Amazon: Opinions?

[Watchman]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

I've been playing an Amazon (in HC, naturally ), with almost full
Vidala's Rig, who's now level 22 and getting ready to face Duriel.
I don't have that much experience with Amazon's so I'm asking for some
opinions and/or experiences with Immolation Arrow and Freezing Arrow.
Does the 0.5 second time limit on freeze make Freezing Arrow obsolete in
Hell? Is Immolation Arrow all that effective against mobs? Or will I
need Strafe, Guided or Multiple Shot to suppliment it? How good is
Immolation against Duriel and the other bosses?

Watchman
--
'Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really know what's going on'

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Watchman wrote:
> I've been playing an Amazon (in HC, naturally ), with almost full
> Vidala's Rig, who's now level 22 and getting ready to face Duriel.
> I don't have that much experience with Amazon's so I'm asking for some
> opinions and/or experiences with Immolation Arrow and Freezing Arrow.
> Does the 0.5 second time limit on freeze make Freezing Arrow obsolete in
> Hell? Is Immolation Arrow all that effective against mobs? Or will I
> need Strafe, Guided or Multiple Shot to suppliment it? How good is
> Immolation against Duriel and the other bosses?
>

A typical bowazon shoots at 9-10 fps regular attack, speedier ones
will do 7-8 fps. Hence a typical bowazon will shoot 2.5 times per
second, kind of enough to alternate a Freezing Arrow and one other
non-freezing arrow (such as GA) and still keep the monsters frozen
in Hell. Of course, you can shoot FA 2.5 times a second. Besides,
FA carries two kinds of damages: one is your regular attack damage;
and on top of it, the FA's own cold damage. So it's actually pretty
effective, as long as you can cope with the huge mana drain.

Immolation Arrow, OTOH, is very much useless, IMHO. It does very
respective damage (regular attack damage plus explosive damage plus
some fire burning damage). The big problem is the cast delay and
that monsters in this patch moves dangerously fast. Cast delay
means you have to mix IA with another attack mode (either GA or MA
as their mana requirements are low and that regular attack may not
have the required AR), and preferably with knockback, to hold the
monsters in place. Monsters moving fast means they aren't going to
take the BBQ damage much.

Selecting which attack skills to use largely depends on two factors:

a) Playing style and Personal Preference. For example, I love
strafe, just because the bowazon looks cool strafing.

b) Equipment ready for your bowazon. For example, MS isn't a skill
of choice unless you have bows/items which will give her huge damage
(such as WF + Fortitude). OTOH, Mav's set is designed with FA zon
in mind.

I myself, for a regular bowazon, will choose a physical arrow skill
(such as Strafe, MS, and/or GA), and supplement her with an
elemental/magic arrow skill (such as FA, Magic Arrow, or Cupid's
Arrow). I will stay away from the fire arrow skills, unless I'm
going to make a BBQazon.

Bing

 

[Watchman]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Bingain wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> Selecting which attack skills to use largely depends on two factors:
>
> a) Playing style and Personal Preference. For example, I love
> strafe, just because the bowazon looks cool strafing.

Arreat Summit warns against putting too many points in Strafe in HC
because it locks you in position. How much of a danger is it? How many
points should I put in Strafe?

>
> b) Equipment ready for your bowazon. For example, MS isn't a skill
> of choice unless you have bows/items which will give her huge damage
> (such as WF + Fortitude). OTOH, Mav's set is designed with FA zon
> in mind.

I've a composite bow socketed with the Edge runeword. Took down the big
D with it, eventually. (you can never find a 3 socket stag or reflex bow
when you need one)

>
> I myself, for a regular bowazon, will choose a physical arrow skill
> (such as Strafe, MS, and/or GA), and supplement her with an
> elemental/magic arrow skill (such as FA, Magic Arrow, or Cupid's
> Arrow). I will stay away from the fire arrow skills, unless I'm
> going to make a BBQazon.

Can I get away with just one point in GA?
>
> Bing

Thanks for the advice.

Watchman
--
'Anyone who isn't confused doesn't really know what's going on'

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo2 (More info?)

Watchman wrote:
> Arreat Summit warns against putting too many points in Strafe in HC
> because it locks you in position. How much of a danger is it? How many
> points should I put in Strafe?

In my experience, Strafe is okay in HC as long as :

a) You are away from the monsters, which means you need your merc
and/or valk to engage the monsters so they won't bother you;

b) You know when NOT to use Strafe. For example, you don't use it
when your valk is dead and a pack of fanatised Death Lords are
rushing to get you ^_^

c) Very high AR and to hit. I'm talking about 7k+ AR in Hell Act5
and 75~80%+ to hit. This will ensure you a very high chance of
hitting the monsters, and hopefully inflecting enough damage to get
them into stun lock; and

c) Bonus (but highly recommended): Knockback. Together with very
high AR, you will find most of the times the monsters are struggling
between knockback and advance, ie, not able to attack you.

Strafe now maxes out at 10 arrows, so additional points into Strafe
is simply for more damage. You really need a lot of damage.

> Can I get away with just one point in GA?

Like Strafe, more points into GA is for more damage bonus (and less
mana per shot). One point in GA is not going to serve you very
much, other than hiding around a corner and use the GA's
turn-the-corner-auto-aim property. In many situations, maxed or
high level MA may even serve you better than GA. I am not a fan of
using Immo/Freezing arrows against a big boss, mainly because of the
mana issue.


Bing