Core requirements
The advanced setup is A, and the budget setup is B.
- Main attack
- Freezing Arrow 20 · Exploding Arrow 20
- Pierce
- Pierce 6 plus equipment bonuses and Razortail
- Attack speed
- A 75% · B 60%
- Mana
- Silkweave and mana potions · B Meditation
Attributes
Total attributes with equipment · hard points shown separately
| Strength | A 96 · B 87Total with equipment |
|---|---|
| Dexterity | A·B 187Total with equipment |
| Vitality | All remaining pointsHard points |
| Energy | 0No hard points |
Attribute calculations and equipment changes
Strength
A Nightwing's Veil requires 96 Strength after its reduced requirements are applied. B meets the recommended bow and Silkweave requirements. Make Chains of Honor in a Mage Plate requiring 55 Strength, then reach 96 total including the finished armor's +20 Strength.
Dexterity
Invest only enough Dexterity for the bow, then put remaining points into Vitality. Do not overinvest Dexterity for elemental explosion damage.
Vitality
After meeting equipment requirements, put all remaining attribute points into Vitality.
Energy
Use equipment mana/recovery and potions. Keep any Energy granted by equipment.
Skills
Level 90 · 101 hard points
Main skills and synergies
Supporting investment
Prerequisite · support 1 point each
Includes 12 quest points; equipment skill bonuses are excluded. Unlisted skills have 0 points. A and B use the same allocation.
Investment order
Early on, use 
Exploding Arrow for leveling. At level 30, unlock 
Freezing Arrow 1 points and then obtain 
Pierce·
Decoy·
Valkyrie in order.
- Freezing Arrow20
Cold Arrow20- Exploding Arrow20
Fire Arrow20, Pierce6·Valkyrie4 to completion.
Equipment skill bonuses and allocation notes
The table and image show 101 hard points. Add equipment bonuses to all skills, class skills and skill tabs separately; synergies use hard points.
A and B use the same base tree. Do not mix the equipment or point swaps of optional variants into the base allocation.
A·B Shared · Level 90
Open this allocation in the simulator ↗
Equipment
A / B: compare modifiers and replacement requirements.
| Slot | Advanced A | Budget B | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon | A Runeword Ice | BRuneword Melody | A uses the fast -10 bow base |
Weapon choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirements+3 Bow Skills Matriarchal Bow · Amn/Shael/Jah/Lo 20% Increased Attack Speed · -20% to Enemy Cold Resistance B · Setup requirements+3 Bow Skills Matriarchal Bow · Shael/Ko/Nef +3 Bow Skills · 20% Increased Attack Speed Budget differencesB obtains +6 Bow Skills but lacks A's enemy cold resistance reduction and Holy Freeze. | |||
| Off-hand slot | AArrows | BArrows | Check arrow quantity |
| Helm | A Nightwing's Veil | B Runeword Lore | A Requires 96 Strength; B uses a light helm |
Helm choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirements15% Increased Attack Speed jewel · increased cold damage B · Setup requirementsOrt/Sol +1 to All Skills · 30 lightning resistance | |||
| Armor | A Runeword Chains of Honor | BRuneword Peace | Obtain both skills and resistances |
Armor choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirementsMage Plate · Dol/Um/Ber/Ist +2 to All Skills · 65 all resistances on the finished item B · Setup requirementsMage Plate · Shael/Thul/Amn +2 Amazon Skills · 30 cold resistance | |||
| Gloves | ARare gloves | BRare gloves | Maintain 20% Increased Attack Speed |
| Belt | A Razortail | BRazortail | Pierce hard points 6; B at least +4 from equipment |
Belt choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirements33% Pierce B · Setup requirements33% Pierce | |||
| Boots | A Silkweave | BSilkweave | Physical leech alone does not sustain elemental arrows |
Boot choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirements+5 Mana after each Kill B · Setup requirements+5 Mana after each Kill | |||
| Amulet | A Highlord's Wrath | BHighlord's Wrath | A 75 total IAS · B 60 IAS |
Amulet choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirements20% Increased Attack Speed · +1 to All Skills · 35 lightning resistance B · Setup requirements20% Increased Attack Speed · +1 to All Skills · 35 lightning resistance | |||
| Ring 1 | A Raven Frost | BRaven Frost | Cold attackers still need Cannot Be Frozen |
Ring 1: choice and replacement detailsA · Setup requirementsCannot Be Frozen · 40 mana B · Setup requirementsCannot Be Frozen · 40 mana | |||
| Ring 2 | ARare ring | BRare ring | Mana leech works only on the arrow's physical damage |
Mercenary and weapon swap
| Slot | Advanced A | Budget B | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercenary | A Act 2 Might  Runeword Infinity(ethereal Thresher)Runeword Fortitude Andariel's Visage(Ral) | B Act 2 Might Runeword Insight(elite polearm)Runeword Treachery Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest | A Conviction lowers resistances · B Meditation sustains mana |
| Weapon swap | A Runeword Call to Arms Lidless Wall | B Staff with Teleport charges | Cross obstacles or retrieve the mercenary, then return to the main weapon |
Upgrade order
- Acquire the budget bow, Peace and Lore
- Solve mana with an Insight mercenary and Silkweave
- Complete Razortail, Cannot Be Frozen and attack-speed gloves
- Ice Matriarchal Bow → Chains of Honor
- Add Infinity, Nightwing's Veil and Bow Skills charms
Playstyle
- Before combat
Summon Valkyrie and Decoy, and fill at least two belt rows with mana potions. A fights within the mercenary's Conviction range.
- Ordinary packs
Line up enemies behind Decoy and fire Freezing Arrow. Each pierce produces another explosion, making dense packs ideal.
- Bosses
Keep firing Freezing Arrow; use Fire Arrow and potions when mana runs low. You cannot freeze a boss itself to stop its actions.
- Handling immunes
Use Exploding Arrow against cold immunes and Freezing Arrow against fire immunes. Kill dual immunes with the mercenary and physical arrows, or skip them.
- B Farming areas
Start in the Mausoleum and Pit. Avoid dual-element-immune elites and high-player-count games whose mana consumption is difficult to sustain.
- Transition requirements
Transition after level 43 once the recommended budget bow, Peace and an Insight mercenary are ready. In Hell, also meet Pierce and fire/lightning resistance requirements.
Mechanics and notes
Attack speed and base
A has Ice 20 + helm 15 + gloves 20 + amulet 20 = 75 IAS for the Matriarchal Bow's 8-frame breakpoint. B has Melody 20 + gloves 20 + amulet 20 = 60 IAS, reaching 9 frames with the same base.
Direct damage and synergies
Cold Arrow is Freezing Arrow's damage synergy. Give Ice Arrow only its 1 prerequisite point. Equipment +skills raise the current skill level but do not add to the 20 synergy points.
Elemental damage and mana
Mana leech does not recover mana from elemental explosions. Combine Mana after each Kill, Meditation and potions for sustained firing.
Dealing with immunities
Both elements are complete, so do not add the personal resistance penalty of a Sunder Charm to the baseline.
Strengths, limitations and farming style
Strengths
Freezing controls ordinary packs
Two elements make switching against immunities straightforward
Limitations
High mana consumption and slow boss kills
Each element's high-end damage is lower than a single-element build
Additional variants
Teleport variant
Replacing Chains of Honor with Enigma loses 65 all resistances. Add that much resistance from charms and rebuild Faster Cast Rate as a separate setup.
Trading damage for survival
After level 90, investing in Decoy instead of Valkyrie makes the lure sturdier. The default recommendation keeps Valkyrie at 13.