DISCLAIMER:
This is property of KIRBIX (Sean D'Hoostelaere). This may be not be
reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not
be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance
written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any
public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.
In plain English, this means that it is against the law for you to copy this
guide. If you want to print it out, that's fine, but I do not permit its use
anywhere on the web or for it to be used for anything profitable.
Table of Contents
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I. Version History
II. What this guide is for
III. Overview of the sorceress (Why meteorb?)
IV. Skills
a. Ice Tree
b. Fire Tree
c. Lit. Tree
V. Skill allocation
VI. Stat distribution
VII. Equipment
VIII. Early levels
IX. Mid-later levels
X. Mercenary
XI. Contact Me
XII. Credits
I. VERSION HISTORY
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1.0 (8/04)-First edition!
2.0 (11/04)-Well, first edition didn't have enough "meat" to it; rejected, I
went back and revamped it.
3.0 (11/04)- fixed a few issues that the guide had.
4.0 (11/05)- updated it so that it looks presentable- it had a HORRIBLE layout.
also updated the equipment section and merc section so that this
guide is ACTUALLY useful.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
\_/\_/\_/
II. WHAT THIS GUIDE IS FOR
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This guide is written to explain to proper use of the meteorb sorceress, a build
that is a common cookiecutter build. It's easy to use, and is extremely powerful
if used right.
If you're looking for a build that will kill anything in it's path with little
difficulty, then meteorb is for you. True, it's not impossibly overpowerful like
the hammerdin and the bone necro, but with few exceptions, there's nothing that
this build can't take down.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
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III. OVERVIEW OF THE SORCERESS (why meteorb?)
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The sorceress is the true-blue spellcaster, with no physical characteristics to
atrribute to her defense. Instead, she casts a myriad of spells at the enemy.
The Sorceress' spells are broken up into 3 trees- Fire, Ice, and Lightning. The
fire tree does the highest raw damage of all 3 trees. The Ice tree, while doing
less damage, will slow and/or freeze your opponent. The Lightning tree, while
doing less damage than the fire tree overall, has the highest maximum damage.
The meteorb sorceress is just what it sounds like- the 2 spells of focus are
meteor and frozen orb. Using frozen orb as the crowd controller, a meteorb
sorceress then plows through the enemy with incredibly powerful meteors and
fireballs.
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IV. SKILLS
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There are only a dozen or so skills that you will put any points into, and most
of them are prerequisite skills. However, a few of those prerequisite spells
are also good backup spells, especially early on.
If the skills (hydra, most of the lightning skills) don't have any remote
application to this build except prerequisite, I will be skipping them
entirely.
A. Ice Tree
###############
The Ice tree does less damage at first (but in the end does just as much as
the others), and it freezes the enemy. It's definitely the favorite tree.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~Ice Bolt~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: shoots a bolt of ice at opponents, slowing the target.
Ice bolt is the first ice spell, and it's the best of the level 1 spells. It
does as much damage as the other 2, but more importantly, slows down the
target.
Early on, the sorceress learns the value of the saying "those who fight
and run away shall live to fight another day." You'll be casting spells while
fleeing for your life quite a bit before you hit level 30, and the ice spells
are perfect for that, giving you a headstart on your foe.
I reccomend you put one point into ice bolt as a prerequisite, nothing more.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Ice Blast~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: Shoots a bolt of ice at opponents, freezing them in their tracks.
Ice blast is your best friend for quite a long time. Fireball, obtained at
level 12, does as much damage per level as ice blast (discounting synergies),
and ice blast freezes the target.
As was true with ice bolt, ice blast gives you a headstart on your foes as you
run, but this has another feature- frozen enemies explode, and leave no corpse.
Unless you have a necromancer in your group, this is a popular spell in
parties. There's nothing more annoying than ressurected foes. On the other
hand, be considerite of the necromancers; it drives them crazy when the
sorceresses blow up all of their corpses.
Another point as prerequsite, nothing more. With Ice bolt and blast, get your
extra points from +skill items.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Frost Nova~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: a ring of ice flows outward, chilling all enemies around you
Frost nova is.... meh, it's a pretty lousy spell. The damage is atrocious,
no matter how many points you put into it. The freeze time, while longer than
all other spells (except frozen orb) doesn't justify the allocation of points.
Place the point as a prerequisite and forget the spell entirely. If you feel
that it will be useful to you, by all means use it... I've yet to come up with
a good reason to bother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Germanlacial Spike~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: sends a spike of ice at your enemies, hitting tight clusters
Glacial spike is a more powerful ice blast that can hit groups of enemies that
are grouped together. Not much to say about it....
Place a prerequisite point. You've only got a few more levels until blizzard,
it's a waste to use points here.
~~~~~~~~~~
~~Blizzard~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 24
Effect: Ice rains down all around the caster, freezing anything in the area.
This is my favorite ice spell, and if it weren't for the fact that frozen orb
becomes more powerful, it would be my spell of choice. Blizzard does the best
damage that you've seen so far, and it drops 20 bolts of ice, not just 1. It
also freezes anything it hits.
This is a beautiful crowd controller; it works wonders.
However, only 1 point goes into it. You may be tempted to put in more, but I
strongly advise against it- in the end, you'll want the points elsewhere.
Besides, it's easy to find a staff that will give +2 to blizzard and +1 to
all skills, and a level 4 blizzard is sufficive for protection from level
24 to 30.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Frozen Orb~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: Sends an orb forth, spewing shards of ice all around, chilling anything
it hits, followed by the orb itself exploding into more shards.
Here it is- the spell that you've been waiting for. Don't be fooled by what
looks like a low damage amount. It sends out roughly 50 shards of ice, each
doing as much as 500 damage (although you'll not likely see it do more than
300).
It doesn't freeze, but it chills for as much time as frost nova does. It's a
great crowd controller once you've learned how to use it. However, the skill
lies in aiming it. If you don't aim it properly, it will be a waste of the MP
it took to cast it. Used right, it will kill an enemy with each orb, while
weakening the enemies surrounding. The trick? the orb explodes into 20 bolts of
ice. If the orb explodes on top of an enemy, they take the damage from all 20
of them. It's highly unlikely that you'll meet an enemy before hell that can
take that kind of damage and survive.
Max it out, no questions asked. It's one of the 2 spells that make up the
build's name!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Cold Mastery~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: lowers cold resistance of all enemies, but DOES NOT REMOVE IMMUNITIES.
Cold mastery raises the damage of your ice spells. What more is there to say?
Put 1 point into it, and wait. Once your fire spells are as powerful as you
think they should be, put your remaining points into cold mastery. It should
not be more than 10 points, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Frozen Armor~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: ice surrounds your character, giving a defense bonus and freezing
anything that attacks you.
The bonus to defense is always good.. However, it's really not THAT good. If
you're going to remember to cast it, then definitely put a point there. If
you're like me and you don't remember, just forget using it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Shiver Armor~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: Ice surrounds your character, giving a defense bonus and chilling
anything that attacks you.
Higher defense bonus than frozen armor, but chills instead of freezes, and you
have to get frozen armor as a prequisite, anyway. I wouldn't bother with it,
but some people swear by it.
B. Fire tree
###############
Fire does raw damage, pure and simple. However, half the enemies in hell are
immune to fire. Having a fire tree sorceress that intends to play through
Diablo 2 like the rest of them is suicidal and/or stupid. Still, it's a great
backup tree, because it does great damage.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fire Bolt~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required Level: 1
Effect: Sends a bolt of fire at the enemy
Low damage, low MP cost. Put 1 point here and never look at it again- ice bolt,
for .5 more MP, will chill the enemy and do the same damage.
~~~~~~~~~
~~Inferno~~
~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 6
Effect: The caster spews fire from her hands, scorching all in its path.
Inferno is an arguable spell. The MP cost is high, but so is the damage. You
can't move while you're casting it, but it effectively takes out anything
within your range.
1 point will be enough with a meteorb build, but play around with it if you
find it to your liking.
~~~~~~~
~~Blaze~~
~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: Leaves a trail of fire in your wake.
Blaze has 1 good use- Andariel. Andariel is AI-controlled, and is therefore
pretty stupid. If you cast blaze and run in circles around a pole, she will
also run in circles, effectively killing herself. If you're soloing her,
that's the best way to do it. (in normal, anway).
1 point as a prerequisite is enough, but as with inferno, add more if you like
it; it's a really fun spell.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fire Ball~~
~~~~~~~~
Required level: 12
Effect: Sends a fire of ball that explodes into a fiery inferno.
Ah... Fireball is going to be a primary spell in this build as well. Why, you
may ask? Meteor and Fireball share synergies. That is, when you put points into
one, it increases the damage of the other. Fireball is fast to cast, and does
moderate damage. Meteor is slow and does heavy damage. They complement each
other PERFECTLY.
Place 3 or 4 points into it initially, and once you've maxed meteor, max
this skill, too. It's a spammable spell that does 3000 damage easily.
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fire Wall~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 18
Effect: Sends up a wall of flame, effectively killing anything that is foolish
enough to run through it.
There's no debate- Firewall is an extremely good spell. It has no synergies,
and it still can do 10,000 damage, or more. However, the enemies in nightmare
and hell are smart enough to avoid it, making it hard to use in open spaces.
1 point as a prerequisite. Blaze, Inferno and Firewall are unique and fun
spells; invest if you feel the desire, but remember that it's less points to
put into fireball and meteor, undermining the meaning of "meteorb sorceress".
~~~~~~~~
~eteor~~
~~~~~~~~
Required level: 24
Effect: Calls a meteor from the heavens, smashing anything underneath in a
blaze of molten rock and fire.
Meteor.is.way.too.powerful. 20,000 damage is not amazing with meteor. It's
easily the best fire spell. There are some drawbacks, however- like frozen
orb, it takes strategy to use it. You have to time your meteors so that the
enemy runs underneath as they land. It takes a little practice to get good
at. It also quite a delay.
The drawbacks are overrun by the sheer damage. Max this spell- it's the reason
you're building a meteorb sorceress. If you didn't catch the frozen orb part
to the name, you certainly caught the meteor part.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Fire Mastery~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Required level: 30
Effect: increases the damage of your fire spells
The effect says it all. Max this skill, it will triple your damage from
meteor and fire ball.
~~~~~~~~
~~Warmth~~
~~~~~~~~
Required level: 1
Effect: Increases the rate at which you recover mana
Every sorceress needs 1 point in warmth. With the +skill items you'll be using,
you'll regain MP at amazing rates. However, more than one point is an overkill.
C. Lightning Tree
###################
There are few skills we need to discuss, but 2 core skills are on the lightning
tree: Static Field and Teleport
Static field, obtained at level 6, reduces the HP of all enemies in the field
by 25%. Against bosses, this is BEYOND useful. Every sorcerer should have it
as a boss killer. Be careful, though. Level 1 static field has very short
range, which means you have to get very close to the boss to hit him.
Teleport is obtained at level 18. Use it and you instantly go to the point on
the screen where you clicked. What's not to like? You can cut the time it takes
to go through the catacombs into a fraction of before. In singleplayer, where
the map never changes, you find your way once and then can literally fly
through the dungeons.
Teleport has a prerequisite, too. Telekinesis, obtained at level 6.
Put 1 point into all 3 spells and let the +skill items do the rest.
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V. SKILL ALLOCATION
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Obviously, you will need to max out the 3 abovementioned skills. You'll also
need to master Fire mastery in order to get a good amount of damage from your
fireball and meteor. Now, most people assume that you should max ice mastery
and ice bolt. DON'T. 10 in Ice mastery is enough, and NO POINTS INTO ICE BOLT
ARE NEEDED. The points are better spent in other areas- 2% isn't worth the
skill point.
Obviously, you need the core abilities of the Sorceress- a point into warmth, a
point into static field, teleportation, and perhaps frozen/shiver armor.
Put a point into the early fire spells, maybe 2 if you feel the need. If you
you dont know what to do with your points, then save them for later.
Once you get fireball, start allocating points like crazy to it. Put points into
inferno and blaze when you get to the respective levels- they're quite useful
when all you've got is fire bolt and a weak fireball. At level 24, get all
the prerequisites for frozen orb, and place 3 or 4 points into meteor. At level
30, put a point into each mastery, and alternate meteor and frozen orb until
you max them out. Max out Fire Mastery next, followed by Fireball. The
remaining points should go into ice mastery.
Don't worry too much- a maxed frozen orb can efficiently take care of you until
you reach Hell. Once you do, you should be well on your way to a powerful fire
tree.
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VI. STAT DISTRIBUTION
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Four stats to consider: Strength, Vitality, Energy and Dexterity.
\ /\ /
Strength
/ \/ \
While is used to determine damage, that really doesn't matter much for
a spell caster; you only need strength to wear certain equipment.
Your strength is based on how good your equipment is. The highest strength that
you will ever need is 156, for a monarch shield. Monarch's are the first shield
that can have four sockets for the spirit runeword.
HOWEVER, if you're a Magic-Find sorc, you probably won't use spirit, so your
strength doesn't hardly need to go past 100.
Read the equipment section. Look at strength requirements, and look for +str
in the items you have to calculate the true amount of strength that you need.
\ / \ /
Dexterity
/ \ / \
Dexterity determines your attack rating and your chance to block.
Attack rating is useless as a sorceress, and chance to block is all but
useless. However, there are a select few who prefer to have max block. 237
dexterity is required in order to get 75% chance of block at level 99, and
only if you use stormshield. Between the strength and dexterity needed, 95% of
us never bother with it, but some people swear by max block, so...
\ /\ /
Vitality
/ \/ \
The most important of the stats- place every extra point into vitality. You'll
need the life, I guarantee it.
\ /\ /
Energy
/ \/ \
Like strength, this varies by person. If you start from scratch, you'll
want about 75 energy. Anything more than that becomes way too much later on,
even if it doesn't seem like enough at this point. If you've got good
equipment, keep it below 50. Most veteran players would call it a waste to
spend any points, but below level 40, energy is often a real problem, even
with 50-75 energy.
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VII. EQUIPMENT
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Equipment is always a real hassle for several reasons. One, it's a very
controversial subject. Two, it's extraordinarily difficult to get the stuff you
want.
Because of the controversy over equipment, I suggest you ask the message boards
what's the best way to go. I will also not be posting WHY I chose what I chose,
simply to prevent people bothering me about it.
Early on, you want anything that gives +skills, +energy, or +%to mana. Beyond
that, there's not much to look for. +vitaily and +health are good, but it's
hard to come by a piece of equipment with any decent boosts to your health.
Skipping the middleman, I'm going to go straight to a few different things for
ideal equipment- All stats came straight from arreat summit.
One of the common equipment layouts for the sorceress is to use the entire set
of Tal-Rasha's Wrappings. Great bonuses for a sorcerer, and a cool "aura"
effect.The bonuses are:
Total defense (not including set bonuses):967-1112
=====
Orb
=====
20% Faster Cast Rate
+77 To Mana
+57 To Life
+10 To Energy
+1-2 To Lightning Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+1-2 To Fire Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+1-2 To Cold Mastery (Sorceress Only)
+1 To Sorceress Skill Levels (2 Items)
-15% To Enemy Fire Resistance (3 Items)
-15% To Enemy Lightning Resistance (4 Items)
+15% To Cold Skills Damage (Complete Set)
========
Helmet
========
10% Life Stolen Per Hit
10% Mana Stolen Per Hit
All Resistances +15
+45 Defense
+30 To Mana
+60 To Life
=======
Armor
=======
+400 Defense
Requirements -60%
Magic Damage Reduced By 15
Cold Resist +40%
Lightning Resist +40%
Fire Resist +40%
88% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
+10% Faster Cast Rate (2 Items)
======
Belt
======
Requirements -20%
37% Damage Taken Goes To Mana
+30 To Mana
+20 To Dexterity
10-15% Better Chance Of Magic Items
+60 Defense (2 Items)
+10% Faster Cast Rate (3 Items)
==========
Necklace
==========
+2 To Sorceress Skill Levels
Lightning Resist +33%
Adds 3-32 Lightning Damage
+42 To Mana
+50 To Life
+10% Faster Cast Rate (4 Items)
===================
Partial Set Bonus
===================
Replenish Life +10 (2 Items)
65% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items (3 Items)
25% Faster Hit Recovery (4 Items)
====================
Complete Set Bonus
====================
+3 To Sorceress Skill Levels
Replenish Life +10
65% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
25% Faster Hit Recovery
+150 To Life
All Resistances +50
+50 Defense vs. Missile
+150 Defense
Display Aura
That sounds nice, doesn't it? However, there are better options. Below is
what I would consider the ideal equipment for a sorceress. I've included ALL
the stats for each piece, so you can figure out for yourself what's so great
about this equipment.
HELMET
###########
Harlequin Crest (commonly known as Shako) is a GREAT cap for any and all
spellcasters. It's second to none- Get it!
\Harlequin Crest (Unique Shako)
/Required Strength: 50
\+2 To All Skills
/+ 1-148 To Life (Based On Character Level)
\+ 1-148 To Mana (Based On Character Level)
/Damage Reduced By 10%
\50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
/+2 To All Attributes
If you're planning to do MF, add a Ptopaz. Otherwise, Um that beast.
ARMOR
#########
Chains of Honor is an EXCELLENT runeword in any armor. I highly recommend it.
\Chains of Honor (4 Socket Body Armor) Dol+Um+Ber+Ist
/+2 To All Skills
\+200% Damage To Demons
/+100% Damage To Undead
\8% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+70% Enhanced Defense
\+20 To Strength
/Replenish Life +7
\All Resistances +65
/Damage Reduced By 8%
\25% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
GLOVES
#########
Frostburns give a HUGE mana boost, and Meteor used in conjunction with
Frozen orb will eat through your mana in a hurry. You don't NEED it, but it's
certainly a good thing to have.
BOOTS
########
Boots aren't really that important for a caster, so you might as well take
the war traveler, which is a jack-of-all-trades boot that has good MF on top.
\War Traveler (Unique Battle Boots)
/Required Strength: 95
\+150-190% Enhanced Defense
/25% Faster Run/Walk
\+10 To Vitality
/+10 To Strength
\Adds 15-25 Damage
/40% Slower Stamina Drain
\Attacker Takes Damage Of 5-10
/30-50% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
BELT
######
The best belt overall is, without question, the arachnid mesh. No half-decent
caster does ANYTHING without it.
\Arachnid Mesh (Unique Spiderweb Sash)
/Required Strength: 50
\+90-120% Enhanced Defense
/Slows Target By 10%
\+1 To All Skills
/+20% Faster Cast Rate
\Increases Maximum Mana 5%
/Level 3 Venom (11 Charges)
SHIELD
#########
Spirit is an AMAZING shield for such a low cost- nothing can compare, really.
However, it IS ladder-only. If you're not on ladder, you may want to try
a lidless wall. However, I leave it up to you to find the stats for it.
\Spirit (4 Socket Shields) Tal+Thul+Ort+Amn
/Required Strength: 156
\+2 To All Skills
/+25-35% Faster Cast Rate (varies)
\+55% Faster Hit Recovery
/+250 Defense Vs. Missile
\+22 To Vitality
/+89-112 To Mana (varies)
\Cold Resist +35%
/Lightning Resist +35%
\Poison Resist +35%
/+3-8 Magic Absorb (varies)
\Attacker Takes Damage of 14
WEAPON
##########
The Oculus is my personal favorite when it comes to sorceress weapons, and it's
overall the absolute best sorceress weapon.
\The Oculus (Unique Swirling Crystal)
/+3 To Sorceress Skill Levels
\+5 To Mana After Each Kill
/All Resistances +20
\25% Chance To Cast Level 1 Teleport When Struck
/30% Faster Cast Rate
\+20 To Vitality
/+20 To Energy
\+20% Enhanced Defense
/50% Better Chance Of Getting Magic Items
JEWELRY
#########
Stone of Jordan (SoJ) are the perfect sorceress rings. You should wear one on
each hand.
\Stone of Jordan (Unique Ring)
/Required Level: 29
\+1 To All Skill Levels
/Increase Maximum Mana 25%
\Adds 1-12 Lightning Damage
/+20 To Mana
***************
Mara's Kaleidoscope is, without doubt, the best amulet you can get. Nothing
else comes close.
\Mara's Kaleidoscope (Unique Amulet)
/Required Level: 67
\+2 To All Skill Levels
/All Resistances +20-30
\+5 To All Attributes
FINAL LISTING
#################
Oculus
"Spirit" Monarch
"Chains of Honor" Dusk Shroud (just to pick something)
Harlequin Crest w/ um
Frostburns
War Traveler
SoJ x2
Maras
Total +skills- 13
Total resists- 120 (155 of the three elements beside poison)
For Charms, get your hellfire torch and anni to up your resists to the max, as
well as jumping your skills to +17.
Charms are up to you- fire damage GCs will probably serve you more, but if
you love your frozen orb, then get cold GCs. Look for +resist small charms, too.
_ _ _
/ \/ \/ \
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VII. EARLY LEVELS
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Early levels refers to all of the normal difficulty. By nightmare you'll have
gotten your primary skills, and they'll be pretty powerful.
If you want to flat out level, run tristram from level 1-15, run the arcane
sanctuary or tal rasha's tomb until level 20, run the secret cow level until
level 25, and then kill the ancients. Until level 50, run Baal's minions over
and over. Run nightmare baal to 75, and hell to level 99.
Now, for the rest of us who aren't flat out leveling, but playing the game,
here's the strategy.
Act I
------
The enemies become very strong, very fast. Take it slow, get ice blast before
you save deckard cain. Get used to running and casting- you'll be doing it a
lot. Once you've gotten blaze and fireball, you'll be capable of tackling
Andariel. Use blaze, and run in circles around a pole until Andariel kills
herself.
Expected level: 12-15
Act II
-------
Poison is abundant here, and the enemies make act I look like a cakewalk. This
is probably the hardest stage in your game- you dont have any powerful spells
in your arsenal, nor any points into weaker spells to up them, because you need
to save the points. Make due with multiplayer games. Be a leech on others; the
summoning necroes are just beginning to flourish. Provide them with a bit of
firepower, but dont use ice spells! If you play it right, people will
essentially rush you through act II. It's easily the most annoying one to
complete, and people like to finish it ASAP.
If you're not playing multiplayer, you're in for a hell of a ride- bring LOTS
of healing potions; you'll need them.
Expected level:20
Act III
--------
Unless you start the game yourself, it's next to impossible to find a game that
isn't rushing through act III. Join the rushes- there's nothing of consequence
here. 0nce you've gotten Frozen Orb, come back to act III and finish the
quests. At this point, you're too weak to do it.
As with act 2, you'll need lots of healing to solo this one.
Expected level: 20, maybe 21
Act IV
-------
Another commonly rushed act. Again, go with the flow, let them rush you to act
V. It's an easy act to do on your own once you have frozen orb, so don't get
into a fluster over doing it right away. By now you'll have learned blizzard.
Get a +skills for blizzard weapon, and spam it like there's no tomorrow.
It's really powerful compared to anything else in your arsenal; just don't
get too attached to it.
Once you've got blizzard, this is a soloable act. Get blizzard, and wipe out
the opposition with relative ease. You'll need lots of mana potions, but it's
otherwise painless.
Expected level: 23-25
Act V
------
Finally, the last act, and the best place to level up. If you've been levelling
up properly, you're probably level 24 or so. Finish the ancients quest (join
a rush game, c'mon!) and move to baal. If you're level 26 or higher, the
experience you gain is UNREAL. You'll level up twice in your first run, I
guarantee it. From now on, this is your source of experience points. Get Frozen
Orb, and start pumping points into FOrb and Meteor. By level 45, you should be
quite capable of doing it by yourself.
For you one-player people, level up in act 4 until you get frozen orb, and move
to act 5 for leveling up. Truth be told, I've never done it singleplayer, so
I dont have much advice for you. I wish you the best of luck!
As I said earlier, just get equipment that gives +energy and +skills right now.
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VIII. LATER LEVELS
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Once you get Frozen orb, your strategy changes completely. Frozen Orb is overly
powerful. The strategy is to throw a frozen orb into the fray. As all strategies
say, get your orb to explode as close the monster as possible for a good 500
damage at level 1. Meteor is a good boss killer, but can't do much beyond
that. It's especially good for Andariel.
As your frozen orb powers up, you'll find it easier and easier to kill things.
Up until hell, you can pretty much just barge through anything while spewing
frozen orb all around.
According to my skill allocation, you won't be using fireball until level 90.
In all realism, you'll use fireball starting at level 80, or so. Still late, I
know, but frozen orb will be quite sufficive.
Equipment becomes an issue once you enter hell. You have to start focusing on
resistance more than anything, because anything below +20 resistance, and you
will be SLAUGHTERED in no time flat. So you know, you start with -100, which
means you need 120 to survive even remotely. Start saving up for that ideal
equipment, and make do with medium equips (ask the message boards
for more in-depth strategies on equipment).
You've done everything in normal, you know how to beat the bosses. I leave it
up to you to take care of yourself. One word of advice- pub games (8 players)
are the key to living through hell.
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IX. MERCENARY
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You'll be using an Act 2 Merc, to take advantage of his innate aura.
There are a couple of options for your mercenary. On the one hand, you can
get holy freeze, which adds to your mercenaries damage and automatically chills
everything around. This can be damn useful for keeping your enemies at bay while
you take them out.
On the other hand, a mercenary using might will greatly boost his attack damage,
which means he'll be able to kill his enemies that much faster.
In the end, it comes down to price- a rich sorceress should use a holy freeze
merc, while normal sorcs should just use might.
(oh, by the way- might is the "offensive" and holy freeze the "defensive", and
they can only be bought in Nightmare difficulty)
##############
As for his equipment:
Your mercenary generally needs to be able to stay alive- +defense is always
a good idea, but more importantly, he needs life leech. If he can self-sustain,
he'll fare much better. Beyond that, just look for the highest possible damage
that you can get!
NOW, there are some ideal sets of equipment for a merc, just as with your sorc.
They vary somewhat, too.
Both mercs use polearms with runewords, and both runewords are 4 runes.
So, be sure to look for 4 Open-socket (Os) weapons. Ideally you'll want a
colossus Voulge (easiest polearm to find 4-sockets in) or a cryptic axe
(most powerful polearm)
The armor doesn't vary one bit:
ARMOR:
+++++++++
Mercenaries always seem to have an amazing amount of resist. Guardian Angel
takes full advantage of it and makes your merc all but invincible to the
elements.
\Guardian Angel (Unique Templar Coat)
/+180-200% Enhanced Defense
\+20% Increased Chance Of Blocking
/+30% Faster Block Rate
\+ 2-247 To Attack Rating Against Demons (Based On Character Level)
/+1 To Paladin Skill Levels
\+4 To Light Radius
/15% To Maximum Poison Resist
\15% To Maximum Cold Resist
/15% To Maximum Lightning Resist
\15% To Maximum Fire Resist
HELMET
+++++++++
Andariel Visage is perfect for the merc. Attack speed, life steal, and the
poison nova ability doesn't hurt, either.
\Andariel's Visage (unique demonhead)
/+100-150% Enhanced Defense
\+2 To All Skills
/20% Increased Attack Speed
\8-10% Life Stolen Per Hit
/+25-30 To Strength
\+10% To Maximum Poison Resist
/Fire Resist -30%
\Poison Resist +70%
/15% Chance To Cast Level 15 Poison Nova When Struck
\Level 3 Venom (20 charges)
WEAPON:
++++++++++
Now, for the rich, a holy freeze merc is the aura of choice because of one
weapon: the runeword Infinity.
The infinity runeword will provide a level 12 conviction aura. You know what
that means? It means that when your merc is alive, you can kill EVERY ENEMY
by yourself.
If this isn't the BEST POSSIBLE WEAPON YOU CAN THINK OF, I'm not sure what is.
\Infinity (4 Socket Polearms) Ber+Mal+Ber+Ist
/50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill An Enemy
\Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
/+35% Faster Run/Walk
\+255-325% Enhanced Damage
/-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resistance
\40% Chance of Crushing Blow
/Prevent Monster Heal
.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
/30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
\Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)
See, this is the weapon. If you have an infinity weapon, your mercenary doesn't
need might to increase his damage, because he doesn't need killing power.
SO, make him holy freeze instead so that he slows everything else down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, there is another option. This is especially important if you plan to
run MF.
MF sorcs, as you will learn soon, are designed to teleport through hordes
of enemies quickly to get to their designated spot (most notoriously Andariel
and Mephisto).
Teleport isn't cheap, and you need lots of mana to be efficient. Unfortunately,
you don't HAVE a lot of mana to spend. So, instead, you must rely on insight.
What's insight, you ask? It's a runeword that gives a meditation aura to you and
your merc. It increases the speed of mana regeneration, just like warmth.
The difference is that it's a hell of a lot FASTER than warmth. It's a must-have
for any sorc that is good friends with the teleport skill.
\Insight (4 Socket Polearms/Staves) Ral+Tir+Tal+Sol
/Level 12-17 Meditation Aura When Equipped
\+35% Faster Cast Rate
/+200-260% Enhanced Damage
\+9 To Minimum Damage
/180-250% Bonus to Attack Rating
\Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
/+75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
\+1-6 To Critical Strike
/+5 To All Attributes
\+2 To Mana After Each Kill
/23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
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X. CONTACT ME
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I admit, as I write this guide I haven't played Diablo 2 in 3 or 4 months. Thus,
I'm bound to have some errors in what I've written. If you want to make a
correction to it, Email me at kirbix@gmail.com (older guides say @hotmail, and
that will still work, too; I've just changed primary email providers).
I'll take suggestions, but most likely throw them in the garbage. Try and
suggest, though- who knows, I might take it. If you have a good idea, I'll take
it, and I WILL CREDIT YOU. Blah, people still plague me about supposed idea
theft... I don't steal ideas, and I never DID steal ideas...
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XI. CREDITS
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Arreat Summit - Provided all the information
I could possibly want.
GameFaqs and/or CjayC- For making Gamefaqs the #1 game site on the internet.
