Help with a Sorceress build around purpose and items der=0>

[dirtycash]

I posted this in the Sorceress forum, and was pretty disappointed in the responses thus far. Perhaps the HC crew will get it.



I play hardcore first and foremost. So please keep that in mind. I played Guild Wars for a few years and just came back.

This is what I want: a throw back to a very defensive gear set up I had before.

Wiz
Guardian Angel
Shako
Stormshield
Tgods/Arach
Frosties/Trang/Mage

Some other gear will be figured out and I'm open to suggestions(eith the slashed gear too).

Purpose is survivability and rushing. No MFn just killing and being safe.

With that in mind I was thinking FO/CL. However, orb seems crowd control just like CL. With the lack of extreme +skills need to be careful with points and synergies.

I'd like to use nova, but perhaps lack of skills and infinity merc it's not viable ?

Your help is appreciated.

[MoUsE_WiZ]

Ditch GA for Viper, go with tgods. Then magefist or trangs with 1 piece of fcr bling gets you 8fpc. That's the cookie cutter safe build for HC.

The only elemental damage that (really) hurts is from gloams, so getting your max res above 75% on anything but lightning is pretty much overkill. The sorb+mdr+85% resist is enough to make gloams tickle too.

Also, rather than worrying about getting the max res above 75%/85% lightning, you should worry more about getting your resists (especially lightning) stacked above whatever your max is so that conviction and lower resist don't hurt, or at least don't hurt as much. Incase I'm not being clear, that means instead of going for 190% total resist with GA, you'd go for something more like 240%+ total resist (at least for lightning) with viper.

Meteorb (which is really just orb/fb for most people but meteorb sounds cooler) is the more common hybrid build. Orb/CL (lightning is better than CL imo) is viable too though. Orb/nova is not one I'd recommend. Nova is not a good skill for HC, especially if you want something safe, especially if you're just coming back. If you hybrid generally the build is something like:
20 orb
1 CM
1 port/static/warmth/armour of choice
20 hybrid skill
20 pick a synergy (most people pick the higher level one, eg FB for the main spell and meteor for the synergy, I prefer saving points and going with the lower level one, eg FB+bolt)
20 mastery
That'll be done around 80ish then you can dump the rest into CM.

orb seems crowd control just like CL

Heh, remember, D2 is about mowing down hordes of monsters, not a handful at a time... AoE is king. The reason for hybriding isn't to get an AoE and a single target spell, it's to get a 2nd spell for mowing down the hordes of immune monsters you might run into.

Besides, Orb is actually better against single targets than as AoE if you can aim it properly.
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All that said, I prefer orb/tk to hybrid builds. I love my 1 mana teleport and I love my energy shield. But I think for the purposes you've described hybrid is probably the better choice, just not the safest possible choice.

[5zigen]

Your gear will be more safe with FHR and more FCR (assuming you're talking about teleporting) At most you have 70 fcr there not counting neck and rings. 105 FCR is enough to "blind" teleport, that is, to teleport through any group of enemies and teleport out before they hit you.

I assume you are thinking a non-es sorc, because having 80-90 res all seems like it would just be a huge waste if your mana pool is eating so much of the damage.

If you're dead set on a setup like that you would need a bunch of fhr charms, trangs gloves 2x fcr rings, and Arach (110 fcr).

Never go with frosties... imo, because charms + insight is plenty of mana. and even without insight you can be fine without it.

You don't seem to have nearly enough skills to use nova, though I don't know if infinity remedies that (I'm very opposed to duped runes.)

I would be more likely to suggest dropping the GA, taking vipermagi and bloodfist for gloves, but that's just me.

Any secondary skill will probably work with orb. Meteor (which will give you fireball as well), I've done Charged Bolt, CL probably works, etc.

mouse probably knows more about high durability sorcs, but I would also go with 5 cm over 1, particularly if you're going to use Wiz and not HotO

[HanShotFirst]

I've done both orb/lightning and orb/chain lightning and personally prefered chain lightning. As I recall the issue was that with the gear I was using (generally bad) the killing speed was pretty slow while using either lightning skill. The end result was that the monsters would cluster around the merc which then made chain lightning (which of course can leap from monster monster around the encircled merc) a better choice than lightning (which could only hit a couple monsters at a time). Perhaps with better gear you might have a different result though . . .

[dirtycash]

Part of the GA reason is its so dang sexy on a Sorc too.

I appreciate the thoughts here. Thanks.

I find that any time I do Orb/XXXX it turns out to be just ORB. I've played so much orb that I guess I was looking for a way around it. Blizz probably needs too many points to be effective. Arg.

[5zigen]

I find that any time I do Orb/XXXX it turns out to be just ORB. I've played so much orb that I guess I was looking for a way around it. Blizz probably needs too many points to be effective. Arg.

Considering the number of cold immunes in hell diff, your dual element sorc really becomes dual element in hell. The problem with Sorcs is that Orb is really the only skill that is really useful with only 30 points invested.

If you're REALLY set on GA (which I don't think you should be, because it really makes it tough for you) your biggest problems will be FHR and resistances, as well as +skills as you've only got something like 4 or so on your gear.

[TheDarkSide]

If you can get a reasonable amount of + skills going (IE +8 or more) the BlizzBaller build is tops on the list for me. I use mine to run Hate and Terror keys as well as solo Baals and really any other area I like. My merc is not decked out really either - he uses an Elite Insight pole , Treachery armor , and a tals mask .

The highest item on my BlizzBaller is her self found Fire Faceted +3 Eschutas Temper Orb . I use a Viper magi , Magefist , Shako , Spirit shield , Wartravs , and an Upped Nightsmoke. A torch and Anni giver her a nice + 14 to all skills. Jewelry is a 22 all Maras and 2 rare rings.
I have max resists in hell , over 105 Fcr , and good Fhr ..

The build gives you a cold and fire damage skill and a cold and fire spammer skill. Get Fcr over 105 % and this build can spam several fireballs between the blizzards to keep your damage going or several glacials between you meteors- all depending on the immunities your up against. With a bit of Static support , your merc can handle Cold/Fire Immunes should you come across one.

Max Blizzard - main cold damage
Max Glacial Spike - cold spammer
Max Fireball - fire spammer
Max Meteor - main fire damage
17 cold mastery
the rest in fire mastery
1 point static , teleport , and frozen armor

Good Luck !!

[MYK]

I posted this in the Sorceress forum, and was pretty disappointed in the responses thus far. Perhaps the HC crew will get it.

Thanks. I'll not waste my time in the future trying to help anyone.

[Tai.]

Thanks. I'll not waste my time in the future trying to help anyone.

Good. Don't.

[dirtycash]

Thanks. I'll not waste my time in the future trying to help anyone.

Now that isn't fair. When I posted this here, every response was regarding gear and not a build. I don't mind thoughts on gear, but the question was regarding a build, not gear. Essentially, no one answered the question.