Best Non-Zon bow-users

[mrp935]

Best Non-Zon bow-users

Ever since reading the old .09 Ranger guide, I've been sorta struck by the idea of using a bow with other characters. The Pally has become a lot better at this thanks to 1.10

But I've been thinking about other characters as bow-wielders.

Personally I think these characters are the most viable

1. Paladin (for obvious reasons; you can basically use any offensive aura with this build, with the right equipment, sometimes even alternate between 2; the passive AR from B.aim is a great help in 1.10, althought I think Holy Auras could use an AR bonus, even if just a solid number rather than a percent)
Tied2. Assassin ("The Archer," as I like to call her; venom + BoS or Fade depending on your IAS from equipment; CoS great ranged skill, especially for people without godly bows i.e. with mods like Pierce, ITD, Fires Magic/Guided/Explosive Arrows or Bolts, Hit Blinds Target, etc.; can double as a Trapper)
Tied2. Sorceress (ranged enchantress; great if you've got a Kuko or Demon Machine, plus you can still max out another skill, usually Orb)
4. Druid --> The Hunter (you've basically only got Heart of the Wolverine to help your bow, so you're not as powerful as some others, but your summons are helpful, and there's a little bit of room to double in elemental skills)
5. Necromancer (obviously, not very well explored; basically dependent on having an uber-godly bow and picking a good curse to go with it; possibly a second hunter, doubling in summoning, but basically I think your bow-using will be a very secondary matter to whatever other skills you use)
6. Barbarian (the only skill I could think of to help the Barb use a bow was Battlecry; unfortunately he has no skills to increase his damage with a bow; almost makes you wish "Throw Mastery" was "Ranged Mastery"; he CAN, however go heavy into buffs like Warcries and Masteries, due to having lots of points to spread around, although I don't know how useful that would be...)


If anyone would like to debate the finer points of Bow-usage, critique my list, or go into some more specific builds than I have here, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Anidem]

I've tried bows with all chas and they all have + and - to them

Assasain: Pluses- cloak of Shadowws to lower Def, Venom, a decent tank in Shadow master A good speed aura, a good conversion skill, Death sentry to help cull herds. Minuses- No AR help anywhere.

Druid: Pluses- Heart of the wolverene, Multiple summons that cast fast and dont ruquire that much mana, Can still use elementel shills. Minuses- Druids not used to needing to commit to DEX so much it really.

Barb: Pluses- Grim Totem and Howl, (Grim totem is a lot of fun in cows, put up a couple and stand in the middle. almost the only use for the skill,) Natural Resist since you wolnt use all the mastery skills max this and leaves you room for AR gear. High life/Vit rate and BO lets you spare a lot of points for DEX without having a glass jaw. Minuses- No tank, No AR help

Pally: Well covered in DiabloII, No need to rehash.

Sorcluses-Enchant a big help now, Teleport, freezing skills. Static still there to do the bulk of the work. Minuses-Low life, Not many points to put into dex. No tank. sorc skills kinda weak if you don't use the synergies and 20 to enchant and some to fire mastery static and the cold skills Nixes that.

The Charcter with the most options is the Assasain, the rest seem one dimensional.

 

[mrp935]

Assasain: Pluses- cloak of Shadows to lower Def, Venom, a decent tank in Shadow master A good speed aura, a good conversion skill, Death sentry to help cull herds. Minuses- No AR help anywhere[...] The Charcter with the most options is the Assasain, the rest seem one dimensional.

I'm liking the Assassin myself; the Paladin may be stronger damage-wise, but very boring.

CoS plus Inner Sight from a Rogue Merc really helps negate the low AR.

When I first thought of making an Assassin use a bow, one of the names I thought of was "The Fallen Amazon"

CoS is like the great-grandaddy of Inner Sight, with a hint of Dim Vision mixed in
SM is like your Valk, although with waaay more versitility

The only problem really is that your only bonus Damage comes from Venom, and that's pretty low, even when maxed; you need a lot of +skills, +poison skill damage, and/or -enemy poison resistance mods on your equipment to make it worthwhile.

That is, unless you double in MA or Traps, which will cost you big time in the Style category

 

[Lyrs]

the Assassin looks very secksy with a bow. I tried using a bow on my kicksin and it works out quite well. when they're far away, she snipes them down, when they are close up, she kicks a$$.

 

[Anidem]

Which bows do u prefer?

Ok, well how about what bows do you prefer for your chars? The last time i Did this with my assasain I used raveclaw till I could use Kuko. My 1.09 Necro was a dueler that had Bone skills and a 6 soc long bow (6*TAL) I discowered that poison was the "elemental" that most players were least equipped for.

 

[lextalionis]

Well,

I think yes the assassin can use a bow pretty well, but they are almost better off using Blade Fury. You can usually get better mods on a weapon than you can on a bow, plus you still get to use a shield.

Someone said that Assassins don't have any AR help. This is untrue. Not only does Cloak of Shadows work like Dim Vision, it also greatly increase your chance to hit things.

Fade is something that any bow using Assassin should really try to use. Its Damage Reduction and Resist All aura help replace the fact that you can't use a shield and you should be able to equip IAS and AR gear from somewhere else.

But this may be why the Assassin is fairly well adapted to playing with a bow, because she was designed to use Blade Fury. And if you are going for Style bows have a lot of it. The one thing that you can get from a bow that you can't get from a Blade Fury is Pierce.

Obviously Paladins are pretty good with Bows.

I think that people underestimate the damage an Enchantress can do. Especially with a good demon machine. You only have to max three skills to max enchants synergies. It gives a really good AR now.

But don't underestimate the Necro. I think he is far better suited to a bow than a Druid is. He has twice the number of minions. Bone Armor. Bone Wall and Bone Prison, both of which can be very helpful. Amp damage is a great help to your bow damage. As is Decryptify. Dim Vision can be helpful too. Plus all the AI curses

 

[sheepgoat]

in 1.09 i made a necro that worked pretty well. amp, lower resist, decrep, corpse explode, skelly's and golem. i think i may make a new one.