Written By: Shadow_247 and Yuqing
This guide was written by myself (Shadow_247), and Yuqing. I wrote the PvM/MF section of the guide and Yuqing wrote the PvP section of the guide. For no real reason, I separated the two guides, but tried my best to streamline them. You may feel that the guides are repetitious of each other at some points, but hopefully, you won�t.
This is only a first draft, so please feel free to comment on either guide
Blizzard. Is it vain that the game creator name a skill after themselves? Of course not, it's their game, they can do what they want with it, and I am grateful that a simple sorceress is bound to such a skill. I know that this is probably one of the more frequently posted guides, but each of the previous ones seemed to focus on different things. One for Pindle, one for Meph, one for just kicking it in Baal runs. This guide will bring together all aspects of the Blizzard sorceress. That includes MFing, PvP, and everyday PvM. Also featured are two leveling guides, for use by those already having one high level character and looking to make another. The PvP section of the guide was written by Yuqing, and is a great contribution.
If you care to skip the story, feel free. It is really just a chunk of fiction thrown in. The real guide starts about five paragraphs below - the title is hopefully evident.
The Story
Legend tells of a time long ago. When evil reigned across the lands and touched the sandy hills of Lut Golein, the darkest jungles of Kurast and the icy peaks of Harrogath. In that long ago time, six heroes were called forth to rid the land of evil. One, a holy paladin, another, a fierce barbarian. A deadly amazon and a mystical necromancer, a bold druid and a cunning assasin. All were summoned to cleanse the land of the prevailing evil. Upon arriving in the land of evil, it was clear to these heroes that another was needed.
When no other was found, and just when all seemed lost, there was a flash in the middle of a rogue encampment. Through the land rushed a wave of light, destroying all evil in its path. The light finally took rest in a local healers hut. In pursuit of the light, the six other heroes rushed in to the hut, brusied and battered from the long haul through hell. Before them, unscathed from her travels through hell, sat a woman clad in green and gold. She was a sorceress hailing from the east. She learned the secret ways of veteran male sorcerors, and followed the path of magic with grace and understanding. She had heard the cries for help, and had arrived to lend aid to the heroes.
After the evil was vanquished, the sorceress took leave from the other heroes, hoping someday to return. Many years after her first brush with destiny, she heard that the lands she had once saved were in need of her help again. A new evil ravaged the lands. Diablo himself walked the Earth, the prime evils and all of their minions became stronger, faster and more wreckless. The six heroes who had remained could not deal with the evil, so they once again called for help.
The sorceress, who was older and weaker than before, found that the power of all the heroes was needed to redeem the lands. After her grueling campaign through hell, she realized that she was to old to be a hero, and hung up her cloak. The once great, warrior sorceress began to instruct others in the ways of magic. Some of the pupils followed her every step, while others crafted their own path.
Many followers of the great sorceress were powerful mages, when others were not. Few seemed to be able to cope with the resistance of Diablo's minions. New hybrid mages were trained in an attempt to deal with the evil. Fire met cold, cold met lightning, some mages even struck with a weapon. Many hybrids were powerful, some were not. It was here when a sorceress proposed that the fires of hell needed to be battled with the cold of winter. Few followed the path of the cold sorceress, but for those who did, victory was assured in some parts of hell.
The first of these pure sorceresses reached hell. Just like the legendary sorceress before her, she could travel as light. Above her, dark storm clouds were brewing and a cold shiver hung in the air. History was rewritten when the light rushed through a mausoleum. It passed through ancient tunnels below the desert sands. Under the temples of kurast, the hiss of a prime evil was heard. In the cold temple of a traitor, a menacing guard fell with a crash.
Others saw this pure mage, with her arms of frost and feet of light, and urged her to teach her ways to the world. She did.
The Pure Blizzard PvM/MF Sorc
Written By: Shadow_247
The pure blizzard build is one of those that first became noticable when the 1.10 patch was released. It never really struck hard with 1.09 players, and is not the most popular build, even in 1.10. Like any pure build, this sorceress will hit walls - it is expected of a single element sorceress. But where she does not hit walls, she excels. The other high damage pure sorc build is the Meteor sorc. It is often assumed that the meteor sorc has a higher damage than the cold sorceress. While this may be true for many spots in normal, the cold sorceress often has the upper hand in situations where resistances come into play.
We are using Hell Diablo (50 Fire Resist/50 Cold Resist) for an example with resistances.
Level 28 Meteor with Maxed Synergies and Level 28 Fire Mastery
14832 average impact damage and 1913 average burning damage/s
Casting Delay: 1.2s
Time from Cast until Impact: 5s
Burning time: 15s
Time from Click to Finish: 20s
Unresisted Damage Over 20 Seconds: 386851 Fire Damage
Meteor Damage x Fire Resistance
14 832 x 0.50 = 7416 Resisted Fire Damage
Over 20 Seconds: 193425 Fire Damage/20s
Level 28 Blizzard with Maxed Synergies and Level 17 Cold Mastery
4074 average damage/s
Casting Delay: 1.8s
Time from click until blizzard: Instant
Blizzard running time: 4s
Negative Enemy Resistance from Cold Mastery: 100
Unresisted Damage Over 20 Seconds: 180885 Cold Damage
Blizzard Damage x Cold Resistance
4074 x 0.50 = 2037 Resisted Cold Damage
Damage Adjusted for Cold Mastery: 6111 Adjusted Cold Damage
Over 20 Seconds: 271327 Cold Damage/20s
The above is of course only one example. But Blizzard will always have higher end damage over time than Meteor when a monster resists both elements by an equal amount above positive 15. Even in cases when resistances do not allow Blizzard to overtake Meteor in damage, the difference is not immense. Damage is not the only great thing about blizzard - its freezing powers are extremely useful in large battles.
The Blizzard sorceress is effective in both PvM and PvP combat. Magic-Finding locations that work well for this sorc are most places where cold immunity is not present. The unique dropping act bosses Andariel and Mephisto are favourites. Immunity free level 85 areas such as the Act I Monastery and the Act II Ancient Tunnels are easily navigated through by this Blizzard sorc. The always popular Pindleskin is another who provides fast and easy runs. All is covered below.
The Build
My first intent with my Blizzard sorc was to make her an MF only character. I soon discovered that she had little trouble teleporting through the worldstone in search of the throne and dealt with Baal�s minions easily.
Skills
[20] Blizzard
[10+] Ice Bolt
[20] Ice Blast
[20] Glacial Spike
[1] A Cold Armour
[20] Cold Mastery (See below)
[1] Static Field
[1] Teleport
[1] Warmth
[1] Pre-requisites
Total: 95-98 Skill points, depending on which cold armour you choose (if you choose any)
This can be attained between levels 83-86. After having all your points in, and are planning on being PvM/MF only, invest the rest to ice bolt.
With a level 37 Cold Mastery enemy resists are reduced by 200. Because Cold Mastery cannot reduce the resistances of cold immune monsters (monsters with 100+ cold resistance) there is no way for cold mastery to reduce resists beyond 199 (from +99 to -100). Therefore, it is useless passing level 37 Cold Mastery in PvM combat. Mephisto has 75 cold resistance, therefore if you are going to be doing only mephisto, only level 32 Cold Mastery is needed to have the maximum effect, allowing you to finish putting points to the last synergy sooner.
Choosing a Cold Armour
Frozen armour freezes a melee attackers who hits you but offers the lowest defence bonus
Shiver armour does cold damage to a melee attacker who hits you and has the highest defence bonus
Chilling armour shoots an ice bolt at a ranged attacker who hits you, and offers a high defence bonus
My choice is shiver armour. Chilling armour only works against ranged attackers, and I am not threatened by them. Frozen armour freezes for such a short period of time in hell that I find it useless. Shiver offers cold damage and high defence, worthwhile for most Blizzard sorcs. If you are constantly teleporting past enemies, you will find frozen armour provides more safety as it freezes those hitting you.
Stats
Strength - This sorceress needs no more strength than her most strength demanding equipment. If you decide on meeting the steep requirement of Stormshield, that is fine, but try to lower it with Hel runes, or +str gear.
Dexterity - There are two ways to go with dexterity. Max blocking, or not. If you need to meet requirements you may need a few points in dexterity but hopefully not too many. Listed below are the pros and cons to maxing block.
Pros
- The obvious pro here is that 75CTB reduces your chance to be hit with a physical (melee or ranged) attack by 3/4. If four strikes are taken at you - block speed permitting - only one will make contact. This is great for teleporting through dangerous areas, such as the Worldstone Keep.
Cons
- Again, the obvious con is that by spending all the necessary points to dexterity in order to reach 75CTB, you are unable to invest those points to vitality, where they will significantly increase life.
- In order to reach 75CTB while spending a reasonable amount into dexterity you need to have a shield with a good starting block% - one with block over 60% is preferred. This restricts your choice of shield, as you may be forced to take a shield with less helpful mods in order to reach perfect block.
- If you have a slow block rate, you can get stuck in a block-lock when faced against multiple or fast enemies, welcoming death to your front door.
If you decide on max block, find out how much dexterity is needed at your level with your equipment by using the below formula.
dex = ((cLvl x 2) x (75) / Base Chance to Block) + 15
Base chance to block is your chance to block from equipment
cLvl is your character level
You can replace 75 with your desired final chance to block if you wish
OR use the below table (Thanks goes to Chem)
Code:
Dexterity required for max block (75%) for a sorceress
shield str block dex/lv LV30 LV50 LV80 LV99
------------------- --- ----- ------ ---- ---- ---- ----
Lidless Eye 58 40% 3.75 128 203 315 387
Lidless Eye + Eld 58 47% 3.19 111 175 271 331
Moser's Circle 53 57% 2.63 94 147 226 276
Grim Shield + Rhyme 58 60% 2.50 90 140 215 263
Sigon's Tower 75 64% 2.34 86 133 203 248
Stormshield 156 67% 2.24 83 127 195 237
Sigon's Tower + Eld 75 71% 2.11 79 121 185 225
Visceratuant Heater 77 72% 2.08 78 120 182 222
Gerke's Sanctuary 133 74% 2.03 76 117 178 216
75% blocking shield var 75% 2.00 75 115 175 213
Whistan's Guard 53 87% 1.72 67 102 153 186
Whistan's + Eld 53 94% 1.60 63 95 143 173
If you are new to the game, or even new to sorceresses in general, the 75% CTB may make things easier for you. This does not mean that without 75 chance to block you are unable to play. Mephisto can always be done easily using the moat trick. Assuming pindle or any monsters you run into in the level 85 areas are not extra fast, you should be able to do fine. Elite duelists should be fine, and if you feel confident in your teleporting ablities, you may be up for dueling. Baal runs are still quite possible, as long as you have some faster cast rate gear on your weapon switch.
Vitality - Although each vitality point only gives two life to the sorceress, it should still be valued. With more life, you have less chance to be one-hit, thereby increasing your survival. If you do decide on going with 75 chance to block, don't be too worried about life, with decent equipment and charms you should do quite well.
Energy - Even with my MF setup, I still have not found the need for a point here. Sure, it really hurts at low levels, but as long as you chug mana potions like crazy, you can save these points for where they matter. At higher levels, with decent gear, you will find that the biggest drain on mana comes from teleport.
Equipment
You can really play around with most of the equipment in this build. The setup shown below works quite well for doing baal runs. MF and PvP variants are shown further below. There are not a great many mods to look for in equipment. Recommended are Skills, Faster Cast Rate (for teleport), Resists ,+Cold Damage, -Enemy Cold Resistance, Life/Vitality, and Dexterity (if you chose that route). Facets are quite useful, don't be afraid to invest in a couple. %mana+ does not help alot with this build because she is left with base energy.
Helm
Best
Shako for life, mana and skills. Nightwing's Veil for cold damage, skills and dexterity. These are best socketed with Cold Facets, Um runes, unless you want an all around sorc available for MFing (read MF variant below)
Other
Tarnhelm, Lore runeword (OrtSol), Peasant Crown. Look for any recommended mods in rares/magics.
Weapon
Best
Facet Death's Fathom is great for skills and cold damage. The Oculus is more affordable and provides great mods such as life, cast rate, and resists, alongside the +3 skills. Another top notch choice is Heart of The Oak runeword (KoVexPulThul), in a flail, for resists, cast rate, skills, dexterity and mana. Socket either of the orbs with a facet, unless you want to indulge in MFing (read MF variant below).
Other
Eschuta's Temper, Suicide Branch, Wizardspike. Look for any recommended mods in rares/magics.
Shield
Best
Stormshield, although heavy, is good if you are taking the blocking route. The %DR, resists, and high block make for a great shield. Stormshield comes with one big con - its strength requirement. You can dim that down by socketing with a Hel rune. Another quite viable choice is the cheap, and low requirement Whistan's Guard. It is often preferred over stormshield for its low requirements, and because it takes less dexterity to achieve 75CTB. Many argue that a sorc should not be taking hits in the first place, and that an expensive and stat draining stormshield is useless. If you don't feel confident that you can dodge mephisto's ball or scurry away from lister, stormshield may be for you.
Other
Sanctuary runeword (KoKoMal) or Rhyme (ShaelEth) in shield with a high CTB. Try to get a shield with over 60% base CTB if you are going for max blocking. If you aren't going with the max block build, there are more options. Lidless offers a skill and cast rate, and the Visceratuant offers a skill with some decent block.
Armour
Best
I really like Facet Blizzard Ormus Robes with max cold damage, but that isn't an easy find. Neither are Chains of Honour (DolUmBerIst) or Enigma (JahIthBer), which were my next suggestions. All armours are great because they provide skills. Ormus robes provide +cold damage, +skills and faster cast rate. Chains of Honour provides 2 skills, resists, and %DR. Enigma provides the same skills, DR, lacks resists, but adds huge strength and faster run walk.
Other
Skin of the Vipermagi is a fine choice. It is affordable, provides resists, cast rate and a skill. Don't think of it as a lowly armour. Que-Hegans will also work here, but lacks the resists of the Vipermagi.
Belt
Best
Arachnid Mesh for the skill and cast rate.
Other
These other belts aren't bad, they just don't fit up there. Verdungo's is helpful if you need %DR and life. Snowclash provides +2 Blizzard which can be a help. Gloom's Trap provides mana and life if you need that.
Gloves
Best
Not that you can really categorize gloves, Magefists, Bloodfists and Frosties sit side by side by side, and the one you pick depends on how you are dealing with things. If you need faster cast rate and mana regen, grab magefists. If you need mana (although it won't help terribly with this base energy build) try frosties. If you want life, faster hit recovery and great allround gloves, pick up a pair of bloodfists.
Other
All that really fits here are the gloves you decided against.
Boots
Best
I like War Travelers for the strength and life they provide, MF is just a side dish. Waterwalks provide dex and life, making reaching 75CTB easier. Both have good FR/W
Other
Threads of Cthon are great starter boots, and can carry you until you aquire the above.
Amulets and Rings
Best
Tal's Amulet or Mara's Kaleidescope and SOJs or low BK rings are the top choices because all provide skills. Maras is sometimes taken over tals because it provides to all resists, just as SOJs are better than BK rings because of the mana they add. The +3 to cold skills amulet is great for those die hard damage builds, but not necessarily required
Other
Rare or magic amulets providing skills and rings providing life, mana or faster cast rate are the cheap alternatives to those listed above.
Charms
Life charms are excellent, especially if you went with the maxed block build. Mana charms may be required by some. The Annihilus is great for making those dexterity and strength levels easier to attain. Skill charms are great as well, they will sufficiently boost your damage. For charms, use what you need. Save for annihilus and skill charms there are few charms to aspire to.
Mercenary
The mercenary you choose depends on what you will be doing. I find act2 mercenaries are the best. If you plan to solo alot in hell, a well-equipped Might merc (NM Offensive) is handy for quick disposition of immunes. If you plan on quick, immune-free MF runs, a Defiance merc (Norm/Hell Defensive) or a Holy Freeze merc (NM Defensive) are useful choices. Of course you should always make attempts at ethereal gear for your mercenary as he can benefit from the bonuses without durability loss
The Act 2 Merc Setup
Helm - Um'd/Ber'd Shako or Vampire Gaze
Armour - Um'd/Ber'd Shaftstop or Leviathan
Weapon - Shael Reapers Toll, AmnShael Bonehew, Tomb Reaver
If you dislike the idea of an act2 mercenary, or prefer one from another act be sure to suit them up with favourable gear. If they have a skill useful to you, give them +All Skills gear. If they are tanking give them %DR gear and resists. And always be sure to equip them with a powerful weapon, or one that benefits you.
The Levels
If this is your second character, and don't feel like progressing through the entire game again but would rather baal run for speedy levels, there is a helpful guide below. It is not a solo guide and a friend is needed. First, skill and stat point allocation.
Stat Point Allocation
This is simple. If you are going for the Stormshield max block build, every two levels place four points to strength until you get 156 strength (with equipment). Every two levels you should place 5 points to dexterity, aiming for 179 dexterity at level 73 (level to equip Stormshield). Place the last point to vitality. Save the Lam Esen's Tome stat points in case you miscalculate something, they are handy if you need some quick strength or dex. After you have sufficient strength and are investing in dexterity each level to keep your 75% CTB present, you can put points the available points to vitality.
If you are not going for the Stormshield max block build, one point to strength each level should suffice. Dexterity should not be needed except for wearing equipment. The unspent points each level can go to vitality.
Skill Point Allocation
Some will disagree here, but if you are going solo for leveling, this provides the most effective killing at a low level. It revolves around Ice Blast. I recommend having 100-200k so you can buy mana potions, you really have to gulp them with this skill.
Level 1 - Ice Bolt
Level 2 - Warmth
Level 3 - Save
Level 4 - Save
Level 5 - Save
Level 6 - Ice Blast and Frost Nova or Save
Level 7-17 - Ice Blast or Save
Level 18 - Glacial Spike
Level 19-23 - Ice Blast or Ice Bolt (for reasons listed above)
Level 24 - Blizzard
Now that you have reached Blizzard, max that. If you saved lots of those extra points, level Cold Mastery beside blizzard to the level you need it (keeping in mind the note above). After maxing Blizzard, take cold mastery to the preferred level. For the PvM build, max Glacial Spike, then ice blast, and lastly ice bolt. At this time, or if you need it earlier, place a point to the cold armour of your choice. After maxing blizzard, cold mastery, ice blast and glacial spike and placing a point to a cold armour, you can finish maxing ice bolt.
Please Take Note
The method below is not meant to tell one the best way to solo through the game. There are other guides for that. I myself used this when returning to the game, it functioned as a fast way to reach level 25 and start baal running so I could catch up to my high level friends quickly. I've been bashed for the guide before and I didn't really enjoy it. I don't need to hear things like this:
Quote:
Worst leveling guide I've seen.
I suppose it's the best if you have friends to rush you (and of course actually want to be rushed in the first place--I don't), and completely rules out anything involving trying to level your /merc/.
I can make a better leveling guide than that.
I'm not holding you back, go write one. I wrote this having friends in mind, wanting to be rushed, and was planning to level my merc later. I can't stress enough that this is NOT A SOLO GUIDE, it is a rushed way of getting up to level with friends. Under my mindset, this chap just certified method 1 as the best.
Or this:
Quote:
I want to take the opportunity to use the Simpson's Comic Book Guy's line when I say, 'Worst levelling guide ever.' Nobody needs a guide to how to get PA'd and level up... that's like... the noob way. Personally, I would rather attempt accumulating the twenty five levels and five acts myself and if I should fail, then call for help.
I don't care if it's the noob way, if nobody needs the guide, then it will go on unread, fine by me. I'm trying to play with my friends, not to spend time levelling to 25. I've played though the game numerous times, and it's gotten repetitive. If you aren't bored yet and wish to take your time and accumulate the 25 levels, then do that, I don't need to hear it.
Now that I�ve blown off some steam, the method:
Where to Level
This is my method, I'm sure you've seen many others but this seems to work quickly and painlessly. You will notice that the first 12 or so levels flow quite nicely, and those after take some abrupt turns. Stamina potions and mana potions were very useful and helped the whole process move along quickly. This method does depend on a high level friend.
Levels 1-3
Start on the path that heads out of town into the Blood Moor. Make your way down the path, and try not to stray too far off it. Kill every thing that comes within sight on the path until you arrive at the Den of Evil. I took the wrong split and ended up backtracking both times - this may account for the number of levels I got.
Levels 3-5
Kill everything in the Den. If you are partied don't get more than 2 screens apart or no experience will be gained. Make your way out of the Den and travel to the cold plains. Grab the waypoint, head back to town and get the extra skill from Akara.
Levels 5-7
Take the cold plains waypoint and take the path to the burial grounds. Remember to kill everything on and around the path. Clear out the burial grounds, then the mausoleum, then the crypt.
Levels 7-9
Make your way back to where the path split to go to the burial grounds and head to the stony field - again killing everything in sight. At this point, if you are not quite at the level, move off the path and kill everything in the cold plains and stony field until you get close to level 9.
Levels 9-11
Descend down into the Underground Passage. Clear out the first level, and the second if you feel you need more levels. You may then emerge in the dark wood. Get on the path and head to the Black Marsh. Still killing everything you come across, continue on the path until you reach the Forgotten Tower.
Levels 11-12
Drop into the Forgotten Tower and start clearing. You only need to kill until you hit 12, but if you want to keep going feel free. At level 12 have a friend rush you to act 2.
Levels 12-16
Go into the sewers and make your way to Radament, killing everything on the way. Repeat running the sewers until you hit 16 - it should not take many runs.
Levels 16-20
Get rushed to the end of act 2 by a friend. Go to the Canyon of the Magi and clear out the tombs until you hit 20.
Levels 20-24
At this point most will call in reinforcements. Create the cow level with a character who has beaten normal and have a high level friend clear it out a few times for you. You should reach 24 without a worry.
Levels 24-25
Get rushed through to act 5 and kill the ancients, you will get a level.
Levels 25-(45-50)
At 25 start baal runs. Public games are usually fine as long as they have 8 players. Personally I find killing baal himself a waste of time as he gives significantly less xp than his minions and has such terrible drops in normal. The choice of (45-50) is yours, depending on how able you are to handle NM.
Levels (45-50)-(70-80)
Have a friend rush you when you decide you've had enough of normal baal. Start NM baal runs and again, the choice of when to move on is yours.
Levels (70-80)+
Get rushed, or play though hell. If you are only level 70 you may want to run some of the easy level 85+ hell areas before going to all the way to baal. Start hell baal runs at the earliest convenience. When people reach level 90, many will do Hell Diablo and then Hell Baal one after the other to gain more experience.
The Variants
Variant A: Pure Blizzard MF Sorc
You will notice that most of the variation takes place in the equipment setup, the build does not need to be changed to achieve great results with the MF variant. It can be wise to first max cold mastery and then your last synergy, as that will provide more of a kick when MF running.
Helm - Perfect Topaz Shako
Weapon - Ist Oculus or Ist Death's Fathom / IstIst Ali Baba or Gull (on switch)
Shield - Ist Whistan's Guard/ Rhyme (ShaelEth) or 4Ist shield (on switch)
Armour - Perfect Topaz Skullder's or Wealth (LemKoTir)
Belt - Upgraded Goldwrap
Gloves - Chance Guards or Magic/Rare Gloves of Luck
Boots - War Travelers or Magic/Rare Boots of Luck
Amulet - Rare/Magic MF amulet
Rings - Nagelrings or Magic Rings of Luck
Charms - Gheeds, 7% Small MF Charms, Annihilus
Variant B: Pure Blizzard PvP Sorc
For this variant, more changes need to be made to the skill and stat areas of the build, along with some in the equipment setup as well. Instead of maxing your last synergy, max cold mastery, then place some points to teleport until you get the mana cost below 10. Only after you have You hopefully shouldn't need more than ten points there.
Please Note
This little section is not the PvP section. If you have built a sorceress similar to the main one listed in this guide and were hoping to try PvP, a quick, some would say hopelessly useless, list of PvP equipment changes are listed below. For PvP, you really want a different character altogether, as it truly is another build. This is just for sorceresses hoping to try to improvise PvP into their lives. If you find that you enjoy PvP, but want a truly powerful PvP build, find Yuqing�s PvP section below.
Helm - Facet/Um'd Shako or Nightwing's Veil
Weapon - Facet Death's Fathom or HoTO Flail
Shield - Whistan's Guard
Armour - Facet Blizzard Ormus Robes
Belt - Arachnid Mesh
Gloves - Frostburns
Boots - Waterwalks
Amulet - Mara's or Tal's Ammy
Rings - SOJs
Charms - Annihilus, Skill Charms, FHR charms, Life/Mana charms
Playing
I won't call this a strategy section, as it hardly seems strategic. Below I have listed how I use some of my skills in different situations.
General PvM
Ice blast will freeze enemies, even in hell, for extended periods of time. Use that to your advantage on extra fast packs or when you need to bail out. Let your mercenary tank if he can and continually cast blizzard on the area. If you have a stormshield you can tank some of the early melee characters yourself. Rangers can be a problem, even with maxed CTB. With them, teleport in, cast blizzard and zip out. Rangers are often weak and can be easily taken down.
In baal runs, if you decide to teleport, stay close to the wall, and don't approach the Black Souls. Items with lightning absorb such as T-Gods or Wisp Projector are helpful for dealing with the souls. At the minions, just blizzard the spawn spot, monsters will instantly be chilled making it easier for others. Only the skeleton mages are naturally cold immune, but chances are one of the minion bosses spawning with a cold immunity are high.
MF Hot Spots
The popular areas for the blizzard sorc are those that do not hold a large abundance of cold immunes. There is not much strategy involved in running level 85 areas such as the Ancient Tunnels or the Mausoleum, just blizzard whatever you come across. Pindleskin can be tricky, but after you fall into a groove, you'll do fine. Teleport only as far into the temple as you need to. If you get too close, their charge attack is devastating. Send a glacial spike in to freeze the competition and again, let blizzard fall and victory will be yours.
Mephisto and Andariel take some getting to, but are more rewarding in the long run. Andariel is a simple static, tank with merc and blizzard, but you or your merc may end up taking a couple hits from some of the nearby immunes. Mephisto is most easily slain using the Moat Trick. Simply teleport to him, static and backtrack to the lower platform across the moat until he is on the edge of your screen. From there just blizzard until he pops.
For the weapon switch, it's really with the act bosses and superuniques that it comes in to play. I hardly use it when touring the level 85 areas like the Ancient Tunnels, as my primary weapon switch (socketed with Ists) makes the runs that much faster. But when the act boss is down to 1/8 health, it�s simple and worthwhile to make that switch for all that extra MF.
PvP
See Yuqing�s guide below
The Pure Blizzard PVP Sorc
Written by: Yuqing
The sorceress, who has the power of nature at her will, has been built for MF and PvM purposes for as long as I can remember. Our sisters, the lightning sorceresses, are able to strike down on us with a powerful thunder storm or fry us with lightning. The fire sorceress is able to summon beasts from hell to spit magma and can hurl flaming balls of energy at their opponent. We, the cold sorceresses, have always been seen as under powered, as our tree is considered the least damaging. But, we hold one valuable key to success: the power to slow and freeze.
The Build
Skills
The Numbers
Blizzard will do the following damage with maxed synergies:
Slvl 20 2280-2476
Slvl 30 4480-4716
Slvl 40 7080-7356
Slvl 50 9680-9996
Ice Blast will do the following damage with all synergies maxed (Except Frozen Orb):
Slvl 20 1062-1119 Freezes for 20.4 secs
Slvl 30 2238-2316 Freezes for 26.4 secs
Slvl 40 3708-3807 Freezes for 32.4 secs
Slvl 50 5278-5298 Freezes for 38.4 secs
Glacial Spike will do the following damage with all synergies maxed (Except Frozen Orb):
Slvl 20 675-727 Freezes for 6.8 secs
Slvl 30 1125-1192 Freezes for 8.7 secs
Slvl 40 1605-1687 Freezes for 10.6 secs
Slvl 50 2085-2182 Freezes for 12.6 secs
Ice bolt will do the following damage with all synergies maxed (Except Frozen Orb & Frost Nova):
Slvl 20 380-495 Slows for 32.6 secs
Slvl 30 780-945 Slows for 46.6 secs
Slvl 40 1280-1495 Slows for 60.6 secs
Slvl 50 1780-2045 Slows for 74.6 secs
Cold Mastery will reduce enemy resistance by the following:
Slvl 20 115%
Slvl 30 165%
Slvl 40 215%
Slvl 50 265%
The Points
[20] Ice Bolt
[20] Ice Blast
[20] Glacial Spike
[20] Blizzard
[20] Cold Mastery (See below)
[1] A Cold Armour? (See below)
[1] Static Field
[1] Teleport
[1] Warmth
[1] Pre-requisites
Many argue with the idea of maxing CM, but it�s very useful. The less cold resistance your opponent has, the more damage you will deal. For example, you have 6k blizzard damage and are fighting an enemy with 75 cold resist. First your PvP damage is reduced to 1/6th of the displayed damage meaning you will only do 1k blizzard damage. Next, we factor in the opponent�s 75 cold resist. 75% of the penalized damage will be resisted, meaning you are only doing 25% of the damage already reduced by the PvP penalty � a measly 250 damage. If you have a level 20 cold mastery, you will reduce your enemy�s resistances by 115%, meaning that, with no stacked resists, an original cold resistance of 75 will be reduced to -40, letting you dish out 140% damage.
For those who want energy shield, let me say I really find it to be a waste. There are too many prerequisites for the skill. Ultimately, I suggest a +3 Energy Shield, +3 lightning skills orb for casting this.
Choosing a Cold Armour
Frozen armour freezes a melee attackers who hits you but offers the lowest defence bonus
Shiver armour does cold damage to a melee attacker who hits you and has the highest defence bonus
Chilling armour shoots an ice bolt at a ranged attacker who hits you, and offers a high defence bonus
I use Snowclash Battle Belt with my build and use the +2 to Chilling Armour mod. I didn�t bother to place any points into these skills.
Stats
Strength - Enough to use all your gear (with +strength items). I suggest having it 10 higher then the required number for versatility. As a PvP character, you will often meet annoying opponents, and, with the extra 10 strength, you can change your setup to counter their build. You should be able to drop some +strength items for items with +absorb or +DR and still have enough strength to wear your other gear.
Dexterity - There are 2 ways you can go here - max block or base dexterity (enough for items of course). Going with max block will enable you to block 75% of the incoming physical or missile attacks. But going this way will give you less life and you are therefore weaker against elemental attacks. Taking the base dexterity route, you will have more points to spend in vitality. Block is a game of chance, if you�re lucky, you can block an attack and your life will be spared. If you didn�t happen to block that attack you are finished. I prefer the vitality route, but that�s only me, many people prefer max block.
Vitality � In my opinion, the most valuable stat of this build. More life results in longer lasting duels. In a comparison between two sorceresses, one with base dexterity and pumped vitality, the other with maxed block, I found that the max block sorceress has a 50% chance of dieing sooner than the sorceress with pumped vitality.
Energy � This is interesting. If you�re rich - SOJs, CTA, etc� - you don�t really need a lot here. With two SOJs, BO from CTA and the rest of your gear I�d say 80-90 is enough. However if you�re not so rich, add all you can. Mana is the lifeblood of the sorceress, you need it to deal damage, and without it you�re a sitting duck.
Tip: When using energy shield add more energy or get more +mana items.
Equipment
I will list gear setup in the following categories: Rich, Mid, Poor.
Helm
Rich/Mid: Low Nightwings Veil, or Harlequin Crest
Poor: Peasant Crown, Lore (in shako or war hat)
Weapon
Rich: Fathom with huge +cold damage is really the best choice
The HoTO Flail (heart of the oak) is also a good choice
*If you can afford it, put CTA on switch
Mid: The Oculus
Poor: Wizardspike works well here, great resists and 50% FCR
Suicide Branch has lower resists and +mana than the wizardspike, but has a useful +1 to all skills
Shield
Rich: A Stormshield or Sanctuary (runeword) in a trolls nest will do fine
If you want insane damage find 4 5/5 cold facets and socket them in a 4 socket monarch
*If you can afford it, put lidless on switch with the CTA
Mid: Lidless Wall, for +1 skills, the mana and fcr boosts
Poor: Wall of the Eyeless, with it�s FCR is great for starters
If you want +skills you can go with the Sigon shield set up.
Armour
Rich: Chains of Honour - resists and +2 to skills
Ormus� robes (3 to blizzard) is one of the best here for damage
Mid: The Skin of the Vipermagi is great, with FCR, resists, +1 skills
Poor: The spirit shroud is good here, cheap and +1 skills
Sigons armour for good def and bonuses with the rest of the set
Belt
Rich: Arachnid Mesh - 20 FCR, 10% +mana, +1 skills � is the best
Mid: T-Gods for life and FR/W
Snowclash for +2 Blizzard, +3 Spike (I chose this instead of Arach)
Poor: String of Ears or other rare/unique belts you can find
Gloves
These are similar for the rich and poor alike
For FCR get Magefists. For +mana grab Frostburns
Boots
Rich: Eth sandstorm treks for FHR, poison resists and others
Mid: I choose Silkweaves for my sorcs for the +mana
You can also use normal Treks, or Waterwalks
Poor: Treads of C�Thon are best here, the mods are excellent
Amulet
Rich: Tal�s ammy is great, +2 sorc skills and other great mods Mara�s kaleidoscope is the best here, +2 skills, +5 stats and res
Mid: Crafted ammy with +2 sorc skills and other mods are good
Poor: Eye of Etlitch or any rare ammy with good mods will do
Rings
Rich: Stones of Jordan, with +1 skills and +mana are the best
Bul Kathos� Wedding Band is also good if you want life instead of mana
Mid: Nagelrings, Manalds are both good here
Poor: If you can�t afford the mid rings use a rare ring with some good mods.
Charms
+1 Cold Skill GCs, Annihilus and small charms with 20 to life or +res
The Levels
Skill Point Allocation
I would advise that you max the skills in the following order:
Blizzard
Ice Blast
Cold Mastery
Glacial Spike
Ice bolt
Blizzard will (obviously) be your primary skill.
You secondary skill will either be glacial spike or ice blast, here�s what I suggest:
For fast moving, low HP opponents, use glacial spike. It is much faster than any of your other cold skills. For slow moving high life opponents use the hit n� run tactic with Ice Blast. The highest life opponents you�ll meet are usually barbs. Finish them as fast as possible � one whirlwind is often enough to send you to the ground.
Where to Level
1-5: Do the Den of Evil, and go around killing stuff. Do the cairn stones quest.
5-13: Do Tristram runs, you�re able to host the games since you�ve completed the cairn stones quest.
13-15: Get a large party and get the act2 staff, cube, and ammy. That should get you a level or two.
15-20: Do arcane or tomb runs, then get a rush to act5 but don�t kill the ancients.
20-24: Get a friend to do cows in normal, or join public cow games.
24-25: Grab the ancients quest.
25-50: Levelling is easy from now on, do Baal runs.
45-50: Go to NM and get a rush.
50-75: do NM Baal until about level 75, then head into hell. Get a rush if you can find someone willing to rush hell.
75-99: From now on keep with hell Baal, remember, if you can�t kill don�t. It will be slower for you when you die and loose exp. Leech if you really have to, but help as much as you can.
Strategy
With the PvP Blizzard Sorc there are 4 builds that you will have problems with - Wind Druids, GA Zons, Tele�ing Bone Necros and FOHers.
Amazons:
Java: Avoid poison javas at all costs. Run and spam - tele in an unpredictable pattern and spam blizz on them when least expected - ultimately name lock them when their hp is low to finish them. Also, since poison can�t kill they need another java to finish you off, use that to your advantage.
For light, not much I can say except STAY AWAY. Their javelin attacks are much faster than poison javas and often can take you down much faster. They can also go melee so never ever let them touch you, stack light resists and absorb to kill them if you really have too.
Bow: this is the scariest build in the game through my experiences. Their arrows track and come fast, much faster then those lame necro spirits. Never try to outrun them, you can�t. Tele away when you see little white arrows coming. They�ll be up your *** if you don�t move fast. Try to get close and bolt her then tele away and prepare to strike, hit and run. Try to get them in a dodge lock.
Druids:
Melee: A joke� they can�t kill you if they don�t hit so don�t go near. Also, they transform back to their human forms when they�re at low hp to save their life - this can be annoying. If they�re rabies and they managed to hit you, I have 3 words to say: FINISH IT FAST, you won�t have much longer to live.
Wind: 99% of the time you will lose. Their high absorbtion cyclone armour can take your attacks, so you have to blizz and blast them to first get their cyclone armour down and then kill them� if you live that long�
Fire: LOL. That�s what most people say when they go up against a fire druid, but don�t underestimate them. Their fissure can kill you in one hit if they�re skilled enough. Stay out of their range, blizz and tele away, rinse and repeat, druid Popsicle anyone?
Summon: There�s nothing much you can do if they send their minions at you while staying inside the safety of town, the best way to counter this is to just stay away from the town entrance, they can only kill if they have a opponent in close quarters.
Necros:
Poison: can be easy if your skilled enough, stay out of nova range and blizz, that�s all you have to do, they can reduce ones life from 5k to 1 in a matter of seconds, so never get hit.
Bone: These guys are hard if they have tele and 125 FCR. 80-90% of the time you will lose unless you are very skilled (guess I�m not ><). Stay out of sight of these guys, and remember, spirits track, spears are fast and pierce, and the golden rule, teeth hurts, don�t underestimate this lvl 1 skill.
Summon: One of the builds where they don�t do the killing themselves. Blizz till there�s nothing left, use spike instead of blast because of the area damage. This can be easy if they don�t have tele. If they do - run, blizz, tele, tele, spike, tele, blizz. Or something like that.
Assasins:
WW: Assasins can�t die while in WW, so be careful. You can often let them come with Dragon Flight, quickly get out the way and blizz while they WW, they will often die just as soon as they stop. Aim for faster hit recovery and faster r/w. Tele isn�t so effective against this build. Also, keep running, that�s how you get out of DFlight, they miss when you run.
Trapsins: annoying little bunch the are, they throw little paper weight on the ground that zap anyone that comes near. These guys often has no skill and absorb will take care of any damage achievable by traps. Stay out of trap range and also, if they use fireblast, never run, always tele, since fireblast has a good radius.
Kickers: Basically the same as WWsins, except these are much easier. They will have a harder time to hit you then with WW, but remember, they hurt just as much.
Barbarians:
Basically, all barbs are the same. They come to kill you. For any melee barbs stay under stacked blizzards and play a waiting game. If they call you a noob for staying in your blizzard just noob them back for not having enough skill to even kill a noob. When they do come either tele or r/w quickly away and let them fall victim to the icy powers of blizzard.
Throwers: This is going to be easy. They have to stand still to throw, so tele a few times around them and spam blizzard. One hit is often enough to kill these guys.
Singers: These guys can be a pain, often three hits will kill you, and the worst part is each hit will stun you making you unable to get out. Never ever get hit by these, any character will fall to them when they�re hit by Warcry, so stay out of cry range at all times. Blizz and run for your life, these guys rarely stand still so you may want to try to ice blast them out.
Paladins:
Zealots: When they come near, simply use glacial spike to kill them. They will try to dodge and circle you, but when they do come near, blizz and take a few steps back.
Smiters: Same as zealots but these guys are tough. They�re alot like the singer barbs except these guys don�t do as much. However a good one will do just as much as any barb and still have a good stun and kickback. Use the knockback to your advantage � get some FHR and tele away as soon as you get hit.
Hammerdins: If they stand still in a hammer field, one cast of blizz is all you need. If they play offensive and tele to you, never stay still; they will have a terrible time trying to hit you.
Fohers: Stay out of their aura. They cant do much without their aura on you but once they do one hit from this lock on skill is all they need. There is a way to negate them even with their aura on you. Use a for perfect topaz shield with four ort armour and T-Gods. If you want to be really nasty you can even use dual wisps and lightsaber, but I don�t recommend it as your damage will drop by a lot.
Chargers: Stay in your blizz and keep moving. When they are on your screen, stay motionless and be prepared to counter them. As soon as you see movement, send three ice blast their way and tele back; they should charge into the ice blasts and die, or you can use blizzard to block their path, as when they charge into blizz they�re very likely to die.
Sorceress:
Fireball: These girls hurt. With 10 GCs and godly gear 20k firebolt damage is in their reach. Never play shoot out will these girls, you will always lose. Stay out of the way of incoming fireballs and bolts and blizz when they�re casting, they will not have enough time to dodge it.
Orb: These girls don�t do as much damage with each attack as the fireball sorcs, but if they get a head on hit, they will do a lot. A head on frozen orb is able to kill just about any char, so NEVER get hit head on, and keep moving away. Never tele around these girls, because you�re very likely to tele into an orb. They have a good radius, are hard to kill, they almost never stay still. The key to killing them is their short casting delay, it�s almost unnoticeable but it�s there, use it to your advantage.
Light: These girls do the most damage out of all the sorcs, but lightning has a very slow cast rate. If they miss, they�re open for an attack - that�s the key to beating them. Light absorb will do very little against these girls, as they do so much damage.
Blizzard: Ah, same build duels are interesting and a good test of skill, since you are one your self. Try to think what they think and blizz where you think you would go if you�re them. These blizz sorcs know that blizz hurts a lot so they won�t stay still to get caught in it. Practice name locking, this will be the easiest way to kill them.
--------END OF GUIDE--------
Shadow � �Questions, comments, suggestions and complaints are welcome, as always."
Yuqing � �Feedback is highly appreciated, please send in tips and suggestions to make this guide better and tell me of any errors I have made, thank you for all the support!�
Extra Thanks to - Soepgroente, Jowy, Xiamet, [FLS]prozerran|||Oh finally a guide has arrived that absolutly starts to fit my expectations of a real Blizzard Sorc Guide. Stickied for sure. Lets see what can be done to further enhance this guide with input from others.
for this submission.|||
great job couldent rely find anything wrong with it the pvp guide help a lot.|||Any input at all would be really great, I don't mind being criticized, and I'm sure Yuqing wouldn't mind either. Any criticism would help to improve on what we have here. I realize it's quite long, but I believe that for a guide to be definitive, it must be complete. There is alot to be said about the blizzard sorceress, so to be complete, it must be lengthy.
Again, anything at all would be fantastic, we'd hate to call the first draft a final edit.
For the sticky, and the "great job" I thank you both.|||This guide looks amazing. I dont have to much of the gear mentioned but Im sure this will help kill bosses quickly in order to get the gear. I would recommend leveling doing Tristram runs at around level 5 after recuing Cane and then doing tunnels/Arcane and cows. Thats what I do & I go from level 5 to 17-18 in no time at all. Hope that helps. I know your guide will help me. Thanks|||Excuse me if this is nooby..I'm new to a Blizzard Sorc, but couldn't some variant of a Tal's Ammy, Tal's Armor and Belt be used for the MF?|||Nice guide guys, very in depth, good to see!
|||Quote:Excuse me if this is nooby..I'm new to a Blizzard Sorc, but couldn't some variant of a Tal's Ammy, Tal's Armor and Belt be used for the MF?
You can expect something like this to appear in the next edit:
Quote:
Secondary Setup
Tals partial set is a valid option, and would consist of tal's belt, armour and ammy. With these three pieces of Tals you get an MF bonus. The MF set bonus, and the MF already on the belt and armour add up to slightly less than the Skullder's/Goldwrap/Rare Ammy combo. The upside is that you may end up having more skills, and will most definitely have more resists, potentially making MF runs faster and safer.
Tal's belt may be taken without the rest of the set, as an alternative to Goldwrap. Even though it has less MF than Goldwrap, no upgrade is needed for max slots, and it has dexterity, which helps if you are hoping for max chance to block.
Hopefully that's what you meant. Thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming. Still waiting on some critical feedback
|||Very Extensive!Kudos to you!
- Dennis|||well it's defintely a good guide. however IMO you are missing something on PVP section, most sorc i know they focus on fcr setup, the fcr is not used on blizzard but it's critical for teleporting, more fcr faster they tele therefore more invation they get against dueler. i dont know at top of my head the fcr break point can you post it?
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