Fozzy Bear Sorckle

[TheDarkSide]

So I posted a thread concerning the Bear Sorc build in the sorc forum ---> http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=714830 and got ZERO replies about 24 hours ago . As its in HC I figured Id try for a reply or two here .

As of tonight Im at level 48 at log out and just moved into Nm act 3 . Leveling this sorc hasnt been too bad considering Im using Static and a normal attack with level 25 enchant , and a level 6 Fireball on occassions . That and a Defiance merc has got me through so far but Im expecting a ramp up in difficulty here in act 3 , 4 , and 5 of Nm ..

Still wondering about the skills question though .
Fire - As of now I have max Enchant (26) and Warmth at (20) and I have 1 in Fire mastery , Firebolt , and Fireball .
Lightning - 1 in all Lightning skills except ES . Plan on maxing LM next and then maybe Thunderstorm but not sure on that one .
Cold - 1 in Frozen armor .

Im failing to see why Id want to max Fire mastery and Chilling armor like the guides suggest . It seems to me that once ya have Enchant and Warmth maxxed you could go several different ways with this sorc . This is my first attempt on this type of sorc so Im still wondering if I'll Gimp her if I dont follow a guide to the T ...

Anyone got some advice for me on this ??

[MrKaxe]

Never been rich enuff to make one of these Dave, Sara is the best person for advice on this one...

[TheDarkSide]

Never been rich enuff to make one of these Dave, Sara is the best person for advice on this one...

Speaking of - where r U Sara !! In fact my entire /F List has disappeared for some reason . I see Myk , Cars , and Zappa log on here and there .. Where have all the good times gone ?

:scratchchin:

[Dahkar]

add me then! *Dahkar-

[Master Zap]

Here you go , my opinions on the bear sorc with some relevant links. I think I covered most of the bases here.
Ive been out of town the last week for work. :coffee:


Sometimes you just need to go trial and error style and find what you like on this one.

Speaking of - where r U Sara !! In fact my entire /F List has disappeared for some reason . I see Myk , Cars , and Zappa log on here and there .. Where have all the good times gone ?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrLIuaZC6dY)
:scratchchin:



Try this :

Skills:
1 Frozen Armor
1 Ice Bolt
1 Ice Blast
13 Shiver Armor (with the rest going here at 90+ if I dedicate that much time)

20 Lightning Mastery

1 Fire Bolt
20 Warmth
1 Fire Ball
20 Enchant
20 Fire Mastery

98 total skill points at level 90





Your skills planned work very well, I'm currently made that way in HCL.
Ive tried about 5 different bear sorcs and it's my fav method.



for the leach problem.

MY fav wep for this type of char is now the BOTD War spike. Out of the box it hits 8fpa. With 45 ias on gear you can bump this to a 7fpa which is only 2fpa slower then max speed. You get a wep with 250-350 on wep damage, massive leach and -25 enemy defenses.

Pair this with Fort and Lohs and highlord ammy and your a physical brute too. In addition to all the chant and Dream's light damage. There is almost no compromise going this route. Nos is the belt you need to hit the ias bp.

I keep Andy's helm and Coh on the merc so I can borrow these for +4 skills for shifting /chant/shiver armor.

Another perk of going with axes is the much lower str and dex reqs. It's also better for Iron maiden too. A military pick crammed full of sheals still hits max speed but it also has 1/3th the wep damage so your "ouch" is less.

This solves everything
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot287.jpg

A botd pb only has 130 ish damage and a 6fpa, not worth it imo
A gris caddy has around the same damage and a 5fpa.

With botd and nos coil you have heavy life leach and it's very noticeable. You also no longer need to worry about Fire Immune/Light Immune bosses either.

Self bo , 15 in shiver armor + defiance merc
I usually do have max res though, had empty spaces in inv for picking stuff up here.

http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/?action=view&current=Screenshot330.jpg

She's really hard to hit. I didnt even bother getting max block. She's a Vit monster. No es .



Geared
Dream helm and shield
Botd warspike
Fort Wymhyde
Nos belt
Loh gloves
Gorerider boots
Highlords ammy.
ring 20 str rare life leach AR/res ring , + Ravenfrost

Switch Spirit shield + beast Caddy

merc Andy's helm + Coh armor
infinn of course.

stash - 1 soj , Tal's ammy. Cta.
in cube Wizzy. With Fort and Spirit there's your 105 fcr for teleing.


Decked out in group.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot316.jpg


Thread with several different Bear Versions and options along the way

http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=706914


Master Zap: Thank you very much for the detailed reply. Fort is a really good idea to complement the damage, but where do you make up your resists from?


Resists are easy.

Dream helm and Shield. Avg of (All Resistances +5-20) all 25 res coming from both parts.
Loh's Gloves. = 50 fire res
Fort = 25-30 all res , Coh is even better but Fort has Fcr which gives the 105fcr for tele'ing when you rushing your friends or when your doing some runs.
Highlords/Metalgrid/Maras = Lightning Res +35%
Worst anykind of torch 10 res
Worst Anni 10 res

I'd use a dwarfstar ring if my rare ring wasnt so spiffy (http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot355.jpg). (Thanks Jason).

couple res charms to fill up any (small) res holes you have left.

but I was really hoping I could make this character at least usable without having to carry additional equipment

Your considering making a Bear sorc, something that is only possible to those that play heavily on the realms, without qualms of trading for "theoretical" runes. Your not just talking about only using Beast to change to form, your also considering adding, 2X dreams, Coh armor and one of those even more expensive to roll "6os Phase Blade - 4 X Shael, 1 X 40ed/15ias, 1 X Ber - 136 dex req (20% cb from Ber)" (which cost more then a botd wep )

I think it's worth getting the cta too, but its not needed. It's best use is when you want to tele stuff and dont get the bear life bonus.

+3 Lycanth granted on Beast, then depending on your +stuff.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Max Life +% 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115
Duration +X Seconds 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420

Depending on how fancy your buffing is you will cast bearform around levels 8-18. Chart above. Bear form below.
Helm +2all , andy's , shako (perfect merc helm anyhow)
Armor +2 all , Coh/enigma
Belt + 1 Arachnid
Rings +2 possible
Amulet +2 available. mara's
Shield +2 , Spirit
Anni +1

My character has level 13 bearform/lycanthropy (130%life boost)
I stated the 20 str in from my rare ring to equip , so I cannot use a +1 in one of the slots. I dont think carting around a belt for +1 is worth it either, so I dont bother there. I just use the highlords and call it good too.

Damage +% 50 57 64 71 78 85 92 99 106 113 120 127 134 141 148 155 162 169 176 183
Defense +% 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120
Life +50%



None of these types of things are "needed" but they make for an effective build and different type of playstyle if you balance it all together.


Also, you look like you have Fade cast in your screenshot. Do you prebuff with Treachery?

Good eye :whistling:
Not usually no. I only do that when I'm ubering, in this case it was just for the screenshot. It was supposed to say "RAWR!" above my head too , but by the time the screenshot was saved the text timer ran out. :crazyeyes:


Why the extra ias on equipment? I didn't think any ias except what was on the weapon mattered at all in beast forms.

Because ias IS effective in bearform, just to a smaller extent. It's often useful for picking up an extra frame. Click on my profile for varies ias tables and other goodies.

In order to drop my wep from 8fpa to 7fpa I needed 45 ias. War Spike is a very fast base at -10 wsm

The items that grant ias , also happen to have some other stellar mods to make it worth considering even if ias didn't work.

Laying of hands
+350% Damage To Demons , Yes please!
Fire Resist +50% WOot!

highlords is great when your wielding a botd with fort 's bonus (300%), loh's bonus goreriders bonus, and last but not least Bearform damage bonus. About 50% of the time you dealing double your impressive physical damage.
+1 To All Skills
+20% Increased Attack Speed
25-37 % Deadly Strike (Based On Character Level)
Lightning Resist +35%
Adds 1-30 Lightning Damage
Attacker Takes Lightning Damage Of 15


Nos coil , only has 5 less str then tgods, plus has some other handy mods.

Slows Target By 10%
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
5-7% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
+15 To Strength
10% Increased Attack Speed
-3 To Light Radius



Hope this helps. Most people just use a Shealed pb and call it good. I prefer having a broader range of damage types for being able to go up against any target in my path. Physical is good when you hit fast. Leach, immunes are all things you should consider. If you decide not to go with one of the harder hitting but slightly slower weps, then take a hard look at the mighty gris caddy :coffee:. Also a 5fpa wep and with dracs you can leach pretty well.




Originally Posted by shizwiz View Post
lol thanx i've already read that thread 3 or 4 times now lol but thnx any ways...

but on the other note... you play just plain melee no cast at all? if you do can you list what you are using or what kinda specs your packing for your sorc? i'm just curious and if its private thats fine too...^^




Yup, you got it. The only thing I cast is bo at start, chant , one of the cold armors depending on what monsters are present, static and teleport. I have Dream shield + my melee wep on primary, spirit shield+ beast on switch. If I need to tele something, I always keep wizzyspike in my cube for stuff like baal runs or key hunting. For quick tactical ports I can unshift (on hotkey) and tele/reshift simply using the beast/spirit combo.

ie. bo at Wsk 2 wp , chant up and armor myself. Put my beast caddy in the cube, put on the wizzyspike. Tele like mad to the throne. Press "I", and put the wizzy back the cube, equip the beast and go to bear form to demolish whatever's in the throne. After Lister's pack is down and while I wait for baal to enter his portal, I unshift. Upon entry , I tele stomp baal. I do this to position the merc so that conviction is present right away. I static baal to half life then press the bearshift hotkey and melee it out. It sounds like a hassle but it's actually really fast. I avg 4 min Hell baal runs from game start to a full throne clear including baal. (in a full game)

As far as the build is concerned, Well again, As I stated above , I haven't made up my mind on what I think is the best setup.




Here's some info however on what Ive done thus far and some general opinions along the way.

First however , credit is due to the Gimmershed's guide who made it sound so cool I just had to try it out. It's better then expected. In fact it's so good every other character you make afterward will seem to fall short.

Guide to ShockingShemales
The ShockingShemale, a guide to the ultimate pvm Tanksorc. (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=550300)

Here's the Original Paws
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot193.jpg

She's essential the block bear in the guide, but I didnt use the robo 6 15 ias/15 res jewels it called for. Making a Bear sorc takes an obscene amount of trading and collecting to make, and this sword was just excessively hard to put together. It's also my opinion that some phy damage is a good thing to have for a variety of reasons and truth be told I wouldn't use this wep even if It was given to me for free.




I did end up ubering with her. I traded the Dream helm for a gface and the shield for a Sanctuary. It wasnt as fast as the usual uber chars like smiters, kickers and frenzy barbs. It was faster then a conc barb or a summon nec. I'd say it doable, but not the ideal torch farming build. (It is however "better" everywhere else)

The Next bear sorc I tried used the IK set (all but the helm). I did this to capitalize on the huge defense, the general well rounded attributes and the large physical damage with cb.

She maxed
http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=705418

20 in frozen armor
20 in shiver armor
20 chilling armor
20 res light
rest going into Fire mastery. She got her free level 21 chant from obedience, which gave me all the AR I needed and some decent fire damage.

cold armors with the bear form give you around 300% defense, and with the ik parts , I had as much defense as many barbs and pallies. 300% defense is comparable to a level 20 shout or holyshield. This character ended up with around :

3-20K damage before conviction, much of that physical. She swung at 7fpa, as fast as the fastest Vengeance or First hit frame on zeal. This is 2fpa better then the fastest conc or bezerker at 9fpa for comparison. Needless to say, the ik sorc > The Ik barb

She was a great character all around, but having done Paws before her, I felt Like I was lacking some damage and tanking ability in comparison. Much cheaper then the usual build however.

The shiver armor by the way is an effective way to add another damage type to the Bear Sorc who cannot cast while shifted. It is strong enough to kill outright.

20 in Frozen Armor
20 in Shiver Armor
20 in Chilling armor

+10 skills
yields

Shiver
Current Skill Level: 30
12: Duration: 868 seconds
3: Defense Bonus: 219 percent
10: Cold Damage: 506-581 (OUCH!)
11: Cold Length: 40 seconds
1: Mana Cost: 11

Chilling
Current Skill Level: 30
3: Defense Bonus: 190 percent
12: Duration: 718 seconds
10: Cold Damage: 300-362
1: Mana Cost: 17



The Ik sorc showed me that one doesn't exactly need to go all out in hitting the 5fpa bp. to be effective. When you only need 1 or two hits to kill everything (except bosses, but they only takes a few more hits anyhow) the 5fpa is just icing.


My Current Bear sorc is a mix of the last two.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot316.jpg

Here's a throne screenie taken just before Uber Dclone walked. ( I spanked him hard and fast) A perfect anni ended up dropping. Since it was Socialism game, he of course got to keep it. Thread about it is posted in the HC forum.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u131/Master_Zappy/Screenshot311.jpg

This time around I use

Dream Helm
Dream Shield
Coh armor
Highlords ammy
a 20 str , life leach at res rare ring (or wisp)
Nos coil belt
Botd Warspike
Gorerider boots
Laying of Hands gloves.

I skipped on getting block and es. (no I dont miss it)
I'm suprised that Botd warspike didnt make Gimmers list of weps. I think it's the best wep around. It's fast, it has 3X the phy damage of a gris caddy. It also provided 30 all stats and has -def which help on a character who needs to pay attention to ar. (with conviction I'd speculate having a 95% chance to hit everything)
A botd warspike out of the box hits 8fpa. If you pack on 45 ias, you get a 7fpa attack. Using Highlords and gores means that phy damage is going to hurt bigtime. The leach is very nice too.


I'm stated this time around as

20 Light mastery
20 chant
20 fire mastery
20 Warmth
15 Shiver armor , 1 chilling armor.
1 tele , 1 static


For IM I now use a 6shealed Military pick which hits the 5fpa and hurts less on IM then the pb. The Dex is also alot better.


If I was rebuilding , I'd use ga plate, the botd spike , get max block and then figure what I prefer , shiver armor or tk.
:coffee:

[TheDarkSide]

Ahh very good stuff thanks .. I was wondering if ya'd been knocked offline or something ...

So as of right now Ofc_Lucretia is at level 67 and I have built something similiar to what you've mentioned . If I could get a do over Id probably not go for TS as its a moot point with all the lightning damage from dreams but it looks cool ...

skills as of now looks something like this
20 Enchant
20 Warmth
15 Fire mastery
5 in Thunderstorm
10 Lightning mastery
1 static
1 tele

items Im wearing at this point / considering
Magefists - Dracs at 76
Coh armor
Dual dreams
Nos coil
Sandstorm treks
Ravenfrost / Dwarfstar
23 all res Maras - might switch to Highlords
Lightsabre - I have a 6 os phaseblade for main weapon when I get a Beast . Also I have a 5os warspike to make the Beast in .
Spirit shield / Spirit sword for buffing

With this setup and Battle Orders Im at +7 all skills +8 fire skills . My damage is listed as 16k and my defence is 10k after level 30 bo/shout from my barb . Im crushing Nm Baals pretty good so far and the merc dont have his "green aura pole " yet . I'll probably be able to make the Beast this weekend sometime and Im not going to step into hell until I get that on . So far she's been using static , level 6 fireball and a Holy freeze merc as her means of survival .. Its definatly a different approach to the sorc as Iv'e never played a melle version but its fun never the less . I cant wait to get her totally geared up to see how it is ...

:thumbup:

[MYK]

Would you like to have a 'Beast' Berserker Axe? (138 Str, 59 Dex)




I'm currently in burnout mode.

I keep turning the game on out of habit, but after 5 minutes of poking around through items I get sort of sick feeling and have to close it out.

[TheDarkSide]

Would you like to have a 'Beast' Berserker Axe? (138 Str, 59 Dex)





drools :crazyeyes:

Well I would love to make use of that beauty in your absence .. Im still one ber away from making mine ...

:jig: