Returning to D2 after a long time. PvM Bow Amazon question!

[Lilianne]

As the topic states, I used to play quite a bit some years ago. I had a few 70-80s or so, nothing too serious. The one class I never touched was Amazon. I decided to make a Bowazon as my first new character, and I seem to be having problems killing things. I tend to always play with a friend of mine, and they play a Lightning Sorc.

I'm currently level 28. Not looking to powerlevel or be rushed or anything, as I just wanted to enjoy the full game again since I haven't in so long. Not killing things quickly is beginning to suck, though. Is there a level in which things get better?

My gear is nothing special, and I have nothing amazing sitting around waiting to be used. The best thing I have is probably the Hellcast Crossbow I use, which is rather slow. My other gear is nothing great, either. Duskdeep helm, Cleglaw's Gloves, Hotspur Boots, and the rest is pretty much merchant-bought magic items.

Stats are:

65 STR
70 DEX
70 VIT
15 Energy

I've read a few things on here and gotten some differing views on various skills, so I've tried to put points into what I think is useful:

Prereqs for Multi/Strafe
2 Guided Arrow (possibly a wasted point. Not sure. Some seem to think it great and others think it's bad for PvM)
6 Multi Shot
4 Strafe

1 Inner Sight/Slow Missiles/Decoy
5 Critical strike
3 Dodge
3 Avoid
2 Evade
1 Penetrate

No Javelin skills

I'm going to assume it's probably a fairly gear-heavy build, as all of the other help posts seem to be from people that already have high level stuff waiting for them when they hit the appropriate level. I don't have that luxury yet. Should I put the Bowazon on hold for something else until then, or is it at all viable to level with pretty much merchant/dropped gear?

[NASE]

bowazons are super item dependent. Without a high damage bow and ias equipment, you will never be strong. You may find that you kill slow now, though in hell, this will get a lot worse.
Bowazon aren't good starter characters, though they are fun and challenging. I'd say, start with an other character and try to get some cheap equipment and the give bowazon an other shot. They can be fun with really cheap gear, though not with no gear.

The being said, there is no reason why you couldn't take an amazon, and if you really want to you, you can still keep your character. The best bow-side skill for untwinked gear is freezing arrow. It is pure elemental damage and therefore, much less item depending.

If you plan on starting again, have a look at guides in the sticky. I'll link you to those that may be interesting to you.
cold/lightning hybride, used with not so great gear to run wsk in hell hardcore.
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=464188
cheap bowazon guide. With just one character to get your wealth up, you can make this one.
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=240912
though a bit outdated it seems, with only uniques you can make a quite decent cold bowazon.
http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=129705

[Omikron8]

first thing you should do is stop investing in vitality and don't invest any in dodge/avoid/evade (if you are going strafe)

[Zelator]

first thing you should do is stop investing in vitality and don't invest any in dodge/avoid/evade (if you are going strafe)

Why no matrix?

Zelator

[Alecz]

I agree that dodge is a waste after slvl 1, but i would still put a couple points in avoid and evade (which also work on elemental attacks!). As a bowazon, you shouldn't ever be close to any enemy, so dodge is pretty much useless.

As for vitality... put spare point there.

And regarding your damage problem, you can't easily get a better weapon than the Hellcast yet. I would suggest using offensive merc if you don't already have 90+ % C to hit. Also, having some poison damage over as longer as possible will help a great deal.

Merchants might also have some nice bows/xbows everyonce in a while.

Most people on forums would suggest you use a Buriza, but then you need to be level 41, and HAVE the xbow. Of course most people are just rushed to level 41 and trade for a Buriza (I don't really like rushing, but if you could get to NM act2 and get a might merc will also help).

Also don't forget you get damage only from DEX... so... invest in dex rather than penetrate for chance to hit.

Hope this helps!

[Flayed One]

Omikron8 probably recomends not putting points into DAE because of D/A/E bug AKA fend bug.

[Alecz]

Even like this... Lilianne wants to make a bow amazon, so... no fend there. If one was going to use fend... then yes.. I agree D/A/E can be risky to invest in.

[awilhelmscream]

Even like this... Lilianne wants to make a bow amazon, so... no fend there. If one was going to use fend... then yes.. I agree D/A/E can be risky to invest in.

If you dodge etc during a strafe all arrows following the dodge will miss.

[Alecz]

I see... thanks for the info. Still not as bad as fend imho where you can rather get killed.