Amazon Passive and Magic Skills

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Revision as of 20:30, 14 December 2008 by Mizantrop (talk | contribs) (Dodge)
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Amazon Skills

These skills are invaluable support abilities for Javazons, Spearazons, Bowazons, and every other build of the character. Boost damage, defense, accuracy, gain a magical tank, and more.


Inner Sight

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: None.
Details: A curse-like debuff skill that lowers the defense of all enemies within range.

  • Monsters under this spell's effect glow with a sparkling white light that can be a helpful aid to spotting them in dark areas.
  • The spell's radius goes out from the Amazon herself, not from the cursor. It can therefore not be targeted or cast on enemies at the edge of the screen.
  • Rogue mercenaries (Act One) cast this skill at random intervals during battle.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost: 5
Radius 13.3 yards
Duration (seconds) 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84
Enemy Defense -X 40 65 90 115 140 165 190 215 260 305 350 395 440 485 530 575 635 695 755 815

Lore: The lush canopy of trees covering the Amazon homeland allows little sunlight to reach the ground. To better adapt to their environment, the Amazons have developed a technique whereby they can attune themselves to the life forces in the surrounding area and transfer these energies into a source of luminescence. This enables the Amazon and her companions to see her enemies in shadow and darkness.

Critical Strike

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: None.
Details: This extremely powerful skill gives a chance to deal a critical strike, doubling the physical damage of an attack with any sort of weapon. Loading up the points in this skill is almost mandatory for every Amazon build.

  • Critical Strike does not boost elemental damage, such as from the various lightning spear skills, but it boosts the physical damage components of those skills, and the fire/cold bow skills as well.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chance to 2x Damage % 16 25 32 38 42 46 49 51 54 56 58 59 61 62 63 65 65 66 67 68

Lore: Among the arsenal of techniques employed by the Amazon warrior is her ability to study opponents carefully and detect any weaknesses. She can then use these deficiencies in her adversary to strike at precisely those areas that will cause the greatest injuries.

Dodge

Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: None.
Details: Allows the Amazon to dodge melee attacks while standing still or attacking. This is a very powerful skill, especially for melee-fighting Amazons, who generally want at least 50% in it.

  • The Dodge animation is nifty, but only displays when the attacking animation is not in effect. The skill works constantly; not just when you see the animation trigger.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chance to Dodge Melee % 18 24 29 34 37 40 42 44 46 47 49 50 51 52 52 54 54 55 55 56

Lore: To anyone familiar with their natural agility, it should came as no surprise that the training regimen of an Amazon warrior includes exercises specifically designed to avoid potentially devastating blows in combat.

Slow Missiles

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Inner Sight
Synergies: None.
Details: A curse-like debuff skill that slows the missles of all monsters within the skill's range. This skill works like a curse; affecting the archers, mages, etc themselves. It does not slow down missiles in the air when it's cast; it just makes the cursed monsters shoot very slowly for the duration.

  • Monsters under this spell's effect glow with a sparkling white light that can be a helpful aid to spotting them in dark areas.
  • The spell's radius goes out from the Amazon herself, not from the cursor. It can therefore not be targeted or cast on enemies at the edge of the screen. This is tricky when you want to slow the shots of a Lightning Enchanted boss, since you may have to run closer to Slow it, then retreat to fire your arrows from a safe distance.
  • Slow Missile does not affect the casting or firing speed of the Hydras cast by the High Council.
  • Slowed Meteors from Dark Lords are quite amusing, since the casting animation works like normal, but the rocks don't fall for quite a while.
  • Slow Missile can be quite effective in PVP, and funny as well. Spells like Frozen Orb and Blessed Hammer will move at a snail's pace, stacking up dozens of casts in essentially the same spot.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost: 5
Duration (seconds) 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 66 72 78 84 90 96 102 108 114 120 126
Radius (yards): 13.3
Enemy Ranged Attacks Slowed 33%


Avoid

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Dodge
Synergies: None.
Details: This skill allows the Amazon to avoid ranged attacks while standing still or attacking. It's less useful than Dodge since ranged attacks aren't as damaging, you're usually running when they come in (Avoid doesn't help when you're moving), and skillful use of Valkyrie, Decoy, and Slow Missiles should cut the danger of ranged attacks anyway.

  • Avoid works against the charged bolts from a Lightning Enchanted monster. In earlier versions of the game LE bosses and Diablo's pink flamethrowing attack could create an Avoid-lock, where movement became impossible as the dodging animation repeated endlessly, but this was fixed in v1.09.
  • Avoid can dodge Metors, but the area effect fire damage the Meteor leaves will still hurt.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chance to Dodge Missile % 24 31 36 41 45 48 50 52 54 55 57 58 60 61 61 63 63 64 64 65


Penetrate

Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Critical Strike
Synergies: None.
Details: This skill passively boosts the Amazon's Attack Rating. The use of this skill varies by Amazon build. Some skills have huge AR bonuses, or function as "always hits" attacks, so don't need much Penetrate. Some Bowazons may not use Penetrate very much simply because their dexterity is so high they don't need it.

  • Penetrate only adds half the AR bonus to melee attacks. The full bonus is applied to ranged attacks.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
 % Bonus to Attack Rating 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 105 115 125 135 145 155 165 175 185 195 205 215 225


Decoy

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Inner Sight, Slow Missiles
Synergies: None.
Details: This skill creates an exact duplicate of the Amazon wherever the cursor points. It will draw the attention of any monster nearer the decoy than the Amazon (or Valkyrie).

  • Only one Decoy can exist at once; casting a second will dispel the first.
  • Decoys exactly mirror the Amazon who cast them. If she changes equipment, the Decoy will instantly change appearance as well.
  • Decoy's hit points are based on the hit points of the Amazon who casts them. They last for the duration of the spell, or until their hit points are exhausted. They can not be healed.
  • Decoys will take a step or seem to stumble if hit repeatedly. They will also sometimes trigger Dodge and Avoid.
  • In earlier versions of the game, a Decoy's presence would allow the Amazon to fire an additional shot with Strafe. This is no longer the case post-v1.09.
  • Decoys do not receive the Amazon's equipment stats; just her hit points.
    • Decoys have no armor, but some resistance, by the following formula: Resistance = level * 4, capped at 85.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost 19 18 17 16 16 15 14 13 13 12 11.5 10.7 10 9.2 8.5 7.7 7 6.2 5.5 4.7
Duration 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105
Life +% 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200

Evade

Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Dodge, Avoid
Synergies: None.
Details: This skill gives the Amazon a chance to avoid melee or ranged attacks while walking or running. (Dodge and Avoid only work while standing still or attacking; not at all while walking or running.)

  • Evade is more useful for melee Amazons than ranged attackers, since melee fighters will often run up to monsters, or try to dodge incoming projectiles. It's generally less useful than Dodge or Avoid, though.
  • Evade lock was a problem prior to v1.09, when Amazons would sometimes get stuck in the Evade animation and be unable to run away from a ranged attack. This was most often seen with Diablo's pink flamethrower attack. The bug was corrected in v1.09.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chance to Dodge Any Attack% 18 24 29 34 37 40 42 44 46 47 49 50 51 52 52 54 54 55 55 56


Valkyrie

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Inner Sight, Dodge, Slow Missiles, Avoid, Decoy, Evade
Synergies: Valkyries receive bonuses from points spent in the following skills:

  • Decoy: +20% Life Per Level
  • Penetrate: +40 Attack Rating Per Level
  • Critical Strike
  • Dodge
  • Avoid
  • Evade

Details: Valkyries are powerful magical tanks. They spawn with high defense and hit points, and can stand up to a tremendous amount of damage. Their attacks aren't generally very powerful, but in v1.11 they can kill weaker monsters, plus they spawn with random equipment that changes the color of their armor. Some Valkyries can spawn with very useful mods, such as "% chance to cast Frost Nova" on armor, or or "% chance to cast Amplify Damage" on their spears, for instance.

  • Valkyries regenerate health at a good rate. They can also be healed by NPCs in town, or the Paladin's prayer aura. Recasting is also an option, but their equipment will be rerolled randomly, and it's sometimes worth making an effort to preserve a Valkyrie with helpful modifiers.
  • Valks receive the same benefit from the Dodge/Avoid/Evade skills as the Amazon. They never display the animation, but they will make the sound sometimes, and their stats are helped. More details below.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mana Cost 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Hit Points 528 616 704 792 880 968 1056 1144 1232 1320 1408 1496 1584 1672 1760 1848 1936 2024 2112 2200
 % Damage 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400 425 450 475
 % Attack 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 440 480 520 560 600 640 680 720 760 800
 % Defense Bonus 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190

Hidden Valkyrie Stats

  • Resistances: The Valkyries' resistances are equal to their level * 2, to a max of 85. So a level 10 Valkyrie will have +20 Resist All. Valkyries also get a hidden synergy bonus from Decoy, where every physical point in Decoy will add +2 Resist All. The whole formula comes out as = (Valkyrie level + Base Decoy Level ) * 2
  • Magic Level: The equipment that a Valkyrie is spawned with is based on her Magic Level, i.e. the ilvl that her equipment is spawned with, therefore denoting which mods can be spawned. The Magic Level of any Valkyrie is equal to a base of 25 at level 1, and increases by 3 for each level.
  • Dexterity: Valkyries recieve a bonus of Dexterity of +12 per level. A level 12 Valkyrie will have 144 dexterity points. Valks gain bonuses of attack rating and defense much like any character, but this is not reflected in their skill description.
  • Valkyrie Health = 440 * (1 + 0.2 * (Valkyrie level + Decoy Level - 1))


Pierce

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Critical Strike, Penetrate
Synergies: None
Details: This skill gives the Amazon's projectiles, javelins, bolts, or arrows, a chance to pass through a target and continue on, possibly hitting a second (or third, or fourth) enemy. Each target takes the full damage of the attack, including all possible skill bonuses, elemental hits, etc.

  • Pierce is most noticeable when monsters are in a tight cluster or a long row, such as in narrow hallways.
  • Pierce pairs very well with Lightning Fury, but helps a lot on all of the bow skills (especially Strafe) and other ranged attacks as well.
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Chance Missiles Pass
Through Target %
23 34 42 49 55 59 63 65 69 71 73 75 77 79 80 82 82 83 84 85

Pierce's true power is revealed with a look at the odds of hitting multiple targets. More points don't make that big a difference in the odds of hitting two enemies, but the odds are compounded when figuring if a given shot will hit three or four or five enemies. This makes a huge difference when using a skill that triggers on each hit, such as Lightning Fury or Immolation Arrow.

Target Slvl 10 Slvl 12 Slvl 14 Slvl 16 Slvl 18 Slvl 20 Slvl 25
1 71% 75% 79% 82% 83% 85% 90%
2 50% 56% 62% 67% 69% 75% 81%
3 36% 42% 49% 55% 57% 61% 73%
4 25% 32% 39% 45% 47% 52% 65%
5 18% 24% 31% 37% 39% 44% 59%