KIRBIX's Blizzard Sorceress

[JAKEUS]

Very nice guide that I found. I read the whole thing and only disagreed with 2 things, the infinity and guardian angel. Hope this helps.

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction: 1.11 Blizzard Sorceress FAQ by Kirbix
-Diablo 2 Blizzard Sorceress Guide (1.11)
-V2.0 (12/04/05)
-By KIRBIX


|*****************|
|Table of Contents|
|*****************|


I. Version History
II. What this guide is for
III. Overview of the sorceress (Why Blizzard?)
IV. Skills
a. Ice Tree
b. Fire and Lightning Tree

V. Skill allocation
VI. Stat distribution
VII. Equipment
a. Helmet
b. Armor
c. Gloves
d. Belt
e. Boots
f. Weapon
g. Shield
h. Jewelery
i. Final listing

VIII. Mercenary
IX. Early levels
X. MF
XI. Contact Me
XII. Credits

I. VERSION HISTORY
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1.0- Time to make this guide! it is LONG overdue

2.0- Small change to the equipment that should make many people much happier.


II. WHAT THIS GUIDE IS FOR
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This guide is designed to explain the nuances to using a sorceress that utilizes
blizzard, a powerful ice spell.

While it doesn't have the variety of killing power that the meteorb sorceress
may have, this baby can wipe out enemies quickly and efficiently. Most
specifically the bosses, which makes her an ideal MF runner.

We'll cover all you need to know to make your sorceress a master of the use of
Blizzard.

III. OVERVIEW OF THE SORCERESS (Why Blizzard?)
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The sorceress is the true-blue spellcaster, with no physical characteristics to
atrribute to her defense. Instead, she casts a myriad of spells at the enemy.

The Sorceress' spells are broken up into 3 trees- Fire, Ice, and Lightning. The
fire tree does the highest raw damage of all 3 trees. The Ice tree, while doing
less damage, will slow and/or freeze your opponent. The Lightning tree, while
doing less damage than the fire tree overall, has the highest maximum damage.

Blizzard sorceresses put 100% focus into the Ice tree. Utilizing Blizzard, the
most powerful ice spell in the arsenal, the sorceress sends the enemies to the
depths of hell to thaw from the massive cold damage she inflicts.

IV. SKILLS
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There are only a dozen or so skills that you will put any points into. Some are
merely prerequisite skills to get other skills, and others are synergies (skills
that give a beneficial damage to blizzard by putting points into them).

If the skills (Almost all of Fire and Lightning) don't have any remote
application to this build, I will be skipping them entirely.

IVA. Ice Tree
###############
The Ice tree does less damage at first (but in the end does just as much as
the others), and it freezes the enemy. It's definitely the favorite tree.

~~~~~~~~~~
~~Ice Bolt~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: shoots a bolt of ice at opponents, slowing the target.

Ice bolt is the first ice spell, and it's the best of the level 1 spells. It
does as much damage as the other 2, but more importantly, slows down the
target.
Early on, the sorceress learns the value of the saying "those who fight
and run away shall live to fight another day." Ice spells are your FRIEND-
never forget that!
Because it synergizes with Blizzard, you WILL be maxing this spell.

~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Ice Blast~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Shoots a bolt of ice at opponents, freezing them in their tracks.

Ice blast is your best friend for quite a long time, and even in the end,
you'll find this spell useful as a single enemy devastator.

As was true with ice bolt, ice blast gives you a headstart on your foes as you
run, but this has another feature- frozen enemies explode, and leave no corpse.
Unless you have a necromancer in your group, this is a popular spell in
parties, as there's nothing more annoying than ressurected foes. On the other
hand, be considerite of the necromancers; it drives them crazy when the
sorceresses blow up all of their corpses.

As with Ice bolt, it's a synergy for blizzard, so max this too. It's also a
BEAST when it comes to killing individual monsters, so it's really useful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Frost Nova~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 6
Effect: a ring of ice flows outward, chilling all enemies around you

Frost nova is.... meh, it's a pretty lousy spell. The damage is atrocious,
no matter how many points you put into it. The freeze time, while longer than
all other spells (except frozen orb) doesn't justify the allocation of points.

Place the point as a prerequisite and forget the spell entirely. If you feel
that it will be useful to you, by all means use it... I've yet to come up with
a good reason to bother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Glacial Spike~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 18
Effect: sends a spike of ice at your enemies, hitting tight clusters

Glacial spike is a less powerful ice blast that can hit groups of enemies that
are grouped together, and that's about it, in a nutshell.

Many people use glacial spike, but ice blast does more damage to an individual
enemy, while blizzard deals high damage to groups. Glacial Spike sort of falls
between and doesn't serve much purpose.

HOWEVER, it's a synergy, so max it.

~~~~~~~~~~
~~Blizzard~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 24
Effect: Ice rains down all around the caster, freezing anything in the area.

Here's your primary spell. This does more damage per bolt than ALL other ice
spells. Not only that, but it also sends a dozen or more bolts (I've never
actually counted) upon the enemy at once.

It chills your enemies, and with condensed group causes mass destruction.
While it's not so hot for individual enemies, you can effectively use it
against all foes with a little practice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Cold Mastery~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: lowers cold resistance of all enemies, but DOES NOT REMOVE IMMUNITIES.

Cold mastery raises the damage of your ice spells. What more is there to say?

Put 1 point into it, and wait. It's the last skill to max. Get your synergies
done first. In the long run, it's more effective.


IVB. Fire and Lightning Tree
#############################
Because you're a pure cold sorceress, you simply won't use fire and lightning
attacks.

HOWEVER, there are a few skills that no sorceress should go without (feel free
to ridicule anyone you see that doesn't use these skills)

Each skill is a necessity, and they each take only ONE point (with +skills, it
only takes one point to make it count.)

WARMTH
~~~~~~~
For the fire tree, there's warmth. Warmth has a level 1 requirement, and no
prerequisites. What does it do, you ask? Why, it increases the rate at which
you recover mana! Your mana automatically replenishes, but it's REALLY slow.
Well, warmth increases the rate at which your mana naturally comes back.
How can you NOT put a point here?

STATIC FIELD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a level 6 lightning spell, also with no prerequisite. Static field is
potentially the strongest spell, and potentially the weakest spell. The
reason being that it does percentage damage. It lowers enemy health by 25% of
their current HP.
Blizzard sorceresses are very popular for killing bosses due to the fact that
no Act boss can escape her wrath. Therefore, having a spell to quickly take
off half of the bosses HP is always a plus.
1 point, and then you're done. Just don't ignore it!

TELEKINESIS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is *mostly* a prerequisite for teleport, but it has its own uses as well.
Telekinesis is a lightning skill that has a level 6 requirement. However, it
serves a backup use- it stuns enemies.
Blizzard sorcs often come up against enemies that are immune to cold. When
they do, they must either run, or let their mercenary kill the enemy. Since
running isn't always an option, your mercenary needs to be capable of handling
the enemy. That's where Telekinesis kicks in. While your mercenary attacks the
enemy, you can use telekinesis to keep the enemy permanently stunned, giving
your merc free reign to kill him.

TELEPORT
~~~~~~~~~
This is the best non-attack spell in the game, period. You can teleport to the
very edge of the screen using teleport. You can cover long distances at an
AMAZING speed, and you can bypass long roundabout walks to various places.
EVERY SORC SHOULD HAVE TELEPORT. Again, feel free to laugh at/throw rocks at
any sorceress who doesn't use it.

V. SKILL ALLOCATION
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As a blizzard sorc, you're (obviously) going to be maxing Blizzard. You'll also
want to max EVERY synergy.

20 points into blizzard
20 points ice blast
20 points ice bolt
20 points glacial spike
TOTAL POINTS: 80

Now, you get 98 points from levelups, and 12 from quests, for 110 points total.
You've just eaten up 80 of them. You also have to realize you'll probably not
get more than 95 of those points due to the fact that you REALLY shouldn't plan
for a level much above 85. So, you've only got 15 left!

Luckily, there isn't much else to spend points in. Your 4 non-cold skills, as
well as frost nova. So, you have 10 skill points left.

Where do they go, you ask? Cold mastery, of course!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, as to WHEN to allocate:

All four non-cold spells should be gotten ASAP. They all are vital to your
sorceress right from square one.

Now, the beauty of a cold sorceress is that you get access to skills that need
to be maxed from the beginning (unlike meteorb). So, you should put a couple of
points into ice bolt, and then at level 6, pump ice blast. At level 18, pump
glacial spike. At level 24, pump blizzard.

When you get to level 30, put one point into cold mastery, and max blizzard.
Put another 2 points into cold mastery, and then max ice blast. From there,
max ice bolt/glacial spike. Your call which one you max, as you probably won't
use either skill.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What about cold mastery? Shouldn't you put points there?"
Not really, no- Cold Mastery gets diminishing returns with more points. That is,
the more points you add, the less your skill benefits. Past level 3, the return
is about as much as a synergy level, and it even becomes less.

Synergies add direct damage to blizzard at a constant rate. They ALSO don't work
with +skills, while +skills will benefit your cold mastery. If you want to do
the math, it's far better to max your synergies than it is to max cold mastery.

For this reason, max cold mastery LAST of all skills.

[JAKEUS]

and the rest...
VI. STAT DISTRIBUTION
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Four stats to consider: Strength, Vitality, Energy and Dexterity.

\ /\ /
Strength
/ \/ \
While is used to determine damage, that really doesn't matter much for
a spell caster; you only need strength to wear certain equipment.

Your strength is based on how good your equipment is. The highest strength that
you will ever need is 156, for a monarch shield. Monarch's are the first shield
that can have four sockets for the spirit runeword.

HOWEVER, if you're a Magic-Find sorc, you probably won't use spirit, so your
strength doesn't hardly need to go past 100.

Read the equipment section. Look at strength requirements, and look for +str
in the items you have to calculate the true amount of strength that you need.

\ / \ /
Dexterity
/ \ / \
Dexterity determines your attack rating and your chance to block.

Attack rating is useless as a sorceress, and chance to block is all but
useless. However, there are a select few who prefer to have max block. 237
dexterity is required in order to get 75% chance of block at level 99, and
only if you use stormshield. Between the strength and dexterity needed, 95% of
us never bother with it, but some people swear by max block, so...

\ /\ /
Vitality
/ \/ \
The most important of the stats- place every extra point into vitality. You'll
need the life, I guarantee it.

\ /\ /
Energy
/ \/ \
Like strength, this varies by person. If you start from scratch, you'll
want about 75 energy. Anything more than that becomes way too much later on,
even if it doesn't seem like enough at this point. If you've got good
equipment, keep it below 50. Most veteran players would call it a waste to
spend any points, but below level 40, energy is often a real problem, even
with 50-75 energy.

VII. EQUIPMENT
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Now, Blizzard Sorceresses have two purposes. One, to inflict massive cold damage
and kill everything. 2 (far more common than the first), is to fight bosses
over and over again for their items. That's called Magic-Find, or MF for short.

SO, we have 2 sets of equipment for you to use. One is for sheer damage, and
the other is for MF.

BUT, before we get to that:
~~~~~~~
Early on, you want anything that gives +skills, +energy, or +%to mana. Beyond
that, there's not much to look for. +vitaily and +health are good, but it's
hard to come by a piece of equipment with any decent boosts to your health.

There's not much to say, really. Buy staves from the NPC vendors (akara is a
GREAT vendor). Look for +skills in the areas that you have points. An
archangel's staff (which gives +2 to all skills) can be used quite early on,
and it is REALLY useful, especially with +2 to blizzard.

NOW, as for final equipment: I'm going to list the damage set first, and the
MF set second. There is *generally* a different item for both. If only one item
is listed, assume it's the only item for both.

For EVERY item that you can socket:

~On the damage sorc, insert a rainbow facet (unique jewel) of cold.
~On the MF sorc, insert Perfect Topazes into helmets and armor, and ists into
shields and weapons.

VIIA. HELMET
###############
The ONLY real option for a pure blizzard sorc is nightwing's veil. +skills, and
added cold damage. That should be a real "duh".

\Nightwing's Veil (Unique Spired Helm)
/Required Strength: 96
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/+2 To All Skills
\+8-15% To Cold Skill Damage
/+10-20 To Dexterity
\+5-9 Cold Absorb
/Half Freeze Duration
\Requirements -50%

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
For Magic-Find, go Harlequin Crest (commonly called Shako) all the way.

\Harlequin Crest (Unique Shako)
/Required Strength: 50
\+2 To All Skills
/+ 1-148 To Life (Based On Character Level)
\+ 1-148 To Mana (Based On Character Level)
/Damage Reduced By 10%
\50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
/+2 To All Attributes


VIIB. ARMOR
###############
Ormus' Robes are varied to the extreme. However, you're looking for one that
gives +3 to blizzard. Between that and the bonus to cold skills.. yea, best
option by a MILE.

\Ormus' Robes (Unique Dusk Shroud)
/Required Strength: 77
\+10-20 Defense
/+20% Faster Cast Rate
\+10-15% To Cold Skill Damage
/+10-15% To Fire Skill Damage
\+10-15% To Lightning Skill Damage
/+3 bonus to a random Sorceress skill (Sorceress Only)
\Regenerate Mana 10-15%

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
MF armor is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Tal-Rashas armor.

\Tal Rasha's Guardianship (Lacquered Plate)
/Required Strength: 84
\+400 Defense
/Requirements -60%
\Magic Damage Reduced By 15
/Cold Resist +40%
\Lightning Resist +40%
/Fire Resist +40%
\88% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items


VIIC. GLOVES
################
Frostburns give a HUGE mana boost, and since blizzard costs a bloody mountain
of mana, you need all the help you can get.

\Frostburn (Unique Guantlets)
/Required Strength: 60
\+10-20% Enhanced Defense
/+30 Defense
\+5% Enhanced Damage
/Maximum Mana 40%
\Adds 1-6 Cold Damage, Cold Duration: 2 Seconds

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
BUT, mana comes secondary to %magic find, so MF sorcs get a different glove.

\Chance Guards (Unique Chain Gloves)
/Required Strength: 25
\+20-30% Enhanced Defense
/+15 Defense
\+25 To Attack Rating
/25-40% Better Chance of Getting Magic Item
\200% Extra Gold From Monsters
/+2 To Light Radius


VIID. BELT
###############
The best belt overall is, without question, the arachnid mesh. No half-decent
caster does ANYTHING without it.

\Arachnid Mesh (Unique Spiderweb Sash)
/Required Strength: 50
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/Slows Target By 10%
\+1 To All Skills
/+20% Faster Cast Rate
\Increases Maximum Mana 5%
/Level 3 Venom (11 Charges)

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
However, MF sorcs aren't quite the same; the more magic-find, the better.

\Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth (Mesh Belt)
/Required Strength: 47
\Requirements -20%
/37% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
\+30 To Mana
/+20 To Dexterity
\10-15% Better Chance Of Magic Items


VIIE. BOOTS
###############
There really aren't any decent boots for a sorceress, so let's stick with what
are generally considered the best pair. Silkweave, with a high amount of
faster run/walk and a bonus to mana, are the only ones to consider.

\Silkweave (Unique Mesh Boots)
/Required Strength: 65
\+150-190% Enhanced Defense
/30% Faster Run/Walk
\+5 To Mana After Each Kill
/Increase Maximum Mana 10%
\+200 Defense VS. Missile

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
That's not to say there aren't better boots for a MF person, though!
War Traveler (Travs) have up to 50% MF. That's excellent, is it not?

\War Traveler (Unique Battle Boots)
/Required Strength: 95
\+150-190% Enhanced Defense
/25% Faster Run/Walk
\+10 To Vitality
/+10 To Strength
\Adds 15-25 Damage
/40% Slower Stamina Drain
\Attacker Takes Damage Of 5-10
/30-50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items


VIIF. WEAPON
################
Death's Fathom provides excellent skill bonuses and cold damage. This is the
ONLY way to fly.

Death's Fathom (Unique Dimensional Shard)
Required Level: 73
+3 To Sorceress Skill Levels
+20% Faster Cast Rate
+15-30% To Cold Skill Damage
Lightning Resist +25-40%
Fire Resist +25-40%

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
The Oculus is my personal favorite when it comes to sorceress weapons, and its
overall the absolute best sorceress weapon. It's just not as good for dealing
damage with blizzard.

\The Oculus (Unique Swirling Crystal)
/+3 To Sorceress Skill Levels
\+5 To Mana After Each Kill
/All Resistances +20
\25% Chance To Cast Level 1 Teleport When Struck
/30% Faster Cast Rate
\+20 To Vitality
/+20 To Energy
\+20% Enhanced Defense
/50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items


VIIG. SHIELD
#################
Spirit is an AMAZING shield for such a low cost- nothing can compare, really.
However, it IS ladder-only. If you're not on ladder, you may want to try
a lidless wall. However, I leave it up to you to find the stats for it.

\Spirit (4 Socket Shields) Tal+Thul+Ort+Amn
/Required Strength: 156
\+2 To All Skills
/+25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
\+55% Faster Hit Recovery
/+250 Defense Vs. Missile
\+22 To Vitality
/+89-112 To Mana (varies)
\Cold Resist +35%
/Lightning Resist +35%
\Poison Resist +35%
/+3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
\Attacker Takes Damage of 14

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Since we're all about the MF with this guy, the ideal shield would be a monarch
with 4 ists. That would give you a truckload of MF.

HOWEVER, it's a fairly expensive endeavor to "Waste" (As many people would say)
4 ists on a shield, so try some cheaper things instead.

On the one hand, there's splendor, which gives lots of great bonuses along with
some MF:

\Splendor (2 Socket Shields)Eth+Lum
/+1 To All Skills
\+10% Faster Cast Rate
/+20% Faster Block Rate
\+60-100% Enhanced Defense (varies)
/+10 To Energy
\Regenerate Mana 15%
/50% Extra Gold From Monsters
\20% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
/+3 To Light Radius

On the other hand there's rhyme, which gives the highest MF bonus of the
shield options.

\Rhyme (2 Socket Shields) Shael+Eth
/20% Increased Chance of Blocking
\40% Faster Block Rate
/All Resistances +25
\Regenerate Mana 15%
/Cannot Be Frozen
\50% Extra Gold From Monsters
/25% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items

You can choose which one you'de prefer to use- both are solid options.

VIIH. JEWELRY
##################
Stone of Jordan (SoJ) are the perfect sorceress rings. You should wear one on
each hand.

\Stone of Jordan (Unique Ring)
/Required Level: 29
\+1 To All Skill Levels
/Increase Maximum Mana 25%
\Adds 1-12 Lightning Damage
/+20 To Mana

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
The MF sorc needs to be using Nagelrings for the huge boost that they give
to your MF.

\Nagelring (Unique Ring)
/Required Level: 7
\Magic Damage Reduced By 3
/+50-75 To Attack Rating
\Attacker Takes Damage of 3
/15-30% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Item

***************

Mara's Kaleidoscope is, without doubt, the best amulet you can get. Nothing
else comes close.

\Mara's Kaleidoscope (Unique Amulet)
/Required Level: 67
\+2 To All Skill Levels
/All Resistances +20-30
\+5 To All Attributes

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
While Mara's Kaleidoscope is clearly better, Tal Rasha's Amulet is better for
your MF.
"Better for my MF? How? It doesn't have any MF on it!"
For now, trust me- a little further down I will explain what I'm talking about.

\Tal Rasha's Adjudication (Amulet)
/Required Level: 67
\+2 To Sorceress Skill Levels
/Lightning Resist +33%
\Adds 3-32 Lightning Damage
/+42 To Mana
\+50 To Life


VIIi. FINAL LISTING
#####################

SO, we have two lists. First, the pure damage list.

Helm: Nightwing's Veil w/ cold facet
Armor: Ormus' Robes w/ cold facet
Gloves: Frostburn
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Boots: Silkweave
Weapon: Death's Fathom w/ cold facet
Shield: "Spirit" Monarch
Rings: 2x Stone of Jordan
Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope

Some of the focus stats are:

+ Skills- 12 (+15 blizzard w/ a good ormus)
+% Damage- 75%
+% Mana- 105% (!!)
+ Resists- +60 fire, +95 lightning, +55 cold, +55 poison

All in all, the attack power is BRUTALLY high, but the resists are somewhat
lacking. You'll need some charms to take care of that.
Fortunately, an annihilus and a torch can up your resist by up to 40, and that
would bring your resistances significantly higher.

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
NOW, for the MF list.

Helm: Harlequin Crest w/ Ptopaz
Armor: Tal-Rasha's Armor w/ Ptopaz
Gloves: Chance Guards
Belt: Tal-Rasha's Belt
Boots: War Travelers
Weapon: The Oculus w/ Ist
Shield: Milebrega's Shield w/ Ist
Rings: 2x Nagelrings
Amulet: Tal-Rasha's Amulet

Now, first I must explain- you're currently wearing 3 pieces of Tal-Rasha's set.
By doing so, you get set bonuses! Those bonuses include:

Armor:
+10% Faster Cast Rate

Belt:
+60 Defense
+10% Faster Cast Rate

Overall:
Replenish Life +10
65% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items

SO, all in all, here are the bonuses this outfit will grant you:

+% MF- 541
+ Skills- 7
+ Resists- 93 Lightning, 60 Fire, 60 Ice, 20 Poison

The MF is what matters most, and you have PLENTY. 400% or more is ideal, and
you've got nearly 550. Add on a Gheed's fortune and a few MF charms, and you
could easily hit 700%.

HOWEVER:
As with the blizzard sorc, resists are terrible, but you can pump them pretty
easily with some charms of resistance. If you do that, though, you have to
sacrifice your MF charms. Another option is to sacrifice 45 MF from your shield
and get a 3-socket shield full of Perfect Diamonds. All told, that will grant
you 57 to all resists. Alternately, find a magic shield with over 20 to all
resists and socket it with the larzuk quest. That will give more resists overall
than 3 perfect diamonds in a normal shield.

VIII. MERCENARY
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Your mercenary is incredibly important as a blizzard sorceress. Unlike many
other builds, the blizzard sorc CANNOT kill cold immunes without a mercenary.
The ONLY viable option here is an act 2 mercenary. They use auras, and can tank
just about everything.

Now, there are a couple of options for your mercenary. On the one hand, you can
get holy freeze, which adds to your mercenaries damage and automatically chills
everything around. This can be damn useful for keeping your enemies at bay while
your blizzard wipes them out.

On the other hand, a mercenary using might will greatly boost his attack damage,
which means he'll be able to kill his enemies that much faster.

All in all, it really depends on which sorceress you're using, and the money
that you have. EVERY sorceress should use a mercenary with might, normally.
BUT, if you happen to be rolling in dough, there are other things you can do.

(oh, by the way- might is the "offensive" and holy freeze the "defensive", and
they can only be bought in Nightmare difficulty)

##############
As for his equipment:

Your mercenary generally needs to be able to stay alive- +defense is always
a good idea, but more importantly, he needs life leech. If he can self-sustain,
he'll fare much better. Beyond that, just look for the highest possible damage
that you can get!

NOW, there are some ideal sets of equipment for a merc, just as with your sorc.
And, as with your sorc, the ideal equipment varies.

Both mercs use polearms with runewords, and both runewords are 4 runes.
So, be sure to look for 4 Open-socket (Os) weapons. Ideally you'll want a
colossus Voulge (easiest polearm to find 4-sockets in) or a cryptic axe
(most powerful polearm)

FOR THE DAMAGE SORC:
#####################

WEAPON:
++++++++++
The infinity runeword will provide a level 12 conviction aura. You know what
that means? It means that when your merc is alive, you can get a HUGE damage boost.

\Infinity (4 Socket Polearms) Ber+Mal+Ber+Ist
/50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
\Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
/+35% Faster Run/Walk
\+255-325% Enhanced Damage
/-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance
\40% Chance of Crushing Blow
/Prevent Monster Heal
\0.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
/30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
\Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)

See, this is the weapon. If you have an infinity weapon, your mercenary doesn't
need might to increase his damage, because he doesn't need killing power.
SO, make him holy freeze instead so that he slows everything else down.

ARMOR:
+++++++++
Mercenaries always seem to have an amazing amount of resist. Guardian Angel
takes full advantage of it and makes your merc all but invincible to the
elements.

\Guardian Angel (Unique Templar Coat)
/+180-200% Enhanced Defense
\+20% Increased Chance Of Blocking
/+30% Faster Block Rate
\+ 2-247 To Attack Rating Against Demons (Based On Character Level)
/+1 To Paladin Skill Levels
\+4 To Light Radius
/15% To Maximum Poison Resist
\15% To Maximum Cold Resist
/15% To Maximum Lightning Resist
\15% To Maximum Fire Resist

HELMET
+++++++++
Andariel Visage is perfect for the merc. Attack speed, life steal, and the
poison nova ability doesn't hurt, either.

\Andariel's Visage (unique demonhead)
/+100-150% Enhanced Defense
\+2 To All Skills
/20% Increased Attack Speed
\8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+25-30 To Strength
\+10% To Maximum Poison Resist
/Fire Resist -30%
\Poison Resist +70%
/15% Chance To Cast Level 15 Poison Nova When Struck
\Level 3 Venom (20 charges)


FOR THE MF SORC
##################
The armor will be identical for your merc, ideally- Andariels Visage and GA.
However, you need a different weapon.

MF sorcs, as you will learn soon, are designed to teleport through hordes
of enemies quickly to get to their designated spot (most notoriously Andariel
and Mephisto).

Teleport isnt' cheap, and you need lots of mana to be efficient. Unfortunately,
you don't HAVE a lot of mana to spend. So, instead, you must rely on insight.

What's insight, you ask? It's a runeword that gives a meditation aura to you and
your merc. It increases the speed of mana regeneration, just like warmth.
The difference is that it's a hell of a lot FASTER than warmth. It's a must-have
for any sorc that is good friends with the teleport skill.

\Insight (4 Socket Polearms/Staves) Ral+Tir+Tal+Sol
/Level 12-17 Meditation Aura When Equipped
\+35% Faster Cast Rate
/+200-260% Enhanced Damage
\+9 To Minimum Damage
/180-250% Bonus to Attack Rating
\Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
/+75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
\+1-6 To Critical Strike
/+5 To All Attributes
\+2 To Mana After Each Kill
/23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items

IX. EARLY LEVELS
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ACT 1- This act should be fairly easy. Ice bolt and blast can quickly decimate
anything you come across. Buy yourself a nice staff that gives +ice bolt and/or
+ice blast.
Learn to run- you can't sit there and take a beating off of the enemies.
Breeze through act 1- if Andariel gives you issues, join a team game, but she's
the ONLY thing that you might have difficulties with.

ACT 2- You'll be MORE than capable of killing everything, but you may find
yourself swamped. You don't have a crowd-control spell, and the enemies come
in REALLY big numbers in Act 2. First, get yourself a mercenary. Second, find a
weapon with some life leech (it's fairly easy to find one). And then, go to
town!
The boss of the maggot lairs is immune to cold, so you either need to have a
VERY powerful merc, or you need to join a party to kill this bastard.
Same goes for Duriel, who is likely to be too strong to beat on your own. He
hits too hard for your level, generally. Join a group, especially with a
summoner (but remember your cold spells destroy corpses; don't piss him off
TOO much!)

ACT 3- Glacial Spike should sustain you fairly well. Ice blast takes care of
the tougher enemies, while the groups of fetishes will fall to your glacial
spike.
You might manage to get blizzard now. If so, awesome! If not, that's OK- you
should still be just fine all the way through.
As always- if you've got troubles, join a group.

ACTS 4 and 5- You've finally got blizzard! YAY! Keep yourself stocked with
potions (just in case) and party on; there's not a thing that'll stand in your
way in these areas.

From then on, you're own your own- Blizzard is more than sufficient for killing
EVERYTHING (that isnt' cold immune). Best of luck!

[JAKEUS]

MF Section
X. MF
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SO, you hear all about MF, but you don't know what it's about, eh? Well, here's
the run-down for you. Hopefully you'll get something useful out of this so you
can start MFing! (MF is a verb, yes- don't ask, because I don't know why)

The beauty of the game engine in Diablo 2 is that you can fight a boss over and
over again, infinitely until you're bored. SO, a character that can quickly
get to the boss and kill him will be able to do it over and over quickly, and
sooner or later amass a great quantity of items.

Generally speaking, a person uses their blizzard sorceress to find lots of items
and then gives the items to their other characters to allow them to kick ***.
There are other uses, but that's the primary one.

First and foremost, there's Mephisto. Found on the third level of the Durance
of Hate in act 3, Mephisto has the potential to drop some excellent items.
In the Nightmare and Hell difficulty, he is one of the top candidates for MF.
Blizzard sorceresses can quickly take him down and reap the benefits of his
drops.

Another option is Travincal. In the nightmare difficulty, the Council members
of the travincal drop Grand Charms on occasion. Now, these grand charms have a
9% chance (1/11) of having a very powerful ability on them- +1 skills. Now, it's
not +1 to ALL skills, nor is it +1 to all of a classes skills. BUT, it IS +1
to all of a tree. +1 cold skills, +1 summoning skills, etc.

These charms are worth a fortune to other players. Finding these charms gives
you a bartering chip to buy whatever else you might want for your character.
This is a growingly popular method for obtaining wealth. Try it, and see. If it
doesn't suit you, then by all means run Mephisto some more.

[emar]

As generous as this is, I would be a little wary about copying and pasting something that doesn't belong to yourself without explicit permission. It is more of a courtesy than anything else.

Yes, intellectual property posted on the internet can be a free for all, but if the individual did not post it himself on this site - there very well could be a reason. There's probably nothing wrong with this, but I kind of cringed looking at it - must be the academic in me :)

Interesting guide, however the format deterred me from reading it completely. Hopefully, it can help some newcomers to the class.

[Dennis_KoreanGuy]

blizzard for dummies right here.