Bowazon and Diablo

[alice]

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

So I'm starting a Bowazon in SP HC. Fully twinked with the best items
my sorceress found. She faced Diablo at level 28 with a Prayer merc.
Her equipment at the time, Angelic ammy/ring, rare ring w/ double
resist, Wormskull helm, rare bow with LL and life, Stealth chain mail,
and junk gloves, boots, and belt.
Just before popping the last seal, I changed the settings to /players1,
but it was still disastrous. Diablo put one of those bone prison and
sprayed the pinky lightning as I Save-Exit. My question is then, how
does a Bowazon handle him? I have 1 skill in every Passive&Magic, 1 in
every Cold bow and been investing in Strafe.

I levelled her to 30 so I would have a Valkyrie then tried again and
got the same result, trapped, sprayed, exit. Leveling further in RoF
and CS is a chore, if there is no way to defeat Diablo without having
to level up, then I'll give up this character.

I do have a WWS to be used at level 39, but no Pul to upgrade it. To
save further post, if I ever make it that far, any tips on facing
Ancient in Hell? I do not fancy a 1-hr battle, if it is expected to be
that long, then I won't even bother going there. My plan is to max
Valkyrie, Strafe, Frozen Arrow, the rest will go to Penetrate, Critical
Strike, and Pierce.

By the way, I'm not interested in making a godly bowazon, I only play
rarely, so at this time I don't need any links to bowazon guides. Not
that I have many items available anyways. Final gears are going to be
(unless I find better ones along the way): WWS, Razortail, Duriel
Shell, Valkyrie Wing, Angelic jewelries, Goreriders, and will craft
knockback gloves. Anyone wants to guess how far I'll be able to
advance this char? No more Save-Exit, if she got trapped by Diablo
again, that will be it. This is my first ever bowazon.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

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

On 13-Sep-2005, "Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> wrote:

> My question is then, how
> does a Bowazon handle him?

Do not stand still long enough for him to 'find' you.
Shoot.
Move.
Shoot.
Move.
etc.
I think I used that fire area bow skill to take him down when I last
played a Bowazon.
Strafe is nice almost everywhere else but most certainly not here, you
want a powerful SINGLE shot so that you are not standing in one place for
too long. One shot, move. Repeat many times until fully browned.
Normal Diablo is one of, if not the THE, hardest battles in the game.
btw, try to get better gear too, have lightning and fire resists maxed if
at all possible.
Watch your merc and valk life bars, be ready to either hit shift-1 for the
merc or re-raise the valk whenever necessary.
Try to stay 'behind' Diablo, re-raise that valk on the other side of him.
These and a bit of luck should get you past the big D.
--
Not 1337, 42.

 

[Guest]

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

"ArtDent" <par@noyd.invalidname> wrote in message
news:FiIVe.11884$FW1.8620@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> On 13-Sep-2005, "Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > My question is then, how
> > does a Bowazon handle him?
>
> Do not stand still long enough for him to 'find' you.
> Shoot.
> Move.
> Shoot.
> Move.
> etc.
> I think I used that fire area bow skill to take him down when I last
> played a Bowazon.
> Strafe is nice almost everywhere else but most certainly not here, you
> want a powerful SINGLE shot so that you are not standing in one place for
> too long. One shot, move. Repeat many times until fully browned.
> Normal Diablo is one of, if not the THE, hardest battles in the game.
> btw, try to get better gear too, have lightning and fire resists maxed if
> at all possible.
> Watch your merc and valk life bars, be ready to either hit shift-1 for the
> merc or re-raise the valk whenever necessary.
> Try to stay 'behind' Diablo, re-raise that valk on the other side of him.
> These and a bit of luck should get you past the big D.

I too waited till lvl 30 to do D, except it was on ladder and I had even
worse junk for equip. What I did was throw the valk into D's face and while
he was chewing her up I fired some bow shots. When the valk was about to die
or dead I tossed another one into his face. Between the couple of hits the
valk would get in before getting toasted and the hits my zon was getting I
eventually killed him. The merc couldn't stay alive so I just stopped
rezzing him after about 2 deaths. The bow was a junk 3 socket bow with a
couple of pgems and a rune in there for elemental damage. I didn't have
enough mana leech for GA or strafe to work along with the constant casting
of valk so valk summoning was the only skill I used.

 

[mark]

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

"Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1126645079.546001.219270@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> This is my first ever bowazon.

In addition to what others have suggested, I think use of a Decoy is key,
both to give Diablo another target to divide his attacks, and to give you
another arrow for Strafe. You should try to keep Diablo occupied with your
Merc, Valk and Decoy while you attack from range. Try to keep the three of
them at different points around Diablo, preferably 120° apart. Recast your
Valk and Decoy to maintain separation. And recast them whenever they are
killed (or nearing death in the case of the Valk). Be prompt with the
potions for your merc to keep him alive, and retreat to town to regroup if
he should die. Also, do not stand behind, or in a direct line with any of
your minions. This will prevent Diablo from getting you when he targets one
of the minions in his face.

Good Luck!

Regards-
Mark

Bongo-Fury

 

[Guest]

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

On 13 Sep 2005 13:57:59 -0700, "Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>So I'm starting a Bowazon in SP HC. Fully twinked with the best items
>my sorceress found. She faced Diablo at level 28 with a Prayer merc.
>Her equipment at the time, Angelic ammy/ring, rare ring w/ double
>resist, Wormskull helm, rare bow with LL and life, Stealth chain mail,
>and junk gloves, boots, and belt.

You need fire and lightning resists on those junk items, as much as
you can get.

>Just before popping the last seal, I changed the settings to /players1,
>but it was still disastrous. Diablo put one of those bone prison and
>sprayed the pinky lightning as I Save-Exit. My question is then, how
>does a Bowazon handle him? I have 1 skill in every Passive&Magic, 1 in
>every Cold bow and been investing in Strafe.

Ah. A SC Bowazon can use Strafe, but Strafing Normal D in HC??
Suicide. The problem is, you are locked in place until the Strafe
ends, and against Diablo you need to be ultra mobile. FRW boots are a
must -- Sanders for preference, and fortunately they drop quite often.

>I levelled her to 30 so I would have a Valkyrie then tried again and
>got the same result, trapped, sprayed, exit.

Now that's just bad luck. I only get bone caged maybe one time in 5
that I take on Normal D solo. Usually it is not fatal, unless the
char can't do any damage to the cage, like a necro. It is definitely
one of the scarier things that can happen in the game.

>Leveling further in RoF
>and CS is a chore, if there is no way to defeat Diablo without having
>to level up, then I'll give up this character.

You can defeat him now, no doubt in my mind, unless you get bone caged
again. That is really Diablo's HC game-ending move, as there is no
defense against it but to break out. But be prepared to take some
time at it. Normal Diablo does not heal as long as you don't leave
the CS for too long, so you can eventually just wear him down. He
can't leave his area, and you can. That gives you the means to
outlast him, now all you need is the will.

Try to stay behind him, at the longest range you can manage (use high
screen res if you aren't already), and cast Valk and Decoy in front of
him. Don't bother with your merc: unless he has near-maxed fire and
lightning resists he is just going to keep dying without getting a hit
in. You have FA now, so use that to slow Diablo down. Watch him,
stay behind him as much as possible, and retreat out of his area to
regroup when he runs at you. Be prepared to spend some coin on red
and blue pots, but try to conserve your purples, only gulping them
when needed to survive.

>I do have a WWS to be used at level 39, but no Pul to upgrade it. To
>save further post, if I ever make it that far, any tips on facing
>Ancient in Hell?

OMG. I'd say don't be afraid to reroll them a few times to get
low-powered mods, and don't be afraid to recast your Valk as often as
it takes to roll her some good gear, too. It takes a little practice,
but there is a pattern of movement you can follow that allows them to
get only a very few hits in. But IMO you _cannot_ Strafe them and
hope to succeed.

>I do not fancy a 1-hr battle, if it is expected to be
>that long, then I won't even bother going there.

Well, you _did_ decide to make a SP HC char....

I have posted recenty about my ironman windruid's 2-hour battle with
Normal D, and his subsequent 3-hour marathon against Baal.

>My plan is to max
>Valkyrie, Strafe, Frozen Arrow, the rest will go to Penetrate, Critical
>Strike, and Pierce.

How do you intend to handle PI CI bosses in Hell diff?

>By the way, I'm not interested in making a godly bowazon, I only play
>rarely, so at this time I don't need any links to bowazon guides. Not
>that I have many items available anyways. Final gears are going to be
>(unless I find better ones along the way): WWS, Razortail, Duriel
>Shell, Valkyrie Wing, Angelic jewelries, Goreriders, and will craft
>knockback gloves. Anyone wants to guess how far I'll be able to
>advance this char?

Nightmare Ancients, unless you try to Strafe NM Duriel 😉.

>No more Save-Exit, if she got trapped by Diablo
>again, that will be it. This is my first ever bowazon.

SP HC is a pretty rough neighborhood to be raising your first bow-girl
in!

-- Roy L

 

[Guest]

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

Alice <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> wrote:

> So I'm starting a Bowazon in SP HC. Fully twinked with the best items
> my sorceress found. She faced Diablo at level 28 with a Prayer merc.
> Her equipment at the time, Angelic ammy/ring, rare ring w/ double
> resist, Wormskull helm, rare bow with LL and life, Stealth chain mail,
> and junk gloves, boots, and belt.
> Just before popping the last seal, I changed the settings to /players1,
> but it was still disastrous. Diablo put one of those bone prison and
> sprayed the pinky lightning as I Save-Exit. My question is then, how
> does a Bowazon handle him? I have 1 skill in every Passive&Magic, 1 in
> every Cold bow and been investing in Strafe.
>
> I levelled her to 30 so I would have a Valkyrie then tried again and
> got the same result, trapped, sprayed, exit. Leveling further in RoF
> and CS is a chore, if there is no way to defeat Diablo without having
> to level up, then I'll give up this character.

I have found that Valkyries die to Diablo faster than the casting delay
wears off (if you're level 30 and they're level 1).

In addition to all the other sage advice you've received, you may want
to consider going back to act III for a glacial spike merc. Unless
you're really attached to your Prayer merc, he will probably live
longer, esp. with copious use of decoy and Valkyrie. You won't be any
worse off and he'll serve you pretty well in act V.

Doing act end bosses with a bowazon (or javazon) alone in HC is one of
the toughest things to achieve. I did play a hybrid zon (both bow and
javs) all the way through HC alone on the 1.10 ladder last season but
she tended to handle the bosses by hucking plague javelins and running
around constantly rather than using her bow. You really can't stay in
one place or you'll be fried. This gave her extra resists (because of
the shield) and it seemed easier to throw the javs and run than to shoot
guided arrows and run (for reasons I'm not sure of).

Shari (Orchid)

 

[Guest]

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royls@telus.net <royls@telus.net> kirjoitti:

> You can defeat him now, no doubt in my mind, unless you get bone caged
> again. That is really Diablo's HC game-ending move, as there is no
> defense against it but to break out.

There is Teleport. That is not going to help a bowazon in Normal, but
it might be helpful in Nightmare since by that time, you can use an
item with Teleport charges if you're lucky enough to find/buy one (or
have other chars to pass stuff from). For a bowazon it isn't even too
dangerous to keep one on weapon switch, since when switching from a
bow you aren't usually taking a huge hit on the resists.

>>My plan is to max
>>Valkyrie, Strafe, Frozen Arrow, the rest will go to Penetrate, Critical
>>Strike, and Pierce.
>
> How do you intend to handle PI CI bosses in Hell diff?

There aren't terribly many of those and none that you would *have to*
kill. They can be handled with the feet...

 

[Guest]

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

"Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> writes:
>So I'm starting a Bowazon in SP HC. Fully twinked with the best items
>my sorceress found. She faced Diablo at level 28 with a Prayer merc.
>Her equipment at the time, Angelic ammy/ring, rare ring w/ double
>resist, Wormskull helm, rare bow with LL and life, Stealth chain mail,
>and junk gloves, boots, and belt.

No skystrike yet.

>Just before popping the last seal, I changed the settings to /players1,

That works in my experience.

>but it was still disastrous. Diablo put one of those bone prison

Yes, that's bad. Fortunately I only got it in Hell (three bone
prisons, two deaths).

>My question is then, how
>does a Bowazon handle him?

One way to do it is to lead him to an area where you can stand on the
other side of a corner and shoot at him with guided arrow.

>Anyone wants to guess how far I'll be able to
>advance this char?

My bowazon managed to reach Hell without death. She was a little
better endowed (in particular, she had Skystrike at that age).

You might be interested in my ATMA stashes:

http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/tmp/items109.d2x
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/tmp/ITAMZ.d2x

- anton
--
Britton Robbins' D2 PDF Guides: http://www.brittonrobbins.com/D2Info.htm

 

[Guest]

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"Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> writes:
>Next time I play, I'll try an assassin. It
>will be my first as well. Martial Arts look difficult and traps look
>boring, so I think I'll do a hybrid, MA with Death Sentry for clearing
>and Cloak of Shadow for crowd control. Does it look like I can reach
>Guardianship with her?

My last assassin was similar to this (Phoenix Strike as main skill,
with some CE to get anything done at all in Hell, and Mind Blast (not
CoS) for crowd control.

She had a hard time in Hell, leaving much of the killing to her merc
(a fire rogue). She did not pass the Hell Ancients.

> Very minimal twink, I don't have Natalya or any
>unique claws. Tips are appreciated, but I am never interested in
>reading full-blown guides.

Mine was played untwinked at first (Normal or so). She bought +2
assasing skills claws at a vendor, and used them until the end
(unfortunately I did not find another one of those).

- anton
--
Britton Robbins' D2 PDF Guides: http://www.brittonrobbins.com/D2Info.htm

 

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"Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> writes:
>Alice wrote:
>>> any tips on facing Ancient in Hell?

> With an amazon though,
>wouldn't I need a high damage bow?

And many, many arrows. See my paragraph on the Ancients in
<2005Aug6.201427@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at>. Other people have
written that they did not pass the Ancients solo with a Bowazon; I
did, but barely.

- anton
--
Britton Robbins' D2 PDF Guides: http://www.brittonrobbins.com/D2Info.htm

 

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On 16 Sep 2005 13:34:19 -0700, "Alice" <malice_diablo@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>ArtDent wrote:
>> Strafe is nice almost everywhere else but most certainly not here, > you want a powerful SINGLE shot so that you are not standing in one > place for too long. One shot, move. Repeat many times until fully > browned.
>
>Unfortunately, Strafe is my most powerful skill at this moment. Level
>1 Frozen Arrow doesn't do much.

Yes, and it costs a lot of mana for what it does do. Bowazons have a
bit of difficulty with mana until they put on some levels or get good
leech or +mana gear.

>r...@telus.net wrote
>> (use high screen res if you aren't already)
>
>High res will make the characters look small, I normally use low res.

Yes, but you can see more terrain with high res. I.e., you can see
Diablo from farther away. This is important because when he moves, he
can move very fast. However, if your comp is old, it may give you
trouble on high res.

>r...@telus.net wrote
>> You can defeat him now, no doubt in my mind, unless you get bone
>> caged again.
>> You have FA now, so use that to slow Diablo down. Watch him,
>> stay behind him as much as possible, and retreat out of his area to
>> regroup when he runs at you. Be prepared to spend some coin on red
>> and blue pots, but try to conserve your purples, only gulping them
>> when needed to survive.
>
>Yes, FAing works but just take too much time.

Compared to what? Dying? The point is, as long as you don't leave
the CS for too long, Diablo _will_not_heal_. All the damage you do
keeps accumulating, until he just falls over. And in SP, if you are
interrupted you can just hit the esc key.

HC SP is not for the impatient.

> Perhaps I need a higher
>damage bow, currently using a rare Long Bow with 21% ed, 3% ll, +16 to
>Life.

Yes, that is surely a pathetic bow for a 30 bowazon, even if she _is_
untwinked. Not to put too fine a point on it, I've given my rogue
mercs better bows than that before leaving A1, in _ironman_. If
nothing better has dropped, just buy a decent one, or use a socketed
one and just stick in the best damage enhancing gems, runes and jewels
you have. Even just a tal and a topaz in a two-hole comp bow can be
remarkably effective in Normal.

Oh, and this thought just occurred to me: you have been stocking your
stash with all the marginal damage charms you find, for use against
tough bosses like Diablo when you don't really need any inventory
space, right?

>Alice wrote:
>>> any tips on facing Ancient in Hell?
>
>r...@telus.net wrote:
>> It takes a little practice, but there is a pattern of movement you > can follow that allows them to get only a very few hits in.
>
>... With an amazon though,
>wouldn't I need a high damage bow?

You most definitely would. And FRW boots, and some good damage
charms, and a lot of patience.

>I could barely hurt Diablo, so I decide to give this char a rest
>awaiting for better bows.

Now you've got me wondering if I could beat Normal Diablo with an
ironman bowazon (ironmen encounter him at 27 or 28). Playing ironman,
you get used to not hurting Act bosses a lot, but rather hurting them
a lot of _times_.

>Next time I play, I'll try an assassin. It
>will be my first as well. Martial Arts look difficult

IMO, in terms of coordinating hotkeying and mouse clicking, the
martial artist may be the most difficult of the "normal" builds to
play. I've never been able to get one to guardian (as I also can't
stand their screaming, I've only tried a few ;^).

>and traps look boring,

Questing a HC SP trapper through Hell can be called many things, but
"boring" is not one of them. However, successful trapping does
require a certain level of patience, and comfort with using more
complex and indirect tactics than other chars. I like playing
trappers very much (my top char on the current ladder is a trapper),
but it doesn't appeal to everyone.

>so I think I'll do a hybrid, MA with Death Sentry for clearing
>and Cloak of Shadow for crowd control.

I think you may find Mind Blast is also very handy, especially in
Hell.

>Does it look like I can reach
>Guardianship with her?

Possibly. Much safer than the bowazon. But getting any HC SP char to
guardian is IMO quite a challenge.

>Very minimal twink, I don't have Natalya or any
>unique claws. Tips are appreciated, but I am never interested in
>reading full-blown guides.

I got my ironman trapper to the NM Ancients, where she ran out of
purples before they ran out of hp. But I now believe my strategy was
faulty (too infatuated with BF after greasing NM Diablo with it so
quickly), and she could actually have defeated them by using traps
almost exclusively (I was also too proud -- or too dumb -- to reroll
them when Korlic showed up with Holy Freeze on).

-- Roy L

 

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Alice <malice_diablo@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Thanks, but no. I am only using self-found items this time around.
>
> I could barely hurt Diablo, so I decide to give this char a rest
> awaiting for better bows. Next time I play, I'll try an assassin. It
> will be my first as well. Martial Arts look difficult and traps look
> boring, so I think I'll do a hybrid, MA with Death Sentry for clearing
> and Cloak of Shadow for crowd control. Does it look like I can reach
> Guardianship with her? Very minimal twink, I don't have Natalya or any
> unique claws. Tips are appreciated, but I am never interested in
> reading full-blown guides.


No matter what you do/find, you're going to have a hard time with Diablo
and a bowazon. However, if you eventually want to get back to her and
kill Diablo, I think the way to go is:

1. Get a 3-socket breastplate and put whatever topazes you can find in
it (as well as a 2 socket headpiece with topazes) and equip any mf gear
you can find.

2. Go to Lower Kurast and raid the chests (kill the creatures as well
but that's not the main goal). There are two huts with 2-3 chests which
always pop out a lot of items. They are in a certain pattern
kitty-corner to each other all the time. If you're SP and the map is
perpetual, they'll always be in the same spot so you can find them
easily after initially locating them. Do this repeatedly and sell the
items of high cash value and gamble on whatever your weakest gear is.
Keep the goodies that are of use.

The reason I recommend Lower Kurast is the chests are a reliable source
of gambling revenue and it's a safe area to play in (and it's fast to
get items from).

The focus should be on getting faster run/walk boots with fire/lightning
resistance. Also, gamble on circlets when they come up and hope for one
of those spiffy 1-1xx lightning damage circlets that sometimes come up
at low levels. You can add a whopping amount to damage early on if you
score on a damage-adding circlet.

Try to get some poison and cold damage going through charms. Keep all
the elemental charms you have space for and replace the weakest ones as
you get better ones.

Once you get as good gear as you believe you can assemble (hopefully
with max fire/lightning resists), you take a break and start a fresh
game when you haven't played all day because you have to run your ass
off to deal with Diablo. Set the screen to 600 x 800 so that you can
stand further away (you said it only makes the screen smaller but
actually it also allows you to stand back further from your target which
puts you further away from the lightning breath and ring of fire).

Take off your mf gear, put on your combat gear, and get ready to dance
after you hit the last seal.

Cast a decoy in the center of the star and see which way Diablo faces
it, run so that you are not in a direct line of sight with him so when
he blasts the decoy to pieces, you aren't hit by the lightning breath's
first exhalation. Fire once and run. Keep firing and running, tossing up
a decoy or Valk when you can. Don't even wait to react to Diablo's
attacks. Just fire once and run to a different spot. You can retreat all
the way back toward the entrance of the Chaos Sanctuary if you like (he
won't follow you that far) and you can catch your breath, rearrange
potions.

You need to fire and run, fire and run, fire and run. If you use guided
arrows, you won't even need to aim for him but just fire in his general
direction. It'll take awhile but you will get there.

Oh, and I'd still recommend getting an act III cold merc to help. He'll
still die but at least he might live long enough to inflict a little
damage compared to other merc types.

Shari (Orchid)

 

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poza@REMOVETHISHEREgol.com (Orchid) writes:
>Oh, and I'd still recommend getting an act III cold merc to help. He'll
>still die but at least he might live long enough to inflict a little
>damage compared to other merc types.

I usually use Act I mercs. When I played the Bowazon, IIRC she did
not die two times out of the three battles againts Diablo (Diablo
generally focused on me, or the Decoy, or the Valk, and since 1.10 the
Act I mercs are much better at surviving). And she did quite a lot of
damage with a good bow; of course the "good bow" bit is a problem for
Alice; socketing some good gems in a bow with many sockets is good at
the stage she's at.

- anton
--
Britton Robbins' D2 PDF Guides: http://www.brittonrobbins.com/D2Info.htm