Diablo II

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Well, I started a Frost Sorc. Frost Nova-ing everything to death is kinda fun at first, but it quickly grows boring.

 

i have a bowazon with multi arrow and guided, it is going hella fast and she is at lvl 4x at act 3 nm and not having any problems at all though she is kinda boring, and i am considering a spearazon as i have never one of those, are they great fun?

and what is best 2 handed spear or a throw/shield style thing

 

Frost Nova is really not the best Sorc spell. Going with Bolt>Blast>Blizzard is much more fun and eventually gives you a much more character. Alternatively you could go for a Frozen Orb sorceress and invest some points in another element (Meteor + Frozen Orb is a good Sorceress to use in single player because few enemies will be resistant to both elements).

 

I'm actually considering abandoning my current Amazon (after using Atma to put all of her items on a mule), and then starting a Bowazon and a Javazon...

I've seen some interesting strats for both...

 

I have both Ice Bolt and Ice Blast. I use Ice Blast on tougher monsters, like Champions or uniques. And yes, I'm eagearly waiting for Blizzard.

Investing some points in Fire/Lightning is a good idea, I'm just not sure which spells will truly benefit me in the long run.

 

It depends on whether you're going for a pure Frost sorc or whether you want to do a two-element Sorc. If you're going for Blizzard all the way then there's no point in investing in any of the other trees except for the must-have spells ones (one point in Warmth and one point in Teleport. Teleport is an absolute requirement if you want to play a Sorc past Normal), since you're going to sink all your points in Blizzard and its synergies (Ice Bolt, Ice Blast and Glacial Spike).

The other possibility is to either go Frozen Orb + Meteor or Frozen Orb + a lightning attack. Orb + Meteor is very powerful and versatile but until you actually get Meteor your Sorceress is going to be VERY weak on the offense. Though Fireball synergises with Meteor so you could sink your points in there until Meteor and Frozen Orb become available.

Ice Bolt, for being a level 1 spell, is one of the most powerful spells in Normal. Mana consumption is laughable so you can just spam it indefinitely, even with a small mana pool. It gets massive synergy bonuses from Ice Blast, Glacial Spike and Blizzard (and Frozen Orb).

 

oh DoTW i think i have a cold skill one of the gold facet unique jewel if you need it

 

You're asking two different questions. If you use a spear class weapon, you talking about a two handed weapon, so no shield, and no throwing. These types of amazons are very rare, as they are melee characters with no shield (a bad combination). The best weapon available here would be the unique matriarchal spear (can't remember the name of it offhand). This is a very challenging character to play in hell difficulty.

An amazon using a javelin style weapon (usually referred to as a Javazon) are very common, and really combine the best of both worlds. They are competent in melee combat and since a javelin is a one handed weapon, they can (and always do) use a shield. Also, the javelin can be thrown, and the thrown javelin does tons more damage than when used in melee. The javelin skill tree has different skills, some of which can be used for a javelin that is thrown, others for when it is used in melee. The best weapon here would be the unique matriarchal javelin, Titan's Revenge.

It is NOT a weak build for the very reason you mention. Due to the huge damage bonuses fireball gives to meteor, and meteor gives back to fireball, you start pumping fireball as soon as it becomes available, which is at level 12. The mana cost for fireball isn't terrible, and while you can't spam it because of your limited mana pool, it can be used regularly enough to blow through boss packs, while letting your merc deal with smaller numbers of enemies. There's no downside to pumping fireball early, because it just makes meteor that much more powerful later on, and eventually you're going to max both of these skills anyway.

Once you hit level 30, you pump Frozen Orb exclusively, as that skill kicks ass all the way through nightmare. By the time you hit hell difficulty, Meteorbs (the name used for Sorceresses who use Meteor and Frozen Orb as their main skills) typically have maxed Frozen Orb, Meteor, Fireball, and Fire Mastery (with a few points into Cold Mastery). At this stage, even your fireballs are doing a couple thousand points of damage per hit. Fully synergized meteors do over ten thousand points of damage. At this point, meteor are fireball are your skills of choice. (There is a casting delay on meteor, so that after casting one you have to wait a couple of seconds before casting another. Most sorceresses fire a meteor, and then get off a couple of fireballs (which has no casting delay) before switching back to meteor again.) The only time you use Frozen Orb on hell difficulty is when you run into fire immune creatures.

 

so there is no skills that are only melee for the amazon that can be used with a javelin class weapon?

well i might make a javazon on b net with some friends, have to get their names first though

 

That's not what I mean. If you look at the spear and javelin skill tree, there are some skills that are for melee weapons, and some that are for thrown weapons. A two-handed spear is melee only, so you don't get to use any of the skills associated with thrown weapons. On the other hand, a javelin class weapon can be used either as a thrown weapon OR a melee weapon, so all of the skills in that skill tree can be used. That's why there are so many more javazons than spearazons out there, because with a spearazon you lose all those skills associated with thrown weapons. (Well that, and you get to use a shield, another big bonus for a melee character.)

So yes, there are melee only skills that can be used if you equip your amazon with a javelin. There just aren't any thrown weapon skills that can be used with a two-handed spear.

 

Actually, you can use some Spear Melee skills when you have Javelins equipped...

 

That's what I'm saying. If you equip a javelin, you can use ALL the skills in that tree, regardless of whether it is melee or throw skill. If you use an amazon class specific spear, you are limited to only the melee skills. The other problem is that the throw skills add elemental damage to your attacks, which is another reason that spearazons are unpopular - they do almost entirely physical damage, and another damage type is required in hell difficulty.

 

so... i can essentially do both, which i will do today maybe on b.net i recently found out that a few of my friends play online so..


pala update:

he is now lvl 83 and kicking it well through act 2 in hell and just got to use andariels visage i haven't had any luck finding a herald of zakarum but a stormshield socketed with an UM rune is now being a pretty good 2nd choice

 

Well, my run with the Necrobutcher is done. Hell Big D finally was some much-needed challenge, but Act V was a pushover. Found plenty of sweet stuff which could be of interest for some future runs with other chars. Not much more to do with the Butcher than item rums, I'm afraid.

 

Finally went back and got my Necro to kill the Big D in Act IV.
I forget.... Do you have to do the secret cow level before heading to Act V?

Dang it was a pain to get the knack of killing Diablo with a Necro.
Must have TP a dozen times and got killed twice and the merc got nailed a half dozen times too..

Here's how I did it:

Level 30 Necro
1 point in each skill (first necro and I'm testing all the skills) with 3 extra points. (1 each in skeleton raise and mage and 1 in golem mastery)
Used a Fire Golem (metal is useless against him)
Paladin Merc

Didn't get a single crushing blow weapon in the game yet as a drop or knockback in a weapon my merc could use. He does have a Unique Weapon that slows. Further more my fire protection sucked (in the 20s).

On the plus side I did have a strong demonhead shield that gave +3 to decrepify along with a necklace that gave +1 to all curses getting it up to +5. And my wand gives +1 to all summons.

I use decrepify then put him in a bone prison to hold him still.
Iron Maiden helps (found that out late) and life tap helps heal the merc and golem as they hit. When he was slowed down good I would even sneak in and get a few whacks in.

 

No - in fact, the cow level isn't even available until you complete Act V. But you never have it do it regardless. There's no harm in skipping it completely, especially in normal difficulty, where cows are not particularly rewarding in terms of XP or item drops.

 

I'm getting much better drops this time around than with my Paly.
Have gotten at least 6 Uniques, mostly armor that any can wear. A sweet ax for a barb was 1 of 2 dropped by the big D when he fell.

Even dropping runes that are a higher level then I am. Never did that in the last game.

Just got a rare exceptional leather armor early in Act V that blows away all the normal plates in my last play session.

I don't recall my paly ever getting so lucky. Took him forever to find a nice shield and Scepter.

 

Are you using more magic find this time around? Melee characters like a paladin have to get up close and personal to kill, and therefore, their equipment has to be directed to dealing out and avoiding damage. Characters like a necromancer do their damage from a distance, and can devote many more slots to magic find.

That said, I agree that it is great to find a rare exception in normal (or likewise a rare elite in nightmare). Once you hit Act V, the next group of equipment becomes available, and typically an exceptional leather (serpentskin) armor will outperform most normal plate armors, just like an exceptional short sword (gladius) will outperform normal two handed axes and mauls.

I'm getting tons of great stuff with my necromancer as well, but that's because I have him loaded up with magic find equipment. With the exception of his wand and shield, every other equipment slot has some magic find on it. I don't know exactly what my magic find percentage is, but it's got to be somewhere in the 150%-200% range.

 

"Are you using more magic find this time around?"

Don't think so.
One ring has like 13% and another item (boot or glove) raises it into the mid 20s.

I think my Paly had about the same by Act V.

Either it's good luck this time or it was bad luck last time.

 

Holy crap - if you're getting drops like that with magic find in the 20s, that's very good luck. (Although as an aside, magic find does not change what a monster can drop. You'll never get a monster on normal difficulty to drop an elite item for example. What magic find does is improve the amounts of magic, rare, set, and unique items drop.)