Good post norvi11erogers... it sort covers the key issues... some questions before I respond...
1. How feasible is a low health/base vitality amazon? Can you actually see someone putting all their attributte points into (shudder) energy? I'll probably have around 200 health at clvl60 so it's almost one hit deaths from everything but I'll have low level valkyrie and a lame decoy. I know I will face a million deaths against bosses but I usually don't fight them most of the time. Can you see this working? I am seriously thinking of going with base vitality.
2. If weak pierce is the main downside to having low AR then does having high mana compensate for it? With your FA builds, were you able to continuously fire FA non-stop (while drinking potions)? I can wear set items to get AR (2 hsaru item, and/or sigon helm+armour; no angelic though since I need the ring/amulet slots for mana and resistences). However, I am just concerned that I won't be able to fire off enough arrows to kill even one monster. I would really like to hear how many arrows you were able to fire and how your mana situation worked out.
3. Strafe is out of the question as a backup for a low dex build. Similar to many people here, I also don't like immolation arrow. The timer makes it less ideal as a backup attack (unless I switch to a third attack during the timer i.e. immo->3rd attack->3rd attack->immo->repeat). However, immolation arrow would be ideal with no equip switch, little need to change attribute/skill allocation/etc. I have no problem switching gear for backup attack. Given that, is lightning fury the best backup? Slvl 20 immo does around 300 + 100/sec, while LF does aroudn 300 with potential multiple hits.
norvi11erogers said:
Doomslinger is good for the pierce, speed (very close to max for xbows), and skill. Just check the posts i've made. WarlockCC and I talked about weapon choice for this and other builds in two different threads, one started by me, about a month ago. I did some calculations based on a 65% base chance to pierce and for differing cold resistances for wizendraw vs doomslinger. I think doomslinger is probably a better choice for a hybrid type build (immo/fa or exploding arrow/fa). The +skill/pierce would seem to reduce the number of skill points one would use.
Doomslinger would be good if you value pierce. You like pierce a lot but I'm thinking of almost ignoring pierce (just 3 or 4 points to get it up to 50% pierce but with horrible AR). This might be a bad decision but I'm not sure. After playing my strafer, I don't know how much pierce matters when you can't even kill the first monster.
Also, for an effective FA, one really can get by with 12 or 15 points in ice arrow (or whatever the name of the synergy is). 20 is obviously better, but whatever.
Keeping FA low will avoid mana issues, but you will only do half as much in damage. I want damage. The main reason for going this route is because I was dissapointed with my strafer's damage so I will have to max FA... since I'm going wit ha low damage weapon, max FA is also the right thing to do...
But seriously, piercing is huge. It's what separates this build from a glacial spike sorc that doesn't teleport. It allows you to do double, even triple damage, with just a few skill point investment. Either you have to get your zon high level in comparison to monsters (making it hard to level), or you need dex and/or ar items.
I know pierce is important but how do you build this amazon without running into mana problems. Even putting all attr points into energy likely isn't enough. Going with set items will be too much of a pay-off I think. For example, I can wear sigon helm+another sigon but I would prefer to use a rare helm with +mana and resists or even a 3ptopaz (or 3 pskull) helm. I may end up wearing one set combo (maybe angelic armour + ring, or hsaru belt+shoes, or sigon helm+boot/armour) but I can't see myself concentrating on getting AR.
I know pierce can theoretically double or triple your effective damage but I'm just concerned about killing the first monster and having enough mana to do it comfortably.
rings/boots, etc, with +mana. Frosties are ok, but they really have zero useful mods. You will be better served by 1) set gloves with no +mana but cool mods or 2) rare gloves with +mana and good mods. Even with all this stuff though, i still went through mana potions way too fast.
Frostburns also give increased cold duration. It's kind of low (1s to 2s in normal) but that's not bad. I think Frostburns will matter if you have high mana. If I put a lot of points into energy I can see it working. I'm planning to go with it.
My mana leech (around 10% i think, maybe higher), with the penalties in hell difficulty, is just not enough to make up for the mana cost of FA. In expac, with all the ridiculous bows, this strategy probably works, but in classic, it just slows down the use of mana potions, much like adding points to nrg. In addition, even with 200+ (i think even 250) in dex, and even with a few points into penetrate, I still only have 75% to hit act 2 monsters. Part of that is a function of my level (only 61), but it's still annoying. I may end up adding ar items, like sigs gloves/helm. Also, as i mentioned, the physical damage just doesn't really make up for the lack of -35% resists.
I haven't played the expansion (except a tiny bit a long time ago) but I think one big difference is that the expansion lets you boost skill levels to high values and to boost your attack speed... When I first thought of building this char, I was thinking of a high-dex conventional build but dumped that idea when I realized that mana leech will be difficult. It can be done but you probablyl need around 25% mana leech (this is like 8% leech in hell)... so my plan now is to have high mana (not mana leech)...
If you want a functional pierce (which you really should), you need to get ar. If you don't want to spend points in dex, you will need to wear ar items.
Still not sure if it's worth going for AR and hence pierce. I think I'm just going to build it with low dex and then if I think pierce is better when I get to hell, I'll use some set items.
That's my advice. I'm just disappointed by my FA/strafe hybrid. I'm not sure which skill is best.
You might be dissapointed with the combo but I'm dissapointed with strafe itself. Strafe just sucks now. I wouldn't build any hybrids using that. Even for bosses it probably sucks. Even with goldly items it probaly isn't good. The main reason I'm going with FA is to avoid strafe; I want to get as far away from strafe as possible. Strafe has been corrupted beyond recognition--and don't let me get strated with multishot, my former favourite a long time ago
My current plan...
I'm thinking of a low dex, low AR, low health, high mana bowazon.
40 to 60 strength (for equip; too bad frostburns req str)
50 dex (for equip)
base vitality (or maybe 100 if I find it hard)
rest energy (will probably be around 200 to 300 points)
bow: wizendraw (-26% enemy cold res)
key items: frostburns gloves, EoE amulet, rare +mana rings (with res hopefully and 30+ mana), +mana rare armour/helm/belt/etc (or 3pskull or 3ptopaz helm)
In hell, I will probably have around 200 health and probably 300 to 400 mana. Initially I was thinking of going with manald heal rings but I think rare rings may be better if I can find something with 30 or more mana (I also get res from rare rings).
Backup skill is still a total uncertainty...