another PvP melee enchantress question(s)

[waytofailself]

another PvP melee enchantress question(s)

i made my first sort of experimental enchantress and thought "wow, this is fun, time to make another one for PvP." i have a few logistical questions though:

1) if i can prebuff my ES anywhere near lv 40, will having 50% damage recution negate damage entirely or will it leave me only taking half damage of what's given to my health?
2) in PvP would it be far more important to wear frostburns for the 40% mana boost or some other gloves for higher IAS?
3) With an ES build is it a good idea to get at least one point into shiver armor for that extra defensive boost?
4) what's a good defensive rating to aim for, especially in light of the fact that sorcs have no skill based way to up defense. what about AR? what are some good combinations of gear that'll grant AR that don't use goves or rings? actually, i only have 1 SoJ, so i could potentially use angelic ring and ammy...

is this gear setup going to get me killed?

Helm: Harlequin Crest or Blackhorn's Face depending on who i'm fighting
Shield: KoKoMal Troll Nest
Weapon: Azurewrath
Armor: Stone or GA depending on who i'm fighting
Gloves: Frosties
Boots: ...no idea...sandstorm trek?
Belt: Verdungo's for DR? i'm sure there's some boot/belt combination for AR but i don't remember the set
Ring: SoJ
Ring: Angelic
Ammy: Angelic

i lack in charms...i have one that adds 60 to mana. should i look for fire skillers or AR charms?

for prebuff i have:
Rising Sun (i should find a +2 skill ammy)
Occy
Lidless
Vipermagi
Arachnid's Mesh

that leaves me with +11 to enchant and +9 to ES but i'm sure there're ways to improve that.

thanks

 

[fhpchris]

i made my first sort of experimental enchantress and thought "wow, this is fun, time to make another one for PvP." i have a few logistical questions though:

1) if i can prebuff my ES anywhere near lv 40, will having 50% damage recution negate damage entirely or will it leave me only taking half damage of what's given to my health?
2) in PvP would it be far more important to wear frostburns for the 40% mana boost or some other gloves for higher IAS?
3) With an ES build is it a good idea to get at least one point into shiver armor for that extra defensive boost?
4) what's a good defensive rating to aim for, especially in light of the fact that sorcs have no skill based way to up defense. what about AR? what are some good combinations of gear that'll grant AR that don't use goves or rings? actually, i only have 1 SoJ, so i could potentially use angelic ring and ammy...

is this gear setup going to get me killed?

Helm: Harlequin Crest or Blackhorn's Face depending on who i'm fighting
Shield: KoKoMal Troll Nest
Weapon: Azurewrath
Armor: Stone or GA depending on who i'm fighting
Gloves: Frosties
Boots: ...no idea...sandstorm trek?
Belt: Verdungo's for DR? i'm sure there's some boot/belt combination for AR but i don't remember the set
Ring: SoJ
Ring: Angelic
Ammy: Angelic

i lack in charms...i have one that adds 60 to mana. should i look for fire skillers or AR charms?

for prebuff i have:
Rising Sun (i should find a +2 skill ammy)
Occy
Lidless
Vipermagi
Arachnid's Mesh

that leaves me with +11 to enchant and +9 to ES but i'm sure there're ways to improve that.

thanks

I feel you are completely wrong. This is a melee character and your not even looking at it that way.

You need
IAS
DR%
Life
Attack rating
Defense rating
Damage

This guide might be some help:

yes, due to popular demand it's here. This is a ROUGH draft, more information will be included at a later date.

This build is a fun build to play, merely due to it being extremely underestimated. Be ready to type out "Shh and sit I am Melee and I will own you." when you enter Melee games, as they will immediately jump to the conclusion that you are a caster.

Stat Placement:
Strength: 110, merely for your items, as physical damage is of NO importance.
Dexterity: 150, enough for Robo Phase Blade, and with items max Block.
Vitality: All other points.
Energy: None, as if any good PvP'er puts any here regardless.

Skill Placement:
20 Enchant, your damage comes from here.
20 Warmth, synergy to Enchant. Also quite helpful in PvP.
20 Fire Mastery, increases your Enchant damage.
20 Shiver Armor, increases your Defense by a large amount, and damages Melee attackers.
The rest into Cold Mastery, this increases the damage done to Melee attackers by Shiver Armor. This can be a LARGE amount of damage, especially since most Melee Paladins/Barbarians are lacking Resistances.

Casting Gear:
20/x/x Enchant Ormus' Robes, obviously Perfect Fire Facet'ed.
3/25/x/x Eschuta's, obviously Perfect Fire Facet'ed.
SoJx2.
Volcanic Amulet, +3 Fire Skills.
Magefists.
Arachnid Mesh.
Lidless Wall.
Beast, to transform into Bear form after Bo'ing and Enchanting, leave the same gear on that was used for Enchant/Bo for an extra Defense/Life bonus.
Shako, Shael'ed.
x/6/x CTA as well, of course.

Dueling Gear:
Socketed Phase Blade
ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelEth
Stone Archon/Balrog/Great Hauberk, 2k+ Defense.
Angelic Ringx2.
Angelic Amulet.
StormShield, Shael'ed.
Immortal King Gloves.
Immortal King Boots, these 2 together give a nice boost to AR, Defense, as well as Strength and Dexterity.
Verdungo's Hearty Cord, preferrably 40/15, though any will do of course.
Shako, Shael'ed.

Charms:
4x12%FHR Fire Skillers.
6x30+Life Fire Skillers.
Annihilus.
9x20 Life Small Charms.

This reaches the last IAS Breakpoint, as well as the last attainable FHR Breakpoint. Even hitting 6 Frame Block Rate. This build slaughters almost any Melee Paladin, most Melee Barbarians, and almost any Melee Druid that's not a Fire Claws build. This Sorceress will not have the life or Resistances to tank any elemental damage. Some would recommend Steelrends and Marrowalks/Sandstorms, and while Sandstorms or Marrowalks are viable choices, Steelrends are not. Physical damage is of no importance here. This setup will give 48 Enchant after Battle Command has been cast, which gives an insane amount of Fire Damage, as well as AR. This build will draw attention in duels, and you WILL be called a hacker. "Noobs" will ask you to show them your gear, and for your build. Do not divulge this, as we do not need these "noobs" running around making the build look bad, which many already have. Ask around in Palapk about these, if you're doubting their effectiveness. I will answer any questions personally in this thread. And I am also hoping for this to be pinned.

I would hate to leak this, but ive seen 3 very bad enchant-bear sorceresses in the past two days, when I was playing my barb ^^. I apoligize if you question the source, I'm just giving credit where credit is due.

 

[waytofailself]

so to be competitive i'll probably need beast after all...crap :X gotta try and afford the runes for that. of course, PvP has never been cheap.

let me say one thing though, i know about needing IAS and other stuff, but you seemed to completely disregard the fact that i'm going to be using ENERGY SHIELD. maybe i didn't make that clear enough in my questions. in that case, wouldn't gloves be worth a 40% boost in survivability? then again, i'll need IAS too.

could someone please read my first post instead of looking at my gear briefly and jumping to conclusions? i have some legitimate questions i'd like to have answered. thanks

 

[ReallFugitive]

so to be competitive i'll probably need beast after all...crap :X gotta try and afford the runes for that. of course, PvP has never been cheap.

let me say one thing though, i know about needing IAS and other stuff, but you seemed to completely disregard the fact that i'm going to be using ENERGY SHIELD. maybe i didn't make that clear enough in my questions. in that case, wouldn't gloves be worth a 40% boost in survivability? then again, i'll need IAS too.

could someone please read my first post instead of looking at my gear briefly and jumping to conclusions? i have some legitimate questions i'd like to have answered. thanks

I had one of these and stomped melee duel games all the time. Yes it can kill, but the fact is, this build is pretty much only good agianst the exile newbie zealots, and concentration barbs. Here's what happens, and why when using Beast/95%ias 300+ AR phase;

First of all, there's a huge lack of mana when fighting agianst exile zealots, to even get a hit you have to use the angelics set, that instantly drops your mana to around 650 if you have godly charms. While this seems like eneough, it isnt hardly anywhere near eneough. If you bulid right you will have around 250 into vitality which in turn isnt near eneough life once everything gets ran through energyshield, you die quickly. Even "Noob" zealots will beat you simply by switching to HOZ. This is why this build is only good agianst characters with negative/low 30% fire resistances. You will get smited. After two or three duels people will eventually figure out they can beat you just by smiting you with a 7-8 frame smite, and all your mana will be gone in a few seconds. Fireclaw druids will in turn **** you, because they have more actual life, and a attack that is 1 frame faster than yours, plus better blocking. Concentration barbs are a joke, they and exile zealots are the only thing that will go down consistently (if they don't smite you).

1) No you need MDR to completely reduce all damage to energy shield.
2) In wereform, outside IAS is not important. As a sorceress swinging a azurewrath, IAS is going to be extremely important or any BOTD exile zealot will have you locked before you can make a counter-attack of your own.
3) You should have plenty of spare points, everything goes directly into shiver armour. Whatever's left goes into cold mastery. Since nearly everyone wears cham instead of ravenfrost it turns out to do a good ammount of damage everytime you get hit, and every second they stand near it and it cycles.
4)8000-11K Defense in wereform, around 5900+ as a sorceress.

Fireskill charms are the best for damage and attack rating, Two GCs with 35+life/40+ Mana are reccommended agianst resist users, small charms with AR/Life add the most to offense(30+), and Life/Mana small charms add a bit to survivability.

As a werebear, Basic fighting gear should be;

Shako - Shael or Fire Facet
Chains of Honor/Duress - Dusk pref, Highest defense at lowest strength, insures not losing items
Storm Shield - Shael
Shadow Dancers - 25 Dex/FHR
Arachnid Mesh or NightSmoke - Upgraded (Highly under-estimated)
2 SOJS, 2 Angelics Rings, Angelics Amulet, & Metal Grid (Huge slab of defense and AR, really shines when you want AR + the mana from sojs without using angelics)
Magefist - Upgraded
Beast & 95% IAS Phase blade, Pref with +AR.

You can substitute alot of things, you can't substitute the phase or beast though. Pretty much required as a werebear.

 

[waytofailself]

thanks for the info i have an uphill climb gearwise ahead of me then.

i'm planning on doing more pubby ladder dueling though, so i hope i can survive. if anything, it's a fun build PvM.

does this skillpoint dist sound right?

20 Enchant
20 Warmth
20 FM
20 Telekenisi
20 ES
rest Shiver armor?

that doesn't leave many points left...should i cut back on the fire mastery then?

 

[ReallFugitive]

thanks for the info i have an uphill climb gearwise ahead of me then.

i'm planning on doing more pubby ladder dueling though, so i hope i can survive. if anything, it's a fun build PvM.

does this skillpoint dist sound right?

20 Enchant
20 Warmth
20 FM
20 Telekenisi
20 ES
rest Shiver armor?

that doesn't leave many points left...should i cut back on the fire mastery then?

Sounds fine if you are set on dumping everything to energyshield. You don't even need to have a point in it to be efficent, just make a cheap memory staff with a inherent +3 Energyshield Staff MOD and you already have +9 to ES, with all other +Skills you can easily get a level 20 Energyshield. Personally I would rather have shiver and cold mastery than points in energyshield. Best of luck.

 

[Dahmer]

...
Casting Gear:
Shako shael'd
...

+3 fire 2 sock helm is a much better option
rest of enchant gear is fine

...
Dueling Gear:
Socketed Phase Blade
ShaelShaelShaelShaelShaelEth
...

last bp is 95 ias so this is a bit over the top

Immortal King Boots

i would suggest sandstorms for fhr/str/vit

Verdungo's Hearty Cord, preferrably 40/15, though any will do of course.

hmm, how lovely, he prefers 15 dmg red on belt while he allready has 35 on storm & 10 on helm so a 40/10 is perfect for this build, not 40/15

Shako, Shael'ed.

cham'd is a better option since there is no cbf in equip choise so far

...
Charms:
4x12%FHR Fire Skillers.
6x30+Life Fire Skillers.
Annihilus.
9x20 Life Small Charms.
...

life skillers are indeed the best option but u hardly need that high fhr
on equip so far -> 60 from armor, 10 from belt, 20 from boots = 90 = 86fhr bp from equip alone, dont really need even more
& try getting ar/life sc's, you're gonna need them i think

 

[waytofailself]

well, i look at it a different way. i agree with the +3 ES memory staff. however, Lv 20 ES gives 75% damage to mana while lv 40 ES gives 95% damage to mana.

i've always heard to shoot for the 95%, especially in PvP. have i heard wrong?

also, can anyone link me to a guide/chart of IAS needed for the fastest attack speed for a sorc? i'm thinking of using a Shael'd Azurewrath and i'm wondering how much more IAS i'm going to need to nab from other equipment.

 

[Dahmer]

mkay, hmmmm, ias

- in bearform only ias that counts is that on your weapon (90% sure of that)
- shael'd azure -> 50 ias -> 7fpa
- 95ias phase (last bp) -> 5fpa

i agree that azure has nice mods but u would do better with a 95ias normal phase

socketing suggestion :
4*shael
ias/ar jewel (can get up to 100ar)
ar/stat jewel (best option imo = 12% dmg to mana, 60ar, 9str, 9dex)

so when u get your hands on 15ed 3ar superior phase it could look like this :
95ias
15ed
163ar
9str
9dex
12% dmg to mana

 

[jimmy_dean-01]

What about passion phase blade? It gives zeal so you can have a decently fast, and uninteruptible, attack, along with a nice boot in ar from the %increased on the weapon and zeal. You would be slower without werebear and the ias phase, but i think it works well.