At an impasse?

[markdash]

I'm a first-time sorc (well, basically first-time D2X player) following a pretty standard Meteorb build, but I'm having a lot of trouble in Hell. I can't solo as my barb (Act 2 NM holy freeze) is getting mauled by the monsters, and then without my meat shield I can't effectively do much.

I feel like I'm stuck between being too good for NM on account of my skills, but not having nearly good enough equipment to survive on Hell. I haven't found much good stuff when it comes to equipment, just a +1 sorc ammy and a +1 sorc globe to give me skills, while the rest of my stuff is pretty crappy. My shield is a rare with 1D and a 54% block rate, which is nice but the lack of resistances kills me in Hell. I have been looking for a 3S shield but i can't seem to find one that doesn't have a miserable block rate.

My Barb has a decent Rare casque, a set 700 armor, and the Pierre polearm.

I have tried socketing a bunch of topaz into helms and armor and have done a lot of NM Shenk runs with some NM Mephisto mixed in there. So far, I haven't found much that's worthwhile. I feel like the one thing I have to do is to just load up on MF and do a ton of Mephy runs, but before I made that sort of commitment I wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing something "wrong." I'm pretty much following the Meteorb guide in the guide archive.

Thanks in advance.

[bruthor]

I've found much better orbs than yous from normal baal running.
Do'nt know what '1D', means, but 54% chance to block is lousy. try finding a sigons at least. And gamble for good +skills amulets/circlets.

[markdash]

I've found much better orbs than yous from normal baal running.
Do'nt know what '1D', means, but 54% chance to block is lousy. try finding a sigons at least. And gamble for good +skills amulets/circlets.

it has a socketed perfect diamond in it.

Are there other items worth gambling for?

[lonnie913]

first time sorceresses always reach this impasse. nightmare mephisto is a good place to start for some midlevel gear (suicide branch, vipermagi, waterwalk, mosers, viscertuant, peasant crown, etc etc). if you are on ladder, i would do nightmare cow and countess runs in order to put together an insight polearm for my mercenary and a spirit sword. these two things help a lot.

besides equipment, you need to learn to play better :lol: . thats not an insult, its just a matter of getting used to playing a sorceress. you already know you need to keep your mercenary alive, but havent had much success. i would suggest a combination of glacial spike and positional teleports to keep him out of danger. a meteorb sorc does not need her merc to actually kill anything, she needs him to distract enemies and not die. by constantly teleporting (when my merc is overmatched ill tele every 1.5 seconds or something) you keep the merc and enemies moving and they wont get a chance to have prolonged combat. glacial spike works similarly.

[mrsalty]

Teleport is the best tool to keeping your merc alive. If hes getting mauled just tele back a bit and give him a breather. Here is the strategy I used with my meteorb sorc.... When a pack rushes you tele back and then step back a bit.... then fire a few meteors right on you mercs head. He will hold the pack there and the pack will absorb your meteors.... Also... I maxed fireball as its a synergy for meteor and its VERY fast so you can fire it a lot while your air assult is in flight.... if things get too heated, tele back and repeat.

[Superhal]

imho, if you are just starting out, make a dedicated mf char. ideally, a blizz sorc for meph runs. actually, a meteorb is a relatively challenging build, as your main attacks don't come in until lvl 30, and you can't start raising synergies until around lvl 70.

[markdash]

As a follow-up, I decided to do about 8 NM Meph runs last night, which netted me a Goldskin (which was a lot better than the armor I was using) and a HoK, which I then traded for a 49% War Traveler. I probably got ripped off on this one, but I don't really mind. I'm pretty sure I got VERY lucky in the first place to have him drop HoK, I could run the odds on it but I dont know that I feel like it.

I think I will continue doing Meph runs until I can put together Insight and some other good items for more effective hell runs.

As for lonnie, I agree that teleporting frequently is good, but for one reason or another my char has a really pitiful mana pool. I've avoided putting points into Energy because I knew I would eventually accumulate +mana items but I don't see to have found any that are worthwhile. I'm sure one Frostburn would do wonders, then i ccan really start hotkeying the **** out of it.

[chubbypuppy]

Make a "spirit" runeword sword. Relatively easy runes to get, +2 skills +fcr +life and +mana. This will help u in getting to meph and such.

[jonw]

Good advice - spirit is easy to make, sigs shield is cheap and has nice blocking +1 skills. I almost gave up on my meteorb at level 76 in new ladder, because she had no gear. Now at level 89, with shako/spider/up'd viper/spirit she's getting fun again.

How did I get from 'naked' to fair gear? Traded hell forge ist, mf'ed a hoz off mephy in hell, found 3 soc archon in Chaos Sanctuary (traded for 33 viper). Andy runs in Hell are decent. Meph in NM is safe and can turn up stuff. Found two Tal belts (14 and 10) and eth War Travs.

Yes, you have to master teleport to be a great sorceress. No way around that - keep practicing.

In 1.11, I'd hang out in NM and do Baal runs for people till you're level 80. It sounds really high, but 1.11 Hell monsters are super tough. With no gear, you'll die a lot. Once you have great gear, I think it's OK to go to Hell at level 71-75 or so.

New ladder and new sorc = bad combination!

Hang in there. Uber-meteorbs are amazing fun. :thumbsup: