================================================================ || Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Amazon (Bowazon) FAQ v1.02 || ================================================================ Copyright (c) Xythar (gmmazz@hotmail.com) 2001 This FAQ is for private personal use only. You may not make a profit off this FAQ in any way or reproduce it in any other form than its current electronic form. As an exception, you may print a hard copy for personal reference purposes provided you do not use it to make a profit in any way, shape or form. If you wish to use this FAQ on your site, email me for permission first. Currently, the sites that have permission to post this FAQ are: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) GameSpot (www.gamespot.com) Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com) Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com) If you see this FAQ on any site not on this list, please notify me. Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment. This is version 1.02 of this FAQ, last updated 8/4/02. This version of the FAQ was written for Diablo II: Lord of Destruction version 1.09. Some information may be incorrect for other versions of the game. Revision History v1.02 *Added permission for Cheat Happens to post this FAQ. v1.01 *Added a section on Mercenaries. I can't believe I forgot them. *Corrected a few minor discrepancies in the stats of my equipment (I WAS writing from memory..) *Added permission for Gamespot and Neoseeker to post this FAQ. ======================== || TABLE OF CONTENTS || ======================== 1) Introduction And General Commentary 1a) Introduction 1b) Multishot vs Strafe vs Guided 1c) Physical Immunes: Your Nemeses 1d) Choosing a Mercenary 2) Stat & Skills Distribution 1a) Stat Point Distribution 1b) Bow & Crossbow Skills 1c) Passive & Magic Skills 1d) Spear & Javelin Skills 3) Suggested Equipment 3a) My Equipment 3b) Recommended Equipment 4) Acknowledgements ========================================== || INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL COMMENTARY || ========================================== ---------------- | Introduction | ---------------- So, why did I write this? Well, after being a GameFAQs regular for just about two years now, I thought it might almost just be time for me to write an FAQ of some kind, and since I happen to be playing D2:LoD obsessively at the moment.. Anyway, I *would* be writing one for the Sorceress, except that my current Sorc was made pre-LoD and is, as a consequence, fairly ineffective. With the way the Sorceress was completely turned around in LoD, I'm not as sure as I used to be about how to build an effective one (maxing Firewall and Fire Mastery and playing nowhere but the Bloody Foothills doesn't count as "effective" in my book, thanks) and will hold off that until I get around to making a Charged Bolt sorc or something. Anyway, my Amazon is currently level 83 and doing pretty well in Hell difficulty (first time I can claim that for a character.. heh..) and I thought I'd write up what strategy I've gleaned so far. Don't follow this blindly, please, and remember that I could be wrong about anything... this is all opinion and suggestion and should be treated as such, with a grain of salt. This guide deals with a "bowazon", or bow-using Amazon. If you wish to create an Amazon specialising in javelins or spears, or hardcore Amazons, I don't cover strategies for them here as I have not played them myself. --------------------------------- | Multishot vs Strafe vs Guided | --------------------------------- IMO, this is the basic trinity of bow skills. In general, most treat Guided Arrow separately, but what irritates me is the apparent tendency for a lot of Amazon players to think that Multishot and Strafe are mutually exclusive. If you ask me, get both. Multishot, Strafe and Guided are all useful skills to have at high levels (don't max Multishot, tho.. waste of points to take it past 15 or so). Believe it or not, but the Amazon has no real bow uberskill that people can mindlessly max and use for the rest of the game.. there's three that are useful situationally, which means you might actually have to use strategy (gasp!) to use the right one at the right time. If the enemies are bunched up tightly, use Multishot on them. Works particularly well with piercing effects. If your Multishot is a high level, you may be able to change "bunched up tightly" to "all on one side of your character". If the enemies are spread apart around you, use Strafe on them. And if you're beset by hordes of, say, those damn teleporting Demon Imps, Burning Souls (not sure which I detest more..) or otherwise extremely-irritating-to-hit enemies, Strafe 'em into oblivion. And use Strafe when you want to use a skill that simply looks freakin' cool. Just watch out for the Strafe lock.. if you've got Death Lords, Undead Stygian Dolls or some other fast-moving, hard-hitting melee enemy after you, it's unwise to use Strafe. Same if you're fighting spellcasting enemies such as Blood Lords and their meteors, or Hierophants and their blizzards. Against single or a few enemies (particularly hard to hit ones), use Guided Arrow with a decent level Pierce or a good piercing bow (especially Buriza-Do Kyanon Unique Ballista). A piercing Guided Arrow can whittle down a unique or Act Boss's health incredibly quickly. And, it's very useful for "scouting ahead" and eliminating enemies before they can even see you. I usually have Guided on my left mouse button, and switch between Multishot, Strafe, Slow Missiles and Valkyrie on the right button (they're hotkeyed to A, S, D and F for easy reach). ---------------------------------- | Physical Immunes: Your Nemeses | ---------------------------------- Some of the biggest threats your Bowazon will face are enemies or uniques with the "Immune to Physical" attribute. This basically hurts in two ways: 1) All physical bow damage you do will be totally useless, forcing you to rely on (usually a small amount of) elemental damage 2) Since only elemental damage will have an effect and elemental damage does not work with mana/life leech, you WILL NOT be able to leech off these enemies and will consequently need to keep a closer eye on your health and mana (you should carry some mana potions just in case you run out of mana versus a physical immune) Firstly, this is not the BEST way to deal with physical immunes. The best? Ally with a sorceress. :) But, the second best way is to find a bow with a lot of elemental amage (and equipment that adds to it if possible) and possibly also add to it with an elemental bow skill of your choice (but this is by no means necessary as I will explain). Where to get a bow with a elemental damage? Well, firstly, if you have the Buriza-Do Kyanon Unique Ballista, the 21-196 cold damage on it will do nicely, especially if you spam Guided Arrows at the enemy and let the 100% piercing do its work. If, like many, you don't have an uberweapon like the Buriza yet, the Skystrike Unique Edge Bow will do nicely with its 1-250 lightning damage and 2% chance to cast a level 6 Meteor (from use the chance seems to be more than 2%..) and an even better unique bow to use is the Kuko Shakaku (I hope I spelled that right..) Unique Cedar Bow which has piercing attack (albeit not 100% like the Buriza), 40-160 fire damage, and +3 (THREE) to all bow skills and another 3 to Immolation Arrow. With it, you don't even have to invest in elemental bow skills IMO because it gives you a level 6 Immolation Arrow for free (plus other bonuses to bow/Amazon skills). The only disadvantage it has over Skystrike is the slower firing rate. If you can't find a good unique bow with elemental damage, a bow socketed with six perfect emeralds will do the job (but very sloooowly... spamming guided arrows will be useless) or otherwise, a bow socketed with six Ort runes will do 6-300 lightning damage. In addition, other equipment (such as circlets) can add to your elemental damage. It helps to have two elements of damage handy (I have the Buriza *and* Kuko Shakaku ready) in case you encounter an enemy immune to Physical AND your bow's elemental damage. Yes, these are rare and you could just avoid them, but then you'd have to live with the knowledge that your character can't quite handle everything, wouldn't you? :) Some also like to max a elemental bow skill - generally either Freezing Arrow or Immolation Arrow (but the underrated Ice Arrow is also a contender). This can add about 300 or 400 damage to your attacks, but using one (particularly Freezing and Immolation) can drain your mana very quickly (level 20 Freezing Arrow costs 28 mana and level 20 Immolation Arrow costs 25..). Also, you won't be able to hit your enemy multiple times per arrow as you can with Guided Arrow and elemental bow damage. In any case, I will discuss this in greater detail, as well as which to choose in the Skill Distribution section - but remember that maxing an elemental skill is 20 skill points used for the sole purpose of killing physical immunes that are not also immune to the skill you choose. The damage is otherwise pitiful compared to regular bow damage, and Freezing Arrow's other useful effect, the freezing, only requires 1 point to be effective (and I would recommend you put one point into it for that purpose, because it's very useful in that respect) ------------------------ | Choosing a Mercenary | ------------------------ You will need to select a suitable Mercenary/Hireling for your Amazon. The mercenaries available are: ACT 1 MERC (ROGUE) I can't really recommend a Rogue, since all they will do is fire arrows that will be considerably less effective than yours (all they use is Cold or Fire Arrow and Inner Sight, so they're definitely outmatched in the skills department). I'd pick a merc that offers something you don't have. Update: I've read that these mercs, given exactly +3 skills on equipment (pluses to Amazon skills will work, so a Cliffkiller & Tarnhelm or other +1 helm is a good combination) will use a very damaging shortish range lightning attack. Sounds like a glitch to me, tho, and while I've not tested it myself I've heard enough reports to be fairly sure of its veracity. So does this make these mercs more useful? IMO, not really. All they still have to offer is damage. I really prefer a merc to complement my damage with, say, an aura rather than contribute to the damage themselves, as I do plenty of damage already. ACT 2 MERC (TOWN GUARD) Their damaging and fast Jabs and auras make this merc the best, IMO. The auras mean they actually benefit you directly instead of just providing an extra target. The auras are: Offensive: Blessed Aim (Normal, Hell) or Might (Nightmare) Defensive: Defiance (Normal, Hell) or Holy Freeze (Nightmare) Combat: Prayer (Normal, Hell) or Thorns (Nightmare) I would recommend the Might merc, an Offensive one hired in Nightmare to make your arrows to significantly more damage (my max damage goes from about 2200 to about 3400 with my merc's Might aura) since you won't need defence or AR that much, Prayer is pretty useless, Thorns isn't very useful either and Holy Freeze can be duplicated by Cleglaw's Pincers and Multishot, or Freezing Arrow. ACT 3 MERC (IRON WOLF) Well, firstly, the only one you should consider hiring is a Cold one. Even then, he's not that useful, generally freezing one enemy at a time when you can freeze entire groups with Freezing Arrow. The damage he does is pitiful and there's not much of a way to aid it through equipment (since he has to equip a damn sword, grr..) so I don't recommend him. Sazabi's set is ideal for these, but most people don't exactly have those lying around. ACT 5 MERC (BARBARIAN) The Barbarians are tanks, basically, although to be honest I've found that Town Guards actually seem to die less. In any case, I'd rather have a beneficial aura than a tank, especially seeing as you already have a Valkyrie (the best tank there is) so I'd skip this one in favour of a Town Guard. ================================ || STAT & SKILLS DISTRIBUTION || ================================ --------------------------- | Stat Point Distribution | --------------------------- So, what to spend those 5 stat points per level (and a bonus 5 per difficulty) on? Well, we will start with the most straightforward: Energy: Zero You should never spend any stat points at all in Energy. The initial score of 15 is fine. You can wear equipment & charms with bonuses to mana, at least until you get a decent amount of mana leech, which you'll need a bit of. Manald Heal Unique Ring is reasonably common, and is excellent for starting due to the 4-7% mana leech (my Amazon at first wore two and even now still wears one). Just any jewellery with mana leech will do well, as will one of the several unique/set belts with 5% mana leech (Wilhelm's Pride; Orphan's Call Set Battle Belt, M'avina's Tenet; M'avina's Battle Hymn Set Sharkskin Belt and Gloom Trap Unique Mesh Belt come to mind..) but those can be rarer. Look for it in an amulet and circlet also, of course, and then any on your bow will be a bonus, as Windforce is the only "uber" bow to possess mana leech (leeching of any kind, really..) and you certainly shouldn't expect to find one. If you're maxing a elemental arrow skill, you may be tempted to invest in Energy.. but you've already spent 20 skill points for the sole purpose of killing physical immunes, so I certainly wouldn't advise that you sink stat points into it too... Dexterity: The Sky's The Limit! This is where most of it goes. To increase your damage (Dexterity increases damage for bows the same way Strength increases damage for melee weapons) and keep your Attack Rating manageably high you'll need to pump Dexterity a LOT. Every single spare point you have that you're not spending on Strength (up to a prereq number) or Vitality (assuming you decide to get any Vitality at all.. more on that later) should go in Dexterity. My Amazon currently has about 350+ Dexterity (off the top of my head.. don't calculate the numbers and email me saying it's impossible to have that much because I may have remembered it slightly wrong) including the +35 Dexterity bonus from the Buriza-Do Kyanon. Strength: 72, 97, 108, 110, 134 Strength needs to be increased only so far as to wear your target equipment. Firstly, if you think you can manage on Ward Bows alone (I don't recommend it) then you only need to take Strength to 72, which will allow you to use a Ward Bow and wear all normal armour except full plate mail and ancient armour (tower shields don't count because you can't wear them anyway). 97 is the requirement for a Crusader Bow, which is about equal to a Ward Bow.. also, the Eaglehorn (one of the "uber" bows) is a Crusader Bow. All normal armour except Ancient Armour with this one. 108 Strength is the requirement for a Grand Matron Bow, the best choice if you intend to find a "standard" bow, and also for M'avina's Caster (another very good bow, particularly if you have the rest of the set.. good luck finding it and some of the other pieces) and will allow you to wear all normal armour and some exceptional and elite armour (Archon Plate, notably). 110 is the requirement for the Buriza-Do Kyanon, one of the "uber" bows and my weapon of choice (partially because I don't HAVE the Eaglehorn or Windforce :) ) and lets you wear about the same armour (this is the value I recommend you increase Strength to). Finally, if you somehow get your hands on the Windforce before you make your Amazon, 134 is the Strength requirement for the Windforce and other Hydra Bows. As the Windforce is the only Hydra Bow worth using, I wouldn't increase your Strength this high without good reason ("good reason" being actually *having* the Windforce). Vitality: Some or Nothing When faced with Vitality, you have a choice. You can either add to it as well as Dexterity to get more life (Amazons get 3 life per point of Vitality, which isn't bad) or you can choose not to add anything at all to it, leaving it at its initial value of 20 and solely putting points into Dexterity. If you think you're skilled enough to avoid being hit, by all means go for the latter. That's what I'm doing, and it's manageable especially with equipment such as Hwanin's Refuge (which gives a massive +100 boost to life) and a high level Valkyrie tanking for you. In general, I find that not adding to Vitality makes for a more cautious gameplay approach, and I find it nicely challenging and strategic (you'll often need to use tactics like using Guided Arrows to "scout ahead" and recasting your Valkyrie ahead of you when playing solo in Hell) and if you think you can manage, go for it. It is easier to find bonuses to life on equipment (duplicating points added to Vitality) than enhanced damage (duplicating points added to Dexterity) after all. ------------------------- | Bow & Crossbow Skills | ------------------------- MAGIC ARROW Level Mana Cost Damage 1 1.5 0 2 1.3 +1 3 1.2 +2 4 1.1 +3 5 1.0 +4 6 0.8 +5 7 0.7 +6 8 0.6 +7 9 0.5 +8 10 0.3 +9 11 0.2 +10 12 0.1 +11 13 0 +12 14 0 +13 15 0 +14 16 0 +15 17 0 +16 18 0 +17 19 0 +18 20 0 +19 Pros: Save on Arrows, yay! Mana cost goes down with levels. Cons: Damage increase is awful. Useless in general. Recommended Points: 1 (prerequisite) Comments: Worthless, worthless, worthless. This skill's only purpose is to let you fire an arrow without using one up. Seeing as arrows and bolts are dirt cheap and a crazy thirteen points are required to achieve a mana cost of 0, this skill is completely pointless. And, of course, you'd still need arrows for every OTHER bow skill, so all this would do is save you from using arrows when you use a normal attack, and when you get Guided Arrow you should be using it INSTEAD of your normal attack. The damage increase is pitifully tiny, it doesn't "always hit", and it does physical damage. Any further skill points in this one after the single prereq point are wasted. FIRE ARROW Level Mana Cost Fire Damage 1 3.0 1-4 2 3.2 3-6 3 3.5 5-8 4 3.7 7-10 5 4.0 9-12 6 4.2 11-14 7 4.5 13-16 8 4.7 15-18 9 5.0 17-20 10 5.2 19-22 11 5.5 21-24 12 5.7 23-26 13 6.0 25-28 14 6.2 27-30 15 6.5 29-32 16 6.7 31-34 17 7.0 33-36 18 7.2 35-38 19 7.5 37-40 20 7.7 39-42 Pros: Small amount of elemental damage. Always hits. Cons: Terrible damage, and no other reason for using except a certain bug. Recommended Points: 0 (1 if you intend to get Immolation Arrow) Comments: Again, any points here past the prereq point for Immolation Arrow (if you're getting it) are wasted. The damage is simply nothing in any difficulty past Normal and other bow skills offer much greater damage. Currently (as of v1.09) there is apparently a bug (I have not tested this myself as I do not have Fire Arrow) which causes ALL damage dealt by Fire Arrow to be fire damage and not just the additional damage. This, as you can imagine, would make it very useful against physical immunes.. that is, if you want to exploit a bug which will be fixed sooner or later rendering any points you invested in this skill for the sole purpose of the bug to be completely wasted. It also always hits, which is nice, but then so does Guided Arrow, which also provides a decreasing mana cost and increasing damage bonus at higher levels. COLD ARROW Level Mana Cost Cold Damage Cold Length (seconds) 1 3.0 3 4.0 2 3.2 5 5.2 3 3.5 7 6.4 4 3.7 9 7.6 5 4.0 11 8.8 6 4.2 13 10.0 7 4.5 15 11.2 8 4.7 17 12.4 9 5.0 19 13.6 10 5.2 21 14.8 11 5.5 23 16.0 12 5.7 25 17.2 13 6.0 27 18.4 14 6.2 29 19.6 15 6.5 31 20.8 16 6.7 33 22.0 17 7.0 35 23.2 18 7.2 37 24.4 19 7.5 39 25.6 20 7.7 41 26.8 Pros: Minute amount of elemental damage. Always hits. Chills enemy. Cons: Damage is awful. Why chill when you can freeze? Recommended Points: 0 (1 if you intend to get Ice or Freezing Arrow) Comments: No more than one point here, either. The chilling is nice, but Ice and Freezing Arrow freeze your enemy, and you can get chilling effects by equipping things with cold damage (the Eye of Etlich is especially good) or Slows Target items such as Cleglaw's Pincers. Duration is nice, tho, and considerably higher than Ice and Freezing Arrow's freezes, but it still isn't worth the skill points at all. MULTIPLE SHOT Level Mana Cost # Of Arrows 1 4 2 2 5 3 3 6 4 4 7 5 5 8 6 6 9 7 7 10 8 8 11 9 9 12 10 10 13 11 11 14 12 12 15 13 13 16 14 14 17 15 15 18 16 16 19 17 17 20 18 18 21 19 19 22 20 20 23 21 (Damage Reduced By 25%) Pros: Great for hitting lots of targets quickly. Fires fast. Devastating with piercing. Cons: You only do 75% of your base damage, which sucks. High mana cost at higher levels. Enemies can't be hit by more than one arrow each. Recommended Points: 12-14 Comments: One of the three key bow skills, used for hitting enemies in clusters as was said above. The -25% damage is certainly a problem, so don't use this on just one or two enemies unless you need to quickly slow them with Cleglaw's Pincers or something. It's dependent on your attack rating, so you won't always hit. Points past 12-14 are not worth it, as the arrows cover a large enough area already by then and further points will raise the mana cost to prohibitively high levels. Something to know about Multiple Shot is that the further you click from your character, the closer together the arrows will be, and the closer you click to your character, the more spread out they will be. Depending on the size of the group, set the spread of your arrows appropriately. EXPLODING ARROW Level Mana Cost Fire Damage 1 5.0 2-4 2 5.5 7-9 3 6.0 12-14 4 6.5 17-19 5 7.0 22-24 6 7.5 27-29 7 8.0 32-34 8 8.5 37-39 9 9.0 42-44 10 9.5 47-49 11 10.0 52-54 12 10.5 57-59 13 11.0 62-64 14 11.5 67-69 15 12.0 72-74 16 12.0 77-79 17 13.0 82-84 18 13.0 87-89 19 14.0 92-94 20 14.0 97-99 Pros: Always hits. Adds elemental damage. Hits multiple enemies. Cons: High mana cost. Damage is too small to be useful. Recommended Points: 0 (1 if you intend to get Immolation Arrow) Comments: Another skill you're better off avoiding. The damage is very low and dwarfed by Immolation Arrow's, so there's really no reason to invest points here. Multishot can hit multiple targets with quite a lot more damage. ICE ARROW Level Mana Cost Cold Damage Freeze Length (seconds) 1 4.0 6-10 2.0 2 4.2 12-16 2.2 3 4.5 18-22 2.4 4 4.7 24-28 2.6 5 5.0 30-34 2.8 6 5.2 36-40 3.0 7 5.5 42-46 3.2 8 5.7 48-52 3.4 9 6.0 60-64 3.6 10 6.2 72-76 3.8 11 6.5 84-88 4.0 12 6.7 96-100 4.2 13 7.0 108-112 4.4 14 7.2 120-124 4.6 15 7.5 132-136 4.8 16 7.7 144-148 5.0 17 8.0 162-166 5.2 18 8.2 180-184 5.4 19 8.5 198-202 5.6 20 8.7 216-220 5.8 Pros: Alright elemental damage. Low mana cost. FREEZES! Freeze length increases with more points. Cons: Not as much damage as Immolation or Freezing arrow. Freeze length is cut down greatly in Hell difficulty (1/4). Only hits one enemy. Recommended Points: 1 (as a prereq) or 20 Comments: This is an interesting skill. The damage starts off low, but ramps up considerably at later levels.. it's still quite low, but a respectable amount compared to other elemental bow skills up until this point. Unlike Freezing Arrow, additional points will increase the freeze time. The big advantage this skill has over Freezing Arrow is its low mana cost, which makes it more feasible for spamming against phys immunes (Freezing Arrow costs more than 3 times as much mana for 50% more damage, making Ice Arrow MUCH more mana efficient). Of course, it only hits one target compared to Freezing Arrow's large area of effect, so it's your call on whether you want to get this or one of the other two if you choose to max an elemental bow skill. GUIDED ARROW Level Mana Cost Damage Bonus (%) 1 8.0 0 2 7.7 5 3 7.5 10 4 7.2 15 5 6.0 20 6 6.7 25 7 6.5 30 8 6.2 35 9 5.0 40 10 5.7 45 11 5.5 50 12 5.2 55 13 4.0 60 14 4.7 65 15 4.5 70 16 4.2 75 17 3.0 80 18 3.7 85 19 3.5 90 20 3.2 95 Pros: Seeks and destroys. Fantastic range. Damage bonus. Low mana cost that DECREASES with more levels to become a REALLY low mana cost. DEVASTATING with piercing. Always hits. Cons: Only hits one enemy. That's about it. Recommended Points: 20 Comments: Another of the key bow skills.. and against single enemies or even small groups of enemies, it ROCKS. I would suggest putting it on your left mouse button (particularly at high levels just about any mana leech at all will leech the casting cost back and more), where it basically increases the damage of your arrows greatly, makes them seek out targets (often before said targets can see you) and makes them ALWAYS hit. That's right, it's superior to Ignore Target Defence, and it's in a skill (and one that increases damage, not adds a miniscule amount like most of the elemental bow skills) that practically makes the Eaglehorn obsolete. In particular, if you have the Buriza-Do Kyanon, this is THE skill to get. A constant stream of these will kill bosses in seconds. If you're cautiously advancing through somewhere dangerous, fire a few through doorways and watch them to see if they branch off. Then cast your Valkyrie ahead or fire more. Use them to kill way offscreen monsters before the monsters even know you're there. Use them to kick ass in duels :) IMMOLATION ARROW Level Mana Cost Impact Fire Damage Fire Damage Per Second 1 6 10-20 8-10 2 7 20-30 14-16 3 8 30-40 19-22 4 9 40-50 25-28 5 10 50-60 31-33 6 11 60-70 37-39 7 12 70-80 43-45 8 13 80-90 49-51 9 14 100-110 55-57 10 15 120-130 60-63 11 16 140-150 66-69 12 17 160-170 72-75 13 18 180-190 78-80 14 19 200-210 84-86 15 20 220-230 90-92 16 21 240-250 96-98 17 22 270-280 101-104 18 23 300-310 107-110 19 24 330-340 113-116 20 25 360-370 119-121 (Fire Duration = 3 Seconds) (Casting Delay = 1 Second) Pros: Highest damage elemental bow skill (marginally higher than Freezing Arrow). Lasting fire. Always hits. Cons: Damage still isn't that high. Insane mana cost. Lasting fire's damage is so pitifully low it might as well not be there. Casting delay ruins it. Recommended Points: 0 (20 if you really, really want it) Comments: Well, as far as elemental bow skills go, I really can't see any way in which this is superior to Freezing Arrow. The damage is about 50 higher at level 20, and the casting cost is about 3 lower. Big whoop. The radius of effect is TINY, the lasting fire does such pitiful damage it's useless, and the skill just otherwise does damage and no other effects and will make you run out of mana quickly vs. phys immunes. And most damning of all, the one-second casting delay. One second might sound like a short time, but compared to Ice and Freezing Arrow (both of which don't have a casting delay at all) it is an eternity. In the space it takes to fire one Immolation Arrow, you could fire two Freezing Arrows with a fast enough bow. Or two Guided Arrows that, with decent Pierce, would hit the enemy at least twice each, and if you had 200 elemental damage on your bow (easy to get) they would do 800 elemental damage in total. If you really want this skill, max it, but I can't recommend it. STRAFE Level Max Targets Damage Bonus (%) 1 5 5 2 6 10 3 7 15 4 8 20 5 9 25 6 10 30 7 10 35 8 10 40 9 10 45 10 10 50 11 10 55 12 10 60 13 10 65 14 10 70 15 10 75 16 10 80 17 10 85 18 10 90 19 10 95 20 10 100 (Mana Cost = 11) Pros: Auto-aims. Damage bonus. Fires several arrows at one target when a Valkyrie, Decoy etc is around, which Multishot cannot do. Mana cost does not increase with levels. AWESOMELY COOL. Cons: Often not as fast to kill bunched-up enemies as Multishot. Strafe-lock is nasty. Recommended Points: 12-20 Comments: Strafe is a love-it-or-hate-it skill, I would say. Still, I think you should invest pretty heavily in it, because it's very useful. When practical, you should use Strafe, because it is crowd control without the damage penalty (a damage bonus, actually). Strafe auto-aims, which is great for killing large groups of hard-to-hit enemies quickly like Demon Imps.. you can only kill one at a time with Guided Arrow. And of course, it's a supremely cool skill just to look at. Watch out for Strafe lock, however, and don't use it in any situation where you might suddenly have to move quickly (charging melee enemies and Ghoul Lord meteors come to mind) FREEZING ARROW Level Mana Cost Cold Damage 1 9 40-50 2 10 50-60 3 11 60-70 4 12 70-80 5 13 80-90 6 14 90-100 7 15 100-110 8 16 110-120 9 17 125-135 10 18 140-150 11 19 155-165 12 20 170-180 13 21 185-195 14 22 200-210 15 23 215-225 16 24 230-240 17 25 250-260 18 26 270-280 19 27 290-300 20 28 310-320 (Freeze Length = 2 Seconds) (Radius = 3.3 Yards) Pros: Freezes groups of enemies at once. Can freeze entire armies with Pierce. Good damage for an elemental bow skill. Always hits. Full bow & elemental damage applied to all targets in radius, unlike Exploding Arrow. Cons: Freeze length is too short and does not improve with levels. Insanely high mana cost. Actual damage is still quite low. Recommended Points: 1 or 20 Comments: A good skill if only for the freeze effect. It's very short, but you can add to it with items like the Eye of Etlich (which adds a "secret" number of seconds to the freeze time) and various sources of cold damage (which add one second each I believe). If you have good Pierce or the Buriza, you can fire one of these and freeze a huge group of enemies - and the full damage is applied to EVERY enemy hit by the splash damage, not just the one you hit directly with the arrow. As are chances to cast spells on striking - try it on a group of enemies with decent piercing and Goldstrike Arch or Skystrike for an impressive display. I would suggest at the least that you put one point in here for the sheer usefulness of freezing groups of enemies, and more if you need an elemental bow skill - but be sure to consider Ice Arrow as well because Freezing Arrow's mana cost is outrageous. Fortunately, it has no casting delay, so you can spam it (while you still have mana, that is :P) -------------------------- | Passive & Magic Skills | -------------------------- INNER SIGHT Level Duration (sec) Enemy Def. Reduced By 1 8 46 2 12 50 3 16 54 4 20 57 5 24 60 6 28 62 7 32 63 8 36 64 9 40 66 10 44 67 11 48 68 12 52 69 13 56 70 14 60 70 15 64 71 16 68 72 17 72 72 18 76 72 19 80 73 20 84 73 (Mana Cost = 5) (Radius = 13.3 yards) Pros: Erm.. lights up enemies. Duration is freakin' ages at high levels. Large area of effect. Constant low mana cost. Cons: Slow Missiles also lights up enemies and is far more useful. Defence reduction is insignificant except in early stages of game. Diminishing returns. Recommended Points: 1 (prereq) Comments: Useless, really. The defence reduction won't make a difference past act 1 or possibly 2 Normal because it's a straight number and not a percentage, and suffers from huge diminishing returns at higher levels (er, why? It's not like it would be unbalancingly high otherwise..) Duration is huge, but who cares? You'll forget all about this skill when you get Slow Missiles. CRITICAL STRIKE Level Chance For Double Damage (%) 1 16 2 25 3 32 4 38 5 42 6 46 7 49 8 51 9 54 10 56 11 58 12 59 13 61 14 62 15 63 16 65 17 65 18 66 19 67 20 68 (Passive) Pros: A passive chance to do double damage is incredibly good. Cons: Diminishing returns at higher levels. Recommended Points: 6-8 Comments: You definitely want this skill, because it is in effect all the time and DOUBLES your damage when it activates. Put about 6 to 8 points in it (8 is recommended unless you have +2 to skills) to get it to around 50% and leave it at that, because extra points won't really increase it enough to be worth the points. However, those 6-8 points will be a fantastic investment. DODGE Level Chance To Avoid Melee Attack (%) 1 18 2 24 3 29 4 34 5 37 6 40 7 42 8 44 9 46 10 47 11 49 12 50 13 51 14 52 15 52 16 54 17 54 18 55 19 55 20 56 (Passive) Pros: Grants a straight percentage chance to avoid melee attacks, works while attacking. Cons: Heavy diminishing returns. Not that useful to a Bowazon. Recommended Points: 2 Comments: As with most of the dodging skills, this skill shouldn't be invested into heavily but 2 points will give you a good benefit which can be further enhanced by +skills. Dodge isn't that useful for a Bowazon because it only works while standing still, and you shouldn't be standing still within melee range of enemies (unless you're lagged..). It's a solid skill, however, because it gives a straight chance to dodge (unlike shield blocking % which is modified by dexterity) and works while attacking (unlike defence which is reduced to 1/3) - but generally more useful to a more melee Amazon such as a Spearazon or Tankazon. SLOW MISSILES Level Duration (sec) 1 12 2 18 3 24 4 30 5 36 6 42 7 48 8 54 9 60 10 66 11 72 12 78 13 84 14 90 15 96 16 102 17 108 18 114 19 120 20 126 (Mana Cost = 5) (Radius = 13.3 yards) (Enemy ranged attacks slowed to 33%) Pros: Makes enemies with ranged attacks much less threatening, low mana cost, stupidly high duration at higher levels, lights up enemies, large radius of effect. Cons: Only the duration increases with more points. You still have to dodge ranged enemy attacks, it's just easier to. Recommended Points: 1 Comments: Useful, but one point is all you need here as further points only increase the duration (not worth extra points). This skill will make it very easy to dodge enemy missile attacks as they will move at one-third of their normal speed - just make sure that you DO dodge them as they hurt just as much as before. It can sometimes also be tricky to get close enough to the ranged enemies to use this, but once you do you can cast it on entire groups at once. Makes enemies like Oblivion Knights quite a bit less threatening, and useful in duels (don't use it on orb sorcs!) AVOID Level Chance To Avoid Ranged Attack (%) 1 24 2 31 3 36 4 41 5 45 6 48 7 50 8 52 9 54 10 55 11 57 12 58 13 60 14 61 15 61 16 63 17 63 18 64 19 64 20 65 (Passive) Pros: Provides a straight percentage chance to avoid ranged attacks while standing still. Well suited to a Bowazon. Cons: Heavy diminishing returns. Recommended Points: 2 Comments: As with Dodge, 2 points is the best idea here. Useful for a Bowazon if you are standing still and attacking a group of ranged attackers, although you should really be trying to dodge their attacks with Slow Missiles instead. However, it's useful if you're Strafe locked. PENETRATE Level Attack Rating Bonus (%) 1 35 2 45 3 55 4 65 5 75 6 85 7 95 8 105 9 115 10 125 11 135 12 145 13 155 14 165 15 175 16 185 17 195 18 205 19 215 20 225 (Passive) Pros: Passively increases attack rating by a percentage! No diminishing returns. Cons: None, really, unless you spend points here that could be better spent elsewhere. Recommended Points: At least 1, more as necessary Comments: Well, you should have at least 1 point in this for the 35% bonus (and more from +skill items). If you find that your attack rating is so low that your to-hit chance is suffering, put more points in. Note, however, that your to-hit chance will AUTOMATICALLY suffer if you fight enemies that are a much higher level than you, so take that into account and don't put points in blindly. In general, if you've maxed a lot of what you want to, extra points in here if you have some spare won't hurt... just don't go overboard if you have other places to spend them. DECOY Level Mana Cost Duration (sec) 1 19 10 2 18 15 3 17 20 4 16 25 5 16 30 6 15 35 7 14 40 8 13 45 9 13 50 10 12 55 11 11.5 60 12 10.7 65 13 10 70 14 9.2 75 15 8.5 80 16 7.5 85 17 7 90 18 6.2 95 19 5.5 100 20 4.7 105 Pros: Provides an extra target for enemies. Extra arrow fired in Strafe. Mana cost DECREASES with levels, unlike Valkyrie. Cons: Has the same life as you and will therefore not live long. Increasing the duration is pointless as it will generally die before the duration runs out. Recommended Points: 1 (prereq) Comments: Not worth more than one point, as I've found it simply dies too quickly to be useful (and it's immobile...) You might want to have an extra one out when using Strafe as it adds an extra arrow, but I've never bothered. In general, this skill is made COMPLETELY obsolete by Valkyrie. EVADE Level Chance To Avoid Any Attack (%) 1 18 2 24 3 29 4 34 5 37 6 40 7 42 8 44 9 46 10 47 11 49 12 50 13 51 14 52 15 52 16 54 17 54 18 55 19 55 20 56 (Passive) Pros: Works while moving! Works for ANY attack, even area-of-effect spells like Firewall. Cons: Heavy diminishing returns. Evade lock can be a problem. Recommended Points: 2 Comments: 2 points again here for best effect. This one has the heaviest diminishing returns of all the avoidance skills, so don't invest any more points into it. It's handy for dodging all kinds of attacks while running, tho, especially as your defence is nullified (or reduced to 1/3.. can't remember..) while running, and it's saved me from countless hits. Just watch out, however, as you can get "evade-locked" in the avoidance animation... however, this doesn't happen that often, so don't worry too much about it. VALKYRIE Level Mana Cost Life 1 25 362 2 29 422 3 33 483 4 37 543 5 41 604 6 45 664 7 49 724 8 53 785 9 57 845 10 61 906 11 65 966 12 69 1026 13 73 1087 14 77 1147 15 81 1208 16 85 1268 17 89 1328 18 93 1389 19 97 1449 20 101 1510 (Note: The Valkyrie also gains percentage bonuses to damage, attack rating and defence with levels. However, I did not list them here because frankly, they're not in any way important and I couldn't be bothered writing them out.) Pros: Ungodly amount of life that scales up with difficulty & players. A "meat shield" that costs nothing but mana. Can be recasted to move. Cons: Ludicrously high mana cost at higher levels. Doesn't actually KILL anything. Slow and stupid. Recommended Points: 11-12 Comments: The Valkyrie will be your main "meat shield" and is such, incredibly useful. I wouldn't be able to survive Hell difficulty without this skill. The Valk takes hits instead of you, basically... think of her as a decoy with a lot of life that can move. Don't expect your Valk to be able to kill anything, because she sucks at it (which is why the percentage bonuses she gets aren't important). All that matters is her life, basically. Her base life increases over difficulty levels (I don't have the actual numbers but from observation it seems about 2x in Nightmare and about 3.5x in Hell) and also increases proportionally to the number of players in a game - ie in a 4 player game she will have 4 times her base life. All of this makes the Valk an incredible tank to keep enemies busy. Unfortunately, she is sloooow and constantly skulks behind you instead of running ahead to engage the enemy, which means you'll have to get used to recasting her to move her. It'll use up half or all your mana, but one or two Multishots should get that back right away with sufficient mana leech. In dangerous dungeon areas like the Durance of Hate, try firing Guided Arrows ahead through doorways to look for enemies, and if there is some, recast your Valk ahead into the room and kill the enemies while they attack her. 11-12 points in Valkyrie will give her enough life to generally survive easily, and if you get much more you'll be hampering your ability to recast and move her (believe me, you WILL need to do this very often). Your Valk will not regenerate like a merc, so in general if her health bar turns yellow or red, recast her. PIERCE Level Chance To Pierce Target 1 23 2 34 3 42 4 49 5 55 6 59 7 63 8 65 9 69 10 71 11 73 12 75 13 77 14 79 15 80 16 82 17 82 18 83 19 84 20 85 (Passive) Pros: Passive. As it provides a chance for your arrows to pass through a target, you can get many hits from one arrow. Elemental arrow effects like Freezing Arrow apply to every target hit if the arrow pierces several. Devastating with Guided Arrow and very powerful with Multishot too. Cons: Diminishing returns. Doesn't always help. The Buriza makes it redundant. Recommended Points: 0 or 1 if you have the Buriza. Otherwise, about 5-10. Comments: Firstly, if you have the Buriza or even intend to get it, don't put more than one point in this skill (don't even put one if the Buriza is the only bow you use). This is because the Buriza has a built-in 100% piercing attack that makes points in this skill totally useless (and kicks ass, btw ^_^). Otherwise, I would recommend about 4-5 points and letting +skill items take it higher, but some like as many as 10 or even 20 (although I question the value of taking it from 15 to 20 when you're spending 5 points to get 5 percent extra chance..) - it's up to your preference and playing style, basically.. if you use the skills it works best with (Freezing, Immolation, Guided Arrow) heavily or duel a lot you'll want more points in it. With a good level of Pierce, a single Freezing Arrow can freeze entire armies and a Guided Arrow can hit two or three times and Multishot hits entire groups instead of the front lines. ========================= || SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT || ========================= ---------------- | My Equipment | ---------------- This is the equipment my Amazon is currently using... not all of it is my target equipment, of course. The item statistics here were taken from the Arreat Summit (www.battle.net/diablo2exp/) HELM Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest (Death Mask, Tal Rasha's Wrappings Set) Defense: 99-131 (varies)(Base Defense: 54-86) Required Level: 66 Required Strength: 55 Durability: 20 10% Life Stolen Per Hit 10% Mana Stolen Per Hit All Resistances +15 +45 Defense +30 To Mana +60 To Life Simply an awesome helm, basically. The 10% dual leech is fantastic, the resistances are nice, the defence is good, and the mana and life bonuses are great. I have mine socketed with a perfect ruby so that it adds 98 life instead of 60. That's nearly 100, and greatly helps me keep fairly high life with only 20 vitality. The only thing it lacks is Damage Reduced By %... Vampiregaze has this, but I'd only want a v1.08 one as the v1.09 one doesn't have as much DR%, and both versions lack as much dual leech as Tal Rasha's mask, and also lack the resistances and life/mana bonuses. There isn't much better than this when it comes to helms for an Amazon. ARMOUR Hwanin's Refuge (Tigulated Mail, Hwanin's Majesty Set) Defense: 376-390(Base Defense: 176-190) Required Level: 30 Required Strength: 86 Durability: 36 +200 Defense 10% Chance To Cast Level 3 Static Field When Struck Poison Resist +27% +100 To Life Certainly not the best I armour I could have.. I'm wearing this for the +100 life, basically, which I need... the other mods aren't particularly good. I'm aiming to get a Shaftstop for here, which I will socket with a perfect ruby for +98 life, just about as much, and it will have 30% damage reduction and higher defence to boot. Also, Tigulated Mail is "heavy" armour, which means it makes you move slower than if you're wearing "medium" or "light" armour and also drains stamina faster. WEAPON Buriza-Do Kyanon (Unique Ballista) Two-Hand Damage: (85-102) To (142.5-415.5) (113.75-258.75 Avg) Required Level: 41 Required Strength: 110 Required Dexterity: 80 Base Weapon Speed: [10] +150-200% Enhanced Damage(varies) + (2.5 Per Character Level) 2.5-247.5 To Maximum Damage (Based On Character Level) Adds 32-196 Cold Damage - 4 Second Duration Piercing Attack (100) Freezes Target +3 +75-150 Defense(varies) +35 to Dexterity 80% Increased Attack Speed As said above, the enhanced damage on this is variable (mine has 194%). This is basically the second or third best bow there is for an Amazon. Damage is the best on any bow other than Windforce, 80% increased attack speed brings it up to the same speed as most longbows, it adds a large amount of elemental cold damage and duration (makes Freezing Arrow freeze for ages..), freezes target (not that useful, since it only happens sometimes and lasts a VERY short time), gives a small boost to Defense and a massive boost to Dexterity, and has a 100% piercing rate making Pierce redundant and making skills like Multishot, Guided Arrow and the elemental bow skills devastating. A fantastic weapon. Mine is socketed with a Nef rune for knockback, to compensate for my non-use of Cleglaw's Pincers. I believe that the Nef rune IS the best choice for socketing in this bow. Why? Well, firstly, due to the way Increased Attack Speed actually increases the attack speed for different weapon classes and in varying amounts.. to cut a long story short, socketing a Shael rune will make next to no difference in the Buriza's firing speed, trust me. The only other contender would be something that gives enhanced damage such as a 40% enhanced damage jewel or an Ohm rune, but they don't exactly grow on trees and again, my Buriza already has nearly 200% enhanced damage and a little more won't make a HUGE difference. I'd really rather have the knockback to stunlock enemies and keep them off me. An interesting fact: This weapon's name is Japanese for something along the lines of "Blizzard Cannon" :) GLOVES Laying of Hands (Bramble Mitts, The Disciple Set) Defense: 79-87 (varies)(Base Defense: 54-62) Required Level: 63 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 12 +25 Defense 20% Increased Attack Speed +350% Damage To Demons Fire Resist +50% 10% Chance To Cast Level 3 Holy Bolt On Attack Simply fantastic gloves. The main feature of these gloves is the whopping +350% damage to demons boost. This will make you do 4.5 times as much damage (notice the plus sign..) as usual against Demon-class enemies - and seeing as Demon-class enemies are very common (and all the Act bosses are demons) this is very, very useful. They also provide 20% increased attack speed, which is helpful (except if you're using the Buriza, in which case it barely makes a difference). The huge +50% boost to fire resistance is GREAT, seeing as the most damaging attacks in the game are fire attacks. They also have decent defence, and an annoying tendency to make you constantly fire off Holy Bolts when attacking (cool at first, very annoying in quite a short time). I can't really think of any other gloves I'd rather be using. BOOTS Aldur's Advance (Battle Boots, Aldur's Watchtower Set) Defense: 39-47 Required Level: 45 Required Strength: 95 Indestructible 40% Faster Run/Walk +180 Maximum Stamina 10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana Heal Stamina Plus 32% +50 To Life Great boots... they basically have everything you'd generally want on boots. 40% faster run/walk is the fastest you can get on boots, they give a huge boost to stamina and make it regenerate faster (you'll never run out ^_^), a large boost to life (very useful for a low vit amazon like mine) and 10% Of Damage Taken Goes To Mana is useful against Mana Burn enemies. And Indestructible, although that's just gravy, really. There are probably better boots than these, but I can't really think of any at the moment. BELT Gloom's Trap (Unique Mesh Belt) Defense: 79.2-102.5 (varies)(Base Defense: 35-40) Required Level: 36 Required Strength: 58 Durability: 16 16 Boxes +120-150% Enhanced Defense(varies) 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Increase Maximum Mana 15% Regenerate Mana 15% +15 To Vitality -3 To Light Radius Good belt. High defence, a very useful 5% mana leech, +15 to vitality (which translates into +45 life for an Amazon) and some mana and mana regen bonuses. I'm trying to get String of Ears, however, as it's better. AMULET The Eye of Etlich (Unique Amulet) Required Level: 15 +1-5 To Light Radius(varies) +1 To All Skill Levels 3-7% Life Stolen Per Hit(varies) Adds (1-2) to (3-5) Cold Damage(varies) Cold Duration: 2-12 Seconds* +10-40 Defense vs. Missile(varies)* Fantastic amulet.. I really can't think of many I would rather have. The +1 to skill levels is nice, but the main feature is the much needed life leech (mine has a perfect 7%) and the added cold duration is also VERY effective if you use Freezing Arrow. The only amulet I would really rather have is Crescent Moon for the dual leech, and even then I would lose the +1 skills and cold duration, so I don't want it THAT much (the max life leech is lower than Etlich's and I don't really need more mana leech). RING 1 Manald Heal (Unique Ring) Required Level: 15 4-7% Mana Stolen Per Hit(varies) Replenish Life +5-8(varies) Regenerate Mana 20% +20 To Life A great ring, mainly for the mana leech (mine has an almost perfect 6%) and the bonus to life (again useful for a low Vit amazon). The Replenish Life and Regenerate Mana are gravy and not really needed. I wouldn't really want any other unique ring instead of this because no others have mana leech, although some rare rings might be worthwhile. RING 2 Death Turn (Rare Ring) Required Level: 48 Adds 1-18 Lightning Damage 4% Life Stolen Per Hit Fire Resist +11% Cold Resist +17% Lightning Resist +30% Poison Resist +11% I found this rare ring a while ago (forgot where) and it's great because it has some life steal AND resistances (in particular a lot of lightning resistance). ------------------------- | Recommended Equipment | ------------------------- Here I will list the stats and a short commentary on what I believe to be the ideal equipment in each category. I will of course forget things, so don't worry if your favourite (insert type of equipment here) isn't listed because I can't remember everything. This is just what I'm aiming to get. HELMS Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest (Death Mask, Tal Rasha's Wrappings Set) Defense: 99-131 (varies)(Base Defense: 54-86) Required Level: 66 Required Strength: 55 Durability: 20 10% Life Stolen Per Hit 10% Mana Stolen Per Hit All Resistances +15 +45 Defense +30 To Mana +60 To Life I've already said above why this one is good, especially when socketed with a perfect ruby or Um rune. Vampiregaze (Unique Grim Helm) Defense: 122-252 (varies)(Base Defense: 60-125) Defense: 60-125 Required Level: 41 Required Strength: 58 Durability: 40 +100% Enhanced Defense Adds 6-22 Cold Damage - 4 Second Duration 15% Stamina Drain 6-8% Life Stolen Per Hit(varies) 6-8% Mana Stolen Per Hit(varies) Damage Reduced By 15-20%(varies) Magic Damage Reduced By 10-15(varies) A very good helmet, although the v1.09 version is considerably worse than the v1.08 version (which always had 8% dual leech and 25% damage reduction) and therefore, not that necessary. It lacks life/mana bonuses and resistances like Tal's mask, which is unfortunate, but many would say the damage reduction makes up for it. Valkyrie Wing (Unique Winged Helm) Defense: 215-297 (varies)(Base Defense: 85-98) Required Level: 44 Required Strength: 115 Durability: 40 +150-200% Defense(varies) +1-2 To Amazon Skill Levels(varies) 20% Faster Run/Walk 20% Faster Hit Recovery +2-4 To Mana After Each Kill(varies) Alright if it has +2 Amazon skill levels, but I'd rather have a rare circlet with that and some leech, myself. That, and Great/Winged/Spired Helms look terrible on the Amazon :) The v1.08 version of this is far, far better. Harlequin Crest (Unique Shako) Defense: 98-141 Required Level: 62 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 12 +2 To All Skills + (1.5 Per Character Level) 1.5-148.5 To Life (Based On Character Level) + (1.5 Per Character Level) 1.5-148.5 To Mana (Based On Character Level) Damage Reduced By 10% 50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items +2 To Strength +2 To Dexterity +2 To Vitality +2 To Energy A great helm, although it's better for say a Sorceress than an Amazon, lacking important things like leech. The life and mana bonuses are great, tho, but it's very rare and I wouldn't bother trying to get it myself. MY RECOMMENDATION: Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest - I simply feel this has the best combination of mods out of all these helmets, barring a v1.08 Vampiregaze. ARMOURS Twitchthroe (Unique Studded Leather Armour) Defense: 57-60 Required Level: 16 Required Strength: 27 Durability: 32 +25 Defense 25% Increase chance of blocking* 20% Faster Hit Recovery* 20% Increased Attack Speed +10 To Dexterity +10 To Strength The 20% IAS on this armour is very good, and the +10 to Strength and Dexterity are okay. The rest of the mods aren't too useful, and the defence sucks (not that it matters that much). Many Amazons use this, but the IAS won't make that much of a difference if you use the Buriza. Rattlecage (Unique Gothic Plate) Defense: 328-335 Required Level: 29 Required Strength: 70 Durability: 55 +200 Defense 25% Chance of Crushing Blow* Hit Causes Monster To Flee 40%* +45 To Attack Rating Two useful mods here - Crushing Blow and Hit Causes Monster To Flee. Both are of utility, and the defence is alright, but there are still lots of better armours out there IMO. Crow Caw (Unique Tigulated Mail) Defense: 442.5-534.8 (varies)(Base Defense: 176-190) Required Level: 37 Required Strength: 86 Durability: 36 +150-180% Enhanced Defense(varies) 15% Increased Attack Speed 15% Faster Hit Recovery 35% Chance of Open Wounds +15 Dexterity Basically Twitchthroe with a lot more defence, 5% less IAS and 5 more Dexterity. My comments are basically the same. Shaftstop (Unique Mesh Armour) Defense: 517.4-684.8 (varies)(Base Defense: 198-213) Required Level: 38 Required Strength: 92 Durability: 45 +160-220% Enhanced Defense(varies) Damage Reduced By 30% +250 Defense Vs. Missile +60 To Life IMO, this is where it's at. The defence is good, but the main feature is the 30% damage reduction, which is amazing. Since Bowazons can't use Stormshield, this is the most DR you will be able to get. And, +60 to life is very good, and if you socket it with a pruby, it will become +98, very useful for low Vitality Amazons. Hwanin's Refuge (Tigulated Mail, Hwanin's Majesty Set) Defense: 376-390(Base Defense: 176-190) Required Level: 30 Required Strength: 86 Durability: 36 +200 Defense 10% Chance To Cast Level 3 Static Field When Struck Poison Resist +27% +100 To Life If you're a low Vitality Amazon, then this is what you use until you can get Shaftstop. (still using it myself :) ) The +100 to life is pretty much necessary to have on your equipment. MY RECOMMENDATION: Shaftstop - the damage reduction is pretty much the best mod you can get on an armour, AND it has a large life bonus (one of the other very important mods on armour). Especially if you're using the Buriza and don't benefit much from IAS, this is the armour to get. GLOVES Cleglaw's Pincers (Chain Gloves, Cleglaw's Brace Set) Defense: 8-9 Required Level: 4 Required Strength: 25 Durability: 16 Slows Target by 25% Knockback Great to start off with, and some Bowzons continue to use these for their whole career. These will keep melee enemies off you with Multishot as they knock them back AND slow them down by a lot. And they're powerful to the point of being fairly cheap and unfair in PvP. The Hand of Broc (Unique Leather Gloves) Defense: 13.3-14.8 Required Level: 5 Durability: 12 +10-20% Enhanced Defense(varies) +10 Defense 3% Life Stolen Per Hit 3% Mana Stolen Per Hit Poison Resist +10% +20 To Mana The dual leech is nice, but there isn't really enough of it. Again, good for beginners, but not too much help to higher level characters. Laying of Hands (Bramble Mitts, The Disciple Set) Defense: 79-87 (varies)(Base Defense: 54-62) Required Level: 63 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 12 +25 Defense 20% Increased Attack Speed +350% Damage To Demons Fire Resist +50% 10% Chance To Cast Level 3 Holy Bolt On Attack IMO, these are *the* best gloves in the game for any non-spellcaster, giving IAS, a huge boost to fire resistance and most of all, a MASSIVE damage boost to demons (quite a common enemy type which the five act bosses also share). MY RECOMMENDATION: Laying of Hands - basically for the reason I said above. There aren't too many good gloves for weapon-based characters in the game, and these ones are outstanding. BOOTS Treads of Chthon (Unique Chain Boots) Defense: 22.4-24.6 Required Level: 15 Required Strength: 30 Durability: 16 +30-40% Enhanced Defense +12 Defense 50% Stamina Drain 30% Faster Run/Walk +50 Defense VS. Missile* +10 To Life Good to start off with, but overshadowed by Aldur's Advance once you reach higher levels. Goblin Toe (Unique Light Plated Boots) Defense: 28.5-32.6 Required Level: 22 Required Strength: 50 Durability: 18 +50-60% Enhanced Defense 25% Chance of a Crushing Blow -1 To Light Radius Damage Reduced By 1 Magic Damage Reduced By 1 +15 Defense The Crushing Blow is fantastic, but the one problem these boots have is a lack of faster run/walk. If you can get it on other items or can stand moving like a turtle (that's how it feels after using 40% boots anyway) then these are good. Just remember that Crushing Blow doesn't work on unique or boss monsters. Gore Rider (Unique War Boots) Defense: 114.4-162 (varies)(Base Defense: 43-53) Required Level: 47 Required Strength: 93 Durability: 34 +160-200% Enhanced Defense(varies) 30% Faster Run/Walk 10% Chance Of Open Wounds 15% Chance Of Crushing Blow 15% Deadly Strike Requirements -25% +20 Maximum Stamina Great. High defence, faster run/walk, *crushing blow* (albeit less than Goblin Toe) AND deadly strike. Only thing it lacks is life bonuses. Aldur's Advance (Battle Boots, Aldur's Watchtower Set) Defense: 39-47 Required Level: 45 Required Strength: 95 Indestructible 40% Faster Run/Walk +180 Maximum Stamina 10% Damage Taken Goes To Mana Heal Stamina Plus 32% +50 To Life Also great, as they have all the "boot" mods. 40% faster run/walk, HUGE boost to stamina, and you even recover it faster! Also a huge life bonus (for boots) and a "vulpine" modifier (10% damage taken goes to mana) that helps against mana burn uniques. MY RECOMMENDATION: Gore Rider - Fantastic for the crushing blow AND deadly strike, but low Vitality bowazons may prefer the stamina and life bonuses on Aldur's Advance. Personally, I'd rather use Gore Rider even on my low Vitality bowazon (but I don't have it) BELTS M'avina's Tenet (Sharkskin Belt, M'avina's Battle Hymn Set) Defense: 81-86 (varies)(Base Defense: 31-36) Required Level: 45 Required Strength: 20 Durability: 14 +50 Defense 20% Faster Run/Walk +5 To Light Radius 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Has the relatively common and useful 5% mana steal on a belt, as well as 20% faster run/walk. While it's overshadowed by other belts, I still keep it for when I need to run fast (PvP for example) Wilhelm's Pride (Battle Belt, Orphan's Call Set) Defense: 64-75 (varies)(Base Defense: 37-42) Required Level: 42 Required Strength: 88 Durability: 18 +75% Enhanced Defense 5% Life Stolen Per Hit 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Cold Resist +10% The dual leech is great, although it doesn't have much else. Still, a very good belt. Gloom's Trap (Unique Mesh Belt) Defense: 79.2-102.5 (varies)(Base Defense: 35-40) Required Level: 36 Required Strength: 58 Durability: 16 16 Boxes +120-150% Enhanced Defense(varies) 5% Mana Stolen Per Hit Increase Maximum Mana 15% Regenerate Mana 15% +15 To Vitality -3 To Light Radius The useful 5% mana steal and other good mods - gives you more mana and makes you regen it faster, and gives a large boost to Vitality (equates to 45 life for Amazons). The defence is also amazing for a belt. String of Ears (Unique Demonhide Sash) Defense: 90-113 (varies)(Base Defense: 29-34) Required Level: 29 Required Strength: 20 Durability: 22 16 Boxes +150-180% Enhanced Defense(varies) +15 Defense 6-8% Life Stolen Per Hit(varies) Damage Reduced By 10-15%(varies) Magic Damage Reduced 10-15(varies) Fantastic. Up to 8% life steal (most there is on a belt) which is very useful, and best of all, up to 15% damage reduction (and magic damage reduction, but that's nowhere near as useful as it used to be). And even more defence than Gloom's Trap. The v1.08 version of this is very good because the life steal, damage reduction and magic damage reduction are always at their maximum (8%, 15%, 15) MY RECOMMENDATION: String of Ears - While it lacks mana leech, it makes up for it in a large amount of life leech and the damage reduction is simply amazing. AMULETS & RINGS - Not done yet. Coming soon, hopefully. In short, Eye of Etlich is a pretty good amulet and Manald Heal is a pretty good ring, although I'm sure there are plenty more. ====================== || ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS || ====================== The Arreat Summit (http://www.diabloii.net/diablo2exp) For providing a lot of the information - in particular, the statistics for the skills and equipment. The equipment statistics were copied and pasted from there because I am lazy. :) Blizzard North for making such an amazingly addictive game with the most replay value I have seen on any game, ever, and producing a great online service like Battle.net for absolutely free. The users of the GameFAQs Diablo II: Lord of Destruction message board for their help, support and general community - you're great people to be on a message board with. Thanks. GameFAQs and CJayC for hosting this FAQ - it's much appreciated. Until next time: --Xythar Darkmoon, Master Magus