PvP light sorc setup

[silentdeathe]

Hey, im planning on making a light pvper :clap:
I am leaning towards a ES build, which while sacrificing some killing power should make up for that in tanking ability. I dont really favor block on a pvp sorc, seeing as with high fcr you should be able to keep away from most melee characters, and ES should help with that, shouldnt it? I would prefer to use a perfect spirit monach, the fcr would allow me to reach 117% for the lighting skills easily. I have a few questions however about equiptment:

helm: shako or griffins?
armour: I was thinking Ormus (+3 lightning) but not certain
weapon: Eschuta's or Hoto?
gloves: frostburns
belt: arachnids
rings: sojs
amulet: nice rare or crafted ammy
boots: silkweaves

and my final query, is it worth socketing helm/ormus/Eschuta's with light facets? or in the end is it not really worth it.

Thanks for your help :thumbsup:

[barttange]

Griffon isn´t all that good on a sorc since the +lightning dmg is just added to your light mastery so won't do alot, I prefer a +3 light 20fcr 2 socks circlet instead.
Arach for Belt ofc.
I like hoto better, eshuta doesn't really add dmg (see griffon) and hoto has more res and coolness (personal).
Frostburn's, musthave
Spirit, If you want no block this is perfect for a es sorc.
Amu with good stats (mana!!! and skills) and 2 fcr since you need 2 to break the 117 bp.
2 soj ofc
I like Sandstorm traks alot, better then I like silks.
as for armor...I think I would take CoH for the skills resist and a nice strengthboost. Or enigma if you don't need any res (if you have 95% es).
For sockets, Use them to break some breakpoints (don't know the sorc fhr bp's but I like a fast fhr). I also like Perfect Sapphires, and don't use facet's please!

Conclusiom:

Cirlet: 20fcr, +3 light, 2 sox. (shael or P Saphhires)
Hoto
CoH or Enigma
Spirit
Arach
Frostburn
2x SoJ
Sandstorm Treks
+2 sorc (or +3 if possible, don't know) 2+ fcr, mana amu
9 light skillers (with life)
Anni, Torch
CTA (this helps a lot for a es sorc)

[barttange]

BTW: http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=269825

that is pretty good guide.

[silentdeathe]

Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:

Ive heard that the +% damage doesnt really do all that much on a light sorc, but for pvp can the -% res be disregarded?

I think i will invest in a nice rare circ over a griffons and ormus, seeing as the +2 to skills from enigma will most likely give me greater or equal damage than the +3 lightning and 15% light damage the ormus would give me.

any other suggestions are welcome :) thanks.

And yes, that ES-light guide is generally what i plan to build my sorcs skills around, and it is what finally pushed me into making a light sorc :p but thanks for the link :cool:

[barttange]

well, it can be neglected (is this the right word?) by stacking some res which is easily done, and I'm more of a defensive guy rather then a offensive guy so I would go for Saphhires/Shaels

Let's hear what others have to say since you never see someone recommend enigma for a es sorc.

[no2fakeshakes]

go block, so many amazons and paladins nowadays

[Rauth]

well, it can be neglected (is this the right word?)
negated :).

Go block. There will never be a time where you think, gee, I wish I had like 300 more life. There will be Many times where you think, gee, I wish I had blocked that.

[RetroStar]

negated :).

Go block. There will never be a time where you think, gee, I wish I had like 300 more life. There will be Many times where you think, gee, I wish I had blocked that.

Ya. I made my blizz sorc with lidless in 1.09. I always wished I went for block instead.

[GkT]

1st off, use Whistan's Guard & get Max Block. BvCs, Smiters, Zealots, Assassins, & Amazons will rip you apart otherwise. All of them have OW & you shouldn't have more than 1.5k Life. You'll get killed fast w/o Max Block.

2nd, try to get your Life to Mana ratio about 1 Life to every 3 or 3.5 Mana.

A nice Rare Circlet would be like: +2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA/Dex & then Str (Str is less important), & Life, & lastly, Res.

Although you might think Res aren't important, they are. Not as important as it might be to other PvPers. But get 75 in Hell for sure.

A legit setup to hit 117 FCR would be: Arachnid Mesh, Vipermagi (best Armor for any ES Sorc, period), HotO, a Rare Circlet, & an Amulet with at least 7 FCR.

[CallMeTheSpelunker]

well, it can be neglected (is this the right word?) by stacking some res which is easily done, and I'm more of a defensive guy rather then a offensive guy so I would go for Saphhires/Shaels

Let's hear what others have to say since you never see someone recommend enigma for a es sorc.

ur word is NEGATED

[Freezing Rain]

Griffons for the helm with a x/-5 Lightning facet is a good idea.
Dusk CoH // x/-5 Up'd Vipermagi are good idea's.
2x SOJ's
15str Treks // Silkweaves (not so good) // RARES with 15-20 stats/FHR/resists (best)
Bloodfists (if you hit FCR bp) // magefists // frostburns (i guess..)
Arachs
Maras // 2sorc/20fcr/stat // 3light/20fcr/stat (possible? dunno.)
I'd go with Hoto

Hoto 40%
Arachs 20%
Griffons 25%
Spirit 32-35%

120% right there, opening up gloves to bloodfists to get that FHR breakpoint with some light/12fhr gc's.

If you cannot afford spirit, i would say replace the amulet with a 20% fcr/2sorc/stat, and the gloves with fists.

If you don't use spirit then definitely go with a max block shield, i would use SS and have my griffon's BER'd, and have the SS Ber'd as well. 50% DR and max block, though your life will be lacking without 30+ lifer gc's and lots of 20's.

Other good choices would be whistans, mosers maybe, or double up'd visc :lol:

[RetroStar]

1st off, use Whistan's Guard & get Max Block. BvCs, Smiters, Zealots, Assassins, & Amazons will rip you apart otherwise. All of them have OW & you shouldn't have more than 1.5k Life. You'll get killed fast w/o Max Block.

2nd, try to get your Life to Mana ratio about 1 Life to every 3 or 3.5 Mana.

A nice Rare Circlet would be like: +2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA/Dex & then Str (Str is less important), & Life, & lastly, Res.

Although you might think Res aren't important, they are. Not as important as it might be to other PvPers. But get 75 in Hell for sure.

A legit setup to hit 117 FCR would be: Arachnid Mesh, Vipermagi (best Armor for any ES Sorc, period), HotO, a Rare Circlet, & an Amulet with at least 7 FCR.


1. BvC barbs will still rip apart a block sorc
2. Or even +2sorc/20fcr/str/dex/resist/2soc
3. ES doesnt take into effect of resist
4. I still like Wizpike more than Hoto for a light ES sorc build

[no2fakeshakes]

Griffons for the helm with a x/-5 Lightning facet is a good idea.
Dusk CoH // x/-5 Up'd Vipermagi are good idea's.
2x SOJ's
15str Treks // Silkweaves (not so good) // RARES with 15-20 stats/FHR/resists (best)
Bloodfists (if you hit FCR bp) // magefists // frostburns (i guess..)
Arachs
Maras // 2sorc/20fcr/stat // 3light/20fcr/stat (possible? dunno.)
I'd go with Hoto

Hoto 40%
Arachs 20%
Griffons 25%
Spirit 32-35%

120% right there, opening up gloves to bloodfists to get that FHR breakpoint with some light/12fhr gc's.

If you cannot afford spirit, i would say replace the amulet with a 20% fcr/2sorc/stat, and the gloves with fists.

If you don't use spirit then definitely go with a max block shield, i would use SS and have my griffon's BER'd, and have the SS Ber'd as well. 50% DR and max block, though your life will be lacking without 30+ lifer gc's and lots of 20's.

Other good choices would be whistans, mosers maybe, or double up'd visc :lol:

visc = upgraded only once, and this shield is pretty nice, right in between a whitsans and ss.
i dont see how 2/20 with stats could worth less than a spirit especially when the spirit doesnt have to be perfect.
it also depends how high ur energy shield would be. if you have 95%, sols/mals would work a lot better than bers.
also, shaeling your shield would save your life way more than that 8% dr.

[no2fakeshakes]

1. BvC barbs will still rip apart a block sorc
2. Or even +2sorc/20fcr/str/dex/resist/2soc
3. ES doesnt take into effect of resist
4. I still like Wizpike more than Hoto for a light ES sorc build

1. not all BvC barbs are that good.
2. lets be more realistic, unless the poster is very rich, i doubt he is going to get that kind of helm. shako, 2/20/mana already is nice enough.
3. and what happens if the mana pool is knocked down? taking 2 hits while your shield is down is a lot better than dying in 1 hit.
4. wizpikes are awesome, but es/light sorcs just need the skills to do their dmg while tanking.

[no2fakeshakes]

ahaha, i dont know how to shrink everything into one post =(

if you want to tear down pubs, you must go block.

chars that you will have a hard time against:
1. lightning trapper, these will almost aways beat you. they outrange you, sometimes can block you, and its even harder when they run around their traps.
2. BvC barb/wwsin, maybe its just me but i always end up trying to outtank the barb and end up dying. but ow + leap will be hard to fight against, replen life = good if you have a 95% es shield.
3. Wind Druid/Summon Necros minion stack > light sorc as long as they resummon their doggies or bears or skellies.
4. some people say you have the advantage because you can take a bajillion hits from these guys, but if they teleport ontop of you with a nicely synergized clay golem, he may or may not outtank you.
5. javazon especially ones that know how to farcast and utilizes slowmissile.
6. paladins because it just seems that its the class that slap on max resists to the max to negate you

[Rauth]

ahaha, i dont know how to shrink everything into one post =(

if you want to tear down pubs, you must go block.

chars that you will have a hard time against:
1. lightning trapper, these will almost aways beat you. they outrange you, sometimes can block you, and its even harder when they run around their traps.
2. BvC barb/wwsin, maybe its just me but i always end up trying to outtank the barb and end up dying. but ow + leap will be hard to fight against, replen life = good if you have a 95% es shield.
3. Wind Druid/Summon Necros minion stack > light sorc as long as they resummon their doggies or bears or skellies.
4. some people say you have the advantage because you can take a bajillion hits from these guys, but if they teleport ontop of you with a nicely synergized clay golem, he may or may not outtank you.
5. javazon especially ones that know how to farcast and utilizes slowmissile.
6. paladins because it just seems that its the class that slap on max resists to the max to negate you


You forgot one.

7. Any class that uses a Lo shield/hat ;).

[silentdeathe]

Seeing as i cannot decide whether to go max block or not (i would rather use a 35 spirit) i will just make a block and non block sorc and decide for myself :p

from what people have said:

-Hoto (40 fcr)
-Spirit (35 fcr)
-griffins with x/-5 facet (25 fcr) -or- 2/20/mana circ (20 fcr)
-2x soj
-maras or Fcr ammy with stats if need be
-arachs (20 fcr)
- dusk coh (i dont see the real bonus in a vipermagi, besides the 30% fcr which if i use griffins or fcr ammy, it will not be needed)
- bloodfists (magefists if fcr is desperately needed)

if i go with block, the equiptment will be similar, except of course;
- whistlans or ss (in place of spirit)

A few stats disribution questions though-
to reach 95% from es, i *think* it has to be lvl 40.
with:
20 tele-k grab
20 chain lightning
20 lightning
20 mastery
1 thunderstorm
1 teleport
1 ES
1 CB

from here would it be wise to max ES or charged bolt?

im assuming with prebuff i will get about +27-30 to ES
assuming you need lvl 40 for 95% ES, is it nessicary to invest enough points into es to get a lvl 40 energy shield? or would these be better spent in a synergy.

thanks for the suggestions and helpful comments :thumbsup:

[no2fakeshakes]

Seeing as i cannot decide whether to go max block or not (i would rather use a 35 spirit) i will just make a block and non block sorc and decide for myself :p

from what people have said:

-Hoto (40 fcr)
-Spirit (35 fcr)
-griffins with x/-5 facet (25 fcr) -or- 2/20/mana circ (20 fcr)
-2x soj
-maras or Fcr ammy with stats if need be
-arachs (20 fcr)
- dusk coh (i dont see the real bonus in a vipermagi, besides the 30% fcr which if i use griffins or fcr ammy, it will not be needed)
- bloodfists (magefists if fcr is desperately needed)

if i go with block, the equiptment will be similar, except of course;
- whistlans or ss (in place of spirit)

A few stats disribution questions though-
to reach 95% from es, i *think* it has to be lvl 40.
with:
20 tele-k grab
20 chain lightning
20 lightning
20 mastery
1 thunderstorm
1 teleport
1 ES
1 CB

from here would it be wise to max ES or charged bolt?

im assuming with prebuff i will get about +27-30 to ES
assuming you need lvl 40 for 95% ES, is it nessicary to invest enough points into es to get a lvl 40 energy shield? or would these be better spent in a synergy.

thanks for the suggestions and helpful comments :thumbsup:


u need 5 points in es to hit 95% es if u go mass prebuffing

max chainlightning last, it has absolute no use in pvp

AND stormshield is not that useful if u have 95% es

[Rauth]

u need 5 points in es to hit 95% es if u go mass prebuffing

max chainlightning last, it has absolute no use in pvp

AND stormshield is not that useful if u have 95% es

Ricky! get online! I got d2 back :).

[no2fakeshakes]

Ricky! get online! I got d2 back :).

i heard from david, im busy cssing rite now

[Rauth]

i heard from david, im busy cssing rite now

Bah. I have source, is that different than normal or what? Maybe we can cs sometime. I'm talking to someone on msn anyways.

[silentdeathe]

thanks again ;)
Finally, this may sound like a stupid question, but is it worth making a light/es sorc? with stacked res and 1 as the minimum damage, will my light sorc be a killing machine, or simply another char who will get thrashed, and put in the corner to gather dust? thanks :)

[luis19]

frosties > bloodfists, if u are a 95% es sorc u want most ur stat points into mana. my all mana sorc gets like 500ish mana from frosties.

[no2fakeshakes]

thanks again ;)
Finally, this may sound like a stupid question, but is it worth making a light/es sorc? with stacked res and 1 as the minimum damage, will my light sorc be a killing machine, or simply another char who will get thrashed, and put in the corner to gather dust? thanks :)

i dont know, back then before hellfire, they did 30k dmg, which isnt that great imo for a light sorc. but if hellfire could add like 6k dmg, then i think i would be a pretty nice build.

[Rauth]

i dont know, back then before hellfire, they did 30k dmg, which isnt that great imo for a light sorc. but if hellfire could add like 6k dmg, then i think i would be a pretty nice build.

Heh, I spent like an hour last night getting keys in sp(with a hacked out ww barb ;) ), only to figure out that they are useless in sp :(.

Hopefully I can get started on my rebuild tonight sometime.

[GkT]

1. BvC barbs will still rip apart a block sorc
2. Or even +2sorc/20fcr/str/dex/resist/2soc
3. ES doesnt take into effect of resist
4. I still like Wizpike more than Hoto for a light ES sorc build
No2fakeshakes basically helped me answer these.

But yeah:

1) On Ladder, which I assume this is, most BvCs are idiots & try to WW back & forth & plan to outtank an ES Sorc. Which is easily done if the Sorc doesn't have Max Block. But with Max Block, they will be surprised.
2) Find that on Ladder, please. Even on NL, it's still going to be very expensive.
3) What if he loses his Mana in 1 FB (which is VERY common)?
4) You need as many + Skills you can get w/o sacrificing too much tanking ability. The Damage is pretty low on an ES/Light Sorc.

Kire: Griffon's suck on ES Sorcs. ES Sorcs are based upon tanking. & the rest of your setup is based on a pure Light Sorc. Not an ES one.

ES/Light Sorcs are excellent 1v1 GM duelers. Plus, they still do well in pubs.

[RetroStar]

But yeah:

1) On Ladder, which I assume this is, most BvCs are idiots & try to WW back & forth & plan to outtank an ES Sorc. Which is easily done if the Sorc doesn't have Max Block. But with Max Block, they will be surprised.
2) Find that on Ladder, please. Even on NL, it's still going to be very expensive.
3) What if he loses his Mana in 1 FB (which is VERY common)?
4) You need as many + Skills you can get w/o sacrificing too much tanking ability. The Damage is pretty low on an ES/Light Sorc.


1. Yes, you may encounter good ones though which has fade and stuff.
2. Well try finding your '+2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA/Dex & then Str' circlet on ladder too please
3. then remake the light sorc
4. You said it yourself, Light/ES is all about tanking while dishing out dmg. Wiz increases mana regen which is very useful for ES. It's just based on personal opinions whether you want survivalbility or more dmg.

I don't find more dmg necessary since lightning does a lot of dmg already.

[luis19]

it is necessary since everyone has tgods nowdays.

if u are a mana buid with lik 3-4k mana and 1 point warmth, ur mana will regen quite fast.

[GkT]

1. Yes, you may encounter good ones though which has fade and stuff.
2. Well try finding your '+2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA/Dex & then Str' circlet on ladder too please

1) If you meet those, then don't duel them? Also, if they bothered with Fade, they probably have TGods & Wisps...so what's the point of dueling?
2) +2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA is easy to get. Notice how Dex & Str are last...that means it's not necessary.

Take it from someone who's used an ES/Light Sorc for a while.

[RetroStar]

1) If you meet those, then don't duel them? Also, if they bothered with Fade, they probably have TGods & Wisps...so what's the point of dueling?
2) +2 Sorc/20 FCR/MANA is easy to get. Notice how Dex & Str are last...that means it's not necessary.

Take it from someone who's used an ES/Light Sorc for a while.

1) Well you may as well not duel any char out there that stacks resist or sorb. Face it, nearly everyone in pubs have a tgod in stash, I guess you can just stick with league duels. Also don't think if they use Fade they will stack wisp and tgods, that's just your assumption. Most bvc take on multiple chars at once in pubs. If you do 1 v 1 duels I expect them to be good mannered, if not don't duel them as you suggested.

2) Notice I said 2soc last? It's not necessary either. I don't think a 2/20/resist/stats will be easier to find on ladder than nl.

I myself have a ES/Light sorc on East NL.

[silentdeathe]

I myself have a ES/Light sorc on East NL.

I am alo on east Nl, and im just wondering if you can give me a personal opinion on how a light/es sorc fairs against most of your opponents, roughly, what is its rate of sucess? :)

[F1R3STR1D3R]

I don't see why everyone is recommending CoH. CoH has 20 str, 65 resist, and 2 skills. Viper has 13 MDR, 35 resist, 30 fcr, and 1 skill. As you said resists don't really matter for an 95% ES sorc until ES is broken, since only 5% actually is absorbed by life and ES resist is set at 0%. MDR is much more important for a high level ES sorc since the damage that is redirected by energy shield to life can be negated with enough MDR/PDR. Take a 1K pvp damage bs, and a sorc with 20 TK, 95% ES, and 13 MDR. 1K * .95 * .75 = 712 damage to mana, and 1K * .05 - 13 = 37 damage to life. Take the same example with 20 TK, and 95% ES. 1K * .05 = 50 damage to life. MDR works better against damage that cannot be resisted like berserk, bone skills, and hammers. The only real advantage about CoH is the 20 str and 1 skill since 75% all resists in hell is realitively easy to get, but IMO 30 fcr, open socket, and 13 MDR outweighs that. Shako is also, as I see here, underrated. Life/Mana is so important for an ES sorc much more than a lot of classes, plus it has 2 skills and an open socket so it should not be totally looked over. But if you can afford it I would go a +2sorc/20fcr/mana/2sock circlet. IMO an upgraded visceratuant is not really an option compared to whitstan's guard. Although they both hit the FBR bp, up'ed vis has a 77 strength req. and 72% block, while whitstan's has a 53 strength req. and 87% block. 7% Block on shields roughly need 12 dexterity for max block, so that would mean you would need 26 dexterity more. Which is better 1 skill or 26 dexterity? You choice. My choice for a shield is a sanctuary tower shield: 20 dex, 70 resist, 7 MDR, 20 FHR, and 64% chance to block. But with the 20 inherent dex it really makes it about 75% chance to block.