GEAR: MF% vs FCR% vs +Skills

[PailAil]

Needing advice on MF vs FCR vs +Skills gear.
At what MF level should I start thinking more about speed/dmg vs MF%?

I think this is a good trade-off of MF%/FCR%/+Skills, but would like a second opinion and advice on how much MF is enough MF, any tips for fine tuning, and any suggestions on switching out gear.

Here's what I got so far, would appreciate input:

Lvl 85 Sorc (pure light)

MF
74 Shako - PTopaz'd
85 DS Nigma
00 +2 light skill/10fcr/20allres ammy
25 HotO - 35res
00 Spirit - 35fcr/sup
00 Magefist
47 War Travs
00 Arach
00 SoJ
29 Nagel
40 Gheed's

=300%mf
=125%fcr (117bp)
+11 all skills/+2 light skills

[vorstelman]

with my lightsorc (lvl90) i have focused almost purely on MF items,
- skullders
- chancies
- goldwrap
- ali baba + rhyme on switch
exept for my 2 fcr rings to hit the next breakpoint

normaly this wouldn't have enough power to kill but since my merc uses infinity i kill anything fast enough anyway. so i guess if you can afford infinity (wich looks like it if you see your other gear) you can just go full mf and still kill as easy as you do with godly gear and no infinity. it also kinda depends on if you have a sorc torch / anni or any light skillers or res charms if you can survive / deal enough damage with full mf gear.

as for fcr, for me the 78 breakpoint is enough, wich is what you get with mf gear + 2 fcr rings.

[MaKIsBaK]

While your ammy is nice and well Arachs is nice... I am building a similar char now (Kinda glad i didn't spend all that on ur griffs hehe) and you should at least consider using tal Arm/Ammy/Belt w Arm Ptopazed it gives about 175 mf also belt and arm gives 10% fcr each plus usual advantages... for mf well i think u should def consider this...:thumbsup:

my build is something like:

Ptopazd Shako/ May Griffs
Tal Ammy
Tal Arm
Tal Belt
Hoto/Crescent Moon
War travs
Mages/ Chancies
35 FCR Sprirt Monarch
SOJ
30 Nagel

I havnt made this build yet but im currently lvl 66 so ill b there soon enough and I still have to work out gear options but 1st lot of gear breaks 117% BP and gives a healthy 370 mf w 40 Gheeds but w/o Sc's so I will have somrthing like 430mf (happy w that)... I will post again once i test drive her...:thumbsup:

LMK how urs works out aswell (Though i can't see any probs w it)


Edit:

My merc:

Eth CV Infinity (Cheap Cheap Cheap Ptorch 4 it)
Eth Hellforge Plate Fort
Ral'd 10/30 Andys (any thought on Gaze over Andys or vice versa)

Interested in any info about deminishing mf thing... though really I would prob use this build either way... I have the gear anyways and I have a feeling it will fell much of the same...

... Looked over the Gear setup 4 Crescent moon and seems like Mf wont b boosted that much (mayb by 10-20) and well droping a fcr BP I dont see the worth though it does -15% light res I feel that the -50% odd on Infinity does the job good and well...

[PailAil]

Thanks for the input vorstelman!

Yes, sorry forgot to mention the following:
Merc:
Eth CA Infinity
AP Fort
Upped 8/19/15 Vgaze

12/18 storch
11/19/10 anni

no skillers atm, traded a couple away for SoJ, and to make more room in my inventory for drops, gheed's, res charms, etc.

If I go full out MF, yes I'm worried about survivability. All the monsters drop with Infinity on the merc, and he tanks well, so no worries there, but there's always those couple times you tele a little too close, merc dawdles behind you, lag, etc, and I prefer not to make a habit of dying :0) Also, I love the 117 FCR, it really boosts my killing speed and tele, as I still do key runs and like a bit of speed. How have you found the 78? Coming down from a 200fcr build has me jaded I think... I start to feel the pressure when I tele into a crowd and they start to close in before I can zap them all... wasn't a problem before, but even that 1 more frame makes a difference in play feel.

So at what point does that diminishing returns rule kick in? I've heard around 300, but I was looking for some confirmation. I checked one of the charts on a sticky thread here, but it was pretty vague. Any idea?


EDIT:
@ Mak, yeah the Griff's is a pricy item, and only right for very few builds. Gotta admit that last offer was pretty nice though... sucks he's on Hong Kong time, we're still working out the details... :p

Thank you for saying something about the 3-piece Tal MF build breaking 117fcr, I had completely forgotten about the bonuses!! I'll give this much thought, and let me know how it goes!!

[vorstelman]

well, i never played with higher fcr then the 78 bp on my sorc, but 78 is just enough to get away from groups of enemies like a pack of cows in the cow level. the only place i sometimes die is when i teleport in a pack of gloams in the worldstone keep. i guess with 117 fcr youll be quick enough to get out of those. as for killing speed, 78 bp is fast enough for me exept for when i switch to ali + rhyme since then my fcr drops alot and i attack realy slow. so i guess having fcr or gear other then weapon and shield (arach + magefist) isn't a bad idea.

[MYK]

I get at least 200 then I look at the rest of my gear. As long as she has 75% block, 63% FCR, and +30% FHR she's alright. From there I check relevant resists. Poison isn't that scary, and cold damage isn't that scary either unless you're planning on tanking a few orbs from mephisto or something. It's all about balance!

200-300 is optimum for me. Everyone has their own numbers they like to hit. If you check out ATMA it has a drop calculator and from there you can plug in various MF values and see how they affect the overall drops of a certain item.

[BrickHaus]

PailAil, your gear setup looks strong, you will not have a problem, but I will post my experience with my lite sorc. Here's my gear setup:
Lvl 88...~900life...~900mana
Occy 'ist' -80mf.....switch: staff with ES and the armor with icebolts
30fcr Spirt
Shako 'ist' -75mf
Tal armor 'ist' -113mf i think?
Tal ammy -3 piece tal = 65mf
Tal belt -15mf
30mf nagle x2
49mf WT
Torch
Anni
39mf Gheed, assortment of 4-7mf sc's, couple of 5fhr sc's

Merc:
Dream -25mf
Eth Nigma ~87mf
Eth Infinity -25mf

As you can see, I opted for as much mf as possibe. All skill pts in lite spells except for 1 in warmth(1pt TK btw). With this setup I can kill just about anything I encouter. 8k Chain, 18k Lite damag. I stay away from Chaos for sure, sometimes Pindle minions will rape my merc quick with consecutive charges, I don't run WSK or ToD (Souls), and did I mention Chaos Sanctuary? Convition breaks most lite immunes but I still cannot kill them easily, so merc handles them just fine. This is my first sorc so I dont know much about 200fcr, but whatever I have is just fine and I tele/cast fast enough to not die much. Also my resists are crap, in the negatives I believe, but the point of sorc is to not get hit right? This is why I don't bother with putting anything into dex for blocking.

I usually zap bosses down to their last sliver of health and let merc make the kill with about 650mf, more or less, haven't checked in a while. I was going to get 6ist sword/4ist sheild for boss switch but thats too expensive/overkill/I like my staff too much; although I did use ist's in gear when I could've used Ptopaz :p

So survivability is not an issue if you dont have a slow computer like I do, but I manage just fine still. I run Pits, Countess, Andy, Summoner, Meph, Pindle/Eld/Shenk easy peasy, as well as rush up to hell chaos. Also, you can do better than Nigma for armor. As far as diminishing returns on amount of mf...More is ALWAYS better, Go all out!