Some newb sorc Qs..

[Baconated]

Hey folks.. in SP, Ive just hit the River of Flame in NM with my CL64 Blizzballer, and I. Am. Getting. Destroyed. My blizzards seem to do alright damage, but not enough, and I kinda suck at aiming them. Im wondering if 1) Id be better off going Meteorb or Orbitaller, or 2) if my spec is wrong.

Stats
Str: 156
Dex: 39
Vit: 172
NRG: 38

Ive put into Str until I hit the breakpoint for Monarchs, then pumped Vit exclusively.

Life: 717
Mana: 298


Skills
Fireball - 20
Meteor - 4
Warmth - 1
FM - 1
Prereqs - 1 each (4 total)

Static - 1
TK - 1
Tele - 1

Ice Blast - 14
Blizz - 20
CM - 1
Prereqs - 1 each (3 total)

Total 71 skill points.

My resists are kind of low, and lightning hurts, but theres only so much I can do for now.

Like I said, I'm having a real hard time in NM, but getting very little xp for the effort. I died EIGHT times in the Plains of Despair on P1 due to lightning-spewing mobs, when Ive done nearly the entire game on P8 before this point.

My gear is crap, nothing special.. but it's the best I have:

2 PTopaz Helm
Telling of Beads ammy
Splendor
MF boots
MF/Nagelring
+94 life belt
Magefists
35% Spirit Longsword
4 PTopaz armor

Merc has Insight Voulge, Wormskull (for leech) and Duriel's Curiass.

I had a Meteorb way back in the day, and I liked it, but it always sucked at boss running. Any advice??

[magicrectangle]

Like I said, I'm having a real hard time in NM, but getting very little xp for the effort. I died EIGHT times in the Plains of Despair on P1 due to lightning-spewing mobs, when Ive done nearly the entire game on P8 before this point.

Burning Souls give every untwinked character trouble, pretty much. Especially one with resists as bad as yours. Replace that 4 ptopaz armor with smoke. The extra MF doesn't help you if it slows you down or gets you killed.

[Baconated]

I thought about that, but ive not had trouble up until now, so I didnt have a need. Guess its worth it :|

[danc133]

I thought about that, but ive not had trouble up until now, so I didnt have a need. Guess its worth it :|

Just unsocket the armor, then resocket with a couple of orts. It doesn't have to be a rune word to work. By doing this you leave yourself open to adding in at least some MF back in. Too many are hung up on just socketing rune words rather then sometimes just on need, especially while just leveling. A couple of orts are a CHEAP fix for your short term. I'm sure you are not planning on using smoke for endgame so why make it now just to discard it later.

First round is on me!

D!

[magicrectangle]

I'm sure you are not planning on using smoke for endgame so why make it now just to discard it later.

Because smoke costs nothing, and because all of his resists are bad. He may not want it for "endgame" but when he starts hell with those resists he'll want it.

[hubb]

You can also have a look at Lore (Ort-Sol) which gives 1 skill and 30 LR. While you're still getting through the game focusing on MF is a bit counter-productive, I'd ditch it for now and only put it back on when you're running bosses.

Definitely get CM to level 17 before you spend more in synergies, there's really nothing like -res for increasing damage.

[Tarantella]

Going dual tree whilst questing through nightmare gives a much weaker character than a single tree one with a full synergy (or two). Immunes should be handled by teleport control of mercenary or just skipped.

[Baconated]

You can also have a look at Lore (Ort-Sol) which gives 1 skill and 30 LR. While you're still getting through the game focusing on MF is a bit counter-productive, I'd ditch it for now and only put it back on when you're running bosses.

Definitely get CM to level 17 before you spend more in synergies, there's really nothing like -res for increasing damage.

The recent build discussions I've seen have advised keeping masteries @ 1 and having +skills boost them Am I mistaken?

[magicrectangle]

The recent build discussions I've seen have advised keeping masteries @ 1 and having +skills boost them Am I mistaken?

You're not mistaken but context is important. That advice is for players with high level gear giving a large amount of +skills.

[hubb]

Ye, that's generally true for FM and LM but it depends on +skills you've got and what synergies are involved. Even in your case with just 4 +skills, FB's 14% synergy means the next couple of points are best spent in Meteor rather than FM.

CM is another story though. Like I said, there's nothing like -res for increasing damage so you want that at a decent level before worrying about syneries.