{{{---((--$ THE AMAZON'S GUIDE TO DIABLO II $--))---}}}
{{{---((--$ THE AMAZON'S GUIDE TO DIABLO II $--))---}}}
{{{---((--$ THE AMAZON'S GUIDE TO DIABLO II $--))---}}}
version 1.23
07-18-00
by Nicholas Yu
azif@hotzp.com
http://www.hotzp.com/
http://www.hotzp.com/badboys/
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------**
* DISCLAIMER: This FAQ is Copyright 2000 Nicholas Yu under the international  *
|             Copyright laws.  Please contact the author via e-mail if you    |
|             wish to publish or reprint this work.  Anyone attempting to     |
|             pass this work off as his own will be sent to bed without       |
|             dinner and laughed at, because really, who would be lame enough |
*             to pretend to have written a game FAQ?                          *
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------**
The Amazon's Guide to Diablo II
Contents:
I. FAQ
A. General Information
i. Introductory Ramblings
ii. Why Choose the Amazon?
iii. Starting Statistics
iv. Recommended Growth
a. Bowazon Sample
b. Javazon Sample
c. Spearazon Sample
B. Skills
i. Bow and Crossbow
ii. Passive and Magic
iii. Javelin and Spear
C. General Strategy
i. Bowazon
ii. Javazon
iii. Spearazon
II. Walkthrough
A. Act I
i. Den of Evil
ii. Sisters' Burial Grounds
iii. The Cairn Stones
iv. The Forgotten Tower
v. Tools of the Trade
vi. Sisters to the Slaughter
B. Act II
i. Radament's Lair
ii. The Horadric Staff
iii. Tainted Sun
iv. The Arcane Sanctuary
v. The Summoner
vi. The Seven Tombs
C. Act III
i. The Golden Bird
ii. Blade of the Old Religion
iii. Khalim's Will
iv. Lam Esen's Tome
v. The Blackened Temple
vi. The Guardian
D. Act IV
i. The Fallen Angel
ii. The Hellforge
iii. Terror's End
E. Cow Level
III. Miscellany
A. Stress Test Thoughts
B. Props and Slops
C. Other FAQs
07-18-00: Version 1.23  -Minor revisions
-Many reader strategies added
07-13-00: Version 1.22  -Minor revisions
-New key mapping tips added to General Strategy section
-Spearazon strategies added for Duriel and Diablo
07-13-00: Version 1.21  -Minor revisions
-Cow Level added to the Walkthrough Section
07-13-00: Version 1.20  -Minor revisions
-Spearazon variant added
-Acts III and IV added to the Walkthrough section
07-12-00: Version 1.10  -Minor revisions
-Acts I and II added to the Walkthrough section
07-11-00: Version 1.00  -FAQ released
I. FAQ   FAQ   FAQ
FAQ   FAQ   FAQ
FAQ   FAQ   FAQ
A. GENERAL INFORMATION
i. INTRODUCTORY RAMBLINGS
First of all, let me explain why I'm partitioning this walkthrough into five
different ones.  Each of the classes in Diablo II is so different from the
other that they each warrant their own FAQ and walkthrough.  I'm not ambitious
enough that I'd attempt to write an all-encompassing guide for all of them at
once.  Instead, I'll tackle it piecemeal and complete the game with one
character at time.  Also, this guide will not address too many things which I
consider information minutiae; I'll just address the larger issues of playing
strategy where applicable.  Sometimes I'll need to discuss the nitty gritty
details such as when dealing with skills, but I'll leave the other bare facts
to the other guides which are likely to spring up around this game and the
excellent Diablo II Official Strategy Guide by Bart Farkas which is probably
available at your local gaming or electronics store.
Now as far as e-mailing me goes, I enjoy reading e-mail and make as great an
attempt as humanly possible to answer each and every e-mail I receive.
Unfortunately, I learned this was simply not possible after getting literally
thousands (!) of e-mail about my Planescape: Torment FAQ.  So if you send me e
mail and I don't reply, don't take offense, or even worse send me several other
e-mail asking why I haven't replied yet.  I will hopefully get around to
answering your query, but keep in mind that we're dealing with a popular game
and that I will be bound to receive a hefty amount of e-mail.  I list my e-mail
address because I do truly want you to e-mail me with pertinent information or
sound questions, but please try to limit the spam.  Using the following
examples, please evaluate into which category your potential e-mail falls.
GOOD e-mail example:
"While I thoroughly enjoyed your guide and consider you to be the greatest FAQ
writer ever, perhaps with the exception of the ever prolific Kao Megura, I
strongly disagree with your assessment of the Pierce skill.  I have found it to
be useful on many occasions, examples being ..."
BAD e-mail example:
"d00d!  |-|0\/\/ d0 j00 |-|4X0r b100D r4\/3|\|?"
There will be many spoilers in this guide, especially in the Walkthrough
section; so I suggest skipping over that area if you don't want to ruin all the
surprises for yourself later.
ii.  WHY CHOOSE THE AMAZON?
Quite frankly, I believe the Amazon to be the best single player character in
the game.  That being said, she is arguably the weakest in multiplayer.  Not
that she's a bad character to have in multiplayer, but she really doesn't have
the teamwork skills that the other character classes have.  She has very few
and relatively weak skills to contribute in a team effort, but is totally self
reliant and can zip through the single player mode without too many bumps in
the road.
STRENGTHS:
- Ranged Attack: Always a plus.
- High Dexterity: And consequently high Attack and Defense Ratings as well.
She does less damage per hit but is more likely to hit and hits more often,
especially with a bow.
- Decent Fighter: Not as good in melee as the Barbarian or Paladin, but
stronger than the Necromancer and Sorceress.  This is not her main strength,
but she won't embarrass you if you need to engage enemies in close quarters.
- Good High Level Skills: The Amazon becomes a scourge of the Nine Hells after
reaching level 18.  Very powerful and always useful skills will be made
available to you then and at the subsequent tree levels.
- Low Mana Usage: Many of the Amazon's best skills are Passive and many of the
skills you'll be using the most have relatively low Mana costs.
- Most Balanced Character: These always tend to be the best in the single
player mode.  The Amazon has no glaring weaknesses.
WEAKNESSES:
- Worst Multiplayer Character: Again, this is worst in terms of what she can
lend to your party, not any individual weakness.
- Low Damage Potential: Unless you focus exclusively on Dexterity to get that
ranged damage up, the Amazon is not going to be the damage-dealing whirlwind of
death that the Barbarian is or be able to lay the smack down to multiple
enemies at once like the Sorceress.  Fortunately, she makes up for this in many
other ways.
iii. STARTING STATISTICS
As we can see below, the Amazon has very balanced beginning statistics, except
for a slight bonus in Dexterity and an equally slight penalty in Energy.  This
will give you a lot of control in terms of molding your character to your
liking.  I like to pump a lot of points into Strength so that she can wear the
best armors in the game, but some people will no doubt prefer a more nimble or
more Mana-based warrior.  The Strength needed for better armors is less
necessary for Javazons as they will be utilizing shields as well, but I was
able to skimp out on Vitality somewhat by making my Amazon harder than heck to
hit.
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 25
Vitality: 20
Energy: 15
Strength is the attribute you'll want to focus on to raise your melee damage
for Spearazons, but Dexterity is what you want to raise the ranged attack
damage.  Dexterity will also help out with Attack and Defense Ratings, so it's
the most critical attribute for any ranged Amazon.  Take a care not to ignore
Vitality or Energy, either.
iv. RECOMMENDED GROWTH
There are two fairly straightforward paths to take when becoming an Amazon.
Either you specialize in the Bow or Javelin skill trees but not both.  Trying
to take such diverse skills in two diametrically opposed trees will only result
in a watered-down Amazon who is not very proficient with either the bow or
javelin.  They are opposing trees in that the Amazon will either be using a bow
or a javelin, but never both at once.  I heartily recommend choosing one of the
paths when creating the character and then sticking with it, no matter what
cool item you may find.  If you switch very early on, you may have some time to
recover.  The further you progress, the more skill points you'll be dumping
into a particular tree; and you don't want to waste all those points that you
spent later on by switching into another skill tree.
Having played both extensively, I found that I liked the bow version of the
Amazon better (Bowazon) better than the javelin-based Amazon (Javazon).  The
Javazon does more damage, but runs out of ammunition more frequently and does
not attack as quickly.  On the other hand, she is much better equipped for
melee combat and will typically have a better Defense Rating as she can wield
javelins and wear a shield simultaneously.  I liked the Bowazon skill tree
slightly better, but they are both quite good.  The third skill tree, Passive
and Magic Skills, is also full of tasty goodness.
Here are two sample Amazons, made with the excellent Character Planner utility
written by Basilisk and Silver the Paladin.  It's available at DiabloII.net
(http://www.diabloii.net) -- an excellent resource for all of you information
junkies out there.  This is a good tool to plan out your characters from the
get-go so that you don't waste skill points.  The sample characters use up 29
points, as that is the number of skill points you'll acquire if you finish the
game as a level 30 character.  Clvl stands for Character Level and Slvl for
Skill Level.  You will also acquire 4 skill points to divvy up as you see fit
after completing certain quests in the game.  You will be around the levels 5
(+1), 15 (+1), and 25 (+2) when you receive the rewards for those quests.  This
is a pretty good progression of a fairly standard Bowazon, but there is always
room for great variation; and that's what makes Diablo II so great a game.  (In
fact, why am I writing this and not playing?)  Also, you'll note that the Beta
skill names are being used here and not the final (Dopplezon = Decoy, et al).
NEW TO V. 1.20: Due to a massive amount of reader input, I have decided to
include a third Amazon variant, the Spearazon.  She's the melee intense version
of the Javazon who concentrates more on close quarters combat and largely
forgoes the use of ranged attacks.  This variant is said to be able to hold her
own against even the Barbarian when it comes to in-close fighting due to the
strength of the Passive and Magic skill tree.  Vitality will be more important
for her than the other Amazon types as she will be in close quarters more
often, though Energy cannot be overlooked.  More discussion will follow in the
General Strategy section.
a. BOWAZON SAMPLE
Bowazon Sample
Class: Amazon
Level: 30
---------------------------------------------
Clvl 1 Slvl 0: Starting Level
Clvl 2 Slvl 1: Critical Strike
Clvl 3 Slvl 1: Fire Arrow
Clvl 4 Slvl 1: Magic Arrow
Clvl 5 Reserved For Later
Clvl 6 Slvl 1: Dodge
Reserved Slvl 1: Cold Arrow
Clvl 7 Slvl 1: Multi-Shot Arrow
Clvl 8 Slvl 1: Inner Sight
Clvl 9 Slvl 2: Critical Strike
Clvl 10 Slvl 2: Dodge
Clvl 11 Reserved For Later
Clvl 12 Slvl 1: Avoid
Reserved Slvl 1: Exploding Arrow
Clvl 13 Slvl 1: Slow Missiles
Clvl 14 Slvl 3: Critical Strike
Clvl 15 Slvl 2: Exploding Arrow
Clvl 16 Slvl 3: Dodge
Clvl 17 Reserved For Later
Clvl 18 Slvl 1: Penetrate
Reserved Slvl 1: Ice Arrow
Clvl 19 Slvl 2: Penetrate
Clvl 20 Slvl 4: Critical Strike
Clvl 21 Slvl 2: Avoid
Clvl 22 Slvl 5: Critical Strike
Clvl 23 Reserved For Later
Clvl 24 Slvl 1: Dopplezon
Reserved Slvl 1: Immolating Arrow
Clvl 25 Slvl 1: Evade
Clvl 26 Slvl 2: Immolating Arrow
Clvl 27 Slvl 2: Dopplezon
Clvl 28 Slvl 2: Evade
Clvl 29 Reserved For Later
Clvl 30 Slvl 1: Valkyrie
Reserved Slvl 1: Freezing Arrow
---------------------------------------------
You'll no doubt notice that I skipped a few high levels skills in favor of a
few others, but there are plenty of options; and the ultimate choice is in the
hands of the player who's spending all of that time earning those experience
points.
b. JAVAZON SAMPLE
Javazon Sample
Class: Amazon
Level: 30
---------------------------------------------
Clvl 1 Slvl 0: Starting Level
Clvl 2 Slvl 1: Critical Strike
Clvl 3 Slvl 1: Jab
Clvl 4 Slvl 1: Inner Sight
Clvl 5 Reserved For Later
Clvl 6 Slvl 1: Poison Javelin
Reserved Slvl 1: Dodge
Clvl 7 Slvl 1: Power Strike
Clvl 8 Slvl 2: Critical Strike
Clvl 9 Slvl 2: Dodge
Clvl 10 Slvl 3: Critical Strike
Clvl 11 Reserved For Later
Clvl 12 Slvl 1: Lightning Bolt
Reserved Slvl 1: Avoid
Clvl 13 Slvl 1: Slow Missiles
Clvl 14 Slvl 1: Impale
Clvl 15 Slvl 2: Lightning Bolt
Clvl 16 Slvl 4: Critical Strike
Clvl 17 Reserved For Later
Clvl 18 Slvl 1: Plague Javelin
Reserved Slvl 1: Penetrate
Clvl 19 Slvl 1: Charged Strike
Clvl 20 Slvl 2: Penetrate
Clvl 21 Slvl 3: Dodge
Clvl 22 Slvl 2: Avoid
Clvl 23 Reserved For Later
Clvl 24 Slvl 1: Fend
Reserved Slvl 1: Dopplezon
Clvl 25 Slvl 1: Evade
Clvl 26 Slvl 3: Penetrate
Clvl 27 Slvl 2: Evade
Clvl 28 Reserved For Later
Clvl 29 Reserved For Later
Clvl 30 Slvl 1: Lightning Strike
Reserved Slvl 1: Zeus Bolt
Reserved Slvl 1: Valkyrie
---------------------------------------------
Again, there's great room for variation here.  For even more specialization,
you can focus on a Javazon who is great at melee or one who focuses on thrown
javelins.  Again, the final decision rests with you in terms of what type of
character you'd like to create.  Obviously, this will affect where you will
place your attribute points as well.
c. SPEARAZON SAMPLE
Spearazon Sample
Class: Amazon
Level: 30
---------------------------------------------
Clvl 1 Slvl 0: Starting Level
Clvl 2 Slvl 1: Jab
Clvl 3 Slvl 1: Critical Strike
Clvl 4 Slvl 1: Inner Sight
Clvl 5 Slvl 2: Critical Strike
Clvl 6 Slvl 1: Dodge
Clvl 7 Slvl 1: Power Strike
Clvl 8 Slvl 1: Poison Javelin
Clvl 9 Slvl 2: Jab
Clvl 10 Slvl 2: Dodge
Clvl 11 Slvl 3: Critical Strike
Clvl 12 Slvl 1: Avoid
Clvl 13 Slvl 1: Impale
Clvl 14 Slvl 1: Lightning Bolt
Clvl 15 Slvl 1: Slow Missiles
Clvl 16 Slvl 4: Critical Strike
Clvl 17 Slvl 3: Dodge
Clvl 18 Slvl 1: Penetrate
Clvl 19 Slvl 1: Charged Strike
Clvl 20 Slvl 1: Plague Javelin
Clvl 21 Slvl 2: Penetrate
Clvl 22 Slvl 2: Avoid
Clvl 23 Reserved For Later
Clvl 24 Slvl 1: Evade
Reserved Slvl 1: Dopplezon
Clvl 25 Slvl 1: Fend
Clvl 26 Slvl 5: Critical Strike
Clvl 27 Slvl 2: Evade
Clvl 28 Slvl 6: Critical Strike
Clvl 29 Reserved For Later
Clvl 30 Slvl 1: Valkyrie
Reserved Slvl 1: Lightning Strike
---------------------------------------------
This sample is based off of the e-mail input I've received, and from all
accounts, you'll want to put the Quest skill points you receive into Jab (which
has been re-evaluated and re-graded) or use them to shore up whatever
weaknesses you have in the Passive skill tree.  This example uses some of the
distance attacks so that you have something to fall back on, but you may want
to ignore them entirely so that you have more points to dedicate to your melee
combat skills.
B. SKILLS
And here is where I'll list and evaluate the skills as I see them.  Obviously,
not everyone will agree and you are quite welcome to hold the opposite opinion
so long as somewhere in the dark recesses of your mind you acknowledge the
superiority of my wisdom.  ;)  I'll only go so far as to list the effects of up
to 5 Slvls of any particular skill as I think it exceedingly unlikely that
anyone will dump too many more levels than that into any one particular skill.
If you really want to know, then you should snag a copy of the Official
Strategy Guide or look at the comprehensive Diablo II FAQs.  Also, it's pretty
easy to extrapolate the necessary data as the skills follow pretty linear
trends.
These numbers are not exact as the game went through some tweaking in the final
version, and even the Official Strategy Guide is wholly inaccurate with regards
to certain skills.  Feel free to e-mail me if you've compiled the correct
information and I'll make you get properly credited in the next version of the
guide.
i. BOW AND CROSSBOW
MAGIC ARROW (Clvl 1)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Damage Modifier
Slvl 1:         1.5           0
Slvl 2:         1.3           +1
Slvl 3:         1.2           +2
Slvl 4:         1.1           +3
Slvl 5:         1.0           +4
Grade: F
As the grade indicates, I believe this is a pretty worthless skill to take as
you should never run out of arrows as a Bowazon.  Paying Mana for them is just
ridiculous and you have to dump an exorbitant amount of skills into it to make
it worthwhile.  You will take one level of it, though, just to get access to
the later skills in the tree.
FIRE ARROW (Clvl 1)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Fire Damage
Slvl 1:         3             1-4
Slvl 2:         3.2           3-6
Slvl 3:         3.5           5-8
Slvl 4:         3.7           7-10
Slvl 5:         4             9-12
Grade: C
This is a fairly decent introductory level skill, but I wouldn't spend more
than one, at most two, skill points in it as you will soon get access to more
beefy goodness at later levels.
COLD ARROW (Clvl 6)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Cold Damage     Cold Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         3             3               4
Slvl 2:         3.2           5               5.2
Slvl 3:         3.5           7               6.4
Slvl 4:         3.7           9               7.6
Slvl 5:         4             11              8.8
Grade: B-
This is a solid skill to have if your bow doesn't inflict any type of cold
damage on its own and it wouldn't be a bad idea to reinforce this skill with
one or two levels if you're not lucky enough to have a bow that deals cold
damage.  Slowing down your enemies is a vital aspect to playing the Bowazon.
The longer it takes to close the distance, the more time you have to pepper
them with arrows.  They will also attack less frequently; add to this your high
Defense Rating and Passive evasive skills, and you just won't get hit very
often.  However, if you have a bow with a natural cold attack, then you won't
need to put in more than one skill level here.
MULTIPLE SHOT (Clvl 6)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Number of Arrows
Slvl 1:         4             2
Slvl 2:         5             3
Slvl 3:         6             4
Slvl 4:         7             5
Slvl 5:         8             6
Grade: C+
Although the Official Strategy Guide seems to swear by this skill, it just
didn't toot any of my proverbial whistles.  It works quite well when you have a
powerful bow with magical properties, but I thought the Mana cost was a bit
high for the effect.  I believe there are better skills to come later and in
the Passive and Magic tree where the points may be better spent.
NEW TO V. 1.23: A lot of readers have also written in about the wonders of this
skill, and I'll quote David Brady here who wrote in one of the best e-mails
I've received in regards to any of my FAQs.  I've quoted the e-mail in its
entirety so as not to spoil its wondrous beauty.
--- BEGIN BLOCKQUOTE ---
NYu,
While I thoroughly enjoyed your guide and consider you to be the greatest FAQ
writer ever....
Hey, loved the FAQ.  It's helped me re-evaluate my character and my strategy.
I have a suggestion, however.  I'm playing D2 for the first time, and am not
even through Act II yet, so I'm hardly an authority, but I find Multiple Shot
far more useful than your FAQ suggests.
How much more?  If Multiple Shot was an ugly man, I'd sneak out on my wife and
let him bugger me every night.  And I'm FROM Utah.
Here's the deal.  I call Multiple Shot the "streetsweeper" of Diablo II.  When
you're getting mobbed by a swarm of low-level bad guys, Multiple Shot lets you
shoot at several of them at once.  Be aware that MS does NOT let you shoot a
single monster more than once; the trick is to stand where you can see all of
the monsters at once, then shoot a spread of arrows into the crowd.
Multiple Shot is controllable!  ...but there's a trick to it.  You don't want
to actually right-click on a monster.  You want to hold down shift, then right
click on the ground in the direction of the swarm.  If you click far away, your
arrows will fly out in a tight grouping.  If you click on the ground at your
feet, the arrows will fly out in all directions, almost in a 180-degree arc.
It absolutely rules to be able to carry on a two-way firefight with ALL of the
horror archers in the room at once....
Now, couple that with a bow of frost and your critical strike skill (each
target has the chance of x2 damage) and you can clear out a mob of bad guys in
a hurry.
...disclaimer: my Amazon is 20th level, and doesn't have immolation arrow or
freezing arrow.  And I got good at Multiple Shot by virtue of the fact that I
never really could get the hang of exploding arrow, the skill which you claim
is pretty great.  My guess is that they both take a little bit of work to get
right.
Hope you find this useful.
Enjoy!
-dB
--- END BLOCKQUOTE ---
I'm going to stick by the current grade, but I will agree that it can be a
useful skill.  Some people like it, some people don't, so go ahead and test it
out for yourself.
EXPLODING ARROW (Clvl 12)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Fire Damage
Slvl 1:         5             2-4
Slvl 2:         5.5           7-9
Slvl 3:         6             12-14
Slvl 4:         6.5           17-19
Slvl 5:         7             22-24
Grade: B
This is a fairly useful skill and you get it early on in your career, too.
This will probably become your primary right-click skill for a few levels as it
is great tool to use to give a warm reception to thhe rushing hordes of
Diablo's minions.  You'll most likely want to invest an additional skill level
or two here.
ICE ARROW (Clvl 18)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Cold Damage     Freeze Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         4             6-10            2
Slvl 2:         4.2           10-14           2.2
Slvl 3:         4.5           14-18           2.4
Slvl 4:         4.7           18-22           2.6
Slvl 5:         5             22-26           2.8
Grade: B+
Now this is quite a nice skill in that you can totally freeze an enemy (merely
slows down Champions and Uniques) and then pick it off at your leisure.  Great
for one-on-one fighting or just buying yourself some time.  The Mana cost is
quite low for such a good effect which is why I give it such a high grade.
This skill is worthy of perhaps an additional skill level or two.
GUIDED ARROW (Clvl 18)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Damage Modifier (+%)
Slvl 1:         7             0
Slvl 2:         6.5           5
Slvl 3:         6             10
Slvl 4:         5.5           15
Slvl 5:         5             20
Grade: C-
I didn't care for this skill much at all.  Basically I think it's paying an
exorbitant Mana cost to do a trick shot.  It's kind of a nifty skill to have in
certain situations, but I don't think it stacks up well against the other Clvl
18 skills.  People have written in and told me of its usefulness against
Uniques in certain situations and how it could be used to theoretically clean
out the Arcane Sanctuary with ease, so I've upgraded its grade from D+ to C-.
NEW TO V. 1.23: Kevin Goding wrote in and told me how he used Guided Arrow to
kill Mephisto before he was even "activated" in a multiplayer game.  Another
character scouted ahead while the Amazon stayed back and fired Guided Arrows
when Mephisto's glow came on-screen.  Other people have written in expounding
upon the virtues of Guided Arrow, forcing me to re-evaluate the skill slightly.
It's still not one of my favorite skills, and I wouldn't invest too many
points here (if any); but it definitely has its advantages in certain
situations.
New Grade: C+
STRAFE (Clvl 24)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Damage Modifier (+%)     Max. Enemies Attacked
Slvl 1:         11            5                        5
Slvl 2:         11            10                       7
Slvl 3:         11            15                       9
Slvl 4:         11            20                       11
Slvl 5:         11            25                       13
Grade: C+
This really isn't such a bad skill, and the steady Mana cost is certainly nice;
but I'm not sure how worthwhile it is to acquire this spell because you have to
largely waste a point in Guided Arrow first.  Also, Immolation Arrow is so good
that any extra points you have will be better spent there.
IMMOLATION ARROW (Clvl 24)
Skill Level   Mana Cost   Explosion Damage   Fire Duration (s)   Average Fire
Damage
Slvl 1:       6           4-10               4.6                 8-10
Slvl 2:       7           10-16              5.6                 14-16
Slvl 3:       8           16-22              6.6                 19-22
Slvl 4:       9           22-28              7.6                 25-28
Slvl 5:       10          28-34              8.6                 31-33
Grade: A
If Immolation Arrow was an attractive woman, I'd marry her.  That's how much I
love this skill.  Never mind the fact that I'm already engaged, I'd just move
to Utah.  Immolation Arrow kills Uniques dead.  It also works hand-in-hand with
Decoy and Valkyrie.  Just let your Decoy or Valkyrie/Hireling do the
distracting while you let loose with a few choice Immolation Arrows.  It'll
take down a crowd or a Unique in a hurry.  Well worth any additional skill
points you choose to place.
FREEZING ARROW (Clvl 30)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Cold Damage     Freeze Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         9             6-10            2
Slvl 2:         10            12-16           2
Slvl 3:         11            18-22           2
Slvl 4:         12            24-28           2
Slvl 5:         13            30-34           2
Grade: A
If Immolation Arrow was an attractive woman and I married her; and if Freezing
Arrow was also an attractive woman, she'd be the one with whom I'd ultimately
end up having a torrid affair and running away to the Bahamas.  This skill will
probably become your semi-permanent right-click skill.  It does significant
damage (for the Bowazon), can freeze a large group of 5-6 enemies if placed
correctly, and doesn't cost much Mana compared to equivalent skills.  It even
does windows!  This skill also works pretty well in conjunction with other
Amazon skills, notably Valkyrie.  Basically, you set 'em up and she knocks 'em
down.  Unfortunately, they won't take Immolation Arrow damage when frozen, but
it gives you a good opportunity to create some space if needed and set up your
next flurry of attacks.
ii. PASSIVE AND MAGIC
INNER SIGHT (Clvl 1)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Radius     Duration (s)     Enemy Defense
Slvl 1:         5             13.3       8                -46
Slvl 2:         5             13.3       12               -50
Slvl 3:         5             13.3       16               -54
Slvl 4:         5             13.3       20               -57
Slvl 5:         5             13.3       24               -60
Grade: C-
This is a fairly average skill.  It's okay to have one level in it, but it
doesn't improve that significantly when you dump skill points into it.  It's a
must-have, though, as it leads to some pretty good stuff later on.  This skill
will either be used often or not at all, depending on how your Amazon develops.
This is one of the few Amazon skills which can be useful in multiplayer.
CRITICAL STRIKE (Clvl 1)
Skill Level     2x Damage Chance (%)
Slvl 1:         16
Slvl 2:         25
Slvl 3:         32
Slvl 4:         38
Slvl 5:         42
Grade: A+
Personally, I think this is one of the better skills in the game overall.  You
won't ever go wrong with a point in this skill until you get at a level where
the difference between skill levels is miniscule.  This is one of the few
skills in which I'd consider adding more than 5 levels.  If Immolation Arrow
was an attractive woman and I married her; and if Freezing Arrow was also an
attractive woman and I had a torrid affair and ran off to the Bahamas with her;
and if Critical Strike was an attractive man, I'd fly to some random Nordic
country to get a sex change operation so I could bear his child.  (Okay, that's
probably as far as I can take that joke.)
DODGE (Clvl 6)
Skill Level     Dodge Melee Chance (%)
Slvl 1:         18
Slvl 2:         24
Slvl 3:         29
Slvl 4:         34
Slvl 5:         37
Grade: B+
Since you're almost always fighting or standing still, this is a great skill to
take.  Coupled with a good Defense Rating, a good mix of Dodge, Avoid, and
Evade can make the Amazon a very slippery target indeed.  I'd recommend taking
at least 3 skill levels of Dodge.
SLOW MISSILES (Clvl 12)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Radius     Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         5             13.3       12
Slvl 2:         5             13.3       18
Slvl 3:         5             13.3       24
Slvl 4:         5             13.3       30
Slvl 5:         5             13.3       36
Grade: C+
This is another one of the select few Amazon skills which are useful in
multiplayer.  It's nice to have one skill point, but I never really desired
investing more.  In fact, I always forgot I had this skill and it consequently
never saw much action.  There's nothing wrong with this skill, but the Amazon
typically doesn't have any problems with ranged attackers, as that is her
forte.
AVOID (Clvl 12)
Skill Level     Dodge Missile Chance (%)
Slvl 1:         12
Slvl 2:         18
Slvl 3:         24
Slvl 4:         30
Slvl 5:         36
Grade: B
This isn't quite as useful as Dodge or Evade, but it's still very worthwhile to
invest several skill points here.  This will just make it that much harder for
ranged attackers to threaten you in any way whatsoever.
PENETRATE (Clvl 18)
Skill Level     Ranged Attacks Attack Rating (+%)
Slvl 1:         35
Slvl 2:         45
Slvl 3:         55
Slvl 4:         65
Slvl 5:         75
Grade: A-
A very sound skill in which just taking one level helps tremendously, but
taking several rewards you greatly.  This is one of the few skills in which I
don't object to having more than 3 skill levels.  The Amazon needs to connect
with as many attacks as possible as hers do typically less damage.  This is
also an important skill against Uniques as they are much harder to hit and have
many more hit points.
DECOY (Clvl 24)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         19            10
Slvl 2:         18            15
Slvl 3:         17            20
Slvl 4:         16            25
Slvl 5:         15            30
Grade: A+
This is an absolutely essential skill in the Amazon's awesome arsenal of
advanced abilities (alliteration!).  It makes fighting Uniques a snap.  By the
time you get it, you'll probably be in Act IV and you'll find that you're using
it constantly in concert with Immolation Arrow.  This is a sound strategy both
against large mobs and boss characters.  Izual and Hephasto the Armorer will
both fall like ... I don't know, something that falls, or whatever ... before
the might of the Decoy/Immolation Arrow combination.
EVADE (Clvl 24)
Skill Level     Dodge Chance (%)
Slvl 1:         18
Slvl 2:         24
Slvl 3:         29
Slvl 4:         34
Slvl 5:         37
Grade: A-
Another eminently useful skill.  Having 3 or 4 levels of Evade will you let you
dodge attacks on the run, so that you don't have to worry about things as you
retreat ... er ... regroup for your next attack.
VALKYRIE (Clvl 30)
Skill Level   Mana Cost   Hit Points   Damage (+%)   Attack (+%)   Defense (+%)
Slvl 1:       25          377          0             0             0
Slvl 2:       29          453          25            25            25
Slvl 3:       33          528          50            50            50
Slvl 4:       37          604          75            75            75
Slvl 5:       41          679          100           100           100
Grade: B+
These numbers are not correct even though they were pulled from the Official
Strategy Guide.  Evidently, the Valkyrie was too powerful in this form and was
drastically weakened in the final release of the game.  She has fewer hit
points than listed here and also smaller bonuses to her Damage, Attack, and
Defense Ratings.  Weakened as she is, the Valkyrie is nonetheless a mighty
ally, especially in Act IV where you cannot hire any people to serve the
function of the redshirts on Star Trek (namely, die in your stead).  And no,
I'm not a big Trek fan, I just thought I'd make that joke.  And no, I don't
know why I'm getting defensive about the possibility of being a Trek fan,
either.
PIERCE (Clvl 30)
Skill Level     Pass Through Chance (%)
Slvl 1:         16
Slvl 2:         20
Slvl 3:         24
Slvl 4:         27
Slvl 5:         30
Grade: C-
I've heard some pretty bad things about this skill, so I didn't really invest
in it.  Basically, it's good for your regular attacks but it can really muck up
your special ones.  If an arrow pierces through an opponent on a special arrow
attack, the special attack won't trigger.  Instead, it'll travel through until
it hits an opponent that it does not pierce through.  In other words, that
Freezing Arrow you meant to use as crowd control might pass through relatively
harmlessly instead and detonate on a straggling enemy far behind the crowd.  In
the Beta it was said to be too powerful as it would always trigger the special
arrow whenever it struck an enemy, that way you could get multiple shots of
Immolation or Freezing Arrow with this skill.  Now, though, the ability seems
rather weak, especially compared to the rest of the level 30 skills.  The
numbers here are wrong as well, as the skill starts at 23% in the game.
iii. JAVELIN AND SPEAR
JAB (Clvl 1)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Attack Rating     Damage Modifier (+%)
Slvl 1:         2             +10               -15
Slvl 2:         2.2           +15               -12
Slvl 3:         2.5           +20               -9
Slvl 4:         2.7           +25               -6
Slvl 5:         3             +30               -3
Grade: C
This is a nice starting skill for your right-click attack, but you'll forget
about it after you get Power Strike at clvl 6.  Nothing fancy here.
NEW TO V. 1.20: Okay, based on what everyone tells me about Jab and further
testing on my part (taking a new Amazon through most of Act I), I have a
newfound respect for Jab.  It's a lot more solid and carries over surprisingly
well into the later stages of the game, something I simply assumed (and, in
retrospect, rather hastily at that) it wouldn't do.  It's fantastic for the
Spearazon variant, though it's not quite as useful for the ranged Javazon.  Jab
also makes up nicely for a normally slow attack speed on some of the heftier
Spears in the game.
New Grade: A-
Not a full-on A because it's not always useful, but I'd say this skill needs a
couple of points for any Amazon who envies the Barbarian's ability to engage
enemies up close and personal.  I'm not too proud to say that I was wrong about
this skill, so thanks to everyone who wrote in.  Hats off to Ty Hansen and Mike
Hoeder especially for writing in with an amazing amount of depth, providing
some nice hardcore numbers and facts (and written with such glowing courtesy, I
might add), about the crucial nature of Jab to the Spearazon.  I also wanted to
toss in here as a side note that I had received 10 e-mail about this FAQ before
it had even been up for a full day and the requests to post the incomplete FAQ
started popping out of the woodwork.  Not quite Planescape: Torment numbers
(which is a far more Walkthrough-oriented game), but not bad, not bad at all.
All the attention has also rocketed me to being the 8th Most Popular FAQ
Contributor over at GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com).  Boo-yah.
NEW TO V. 1.23: Okay, now having played a Spearazon all the way through the
game has given me yet another perspective on the Jab skill.  It owns you.
That's how much I've fallen in love with it.  I've heard of some amazing
Spearazon characters who've invested 20 points in it.  That's just crazy, but
it is definitely an excellent skill.  You don't need more than a couple of
points in this skill, really, to be successful.  Also, as Dan "DemonBite"
wrote, the speed of Jab attacks is unaffected by your character being frozen,
so it's just another extra bonus.
New Grade: A+
POWER STRIKE (Clvl 6)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Lightning Damage     Attack Modifier (+%)
Slvl 1:         2             1-8                  10
Slvl 2:         2.2           4-11                 15
Slvl 3:         2.5           7-14                 20
Slvl 4:         2.7           10-17                25
Slvl 5:         3             13-20                30
Grade: C+
Again, a good early level skill that will serve you until the next branch in
the tree comes along.  This should immediately replace Jab when you decide to
chose this skill.
POISON JAVELIN (Clvl 6)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Poison Damage     Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         4             9-14              3
Slvl 2:         4.2           14-18             3
Slvl 3:         4.5           18-23             3
Slvl 4:         4.7           23-28             3
Slvl 5:         5             28-32             3
Grade: B-
A decent skill which will be your primary thrown javelin attack until clvl 12,
but will still see some usage then.  Sometimes you may want to intentionally
miss your target with this skill so that the poison trail hits several enemies.
This skill is not particularly good against the undead (and there are a lot of
them in the game) as they are resilient against poison in general.
IMPALE (Clvl 12)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Attack Modifier (+%)     Weapon Durability (%)
Slvl 1:         3             25                       50
Slvl 2:         3             32                       51
Slvl 3:         3             39                       52
Slvl 4:         3             46                       53
Slvl 5:         3             53                       54
Grade: C+
This is not a bad skill, but I personally prefer Power Strike as I found the
constant repair costs to be annoying.  If you always equip a thrown javelin
type, though, then you won't need to worry about repairs.  However, if the
weapon degradation occurs, then you will lose one of the javelins you're
equipping.
LIGHTNING BOLT (Clvl 12)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Lightning Damage
Slvl 1:         6             1-40
Slvl 2:         6.2           1-48
Slvl 3:         6.5           1-56
Slvl 4:         6.7           1-64
Slvl 5:         7             1-72
Grade: B
This is where the Javazon really starts to take off.  I would give this skill a
much higher rating due to its excellent damage, but it tends to chew through
the Amazon's Mana very quickly, and she will typically not have a lot of it to
spare in the first place.
CHARGED STRIKE (Clvl 18)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Lightning Damage
Slvl 1:         4             1-15
Slvl 2:         4.2           6-20
Slvl 3:         4.5           11-25
Slvl 4:         4.7           21-35
Slvl 5:         5             26-40
Grade: B
At this point in your character's career, this skill is basically a no-brainer.
It will replace Power Strike or Impale as your standard right-click if you're
a melee-oriented Javazon.  Good for taking out bunched-up crowds in a hurry.
Ranged attack Javazons will probably want to invest more in Plague Javelin,
though.
PLAGUE JAVELIN (Clvl 18)
Skill Level     Mana Cost   Poison Damage     Duration (s)
Slvl 1:         7           9-14              3
Slvl 2:         8           14-18             3
Slvl 3:         9           18-23             3
Slvl 4:         10          23-28             3
Slvl 5:         11          28-32             3
Grade: B+
This skill will you be your standard right-click ranged attack until level 30,
so you might want to start dumping points into it and making sure you have
enough Mana to last it out.  I'd give it a higher rating but poison attacks
just aren't as effective against the undead as they are against others.  This
is a very powerful skill, though, and nails various and sundry enemies with the
poison trail and the explosion upon impact.
FEND (Clvl 24)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Attack Modifier (+%)     Damage Modifier (+%)
Slvl 1:         5             10                       25
Slvl 2:         5             15                       28
Slvl 3:         5             20                       31
Slvl 4:         5             25                       34
Slvl 5:         5             30                       37
Grade: B-
I consider this skill to be pure gravy.  It's a nice skill to have, but I think
the Javazon is most powerful when you concentrate more heavily on her ranged
attacks.
NEW TO V. 1.23: A few people wrote in defending the Fend skill, but none more
eloquently than Illusion:
--- BEGIN BLOCKQUOTE ---
Primarily, this conflict comes with fend.  A B-?!  As a level 32 Spearazon,
this is ALL I use.  First of all, I had played several amazons, so this one I
streamlined (i.e. I wasted no points to help me in earlier levels).  Also, I
largely neglected mana since jab was so cheap and really only necessary against
bosses.  So, when level 24 came around, fend proved immensely useful.  The mana
is constant at 5, which compared to everything else, is so cheap that fend can
almost become your left-click attack.  Furthermore, when you get this skill,
you should be on your way to using a pike, if you don't already have on in your
possession.  Pikes, as you know, along with dealing incredible damage, also
have a slow attack.  Paired with fend, the attack speed can be quickened to at
least normal levels.  And its not like you don't need an area attack like this
in hell...I don't see how spearazons utilizing charged strike can actually be
effective vs. the spawning capability of some of hell's minions.  With my level
32, I just run into the center of a group of guys and start right clicking like
a madman.  In the space of 1 or 2 regular attack lengths I'm dealing about
150-175 average damage to EVERY monster surrounding me..compare this to charged
strike which does a lucky 40 max damage to surrounding enemies and will still
have a slow attack (not to mention it has to deal with resistances).  Finally,
you rated Jab an A-...well, if you can manage to save any points you were going
to waste on jab for fend, fend will add more damage and more attack rating per
level than fend will.  With my personal experiences, fend deserves at least the
same grade as jab...I would give it an A or an A+, its my "Critical
Strike"...Lastly, using fend and decoy exclusively, my amazon was able to clear
hell and the cow level with no problems, even in her early/mid 20s...as
compared to the barbarian and paladin I played with who either experienced
problems, or took far too long to clear a group of enemies.
Oh well, thanks for listening to my fend rant.
I||usion
P.S. Using the fend approach, a large amount of mana/energy is NOT needed, and
the points would be much better applied to any of the other 3 attributes.  My
amazon, however, has still not made much use of lightning strike...and this
might require much more mana for her to use efficiently.
--- END BLOCKQUOTE ---
I tested it some more and found it slightly more useful than I had originally
written, but it's still a bit too slow for my tastes, especially when you
compare it against Jab.  Nonetheless, the original grade was too low.  As
always, the grades are subject to my individual leanings and open to
interpretation depending on your own slant.
New Grade: B
LIGHTNING STRIKE (Clvl 30)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Lightning Damage     Bolts     Bolt Damage
Slvl 1:         9             1-14                 2         5-25
Slvl 2:         9.5           1-16                 3         15-35
Slvl 3:         10            1-18                 4         25-45
Slvl 4:         10.5          1-20                 5         35-55
Slvl 5:         11            1-22                 6         45-65
Grade: A-
This is a nice skill to use when you're up close and personal with the enemy.
It does massive damage to the enemy that gets hit with the main strike and does
decent damage with the bolts that shoot out.  The main damage also powers up
considerably with each level and the addition of an extra bolt is nice, too.
Good for crowd control in melee, but you'll want to stick additional points
into Lightning Fury.
LIGHTNING FURY (Clvl 30)
Skill Level     Mana Cost     Lightning Damage     Bolts      Bolt Damage
Slvl 1:         10            1-40                 2          1-40
Slvl 2:         10.5          1-44                 3          11-50
Slvl 3:         11            1-48                 4          21-60
Slvl 4:         11.5          1-52                 5          31-70
Slvl 5:         12            1-56                 6          41-80
Grade: A+
This skill is obscenely powerful, although it does suck up your Mana like
something that sucks very quickly, and I'm trying very hard not to make a
ribald joke here.  At slvl 3 and higher, you will be able to wreck hordes of
enemies with a single javelin.  Just make sure to invest some points into
Energy or you won't be able to use this ability very frequently.
C. GENERAL STRATEGY
i. BOWAZON
Basically, the Bowazon is the master of hit-and-run tactics.  Make sure you
have a Fast Run/Walk item so that you can beat feet when you're being
pressured.  Also, it's not such a bad idea to invest a hefty amount of points
into Strength so you can wear the better armor types; that, in combination with
3 or more skill levels in Dodge, Evade, and Avoid, will you make you a slippery
target.  Don't be too proud when playing this character: When the time comes to
run, it's the time to run, damn it.  You will probably want to hotkey Town
Portal and will burn them up at a tremendous rate when fighting the more
difficult Uniques.  You can skimp out on adding points to Vitality as she
shouldn't be hit that often and Energy as her skills are less Mana-intensive.
Dexterity should always be your most prized attribute, though.
Level 6 Bowazon:
Left-click: Attack
Right-click: Fire Arrow, Cold Arrow, Multiple Arrow
Level 12 Bowazon:
Left-click: Attack
Right-click: Exploding Arrow, Cold Arrow, Multiple Arrow
Level 18 Bowazon:
Left-click: Attack
Right-click: Exploding Arrow, Ice Arrow, Strafe, Decoy
Level 24 Bowazon:
Left-click: Attack
Right-click: Immolation Arrow, Ice Arrow, Strafe, Decoy
Level 30 Bowazon:
Left-click: Attack
Right-click: Immolation Arrow, Freezing Arrow, Decoy, Valkyrie
GENERAL PLAYING TIP: I received a great tidbit from Eli White that I'll just
place here verbatim as he explains it more clearly than I probably could:
--- BEGIN BLOCKQUOTE ---
Your 'clicking scheme'.  You might want to offer an alternative way.  I
personally assign all my attack skills to the left click, and 'other
skills' to the right click.
So:
left-click: Attack, exploding arrow, ice arrow, Multiple Arrow, (etc)
Right-click: Inner Sight, Decoy, Valkryie, Town Portal (etc)
This way first of all it works great for using inner sight all the time
(might as well, it helps ya hit), and quickly hitting the decoys, valkyries,
etc.
Secondly, having all your attack skills in the left mouse, gives you
something GREAT.  switching ammo types without having to re-aim!  If you
have 'clicklocked' onto a creature with the left button, and then have to
switch to the right button for a new skill - but the creature has left the
screen, you can't re-aim ...
BUT, with all attack skills on the left mouse, you just hit the appropriate
F-key, and the new type of ammo starts flying at the same creature, then