PvM Gunslinger - Physical Bow/Lightning Java Hybrid

[crawlingdeadman]

1) people have mentioned the 90+ before, but i've never heard the ins and outs of why

2) if you're not going to use a merc, use faith yourself. if you use a mat faith you wont need a whole lot of ias.

you're not pushy, you're direct. direct questions are the ones i like.

[Kijya]

Thanks for posting this guide, it's always nice to see devoted non-standard amazon players.
I might have one (well, maybe two) rather silly questions though.

1) Boots:rolleyes: I made a survey among people I know for decent knowledge about amazons, and they claim that using gores is generally better for 90+ chars with close-to-high-end equipement, while War Travs are nicer for the development stages. Is it true (regarding the standard eq you mentioned)?

2)I don't like the idea of having a merc with me, I'm rather aloof, you knowrop:
I understand that without her I'll need more ias, and first thing that crossed my mind was just mavina's helm. Oh, and I'll use fort/windforce if that matters.
Do you think it is an option, or without merc I'll lack too much to call my ama a "gunslinger"?

As you may've noticed, I tend to be pushy, but any answer will be very much appreciated.
Regards,
Tym^^

My opinions on those:

1) The only reason i see that a level 90+ could consider gore's to be any more effective then a "less then 90 char", is that open wounds does more damage at later levels. That is a pvp aspect, for a pvm amazon it will be insignificant and 90+ has nothing to do with whether you'd choice gore or WT.
From a pvm aspect (regardless of level) you should factor gore's CB+DS vs WT's +dmg+mf+stats, which one is better will depend on everything from bow damage to personal taste.
(Try this, currently most of my zons data in it, just edit it towards your equipment/stats/level :azn

2) Not having a merc isn't a problem as such, CDM mentioned one option for you, a good one, matri faith needs a bare minimum to reach 7 fpa.
Otherwise you can consider going for a more "pure strafe" bowside, that way a low ias will not be of any problem, specially since the discovery of the strafe x/2 speedbug.
For a 8 fpa with wf you could consider a 60 ias armor, though only reason I myself saw that as an option was to use a might&pride or might&infinity merc.
In short; lots of options, and you don't really need 4k+ to make the bowside viable, so even without merc it's not that bad. You might have to consider getting some more ar, to compensate for the loss of fana (lava gout gloves suggested).

The guide is aimed towards the physical (x)bow/lightning java amazon hybrids in general, no other requirements other then to use those attacks/weapons. Since people have been playing such hybrids for a long time, I have no authority to name the generalized build, but if you should choice to call your amazon "a gunslinger" I'll be honored.

[Tymbark]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I guess I should just test them and use the one of my personal taste. I also decided to try the original (with faith merc) option and then compare it to the lonely-striker ones^^ However, my sixth sense whispers me that runing cs (that's the main purpose of building that char) will be generally better with, not without a faithfull mercenary... Again, thank you for all of your help!
You may wish me goodluck as well, I plan full clears in 5+ games if possible, curently act1 nm EuScL, lvl 39... Didn't I mention the word "aloof" before?

[davidmcc]

Ok so I have my Hybrid built, basically in line with this guide, and she pretty much kicks ***.

I use WF (faith merc), titans and spirit, war travs, LoH, rare leech ring, raven, razortail, andys and fort.

The one thing I'm not sure about is the ammy. At the moment I have metalgrid, since my resists are fairly low and some more AR is never a bad thing.

The other option I'm considering is Hilords, in which would not only give me +1 skills, but its 20IAS would allow me to resocket my WF with a 40%ed jewel.

Are there any other good ammy options I should consider? (I dont have a spare maras sadly...)

[Kijya]

Ok so I have my Hybrid built, basically in line with this guide, and she pretty much kicks ***.

I use WF (faith merc), titans and spirit, war travs, LoH, rare leech ring, raven, razortail, andys and fort.

The one thing I'm not sure about is the ammy. At the moment I have metalgrid, since my resists are fairly low and some more AR is never a bad thing.

The other option I'm considering is Hilords, in which would not only give me +1 skills, but its 20IAS would allow me to resocket my WF with a 40%ed jewel.

Are there any other good ammy options I should consider? (I dont have a spare maras sadly...)

None I didn't mention among the ones suggested in the guide, highlords is the most balanced one if you're looking to increase your damage. If resistances is your call mara, rares or crafted amulets are your best bet. Metalgrid has resistance of course, but lacks +skills, so I'd go with anything with half the res and +2 skills.

If you go with highlords you may wish to consider something other then a 40ed jewel in your bow. Many runes provide interesting mods when socketed into a weapon, or you could free up your andys socket for and um rune to get a bit more res instead.

[Pif]

Hi,

This is a beautiful guide in so many ways! Truly amazing.

One question - as you're foregoing phoenix as a possible shield due to the fact that your attacks may be interrupted would you consider foregoing D/A/E too (personally I always have valk for my zons but I was wondering what you thought).

Cheers

*Pif

P.S. Although it's stickied it would be nice if it was also linked on the main guide page (maybe I missed it).

[Kijya]

Hi,

This is a beautiful guide in so many ways! Truly amazing.

One question - as you're foregoing phoenix as a possible shield due to the fact that your attacks may be interrupted would you consider foregoing D/A/E too (personally I always have valk for my zons but I was wondering what you thought).

Cheers

*Pif

P.S. Although it's stickied it would be nice if it was also linked on the main guide page (maybe I missed it).

D/A/E causes a delay because of a defensive action (avoiding an enemy attack), for the duration of 8 frames.
Phoenix causes a delay because of an offensive action (casting firestorm), for the duration of ~15 frames.

I'd say it's ok to interrupt your one of your attacks to avoid an incoming attack, but replacing two of your high damage attacks with a pitiful ~100ish damage firestorm is a pure annoyance.

So when compared, d/a/e isn't a 1/10 of the annoyance firestorm is, but you could still skip them if you wish, though I'd not recommend it.
Your valk and decoy are tools to avoid incoming fire, keep dolls from being to close etc. Halving the defensive wall will on a low budget be a bit risky in some locations, it's not a high life build. However, if you feel you kill your enemies fast enough before they pose a threat, and if you leech back your lost life fast enough, then you could of course do without a valk.

Just be careful in areas with extra fast monsters, specially dolls. Decoy can of course be used to great success once you've got the hang of it, but personally I'm just to lazy to recast every time I need a tank.

[Kijya]

Cham rune in your bow?
A cham rune would cause all and any bow to freeze its target, meaning that a multiple shot suddenly turns into a large area, high physical damage, freezing attack if you use a good base bow (such as windforce). The freeze duration would be very short, but in terms of safety make a big difference if you are struggling against enemies that can be frozen.

Tested and shown not to work for anything but the center arrows, works somewhat with strafe.

The duration is most likely just as long as the freeze found on buriza, so try that one out if you wish to "test it".

If anyone has info on the true length of the freeze, please do enlighten us :smiley:

[Dacar92]

Unstickied and added ot the build guide today. Need space for another up and comer. :smiley:

[MuffinMan]

Tested and shown not to work for anything but the center arrows, works somewhat with strafe.

The duration is most likely just as long as the freeze found on buriza, so try that one out if you wish to "test it".

If anyone has info on the true length of the freeze, please do enlighten us :smiley:

Would you like some cham in yer burrito sir? It doesn't stack I guess?
If not that would be the ultimate waste of a Cham :laugh: