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Phage's LoD Javazon Build Guide

Contents

I. Introduction

"BUT IT OWNZ USE AMA!"
- a public dueler, as retold by JohnBonham1980

Javazons. When LoD players invoke this word, the most likely image that appears would be an Amazon, with a javelin in one hand, and a stack of dead cows before her. You've heard how Javazons are among the best cow farmers in the game, capable of demolishing all the cows in a hell game in minutes. All that Javazons seemed to do is throwing a lot of lightning bolts around, and everything just drops dead. Well, sometimes it's true, but it makes one wonder whether there's more to a Javazon than just making a lot of beef.

By definition, a Javazon is a javelin-using Amazon. Now there's an important distinction that needs to be made between ‘javazon’ and ‘spearazon’: a javazon uses a javelin, which is a one-handed spear (or pointy stick as we might call it) and a spearazon uses a spear, which is a two-handed spear. The distinction might seem trivial, but in reality, since the one-handed nature of the javelin allows the Amazon to equip a shield, as well as the fact that javelins can be thrown, whereas spears can have ridiculous amount of physical damage (forsaking shield in the process), the build philosophy as well as the gaming techniques utilized by javazons and spearazons are profoundly different. So, in this guide, I’ll focus on javelin-and-shield using Amazons, using javelin/spear skills.

So, you say, there's more to being a Javazon than just being a cow zapper? Oh yes. Javazons are among my favorite characters of the game due to their incredible tanking ability. Amazon skills allow her to be extremely difficult to hit; couple that with a shield (with good blocking of course) and good resists and maybe some other goodies, and very few can seriously harm a Javazon. Now add the fact that she does have an excellent mass killing skill, which is completely independent of equipment, and you can see why some people fall in love with the Javazon.

There are two basic types of Javazon: the ranger and the tanker. The ranger relies more on her ranged javelin skills to eliminate her enemies from afar, while the tanker likes to get up close and personal with her enemies. This is, of course, due to the very nature of her weapon: javelins can be thrown as well as being used as a melee weapon. The strategy for both builds are only superficially different, however.

This guide will discuss the mathematics of the skills quite heavily, but I’ll try to make it as clear and obvious as possible. As you might have noticed, Diablo-II relies heavily on mathematics for various calculations, especially probability theory and algebra. For the less mathematically inclined, the conclusion of any of my calculations will be included.

I strongly suggest a Javazon build with not only the mass killing aspect, but the ability to tank. I believe that every Javazon should at least be able to tank a non-boss pack of enemies. There are merits on being either/or, but it’s very easy to develop one’s mass killing aspect while at the same time focusing on survivability. This guide will be focused on that, even though pure mass-killing (ranger) Javazons will hopefully benefit as well as a pure melee Javazon. It doesn’t really take that much more to turn a pure tanker into a mass-killing machine, and vice versa: it usually takes only several skill points. That’s part of the beauty of this build.

So, without further ado, let’s begin.

This could be you. Moo.

The entire guide is Copyrighted @ 2003 by Phage. Please do not add or modify the contents of this guide without my consent. You may use this for your personal use, but if you want to cite some parts of this guide or host this guide on your site, please contact me for permission. Often, I'll be more than happy to entertain such requests.