- Aug 5, 2005
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mephiztophelez' guide to Fire Sorks, v1.1
Originally posted Nov 24, 2008
Note: This was written for BNet over 12 years ago. Things have changed since then, but much of the guide remains very useful
Table of Contents:
Part One:
Part Two:
Synopsis:
This guide is a general overview for sorceress' choosing to invest almost exclusivly in the Fire skill tree. I will try and include information for all the different variations such as ES vs Vita, max-block vs no-block etc.
The fire sorc is a great general character that can solo most of hell with the aid of a decently equipped mercenary and some utility skills. If playing through the game, only once you reach the Nightmare Chaos Sanctuary & NM Ancients will you find things a little difficult, after there, it's basically a free run through to the Hell Travincal Council.
Fire sorc's can be equipped for Magic Finding and general PvM duties, or be kitted out for duelling.
The vast bulk of current PvP builds require one to be either A: a dupewhore, or B: very lucky or very dedicated to the cubeing of Gul's.
The advantage of a Fire Sorceress is they can be effective without using a single runeword. While having access to a Legit Call To Arms will improve your pubby-game strike rate considerably, it isn't completely necessary and there are plenty of viable workarounds. while i will discuss Two High Runeword items in this guide (one of them, CtA duh, is already mentioned), neither of them require huge investments in time/effort to cube up from Gul's for a dedicated Ladder player.
If you havn't realised yet, this is a build that can be made on the super cheap, or tweaked with however much e-wealth you choose to devote to it.
It's also a great character for those new to PvP. it's relatively easy to kill people with Fireballs, and if your anything like me, you'll turn into a complete pirate with one of these under your control.
"But hang on, your an assassin nut, why are you writing a sorceress guide?"
because i also happen to have a pvp fire sorcy. i like my fire sorcy. she was a lot easier to put together than any of my 'sins and is generally easier to win with. this is also a build that can be done on the cheap. lower damage can be offset by better play skills a lot easier with a sorc than with a 'sin. besides, i can't write a BB guide for my current assassin, but i have some general notes somewhere i'll get around to publishing soon.
Basic Build Goals, PvM & PvP:
105% FCR: This gives us an 8-frame cast time for both our teleport and our attack spells. a pvm-only sorc could get away with a 9-frame cast, but it lowers our general capabilities by a lot.
86% FHR: by and large, sorcs are fairly fragile creatures, if you get hit, you want to get back up again and start cracking again as fast as possible. Thankfully, if we use a Spirit shield, 55% of this is taken care of.
Max res with an overstack: the overstack takes care of the Anya Bug and makes Fist of the Heavens pallys and cold sorc's sting a little less.
~14k'ish fireball damage should be enough to get you started for PvP, a PvM only sorc can live with lower damage.
Advanced build goals:
200FCR: gives us a 7 frame cast, so we spit out our fireballs as fast as a tweaked zon can fire off Guided Arrows. Unlike a zon, we can also teleport at the same rate. The downside is extremely limited wiggle-room in our gear selection. a 200%fcr sorc will rarely have shield block.
Stat Spend:
Strength: STR: enough for gear. For most sorcs, this will mean a Spirit Monarch with it's thumping great str-req of 156.
Dex: minimum needed to pick up a Wizardspike Bone knife, OR, enough for max-block with the endgame shield of your choice
Energy: either BASE (vita sorc) or pumped heavily for Energy Shield users
Vitality: again, this depends on if you're an ES sorc or not.
Energy Shield Or Not?
This is one of those personal decisions that you will need to make before building your sorceress. ES can increase your survivability by a huge amount, but is offset by a lower damage output and either no Hydra or a very weak Hydra.
ES is NOT a one-point-wonder. to be effective, it needs to be carefully planned both in Gear selections and one's vitality/energy stat spend.
It's worth noting that damage from poison or from Open Wounds bypasses the ES altogether. ES sorcs are going to HATE ww-sins.
While it is possible to get away without using a single hard point in the Energy Shield skill itself (getting ES from a Memory Staff or similar and using a large amount of Pre-Buff gear), you will need to max Telekinesis to get a benefit from it.
RenegadeMaster has a nice guide on How To Make ES work for You which is well worth a read if ES appeals to you.
Max-Block vs No-Block?
Max-block can help a LOT against some opponents (BvC's, Bowa'zons & Chargers most especially), but against any opponent who can ignore blocking it's essentially a huge sacrifice in life.
If you're going to go with a max-block option, I would advise a 105%FCR build and the use of a good blocking shield (which I'll discuss later) and possibly even a Guardian Angel armour and/or a crafted Safety amulet.
If you are using a spirit shield, do NOT try for max-block. Spirit has no blocking bonus on it and combined with the 156 strength requirement for monarchs, the whopping amount of dex you'll need will leave you feeling rather squishy
Essential Skill Selection:
Fire Tree:
Notes on Fire Skills:
Fireball vs Firebolt: with enough +skills, both these spells will deal comparable damage. For the ES sorcs amongst us, Firebolt is the preferred spell with it's miserly mana cost of 2.5 per shot. Fireball, with it's AoE splash, is better against minion stackers (druids & necros mostly). Fireball's also have a wider 'path' meaning aiming is a touch more forgiving.
Warmth: a base-point at least is mandatory for pretty much all sorcs. i'd advise against pumping it more than that as there are better things to put points into.
Hydra: this is pretty much the preserve of Vitality sorcs. an ES sorc is unlikely to have enough 'spare' skill points for the pre-reqs and getting a semi-decent hydra. It would be perfectly acceptable to max Hydra and skrimp a little elsewhere if you find you really like Hydra. i reckon Hydra is a fantastic PvP skill on my vit-sosa, even at a "measly" 3k damage. extra chaos & confusion on the blood-moor is always nice to be able to spread around.
Fire Mastery: points into fireball synergies > points in Mastery. if you must skrimp on points in the Fire Tree, this is where you can sacrifice a few and not totally nerf your damage output.
Meteor: a fabulous PvM spell of dubious value PvP. while it is possible to kill opponents with Meteor, generally you only do it with luck or a particularly well planned and executed meteor-trap. Nothing says "wtfpwnt" quite like a 40k+ meteor. about the only build that can knock Hell Baal down faster than a meteor sorc is a tricked out CS zon.
Lightning Tree:
Teleport + it's prerequisite of Telekinesis should both get a point. for ES sorcs, Telekinesis should be Maxed (not the 16points some people advise for the 1:1 damage:mana ratio but MAXED with a full 20 hard points)
Cold Tree:
one into Chilling Armour. Chilling armour can block the occasional missile from our opponents in PvP, most notably, Guided Arrows. you can either spend the points for chilling armour, or get it as a free-skill from an Orb, staff or a Snowclash belt
Utility Skills:
If you want your sorc to have some general PvM ability too, then a point in Static Charge is hard to beat.
Some method of holding Fire Immunes steady while your merc pounds 'em is nice. Glacial Spike is expensive to get with it's two pre-reqs, but I feel (with a rebuild under my belt) that it's well worth it. If you like, you can try with a single point in Frost Nova and have a beefier Hydra later on but for my mind, glacial is the way to go. For the fetishists amongst us, it is perfectly viable to get your Static and Glacial from an Orb and one could even make a legit CtA in a staff with +Chilling Armour on it to save on skill points.
Gear, bits of kit to help us reach our goals:
PvM gear:
Full Tal Rasha's Wrappings: the completed Tal's Set offers a complete package for the PvM sorc. for the cost it's almost impossible to go past the huge range of GG mods it offers. The armour and amulet may cost a little, but the rest you'll probably find yourself or can trade for a handful of pgems. While some people feel that using only a "partial tals" setup is superior, I firmly disagree. for a full rundown on the benefits of Tal's, read The Truth about Tal's Set
That's about all I want to say on PvM gear for a fire sorc.
PvP gear:
for the 200fcr speed-demons, we want FCR, lots of FCR, we basically need FCR on EVERY bit of gear that can give it to us. so, that's basically everything bar our boots.
For the 105fcr builds out there, there's a little more leeway in our gear selections. in this case, we're probably chasing extra damage (+skills) or survival mods (%DR, %res, +% blocking, FHR, etc)
Hat:
FCR comes in two flavours on rare and magic hats: 10% and 20%. 10% is going to put some serious strain on other gear to hit 200%, but can be viable. 20% is much preferred. Other nice mods to have are: +skills (boosts our damage), sockets, res, FRW, FHR and +Strength.
The other hat option is a Griffon's Eye. These things are not cheap, nor are they ideal for a Fire sorc, they DO however have 25% FCR, the highest available on a helm for a legit player. this can help us hit that magic 200%. a nice rare would serve you better i feel.
105%fcr sorcs have a much easier time shopping for a helm. That good old standby the Harlequin Crest Shako is a pretty sexy sorc helm.
Belt:
only two options here for the 200%fcr crew
1: Arachnid Sash: +1 skills and 20% FCR, sign me up. These are one of the more highly sought after items on West Ladder currently. i advise you to be careful when trading for one, and do NOT trade for a "perfect" 120 ed model.
2: a caster crafted belt can give us 10%. again, this will put stress on other areas of the build, but if you can't acquire an Arach, this is pretty much your only other choice.
a 105% sorc might choose a %DR belt (dungo's, string of ears), a sorb belt (t-gods) or some kind of rare resis/fhr/stats job.
Gloves:
1: Magefists, give us the all important 20% FCR and an always handy +1 Fire Skills.
2: Trang Oul's gloves. Trangs give us 20% FCR and some Cold Res. magefists are the preferred glove.
ES sorc might like to investigate Frostburns gauntlets. The huge +Max Mana boost is a massive boost to the strength of an ES.
Rings:
One ring will probably need to have 10% fcr on it, quite possibly both for 200fcr sorcs.
Try and swing some splendid mods to go along with the fcr on a "built-in-ring". +20str, 10% resist all would be nice.
If you can get away with only one FCR ring and still hit your fcr goals, the other ring can be used for sorb on demand.
for ES sorcs, the Stone of Jordan is pretty swish, extra +skills for damage and a handy mana boost. Beware of trading for an SoJ, there are insane numbers of unperm duped SoJ's out there.
Ammy:
We're firmly into the highly variable world of Rares, Magics and Crafts here.
Rares and Magics can get 10% from the Of The Apprentice suffix, but we're placing strain on hitting that magic 200%.
Crafted Caster Amulets (Ral+PAmethyst+junk jewel+magic ammy in the cube) get from 5-10% as a craft-mod and also have a shot at scoring another 10% as a suffix for a total of 20% FCR. This is probably your best bet for an Amulet. My ammy is a plain 20% FCR with some minor resists on it. I would advise AGAINST trading for a +2skills/20FCR amulet with anyone you don't know. if you get into crafting, keep ALL amulets with 15%+ FCR on them, regardless of other mods. sometimes, a buyer for one just falls in your lap.
For the 105%fcr crew who can get by without FCR on their amulet, a Mara's is a solid option, or some more esoteric kit like +3fire/100 life ammy's can be used. a crafted Safety Amulet with its +% blocking mod could be a boon for a max-block sosa'.
Armour:
four viable choices here for the 200fcr crew, i'll list them in my own order of desirability
1: Skin of the Vipermagi. 30% FCR is the highest available on armour, and only available on a Viper, it also comes with a useful +1 skills, from 25-35% res-all and a splash of MDR which is nice for PvM. a low viper will cost you perhaps a pgem or two, personally i reckon get the best one you can and up it (on ladder only obviously) then get Larzuk to drill a hole in it for you (i'll get to socketing suggestions later).
2: Ormus Robes with +3 Fireball (or +3 Fire Bolt if you're that way inclined). this armour packs a serious punch, but with only 20% fcr on it, it's sib par for a 200% FCR sorc imho.
3: Stealth. Tal + Eth gives us 25% FCR, some FHR and some FRW. it's lacking just about everywhere else, but if you can win consistently wearing this armour, you are earning MAJOR style points, please be sure to mercilessly rub it in to your pubby dupewhore opponents.
4: Que Hagens Wisdom: +1 skill, 20% FCR is the only reason it gets a mention at all. surely you can come up with a couple of pgems for a low'ish viper.
Max Block sorcs might like to investigate the potential offered by a Guardian Angel. Personally, I have yet to build such a sorc, but I have dueled a few in my time and can safely say that Guardian Angel is a FABULOUS armour for the block-sosa.
Another option for the 105'ers is a Chains of Honor. I don't have this armour and probably never will, but the combination of +2skills, huge resists and a nice splash of %DR is nice if you don't need fcr on your armour.
Shield:
99.99% of legit 200% FCR sorcs will use a Spirit Monarch. with up to 35% FCR and a juicy +2 skills, it's tough to go past. The 'other' option is a Lidless with +1 skill and 20% fcr. I would advise a good spirit shield.
the 105% Max-Block crew has a huge variety of options:
Whistans Guard: huge +% blocking saves a lot of points in dex
Stormshield: a heavy beast of a shield, but it comes with a nice 35%dr some res and blocking
Moser's Blessed Circle: huge res, decent blocking and a handy two sockets. you'll probably want an up'd one.
Visceratuant: some +% blocking and a handy +1 skill, can be worth up'ing.
Lidless Wall: +1skill, some blocking and 20%fcr. upped to a trolls nest, these have long been a good option for a block sorc.
Sanctuary runeword (Ko+Ko+Mal) in a 3os Tower shield: huge resist bonus, good blocking, a handy splash of FHR and a nice dex boost all make for a handy combination.
Weapons:
Rare & Magic orbs
200fcr speed queens unfortunately kinda need a minimum of 35% FCR on our weapon. so the glittering world of Magic & Rare orbs with it's promise of +5/+6 FB and our utility skills built in is, sadly, a closed book for 200FCR sorcs. Not so for the 105'ers. a slick rare or magic orb can easily outdamage an eschuta's.
Uniques (in no particular order):
1: Eschuta's Temper. up to +3 skills and some nice boost to fire skill damage make Eshcuta's the hardest hitting weapon a 200fcr sosa can pick up. but only marginally. 40% FCR is nice to have and helps us hit our goals. My own opinion is that eschuta's is highly overrated and outclassed by other options.
2: Suicide Branch wand. if Eschuta's is highly overrated, then 'Branch is seriously under appreciated. with a staggering 50% FCR, if you have to use less than optimal FCR equipment elsewhere, this is where you can make up a bit of it at least. 'Branch also has a handy +1 skills and a modest res boost to go with it. a fine choice all round.
3: Wizardspike Bone Knife. 50% fcr, a massive 75%res-all and a handy life & mana boost make for a tempting combination. the downside is the lack of +skills. i'd advise against using this as your primary weapon, but keeping one of these on hand is useful when you need some massive res-stack (eg: cold sorcs & conviction users). beware the dexterity requirement, vit sorcs may like to socket a Hel rune or -15% requirements jewel into their wizknife.
Runewords:
1: a legit Heart of the Oak in a low-req's one handed weapon (a flail being the standard). This runeword requires a Vex rune, and is illegal to trade for here at the Barons Bazaar. however a Vex is merely two Guls and a plain Ruby in the cube, i feel it is easily achievable by a legit player with a modicum of effort. HotO gives us a thumping 40% FCR, a very juicy res-boost and some handy life-replenish.
2: Spirit sword in a low req's one-handed weapon (crystal swords seem to be the standard here). These are rather tricky to fit in. by my calculations, you need perfect FCR everywhere else, AND perfect 35% FCR here too, to hit 200%. That said, spirit also packs a huge 55% FHR on it, which makes getting to that elusive 142% breakpoint a little easier.
Boots:
Well, there's no FCR to be had here from anywhere so the choices are wide open. Ideally we want resistances & FHR on our boots. for a mass-market-easy-to-acquire option, Sandstorm Treks are a solid, if sub-optimal, choice.
Some FRW is very nice to have to help escape from various opponents and for running through town on our way to/from Akara. Aldur's Boots get a mention as being an allround fine piece of footwear. Crafted safety boots are also an option, they can get a huge bonus to fire res and some handy iDR/mDR
The 'super ideal' sorceress boots imho, would be a set of rares with: 40% fire, cold & lightning resis, 30%frw, 10%fhr and some poison length reduction
The only thing i suggest against here is anything with a str req higher than that of our shield.
Socketing Suggestions:
Generally, we'll have a socket in our hat (hopefully, one day, Two), one in our armour and possibly one in our weapon.
I feel it's better to use these to help hit our FHR and Resist breakpoints before doing the knee jerk reaction of stuffing a Fire Facet in any available socket.
I feel that for facets to be noticeably 'effective' you really need to be packing a minimum of three and preferably four or more of the suckers. Against a dueller with marginal resists, facets can help. against one with poor resist, you'll probably beat 'em anyways and against a good dueller who stacks everything to buggery, it a marginal boost to your damage (the +% fire skill gets added in with our Fire Mastery bonus) at the cost of a socket. just all round poor use of a socky in my opinion.
Shaels give 20% FHR while Um's give 15% res-all in armour & helms. use those sockets to give yourself some more survivability rather than some piddling extra damage.
The 'godliest' jewels to socket into your gear would be rares with +30lit res, +30cold res, +10% res-all, +str, +dex jobbies.
Inventory & charms:
if the cost of an Arach didn't scare the bejeezus out of you, filling your inventory with nice charms probably will.
A sorc torch and an Annihilus should be high on your purchase list. for preference, have both of these onhand BEFORE building your sorceress. only once you get to level 75 should you even contemplate picking up your spirit shield. if you're an Arach user, you won't be a 200% FCR sorc until level 80 anyway.
Fire Skill grand charms: we can fit up to nine of these and a torch into our inventory. you DO NOT NEED all nine before starting to go and duel. if you meet my recommended minimum 14k damage target, i reckon get out there and play silly buggers rather than toil through trade channels. having nine is recommended and something you should work towards. Ideally, these GC's will have a useful suffix of Life or FHR on them too. if you're still collecting your GC's, fill your inventory with +life, +mana, res and FHR charms of whatever size/quality you happen to possess.
You also have room for some small charms, these should be 20 lifer sc's with a useful prefix if you're rich. +resists and +mana are generally the prefixes we're looking for.
Some people persist with the mistaken belief that +str charms are good things, look at it this way:
+2 strength is the most available on a small charm, this = +2 stat points. Given that sorceress' get +2 life per point in Vitality, a +20 Life sc = +10 stat points, or five times the bang for your inventory space buck.
Points in Strength + Vita charms > Points in Vitality + Strength charms.
Switch Gear:
If you have a legit CtA & another spirit shield, these should obviously go on switch. If you're making a legit CtA to go with your sorc, choose a base weapon that's visually very different to your main fighting weapon. For this reason I've become a bit of a fan of the Twin Axe for a legit CtA.
Stash
Unlike my assassin and my paladin, both of whom have an extensive collection of knick-knacks, sorb gear, extra res-boost gear and all manner of various other paraphernalia in their stash to mix & match with, my sorcy has her kit, which she wears and generally keeps a bare minimum of switch gear to hand.
The only things I'm swapping around are my weapons. I use a HotO as my primary weapon and keep a hel'd wizknife and a 35%fcr spirit sword on hand for various matchups.
This is one of the things i like most about my sorc actually. very simple to duel with: enter game, go hostile, start lobbing fireballs around.
Originally posted Nov 24, 2008
Note: This was written for BNet over 12 years ago. Things have changed since then, but much of the guide remains very useful
Table of Contents:
Part One:
1: Synopsis
2: The Build
5: Inventory & charms
6: Switch Gear
7: Stash
2: The Build
Basic Build Goals, PvM & PvP
Advanced build goals
Stat Spend
Energy Shield Or Not?
Max-Block vs No-Block?
Essential Skill Selection
Utility Skills
3: Gear, bits of kit to help us reach our goalsAdvanced build goals
Stat Spend
Energy Shield Or Not?
Max-Block vs No-Block?
Essential Skill Selection
Utility Skills
PvM gear
PvP gear
4: Socketing SuggestionsPvP gear
5: Inventory & charms
6: Switch Gear
7: Stash
Part Two:
8: Basic duelling tactics and strategies.
10: AppendixesAiming fireballs
Spammage 101
Cloud Of Fire
Strafing Run
Hydra Trap
The Telebomb
Meteor Trap
Mobility is Key
Desynch Fireballs
9: Tactics vs specific opponentsSpammage 101
Cloud Of Fire
Strafing Run
Hydra Trap
The Telebomb
Meteor Trap
Mobility is Key
Desynch Fireballs
Sorceress
Amazons
Necromancers
Paladins
Druids
Barbarians
Assassins
Amazons
Necromancers
Paladins
Druids
Barbarians
Assassins
Super-200%fcr sosa shopping list
Mercenaries
Know thy PvM nemesis
Where can a fire-sorc go PvM?
Mercenaries
Know thy PvM nemesis
Where can a fire-sorc go PvM?
Synopsis:
This guide is a general overview for sorceress' choosing to invest almost exclusivly in the Fire skill tree. I will try and include information for all the different variations such as ES vs Vita, max-block vs no-block etc.
The fire sorc is a great general character that can solo most of hell with the aid of a decently equipped mercenary and some utility skills. If playing through the game, only once you reach the Nightmare Chaos Sanctuary & NM Ancients will you find things a little difficult, after there, it's basically a free run through to the Hell Travincal Council.
Fire sorc's can be equipped for Magic Finding and general PvM duties, or be kitted out for duelling.
The vast bulk of current PvP builds require one to be either A: a dupewhore, or B: very lucky or very dedicated to the cubeing of Gul's.
The advantage of a Fire Sorceress is they can be effective without using a single runeword. While having access to a Legit Call To Arms will improve your pubby-game strike rate considerably, it isn't completely necessary and there are plenty of viable workarounds. while i will discuss Two High Runeword items in this guide (one of them, CtA duh, is already mentioned), neither of them require huge investments in time/effort to cube up from Gul's for a dedicated Ladder player.
If you havn't realised yet, this is a build that can be made on the super cheap, or tweaked with however much e-wealth you choose to devote to it.
It's also a great character for those new to PvP. it's relatively easy to kill people with Fireballs, and if your anything like me, you'll turn into a complete pirate with one of these under your control.
Please Note: This is not a "do things my way or suffer instant death" kind of guide. I am trying to include various bits of information to help you, the reader, make decisions about how you might choose to build your sorceress.
"But hang on, your an assassin nut, why are you writing a sorceress guide?"
because i also happen to have a pvp fire sorcy. i like my fire sorcy. she was a lot easier to put together than any of my 'sins and is generally easier to win with. this is also a build that can be done on the cheap. lower damage can be offset by better play skills a lot easier with a sorc than with a 'sin. besides, i can't write a BB guide for my current assassin, but i have some general notes somewhere i'll get around to publishing soon.
Part One: The Build
Basic Build Goals, PvM & PvP:
105% FCR: This gives us an 8-frame cast time for both our teleport and our attack spells. a pvm-only sorc could get away with a 9-frame cast, but it lowers our general capabilities by a lot.
86% FHR: by and large, sorcs are fairly fragile creatures, if you get hit, you want to get back up again and start cracking again as fast as possible. Thankfully, if we use a Spirit shield, 55% of this is taken care of.
Max res with an overstack: the overstack takes care of the Anya Bug and makes Fist of the Heavens pallys and cold sorc's sting a little less.
~14k'ish fireball damage should be enough to get you started for PvP, a PvM only sorc can live with lower damage.
Advanced build goals:
200FCR: gives us a 7 frame cast, so we spit out our fireballs as fast as a tweaked zon can fire off Guided Arrows. Unlike a zon, we can also teleport at the same rate. The downside is extremely limited wiggle-room in our gear selection. a 200%fcr sorc will rarely have shield block.
142FHR
20k fireball damage
a Legit CtA.
20k fireball damage
a Legit CtA.
Stat Spend:
Strength: STR: enough for gear. For most sorcs, this will mean a Spirit Monarch with it's thumping great str-req of 156.
Dex: minimum needed to pick up a Wizardspike Bone knife, OR, enough for max-block with the endgame shield of your choice
Energy: either BASE (vita sorc) or pumped heavily for Energy Shield users
Vitality: again, this depends on if you're an ES sorc or not.
Energy Shield Or Not?
This is one of those personal decisions that you will need to make before building your sorceress. ES can increase your survivability by a huge amount, but is offset by a lower damage output and either no Hydra or a very weak Hydra.
ES is NOT a one-point-wonder. to be effective, it needs to be carefully planned both in Gear selections and one's vitality/energy stat spend.
It's worth noting that damage from poison or from Open Wounds bypasses the ES altogether. ES sorcs are going to HATE ww-sins.
While it is possible to get away without using a single hard point in the Energy Shield skill itself (getting ES from a Memory Staff or similar and using a large amount of Pre-Buff gear), you will need to max Telekinesis to get a benefit from it.
RenegadeMaster has a nice guide on How To Make ES work for You which is well worth a read if ES appeals to you.
Max-Block vs No-Block?
Max-block can help a LOT against some opponents (BvC's, Bowa'zons & Chargers most especially), but against any opponent who can ignore blocking it's essentially a huge sacrifice in life.
If you're going to go with a max-block option, I would advise a 105%FCR build and the use of a good blocking shield (which I'll discuss later) and possibly even a Guardian Angel armour and/or a crafted Safety amulet.
If you are using a spirit shield, do NOT try for max-block. Spirit has no blocking bonus on it and combined with the 156 strength requirement for monarchs, the whopping amount of dex you'll need will leave you feeling rather squishy
Essential Skill Selection:
Fire Tree:
Warmth: 1
Fireball: 20
Firebolt: 20
Meteor: 20
Fire Mastery: 20
Hydra: 1+ (Hydra is a good place to dump spare skill points on a Vita Sorc, an ES model would probably have better things to do with the pre-req skill points and may not have Hydra at all)
Fireball: 20
Firebolt: 20
Meteor: 20
Fire Mastery: 20
Hydra: 1+ (Hydra is a good place to dump spare skill points on a Vita Sorc, an ES model would probably have better things to do with the pre-req skill points and may not have Hydra at all)
Notes on Fire Skills:
Fireball vs Firebolt: with enough +skills, both these spells will deal comparable damage. For the ES sorcs amongst us, Firebolt is the preferred spell with it's miserly mana cost of 2.5 per shot. Fireball, with it's AoE splash, is better against minion stackers (druids & necros mostly). Fireball's also have a wider 'path' meaning aiming is a touch more forgiving.
Warmth: a base-point at least is mandatory for pretty much all sorcs. i'd advise against pumping it more than that as there are better things to put points into.
Hydra: this is pretty much the preserve of Vitality sorcs. an ES sorc is unlikely to have enough 'spare' skill points for the pre-reqs and getting a semi-decent hydra. It would be perfectly acceptable to max Hydra and skrimp a little elsewhere if you find you really like Hydra. i reckon Hydra is a fantastic PvP skill on my vit-sosa, even at a "measly" 3k damage. extra chaos & confusion on the blood-moor is always nice to be able to spread around.
Fire Mastery: points into fireball synergies > points in Mastery. if you must skrimp on points in the Fire Tree, this is where you can sacrifice a few and not totally nerf your damage output.
Meteor: a fabulous PvM spell of dubious value PvP. while it is possible to kill opponents with Meteor, generally you only do it with luck or a particularly well planned and executed meteor-trap. Nothing says "wtfpwnt" quite like a 40k+ meteor. about the only build that can knock Hell Baal down faster than a meteor sorc is a tricked out CS zon.
Lightning Tree:
Teleport + it's prerequisite of Telekinesis should both get a point. for ES sorcs, Telekinesis should be Maxed (not the 16points some people advise for the 1:1 damage:mana ratio but MAXED with a full 20 hard points)
Cold Tree:
one into Chilling Armour. Chilling armour can block the occasional missile from our opponents in PvP, most notably, Guided Arrows. you can either spend the points for chilling armour, or get it as a free-skill from an Orb, staff or a Snowclash belt
Utility Skills:
If you want your sorc to have some general PvM ability too, then a point in Static Charge is hard to beat.
Some method of holding Fire Immunes steady while your merc pounds 'em is nice. Glacial Spike is expensive to get with it's two pre-reqs, but I feel (with a rebuild under my belt) that it's well worth it. If you like, you can try with a single point in Frost Nova and have a beefier Hydra later on but for my mind, glacial is the way to go. For the fetishists amongst us, it is perfectly viable to get your Static and Glacial from an Orb and one could even make a legit CtA in a staff with +Chilling Armour on it to save on skill points.
Gear, bits of kit to help us reach our goals:
PvM gear:
Full Tal Rasha's Wrappings: the completed Tal's Set offers a complete package for the PvM sorc. for the cost it's almost impossible to go past the huge range of GG mods it offers. The armour and amulet may cost a little, but the rest you'll probably find yourself or can trade for a handful of pgems. While some people feel that using only a "partial tals" setup is superior, I firmly disagree. for a full rundown on the benefits of Tal's, read The Truth about Tal's Set
That's about all I want to say on PvM gear for a fire sorc.
PvP gear:
for the 200fcr speed-demons, we want FCR, lots of FCR, we basically need FCR on EVERY bit of gear that can give it to us. so, that's basically everything bar our boots.
For the 105fcr builds out there, there's a little more leeway in our gear selections. in this case, we're probably chasing extra damage (+skills) or survival mods (%DR, %res, +% blocking, FHR, etc)
Hat:
FCR comes in two flavours on rare and magic hats: 10% and 20%. 10% is going to put some serious strain on other gear to hit 200%, but can be viable. 20% is much preferred. Other nice mods to have are: +skills (boosts our damage), sockets, res, FRW, FHR and +Strength.
The other hat option is a Griffon's Eye. These things are not cheap, nor are they ideal for a Fire sorc, they DO however have 25% FCR, the highest available on a helm for a legit player. this can help us hit that magic 200%. a nice rare would serve you better i feel.
105%fcr sorcs have a much easier time shopping for a helm. That good old standby the Harlequin Crest Shako is a pretty sexy sorc helm.
Belt:
only two options here for the 200%fcr crew
1: Arachnid Sash: +1 skills and 20% FCR, sign me up. These are one of the more highly sought after items on West Ladder currently. i advise you to be careful when trading for one, and do NOT trade for a "perfect" 120 ed model.
2: a caster crafted belt can give us 10%. again, this will put stress on other areas of the build, but if you can't acquire an Arach, this is pretty much your only other choice.
a 105% sorc might choose a %DR belt (dungo's, string of ears), a sorb belt (t-gods) or some kind of rare resis/fhr/stats job.
Gloves:
1: Magefists, give us the all important 20% FCR and an always handy +1 Fire Skills.
2: Trang Oul's gloves. Trangs give us 20% FCR and some Cold Res. magefists are the preferred glove.
ES sorc might like to investigate Frostburns gauntlets. The huge +Max Mana boost is a massive boost to the strength of an ES.
Rings:
One ring will probably need to have 10% fcr on it, quite possibly both for 200fcr sorcs.
Try and swing some splendid mods to go along with the fcr on a "built-in-ring". +20str, 10% resist all would be nice.
If you can get away with only one FCR ring and still hit your fcr goals, the other ring can be used for sorb on demand.
for ES sorcs, the Stone of Jordan is pretty swish, extra +skills for damage and a handy mana boost. Beware of trading for an SoJ, there are insane numbers of unperm duped SoJ's out there.
Ammy:
We're firmly into the highly variable world of Rares, Magics and Crafts here.
Rares and Magics can get 10% from the Of The Apprentice suffix, but we're placing strain on hitting that magic 200%.
Crafted Caster Amulets (Ral+PAmethyst+junk jewel+magic ammy in the cube) get from 5-10% as a craft-mod and also have a shot at scoring another 10% as a suffix for a total of 20% FCR. This is probably your best bet for an Amulet. My ammy is a plain 20% FCR with some minor resists on it. I would advise AGAINST trading for a +2skills/20FCR amulet with anyone you don't know. if you get into crafting, keep ALL amulets with 15%+ FCR on them, regardless of other mods. sometimes, a buyer for one just falls in your lap.
For the 105%fcr crew who can get by without FCR on their amulet, a Mara's is a solid option, or some more esoteric kit like +3fire/100 life ammy's can be used. a crafted Safety Amulet with its +% blocking mod could be a boon for a max-block sosa'.
Armour:
four viable choices here for the 200fcr crew, i'll list them in my own order of desirability
1: Skin of the Vipermagi. 30% FCR is the highest available on armour, and only available on a Viper, it also comes with a useful +1 skills, from 25-35% res-all and a splash of MDR which is nice for PvM. a low viper will cost you perhaps a pgem or two, personally i reckon get the best one you can and up it (on ladder only obviously) then get Larzuk to drill a hole in it for you (i'll get to socketing suggestions later).
2: Ormus Robes with +3 Fireball (or +3 Fire Bolt if you're that way inclined). this armour packs a serious punch, but with only 20% fcr on it, it's sib par for a 200% FCR sorc imho.
3: Stealth. Tal + Eth gives us 25% FCR, some FHR and some FRW. it's lacking just about everywhere else, but if you can win consistently wearing this armour, you are earning MAJOR style points, please be sure to mercilessly rub it in to your pubby dupewhore opponents.
4: Que Hagens Wisdom: +1 skill, 20% FCR is the only reason it gets a mention at all. surely you can come up with a couple of pgems for a low'ish viper.
Max Block sorcs might like to investigate the potential offered by a Guardian Angel. Personally, I have yet to build such a sorc, but I have dueled a few in my time and can safely say that Guardian Angel is a FABULOUS armour for the block-sosa.
Another option for the 105'ers is a Chains of Honor. I don't have this armour and probably never will, but the combination of +2skills, huge resists and a nice splash of %DR is nice if you don't need fcr on your armour.
Shield:
99.99% of legit 200% FCR sorcs will use a Spirit Monarch. with up to 35% FCR and a juicy +2 skills, it's tough to go past. The 'other' option is a Lidless with +1 skill and 20% fcr. I would advise a good spirit shield.
the 105% Max-Block crew has a huge variety of options:
Whistans Guard: huge +% blocking saves a lot of points in dex
Stormshield: a heavy beast of a shield, but it comes with a nice 35%dr some res and blocking
Moser's Blessed Circle: huge res, decent blocking and a handy two sockets. you'll probably want an up'd one.
Visceratuant: some +% blocking and a handy +1 skill, can be worth up'ing.
Lidless Wall: +1skill, some blocking and 20%fcr. upped to a trolls nest, these have long been a good option for a block sorc.
Sanctuary runeword (Ko+Ko+Mal) in a 3os Tower shield: huge resist bonus, good blocking, a handy splash of FHR and a nice dex boost all make for a handy combination.
Weapons:
Rare & Magic orbs
200fcr speed queens unfortunately kinda need a minimum of 35% FCR on our weapon. so the glittering world of Magic & Rare orbs with it's promise of +5/+6 FB and our utility skills built in is, sadly, a closed book for 200FCR sorcs. Not so for the 105'ers. a slick rare or magic orb can easily outdamage an eschuta's.
Uniques (in no particular order):
1: Eschuta's Temper. up to +3 skills and some nice boost to fire skill damage make Eshcuta's the hardest hitting weapon a 200fcr sosa can pick up. but only marginally. 40% FCR is nice to have and helps us hit our goals. My own opinion is that eschuta's is highly overrated and outclassed by other options.
2: Suicide Branch wand. if Eschuta's is highly overrated, then 'Branch is seriously under appreciated. with a staggering 50% FCR, if you have to use less than optimal FCR equipment elsewhere, this is where you can make up a bit of it at least. 'Branch also has a handy +1 skills and a modest res boost to go with it. a fine choice all round.
3: Wizardspike Bone Knife. 50% fcr, a massive 75%res-all and a handy life & mana boost make for a tempting combination. the downside is the lack of +skills. i'd advise against using this as your primary weapon, but keeping one of these on hand is useful when you need some massive res-stack (eg: cold sorcs & conviction users). beware the dexterity requirement, vit sorcs may like to socket a Hel rune or -15% requirements jewel into their wizknife.
Runewords:
1: a legit Heart of the Oak in a low-req's one handed weapon (a flail being the standard). This runeword requires a Vex rune, and is illegal to trade for here at the Barons Bazaar. however a Vex is merely two Guls and a plain Ruby in the cube, i feel it is easily achievable by a legit player with a modicum of effort. HotO gives us a thumping 40% FCR, a very juicy res-boost and some handy life-replenish.
2: Spirit sword in a low req's one-handed weapon (crystal swords seem to be the standard here). These are rather tricky to fit in. by my calculations, you need perfect FCR everywhere else, AND perfect 35% FCR here too, to hit 200%. That said, spirit also packs a huge 55% FHR on it, which makes getting to that elusive 142% breakpoint a little easier.
Boots:
Well, there's no FCR to be had here from anywhere so the choices are wide open. Ideally we want resistances & FHR on our boots. for a mass-market-easy-to-acquire option, Sandstorm Treks are a solid, if sub-optimal, choice.
Some FRW is very nice to have to help escape from various opponents and for running through town on our way to/from Akara. Aldur's Boots get a mention as being an allround fine piece of footwear. Crafted safety boots are also an option, they can get a huge bonus to fire res and some handy iDR/mDR
The 'super ideal' sorceress boots imho, would be a set of rares with: 40% fire, cold & lightning resis, 30%frw, 10%fhr and some poison length reduction
The only thing i suggest against here is anything with a str req higher than that of our shield.
Socketing Suggestions:
Generally, we'll have a socket in our hat (hopefully, one day, Two), one in our armour and possibly one in our weapon.
I feel it's better to use these to help hit our FHR and Resist breakpoints before doing the knee jerk reaction of stuffing a Fire Facet in any available socket.
I feel that for facets to be noticeably 'effective' you really need to be packing a minimum of three and preferably four or more of the suckers. Against a dueller with marginal resists, facets can help. against one with poor resist, you'll probably beat 'em anyways and against a good dueller who stacks everything to buggery, it a marginal boost to your damage (the +% fire skill gets added in with our Fire Mastery bonus) at the cost of a socket. just all round poor use of a socky in my opinion.
Shaels give 20% FHR while Um's give 15% res-all in armour & helms. use those sockets to give yourself some more survivability rather than some piddling extra damage.
The 'godliest' jewels to socket into your gear would be rares with +30lit res, +30cold res, +10% res-all, +str, +dex jobbies.
Inventory & charms:
if the cost of an Arach didn't scare the bejeezus out of you, filling your inventory with nice charms probably will.
A sorc torch and an Annihilus should be high on your purchase list. for preference, have both of these onhand BEFORE building your sorceress. only once you get to level 75 should you even contemplate picking up your spirit shield. if you're an Arach user, you won't be a 200% FCR sorc until level 80 anyway.
Fire Skill grand charms: we can fit up to nine of these and a torch into our inventory. you DO NOT NEED all nine before starting to go and duel. if you meet my recommended minimum 14k damage target, i reckon get out there and play silly buggers rather than toil through trade channels. having nine is recommended and something you should work towards. Ideally, these GC's will have a useful suffix of Life or FHR on them too. if you're still collecting your GC's, fill your inventory with +life, +mana, res and FHR charms of whatever size/quality you happen to possess.
You also have room for some small charms, these should be 20 lifer sc's with a useful prefix if you're rich. +resists and +mana are generally the prefixes we're looking for.
Some people persist with the mistaken belief that +str charms are good things, look at it this way:
+2 strength is the most available on a small charm, this = +2 stat points. Given that sorceress' get +2 life per point in Vitality, a +20 Life sc = +10 stat points, or five times the bang for your inventory space buck.
Points in Strength + Vita charms > Points in Vitality + Strength charms.
Switch Gear:
If you have a legit CtA & another spirit shield, these should obviously go on switch. If you're making a legit CtA to go with your sorc, choose a base weapon that's visually very different to your main fighting weapon. For this reason I've become a bit of a fan of the Twin Axe for a legit CtA.
Stash
Unlike my assassin and my paladin, both of whom have an extensive collection of knick-knacks, sorb gear, extra res-boost gear and all manner of various other paraphernalia in their stash to mix & match with, my sorcy has her kit, which she wears and generally keeps a bare minimum of switch gear to hand.
The only things I'm swapping around are my weapons. I use a HotO as my primary weapon and keep a hel'd wizknife and a 35%fcr spirit sword on hand for various matchups.
This is one of the things i like most about my sorc actually. very simple to duel with: enter game, go hostile, start lobbing fireballs around.
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