To Static Field or Not To Static Field

[Musheen]

To Static Field or Not To Static Field

I was wondering on the merit's of Static field in Nightmare and Hell. Is this skill still viable or should it be ignored?

I plan on creating a Sorce that uses CB as her main skill and backs it up with GS and Hydra. Here's the point distirbutions I was looking at using:

Fire
-----
Firebolt - 1
Fireball - 1
Warmth - 1
Enchant - 1
Hydra - 20
Mastery - 1

Lightning
---------
CB - 20
TeleKenisis - 1
Teleport - 1
Lightning / SF - Most to lightning, should any be used on SF?
LM - 20

Cold
------
Icebolt - 1
Iceblast - 1
GS - 20
CM - 1

I should have 20 points left over and was wondering if it was worth diverting any from Lightning for static field or if it just ends up being useless in Hell?

Any comments on the point distribution is also welcome.

Thanks all! :howdy:

 

[melianor]

Static Field is 1pt wonder spell! Not evert to be dismissed. There is no spell faster that can dispost of life of a (boss) monster faster.

Though the amount of life that can be reduced is capped lower at Nightmare and Hell its still very useful.

Just imagine standing infront of Mephisto or Baal in Hell. With Static Field you cast that spell in the radius and after a few castings Mephisto or Baal for exmaple are down to HALF THEIR LIFE!

Without Static Field, killing would take a lot longer!

Static Field should indeed be on every Sorc imho.

 

[Ash Housewares1]

I can't even believe a sorceress would consider not getting static field, it is so insanely useful with only a single point, the sorceress that does not have static field is the sorceress that I do not want to be in a party with

 

[cynicalcat1]

as said above static is a must,very useful.

 

[Musheen]

Thanks for the input everyone. I knew it was a useful skill in normal, but wasn't for sure if it was crippled in NM and Hell. I'll be putting a point in it early for sure.

 

[prion]

yah I tried to do without it but there was no point really so I got it. it makes things go faster esp. if you are set up for high defense you are pretty safe casting it. similar with block sorcs and esheild sorcs.

 

[TheMad0nion]

Always, always, always have at least one point in this skill. Heck, my Enchantress -maxed- this because of how awesome it is; I rip 50% of the HPs off everything on the screen (and almost past) in a second. Party-wise, it's hard to beat that IMO. Plus, it required no other investment in another synergy or mastery. Rock on.

 

[Meluach]

Hey Musheen, it's funny that this is basically the build I went with for my Sorc.

I'm currently level 77 or 78 (can't remember :/) and my skills are as follows:

20 Charged Bolt
20 Lightning
20 Lightning Mastery

2 Fire Mastery
18 Hydra

and all of the 'one point wonders' as well.

I can say that I do just fine in Hell mode difficulty. I duoed all 5 acts yesterday with a Barbarian. The only Act that we 'skipped' was Act 3. When we went up against Diablo, the barb tanked and I went in and static'd down to half, and then my CB cut through him in about 10 seconds.

My current CB damage is like 270-293 or something near that at 24 bolts. My Hydra does around 400-500 damage if I remember correctly. I have +9 all light skills with bo (sucky, i know.. but I'm poor!) and +8 all skills otherwise.

After that game, I went back in and did my own hell forge without any problems. I have max resists in Hell with my current gear and charms, and have about 200% mf on my wep switch. When I get Mara's and a few more Light GC's I'll be doing just fine

Hope some of this information is helpful!


Mel

 

[Musheen]

Hey Musheen, it's funny that this is basically the build I went with for my Sorc.

Hope some of this information is helpful!

Mel

Thanks Mel, this makes me feel better about this build. I figured it would work well in NM, but was worried about Hell. It sounds like you're doing just fine with it though so I'll put my worries to rest. Do you happen to remember how much you invested in energy? I was going to get that up to 100 and was thinking about leaving it there. The rest was going to vitality, and enough to strength once I decide what equipment I'm going for. Is there any benefit to dexterity? I know people talk about putting in just enough to max out blocking, but I'm not sure what that means.

 

[Meluach]

Do you happen to remember how much you invested in energy? I was going to get that up to 100 and was thinking about leaving it there. The rest was going to vitality, and enough to strength once I decide what equipment I'm going for. Is there any benefit to dexterity? I know people talk about putting in just enough to max out blocking, but I'm not sure what that means.

I brought energy up to 100, and strength to 75 for gear. I left my dex at base, because I'd rather have the life to take a few hits (from elemental damage and what not), than to just block ranged/melee attacks. Although, I do admit.. getting pelted with arrows does get old.. :yawn:

My vitality is (with items) around 280 right now, and I've a few points to spare if I remember correctly. I have ~900 life, and ~700 mana with normal gear on. Need to get me some SoJs!

If you're just starting out or want some help or just someone to play with, my account name is Vorador00 (last two are zeros). I'd be more than happy to do whatever I can.

Best of luck,

Mel

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

I don't know why Static Field is so popular, I think it is the most overrated skill for a Sorceress. I have 4 Sorceress's, one for MF, one for PvP and two for a Hell mules. Guess which ones I wasted a point in Static Field on? I guess if you have an extra skill point to use, then go for it but I just don't see what's so awesome about it. IMO.

 

[Meluach]

I don't know why Static Field is so popular, I think it is the most overrated skill for a Sorceress. I have 4 Sorceress's, one for MF, one for PvP and two for a Hell mules. Guess which ones I wasted a point in Static Field on? I guess if you have an extra skill point to use, then go for it but I just don't see what's so awesome about it. IMO.

Umm... if one point in static field is what gimps your characters... then I'd say your standards are set a biiiit too high.

 

[TheMad0nion]

I don't know why Static Field is so popular, I think it is the most overrated skill for a Sorceress. I have 4 Sorceress's, one for MF, one for PvP and two for a Hell mules. Guess which ones I wasted a point in Static Field on? I guess if you have an extra skill point to use, then go for it but I just don't see what's so awesome about it. IMO.

This is easy. Two reasons:

1) No skill in the game damages bosses faster than Static Field.

2) No skill in the game can damage large groups of enemies faster than Static Field.

Imagine you had a mob of about fifteen enemies. In the span of 3 casts you can reduce their HPs (no matter what the number of players are in the game, this is the big part) by about 1/2. There's just no skill that does that much damage that fast in the entire game. Also, unlike every other skill in the game, the more HPs a moster has, the -more- effective Static Field becomes.

Overrated? When you find another skill that can take Hell Baal down to 50% life in one second, you let me know.

 

[Lunatic]

I don't know why Static Field is so popular, I think it is the most overrated skill for a Sorceress. I have 4 Sorceress's, one for MF, one for PvP and two for a Hell mules. Guess which ones I wasted a point in Static Field on? I guess if you have an extra skill point to use, then go for it but I just don't see what's so awesome about it. IMO.

If you think 1 point ruins a whole build (pvp not included) then you really need to plan your chars better.

Also , static is just like warmth and teleport ,a must for every sorc. It can cripple monsters down like there's no tomorrow. I just can't see no sorc build out there that has no use to static.

 

[melianor]

Even if you are sporting a pure single element build that does tons off damage, there is still no spell that will bring down anything not Lightning Immune in Hell down to half its health in a bit more than 1 sec. I cannot see how some sorc players dismiss that spell.


TheGreatDivorce, i dont know where you "wasted" your 1pt Static field, but maybe that was for PvP? There i guess its indeed wasted.

On your MF-Sorc even if you sport a pure Blizzard Cold sorc to farm Meph, Ball, Static Field would speed up your mfing by some time. Especially sicne MFing is not sooo much about the amount of MF you have but also the amount of runs you are able to do and most important of all, at which speed!!

When i do Baalruns in Hell in 8-player games with a say typical build like Pure Blizzard or Meteorb, i will plant my Blizzards and Meteorbs on the field where minions spam and the second the get out i spam Static field. This speeds up the process of getting rid of the minions by some additional time.
When you think about how repetitive Baalruns can get, doing them the fastest way you can is the only option. That means for me using all the options i have.

Another use for Static Field. Single elemtn Sorcs can drain none LI monsters to half their health in Hell so the merc has an easier way at disposing the immune monsters.

Static Field is simply about speeding up things. Killing Baal in an 8p game without Static Field just takes way too long and everybody will ask for Static if there is a Sorceress in that game.

This also reminds me of another "useless" spell called Telekinesis. Apart from beiing a synergy for Energyshield you can use it to knock-back melee monsters and stun bosses (not all though!) and slam them against the wall (like Countess) so that your Merc can take care of them. This works on basically any monster and is very convinient.
Not even talking about activating WPs from the other corner of the screen, or zapping through a TP down to the lvl from the other side of the screen in town. Activating shrines, opening chests, activating the seal at Chaos Sanctuary, etc., etc.........

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Okay okay, you guys are killing me right here. I can see some advantages to Static Field, but I still stand by my playing style where I don't use that because it just annoys me to put a point into something I won't ever use. I mean I MF a lot with my Meteorb and I mean a lot. I've only been playing for two months about. In that two months I have more and better items then most if not all of my friends who haved played since 1.09. I have never once used Static Field on Mephisto, never once in a Baal Run either and I do a lot of these as well (to get exp for my 2 Lvl 90s and 1 Lvl 92).

But maybe it is because of my builds that I am not likeing Static Field with; all my builds have something from the Cold Tree that I use. Maybe that's why I haven't seen how good you people think this skill is. Or it could be for the very reason I am not fully experienced in Sorceress's yet since I am quite the newbie compared to most of you...

Actually, now that you mention it I don't put any points in Warmth either... :cheesy:

 

[TheMadOnion]

Okay okay, you guys are killing me right here. I can see some advantages to Static Field, but I still stand by my playing style where I don't use that because it just annoys me to put a point into something I won't ever use. I mean I MF a lot with my Meteorb and I mean a lot. I've only been playing for two months about. In that two months I have more and better items then most if not all of my friends who haved played since 1.09. I have never once used Static Field on Mephisto, never once in a Baal Run either and I do a lot of these as well (to get exp for my 2 Lvl 90s and 1 Lvl 92).

But maybe it is because of my builds that I am not likeing Static Field with; all my builds have something from the Cold Tree that I use. Maybe that's why I haven't seen how good you people think this skill is. Or it could be for the very reason I am not fully experienced in Sorceress's yet since I am quite the newbie compared to most of you...

Actually, now that you mention it I don't put any points in Warmth either... :cheesy:

If you've already got a point in it, try using it on a large HP boss sometime. You'll be surprised at how much faster you'll be able to kill them compared to just using your main attack skill (especially if you're using Blizzard).
:thumbsup:

 

[melianor]

Okay okay, you guys are killing me right here. I can see some advantages to Static Field, but I still stand by my playing style where I don't use that because it just annoys me to put a point into something I won't ever use. I mean I MF a lot with my Meteorb and I mean a lot. I've only been playing for two months about. In that two months I have more and better items then most if not all of my friends who haved played since 1.09. I have never once used Static Field on Mephisto, never once in a Baal Run either and I do a lot of these as well.

But maybe it is because of my builds that I am not likeing Static Field with; all my builds have something from the Cold Tree that I use. Maybe that's why I haven't seen how good you people think this skill is.

Actually, now that you mention it I don't put any points in Warmth either... :cheesy:

Hmm, i guess you have not yet seen the other side TheGreatDivorce?!

With 1pt in static Field when MFing you will at most HALF the time you need to dispose of either Mephisto or Baal.
Personally i would never put up with not using Static Field when MFing and i do use a Meteorb Sorc for that. I mean figure this, you use half the time to make those kills than without Static Field. I think thats a big difference.

Questions to you:
Have you ever tried disposing of Mephisto and Baal while MFing and used Static Field with it?
Have you ever infact used Static Field on bosses?
Also what time does it take for you to do a Mephisto or Baalrun for MF?

I am not argueing with your playstyle if you feel okay with it. But maybe you can try and see another way and improve it, so you can go "awhhh, had i used that before i could have done 800-1000 Mephisto runs instead of just 400-500 in the same amount of time and have found more good items...."

About Warmth, i guess you can do without, though you will be gulping potions like made, unless you have a huge mana reserve. With just 1pt in Warmth, ~+10 skills and a mana reserve of 800 mana you can spam Fireball and see you mana reserve only go down by a small margin. Usually with my builds i have 1pt in warmth, about 800-1000 mana (with base energy! and no CtA) and i hardly use mana potions at all that way, with either of my builds.

 

[TheGreatDivorce]

Questions for moi:

I was exaggerating a bit when I said I never once used Static Field on Mephisto or Baal, I used it maybe once or twice throughout.

I have not used it on bosses though when the need was to just kill them for the quest.

I kill Andy in about 4-6 Fireballs so maybe 2-4 seconds? Not very long so Static Field will actually hinder my speed here. Mephisto in about 5-10 Frozen Orbs, so I guess here it takes 10-20 seconds. Pindle in about 4 seconds and I don't usually MF Baal since I usually die to Dolls or Souls while in the midst of a teleport but my guess would be 25-50 seconds? Not sure. I guess Static there could help me take him down a bit but I rarely MF outside of Andy, Mephisto and Pindle and I don't think many other MFer's out there do either.

But if you use a Blizzard Sorceress for MF or PvM, Static Field will more then likely slow you down more then it will lend a hand. I don't see how a decent gear setup won't kill faster then Static in this case. (I kill Hell Meph in one single Blizzard 95% of the time with my Blizzard Sorceress when searchng for gold to revive my Mercenary.)

 

[melianor]

(I kill Hell Meph in one single Blizzard 95% of the time with my Blizzard Sorceress when searchng for gold to revive my Mercenary.)

At which Difficulty do you kill Mephisto, Andariel and Baal?
Nightmare or Hell?
Your time figures sound alot more like Nightmare....

In Nightmare killing either of those 3 bosses requires no Static Field at all, agree there, though i would still use it, since i would save 1 sec here and there, but thats just my paranoia i guess.

Pure Blizzard sorc killing Mephisto in Hell mode with optimized equipment takes , Static Field and then 3-4 Blizzards.

Btw if you are concerned about beeing hindered:
5-10 Frozen orbs take about 5-10 secs to cast.
Static Field to drain monsters on Nightmare to 33% and in Hell to 50% will take you about 1-2 seconds. The you will have to cast less Frozen Orbs, meaning also saving even more time.

So now you say the actual kill with Frozen Orb takes 10-20 seconds.

With static Field and Frozen Orb this will take:
1-2 seconds static field
at nightmare 1/3 of life is left now -> maybe 2-3 Frozen Orbs to kill -> 3 seconds
total time to kill mephisto on nightmare: 4-5 seconds

1-2 seconds static field
at Hell difficulty 1/2 of life is left now -> maybe 5-10 Frozen Orbs to kill -> 5-10 seconds
total time to kill mephisto on nightmare: 6-12 seconds to kill Mephisto on hell

the figures for hell difficulty i put up here are not accurate! but at any cause you will be faster with Static Field, no matter how long it takes without.

So maybe you see the difference now? Static field will certainly not hinder you