Yo Intro, of me

[OsTo]

So i am 18 years old from slovakia
I start study on college now... and spending most of my free time in front of computer or drinking alc. with friends
I am fanatic starcraft-terran player, diablo come up by single becouse of my current dial-up connection :[

I play only hardcore (reall thrill) and got 89lvl guardian firewall/frozOrb sorceres hope to get to 99 :D
I got some problems understannding posts here couse lot of acronyms like ME, FE, FHR, FCR and so on, i dont really know artifacts only the best and only for few classes...

now some my question i get no answers till intro :p (u force me to this!!!!)

1. where should I put rest of my skill points (11) after maxed 2masteries and firewall/frozOrb should i put in synergy for FrozOrb or in telekinesis for ManaShield so its 20% to dmg or 20% to life i think... so i think dmg couse i already pass to guardian but I wanna some info on this...

2. I got Demon Limb, Wolfhowl as anything i would say is valuable, can i get some good sorceres stuff for this os is this really useless? In my hand is only rare orb +2 sorc and 50 life.
Is there a problem in trading couse of hardcore? or most of players here are hardcore?

[Wolfgang Abenteuer]

First off, welcome! :wave:

I can't really answer your questions since I'm a 1.09 junkie (no synergies for me), but many of the players here are hardcore-only so you should fit right in.

I'll leave the shin-kicking for someone else... ;)

~Wolfgang

[Shagsbeard]

Welcome.

Neat thing about Orb is that it does fine without synergies. Add your extra points into other stuff, synergies for firewall (if any are left), or even teleport/static field. If you are planning on reaching 99, you will need to be able to get to Baal quickly. Teleport is a must. I forget how many thousands of times you have to Kill Baal (not related to the Kill Bill movies) but it's at least 8000... on /players 8. Not a goal for the weak willed, or the occupied student.

Don't worry about asking for clarification of our accronyms. We use them to facilitate communication, not to hinder it. Until you learn them, keep on asking what they mean. Many are described in the stickies up there, which you should spend some time getting familiar with, as many times people will tell you to go look there.

[Hrus]

Welcome OsTo, I am from Prague and I am half Slovak by blood... Nice to have an almost countryman here....

You will understand the terminology really fast, if you have some problems right now, this stickied thread (http://forums.diabloii.net/~d2forums/showthread.php?t=127257) from newcomer forum should help.

As for spare skill points, I usually go for offence if I really don't need defence. So I would rather go for FO (Frozen Orb :wink3: ) synergies. On the other hand you play HC (Hardcore), so your points could be well spent in Telekinesis and Mana Shield...

BTW. I liked Broodwar very much, but I was never good at it...

[FrostBurn]

Welcome.

You play HC. Therefore, one point in a cold armour. Max vitality, no points in dexterity.

I suggest putting all remaining points into IceBolt, which will synergise FO. You only have two main offensive spells, FireWall (FW) and FO. FW has a longer timer than FO, so you want to spam FO while you wait for FW to 're-charge'. A higher damage FO will be beneficial in this case.

How much mana do you have? I would not have selected Energy Shield (ES) for your build. ES only really becomes effective when you have maxed Telekinesis (TK). 1 point in TK takes 2 mana per life point absorbed. 20 points in TK takes 0.75 mana per life point absorbed.

Your mana bulb will empty rapidly if you have only 1 point in TK and a low-ish mana pool (not good for HC). And you do not have enough skill points left to max TK. You could go half-way with TK, but then you need a bigger mana pool to compensate.

ES is at its best with 20 ES and 20 TK. It also works at 10 ES and 20 TK. It starts to become a problem at 10 ES and 10 TK. At 1 ES and 10 TK, you need a huge mana pool (thousands) to make it work. At 1 ES and 1 TK, you're dead.

Edit: 10 ES and 10 TK also needs thousands of mana points for it to work.

[chumley669]

Welcome to the SPF! Beware the skid, and remember to blame Durf for everything. Beyond that, good luck on getting to 99, it will be along, sloooooooow road. Let us know how it goes.

[water_moon]

Welcome! Here's your officall goodie basket with cookies and squid repelant. Don't forget to read the FAQs and stickies, check out a tourney, and drop by the EMB for some nice virtual alc and some real good company.

[FrostBurn]

ES is at its best with 20 ES and 20 TK. It also works at 10 ES and 20 TK. It starts to become a problem at 10 ES and 10 TK. At 1 ES and 10 TK, you need a huge mana pool (thousands) to make it work. At 1 ES and 1 TK, you're dead.

Edit: 10 ES and 10 TK also needs thousands of mana points for it to work.
I feel that I could have phrased this better, so here goes. There is a complex interaction between ES, TK, life and mana.

Telekinesis
0 points means 2 mana used, 8 points means 1.5 mana used, 16 points means 1 mana used, 20 points means 0.75 mana used.

Energy Shield
Slvl 1 absorbs 20% damage to mana. For 100 damage, 80 damage to life, 20 damage to mana. At slvl 0 TK, 20*2 = 40 mana used. At slvl 20 TK, 20*0.75 = 15 mana used.

Slvl 20 absorbs 75% damage to mana. For 100 damage, 25 damage to life, 75 damage to mana. At slvl 0 TK, 75*2 = 150 mana used. At slvl 20 TK, 75*0.75 = 56.25 mana used.

This is why it is always better to max TK first before putting points into ES.

Some ES and TK Combinations
20 ES, 20 TK
Best combo for a low life and large mana pool sorc. Most of the damage she takes is absorbed by her large mana pool (and at only 0.75 mana per damage point), and her low life can cope with the bit of damage that goes to her life.

1 ES, 1 TK
A sorc needs high life and a (very) large mana pool for this. Most of the damage she takes goes to her life, and whatever damage directed to her mana pool is almost doubled. Since most sorcs cannot achieve both a high life and large mana pool, this is a bad combo.

1 ES, 10 TK
A sorc needs high life and a large mana pool (but smaller compared to 1 ES, 1 TK) for this. Her life takes a beating, but her mana pool is better able to cope with 10 TK instead of 1 TK. Still, Hell difficulty can drain a sorc's mana pool with this combo rapidly.

10 ES, 10 TK
A sorc can have less life here but needs a larger mana pool compared to the 1 ES, 10 TK combo. This is because more damage is re-directed to her mana pool and with only 10 TK, she needs a large mana pool to maintain her ES.

10 ES, 20 TK
This is workable for a sorc with medium life and a decent mana pool. 10 ES means that a good proportion of the damage is re-directed to her mana, and with 20 TK, the mana loss is cut down quite nicely.

Most serious ES sorcs will have maxed both TK and ES, and will have a mana pool of at least 1000. Those with 1-10 ES and 10 TK will need, imo, close to 2000 mana and a varying degree of life. Those with 1 ES and 1 TK are courting with frequent deaths.

Due to the degree of investment in both TK and ES, it often is an 'all or nothing' situation when deciding to go with the ES and TK route.

Memory Staff
Pre-buffing with a Memory staff is an option for some, but not for me. Lets say we pre-buff with a slvl 7 ES Memory staff, which gives 50% absorb. For 100 damage taken, a slvl 0 TK will mean 100 mana is lost, while 50 life is lost. That means 100 damage equates to a total of 150 life and mana loss combined. Take a few hits in Hell and you'll have an empty mana bulb and a third of your life bulb gone. I repeat, it is better to max TK first before investing points into ES.

Don't know why I typed all of this, other than to clarify my point. This thread is not really the right place for it.

[nebux]

*grab cookies*
welcome to the SPF
*kick OsTo shin*
/varnish

[asdfgah]

Welcome to the SPF! :wave: