[King Ashram]

i finally remade my full lit javazon after all these years.

im trying to figure/remember at what lvl the valkerie gets good and if its hard points or +skills that can be used to get there. something about getting the best equipment it can get or something if i remember correctly.

any help is appreciated.

[Monsinour]

most go for slvl17 with adders to make a decent valk. I am of the mindset to max it with 5 hard points to decoy to make a durable tank.

[sambo.]

personally, i'd leave it a base point and let +skills boost it.

iirc: java's are a little strapped for points.

[anti_dan]

sambo., on Nov 4 2009, 05:22 AM, said:

personally, i'd leave it a base point and let +skills boost it.

iirc: java's are a little strapped for points.

Unless its hardcore, in which case you max it so it can solo hell for you.

[sambo.]

Hardcore on the realms doesn't agree with me and my 250+ ping :(

mores the pity.

[illini2319]

sc pvm allows for a lot of tweaking.

If you really need a SOLID tank, following monsi's advice works out well. If you want to increase your damage output, listen to sambo.

Personally I'd go with the tank route because if you can't kill it in a couple furies/charged strikes then you probably need your merc/valk to kill it.

[Malloy]

I always made my merc more durable by pumping its life - that way I can cast it in a group of baddies and let my merc sneak in a jab away...this is HC experience though.

I also always put one point into the cold arrow skill that freezes...just for added safety. (You already have pierce and the skill always hit, so can't go wrong.)

[pounder]

I really like Sambo's method as well. Since skill points are far more valueable than merc gear in this build, I would recommend going 1 point valk (still lives pretty long btw) and a well built merc. That should be all the tanking you really need. Having a good merc will also help in terms of having an added distraction when you are in a heavy ranged attacker area. IMHO, a well built/played java does not vary much between HC and SC. Mainly line up monsters, if you find LI, place your valk in a good logistical location relative to the LI mob and your merc and either one point plague throw or pierce/jab LI's. The PI + LI are always a problem providing you don't carry demon arch.

[moordakhan]

unless you just dont like to recast valk 1 pt works well with common cheap gear

[King Ashram]

as i'm reading through the replies my memory started to come back to me. With some sp testing I ahve finally come to the conclusion that im in favor of just putting one point in and letting my +skills do the rest. im one of those "if you can't kill it before it gets to you then somethings wrong" people.

[pounder]

I like the "if you can see it and its on your screen" something's wrong crowd... LF for t2h win. :)

[DragoonWraith]

I feel like Lightning Fury does a ton of damage - so much so that not having it fully synergized isn't going to slow you down much. 40 points in Poison/Plague means you just stick 1 point in Pierce (and use Razortail), 1 point in Valkyrie (and use Peace is you really feel the need), and your LF does somewhat less damage (but still plenty), but LIs are no longer as big a problem. LI/PsnIs are, but other than Burning Souls (who are also 90% Phys Resistant), there aren't many of those.

[King Ashram]

ive already made a lf plagazon. This is purely lit for a reason.

[scythe33]

DragoonWraith, on Nov 5 2009, 09:02 PM, said:

I feel like Lightning Fury does a ton of damage - so much so that not having it fully synergized isn't going to slow you down much. 40 points in Poison/Plague means you just stick 1 point in Pierce (and use Razortail), 1 point in Valkyrie (and use Peace is you really feel the need), and your LF does somewhat less damage (but still plenty), but LIs are no longer as big a problem. LI/PsnIs are, but other than Burning Souls (who are also 90% Phys Resistant), there aren't many of those.

But then you lose CS.

Frankly, I was disappointed with the last lit/plagazon I made. Plague kills too slowly to be useful for MF in my experience. Your mileage may vary.

[DragoonWraith]

To be fair, I can't be bothered grinding or running. I literally just built the character to run around and kill things, rather than as a dedicated MFer or anything else. She got through the game quickly and easily, and for those purposes having a native LI solution is more important than pure speed.

[anti_dan]

DragoonWraith, on Nov 9 2009, 07:12 AM, said:

To be fair, I can't be bothered grinding or running. I literally just built the character to run around and kill things, rather than as a dedicated MFer or anything else. She got through the game quickly and easily, and for those purposes having a native LI solution is more important than pure speed.

Plague is a bad choice if you've got enough money to buy a decent bow. Strafe/Multishot work much better, and all you need to do is buy a Windforce or something and have a + cold damage charm for the slow.

[Veneteaou]

The burrito cannon is a fantastic choice for any zon looking for that second damage type.

[illini2319]

The best (although least reliable) source of secondary damage would be a friend that plays d2 all the time.

[pounder]

I have to agree with Scythe here. I thought using poison java didn't do crap enough killing wise to be that great. Also, consider where this build is typically used (cowS???), there aren't very many LI ever in that area. Just remember one thing, with proper herding, if you increase say your damage by 100 average, each time you hit a good group you are doing actually 200 x 100 or additional 20k damage (assuming 200 bolts of 40x5). My last fury zon with the poison did about 1-2k (i know it was sad). My current does nearly 1-3.5k per fury bolt with new gear. Its roughly 700 damage or 140,000 on average damage above my old LF with a full pack hit. This is amazingly clear when I am in a full baal game. Finally, imho, there is no excuse for not using razor tail in PVM and one pointing pierce. You should have enough +skills that razor + 1point = 100%. :)

Edit: Oh and god darn it, its so amazingly awesome to have a friend with a 20+ conviction aura on!!?!?

This post has been edited by pounder: 10 November 2009 - 07:31 PM