Diablo II: Strafazon Skill Layout

A Strafazon is an Amazon that uses the skill Strafe as her primary damage dealing skill. There is a lot of discussion about the merits of Strafe vs Multishot, I personally prefer Strafe due to the fact that every arrow carries any mods the character has and it auto-targets monsters. Which is very nice for hitting enemies that are off the screen without putting the character into any danger. The skill setup is as follows:

Critical Strike - 1
Magic Arrow - 1
Inner Sight - 1
Multiple Shot - 1
Dodge - 1
Cold Arrow - 1

At level six some very useful skills become available. Critical Strike will allow the character to deal extra damage for free and Cold Arrow slows down any enemies it strikes. This is especially useful in helping the mercenary survive any dangerous mobs. Cold Arrow is also ideal for use against mob bosses until something better becomes available at later levels.

Avoid - 1
Slow Missile - 1

At level twelve Slow Missile becomes available. This is a useful utility skill that makes ranged monster packs far less dangerous, again allow the mercenary to survive in situations he/she normally wouldn't.

Penetrate - 1
Guided Arrow - 1
Ice Arrow - 1

At level eighteen Ice Arrow and Guided Arrow become available. Both are useful against mob bosses and replace Cold Arrow in that regards. Ice Arrow also will completely freeze any non-cold immune monsters (not champions/bosses) which is extremely useful to keep mobs in check.

Evade - 1
Decoy - 1
Strafe - 1

Finally Strafe becomes available at level twenty-four. However a one point Strafe is a bit too mana intensive to use without some sort of mana leech. For now it remains a backup skill with the normal attack and Ice Arrow being the skills of choice for the time being. Decoy also becomes available and will be used constantly for the rest of the game. It is very useful as a scout to place on the opposite side of doors in the dungeons to see what awaits instead of the character walking through themselves.

Strafe - 7
Valkyrie - 1
Pierce - 1
Freezing Arrow = 1

At level thirty all the main skills become viable. Valkyrie is now available to help the mercenary tank and as a result the mercenary will survive fights with ease that before he/she was dying consistently. Freezing Arrow replaces Ice Arrow as the crowd control skill of choice, as it too will freeze most monsters in place and the splash damage makes Freezing Arrow more effective. Strafe is doing respectable damage now at level seven but still should only be used if mana leech is available or if the situation is dire.

Strafe - 20
Valkyrie - 11

At level forty-three Strafe is maxed and should be the main killing skill. The valkyrie has been increased as well and will be able to tank anything in the game at this point, including Act bosses without any issues.

Valkyrie - 20

At level fifty-one the valkyrie is maxed and tanking like a champ. Many people believe the Valkyrie should be increased only to level 17, including +skill mods. Personally I prefer my valkyrie to have as much life as possible, which is why I will max the skill out and then increase it further with +skill mods.

Penetrate - 20

At level sixty-seven the Penetrate skill is maxed. This will increase the Attack Rating (AR) of the character. While not really necessary in Nightmare, this will be very useful in Hell to ensure a high chance-to-hit percentage.

Pierce - X

Piece is then increased to a level that gives an excellent chance (~100% is best) of the attack piercing the target monster and hitting whatever is behind. The exact level of Pierce is subjective to how many +skill points the character has as well as what weapon is used. If the character is using the Buriza-Do Kyanon then no points are needed here as that weapon has a 100% chance to pierce automatically. If the character is wearing the Razortail belt, 33% chance to pierce, then that must be taken into account as well.

Once Pierce is completed the character may have extra points left over, which can be used anywhere desired. More points could be placed into Decoy to make it a more viable shield and also increase the life of the valkyrie. Points could be placed into Critical Strike to increase the chance of dealing double damage, and with so many arrows being shot per second those chances are pretty good. Or the extra points could be placed into Freezing Arrow to make a more viable backup skill, or into Guided Arrow for a more viable boss killing skill.

Final skill Distribution:

Strafe - 20
Penetrate - 20
Valkyrie - 20
Freezing Arrow - 1
Pierce - X