MF Sorc

[Drack]

Hey, I just recently started D2 again (as in today). I quit for over a year and am just coming back, so I don't really know what is changed.

I'm working on a MF Sorc right now and have a few questions.

With 1.11, are the MF builds different? When I left I remember that main MF build was for mephisto and it was FW/FO.

Basically my question are there better builds now with 1.11? Did FW/FO get nerfed at all? And if there are better builds, would be great if someone can tell me them and what the stat distribution is for them. Thanks

[conor rocks]

pretty sure it still works fine but if you plan on running meph mainly blizz sorc is good and can run hell andy too.

[SoAmazing]

blizzy sorc rox now a days.

[Elcold]

lots of people like to use the meteorb build early on for mfing because it is not very gear dependent and can run most of the popular mf runs.

[Drack]

Blizz sorc eh?

What was changed that made people go from FW/FO to Blizz, because when I quit I remember blizz was basically useless lol. And can someone please give me a link or tell me the build for blizz sorc? Skills/stats, etc.

Oh also, I know this isn't sorc specific but since I'm here might as well ask. What are the main XP runs these days? I heard people talking about chaos runs? Are the cow runs still any good? And how does blizz sorc do in the end xp runs?

Thanks

[MuTTy_Hc]

a bit OT but what realm are you on Drack? I've restarted it recently as well im on EU.

[Schecter]

Blizz sorc eh?

What was changed that made people go from FW/FO to Blizz, because when I quit I remember blizz was basically useless lol. And can someone please give me a link or tell me the build for blizz sorc? Skills/stats, etc.

Oh also, I know this isn't sorc specific but since I'm here might as well ask. What are the main XP runs these days? I heard people talking about chaos runs? Are the cow runs still any good? And how does blizz sorc do in the end xp runs?

Thanks

There's a Blizz guide stickied.

Chaos runs are for people being glitch rushed. Supposedly it's faster but I've personally never tried it. A lot of people still do the regular Trist, Tomb, Cow, Baal.

Cow runs are good from Level 20-24.. then Ancients at 24 to get to 25.. then Baal from there.

Blizz sorcs are good for MFing.. just not against Cold Immunes :tongue: . Unlike Orb, Blizzard has a lot of synergies, thus making it a really strong spell.

That's why people go double-tree and create Meteor/Orb sorcs.

[Drack]

Alright, I've been reading up on it and my choice now is either Meteorb sorc or Blizz sorc. I heard Blizz sorc is faster for like meph runs, but they can't do Baal runs. And Meteorb sorc kills a bit slower, but they can kill all the bosses.

Also could someone explain synergies to me? Before I left this was not in the game, so if I can get a link or something that explains it that would be great.

And I play on USWest.

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

Try a blizzard firewall sorc with main synergy glacial spike instead of ice blast and you can do baal runs and also don't lose much killing speed.

http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=217480

[Conanh]

HI

I have had little luck mfing with my sorc but I can do 11k dmg with the meteor and about 6k with fireball. I use blizz and orb also to slow some critters down before I hit them with the meteor. I can kill Meph in hell easy enough but cant get him to drop much. My MF is about 300+ near 500 with my merc but that rascal keeps dying on me.....

[Jiggyness]

I have a meteorb sorc, lvl 85

orbs looking close to 600 and meteor....about 15k (this is with full tals tho) and i have 500 mf or so.

this build is prob one i would recomend, you just started, so this chard oesnt need much "gear" to be all that great.

-Yes, this char can kill andy maybe 2 or 3 fireballs(which do about 6k each) and all the minions around her with orb.
-Mephy is pretty simple with the mote trick, then just cast a but load of meteors/fireballs at her till she dies.
-Diablo........takes time to get to....but he falls victim pretty quick..with a couple static fields and orbs

im pretty sure from what i hear she can do baal...but im to lazy to go and get the wp for him....lol....shes a great char tho, up to u tho

[MageChick]

I prefer my fireball to meteor - kills faster. I have a simlar amound of damage and MF and have been pretty luck so far. Make sure you read through the price guide for your realm. Im guessing that you're passing up a lot of items that have pretty good wealth. Make sure you know what white/gray items have value - lots of people forget about these, but they can easily sell from pul - hrs.

[Drack]

Alright, I think I'm going to try out a Meteorb sorc.

Magechick, where would I find this price guide for my realm?

Thanks for all the help everyone.

[MageChick]

Alright, I think I'm going to try out a Meteorb sorc.

Magechick, where would I find this price guide for my realm?

Thanks for all the help everyone.

If you look in the trading fourm area, there's a section for trade values. I see price sheets stickied for US East L and NL as well as Europe. For US West :undecided: You may just have to base it off the US East price guide. I don't see a seperate guide there. Can anyone else point him to one if needed. Keep in mind these are only guides and they can be a bit slow to update prices.

If in doubt on some item, do a search on the trading value forum and you can probably find that someone else already asked the same question. If not, just ask it yourself.

Here's a link to what I'm talking about. http://forums.diabloii.net/forumdisplay.php?f=25

*edit* I should add that price guides normally only list the higher end items (value = pul or higher). To get prices on the cheaper stuff (pgem thru lem prices) you'll probably need to search the trade value forum.

[hellspare]

Does your 600 orb suffice in the later acts in hell? I have a 1.2k orb and it's barely doing justice in multiplayer games. I never made a meteorb because I knew I wouldn't be able to rely on an unsyngergized orb for a secondary attack in hell, how's it holding up?

[MageChick]

HI

I have had little luck mfing with my sorc but I can do 11k dmg with the meteor and about 6k with fireball. I use blizz and orb also to slow some critters down before I hit them with the meteor. I can kill Meph in hell easy enough but cant get him to drop much. My MF is about 300+ near 500 with my merc but that rascal keeps dying on me.....

Not sure what gear you're using for your merc. I'd suggest focusing your merc gear on stuff that will either help him kill faster and live longer (stone/reapers toll/botd) or on stuff that will help you kill faster/live longer (i.e. insight/infinity). I don't suggest trying to load your merc up on MF (my merc has like 48 MF total - 2x P topaz's). Even with no MF gear at all, your merc is still killing with your MF points, so that's normally sufficient.

I like full tal + spirit + magefist + war trav's + nagels for my meterorb sorc. That's like 300+ MF, plus anther 250 on switch (2x Ist alibaba & 4x Ist Monarch). You can go cheap on the weapon switch with a gul & rhyme too if you want (125 MF, for the price of pgems).

[MageChick]

Does your 600 orb suffice in the later acts in hell? I have a 1.2k orb and it's barely doing justice in multiplayer games. I never made a meteorb because I knew I wouldn't be able to rely on an unsyngergized orb for a secondary attack in hell, how's it holding up?

Short answer: An unsynergized orb makes a decent back up attack, even in late hell.

Long answer:
Orb is meant to be a secondary attack in late hell - it slows everything for your fireballs/meteor. Most of your damage/kills will come from fireball/meteor in large multiplayer hell games. With a few points in CM, you will probably be doing a lot more damage than what's listed on the char screen though. Orb is awsome all the way through NM, but it becomes the secondary attack in hell. My MF meteorb damage is probably like 600-800, and with + to skills my CM is about slvl 20 I think, just aim for end game slvl 17. (sorry, can't get exact #'s now - I'm at work) It can still be very deadly, but in 5+ player games it does loose effectiveness.

Late in the game - after you have some decent gear (with some good fast cast) I find that your fireball becomes your #1 killer. I found that meteor can be too much of a pain. My meteor is over 20k damage, and my fireball only does like 8k damage. I can cast a lot more fireballs than meteors though.

I just put orb and fireball on left/right click and then fire like 1 orb - 3 fireballs - 1 orb - 3 fire... normally everything is dead after just 1 or 2 iterations of this.

[hellspare]

Yeah I see what you mean, but what if there's a fire immune that's strong? Does the "backup" orb work well enough to solve the problem?

[MageChick]

It will work fine as a back up. No problem for the occasional fire immune at all. This is the best part of playing meterob.

Rememver, most monsters in hell have some amount of immunity. With a level 17 cold mastery you are probably doing like 2x the damage shown on your LCS. You are also only doing like 1/2 or 1/4 the damage shown for your fireball/meteor. So in reality you probably have like 1000 points of damage coming from every shard in your orb, or like 2k-3k points coming from your fireball/meteor. Yes, its a little slower, but still plenty effective.

You'r merc can help here too. A holy freeze merc will be slowing everything down so you can orb it, or he may just kill it himself.

i.e. the countess is always both cold and fire immune, eld spawns this way pretty often too. My merc can slice right through them, just spam fireballs or orbs at your merc to keep him from getting surrounded.