Matriarch FWOOOOSH - D2R full Tal's fire sorceress

Coyote_Sly

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2022
72
291
53
I built this character to eventually be a LK runner, and she blitzed through normal and NM. Hell was actually really interesting, because I never repecced to pick up any cold damage. Figuring out how to get through chaos sanctuary might have been the most interesting D2 I've played since coming back with D2R.

After getting Anya I decided I needed to level so I hit ~500 Stony Tomb runs, and in that time found both Tal's armor and amulet, so I decided to actually finish the campaign in full set gear. I also found my first Ohm run. The first time she set foot in the Stony Tomb she had about 450 life. When she killed Baal, she was over 1900.

Character:
Lvl - 92
Stats - enough for Monarch, then life

Life (w/BO) ~ 1900 (I've switched around gear since, so I don't have the exact number)
Mana (w/BO) -789

Skills:
Firebolt - 20
Fireball - 20
Meteor - 20
Fire Mastery - 20
Hydra - 15

Gear:
Tal's Belt/Helm/Orb/Armor/Amulet
War Trav's
Nagelring
+ FCR rare
Spirit monarch (31%;
Magefist
Call to Arms (5/5/3)
+ Spirit switch
Charms - Gheed's and assorted res charms

Merc:

Gulzar, A2 Holy Freeze
Vamp Gaze
Treachery
Insight
cryptic axe or eth Obedience cryptic axe

I *really* underrated hydra - levelling from like 65 to 90 in the stony tomb wasn't super fast, but really safe: dump a bunch of hyrdras through door --> stand back --> collect loot --> repeat. Once I'd levelled up and found the Ohm, it was faster to tele in and fireball spam, but it was almost TOO safe using hydra since enemies act really weird when you're all the way off screen.

Now I'm setting up for LK farming, my first real attempt to find actual HRs in my entire D2 career. I actually have a solid LK map with two fires within a tele in either direction from the WP along with my top-tier stony tombs map right outside. I'll be playing with her gear a bit, but right now I don't think I can get to the 200% FCR breakpoint easily so she'll start running at the 105.
 
Grats on the Mat! Nice detail about the hydra / off screen monsters. I guess the safety aspect could've been deduced from trapper gameplay but didn't even cross my mind. Also a nice detail about the path to higher levels through stony tomb with a fire character.

How do you feel about the power of Hydra for a hypothetical hybrid build, would Hydra without maxed synergies cut it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: coju
I don't know, hydra has pretty low damage and doesn't give synergy back to firebolt/ball. I can't see it beating out the more established low investment skills functionally.

You could probably *do it*, because hydras do have some safety built in. But it definitely wouldn't be the efficient option.
 
Diablo 4 Interactive Map
PurePremium
Estimated market value
Low
High