Help With MF Sorc

roborobo

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Aug 6, 2010
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Help With MF Sorc

Hi guys (sorry in advance for a lengthy post),

So I started playing again 3 days ago, and decided to make a mf sorc (thinking that would be the best / cheapest / easiest class to start over with). Of course I turned to arreat and diabloii, which I believe this forum is now, and started looking for updated sorc guides. I read some threads, and it seemed like the consensus that a cold /fire sorc would work best for what i wanted.

I created a meteorber, and after playing around with skill resets and what not, I cannot survive hell mf runs. I use to put in all my points into vit, but after reading the max block page, I decided to give it a try. Can someone explain to me how max block is suppose to help a sorc? I am under the assumption that you only receive the blocking bonus while standing still, and I am never sitting there tanking hits. I just get eaten up by hell mephisto's spells, where 1 orb takes almost my entire life pool.

My setup is as follows:

LVL 85 Sorc
Stat points:
156 STR
rest in dex

Gear:
Shako
Maras
Tal Armor
Occy / Wiz
Spirit Mon.
chance / magefist
arach
silkweave / trav

Skill Points:
Max FO + 1 in prereqs
6 cold mastery
1 in static, TK, and Tele
1 Warmth
max meteor
9 fire ball 10 FM

I find I get owned very fast by hell andy and meph, with 52,75,75,36 resists in hell. Could someone give me tips on how to improve my build, and what kind of stat distribution works best?

I'm around 500 health and mana with charms, and drop too fast. Please also recommend me gear swaps. My merc also drops super quickly, an A2 defensive merc lvl 84, with Tals mask, duriels, and uniq partizan.

Sorry again for the lengthy post, but it's been really frustrating trying to get this build to work, I'm very close to just scrapping for a hammerdin.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

I also want to add I find killing hell meph very hard. If I try and orb him, my FO does little to no damage to him. And my meteor gets the job done, but only if i moat trick him and cast maybe 20-30 meteors. Let me know your thoughts about this. I have around 400 FO dmg and 6.5k meteor max
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

Full Tal works better than those items.

Merc with Reaper's Toll and Blackhorn's Face works nicely agains those bosses.

Blackhorn's Face
-----
Slows Target By 20%
+20 Lightning Absorb
Lightning Resist +15%
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

:welcome: to the forums

imo going max block with a Spirit isn't really needed for softcore PvM. If you want max block then I'd chose a blocking shield - Whitsans / Stormshield or such. If you're getting melee'd you should - imo - just teleport away. For softcore max block is really a waste, and going max block using spirit is going to need far too much dex.

I'd definately agree with DH in that I'd also go Full Tals + Spirit Shield + magefists + 10 fcr ring (only if the spirit is NOT 35FCR) [You need 105 fcr]

With this I'd get enough strength for the Monarch, and pump the rest into vita, with crappy charms she should get 1000 hp easily. For some easy stats + res buy a cheap non sorc torch (Assassin / Necro / Druid torches are practically free unless they are ~17/17 or better, so you should be able to buy a semi good one for a pgem or 5).
Pop a Ral into the Tals Fugly Mask to fill the gap left by Spirit in your resists, or use Fire res charm/s.

You want cold mastery at least slvl 17 (including +skills from gear).

That said, I'd say there is nothing wrong with your current gear, I'd say the issue you have is 90% caused by attempting Max Block with a Spirit and having too low life as a result. Imo Full Tals is better, but not really the cause of your problem.

I'd also suggest a Prayer Merc using an Insight (with the tals mask + duriels, tho my personal favourite merc armour is a treachery).

As for killing mephi / Andy, at lvl 85 you should really just stomp them hard, teleport onto mephi, take 1 step back (so merc is tanking, not you), static to 50%, cast 1 Meteor, spam Fireball and loot. Should take ~10seconds max. You might need to chuck a rejuv or healing pot at the merc, but the faster you can nuke mephi the more likely your merc is to survive.

With Andy sometimes you might need to be a little more subtle and use FOrb to clear the FI trash first.

TLDR version:
ensure you have 105 FCR
ditch max block, get 156 str and then pump vita
tele onto mephi, static nuke loot :) Be a little more cautious with Andy
Tweak the merc as you see fit, but you should probably still make a profit even if you have to pay 50k per run to res him.
 
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Re: Help With MF Sorc

First, not even close to a lengthy post in comparison to others....

I find it odd you're having gear problems considering how nice a lot of your items are, as a lot of folks have to make do with junk.

Biggest problem should be obvious for most regular sorc players - you never go max block with a spirit - dex req is too high - you only use maybe three shields for a max block build on a sorc, Stormshield, whistan's guard, and moser's.

Max block is useful, but a lot of things that can kill you can't be blocked by a shield, like most of the things you mentioned killing you. A lot of sorcs (I would believe the majority) that go weapon/spirit are offensively based, and are vita builds. Vita builds rely on high fcr and mobility (along with pots) for survival.

(For example, my untwinked sorc had negative resists and was killing Hell Meph using the moat to keep merc from needing rejuvs constantly (decent gear and a health buff from a CTA resolves his survivability generally speaking)

Hammerdins and sorcs play very differently - a hdin is basically always in the middle getting hit on by lonely demons. A sorc typically keeps enemies at a distance while blasting them with spells.

If getting an enigma isn't a far reach for you, depending on your playstyle preference you may want to go paladin as they're a lot less squishy overall because of how they're utilized.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

First off, much thanks to all of your very detailed posts. I really appreciate everyone's input!

DH - I'll recheck the set bonuses of ful tal's. I was under the impression that my setup would give me more skills and resists, but I'm probably wrong.

Shank - Great info, I'll be sure to respec according to how you advise. I'll be going for the tal's set now, and making the adjustments to my stats and merc.

Seckse - Great advice. I appreciate it.

Thanks again to all for some great advice, will let you know how it goes after the respec and regear!
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

Probably a bit late but to just throw in my 2 Cents

I find a sorc is a character you need to really adjust too, since their overall playstyle varies alot from the other vocations to a point.

As for your build; meteorb is a nice build and getting a full tal set would really benefit it as well since it is a nice cheap set for overall use in hell; mfing and duel element builds which meteorb is.

As for vita vs. block; Generally like already mentioned; you don't need max block with a sorc very often. Usually if you need any blocking, it would be for PVP; for PVM a vita build or if you used a diff build; ES would be more viable with Vita//energy. Regardless its more getting used to staying a distance away so you don't take damage to begin with ( Now this sounds easy but i had trouble getting used to this while hunting//mfing at first since I was nooby with sorcs )


Lastly, Your EQ now looks fine but as already mentioned; full tals would maybe do you more good to cover Mfing and ok stats. As for your merc, Defense is fine but you could outfit him some more to tank in case you need it so you don't take the brunt of all the damage. Get him say a Vamp Gaze, shaftstop//any high def armor, and if you need it; a CV insight so you can adequately spam without having to take pauses to chug mana pots.

Gl too you though; It can be frustrating at first i know; started with full tals on my sorc and learned the hard way having fancy eq doesnt mean you wont die alot on a sorc if not played right :p
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

naw block >>> vita for PVM. ES is kinda useful in PVP against certain builds but usless in PVM.

I'd like to mention 1 more shield if you go max block, the sigon's. It has +1 skill which makes it worth considering if you can't afford other alternatives. Stormshield is obviously the best for max block, no argue here.

My MF sorc with an SS tanks arreats ancients singlehandedly while my merc was killing cold immunes. And I was rushing 4 other players. Ask if any vita-based sorc if they can do that.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

the vita based sorc would just use teleport, static and the merc :) It's not like they have to be tanked, kiting works fine too.

Tanking is good in it's place, but the OP mentioned Mephi & Andy, and i see no reason why you would want/need to design a sorc to tank them, when you could just kill them :).
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

the vita based sorc would just use teleport, static and the merc :) It's not like they have to be tanked, kiting works fine too.

Tanking is good in it's place, but the OP mentioned Mephi & Andy, and i see no reason why you would want/need to design a sorc to tank them, when you could just kill them :).

My sorc mf all places; travincal, chaos, wsk, throne, duriel, countess... literally ALL places.


 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

can you list your gear abakus?

I just got tal's set, and wow they really upgraded it lol.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

My sorc mf all places; travincal, chaos, wsk, throne, duriel, countess... literally ALL places.

As does my Full Tals Vita sorc, but the point I was making was the OP mentioned Mephi specifically.

Don't get me wrong, max block vs Vita is more about preference and playstyle than one being right, and one being wrong. They both work very well if played "correctly" ie not tanking on a vita sorc or going for max block with a crappy low block shield like Spirit, but not being able to tank something certainly doesn't imply that you can't kill it.



 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

Well I wasn't trying to "tank" meph, more like survive. Block does nothing for all of his spells, which rip a 300hp sorc apart.

What type of sorcs are you guys using?
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

Yeah, low vit means easy death in Hell on any sorc (even ES)

I've got a few, but my main is a 200 FCR pure lite. I've also got a pure cold and pure fire and done the meteorb and blizzballer builds.

Overall, my sorcs are vita because they hit at least 105 fcr and rely on their spirit shields. The things that are most likely to kill me short of exploding dolls don't get blocked by shields.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

can you list your gear abakus?

I just got tal's set, and wow they really upgraded it lol.

you don't need anything too special: full tals, a stormshield sockedt with whatever that fits ( + fire resist, p diamond, um, hel ... all good), a bk ring (or soj) but if you don't have them any rare ring with +life / mana will do, and a dwarf star (this one is cheap as hell but improves ur survivebility trifold); waterwalk boot / aldur's boot / trek are all pretty good for ur feet, and frostburn glove for the mana; (u don't need fcr if you use blizzard)

merc use obedience (or eth reaper if you can afford that), wears gladiator's bane and andy's helm( socked with +30 fire res, ofc); I highly recommend using defiance aura merc; Tal set+SS+cold armor + defiance = 10k defence, 75% block, 35% DR on a sorc;


 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

Give your Merc Blackhorns Face, Duriels Shell, and Reapers Toll. Enchant him before each run (so the Slow+Decrep hits). Works for me, and my Meph-killing-orbsorc is only level 75 with worse gear than yours.
 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

What type of sorcs are you guys using?

I have used 5 respects for this current one. At the moment she is (lvl90) enchant-hydra-blizzard sorc :crazyeyes:. Max block, 1000 life, 90 75 85 10 resist. Using lots of absorb items. Main target is Nihlathak, I just tele middle and kill it. Travi, Dia and Baal are secondary targets. Iron maiden gone, so finally I can use melee sorc to hunt diablo. She can run all bosses and rarely need to use pots. Still building her, as just one skiller, no anni or torch yet.
At least 7 tokens left, so I can change her when needed.

Merc uses Gladiators Bane (19 20) with sol, eth Blackhorn's Face (rare jool) and Reapers Toll (shael), so he can survive those Nihlatak runs without problems.



 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

(u don't need fcr if you use blizzard)

That's not entirely true - FCR is a factor for teleport - which can indeed affect survivability - the faster you teleport around, the less likely something can hit you while you're going to wherever you need to be.

FCR was one of the biggest fixes to my survivability when I was learning to play a sorc - its strange how something as simple as a frame or two can make so much of a difference.

Of course, if you're restricting yourself to slow and safe targets (like AT), then you can easily get away with low fcr since it should be easy to avoid incoming monsters.


 
Re: Help With MF Sorc

That's not entirely true - FCR is a factor for teleport - which can indeed affect survivability - the faster you teleport around, the less likely something can hit you while you're going to wherever you need to be.

FCR was one of the biggest fixes to my survivability when I was learning to play a sorc - its strange how something as simple as a frame or two can make so much of a difference.

Of course, if you're restricting yourself to slow and safe targets (like AT), then you can easily get away with low fcr since it should be easy to avoid incoming monsters.

for a vita build, maybe. But with 10k defence, 75% block, 35% DR and slow melee enemy that attempt to attack u (Shiver Armor), you can stand in middle of a bunch of throne berserker for like a min without hurting a scratch.


 
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