01-26-2006, 02:11 PM
Heiho,
>> As to Inner Sight's range: do you mean the spell radius (fixed at 13.3) or the range you can hit a target with? <<
AFAIK you can't target IS, it will always apply its radius around the casting Amazon. If you've got contrary information feel free to link me to it. My statement regarding the usefulness of IS with ranged attacks is based on that, and my eyesight in the game matches. I've never encountered IS-'cursed' monsters from offscreen even with mousepointer at screen edge while casting.
So, to make sure one has a good Chance to Hit one'll have to wait for the swarming you mentioned. Well, along with my idea of herding one will have to wait for a good position anyway, but with IS there is the step of casting when with Pene one can already have a good shootout.
350dex:
at very least! I see a not so overpowered attack with an one-point FA like Kewl described. So the physical part is not secondary attack but has equal rights to FA in terms of damage. With maxStrafe there is equivalence of additional 100dex (well, offweaponED) pushing it to 450 in terms of physical damage. Still the arrows (all arrows) have to hit, and dex helps a lot. A mighty guy from act2/Nightmare will add up offweapon damage to about 200%, when fully grown. The sum is equivalent to 650dex and comes in range of 'powerful build' with most of the exceptional unique bows. Truly powerful physical bowie builds are designed to go well over 550dex _and_ a mighty guy _and_ lots of Critical _and_ as much maxdam in inventory as possible. But this needs quite a treasure in terms of trading. I have still somewhere a screenie around with an (unmodded!) 700dex Zon oO (not mine, sadly ...).
BTW I don't see the point in castrating both attacks, one by don't max out one skill (FA) and the other by stating low dex and - after rereading the initial posting - tossing Critical Strike aside.
BTW2 a table with CA/FA damage in relation can be found in sucinum's (german) Java Guide, it's in the Appendix.
Another nice tool is the indiablo.de Skill Calculator.
I have still an Immolation/Strafe hybrid at start with an unupped Witchwild String as physical weapon. She has just hit the 350dex mark at cLvl80, with around 40 points spare. True, she has very low life according to her gear, which is more caster related (to push Immo damage more than physical). With Strafe sLvl16 she needs quite a bit time to bring fire immunes down even when playing alone. That with a bow giving her a high chance of double damage, nonladder (ie weaker monsters), and no mighty helper from act2. Some points in strength aside she is dex-as-dex-can. Maybe the spare points wander into vitality, because encountering BigD in Hell with only some 420life could become tricky. Mind, I wouldn't try that in HC ;-)
True, a Windforce or an Eagle would boost damage insanely because of maxdam/cLvl, but she would need almost all spare points in strength to wear even the Eagle and far more to wear WF. Going that way would in consequence mean to skip the Immolation route, because everything useful for more physical damage isn't useful for Immo.
Besides, I don't have a WF, and my only Eagle is in thoughtful use by some Rogue companion of another char :-)
>> As to Inner Sight's range: do you mean the spell radius (fixed at 13.3) or the range you can hit a target with? <<
AFAIK you can't target IS, it will always apply its radius around the casting Amazon. If you've got contrary information feel free to link me to it. My statement regarding the usefulness of IS with ranged attacks is based on that, and my eyesight in the game matches. I've never encountered IS-'cursed' monsters from offscreen even with mousepointer at screen edge while casting.
So, to make sure one has a good Chance to Hit one'll have to wait for the swarming you mentioned. Well, along with my idea of herding one will have to wait for a good position anyway, but with IS there is the step of casting when with Pene one can already have a good shootout.
350dex:
at very least! I see a not so overpowered attack with an one-point FA like Kewl described. So the physical part is not secondary attack but has equal rights to FA in terms of damage. With maxStrafe there is equivalence of additional 100dex (well, offweaponED) pushing it to 450 in terms of physical damage. Still the arrows (all arrows) have to hit, and dex helps a lot. A mighty guy from act2/Nightmare will add up offweapon damage to about 200%, when fully grown. The sum is equivalent to 650dex and comes in range of 'powerful build' with most of the exceptional unique bows. Truly powerful physical bowie builds are designed to go well over 550dex _and_ a mighty guy _and_ lots of Critical _and_ as much maxdam in inventory as possible. But this needs quite a treasure in terms of trading. I have still somewhere a screenie around with an (unmodded!) 700dex Zon oO (not mine, sadly ...).
BTW I don't see the point in castrating both attacks, one by don't max out one skill (FA) and the other by stating low dex and - after rereading the initial posting - tossing Critical Strike aside.
BTW2 a table with CA/FA damage in relation can be found in sucinum's (german) Java Guide, it's in the Appendix.
Another nice tool is the indiablo.de Skill Calculator.
I have still an Immolation/Strafe hybrid at start with an unupped Witchwild String as physical weapon. She has just hit the 350dex mark at cLvl80, with around 40 points spare. True, she has very low life according to her gear, which is more caster related (to push Immo damage more than physical). With Strafe sLvl16 she needs quite a bit time to bring fire immunes down even when playing alone. That with a bow giving her a high chance of double damage, nonladder (ie weaker monsters), and no mighty helper from act2. Some points in strength aside she is dex-as-dex-can. Maybe the spare points wander into vitality, because encountering BigD in Hell with only some 420life could become tricky. Mind, I wouldn't try that in HC ;-)
True, a Windforce or an Eagle would boost damage insanely because of maxdam/cLvl, but she would need almost all spare points in strength to wear even the Eagle and far more to wear WF. Going that way would in consequence mean to skip the Immolation route, because everything useful for more physical damage isn't useful for Immo.
Besides, I don't have a WF, and my only Eagle is in thoughtful use by some Rogue companion of another char :-)