Perfected PvM Hybrid Build... Need Feedback
Hello!
I started playing Diablo 2 about a year ago and I've been using an Amazon ever since I've started. Heck, the only other classes I've ever even touched were Sorceress and Paladin *shrugs*
So I play online and read forums to try and come up with the perfect PvM build in order to play with.
So i've done some experiments and trials to see which skills that would help me the most in the increasing difficulty of Normal, Nightmare and Hell. Seeing that normal mode is a bit of a cakewalk, I'll mention the least about it. Of course, the first 20-40 levels (depending on when you get to nightmare) could be the most important levels for a build, its quite simple for a hybrid as I will soon explain.
This apparently is my 3rd try and making an effective hybrid, my last two had late game troubles so I took late game NM and Hell into account for this re-vamped version of my build.
I don't think I'll write a huge book on stats and skills for my zon, but I will provide a range and a layout of my plan to clarify any misconceptions.
As for things like MF, Equipment and Mercs, I will spend very little time talking about them because if I didn't, I would be writing a FAQ. Make no mistake, this will not be a FAQ
Attributes?
For attributes, there are two ways of approaching it. You could save up all your attributes and only use them when you think you need them.
For instance, if you need a certain amount of strenght in order to use some of your items, you could just dump a whole bunch of saved points into strength in order to use it.
Or you can alternatively place points into stats as they come. Some people develop a pattern and I find that 2 str, 2 dex and 1 Vit works quite well until you max str and change it to 2 dex and 3 vit.
Approximate Point allocation:
Str -- around 100, 80+ for sure.
Dex -- about 300, if not more.
Vitality -- Varies. Aim for enough to get you to around 500 or 600 life.
Energy -- None. Hybrids don't need extra energy.
Skill Distribution
My skill distribution method is as follows (in no particular order):
Bow tree: [52 points total]
Magic Arrow - 1
Cold Arrow - 20
Ice Arrow - 1
Guided Arrow - 1
Strafe - 8
Multiple Shot - 1
Freezing Arrow - 20
Passive tree: [34 points total]
Inner Sight - 1
Penetrate - 1
Critical Strike - 4
Decoy - 1
Dodge/Avoid/Evade - 2 each.
Slow Missiles - 1
Valkirye - 17
Pierce - 4
Javelin tree: [ 24 points total]
Jab - 1
Poison Jav - 1
Plague Jav - 1
Lightening Bolt - 1
Lightning Fury - 20
As you can see, my distribution method for skills is quite stretched out and thin. When I made this build, I was moving towards a more offensive setup and i decided to focus less on defensive skills such as D/A/E. Seeing that Hybrids inherit the keep away game that is played by Bowazons, I didn't really see the point of placing extra points into them.
I decided to stop Strafe at Level 8 because apparently, that is the capping point for the number of arrows that is fired by your Amazon -- 10. The extra damage percentage that comes from additional skills is nice, but only works with the skill alone, and you have to remember that you will only be using this skill half the time (when you're in bow mode) because you have Freezing Arrow.
The lack in Critical Strike and Pierce can be made up with +skills equipment or perhaps a Buriza, but this is an area that is worth considering because when I went to try and up these percentages, I found myself deducting points from more important skills.
On with the Build
So you get on B-net, and you start your zon (this is v1.10 might I add). Preferably Ladder because they have more stuff When setting up weaponry, try and have your Bow set on one snap, and your Jav on the other, thats essentially how Hybrids work, so I won't go into detail.
I would preferably beg for a rush to Act 5 just so you won't have to drag yourself through all of the acts in order to level. The point of this is to get you into Baal runs earlier so you can get more of the build done with the little time you would want to spend on leveling.
First 30 levels should be used in order to prepare for the skill that every Hybrid has to have -- Lightning Fury. What I plan to do is start saving very early and only place points into prereqs for LF. Since LF takes 20 skill pts to max along with the 3 prereqs you have about 7 points to play with. One point should be put into Jab for sure and Critical Strike. You could start your bow tree or you can put some of some of you Dodge/Avoid/Evade skills but chances are, you won't need them too much because Normal monsters are nutoriously weak. :-D
As soon as you hit 30, go crazy and dump all your points into LF, maxing it out (I think your allowed to dump points like that... but correct me if im wrong) and work to have Act 2 Defensive Mercs near your level in order to get the best out of their auras.
After that, you should have enough killing potential to last you until the later half of Nightmare. Make sure you have a relatively efficient amount of mana leech in order to maintain your attacks and you should be fine.
Spend the early levels after 30 to get your Valkirye started. Try getting her to around Slvl 8 so she can have her upgraded weapon.
Once you've gotten valkirye and decoy up your sleeve in case of emergency, work to max out your Cold Arrow/Freezing Arrow combination in order to get the max damage from your bow tree. You can accomplish this by dumping points into them, but its better to just put points into them as they come simply because it takes too long to save points in mid game and on.
Once you've gotten those two skills maxed, your pretty much free to do whatever you want. You could work to get the goal skill levels for skills like Strafe, D/A/E or even your Valkirye. For your Valk, getting to level 17 earlier is better than later, but not necessary. I would save skills such as strafe or D/A/E for late game because they don't really increase your overall killing ability by enough to make a significant difference.
So there you go. That is basically the blueprint for my Hybrid until level 99 (although a more idealistic level is around 80 simply because 99 will take an eternity) The thing is, at level 70ish, you should have your skills at 80-90% of your total killing potential. Because good physical damage, Lightning Fury and Freezing Arrow will take are most to all the Monsters in NM/Hell. The Valk is essential to get you out of tighter situation where you cannot risk a head-to-head confrontation with your target (such as act bosses and light enchanted monsters).
Hope this attempt won't fail... feedback is always welcome! Remember, I'm trying to go for killing potential and I don't plan on relying on others in the build because its not the best to rely on others in order to play effectively. This build is designed to be solo effective and less effective for other forms of play.
Thanks for reading my very long post~ Any comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed. Hope this thread helps all amazons, new and experts alike, in their strive to become the strongest amazons on B-net :winner:
Hello!
I started playing Diablo 2 about a year ago and I've been using an Amazon ever since I've started. Heck, the only other classes I've ever even touched were Sorceress and Paladin *shrugs*
So I play online and read forums to try and come up with the perfect PvM build in order to play with.
So i've done some experiments and trials to see which skills that would help me the most in the increasing difficulty of Normal, Nightmare and Hell. Seeing that normal mode is a bit of a cakewalk, I'll mention the least about it. Of course, the first 20-40 levels (depending on when you get to nightmare) could be the most important levels for a build, its quite simple for a hybrid as I will soon explain.
This apparently is my 3rd try and making an effective hybrid, my last two had late game troubles so I took late game NM and Hell into account for this re-vamped version of my build.
I don't think I'll write a huge book on stats and skills for my zon, but I will provide a range and a layout of my plan to clarify any misconceptions.
As for things like MF, Equipment and Mercs, I will spend very little time talking about them because if I didn't, I would be writing a FAQ. Make no mistake, this will not be a FAQ
Attributes?
For attributes, there are two ways of approaching it. You could save up all your attributes and only use them when you think you need them.
For instance, if you need a certain amount of strenght in order to use some of your items, you could just dump a whole bunch of saved points into strength in order to use it.
Or you can alternatively place points into stats as they come. Some people develop a pattern and I find that 2 str, 2 dex and 1 Vit works quite well until you max str and change it to 2 dex and 3 vit.
Approximate Point allocation:
Str -- around 100, 80+ for sure.
Dex -- about 300, if not more.
Vitality -- Varies. Aim for enough to get you to around 500 or 600 life.
Energy -- None. Hybrids don't need extra energy.
Skill Distribution
My skill distribution method is as follows (in no particular order):
Bow tree: [52 points total]
Magic Arrow - 1
Cold Arrow - 20
Ice Arrow - 1
Guided Arrow - 1
Strafe - 8
Multiple Shot - 1
Freezing Arrow - 20
Passive tree: [34 points total]
Inner Sight - 1
Penetrate - 1
Critical Strike - 4
Decoy - 1
Dodge/Avoid/Evade - 2 each.
Slow Missiles - 1
Valkirye - 17
Pierce - 4
Javelin tree: [ 24 points total]
Jab - 1
Poison Jav - 1
Plague Jav - 1
Lightening Bolt - 1
Lightning Fury - 20
As you can see, my distribution method for skills is quite stretched out and thin. When I made this build, I was moving towards a more offensive setup and i decided to focus less on defensive skills such as D/A/E. Seeing that Hybrids inherit the keep away game that is played by Bowazons, I didn't really see the point of placing extra points into them.
I decided to stop Strafe at Level 8 because apparently, that is the capping point for the number of arrows that is fired by your Amazon -- 10. The extra damage percentage that comes from additional skills is nice, but only works with the skill alone, and you have to remember that you will only be using this skill half the time (when you're in bow mode) because you have Freezing Arrow.
The lack in Critical Strike and Pierce can be made up with +skills equipment or perhaps a Buriza, but this is an area that is worth considering because when I went to try and up these percentages, I found myself deducting points from more important skills.
On with the Build
So you get on B-net, and you start your zon (this is v1.10 might I add). Preferably Ladder because they have more stuff
When setting up weaponry, try and have your Bow set on one snap, and your Jav on the other, thats essentially how Hybrids work, so I won't go into detail.I would preferably beg for a rush to Act 5 just so you won't have to drag yourself through all of the acts in order to level. The point of this is to get you into Baal runs earlier so you can get more of the build done with the little time you would want to spend on leveling.
First 30 levels should be used in order to prepare for the skill that every Hybrid has to have -- Lightning Fury. What I plan to do is start saving very early and only place points into prereqs for LF. Since LF takes 20 skill pts to max along with the 3 prereqs you have about 7 points to play with. One point should be put into Jab for sure and Critical Strike. You could start your bow tree or you can put some of some of you Dodge/Avoid/Evade skills but chances are, you won't need them too much because Normal monsters are nutoriously weak. :-D
As soon as you hit 30, go crazy and dump all your points into LF, maxing it out (I think your allowed to dump points like that... but correct me if im wrong) and work to have Act 2 Defensive Mercs near your level in order to get the best out of their auras.
After that, you should have enough killing potential to last you until the later half of Nightmare. Make sure you have a relatively efficient amount of mana leech in order to maintain your attacks and you should be fine.
Spend the early levels after 30 to get your Valkirye started. Try getting her to around Slvl 8 so she can have her upgraded weapon.
Once you've gotten valkirye and decoy up your sleeve in case of emergency, work to max out your Cold Arrow/Freezing Arrow combination in order to get the max damage from your bow tree. You can accomplish this by dumping points into them, but its better to just put points into them as they come simply because it takes too long to save points in mid game and on.
Once you've gotten those two skills maxed, your pretty much free to do whatever you want. You could work to get the goal skill levels for skills like Strafe, D/A/E or even your Valkirye. For your Valk, getting to level 17 earlier is better than later, but not necessary. I would save skills such as strafe or D/A/E for late game because they don't really increase your overall killing ability by enough to make a significant difference.
So there you go. That is basically the blueprint for my Hybrid until level 99 (although a more idealistic level is around 80 simply because 99 will take an eternity
) The thing is, at level 70ish, you should have your skills at 80-90% of your total killing potential. Because good physical damage, Lightning Fury and Freezing Arrow will take are most to all the Monsters in NM/Hell. The Valk is essential to get you out of tighter situation where you cannot risk a head-to-head confrontation with your target (such as act bosses and light enchanted monsters).Hope this attempt won't fail... feedback is always welcome! Remember, I'm trying to go for killing potential and I don't plan on relying on others in the build because its not the best to rely on others in order to play effectively. This build is designed to be solo effective and less effective for other forms of play.
Thanks for reading my very long post~ Any comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed. Hope this thread helps all amazons, new and experts alike, in their strive to become the strongest amazons on B-net :winner: