Build Advice - Mav's Set

[MalVeauX]

Gentlemen,

I was walking in the Pits with my skeleton friends, booting around arrow wrapping and bolts, tripping on cracked breast plates and blowing up bloated bodies for the hell of it, and there was a few shiny bits on the ground after a particularly fat one exploded and painted my skellies blue and red. It was a bow and it was shiny. And a pair of gloves, also shiny. I went to the old man in the camp to see if he knew what these artifacts were and he started off on this long winded story, which I lost track of and fell asleep behind my golem. So when I woke up, I asked Akara for a shortened version while I sold her some huge 8 foot long spears that she somehow stashed into her magic cape she wears. She tells me in two words "Mav's Set." I was like, "Oh, lol, thanks."

So I have Mav's bow and Mav's gloves.

I'm interested in building an amazon based on this set, and of course, acquire the rest of set (I'm sure I have the least valuable parts of it, so this will be expensive likely, for the armor and helm, the belt is likely cheap). I tried to search but found nothing really pertaining to a build exactly. I looked at the set's bonuses and it seems obvious that it's great for a cold-witchy type Amazon with her bow, so that says "Freezing Arrow" to me. Or maybe something else, like Cold arrow is better? That's where you lovely gentlemen come in....

Any thoughts on building an amazon with this set in mind? Ideal for all things, even hell without going Hybrid? Or is that basically impossible? I figure between physical damage and cold damage (and magic damage from the bow), maybe she can actually do all parts of hell? Does anyone have a recommendation for attack skills? Freeze? Strafe? Multi? Might Merc or Blessed Aim Merc? Defiance Merc?

I'd appreciate any input, even "Lol, noob, sell that junk and get Faith."

Cheers, :laugh:

[Ed from Russia]

A Frostmaiden. See here (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=583633) for exactly the same discussion.

[MalVeauX]

Ahh, Frostmaiden is the name then? Thanks.

How's this sound for a plan then (assuming Mav's set, for the +skills to be added to the following):

Passive:
1 in everything as prereq and one-skill-wonders (all raised +6 with set).
8 in pierce (65%, will be raised by +6 with the full set, correct? 79%)
20 in valk (26 with set?)

Bow:
20 Cold Arrow (synergy)
20 Freezing Arrow (raised +6 with set)
10 Multi-shot (I prefer multi to strafe)*
1 Guided Arrow (one point wonder, with plus skills)

*Multi-shot could be left around 4 skill points, as a level 10 with skills is quite nice still. Or I could go for the 10 and have 16 with skills, also nice.

With the stacked damage and synergies, looks like she would do a little over 2k damage with freezing. Her multi isn't that strong, but the speed is nice enough to make up for that (and I could add some poison charms for more kick).

Between a fat merc and a fat valk, she should have a nice set of tanks and her decoy and not really need to worry about being hit. I'm guessing Might merc here, to help up the multi-damage a bit (though it adds what, only 300ish damage to be honest?). Maybe a Defiance merc would be better?

Cheers,

[prion]

I found that multi is a great way to attract Cold Immunes from off-screen before I'm ready for them. 4 points only.

As far as finding the rest of the set, the belt is cheap, the armor is even obtainable for pgems, but I can't even find anyone offering the stupid helm, I've been looking for weeks.

[NASE]

10 Multi-shot (I prefer multi to strafe)*

Then you are wrong...




Nah, just kidding. Atleast put one point in strafe, it really is worth that one point. You never know what it will come inhandy. coldimmunes in the maggot lair perhaps?
And certainly go for offensive merc, you even need lots of leech for freezing arrow. The set gives you enough defensive aspect. Max res is one, and their probably will be other aswell.

[thepandafactor]

LOL noob, sell that junk and get faith!!!

[KremBanan]

LOL noob, sell that junk and get faith!!!
Please.. just dont post any more...

[Dis Skillz]

Let us know how it turns out! I always end up doing a mixture of unique/runeword for my frost maiden but was always curious how a mav set would turn out (had a bad experience with it since I came back to play after a long time and totally screwed it up). By Runeword I mean a Treachery :P, no HRs involved in any of my builds yet.

I like your little short story =)

[maiku]

I'm interested in building an amazon based on this set, and of course, acquire the rest of set (I'm sure I have the least valuable parts of it, so this will be expensive likely, for the armor and helm, the belt is likely cheap). I tried to search but found nothing really pertaining to a build exactly. I looked at the set's bonuses and it seems obvious that it's great for a cold-witchy type Amazon with her bow, so that says "Freezing Arrow" to me. Or maybe something else, like Cold arrow is better? That's where you lovely gentlemen come in....

Any thoughts on building an amazon with this set in mind? Ideal for all things, even hell without going Hybrid? Or is that basically impossible? I figure between physical damage and cold damage (and magic damage from the bow), maybe she can actually do all parts of hell? Does anyone have a recommendation for attack skills? Freeze? Strafe? Multi? Might Merc or Blessed Aim Merc? Defiance Merc?

I'd appreciate any input, even "Lol, noob, sell that junk and get Faith."

Cheers, :laugh:

You have the beginnings of one of the best sets in the game. It is a helluva set for a Frostmaiden. I started leveling a Frostmaiden specially built around Mav's set recently, currently level 79, and she is probably my 2nd most powerful char after my Conviction Zealot. She's better than my Witchyzon (built around WWS unique bow). She's better than my Frostmaiden built around a Buriza. She's better than most of my characters. Faster, stronger, safer, and more versatile. You name it. If you can't tell, I'm really impressed with the set.

I would say definitely it best suits a Frostmaiden. A good Multishot or Strafe Bowazon could be built around this set too or a Frostmaiden hybrid (FA/maxed Strafe or Multi) as well. High elemental and magic damage, decent bow, massive skills boost which take your Passive skills up and up, etc. are deadly when combined with Strafe or Multishot.

Here's how I laid out my skills...

Cold Arrow: 20 --> 32 I think, see below
Frozen Arrow: 20 --> After bonuses from Mav's, my +2 amazon amulet, +1 bow grand charm (just 1), and my Amazon torch (+3), I think have level 32.
Strafe: 1 --> Level 12
Valk: 14 --> Level 24
Pierce: 11 or 12 --> Level 17 or 18

And I have a lot of saved up points which I haven't figured out what to do with yet.

To bring out the power of this set you must do one thing: socket, socket, socket. 1 Shael in the bow + 2 IAS Jewels in armor + diadem = 120% total IAS, which allows you to reach the breakpoint for 2 fps Strafe. If not going with Strafe, customize as needed. Use all your Amazon's socket quests on the pieces. If you run across anything that glares at you, you're there to smack them down. On the fly, you can deal three types of damage: cold, magic, and physical.

I believe my Mav Frostmaiden's Frozen Arrow does around 2600-2800 or more cold damage per shot. I can't remember her physical damage component of FA, but it's high as well, because I made this bowazon a high dex build too (430 dex with equipment). I haven't found anything that troubles her. She has good resists, all around 50+ in Hell difficulty, thanks to the set's big boost to resists. I could make this better by taking out a lot of MF charms and putting more resist resist charms. Or getting a better +2 amulet w/ high resists.

I think she has about 410 life. Sounds small, but I have a Might merc with an Insight and level 24 Valkyrie tanking for me, and they're good meat shields. I don't feel threatened. Even if enemies do slip past them, I can Strafe most enemies to death in about one or two clicks, so I don't require knockback and cold slows them down. I also regularly make use of Decoy and recasting Valk to cluster enemies into tight packs for one shot FA explosions. It reminds me a bit of herding with my old Javazon.

Mana is at 450 with charms and two Ravenfrosts. Mana leech with FA is a problem, because you cannot leech much in Hell, unless you pierce several monsters in a row. Sometimes this happens and it can fill your bulb immediately. I find a large mana pool is much more reliable, and with an Insight on your merc, you will likely have no mana troubles. 400-500 mana seems to be optimal, because it's hard to deplete even if you're spamming FA, the regeneration rate is so fast from Meditation on Insight, and you'll occasionally leech some mana back. All of this means you should be running around with a full mana bulb 95% of the time. Also, having such a large mana pool means you can keep spamming FAs for a while even if your merc dies. This is epsecially useful for running or clearing Chaos Sanctuary. Your merc is guaranteed to die at some point (or several times) from IM. While he lies in a coma, you can continue to move through the area using blue potions to fill your bulb and Valk and Decoy to keep yourself safe.

Here are my zon's stats:

Str: 130ish w/ equipment, enough so I can use a Demonlimb for Enchant although I didn't originally intend to have so much strength. It just kind of happened when I got a zon torch. Anyway, Demonlimb is useful for making AR insanely high.
Dex: 430ish
Vit: base, but 40 w/ equipment
Energy: base

Merc: I'd take Might merc. You provide cold damage and freeze, so forget about a Holy Freeze merc. Blessed Aim? With one or two Ravenfrosts on and FA's & Mav's set bonuses to AR, you don't need to worry about it. No to Blessed Aim merc. Act 1 merc could be useful if holding a good bow or a Harmony to give you extra speed. Maybe would be a good choice if running Chaos Sanctuary a lot and you didn't want your merc dying all the time. But a Might merc benefits you by being a good and sturdy tank, carrying an Insight which makes mana woes less woeful, making the physical damage from FA better (which helps you leech more), and making your Strafe/Multishot damage much better. Overall, I like the Might merc much more.

Early leveling strategy will be similar to any other bowazon. If you can, I recommend getting hold of a Buriza, Lycander's Aim, and/or Harmony to help with leveling quickly. I found Lycander's Aim worked well right up until I equipped most of Mav's items. Razortail will help you get piercing going early on and add a lot of damage. A Kuko Shakaku can also suffice up through NM difficulty, but will probably do more poorly than a Buriza or Lycander's Aim, both of which offer serious mods and damage for a Frostmaiden. I played my Mav bowazon as I would any other Frostmaiden early on by trying to get a lot of IAS equipment on her, cold charms, and +skill items (especially an Eye of Elitch, very helpful). Cold Arrow and Ice Arrow are only useful early on. I suggest pumping and maxing Cold Arrow early on, so that once you get Pierce and Frozen Arrow, you will be a killing machine after level 30. Forget about using Cold Arrow after you get Frozen Arrow. Continue to pump Frozen Arrow until it is maxed around your 50s. Then pump Valk, Pierce, etc. or Multishot/Strafe.

Mav's belt should only be worth a few perfect gems. Many will give it away for free. Mav's diadem should be worth many perfect gems to mid runes, say, a Lem or Lem+. This too can be found in the Pit. A friend found one and gave it to me. Some may try to sell for an Um, Pul, or HR, ignore these people. Demand for Mav's Diadem is not high, so you should be able to buy it for cheap even though it is rare. Armour is sold for gems. Almost no demand for it at all, except for the occasional Mav enthusiasts like us.

Good luck on your Mav Frostmaiden.

[MalVeauX]

Thank you so much for that detailed write up! I shall be incorporating much of it, though I won't have a torch and all that, so I should be able to max my resists with charms.

So the other parts just aren't all that in demand and I can likely get them with my meager things. Hrm. I would actually pay Um, Pul, Gul, etc, to get the rest of the set. Those runes tend to come and go pretty easily anyways. Gems I have loads of, but I find it harder to find someone who always just wants gems. I guess I'll take what I can find first! But it's great to know I'm not looking at some duped HR demanding costs! :laugh:

Cheers,

[King Savage]

I gave Mav's set a full ride all the way to level 93 on a Strafazon to see how it performed. I socketed the Bow with a Nef for Knockback, the hat with a 15ias/26ed jewel and the armor with a 15ias/23ed jewel.
The armor is definitely playable in hell and does well, but just didn't have the punch a Faith/Fortitude combo does.
I agree with other posters that a Frostmaiden is the only way to go with Mav's set though.

[maiku]

Probably few things have the punch that a Faith and Fortitude combo would. Even with a meager investment in Strafe, I'm finding I'm killing a lot faster and doing better runs with her than with my Witchyzon...although I like WWS a lot. I think the set's added cold damage and magic damage have a lot to do with that. I'll test how my zon does with an Atma's Scarab on rather than a +2 Amazon amulet, since I'm at the breakpoint and can swap amulets in and out depending on what I want.

King, I imagine on your Mav Strafer you used a Highlord's or Cat's Eye amulet, right?

[King Savage]

King, I imagine on your Mav Strafer you used a Highlord's or Cat's Eye amulet, right?
I used Cat's Eye with the Mav setup.

I use Highlord's for the lightning resist until I gain enough resistances elsewhere to switch to Cat's Eye with any other combo.

[ale beer two]

you wont need any help with resists. The total set bonus is something like 100 to res all which pretty much puts your res's over max even when naked. :cool:

Some really nice set bonuses with mav's and you'll really enjoy a frosty, just beware mana is a major major issue.

[maiku]

Last night, I tried several Canyon of the Magi runs using Eye of Elitch, Cat's Eye (although it's somewhat redundant with my Amazon's 120% IAS already), and Atma's Scarab to compare how fast I could clear it with Strafe. The Atma's Scarab definitely makes killing much faster, with Amp going off a lot. For a Strafer built around Mav's, I would recommend socketing bow w/ Shael (to reach breakpoint for Strafe) and using Atma's rather than Cat's Eye or Highlord's Wrath.

[maiku]

Thank you so much for that detailed write up! I shall be incorporating much of it, though I won't have a torch and all that, so I should be able to max my resists with charms.

So the other parts just aren't all that in demand and I can likely get them with my meager things. Hrm. I would actually pay Um, Pul, Gul, etc, to get the rest of the set. Those runes tend to come and go pretty easily anyways. Gems I have loads of, but I find it harder to find someone who always just wants gems. I guess I'll take what I can find first! But it's great to know I'm not looking at some duped HR demanding costs! :laugh:

Cheers,

You'll still kill really fast without a torch. It's mainly the +3 skills that add the most punch to FA. You can try to add +1 bow skill grand charms to substitute for it. Or try rolling the appropriate grand charms for them. Yes, should be easy to bump up your resists with charms, which is really nice. Half my characters and most of my bowazons suffer from terrible resists in Hell. It's really nice to have positive resists and not to die in one shot from a dumb Oblivion Knight.

Save the Ums, Puls, Guls, and more for very nice rune words or cubing. Or perhaps an Ice bow at sometime in the future. That would make for the ultimate Frostmaiden. :thumbsup: Make some posts in your local trading forum and you should find reasonable people willing to sell you what you need. After all, you're the buyer with $$ and you can choose who gets your $$ or not. :wink3:

[Ed from Russia]

A Torch is really not so hard to get is you're not too choosy. I've traded a Druid and Necro T for a Pul each, I'm sure you can also get an Ama T for Pul/Um. The +3 to skills is the most important mod (for a Frostmaiden), and even the lowest Torch has that.

[Veilside]

You can get incredibly cheap anni's and torches on the ladder so they're well worth getting if you can afford the really cheap ones.
For a frostmaiden mavs works absolute wonders, I just now killed hell diablo with her without too much difficulty.
It's a very good character for doing those pit and tunnel runs and I'd definitely suggest having a high level strafe rather than multi, I just find strafe more useful in most circumstances, and you get so many + skills with the set and charms that you don't need more than one point in multi for it work well.

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Hrm, strafe may be my way to go then, looking back. After all, when am I going to even use multi if I'm throwing freeze arrows out there. Strafe will give me a little extra punch. Plus, I like the idea of going for a really fast strafe with a shaeled Mav Caster. I think I'll go that route.

If those things like the Torch and all are so cheap, I may go and trade for one. I wonder if I can trade lots of Pgems for them. I tend to mass gems quick. We'll see.

Thanks!

Cheers, :smiley:

[Ed from Russia]

Heya,

If those things like the Torch and all are so cheap, I may go and trade for one. I wonder if I can trade lots of Pgems for them. I tend to mass gems quick. We'll see.


My experience is that it's best to trade your pgems for a Pul or Um. Most players don't want 30-50 pgems but love to get one of these runes.

[maiku]

Yes, perfect gems are good for turning into Puls and Ums. It's something around 40 for a Pul, 70-80 for an Um on the USWest trading forum here. And I see games on USWest Bnet for 35-40 perfect gems for Pul. So it's quite doable. I usually find myself drowning in perfect gems after a few days of runs, so it's nice to trade them off for items or runes.

BTW, I want to mention that Canyon of the Magi is also a nice place to run around with a high level Frostmaiden or Strafer. You usually get a few boss packs, high densities of monsters (which makes for good FA explosions when they're not immune, Strafe if they are and piercing will mow them down quick), Valk, Decoy, Merc can tank the hordes, and the chance for some nice things to drop. I find a lot of jewels, rings, amulets, and charms dropping there.