cheap hydra build?

[Angry]

is it possible to go w/ a viable hydra build w/out a lot of +to skills equipment and for magic dinding? what's a cheap(skillpointwise) backup skill for fire immunes?

thanks

[sirpoopsalot]

is it possible to go w/ a viable hydra build w/out a lot of +to skills equipment and for magic dinding? what's a cheap(skillpointwise) backup skill for fire immunes?

thanks

possible? certainly. But not necessarily that fast. I took a hard-core, single-pass, untwinked one to Act3 hell before dying to my own stupidity (I wasn't solo, so I did have a little help from some other characters along the journey). Patience goes a long ways with hydrasorcs.


For Fire Immunes:
As you know, hydra is better with extra skill points (whether through +skills, +synergies, or both), so you're looking for a low-cost backup. The most straight-forward (and probably best) choice is Frozen Orb, which can get by with ~10-20 points and a single-point mastery. Only spending 10 points into Frozen Orb will leave it somewhat underpowered, but it's possible to use with patience. More points will help quite a bit there though.

Another option that might potentially work would be to actually spend some points into Enchant and go melee against monsters (with a high-physical-damage weapon). However, this would probably require some pretty decent equipment, and it certainly requires a decent weapon, so it's not the easiest solution.

Unfortunately, there isn't much in the lightning tree for a viable low-investment backup skill that kills things. The best would probably be Nova, but that will be somewhat underpowered without good equipment and/or a lot of +skills too. Frozen Orb will surely surpass Nova's performance and safety if you factor in the chilling/slowing.


Or you could just rely upon your mercenary to take care of fire immunes, but that's pretty tedious for a lot of people, and I don't recommend it.

[sirwhere]

hydra is a great build because it allows you to lean back while merc and pets to the dirty work

a great mf build that works on untwinked equip, even naked for that purpose!!. And with 25 or so you can get orb to deal with immunes.

[Epsilon Eyez]

Hydra sorcs are fun. Its time to let your merc and Hydras shine. Just stand back, let your merc take the hits, and support with Hydra and Fire Ball.

I recommend getting a Holy Freeze merc--it gives him additional damage, an additional elemental damage, and slows down enemies.

[Angry]

with a hydra build, am i just pushing for all + skills gear right? i've already got a visceratuant but should i prepare to push str for a spirit monarch?

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: +skills gear:
for the most part, yes. You obviously need to balance a few things like resistances & FCR (teleport) too.


Re: Spirit
IMO, yes, unless you've already invested a lot of points into Dexterity to block (spirit's a really crappy blocking shield). I'd look at (upgraded) Moser's Blessed Circle or (upgraded) Visceratuant if you want max-block.

[maiku]

with a hydra build, am i just pushing for all + skills gear right? i've already got a visceratuant but should i prepare to push str for a spirit monarch?

Not quite... -% enemy fire resist helps out Fire Sorcs a lot, as it does for Light Sorcs, so you should also try to seek this on gear, while maintaining as many +skills as you can get.

I have a Level 77 Hydra Sorc built for cheap using 3-piece Tal's, Vipermagi, etc. She's hella nice. I built her as a max-block Sorc w/ Visceraunt. No regrets. She's probably the safest Sorc I've ever played. A "Spirit" would also be a good addition, IMO, given that your Sorc will rarely get attacked or hit if you play her right. Hydra Sorcs tend to be much more laid back. You'll find you have a lot of extra stats to play with, so going high Dex for max block or high Str/Vit for "Spirit" are both good options. I chose max block because I found the only thing that really threatens her is the occasional missile attack. In Hell, missile attacks can be pretty nasty for a fragile sorc, so blocking 75% of them makes a safe build even safer. I use Holy Freeze Merc to increase Hydra & Fireball accuracy. It helps out a lot.

Also, on your Merc (assuming you are using Holy Freeze), try to use items w/ cold damage, freeze, Slow, or Decrepify. As mentioned above, it makes Hydra and Fireball (aiming) much better when you miss less shots and he's able to tank really well. Some other variants could include maybe putting a "Rift" polearm or ethereal "Obedience" on Defiance (for "Rift") or Might ("Obedience"/Reaper's Toll/eth Bonehew, etc.). Both those rune words are somewhat cheap to make. Also try to get Crushing Blow on him, so he can take out act bosses, bosses, and their minions much faster or Fire Immunes if you happen to be a pure fire build.

Hydra is definitely not underpowered.

[illestkhmai]

Not quite... -% enemy fire resist helps out Fire Sorcs a lot, as it does for Light Sorcs, so you should also try to seek this on gear, while maintaining as many +skills as you can get.

I have a Level 77 Hydra Sorc built for cheap using 3-piece Tal's, Vipermagi, etc. She's hella nice. I built her as a max-block Sorc w/ Visceraunt. No regrets. She's probably the safest Sorc I've ever played. A "Spirit" would also be a good addition, IMO, given that your Sorc will rarely get attacked or hit if you play her right. Hydra Sorcs tend to be much more laid back. You'll find you have a lot of extra stats to play with, so going high Dex for max block or high Str/Vit for "Spirit" are both good options. I chose max block because I found the only thing that really threatens her is the occasional missile attack. In Hell, missile attacks can be pretty nasty for a fragile sorc, so blocking 75% of them makes a safe build even safer. I use Holy Freeze Merc to increase Hydra & Fireball accuracy. It helps out a lot.

Also, on your Merc (assuming you are using Holy Freeze), try to use items w/ cold damage, freeze, Slow, or Decrepify. As mentioned above, it makes Hydra and Fireball (aiming) much better when you miss less shots and he's able to tank really well. Some other variants could include maybe putting a "Rift" polearm or ethereal "Obedience" on Defiance (for "Rift") or Might ("Obedience"/Reaper's Toll/eth Bonehew, etc.). Both those rune words are somewhat cheap to make. Also try to get Crushing Blow on him, so he can take out act bosses, bosses, and their minions much faster or Fire Immunes if you happen to be a pure fire build.

Hydra is definitely not underpowered.

I've always wanted to attempt such a build myself, sounds like fun.

[Angry]

ok so update!

thanks for the input, i've put it to good use (i hope)

so far i'm level 60 with maxed hydra, mastery, and fireball, and i'm working on maxing firebolt. one to a few lit skills (telekenesis, teleport, and static field).

i'm planning to build for a meph runner (so i won't move past act 3) and i'm working on leveling up my hf merc.

my gear is the following:
helm: sigons, waiting for shako in a couple levels woot
weapon: oculus/blade of alibaba
shield: visceratuant/working on getting a spirit monarch
belt: goldwrap
amulet: cathans atm, i suppose i'll use my seraphs hymn when i'm level 65 if i can't find a better
boots: war travs
gloves: mage fists/chance guards

i love this build. even though i can't kill the fire immunes, its a good mix b/w my zealot and my summoner, cuz i still have to actually move around the screen and actively play, but its not as involved as clicking on half the enemies on the screen to kill them.

edit:

btw when i max firebolt, which skills would you guys suggest i max? i was thinking i might end up maxing something stupid like teleport or static (for the convenience) or should i pick up a cold shield? (i always felt like they didn't really help)

[maiku]

I've always wanted to attempt such a build myself, sounds like fun.

It is a lot of fun. Rather cheap. I think the two most expensive items on my Sorc's setup are the Tal's amulet and 2/2/2 Tal's Orb with a 3%/-5% fire facet. I still need to round her out by getting more fire GCs, a Sorc Torch, and another two or three fire facets for socketing purposes. I think it could also be a great build for a full Tal's Set Sorc if the whole set was socketed with fire facets.

Angry, looking good so far. Occy probably can work quite decently on this build, since you won't be hit all the time. I have an Occy on my Frost Nova Sorc but it drives me nuts sometimes. She's always in close contact with enemies and she gets randomly teleported across the map often or into packs. However, a Hydra Sorc doesn't have this problem, so an Occy makes for a pretty good orb for her.

Another thing to consider, if you're willing to substitute something else for the Occy, is a 3-piece Tal's setup based on Tal's Orb, Ammy, and Belt. It gives +3 skills total (+1 from Orb, +2 from Ammy), -15% enemy fire resist (set bonus on orb), and up to 80% MF (65% set bonus + 15% MF from a good Tal's belt). This is what I chose. If you socket Tal's Orb, you can get -20% enemy fire resist from the 3-piece combo. I noticed it makes Hydra and Fireball much more deadly, though I'm running a bit lower on +skills. It allows more of my damage to get through to enemies. If you stick with Visceraunt, you can consider socketing it with a Shael, Eld, perfect diamond, or even a -5% fire facet for more damage. If "Spirit," then consider socketing elsewhere w/ -5% fire facets. Luckily, the equipment setup on this build is very flexible.

You can also keep an Ali Baba/Gull dagger + Rhyme/Splendor combo on switch if you'd like to boost your MF right before Meph drops dead from the Hydra bolts.

I think further skill points can take you in one of two ways with your Hydra Sorc:

1. Stronger Fireball: work on maxing Meteor (as a synergy to Fireball). This'll make you a pure Fire build with both powerful Hydras and Fireballs (same as a Meteorb in Fireball damage eventually). Obviously you might have trouble with FIs, which you'll either need a back up attack or strong Merc to deal with. A well-equipped Merc can kill stuff in Hell fast and easy, so I don't consider this a big deal. Just help him with a few casts of Static to speed things up.

2. Cold Back Up Skill: 1 point in Cold Mastery (or if using Tal's Orb, no points since Cold Mastery is a bonus on the Orb), try to max Frozen Orb. You'll have a solid FO to clear FI packs or to help your Merc after you Static resistant enemies.

3. In addition to another back up Cold Skill, you can make a "Memory" staff in something with +3 Frozen Orb or try to find a rare orb w/ +cold skills and +Frozen Orb. On my Frost Nova Sorc, I recently found a 4-socket staff w/ +3 Firewall and +2 Fire Mastery, which I converted into a "Memory" as a nice, cheap back up attack. I think with all her +skills items, she gets a Level 15 or 16 Firewall for free on switch. Gotta love that.

4. I don't recommend investing in Energy Shield because your Sorc should have be rather safe and attacking at range most of the time. So don't drop 20 points in TK and 1 into ES unless you're really that concerned.

[Angry]

that helps tons, but i have to ask now: i have 100 into str cuz i figured i was gonna be going w/ spirit. recently i've been considering just upping my visc and going for blocking, but w/ 100 already in str, will my health suffer?

[maiku]

If you're set on the "Spirit" Monarch, it's well worth it, IMO. The stats are great and you'll be able to squeeze out more damage from Hydra with the extra +skill. I'm using a +2 20% fcr circlet on my girl, so I don't really need the extra fcr that a "Spirit" provides, otherwise I might've considered using one. Make up for the lost Vit w/ small charms with like 15-20 hp.

I'd recommend at least 800+ hp for Hell, unless you're max block, in which case you may be able to go with 500+ (unless you're in HC, then by all means get 1K+). I checked my girl, and with all her gear on, she sits at almost 800 hp w/ 63% block. I still need to up my Visceraunt.