Saturday, April 14, 2012

The answer to "What is the Best No Expense Spared Lightning Sorceress?" is here!

[:1]This isn't a guide as there’s plenty of those out there, but more an answer to the question "What is the best no expense spared Lightning Sorceress". There are two answers to that question depending on whether your build is for PvM/Rushing or for MF. First I’ll cover the Skills and the Mercenary as they are the same for either build, before getting into the differences in equipment/stats. All equipment listed is assumed perfect.



Skills

20 Charged Bolt

20 Lightning

20 Chain Lightning

20 Lightning Mastery

20 Nova

1 Teleport

1 Warmth

1 Static Field



That will require getting to level 93. After that, a point can be placed in Thunderstorm and Frozen Armor, but these are not required, and the build can be considered done at 93 if you prefer.



Act 2 Defensive Holy Freeze Merc Equipment

Ethereal Andariel’s Visage (Socketed with a 40% ED/15% IAS Jewel)

Ethereal Superior Infinity Cryptic Axe

Ethereal Bugged Fortitude Sacred Armor



PvM/Rushing Lightning Sorceress



Equipment

Eschuta’s Temper (Socketed with a +5%/-5% Lightning Facet) / Switch: CtA

Spirit Monarch / Switch: Spirit Monarch

Upgraded Skin of the Vipermagi (+5%/-5% Lightning Facet)

Griffons Eye (+5%/-5% Lightning Facet)

Double Upgraded Magefist

Ethereal Sandstorm Trek

Arachnid's Mesh

Crafted Amulet (+2 Sorceress Skills/20% FCR/30 Strength/Resists which in conjunction with the rare ring total: 70% FR/35%CR/35% LR)

Stone of Jordan

Rare Ring (10% FCR/20 Strength/Resists which in conjunction with the crafted amulet total: 70% FR/35%CR/35% LR)

Annihilus

Torch

Sparking Grand Charm of Balance



If you can't come up with the Crafted Amulet and Rare ring, you can make up the resists with charms, or the strength by investing more points in it, but those should be your end goal.

With all the inventory space remaining, you can carry up to 9 x Sparking Grand Charm's of Vita (+1 Lightning/45 Life), as well as up to 10 Serpent's Small Charms of Vita (20 Life/17 Mana), but neither are necessary.



Highlights

200% FCR reaching the fastest teleport breakpoint and passing the fastest Lightning breakpoint (194%)

75/75/75/75 Resists

7 frame FHR

Level 15 BO (Life anywhere from 2205+ to 3197+ depending on level/charms/ring/amulet)

Lightning Skills from 36 to 45 depending on Charms



Stats

Strength: 41 (51 total)

Dexterity: 0

Vitality: Rest

Energy: 0



MF Lightning Sorceress



Equipment

Eschuta’s Temper (+5%/-5% Lightning Facet) / Switch: 6 x Ist Crystal Sword

Spirit Monarch / Switch: 4 x Ist Monarch

Chains of Honor Archon Plate

Griffons Eye (+5%/-5% Lightning Facet)

Double Upgraded Chance Guards

War Traveler

Arachnid's Mesh

Powered Amulet of Luck

2 x Fortuitous Ring of Fortune

Annihilus

Torch

Gheed's Fortune

Shimmering Small Charm of Balance

3 x Ruby Small Charm of Good Luck



Spirit/CtA can alternatively be used on switch for more Life, but it’s absolutely not needed for survivability against common MF Targets (Mephisto/Diablo/Baal/Shenk/Eldritch/Pindleskin etc)

Highlights

30 Inventory Spaces Free to pick up items

1130 Life and 571% MF on Switch or 2000+ Life and 291% MF if Switch is CtA/Spirit

2nd fastest Teleport and Lightning breakpoints

73/75/75/75 Resists

Level 37 Lightning Skills



Stats

Strength: 76 (86 total)

Dexterity: 0

Vitality: Rest

Energy: 0



Closing thoughts and Summary

For either build, if you have a second computer and copy of Diablo 2, or a friend with the game, you can add a Barbarian to the mix with up to Level 55 Battle Orders for even more insane life, but this is by no means necessary.



There you go. That's as good as it gets folks. That's how you build the best PvM/Rushing Lightning Sorceress and the best MF Lightning Sorceress known to man. I personally and firmly believe that the Lightning Sorceress is the best build in the game for handling everything besides Uber Tristram/Dclone, with or without equipment like this. You can certainly tweak the strength on one build so it can function as the other with a quick gear switch, but I personally have one of each for convenience. Let me know if you have any questions about the choices.|||that is not the "best" in terms of maximizing dmg. but i�m not sure if that is your goal anyway. besides that i�d personally value max block very high on any soreress

try to get hold of something like this:

2 sorc 20 fcr 3 light (3 mastery life mana resistances) 2 soc with 2 rbfs or ists

or

3 light 20 fcr 3 light (3 mastery - can here spawn life mana auto mods??) 2 soc with 2 rbfs or ists

also ur build for my taste too fragile, bugged vipers are a danger for it, so are gloams:

i�d go with something like this:

2 sorc 3 light life/mana 2 socs rbf's

viper sol

griffon rbf

trang claws

2 sorc 15 fcr amu with nice adds

fcr ring with nice adds

soj

thundergods

gerkes sanctuary 'sol'd - crafted shield: 30/30 20@ 2 socs with possibly 7 dr or 40 life 'sol'd

treks

and use an ES build|||You can spawn orbs like that, but they are extremely difficult to find. I've been on the look for them since last season and these are the best I got:

http://oi51.tinypic.com/2vn14kg.jpg

//can't understand why my pic keeps getting hotlinked.|||^You can't embed images in posts, except for in certain sections/threads.


Quote:








This isn't a guide as there’s plenty of those out there, but more an answer to the question "What is the best no expense spared Lightning Sorceress"




... in your opinion.|||i wouldnt say its the best.....

you just listed a tonne of expensive gear...|||Quote:








You can spawn orbs like that, but they are extremely difficult to find. I've been on the look for them since last season and these are the best I got:

http://oi51.tinypic.com/2vn14kg.jpg

//can't understand why my pic keeps getting hotlinked.




i still have this lying around on a sc nl mule :-P|||Quote:








i still have this lying around on a sc nl mule :-P




Very nice. I was collecting blue-only orbs for my blue-only character project. I still need to find that +2 paladin +3 concentration +3 blessed hammer (+3 holy shield :P - I wish - haha) and 10% fcr with 2 open sockets ^-^|||Quote:








that is not the "best" in terms of maximizing dmg. but i�m not sure if that is your goal anyway. besides that i�d personally value max block very high on any soreress

try to get hold of something like this:

2 sorc 20 fcr 3 light (3 mastery life mana resistances) 2 soc with 2 rbfs or ists

or

3 light 20 fcr 3 light (3 mastery - can here spawn life mana auto mods??) 2 soc with 2 rbfs or ists

also ur build for my taste too fragile, bugged vipers are a danger for it, so are gloams:

i�d go with something like this:

2 sorc 3 light life/mana 2 socs rbf's

viper sol

griffon rbf

trang claws

2 sorc 15 fcr amu with nice adds

fcr ring with nice adds

soj

thundergods

gerkes sanctuary 'sol'd - crafted shield: 30/30 20@ 2 socs with possibly 7 dr or 40 life 'sol'd

treks

and use an ES build






Maximizing damage is not the goal in making the best PvM/Rushing Lightning Sorceress. Once your lightning skills reach the low to mid 30's, your damage is more than adequate. First of all, 200% FCR is a must. Some may argue with that and fair enough, you could settle for only the 2nd fastest teleport breakpoint, even if that is obviously slowing you down. However, if you miss the 196% Lightning breakpoint, you're sacraficing damage per second, so getting to that breakpoint is critical.

Eschuta's is necessary for 200% FCR with the PvM/Rushing build, or 120% (117%) with the MF Build, so you couldn't switch to those Orbs you suggested (or without changing other gear on the MF build), but I'd question if they'd be better than Eschuta's anyway. I don't feel that the ones you listed are better. It would have to have MORE than +3 Lightning and +3 Chain Lightning, plus 5 Lightning Mastery or more to be better, not to mention that Eschuta's boosts all Sorc skills so increases the radius of Static and the regen of Warmth as well.

Once you have this gear or similar, you'll realize that max block is a waste. Your Merc will tank and never die, and you can teleport around to avoid monsters, but most importantly, you kill so fast so that nothing is even getting close to you. With the majority of Sorc builds, you should not be going toe to toe with monsters.

I don't understand your fascination with Damage Reduction (Sol runes and Gerke's) - again, this is not a melee build. You stay out of the way, let your Merc tank which he easily can, and Chain Lightning everything (or Static/Lightning for bosses) before they put a dent in you.

Like I said with the MF build, I run it without BO as I have the Ist'd Weapon/Shield on switch, and I feel invincible. I could be playing hardcore as I don't think I've ever died. You make sure you don't get close to bugged vipers, and when your Merc's Infinity breaks the immunity of the Gloams, you take them down so fast because of all your gear that further reduces their Lightning Resistance. When I run the Chaos Sanctuary with either build, I don't waste time killing everything. I hit the seals and take down the 3 unique's while ignoring all other monsters and that's it. No danger of dying.

Energy Shield builds are entirely different and this build doesn't allow the skill points to go that route.




Quote:








... in your opinion.




Feel free to provide an argument against my opinion.




Quote:








i wouldnt say its the best.....

you just listed a tonne of expensive gear...




The thread title is "no expense spared" which suggests it would be an expensive build. I'd love to hear your argument as to why you don't think its the best.|||200% fcr is not as important as you think. 1 second = 25 frames.

117% fcr = 12 frames (~2.08 lightning/second)

194% fcr = 11 frames (~2.27 lightning/second)

Let's say you've got a 10.000 average damage lightning, for argument's shake. With 117% you do ~20833 damage per second, while with 194% fcr ~22727, which is about 0.09% increase.|||I personally think it's very hard to claim one build to be the "best". It all depends on your playstyle and goals with the character. Agree with Theio Vrefos about the fcr. On a pvm light sorc the 117 bp is enough. That breakpoint also allows you to use Maras, another SoJ and opens up for more armor, weapon and glove choices. You need to sacrifice quite much to get to 200 FCR. But again, if you prefer the fastest breakpoint that is the best build for you. I don't in this case, so this isn't the best build for me.

Little question: How do you get a lvl 20 bo with that equipment? Max should be 15 with a 6 BO CTA and that gear.

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