Elite Armor

For more information on gems, runes, jewels, unique and set items, please refer to the Horadrim Library and the Arreat Summit.

Armor

As always, the same rules that have applied to the bowazon since Normal apply now: armor isn't chosen for defense, but attributes. The only major change is that armor can now spawn with +10-15 dexterity. The only restrictions a bowazon should observe are to avoid heavy armor or armor that requires more strength than her bow. Because of their heavy strength requirements, the only elite armors worth considering are dusk shroud, scarabshell armor, wyrmhide, wire fleece, and archon plate. Only two elite unique armors can be seriously considered by the bowazon player; the rest are simply too heavy.

• Ormus' Robes Dusk Shroud: 371-487 defense, +10-20 defense, +20% faster cast rate, +10-15% cold skill damage, +10-15% fire skill damage, +10-15% lightning skill damage, +3 bonus to a random sorceress skill, regenerate mana 10-15%, rlvl-75. Definitely useful for the cold sorceress, magezons might want to look into this armor as well, focusing on either the bonus to fire, cold, or both. In addition to the damage from elemental skills, the bonus to elemental skill damage'll even increase the damage from elemental damage equipment. The bonus to mana regeneration could also come in handy, but the skill bonuses are of little consequence, as they don't work on anybody but the sorceress.

Ladder-only Unique Amor

• Tyrael's Might Sacred Armor: 1322-1502 defense, +120-150% enhanced defense, +50-100% damage to demons, 20% faster run/walk, +20-30 strength, all resistances 20-30%, can't be frozen, requirements -100%, slain monsters rest in peace, indestructible, rlvl-84. This is Blizzard making their very own attention whore. "Hi, I am a monstrosity of an item, and I can only be found on the ladder. Call me." This armor, like Nature's Peace, bears the double-edged "slain monsters rest in peace" attribute.

Belts

As with armor, belts aren't chosen for defense, but attributes; thus, any type of belt will work. Desired attributes to belts are +21-30 strength, 17-24% FHR, 1-2 cold damage (duration: 2 sec), 31-40% resists, +41-60 life, and +11-20 mana.

• Nosferatu's Coil Vampirefang Belt: 56-63 defense, slows target by 10%, +2 mana after each kill, 5% life stolen per hit, +15 strength, 10% increased attack speed, -3 light radius, rlvl-51. Nos Coil is a personal favorite; I consider it the premier bowazon belt. Almost all the attributes are useful: it's light with a relatively low level requirement, offers life leech, and a high bonus to strength. It offers the same IAS as Goldwrap, but the Coil also slows target movement down slightly, giving the bowazon more time to react than usual. For example, it's a simple matter for a bowazon with a high rate of fire to slow a pack of rushing moon lords down to a crawl. (The 1.09 version of this item is called Siggard's Stealth once you upgrade to 1.10.)
• Arachnid Mesh Spiderweb Sash: 119-138 defense, +90-120% enhanced defense, slows target by 10%, +1 skills, 20% faster cast rate, increases maximum mana 5%, slvl-3 venom (11 charges) rlvl-80. This belt is notable for being the only +skills belt in the game. While it has no IAS, this belt could come in handy for magezons who could benefit from the +skills, mana bonus, and slows target.

For bowazons who can't or don't want to use the IAS belts, there is always the Horadric Blood belt. The recipe is: magic mithril coil + magic jewel + Tal + perfect ruby; the standard attributes that come with Blood belts are 5-10% chance of open wounds, 1-3% life stolen per hit, +10-20 life.

Gloves

For gloves, you want +10-15 dexterity, 20% IAS, 21-30% resists, +31-40 mana, +skills, 3% life/mana leech and 16-25% MF or 41-80% more gold. After Strafe is developed past slvl-10, the value of IAS gloves becomes apparent, as they dramatically cut down attack time. No elite unique gloves have IAS.

• Soul Drainer Vambraces: 129-149 defense, +90-120% enhanced defense, 4-7% mana stolen per hit, 4-7% life stolen per hit, -50 monster defense per hit, 8% chance to cast slvl-3 weaken on striking, rlvl-74.
• Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves: 125-145 defense, +90-120% enhanced defense, +10-15 strength, +5-10 life after each kill, 25% chance of open wounds, 7-10% life stolen per hit, 5% chance to cast slvl-10 life tap on striking, rlvl-76. A super-powered version of Horadric blood craft gloves, these are incredible for the bowazon sporting a small-sized army, but the less and less minions a bowazon has or the more cautious the bowazon is, the less need she has for these gloves, as they're much more suited for melee characters who have a dire need of 50% life leech. However, with a bowazon's high rate of fire and ranged abilities, these gloves are wonderful for multiplayer, where she can help keep her party alive by continuously casting Life Tap on everything they can hit (i.e., everything).

The best gloves for the bowazon, however, are Horadric Hit Power chain gloves. The recipe is: magic vambraces + magic jewel + Ort + perfect sapphire; the standard attributes that come with Hit Power gloves are 5% chance of casting slvl-4 frost nova when hit, attacker takes 3-7 damage, knockback.

For bowazons who already have knockback, there are always Horadric Blood heavy gloves. The recipe is: magic vampirebone gloves + magic jewel + Nef + perfect ruby; the standard attributes that come with Blood gloves are 5-10% chance of crushing blow, 1-3% life stolen per hit, +10-20 life. Like Blood rings, these gloves can have more life leech than usual — around 4-6%. Either glove can spawn with the coveted 20% IAS, +skills to bow or passive skills, leech and %MF. With its relatively low cubing cost and highly desirable properties, these are arguably the best gloves a bowazon can hope to find…if the right mods can be rolled up, of course.

Footwear

Desired qualities for boots are +10-15 dexterity, 31-40% resists, Tireless (heal stamina 50%) and 10% FHR. One attribute that must always be on boots is 30% faster run/walk. As a bowazon, you want to keep a safe distance from your opponents and the best way to do that is to run faster. All unique boots are good for a bowazon.

• Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots: 158-178 defense, +140-170% enhanced defense, 20% faster hit recovery, 20% faster run/walk, +(1/clvl) maximum stamina, +10-15 strength, +10-15 vitality, 50% slower stamina drain, poison resist 40-70%, repairs 1 durability in 20 seconds, rlvl-64. These combine the best attributes of some of my favorite boots, like slower stamina drain, stamina bonuses, attribute bonuses, and FR/W. There's no gimmick to these, they're simply a very good, very steady set of all-purpose boots.
• Marrowwalk Boneweave Boots: 183-204 defense, +170-200% enhanced defense, 20% faster run/walk, +1-2 skeleton mastery (necromancer only), +10-20 strength, +17 dexterity, regenerate mana 10%, heal stamina +10%, half freeze duration, slvl-33 bone prison (13 charges), slvl-12 life tap (10 charges), rlvl-32. Another good set of boots with some very nice attribute bonuses, you might be tempted to give these to a necromancer, but the thirteen charges to a ~4,000 hit point Bone Prison are invaluable for those times you need to contain a monster that absolutely, positively must stand still. Likewise, Life Tap will last for 42 seconds — very handy for monsters that are giving your merc or valkyrie too much of a pounding.

Please note that set or unique boots generally don't have resists. If your bowazon needs resists, a good pair of rare boots would be the best solution.

If more life leech is needed, there are always Horadric Blood boots. The recipe is: magic mirrored boots + magic jewel + Eth + perfect ruby; the standard attributes that come with Blood boots are replenish life +5-10, 1-3% life stolen per hit, +10-20 life.

Helmets

For the LOD bowazon, the best options lie in circlet-class items (circlets, coronets, tiaras, diadems). Circlets have lousy defense (the base varies from 10-60), but helms aren't chosen for defense but attributes and circlets have the best pool of attributes in the game. Desired attributes to circlets are +21-30 stats, +skills, 10% FHR, +damage, 10-30% FRW, 31-40% resists (with 16-20% prismatic being the best), +41-60 life, +61-90 mana, 3-9% life/mana leech and Visionary (+(1/clvl)% AR). Circlets don't have strength requirements.

In the end, the choice of a helm is all up to you, though I'd recommend something with high resists, life, and dexterity. All exceptional unique helms are good for bowazons. Note that all LOD helms can be socketed; all rules that apply to armor apply to helms.

• Harlequin Crest Shako: 98-141 defense, +2 skills, +(1.5/clvl) life, +(1.5/clvl) mana, damage reduced by 10%, 50% better chance of getting magic items, +2 all attributes, rlvl-62. A stronger version of Tarnhelm, Harley's offers a substantial bonus to life, mana, stats, defense and skills, as well as a solid 50% MF.
• Giant Skull Bone Visage: 350-477 defense, +250-320 defense, 10% chance of crushing blow, knockback, +25-35 strength, socketed (1-2), rlvl-65.
• Nightwing's Veil Spired Helm: 218-352 defense, +90-120% enhanced defense, +2 skills, +8-15% cold skill damage, +10-20 dexterity, +5-9 cold absorb, half freeze duration, requirements -50%, rlvl-67. This item, with its relatively low strength requirement of 96, +skills, bonus to cold damage, and high dexterity bonus, literally calls out to frostmaiden builds, who could benefit greatly from all of these attributes.
• Kira's Guardian Tiara: 90-170 defense, +50-120 defense, 20% faster hit recovery, can't be frozen, all resistances 50-70%, rlvl-77. A good all-around warrior's circlet with FHR and can't be frozen, any grade of Kira's has better resistances than any other helm in the game. However, it doesn't have anything special, like +skills, IAS, or bonuses to attributes, so if resists are all you want, then by all means, use this circlet. For anything else, use a rare circlet.

Ladder-only Unique Helmets

• Andariel's Visage Demonhead: 310-387 defense, +100-150% enhanced defense, +2 skills, 20% increased attack speed, 8-10% life stolen per hit, +25-30 strength, +10% maximum poison resist, fire resist -30%, poison resist 70%, 15% chance to cast slvl-15 poison nova when struck, slvl-3 venom (20 charges), rlvl-83. This is a ladder-only unique. Aside from its negative fire resistance, there's really nothing to not like about this helm — except for its godawful appearance.

If ready-made helms are unavailable or more life leech is required, there are always Horadric Blood helms. The recipe is: magic armet + magic jewel + Ral + perfect ruby; the standard attributes that come with Blood helms are 5-10% deadly strike, 1-3% life stolen per hit, +10-20 life.