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the Character's Blueprint

Stats
or
how to build my body?

As already mentioned at Consequences of the Poison Skills there are some sensible values for stating. These should be by no way rigor rules. Depending on their second attack and their experience some Poisonzons may stat quite differently. If unsure, how much points certain attributes need, one may safe some points to place later, wherever needed.

Strength (Str)

The Amazon starts with 20 points strength.
Strength is needed to carry the equipment. With the exception of bows and xbows every point in strength enhances the physical damage.
Personally I'd spend only enough points in strength to carry my gear, boni from equipment included. It doesn't matter if, due to equipment change, some additional points go here. Depending on shield preferences you'll need 70 to 156 points.

Dexterity (dex)

The Amazon starts with 25 points in dexterity.
Dexterity affects quite a few factors.
Javelins and some other weapons require a minimum in dex to equip.
In addition dex enhances the physical damage of some weapons.
Further every point in dex enhances the AR. This is only important for those choosing a CtH dependend second attack.
Also the chance to block with a shield benefits from dex.
At last the base defense raises one point per every forth point in dex. This is a side effect which gets mentioned rightly at the end.
To place dex points there are different options to shoot for. Dexterity has to meet equipment's requirements, similar to strength. This would need at most 109 for Titan's or 151 for Matriarchal Javelins. If you prefer 50 to 60% blocking chance or even maxblock, you'll need depending on your shield at CharLevel 90 150 to 225 (maxblock 200 to 315) points. If a bow skill is chosen as secondary attack and therefore the Zon is a pure ranged fighter, Dex-as-Dex-can might be a sensible concept. Then even about 400 points might march into dex.

damage modification for different weapons by stat points
Weapon Class%ED/str%ED/dexNotes
amazon only
Spears and Javelins		0.80.5only Amazon; no matter whether close
or ranged combat is used (along with Javelins)
other
Throwing Weapons		0.750.75no matter whether close
or ranged combat is used
Daggers0.750.75note: same with asn claws
Hammers1.10all the two-handed ones and
War Hammer / Battle Hammer / Legendary Mallet
other
melee weapons		10except asn claws
missile weapons01strrq must be fulfilled

Vitality (Vit)

Vitality enhances life and stamina. Stamina is only important during the first few levels. From midlevel on stamina isn't noticeable anymore. Life on the other hand is the most important attribute in the game. One can never have too much life.
Life and stamina are calculated as follows:

Life = (50 [start] + 3 * 20 [quests] + Life from Items + 2 * Level + 3 * spent points in Vitality) * (1 + Life% from Items + Life% from Skills) + 3 * Vitality from Items + 3 * Vitality per Level from Items + Life per Level from Items.

Stamina = 84 [start] + Stamina from Items + 1 * (Level + spent points in Vitality + Vitality from Items + Vitality per Level from Items).

All points you can spare are spent in viatlity. 1000 to 1200 is a good value, more is always welcome. If you choose a bow skill as second attack and go for a Dex-as-Dex-can variant, you may shoot for less life, it depends on playing style and experience. My Gorgon_Zola is quite satisfied with her 800 life.

Energy (Ene)

Energy enhances Mana. Mana is needed for the use of skills. Similar to life it is calculated with the following formula:

Mana = (15 [start] + Mana from Items + 1.5 * Level + 1.5 * spent points in Energy) * (1 + Mana% from Items + Mana% from Skills) + 1.5 * (Energy from Items + Energy per Level from Items) + Mana per Level from Items.

Don't spend points here. Investing would be ineffective. The Poisonzon uses her poison skills too infrequently to have Mana problems due to the poison skills' long duration. Even if the second attack consummates much Mana there are better ways for solving this.

Order of Stat Point Allocation

First strength is pushed up to 60, so that the big belts may be equipped as soon as possible. Then it's time for vitality and dexterity. Alternately distributing points here is perfectly acceptable. As soon as there is enough dex (including boni) to carry the favoured Javelins, vit takes precedence over all other stats. Points are only spent in other stats if needed to equip items.
Near end NM (Level 75) the Zon should have about 800 life. Only a pure ranged fighter with bow may go for less life and give preference to dex. All others shoot for 1200 to 1500 life. Block starts becoming important around Mid/End of NM. If desired some further points may be spent into dex.

Skills
or
which courses to take?

The core skills only include the poison and passive skills. I'm calculating with +7 skills all and additional +4 passive skills to prebuff Valk. Depending on the dedication onto Decoy and Valk the core skills need 57 to 94 points.
With only the core skills the Zon can reach end NM without problems. So the decision for a second attack may be delayed until that time. If you've never played with Amazon's Poison Skills before, you'll need experience in their usage. Therefore I recommend developing the poison skills first on. Subsequently the Minions should be raised to the aspired minimum values. At last the second attack gets extended.

Javelin Skills

Total: 41 to 42 points

Passive Skills

Total: 16 to 52 points

Order of Skill Point Allocation

My chars normally stay in Norm until level 50 and in NM until level 75.
Depending on second attack and experience with the Poison Skills your mileage may vary with the advised skill point distribution.
When Poison Skills are maxed Decoy should be raised to the desired minimum value to decrease its Mana consumption. Anyone using an Edge (TirTalAmn) bow to help with levelling will profit by an early enhancement of Decoy.
As soon as a new skill is available it gets activated. Points which can't be placed immediately are kept. The blockers (Decoy and Valk) are raised in between as needed. PoisJ gets raised until PlJ is activated. Then PlJ is maxed. At the end of Norm PlJ should be max, Valk should have five Points minimum. In NM PoisJ gets maxed and the blocker are raised onto their minimum desired values. Subsequently the second attack and if needful the blockers are raised further.

Equipment
or
'my Goddess, which clothes should I wear!?'

That's the way our heroine feels at the door to the overstuffed wardrobe. I'll skip the endless lists of 'must haves'. There are anyhow too many combinations possible to include everything. Instead I'll address the important properties of the overall equipment, give some examples and dwell on, which properties are obtainable easily from which items. Examples are given in the following categories:

I'm playing untwinked most of the time. My Poizons wear only self found stuff, sharing what one of them has found with one another.
I'm not aware of your second attack decision and what compromise in equipment this will lead you to. So I'll restrict myself to general gear recommendations for the toxic part.

the Overall Package has to fit

The following properties in order of importance, starting with the most important.

the Javelin

The weapon gives an easy possibility to gain + JavSkills. It's even better if the Javelin has Replenish Quantity. All other properties on the weapon are secondary. I have played a Zon with a Lancer's Javelin to the End of Hell, until she finally found a Rare Amazon Javelin with +2 ZonSkills and +2 JavSkills.

the Shield

Any light or medium weight shield (only when four sockets are desired) with resist and/or + skills will do. My Gorgon_Zola is still going with Sigons, Engel_Macherin sticks to her Rhyme Grim Shield.

the Hair Fashion

To aesthetes fashion decrees a Circlet. Like the shield the headgear should offer resists and skills.

the Top

We are looking for a light armour with resists, skills and to some degree def. Along with Skin of the Vipermagi or an upgraded Skin of the Vipermagi you'll get the most Bang-per-Buck. Engel-Macherin used her armour with 3 PTs and 68 Def until the End of NM and changed for Hell to a Smoke Archon Plate (NefLum). It wasn't before the middle of Act 5 Hell when she finally got a Skin of the Vipermagi.

the Gloves

Woah, we can opt for + Skills or + Skill damage.
Please keep in mind what I've written in + poison skill damage. If you have many facets or wear Bramble the + Skills win over the + skill damage for anybody not gorging massively on +skills.

the Boots

The footgear is an excellent source for more resists. FR and FHR add up to perfection.

the Belt

The main point is granting four rows. Resists and stats are nice adds.

the Necklace

Jewellery always represents fine tuning of a char to me. Amulets may give skills, resists and stats. Poison damage reduce is also welcome. MDR, DR or FC complete the package. A quite good Rare may already surpass most unique or set Amulets.

the Rings

Resists are most desired here, too. There might be a scintillating ring to considerer or some rainbow ring with stats, maybe even with Poison Length Reduce or MaeK.
Rings are also excellent sources to get charges with sLvl 1 to 3 Confuse or sLvl 1 to 2 Attract.

Charms and Inventory

Charms will compensate shortcomings of equipment. Are there still some resists missing? How much FHR is needed to reach the next frame? How much FR does one have? Skill Charms and stats are welcome of course. Regarding Skills, Javelin Skills are preferable to Passive Skills.

Prebuffing Equipment

The Valk gets prebuffed. At least affordable are an athlete's amulet and athlete's gloves. An athlete's circlet is nice, too. If the Javelin has no + 2 ZonSkills, consider stashing a Valkyrie's Javelin. These Items are only used to prebuff the Valk. When Valk is casted the Zon redresses with battle equipment and deposits those items in Stash. Appropriate Gloves and Javelins are every now and then available at the local vendor's.

the Second Slot

The second slot is used for second attack or for cursing. If buffing the poison skills is most desired, only few possibilities are left. A Wand, Dagger or Throwing Knife with LR-charges and any shield or, to the virtual rich, the unique wand Death's Web and a facet shield for -poison enemy resists.

the Hireling

Only few builds have that freedom of choice regarding the Hireling a Toxic Fairy has. With 1.11 there is the opportunity to try all possibilities or change the companion with different maps to always pick the hireling best suited for the currently played area. Choosing the companion follows two general routes.
If a melee hireling is chosen, you may skip some points in Valk. This will grant some additional leftover skill points. If the Rogue or one of the Iron Wolfs is chosen to get an additional kind of elemental damage, you should go for a very high Valk.
The Valk is the best blocker that a Zone may have. Maybe Valk is generally the best blocker in the game. However Valk has to be compared with the Sin's Master for verification. All other minions are way beyond those two.
My experiences with both kinds of Rogues were positive. I haven't tested the Iron Wolfs yet. The Fire Wolf might be more show than damage. The Ice Wolf freezes the mobs on the spot and even changes his targets once in a while. His defense is - thanks to his Frozen Armour - quite good, and he deals out consistent damage. The Lightning Wolf is somewhere between the two others. His skills synergise each other, similar to the Ice Wolfs skills, and they have quite a range.
With melee hirelings the choice is free, if Blessed Aim Aura is not needed to push CtH. Other interesting auras are Holy Frost and Defiance. The Prayer Merc with Insight isn't needed, since there are no Mana problems. The Might Merc isn't really helpful since the main damage of the Toxic Fairy is not physical. As a pure additional stopper the Act 5 Merc is the most promising. He has better FHR, better Regeneration and is faster where he is needed. Additionally he gets extra style points.
Further info about Mercs are in ThePlatypus's Mercenary Resource.

For questions, suggestions or criticism about this topic you may reach me anytime via E-Mail.

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