How is LF considered better than LS?

[:1]This is my first time playing a amazon, she is now lvl 53 lightning Javazon, i leveled to there using CS and LS. But after reading multiple builds and guides it seemed like LF was better. So i used to Nighmare Respec to put 20 points into LF instead of LS, but after going around killing, i've noticed i did much better and killed faster with LS than i did with LF, also i didnt have to rely on a replenishing javelin and tons of mana pots. So my question is, why do most builds consider LF better than LS??|||Hi

For myself I would say:

1) Safety. To use cs or lf you have to get up close and personal with the monsters but with LF you can cast a decoy and valk to hold off a crowd and then fire away from relative safely.

Once you get hang of it and in the right places you can even kind of shoot around corners by bouncing it off walls.

2)Power. LF really is INSANE. For example my fave zon chars are melee zons who use sword and shield and just max out the passive tree (Yeah I know all about the blocking thing but hey lightsabre using jedi-zons are COOL so :P ). But for really dangerous situations if she can she will were a tgods and have titans and spirit on switch which gives her a level 7 unsynergized LF. That lil lvl 7 LF can clear out crowds of those PI witches without them pummeling her with fireballs and not even need to get close enough to use sm or it can whittle Lyster and his buddies down to size without her worrying about getting used as their hockey puck. So imagine what a lvl 20, or higher, even just slightly synergized LF can get done?

Mana issues are best handled by combination of mana leech and an insight merc, and using things like mana charms, and frosties, mana regen items etc if you feel its needed.

As for running out of jabs well thats something thats gonna happen at somepoint. Even with a increased stack of self replenishing. But once you get hang of things you start learning not to trwo more javs than needed to kill off a crowd or to run around a bit to so you can get as big a crowed as possible all bunched up to get the most bang per throw or to pasue a bit between fights to give self replishing stacks (if ya have 1) time to reload a bit. But eventually you will end up going to town to repair from time to time.

Now one on one like say for end boss killing or dcolone or something CS might be better choice. But for crowds LF is just awesome and when you get your LF going, reaonable amount of pluss skills, synergized and a decent level of pierce your gonna LIKE huge crowds. The bigger, the better

Kaytie|||you need pierce. i would bet that you dont have any since your respec. put on razortail, pump enough into the skill so you're at or near 100% pierce and you'll notice a difference between LF and LS.|||Thanks guys, after MFing alot today trying to gear up for hell, i've gotten pretty used to it and it makes my baal runs go much smoother now that i can just take down the last wave of baal minions without getting surrounded and killed. Though i still miss using LS to rush my friends and leveling them, i've noticed LF is much quicker and effective.|||You haven't mentioned if you're playing on a realm or singleplay, but if you're on a realm trading for a Titan's Revenge would help a lot (and you could probably pay Perfect gems/low runes/junk jewels for it). Increased stack size (140), replenish 1 every 3.33 seconds (highest a magic/rare can get is 1 every 10), +4 total to javelin skills, +2 to everything else, life leech, large damage boost, and also gives run speed and some strength/dex.|||Quote:








you need pierce. i would bet that you dont have any since your respec. put on razortail, pump enough into the skill so you're at or near 100% pierce and you'll notice a difference between LF and LS.




i would rather get razortail for a few pgems then titans tbh... 100% pierce does a lot more for your LF damage (ideally get both!)|||Yeah, pierce is one of the few skills where the difference between 80% and 100% is more important than the difference between 0% and 20% - especially for large crowds

For an infinite crowd and an autohit attack like LF, the total number of strikes as a function of x, where x = the pierce fraction is:

Total = 1 + x + x^2 + x^3 + x^4 + x^5 .....

This infinite series converges on a value that is equal to this mathematical expression

Total = 1 / (1-x)

so x=.1 Total = 1.11

x =.3 Total = 1.43

x =.5 Total = 2.0

x = .7 Total = 3.33

x = .8 Total = 5.0

x = .9 Total = 10

x= .99 Total =100

Obviously, even in Cow level, you don't get 100 cows lined up but its easy to understand from the math above how a high pierce chance multiplies damage when there is a very large crowd. And since each LF strike yields 20 lightning bolts, and lightning bolts go through multiple monsters and then bounce off of walls and other objects -well its insanely powerful against large mobs.