The Magezon

A more generalist version of the frostmaiden, I haven't had much experience with this variant, but I am told they're much more versatile than a standard bowazon. Generally, they just don't hit as hard when it comes to physical attacks, but excel when it comes to fire and cold damage. The inheritor to the immozon, magezons are different from other bowazons in that they rely primarily on a large mana pool, elemental arrows (Immolation Arrow, FA, Ice Arrow) and Pierce to cause damage; an abundance of dexterity is unneeded, as elemental arrows always hit. A magezon may also opt for a large amount of mana leech with a slightly smaller mana pool. The net result is a mix between mid-level sorceresses and necromancers, using variants of a sorc's mid-level magic spells with an exceptionally tough tank.

Because magezons can't depend on leeching as much as standard bowazons, a sizable amount of life and vitality is suggested; focusing on life leech at this point might be counterproductive, especially if physical damage is low. If the player isn't planning on using mana leech, a significant amount of attribute points will be going into Energy and a great portion of equipment will be aimed towards adding Energy and mana by a percentage, as well as faster mana regeneration. If a magezon build has mana leech in mind, the Crescent Moon amulet is highly suggested: 4-6% life leech is really all that a magezon needs, so long as she is played intelligently.

Bows that would come in handy for the magezon include the Skystrike edge bow, Kuko Shukaku cedar bow, Buriza-do Kyanon ballista and Lycander's Aim ceremonial bow (refer to "Unique Exceptional Bows"), as well as:

• Doomslinger Repeating Crossbow: 14-26 damage (20 avg), +60-100% enhanced damage, +1 amazon skills, +15 life, +35% piercing attack, 30% increased attack speed, rlvl-28. Before the expansion came out, this was the weapon of choice for most magezons, thanks to its 100% piercing, fast rate of fire, low requirements, lack of level requirement and a non-timered Immolation Arrow. At that time, this guide recommended investing into Pierce and dropping this weapon in lieu of a CKN with 20% IAS, as even a low-damage CKN would cause more damage than a Doomslinger (resulting in more leeching, if available) with a slightly faster rate of fire at the expense of 100% Pierce. In LOD, its appeal is greatly diminished with other bows, but the advice remains the same for CD2 magezons.
• Skystrike Edge Bow: See Unique Exceptional Bows.
• Kuko Shakaku Cedar Bow: See Unique Exceptional Bows.
• Demon Machine Chu-Ko-Nu: 33-139 damage (86 avg), +123% enhanced damage, +321 defense, +36 mana, +632 attack rating, +66 maximum damage, +66% piercing attack, fires explosive arrows or bolts, rlvl-49. A further write-up can be found at the Horadrim Library.

Unlike standard bowazons, magezons need every single skill point they can get their hands on. They can use bow/crossbow skill charms to beef up elemental arrows, but those charms will have to balance out with elemental damage charms. Since the majority of damage from a magezon will be elemental, high damage elemental charms and jewels should be added in for extra kick, as well as items that cast elemental spells upon attacking: high elemental damage sidesteps the GPR of Hell difficulty, allows for stun lock and gives the amazon the luxury of focusing on something other than physical damage. On the other hand, higher elemental damage and less physical damage also mean less mana stolen per hit, so higher amounts of mana leech are also desired (for those magezons who need it). Like the frostmaiden, firing speed isn't an overwhelming concern due to the spell timer on Immolation Arrow and the freeze duration of Ice and Freezing Arrow.

The hireling choices for a magezon aren't as simple as those for a standard bowazon, as magezons don't need physical damage as much as they do elemental damage. However, their hirelings can be used to supplement the physical damage that magezons lack, bring even more elemental damage into the fray or slow things down with Holy Freeze or cold damage so that Immolation has even more time to work. In short, almost any hireling works well with the magezon, though A3 hirelings don not blend especially well with magezons.

Other than that little bit of confusion, the skill choices of the magezon are relatively simple: maximum Immolation Arrow, a respectable level of FA, Ice Arrow (as it has a longer freeze duration than FA at higher levels) and around 90-100% Pierce with items. A high-level Valkyrie is a must to hold back crowd while they're sitting in Immolation Arrows, but magezons would also find it wise to invest a few points into Guided Arrow in order to carry elemental damage to a single target, for those times when elemental arrows aren't going to be mana-efficient. Critical Strike and Penetrate one-point wonders. Early in the game, it might be wiser to find +mana items than invest points into energy, but since almost all her attacks will end up being elemental, she can skimp on dexterity (even moreso than the frostmaiden) and invest in energy. In terms of overall efficiency and killing speed, the magezon is more challenging to play than most other variants, but can be more rewarding and enjoyable to play as well.

For a more comprehensive guide on magezons, please refer to Ice, Lok, Lok's Magezon Experience and Jondefool's Magezon Manuals.