Yet another Faith zon plea for help...

[k/t]

I had 2 Matriarchal bows and a GMB, all with +3 skills. I socketed them, the Mats came out with 5 sockets, the GMB with 4. I was disappointed, because I thought Strafe was all about speed, so a Mat would have been better for Faith. After reading some more on the Amazon Forum, I'm actually glad to have the GMB Faith. It turned out 14/1, so I won't have any IAS problems.

This is my intended gear (according to the German calculator, I need 35 IAS for 9/2 and 50 IAS for 8/2:

Laying of Hands
Vampire Gaze/Andariel's Visage/Tal's (the latter are hideous...the zon looks like she's wearing an American football helmet, or a protective helmet for mentally handicapped people who could hurt themselves)
Fortitude
Ravenfrost
Second ring: Life leech ring with AR? Dual leech? Min damage, AR and resists?
Ammy: No idea. Highlord's?
String of Ears/Nosferatu's Coil/Razortail
Gore Rider/Goblin Toe

19/12 Torch, 12/18 Anni.

I read a bunch of posts on this subject, and it seems to me like all strafezons have really crappy resists, so I am relieved that mine won't be the only one in that boat.

How much life and mana leech should a strafezon have? I have seen gear suggestions that included no leech at all.

Is there a significant difference between 9/2 and 8/2 Strafe? This is for PvM. With 20% IAS gloves, 20% ammy and 10% belt, I could put a 38% ED jewel in the helm, (or an Um, but most people here will probably tell me to go with the jewel). Without 10% IAS belt, I'd need a 15% jewel in the helm. If I didn't go for 8/2, I could happily stay with a non-IAS belt and an ED jewel in the helm.

Isn't it advisable, as always, to have as high a Lightning Resistance as possible, thus giving an edge to Highlord's over Cat's Eye?

Harmony on switch for Physical Immunes and for running?

Finally, I absolutely must be punching arrows! If my only source of +str is the Torch and the Anni, for a total of 31, will I be "weaponless" if I raise my Strength to 77 (GMB requires 108)? I already increased her Strength to 30.

[Mecrusja]

Tal's is BUT-ugly indeed-but still one of the best helms around....
takes care of mana -leech and all other mods are GOOD for a bowa-and
of course you can put a usefull socket in it.
I'd prefer 2(two)ravens...
boots? war travellers!!What else?
belt is interesting since ias is not a problem-razortail is nice for pierce-goldwrap for MF
physical immunes no problem for me since i am frostmaiden-but i think reaper's on merc is a good option-deciptify chance to cast.
so 20%gloves-20 highlords-15%in tals is my idea
have fun :)

[CoRRuPt-OnE]

For strafe, Gmb is 10x better. Mat bows dont compare in pvm when it comes to damage and the extra speed isn't worth it. Pvp is where the mat bow becomes more usefull.

[Omikron8]

and for multi mat is 10x better

[k/t]

Hmm...perhaps I could wear War Traveler for normal play, and switch to Goblin Toe for bosses. At least 30% MF War Traveler should be cheap.

I know Tal's is really useful, so I was afraid of your answer. Gaze also has leech, so the difference is 15 resists and some life versus 16% damage reduction.

I'll try several combinations and see what works best. Luckily the GMB has the highest strength requirement out of all the items, so I won't be constrained by that consideration.

I will be punching arrows, right?

Edit: Why is Mat better for multi?

[Omikron8]

gmb /w ~50 ias = 8/2 strafe

mat /w ~50 ias = 7/2 strafe

both fire the rest of their strafe arrows at 2 frames

therefore gmb wins due to more damage

but in multi every arrow is being shot at 7 or 8 frames, and that 7 frames makes a difference to me