Sidewinder Questions

[NagisaFurukawa]

Hello, PvP forum. I'm trying to make my very first PvP character something other than a complete disaster, so I'm asking for your help. :D. I read through Liq's Sidewinder guide a little earlier, and it seemed quite interesting, but I have a few questions.

Keep in mind that I play single player, and don't have access to most of the very high end items (see here (http://nanofeito.webs.com/index.htm) for a general idea). Anyway, here's how she looks at the moment (in the planning stages).

Javelin: Thunderstroke
Shield: Stormshield
Bow: 'Harmony' Matriarchal Bow
Helm: Griffon's Eye
Armor: 'Treachery' Mage Plate
Gloves: KB / 20 IAS -or- 2 Javelin / 20 IAS
Belt: Verdungo's Hearty Cord
Boots: Sandstorm Trek
Amulet: Highlord's Wrath
Ring: Raven Frost
Ring: The Stone of Jordan

She will be going max block, throwing her spare points into vitality. Her backpack will have a bunch of Harpoonist Grand Charms, and some mix of Shimmering Small Charms, Small Charms of Vita and, Small Charms of Balance. I can't afford any of the nice dual modded charms.

1A) Any glaring problems that can be fixed within my budget? I tried to hit some of the higher IAS breakpoints for all my attacks, while getting a lot of %DR and skills. Majorly lacking in resists though, and not sure how to remedy the problem.

1B) One thing that bugs me is that I don't have Open Wounds. How important is that?

2) Is Charged Strike really going to do damage? With the PvP penalty and maybe something like Thundergod's Vigor on the enemy, I don't imagine this would do any damage at all. :X.

3) Would it be better to skill lightning or poison more heavily? I'm a pretty conservative player, so I kind of feel that sticking 40 into poison would be right, but if that keeps the lightning from doing damage, that's no good.

4) Anything for the stash? Maybe some Monarchs stuffed with perfect gems?

5) General PvP pointers, anyone? :).

Thanks for the help, guys and girls. It's very much appreciated.

[Raith]

eh i particularly dont like building this kind of zon ive had bad experiences with it, but anyway.

1a. i dont like treachery, if you can, try to get coh/fort, etc. they offer resists and dmg.
1b. poison bypasses ES, poison will keep draining, PJ requires AR when you HIT them with your jav but if they walk into the poison, they get hit. critical dmg is more important here.

2. cs will do dmg but it wont be much, it depends if the player has sorb/bad resists, etc. cs always hits.

3. lightning imo, with fury(thats if you get it), dueling summoning pvp chars are so much easier.

[Magi]

How about a Lioheart armor?

HEL + LUM + FAL
+20% Enhanced Damage
Requirements -15%
+25 To Strength
+10 To Energy
+20 To Vitality
+15 To Dexterity
+50 To Life
All Resistances +30

This was the first runeword I ever created and, because of that, it holds a special place in my heart. :) Nice stats, nice life, and decent resists. It's just missing some +skills but it's VERY inexpensive at least and might do well until something else (like the coh Raith mentioned above)

edit: Another slightly more expensive armor would be:

Duress
SHAEL UM THUL
+40% Faster Hit Recovery
+10-20% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Adds 37-133 Cold Damage 2 sec. Duration (Normal)
15% Chance of Crushing Blow
33% Chance of Open Wounds
+150-200% Enhanced Defense (varies)
-20% Slower Stamina Drain
Cold Resist +45%
Lightning Resist +15%
Fire Resist +15%
Poison Resist +15%

[Raith]

i must agree, lionheart is such a good runeword, providing HUGE stats, life, and resists. and its rather cheap too.

[NagisaFurukawa]

Thanks for the input. :).

I should have been more clear that anything costing runes higher than Lo (like 'Chains of Honor') will probably never be within my reach. I've got a spare 'Lionheart', so I'll try that out. How important is IAS though? Without 'Treachery' her attacks will be a lot slower, which is a little worrisome.

Also, I think a lot of the SP PvP crowd has some source of Teleport, from being a sorceress, using 'Enigma', or equipping something with charges. How good is 'Harmony' for keeping up with or away from these people, or other speedy characters? If it's not that great, I might just use Riphook for the slow and OW.

[Raith]

riphook is BM, but at any rate riphook does TICKLE of a damage.

[SlainByPain]

It's probably not the best idea to build this kind of character without wealth. Amazons in general take high-end gear to be effective (especially the charms).

If you choose to go with a sidewinder anyway, here are some changes you can make:

Replace tstrokes with titans (frw is much more important)

Replace treks with travs (the damage you gain is more important than the fhr)

I'm too lazy to check if harmony gives IAS or not but you may be able to use a different base bow to get in some more damage.

Your physical damage will most likely be pathetic, so you'll need something to improve that. Max damage/dex charms in addition to the aforementioned war travs are probably your best bet.

It would really be much more viable if you could at least get a windforce, since that will give you some decent damage.

@raith/magi
I think treachery might actually be the best low budget option since he desperately needs the IAS. Of course, fortitude or an ed/ias armor would be superior.

[maxicek]

The trouble with a sidewinder and SP PvP is TGods. Because of the way charge strike works it is easily absorbed by T-Gods.

In the last PvP week a poison zon was played to good effect on one of the nights, can't remember who by though. Maybe drop the CS and focus on Poison + Guided Arrow.

Make sure you pack on as much FRW as possible - Cat's Eye, 30FRW circlet, charms and Harmony should keep up with most teleporters. But prepare to be the mouse.

[NagisaFurukawa]

SlainByPain: Thanks for the tips. Once some better gear drops and/or I stop being stingy, I'll definitely refer back to this thread. Not sure about switching out 'Harmony' though, since it seems the extra FRW is really important. *shrug*

maxicek: That's actually what I decided on doing. Going to try a Poison Javelin / Guided Arrow hybrid for PvM when I have the free time, just to see how those skills work. Either way, assuming there's time, I'll take some of my PvM characters out to PvP week, so be on the lookout for some free kills. :p.

[Zhao_Yue]

Bow/Poison hybrid was one of my first duelers and an old favourite. Put Harmony in a Mat Bow, Treatury+Cat's Eye+Nos Coil so you can shoot at 8 frames. Or you can switch equipment around as the build has flexibility. Poison is decent when it hits because players rarely over absorb it and it does nice damage over time even against 75 resists.