The Best Possible Gear Analysis

[Sorceressness]

I am starting a project where I take the time to look up the best possible gear for each character class and add up all the stats and modifiers in lists for everyone and comment on the variations. I also add the 505 stat points you have at level 99 into the total values, in the best (in my opinion) combination. I don't include skills, since that is a whole different discussion. So far I have only done the sorceress, since that is my favorite character and the only one I've played so far.

Enjoy, and comment please! I an new to this forum, having just gotten into diablo 2 again. I have a lv 74 sorceress with an orb/fireball build on ladder.


<font size="+3">Diablo 2 Character Potential:
Best possible builds – </font>

<b>Attribute notes:</b> damage taken goes to mana is changed to damage taken adds to mana, because this property doesn’t lower damage dealt it just adds to your mana based upon that damage. Also, I might not be calculating the SOJ mana bonuses accurately, so if the total mana values are off, please notify me. If the SOJ bonuses work for base mana only, not mana before equipping them, it would be more viable to spend points in energy.

<center><font size="+1">Sorceress with Tal Rasha:</font>
- Full Tal Rasha Set
- “Spirit” Shield
- Sandstorm Trek Boots (Marrowwalk might be preferred, because of the bone prison and life tap skills)
- Magefist gloves (low defense, but perfect for sorceress)
- Two Stone Of Jordan rings

Full attributes with gear at lv 99:
(for the purposes of obviousness, points into sorceress skill levels will be put into + to all skill levels)(also, most variable stats are averaged, min/max is not included)

stat allocation at lv 99 and after all quests completed:
+80 strength
+0 dexterity
+425 vitality
+0 energy

defense: 1612
life: 1358
mana: 784 (523 + 50% SOJ bonus)
strength: 102
dexterity: 45
vitality: 469
energy: 45
fire resist: 135 (35 in hell)
cold resist: 170 (70 in hell)
lightning resist: 213 (75 in hell)
poison resist: 185 (75 in hell)

105% faster caste rate (<b>exactly</b> enough for 8 frames per cast)
2 to Lighting Mastery
2 to Fire Mastery
2 to Cold Mastery
10 to all skills and +1 to fire skills
-15% enemy fire resist
-15% enemy lightning resist
+15% to cold skills damage
10% life stolen per hit
10% mana stolen per hit
magic damage reduced by 15
168% magic find
37% damage taken adds to mana
add 5-56 lightning damage, 1-6 fire damage
replenish life 10
100% faster hit recovery (7 frames)
300 defense vs. missile
5 magic absorb
attacker takes damage of 14
20% faster run/walk
50% slower stamina drain
regenerate mana 25%

<b>Note:</b> the Tal Rasha sorceress, which doesn’t get the large strength bonus Enigma offers may not be able to equip as high a shield for the “Spirit” runeword and therefore the total defense may be lower than actually speculated here.

<font size="+1">Sorceress with unique and elite gear:</font>
- Sandstorm Trek Boots (Marrowwalk might be preferred, because of the bone prison and life tap skills)
- Magefist gloves (low defense, but perfect for sorceress)
- Two Stone Of Jordan rings
- Harlequin Crest helm
- Mara’s Kaleidoscope amulet
- Ondal’s Wisdon staff
- “Spirit” Shield
- “Enigma” armor

Full attributes with gear at lv 99:
(for the purposes of obviousness, points into sorceress skill levels will be put into + to all skill levels)(also, most variable stats are averaged, min/max is not included)

stat allocation at lv 99 and after all quests completed:
+82 strength
+0 dexterity
+423 vitality
+0 energy

defense: 2064
life: 1066 (1016 + 5% enigma bonus)
mana: 658 (439 + 50% SOJ bonus)
strength: 111 (<b>just</b> enough to equip a scarab husk for enigma)
strength after enigma equipped: 185
dexterity: 32
vitality: 51
energy: 87
fire resist: 55 (-45 in hell)
cold resist: 90 (-10 in hell)
lightning resist: 90 (-10 in hell)
poison resist: 145 (45 in hell)

75% faster hit recovery
65% faster run/walk
50% slower stamina drain
11 to all skills and +1 to fire skills
95% faster caste rate
regenerate mana 25%
add 2-24 lightning damage, 1-6 fire damage
damage reduced by 18%
149% magic find
magic damage reduced by 7
50% damage to undead
<b>5% extra experience gained</b>
250 defense vs missile
5 magic absorb
attacker takes damage of 14
1 to teleport
14 life after each kill
15% damage taken adds to mana</center>


I like the Tal Rasha build better. Especially since its easier to complete and the resistances are a problem with the unique/elite gear build. However, this can obviously be countered with some charms and maybe different gloves/boots if needed. What do you guys think?

[ProfessionalBerg]

The "best" item choice really depends on the type of sorceress you make. If you go dual element, Tal Rasha's set is hard to beat. But if I made a light sorceress (throwing aside the fact I don't like them), I'd use neither of your proposed gear setup.

[crawlingdeadman]

What do you guys think?

what about the people that like max block?

what about godly rares?

what about griff vs shako vs godly circlet?

what about melee sorcs?

what about es variants?

what do i use before this "best gear possible" is available?

why scarab husk enig? there are ones you dont have to add str for to use.

[Pillz]

Enigma as armor? :( Life tap on a sorc? :(

Ondals is horrible for anything but leveling. Beyond that, it is a two hand weapon so you can't use spirit with it.

There are many a sorc build, and a lot wouldn't use most of the gear you posted. Back to the drawing board?

[bradtford]

tals is easy, they make that one for you.

the real builds start with Chains of Honor, skin of vipermagi armor, and ormus of ur preferred skill.shako is ok, but a nice rare can get u much better stats, and a light sorc should wear griffons eye.

same goes for the amulet a good craft will whip the crap out of maras

spirit is right, but ondals is 2 handed that doesnt work. Heart of the Oak and Call to arms are you 2 weapons(although eschuta is a good sorce if u need more damage, fathome for a cold sorc, occy for a mfer) whitsans if u wanna go max block

go give the marrowwalks to a smiter or necro, and keep them away from you sorc, no benefits(seriously you want to pay to recharge those everytime u waste ur spell casting witha life tap or bw?). treks are fine. maybe silkweaves if es. a good rare once again could be better than any.

SoJ are fine unless you want to hit 200 fcr builds.

mage fists are fine if u dont do es(frostburns) trangs are another option and probably better unless u are a fire sorc.

as for you str issues, add it to the base.

[Sorceressness]

Everyone, including me, forgot that I didn't add a belt to the second build, so I will put in the Arachnid Mesh, which should be best for a caster I think and I will redo the stats to match.

Also, thanks everyone for the input. The purpose of my post wasn't actually to suggest someone use these builds, but to see what people had to say about them. I haven't played D2 that much, so everyone who chimed in with experience is much appreciated. And I thought that Ondals staff was 1 handed, so my mistake there :( Your right; without Ondals I would next use Heart of the Oak for a sorceress. And the reason I used enigma was because with 1 to teleport you don't have to waste 2 points to get to that skill on your skill chart. And, with all the + to all skills the mana cost would be low. But if you are a lightning sorc, then you wouldn't need to have 1 to teleport anyways, so your right chains of honor, or maybe an ormus shroud with the perfect skill for you would be a good choice.

But what about the shako? I mean if there is a better rare item I would like to se it. Aren't rare items generally crap? Maybe those advocating use of rares could post some pictures or links to show off some rares that might beat unique items.

Thx to all for the ideas and comments!

[Sorceressness]

<b>The new stats with Arachnid Mesh added</b>
(Not that this build is viable anyway I just hate to have any mistakes present in anything so I fixed the stats)

Sorceress with unique and elite gear:
- Sandstorm Trek Boots (Marrowwalk might be preferred, because of the bone prison and life tap skills)
- Magefist gloves (low defense, but perfect for sorceress)
- Two Stone Of Jordan rings
- Harlequin Crest helm
- Mara’s Kaleidoscope amulet
- Ondal’s Wisdon staff
- “Spirit” Shield
- “Enigma” armor
- "Arachnid Mesh"

Full attributes with gear at lv 99:
(for the purposes of obviousness, points into sorceress skill levels will be put into + to all skill levels)(also, most variable stats are averaged, min/max is not included)

stat allocation at lv 99 and after all quests completed:
+82 strength
+0 dexterity
+423 vitality
+0 energy

defense: 2192
life: 1066 (1016 + 5% enigma bonus)
mana: 680 (439 + 50% SOJ bonus and 5% Arachnid Mesh bonus)
strength: 111 (just enough to equip a scarab husk for enigma)
strength after enigma equipped: 185
dexterity: 32
vitality: 51
energy: 87
fire resist: 55 (-45 in hell)
cold resist: 90 (-10 in hell)
lightning resist: 90 (-10 in hell)
poison resist: 145 (45 in hell)

75% faster hit recovery
65% faster run/walk
50% slower stamina drain
12 to all skills and +1 to fire skills
115% faster caste rate
regenerate mana 25%
add 2-24 lightning damage, 1-6 fire damage
damage reduced by 18%
149% magic find
magic damage reduced by 7
50% damage to undead
5% extra experience gained
250 defense vs missile
5 magic absorb
attacker takes damage of 14
1 to teleport
14 life after each kill
15% damage taken adds to mana
slows target by 10%
level 3 venom (11 charges)

[EquiLa]

Enigma as armor? :( Life tap on a sorc? :(

Ondals is horrible for anything but leveling. Beyond that, it is a two hand weapon so you can't use spirit with it.

There are many a sorc build, and a lot wouldn't use most of the gear you posted. Back to the drawing board?

Just reposting this so you actually take time to read it...

Can't understand why you're posting gear without a build. Kinda pointless since it varies with every choice. ES/Block/Vita/Fcr and so on(not to mention the obvious Light/Fire/Cold or dual elements).

And enigma wont ever (in my humble opinion) be better then a viper on a sorceress.
/Equila

[Dodgydave]

Don't want to sound discouraging but there are seven different character classes each with dozens and dozens of different builds and each build with numerous variations. (Block v no block, titan-builds, max-vita builds, slightly different skill set ups for example) Each slight variation usually requires a change in gear to achieve the "best possible" set up for that build. That's an aweful lot of different set ups you'll have to look at and once you've done that there still wont be a consensus on what is "best". That's why guides usually off a wide variety of choices.

Plus 99% of people probably aren't interested and/or can't afford what counts as the "best" gear so would rather see a effective and affordable gear set up rather than optimal and extremely expensive.

Also do you include charms and socketing options in the gear set up because these obviously have the ability change what would be the "best possible" set up.

Good luck I suppose, but would appear to be a never-ending quest IMHO.

[helvete]

Aren't rare items generally crap? Maybe those advocating use of rares could post some pictures or links to show off some rares that might beat unique items.

Try and run a search for "rare items showoff thread" (or just simply check the first page in this forum) and you'll probably have a "omfg wtf bbq" kind of revelation...