*PetezJunior's 1.12 Fully Optimized PvM MeteOrb Guide*
Okay, in this thread, I will describe a fully optimized Sorceress that will be able to run every difficulty in every act without problems. Because this guide will not require massive Fg, this is an ideal character that you will love to play with. If you want an easy, enjoyable character that requires little work, this is the perfect character. This character is best used at level 85+.
In this guide, your sorceress will achieve:
2k+ Health
Mana that will almost never drain
55 Faster Hit Recovery
105 Fcr
550+ Magic Find
10k+ Fireball
550 Orb Damage
20k-21k Meteor Damage
Abbreviations used in this guide:
Fcr- Faster Cast Rate – Determines how fast your character can use her magic skills.
Fhr- Faster Hit Recovery- When you get hit the number of frames decrease, so your character recovers faster if you have more Fhr.
Mf- Magic Find- Used as a verb or noun- Basically describes the ability of finding better, higher valuable items.
Sorceress Fcr Table
Fcr - Frames
0% 13
9% 12
20% 11
37% 10
63% 9
105% 8
200% 7
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Let's start off with the gear, shall we?
Helmet
Perfect Topaz Socketed Shako- This helmet proves best for PVM purposes because of the life bonus, mana bonus, + skills, and of course, magic find. (84 Mf to be precise)
Sorceress Circlet- If you can afford it, you can buy this if you wish. A prime example would be +2 Sorceress skills, base life, base resistances, 20 Fcr, 1 socket or 2 sockets. I highly recommend shako, however because of its cheap price and helpfulness in PVM situations.
Amulet
Maras- The +2 Skills and resistances will help in hell running. Again, I highly recommend this amulet for the poorer.
Armageddon Fletch (Non-ladder East)- Okay, if you can spare the fg and want to switch your Arachnid Belt or Magefists for Chancies (which I did), buy this amulet. This is the godly permed amulet that provides, + Sorceress skills, resistance, 20 Fcr, high base strength (18), base health, and base mana. If you can spare the Fg, this is well worth it because you can gain an easy 40 Magic find by switching magefists with the chancies; to compensate the Fcr (with chancies), use the Fletch.
Rare Amulet- This is VERY expensive but are available for the rich. A prime example would include +2 sorceress skills, 20 Fcr, mana, life, resistances, Mf. This is only for the rich, I don't recommend this as well. If you want to switch your 20 Fcr chancies or arach for this amulet, go for it.
Weapon
Occy- In my honest opinion, this Orb is good enough in PVM situations. With the vitality bonus, Fcr, high availability, and of course magic find, this is the best Orb for you. People complain about the 25% teleport mod on the Occy, but you will be teleporting like crazy anyways, so why bother? These cost 1-2 fg in most areas. (Ist'd Occy- 80 Mf)
Hoto- This is the best choice if you don't care about the 80 Mf in the Ist'd Occy. Imo, this is a better weapon for survivability because of the high resistance and overall better mods.
Eschutas- If you want that high Fireball/Meteor damage, go for it. A nice ist'd eschutas is nice too but it doesn't have all the valauble mods that Hoto and Occy have.
Armor
Archon Plate Chains of Honor- Okay, you might freak out because the strength requirements are a bit high, but you will end up spending massive points for the spirit monarch (which is essential to the build) as well... The Chains of Honor is the best armor to choose for this build because of the strength boost, high resistances, and once again, magic find (25 Mf).
Enigma- Although I do not recommend this armor, some use it because of the massive magic find boost and +1 to teleport skills, which saves 2 skill points. You can pick this If you want, but I suggest the Chains of Honor.
Shield
Spirit Monarch- This is the most expensive yet quite possibly one of the most important items for your character. Although a 35 Fcr spirit may cost some fg, I suggest you make the decision to buy this shield. With the massive Fcr boost, + skills, vitality, mana, and Fhr, I suggest you pick this shield.
Lidless Wall- If you cannot afford the spirit, I think you should take a look at this shield too. It's always very cheap around Jsp, and with its +1 skills and 20 Fcr, this is your best bet for a secondary shield.
Gloves
There are all types of gloves you can try, but I prefer:
Magefists- The 20 Fcr, +1 to fire skills, and regenerate mana are ideal in Mfing.
Chancies (There must be a 20 Fcr Ammy in here)- The 40 magic find never hurts... Trust me, even with this amulet, your mana won't drain fast unless a monster that drains your mana attacks.
Trang Oul- Also 20 Fcr, some people prefer this glove because of its cold resist, even though I prefer the mages. You're choice, do some research and pick which one is best.
Belt
Arachnid Mesh- These are also pretty cheap around Jsp nowadays, and the +1 skills, 20 Fcr, and increase maximum mana 5% are very effective in running.
Goldwrap- If some reason, you can't afford the arachnid mesh and decide to give up the 20 Fcr and decide to go down some Fcr, pick the goldwrap; it has 30% Mf.
Boots
War Traveler's Boot- The magic find is why we use these boots. It can range from 30-50% magic find, but these are also highly available; the 30 Mf boots are practically 1 fg.
Sandstorm Trek Boots- Err, secondary boots if you ask me. The strength and vitality mods with an Fhr bonus may help you if you decide to be gay. Remember this is magic find, you don't need the treks.
Rings
2x Sojs- +1 skill, 25% increase maximum mana- Enough said...
If you want to maximize Mf (just like me), pick 2x perfect nagels- The magic find bonus can be very helpful. For example, two perfect nagels which cost under 5 fg, can boot you 60 magic find!
Switch
Cta (Call to arms)- This will increase all of your skills by 1 temporarily and both health and mana
Spirit Monarch- The +2 skills will increase your health and mana
Inventory
Sorceress Torch
7 magic find small charms (Depending on how many you want in your inventory)
Anni
Gheeds
Mercenary
*Act 2 Nightmare Defensive Mercenary*- This mercenary freezes nearby enemies when he gets near them.
Infinity
Eth Fortitude (Sacred Fort is bsst because it provides high defense for the right amount of strength).
Andy's Helm (High Strength)
This is the cookie cutter mercenary and best imo. I don't know any other way people make their mercenaries except change the andy helm for a crown of thieves and fortitude for Chains of honor or Eth stone, but use this.
Skill Points
Strength- Enough for build. Tip, get your torch, anni, all the available gear on first and work up 1 point at a time until you get your AP coh. Then watch your strength go up 25. Finally, work your way up around 30 skill
points until you hit 156, perfect for your spirit
Dexterity- Don't bother, this is useless.
Vitality- ALL THE POINTS GO INTO HERE. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. WHITE FLAG IF YOU DO SO OTHERWISE
Energy- You don't need this, trust me, please.
Skill Tree
Lightning
1 skill to telekenesis, teleport, static field, nothing else. DO NOT BOTHER!
Okay, at bosses such as Diablo, Andariel, Mephisto, and Baal, use static field until you weaken the boss's life to 50%, and spam your desired skill (most preferably Meteor and Fireball).
Cold
1 point to all prerequisites.
Max frozen Orb, that's it. THIS IS YOUR SECONDARY SKILL, NOT FIRST. Use this against fire immunes and try to measure the Orb so it explodes on target with the monster. For example, when you click your mouse to enact Orb, the Orb explodes at the end: try to match this up at the enemy for optimal damage.
1 point to cold mastery- It's a waste to put any more points in here. 500 damage may seem a little, but trust me, a few Orbs can destroy a whole mob in hell chaos easily. Yeah for you pros, this will reach 17 cold mastery. Only 1 point...
Fire
1 point to all prerequisites.
*MAX Fireball, MAX Meteor- THIS IS YOUR MAIN SKILL. I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO STRESS THIS BUT TO HOLD SHIFT AND TYPE THIS SO YOU CAN INSERT THIS INTO YOUR BRAINS!*
*This is the trickiest part of the build. In order to optimize your points, you will to have spread out the synergy points between Firebolt and Fire mastery. If you spread this out correctly, you will optimize your damage and can even go up 500 damage per Fireball! I wanted to optimize Fireball, so at level 90, I maxed Fireball, Meteor, and finally 18 to fire mastery and 8 to Firebolt. REMEMBER, THIS IS ALL WITHOUT ANY GEAR ON INCLUDING INVENTORY ITEMS SUCH AS TORCH AND ANNI. YOU MUST BE NAKED. Google “Diablo2 skill calculator” and play around a little bit; this is effective in finding the higher damage possible. If you don't want to do the work and am not worried about optimal damage, the second best solution is to just max Firebolt if you plan on using Fireball as your main skill and max fire mastery if you plan on using Meteor as your main skill. Remember this: if you want optimal damage, the best thing to do is to have +10 more points in synergies than the fire mastery. Here is an example...*
20 points- Max Fireball
20 points- Max Meteor
10 points- Firebolt
20 points- Fire mastery
Look, the synergies of Fireball (Meteor and Firebolt) match up to 30 points. Fire mastery is at 20 points, so subtract 30-20= 10.
You are scratching your head right now, but google “Synergies and Masteries explained;” this is a whole thread on how to optimize your damage. Just remember, 10 points to synergies above the fire mastery to optimize damage.
*How to use your MeteOrb*
Act 1 Andariel- This is my favorite because the monsters are easy to kill and Andy drops some nice items if you enact the bug. All you do is teleport to level 4 and spam Fireball 3-4 times. Andy is dead, plain and simple.
Act 3 Mephisto- I use the moat trick. All you do is lure Meph to the moat and teleport to the other side; thus, you spam your Meteor/Fireball and kill Mephisto. If you don't know what I am talking about, google is your friend.
Act 4 Diablo- This is the hardest to run in my opinion. Your mercenary will die if you get too close to a monster that will lower its resistances. You have to be quick, spam Meteor and Orb at the same time because monsters are cold/fire immune. Lord de Seis is usually a cold/fire immune, so get your mercenary, spam telekineses so your mercenary can finish it off. Practice makes perfect and you should always teleport when your attacking, AWAY from the enemies of course!
Act 5 Baal- After killing the monsters before Baal summons his minions, just spam Meteor before the monsters spawn and use Orb to finish off the cold immunes. When it comes to Baal, use static field. Static field is so useful in boss situations because it lowers the enemies' life down to 50% in a matter of seconds; you finish Baal off with a Meteor or Fireball, your preference.
HERE'S A NICE HINT: THE ANDY BUG
This is a bug that will increase the number of better items you Mf after you defeat Andariel. This bug is easily enacted when you or a team member kills Andariel and you go to town and talk to Warriv. Thus, the bug is enacted, and you will always (yes, always) find quest drops off Andariel.
Final Note: Honestly, I prefer the MeteOrb over the Hammerdin because it's more fun, offers all types of different skills, and requires skill. With a stash full of 30 Mfscs, my Mf is 578 Mf. If you are having trouble finding items, take out 3-4 7Mfscs at a time to vary it up a little. 105 Fcr also proves best in PvM because you are not shooting widly; in this build, you have full control of your character. Please, feel free to message me with any questions about this guide. This is my own personal MeteOrb that I find very fun to play with. If you have any questions on how to place your skill points, feel free to pm me but first do the research on the skill calculator first please. Offer criticism please!
[QUOTE=X_xD,Sat, 3 Jan 2009, 22:56]X_xD has sent you 5.00 Forum Gold. You started with 3,270.00 Forum Gold, and your new Forum Gold amount is 3,275.00.
X_xD commented: nice pvm MeteOrb guide
This post was edited by PetezJunior on Jan 3 2009 10:25pm