Opening=I am far from the #1 zon on EAST NL, but I have been refining my zon build ever since days of .8. Blizzard has refined, for the better and worse (more worse) the effectiveness of zons in PvP with the introduction of new weapons and the nerfing of skills. Faiths revolutionized the face of zon PvP by opening up doors to allowing a much greater flexibility in gear. Gone are the days with the typical WF/ 40-15ias Gaze / 40-15ias Shaft. (Those were good days tho
). Anyone back then who used 120-45ias AND 160-60ias (newbs) would succumb to one arrow of my WF ;] or even one of my Cruel Mat.
The goal of this guide is to show another option, not revolutionary, but just
merely different from the guides or builds you typically see. You do less dmg than 120/45 - Fort Build, but i believe you are more effective this way.
What you will have from this buildLife = Aim for 900+ /w gear.
Damage Reduction%= 48%
Resist= Fuck that, ;P
Faster r/w= 150+ with titans/ss out.
Bow Shooting Frames= 7FPS. Must achieve 95ias to reach this breakpoint.
Skills=Max Guided
Max Crit Strike
Max Avoid
Max Evade
10-12 Multi
1 valk
1 pierce (debatable..)
prereqs
rest in Dodge
STATSStrength=Enough for Hel'd SS, or Whistans if you want...
Vita= Enough for 900life with ALL GEAR.
Dex=REST. 1dex=1%ed.
Energy= wtf? If you're even contemplating this...you suck
.
GEAR= The part that makes or breaks a zon. While skills > items, it is still vital to have the proper gear to be effective in solid ZvZ or just pubbing ZvA.
I am going to list the best options only. Go read foxnews's guide if you want gear advice on a 120-45ias/fort build.
HELM= Ber'd .8 Gaze. [33% DR, you wont fuckin die in 1-2 arrows in ZvZ. This is a controversial pick over 120/45ias but many of the best bowzons since .8 have been using this, and I am a believer as well]
BOW= Faith GMB /w level 15 fanact [If you can hit 7fps in a GMB, why use a MAT? More dmg > you]
ARMOR= 160/60ias with nice a 2nd mod. [Life...whatever you want]
GLOVES= Gale Grasps. Or any 20ias/knockback gloves with other mods. Some consider KB BM, so be wary. MUST have 20ias however.
AMULET= Highlords [Deadly strike...nuff said.]
RINGS= +Strength/+Dex Ring [Currently using shadow coil 13str/13dex/6%LL, but I've seen better]
Rav frost [get frozen in ZvZ? gg, bye]
BELT= Verdungos /w highest DR and replenish life as possible [DR....obvious. You take more arrows, even though youre not supposed to get hit ;]. Rep Life is VITAL in those long ZvZ]
BOOTS= Meh, gore riders or travs [personal preference, i switch between the two. Still can't decide which I like.
]
ON SWITCH= Titans/SS [because you know you aint no real bowzon unless you have these. Self explanatory reasons for having it.]
*NOTE* You could use whistans and have less str requirement b/c you already have 48% DR from the above gear. And seeing as DR is capped at 50% why use SS right? Because I fuckin want to ;]. Whistans looks real pussy. But I'm just letting you all know of this point.
CHARMS= faster run walk sc's with awesome mods, these should take up your inv except for ANNI+TORCH.
DUELING STRATEGIES-You should always have your titans/SS out if you're not shooting arrows or are on the move. I love how newbie pubbies think im a javazon when i join public games and dont have my bow out
.
-Always try to be dueling towards North. I find that I shoot more accurately that way than if I'm facing south.
vs Sorcs [easy-medium]-Get your valk+Decoy out. Even if sorc knows where you really are, it's nice to have two meat shields in case sorc has very high lvl t-storm.
-Multi is your friend.
-Never just stand and pound arrows, unless sorc is in blocklock. Always be moving as her projectiles may own you quick
-Slow missile the bitch if you wanna BM.
-95%ES manapot drinking sorcs are tough, but keep sharp, keep moving and keep firing off arrows when you can. Drink mana pots as well as multi will most likely drain you.
-Namelock will also win these easy.
vs Smiters/Zealers/Anyone who charges [HARD] -Yeah, if you stand there and pound arrows into him if he's not in blocklock...you're dead. Unless he sucks.
-Best idea if he's charging you is to switch to titans/SS and just keep on running. If you stop for even 1/2 sec to shoot off 1 arrow, his charge will catch up and own you. Just keep running till he gets impatient and moves away or something
.
-If all else fails, get your HammerDin and own him
vs Barbs[Medium-Hard] -Warcry barbs? Fuck that, you win.
-WW/Tele barbs....Can be tough. Always be moving, fire 1-2 arrows off when he tele-ww's you and misses. Then keep running. Watchout for desynching too.
-One little mistake in this duel and you're done.
vs FoH[easy-medium] -Let them come to you, dont go to them. If they are very defensive, just snipe the hell outta them. DONT let them get into your screen. Kill them or get them into blocklock before it.
vs Hammerdins[easy]-Stay South of them..always. If they get South of you, they can tele-hammer and you can be dead if your avoid doesnt go.
-Stick and move..stick and move. As usual.
vs CS zons [easy-hard] -Stick and move...But remember to dodge their lite furies as you run. (obvious)
vs FC zons [impossible...lol] -Hmm...unless you're IGA (invis guided arrows) catches them till death, You're pretty much owned in this matchup.
vs trappers [medium] -MUST be on the move constantly. especially if trapper is offensive and tele's alot.
-If trapper is defensive...lol gg, you win. Just snipe the hell outta him.
vs fury druids [easy-hard] -Not too many of these around now. But they can be quite difficult if built correctly. Just stick and move.
vs Windies/Summon Necros [medium-hard] -Multi the hell outta his summons. If not, you're GA may not even hit druid/necro at all. Stay on the move.
-KB seperates the summons from the summoner. Quickly namelock.
vs Bone necros[HARD] -If you get bone prisoned in...theres nothing you can do but multi+GA like hell. Kill whatever summons hes got and GET THAT NECRO.
vs PSN necros [medium] -Decoy/Valk is your friend. Use trickery.. lol
-Constalty be moving, do not run predictably. If you get hit by the psn, you could be done.
-If you kill necro, watchout for fire golem with holy fire, coudl get you too.
vs BOW ZONZ [easy-HARD] -IMO, the best, funnest, most challenging class matchup in D2. Totally biased though lol.
-Stay South of them.
-If you have general idea of where they are, you can=
=Play offensively and run for a better location
=Spam GA's in hopes of getting IGA and hitting him.
-Multi is useful...as usual.
-If he charges at you, just pound him with arrows, run, shoot,run shoot. If he charges and switches to bow, charge back at him. If you want to BM, use slow missles ;] That'll teach him to charge at you.
-Remember, this duel is a battle of snipers, not spammers.
CLOSINGZons are easily my most favorite and effective class out of all in D2. Easy as hell to BM if you must ;D. 1 arrow NK's thank you
. ZvZ is very demanding but very rewarding. Even if blizz nerfed pierce and life leech (which were crucial to bow zons..fukin blizz) , Zons are very fun to play in PvP or PvM. Just make sure you build it right ;] by using my guide of course
.
Thats it, I'm open to all+any criticisms. I'd like to say im open minded and have seen MANY bowzon builds. Hell i've seen a MLD kuko bowzon own a Bugged Zephyr zon back in .9 and such (both talented zons). Seen Ice bow zons, SPEARZONS (wtf???), strafezons..etc.
Peace,
-PDPsi.SS aka Andrew
This post was edited by pdpsiss on Jun 21 2006 09:54am