Strategies needed for bowazons in hell

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

We're 2 bowazons specializing in cold/strafe and cold/immolation.
A1 on Hell was tough, but cautios moves got us through it. Andariel,
not cold resistant was easy to take out.

Now we're getting our butts kicked in a2, however.
We have fairly developed valks as well as a2 mercs.
Monsters which are not cold resistant can be taken out with less problems,
otherwise we have serious problems. (Also due to the HP of the monsters,
we need to re-equip arrows quite often :-)
We're both in the mid 70's range, 1 zon is maxing out dex, while the other
also has some 180 str, to be able to wear better armor.
HP's around 550-650.

Any pointers for us? Should we continue to do NM bosses with MF-gear,
lvl up to early 80's etc? We're stuck now in the tombs on our way to Duriel,
the amounts of skeletons and resurrecting creatures are too many for us to
handle, and are driving us back up to the desert :-(

BTW, if anyone wants a game going, were on open B.net, (started out as
TCP/IP), on European evenings :-)

/Atcox.

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

LD wrote:
> We're 2 bowazons specializing in cold/strafe and cold/immolation.
> A1 on Hell was tough, but cautios moves got us through it. Andariel,
> not cold resistant was easy to take out.

I think she has negative fire resistance as sorceress' fireballs take
her down incredibly fast.

> Now we're getting our butts kicked in a2, however.
> We have fairly developed valks as well as a2 mercs.

Is one of the mercs the Might kind? If you both always play together,
then the other merc could be Prayer or Defiance or others as you see
fit, but the Might one is a necessity.

> Monsters which are not cold resistant can be taken out with less problems,
> otherwise we have serious problems. (Also due to the HP of the monsters,
> we need to re-equip arrows quite often :-)

Increasing dexterity will increase attack damage, but you said one of
you guys have max dext already. Thus, it looks like you both need
better bows. If you have them, any of these bows can be good choices
(non-exhaustive, in no particular order): Upgraded Goldstrike,
Eaglehorn, Windforce, full Mavina for the Cold/Strafer.

> We're both in the mid 70's range, 1 zon is maxing out dex, while the other
> also has some 180 str, to be able to wear better armor.
> HP's around 550-650.

This HP is very low, unless your equipments compensate some (e.g.
Damage Reduction, Absorb, etc). I suggest to MF or reroll for +life
charms. While at it, charms that give high poison damage or increase
maximum damage are very useful as well.

> Any pointers for us? Should we continue to do NM bosses with MF-gear,
> lvl up to early 80's etc? We're stuck now in the tombs on our way to Duriel,
> the amounts of skeletons and resurrecting creatures are too many for us to
> handle, and are driving us back up to the desert :-(

Your characters levels are about right, usually people start Hell at
around level 70. However, I strongly suggest that you guys go back to
NM to MF for better bows. You can also do MF runs in Hell,
specifically in Ancient Tunnel in Act 2 (Lost City?) and Mauseleoum in
Act 1 (by Blood Raven), both of those areas have no naturally Cold
Immune monsters, since you said you have less problems handling non
CIs.

Perhaps one of you guys can acquire a Holy Freeze merc. HF gives the
chance of shattered corpses upon monsters death, even if they are Cold
Immune (someone please confirm this as I have not played for some
time).

> BTW, if anyone wants a game going, were on open B.net, (started out as
> TCP/IP), on European evenings :-)

I reckon folks to either play Closed B.net or SP here. Should you
decide to go to Closed B.net, you will find folks here that will be
more than happy to give or lend some pretty decent items. If things
have not changed, AGD (this group) mostly plays in US West Soft and
Hardcore, AGD2 mostly plays in Europe Hardcore.

> /Atcox.

I think you will get more specific advice from the veterans if you post
a more detail information on both of you guys characters, i.e.
Attributes & skill allocations (before and after items), equipments
(including the mercs'), and resistances.

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

How does a Bowazon get around Immune to Physicals (Ghosts etc.)? So far
the best I can do is freeze em but that eats my mana and I soon run out
before they do.

Anton Ertl wrote:
> "LD" <answer.tothe@group.invalid> writes:
> >We're 2 bowazons specializing in cold/strafe and cold/immolation.
>
> I have a Bowazon specializing in Immolation, with a minor in freezing
> arrow (and of course Valk) in SP.
>
> >Now we're getting our butts kicked in a2, however.
> >We have fairly developed valks as well as a2 mercs.
> >Monsters which are not cold resistant can be taken out with less problems,
> >otherwise we have serious problems. (Also due to the HP of the monsters,
> >we need to re-equip arrows quite often :-)
> >We're both in the mid 70's range, 1 zon is maxing out dex, while the other
> >also has some 180 str, to be able to wear better armor.
> >HP's around 550-650.
>
> IMO armor is useless for a Bowazon: you need many thousands of points
> to make an effect, and a bowazon has no way to get there; hmm, maybe
> with a defiance merc; furthermore, she works away from the enemy, so
> she should be able to avoid getting attacked; and if she is attacked,
> she has Dodge/Evade/Avoid to avoid getting hit. Points in STR beyond
> what you need for the bows and maybe some other essential equipment
> (+2 Bow skills gauntlets in my case) are wasted.
>
> My Immozon arrived in the Hell Arcane Sanctuary yesterday; she is 81,
> and has STR 65 or so (5 points wasted), VIT 200, and DEX 238 (IIRC 215
> without equipment), base energy; the last 100 stat points went into
> VIT, and that will probably continue; Life is 881 or so.
>
> She is doing ok at /players 4, although it's somewhat slow in some
> places. However, she did die once in The Pit (Dark Archers hit harder
> than expected, and several hit me at once after my Valk died), and
> twice in the Claw Viper Temple (the entrance hall was filled with a
> Salamander boss pack, they are cold immune and hit harder than
> expected; I should have TPed out, but did not think of it).
>
> >Any pointers for us?
>
> Are you using Decoy and (where appropriate) Slow Missiles enough?
>
> Should we continue to do NM bosses with MF-gear,
> >lvl up to early 80's etc?
>
> I don't think leveling will buy you much, unless you need to develop
> some overlooked skills.
>
> You may look around for higher-damage bows. I am currently using an
> Elite-upgraded Kuko (the ultimate bow for Immolation IMO), and my
> mercenary is using an Elite-upgraded Witchwild String. The Witchwild
> String casts Amplify Damage now and then, which increases the effect
> of physical damage by at least three times in Hell (more for physical
> resistant monsters). I have the (exceptional) Witchwild String as
> alternate bow (mainly for the resists), my bowazon is too weak for the
> elite version.
>
> > We're stuck now in the tombs on our way to Duriel,
> >the amounts of skeletons and resurrecting creatures are too many for us to
> >handle, and are driving us back up to the desert :-(
>
> Don't you wish you had a Necro, Druid, Find Item Barb, or Death Sentry
> Assassin with you? Hmm, maybe you can get the appropriate skills
> (Death Sentry, Carrion Vine, Solar Creeper, Corpse Explosion, Find
> Item, Find Potion) as charges on an item.
>
> Of course, the classical approach to this problem is to attack the
> resurrecting creatures. Since you are two you should be able to
> distract the Skeletons with two Valks and two Decoys, leaving enough
> room for you two to get to and kill the resurrectors.
>
> I will see how I'll do in the tombs soon enough.
>
> >BTW, if anyone wants a game going, were on open B.net, (started out as
> >TCP/IP), on European evenings :-)
>
> Sorry, I'm on SP, Windows does not like my networking card (and I'm
> happy with that, as it's a good virus protection:-).
>
> - anton
> --
> BillChin's Diablo II FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/wchin8/FAQD2.html

Archived from groups: alt.games.diablo (More info?)

andthebeetegoeson@gmail.com writes:
>How does a Bowazon get around Immune to Physicals (Ghosts etc.)?

Depends on build. Mine has her major in Immolation arrow, so she
obviously uses that. Fire immunes are more of a problem for her.

Now the really bad ones are fire and physical immune, cold enchanted
(and thus cold resisteant) bosses. There I usually just watch while
the boss deadlocks with the Valk, and wait until the Witchwild String
of my mercenary amplifies the damage (and usually eliminates the
physical immunity); then I strafe. Or if I am less patient, I try to
get the Amp also with my own Witchwild String. Alternatives would be
to use a secondary bow with 6 Tals (or Perfect Emeralds), to use
Skystrike for Lightning damage, or to just fire away for a long time
with the cold skill.

> So far
>the best I can do is freeze em but that eats my mana and I soon run out
>before they do.

Well, you could drink some potions.

[trailing fullquote]

Please quote properly (see
<http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/mail-news-errors.html#quoting> )

- anton