Help for a blizzard sorc

[mongerman]

Hi guys. Been playing D2 for awhile, though I've never used a pure cold sorc. Made one with optimum mf gear, only to discover that she cant really handle hell due to lack of resists.

My gear consists of

Shako w/ ptopaz
Mara's 23 resist all
Skullders w/ ptopaz
Upgrade goldwrap
2 x nagel + 26 mf
chance guards
WT 32%
Occules and stormshield with gull and rhyme on switch

I'm at lvl 70, while merc is at lvl 67. Equipment for merc will be a eth gladiators' bane, guillaume face and reaper's toll once he hits the requirements.

Suggestions? Should I lvl some more and buff up my merc, or are there ways to buff resists considering the gear I am using. Currently, my merc dies quickly when facing Andy. I'm not using her for general PVM, just to run meph and andy

Thanks for any help you guys can offer =)

[Smackin]

Pure cold or fire sorcs were never meant to handle hell with ease, and since ur low and arent using killing/surviving gear, u'll have problems for sure. If ur running both meph and andy, swap out G face for andy's socketed with ral, and swap out the reapers toll with a kelpie snare. This ensures ur merc's survivability vs the bosses, especially andy since her poison wont rip ur merc in 2 seconds.

[mr_sQuinty]

your biggest problem , IMO , is your low fcr , your only source is your occy 30%
swap your SS for a spirit monarch with 33%+ fcr
you will tele faster=safer get more damage and some resist/life/mana
but if i was you i would aim for 105 fcr , you would loose some mf but since you tele faster/safer you can do faster runs and get more items

[mongerman]

Right thanks for the feedback. I've came across a wizzy, so i'll be using that instead of occy. My plan now is to lvl to 80, and perhaps the higher lvl merc will make a diff.

Teleporting through catacombs is easy, so i think i'll stick with my original gear. For Durance, should I go for more FCR, or more block, since a spirit monarch will compromise my blocking %.

[AlabasterFilth]

pure cold sorcs won't be able to handle hell even with maxed resists. Cold Immunes are a brick wall (or take forever to wait for you merc to kill). If you're a MF cold sorc, resists should ONLY be high enough to get you to your desired MF dropper (andy, meph, pindle, etc.). I tele to Hell Meph with ~40 resists on everything just fine, and you have shako + SS (40% DR), so get yourself just one more piece of decent resist all equipment, and you should be set (you said you have wizzy, so you should be ready after all).

That said, if you're really hurting for resists, 2-ptopaz Crown of Ages is a great MF substitute for shako (you may have to spend additional 20 or so pts into strength), otherwise put on a skin of vipermagi and then switch it for skullder's when you're just about to make your kill.