Guide:Mageazon v1.09, by Icewraith
Introduction
The mageazon has its humble beginnings in Diablo II Classic, where it shone due to the tremendous power of stackable, long-lasting immolation flames. With the huge nerf on immolation arrow, the variant style of play has been weakened but the better gear available and the availability of charms allowed the mageazon to remain a very much viable and strong way to play the amazon.
The principles of the mageazon are
- low strength and dexterity, since the bulk of the damage would be from the elements
- reliance on immolation arrow and either ice arrow or frozen arrow for fire/cold damage
- no mana leech items at all, instead relying on huge mana pool and mana regeneration for survival
- played and built like a sorceress, hence the name mageazon!
With heavy reliance on the two elemental skills, there is no need for a big bow that requires large strength. Likewise, the auto hit feature of the elemental skills allow the mageazon to enjoy 100% hit rate without having to bother with dexterity and attack rating.
Stats Distribution
Strength and Dexterity
These two stats are almost totally not useful to a mageazon. She doesn't need a big damage bow and she certainly does not need to rely on high dexterity to get her good damage, hence strength and dexterity should be kept to a minimal - 50 to 60 each in most cases as that figure would allow you to equip almost all the best gear for a mageazon. Just for show, here's some of the uber-gear that are strongly recommended for mageazons.
| Equipment | Str | Dex |
|---|---|---|
| Silkweave | 65 | |
| Frostburn | 60 | |
| Gloom's Trap | 58 | |
| Que-Hagan's Wisdom | 55 | |
| Elite Caster Boots | 50 | |
| Harlequin's Crest | 50 | |
| Magefist | 45 | |
| Skin of Vipermagi | 43 | |
| Razortail | 20 | |
| Kuko Shakaku | 53 | 49 |
| Doomslinger | 40 | 50 |
| Stag Bow Runeword | 30 | 45 |
| Skystrike | 25 | 43 |
As you can see, with the exception of Silkweave (65 strength), the rest of the best mageazon gear all has a maximum of 60 strength and 50 dexterity.
As you can see, with the exception of Silkweave (65 strength), the rest of the best mageazon gear all has a maximum of 60 strength and 50 dexterity.
Vitality
In general, with most monsters frozen solid or distracted by decoy and valkyrie, a mageazon has little fears, but more life is definitely good, especially for HC mageazons. All spare points should go to vitality upon reaching a decent mana pool.
Energy
A sorceress needs energy to sustain her magic. A mageazon wielding magic with a bow likewise needs energy, and lots of it too. A sorceress can spam high-level nova all day long with a 1000+ mana pool but mageazon cannot do likewise because the sorceress has warmth. A mageazon can only depend on a huge mana pool which will result in a decent mana regeneration rate.
