying u might want to swap out twitch for lionheart or duress, then you could put on your cats eye

bowazons can be very fragile, its all about learning how to avoid those dangerous monsters and using your tanks .. not really about getting more life or defesnse

gl :D

[rikstaker]

Thnx for the input everyone,I'll give lionheart a shot,will take a 4ge run for the lum,I have a fal & hel isnt a problem.What would be the best base armor that doesnt cover her completely? :D Anyway,I'd miss the dark metallic sexiness of twitchy:p

But that would mean I'll have to stick to sigons gloves/boots to fall slightly to 95% break,which isnt so bad as it is still 2frame.If I switch to loh,I'll fall to 85%.So what do you suggest?

P.S; I WILL not switch to cat'eye,the consistency in amp trigger is far too valuable.

Rik

[DudSpud]

Howdy Riks,

Nice to see you slumming with the Zons. I have followed your many posts as a lurker on the Barb forums - thanks for the helpful info, though my ww'er still stinks. I just can't get that triangle thing down.

I am currently on my second WWS strafer (FA, now LF, as secondaries), and your's looks solid to me. Even with 2% ml (norm), I find I don't need to pot (in Hell) except when extensively LF'ing - or in your case, FA'ing. So at least in that respect, your 4% ml looks OK, and you may be able to get away without the Insight if you are not FA'ing every other attack. I went LF on my second one because I want to use her for cows. I will pick up 1 pt FA soon, for emergencies.

I think you may be using an outdated bp chart for strafe. A well respected Zon forumite, Liessa Wyrmbane, posted a new table from the tech guys at The Amazon Basin here (http://www.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=183692). For WWS, the strafe bps are:

0 WSM Bow
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

0 WSM bows, normal attack
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

In effect, you only need 90 IAS for 2 frame strafe. I definitely noticed a difference from 80 to 90 IAS when I checked it out for myself. In your case, 40 from bow, 15 from Helm, 10 from belt is only 65, so 25 more. LoH is only 20, 2 sigons is 30, so Sigon's it is IF you want to keep Atma's, helm and use Lionheart. Only suggestions I can make to get you the 5 extra you would need if you wanted to use LoH (which are great) is a different helm. Mavina's has 30 built in, so no need to fervor. Andy's is a few lvls off yet, though it too would work at 20 IAS clean. A fervored Stealskull would do it, and give you dual leech for another raven. And of course, any two socket helm with two IAS jewels.

I am sure I have missed some of the permutations, but I suspect your girl will do well with any of them.

Welcome, and good luck,
DudSpud

PS - I forgot to mention - Try out the decoy. I find it more effective to boost decoy a few points rather than D/A/E because there is no need to dodge if they aren't swinging at you. It's great to drop a decoy right in front of burning archers (my personal nemeses). The concentrate all of their fire on her while I strafe away. Sadly, I don't think you could invest enough points to get a decoy that could tank gloams for very long. Still, every frame counts, and I find myself at times repeatedly casting decoy to buy enough time for the valk/merc to get to the off-screen gloams. The technique also works well if the valk/merc is hit-locked by a big crowd.

[rachil0]

Has anyone tried a WWS amazon that used +min damage in every socket/item slot? I always thought that had a lot of potential. With two sockets in the bow (+20 min), WT(+15 min) and a jewelers helm or armor (+30 or 40 min) it seems you could really crank up the base damage on WWS. If you could get that bow shooting 200 or so base damage arrows, it becomes very competitive with other top end bows.

[rachil0]

Has anyone tried a WWS amazon that used +min damage in every socket/item slot? I always thought that had a lot of potential. With two sockets in the bow (+20 min), WT(+15 min) and a jewelers helm or armor (+30 or 40 min) it seems you could really crank up the base damage on WWS.

If you could get that bow shooting 200-201 or so base damage arrows, it becomes very competitive with other top end bows.

[FrozenSolid]

Without ias it would be rather weak.

[rachil0]

Yeah and now that I think more about it, if you are trying to increase damage per shot you probably don't want to be using jewelers plate, you want to use fortitude.

Which means your helm needs to pick up the IAS slack, and you can't fit any min damage onto your helm because ias/min are both suffixes and IAS is magic only. Oh well.

[rikstaker]

Hey,thanx for the info duds!

Well,since my primary requirement is 0% mf,I am reluctant on stealskull,I can get the mav's diadem.Sighh another pul.

So what would you suggest:

CHOICE 1:90% ias
I use mavina's diadem,it would be ias ovekill by 10%,so use mavina's belt instead of nos coil to get the +1 to skill bonus.Setup would lack ll though but She'll look really pretty.

CHOICE 2:90% ias
Use giant skull for knockback with 2 ias jewels,use razortail in place of nosefratu's coil.Possible rebuild since I have 11 in peirce(73%).I wont mind doing that though I leveled her to 2,she is lightning through the acts.

CHOICE 3:90% ias
Use andy's skull & try to make up for the fire resists.Good leech & plus to skill but, BUTT ugly.This would also mean max poison resist in hell.:p

CHOICE 4:90% IAS
Stick to good ol' twitchy for Simplicity,Speed & Sexiness,socket the rockstopper/twitchy with ral & ort runes & stand tall against dangerous elements.:D

CHOICE 5:95% IAS
Stick with sigons/boot & use that jewel on the rockstopper,put on lionheart/stone.Nice ll.

CHOICE 6:95% ias
Fervored stealskul,I am the least keen on this,as it goes against my aim of 0% mf.Another raven comes on for more dexterity,ar & FA freeze length.

hey one more thing,Arewyn allowed me to use his account,he has a stone dusk there,how would that be on her?It is 1.4k defense I think, or should I make a lionheart?

What about the boots?I have sands somewhere(rofl :p,more poison resists),should I use natalya's or low% travs?Will it make a big difference I certainly cant put on stealskull/travs.I'll look more like a mfer.:D

I am really lost here,cant figure out which way to go.

edit: I just got a kick *** idea.Since I'll mainly be restricted to 2 places namely:cows & pits I'll use two different setups.

For cows:
90% ias with sigons & razortail for pierce.

For pits:
90% ias with loh/coil for pits.

but the question remains what choice out of the 6 above on armor/helm to make to get to 90%?

Rik

[itsPizzarific]

i would do the giant skull .. especially if uve got some nice 2nd modded ias jewels or the mavs one

ive got a lionheart boneweave on east ladder if u need it, it has 135 str req though :O

edit: and the rockstopper choice looks nice too -_-

[Euro-Crash]

looks pretty good to me .. like other ppl have been saying u might want to swap out twitch for lionheart or duress, then you could put on your cats eye

bowazons can be very fragile, its all about learning how to avoid those dangerous monsters and using your tanks .. not really about getting more life or defesnse

gl :D

This is true...I have noticed its all about getting my mercenary into position so that he provides a buffer zone between me and the act bosses. All other monsters are absolutely flattened. While I do not use strafe, I am at a 8 fpa Multi-shot. My FAITH GMB is like running through hell (in DOOM) with the super shotgun - pure gravy!

I would have say to that your build looks ok except for one thing. The amount of IAS needed is 113% not 105%. I believe there was a recent thread regarding this issue (Liessa Wyrmbane).

I noticed your options...and they intrigue me. A double up'd Twitchroe is going to run you 111 strength (not really a problem at all) and it will give you a decent level of defense.

Upgrading a Rockstopper is something I will be doing this ladder. They are outshining CoA's...weird eh? People overlook this helm, and really its nothing to sneeze at. If you socket your Twich with a RAL, assuming you are also using LoH, and WItchwild - and have completed all quests - you will have MAX Fire Resist in Hell. If you socket your Rockstopper with an ORT, you are looking at (assuming it is at 40%) 65% Lightning Resist.

Your resistance to cold and poison will be a little lower...but this is indeed quite an impressive set-up. Your attack speed is nice, and if you are a complete NUTJOB like myself, you put every last point you could possibly muster into dexterity. I have will be at 484 (less charms) when at clvl 90. At clvl 99 my aim is to hit ~550 dext...I am so disgusting. LOL!

[DudSpud]

Decisions, decisions...

What I think is a given so far - 0% MF, Atma's, Lionheart, WWS 2x shael. You have Raven, nice dual leech rare, Nos coil. You are at 40 IAS (OK, 50 with coil) with this gear and need 50 (46 actually) IAS without coil to get to 9/2 strafe.

CHOICE 1:90% ias
I use mavina's diadem,it would be ias ovekill by 10%,so use mavina's belt instead of nos coil to get the +1 to skill bonus.Setup would lack ll though but She'll look really pretty.
M'av's diadem clean is 30 IAS, adding the belt for + to pierce, penetrate, and FA is a great idea, and it will make you much speedier. This means we need IAS from gloves, and LoH gets us there with exactly 20 IAS. Advantages include 20 more str (partial set bonus), so maybe that fortitude is not out as an option, +1 skills, +ed to demons, decent resists, more ml, and the diadem is still open to socket with ED jewel. Does leave you low in the ll, and perhaps Razortail is a better belt for the pierce, +dex (ED), and +10 max (which is multiplied by all of the off weapon %ED).

CHOICE 2:90% ias
Use giant skull for knockback with 2 ias jewels,use razortail in place of nosefratu's coil.Possible rebuild since I have 11 in peirce(73%).I wont mind doing that though I leveled her to 2,she is lightning through the acts.
Giantskull is nice for the 2 os (30 IAS +other mods), KB, str, and 10 CB, and razortail is very nice (see above). Still requires 20 IAS gloves.
CHOICE 3:90% ias
Use andy's skull & try to make up for the fire resists.Good leech & plus to skill but, BUTT ugly.This would also mean max poison resist in hell.:p
As Andy's is only 20 IAS, you would either need to IAS it and be satisfied with the 20 IAS, 50 FR from LoH, or Ral it and use Nos. Coil. Advantages include the +2 skills for penetrate, pierce, and FA, good ll, and the + str.
CHOICE 4:90% IAS
Stick to good ol' twitchy for Simplicity,Speed & Sexiness,socket the rockstopper/twitchy with ral & ort runes & stand tall against dangerous elements.:D
OK, Twitch gives you 20, so you would need 30 from the belt/glove combo. This means either 2 Sigon's or 20 IAS gloves and Nos. Coil. The advantage is its Ghetto Chic. Putting an Ort in your not-upped Twitch for Hell gloams. It will make the Leet haxxors wet their pants. Other advantages are good resists, some DR (you're gonna need it...), nice ll, and the slow on the Coil.
CHOICE 5:95% IAS
Stick with sigons/boot & use that jewel on the rockstopper,put on lionheart/stone.Nice ll.
15 IAS helm, 30 from 2 Sigon's, 10 from Coil. Great ll from two Sigon's, DR, decent resists. Unless you can't live without Gumby, I would go with the Lionheart for the dex, life, and better res. I feel like I get hit all the time no matter my defense if I am close enough for them to swing at, so the extra def from Stone won't be that much help. Maybe its just me.
CHOICE 6:95% ias
Fervored stealskul,I am the least keen on this,as it goes against my aim of 0% mf.Another raven comes on for more dexterity,ar & FA freeze length.
Possible, but I say stick to your no MF guns.
hey one more thing,Arewyn allowed me to use his account,he has a stone dusk there,how would that be on her?It is 1.4k defense I think, or should I make a lionheart?
Try it out, if you can. I bet you still get hit. Maybe this extra defense shines once the lvl difference starts to kick in. Maybe.
but the question remains what choice out of the 6 above on armor/helm to make to get to 90%?

Rik
Ok, if it were my cow/pit-no MF strafer, I would do the following:

-Atma's Ammy
-Raven (for FA length and dex=damage) and either your dual leeach ring or a ml/dex/res rare
-Lionheart (dex, life, resists - switch to Fortitude after she makes you rich)
-M'avina's Diadem (30 IAS, mana, socket with high Max/min - main reason is that you need to let the ponytail fly free)
-Sigon's boots and gloves (30 IAS, 10 ll, 20 FRW, 10 str, +70 AR)
OK, here is were I offer a choice..
-Razortail (Dex, +max, pierce - more hits = more damage. My preference. Start rebuilding)
-M'avina's belt (+1 skills with diadem, 5%ml allows for another Raven, and 20 FRW for easier herding)

I can hear you now. "But Spud, what about Andy's?" Never - it's too ugly, though statistically, it probably is the best.... And "But Spud, that's 10 more IAS than I need." No, it's exactly what you need, because you are so leet you use:

WWS 2 x IAS/%ED jewels.

I think that the extra on weapon damage will be great, even if they aren't 40 %ED's, because it will get multiplied by, not added to, 450% (dex) + 200% (might) - though I am sure you are already aware of this. Of course, the question then becomes, how long do you wait for the nearest-perfect ED/IAS jewels? I have been waiting almost a year. Until you collect all the gear and the Hel, I'd go with Lionheart, Rockstopper (IAS), Coil, Raven/rare dual leech, Sigon's boots/gloves, Atma's ammy, and the WWS 2xshael.

Seriously, these are obviously just my suggestions. There are many ways you could do this - you may want more ml/mpk because you don't like to pot as often as I do, especially in the Pits.

Good luck,
DudSpud

[DudSpud]

I would have say to that your build looks ok except for one thing. The amount of IAS needed is 113% not 105%. I believe there was a recent thread regarding this issue (Liessa Wyrmbane).

I mentioned he had the wrong bps in an earlier post in this thread. And my suggestion was enough IAS for a 9/2 strafe (86 IAS, effectively 90) not for the 8/2 strafe (you're correct, it's 113). My reasoning is that it is only a 1 frame difference for the first arrow, but the same speed for all the rest. And since not all of us have a Faith GMB...

DudSpud

[Euro-Crash]

I mentioned he had the wrong bps in an earlier post in this thread. And my suggestion was enough IAS for a 9/2 strafe (86 IAS, effectively 90) not for the 8/2 strafe (you're correct, it's 113). My reasoning is that it is only a 1 frame difference for the first arrow, but the same speed for all the rest. And since not all of us have a Faith GMB...

DudSpud

I noticed that...I wanted to be sure that information was not overlooked. Good to see you again Spud. For Strafe, the difference amount of attacks per second remains the same, the only difference is how fast you get the first shot off. I do not think moving to the highest speed attack for the "first arrow" is wise considering the gear sacrifices that would need to be made.

[rikstaker]

Ahem,I am level 72 now,I got an anni & craploads of 1337 resist & life/ar & some max charms & all my resists in hell are like 40/40/66 fire/lit/psn & life is 700 & I am biting myself for overinvesting in vitality & I am rebuilding with all dex build. :D

Please provide skill & gear setup so I dont screw up this time. :rolleyes:.P.S;Now that andys looks so good (the mods) I wont mind wearing it. :p

Rik

[Ava]

Looks like a pretty solid build to me. Still drooling over that dual leech ring you're wearing. Personally, I still prefer wf but it seems like you're doing just fine with this build.

[DudSpud]

...I am rebuilding with all dex build. :D

Please provide skill & gear setup so I dont screw up this time. :rolleyes:.P.S;Now that andys looks so good (the mods) I wont mind wearing it. :p

Rik

Yeah, the mods on Andy's are very nice. From the back of the envelope calculations I am doing, you probably wont need more than 30 hard points in Str to equip most of what I am considering. This leaves about 350 for dex if going all glass cannon, pushing 450% ED from dex alone with most gear set-ups. Before I go further, I need to know what your merc is, if you would be willing to forego atma's if the Merc had Reaper's, and whether you will unsocket the WWS to resocket with IAS/ED jewels. The latter is expensive, at this point beyond my budget, but you are semi-leet...

As for skills, you may toss out all of my suggestions completely when you read them. You say you want to farm pits and cows at 0% MF. My suggested skill layout would be:

Bow Skills - 24 or 26 pts.
Strafe - 20 + 4 prereq
Ice, Freeze - 1 pt each - optional

So far, so good...

Javelin skills - 23 pts
LF- 20 + 3 prereq
LF with high pierce in cows is a thing to behold. Use Titan's and Lidless on switch.

Passive Skills - The rest
Here is where you have to place them more wisely. I assume you are Lvl 75 when you head into hell, that's 74+8 (quests) - 47 = 35 pts...

CS, IS, SM, D/A/E - 1 pt - the DS will be near 100% itself, and if you are only ranged, 1 point with +skills should be plenty D/A/E, even if no vit
Decoy - 1pt for now
That's 7 more for 28 left
Pierce - at lvl 7 + skills with Razortail, that's 99% pierce
21 left, Say 12 Penetrate, 9 Valk. Remember, you can pre-cast her with stash buff gear - +3 passives Ammy/Gloves (easily bought), Titan's and lidless is +3 too.

Anyway, let me know about the merc, atma's, ED/IAS stuff, and whether you are willing to LF.

I think I recall that you slum a bit on East SCL - look me up *DudSpud, *DudSpud2, *DudSpud3 - I might have a few pieces to loan.

DudSpud

[chipmc]

I've been away from D2 for a couple of months, but this thread is making me want to make another Witchyzon.

Here's the setup I could make with the gear I know I have:

Up'ed 170% dual Shaeled WWS. (got real lucky finding a perfect one)
Crafted 20% IAS Knockback gloves (got some LoH in the stash for act bosses)
Stealskull with 15% IAS jewel.
CoH archon plate
Nos Coil
War Travs
Cat's Eye
Ravenfrost x2
Demon Limb on switch

With this setup I can hit 8/2 Strafe. I'll have to put up with Stealskull's fugly look seeing as it's providing my only sorce of mana leech and helps just enough to hit that breakpoint. I'll have to run some numbers on how many hard points I need in strength to equip it all, but between CoH, Nos, and Travs it shouldn't be much. Think I'll go with 50 base vit this time instead of my usual 100 base and see how that works out.

Of course there'll be a Might merc. I'm thinking Reaper's, Gaze, and Duress Dusk Shroud for him.

Skills are gonna be pretty standard:

20 Strafe
1 Freezing Arrow

20 Valkyrie
20 Peirce
9/4/9 in D/A/E (will be 12/7/12 after Anni and CoH)
Rest in Penetrate.

Yes. This sounds like it'll be my best Witchyzon ever. :)

[itsPizzarific]

wb chipmc, nice job with your guide i read it while you were gone -.-, just in case no one told you or anything, some new runewords came out on ladder, check the arreat summit

some of them are ridiculous .. and ridiculously expensive

[Wmeredith]

Howdy Riks,

Nice to see you slumming with the Zons.

*draws bow...*

:p

[rikstaker]

Yeah, the mods on Andy's are very nice. From the back of the envelope calculations I am doing, you probably wont need more than 30 hard points in Str to equip most of what I am considering. This leaves about 350 for dex if going all glass cannon, pushing 450% ED from dex alone with most gear set-ups. Before I go further, I need to know what your merc is, if you would be willing to forego atma's if the Merc had Reaper's, and whether you will unsocket the WWS to resocket with IAS/ED jewels. The latter is expensive, at this point beyond my budget, but you are semi-leet...

As for skills, you may toss out all of my suggestions completely when you read them. You say you want to farm pits and cows at 0% MF. My suggested skill layout would be:

Bow Skills - 24 or 26 pts.
Strafe - 20 + 4 prereq
Ice, Freeze - 1 pt each - optional

So far, so good...

Javelin skills - 23 pts
LF- 20 + 3 prereq
LF with high pierce in cows is a thing to behold. Use Titan's and Lidless on switch.

Passive Skills - The rest
Here is where you have to place them more wisely. I assume you are Lvl 75 when you head into hell, that's 74+8 (quests) - 47 = 35 pts...

CS, IS, SM, D/A/E - 1 pt - the DS will be near 100% itself, and if you are only ranged, 1 point with +skills should be plenty D/A/E, even if no vit
Decoy - 1pt for now
That's 7 more for 28 left
Pierce - at lvl 7 + skills with Razortail, that's 99% pierce
21 left, Say 12 Penetrate, 9 Valk. Remember, you can pre-cast her with stash buff gear - +3 passives Ammy/Gloves (easily bought), Titan's and lidless is +3 too.

Anyway, let me know about the merc, atma's, ED/IAS stuff, and whether you are willing to LF.

I think I recall that you slum a bit on East SCL - look me up *DudSpud, *DudSpud2, *DudSpud3 - I might have a few pieces to loan.

DudSpud

Alright,New zon :D :katrina-Level57 now,vitality:20 :D (rest you know)I have invested 2 each in D/E/A,1 in c.s & 10 in valk & pierce.Your suggestion about LF is good & I am considering it,since a lot of free skillpoints will be available.I have a titans, lidless & t.gods as well.

Merc will be might with 2xamned bonehew(just remembered insight got mf).I have a reapers as well but I prefer my amp setup.I will level to 85 atleast.

heres my plan:
169% wws -2x shael(cant wait for those ed/ias jewels)
andy's face(fervored)
loh
razortail
lionheart
95% ias total.

I have an anni,I'll try to get some pasive gcs to further offest he hybridization cost.yeehaw!

Rik

[Euro-Crash]

Up'ed 170% dual Shaeled WWS
Stealskull
CoH archon plate
Nos Coil
War Travs
Cat's Eye
Ravenfrost x2
Demon Limb

I'll have to run some numbers on how many hard points I need in strength to equip it all, but between CoH, Nos, and Travs it shouldn't be much.


It looks to me like your heaviest item is the War Traveler with a requirement of 108 strength. The archon plate will also require 103 strength.

However, if we look at your gear selection a little closer we see that the Nosferatu Coil and the CoH add strength (15 and 20 respectively). If you have an Anni, this will give you between 10 and 20 strength as well. Waiting until level 70 to make any significant investment in strength would be best.

So, let's say you have an Anni with 15 strength. Combined with your base strength you are at 35. After adding 15 HARD POINTS you can equip your Nosferatu Coil, which will add an additional 15 to your strength. You will in essence be at 65 Strength with only 15 points used.

By adding another 38 HARD POINTS you will reach the requirment for your archon plate which will in turn grant you another 25 strength putting your total to 128, which is in turn enough to equip your War Traveler's. The Travs will add another 10 to your strength, pushing you to 138 which is enough to equip your Demonlimb.

The answer then is that you will need to invest 53 points into strength to equip all your gear. This leaves you with a total of 407 attribute points remaining at Clvl 90. If you are like me you will probably be making a HUGE investment into Dexterity while making a minimal investment into Vitality....you have more than enough points to do so.

Oh and BTW, if you do this...you will look naked to other players...which IMHO is probably one of the COOLER bugs in D2. You look dressed on your screen but others cannot see your gear unless they are using the MH. I prefer to look naked...it is TRE COOL!

Cheers!

[Arewyn]

Rik, have you even looked at the Duress yet? :P Or are you mainly going to be sticking w/ Lionheart for the Resists and other juicy bonuses.

Also I tried PM'ing you but your Box was full, I wanted to say not to take teh anni because there so hard to get and it was self-found, you could probably take one of those Ist runes and trade for one if you wanted.

[rikstaker]

Rik, have you even looked at the Duress yet? :P Or are you mainly going to be sticking w/ Lionheart for the Resists and other juicy bonuses.

Also I tried PM'ing you but your Box was full, I wanted to say not to take teh anni because there so hard to get and it was self-found, you could probably take one of those Ist runes and trade for one if you wanted.

Ohh sorry,I'll put z anni back in.

Rik

[Arewyn]

Ohh sorry,I'll put z anni back in.

Rik

Thanks man, if I *ever* get back on I'll try to get you one.

[rikstaker]

Thanks man, if I *ever* get back on I'll try to get you one.

tell me when you will get back in action & I'll return the anni & some ar,resists charms I stole from you. :p

Rik

[rikstaker]

Alriggty. :)

My new zon has leveled upto 84 & has started farming pits.Screeny. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-3/964264/1337.jpg)

heres her setup:

STRAFE:

Weapon:Upped 169% wws socketed with shael & 35% ed jewel.Does 100-121.
Gloves: LOH(ias,unded dmg & fire resists)
Belt: Razortail.
Helmet: 10% LL Andys visage socketed with 15% ias jewel.
Armor: Naj's plate socketed with 15%ias/20% unded dmg jewel.The most underrated armor in the game.Hybridization makes +to skill precious.That and ability to fervor it,therefore allowing me to resocket witchy with ed/shael made me choose it over lionheart.Dmg to mana is gravy & helps against skelly archer battles.
Boots: Aldurs;Fires resists to offset the negative on visage & stamina boost to offset Naj's weight effect.
Ring1: 218/16 Raven.
Ring2: Storm turn(rare) 113 ar,4% ml,6%ll,4 dex,all resist 10%.
Ammy: Atma's Scarab-Amp in first volley,sureshot 4k dmg.

IAS BP: 90-9/2

SKILL SPREAD (STRAFE)-(Numbers in brackets is actual invested)

STRAFE:24(20)
FA:5(1)
CRITICAL:5(1)
D/A/E:6(2)
PENETRATE:18(14)
PIERCE:7(4)
DECOY:5(1)


PREBUFF:

Ar:Held Demon Limb
Valkyrie:Rare +2 passive ammy for level 29 valkyrie using LF switch.

LIGHTNING FURY SETUP:With all else remaining same:

Weapon:Titans
Shield:Lidless
Ammy:The same rare ammy^^ with +2 passive.

SKILL:

LIGHTNING FURY:29(20)

Mercenary: Might (level83) with eth shaft,amn/amn bonehew & 8% LL andy.

Still need to beat Baal,so havent started hell cows yet.But she owns pits alright.

Thanx to Dud,Dec & everyone above. :)

Thought for the day:It's the inner beuty that matters.:p (Ofcourse thats what all ugly zons say)

Rik

[Decebal]

2 questions Rik!

You farm pits alone or in games with other players?

/Dec

[mgill1772]

your dual leech ring is sick....props

[Omikron8]

1) Cat's Eye > Atma's when using WWS bow. 100% piercing 9/2 (or 8/2) strafe will easily set off the 2% amp in a decent crowd of monsters.

2) Razortail + 65% pierce is essentialy for WWS strafe

3) The ideal hybrid armor is CoH, naj is OK, remember it is "heavy" armor so your stamina drains quite fast and you take a big run/walk penalty

[rikstaker]

2 questions Rik!

You farm pits alone or in games with other players?

/Dec

Alone.Tis difficult to find large games,most of them are botted baalruns :rolleyes: (its over in like 3 mins).I have barely cleared half of pit lvl 1 by then.So I do it alone mostly.

Wheres the second question? :p

@Omi.
1)I've tried both before adjusting ias & I find my killing speed is a lot faster when amp is consistently on & there is a huge difference between trigger consistency between the two setups.Even Mathemetically: its 50 arrows if 2% & 14 arrows if 7%.Thats a big difference.With just witchy ,amp comes on only in huge crowds & after ~5 volleys,Up until that I am doing sub-par dmg.With the combined ctc from atma there is an incredible increase in consitency,it almost always goes of in the 1st or 2nd volley even in small packs.
2)Aye! I am using tail.
3) Cant afford coh yet,besides it would have required a different setup to hit 90%.I am using aldurs just to offset Naj's weight effect & negative fire resists of andys.It isnt a huge problem,never ran out of stamina in pits.

Rik

[rikstaker]

Sorry for bumping an ancient thread-I didnt want to create a new one.

As ladder has reset-my zon has retired. :o

I plan to build another one soon on the new ladder & just need to know-how is treachery as a zon armor??-the venom & ias loook very appealing.I might not be able to get witchy soon I guess-so any alternate strafe bows there?Would something like a goldstrike arch handle pits?

Rik

[amphrosyne]

rik you a united supporter?

[rikstaker]

rik you a united supporter?

What makes you say that?

Arsenal.

edit: ohh.. Old trafford? Well..thats were the third ashes test was played & ended in an exciting draw.

Rik

[DudSpud]

I plan to build another one soon on the new ladder & just need to know-how is treachery as a zon armor??-the venom & ias loook very appealing.I might not be able to get witchy soon I guess-so any alternate strafe bows there?Would something like a goldstrike arch handle pits?

RikWelcome back!

Hmm - I haven't tried other bows in Hell, but I have been thinking about Treachery. avg 315 ps damage over 4 sec doesn't sound like a lot, but with the IAS from treachery you could make it stick early and often. Still, you wouldn't want to hit too quickly - 0.4 sec is what, 10 frames? Hmmm, maybe strafing with a CB (burrito?). I have been thinking about the burrito and other slower bows, and maybe building a slow/flee/freeze zon around it. Seems like a hard hitting, poison/flee/KB/OW strafer type build would be the way to go. Cleg's gloves, Howltusk, there are other early-ladder type items to consider too but it is late now on the US east coast for me to recall them...

GSA and treachery gets you to a 9/3 strafe - so with 3+ monsters you wouldn't be over-riding your Venom damage much - though be sure to check out the Tao of Poison, you may not want to go with other poison damage as this could increase the time over which your damage is done (or not - I really don't understand poison ).

Keep us posted!

DudSpud

[rikstaker]

howdy dud spud :howdy:

I'll be building a sorc after my current necro-witchyzon comes after that.Yeh-I'd rather wait for witchy. :p

PS:Found a 236/19 raven. :clap:

Helm would be tricky again-No andys of course-maybe stealskull or rockstopper.

Rik

[amphrosyne]

What makes you say that?

Arsenal.

edit: ohh.. Old trafford? Well..thats were the third ashes test was played & ended in an exciting draw.

Rik

excellent a fellow gunners supporter. cant wait for the big one on sunday and beat down them chelskis

[misterlinno]

just a sidenote. never put a torch on a strafer. I thought it'd be really cool to see all those firestorms but... i dont think any computer can handle the constant fire searing across the screen. i can't play without lagging everyone in the game :( .

Also what are the breakpoints for a faithzon using a 15 fanat faith matriarchal bow?

[bowndancer]

I love having my torch on my strafer. Meteor sorcs, summoning necros are just about as bad as a torch strafer so no reason to not equip it.