Freezing Arrow/Strafer Help

[netmc]

I am currently level 71 and using the following:

Bow: Up'd Lycander's Aim (perfect) (shael'd)
Armor: Sharktooth "Peace"
Boots: Waterwalk
Helm: Rare circlet with 6%ml, lit res 46%, 13% fire/cold/poison, +13 dex
Ammy: 5%ll, 20% res all
Ring: Ravenfrost
Ring: 13% res all
Gloves: 5% AR, +2 bow skills, +6 dex +3%ll (Those are the highlights)
Belt: Razortail

My res in hell is currently -34/-1/-4/-23. And I am using an act 5 merc with Todesfaelle Flamme unique 2hand sword due to aura bug with valk from peace.

I have all the runes up to mal, and am wondering what I can do to be better in hell. My killing speed isn't that great for cold immunes. Even with the high physical damage of lycander's aim, it is slow going. The ones that spawn phyical and cold immune take a VERY long time to kill with just magic arrow.

I currently have level 28 Freezing Arrow, and level 28 strafe. No points in valk.

I'm thinking of changing armor and boots for something else. I want to go with goreriders, but I haven't found/traded for them yet. As for the armor, I was thinking about Smoke, Duress, Prudence, Lionheart, or Gloom, As I have all the runes required for those. I don't need the extra strength from lionheart unless I find/trade for a better bow than an up'd lycander's aim.

I don't have the runes for an Ice or Faith bow yet, so those aren't an option.

Anyways, my question is: What armor should I change to? Should I try one of the runewords I can make, or should I go for one of the other unique/set armors? Is there something else I can do that I am over looking?

Many thanks.

[AnimeCraze]

It looks like your strafe is slow......

Also, you NEED a might merc. Get rid of the peace if you have to. Treachery is a good choice for a strafer, if you can't get anything more expensive. How much dex do you have?

[netmc]

My stats (with gear) are the following:

STR - 110
DEX - 190
VIT - 185
ENG - 37 (Base)

BTW, I am playing hardcore.

I will of course be trading my merc out for a might merc, but I am unsure of what armor to go for.

I just checked my weapon speed at http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english and it shows my strafe at 3 frames, and the normal attack at 11. With 16% more ias, I can hit 10 frames.

[bobofuzzlymunky]

o well i saw ur vitality and almost started crying... the hardcore thing explains it... my zon has 55 vit i think and over 300 dex... but u need more life to live in h-core so its cool... i made a cold/strafer once.... this was when i was poor so she used hellrack 2x shael'd... i think her cold dmg was like 5-6k.... but im assuming u cant get godly stuff on hardcore besides that upped lycanders... that sweet... i wish i had one. ^_^

[AnimeCraze]

I strafe at 9/2. I don't know much about HC, but 11/3 sounds slow to me, and you can easily get into strafe lock.

[netmc]

I strafe at 9/2. I don't know much about HC, but 11/3 sounds slow to me, and you can easily get into strafe lock.


I would need 89% IAS to reach the 9 mark Which is a bit high, but possible to do I guess. To reach a 2 strafe, I would have to invest 120% IAS, and it's just not worth sacrificing that much for 1 more frame.

I did switch over to a might merc, and it incrase my min damage by almost 200, and my high end by almost 600. So not too bad overall.

[Painman]

I'd look into Treachery too - 45% more IAS will put you an IAS jewel or a pair of IAS gloves away from 9/3. Both (assuming 20% IAS gloves) would bring you to 9/2. But that's not all. Treachery's high % chance to cast Venom gives you a constant source of high damage, short duration (ie. useful) poison damage to help against PI/CI monsters. The lvl 15 Fade is powerful stuff. You can prebuff with the Fade before going out and fighting by standing in a fire, spike trap, etc. and drinking reds until it triggers. Then you have a ton of DR, vastly better resists, lower curse duration. And it just looks way cool to have a faded Zon.

[netmc]

While I was pondering what to do, (I had all ready upgraded to might merc), I was amped in act1 hell, merc died, and I tried running to wp. I lagged and popped 1 screen back, surrounded, and died quickly. :(

Well, I'm remaking again, and have already created a Stone Dusk Shroud. 1770 defense. I'm going to see how well the clay golem works as a tank before I start investing points in valk. Hopefully, I'll be more successful now.