This is mlh351's 1.13 Lighting MF Sorceress Build.
Why write this guide two years late? Because JSP still doesn't have a decent Lightning MF Sorc guide yet. Many of these builds that JSP are too heavily one sided. They either go for really high MF and suck balls or have low MF and can kill quick. So, the first one's annoying to play with and the second's just a regular PvM build. I consider mine the best of both worlds. I can MF, kill very quickly, and it's much more entertaining to play with than a HDin.
(at level 91)
Life: 2,200+ (with Battle Orders)
Mana: 850+ (with Battle Orders)
Def: 3,750 (with Frozen Armor)
Damage Reduced %: 18%
Resistances: 75/75/75/75 (in Hell)
Faster Cast Rate: 105 (highest realistic breakpoint attainable for a MF Sorc)
Magic Find: ~300
Lightning Damage: 31,000
Chain Lightning Damage: 12,000
Thunderstorm Damage: 1,500
Charged Bolt Damage: 650/bolt and 24 Bolts
At level 95, the build will be complete (by maxing Nova) and I would have 34,000+ Lightning Damage at that point. There are lightning sorcs that do a little more damage than me, but less MF and a lower FCR BP. There are other sorcs with 150+ more MF than me, but take 25% longer to kill everything and die much more easily than I do.
So if any of the stats listed above interest you for making a Lightning Sorc, then read on towards the actual build...
Stats
Str: Whatever needed to use Spirit Monarch (156 Str)
Dex: None, this is pure vita build.
- I tried to make a max block sorc with Spirit, but with PvM, it takes way too much dex for it to be worth it.
Vita: Everything Else
Energy: None
Skill Points
All Pre-reqs Obviously...
+1 Frozen Armor (1 Skill Point to increase Def 120%? Hell yes.)
+1 Warmth (1 Skill Point to not be dependent on Mana Pots? +270% Regen? Hell yea too.)
+1 to Tele
+1 Thunder Storm
+20 Charged Bolt
+20 Lightning
+20 Chain Lightning
+20 Lightning Mastery
+XX into Nova
(No Energy Shield for me)
The rest of your skill points that you dump into Nova should start around lvl 80, and just keep going from there. Mine will be maxed out at 95.
Gear Setup
Pay attention to the gear. The stuff above is cookie cutter Light Sorc setup, the gear is where the builds differ. After I list all my items, I'll explain why I chose them.
Helm: P'topazed Shako
No better PvM helm, hands down. +2 Skills, +Life, +Mana, +10% DR, +50 MF, easy choice. I Topazed mine for more MF, but a Jah or Um can work here too.
Armor: Chains of Honor Runeword
Best runeword for the build. +2 Skills, +65 Res, +20 Str, +8% DR, +25 MF, also an easy choice. It has a little bit of everything, and the 65 Resistances here is CRUCIAL for the build.
Weapon: Ist'd Oculus
The auto-tele is pretty annoying on this guy, but minus that, its the best PvM MF sorc weapon for sure. +3 Sorc, +30 FCR, +40 Stats, +20 Res, +80 MF. No-brainer here, screw Eschuta's. I actually threw on my Eschuta's which was +3 and +20% Lite Dmg, and I didn't wind up gaining much from it to begin with. So really not worth it.
Ammy: Mara's
Easy too. +2 skills, +20 stats, +20-30 Resistances. Without this, no full res for you.
Shield: 35 FCR Spirit Monarch
What people don't appreciate about this build is the 55 FHR. Obviously the 35 FCR, Mana, Vit is nice, but the 55FHR is nice for a sorc, so you're not stuck when monsters are swiping at you as you tele. But obviously, the +2 Skills, + 35 FCR, + Mana, +Vit are awesome. This is the key piece of hitting the 105 FCR BP. If the Spirit isnt 35, then it's fine. If you have anything less (25-34FCR), you'll have to replace one of the rings with a 10FCR ring with mods.
Gloves: Upped Magefists
I use Upped Magefists for the defense. I chose these over Trang's because the build does not have an Insight Merc, and mana actually does matter. So by getting the extra +20 Mana Regen and the +1 Warmth, it does add up. The other option here is Trang's. 20 FCR, +Cold Res, not bad either. Do NOT use Chancies. To gain 40 MF and lose an FCR BP along with better mana regen is stupid.
Boots: War Traveler's
Highest MF Boots around, add an extra +10 to STR and Vita to help you with life and getting that 156 Str for Spirit. The other option is Eth Treks if you feel that you have enough MF. I'd stick with the War Travs though.
Belt: Arachnid's Mesh
This is a given too. +1 Skills, 20 FCR. GG. Need this for the FCR BP.
Ring #1: BK's Ring or SoJ or Nagels
I like BK's over SoJ. The +Life means much more to me than the +Mana. +1 Skills, + Life. Or Nagel's if you want more MF.
Ring #2: BK's Ring or SoJ or Nagels or Rare Ring
The rare ring is only for those who did not hit the 105 FCR BP with the Spirit Monarch. If you have anything under a 35 FCR Spirit Monarch, you NEED to put this ring on, or you won't hit the BP, and it's a waste not to get the BP. Try to get mods like +Str, +Dex, and +Resistances. For those of you who have already reached the 105 FCR, use Nagels if you want 30-60 more MF, but I'm with the dual BKs on this.
Switch: CTA + Spirit
Get that nice Battle Orders in there.
Inventory
Storch: +3 Sorc / +10-20 Stats / +10-20 Resistances
Anni: +1 Skills / +10-20 Stats / +10-20 Resistances / +5-10% Exp Gained
Gheeds: +Gold Find / +20-40% MF / -10-15% Vendor Reduced
Other Optional Charms: 7MF SCs, 5 Res SCs, 20 Lifers + Mods, Lightning GCs
Merc Setup
I think most of you know that the Lightning Sorc depends on the merc. Here's why.
Act 2 Nightmare Defensive Mercenary
Holy Freeze Aura
Life: 3,800+ (with Battle Orders)
Defense: 10,000+ (with Fortitude and Chilling Armor)
Damage: 2,000 - 5,000+ (with Eth Great Poleaxe Infinity)
Weapon: Infinity Runeword Poleaxe
The most important part of the build, HANDS DOWN. You can't take out Light Immunes without this guy. It also lowers all the other resistances of the monsters who are not immune to light. So when you attack, you'll just do that much damage. A 30K hit from a light sorc WITH infinity can be devastating.
Helm: Ethereal Andy's Visage
Ethereal is just for more defense, but any Andy's Helm works. +2 Skills, 20 IAS, LL, +STR. Sounds pretty sexy to me. It gives you -30% Fire Resistance, so alot of people Ral it (to even out the -Fire Res), but I used a 15Ias/13Max Jewel. The extra 15 IAS was worth losing the 30 Fire Res. If you have an eth Fort armor, you should do just fine with Res.
Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
Chilling Armor, +Damage, +Def. It's pretty awesome.
So the build's done.
You get a full running, fast, strong, durable Lightning Sorc. I know a bunch of people who use the Tal's Trio (Ammy, Armor, Belt). But if you compare my trio to theirs, mine's superior. With their trio, you have roughly 190 MF, +2 Sorc, 40 Cold / 73 Light / 40 Fire Res, 20 FCR. With Arachs / CoH / Mara's, I get 25 MF, +5 ALL Skills (adds to BO), +95 All Resistances, 8% DR, +20 Str. You might think the extra 160 MF is alot, but it's really not. A P'topazed Shako, High MF War Travs, Gheeds is enough to really sustain the MF portion of the build. If you're lacking anything, lack MF. With 12 MF SCs, there's the 100 extra MF you needed. it's much harder to make up 55 Cold / 22 Light / 55 Fire / 90 Poison Res and +3 Skills and 8 DR and 20 Str. I'm not saying having no MF at all is okay because this is a MF build, but I'd rather have 250 MF and rape everything HARD than have 400 MF and struggle to kill things and worry about resistances. Also, I left in the option to change your rings to Nagels if you really need the 300+ MF. The Griffon's build that I read on this just seemed too solely PvM rapage vs actual MFing.
Feel free to experiment with your own build, but this is a guide I think that balances power, speed, and MF really well. I listed my stats above and I'm pretty satisfied with them. 31K Dmg with 105 FCR on a MF Sorc without losing too much MF or Max Res is pretty hard to do. Many of the other builds wouldn't have full resistances, 250+ MF, or enough +Skills to actually be powerful. So once again, this is just my take on the Lightning MF Sorc. Feel free to comment.