Key Sorc

[w-igor]

Hello,
im still thinking about my nxt char... i have soo much to do...
But after making nice pala i think i need a char for key finding. Iveheard eni baba is the best here. I believe. But that ENI baba. ENI ! If i have to make lv80 baba, buy him an eni only for find some keys... i prefer to sell eni and have keys for next half year. I think he's too expensive.

But sorc dont have that problem. Im sure sorcs can find all 3 keys... but wich one is the best for that? Tell me what you think. It'll be nice if that sorc is able to wear mf equip, dont die, make mef runs and of course key runs - all in one if possible. I know it is. Sorcs are just too good :)

[ThewisdomMaster]

i use a fireball/orb sorc but i also have a really good merc with out a merc i couldnt kill countess so i recommend orb/cl perhaps also i find nith really annoying so i usually just trade the t key for the d one but orb/cl would be good i believe

[w-igor]

...thats all? I really need more replys :(
ps. But of course thx a lot for this one

[msullivan]

Meteorb sorc with holy freeze merc can easily do all key runs. Not sure if you've got a sorc already or not. Nithlank was a little scary at first but is actually pretty easy once you get used to it. A vita sorc is probably better than a blocking one for Nithlank. My sorc has around 1200 life (no BO) and 75% fire resist and can easily take a couple of his corpse explosions.

Countess:
Tele to tower level 5, Orb any random monsters, Fireball Countess's minions, let your merc take her out. Mine has 2xAmn Bonehew and takes her down in a matter of seconds. You can Static her if you want to (if you've got a point in Static) but it's really not necessary.

Summoner:
Tele to Summer and kill with weapon of your choosing. Nice and easy. Be sure to Tele continuously or ghosts might zap your mana.

Nithlank:
Tele to just outside Nithlank's room. Fireball easily takes down most of the random monsters. I find it best to take out all the ghosts, archers, succubi, and serpents in his room first. They're more dangerous alive then dead really. They have low life so don't hurt much if they get exploded. Just lure them out and fireball. Once they're dead, tele to the edge of Nithlank's crowd, name-lock Nithlank and attack with Orb or Meteor. He'll go down with 2-3 Meteors or about 3-4 Orbs. Don't even bother moving once you've got him locked and the Meteor's start dropping. Your merc will engage most of the remaining minions. Even if some start attacking you they swing slowly and don't do a lot of damage. Pop a health potion if necessary. Once Nithlank's dead, finish off the minions with Fireball.

[w-igor]

Biggest thx possible for this reply. It helped me a lot.
ill take MeteOrb... or Meteor ONLY.
You've writen how to run all keys. And... orb isnt necesary. Holy Freeze will slow opponents, so Orb is just low dmg non-fire spell. But only immun to fire is count... and she is also fire immun anyway :) Nihlat is sometimes fire immun. Ive heard thats about 1/7. But i think i can loose one of 7 runs. MonoMeteor is better for meph runs, right? A lot of faster.

So now... only questions about Meteor and MeteOrb...
Just tell me something about them pls. Wich one is better in wich aspects?

[AnimeCraze]

Well, I am not just going to build a sorc for running keys only, so I build two element sorcs. Meterob sorc can do all areas, and can be used as a rusher. A bit better in Andy runs since you can use orb to kill fallens and FB Andy herself. On last ladder, I just use my standard full tal's meteorb mf sorc to run for keys, and it all worked out fine. I haven't ran for D keys though, since I didn't have a nature's peace ring. I suppose with it, it won't be too hard running for that one too, but I never got to try it since ladder resetted. :lol:

[msullivan]

Biggest thx possible for this reply. It helped me a lot.
ill take MeteOrb... or Meteor ONLY.
You've writen how to run all keys. And... orb isnt necesary. Holy Freeze will slow opponents, so Orb is just low dmg non-fire spell. But only immun to fire is count... and she is also fire immun anyway :) Nihlat is sometimes fire immun. Ive heard thats about 1/7. But i think i can loose one of 7 runs. MonoMeteor is better for meph runs, right? A lot of faster.

So now... only questions about Meteor and MeteOrb...
Just tell me something about them pls. Wich one is better in wich aspects?

My sorc is pretty much cookie-cutter Meteorb. I haven't played a straight Meteor sorc, nor do I do a lot of Meph runs, so I can't really comment on the benefits of straight Meteor. However, I'd recommend Meteorb over Meteor for key runs for the following reasons:

1. Countess's Tower has a lot of fire immune random monsters such as Fallen and Goatmen. You're gonna Tele past most of them but there's usually a couple packs around Countess and your merc will start attacking them instead of Countess if you don't kill them.

2. Ditto for Summoner. He's usually surrounded by a couple packs of monsters which include more fire immune goat men.

3. As you mentioned, Nithlank can also spawn fire immune, and some of the random monsters in the area may be fire immune. It's easiest if you can just take them all out and concentrate on your target.

4. Meteorb is probably easier to level with since you can kill a much higher percentage of monsters.

5. Orb only needs 20 points Orb and a few points in Cold Mastery to be viable with decent plus skills. Meteor and Fireball do plenty of damage PvM with Max Meteor, Fireball, Fire Mastery, and spare points in Fire Bolt. Most non-fire immune monsters on key runs go down with one fireball anyway, so more power won't do much good. I'd rather have the double elements.

[Nilaripper]

Hello,
It'll be nice if that sorc is able to wear mf equip, dont die, make mef runs and of course key runs - all in one if possible. I know it is. Sorcs are just too good :)
Thats exactly what i do right now. But i use a lightsorc on HC Ladder 3.
Countess and Summoner are fast and easy, Nihlatakh is a little harder but with a
Natures Peace ring he cant use CE.If there are vipers at Nihlatakh, i make new game,cause these monsters are insane.15Hate/ 13terror/2 destruction so far.
(I started Nilaruns just recently). :lol:

[w-igor]

lets start MeteOrb sorc!
But now... i think we should design a build ;) First ill post Sasja's build:

Skills

Frozen Orb 20
prereqs 5
Cold Mastery 8

Meteor 20
Fire Ball 20
prereqs 4
Warmth 1
Fire Mastery 20 (think about putting a few of these in Fire Bolt instead if you find you use Fire Ball more than Meteor and/or have a lot of +skills)

Static Field 1
Teleport 1
prereqs 1

Equip

Magic find runs in areas (such as the pits) and other situations where you
don't use your switch weapons for the kill, like Eldritch/Shenk/Pindle:
Helm: Tal's with a perfect topaz
Amulet: Tal's
Weapon: Ist'ed Tal's
Switch: Cold armor/Energy Shield or Battle Order
Armor: Tal's with perfect topaz
Shield: Ist'ed Stormshield
Gloves: Chance guards
Belt: Tal's
Boots: War traveler
Rings: Rare rings with mf and resistance (or Raven/Dwarf star for better
survival)


What do you think about this? And i think Spirit except Storm, right? And... Sajsa suggest max block. Isnt that crazy? About 220dex, 156str and then how many in vita? 20 ? Tal Rasha gives a lot of life, but i think i should go max vita just like someone told here.
And stats should be: nrg 0, dex 0, str 156, vita rest - right?

[AnimeCraze]

Block is preference. If you don't like it (I don't, not for sorc), then by all means use spirit. Also, isn't isting tal's orb a bit of an overkill? I suppose, if you are rich. Personally, I would use magefist too, since it has +1 fire and FCR. If you happened to have a perfect Spirit, you will hit that 105 BP, if I recall correctly.

[w-igor]

sure, i wont ist my tal orb. That was just copy/pastle from sajsa's strategy.
Yeah, Spirit sounds better for me. Max vita too.
Are those skills alright vs keys?

[msullivan]

Block is preference. If you don't like it (I don't, not for sorc), then by all means use spirit. Also, isn't isting tal's orb a bit of an overkill? I suppose, if you are rich. Personally, I would use magefist too, since it has +1 fire and FCR. If you happened to have a perfect Spirit, you will hit that 105 BP, if I recall correctly.

I agree on Spirit. Not only do you get fast cast, skills, resists, mana, and life, you also get 55% FHR which helps a lot when teleporting past mobs of monsters.

The sorc is the most mobile of all the characters - so why would you stand around trying to block shots with a shield anyway. Really, your merc is your shield. Sorry, I'm a little vita biased... :)

I also agree on the Vipers. They're the worst of all the random monsters so you MAY want to skip. They have nasty poison damage and tend to take out your merc fairly quickly... so you may end up having to revive him which may not be worth it. Be careful of the poison cloud that they produce as it seems to linger around longer than it's visible.

[rykuss]

I agree on Spirit. Not only do you get fast cast, skills, resists, mana, and life, you also get 55% FHR which helps a lot when teleporting past mobs of monsters.

The sorc is the most mobile of all the characters - so why would you stand around trying to block shots with a shield anyway. Really, your merc is your shield. Sorry, I'm a little vita biased... :)

I also agree on the Vipers. They're the worst of all the random monsters so you MAY want to skip. They have nasty poison damage and tend to take out your merc fairly quickly... so you may end up having to revive him which may not be worth it. Be careful of the poison cloud that they produce as it seems to linger around longer than it's visible.

Yeah i can vouche for that poison cloud, it's definately bugged to be sure. When the patch came out i ran a few times and the cloud did indeed poison me long after it's "visible" duration had expired. Of course that was with my hammerdin, i've never managed to build a good all around sorceress. :( I'm hopeful this season though.

[Rookeeya]

:clap:

LOL! Make a lightening sorc! Dress her in full Tal's with whatever shield, boots, gloves, and rings you like. (Lidless with P Diamond, Chancies, 2 SOJ's and Travs) Add to that a Holy freeze merc with Duriels, Tal's mask, and a dual shaeled Bonehew. She can take the Countess easy and the Countess is never immune to light. She also does very well in the Arcane and dances through that with ease! As for Nith? One shot of chain light usually gets them all! FedEx just goes to look at the bodies. Not overly expensive, fast, efficient.. almost too good to be true!

Hello,
im still thinking about my nxt char... i have soo much to do...
But after making nice pala i think i need a char for key finding. Iveheard eni baba is the best here. I believe. But that ENI baba. ENI ! If i have to make lv80 baba, buy him an eni only for find some keys... i prefer to sell eni and have keys for next half year. I think he's too expensive.

But sorc dont have that problem. Im sure sorcs can find all 3 keys... but wich one is the best for that? Tell me what you think. It'll be nice if that sorc is able to wear mf equip, dont die, make mef runs and of course key runs - all in one if possible. I know it is. Sorcs are just too good :)

[w-igor]

why you write that now ?! :(
Ive just started my MeteOrb sorc...

What do you guys think about Light vs MeteOrb?
But now - not only keys. If you can, pls tell me about keys and MF runs in every area. I want the best sorc! :P

[AnimeCraze]

If you want to run more than just keys, meteorb is a lot better. Moating with lightning is not the best thing in the world......

[msullivan]

I've recently tried a different tactic with Nithlank which has worked out well so far and tends to be safer:

Instead of Teleporting into a room full of minions, go to one of the entrances of the room and spray the entire room with a stream of fireballs. Most of the minions and Nithlank will probably be off screen, but FB has a long range and will still hit them. By the time your mana gets low the entire room should be either dead or dying. If Nithlank is still alive you can easily take him out with no minions around. Also, Nithlank's corpse explosions seem to have a fairly limited range, so if you're more than a half screen or so away from the explosion it doesn't seem to hit you.

Incidentally, I often use a similar tactic against Andy (not that she's that hard anyway). Just send a stream of fireballs down the center of her throne room and you can kill her without ever seeing her.