isnt static/orb dangerous for meph?

[xxljotkkalxx]

I'm thinking of making a good mf sorc for meph/pindle running. I know blizz sorc works very nicely but I just died with one and got tired of making it again.

With meteorb vs. orb/es/tk build, I'm more leaning towards orb/es build since all I'm going to do after lvl 85 is meph and pindle run.

The thing I'm worried about is that to kill cold immune pindle AND meph fast with orb is that I have to use static, which translates into more chance of dying. And as we all know, dying in hardcore is a pain in the rear.

Right now, I'm leaning towards max block route with tgod + ss for VERY safe against lightening.

my setup before running hell pindle would be..

Shako
SS
Skulders
Occy / SS
res/mf/life ring and ammys
Chancie/ Rare mf boots.
(without any skill GC)

I guess Meteorb would do the trick in killing cold immune pindle but shouldnt I have at least 10~12 + skills before making two tree build effective to kill hell pindle?

[Still-Xey-Lover]

I highly go against doing hell pindle, you can die very easily there and you are much better off doing hell andy/meph and then making an e/s/p runner (javazon, trapper,etc.)

[PhatTrumpet]

Blizzard/GSpike is the best Sorc build for Pindle, so I'd also suggest staying away from him with either of the builds you're considering.

You don't exactly need +10-12 skills to make dual element builds work, but again, moot point. My last two Orb/Fireballers owned with I believe +9 skills, so they'd definitely have still been effective with +6-7.

I don't know what you're talking about with Static making Meph more dangerous, probably because I've never not used Static on him and I see the moat trick as kind of lame. But I guess for many the moat trick has become sort of a crutch. With TGods and SS (max block I assume) and max resists you'll be fine tanking Meph's lightning and Orb. I would throw in a high MDR Dwarfstar or a Raven (or both) just to be safe.

Another thing about Meph + Static: if you don't have a huge MF weapon switch use an LR wand as soon as he gets on your screen. It boosts your Static damage quite a bit and can cut your killing speed almost in half.

[Raith]

orb/es/static should ezpk meph. all you need is a tanking merk.

[Nilaripper]

orb/es/static should ezpk meph. all you need is a tanking merk.

There are other possibilites than a tanking merc, if u think of the chest trick, where meph is stuck at the last chest in the middle while a sorc kills him from the right fire-torch from far distance (works with lightnin pretty well). He cant even touch u there all u need is to get him to middle chest from the left side,
and he tries to follow u to the right and gets stuck...easy kill.

[Valar-Wrath]

orb/es/static should ezpk meph. all you need is a tanking merk.

Actually a merk isn't even needed. IMO, merks are overrated. With mediocre gear I could easily tank all of Meph's attacks and kill him within a few seconds. I didn't even use a merc.

You should have no problem if you have access to shako, SS, etc.

[Raith]

more mf and lack of other items, you would need merk. yah!

[Full_Circle]

orb/es/static should ezpk meph. all you need is a tanking merk.

I usually tank meph for my merc to keep him from dying. Without BO, I've had some trouble building a merc who could survive him every time without me throwing juvs at him.

[xeyloderixed]

i've heard of peeps having success with and without merks, but personally i like my waheed. not only does he make teleing to durance 3 safer, you can load him up with whatever attack you are lacking (huge phys damage, slow, etc). i like kelpie on my orber/meffers; makes it really hard to die (even with very very craptacular gear)

[SnowyRedemption]

i've heard of peeps having success with and without merks, but personally i like my waheed. not only does he make teleing to durance 3 safer, you can load him up with whatever attack you are lacking (huge phys damage, slow, etc). i like kelpie on my orber/meffers; makes it really hard to die (even with very very craptacular gear)

Erm... if you tele with a merc don't you basically HAVE to take their weapon off?

Otherwise... *teleports next to a stygian doll, merc kills doll, doll blows up, you die*

Well anyways, I don't really find meph hard. His attacks are all pretty easy to dodge, so excepting lag, even if you can't survive anymore than 2 hits from him or something, you should be okay. Of course... with bnet the way it is... relying on a good connection to stay alive might not be the best idea... but... yeah.

[Valar-Wrath]

Erm... if you tele with a merc don't you basically HAVE to take their weapon off?

Not if you use Kelpies.

[MoUsE_WiZ]

I usually tank meph for my merc to keep him from dying. Without BO, I've had some trouble building a merc who could survive him every time without me throwing juvs at him.
Reapers/Lawbringer/Kelpie + Blackhorns + Durry's Shell... that's how you get your merc to tank meff.
As for taking the weapon off... if 1-2 doll pops can kill your sork you probably shouldn't be mephing in the first place.

[Full_Circle]

*teleports next to a stygian doll, merc kills doll, doll blows up, you die*

Actually, the only time I've died to dolls teleporting to Meph had nothing to do with them blowing up... it had to do with them being mana burn, fanat, & cursed. Nastiest pack I've ever seen.

As far as the merc thing... even with Reapers, Duriels, and Blackhorn's, my merc was dying if I let him try to stand there and tank Meph (he may have been a bit low level - high 70s/low 80s). However, if I got up in Meph's face and distracted him, the merc did fine, and with orb/tk, Meph's not really much of a threat to you unless a Might aura councilman wanders too close. I did use Kelpie for a while, which worked significantly better than Reaper's on Mephisto himself, but the death above convinced me to do 2 things... switch to Reapers and sink a bunch of points into Tele... hopefully giving me a chance to escape any nasty mana-burn packs I come across.

[Valar-Wrath]

I did use Kelpie for a while, which worked significantly better than Reaper's on Mephisto himself, but the death above convinced me to do 2 things... switch to Reapers and sink a bunch of points into Tele... hopefully giving me a chance to escape any nasty mana-burn packs I come across.

How does Reaper's save you from dolls?

[SnowyRedemption]

Not if you use Kelpies.

sorry if I'm missing something... but what does Kelpies do that's so good?

Anyways the thing with the dolls... it actually only happened once, but once is enough for me...

Tele'd next to a few stygian doll minions (the unique didn't have anything al that special but anyways), they all hit me so I got stuck in blocklock (couldn't tele), my merc killed 2, I died. I suppose in theory I could have hit a frj in between them... but... I'd rather not have my life depend on whether I can unexpectedly hit 1 in the space of about a quatre of a second.

[Full_Circle]

How does Reaper's save you from dolls?

IF decrep had triggered right away, it would have slowed them down enough that I may have been able to escape. Maybe. I switched to Reapers for that maybe, because Meph really wasn't a problem.



As for why Kelpie's is good... if you're worried about your merc killing dolls, Kelpie's is good because he won't be able to kill dolls. The damage is very low. The other reason it's good is the slow.

[Valar-Wrath]

sorry if I'm missing something... but what does Kelpies do that's so good?

Kelpies is a prime choice for meph running because of it's low damage and slow effect. Low damage is good so that if your merk accidentally hits a doll on your way down to Meph, it won't necessarily pop in one hit and kill you. The slow is good because it REALLY ties down Meph making you killing him, safer and faster.

[Tai.]

If you're going Orb'TK you should have NO trouble killing mephy, any difficulty.

Assuming that you don't have a merc for the slow or decrep, just launch one orb at mephy to slow him, tele in stat, then tele back out and walk back and forth around him in a semi-circle orbing everytime you stop.
Give yourself enough distance and he'll stand right where he is and cast his elemental attacks (if you manage to get hit by his iceball or lightning attack while moving, let me know how you did it k) which makes him very easy to sweet-spot.
My lvl 75 sorc is currently first dropping mephy via this method. No Wizzy or Shako, but no close calls yet.

Cheers
-Tai

[SnowyRedemption]

If you're going Orb'TK you should have NO trouble killing mephy, any difficulty.

Assuming that you don't have a merc for the slow or decrep, just launch one orb at mephy to slow him, tele in stat, then tele back out and walk back and forth around him in a semi-circle orbing everytime you stop.
Give yourself enough distance and he'll stand right where he is and cast his elemental attacks (if you manage to get hit by his iceball or lightning attack while moving, let me know how you did it k) which makes him very easy to sweet-spot.
My lvl 75 sorc is currently first dropping mephy via this method. No Wizzy or Shako, but no close calls yet.

Cheers
-Tai

I mostly agree, there's only one hole.

BNet lags.

[Jimi-]

My sork did Mephisto/ancient tunnels all the time. She had shako/ss/
wizzy/viper, I never had a close call except for once when I forgot to switch back to wizzy/ss from my lower resist charged wand :x,
The usual orb build. Telekinesis is the key