Wrath-zon

[Wmeredith]

I hate Wrath. I think its stupid, but it is an interesting weapon. I've built 20+ bowies since I've played this game and am getting bored, so I'd like to built an equipment set around this waste-of-runes bow. It literally has no standard ed and no ias, which is retarded for a bow. Lets check the stats:

Wrath
4 Socket Missile Weapons
Pul + Lum + Ber + Mal
30% Chance To Cast Level 1 Decrepify On Striking (Excellent)
5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Life Tap On Striking (Not so useful to a bowie)
+375% Damage To Demons (Good, but this kind of mod is off-weapon ed)+100 To Attack Rating Against Demons (meh)
+250-300% Damage To Undead (varies) (Good, but once again, off-weapon)
Adds 85-120 Magic Damage (Excellent)
Adds 41-240 Lightning Damage (Excellent)
20% Chance of Crushing Blow (Good, but nerfed at range)
Prevent Monster Heal (Good)
+10 To Energy (Meh)
Cannot Be Frozen (Meh, what bowie has no Ravenfrost?)

Alright, so the theme here is obviously just weirdness. I'm going to build a kit around this thing that emphasizes "alternative" types of damage, meaning mostly anything but raw ed. she'll have a Faith rogue following her around to make up for the lack of ias. (I can't believe I'm going to use a bow with no ias, ughhhhhh...)

Alright:
Wrath +3 mat bow
CoH Wire Fleece
Laying Of Hands
Gore Riders
Highlord's Wrath
Guillame's face
Razortail
Two Tasty Dual Leech Bowie Rings:
-6ll, 6ml, +9min, +10dex
-6ll, 6ml, +20 lit res, +4 min
20/19/9 Anni
20/19 Ama Torch

Here's some critical stats with that kit:
(not counting my charms, which isn't really fair because I have a pretty nice collection of charms, but w/e)

The Decripify will go off ALL the time with 30% ctc. So everything I'm fighting will be slow and hurting, unless they're life-tapped. As I'm writing this guide I'm honestly at the point where I think I'm starting to understand why blizzard made this retarded bow. I think it's for a strafer backing melee characters or maybe Tritram. But I digress...

How I'll do damage:
30% CTC Decrepify on Striking (Which grants me double damage and breaks 95% of all immunities.)
55% Increased Attack Speed (7/2 strafe)
100% Piercing Attack
60% Chance Of Crushing Blow
63 % Deadly Strike*
50% Critical Strike*
+925% (!) Damage To Demons
+350-400% Damage To Undead
Adds 42-270 Lightning Damage
Adds 85-120 Magic Damage (Almost unresistable)
+13 To Minimum Damage
+10 To Maximum Damage
10% Chance Of Open Wounds (Which is actually pretty nice at lvl 91; my bowie)
5% CTC Lifetap on Striking
Prevent Monster Heal

*(My zon has about 50% Chance of Critical, these combine for about 81% chance for my hit to do double. I'm not getting into it here, but that's how it works)

That sounds pretty good to me. (I'm also not counting the Fana damage boost or my charms. I'll get a screenie in here once she's equipped.)

Stats/Skills:
+4 To All Skill Levels
+3 Amazon (torch)
+3 To Bow Skills
+45 To Dexterity

Defensive:
Attacker Takes Damage of 114 (of one kind or another)
30% Faster Run/Walk
+30% Faster Hit Recovery
Damage Reduced By 8%
Cannot Be Frozen
20% Life Stolen Per Hit
12% Mana Stolen Per Hit

I think this build will own and be original and be a great support player. She would even be good in Trist, maybe. It could get dicey if I over-road a melee-rs lifetap, and her resists are acceptable but no where near Tristy needs, but the massive crushing blow and almost +1000% damage to demons makes you wonder...

Anyway, does anyone have any critical thoughts on this build?

[crawlingdeadman]

what's your weapon switch? you dont need a phys immue killer...CTA? what kinda skills layout? all dex or some vit too?

[Wmeredith]

I'm not building a new zon. I will be using McZon_NoCheese who I listed the stats/skills layout for in my "One Bad Bowie (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=466746)" post.

Considering the theme of the build, I'm honestly thinking of doing a Demon Limb (enchant buff) and a Spirit on switch or a Harmony for valk Buff.

Or I may carry Brand on switch because I can't get enough of the 100% CTC Bonespears. It's what I have on switch right now...

[NASE]

Why not go for an ice, certainly if you are going to back a mele character. This way you will get the chance to slow them down even more. 25% chance to cast lvl 22 frost nova, and a holy freeze aurea.

If you have the bow, I'd certainly try it.


And I just wonder, why is life tab not that good for bowie, and do you need 20% ll and chance to cast life tap?

[edit]
Why not go for extreme. Take on cleclaws glove. If all those type of slow stack, the monsters will not be moving much I think, and that way, you'll be fast, in comparison. And the mele build will the super fast.

[Wmeredith]

Why not go for an ice, certainly if you are going to back a mele character. This way you will get the chance to slow them down even more. 25% chance to cast lvl 22 frost nova, and a holy freeze aurea.

If you have the bow, I'd certainly try it.


And I just wonder, why is life tab not that good for bowie, and do you need 20% ll and chance to cast life tap?

[edit]
Why not go for extreme. Take on cleclaws glove. If all those type of slow stack, the monsters will not be moving much I think, and that way, you'll be fast, in comparison. And the mele build will the super fast.

I've used many an Ice in the past and the whole point of this build is to use Wrath as my main weapon. The types of slow do stack, but I need the 20 ias on my gloves to hit my last BP. I think I will be using Nos Coil instead of razortail which does have some added (10%) slow.

[NewForumBloke]

This looks like it could be very interesting indeed. U know when you look at Wrath it almost looks like a beefed up 'Edge' (only with a staggering cost...). I think she will practically crush Chaos sanc with all of those demons and undead and such in there, i hope she turns out to be of some possible use lol.

Wrath seems to be the Zon's Aldurs set, enough said imo

-BLoke :smug:

[Wmeredith]

Nice to hear from you Bloke!

Yeah, we'll see. I currently have all parts for her kit except:
Mal
Ber
Pul
CoH

I have the wealth to obtain them I just haven't been able to find them as of yet.

[superdave]

the demon limb on switch would be my choice...the charms will make or break this build...good damage charms are getting expensive...i could see this working ok on a pure strafer.

[Wmeredith]

So I got the kit together last night and...

I HAVE A NEW FAVORITE BOW!

And I'm dead serious. This thing chews through packs. The gear I had talked about putting together above didn't even matter. The bow by itself is stellar. WTF? I thought as I ate through the chaos sanctuary faster than I do with my 15 fana +15%ed sup +3 Mat Faith. How is this possible? So I decided to make it so that my gear was not so offensively oriented to see if it could stand up without all the stacked DS and CB.

I took off my Gores and put on my Travs.
I took off the Guillame's and Put on my Kira's.
I took off the Highlord's and put my cat's Eye back on, and...

It still destroys. It's made me love strafing again. So after playing with it for an hour or so. I decided to make it my permanent "switch" weapon, but here's the thing: I found myself using it more than my Faith because it kills faster. Or at least in 8 player games it does. Playing solo I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

Oh, and it granted me what have to be the three fastest Baal takedowns I've ever done with a bowie. The CB + Damage to demons + Decrep is great for bosses.

Color me surprised. This means I have to re-write my Runewords in Your bow guide. I never even gave it a chance, and why should I have? This bow is heinously expensive, it had NO IAS, and no ed? What's to like?

I'll tell you: subtlety.

This is not a bow you'll ever be able to sell a noob on. It's listed damage range is 12-52 for godsakes (I made mine in a plain Great bow, I'm now seeking the 15% +3 mat to make one in). But the rest of the mods seem to create the perfect storm or something. Let's take a second look, now that I'm advocating instead of being skeptically hopeful:

Wrath
4 Socket Missile Weapons
Pul + Lum + Ber + Mal
30% Chance To Cast Level 1 Decrepify On Striking
This is the money right here. You think WWS or Atma's CTC Amp is sweet? It's got nothing on Decrep. Amp doubles your damage. Decrep lowers physical resistances by 50%, slows by 50%, and reduces their damage output byb 50%. Ask any sorc or other elemental character how sweet -resist is compared to +damage. It's better by an order of magnatude. Especially in Hell difficulty. Plus, they're slowed and made less deadly. Decrep makes Amp look lame, and this thing casts 30% of the time! You can't strafe one volley without it going off as opposed to waiting for amp to cast from a WWS or Atmas. Oh and did I mention that this makes PI's something you don't even have to think about at all?
5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Life Tap On Striking
I will stand by mny statement that this is not that useful to a bowie, but it might be to your merc or anyone else you're playing with. This goes off occaisionally and overrides your decrep whcih I thought would suck, but it's actually brilliant because Decrep casts so often that the LT is only ever on for a second, which is just long enough to get a hit in and refill your little bowl of blood. Whether it be you or your merc.
+375% Damage To Demons
This is a stunning mod when paired with Laying of Hands. Demons just melt under pressure from this bow.
+100 To Attack Rating Against Demons
This is fine, w/e. I'm a bowie I'm not hurting for AR.
+250-300% Damage To Undead
This is also helpful. Combined with the + to demons this bow now does decent physical damage all by itself to 3/4 of the monsters in the game.
Adds 85-120 Magic Damage
Great, very few monsters in the game are resistant to pure magic damage. Not that it matters because the decrep will break immunities.
Adds 41-240 Lightning Damage
Also great, big elemental damage, making this bow even more of swiss army knife of damages than it already is at this point.
20% Chance of Crushing Blow
This is the perfect mod to stick on this bow. Because you're depending on Decrep going off for a lot of your damage, but the first few hits while you're waiting can be CB hits while they really count. Awesome.
Prevent Monster Heal
A good mod to have anytime, anywhere.
+10 To Energy
(Meh)
Cannot Be Frozen
Another insightfully placed mod by Blizzard. You need big Mana Leech to make this thing work, this allows you to equip two mana leech rings instead of the obligatory Raven Frost.

This bow is like a WWS for the 1.11 world. Wrath is like a WWS running full speed while on fire and smoking crack. It's beautiful and subtle in the way it rips enemies apart. I used to make fun this cannon and chalked it up as one of Blizz's worthless RW's, but no more. This is my main bow now.

THE CON:
NO IAS! No IAS on a bow that;s this pricey!?!! Grrr. You either have to make it in a -10 bow and dedicate all of your gear to speed, or you have to have a faith merc (I did) to hit the last BP. It's a fact about this bow that sucks, but considering you'll mainly be strafing with it, it's not that big of a deal I guess.

Screenie of my Wrath equipped bowie and her LCS. Look at those numbers, lol. You just won't believe what this thing is capable of in Hell.
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/355/screenshot14gn6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Baal feeling my Wrath:
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/7382/screenshot13im8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
You can't quite make it out, but I think he was saying something about or like, "12-52? WTF!?"

Alright, I'm done ranting about this bows supreme ***-kickery. I'll list the kit I used so you can judge for yourself. I know my gear is good but keep this in mind: I also play with this same gear on with a Faith most of the time. So I am making the comparison of the two on a level playing field. Basically all I ended up doing was switch my bow and a ring and it kept up or even passed my (100% perfect) Faith in some situations.

Wrath Great bow
Cat's Eye
30mf Travs
Fort Wirefleece / CoH (I honestly couldn't tell the diff in killing speed between these two.)
Perf Kira's (40/15'd)
Razortail
Laying Of Hands
One dual leeech/res ring
One Mana Leech Ring

Well, I hope someone is inspired to try this RW. Just don't tell anyone what your carrying, they may laugh at you. Until the third or fourth time you save their ***. I'm off to re-write my Runeword & Bow guide...

[lagalot]

Awesome stuff!!I just invested several high runes in bowazon gear.Two faith...matri and gmb, matri brand, ice, and a merc faith...oh and another matri faith for my girlfriend..she decided she wanted a bowazon also:grin:.

I looked at wrath and thought the mods looked awesome but likewise was irked by the no ed /ias.
When I accumulate a little more wealth my next runeword is wrath.

Thanks for the rundown on the bow and setup:thumbsup:

[windwingwind]

I am really glad that you give a +ve comment to wrath after actually trying it.....I always think that blizzard does a great job in providing a variety of weapon choice to bowies. For speekfreak we have faith. For big gun we have WF and brand. For elemental dmg we have ice. Now you dig out the virture of wrath , very good :scratch: No straight ed and no ias ==> different from what traditional "good bows" but it's good to explore somethings new.

Just a little point.....Amp dmg -100% of enemy physical resistance, not doubling your dmg. So it's unfair to says "Decrep makes Amp look lame"....for a necro, even one is a lvl 1 skill and the other lvl 30, they have their own niches. It's hard to say which one is superior when their uses are situational. Ask a summoner what is the most frequent he use it must be amp dmg.

Between, would you try switching the CoH with Duress (so less dmg to demon/undead but more crushing bow) and see how's it go?

[superdave]

any chance you can get in a game on the weekend and let us see how it performs? i bet dacar would like to have a look...i know i do. :smiley:

[Wmeredith]

Yeah I can try the Duress thing. I was already thinking about it a bit.

Yeah, Amp is not lame (IMy bowie's have relied on it for months at a time) and I was wrong about the mechanics . I was just all excited about being excited about a bow again when I was writing that...:wink3:

I'll be on and off all weekend. Just add me and holla if you want. McZon_NoCheese <------(Edit: this is my char name, my account is in the sig. Thanks CDM)

[crawlingdeadman]

*McZon_NoCheese
i think he meant add *I_amSalmon since that's ^^^ his char name.

so, you think this is better than faith for 8 player choas sanc then? i will have to make one of these up tonight and try it as i am tired tired tired of my act 2 merc costing me about 50-200k gold a run (if i play aggressive i can get him to live the entire run but that is rare on an 8 player game.

look me up when you're doing your next test run too if you would.

[Wmeredith]

yeah that's my char, my account is in my sig...

Hmm, I don't know about a act 2 merc. Even with faith + pride mine will only last 4 or 5 runs. I'm not sure how Wrath plus pride would be. I'll bet it's pretty sweet.

Oh, you know what? When I was switching back and forth between my Wrath and Faith I wasn't switching my merc, so I'll bet Faith + Pride merc IS better than Wrath + Faith Merc. I was comparing the Faith to Wrath with no Pride merc going. Then again I'd like to try my pride merc with the Wrath, but that's a lot more gear shuffling...

Anyway, it's a good bow and doesn't suck like I thought.

[Bjam]

I've been wondering if Wrath would be viable when paired with a Faith merc, but I simply didn't have the wealth to risk finding out the hard way. Thanks again for testing the bounds of Bowazon setups and letting us in on the fun. I still can't see how it can be as good as you say, but I don't doubt it either.

[Delreich]

Another little nitpick: CB is affected by phys. res. too, so while early hits are usually best for CB, right after decrep triggers will probably be even better. :grin:

[Wmeredith]

Another little nitpick: CB is affected by phys. res. too, so while early hits are usually best for CB, right after decrep triggers will probably be even better. :grin:

Nice. So does that mean a decrepified target "un-nerfs" the ranged Crushing Blow? This would explain quite a bit about this bow's kill speed.

Alright, I tried the Faith vs. Wrath with a Pride/Might merc over lunch and Faith wins as far as pure strafe killing speed, but its VERY close. When you do multi or GA Faith starts to pull away due to ias issues. I'm so surprised it's such a close contest though. Kudos to the Blizzard employee that thought this thing up. I wouldn't have. It also seems like a good candidate as a bow for a Medusa-zon (1 (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=403639),2 (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=403875&highlight=medusa)). You could bring a pack of Extra Fast Moonlords (eep!) to a screeching halt with a volley from this while wearing Clegs and a Nos Coil.

The main advantage of Wrath is it's array of ways it deals damage. Magic, lightning, CB, and the huge probability of casting Decrep. It's a very nice weapon and it kills indescriminently with it's immunity breaking abilities. I can practically run through the arcane sanctuary without switching weapons or skills ever. Just Wrath and strafe. I like it a lot. It's certainly a quicker killer on a strafer than Ice, Brand or Harmony, which is very surprising. It's officially my favorite bow RW now (No longer Brand.) Although it's a tough decision either way.

I need to build two more bowies so I can have a Boning Strafer, a Frost Maiden, and my Wrath/Faith monster. :evil:

Oh, another con because I tried to hit the last BP with my Great bow Wrath and no Faith merc, but the BP is 142%...

This sucks because you can get so close before you have to make the ultimate gear sacrifice.

This is 140%ias which I can do:
Treachery Archon
Laying of Hands
Cat's Eye
Nos Coil
120/45 helm
2% off, grrrr...

So the only way to hit it would be to wear IK gloves and boots, or Sig gloves and boots. It might be worth it for the 7 frame multi, it's not like those are bad items, but it's sucks you can get so close before you have to give up Laying of hands and Travs or Gores...

[channimal]

excellent research and writeup!! Thanks for sharing! I'd love to see how it works but I'm in A5 Normal (lvl40) currently.

[windwingwind]

This is one of the most exciting thread to read in the amazon forum recently, IMO ^^.

Sorry if my pointing out the mechanics of amp dmg spoiled your fun a bit.....I didnt mean that. I love your writing and I'm excited that you find a new good bow. Think I'm gonna build one too :grin:

Next thing I'm concerned would be the optimal gear setup that is build around the bow.... also whether there is a cheap gear options when using this bow (although the bow itself isn't cheap, chance is that someone spend all his wealth to assemble the bow and then gradually improve on the other gear). Any suggestion ? :fortuneteller:

[Wmeredith]

Don't worry about the amp thing, If I need to be corrected I'm all for it.

As far as a budget setup for this bow (excluding the cost of the bow ofc) is concerned I would do this:

With no Fana from a rich merc, we're going for 75%ias to hit our 8/2 Attack/Strafe BP, here.

Middle-class gear:
"Wrath" Great Bow
"Treachery" Wire Fleece (personal taste on the base armor)
Stealskull (Um'd)
Laying of Hands
Gores
Razortail
Dwarf Star
Any Ravenfrost
Cat's Eye (Crescent Moon if you find you can't feed your strafe)
Might Merc: Obedience, Duress, Tal's Helm
Carry all the res charms you can get a hold of

Lower Class Gear:
"Wrath Great Bow"
Twitch
Laying of Hands
Face of Horror / Guillame's (Jewel'd with anything you can find with res.)
Gold Wrap
Immortal King's Boots and Gloves
Dwarf Star
Manald heal
Saracen's Chance
MIght Merc: Bonehew, Duriel's/Shaftstop, Tal's Helm
Carry all the res charms you can get a hold of

Both of those hit the 75ias BP and would do well on a team and OK solo because nothing's inmmune to your bow and the CTC Deccrep is such a crippler at 30% you shuld do well if you don't just go running into packs.

[windwingwind]

Thx for sharing!

On ias bp, I've some confusion since when I calculate it, a -10 WSM bow reach 8/2 bp at 80 ias, not 75. This is the table I use for calculation, quoted from Liessa Wyrmbane's post (http://forums.diabloii.net/showpost.php?p=3142931&postcount=9):

EIAS breakpoints for 10 arrow Strafe

Speed |Speed (full sequence) |EIAS
------+-------------------------+----
13/3 |6,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3+7 | 0
12/3 |6,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3+6 | 11
11/3 |5,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3+6 | 21
10/3 |5,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3+5 | 23
9/3 |5,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3+4 | 38
9/2 |4,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2+5 | 50
8/2 |4,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2+4 | 58
------+-------------------------+----

IAS = (120 * EIAS) / (120 - EIAS)

EIAS needed for a -10 WSM bow for 8/2 = 58-10 = 48

IAS needed = (120*48)/(120-48) = 80

Am I using an outdated table or am I using a wrong method?

edit: on reading more I think you might mistaken the 75 ias 8-frame normal/multi bp (second last) with the last starfe bp (8/2).

[Wmeredith]

According to the german weapon speed calc (http://diablo2.ingame.de/tips/calcs/weaponspeed.php?lang=english), which is all I ever use. It seems to always steer me right, if it's wrong someone, please, let me know.

The 8/2 breakpoint for a Great Bow is at 75ias according to that. I wasn't striving for the 7/2 b/c it's not possible on budget gear, really. I mean, it is, but it's not stuff you'd want to wear. It'd just be plain armor socketed with plain ias jewels. Ick. I'm a speed freak, but I draw the line somewhere. Plus, with a strafer, it's not nearly as critical a with multi-zon. For instance, the difference between 8fpa multi and 7fpa multi is the difference between a pack of monsters in the chaos sanctuary advancing on you while you attack at 8fpa and them being caught in hit recovery too quick to move with 7fpa. With strafe the difference between 8/2 and 7/2 is negligible to most players.

Blah, blah. Anyone else want to weigh in on the ias BP for a Great bow? 75 or 80 for 8fpa.

[superdave]

the german calculator also says that there is a 7/2 strafe(there isn't)...my notes tell me that 80 is the correct number...i guess it is easy enough to test.

[YogiRat]

I agree with windwingwind and Dave. Liessa's post came from a very reliable source (that shall not be named, why?) and is the most current info we have.

[superdave]

now that i think about it didn't the german calcualator list a -10 bow at 60 ias to hit last break for strafe?

i do know that it gives wonky results when fanat is plugged in...this might be a nice project for someone with ias gear and a few bows to test.

[crawlingdeadman]

i've always been confused on the german calc when dealing with strafe, zeal, fury. it doesnt wind up with 7/2, 8/2, etc. where do you find the "first hit" speed? is it as simple as looking up strafe for the "after first hit" and then switching to "normal attack" for the "first hit?"

does what i asked make sense? who am i? what am i doing? que?

[windwingwind]

i've always been confused on the german calc when dealing with strafe, zeal, fury. it doesnt wind up with 7/2, 8/2, etc. where do you find the "first hit" speed? is it as simple as looking up strafe for the "after first hit" and then switching to "normal attack" for the "first hit?"

does what i asked make sense? who am i? what am i doing? que?

the 8 in 8/2 is not "first hit" speed as far as I understand.....it's means the combined length of the start of starfe animation (4 frames) and the end of starfe animation (4 frames). So I dont think it helps in deciding starfe bp by looking for the "normal attack" speed.

[crawlingdeadman]

ah, i've seen fury attacks written as 7/2/2/2/2 or w/e so i assumed that it was the first arrow/claw/sword attack to get the ball rolling so to speak and took more frames to animate. your explanation makes more sense.

still while using the weapon calc that everyone uses how do i tell? ive noticed some buggyness in reguards to fanat as well so is there a better all inclusive alternative? ie i dont want to have to look up tables for zeal and fury as well as strafe...i suck at reading tables to boot.

[Bladewind]

Which is why i being avocating reaper's toll for zons. :P
Really anything that cast's decrip 30%+ of the time is a beautiful thing.

And thanks for Wmeredith for trying this out, if i have the wealth for this kind of monster, i would surely try it !

[KremBanan]

Another little nitpick: CB is affected by phys. res. too, so while early hits are usually best for CB, right after decrep triggers will probably be even better. :grin:
Could the Wrath RW have some usage vs ubers? Im thinking bowama alone vs ubers. With good CB, almost 1k dam to demon, high life leech. Maybe a BK5 for an extra skill (to passives mainly) or a Carrion Wind for high ll + twister procs(could be good for stunning the minions).
Maybe an All-Vita build could be in order here with cta on switch?
Skill layout like maybe this: 20 Strafe, 20 Valkyrie, 20 Decoy, 20 Penetrate(since low dex), D/E/A 50+/60+/50+.
Charms: anni, passive w/life, life/allres, life/11res. Maybe you would need a torch for the res and +skills, but this would ofc make you change char to pick up the torch that drops(if you get that far:smiley: )

Am I only dreaming or could this (theoretical)build and Wrath RW be the key for Amazon soloing the Ubers?

[Wmeredith]

It sounds like something that may be viable, but it would be a crap shoot with your merc's dropping like flies. I know my base-vit zon couldnt do it.

[Mistress Sersi]

SO wrath is a kick!@# runeword then? ( even w/o ias & ed on bow)

[Wmeredith]

SO wrath is a kick!@# runeword then? ( even w/o ias & ed on bow)

Yeah, pretty much.

I just started playing again this week after dropping d2 for a couple of years. This character is my first goal. (It shouldn't take me too long since I gifted some nice stuff to peeps on my way out and can call in favors.)

[crawlingdeadman]

you can always call in favors from me. i still have that ice diamond bow you gave me and more than a few spare zon pieces. you thinking ladder or non ladder? either way be sure to look me up.

[DH Amazon]

Yeah, pretty much.

I just started playing again this week after dropping d2 for a couple of years. This character is my first goal. (It shouldn't take me too long since I gifted some nice stuff to peeps on my way out and can call in favors.)

I made Wrath for my assa couple weeks ago. Need to test it with ama too after reading this thread. My assa loves this bow so need to make new for ama.

Mine is in Great bow too, as /2 strafe is not possible, then only 40ias is needed for fastest strafe and 0ias (perfect for this bow) if Fana merc.

But what items to use if no ias needed at all. LoH has ias and HighL.

Maybe need to make new Wrath in Grand Matron then exactly 20 ias (Loh) is needed for max speed with Faith merc.

[Wmeredith]

Maybe need to make new Wrath in Grand Matron then exactly 20 ias (Loh) is needed for max speed with Faith merc.

This is the route I'll be going when I can afford it.

[jimmah]

I remember reading about this 2 years ago, but I never had the wealth to actually try it out. Have fun with it! ;)

[DH Amazon]

What are good option for gear after that strafe bug? As only LoH is needed for ias.
Thinking about something like this for my ama.
LoH+2xRaven+Razortail+Gore+Forty+Wrath+double leech amu with resist+Guillaume(ench jool)or Kira(for looks+resist). For Baalruns, change Razor to Thunder.

And fire rogue with Faith (great bow, all fana lvls are ok with Wrath+strafe),Threachery+Guillaume.
(around 34 ias needed if not lvl15 fana, thats why 45ias. No life leech needed, as can leech from life tap -> guillaume or blackhorn's if going after baal)

Decrepify curse slow so much, that knockback not needed for this build. And enough points to make good valkyrie as tank anyway.

Vigor bow/Demom Limb for switch weapon.

And one point to vit everytime you die, keeps you sharp all time, as there is penalty for dead.

[omgwtfbbqpwned]

I'm still skeptical... I dunno, I'll actually need to see some verification somehow that "Wrath" ties/exceeds one of the greater bows e.g. "Faith", but I'm not sure of a proper method to assess this.

Also, although I'm quite inclined to believe you, maybe you should have a few others try it out first before putting it up on your guide. :p

[Wmeredith]

I'd like to pop in here and throw and rain a little on my own parade. Wrath does not stand up to Brand or Faith by itself. My endless enthusiasm for this bow comes from my ultra-low expectations going in.

Yes this bow is a force to be reckoned with when complimented by other godly gear. (Faith merc, nice charm collection, etc.) However if you start thinking about price you quickly realize that this is a bow for bored, rich Zons. Ones even more bored and richer than Faith-zons.

Having said that, I just started playing again and one of the first things I did was call in all favors to get one of these (and a Faith for my merc) made because I have such a soft spot for this bow.

That is all...

[The Lich King]

How well would you say this build can survive in say p5->p8 chaos sanctuary? I don't mind slow speed at all if you're safe. I can afford wrath/forty blabla easily... but 10/xx/40 charms are out of my league... maybe plain 10/xx ones.

[NASE]

Didn't Wmeredith said he preferred his wrath over his faith with higher player settings?

[Bladewind]

Decrip is a lot safer for the Strafer but the Wrath bow is not a MS bow, it is a strafer.

[DH Amazon]

Mine is now lvl73, going very strong. Wrath, Forty, 6x max grand charms and Faith merc. Base vit, so less than 500 life, but survive just fine.

edit:
How well would you say this build can survive in say p5->p8 chaos sanctuary?

Zero proplems at chaos, and no hurry to cast new valkyrie as monsters are moving slowly. And only iron maiden can kill valkyrie there as that decrepify keeps whole team safe.

And for p8 setting, I see no problems there either. Monster move half speed and do half damage, while you have no immune problems. And even against non-breakable bosses, you have monster cannot heal and elemental/magical damage so those don't slow down you much. And agaist extra fast/fana bosses, you have decrepify, so valkyrie can tank those while you slow them down.

But this build is made for act5, random monsters, lots of immunes, that chaos is too easy for this build. Even diablo is sitting duck, when you have decent resist.


It took around 30 s to solo hell ancients (no BO) so its both safe and fast char. Izual went down around 4sec.

No Forty (or merc has it) as I went tele (160fcr at switch) route with this. Even with nigma, killing real fast. That tele speed is good enough, no problems teleing from town to arreat to solo whole act5.

My wf+fana is slower than this at least while soloing, haven't tested this yet in full games.
But so far looks very powerful, I see now why Wmeredith have soft spot for this bow.


edit2:
How well would you say this build can survive in say p5->p8 chaos sanctuary? I don't mind slow speed at all if you're safe.
I can now better answer after testing this. Just soloed full game chaos. No problems. And its pretty fast too, much faster than I expected (lvl 88 ama now).
I don't have Grand Matron Wrath yet, making one when good bow drops. Didn't use Raven there either, need to cube mana leech amu to change back to Raven, so with higher ar, even faster.

Valkyrie still dies that 3-4 times per run, but Rogue merc has survive all runs just fine. And you can strafe all, all kind of immunes go down, even those unbreakable PI+poison immunes that are usually hard in full games.

Full game Baal still takes time, and that mana burn is annoying.
And while strafing that twin don't slow down killing (just burn even more mana, which is annoying).

[BoomBap]

Does Diablo in full chaos games go down fast? Or should I cast decrep and switch to a spear with 1 pt. Impale. Also, Lvl 1. Decrepify last 4 seconds, I may use Wrath to cast it in Chaos Sanc and quickly switch to Windforce with Multi arrow spams. Rinse and repeat. This is also assuming a faith merc of course =). What are yalls thoughts on this?

[DH Amazon]

Does Diablo in full chaos games go down fast? Or should I cast decrep and switch to a spear with 1 pt. Impale. Also, Lvl 1. Decrepify last 4 seconds, I may use Wrath to cast it in Chaos Sanc and quickly switch to Windforce with Multi arrow spams. Rinse and repeat. This is also assuming a faith merc of course =). What are yalls thoughts on this?

I think necro curses durations are 1/2 in nmare and 1/4 in hell, so that decrepify from weapon last only (4seconds/4=1s) one second in hell, so no time to switch weapon.

Full game Diablo goes down quite fast, as it has about same life as solo game Baal. You need decent resist/life to strafe Dia down though, but life tap keeps it up quite effectively, no other life leech needed in build.

[BoomBap]

Seriously no life leech needed in full Chaos? Wow I guess I can stash the Vamp Gaze and BK ring. I think I'm gonna enjoy this build :)

Is it possible to survive with max res but base Vita? (with BO on switch)

Here is what I'm thinking for a Strict Chaos Runner (Fatih Merc)..

Um'ed Kira's
LoH gloves
Fortitude Dusk
Razortail
Wrath Bow GM
Ravens + Manald Heal 7ML
Highlords Ammy
War Travs or Goblin Toes (I'd like to test out CB)


Switch: CTA//Lidless

IN CUBE: Enigma for tele to Chaos/ Upped Titans for 1 pt. Jab (Unless this kills D slower than Strafe..not sure)

Inventory: Res/Max DMG charms + Anni + Torch

Man...I hope 1.13 mixes it up

[NASE]

Is it possible to survive with max res but base Vita? (with BO on switch)

It's possible to survive with base life, bad resistances and much lower damage. Just remember to start slow and learn to side step those OK and diablo and you will be fine.

[DH Amazon]

Seriously no life leech needed in full Chaos?

Life tap = you leech life even from meph/skeletons. So its much more effective than any ring.

Wrath bow triggers that life tap too. Even too often, so keeping life full is no problem. Thats like having 50% (or more) life leech every 2 seconds or so.


And you can share that life tap with merc, so she/he don't need any life leech either. Even valkyrie likes it :girly:

--- Wrath ---
30% Chance To Cast Level 1 Decrepify On Striking
5% Chance To Cast Level 10 Life Tap On Striking
---






IN CUBE: Enigma for tele to Chaos/ Upped Titans for 1 pt. Jab (Unless this kills D slower than Strafe..not sure)

You can use Fleshripper (dagger), has good crushing blow and ama hits fast (7fpa) with it. No other crush blow source needed. Dia goes down fast, much faster that with bow. But test 1st with bow, if its fast enough for your taste, no point to change items to safe couple seconds. But it looks at least good, when ama with ponytail is stabbing Dia.
Full game Baal goes down easily with that dagger, so full game Dia is no problem at all.