Favorite zon builds

that Diadem...

Queegon wrote: 1 month ago

ganseng wrote: 1 month ago

almost looks like Poison Javelin would one shot the uber ancients.. just need to wait 2 mins

Yup

https://www.reddit.com/r/diablo2/commen ... velin_and/

did some testing of Plague Javelin on tz 92 Baal with and without lvl 3 Venom from arachnid's

results are inconclusive to random

without Venom
1st run 45s
2nd 53s
3rd 24s
average 40.7s

with Venom
1st 33s
2nd 61s
3rd 27s
average 40.3s

i guess i will switch on Venom from arachnid's when fighting tougher targets but don't see the point in investing into another shield, considering this builds is already overburdened with charms

so, made me a simple Spirit with 4x5/5 facets..

dmg with Enigma 98.5k->106k over 12.8->12.4s
dmg with Bramble (43%) 125.3k->128k over 12.4->12s

Bramble barely feels worth it.. maybe will change with a +6 Javelin and a perfect roll

kill speed on tougher heralds seems to have improved except for poison immunes.. embalmed in tombs in particular are slow to a point that i doubt -res works properly??

and it feels like dmg can be much higher if applied through direct hit rather than the poison cloud.. regardless whether Venom is active or not. not sure if it's a bug, intended, or my perception

did one Baal run so far, 30s without Venom. will do some more testing later

p.s. got such a beautiful red valk, lvl 52, immune to all elemental dmg.. only gorebellies manage to scratch her with crushing blow. why can't we keep the valk??

after eight more excruciatingly boring Baal tests (tz 93, 128k dmg over 12s, -40 poison res, tz either extra strong or fire ench or exra fast or cursed)

without lvl 3 Venom 30s / 20s / 29s / 24s mean 25.8s
with lvl 3 Venom 14s / 26s / 25s / 33s mean 24.5s

Conclusion: Venom has very small positive effect
Clueless why kill time varies so greatly..

of course, a few days after sticking 4 5/5 facets into a normal Monarch this drops..

okay, let's talk about Lightning Fury, the #1 zon in this poll, despite the bowazon's legacy fan base

i only got to test its full power after rotw, as i hadn't had griffon before. it's impressive indeed to clear entire screens with 1-2 Bolts..

but, with introduction of heralds and uber ancients, i feel Lightning Fury loses to other builds due to the lack of Valkyrie and the need to engage at melee range (never a good idea vs a Herald..)

throwing Bolts from distance also isn't a good option since nothing tanks, and single target dps is mediocre

further more, to fight tougher enemies, you might want to switch to Thunderstroke, which is cumbersome. and you need to carry Thunderstroke AND Spirit, without Enigma, if you want yo do ubers, meaning less points to vitality

and you are mana starved, meaning Insight and not Infinity on merc

although some people say they prefer her to self wield Infinity vs ubers, for me it's difficult to believe because of Infinity's -res, and the fact emilio would be puffed away if you brought him with Infinity. only advantage us higher attack speed and some extra res vs lightning (cold not a problem and poison irrelevant). i would certainly bet on the self wielding Infinity vs ubers

and finally, Lightning Fury is so skill point hungry, it's an issue to even divert 2 points to Slow Missiles..

what are your thoughts?

after buyibg a +6 Javelin for the Plague java..

max dmg 142k over 12.4 s (slvlv 48) with a 43% Bramble and a single Stone +6%. 157k if with skill shrine

only possible improvements: 50% Bramble, and a godly Diadem with a 10% Stone, 2nd 5% facet. so 173k dmg would be hard max?

for speedfarming, Enigma & Titan's Revenge yield 106. perceived difference to max dmg build: no difference in damage output

and contemplating about the merc for the Plague java again..
we have to accept the idiotic bug preventing poison dmg for 1/3 of second upon hit dmg persists. meaning merc and valk should ideally not hit the Herald / boss at all, or as rarely as possible. so my current Faith rogue is very counterproductive. an Ice rogue would also not help, Insight rogue we don't need. Insight or Infinity emilio won't help either. a3 is a joke. a5 with Frenzy and double Plague would hit too often and might ruin the Lower Resist with Taunt. Bash a5 also no help.

so.. no merc? or Phoenix rogue with Flickering Flame, to hit rarely but somewhat strong, and help with aura?

ganseng wrote: 1 hour ago

so.. no merc?

Harmony rogue ?
Tank A5 with Fortitude and Arreat's Face ?

Tornado_OLO wrote: 48 minutes ago

ganseng wrote: 1 hour ago

so.. no merc?

Harmony rogue ?
Tank A5 with Fortitude and Arreat's Face ?

thanks.. Vigor you don't really need with Enigma. maybe when running with Bramble for fun only

you certainly don't need a tank when you have a fully synergized lvl 53 valk

ganseng wrote: 25 minutes ago

you certainly don't need a tank when you have a fully synergized lvl 53 valk

Why using valk when you have a "free" tank ?

Tornado_OLO wrote: 11 minutes ago

ganseng wrote: 25 minutes ago

you certainly don't need a tank when you have a fully synergized lvl 53 valk

Why using valk when you have a "free" tank ?

cause she is a much better tank and u have nothing to spend points on after lvl 41

hysterical zon with manic barb boyfriend.
i am playing this online and am able to clear Chaos easily, but Terror zones depends, tier 5 heralds might be a bit much though.

Harmony Great Bow (tried in a 3os Matriarchal Bow and rolled 204ed argh), Shako (just cos), crafted faster run/walk blood ammy with +2skills, Hysteria armor, DRAC'S, WAR TRAVS, Gold WRAP. ravenfrost + Carrion Wind (I just love this ring for bowazon, that little Twister thing has saved me so many times).

MANIC TRYNEUS (boyfriend). vampgaze, Fortitude (in a Dusk Shroud cos I'm generally a budget account). Mania Phase Blade + Unbending Will Phase Blade. I keep a STRENGTH Phase Blade which actually works better on the Heralds but I don't normally mind the Taunt that procs off Unbending Will bc i think it seems to be single target.

Easy to play, fast as heck running around with +105 r/w and Vigor on. A bit squishy like all bowas but liberal use of Slow Missiles, Decoy, valk saves. ACT BOSSES (esp Diablo), just switch to my Titan's Revenge + Rhyme shield, and Jab him to Death. No crushing blow, so it takes a while but with Life Tap on I'm never really in danger.

I ran an unoptimised generalist Zon for a long time but which was able to complete Hell, with some challenges.

This was well before reading up on the Lore, mechanics, optimisation, synergies and BIS discussions.

She was a Java-Bow hybrid build able to deliver damage with Lightning Fury, Freezing Arrow, and Immolation Arrow. She also had quite a lot dumped on the Valkyrie to tank. she was mostly geared with mid-game SF items, save for anni, torch, and (old) sunder. No skillers. Just several GC LC and SC with various resistances and other bonuses. Nothing groundbreaking. Stats were all over the place with huge amounts dumped into energy, strength and dex.

Pros: anything that was immune to one element could be handled with another. Lightning inmunes could be immolated overtime; fire immunes could be furied; and Freezing Arrow was just damn good at crowd control. The Valk would distract engage and tank against packs. She was as happy with a unique bow find as she was with a set of rare javelins.

Cons: not making proper use of synergies meant that damage was not near optimal which meant kill time in the toughest fights usually went on for several minutes. Toughest opponent she faced off was a DClone, through the use of Immolation Arrow and the DPS burn damage. 3 stacks of Arrows later, countless mana potions, and several near Death experiences (Bone caging), and probably more than 25 minutes in the fight, DClone died (probably a charitable Death by choice in the knowledge that if he didn’t, the fight would drag for another 30 minutes which he would never get back)…

She was clearly not meta or optimised, but she was a lot of fun to play. And lots of fights in Hell felt like a challenge, hard fought and hard won.