I would stay MB. Also get some dr elsewhere untill u find Storm

Yea! using a Rockstopper at the moment and i really hope to find String of Ears from either Pits or Andariel
any1 else opinions on this...?

Another question: as i asked on my WT though! For skills, i'm about to take out Peace armor and i'll have to truly put some skills into Valk... do i max that skill for an efficient valkyrie?

All depends on what you want.

My own amazon have about 50% block, due to thunderstroke needing quite some dex anyway (151). She have some LL with a bk, which helps.

Don't forget that allot of typical amazon items give a high amount of +dex.

A raven gives a maximum of 20 dex. (you can use 2)
A cat's eye (which i see commonly used) gives +25 dex + 20 ias
Titans revenge gives +20 dex (but also needs 109 dex to use)

I see here 20+20+25+20 = 85 added dex.

You need 109 dex for your titans (asuming you want to use one). 109-20-20-25 = 44 points that need to be stat in it, taken in account you have an random torch, giving 14 points, it dropts to 30. Minus the 25 dex you start with on an ama, you have 5 points you need to spend in dex to wear titans. Titans add 20 dex, giving you a total of 139 dex, for spending 5 points.

If you dont want to use cat's eye, but highlords, you can think about using waterwalk's as an addition. Which adds +15 dex. In that case, it'll cost (5+25-15=) 15 instead of 5 points in dex you need to add.

Every point added in dex, cost you 3 hp, if you dont have any items adding life. So, 15 dex would cost you (15*3=)45 life. However, if your chances of block are high, you need less of it too.

Its all about balancing out, my old (nearly perfect) ama has:
60 ias = faster attacks = more dmg.
41 fhr = faster recovery = saver
43 dr = taking less dmg
10 ll = recovering from damage more fast
50% block = quite enough on an ama
75-75-85-75 res = what matters allot on hell, you cant block / dr elemetal dmg
11k charged strike, 12 bolts
4.4k fury, 51 bolts

I''d suggest maxing Valk. Investing everything in CS/LF synergies will only have non-LI mobs drop dead 1-2 seconds faster than without fully synergising those 2 skills. On the other hand, maxing Valk will give you a powerful tank that will skyrocket your crowd control and absorb dmg for your merc.

As for MB, it depends on the shield. If your Rhyme is in a tower shield it's worth it and it will only get better as soon as you get SS. Also you are spending lots of pts in dex for equipping Titans which also gives 20 dex + 15 dex from razortail (wont be hard to find) and another 15-20 dex from raven frost (you'll get that eventually) gives you a nice kickstart.

Adding a valk means skilling dodge / avoid / evade.. Which slow down your char and make you "trapped" and accually kill you. On top of that, with those skills you cant max out your skill tree on javelins anyway. Costing you overall dmg.

I always max valk with shitty EQ. You want max block as well, but like someone said you get alot of dex from java items. Razortail>

In /p8 HC it will do more good than harm. CS/LF are interruptible attacks which is much more noticeable than the occasional D/A/E animation. D/A/E becomes a problem when using sequence attacks such as jab or fend and even when jabbing you can sit and jab behind your merc/valk without taking hits.

I agree played with D/A/E to lvl 97 /p8 hc. I never was close to ripping cause of D/A/E lock.