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Faster Block Rate | Faster Cast Rate | Faster Hit Recovery
Guide for PvP and Countess Lightning Sorc
Introduction
Hi! Welcome to my second more detailed guide! This time it's Lightning sorc designed for running Countess for runes. It's ur decision will u run Countess with bot or manually. She is also viable in PvP and in PvM if there are no Lightning immune monsters. Actually, if there are Lightning immune monsters ur merc will take care of them. Let's get going!
Gear
Items listed in red are ur best options, suggested gear. I'll include screenshots of how ur char should look like using those suggested items.
Items listed in blue are poor man's choices.
Items listed in green are items that u should use if ur not rich enough to get suggested ones or u simply think those are better than suggested ones.
Helm: Griffon's Eye , Peasant Crown , Lore Shako , Harlequin Crest , Kira's Guardian
Armor: Ormus' Robes (Chain Lightning for Countess , Lightning for PvP) , Skin of the Vipermagi , Que-Hegan's Wisdom , Chains of Honor Wyrmhide
Belt: Arachnid Mesh , Gloom's Trap , Gloom's Trap
Weapon: Eschuta's Temper , Leaf Staff with bonuses to Lightning spells , Suicide Branch , Wizardspike , The Oculus
Shield: Lidless Wall , Visceratuant , Moser's Blessed Circle , Stormshield , Sanctuary Troll Nest
Gloves: Frostburn , Frostburn , Magefist , Magefist , Trang Oul's Claws
Boots: Sandstorm Trek , Silkweave , Waterwalk , Silkweave , Waterwalk
Ring 1: Stone of Jordan , Raven Frost , Bul-Katho's Wedding Band , Raven Frost
Ring 2: Stone of Jordan , Raven Frost , Bul-Katho's Wedding Band , Raven Frost
Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope , Saracen's Chance , +3 to Lightning spells amulet , Tal Rasha's Adjudication , Metalgrid
Switch: Call to Arms + Lidless Wall , none , Call to Arms + any other shield
Skills
Chain Lightning: 20
Main attacking skill against Countess. Max it as soon as possible.
Lightning: 20
Main attacking skill in PvP, also a syngery to Chain Lightning. Max it after Chain Lightning and Lightning Mastery.
Lightning Mastery: 20
Makes Chain Lightning and Lightning more efficient. Max it after Chain Lightning.
Charged Bolt: 20
Syngery to Chain Lightning and Lightning...
Nova: 10
Syngery to Chain Lightning and Lightning...
Teleport: 1
Used to get around, getting to Countess. U'll teleport around more than walk.
Warmth: 1
Way to Countess isn't short, this will help u not to run out of mana often.
Frozen Armor: 1
If monsters even get near u and if they manage to hit u they will be frozen. Really helps.
Thunderstorm: 1
Efficient even with 1 point since u'll have lots of +skills.
Pre. reqs.: 1
Put 1 point in each pre. req. Very simple, isn't it?
Total: 96
96 in total. Considering u get skill bonuses from quests (Den of Evil, Radament and Izual on norm, nm and hell) u won't complete this build on level 97. U'll complete it on level 85 which isn't that high.
Stats
Strenght: Enough for gear with +str on items
Depending what gear u'll use calculate how much str u will need base. Little help, calculate total +str on ur gear and subtract it from "heaviest" piece of gear, the one that requires the biggest ammount of strenght. Result is how much base str u need.
Dexterity: None or 60
U won't need any dex with this build cuz u won't go for maxed blocking. In case u use Wizzy put enough in dex to have 60 with +dex from items. Why 60 and not 75 for Wizzy? Well, u'll probably sock it with Hel rune.
Vitality: Rest
Everything remaining should be dumped here. Extra life never hurts.
Energy: None or +/-100
If ur planning to use this build for PvP u won't need any nrg. U'll have enough mana with BO. Also, Lightning isn't really expensive. If ur planning to use this build for Countess, that's another story. In that case put around 100 cuz u'll need lots of mana to get to Countess and then to kill her. Killing her won't be problem, but note that Chain Lightning is expensive spell to cast. Anyway, only getting to her requires lots of mana, u'll kill her in few shots anyway. Warmth will help too... But then... Maybe u won't need to put any points in nrg at all for getting to Countess in case u have over 1k mana with BO, very high level of Teleport (enough for it to cost less than 7 mana) and high mana recovery rate.
Inventory
Inventory should be filled with following stuff:
Lightning Skillers 12% FHR: Get enough of them to hit 7 frames FHR. If ur using Sandstorm Trek which has 20% FHR u need 6 of them to hit 7 frames FHR.
Why FHR on sorc u may ask... Yes, sorc teleports a lot and attacks from distance. But if u ever teleport straight into crowd of monsters (probably with Occy) u'll be most likely dead without FHR. Without it u won't be able to recover from attacks fast enough which will result in some kind of stun lock. U won't be able to teleport out of crowd which will turn u into dead meat.
Lightning Skillers with 20+ life: After u get enough 12% FHR Lightning Skillers fill rest of inventory with these.
Small Charms with Life and possibly resist: Get ones with 19-20 life and resist all 4-5 or resist fire/cold/lightning/poison 9-11. Those are best, get as much as u need to have all resistances 75 on hell. Most important on them is 19-20 life. Resist is optional.
Note:
If ur unlegit u can use 20/5's...
Annihilus: Annihilus... Like... Always...
Merc
Same as gear section, but for merc.
Two notes:
Eth items are always better than regular ones... For merc.
Upgrade whatever can be upgraded.
Act 2 Nm Offensive
Helm: Andariel's Visage , Crown of Thieves , Rockstopper , Vampire Gaze , Harlequin Crest
Armor: Stone Sacred Armor , Bramble Archon Plate , Duriel's Shell , Guardian Angel , Shaftstop , Leviathan
Weapon: Doom Cryptic Axe , Hone Sudan , Arioc's Needle , Spire of Honor , Bonehew , The Reaper's Tool
Act 2 Nm Defensive
Helm: Andariel's Visage , Crown of Thieves , Rockstopper , Vampire Gaze , Harlequin Crest
Armor: Stone Sacred Armor , Bramble Archon Plate , Duriel's Shell , Guardian Angel , Shaftstop , Leviathan
Weapon: Breath of the Dying War Pike , Hone Sudan , Arioc's Needle , Spire of Honor , Bonehew , The Reaper's Tool
Act 5
Helm: Arreat's Face , Crown of Thieves , Rockstopper , Vampire Gaze , Harlequin Crest , Andariel's Visage
Armor: Stone Sacred Armor , Bramble Archon Plate , Duriel's Shell , Guardian Angel , Shaftstop , Leviathan
Weapon: Breath of the Dying Colossus Blade , Flamebellow , Swordguard , The Grandfather , Doombringer , Fury Balrog Blade
Tables
Faster Hit Recovery frames
FHR | Frames
----|-------
0 | 15
5 | 14
9 | 13
14 | 12
20 | 11
30 | 10
42 | 9
60 | 8
86 | 7
142 | 6
280 | 5
Faster Block Rate frames
FBR | Frames
----|-------
0 | 9
7 | 8
15 | 7
27 | 6
48 | 5
86 | 4
200 | 3
Some tips
If u plan to use this sorc for botting then u need no tips. Bot will do all the job. If u plan to do manual runs then simply teleport to level 5 avoiding monsters. Stand in front of Countess' room and cast few Chain Lightnings in it. After that walk in and clear remainings. Pick runes.
For regular PvM simply keep distance and attack monsters with Chain Lightning. If u face Lightning immune let merc handle it. If u don't have one or he is too weak call friend. U do have friend, don't u?
Now PvP.
For melee simply keep distance and cast Lightning. Be careful when facing so called "speed demons". U will have to use hit'n'run tactic. Teleport away, cast few Lightning, teleport away, cast few Lightnings, and so on.
For casters it can be very easy or very hard.
If u face casters like Bone necro with very high FCR it will be very hard cuz Lightning is easy avoidable.
If u face slow teleporting casters or casters that don't teleport at all just try to catch up with them and Lightning them.
Not so much tips, but that's all there is. If u have more questions just post them or PM me.
Notes
I have few notes concerning Countess.
First of all if u plan to bot be sure to disclude 2 GCs from inventory, ones with Life if possible cuz u'll need FHR. Why? U'll need space for Town Portal Tome and potential drops from Countess.
This note isn't very important but I'll say it anyway, just in case... Countess is always immune to fire and cold. That's reason why Lightning sorcs are best for Countess runs.
What next? Ahh yes, when finishing Countess try not too be close to her cuz she is always fire enchanted.
Maybe u will wonder why I haven't included Energy Shield. I never liked that skill and imo it's pretty useless, at least for this build. U will teleport to Countess and kill her avoiding other monsters in the way. With high mana and FCR that's not problem so I don't see any need for Energy Shield. Only small threat are Dark Archers cuz they are immune to Lightning but it takes over 20 shots for them to kill so there is no problem. And ur merc can take care of them.
But ok, if u really think Energy Shield is necessary put 20 in it (1 is useless) and sacrafice one syngery for Chain Lightning (probably Charged Bolt).
Last note: With this build ur Teleport won't cost more than 6 mana. I tested it in single player and it costed 4. That means u almost won't notice losing mana while teleporting. And that's good.
A small screenshot
Final word
End of guide... Hope u enjoyed it.
If u strictly follow this guide u should end up with sorc that can run Countess very effectively doing over 13k Chain Lightning dmg, having over 2k life and over 1k mana. Also, she will be very good in PvP doing over 32k Lightning dmg.
Level or completion is 85, on that level it's avilable to put skills as suggested.
Well, don't know what else to say...
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red
25 Sep 2008, 09:50
WTF is this?? dmg?..junk
watch tis:
-eschuta +facet 5/5
-shako + fcet 5/5
-Sprit 35fcr
-arachnid
-soj
-soj
-Chain of Honor - in husk-beacause you need only 77 str
-sandstorm 15/15
-SK 1 + str
-smc 20 life (+rezist if is posible)
-anihilus
-torch
If your ani is perf anthe torch is perf and you will have to put all your stats point in life...if not you have to pus some strenght.
this built will make 50k dmg
anonymous
23 May 2008, 00:35
THAT BUILD SUCKS ASS!!!!
grimm
04 May 2008, 02:48
not the great
lidless instead of spirit?
100 into energy WTF?
no torch?
This Build Sucks
27 Dec 2007, 08:21
No infinity for merc ?
and what about spirit shield ? 55%fhr + resist + 35% FASTER CAST.
Omg
01 Dec 2007, 02:57
Look the lvl of the char in the stats screen and look his dmg with chain of lightning..
NONAME*
01 Dec 2007, 02:55
This build is really good..But u should remove 1 light gc to put a Sorceress Torch .. That's better! But..If u cant afford griffon eye..just wear shako..it will be strong... XD Good work dude !
dug
26 Oct 2007, 22:19
No torch.. why not take 1 gc out and a torch which gives 2more then 1 gc.. Jew pie..
deathsycth1
05 Jun 2007, 21:13
nice guide man im starting my sorc now and shes lvl 15 and she does decent dmg and able to solo andy
CaPx23
18 Mar 2007, 00:03
Man, this was a great guide.
It helped me build my sorceress DyE-MyStiCz
She was K:112 D:5
(Kill/Death) I got up to 43K lighting damage, 6K TS, 3K Nova.
Using all in one Hotkey/tele combo was 52K.
Make another guide for a PvP Hdin, the current ones are ZZ.
TY SO MUCH MAN!
rofl
04 Mar 2007, 06:11
noob poor build........
muki
20 Nov 2006, 23:04
very nice guide goodgood
Snozz
16 Nov 2006, 07:29
"Does it matter in what order you max the skills? Will it affect the amount of damage you do?"
this guy is spastic... good guide man
JUuO
08 Oct 2006, 12:04
41k dmg i think
fallout
14 Sep 2006, 08:36
hy!i've respected u-re guid and the countess..that biatch :) doesn't drops runes :) i have exactely what u said and still nothing.what's the pb?
anonymous
12 Jul 2006, 23:35
Does it matter in what order you max the skills? Will it affect the amount of damage you do?
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