How to survive occasional hits from hell meph?

[DarkAngelSM]

I'm currently startin ehcl again, so i'm making a sorc for hell meph runs. Since I don't have great gear cept for a few donations from friends, its gonna be blizz and moat meph.

Every once in awhile, I know i'll screw up cuz i've screwed up plenty of times before and he'll launch an orb at me. Just wondering the dmg on it so I don't die in one hit, or solutions to stay safe.

*Max block - don't have a shield with good block, cant afford to trade for a whitstan's or anything with good block. (do have a sig shield)
And if I do this, I am guaranteed to get killed somehow with very low life and that 25% chance I get hit by an orb when I screw up.

*No block, enough str/dex for gear (dex for -req wizspike), all vit (how much life/resists do I need to stay safe? - handle 1/2 hits without dying)

*suggestions?

Thanks

[Matt]

I'd say max block, build around the whistans you dont have yet. You will be at ~60% block before you get a whistans, but after only a couple mephisto runs, you will get enough gear to trade for one easily.

I would say go for 700ish mana after gear, rest into vitality, which will be enough to survive a hit with good cold resist (work on keeping cold/fire max'd for a moat trick mepher, fire for hydras the counsil may throw at you, cold because the blizz//cold orb can 1 hit ko you)
-Matt

[Mcsaladshaker]

Id just run around while spamming blizzards

[d3uces wild]

DarkAngel, I could give you a whistans if want it. I should be on around 11 pm EST tonight, my account is o-o-x-x-o-o(those are NOT zeros). Just give me a whisper if you want.

[DarkAngelSM]

Sure, ill take that, but dunno if I can get on at 11 tonite, but ill try to msg you whenever i'm on. *darkangelsm2

[d3uces wild]

Ahh, forgot to ask. What realm would this happen to be on??

[DarkAngelSM]

im on east

[ZounceHC]

If you can't afford a whitstans yet you should run nm meph for a while. Just remember he can still drop Travs, Skullders, Gaze, Shaft, Occy. Do a few hundred runs and you should find at least a couple of these.

I don't see why you don't want to be a blocker. I think most sorcs that go no block are either botters or use maphack, i'm not saying that you are but I was in the same position once in that I couldn't decide which route to go. I figured that pindle bot sorcs would go mass life because they have chickenhack with the bot and mhers would also because they could see dangerous boss packs a mile away. Being a mass vit sorc is alright but i think a blocker is much better all round. Thats just my opinion though and mass vit sorcs do have their benefits such as being able to tank elemental hits. I just think it's too dangerous teleing to meph without block. Having block has saved me on many occasions. I guess my opinions is bias though as i've never made a sorc without block. You can always compromise and aim for 50% block which is still good.

My last fire sorc ran meph at level 71 with 900life/750mana and 65% block. I had maxed resists and used a raven frost to minimize his orbs damage but it still did quite a lot, i'd say about 300-400 hp maybe at an estimate. I didn't use energy shield though. My current sorc is Orb/TK and can tank meph easy (my last sorc used the moat trick). My fire sorc didn't even use static but I did have a lower resist wand which is good for a fire sorc but not really for a cold sorc as the mastery does that anyway. With very few +skills static kinda sux coz you have to get right up on him as the range isn't great.

So I would recommend Max Cold/Light resist and a raven frost if you can afford it. Whitstans really is a great shield so definitely get your hands on one. Try and aim for 900 life to be safe but 800-850 should be sufficient, any lower and you're asking for deeds. I began using whitstans with my orb sork but then switched to lidless for the Cast, Skill and mana boost. Having 105% Cast and 30% fhr is really good for teleing down to him. You may even want to consider going Orb/TK as you can invest skills into teleport which may sound liek a waste but will save ur a55 if you tele into a group of mana burn creeps.

I hope all this helps.

btw don't worry about mf initially. Learn how to use your sorc well and get her running meph with confidence first then you can think about boosting your mf. A lot of runs > A lot of mf.

[0takuPryd3]

There is no danger whatsoever teleing to Meph once you have good gear. Untwinked it is very scary, but if you are a life sorc you can get stunned by the ogre-type m onsters without fear once you get some nice stuff. Until then, just always have juvs and have a good cast rate.

[lusse]

how sad that you really think that all sorcs cheat.

I'm actually 100% legit but im am a coward. I never MF in hell without bo/shout. So I always have my laptop on and bo/shout myself before every round. Finding the stairs down to meph is really easy once you do it a few times. You kinda learn the pattern.

Anyway, Dont go for block at all. thats my tip. Go for lidless with a perf diamond. This for fcr (when teleporting) and the +1 skill. Why?

Cause you can just simply avoid meph perfectly. Get out of range from him and just give him some showers with blizzard and iceblast(or whatever you picked for synergi)

Very seldom he gets to shot me, the few times the merc takes the hit. But to do this you need a ranged merc, so either rogue or iron wolf, your choice.

[stevethatsmyname]

well if you dont have 'decent' enough gear to survive hell meph, just run nm meph /andy till you feel comfortable running meph in hell.

[ZounceHC]

how sad that you really think that all sorcs cheat.



Where did I say that all sorcs cheat? I didn't. It's more sad that you judged me without fully understanding/reading my post. We all know that the majority of players on bnet use maphack, which is sad. So saying most sorcs cheat is probably even more accurate considering sorcs are the class used for running meph and botting. I'm trying to say that the abundance of mass vit sorcs is largely due to cheats as I think that having no block is a lot less viable if you're legit or don't have a second computer to bo yourself. Sure you get great bonuses from bo if you go mass vit but most people don't have the resources to do this. I have the resources to bo myself but I consider it a waste of time as it slows down your runs per hour by a lot.

[0takuPryd3]

The moat trick is cheating in my opinion. I don't care, really... but it's cheating.

[rpgforumsnet]

Cheating yet again to be redefined....
Maybe you should let meph punch you once everytime you got a hit on him? (and no pots, he doesn't have any) :lol:

Anyway, during my first 80% d2 career at 1st season I always build my sorc with max vit. And now I'm a convert of max block.

Reason being point spent on vit on a sorc does not have ROI as good as a barb, and you'll be surprised how little dex you need to spend in order to get good blocking with some good shields (whistan, rhyme, etc), and yet having a respectable amount of hp.

You can even shop for a machinics shield of deflecting (you just need some gold and patiences) and socket 2 pdiaomond in it. Works like a charm.

[Mcsaladshaker]

I just go for mid block so i can block an occasional hit, but i dont get block locked

[VaN_haMMerSteIn]

Or you could go max block with faster block rate...

[stevethatsmyname]

You can even shop for a machinics shield of deflecting (you just need some gold and patiences) and socket 2 pdiaomond in it. Works like a charm.
Or you could just use larzuk's socket quest...

save yourself some time!

[Mcsaladshaker]

Or you could go max block with faster block rate...

Well in order to get faster block rate id hafta give up 22 resist all, or give up using stormshield and i don't wanna do that

[sahlakh]

Going for mid-block is kinda stupid IMO for obvious reasons.

Also, a sork gains only 2 hp per point in vita, not much, I always go for max block even untwinked. Later it's worth it, it's like changing 300 hp to 1/4 chance to get hit :P

You can always 'shael' that SS (always shael with sork).

[rpgforumsnet]

Or you could just use larzuk's socket quest...

save yourself some time!

Yeah, if you find/shop a magic shield of deflecting and don't mind wasting the socket quest (50% chance of getting 2 sockets).

Artisan's can take quite a while to shop for one but Mechanic's are quite common.
Personally I'll be pissed if I wasted the quest that way, as the objective here is to get a cheap alternative to equip his sorc before he can gather a good item base.


Magic Items will receive 1 or 2 Sockets with probability of either assuming that they are possible given the rules for normal. So you'll either get 1 Socket or 2.

[lusse]

Sorry ZounceHC, I didnt read your entire post :P My apologies to you and forgive my lazyness.

Anyway, I dont really think moating meph is a cheating. Why would it be? I do prefer to kill him upfront having my merc tanking him as I said (im paranoid and I think i get better drops at the stairs) but i dont find moating to be any kind of cheat. You're out of his target range, he's still in yours. You're not scrolling, you're not maphacking your way down, you're not botting. For the people that already cheat, all their process is a huge cheat. But for the legit players moating meph, it aint a cheat.

[ZounceHC]

Yeah I agree that going mid block is stupid but you should wait until late nm before you start pumping dex. Norm is fine with no block and the majority of nm isn't a worry. I usually wait until i'm getting good levels in nm baals and then start pumping dex. The only reason I would have lowish block would be if I could foresee myself getting +dex items like raven or waterwalk in the near future. Having no block gives you a false sense of security. You are a lot weaker than you feel.

[Eric999]

Hello,

I'm new in this forum.

I never heard a thing about the "moat trick".

Could someone explain me what it is ?

[Mcsaladshaker]

Meh I like to mf with the most mf possible so i don't like using items that give +dex like raven or waterwalks

anyways my sorc is still alive and thats what counts =)

[weedkilz]

Hey angel, I would also do as several people have said and run nm meph for awhile. He really does drop well, and you can easily get a whitstans and other items that will trade for a wizzy. You add this with a p-crown, decent viper, and a few other items, you will be fine. Wizzy is the key though esp[ecially for tele. YOu can weapon switch to a gull dagger or what not when you are spamming your blizz but wizzy beats anything else for tele'n to meph. The 50 faster cast , 75 resists, and mana increase definately outweigh any other sorc orb. And max block is an must. With max block and ersists, you will be in good shape. Just try to trade for small charms with 15+ life on them as you find decent items like shaft, etc. You can easily get over 1k life and still have max block. My 87 sorc has max block with whitstans and has 1076 life with terrible charms. Gl to ya

[turnips]

From my experiences if your merc is equipped with cannot be frozen, kelpie snare (75% slow target) and maxed resists it can survive meph as long as you have good damage. My current sorc is far from godly and with my lower resists wand on switch my merc doesn't even hit 1/2 life against meph. My merc's gear is: tal's helm, kelpie snare, duriel's shell...all those items can be traded for with pgems. Just my two cents. Another advantage to kelpie snare is +life per level, and it doesn't do much damage so you won't have him constantly popping dolls and getting you pwned when you're tele'ing to Durance 3. Of course I use a different weapon when I'm not MF'ing Meph or when I'm just MF'ing Ancient Tunnels/Maggot/Mausoleum.

[Corndog]

I always use a merc. Even if he dies mid way he gave you some time to static and whittle away at mephs life before the onslaught begins. Just pick everything up he drops and sell it to revive your merc each time. Once a act2 merc hits around level 70 he should survive NM meph with decent gear. Same can be said for hell Meph at around 85. With good gear he willl survive at a much lower level.

Advantages of a merc against Meph in nm and hell.

1. While being melee'd Meph doesnt use the cold ball.
2. While being melee'd Meph doesnt cast Blizzard.
3. While being melee'd Meph pretty much stands still.

Dream item setup for a Act2 merc. IMHO

Reapers Toll (decripify is so nice on Meph)
Shaft (damage reduction and life)
Rockstopper (damage reduction, resists, faster hit recovery)

[MoUsE_WiZ]

Hello,

I'm new in this forum.

I never heard a thing about the "moat trick".

Could someone explain me what it is ?Taking meph back to the moat, porting across it, then standing back with a click lock on him casting blizzard/meteor/firewall while he can't shoot back at you.
IMO it's a waste of time and effort, if you absolutely NEED to do it, you'll probably die eventually anyways, if you don't NEED to do it, it's much faster to not do it.

That's a dream setup if you can afford a cham for your merc's shaft maybe =p
GoGo Durry's shell~
Edit: And by Durry's shell I ACTUALLY meant to say Gladiator's Bane.

[rpgforumsnet]

Dream gear (not considering rune words)

Eth reaper tolls
Eth Glad Bane
Eth 2skt CoA shaelx2 (need to check the bp)

BTW I did some experiment

Use shaft instead of a regular armor : merc goes down almost as fast

Just shout my merc and no BO: merc survive the elemental & poison attack, life @80% after I'm done with meph

I'm guessing that the melee attack of meph is partially magical (like zerk?) and high def + MDR is more important when tanking him.

(PS to those who are new to running meph, search the forum for quest bug - you can do it even with 1 copy of d2, just create and rejoin)

[Baranor]

I don't see why you don't want to be a blocker. I think most sorcs that go no block are either botters or use maphack,

calling me a botter/MH-er eh m8? 9 frame cating speed, holy freeze merc, 1200 life and 1100 mana get you in and out of trouble really quick. I'll tell you a little trick: 14% chance to cast level 5 novae. Causes stunlock sometimes due to being a lightning attack. It grants me escape time ^_^

[ZounceHC]

I apologize Baranor. I didn't mean to offend anyone by that statement. I didn't realise so many people went for no block. Considering I haven't made a mass vit sork I guess I should have kept my mouth shut. I just have a strong belief in the benefits of a block sork. But each to their own and I can understand that if you are an experienced player and have a good knowledge of what you need to do to survive then a sork with no block is viable.

@ Rpg: The bp for fhr that you're aiming for is 60 i think. Also would you deem it necessary to increase your mercs attack speed or do you not think it's worth it. I dug up the bps and I think it was 50% Ias to hit 6 frames so Shael the weapon and Ias the Helm/Armor. So which is more beneficial fhr or ias? Or a compromise between the 2. I have an up'd um GA and was thinking this would be a nice merc armor combined with kiras. My recent attempts to take a merc along with me while meffing have resulted in a 50k fee each run so I was thinking that resists may help him survive.

[DarkAngelSM]

alright, I did get that whitstan's (thanks ^_^), so I have max block right now, but at lvl 43, I only have 300ish life, which is really low. Just worried about that 1 hit ko from hell meph.

[ZounceHC]

I hate to say this but you went for max block too early. I generally wait until late nm to pump dex. Try and get some + life items to make up for it. Angelic rings + ammy is good for that and you can shop decent belts with + life. If you're on west I can hook you up with a plated belt with 100 life if you're interested. Bloodfist are also handy but aren't that great on a sorc.

[Corndog]

alright, I did get that whitstan's (thanks ^_^), so I have max block right now, but at lvl 43, I only have 300ish life, which is really low. Just worried about that 1 hit ko from hell meph.

I personally wouldnt run hell meph with out 1000+ Life and near max resist (if not maxed).

[DarkAngelSM]

Uhh I'm not going to be able to get 1000+ life, but I will have max resists. I'm lvl 67 right now with 550 life

[HAMC8112]

Uhh I'm not going to be able to get 1000+ life, but I will have max resists. I'm lvl 67 right now with 550 life

If you have a reasenable amount of dmg reduce you can run meph with 600 life, i know you can cos i did. o/c with max res and t-gods and stuff but you can do without the godly gear, static, dodge and fire, dodge and fire. Normaly i start running at 61, wiz lvl, togetter with magefists, its really all you need for meph.

[DarkAngelSM]

without max res, at 600 life, im pretty sure you'd die if you ever got hit by a blizz or cold orb

[ZounceHC]

I think ham is refering to NM meph as there's no reason you'd start running meph at lvl 61 as there's still some good pwer lvling in nm baals at that level. But he did say he had max resists. If you went up against hell meph with 600 life, yea it would be kinda dodgy.

[0takuPryd3]

There is no need for 1000 life when you have max block. 1000 life is pretty hard to achieve with max block anyway.

[weedkilz]

ya, maxed resists AND Max block are more important than having 1K life in my opinion. I can run hell meph with just these two and 720 life (lvl 70 and built for ss max blocking) and have no problems. However, at level 61 and less than godly gear, I would definately stay in nm meph. as a hint, you should read up on the first drop thing, works well.

AS far as a merc, if you are doing the mote trick with blizz, I wouldnt reccomend one as he will just attrack other monsters. I am an orber so make better use of the merc, he wears um'd levi, 15 ias 12 resist al jool'd gaze, and 2 ammned bonehew. He finally stopped dying around lvl 85 or so when his resists got higher.