Diablo II Beta: More on the Amazon

The amazon is a well-balanced fighter who is proficient with various piercing weapons and bows. She can deal a lot of damage very quickly in hand-to-hand combat, and she can also empower her missile attacks with deadly magical effects. Although her ranged attacks seem slightly slower than the rogue's from the original Diablo, the amazon's special attacks and her ability to wield spears effectively make her much stronger than the rogue ever was.

The amazon has several skills that inherently bolster her combat effectiveness. One skill gives her a percentage chance to score a double-damage critical hit; another skill lets her dodge melee attacks; and a higher-level skill lets her evade missile attacks. She also has two empathic abilities - one that substantially lowers the defenses of all nearby enemies, and another that slows enemies' missile weapons, making them easier to avoid. However, these two abilities require mana, and the foresight to use them before a skirmish begins.

Spears and javelins are the amazon's favorite weapons, and she also has a number of abilities that empower these piercing weapons. She has a jabbing attack that lets her make several attacks in rapid succession against a single foe. While the individual jabs aren't quite as damaging as a regular attack, a series of jabs can be utterly devastating to the amazon's enemies. The amazon's power strike lets her deal lightning damage with her spears, while her impaling attack is immensely damaging to a single foe, though it weakens the durability of the amazon's weapon. She can hurl poisoned javelins that leave a deadly green mist in their wake, which deals grave damage to any enemies that stumble through. She can even convert her javelins into mighty lightning bolts for a powerful electric attack that rivals some of the sorceress' strongest direct-damage spells.

The amazon also has several skills that improve her archery. For a little mana, she can fire a magical arrow that does a bit of extra damage and doesn't expend any ammunition. She can fire a cold arrow that freezes and slows any enemy it hits, or a fire arrow that scorches her foe. And her exploding arrow can damage a large group of enemies at once, while her multiple shot lets her shoot a fan of arrows or bolts - the greater her skill level in multiple shot, the more missiles she'll shoot simultaneously.

Since the amazon is proficient with three distinct types of weapons - spears, javelins, and bows - she's able to wield a large variety of unconventional armaments. Furthermore, her relatively high strength and dexterity let her equip most weapons and armor. The amazon does have several shortcomings: She relies equally on her melee skills and on her mana-fueled skills, which means you'll have to distribute her statistics points evenly. Furthermore, you may have to choose to focus on one of the amazon's weapon specialties, as many of her skills are very weak at low levels. For instance, unless she devotes herself to archery, the amazon shouldn't bother to waste skill points on the initial skill levels of her various magic arrow attacks. Finally, her ranged attacks rely on ammunition, and oftentimes on mana as well.

The amazon is a figher, but playing her properly requires tactical thought. You'll need to pay attention to both your health and your mana at all times, and you'll be better off having both a close-range and a long-range weapon of choice on hand. The amazon lacks the raw power of the barbarian and the paladin, but she's the most versatile fighter in Diablo II.