Is this a viable dual-tree build?

[Nephos]

Would the following build be able to solo Hell? Frozen Orb and Charged Bolt would be the main attacks.

20 Orb
5-10 Cold Mastery (depending on items)
20 Charged Bolt
20 Lightning
20 Lightning Mastery

The rest of the points would go into one-point-wonders and prereqs. Orb is one of my favorite skills, but I have no experience with Charged Bolt. Will it be strong enough to take down cold immunes in Hell?

[PhatTrumpet]

It should work just fine. With an 'Infinity' Merc you'd be pretty unstoppable.

[MrKaxe]

I have that exact build...Infinity Defiance Merc (not the best as a Sorc has low Def generally so the boost doesn't help as much as you think even though you are toe-to-toe with the baddies all the time!) and sorc uses Shako with pRuby, HoTO, Rare amulet, 2xFCR rings, String, Mosers with pDiamonds, Skin of the Vipermagi with pTopaz (might change to Ruby as it was on a MF sorc before) and Waterwalk boots...make sure you have stacks of life and res and just go toe-to-toe as mentioned before and use Tele to try and postion merc in front of you to tank the mobs and you stand right behind him and CB away...with tons of FCR the damage output is insane! Put spare points into Thunderstorm after dealing with FO and CM...

dk

[Nephos]

MrKaxe, you bring up a good point about going toe-to-toe with monsters. Since I'll take a lot more melee damage, should I go max block? I could use something like an upped Visc (72% block, I think), so the dex investment wouldn't be too big.

[MrKaxe]

MrKaxe, you bring up a good point about going toe-to-toe with monsters. Since I'll take a lot more melee damage, should I go max block? I could use something like an upped Visc (72% block, I think), so the dex investment wouldn't be too big.

Now that i can't help you with as i don't build blocking characters...i usually just make sure i have a buttload of FHR and Life if they manage to penetrate the sea of CB...good thing about it is it seems to stun them as they are trying to run through it and as soon as i see a mob i let fly a FO so they are sloooo-chilled then Tele-position merc in front of them then let rip! I don't have many NDE and that's with only 17xx life from my +1BO CtA!! If you build a blocking Sorc let us know how that works...a Mosers with 2xEld in it would balance out Res & Blocking but i'm HC and have to have Res but if you're SC...

[PhatTrumpet]

...a Mosers with 2xEld in it would balance out Res & Blocking but i'm HC and have to have Res but if you're SC...

Without checking stats, I believe PDiamond Whitstan's beats 2xEld Moser's. The thing to keep in mind is that Moser's can be upgraded to improve the blocking.

I would definitely go for max block if you have the resources. The dex requirement for max block with Whitstan's is very manageable.

[MrKaxe]

Without checking stats, I believe PDiamond Whitstan's beats 2xEld Moser's....

Not for Resistance thought...i was talking about Resistance and Blocking balanced...Whistan's with pDia leans more towards blocking...

[PhatTrumpet]

Well, I checked the stats:

'EldEld' Moser's = 25% resist all, 71% blocking
PDiamond Whitstan's = 19% resist all, 87% blocking

Just because something is less "balanced" doesn't make it inferior. I'd say a tradeoff of 6% resist for 16% blocking is well worth it. Resists can be made up elsewhere a whole lot easier than blocking can.

[MrKaxe]

Just because something is less "balanced" doesn't make it inferior.

Woah woah woah, when did i say anything about 'inferior'?! All i was saying is it has more potential for different situations/combos...more Resistance with sticking 2x pDia's in it or 2 Eld's for blocking or a balance of the two...

[PhatTrumpet]

Yeah, I should've proofread that. I was trying to say that the most "balanced" option isn't always going to be your "best" option, not that you were making any suggestions of inferiority. Moser's is definitely more customizable though, especially, again, considering you can upgrade it.

Just to throw another cheap option out there, a 'Rhyme' Heater has decent resists, blocking, and even some magic find and mana regen, if you're into that sorta thing.