keep in mind that, even if you use the "ideal" version of this build, with an Ice runeword bow, you will not be able to use that bow until level 65 (Jah rune). So, wizendraw actually is the ideal equipment, for at least most of the regular game. Part of what makes this a cool build, that the ideal equipment for the first 64 levels is actually a normal unique and could be end game as well on a budget. back in the day i used lighting fury javelin on switch instead of exploding arrow. not really sure these days if titan's revenge or thunderstroke counts as "budget" but they shouldn't cost a fortune either. lightning fury needs only 20 points (with no synergies) to function effectively. especially with Ice runeword, this build is tremendous on cows. the more enemies, the better it functions.
I've taken the game back after many years of absence and I got some fun items for a bowazon a character I never tried, your guide is a great piece of information to know how it would play and what's needed to start having fun :) Thanks a lot and great content on your channel, I've loved watching the assassins videos!
Never thought of using wizendraw and it works very well. That's nice, because alots of people think that they can't have powerful character with budget gear. Sure there is a difference when you compare to a high end build, but it still strong enough for players 1 settings. What I like is that, THIS, is a real budget video. I remember starting on plugy having nothing at all, so this gives an alternative to the sorceress which is pretty weak at te beginning of the game. Nice video once again!
And yet another great video! IMHO Naj's Puzzler on switch is also quite a viable choice (it has 69 teleport charges), albeit I don't know it's still a budget option.
Absolutely. If you have accesss to it, it's basically superior to the regular teleport staff in every way. Even gives you some FCR to make your cast animation faster. I highlighted the regular tele staff because that's for sure accessibly to everyone since you can just go and shop for one from vendors.
No promises. I will wait until couple months after release to see if I botter getting D2R. Wait for some reviews and until the bugs get ironed out. Sadly, my faith in Blizzard products ain't what it used to be these days.
@@jamesgordon1446 Gotcha. I could share the bowa build I used to run on unmodded single player before I had access to all the gg runes or windforce. Might take a while to get there but I'll try to get it done at some point :)
Raven and Cat’s are budget? Well, maybe... But Harlequin Crest is tough to classify that way. Since you CAN substitute stuff that a newish player or an early ladder character might reasonably self find, it might have been better to show those instead. But still a great video! Thanks, I enjoyed it.
Ravenfrost I think is certainly a budget item. Cat's Eye is kinda borderline, but for it and Shako I gave some alternative options. I don't recommend this for your first character, but certainly an easy item setup to put together if you've accumulated a little bit of wealth on a sorc or something.
I like that you finaly showed a budged build instead of doing what people do in ALMOST EVERY SINGLE diablo 2 build guide when they ALWAYS show you infinity and Enigma (even on a sorceress) but could you also show alternatives for insights, spirit and other ladder only runewords for peaople like me who don't play multiplayer 'cause their internet is trash and that don't want to mod the game.
That's a fair point. Some guides relying on Ladder-only runewords used to piss me off when I was running un-modded singleplayer. Unfortunately, no cheap unique or non-ladder runeword will come anywhere near Insight in terms of usefulness. I think I'd recommend Hone Sundan for the sick Crushing Blow. Could potentially help this character out a lot against bosses.
If demonstration characters all have to be limited to non-ladder and purely self-found gear they become hard to replicate by the viewer because they tend to be stuffed with a bunch of very random rares. “Use a Wizendraw!” might as well be read as, “Ha-ha, I got a Wizendraw and your ‘Zon probably never will!” If you’re playing a Sorceress and a Wizendraw drops in strict no-trade/no-mule single player, it gets vendored or left on the ground. I played through the game that way many times 17-20 years ago but no more. I like planning stuff in advance and trying to come up with efficient or effective or at least unusual builds, something you can do only if you trade or at least mule off finds from other characters. You don’t need to use PlugY, I don’t; I use GoMule which just lets me store whatever I find and transfer things on and off my characters. I also usually use a simple mod which just allows ladder-only runewords to be created but that certainly isn’t necessary, there are certainly alternatives to any ladder-only runewords although of course most are lesser choices. Neither GoMule nor the mod (RWM or RuneWord Mod) require a good network connection and none at all once they’re installed.
@@JohnMHammer Actualy if you play singleplayer you can join games with other singleplayer characters and if you're like me and have the game installed on 2 computers transitioning items becomes possible
@@mecronancer1060 Of course, but GoMule just makes it faster and easier (saving your real-life time without affecting actual game play in any way) and many people don't have the ability - due to lack of know-how or hardware - to run two instances of the game simultaneously. If you're fully satisfied with what you're doing, OK then, 'nuff said from both of us. But I do recommend that you try GoMule, if you end up preferring your two-computers method at least you'll know that it is actually better (for you).
I think M'avina is overall better than the setup on this video. It's honestly a really nice set. Only thing that kinda sucks with M'avina is the lack of 100% pierce so some extra points into Pierce are in order.
You dont cast Valkyrie on your swap ? Or does the valkyrie die randomly when you switch back to Wizendraw ? Full Mavina set should be a good option too. Probably not budget for a PlugY player but could be for a Bnet.
Yea Valkyrie will die shortly after swapping to wizendraw because you lose the skill points. You could still utilize the +valk from Harmony to get an emergency tank for a few seconds, I suppose.
Loved the video, can you cover a fury druid, i just started one non ladder and i need some tips and tricks. I'm having a hard time with res and attack rating and I don't want to use Angelic ring and amy but I do have Demon Limb on swap.
Don't think I will realistically get to making a fury druid guide in a while. Dbrunski125 has a pretty good budget fury druid guide on his channel. Perhaps you could check that one out :)
Yeah, boss killing ain't something that this build excels at. For bosses, my only real tip is to make sure you are on /players1. Diablo especially is annoying because his firestorm can kill the merc in 1 second. If you got a teleport staff on switch, you can try to reposition the merc by teleporting if you are fast enough, to get him away from the fire. Other than that, I'm not sure if I can be of much help. Haven't really been keeping up with D2 Remastered either so not sure if the new patches have opened up some new possibilities for the build.
I'm looking forward to that video, Sicktoid! In the meanwhile, Capt April, check out Elle Lou's Phoenix Striker: th-cam.com/video/MpQMXX_3g6I/w-d-xo.html
aldur boots if u have str are OP and cheap / easy to find ok can someone explain to me why u have negative resistnce? isnt dying not very fun even softcore?
It's a ranged character with great crowd control, so capped resists aren't an absolute must. However, there's plenty of room for some res charms in the inventory since I left it mostly blank.
They are good at very different things. Zeal pala will have much easier time with boss monsters while the Ice bowazon will be better against groups. I would say Ice Bowazaon is easier to gear because it basically plays like a spellcaster - a melee character, like the zealer, will always be a bit trickier to gear. I also think ice bowa has better survivability because it can stay at range and it has great crowd control. But both are great characters. I have never built holy freeze pala on a super tight budget, but from what I remember of that build, I'd say it's probably gonna be a bit better than zealer with low end gear and then zealer will slowly pull ahead, when going towards end game equipment. Freezadin is a really fun character when doing melee hardcore runs :)
The rate of your mana Regen (which insight is boosting) is directly tied to the size of your characters mana pool. You can try increasing it via items or putting points into energy.
6:40 .. spot on .. pluggy among other things makes Anni super easy. Not to mention uber are lacking mobs you will see on B.net as a result of poor coding from pluggy... BUT you get all the benefit from single player with maps not being random. Dbrunksi, lama djwaters with their holy grail ... try doing it on REAL single player. Pluggy = cheating .. migh as well run bots on your single and say you completed grail
I hear you. The organ bosses on plugy are actually much more dangerous than on bnet tho. On bnet you can just zerg them down by rejoining the game and recovering your body in town if you happen to die. On plugy you might get screwed and not be able get back to your body and you will also get stuck with the "Anya bug" for the rest of the run. It's single player so I think everyone can ultimately do whatever they want. Completing the holy grail on plugy is still plenty challenging.
@@Sicktoid Thank you for your reply. I would really love you top D2 guys on youtube, you dbrunski, lama etc .. to cover the game in Single player also ... not just pluggy. Just as ex your merc without infinity or insight becomes pretty interesting and challenging..
@@maxjiro25 Yea I enjoy regular single player a lot too and that's what I used to play. Nowadays I just prefer plugy. It's kinda unfortunate that without ladder only runewords like Grief, Infinity and Dream some really cool builds just seize to exist.
Did that for 10+ years. Tbh there isnt much of a difference between plugy and single player. The only real shame for pluggy is that Ubers arent challanging at all. Rest is pretty much the same. Eventually ull have a bit better resist, your skill levels will be overall 4 point higher and ull level a bit faster. Thats it. Blizzard did a disservice to single players by forcing the players to play on Bnet to experience hte entire game. Plugy gives some extra to do, but doesnt change the game so much. Also constant random map aint realy a good thing. After playing single player without plugy for so long, bnet random maps is a turnoff entirely for me.
@@webersilk hmm no. you get all the advantages of single, with maps always static and being able to adjust player numbers to adjust MFing WITH all the advantages of B.net with all runewords, ANI torch etc... pretty much the same ? What is your Merc wearing if no insight or infinity ? no torch no ani ?? pretty much the same .. lol get the fuck out of here
keep in mind that, even if you use the "ideal" version of this build, with an Ice runeword bow, you will not be able to use that bow until level 65 (Jah rune). So, wizendraw actually is the ideal equipment, for at least most of the regular game. Part of what makes this a cool build, that the ideal equipment for the first 64 levels is actually a normal unique and could be end game as well on a budget.
back in the day i used lighting fury javelin on switch instead of exploding arrow. not really sure these days if titan's revenge or thunderstroke counts as "budget" but they shouldn't cost a fortune either. lightning fury needs only 20 points (with no synergies) to function effectively.
especially with Ice runeword, this build is tremendous on cows. the more enemies, the better it functions.
Man, when I hear this music come on, I know sicko bout to learn me some lessons.
I've taken the game back after many years of absence and I got some fun items for a bowazon a character I never tried, your guide is a great piece of information to know how it would play and what's needed to start having fun :)
Thanks a lot and great content on your channel, I've loved watching the assassins videos!
Thank you, my man. New video currently in editing so should be out in a few days ;)
Never thought of using wizendraw and it works very well. That's nice, because alots of people think that they can't have powerful character with budget gear. Sure there is a difference when you compare to a high end build, but it still strong enough for players 1 settings. What I like is that, THIS, is a real budget video. I remember starting on plugy having nothing at all, so this gives an alternative to the sorceress which is pretty weak at te beginning of the game. Nice video once again!
finally someone put low budget elemental bowazon :) thx
Definitely going to try this one out now! Great vid as always!
0:03 is best part of the whole experience, especially when slow-mo.
And yet another great video! IMHO Naj's Puzzler on switch is also quite a viable choice (it has 69 teleport charges), albeit I don't know it's still a budget option.
Absolutely. If you have accesss to it, it's basically superior to the regular teleport staff in every way. Even gives you some FCR to make your cast animation faster. I highlighted the regular tele staff because that's for sure accessibly to everyone since you can just go and shop for one from vendors.
are you making a comeback for diablo 2 resurrected? would love to hear from you!
No promises. I will wait until couple months after release to see if I botter getting D2R. Wait for some reviews and until the bugs get ironed out. Sadly, my faith in Blizzard products ain't what it used to be these days.
Some more ideas for the builds you don't play are: magic arrow amazon, beardin with 100% physical dmg, immolation arrow amazon
Cool guide. It would be nice to hear your take on as strafe build too.
That would actually be kinda interesting to take a look at. Would you be interested in a budget build or a late game setup?
Sicktoid defo a budget one with aims/ideas to shoot for at high level.
@@jamesgordon1446 Gotcha. I could share the bowa build I used to run on unmodded single player before I had access to all the gg runes or windforce.
Might take a while to get there but I'll try to get it done at some point :)
Jeez siccy way to piss off some of these elitist vanilla girls, which makes me smile. Great vid bud
whatever you think is cool, more please!
Raven and Cat’s are budget? Well, maybe... But Harlequin Crest is tough to classify that way. Since you CAN substitute stuff that a newish player or an early ladder character might reasonably self find, it might have been better to show those instead. But still a great video! Thanks, I enjoyed it.
Ravenfrost I think is certainly a budget item. Cat's Eye is kinda borderline, but for it and Shako I gave some alternative options. I don't recommend this for your first character, but certainly an easy item setup to put together if you've accumulated a little bit of wealth on a sorc or something.
Thanks, for sharing !
I like that you finaly showed a budged build instead of doing what people do in ALMOST EVERY SINGLE diablo 2 build guide when they ALWAYS show you infinity and Enigma (even on a sorceress) but could you also show alternatives for insights, spirit and other ladder only runewords for peaople like me who don't play multiplayer 'cause their internet is trash and that don't want to mod the game.
That's a fair point. Some guides relying on Ladder-only runewords used to piss me off when I was running un-modded singleplayer. Unfortunately, no cheap unique or non-ladder runeword will come anywhere near Insight in terms of usefulness. I think I'd recommend Hone Sundan for the sick Crushing Blow. Could potentially help this character out a lot against bosses.
If demonstration characters all have to be limited to non-ladder and purely self-found gear they become hard to replicate by the viewer because they tend to be stuffed with a bunch of very random rares. “Use a Wizendraw!” might as well be read as, “Ha-ha, I got a Wizendraw and your ‘Zon probably never will!” If you’re playing a Sorceress and a Wizendraw drops in strict no-trade/no-mule single player, it gets vendored or left on the ground. I played through the game that way many times 17-20 years ago but no more. I like planning stuff in advance and trying to come up with efficient or effective or at least unusual builds, something you can do only if you trade or at least mule off finds from other characters. You don’t need to use PlugY, I don’t; I use GoMule which just lets me store whatever I find and transfer things on and off my characters. I also usually use a simple mod which just allows ladder-only runewords to be created but that certainly isn’t necessary, there are certainly alternatives to any ladder-only runewords although of course most are lesser choices. Neither GoMule nor the mod (RWM or RuneWord Mod) require a good network connection and none at all once they’re installed.
@@JohnMHammer Actualy if you play singleplayer you can join games with other singleplayer characters and if you're like me and have the game installed on 2 computers transitioning items becomes possible
@@mecronancer1060 Of course, but GoMule just makes it faster and easier (saving your real-life time without affecting actual game play in any way) and many people don't have the ability - due to lack of know-how or hardware - to run two instances of the game simultaneously. If you're fully satisfied with what you're doing, OK then, 'nuff said from both of us. But I do recommend that you try GoMule, if you end up preferring your two-computers method at least you'll know that it is actually better (for you).
Dude you would make one sick darth Vader . Get into movie production
I have a full Mavina's ice Bowazon, do you think this is better or worse?
I think M'avina is overall better than the setup on this video. It's honestly a really nice set.
Only thing that kinda sucks with M'avina is the lack of 100% pierce so some extra points into Pierce are in order.
You dont cast Valkyrie on your swap ? Or does the valkyrie die randomly when you switch back to Wizendraw ?
Full Mavina set should be a good option too. Probably not budget for a PlugY player but could be for a Bnet.
Yea Valkyrie will die shortly after swapping to wizendraw because you lose the skill points. You could still utilize the +valk from Harmony to get an emergency tank for a few seconds, I suppose.
Loved the video, can you cover a fury druid, i just started one non ladder and i need some tips and tricks. I'm having a hard time with res and attack rating and I don't want to use Angelic ring and amy but I do have Demon Limb on swap.
Don't think I will realistically get to making a fury druid guide in a while. Dbrunski125 has a pretty good budget fury druid guide on his channel. Perhaps you could check that one out :)
@@Sicktoid ok will do thanks.
I can go thru the chaos sanctuary really easily but when I get to Diablo he kills my merc and me so easily. Any suggestions?
Yeah, boss killing ain't something that this build excels at. For bosses, my only real tip is to make sure you are on /players1. Diablo especially is annoying because his firestorm can kill the merc in 1 second. If you got a teleport staff on switch, you can try to reposition the merc by teleporting if you are fast enough, to get him away from the fire.
Other than that, I'm not sure if I can be of much help. Haven't really been keeping up with D2 Remastered either so not sure if the new patches have opened up some new possibilities for the build.
Tnx for the reply - I'll just skip Diablo lol. If I want to kill him, I'll just use my Charged Strike Amazon :-) But I really love the freezing!
Yes daddy teach me stuff 🤤
I have a petition. Can you make claw-martial arts assassin viable? Ive never seen anyone play with her.
You got it. Will probably be a couple of episodes 'till I get to it but it's coming up.
I'm looking forward to that video, Sicktoid! In the meanwhile, Capt April, check out Elle Lou's Phoenix Striker:
th-cam.com/video/MpQMXX_3g6I/w-d-xo.html
aldur boots if u have str are OP and cheap / easy to find
ok can someone explain to me why u have negative resistnce? isnt dying not very fun even softcore?
It's a ranged character with great crowd control, so capped resists aren't an absolute must. However, there's plenty of room for some res charms in the inventory since I left it mostly blank.
How does it compare to a zeal or holy freeze pala, both being on a budget?
They are good at very different things. Zeal pala will have much easier time with boss monsters while the Ice bowazon will be better against groups. I would say Ice Bowazaon is easier to gear because it basically plays like a spellcaster - a melee character, like the zealer, will always be a bit trickier to gear. I also think ice bowa has better survivability because it can stay at range and it has great crowd control. But both are great characters.
I have never built holy freeze pala on a super tight budget, but from what I remember of that build, I'd say it's probably gonna be a bit better than zealer with low end gear and then zealer will slowly pull ahead, when going towards end game equipment. Freezadin is a really fun character when doing melee hardcore runs :)
@@Sicktoid Thanks for your advice. I am considering playing on of the ice builds in D2R to have an enjoyable start.
How are you able to regenerate mana? I have level 14 insight and am still not getting enough refill
The rate of your mana Regen (which insight is boosting) is directly tied to the size of your characters mana pool. You can try increasing it via items or putting points into energy.
Silkweave unique boots could be the answer to your problems.
6:40 .. spot on .. pluggy among other things makes Anni super easy. Not to mention uber are lacking mobs you will see on B.net as a result of poor coding from pluggy... BUT you get all the benefit from single player with maps not being random. Dbrunksi, lama djwaters with their holy grail ... try doing it on REAL single player. Pluggy = cheating .. migh as well run bots on your single and say you completed grail
I hear you. The organ bosses on plugy are actually much more dangerous than on bnet tho. On bnet you can just zerg them down by rejoining the game and recovering your body in town if you happen to die. On plugy you might get screwed and not be able get back to your body and you will also get stuck with the "Anya bug" for the rest of the run.
It's single player so I think everyone can ultimately do whatever they want. Completing the holy grail on plugy is still plenty challenging.
@@Sicktoid Thank you for your reply. I would really love you top D2 guys on youtube, you dbrunski, lama etc .. to cover the game in Single player also ... not just pluggy. Just as ex your merc without infinity or insight becomes pretty interesting and challenging..
@@maxjiro25 Yea I enjoy regular single player a lot too and that's what I used to play. Nowadays I just prefer plugy. It's kinda unfortunate that without ladder only runewords like Grief, Infinity and Dream some really cool builds just seize to exist.
Did that for 10+ years. Tbh there isnt much of a difference between plugy and single player. The only real shame for pluggy is that Ubers arent challanging at all. Rest is pretty much the same. Eventually ull have a bit better resist, your skill levels will be overall 4 point higher and ull level a bit faster. Thats it. Blizzard did a disservice to single players by forcing the players to play on Bnet to experience hte entire game. Plugy gives some extra to do, but doesnt change the game so much. Also constant random map aint realy a good thing. After playing single player without plugy for so long, bnet random maps is a turnoff entirely for me.
@@webersilk hmm no. you get all the advantages of single, with maps always static and being able to adjust player numbers to adjust MFing WITH all the advantages of B.net with all runewords, ANI torch etc... pretty much the same ? What is your Merc wearing if no insight or infinity ? no torch no ani ?? pretty much the same .. lol get the fuck out of here