BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

[Skinbo]

BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

Seriously I was all excited when I got the set, but i was honestly better off using my burrito cannon.

If the other classes are going to have these awesome sets, why does the one for bowzons suck? plus it looks ugly as hell.

So now I'm stuck in hell with a M'avina's set and no other gear really, and having a really tough time at clvl 70. My main skill is strafe which is at 29 with gear, and freezing arrow is at 8 right now. and my stats (with gear) are as follows:

str 149
dex 381
vit 53
nrg 36

I also have silkweave boots, a raven frost, cat's eye ammy, and some life leech ring.

What's been really frustrating is not that I die a lot, it's that I don't kill very fast...

This is my first bowzon build so should I expect to kill faster when i pump the dex up?

Or should I focus on just finding new gear? I'm playing non ladder so faith is not an option.

Sorry for the long post, just dissappointed in how this set turned out to be.

comments/criticism are encouraged :yes:

 

[Sun Fired Blank]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

It's not. Actually it's crazy solid for a set. The problem is it locks you into Freezing Arrow as your killing mechanism. You chose to pump points into Dexterity and Strafe, which is not good since the base damage on the set bow is mediocre at best and most of its damage is magic / elemental. Consequently, it's not surprising you feel a lack of damage.

 

[lionheartthebrave]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

If the other classes are going to have these awesome sets, why does the one for bowzons suck?

You haven't looked at Aldur's Watchtower enough, the damage on the weapon is pitiful (it's not even elite)

Have you got points in critical strike/penetrate/pierce? points in strafe really aren't that helpful, lvl19 is optimum iirc

 

[hubb]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

What Sun Fired said. It's not terrific, but with a torch and +2 amulet your FA should be more than respectable.

Bowazons (i.e. MS or Strafe) are woefully underpowered imo. Although it could be that I'm doing something wrong, I've tried them with all manner of elite gear and they just don't seem to perform better than a modestly geared Fishyzon.

 

[Skinbo]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

So just pump up Freezing arrow then? I will try that. and yea I have like 70% pierce now.

As far as getting better magic damage... should i respec? and in what way?

 

[Noodle]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

I'd level up a bit too. 70 is pretty low for Hell.

 

[Sun Fired Blank]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

PvM Bowazons (MS / Strafe) are comparatively UP now 'cause they haven't gained anything from 1.09 to 1.13 besides Fortitude and perhaps Faith, which didn't much improve their status as glass cannons hiding behind Valkyries. Also, Strafe and Multishot didn't get any synergy buffs with 1.10, unlike most other physical damage skills. So far as I know, Strafe is still bugged at 3 frames and Multi-Shot, still only procs on-hit effects for the center arrows. It's also still possible to get D/A/E locked without any reliable escape mechanism. While this isn't usually a problem, it's still annoying as hell. Essentially, almost nothing about the Bowazon got better in from 1.09 to 1.10 or from 1.10 to 1.13 with Ladder Items and Runewords. Her skill set except for Valkyrie synergies is mostly the same, and her modern equipment setups aren't significantly more powerful than her older equipment setups.

About the most you can get from NM Baal (before you scream in frustration) is L75 or so. You can grind as far as 80 but every level after that is a chore. So while it would help to get those extra levels, I don't think it would overcome the fact your specs are flawed.

Max Freezing Arrow and its synergy. Max Valkyrie. Put 6 Points into: Critical Strike, Dodge, Avoid, Evade for your Valkyrie synergies. Try for at least 70 to 80% Pierce on your Freezing Arrow. As the set gives you +6 overall to Passive Skills, you'll need 4 Points for 71% and 9 Points for 80% pierce. Put one point into Penetrate to start and more as necessary. Note that while Freezing Arrow doesn't need Attack Rating to explode, it does have to succeed a hit-check to pierce and subsequently start an explosion chain.

Also, unless this was changed (it may have been). the Attack Rating % bonus on FA itself (and other ranged skills) does not function properly and has not for seven years. This was not listed as fixed in any patch, so you may need to keep this in mind for AR. Leave Strafe alone. Extra points won't net you much extra damage and Strafe-lock is annoying.

The set already has 10 frame FA and 3 frame strafe. You get a 9 frame FA at 89% IAS, but I don't know if I'd bother with it explicitly. As far as jewelry goes, one slot should be a Raven Frost if you can find it. Your open slots are three sockets, your amulet, a ring, and boots.

 

[Skinbo]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

So to sum up what you said, Blank... I should use FA as a main skill with the M'avina's set and stay away from strafe.

I read in most guides for 'zons you should max stafe, but I will take your word for it. I'm going to mess around and level up until 80 I think, and if I'm still not gettin it done, I'll just respec and follow your recommendations.

That being said... Are my stat points okay or should I alter them in some way as well?

 

[Sun Fired Blank]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

Maxing Dexterity and Strafe is a great idea if your bow does a high amount of physical damage. Windforce is a strong example of such a bow. M'avina's Caster, not so much. M'avina's Caster has an average damage of 123.5. Compare this to Windforce which does an average damage of like 270 @ clvl 85. Also, M'avina's set gives you a large chunk of magic and cold damage (114-377 and 131-252) that isn't increased by Dexterity or extra points in Strafe. The cold damage does however increase Freezing Arrow's total, which is then further increased by the Cold Skill % on the gloves. M'avina's, from the ground up, is designed as a Frostmaiden set.

Valks are super beefy and incredibly strong if you invest a lot of points into them. Coupled with your Mercenary and good Decoy use, you should be able to kill Cold Immunes without any problems by using base level strafe and auto-attack. You'll need to invest enough Dexterity to reliably pierce. This probably requires a significant amount of AR so it's not like you can get away without spending points in Dexterity, but you don't have to use a glass cannon spec to increase your physical damage. If you feel that you can survive with base vitality, then go with that.

 

[fudoshin]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

i am not experienced with mavina gear too much, but in general: critical strike, ds, pierce, ow, enough ias, poison dmg, also cb (even if there is a penalization) and good merc can help u a lot...i didnt play bowa some time, but i always prefer guided, multiple and strafe. ele skills i didnt use because they need synergy points and when u meet cold or fire imune monster its for nothing...
edit: and ofc good ar is basic...
edit2: i check mavina on arreat and:u should have no problem with ias,resi,ar.it gives u skills and magic dmg, so i recommend combo guided/multiple shots for open space and g/strafe for close battles. definitely gore are very suit, cause they have all u need and miss - ds,ow,cb.also +min dmg (best with ar) charms can boost your real dmg...

 

[mackscynox]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

i agree with others, it is not a super elite set but still fun and usable. use strafe only if you need mana (for mana leach). i made such a zon once (2 ladder ago) and it was fun with freezing arrow. when there is no CI monster around (cows?, need to try though) it is actually a good build. take a HolyFreeze merc and give him reapers or any other slowing gear, watch the statues

also i would say it is a "safe" build because you will have more stats (bonus from set) and resistance so you can pump your vitality. yeah, its killings speed is low

 

[Skinbo]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

Using FA helps kill faster what I've come to notice. I am now level 81 and pumped FA up to 20 and IA is at like 14 for the synergy (both thanks to charms with +skills)

I'm just wondering if this build could ever solo Baal?

Dex is now 400+ and I've been using a Might merc.

aside from the M'avina's set i'm wearing :

Cat's eye
Raven frost
a 5% life steal ring
Silk Weave boots

Any other recommendations from anyone?

 

[Noodle]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

I finished the game (killed Hell Baal at /players 3 in a solo Single Player game) with an FA / strafe zon wearing full Mav's set. It's very possible, especially with a good valkyrie.

 

[Skinbo]

Re: BOWZON ?s Why is M'avina's such trash?

well mine is at level 27 now hahahah I think that should suffice.