Is pure int bow/lightning a waste?

[Xenow]

Currently my Chinese character is up to level 18 and full int with a bow/lightning skills.

I originally thought that good magic damage and bow skills would go hand in hand, but it looks like I may have been mistaken after reading the messages here a bit.

I can normally kill an even level monster before it reaches me, and on champions/giants/party monsters I can still solo by using my level 12 frost skill to slow their movement (and give me time to run back and do my imbued arrow chain again).

[spot]

IMO you might want to think about changing to a spear or a S/S nuker.
Since using one of these weapons with nukes will do more DMG then your bow+bow skills, or nukes. And when you use one of these other weapons you can also either stun (spear) or KnockDown and Stab(Sword&Shield) which will help you to survive.

SpoT^

[Xenow]

The earliest nukes are at level 30 (I think?) so I should probably just wait until then to specialize in S/S or spear instead of bow?

[Gemini]

i dunno pure int ice/light bow are good this guy was awesome he did ice nuke light nuke strong bow repeat and did very high damage for lvl 52

[HertogJan]

pure int bowers are the fastest leveling chars up to level 30. Then there come the nukes and being a bower is a bit over the top then.

Pure int bower is an option for a build, however youre weapon doenst have as much magical attack power as a spear or sword. And you lack the defense of a shield or the HP bonus if you go spear.