Lite sorc help plz

[aceshigh]

I am writing this msg rather late and apologize if it sounds rushed. I assure you i will come up with additional questions and comments once the this discussion picks up.

For quite some time now i have been wanting to make a lite sorc. On youtube i came across a lot of sorc videos of 200FCR lite sorcs hostin a ball run and between waves (of baals minions) actually being able to teleport around the throne for addition mf/xp and make it back before the next wave spawns. But what really impressed me was how everything died in one (two tops) cast(s) of lighting in this 8 ppl games.


For those kind enough to reply to my questions/concerns below plz keep in mind i am strictly PVM and i wish to mf the common lvl 85s areas and above all be able to host full (8 ppl) games and have the same efficiency as i would if i was in a 1 person game.

1.) Is 200FCR really over kill?

2.) a majority of the 200FCR lite sorcs ive seen have ES but im under the impession ES has no purpose in pvm. The damage im claiming to want and see in the videos would be lost imo in havin to put points into telek to make the ES worth it. If im wrong what should my life/mana ratio be (if ES is to be used).

3.) I plan on using viper magi (up'd and um'd) for the cast res and skill and spirit for the obvious reasons. Would a cresent moon (weapon) compliment this armor best or is hoto the way to go (or maybe 5/5 facet occy).

What gear setup will optimize my dmg in full person games. *my merc has infinity*

My apologies for the length of this message, if you made it this far... thanks! :jig:

[sirpoopsalot]

1. 200 FCR depends on your preference, as much as anything. You can usually get more damage at a lower breakpoint, but some people (myself included) really like that extra little bit of speed.

PS. If you go for a lower breakpoint, don't forget that Lightning & CL have different breakpoints than normal sorc spells.


2. Personally, I say no to ES. It will cut your damage, and it has some weaknesses in PvM (poisoning monsters & mana burn packs) that actually make your sorc LESS safe at certain times. For my playstyle, it never quite seemed to make up for those shortcomings. Also, since you won't have an Insight on your merc, your mana regeneration may lag a lot behind your ES & casting needs (although my recent litesorc was pure-vit, her mana issues were prevalent enough that there's no way I'd use ES with this build, no matter how many points I could put in Energy - the mana cost is simply too high for me, especially without Insight).


3. If you don't have Griffon's Eye, then I say definitely use the Crescent Moon. Otherwise the broken lightning immunities you face will still have ~85+% resistance against your spells, and your ~20k damage is now only ~3k (or less). But if you subtract that 35% resistance from the CM, now your damage is back up to a more respectable ~10k.

In other words, you definitely want some method (of your own) to further lower enemy resistances. (and no, the -ELR on your merc's Infinity will NOT work to the benefit of your sorc).

But with the Griffon's, then I think it's a little more of a matter of choice. HotO comes with more mana, resists, and FCR, so it'll enable you to be more flexible on some of your other equipment choices (possibly freeing up some other sources of -ELR), but the Crescent Moon will make a big difference against broken immunities, which isn't a benefit to be overlooked.

PS. If you decide on 200 FCR, that pretty much decides it for you - you can't use CM and reach 200 FCR at the same time. :p

[aceshigh]

Thank you for replying so quickly~

I am basically attemping to organize my thoughts and game plan. Unfortunately i failed to log on in a 3 month period and lost everything including a zon with griffons and a merc with infinity so itll be a bit of time before i regain wealth but im workin on it.

In total i lost 27 chars (all mules holding NL/L rune words, coas annis etc.). I am actually mfin with a bone necro now cause the 2 chars that survived had a nice wand (boneshade i believe) and bone flame (ladder nec shield). I mf in solo games right now (which id rather be doin full games again ~ reason for makin lite sorc). With corpse explosion + amp i wipe the lvl 85 areas rather fast and since i focused on bone skills (ive had summoner in the past, figured id change it up) i do good dmg in single person games. Recently mfed shako and homoc. so the char dont die nemore. I still have a 31 spirit and uped/umed viper waitin for the sorc ~ CM does not take much at all to make but like i said without infinity there is no point to even create the char yet.

As mentioned before i was typing this late, i was reading through other threads a few min ago and realize there is a significant amount of discussion on lite sorcs (regarding the use of CM). I appreciate u taking the time to respond!

Thanks~

[SeCKSEgai]

I wouldn't bother with more than 117, since you'll be extremely quick as is, and have to focus all your gear towards fcr if going for 200.

My current lite sorc (or my trapper) could theoretically host 8person baal games, but do not for 2 reasons.

a) mfing, if i find something nice, I only have to worry about losing it to game dropping and not someone taking it

b) unlike most hosts, i can't "mysteriously" know the layout beforehand, so I teleport blindly exploring till I find where I need to go.

For PVM (especially BAAL) NO ES - 2 words: Blood Mana
another 2 words - Mana Burn

As for upped and umm'd viper, I'd strongly suggest going to CoH unless you really need the fcr. Keep in mind you won't always break immunities, and as such that all the minus res will be for not... lightning enchanged lite/fire immune lister comes to mind for example.

[Scudstorm]

I wouldn't bother with more than 117, since you'll be extremely quick as is, and have to focus all your gear towards fcr if going for 200.

My current lite sorc (or my trapper) could theoretically host 8person baal games, but do not for 2 reasons.

a) mfing, if i find something nice, I only have to worry about losing it to game dropping and not someone taking it

b) unlike most hosts, i can't "mysteriously" know the layout beforehand, so I teleport blindly exploring till I find where I need to go.

For PVM (especially BAAL) NO ES - 2 words: Blood Mana
another 2 words - Mana Burn

As for upped and umm'd viper, I'd strongly suggest going to CoH unless you really need the fcr. Keep in mind you won't always break immunities, and as such that all the minus res will be for not... lightning enchanged lite/fire immune lister comes to mind for example.

Baalin is about lvling, not mfin ^^

200 fcr is for speed junkies (like me, but I'd find a Griff's before attempting it). I know a few 200 fcr sorcs who can get the Throne tp up just as I join the game. No maphack, 100% legit. And considering that I follow the games in their channel, that's really something. Teleing experience helps a lot. I usually can get the tp up in less than 20 seconds on my 105 fcr sorc.

People run their own baal games because, well, bots are slow and stupid. And they take way too long to make the next game (again, not an issue if you're not a speed junkie).

There are a whole bunch of light immunes to break, and the unbreakables are pretty rare in comparison (the occasional superunique who spawns light enchanted, magic resistant, etc). I personally rarely get an immune Lister (feels like as often as I get D keys from Nihl...), and merc + other people would make quick work of him in those cases. Now, an extra fast pack of gloams would probably call for the use of Crescent Moon. If you check the monster stats on Arreat Summit, most Hell monsters have positive Light res. So that 35% -res means more than +35% damage done in most cases, and up to +3500% damage in others. A +35% damage on a 26k lightning would yield 35k. Nice, eh :)

[Bruisr]

I believe that 200fcr is overkill. You're wasting an opportunity for more +skills or resists.. anything over 120 is silly (nothing against those of you who do though). I personally operate with about ~90%fcr and do things just fine.

[SeCKSEgai]

Baalin is about lvling, not mfin ^^

200 fcr is for speed junkies (like me, but I'd find a Griff's before attempting it). I know a few 200 fcr sorcs who can get the Throne tp up just as I join the game. No maphack, 100% legit. And considering that I follow the games in their channel, that's really something. Teleing experience helps a lot. I usually can get the tp up in less than 20 seconds on my 105 fcr sorc.

People run their own baal games because, well, bots are slow and stupid. And they take way too long to make the next game (again, not an issue if you're not a speed junkie).

There are a whole bunch of light immunes to break, and the unbreakables are pretty rare in comparison (the occasional superunique who spawns light enchanted, magic resistant, etc). I personally rarely get an immune Lister (feels like as often as I get D keys from Nihl...), and merc + other people would make quick work of him in those cases. Now, an extra fast pack of gloams would probably call for the use of Crescent Moon. If you check the monster stats on Arreat Summit, most Hell monsters have positive Light res. So that 35% -res means more than +35% damage done in most cases, and up to +3500% damage in others. A +35% damage on a 26k lightning would yield 35k. Nice, eh :)

Actually with most monsters having positive resistance, you don't get bonus damage till said resistances go negative. A monster with 50%base light resistance will drop to 15% base resistance (not factoring in conviction or other outside factors) so a sorc hitting for a max of 26k would hit for 15% less damage, not additional. If a monster had 0 base resistance (once again no infinity or other outside factors), and the -35 lite res came into play, then it be an additional 35% damage.

[Scudstorm]

@ Buisr: sorc's regular fcr bps are at 63 and 105; lightning/chain are at 78 and 117. So 90% doesn't really make much sense...

@ SeCKSEgai: sorry I wasn't clear. By "+35% damage done", I meant 35% more than if there wasn't -enemy res%, and not 35% more than the shown damage. Now, on a monster with 50% base res which drops to 15% base res, the sorc would actually be doing 70% more damage. With Infinity factored in, it would be dropped from -35% (50% minus 85% from conviction) to -70%, which is 25.9% more damage.

The figures with damage numbers are just for comparison's sake, since monsters' base resistances vary so much. On a base res 0% monster, -35% res and 26k lightning would yield the same damage as -0% res and 35k lightning.

[Bruisr]

@scudstorm: That's just all that I have lol.. and actually I went back and recounted, I only have 75% generally.. and that is only from my Eschuta's and my 35%FCR spirit... I guess I need 3 more to hit that 78 huh? :)

[SeCKSEgai]

I looked at some videos and checked the breakpoints. Since lightning/chain caps at 117, any more will not improve you there. As far as teleporting is concerned, while every frame helps, consider that game runs 25 fps. 105 is 8, 200 is 7. Either divides into 25 by 3, 24 or 21 respectively, which is why the change from 9 to 8 is so noticeable.

After some more "research", I've come to see the usefulness of ES, but it really depends on build. On an infinity wielding sorc, its basically essential as it compensates for the weak resistances, as well as regenerating quickly. And when you look at damage, consider the tradeoff of not maxing that last synergy or saving till after tk - -elr will make more of a difference then the small incremental boosts of a synergy

Depending on where you plan to spend most of your time, -res can make quite the difference. While conviction will cover your non-light immunes well, when it breaks immunity is when -elr really speeds things up as poop mentioned earlier. In a way, you could say it makes up for the lost effectiveness of conviction when it breaks immunes.