How to BowZon?

I'm on Act V lvl 41 with my amazon, playing on /players8 straight from the start.
took the freeze arrow/starfe amazon build.

whihc said all your points to vitality.

but the drawbacks are-
1. some monsters are immune, or cold resistence, especially later on. how is that a good build for NM Hell even?
2. I have 7% mana leech, but even with starfe(8points) it doesn't add back as the build said, since it misses! and the build said invest in vitality. in other builds I've seen Zons invest in maxing dex, as it influence attack rating??

what are common builds? is there a website that conscentrates builds for bowZons, or is that go by the fly thing, where you improvise according to what luck you have with items?


TL:DR 1. best build for NM/Hell? 2. invest in dex or vit? 3. recommendations for bowZons builds

rikus wrote: 2 years ago

1. some monsters are immune, or cold resistence, especially later on. how is that a good build for NM Hell even?

The physical damage from a bowzon is incredibly low. Some of the lowest dmg in the game. So even with high dexterity you really aren't going to be killing much with physical bow attacks unless you have GG endgame gear.

Typically a bowzon will dual spec into Freezing Arrow *and* Exploding Arrrow so they can take care of the immunes.

rikus wrote: 2 years ago

it doesn't add back as the build said

You should get your mercenary an Insight runeword. This will give you extremely fast mana regen. Also chugging mana pots and rejuv potions is part of the meta in general.

If you want a much easier stint with the Amazon you should respec into Javelin skills. Charged Strike and Lightning Fury will melt everything from normal all the way to Hell

Baal.

Javazon is one of the strongest/easiest builds to beat the game next to the hammerdin.

thanks.

so bowzon isn't an easy build then. you're saying quaffing potions is part of the build in any case?

I guess I like bowing alot with diablo.
I would love to hear from bowZons here who mange to have a good time without quaffing tons of potions, in Hell NM?

I have an old char on legacy (with Plugy) that has the aforementioned GG gear (Faith, Fortitude, CTA, Pride on merc) with 20k attack rating (w/ angelic combo) and even on players 1 on Hell it's slow, compared to the rarity of the items and to the other classes and builds.
As BillyMaysed have said, the damage is really low, I agree with everything he wrote. If you want to stick with the bow however, pump a lot of dex for %ED (1 Dex = 1% enhanced damage), build a glass cannon and try to survive with low hp using your merc,

Valkyrie and

Slow Missiles. I strongly advise to set the players to 1, it's difficult enough as it is.
As for your unanswered points:
2. Check the chance to hit, if you're below 70% you should definitely get more attack rating. If you're not hitting you're not leeching mana. Potions is a must with this build,

Freezing Arrow costs a lot of mana.
3. Skills: . Items from this build: https://top-tier.info/the-ultimate-bow- ... surrected/

rikus wrote: 2 years ago

I'm on Act V lvl 41 with my amazon, playing on /players8 straight from the start.
took the freeze arrow/starfe amazon build.

whihc said all your points to vitality.

but the drawbacks are-
1. some monsters are immune, or cold resistence, especially later on. how is that a good build for NM Hell even?
2. I have 7% mana leech, but even with starfe(8points) it doesn't add back as the build said, since it misses! and the build said invest in vitality. in other builds I've seen Zons invest in maxing dex, as it influence attack rating??

what are common builds? is there a website that conscentrates builds for bowZons, or is that go by the fly thing, where you improvise according to what luck you have with items?


TL:DR 1. best build for NM/Hell? 2. invest in dex or vit? 3. recommendations for bowZons builds

I'm also currently playing a

Freezing Arrow bowazon. I'm lvl 50 in act 3 nightmare.


This is exactly the build I'm following : https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Guide:St ... by_Dacar92

It is a

Freezing Arrow/

Strafe hybrid.

1. Currently nightmare is extremely smooth. I soloed nightmare

Duriel (on hc), not easy for a ranged class. Granted I'm not forcing myself to do players 8. I'd consider dropping the player count a bit if you are having issues.

I don't know what the best is, but so far I have no complaints.


2. The amount of dex should depend entirely on your bow. I would up your dex so you have access to many different bows and can be flexible with what you find. If it is a matter of needing attack rating get a

Blessed Aim merc, it makes a huge difference!


I've done this build a few times, and it will take time for

Strafe to shine in my experience.

Freezing Arrow is what is carrying me right now while I rely mostly on my merc/valk to take out the few cold immunes in nightmare.

When I get to the end of nightmare I'm going to spend some time farming nightmare cows. This is a great spot for charms, amulets, elite bases to make good Edge runewords out of, find skill charms, decent runes, and more.

Look up the Edge runeword, right now I have one built into a bow that offers +1 to all bow skills. I will update this later with a screenshot, with a

Strafe a similar level to yours it has served me well up until a2 nightmare where it is dropping off a bit. But I believe creating a new Edge in a stronger base will help solve this.

Mana was a huge issue until I got an Insight on my merc, also craft some

Caster Gloves. Those give you mana per kill, +mana and mana regen. You will find that recipe here: https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Crafting_Recipes

Now I can pretty much fire off freezing

Arrows without mana limitations and it feels good.

Honestly, don't be such a stickler for the players 8. Drop it to 5, or 3 you will have a better experience.

havelox wrote: 2 years ago

rikus wrote: 2 years ago

I'm on Act V lvl 41 with my amazon, playing on /players8 straight from the start.
took the freeze arrow/starfe amazon build.

whihc said all your points to vitality.

but the drawbacks are-
1. some monsters are immune, or cold resistence, especially later on. how is that a good build for NM Hell even?
2. I have 7% mana leech, but even with starfe(8points) it doesn't add back as the build said, since it misses! and the build said invest in vitality. in other builds I've seen Zons invest in maxing dex, as it influence attack rating??

what are common builds? is there a website that conscentrates builds for bowZons, or is that go by the fly thing, where you improvise according to what luck you have with items?


TL:DR 1. best build for NM/Hell? 2. invest in dex or vit? 3. recommendations for bowZons builds

I'm also currently playing a

Freezing Arrow bowazon. I'm lvl 50 in act 3 nightmare.


This is exactly the build I'm following : https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Guide:St ... by_Dacar92

It is a

Freezing Arrow/

Strafe hybrid.

1. Currently nightmare is extremely smooth. I soloed nightmare

Duriel (on hc), not easy for a ranged class. Granted I'm not forcing myself to do players 8. I'd consider dropping the player count a bit if you are having issues.

I don't know what the best is, but so far I have no complaints.


2. The amount of dex should depend entirely on your bow. I would up your dex so you have access to many different bows and can be flexible with what you find. If it is a matter of needing attack rating get a

Blessed Aim merc, it makes a huge difference!


I've done this build a few times, and it will take time for

Strafe to shine in my experience.

Freezing Arrow is what is carrying me right now while I rely mostly on my merc/valk to take out the few cold immunes in nightmare.

When I get to the end of nightmare I'm going to spend some time farming nightmare cows. This is a great spot for charms, amulets, elite bases to make good Edge runewords out of, find skill charms, decent runes, and more.

Look up the Edge runeword, right now I have one built into a bow that offers +1 to all bow skills. I will update this later with a screenshot, with a

Strafe a similar level to yours it has served me well up until a2 nightmare where it is dropping off a bit. But I believe creating a new Edge in a stronger base will help solve this.

Mana was a huge issue until I got an Insight on my merc, also craft some

Caster Gloves. Those give you mana per kill, +mana and mana regen. You will find that recipe here: https://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Crafting_Recipes

Now I can pretty much fire off freezing

Arrows without mana limitations and it feels good.

Honestly, don't be such a stickler for the players 8. Drop it to 5, or 3 you will have a better experience.

I'm using Edge runeword from level 30 or so.
also I'm level 47 I think, and its been much much better with the merc to hit bonus. so thanks!
now i can starfe and get mana to full after a few rounds, if there's enough enemies. if not, its mana quaffing.
or just shooting to restore mana. I'm switching between mana steal bow and the Edge, since the bonuses for demon and undead are pretty hefty.
just done iwth cow level, so NM now. I think it will work out. I basically just need better gear for mana steal.
found tons of uniques in cow level btw on players 8. I lowered players 8 to 5, on the end of act 5, to finish it faster. still got nice stuff.

I have another question but i'll ask it on a different topic.

p.s.
I'm doing that same build as well.