Just picked up Diablo 2 (and the expansion). I played Diablo 1 extensively, but never had the time to play Diablo 2. I'm very excited about Diablo 3 (been following Diablofans closely), but since that's quite far off my wife and I decided to enjoy this famous decade-old game until release of D3.
I like to have things nicely planned out, so I've been researching builds on the Wiki and the forums. In addition, I've been asking some Diablo 2 veteran friends of mine for advice. I have a few questions that they weren't able to answer (since they stopped playing many years ago).
- Is the "Lit Sorc" (Lightning Sorceress) a viable build? I found the wiki article, but my experienced buddy tells me that Lightning was pretty terrible back in the day. He recommended sticking with Cold, particularly since my wife is playing a ranged Amazon. However, I just can't drop the visual notion of blasting apart people with huge streaks of vicious lightning. It's too cool to pass up. So I was wondering if Lightning was still a reasonably strong build, or if it still lags significantly compared to Cold's potential.
- I read about the huge Bowazon nerf (when Dex no longer contributed to ranged weapon damage). Are Bowazons still reasonably strong, or do most Amazons go Spear/Javelin?
- I was also wondering how rampant cheating is? I recall in the Diablo 1 days it was completely out of control. From what I've read, it was still quite bad early on in Diablo 2, but supposedly Blizzard got better at putting a lid on it. To be safe, I haven't played in any game other than private locked games, and have had no interaction with others.
- On a related note, how many people continue to play? I couldn't find any recent numbers, though some articles mentioned that the game was still going strong in '08. In Diablo 1 I joined a guild, mostly to play with nicer folks and ensure that my gaming comrades didn't cheat. I assume such guilds exist for Diablo 2, but haven't found much information on how to go about looking for an appropriate guild to join. Anyone have advice?
- As an alt, I've decided to also build a Hammerdin. The wiki build guide was very useful, but I had one odd question: Once you've reached higher levels and fleshed out the spec and some gear, is Blessed Hammer ALL you do? Or it is still considered something to be used in conjunction with basic melee strikes? Do you simply cast a bunch of BHs and then run around letting the hammers do all the work, or is it expected that you continue to whack on targets the old fasioned way? The guides don't really elaborate on actual gameplay, they just detail the stats and builds. Just something I'm curious about.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses. Sorry for the noob questions. =)
in my opinion lite sorc's suck... they take so long to cast there lightning spells. For as cold. orb is pretty dam fun, but if they got res + thaw potion. your not gonna do much damage at all. blizzard sorc's i havent tried that much at all. they can be very very good as long as you can predict where your target is. so basicly you need good aim or it will be terrible. I like f-ball sorc's because its insanly fast to cast and its pretty much a 1 hit KO. my fire sorc did 32k fireball. on a sorc thats a 1 shot easily. when i fought lite sorc's i could shoot 2-3 fire balls and dodge his lite attacks easily.
now for zons.. if your gonna make a zon i say make a javazon. Javazons are one of the most beast melee pvp classes in the game if geared right, and you know how to play. People think smiters are OP, when my java would 1 shot em. it did 10.2k charged strike damage (10-12 charged bolts = 100k+ ez) then i had very fast attack speed, and all my charms were faster run... so even your running and your char stops to attack and you would miss... your charged bolts still release and kill the person. smiters you run and lightning fury until he twitches and charge strike him. i dont think theres any class that has a real advantage over a javazon. btw i had a perf griffians... <3. (one of the rarest/expensive items in the game).
one class i would recommend trying is a ele druid. i prefer wind, over fire. ele druids are extremely fun. and being wind you cant have a res against them.
Also works for a bone necro too. very fun class. kinda need skill as a pvp'er to use them though. seeing as you need to switch back and forth from about 6 skills in pvp.
Thanks for the replies! Note that we're solely interested in PvM, not PvP. So with that in mind, does the cast time for Lit Sorc become a problem? Sounds like it does plenty of damage.
Also - why are Bowazons hard to build? Is it just hard to find good gear for them?
Pvm, I'm using a zeal pally. Death axe, exile vortex shield, fortitude armor, dracs grasp gloves, nosferatu's coil, war trav boots, a raven frost ring and a bul kuthos wedding band. On the switch a EBotd war pike that does up to 21k damage. Great fun even in hell. Great soloer.
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- I read about the huge Bowazon nerf (when Dex no longer contributed to ranged weapon damage). Are Bowazons still reasonably strong, or do most Amazons go Spear/Javelin?
Wrong, I just played a juggernaut bowie earlier and she increased in damage whenever I placed stat points into dexterity.
Bows are a bit weaker than magic and melee but with some practice, they can be pretty damn devastating. My personal favorite, Strafezon with a bow coating all my arrows in various deadly toxins.
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Silently Lurking...
"Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted." ~ Ezio Auditore de Firenze
- Is the "Lit Sorc" (Lightning Sorceress) a viable build? I found the wiki article, but my experienced buddy tells me that Lightning was pretty terrible back in the day. He recommended sticking with Cold, particularly since my wife is playing a ranged Amazon. However, I just can't drop the visual notion of blasting apart people with huge streaks of vicious lightning. It's too cool to pass up. So I was wondering if Lightning was still a reasonably strong build, or if it still lags significantly compared to Cold's potential.
Facts:
1) Lite sorceresses can reach up into the mid 50k's in terms of pure Lightning damage (not CL, Lightning).
2) Lightning benefits enormously from FCR stats and even has its own FCR mechanics that run behind-the-scenes.
3) Lightning resistances are less common than Fire.
4) A decent lite build almost requires an Infinity-equipped merc (for immune monsters in Hell).
5) It is often a very expensive build.
It's more than reasonable: it's one of the most powerful in the game. It's more powerful than a Hammerdin. It's faster than a Hammerdin.
Your friend's information is probably very old, although I won't say it's untrue. Pre-1.10, without Infinity, they were very, very tricky to make.
Lightning > CL, given that you have high FCR. You can pretty must cast Lightning fast enough to spray the screen, and its damage is exponentially higher than CL's at higher levels.
As a Hammerdin you can also use Redemption to regain mana and health off of corpses that will inevitably be around. But more or less it's spam Blessed Hammer.
- I read about the huge Bowazon nerf (when Dex no longer contributed to ranged weapon damage). Are Bowazons still reasonably strong, or do most Amazons go Spear/Javelin?
Wrong, I just played a juggernaut bowie earlier and she increased in damage whenever I placed stat points into dexterity.
Bows are a bit weaker than magic and melee but with some practice, they can be pretty damn devastating. My personal favorite, Strafezon with a bow coating all my arrows in various deadly toxins.
Really? Hmm... then what was the big nerf? Did they simply reduce the amount that Dex contributed to ranged damage?
No, they never did such a thing to the dexterity because bowies aren't that popular to begin with. They got buffed up a bit in the immolation arrow department even. Besides, nerf the dexterity thing and they fuck over every bow using character while melee gets better with strength.
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Just as the Scorpion hunts...
Silently Lurking...
"Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted." ~ Ezio Auditore de Firenze
I see, thanks for the clarification. (What's a Juggernaut Amazon?)
It seems like what people are saying is the Lit Sorc is great.. but the gear is difficult to obtain. We won't likely get to spend much time farming much (and it will be slow if we do), so Cold works better for those with crappier gear?
now for zons.. if your gonna make a zon i say make a javazon. Javazons are one of the most beast melee pvp classes in the game if geared right, and you know how to play. People think smiters are OP, when my java would 1 shot em. it did 10.2k charged strike damage (10-12 charged bolts = 100k+ ez) then i had very fast attack speed, and all my charms were faster run... so even your running and your char stops to attack and you would miss... your charged bolts still release and kill the person. smiters you run and lightning fury until he twitches and charge strike him. i dont think theres any class that has a real advantage over a javazon. btw i had a perf griffians... <3. (one of the rarest/expensive items in the game).
thats a lot of talk. care to wager some items/hrs in a duel vs my smiter?
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I would say orb is one of the funnest/easiest skills for the sorc and i really recommend it (i hate blizzard).
Fireball you rape early on, and it continues to be good minus the resistant people.
And something for every sorc build i see some people neglect is static field. Amazing spell!! perfect for any boss if you can take a hit or 2 or let someone else tank you take their health down like nothing.
For the hammerdin, its pretty simple, max hammer and its synergies and concentration and its synergies with extras into holy shield. And even with low gear its usually still good enough to solo with.
From what i read of your first post your newer and your not gonna have great gear, so i recommend hammer and orb sorc.
In regards to that juggernaut amazon you were talking about, its just a run 3 of us are doing. Playing hardcore and we're not able to buy/sell items, heal unless your required to talk to them for a quest. etc. so we have a juggernaut zon(immolation respecing to strafe), necro(summon), and myself a sorc (fball/orb).
So in conclusion with cheap gear orb sorc would be my first pick and then hammerdin because those own everything and the low damage ones can still handle their own in PvM.
I very much enjoy my Strafe/Freezing Arrow Zon. She literally tears shit to pieces. Even with Freezing Arrow she blasts through Cold Immunes. I haven't run into anything I can't stop.
The nerf that your friend stats for the bowazon is likely in regards to the 3/4 damage for Multi-Shot and Strafe. Also there was a fix to the Guided Arrow skill that removed the pierce effect. Since one unique Exceptional Crossbow was used with this skill to great effect.
By looking at the current patch, I would state they are still effective but expensive to make it end game viable. I have not played unmodified D2 since 2003 (only play mods such as Eastern Sun).
"Faith" and "Ice" runewords are great with Bowazons. "Ice" is awesome with a freezing arrow with 100% pierce you can freeze many monsters. You do want to have an Act 2 merc with the runeword that has Conviction when equipped.
I will be playing battle-net shortly again and looking at making a few Bowazons. One is the Duel Elemental Bowie with no Valk or Decoy.
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One odd thing I noticed with Blessed Hammer: If it touches a wall or pillar, it disappears. It has been extremely effective in close-quarter crowds of monsters in open spaces, but not quite as good in corridors or smaller rooms. I've actually been switching between regular melee attacks and BH depending on the number of enemies and the terrain. Of course, I'm also still quite low level, but is this an expected problem with BH?
Even in open areas, my habit has been to run up to a group of enemies, spam a few BHs, then run away and let the hammers dish out some damage. Also been having mana issues, though mana pots are plentiful enough to make this easily countered.
@Magistrate: Thanks! Actually, I've already been using that to find guides not on the wiki. =)
Just picked up Diablo 2 (and the expansion). I played Diablo 1 extensively, but never had the time to play Diablo 2. I'm very excited about Diablo 3 (been following Diablofans closely), but since that's quite far off my wife and I decided to enjoy this famous decade-old game until release of D3.
I like to have things nicely planned out, so I've been researching builds on the Wiki and the forums. In addition, I've been asking some Diablo 2 veteran friends of mine for advice. I have a few questions that they weren't able to answer (since they stopped playing many years ago).
- Is the "Lit Sorc" (Lightning Sorceress) a viable build? I found the wiki article, but my experienced buddy tells me that Lightning was pretty terrible back in the day. He recommended sticking with Cold, particularly since my wife is playing a ranged Amazon. However, I just can't drop the visual notion of blasting apart people with huge streaks of vicious lightning. It's too cool to pass up. So I was wondering if Lightning was still a reasonably strong build, or if it still lags significantly compared to Cold's potential.
- I read about the huge Bowazon nerf (when Dex no longer contributed to ranged weapon damage). Are Bowazons still reasonably strong, or do most Amazons go Spear/Javelin?
- I was also wondering how rampant cheating is? I recall in the Diablo 1 days it was completely out of control. From what I've read, it was still quite bad early on in Diablo 2, but supposedly Blizzard got better at putting a lid on it. To be safe, I haven't played in any game other than private locked games, and have had no interaction with others.
- On a related note, how many people continue to play? I couldn't find any recent numbers, though some articles mentioned that the game was still going strong in '08. In Diablo 1 I joined a guild, mostly to play with nicer folks and ensure that my gaming comrades didn't cheat. I assume such guilds exist for Diablo 2, but haven't found much information on how to go about looking for an appropriate guild to join. Anyone have advice?
- As an alt, I've decided to also build a Hammerdin. The wiki build guide was very useful, but I had one odd question: Once you've reached higher levels and fleshed out the spec and some gear, is Blessed Hammer ALL you do? Or it is still considered something to be used in conjunction with basic melee strikes? Do you simply cast a bunch of BHs and then run around letting the hammers do all the work, or is it expected that you continue to whack on targets the old fasioned way? The guides don't really elaborate on actual gameplay, they just detail the stats and builds. Just something I'm curious about.
Thanks ahead of time for any responses. Sorry for the noob questions. =)
-Bowzons can be good but are really expensive / hard to build.
-Cheating, as in duping? i assume it happens once in a while. Bots? they are everywhere.
-There are alot of people still playing on b.net.
-A hamerdin uses only blessed hammer afaik.
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now for zons.. if your gonna make a zon i say make a javazon. Javazons are one of the most beast melee pvp classes in the game if geared right, and you know how to play. People think smiters are OP, when my java would 1 shot em. it did 10.2k charged strike damage (10-12 charged bolts = 100k+ ez) then i had very fast attack speed, and all my charms were faster run... so even your running and your char stops to attack and you would miss... your charged bolts still release and kill the person. smiters you run and lightning fury until he twitches and charge strike him. i dont think theres any class that has a real advantage over a javazon. btw i had a perf griffians... <3. (one of the rarest/expensive items in the game).
one class i would recommend trying is a ele druid. i prefer wind, over fire. ele druids are extremely fun. and being wind you cant have a res against them.
Also works for a bone necro too. very fun class. kinda need skill as a pvp'er to use them though. seeing as you need to switch back and forth from about 6 skills in pvp.
Also - why are Bowazons hard to build? Is it just hard to find good gear for them?
Recruiting for East Realm
Also recruiting for Sc2 on both EU and NA servers
Bod home Page
Wrong, I just played a juggernaut bowie earlier and she increased in damage whenever I placed stat points into dexterity.
Bows are a bit weaker than magic and melee but with some practice, they can be pretty damn devastating. My personal favorite, Strafezon with a bow coating all my arrows in various deadly toxins.
Facts:
1) Lite sorceresses can reach up into the mid 50k's in terms of pure Lightning damage (not CL, Lightning).
2) Lightning benefits enormously from FCR stats and even has its own FCR mechanics that run behind-the-scenes.
3) Lightning resistances are less common than Fire.
4) A decent lite build almost requires an Infinity-equipped merc (for immune monsters in Hell).
5) It is often a very expensive build.
It's more than reasonable: it's one of the most powerful in the game. It's more powerful than a Hammerdin. It's faster than a Hammerdin.
Your friend's information is probably very old, although I won't say it's untrue. Pre-1.10, without Infinity, they were very, very tricky to make.
Lightning > CL, given that you have high FCR. You can pretty must cast Lightning fast enough to spray the screen, and its damage is exponentially higher than CL's at higher levels.
Really? Hmm... then what was the big nerf? Did they simply reduce the amount that Dex contributed to ranged damage?
It seems like what people are saying is the Lit Sorc is great.. but the gear is difficult to obtain. We won't likely get to spend much time farming much (and it will be slow if we do), so Cold works better for those with crappier gear?
Just my opinion.
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."
Fireball you rape early on, and it continues to be good minus the resistant people.
And something for every sorc build i see some people neglect is static field. Amazing spell!! perfect for any boss if you can take a hit or 2 or let someone else tank you take their health down like nothing.
For the hammerdin, its pretty simple, max hammer and its synergies and concentration and its synergies with extras into holy shield. And even with low gear its usually still good enough to solo with.
From what i read of your first post your newer and your not gonna have great gear, so i recommend hammer and orb sorc.
In regards to that juggernaut amazon you were talking about, its just a run 3 of us are doing. Playing hardcore and we're not able to buy/sell items, heal unless your required to talk to them for a quest. etc. so we have a juggernaut zon(immolation respecing to strafe), necro(summon), and myself a sorc (fball/orb).
So in conclusion with cheap gear orb sorc would be my first pick and then hammerdin because those own everything and the low damage ones can still handle their own in PvM.
By looking at the current patch, I would state they are still effective but expensive to make it end game viable. I have not played unmodified D2 since 2003 (only play mods such as Eastern Sun).
"Faith" and "Ice" runewords are great with Bowazons. "Ice" is awesome with a freezing arrow with 100% pierce you can freeze many monsters. You do want to have an Act 2 merc with the runeword that has Conviction when equipped.
I will be playing battle-net shortly again and looking at making a few Bowazons. One is the Duel Elemental Bowie with no Valk or Decoy.
http://firebolt.seroha.net/
Just saying. Not promoting anything or anything. Just saying.
One odd thing I noticed with Blessed Hammer: If it touches a wall or pillar, it disappears. It has been extremely effective in close-quarter crowds of monsters in open spaces, but not quite as good in corridors or smaller rooms. I've actually been switching between regular melee attacks and BH depending on the number of enemies and the terrain. Of course, I'm also still quite low level, but is this an expected problem with BH?
Even in open areas, my habit has been to run up to a group of enemies, spam a few BHs, then run away and let the hammers dish out some damage. Also been having mana issues, though mana pots are plentiful enough to make this easily countered.
@Magistrate: Thanks! Actually, I've already been using that to find guides not on the wiki. =)
"to the worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish."