meteorb troubles!

[PsychoticEwok1]

everyone says this build is UBER... i beleived them.

i am wearing not quite the greatest gear, but its decent.

oculus, shako (topaz), skulders ire (topaz), tals belt, waterwalks, chance guards (frosties for teleporting), raven frost, soj, and a +2 sorc ammy with some resists and i think a few stats... maybe something like reduced poison duration or something as well. sheild is viscerutant with diamond (didnt like lidless)

i have max fire mastery, max orb, 17 in cold mastery (with skills), max fireball. working on firebolt (its about level 7 or 8...). im level 77 with at least 600 health (maybe closer to 700) and like 530 mana.

my meteor seems underpowered, as is my fireball. pindleskin DESTROYES me. he just charges me and thats it. lights out.

merc: holy freeze. crown of theives, hone sundan with 3 amn runes, duriels shell. level 71 or 72.

now, i know its not the greatest, but i hear people all over the forums RAVING about this build and how great it is. even if i get it to level 85, at this rate it seems futile because im terrible.

i have just stuck to countess/nm meph and sometimes nm baal runs because of this.

anyone know what im doing wrong?

[Miladys-Knight]

For pindy I usually port in drop a meteor on him and then take a step back. He charges my merc then instead of me. The step is the important part. Teleporting justs moves your merc back to where you are and then you get charged just as often as your merc. If you step back he has to get past your merc to hit you.

[Arith-Matic]

i think it may be your technique rather than you lack of uber gear or the underpoweredness of the build - also, your gear is not to be called crappy in any case

also, what level is your meteor? it should be level 20 (and more w/ plus skills) - if it's not, that could also be the problem that is causing your fireball to be low damage

"i have max fire mastery, max orb, 17 in cold mastery (with skills), max fireball. working on firebolt (its about level 7 or 8...). im level 77 with at least 600 health (maybe closer to 700) and like 530 mana.

my meteor seems underpowered,"...

[melianor]

PsychoticEwok1, please tell us the exact lvl of Fireball, Meteor and Frozen Orb. Please tell us how much mana you have aswell.

Like Myladys-Knight said Pindleskin can easily be handled and dont thin either this has something to do with the build or you gear. For lvl77 your life seems pretty okay too.

Dear PsychoticEwok1, you have exactly 30% FCR, teleporting will be slow this way, though that should not matter so much with Pindleskin. But your Fireball is also cast at a very slow rate. More FCR would help you ANYwhere. it would help you get faster to Andariel and Mephisto. Maybe think of having Wizard Spike and Lidless wall on switch for Teleporting.

I would strongly advise to replace Chance guards with Magefist. Your build looks like a case of too much MF and less killing power. More killing power and speed is always more important than your MF!

Did you go the Vita route or max-block?

At what difficulty are you trying to defeat Pindle? NM? Hell?
If at Hell, then i would greatly suggest getting to lvl85+. This makes alot difference.


Pindle tactic: Teleport just a little bit into the entrance, so that the roof vanishes and you can see whats happening inside. Just stand there. Your merc will see Pindle and his gang and charge them. Now you have a meatwall btw you and those chrages from the undead and simply start throwing in some Frozen Orbs to slow them down. Blast away with Fireball inbetween, when alternatly using Meteor and Frozen Orb. Pindle and his gang are dead in NO time that way. Should take maximum 10 seconds to dispose him off.

[PsychoticEwok1]

heh, sry its sounds like i was dissing the build... im a bit frusterated (made a lvl 82 blizz sorc, and i got sick of her one-dimensionalness... so i deleted her and made a meteorb... i only have enough gear to cover 1 sorc.)
btw, every build i have ever made that was stickied on the forums has worked quite well, so i was wondering why.

ok, i forgot some vital information in my blind rage, so here we go: (im simultaneously checking in d2 as i type)

life: ~700 (dont have shako on, im assuming its about a 130 life bonus)
mana: 534 (with shako/frosties/1 soj. 480 without frosties)

Firebolt: 10
Fireball: 27
Meteor: 27
Fire mastery: 9 (theres my problem! sry guys!)
Frozen Orb: 29
Cold mastery: 17
Shiver Armor: 6

Max block with viscerutant.

Shako
Occy
Skulders
Chancies
Waterwalks
Viscerutant with Pdiamond
Tals Belt
Raven Frost
SoJ
"Shadow Wing Amulet" (11 resists, 2 cold skills, 9 dexterity)
"clasped orb" on switch with +2 shiver armor (no actual points in it) and sigons sheild

some MF charms... i should get some life/resist ones...

merc:
Holy Freeze
level 71
1.3k health
404-720 damage
1.7k defense
Duriels Shell
Undead Crown (soon to be crown of theives)
Hone Sundan (AmnAmnAmn)

i think ive just answered my own question: get life charms, (some) FCR, and get more points in my fire skills... maybe level up my merc a bit.

(now gotta get back that occy i traded away when i got tired of this build :) )

also, since im putting on magefists (they have +1 fire, right?), should i switch my amulet for a fire skills one? or would a +1 sorc skills with about the same stats work better? (thats what i have right now... no +2 yet.)

should i get points in fire MASTERY or fire BOLT first? or both evenly? (i expect to be lvl 85 max, after that its just... well, lets not plan too far ahead.)

is it worth making a pure blizz sorc for JUST pindle runs... or lvling up this one?

any other belts worth wearing? (not goldwrap or arachnids... too bad/too expensive)

just as a FINAL bit of advice, could i trade an arkaines valor (1350+ def, +2 skills, if that varies anymore), treks, and aroics (+4) for shako and occy? (useast softcore).

ty for the help.

[wise_man]

As the dedicated missioner I am, I can't stand to see a player having trouble with Meteorb and not try to convert him... :uhhuh:

I don't underestimate anything that was written before me - Meteorb is a good build.

But I think this is better:
http://forums.rpgforums.net/showthread.php?t=217480

[PsychoticEwok1]

heh traded my valor for a 3/4 or 4/3 cold facet occy... level up facet... and a tals ammy. (got a shako for ariocs somehow... :D)

not too bad, considering 5 minits ago i was shako- and occy-less

stuck on magefists and a fastercast ring with resists (raven frost on other slot)... also some resist charms (not shimmering... just random ones)

hope it helps

merc has crown of theives and shaftstop now....

[UselessOne]

Before gear, I needed to get to level 83 with all the skill points quests to get this setup:

Meteor 20
Fire Mastery 20
Fireball 20
Firebolt 1

Frozen Orb 20
Cold Mastery 1

Static Field 1
Teleport 1

and 1 point in all other prerequitsites. Since this sorc is to MF with Mephisto, I have decided to put points into cold mastery last, which isn't going to happen since I have no intention of actively leveling this sorc. The last skill I maxed was fireball. Fire mastery is supposed to be maxed before synergies.

[melianor]

With Shako and Occy you will have a higher Mana and Life pool and so you will be alot safer. Those Facets will help you out too. You should max Fire Mastery before Firebolt.
The reason for this is, that synergies and masteries get calculated seperatly, so you will need that Fire Mastery maxed too.

All your other gear, including Tals Amu looks just fine. I think you will do alot better with that setup.

Pure Bizz Sorc can be used for Mephisto and Pindle. She kills very fast. Might be worth a try, since with a Merc you can also run Baal with her. Still Meteorb is also very versatile for running "The Pit" in Act1 for example.

[Rastaputin]

use glacial spike when you're on the stairs leading up to pindle. he's behind his stooges, so while they're frozen, orb away. recast glacial spike if need be (i have gspike on my left click)

[PsychoticEwok1]

ncie tactic! never really thought of that. i've been using spike on baals minions lately, to great effect. ("zealot with fanat smacks frozen lister! Crowds astounded!")

glacial spike pindles crowd, lay a meteor, gspike, meteor, gspike, meteor, then a few frozen orbs.

its too bad freeze time is cut in hell