This calculator no longer applies to the latest version of Diablo II. It remains here for archival use only.

An Excel spreadsheet which allows you to calculate your Amazon's damage when using Multishot or Strafe, SmartBoy's Bow Damage Calculator takes into account every prefix and suffix along with possible skill levels to show you how damaging an Amazon can be.  This is useful for trying to decide if that bow with +1 Amazon skills is better than that other bow you might have with slightly increased attack speed.  It includes damage variations for items which add to your attack speed in order to find what really counts, damage per second.  This is a must have for any serious tactical Amazon player.

You can download the Calculator (in Excel format only) right here (.zip compressed, 7 KB) or as the xls file (uncompressed, 26 KB).  You will need a decompress utility such as WinZip for the zip version.

Don't have Microsoft Excel? Try the Excel Viewer, a free download which will let you see the file without owning Excel.

Instructions

(Included with the Readme file in the .zip version)

(1). The calculator can simultaneously display damage calculations from four "categories" of bow. Category #1 includes the Long Siege Bow and Gothic Bow, Category #2 includes the Short Siege Bow and Rune Bow. Category #3 includes the Razor and Double Bows, and Category #4 is the CKN. Begin by entering the minimum and maximum base damage of the bow(s) in question. Do not include elemental damage.

(2). Provide information about the modifications of the bow in question. Indicate whether a bow has SIAS, IAS, +skills, and/or +dex. If a bow has +dex, please enter the amount of dexterity added. This can be done separately if there is more than one bow under consideration.

(3). Provide information about elemental damage that the bow possesses. Enter the average elemental damage for each of the three categories: cold, fire, and lightning. For example, if your bow has 1-32 lightning damage, enter 16.5. Poison damage was not included since it was assumed to be an undesirable modification.

(4). Provide information about equipment worn that increases attack speed. Again, different setups can be specified for each category of bow.

(5). Provide character information, such as base dexterity (not including +dex from bow), strafe level, and critical strike %. Different character information can be specified for each category of bow.

(6). Enter the number of arrows hitting a target per attack. Realistically, this value is between 5-10 for multishot and strafe.

(7). Read average base damage done by multishot and strafe per second. Read number of "frames" required for base attack and strafe attack. Change modifications, damage, and equipment as necessary to compare between different setups and weapons. This damage value can serve as a general "guideline," but other factors such as pierce are not considered.

(8). Read average total damage done by multishot and strafe per second. These numbers do not take into account any monster resistances, although elemental damage can make a fair amount of different for bows with low base damage.

Credits

I would like to give thanks to Chuck, Fortuna, and many other intelligent posters at the Amazon Basin for their insights into bow damage calculations.

All "speed" calculations were taken from insights gained while reading the article on Weapon Speed Mechanics at the Lurker Lounge, written by Trucidation and Lemekim.

Thanks to Bolty for kindly providing hosting space on the Lurker Lounge.

Lastly, thanks to Angelstar3, an Amazon master, who not only provided me with motivation for this small project, but also showed me that amazons are indeed the most enjoyable class to play and learn.