Quote (SinsOfTheSun @ Mar 5 2026 11:17am)

It has the same velocity as all other arrows and bolts, but it does not expire for 5.12 seconds (128 frames), compared to just 2 seconds (50 frames) for crossbow bolts, Multiple Shot and Strafe, 0.8 seconds (20 frames) for Cold Arrow and 1.6 seconds (40 frames) for all other arrows. This means it can travel at least 2.56 times further than anything else, and 3.2 times further than most.

It has a search radius of 10 yards (but requires line of sight) and performs its search check each 5 frames (unless you targeted something).

Quote (SinsOfTheSun @ Mar 5 2026 10:17am)

It has the same velocity as all other arrows and bolts, but it does not expire for 5.12 seconds (128 frames), compared to just 2 seconds (50 frames) for crossbow bolts, Multiple Shot and Strafe, 0.8 seconds (20 frames) for Cold Arrow and 1.6 seconds (40 frames) for all other arrows. This means it can travel at least 2.56 times further than anything else, and 3.2 times further than most.

It has a search radius of 10 yards (but requires line of sight) and performs its search check each 5 frames (unless you targeted something).

Quote (BuCkShOtZ @ Mar 5 2026 11:22am)

Im convinced you’re either David Brevik or an AI bot.

Quote (SinsOfTheSun @ Mar 5 2026 07:15am)

Simple things to consider:

If you play without enigma (able to reposition merc with tele) do not put faith on merc, or it will often be out of the short range radius.

Strafe was fixed in 2.6
It used to reach max 3fpa (on server side) while it was firing at 2fpa (on client side), resulting in a clunky animation and discrepancy between both, which was making strafe really not as good as it is right now.
So all the info you see online about how multi is better than strafe? Well, it's kinda the opposite right now. You should play either a pure strafer, or a strafe/multi where strafe is your primary skill and you only use multi against scattered squishy mobs.
Chosing to go pure strafe is opening up the build, cuz it requires less ias. Both GMB and hydra have the same WSM of 10, so paired with fana lvl 14-15 it means you only need 50ias as a pure strafer, instead of 95 ias as a multi/strafe.
My recommendation is: play pure strafe with 50ias, which will give you much more flexibility on all gear (fore more dmg, tankyness, fcr, etc)

If you care about clear speed and not only pure dps, enigma is the very clear winner. You really don't lose much dmg even if you use it. The increased mobility from enigma makes you clear anywhere much faster.

Self using faith GMB or WF is debatable. You used to get slightly more dmg with faith, but that was before the introduction of the new unique jewel that can be socketed in WF.
Now, they're practically equal, but here's the difference:
Faith gives you some extra res and +2skill also means higher dodge chances, so it's a lil extra survivability (which can be huge as you should play with all, or nearly all pts in dex).
But WF gives you innate ml% (more flexibility on jewelry) and KB, which is also by itself another defensive mechanism.
I like both options.
I use both options.
I can't make my mind on which I prefer.

If you self-use faith, merc is simply might+pride.
If you use WF, then you have 3 options:
faith on merc (cuz you should use enigma anyway)
or
might+pride, and you prebuff BoS with hustle on swap (highest dps, but not so fun to have to keep it active each 2 min)
or
might+pride and you aim for 120 ias (2fpa middle arrows, just 1 frame longer for the last arrow compared to the last ias breakpoint)
35 WF, 45 circ, 20 gloves, 20 amy -> which means no atmas (but this can be fine now as you can get immunes down to 85% res just from a -10 DR renewed sunder)

There are as many bowzon builds as there are players. All of them are convinced they have the best build. The fact is, none of them is perfect, they all come with pros/cons.
If you're a real bowzon fan, you'll eventually get all those options in stash and have fun swapping stuff around to enjoy the diversified styles.

Quote (thumper01 @ Mar 5 2026 12:59pm)

Have you tried merc with reaper’s toll? I prefer that to pride

Quote (SinsOfTheSun @ Mar 5 2026 10:03am)

At some point, with high end gear and full inv, you melt stuff before merc can do anything.
Only elite phys immunes can be a threat, and that's when your 5%ctc amp from atmas normally doesn't take so long to trigger.

If you replace pride by reaper, you slow both your normal clear speed, and those moment where you would have had amp instead of decrep.

Quote (SinsOfTheSun @ Mar 5 2026 01:03pm)

At some point, with high end gear and full inv, you melt stuff before merc can do anything.
Only elite phys immunes can be a threat, and that's when your 5%ctc amp from atmas normally doesn't take so long to trigger.

If you replace pride by reaper, you slow both your normal clear speed, and those moment where you would have had amp instead of decrep.

Quote (thumper01 @ Mar 5 2026 01:05pm)

The decrep works very well vs uniques and bosses. Here’s a demo of it:

https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=101146630&f=148