01-07-2004, 08:19 AM
Well, there's a couple of separate issues here. If you want to solo with a bowazon in 5-8 player games, I can't help you there (physical damage was effectively nerfed in 1.10 -- and, at any rate, for multishot bowazons it really needed to be -- and the damage of a bowazon's elemental attacks is additive with skill level, so they can never do the massive damage of some of the other spell attackers). Perhaps some uber-equipment options will do the job, but I don't know about that (certainly prevent monster heal should help). But this isn't what you were supposed to do in 1.10 anyway, hammerdins and meteor sorceresses notwithstanding.
On the other hand, if you want to solo 1-3 player games, or party in higher player games, bowazons still do just fine. Especially because -- even if their damage output isn't the highest any more -- a high lvl valk + decoy gives them some of the best monster control skills in the game. I haven't tried out a lycander's in 1.10, but I would guess it's still a very nice bow (a bit low on damage maybe, but with great +skills to make up for it).
My own recipe for a decent, go-anywhere 1.10 bowazon is to max out an elemental attack (fa or immo, with as much of the +da synergy as you can afford), max valk with a few points into decoy, add half-a-dozen points or so into multishot or strafe, the rest to passives, and get a good high da bow (I think lycanders should work well).
On the other hand, if you want to solo 1-3 player games, or party in higher player games, bowazons still do just fine. Especially because -- even if their damage output isn't the highest any more -- a high lvl valk + decoy gives them some of the best monster control skills in the game. I haven't tried out a lycander's in 1.10, but I would guess it's still a very nice bow (a bit low on damage maybe, but with great +skills to make up for it).
My own recipe for a decent, go-anywhere 1.10 bowazon is to max out an elemental attack (fa or immo, with as much of the +da synergy as you can afford), max valk with a few points into decoy, add half-a-dozen points or so into multishot or strafe, the rest to passives, and get a good high da bow (I think lycanders should work well).