Need some advice and suggestions!!!

[Krazy_Solo]

I've had played Diablo 2 for a long time yet I've never made a Successful Sorceress.

My primary goal is to have good killing speed while being able to survive as well.

I've always ran into on primary problem either I cannot kill anything in hell or I die too fast. Being a Barbarian and Paladin player from the 1.09 era I'm not too keen on being squishy so glass cannon builds are not of interest to me.

I've looked over alot of the builds only a few have any interest to me. Primary the Lightning base Sorc. I like the skills in that tree would really like to build one, but the main problem seems immunities and I don't seem to have the finances in game to supply key items (Infinity and Gryphon's).

Now If I should build a lightning sorc what are some variations that meet my primary concern? Survival with killing speed!

[sirpoopsalot]

Lightning and Chain Lightning are pretty skillpoint-intensive, so if you don't have an Infinity you'll need to park quite a few monsters or have a backup attack. You can rely on your merc to kill them too, but I find that tactic boring and tedious if I have to rely on it often. Having a backup attack means you're taking points away from your lightning skills, and therefore you're a little weaker than you'd probably like. These skills can be viable without full investment, but they might not be up-to-snuff if you have high expectations.

Nova only requires 40 skillpoints, leaving plenty of points for a strong backup. But without GREAT gear, Nova is quite weak in games with more than 2-3 players. Since you mentioned you can't afford Griffon's or Infinity, I wouldn't recommend Nova as a primary skill (it's kindof fun as a backup though, assuming you can scrounge 40 skillpoints without crippling your main attack).

Probably the best compromise in the lightning tree then would be Charged Bolt. You'll still want/need 60 points to synergize it fully, but that leaves you 30+ for a backup, and there are two attack spells you can make quite effective with that number of skillpoints: Firewall and Frozen Orb. Generally FrozenOrb is a much more popular choice because it provides nice crowd control, it's easy to aim, and can be quite strong if you hit the sweet-spot. But Firewall is kindof fun and extremely strong (if a little harder to aim and much crappier in crowd control).

If you want a lightning-based sorc and don't have Infinity or other awesome gear, CB/FO is the build I'd recommend.


After that, you want your equipment to provide three things:
1. resists (~50f / ~0c / ~75l / XXXp - as a minimum, with more being better)
2. FCR. It's like IAS for a barb or paladin... you want it to attack faster. 105 total FCR is a good amount to pursue for attaining a reasonable speed while allowing a lot of flexibility in addressing your other needs.
3. +skills

Those are your biggest needs, by far. +mana, +life, and +FHR are important, as is a nice tanking merc (Insight is a very popular merc weapon for virtually removing your mana needs).

As reasonably-attainable equipment goes, I'd recommend full Tal-Rasha's set, Magefists/Trangs gloves, and a Spirit shield (preferably with 35 FCR for the 105 breakpoint). This would give you a very nice start on your survivability and power, with rings, boots, charms and sockets still free to be customized.

If you decide to use a shield with FCR, do not put points in dexterity - the block rate is much too low for FCR-shields, and you'll want those points in your Vitality instead. You can survive without max-block, in case you're wondering (in fact, I find sorc blocking speeds so slow that I've found block-lock is a consistently annoying and unsafe occurence - I strongly prefer base-blocking and the solid benefits of a Spirit shield).


By the way, since you're used to paladin's and barb's, you'll have an adjustment period with playing a sorc. Sorcs are fragile. Period.

Strategically, your first priority when playing a 'casting' sorc is usually to avoid getting hit at all times. If you end up in a situation where you do get hit even once, your first priority should be to escape that situation and ensure you don't get hit again. <-- Attacking is almost always secondary to these points, since you simply don't want to 'trade blows' with anything.

Once you accept these points and get used to them, you'll gain more 'feel' for when you can be a little more brave, push harder, and take the occasional hit. But if you consistently play most sorcs like you play most barbarians or paladins, you'll quickly become a dead sorc.

FYI, teleport is your best skill for helping with this strategy (in fact, paired with a tanking merc, teleport is your best crowd-control skill). Use it. A lot.

[Krazy_Solo]

So a Charged Bolt/ Frozen Orb build would be hell viable without superb gear?

I will check into it...

I understand that Sorcs primary defense is not to get hit at all, but I don't want to be a one hit wonder either. So being able to survive a few hits is key for my taste.

Now I don't have full tals set or anything near the norm. Current gear I can supply for this sorc are...

Visceraunt Shield, Eschuta's Orb, Wizard Spike, "Spirit" Shield, Que'Hagan's, Magefist, Frostburns, Tals Armor, Tals Mask, Tals Belt...

I don't have any amulet or rings that would suffice well on a sorc, nor do i have ideal boots.

[KremBanan]

If you are on a low budget, the classic MeteOrb is a fine choice. And if you have an eth Insight on your merc, you get a decent physical attack also.


I see that you already have the Tal armor, its the most expensive item of the set. A Pul rune or pgs will get you the amulet, the Tal orb goes for few pgs.

[leifper]

If you want a sorc that can take some damage and still survive, you should consider integrating Energy Shield in your build. My last orb/nova sorc had this (20points in telekinesis and 1 point in ES, for a total og ~70% ramage redued after +skills.) THis made me able to take quite a few hits.
When doing Nilathak runs with my mates hammerdin, he died more than i did on his corpse explosions :p. It takes up 21 skillpoints + prequisites (you could get by with less points in telekinesis, but that requires more mana to be as effective), but it makes you abe to take alot more damage. something to consider.

[Jack Carael]

My 2 cents:
For a pure Lightsorc, Infinity is invaluable. This seems clear.
I have had a very effective MeteOrb sorceress, but the fact remains: There will be bosses you will have to kill that can spawn FI/CI - Council Members, Ancients, and as far as I remember the Chaos Sanctuary bosspacks as well as Diablo's Minions.

I always put 1 point in Energy Shield, and (quoth the raven) never more. With the +skills I have currently, that 1 point in Energy Shield reduces damage by 66%, if I remember correctly.
It is true that this can drain your mana real quickly, and many people claim that "If you accidentially Teleport into an evil (read: Mana Burn, Fanaticism, Extra Strong, etc.) you will be out of mana in no time, leaving you unable to Teleport away."
I think the logic is missed, here.
Most people carry around Full Rejuvs. If a bad Teleport can get you killed (if you don't have ES on), Energy Shield basically gives you a second chance: it drains your mana completely, yes, but 1 Full Rejuv and you'll be able to Teleport again.
That said, 1 point with some +skills is usually enough.

Hope this helps,
-Jack

[sirpoopsalot]

.
It is true that this can drain your mana real quickly, and many people claim that "If you accidentially Teleport into an evil (read: Mana Burn, Fanaticism, Extra Strong, etc.) you will be out of mana in no time, leaving you unable to Teleport away."...

FYI, my recent ES sorc found Manaburn + ExtraFast to be the most dangerous combo, by far (in fact, it was the only combo that could really endanger her). Potions don't help much if the monsters hit faster than you can regenerate mana and cast teleport.

I have found that blue potions are sometimes/often better than purples for this case, since you might get hit 3-4 times in rapid succession, and the blues will regenerate for a longer duration - having the duration means they seldom get completely negated by a single hit. I've emptied my belt of purples quickly before, but seldom need more than a single blue.


And, in my opinion, 1-point-ES simply doesn't provide enough benefit to outweigh the ever-present pain-in-the-backside of depleted mana. Another downside of having ES is it basically guarantees you don't want to go near even the most wimpy manaburn pack - unless you feel like drinking a potion just for the sake of drinking a potion and recasting your prebuff.

I've never noticed any improvement in survivability with 1-point-ES. The vast majority of the time, things that kill me without ES also kill me with it. Likewise, I've never felt like ES was the factor that saved me during a near-death-experience. So, I've never found any significant benefit with ES (except when I've pumped it with 40 skillpoints and a bunch of +skills and damage reduction equipment), but running out of mana often is a definite problem, and ES exacerbates that problem.

[leifper]

I agree with the 1-point-ES being a major drain on your mana, at least with just 1 point in TK. If you put 20 points in tk, suddenly you dont loose 2 mana per damage point negated, you only loose 0.75. Which means your mana is gonna last a lot longer.