[:1]Hello all,
I just got back into diablo 2 again and have been playing a softcore non-ladder sorc up to lvl 55. It's been years and years since I played the game and I'm a little rusty. More than that, a lot has happened since patch 1.09 that might mean I need some tips and tricks to not get totally lost.
I'm building a Blizzard sorc and figured I'd take Firewall as my secondary elemental attack. I'm playing a clean game (no trading except with 3 friends), so I don't expect I'll be seeing any truly stellar equipment. What I'm looking for now are some tips and things to watch for in general, and some answers to specific questions.
general tips
To get a feel for what I'm looking for:
- I only found out by accident that you're supposed to go to act 2 after killing Andy before you log out, or her loot table will be much worse on future kills.
- I just now saw a post with the math showing that going over 10 points in Cold Mastery is pretty much useless if you have some decent +skill gear.
- The only reason I didn't go with huge +energy was because some threads kept saying you don't need it at higher levels.
So what I'm looking for is other things like that. Stuff you might not know coming back into the game, but that are important to know if you want to get the most out of your build and that 'everyone' knows anyway.
Specific questions
1) I'm using an act 2 Holy Freeze merc right now, but because I already have shiver armor and Blizzard to freeze things, it's not as useful as I'd hoped. So what now? Do I take a Defiance merc for survivability? A might merc to help me cut through the cold immune monsters? An act 5 barbarian? What?
2) It looks like a lot of new and awesome runewords were added since I last played. Which are the semi-affordable 'must haves' for sorcs? I got myself a Lore headpiece already, but for example I also have enough runes to make the Memory staff. Is that worth to tide me over until I start getting end-game gear? Or should I save those runes for an orb/shield? And what about armor?
3) How does respeccing work? Does it give you a full respec of all stat points and skill points? Only one of those? And is it limited to 3 times for a character or are there other ways to get more respecs?
4) The basic idea for my build right now is:
- max out: Blizzard, Ice Blast, Firewall
- 1 point in basic stuff: teleport, shiver armor, warmth (maybe energy shield? maybe static field?)
Now where to put my other points. Obviously I need some in fire/cold mastery, but how many? This is a Blizzard sorc and firewall is just backup, but is it worth it to get more synergies for Blizzard through another ice skill, or will I want to put points in Warmth so Firewall doesn't become utterly useless against the nastier stuff in hell?
5) I've seen a lot of discussion about maxing blocking versus going full vitality. Is there any kind of consensus on what to do as a clueless newbie?
Thanks in advance for your answers and advice!
- Frostlion|||Quote:
Hello all,
I just got back into diablo 2 again and have been playing a softcore non-ladder sorc up to lvl 55. It's been years and years since I played the game and I'm a little rusty. More than that, a lot has happened since patch 1.09 that might mean I need some tips and tricks to not get totally lost.
I'm building a Blizzard sorc and figured I'd take Firewall as my secondary elemental attack. I'm playing a clean game (no trading except with 3 friends), so I don't expect I'll be seeing any truly stellar equipment. What I'm looking for now are some tips and things to watch for in general, and some answers to specific questions.
general tips
To get a feel for what I'm looking for:
- I only found out by accident that you're supposed to go to act 2 after killing Andy before you log out, or her loot table will be much worse on future kills.
I wouldn't worry about this too much except in hell, but if possible do it in nightmare too.
Quote:
- I just now saw a post with the math showing that going over 10 points in Cold Mastery is pretty much useless if you have some decent +skill gear.
Slvl 17 total is a nice place to stop. Don't forget that you have 3 free respecs at Akara, so you can change things as you improve your gear.
Quote:
- The only reason I didn't go with huge +energy was because some threads kept saying you don't need it at higher levels.
So what I'm looking for is other things like that. Stuff you might not know coming back into the game, but that are important to know if you want to get the most out of your build and that 'everyone' knows anyway.
Specific questions
1) I'm using an act 2 Holy Freeze merc right now, but because I already have shiver armor and Blizzard to freeze things, it's not as useful as I'd hoped. So what now? Do I take a Defiance merc for survivability? A might merc to help me cut through the cold immune monsters? An act 5 barbarian? What?
A2 might merc might be a good choice. A5 barbarian seems to be for people who just want to be different.
Quote:
2) It looks like a lot of new and awesome runewords were added since I last played. Which are the semi-affordable 'must haves' for sorcs? I got myself a Lore headpiece already, but for example I also have enough runes to make the Memory staff. Is that worth to tide me over until I start getting end-game gear? Or should I save those runes for an orb/shield? And what about armor?
Must-haves for a sorc:
Spirit (tal thul ort amn) in a 4 socket crystal sword; super awesome, these are runes you can easily acquire by/in A1 nightmare and Spirit is good enough to be used as a pvp weapon in a lot of situations. +2 all skills, up to 35 fcr, 55 fhr, 22 vitality, 100ish mana! By level 25. Once you get to hell, start looking for a monarch you can socket at larzuk for 4os, and make that into a Spirit shield. This will give you all of the above plus cold/light/poison resists.
Insight (ral tir tal sol) in a 4 socket preferably ethereal and preferably elite polearm for the merc to use. This will solve all your mana problems once you get to a decent total mana amount. It also hits very hard for a cheap runeword: decent damage plus a good chance of a critical hit. You sound like you can get an exceptional polearm from where you are in the game right now.
You might be able to find something better by now, but for low level armor, Stealth (tal eth) is it. 25% fcr, fhr, and faster run/walk.
If you can make Memory, you can make Smoke in a 2os armor. The main benefit to this is the 50 all res. I'd choose this over Stealth if I were in late nightmare or hell.
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3) How does respeccing work? Does it give you a full respec of all stat points and skill points? Only one of those? And is it limited to 3 times for a character or are there other ways to get more respecs?
You get to reallocate all stat and skill points. You can get more respecs by making a 'token' from the essences dropped by hell andy, duriel, meph, diablo, and baal. Note that andy and duriel drop the same essence so you can skip the giant slug and his bad drops.
Quote:
4) The basic idea for my build right now is:
- max out: Blizzard, Ice Blast, Firewall
- 1 point in basic stuff: teleport, shiver armor, warmth (maybe energy shield? maybe static field?)
Now where to put my other points. Obviously I need some in fire/cold mastery, but how many? This is a Blizzard sorc and firewall is just backup, but is it worth it to get more synergies for Blizzard through another ice skill, or will I want to put points in Warmth so Firewall doesn't become utterly useless against the nastier stuff in hell?
You should check out some of the build guides, I think there are better alternatives to blizz/firewall these days, even on an extreme budget.
Quote:
5) I've seen a lot of discussion about maxing blocking versus going full vitality. Is there any kind of consensus on what to do as a clueless newbie?
Thanks in advance for your answers and advice!
- Frostlion
If you aren't playing hardcore or pvping, I suggest you go vita. It helps you meet fcr breakpoints and opens up more gear choices.
Edit: And welcome back!|||You should have started in Ladder, cause then you would be able to make the runewords Spirit(sword and shield) and Insight for your merc. These are "must have"or atleast "should have" for a sorc on budget.|||Quote:
You should have started in Ladder, cause then you would be able to make the runewords Spirit(sword and shield) and Insight for your merc. These are "must have"or atleast "should have" for a sorc on budget.
/fadedesk
I didn't even catch that part.
Yeah, on nonladder those can actually be expensive. :x|||Thanks a lot Karth for the info and Krem for the quick correction. The merc choice, stat advise and the respec info in particular were a great help. My Might merc is ripping through hell, some of my friends have been a lot more flexible with respecs knowing there's no limit of just 3 and my high vita sorc is doing well even before getting her resistances up.
You're right that it's a shame about Ladder. I don't know why, but I had the idea leveling was artificially slower on Ladder, can't find that anywhere though, so I guess I was wrong on that.
Having played for a bit now, I'm finding it's really easy to get geared out and find runes. From about two dozen Meph and Andy runs I've already got 3 pieces of Tal's, a SoJ, a Shako and a whole host of good gear for other characters, as well as an Ohm and a Lo rune. Have the drop chances been increased? Or have I just gotten really lucky?|||1.13 increased the drop rates for higher runes by a lot.
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