06-19-2004, 10:23 PM
Hey Bob,
Thecla and dkass have put in some great responses to this already, so I'll try (and fail) to avoid repetition. I fell into the age-old trap of concentrating on item advice rather than emphasising styles of play (which, in alot of cases, can make up for some major item deficiencies) - apologies for that!
Act bosses in normal are probably your hardest fights as a pure bow amazon.
Duriel can be a real pain. You can make him slightly easier by full-clearing for levels and always checking out Fara for high block shields and a high damage pointy stick. I've been very lucky on a few occasions and found weapons which allow me to stand next to duriel and suck it up - that said, it still takes alot of potions and some care. Once you have your valkyrie and/or a good merc he's a pussycat - I'd hope you don't have similar problems in nightmare and hell!
The other bosses I have some trouble with are normal diablo and baal. For diablo it is more the length of the fight than the danger - slapping on some good resist gear (even if just blue stuff from the shops) and getting into good dodging habits is a real help here. With enough side questing (a great peice of advice from dkass) you can always wait to 30 before taking him and have the (albeit limited) valk distraction. In nightmare and hell I don't find diablo much of a problem. No-twink doesn't offer you the safety of some guaranteed slows target, but your valk and dodging skills should be honed by the time you take him, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have to suck up many potions at all.
Baal is an irritant in normal, and will be in hell. High % slow totally shuts him down, but you're not going to have that luxury no-twink. For hell I find I can keep a valk in his face and just sit strafing (if he clones) or magic-arrowing to take him down. It can take an absolute age, depending on what you've found along the way - but it's usually a safe fight.
I think that's the one piece of advice/encouragement I'd add to what has already been said. Once you've got valk/decoy and honed your skills through normal it really becomes alot easier - you may not be killing at speed (in fact, you almost certainly won't be), but you'll be able to control the battlefield and keep yourself safe. Throwing up a decoy and letting loose a volley whilst your valkyrie and merc catch up and close in on the oncoming enemies can be very satisfying if you enjoy being in control :) "Slow and steady wins the race", and all that jazz.
Pleased to see a long ramble, it sounds like you've really earnt your slayer title, and that gives me great confidence that you'll continue and rule nightmare! You'll be learning more by playing than you have reading this response :)
Thecla and dkass have put in some great responses to this already, so I'll try (and fail) to avoid repetition. I fell into the age-old trap of concentrating on item advice rather than emphasising styles of play (which, in alot of cases, can make up for some major item deficiencies) - apologies for that!
Act bosses in normal are probably your hardest fights as a pure bow amazon.
Duriel can be a real pain. You can make him slightly easier by full-clearing for levels and always checking out Fara for high block shields and a high damage pointy stick. I've been very lucky on a few occasions and found weapons which allow me to stand next to duriel and suck it up - that said, it still takes alot of potions and some care. Once you have your valkyrie and/or a good merc he's a pussycat - I'd hope you don't have similar problems in nightmare and hell!
The other bosses I have some trouble with are normal diablo and baal. For diablo it is more the length of the fight than the danger - slapping on some good resist gear (even if just blue stuff from the shops) and getting into good dodging habits is a real help here. With enough side questing (a great peice of advice from dkass) you can always wait to 30 before taking him and have the (albeit limited) valk distraction. In nightmare and hell I don't find diablo much of a problem. No-twink doesn't offer you the safety of some guaranteed slows target, but your valk and dodging skills should be honed by the time you take him, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have to suck up many potions at all.
Baal is an irritant in normal, and will be in hell. High % slow totally shuts him down, but you're not going to have that luxury no-twink. For hell I find I can keep a valk in his face and just sit strafing (if he clones) or magic-arrowing to take him down. It can take an absolute age, depending on what you've found along the way - but it's usually a safe fight.
I think that's the one piece of advice/encouragement I'd add to what has already been said. Once you've got valk/decoy and honed your skills through normal it really becomes alot easier - you may not be killing at speed (in fact, you almost certainly won't be), but you'll be able to control the battlefield and keep yourself safe. Throwing up a decoy and letting loose a volley whilst your valkyrie and merc catch up and close in on the oncoming enemies can be very satisfying if you enjoy being in control :) "Slow and steady wins the race", and all that jazz.
Pleased to see a long ramble, it sounds like you've really earnt your slayer title, and that gives me great confidence that you'll continue and rule nightmare! You'll be learning more by playing than you have reading this response :)