3 "simple" starter questions on a Multishot Bowa:

1. Windforce or Faith GMB?

2. Skill points into multishot: 8-12 or full 20?

3. Might merc weapon: Pride or Reapers toll?

Any other input/ideas welcome as well. Thx

Pvm or pvp?

Pvp = faith gmb
pvm = WF with a merc using faith or faith with a might merc with pride.

if pure bowzon then max multi shot for the synergies
most players prefer hybrid of some jav and some bow

Wonder if a Windforce with a Guardians stone jewel changes the game for walk Zon?

What he said except for not maxing multishot, you should max strafe and guided arrow. 14points in multi with torch and anni are enough otherwise your mana consumption would skyrocket for no apparent benefit. You use both strafe and guided arrow depending on the arrangement of the monsters. 2-3 monsters scattered in front of you or act boss => strafe, vs huge groups like in CS or cow level multishot. The new jewel belongs into the windofrce. To get the maximum benefit, you should have the physical sunder and atma's scarab just in case.

This post was edited by babun1024 on Mar 5 2026 09:00am

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.

echoing strike warlock is the new bowazon

PvM. thanks for input!



thx for the hint. I didnt take a look at those jools yet.



that's what I thought. possibly going for a strafe/multi hybrid then.



thanks so much for the elaborate and detailed answer. was playing my last WF Bowa pre D2R, like 12-15 years ago. So still having my personal info level from those times.



maybe trying in season 14. waiting for the nerfs first

This post was edited by crapdawg on Mar 5 2026 09:22am

You pronounced mirrored blades Buriwock wrong.

The other part which makes WF much flexibler vs faith gmb in PVM: faith GMB needs an inventory full of max damage charms. WF has got all the max damage you need, you need ed. You stuff your inventory with 20life scs with res or resistance charms. The points which should've gone to vita, can go to dex now for 1%ed for each point invested.

Fair enough. I’m used to using GA for PvP and getting that sweet synergy from multi shot. But yes strafe is better for pvm