Vaporizing enemies with a vengeance, the Lightning Strike/Charged Strike Amazon is shockingly powerful. She's got a deadly current that decimates foes with lightning speed. Lightning Strike tears through dense packs of mobs, proving more effective than Lightning Fury at dealing with spread out enemies. Her Charged Strike is also even more formidable than that of the Lightning Fury Amazon, her sister build. Bosses, including Uber Bosses, melt before her. This Amazon boasts record-breaking Boss killing speed.
Wielding an Infinity Matriarchal Spear in the late-game, there is practically nothing the Lightning Strike Amazon cannot shred. Having insane -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance allows this build to effortlessly plow through the most Lightning Resistant mobs. This includes Lightning Immune monsters whose Immunity is broken by Crack of the Heavens. She performs the Electric Slide with amazing grace. If you want a little danger and a lot of fun, this lady will lead the way!
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Amazon Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.
Fun Playstyle ✔
Fastest Boss Killer ✔
Great Density Destroyer ✔
Easy To Learn And Master ✔
Clears All Content In Late-Game ✔
❌ Dangerous Playstyle
❌ Repetitive Skill Usage
❌ Slow Cast Animations
❌ Lack Of Damage Type Diversity
❌ Requires GG Gear For Full Potential
Sunder Charm Setup
Patch 2.5 introduced a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Crack of the Heavens, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Lightning Resistance as possible. Equip Infinity Matriarchal Spear and Griffon's Eye to accomplish this.
Counteract the negative effect of Crack of the Heavens with Lightning Resistance Charms, Gloves, Boots, and Jewelry.
Terror Zones
The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.
Best
✔ Arcane Sanctuary - High Density, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, Super Chests, No Immunities
✔ Chaos Sanctuary - High Density, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, Breakable Immunities, Boss
✔ Worldstone Keep + Throne of Destruction - High Density, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, Breakable Immunities
✔ Underground Passage + Dark Wood - High Density, Easy Mobility, Quick Access, No Immunities
✔ Pit - High Density, Many Elite Groups, Easy Mobility, Quick Access, Breakable Immunities
Worst
❌ Burial Grounds + Crypt + Mausoleum - Low Density, Trash Mobility, Slow Access, Few Elite Groups, Immunities
❌ Stony Tomb + Rocky Waste - Immunities
❌ Spider Forest + Spider Cavern - Low Density, Immunities
❌ Ancients' Way + Icy Cellar - Trash Mobility, High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage, Immunities
❌ Stony Field - Low Density, Immunities
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Jab
2. Critical Strike
3. Penetrate
4. Slow Missiles
5. Decoy
Put 3-5 Skill Points into the following Skills:
1. Dodge
2. Avoid
3. Evade
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Lightning Strike
2. Charged Strike
3. Power Strike
4. Lightning Bolt
5. Valkyrie
Damage
Utility
Attributes
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants may require different allocations!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Don't allocate any Stat Points into Energy. This build gets enough Mana from gear, buffs, Charms, and Mana Potions. The “x% Mana stolen per hit” stat on your gear provides reliable Mana sustain.
Essentials
Gear Options
Farming Spots
Mercenary
Playstyle
Breakpoints
Hardcore
Build Variants
Setup
The Starter variant of the Lightning Strike Amazon meets the minimum gear requirements for farming the Starter ✔ tagged areas in the "Farming Spots" section above. These areas can be Solo-farmed by this setup (/Players1 on Single Player) in both Nightmare and Hell difficulty. Titan's Revenge and Thunderstroke are great starter weapons on this build. Prioritize Increased Attack Speed, Resistances, Faster Run/Walk, + to Skills, Life, and the Cannot Be Frozen stat on your gear. Achieving the 95% Increased Attack Speed (IAS) Breakpoint for both Lightning Strike and Charged Strike is ideal, while 50% IAS is recommended at minimum. Depending on the farm, use a Lower Resist Charge Wand, Teleport Charge Staff, or Harmony on Weapon-Swap (or a combination thereof). Follow the Amazon Leveling Guide to get your Amazon to Level 75.
Mercenary
The Starter Lightning Strike Amazon uses an Act 2 Holy Freeze Mercenary with Insight for Crowd Control and Mana Regeneration. You can also put a Hustle on your Mercenary for its Fanaticism Aura. Mercenaries require Resistances, Life Leech, and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive. Smoke is a cheap Body Armor option for Resistances, while Bulwark is the cheapest Helmet that provides Life Leech and Damage Reduction.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Jab
2. Critical Strike
3. Penetrate
4. Dodge
5. Avoid
6. Evade
7. Slow Missiles
8. Decoy
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Lightning Strike
2. Charged Strike
3. Power Strike
4. Lightning Bolt
5. Valkyrie
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear and enough into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%). Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Video Guide
Summary
- Equipping Infinity Matriarchal Spear is what makes this build powerful and unique. Unlike using Infinity on the Mercenary, both the Conviction Aura and -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance apply to your own damage.
- Use Lightning Strike to shred groups of monsters and Charged Strike to decimate Act Bosses, Uber Bosses, Diablo Clone, and other single targets. Jab is handy for killing unbreakable Lightning Immune mobs.
- Dodge, Avoid, and Evade make this build deceptively tanky, even without a Shield. Smart use of Valkyrie, Decoy, and Slow Missiles can further reduce the damage you take.
- Use Titan's Revenge or Thunderstroke for decent effectiveness before acquiring Infinity Matriarchal Spear.
- The Lightning Strike Amazon is the fastest Boss killer in the game. Kill Diablo, Baal, and Uber Bosses to make the most of her insane Charged Strike.
- There is nothing the Lightning Strike Amazon cannot farm while wielding Infinity Matriarchal Spear and using Crack of the Heavens. Take her for a spin in the Mausoleum!
We hope you enjoy this build! Nothing can stand in her way...not even Lightning Immunes. Melt bosses like regular mobs and everything else along the way!
Good luck!
Credits
Written by DarkHumility
Reviewed by Teo1904
Changelog
- 13 February 2023
Updated to Patch 2.6 - 5 October 2022
Updated to Patch 2.5 Added Sunder Charm and Terror Zone sections - 22 April 2022
Updated to Patch 2.4