This was made by me awhile ago, I finally remembered to post it on here, so enjoy, and let me have some decent feedback, please.

Zeal Sorceress
This guide will show a viable sorc guide to the PvP/PvM Zeal Sorc.

Might as well start here.

Sorry guys, this is not a cheap build. You won't have an effective character without somewhat expensive gear.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Stats
3. Skill Placement
4. Gear
5. Inventory
6. Mercenary
7. Dueling
8. Conclusion

Introduction
I'm sure most, if not all, of you are thinking something along the lines of "Wow, this will totally suck, there's no way a sorc could ever make a decent damage, high AR, and good tank Zealer!

Well, you're wrong. This is effective in both PvP and PvM, is a great tank, and can kill almost anything in the PvP area effectively and easily. I hope you guys enjoy this guide.

Stats
Strength: Enough for gear. Naturally, don't pump any more than you have to. Ever.
Dexterity: Enough for gear, the total amount needed will be 136.
Vitality: Absolutely none.
Energy: Pump everything else in here. Pump it

You will realize why these are the way they are later on, though I am sure you have already guessed why.

Skill Placement

Max:
Lightning Mastery
Fire Mastery
Warmth
Telekenesis
Enchant

One Point Into:
Charged Bolt
Teleport
Lightning
Chain Lightning
Frozen Armor (Not Really Needed, but looks sexy)
Fire Ball
Fire Bolt

Rest Into:
Energy Shield

With this build, you need to reach level 99 to finish the character. Because this isn't likely anywhere other than Open, I suggest the following build for maxamizing effectiveness at a decent level:

Fill points into skills in this order:
Charged Bolt(1)
Lightning(1)
Chain Lightning(1)
Telekinesis(20)
Teleport(1)
Lightning Mastery(20)
Warmth(20)
Enchant(20)
Those you can put in whatever order, really. It's the last two to juggle.
Energy Shield
FireMastery

Fire Mastery isn't all that important, since the Enchant isn't really too much damage there. However, hitting 95% es is a VERY GOOD thing to have. I suggest you plan out how many points into ES you will need, put those in it, then fill the rest of your skills with Fire Mastery.

Gear
There are several different parts to gear, all meant to optomize damage, attack rating, and tank ability. Please read through carefully.

Normal Gear

Armor:
There aren't too many choices, really. Damage isn't important, you use ES so resists don't matter, you already have tele, and skills don't really matter either. Speed is what you are lacking.

160/60 or 60/60 4 Socket/XX Life Armor. I don't suggest FHR/Socket armor, because you need the life to tank open wounds and poison damage. 160 ED/60 IAS or 60 Res/60 IAS will do. As long as it has the 60 IAS, you're good to go.

Gloves: IK Gloves. Yes, there is a reason. With Belt, they give 25% IAS, which is helpful, and 50 AR, also helpful.

Boots: Waterwalks. Yup, they will help you hit your 136 Dexterity goal with less points in it, and add a nice amount of life as well. Definetly the best boots for this character.

Belt: IK Belt. For the reasoning above.

Shield: Dream. This is essential, as the auras provide like 90% of the damage. Get it in something under 110 strength requirement, as 110 is what is needed for IK belt, and you want to put as little strength as possible.

Helm: Dream Yup, same thing. A circlet would be best here, since you're going for less strength.

Amulet: Angelic Set Amulet

Ring(s): Angelic Set Ring. Combined with Amulet, these give an amazingly huge bonus to AR. Swear on these with your life. Unless there is a cold sorc in the game, never remove these. Even then, only take one off so you can simply put a raven on to not be frozen.

Weapon: Ahh, the fruit of the build, the Passion Phase Blade. I don't suggest any other frame, because Phase Blade's have the highest possible IAS. This is easily the best, and only, weapon of choice.
Now we move on to prebuff gear. There is a lot, but it all helps.

Energy Shield Prebuff:

Weapon: 9 Es Memory Staff. This will make you have to put less points into Energy Shield, which leaves room for a bit more damage.

Amulet: Maras, Saracens, or some other 2+ sorc skill amulet. If you can get a 3 lightning amulet cheaper, go for it.

Helm: 3 Lightning Circlet. No other mods required. Cheap, and effective.

Rings: Stones of Jordan or BK. +skills, nothing else matters.

Armor: Anything with + skill. CoH or Enigma would be best, but only because they add more + to skills.

Belt: Arach. + Skill. If there were a cheaper belt with +skills, I'd tell you to use that.

Shield: No Shield...the weapon is a staff, remember?

Enchant Prebuff

Weapon: Eschutas Templar. +3 Skills and 20% Fire Damage. Socket with 5/5 if you want. If you can't afford this, or don't want to, a 3 Fire Skill/ 3 Enchant or whatever orb will do. Hell, a Hoto will do decently.

Amulet: Maras, or some other + skill amulet. +3 fire skill ammy will work fine.

Ring: Soj, or BK. Whatever you want for +skill.

Helm: 3 Fire skills helm, no other mods needed. Cheap, effective.

Armor: See Lightning Prebuff segment. +skills is all that matters.

Belt: Arach as well.

Gloves: Mages. +1 fire skills.

Shield: Lidless, since you can't wear Spirit. If you put too much to strength and can, though, use spirit.
That's a wrap for the Gear section. Let's move on, shall we?

Inventory

9x Lightning Charms, Preferably with Life or FHR. Use however many FHR/light gc's you wish to hit whatever. Since I had 60% FHR with perfect dream helm and shield, I used three. The rest were high light lifers. Go with the same plan, adjusting depending on how much FHR you need.

10x 70/15's. These are realm only, but if you can't find, get 20/17. 17/5(fhr) charms will do too, but the more life you have, the more you can tank the evil open wounds and poison.

Sorc HellFire Torch: Naturally, go with the highest possible.

Annihilus: Same thing.

If you want extra AR/Fire Damage, switch to 9x plain fire GC's when enchanting, though it's not necessary, since you get 15k AR without it.

Stick with lightning, the + to lightning mastery increases your damage like crazy.

Well, that one was short. Let's move to your Merc.

Mercenary

You're merc isn't too important here. For PvP, it is BM to use one, so I won't give gear for that.

For PvM, here is ideal gear:

Weapon: Infinity. Eth if possible, highest damage you can get. The - light resist and conviction aura will enable you to kill almost all opponents. He will kill the rest.

Armor: Eth Fort, of course. Damage, Res, Life, etc...no more to say.

Helmet: Andy's. Eth if possible. The leach is great, the IAS is great, the str is great. Ral it so his fire resist won't suck and you're good to go.
Dueling
This is just a general dueling strategy for you to get into the flow of the gear.

Sorc: High FCR. They'll be hard to catch, but once you get 'em, they're dead. If they're pure life, be ready to laugh at them as they die. With Energy shield, they're a bit harder. Just tele around them when they don't expect it and try to get in and h it them.

Assassin:
-Trap: Stay clear of traps, lure them away, tele, and hit. They should go down quickly enough.
-Kick/WW: Stay out of their WW, or their Kick. The Poison damage will kill you. Try to catch them in mid stride, and hit hard and fast.

Druid:
-Wind: Try to not get hit too many times by the nado's, they hurt. Get a raven for them, their defense and block is usually low enough that they'll get hit a lot anyway.
-Melee: Welcome to your style of duels! You have the advantage: Massive Damage, Tank, and FHR BP's, while they have low resists, etc. You should be fine.
-Rabies: Just try to hit them before they hit you, or you're toast. These guys have massive poison damage, which sucks for us.

Necromancer:
-Summon: Tele around, working in on the summons. Equip a BK if you have one for a bit of life leech; they have low enough defense that it shouldn't matter too much. If they have max block, they probably have low enough life that it won't make too much of a difference between 2 or 3 hits.
-BoneMancer: Dodge the spears, evade the spirits, run away from the teeth. Walk around in circles, slowly getting closer, until he's in site. Then tele lock him; he'll try to get away, but just keep pressing and when he stops to cast at you, hit him. He'll crumble if he's a pub. If he's not, best of luck to you.
-Novamancer: Try to avoid these guys, as well as other poison characters. These kill well in any situation, due to their massive damage in short time. Just try to stay out of his way, and attack when it's unsuspected.

Barb:
-WhirlWind: You should be able to tank a sweep or two, but don't push it. Stay away and attack when he's just trying to get closer.
-Battle Order: Just hit them, and watch them die. It's cute.
-Concentration: Ouch. High resists, high life, high defense, if they have poison you're dead. Just try to stay away from Barb's in general.
My Advice: Barbs are almost PvP masters. Stay away from them in general, unless their BO.

Amazon:
-Bowazon: Stay clear of their arrows, and jump at them when they're unawares. Try to hit as much as possible, to get around the nasty little evade, dodge, etc.
-Javazon: If they have FC, you're doomed. If not, lure them away, make them run after you. Then tele on them and try to hit as much as possible. best of luck; amazons are a tough class when build right.

Paladin:
-Smiter: These guys are hard. High defense, Max Block, Stun when hit, which hits almost every time..ouch. The only melee that can really have a fighting chance is a great kicker or a BVC, neither of which you are. Just try not to get hit by them, and try to land as many blows as you can. Not really a strategy here.
-Hammerdin: If they're crap, they're dead. If they're true PvP, with max block, 4k life, max resists, and 125 fcr, along with a lot of damage, you're a bit worse off. Avoid the hammers, but don't be a chicken when it comes to tanking a few (your mana regens like crazy and you can tank 2-3 without dying initially), and hit them as much as possible. Tele right where they're not casting, and get a few whacks in before they move. Repeat.
-Zealer: Same concept and idea as the druid melee section.

That about wraps up the dueling sexction .

Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this guide, and even if you do not plan to make it, learn a bit about the Zeal Sorc, a very overlooked character. To give you an idea of what this character can do with the stats, skills, and gear I suggested (all of it!), here's a screenshot:

(With low BO...it's something like level 11, lol)


I hope you enjoyed this guide

PS: The ~BM thing on my orbs is a new mod I was trying out. FYI: It sucked.

Thats some sick ass damage...
BUT... 1 big flaw... You lack the -% resis...
Which means Hotspurs > that GFG damage

Err, read it through. It's like 50k Light damage, around 15k Fire damage, and about 1-3k Melee damage. The numbers change a bit, but it'll be hard to block all three. Kudos to you if you can, though.

rofl noob, all that dmg is LIGHT dmg

1-3k melee damage my ass.

it's 95% light damage and 5% fire damage. Enchant only adds like 3k damage.

I see... Gg Smiters & BvCs wont have that problem.. Other then that can I see it in action?

I uninstalled d2 awhile ago, and gave my chars away in a raffle on another site. I just remember to post it on here when I saw it on the other site.



Obviously. Did I say differently? However, I know many light sorc's that totally rape PvM, and do well PvP as well.



Make one, and try it out. Enchant adds ATLEAST 9k with the prebuff gear suggested.

Edit: Shit, sorry, didn't mean to double post.

This post was edited by EldestElder on Oct 20 2006 10:27am

i was replying to the guy saying it was fire dmg..

Ah, sorry, I thought you were trying to insinuate that light damage sucks, or something of the sort.

Anyway, this isn't the battle floor, nor the pvp forums, and I'd appreciate no mockery of each other, no insults, bashes, verbal beat downs, challenges, etc, in here. Thanks in advance.