Okay so I recently got back into diablo 2 with all the excitement about d3 but with being several years since playing I need help on making my lite sorc I'm not to big on pvp mainly pvm but I don't mind the thought of killing a few fin duels with her I know that he'll chaos/Baal runs have a few lite immunities but what's best to do a lite and Lil hybrid fire sorc? And also does it benefit me if I put infinity on my merc and if so what else should I load him with coa w 2 5-5 lite jewels? Or what are the best options for what I am my merc should use I kno the basics shako lite eschutas ( yes I can't spell ) sojs so on so forth .., payment for these items is not my consurn I have stock piled around 40 hrs from my hdin doing rushes for forge so help me out!!
Another off topic I have a ww barb what are best charms to use weighed it be skill gc or max damg w/ attack rating?
First, I should point out to you that you can respec your character these days. So you can start out as a hybrid and then change to full out lightning later if you want to.
And also does it benefit me if I put infinity on my merc
Infinity is great for a lightning sorceress, since all lightning immune monsters in the game (except for Pit Lords and Skeleton Mages) can be broken with Conviction.
It is useless however if you want to go cold, since barely any cold immune monsters can be broken with Conviction.
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For a helm, basically anything with good LS and Res All will do nicely (especially if it has DR, too). For mercs. All your merc needs to do is stay alive- you're the one that should focus on damage. CoA is nice but overboard. I still use a Tal's Mask on my merc even when I'm doing 40k+ damage with lightning.
(If you put 5/5 lite dies on your merc, the benefits do not transfer to you. It only accounts for the lightning damage HE does. I'm pretty sure about this.)
A lightning sorceress is a perfectly viable build for doing chaos sanctuary runs because the immunes (finger mages) are slow and almost harmless.
I'd say that depends. My sorceress isn't all that powerful, being an SP character and all, so I wouldn't be surprised if she'd die in there with only lightning.
And there are other areas than the Chaos Sanctuary
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(If you put 5/5 lite dies on your merc, the benefits do not transfer to you. It only accounts for the lightning damage HE does. I'm pretty sure about this.)
Yup; same for the -resist on Infinity (not the Conviction Aura...that obviously applies to your spells).
(If you put 5/5 lite dies on your merc, the benefits do not transfer to you. It only accounts for the lightning damage HE does. I'm pretty sure about this.)
Yup; same for the -resist on Infinity (not the Conviction Aura...that obviously applies to your spells).
PlugY for Diablo II allows you to reset skills and stats, transfer items between characters in singleplayer, obtain all ladder runewords and do all Uberquests while offline. It is the only way to do all of the above. Please use it.
Supporting big shoulderpads and flashy armor since 2004.
Interesting, if my Sorc hit Hell difficulty I was going to respec her to a Lit/Cold hybrid, with the Cold focus on Frozen Orb. Is Cold Mastery necessary to make Frozen Orb useful, or can I skip dumping points in it? I saw the charts on immunities, but it's hard to get a sense for general resistances and how big a role they play.
It's worth 1 point IMO. My sorc has 1 point in it and with +Skills it's at -90% I think, so it can be pretty effective without dumping a ton of points into.
I saw the charts on immunities, but it's hard to get a sense for general resistances and how big a role they play.
What's very important to remember with Cold Mastery is that is doesn't break immunities, and that monster immunities will never drop below -100%. So it doesn't help against cold immunes, but it helps a ton against monster that are cold resistant.
An Urdar for example has 75 Cold Resist. So a Sorc with lvl 12 cold mastery (-75%) will reduce that resist to 0, effectievely tripling the damage output of cold spells.
Cold masterry greater than 100% reduction will help against monsters with cold resist, but will be wasted points against monsters with 0 cold resist, as their resist will already be at -1+00%. So I'd say anything up to lvl 17 is a great asset (whether from items or hard points) but anything beyond that depends on what else you need to spend points on.
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I would worry about life and AR. There aren't percentage increments on charms for damage, so any damage you get is minuscule when you compare it to how much health monsters actually have in endgame. But life is life, on the other hand. Any sliver of it could be the difference between life and death, and with war cries even 20 points could become a lot more.
A lot of people seem to think that if you encounter immunes with a sorc in some area you're automatically done for. Why is this??
You know in Diablo 2 you got this handy spell called teleport...
A lightning sorceress is a perfectly viable build for doing chaos sanctuary runs because the immunes (finger mages) are slow and almost harmless.
The Grand Vizier of Chaos is always lightning immune. If you can't kill him, you can't finish the sanctuary. Similarly, he's completely surrounded by lightning immune Storm Casters, so it's not even very practical to think your mercenary can just take him down, especially if he can't hold up against a group of monsters well (they're Undead, so any life steal he has won't work).
Of course, it's possible, but from my experience the success rate is low and the trouble isn't worth it when you could be grinding other, less troublesome, less time-consuming areas. Unless you have an Infinity, in which case it's a slice of pie.
Another off topic I have a ww barb what are best charms to use weighed it be skill gc or max damg w/ attack rating?
The hybrids usually prefer to use cold, particularly Frozen Orb, since it's a solid spell even without any powerful synergies.
Infinity is great for a lightning sorceress, since all lightning immune monsters in the game (except for Pit Lords and Skeleton Mages) can be broken with Conviction.
It is useless however if you want to go cold, since barely any cold immune monsters can be broken with Conviction.
Here's a list of Immune monsters and whether their immunities can be broken: Immune Monsters#Lightning 3
(If you put 5/5 lite dies on your merc, the benefits do not transfer to you. It only accounts for the lightning damage HE does. I'm pretty sure about this.)
And there are other areas than the Chaos Sanctuary
Yup; same for the -resist on Infinity (not the Conviction Aura...that obviously applies to your spells).
Okay so then infiNty is used for the mana aura?
The mana aura is on Insight; Phrozen's covered Infinity already.
An Urdar for example has 75 Cold Resist. So a Sorc with lvl 12 cold mastery (-75%) will reduce that resist to 0, effectievely tripling the damage output of cold spells.
Cold masterry greater than 100% reduction will help against monsters with cold resist, but will be wasted points against monsters with 0 cold resist, as their resist will already be at -1+00%. So I'd say anything up to lvl 17 is a great asset (whether from items or hard points) but anything beyond that depends on what else you need to spend points on.
What would you kno about the barb charms to use for a ww barb ? Best to get 9 mastery gc or worry about max damg/attack rating?
The Grand Vizier of Chaos is always lightning immune. If you can't kill him, you can't finish the sanctuary. Similarly, he's completely surrounded by lightning immune Storm Casters, so it's not even very practical to think your mercenary can just take him down, especially if he can't hold up against a group of monsters well (they're Undead, so any life steal he has won't work).
Of course, it's possible, but from my experience the success rate is low and the trouble isn't worth it when you could be grinding other, less troublesome, less time-consuming areas. Unless you have an Infinity, in which case it's a slice of pie.
Storm Caster: 33% Drain Effectiveness (Hell)
The List:
Skeleton
Skeleton Archer
Skeleton Mage
Flying Scimitar (Really??)
Gargoyle Trap
Swarm
Lightening Spire
Mummy Sarcophagus
Fire Tower
Willowisp
Catapult
Directly from The Arreat Summit.