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 Forum index » Diablo 2 Discussion Section » LLD Discussion » LLD Guides
[18] Bowazon
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David-lld


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:48 pm    Post subject:  [18] Bowazon
Subject description: Needed to be on 101 too
 

Overview
The level 18 zon is one of the most powerful level 18 builds if built and played correctly. Not surpringly, its also one of the most expensive. The character has to balance run/walk, damage, and mana effectively as well as be accustomed to a run-and-gun strategy. However, there's virtually no character the bowa can't beat if played correctly.

Also, if you plan on using any dupes for this build, just exit my topic immediately.

Stats
There are two routes you can go for, a vita build and a glass cannon (all dex) build. I personally favor the glass cannon build, as every bit of damage can and does help at this level, and you can still maintain a decent amount of life.

This topic is going to adress more than one build so your stat points are going to depend on what route you take.

Vita build:
Strength - 30 (Angelics Build) / 45 (Irathas Build)
Dexterity - 65
Vitality - Rest
Energy - None

Glass Cannon:
Strength - 30 (Angelics Build) / 45 (Irathas Build)
Dexterity - Rest
Vitality - None
Energy - None

Skills:
Magic Arrow - 1
Multishot - 1
Cold Arrow - 1
Guided Arrow - 1

Jab - 1 (Not needed but I highly recommend skilling, if not put the point in Avoid)
Poison Javelin - 1
Lightning Bolt - 1

Critical Strike - 13
Dodge - 7
Avoid - 1
Penetrate - 1 (Not needed but helps your jab/throw ar out a bit, if you opt out put in Avoid)

Gear:
Weapon 1:
+3 Bow Skills 5 Socket Superior Stag Bow, 15% ED (Socketed with 20% ED 15 Max Damage Jewels or 20 Max Damage Jewels)
For the jewels here, the 20/15s will give you slightly less damage, but are more commonplace and thus cheaper tab 20 maxers. Hits 10 fpa. You could opt to lose a jewel and throw in a nef, but its really not needed or in my opinion even worth it.

Rare -10 Base Speed Bow with 2 os, Chance to Cast Amp, and ED
You're not going to hit as much damage, but its possible to hit 9 fpa with Twitch and Death's and procing amp with bow can change the course of a duel.

Weapon 2:
Non-eth Rare Throwing Spears with 60%+ ED, IAS, Knockback, Increased Stack Size
I personally haven't been able to find a pair with all these mods, so I use a high damage increased stack size ones and when I need knockback I use a lower damage pair with KB on them. IAS isn't needed but a nice add.

Eth/Replenish Rare Throwing Spears with above mods
You'll get a pretty decent damage boost but at the same time find yourself hating how slow these replenish quantity. You can however have a pair of these in stash for important duels, and when they need to replenish just switch to non-eth.

Helm:
Rare circlet with 20 FRW, % ED, Fire/Light Damage, Life, Mana, Replenish, Res, DR, MDR, 2 os (Socketed with 18-20 Max Damage Jewels)
Obviously not all mods are needed. I use a 20 FRW 25% ED 39 AR 25-45 Fire Damage 2 DR 2 MDR Circlet.

Magic circlet with 20 FRW and two of the above mods and 2 os (socketed with 15+ Max Damage Jewels)
I started off with a 2x 15 Max'd FRW/Light Damage Circlet before I upgraded. 30 ED, 10 Repl, 120 Light Damage, 30 Mana would be some ideal mods to use here.

Shield:
There's quite a few different shields that you should have stashed away, so I'm going to skip over the format for this. First, a Swordback Hold with either a 15 maxer or Eth rune in it can be used against casters if you feel the OW can help. Secondly, a Vulpine Bone Shield of Deflecting (30/20 12 DTM, aka VBSOD) with 2 os. You should actually have two of these, one socketed with maxer jewels and the other with Eth runes. Optionally you could have a third one with Ith runes if you happen to want the extra DTM. I find that the maxer shield is nice vs melee, especially chargers, and the Eth (or Ith) shield is quite useful for facing other bowas.

Armor:
Twitchthroe (Socketed with 15-20 Max Damage Jewel)
Helps you hit 10 (or 9, depending on bow) FPA Guided Arrow with Death's. I rarely use my Twitch anymore in lieu of the option below.

3 Socket Breast Plate with 3x 20 ed 6 Dex Jewels
While you don't hit 10 fpa with this option, this can actually be beneficial as it'll help you conserve some mana. Can hit much higher damage with this, as well as having the potential for the jewels to have additional mods (mine have res, ar, and mana on them).

Gloves:
Death's Hand Set Gloves
Gives 30% IAS when coupled with the belt, as well as Life Leech which is a great help in ZvZ.

Iratha's Cuff Set Light Gauntlets
Gives 20% IAS when coupled with the belt, as well as 30% Cold Res.

Belt:
Death's Guard Set Sash
Gives 30% IAS when coupled with the gloves as well as can't be frozen and 15 all resists.

Iratha's Cord Set Heavy Belt
Gives 20% IAS when coupled with the gloves as well as 5 Min Damage and 10 Dexterity.

Boots:
Cow King's Set Heavy Boots
30 FRW, 20 Dex, and some nice fire damage. Can't be beat vs. melee.

20 FRW 40+ Tri Res Boots
I personally don't bother with these, but if you want a resist boost these could help out. Not needed IMO.

Amulet:
Angelic's Set Amulet
75 life, 20 DTM, 10 Dex when combined with a ring. I don't recommend Angelics but its still usable.

Iratha's Set Amulet
20% FRW, 15% All Res, and Poison Length Reduction together with the belt and gloves. This is my general all purpose amulet.

Rare +1 Passive Skills amulet with Life, Mana, Life Repl, Res, etc.
I use a 1 Passive 10 Life Repl 13 Energy amulet with some odd resists for ZvZ. The additional life and mana come in handy when you don't need the FRW boost from Iratha's amulet

Ring:
Angelic's Set Ring
Life/Dex/Ar bonuses in combination with the amulet. If you're going to use an Angelics ring, make sure you only use one. You can't sacrifice the mana from your other ring.

Rare Ring with 30-40 Mana, 5 Dex/str, 5 Life Replenish, 10 life, Min Damage, Energy
I'm personally using a 3 Min 32 Mana 10 Energy 5 Life Replenish ring on one side and a 1 Max 46 AR 8 Life 4 Life Repl 31 Mana ring. I highly recommend you use two, the mana you gain makes your duels much easier and puts them highly in your favor.

Charms:
Grand Charms -For your grand charms, you're going to want a mixture of Max/Ar/Frw, Max/Ar/Dex, and Max/Ar/Life. You're going to have 50-70 FRW coming from your gear already, so you don't need that many FRW gcs to get by. I personally don't use any with Irathas, but have the ability to add in more if I feel I need it. I haven't really need to do so however, but depending on your play style you may want to. For dexterity GCs, I use two for the little extra damage boost. Any more and I feel I'd be sacrificing too much life. Finally, I use 6x Max/AR/Life grand charms. Depending on how your mana is, you may even want to use five, but I feel more comfortable with 4.

Max stats on these stated mods:
6 Max Damage
48 AR
7 FRW (doesn't vary)
6 Dexterity
20 Life

Small Charms -Your small charms are going to mean a lot to this build, as they're a big source of mana. Obviously, if you're running out of mana after a handful of shots, you're not going to be very effective. This is personally why I'd advise not to bother with this build if you aren't able to obtain at the very least, 14-15 Life/5-7 Mana small charms. Optimally you're going to want 15 Life/7 Mana small charms, but they get quite expensive. At the moment I have a complete set of 16x 15/7s, which gives me a big advantage. You could also throw in one or two 15 Life/7 x resist small charms if you find yourself needing additional resist and are able to sacrifice the mana.

Dueling Strategies:
I'm not going to go too in-depth here, but I'll try to address some main points. This is probably going to be a tl;dr wall of text, but you might find it useful if you're not used to bowas, especially at lvl 18.

Generally, your mana pool isn't going to last the whole duel. Your javs are going to be just as important against some characters as your bow. Obviously, there are cons to using your javs as opposed to your bow, namely the fact that they don't track your opponent and the fact that they use AR. A good zon knows when to use her javs effectively, however. The great thing about the javs is that at this level you have plenty of AR to still get hits, and while you're throwing them you're not using up any mana, meaning you're regening mana to be able to use your bow again. There's also of course the obvious fact that you have block, which is quite big vs other zons/chargers/bf sins/etc and the occasional melee that catches up with you.

I also see two skills that are largely overlooked by opponents: Jab and Lightning Bolt. You're not going to always want to use jab obviously, as getting up close for melee attacks is not what this build is designed for. However, it is an excellent way to occasional lay damage into casters and getting Open Wounds on them. It also happens to be very useful against chargers (pure chargers, don't try it vs. charge/zeal hybrids). Lightning Bolt's great appeal is that it hits 100% of the time (assuming you aim it right of course). Critical Strike will double its damage as well, meaning character with low light res (quite common at this level) can be fried up quite nicely with it. It also transfers knockback, which helps an amazing amount vs. chargers (hybrids included), so make sure you have your knockback javs equipped when dueling them.

Finally, a big part of this build is being able to aim well and dodge missiles effectively. A lot of practice can really help you out here, especially in ZvZ, which happens to be quite fun at this level.

I've currently got three videos up of me using my bowa to duel, hopefully you'll be able to pick up on the techniques I use to help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnWhpVcRxLI - TvT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waa3a9ZD8Cc - TvT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyrzt9_VjMU - 1v1 Level 18 nec (Not my perspective)

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D jr


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:27 am    Post subject:  

Nice guide man, i enjoyed reading it.
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