Lightning Strike Amazon Guide

Lightning Strike* is your Density Clearing Skill. Each attack with a Javelin or Spear Weapon starts a Lightning Chain that seeks out nearby targets until reaching its maximum number of "hits" (based on its Level). It can seek new targets or double back on previous ones in the process. This Skill deals Lightning Damage each time it passes through an enemy.

Charged Strike* is your Boss/Single Target Skill. It emits Lightning Bolts at the tip of your Javelin or Spear Weapon, dealing concentrated Lightning Damage to an enemy at close range. The number of Bolts is based on its Level.

Jab* is your Back-up Skill for mobs that are Lightning Immune or that have too much Lightning Resistance even after applying Conviction or Lower Resist. It makes you lunge 3 "jabs" in quick succession with a Javelin or Spear Weapon, dealing Physical Damage to an enemy or enemies directly in front of you. Your Character is stuck in the attack animation until the 3 "jabs" have been completed.

* Increased Attack Speed Skills (IAS)

Dodge* provides a chance that you "Dodge" melee attacks while attacking or standing still. This negates any potential Damage from a melee attack completely.

Avoid* provides a chance that you "Dodge" ranged attacks and/or spells while attacking or standing still. This negates any potential damage from a ranged attack completely.

Evade* provides a chance that you "Dodge" an attack (any) while walking or running. This negates any potential damage from an attack completely.

Valkyrie* creates a Valkyrie Warrior which fights by your side, mainly serving to tank damage. Re-summon her if she dies.

Decoy* creates a replica of your Amazon with increased health at the location of your cursor. It remains in one spot, drawing monster attacks/abilities until it is destroyed or expires.

Slow Missiles* slows and reduces the damage from ranged enemies' attacks/projectiles when cast. This Skill also illuminates nearby enemies.

Critical Strike* adds a % chance to deal double Physical Damage with your attacks. It significantly increases Jab's damage. This chance increases with Skill Level.

Penetrate* grants Attack Rating based on Skill Level. This is particularly important for Jab, but improves the effectiveness of your Mana Leech and Life Leech with all attacks.

* Faster Cast Rate Skills (FCR)
* Skills that do NOT utilize either FCR or IAS

While every Stat in the Desirable Stats column is useful for this build, we highlighted the Priority Stats in Teal so you can easily identify the Most Important Stats on them.

Hover over any Item to see a pop-out with the full Item description.

Gear Notes: Any Items with specialized or niche uses have a superscript that refers here.
1) Use a Lower Resist Charge Wand on Weapon-Swap to reduce monster Lightning Resistance or break monster Lightning Immunity if you do not have Crack of the Heavens or Infinity equipped.
2) Only use Naj's Puzzler or a Staff of Teleportation for Teleport Charges if you are not using Enigma.
3) Equip Wizardspike and Spirit on Weapon-Swap for fast and safe Teleporting if Barbarian-granted Battle Orders is available.

The areas below are efficient farming locations that make use of the build’s strengths. Other farming spots might not be as effective due to Immunities or bad layouts.

Anything that has a ✔ in the "Starter" column can be farmed with the Starter Build Variant.

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Act 5

Ubers

This build is capable of farming Uber Tristram and the Mini Ubers before (See the "Ubers" Build Variant):

Your Mercenary serves an incredibly important role to the overall success of your build. They can be a front line tank, provide a pivotal Aura, and/or deal Physical Damage to kill enemies with Immunity to your Skill set.

Act 1 Rogue Mercenary

Faith, Freezing Arrow

Equip the Rogue with Faith to benefit from Fanaticism (Level 12-15). This Aura increases your Attack Speed and Physical Damage depending on its Level. An Act 1 Cold Mercenary is used for Crowd Control.

Mercenary Gear Options

Your Mercenary needs maximum Resistances, Life Leech, a high damage Weapon, and high Defense and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive reliably. Cannot Be Frozen is also a great stat for maintaining Mercenary DPS and leech. Ethereal gear is preferred since it doesn't lose durability. Mercenary Types and Gear Options at each Gear Level perform equally well in different situations; choose based on Farming Spots and/or personal preference.

The Mercenary is hard to keep alive until you have the minimum gear recommended in this guide. Remember you can drag Healing Potions onto the portrait, or shift + 1/2/3/4 to directly feed them a Healing Potion from your Belt. The Mercenary also gains bonus Resistances from Thawing Potions and Antidote Potions.

If your Mercenary dies in battle, you can revive them from any of the Mercenary NPCs in each Act. This does come with an increasing cost, capping at 50,000 Gold. Keep that in mind and decide if the Mercenary is currently worth the cost.

General

• Before starting your Magic Find/Experience run, cast Valkyrie. Recast Valkyrie as necessary to reposition it to your side and draw monster aggro.
• If you have Harmony equipped on Weapon-Swap, use it for faster travel.
• Cast Decoy and/or Slow Missiles when faced with dangerous ranged enemies.

For High Mob Density Farming:

• When encountering high mob density or Elite Packs, use Lightning Strike on the closest mob until most nearby monsters are dead. Finish off any stragglers with Charged Strike before moving on.

For Bosses:

• Make short work of Act Bosses, Uber Bosses, Diablo Clone, and isolated Elites by poking them down with Charged Strike. Position yourself in the 3, 6, 9 or 12 o’clock position to hit them with as many Lightning Bolts as possible.
• Use a Lower Resist Charge Wand to cast Lower Resist on Bosses to reduce their Lightning Resistance if you don't have a Crack of the Heavens or Infinity Matriarchal Spear equipped.

Immunities

• Crack of the Heavens sets all Immune to Lightning monsters to 95% Lightning Resistance, allowing any sources of -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance to take effect (including Conviction Aura from Infinity at 1/5th effectiveness).
• Before you have access to Crack of the Heavens and/or Infinity Matriarchal Spear, purchase a Lower Resist Charge Wand from Nightmare Drognan and equip it on your Weapon-Swap. Use Lower Resist to reduce enemy Resistances or break Immunities. Recharge this Wand using Gold at a repair vendor or the Chipped Gem + Ort Rune Horadric Cube Recipe.
• Monsters still Lightning Immune while affected by Lower Resist or Conviction can be killed using Jab or by your Mercenary. However, in many cases, skipping these mobs is best.
• Always skip Unique monsters that are both Lightning and Physical Immune.

Late-Game

• Before starting your Magic Find/Experience run, first cast Battle Command 2 times and then Battle Orders once using Call to Arms. Refresh these buffs as soon as they expire (approx. every 2-3 minutes).
• Use Teleport from Enigma to travel to your Farming Spot or between Elite Packs and pockets of high mob density. Teleport outpaces running despite the fact that Amazons have the worst Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints in the game.
• Wield Infinity Matriarchal Spear for as much -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance as possible.

Optimal Loot/Experience Farming Strategies

• The Pit with 3-8 Players in the Game or /Players7 on Single Player - The densely packed low Life monsters in this Max Level Area are quickly vaporized by a Lightning Strike Amazon. Even the Lightning Immune Dark Archers melt with Infinity Matriarchal Spear equipped. See the "Mobility" Build Variant for the most optimal Pit farming setup.
• Chaos Sanctuary with 3-8 Players in the Game or /Players3-8 on Single Player - Infinity Matriarchal Spear allows this build to melt this choice Max Level Area that has high Lightning Resistance/Lightning Immunity.
• Worldstone Keep/Throne of Destruction/Baal with 3-8 Players in the Game or /Players3-8 on Single Player - This lady kills Baal in a split second. His Waves are also flattened with little effort. She takes full advantage of WSK/Throne's high monster density for loot and Experience as well.
• Ubers - The Lightning Strike Amazon is currently the fastest Uber Boss killer in the game. Full power Charged Strike with insanely high -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance makes the Ubers (including Uber Mephisto) look like a joke (see the "Ubers" Build Variant).

Breakpoints in Diablo 2 are the minimum values required to reduce the frames of an action. Below are the important breakpoints considered for this build. For more information on the mechanics involved, check out our in-depth Resource: Breakpoints.

Faster Cast Rate (FCR)

Faster Cast Rate speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for the 68% FCR Breakpoint for Enigma Teleport cast speed on Weapon-Swap on the Standard Build. You don't need FCR if you are not using Enigma. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.

Increased Attack Speed (IAS)

Increased Attack Speed speeds up your attack animations. Weapon Bases have different IAS Breakpoints. Values for recommended weapon options are provided below. Consult the d2planner for other bases.

Infinity Matriarchal Spear/Maiden Spear

Titan's Revenge/Thunderstroke/Other Javelin Bases

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)

Faster Hit Recovery increases survivability. Aim for at least the 32% FHR Breakpoint.

For all Hardcore gameplay, your primary focus is increasing your Resistances, Damage Reduction, Chance to Block and Maximum Life. This can mean sacrificing overall power level for a more secure playstyle.

The Lightning Strike Amazon can become Hardcore viable with key changes to your Gear. Review the changes below before building this character in Hardcore, as some of these changes differ significantly from the Standard Build.

Gear Changes

• Damage Reduction: A setup using Crown of Ages socketed with Cham Rune and Ber Rune, Verdungo's Hearty Cord, and Enigma achieves 46% Damage Reduction. You can still achieve decent Damage Reduction using Crown of Ages socketed with 2x 5/5 Lightning Rainbow Facets or Harlequin Crest in the Helmet slot if you prefer to have more Damage or Magic Find respectively.
• Stacking Resistances: Stack your Fire/Lightning/Cold Resistances beyond the default maximum values of 75 each (175 total in Hell). Stacking 85 additional Resistances in Hell completely negates the Conviction Aura of any Elite Boss or the Oblivion Knight's Lower Resist Curse. Beware of encountering both at the same time! Consider the primary damage type(s) of the monsters in the area you want to farm. Crown of Ages is the best Helmet option for stacking Resistances; it also enables you to reach the 52% and 86% Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints. Gloves, Boots, Charms, and Jewelry are also ideal sources of Resistances.
  
  See the "Hardcore" Build Variant below for additional suggestions and visuals.