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Jun 21 2017 11:13pm
Which bow is the best for ZvA . Perfect Faith GMB & Perfect Faith Diamond ( i will play with both ) OR Perfect Faith Gmb of ice & Perfect Faith Diamond of ice . Let me know and Why . Thanks you JSP :hail:
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Jun 22 2017 12:12am
Faith of ice diamond is only useful if you want to build around teleport really

I'd stick with the 2x faiths
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Jun 22 2017 01:19am
Reg faith is better

FoI loses the ohm rune of the reg faith and with it 50ED. The 95ias req for reg faith gmb can easily be made up
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Jun 22 2017 01:24am
Regular Faith GMB
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Jun 22 2017 01:39am
Normal Faith GMB
imo Faith of Ice GMB is only really usable on a tribrid
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Jun 22 2017 05:23am
None of that is true. When you run GMB, you only have 35% DR on javside and it isn't enough against real competition.
People like to front Jesper's guide in this forum but Jesper's guide was written for EU and the use bugged belt, which is a Nosferatu and Verdungo combined, thus he has 50% DR javside AND 10% slow.
East Amazons running GMB only have 35% DR javside due to forced use of nosferatu, it just isn't enough.
I recently answered the same question in a PM.
Indirectly but it was answered.
Read this for your elaborate and exact answer.

There are certain builds that if played by very strong players, it is actually impossible to beat them without high damage rare eth cruel javelins and 50% DR javside, due to how the game's physics work when engaging melee range.
These builds are -> BvA, Ghost, Charger/Smiter
Those melee builds when played by powerful duelists will simply statistically pressure you into a situation where it becomes a test of defense and life value vs. damage dealt.
They engage you constantly with teleports and stay on top of you and turn it into a contest of who can deal damage the fastest and who can WSG out of stuns and block/dodge the most.
Those builds will not allow you to use a bow at all if they are played be strong players and it all amounts down to how much damage can you deal with javelins and how hard can you tank on your amazon.
This is why I wrote my guide based around javelin side, after many years of d2 dueling in all forms of environments and tiers.
People focus waaaaaay too much on the bowside when the reality is that:
Bowing down a teleporting ranged opponent is easy to do, regardless of who is playing and what class they are on. Anyone stupid enough to not pressure an amazon melee range is going to die, regardless of the bow you use.
The hard matches are the ones that play on your weaknesses, statistically within game's engine. Those are the matches when someone is on top of you 100% of the time in the match.
These are the matches that define your ability to win a duel, progress in a ladder and define a character's reputation within the community and these matches are all played almost 100% javelinside.
Again, anyone can bow down a sorc teleporting around or a hammerdin with no smite/charge, regardless of if they use GMB, FOI or Diamond/Shadow, those matches are easy.
What truly matters in your build structure, is your ability to win against classes that are supposed to counter your class in a duel. Every single one of these matches is played javelinside.
- vs. BvA = lightning fury, sometimes jab if you can catch him in a bad ww frame for stun
- vs. Ghost = lightning fury, sometimes jab if caught in bad ww frame for stun
- vs. Charging/Smiting = light fury for damage and light bolt for ensured knockback if he gets too close, never jab vs smite
- vs. Heavy Eshield and/or with max block = light bolt and swordback hold to deliver OW past block rate and under EShield
Those matches are almost 100% javelinside and are generally seen as the "impossible matches" by most players on a bowazon
These next matches are a mixture of about 50% javside and 50% bowside play:
- vs. Wind Druid = multi shot to wear down summons on approach, light fury for high damage and stun at close range while being able to BLOCK TORNADOS, guided arrow when it retreats
- vs. Necromancer = multi shot and ga on approach but when he gets close you need to block javside or you'll be hit clay golem eventually and that = usually lose immediately. High damage fury makes them wary of getting too close.
- vs. Trapper = multi shot and ga on approach but mass WSG to escape stuns and also due to mindblast being physical damage, it's advantageous to try and stay shieldside for 50% DR and peg with fury, jab also stun locks if they are too close.
- vs. other bowazons and amazons in general = lots of swapping between bow and javelin. It's a mind game of when to pressure melee and when to get out and range.
These next matches are the easy matches where you already counter the shit out of the person you're dueling and actually get to use the bow freely:
- vs. hammerdin who has no charge or smite or even ones with charge and smite but no grief = Run and bow and easily not get hit, easy win
- vs. any sorc with no Eshield = bad sorc, dies fast to GA alone, doesn't even matter what bow you use. You could use being a damn riphook for all it matters.
- vs. any other awry ass build that someone is trying to run that isn't mainstream, walk circles around it, bow freely, win.
But when put into perspective like this in terms of difficulty, you can see why maintaining 50% DR on defensive side and high damage throwing is important if you want to win.
The bowside, which only allows you to freecast bad players that you're going to kill anyway, regardless of bow, is only ever even used in the difficult matches for attrition damage in small intervals of time.
Your bully damage and kill damage all comes form lightning fury.
There are only two matches that running 45/120, GMB and Nosferatu are viability better than the rare diadem, verdungo, tankside javside setup and that is:
- vs. trapper = the 10% slow on nosferatu will slow down the assassin's trap lay speed, which slows down mindblast/sentry and allows you to land damage more easily, stun them and escape much more easily.
- vs. necromancer = the damage reduction doesn't matter here at all so it's a negligent argument. The nosferatu slow actually slows the golem's strikes so it's harder to land slow on your zon.
Those are the only two instances where GMB with only 35% DR on stormshield javside is actually better than a tanky 50% DR javside and it isn't even because of the bow, it's because of nosferatu.

But yeah, went on a real big ass rant there
Point being, when looking at this layout, you can see why the rare eth cruel javelins will define your ability to win duels. They are actually used much more often than the bow is.

It isn't about the bow at all, it's about your javside power/defense.
Diamond/Shadow bows are optimal for this.
GMB for pvm
Never FOI, If it would have had +5% more IAS, it would have taken over the use of Diamond/Shadow but it does not and thus it is useless.

Remember that the use of Diamond/Shadow over GMB is a 15% increase in damage reduction, + lots of vita with BO and life rep.
But the use of GMB over Diamond/Shadow is a damage increase of about 15% but it gains no life value, no life rep and it is often not able to be used at all in a duel.
The DR % and the life value/rep always works for you.

The GMB is a better bow that Diamond/Shadow
But Diamond/Shadow makes a stronger ZvA setup with how mechanics actually work in pvp

This post was edited by TSBoyer on Jun 22 2017 05:42am
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Jun 22 2017 05:36am
crossbow is the only real choice
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Jun 22 2017 06:40am
eth grief Colossus Crossbow but gl find one
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Jun 22 2017 08:00am
faith gmb
i use shadows for non zvz,
reason for faith is the 50ed, and deadly strike is minimal with missles
also, the 20ias from ice is usually used against people using arach/nos, but u dont have worry about thag in zvz since nos banned
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Jun 22 2017 08:08am
its still the problem where tribrid > telebowa > walking bowa
so if you optimize the best bow you could do for a walking bowa, you're still worse than a teleporting bowa using a lower damage bow
and if you optimize for a telebowa, you're still weaker than a teleporting javazon with 1 point guided arrow on swap with an even lower damage bow
That at least is the case for ZvA. if you want to build a TvT zon then the walking bowa logic can return
for ZvZ, you're restricted by whatever they banned when I hurt their feelings years ago
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