light sorc ques

[cbomber]

hey guys, ive always played diablo2 kinda casually but i finally got my first character to hell. Ive got a level 62 pure lightning sorc and i keep getting killed because i keep running into light immunes. i tried hiring merc but they last a whole 3 seconds lol. what would be the best way for me to contend with these immunes?

[sirpoopsalot]

1. get more levels. you should be at least level ~70 in hell, preferably level 75+ at the start. Do runs against NM Baal to get there quickly.

2. Get Infinity for your merc to break the immunities. Without the Infinity, you might as well teleport past them, as waiting on a merc to kill all the immunes will be miserably slow.

3. Post more info. What's your equipment, stats, skills, etc? It's hard to give complete advice with incomplete information.

[UberB]

Make sure your merc has a high damage polearm and good life leech. A Vampire Gaze and a Shaftstop should quite cheap to get and do wonders to keeping your merc alive, provided he has a good damage polearm.

If you are going pure light sorc and intend to play through the game solo, you should either have a really really strong merc, or an Infinity runeword. You can also try to shop a wand with Lower Resist charges, and put it on switch. Use the wand when you encounter LI's. This isn't really efficient though.

[cbomber]

ok ill post up my stuff later, im near that computer now and don't know off the top of my head exactly what i have.

What exactly is infinity and how do i get it (im guessing is a rune). Also it breaks all the monster resistances/immunes or just some?

[sirpoopsalot]

Infinity's a runeword.

Infinity (made in 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 (varies)
-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
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)


It's pretty darn expensive, but the conviction aura breaks the vast majority of lightning immunities in the game (basically only some Lightning-Enchanted and/or Magic-Resistant bosses will still be immune). It also lowers non-immune monsters resistances by an insane amount, so you'll effectively do double-damage (~roughly double-damage... on average throughout the game :tongue:).

[cbomber]

wow, thats impressive. where would i go about finding all these runes, i only tend to find really weak ones. yet i see ppl with insane ones for trade and in their gear.

[cbomber]

also is that the only way to deal with immunes?? thanks so much for the help guys.

[hacgumyu]

i'm also building a new light sorc, will it be better to get light/frozen orb sorc instead? this way more alternative skills to kill LI's... or this is bad idea due to much lower lightning damage?

I also intend to use this new sorc build for some MF

thanks

[sirpoopsalot]

Finding all the runes? Not gonna happen (I've been playing 3+ years, and I'd be just a little shy if I'd saved every rune I ever found). You pretty much have to trade for the runes.

... as for breaking Lightning Immunes, you can also purchase a wand from a Vendor that comes with Lower Resist charges (although this solution is quite a bit weaker than Infinity, and it's about 100x more of a pain in the butt). I wouldn't bother with this solution.

By the way, you can edit your posts within the first hour - there's no need to double-post.



@hacgumyu, a light/FO sorc will be a little slower that pure-lightsorc sometimes, but it'll be faster for progressing through the game if you want to try anything solo.

If you can afford Infinity or always plan to quest with a necromancer and/or paladin, then stay pure lightning. If those aren't options, a lite/FO sorc is a good starting build (a little mana dependent, but has great crowd control).

PS. Don't bother with Energy Shield with the lite/FO sorc; you won't have the skillpoints to pull it off.

[aishilee]

well.. what i felt is that to make an effective lite sorc for hell, it would be very expensive getting all the items.. I dun think making a pure light sorc as ur first charc is a good choice.

[hacgumyu]

my main goal is solid safe MF build... I don't like those mad teleport sorcress for pure MF, that's no fun...

if a lite/FO will suit this needs, I don't mind a bit of slow progression.

does most MF sorcress go solo? or with friends helping such as paladin/necro?