09-01-2004, 10:22 PM
General Discussion on Camilla's current status:
⢠Camilla needs to use the Buriza to deal decent damage on Hell/8-player games. But it is slow and unwieldly, so I'd like to find a better weapon.
First off, are we talking ladder/non-ladder? If ladder, and you have the upgrade runes lying around, an upgraded Lycander's Aim is an excellent choice. Simply an excellent all around bow, with few weaknesses and few gaps. To really get some oomph from your strafe, the highest damage bow is best (obviously). So Eaglehorn/WF are obvious end-game choices, where available. However, I've found that nowadays the bowazon in 8-player hell games works much better as a support character than the 1.09 killing demon she once was. So if you party exclusively, consider dropping the need for heavy damage and concentrate and freezing enemies, aiding your party (high level valk and liberal use of decoy/slow missiles comes to mind). If you party frequently, try to find a mix, or a second set up that say, includes knockback.
⢠Knockback creates a problem for her teammates, so a better glove could be in order.
Other excellent gloves to consider are the set 'Laying of Hands.' Super fire resistance, IAS, and frankly, who the heck cares what else? I like the CB on venom grips IF you can get a high attack rate. Then enchant will help your AR and add a pitance of fire damage, though I don't find the bonus that useful for a bowazon with high dexterity. Personally, I almost always go with Laying of Hands, unless I happen to have a good set of rares lying around (personal best was IAS, +2 passives, +dex, mana leech).
⢠Low resists makes Camilla and her valk tremble at elemental damage!
Two solutions that I see: first, who cares about low resists? You're a bowazon, not a paladin! Kill 'em before they even come onscreen! Since I understand that's not always as easy as it sounds... Secon choice -- pump up the valk levels a bit more. Good target level to shoot for is 17 (after +skills; at this level she receives her last gear upgrade). Of course, higher will give her more life and more staying power. Other than that, the only advice I can give you is, unfortunately, increase your resists. The planned armor change will help. So would the ammy change.
⢠Camilla has no real way to deal with combo phys/fire immunes.
Well, I've done both a hybrid and a strafe/FA zon, so here's my take -- the hybrid is alright, but somewhat annoying when dealing with small groups of physical/fire immunes. The power of LF is in assaulting groups, not individuals. While you can make this work, you'll go through a ton of mana and plenty of tedium.
⢠Low FHR is a worry.
Try to play more defensively, and try to get that valk to a more 'solid' state. With valk, decoy, defensive playing (i.e. slow going wherever possible), you should rarely -- if ever -- be hit.
⢠Her biggest problem is role ambiguity. Is she a frostmaiden? She has the gear for it but doesn't have the skill point allocation for it. Is she a Mage? well, most of her killing is done via Strafe, and Immo. is used in spots against phys-immunes and bosses. Strafeazon? She has no IAS gear on!
Personally, I would go with FA, as I find it to be more universally effective. When playing solo, a level 15+ FA can kill effectively, although it does go through mana at a considerable rate. In large games, the skill is still very useful as a method of freezing enemies for your companions to hack through in relative safety.
I can't speak specifically for pumping FA vs its synergies. My gal pumped FA, but I can't remember if that was due to laziness (i.e. ahh, it's probably better) or actual research. I can say pumping FA does work, though the increasing mana cost can be problematic.
Finally, concerning pierce and LF. As I mentioned earlier, the power of LF lies in assaulting big groups -- the larger the better. Since every target you hit with your thrown javelin sends off 10, 15, 20+ bolts of lightning, every time you pierce and hit another target, you get those 20+ lightning bolts sent off again. The potential damage between one hit and, say four, is staggering. As a hybrid, will you *need* 90%+ pierce? Absolutely not. However, even small % increases in pierce can result in much higher damage rates.
gekko
⢠Camilla needs to use the Buriza to deal decent damage on Hell/8-player games. But it is slow and unwieldly, so I'd like to find a better weapon.
First off, are we talking ladder/non-ladder? If ladder, and you have the upgrade runes lying around, an upgraded Lycander's Aim is an excellent choice. Simply an excellent all around bow, with few weaknesses and few gaps. To really get some oomph from your strafe, the highest damage bow is best (obviously). So Eaglehorn/WF are obvious end-game choices, where available. However, I've found that nowadays the bowazon in 8-player hell games works much better as a support character than the 1.09 killing demon she once was. So if you party exclusively, consider dropping the need for heavy damage and concentrate and freezing enemies, aiding your party (high level valk and liberal use of decoy/slow missiles comes to mind). If you party frequently, try to find a mix, or a second set up that say, includes knockback.
⢠Knockback creates a problem for her teammates, so a better glove could be in order.
Other excellent gloves to consider are the set 'Laying of Hands.' Super fire resistance, IAS, and frankly, who the heck cares what else? I like the CB on venom grips IF you can get a high attack rate. Then enchant will help your AR and add a pitance of fire damage, though I don't find the bonus that useful for a bowazon with high dexterity. Personally, I almost always go with Laying of Hands, unless I happen to have a good set of rares lying around (personal best was IAS, +2 passives, +dex, mana leech).
⢠Low resists makes Camilla and her valk tremble at elemental damage!
Two solutions that I see: first, who cares about low resists? You're a bowazon, not a paladin! Kill 'em before they even come onscreen! Since I understand that's not always as easy as it sounds... Secon choice -- pump up the valk levels a bit more. Good target level to shoot for is 17 (after +skills; at this level she receives her last gear upgrade). Of course, higher will give her more life and more staying power. Other than that, the only advice I can give you is, unfortunately, increase your resists. The planned armor change will help. So would the ammy change.
⢠Camilla has no real way to deal with combo phys/fire immunes.
Well, I've done both a hybrid and a strafe/FA zon, so here's my take -- the hybrid is alright, but somewhat annoying when dealing with small groups of physical/fire immunes. The power of LF is in assaulting groups, not individuals. While you can make this work, you'll go through a ton of mana and plenty of tedium.
⢠Low FHR is a worry.
Try to play more defensively, and try to get that valk to a more 'solid' state. With valk, decoy, defensive playing (i.e. slow going wherever possible), you should rarely -- if ever -- be hit.
⢠Her biggest problem is role ambiguity. Is she a frostmaiden? She has the gear for it but doesn't have the skill point allocation for it. Is she a Mage? well, most of her killing is done via Strafe, and Immo. is used in spots against phys-immunes and bosses. Strafeazon? She has no IAS gear on!
Personally, I would go with FA, as I find it to be more universally effective. When playing solo, a level 15+ FA can kill effectively, although it does go through mana at a considerable rate. In large games, the skill is still very useful as a method of freezing enemies for your companions to hack through in relative safety.
I can't speak specifically for pumping FA vs its synergies. My gal pumped FA, but I can't remember if that was due to laziness (i.e. ahh, it's probably better) or actual research. I can say pumping FA does work, though the increasing mana cost can be problematic.
Finally, concerning pierce and LF. As I mentioned earlier, the power of LF lies in assaulting big groups -- the larger the better. Since every target you hit with your thrown javelin sends off 10, 15, 20+ bolts of lightning, every time you pierce and hit another target, you get those 20+ lightning bolts sent off again. The potential damage between one hit and, say four, is staggering. As a hybrid, will you *need* 90%+ pierce? Absolutely not. However, even small % increases in pierce can result in much higher damage rates.
gekko
"Life is sacred and you are not its steward. You have stewardship over it but you don't own it. You're making a choice to go through this, it's not just happening to you. You're inviting it, and in some ways delighting in it. It's not accidental or coincidental. You're choosing it. You have to realize you've made choices."
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"
-Michael Ventura, "Letters@3AM"