A hard decision between Avenger and Sage.

[Irma2]

You're about done for uniques in Normal, start looking for dual affix greens from vendors. And, of course, you can farm Soronis in Act IV for Bramblewoods.

Remember that you're not doing much physical at all so finding a higher level unique isn't going to help. They mostly just buff up the bow's base physical damage and/or give more +% damage because that's what conventional archers need. What you want is to stack as much flat Lightning and +% Lightning as possible, along with +% attack speed and +% piercing for the Scatter fragments.

Have you kept some Zeus relics from Act I?

[siegefried2]

In Act III I believe you can get Silentflight. +1 to Hunting is definitely useful. I've not run a hybrid before, but stacking + skills generally raises your damage output pretty well until you hit the cap.

[Dean]

Unfortunately, silentflight is more aimed towards brigands due to the poison damage and the +1 to rogue/hunting skills. A very nice bow for a different character however.

After doing a little bit of searching, it seems most of the special 'Sage' bows require you to be in Epic and Legendary. Look like I'm stuck with Green bows for now then, although that isn't that bad really.... just wish it was easier to find the one I want.

Irma, I have like one zeus relic... but about four Prometheus' flames... brilliant eh? I will be going back to farm some as soon as I find something to replace this bow, which probably won't be to long if I spend some time shop farming the next village. I want the +15%Lightning damage bonus on my relic, so it may take some time trying to get it... will be worth it though for the damage output.

[Irma2]

Other than Astrapi, there aren't many good elemental Sage uniques. Borealis looks promising but it has no flat +Lightning, which is what you really want.

The upside is that you are close to Act IV, where Bramblewoods become available. Even if you don't find a Lightning one but some other variant, it will probably be good. Fortunately, your Squall is strong enough that you don't need an uber bow to get through Normal.

In early Epic, you have the tempting prospect of getting dual affix Lightning bows from the Gorgons while you farm for your Cuffs. They drop them quite often so you should get a good one before long. That, iirc, was when my bow Sage really took off. Normal was very so-so for her and she relied a lot on Squall and the pierce damage of Scatter.

The other great thing about early Epic is that Zeus can roll with the awesome ...of the Storm completion bonus: +21 Lightning Damage +18% Lightning Damge ftw. If you can get a Crackling of the Storm or some such bow and socket that, you'll start doing some very handsome damage indeed.

[ASYLUM101]

Bramblewood > all other bows.

I have astrapi and an epic bramblewood with good affixes...the bramblewood does more damage.

[Irma2]

Yeah, my elemental Sage is now using an Epic Bramblewood in Act II Leg. Even though its prefix is flat Fire damage, not Lightning, it still owns. Her Int and the +% elemental from the Wisp's EotS make even Fire damage quite effective. One with two Lightning damage affixes would be godly for Sage.

Finding one is the challenge, though. I have a feeling my Sage will be spending a loooooooooong time farming Soronis.

[Dean]

Hmmm, well at the moment I can 1-2-3(varies a lot due to storms huge damage range) shot most things with my bow which isn't to bad with a weapon that is two Acts old, and the fact I still haven't got a bloody artifact completed. I guess volley being high helps a fair bit, not to mention all the extra 'UMPF' that my attacks get with +skill items.

Is it possible to get a dual lightning affix bows in Normal? or is that impossible?

I will be farming the frogmen when I get to Act4 is seems... fun fun, I actually hate them with a passion. Will be awhile though, I'm only in the second village of Act3.

[Irma2]

Sure, dual affix Lightning bows will drop albeit the lower level affixes like ...of Lightning and ...of Thunder.

Just to confirm what Asylum was saying, here is my Sage with three different bows equipped. Astrapi, the very best unique bow that an elemental Sage can find. I might be tempted to use this for Lightning bosses because look what it does to my Lightning resistance, heh:



An Epic Bramblewood which doesn't have any Lightning at all (other than the Zeus) but rather a Fire prefix and ...of Rime suffix. Note that the damage is almost the same but that's before the -resistances of Bramblewood kicks in. A dual Lightning affix Bramblewood would own Astrapi with ease. And this Bramblewood can be upgraded further in Legendary, Astrapi is as good as it gets for uniques. So elemental Sage, as with all archers, will do better with green bows rather than purple.



Note the number of flat damage bonuses on the bow - it amounts to more than the bow's base physical damage. That is the secret to elemental Sage. You absolutely have to cram on as much flat Lightning as you can. It's what gives your +% skills like Static Charge and Eye of the Storm something to boost, and what compensates for the bow's base damage being physical rather than Lightning.

And then you can get something like this quite easily from the Gorgons to use until you get to Act IV:



That one isn't socketed, of course. It would do very decent damage with a good Zeus.

[Asheron]

I have to ask, why didn't you socket your second bow with appropriate Chill of Tartarus? Sage can do cold dmg as well, right? And Tartarus gives good damage along with some innate slow, isn't that good for archer?
I haven't read the whole thread, so if there is explanation on pages before, I apologize.

[gotaplanstan]

In the storm nimbus tree heart of frost only gives +52% cold (at 8/8) compared to static charge's +76% (at 12/12). That might be why, but like you, I haven't read the whole thread so this theory might be wrong too