Is Firewall viable anymore?

[bard]

I had great fun in 1.09 with a CL/FO sorc. She rocked in hell and anhilated almost any foe in any area. Early on in the build I tried out FW and Meteor as a backup for any dual-immunes. I found Meteor hard to aim and found FW more viable to use for most situations.

I have seen loads of guides and threads about Meteor and Meteorbs, which I understand, but everyone seems to have written off FW now. Does anyone else use FW at all???

What about Blaze as a backup skill? A sorc tends to run from dual-immunes, so they could follow in your wake which might work. Plus, blaze is the only real way I have ever managed to kill Duriel.

I was thinking of a build using...

Blizzard - MAX
Glacial Spike - MAX
CM - 10-20
FW - MAX
FM - MAX

I want GS as it freezes, which I thought would help out FW, plus Blizzard synergies to give GS better length (about 2secs total in Hell).

To deal with dual immunes I might use the standard Static and my Merc. I'm not sure which Merc I want yet. In 1.09 I had a Barb who was a good tank, but died quite a lot, so I was thinking of either 1) A2 Merc (defiance or might) or 2) A3 Lightning Merc for the extra elemental damage.

[mathil]

blaze and FW get shorted bc they aren't as powerful as the other skills. meteor may be hard to aim, but it deals enough dmg to make up for it and make it worth learning to aim. FW and blaze can still work as back up spells. with that build, you will have a relatively weak spells, but with a bit of skill and a little increased funding to the department of good luck, it will work. just know its a variant.

one advantage to going fire/cold is that you can static dual-immunes. from there, TK the enemy and let ur merc kill (this will work against light immunes too, but static won't).

for a merc, i would go with a A2 might merc. your spells won't be very powerful, but u will cold dmg, so u don't need a HF merc.

[wise_man]

I would take Ice Blast instead of Glacial Spike for the following reasons:

1) It deals more damage and benefit from Blizzard in damage (GS benefits only in freeze duration).

2) It also freezes (1 target only, but still).

3) The same monsters that you can freeze (non-CI), are those you won't need FW for.

4) For non-CI you'll want a high damage spell in between blizzards (during it's delay time).

Other than that I think your build is a good one. Good Luck! :clap:

[bard]

Thnx guys.

Maybe IB is better, because of the damage. I like the small area of effect of GS, but I can work around this if necessary. Plus, I can see that IB would be better against bosses because of the extra damage.

A2 merc does seem best, but which one. Defiance I get earlier and would be a higher level and should survive longer, but would might do more damage.

Am I right in thinking that Blizzard does more damage than FO now and is better for bosses.

What about Blaze? Is this still the best Duriel killer, or is there a better way now? I only ask, as he is the only boss I have ever had issue with - I even managed the Ancients without problems.

Thanks again for all your help so far.

[wise_man]

I'm not sure which merc is better (I didn't try them all yet).

About Blizzard Vs. FO, Its a tricky question since it depends on how many shards from FO actually hit.
I've heard players who claim they learned how to aim FO so It'll make damage equal to Blizzard with some synergy (i.e. a lot of shards hit).
Other said that this aiming is too hard and tricky and requires a dangerous closeness to monsters.
Personally I'll reccomend Blizzard, especially as you has a good synergy for it (20 IB). FurtherMore IB also benefits a lot from Blizzard so you win twice.

About Blaze - It is still the best Duriel killer, but life goes on after Duriel, and it's not very good against other monsters, especialy with a merc.
FW works better with a merc.
Just use a lot of Thawing Potions, Teleporting, and Town Portals to outlive Duriel.

[melianor]

With a Merc Firewall is still quite powerful as a secondary spell.
Deals between 5k-6k with 20 Fire Mastery.

Your Blizzard will do fine. Frozen Orb can do alot of damage and can come close to BLizzard if aimed well. But you will only use that aiming technique against bosses and not against monster mobs.

Blaze is beautiful and fun, but thats about it. Firewall, Meteor, Fireball kill Duriel alot faster.

Also take in mind that you can now use a Merc that will tag along with through the whole game and will be your meatshield. Act2 Mercs in Defensive, Offensive and Combat version are the most widely used ones. Some even use act5 Mercs.

[Superhal]

i've seen a lot of fw builds in hell baalruns, and they are quite effective, as long as they can aim. a well-aimed firewall can clear out the entire hallway.

if you want, make a new sorc and put 1 pt in firewall and practice. basically, if you want it to go straight out in front of you, you have to aim it at a 90 degree angle to the side.

the best fw i've seen was in .09. that person could make fw like spokes of a tire around 5 inches in front of them, so that no matter which way the monster went, it would walk along a firewall.

[bard]

Thnx. I think you have all helped convince me that FW is the way to go, especially as a secondary skill. I am still not convinced whether to go for GS or IB.

But, my build will look something like ...

GS/IB - MAX
Blizzard - MAX
CM - 10-20
FW - MAX
FM - MAX
TP - 1
STATIC - 1

I have noticed the AI of some enemies has changed a lot in 1.10. In 1.09, when you fought Duriel he would kill your Merc first then start on you, which gave you some space. Now he comes straight for you and ignores your Merc. Is this the same for other bosses as well.

[Superhal]

all the bosses seem to attack based on target's physical damage. if your damage is higher than your merc, it will attack you, or vice versa.

gs > ib. freeze keeps your merc alive.

[Uzziah]

You could always make a firewall leaf staff for a weapon switch on a CL/FO build. With a +3 firewall +3 fire mastery in a leaf staff a firewall of 1000+ damage can be cast without any points in the fire tree.

[bard]

You could always make a firewall leaf staff for a weapon switch on a CL/FO build. With a +3 firewall +3 fire mastery in a leaf staff a firewall of 1000+ damage can be cast without any points in the fire tree.

Forgot about the 'leaf' staff. I am currently using Frozen Armour on weapon switch and was considering using Energy Shield on weapon switch.

I will probably still get FW, as I like Blaze for Duriel. But, I will use a 'leaf' staff for the added FW damage on weapon switch.