MF Sorc Questions

[Valick]

Ok, so I was wondering if a Fireball/Frozen Orb Sorc was a Viable build. Basically the set up and skill distrubution would look like this.

20 Forzen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
20 Fire Ball
20 Fire Mastery
1 Warmth
1 Tele
1 Static Field

8 Pre Req skills, possibly finished at 79 - 80 with all skill quests. Which leaves 19 points and the rest goes into Meteor for Fire Ball synergy since the Synergy for FO seems completely useless with only 2% damage per skill point spent. Is Fire Ball actually a viable in killing things or should I stick with Meteor as main attack?

Set up

Tal Rasha's Set, Ist Lidless Eye, Ist Horadric Crest, Ist Gaurdianship
Sheild - Ist Whitsans Guard
Gloves - Chances Guard
Boots - War Travellers
Rings - Nagelring x2
Charms - 40% Gheeds plus 7% sc and 2x skillers for each element, torch and annihilus,

Counting all of that, minus the 7% MF sc, I would have 458% MF

and on my Defiance Merc, Infinity RW with Fortitude/Duress/Chains of Honor... all work for me I just have not decided yet and for Helm Dream or Delerium

Is this doable, will I be able to kill without insane amounts of trouble, should I have a different aura merc and yeah that is about it. Thanks for the help in advance.

[FrostBurn]

You just described a Meteorb, the guide of which can be found in the stickies. Any cookie-cutter sorc can own with an Infinity RW... it is so over-powered, it takes the challenge out of the game, but hey, that's my own opinion.

The setup looks good. But for the shield, I would suggest a Spirit monarch if you're willing to invest str up to 156. If not, and you want to max vita, then go for a Moser's with 2 pDiamonds. I see you listed Whitstan's; if you want to max block, go with Stormshield. The PDR% will make up for the loss of vita from having to invest in str. If you go with 156 str, you can then switch between SS and Spirit depending on the situation.

I'd aim for slvl 17 CM after +skills. You'll need those few saved skill points to pump Meteor both as a main skill and as a synergy to Fireball.

[Valick]

I realize now the overpowering of the setup for the RW on my Merc but it is my MF setup and the first time I will be using RW's in general. The challenge and fun isn't meant to be in this character, this is for pure MF running and that is it.

I actually do plan on making characters that are fun to play with and a challenge. I just felt like I needed a GOOD MF find character so I did not have to go through the hassle of trading all the time.

The only reason I wanted Fireball as a main attack instead of meteor is the no real casting delays or for it being a timer spell. But if Meteor is a better killer then I would much rather use that. As well Stormsheild seems like a better choice in the end anyways, I was just looking at how much easier it is to achieve max block with Whitstan's.

With all my plus skills then (+2 CM on Lidless Eye), minus charms, I will end up having to only put 7 into Cold Mastery then which will free up for meteor and the rest of the synergies.

Thanks for the input, appreciate it.

[FrostBurn]

Hmm, yeah, I agree that if this is a utility char, then using Infinity will clearly make it easier for MF purposes.

Meteor is a far better killer if it hits the target, given that a Meteorb is primarily a fire sorc and thus has many fire skills maxed. You can easily reach over 10,000 damage, and 15,000 is also attainable.

At 63% FCR, the tactic is as follows: name-lock a monster, cast 2 Fireballs, followed by 1 Meteor, and repeat. Meteor's timer-delay allows 2 Fireballs to be cast in-between before you can cast another Meteor. Doing it this way, you ensure that you use both skills together, which is the best way to use a Meteorb' fire skills. You'll find that Meteors will be crashing down so frequently that much of the screen will be covered by fire, and the splash radius of 4 yards ensures that many monsters are hit.

[Valick]

Yeah this is a purely a utility character.

Thanks for the help and advice, now I can get to playing that character and find myself some decent stuff.

[MageChick]

I'm totally with you on the fireball vs. meteor thing. I don't think I've casted a meteor in ages. It's useful against baal's minions and for most tricking meph, but other than that, I'll pass. Myabe I just never got the timered thing down. My meteor is like 15K damage, but my fireball is just over 8K.

I just keep fireball on left click and FO on the right. Orb-fireball-fireball-fireball-Orb-fireball... you get the idea. Having said that, you'll still max the meteor skill. Its synergy for fireball is awsome. Even after that (if you keep leveling past 85 or so) you can put points into firebolt. It will synergize fireball too. In order to maximize your fireball damage, its not just as simple as max this first, then max that. Check out the stickied guide on synergy/mastery. You'll see that you actually want to put points into firebolt long before you max fire mastery.

[Valick]

So would it be wise to just put one point into fire mastery when I get to level 30 and then leave it to max out Meteor, Fireball and Firebolt?

Also should I max FO first for NM mode?

And then that answers all my questions unless more are raised with the resulting answers <<

[FrostBurn]

So would it be wise to just put one point into fire mastery when I get to level 30 and then leave it to max out Meteor, Fireball and Firebolt?
It isn't easy to explain without typing out long paragraphs with calculations. Read this (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=485416) for an in-depth explanation.

Read this (http://forums.diabloii.net/showpost.php?p=4633225&postcount=10) as it will help as well.

I personally strike for a balance between both Meteor and FBall, aiming for optimum damage for both. That needs some playing around with a skills calculator. Do a google search for 'Diablo 2 calculator'. The first link is nifty for working this out.

Max FO will annihilate all non-CIs in normal and NM.

[MageChick]

no, it's not that simple. Read this: synergies and masteries explained (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=485416)
The only short answer I can give you is to keep your total hard synergy points about 10-11 points below your displayed slvl of fire mastery. If you're using full tal set, the calculation is a little different. This will also vary if you're using any facets.

*edit sorry, forstburn beat me to the reply. We're saying the same thing.

[Valick]

This is how I will place all skills points then and I have used a D2 calculator for this.

Cold Skills
20 Frozen Orb
3 Cold Mastery
5 Pre Reqs

Lightning Skills
1 Static Field
1 Teleport
1 Pre Req

Fire Skills
20 Fire Bolt
20 Fire Ball
20 Meteor
5 Fire Mastery
3 Pre Reqs

Basically in the end with my dream setup (+15 to all Skills, and 2 extra to Fire Master and Cold Mastery)I could actually do a max of about 1800 Meteor damage coupled with 9000 Fire Ball Damage and 500 FO damage with a cold length of 44 seconds in Normal. That is insane << As far as placing certain skill points where at certain levels I guess I am not to concerned about optimum maxium damage right away, I just care about having that max damage at the end of the build really.

And as far as the max blocking goes, and 156 strength investment for spirit/stormsheild, I have factored in the Hellfire Torch and Anihilus with both +15 to all attributes in order to gain as much extra strength, dex and life as possible. I also plan on trying to get skillers with the vita mod +40 to life and as many as needed +20 life SC and resistance sc as needed to keep myself alive, well and happy.

[obiwansbane]

yes, with plus skills, investing heavily in CM becomes pointless, find out how much +skills u get from ure items, then put points into CM till with ure +skills u hit around 17

other than that it sounds good, and with its splash damage, and uber fast cast speed (with good fcr) fireball can in somecases own a meteor

[MageChick]

People are probably getting tired of hearing this from me but..

Full Tal + Perfect Spirit + Magefists = 105% fast cast. This is a great breakpoint to aim for. Your teleporting and firballs will really fly. You loose seom MF vs. Chance Guards, but the fire skill, fast cast and mana regen really make up for it. I use these even on non fire builds.

*if you can't get a perfect 35% fast cast spirit, then just sub in a fast cast ring until you do.

[Valick]

I was thinking the exact same thing, sacrifice Chance for Magefist since I just picked one up MF'ing with my Bliz Sorc today. What luck.