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           || Diablo II: Lord of Destruction Amazon (Bowazon) FAQ  v1.04 ||
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Copyright (c) Xythar (gmmazz@hotmail.com) 2001-2003

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.

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Diablo II: Lord of Destruction is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment.

This is version 1.04 of this FAQ, last updated 18/1/03. 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 v1.04
*Corrected a slight error. Try and work out where! :) v1.03
*Added permission for IGN to post this FAQ. 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.

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                            || 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


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                     ||  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.


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| 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.



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                              || 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