you're going to find Orbs dmg to be very underwhelming in hell, at which time you'll need firewall imo, because of points lost to Nova to go tri sorc.

fireball works fine in a dual element build w/ meteor for orb/ball, but leeching more pts off to max nova will limit ball dmg a bit.

firewall is the best bang for your buck in hard stat dmg. having to stack -res for all 3 elements as well is a bit of a chore.

I have divergent opinions with regards to your statement so let us pick them up one by one.

First, regarding Frozen Orb: its only synergy (ice bolt) sucks, there is no way around that. Now, look at the cold bonus damage Death's Fathom provides... At its worst, it's worth 7.5 points in Ice Bolt, at its best it's worth 15 points. Points which you do not have to invest in that level 1 skill.

Second, regarding Fireball: again, why do you think I picked Phoenix as my shield of choice? Think of WHEN this -28% to enemy fire resistance applies.

Third, Firewall is a PITA to use effectively which is why it's not my skill of choice, and you are very, very severely underestimating the power of the -res modifer. Why do you think Death's Web is the weapon of choice for poison necros?

This post was edited by notfge on Aug 17 2021 02:51pm

OK, here's an update.

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First, gear.



I agree that FCR is going to be an issue. On the other hand, you cannot deny the power of lowering the resistances, especially if you break an immunity, whether it be LR or Conviction.

Say you have a monster which is 50% fire resistant; if your spell does damage d, the foe will take 0.5*d, but with Phoenix that becomes 0.78*d. That's more than 50% more! At reasonably high spell levels, this is much more damage dealt than a +2 to skills, EVEN combiend with both Eschuta's and Ormus.



Yep, when I reach level 29, Vipermagi it is. I also have Viscerataunt which I'll probably use until I hit nightmare, and then switch back to Ancient's Pledge (I am obsessed with resistances, probably too much so :p).

Speaking of resistances...

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Stat points and skills.

As to stat points, since the start it has been 2 str, 2 vit, 1 nrg per level. I am still unsure what strength I should target since my goal is of course to wear a monarch (just like Spirit, Phoenix requires it). As to vit, well, since at first I don't plan on using Spirit on the shield, I'll have poor FHR at best (another perk to my resistance obsession...) therefore I want as much HP as I can muster. Currently, my line of thought is that once I'm satistfied with the mana I have (and strength) I'll invest all the rest into vitality.

Skills:

* Fire: one point in Warmth and that's it. I have decided NOT to use Meteor but exclusively Fireball, the only synergy I will exploit is therefore Firebolt. The reason is that Meteor requires another 3 point investment but points are quite precious. Plus, Fireball has a reasonable radius anyway and it has no cooldown.
* Cold: one point in Frozen Armor (was that a mistake?). My plan is still to go with Frozen Orb. At my level I use Blizzard, and I have a really hard time targeting with it. Sometimes I target on a particular foe and it gets no damage? Uh. Nah. Not for me.
* Lightning: I have decided to go wiht Chain Lightning. Yes, I know, FCR problems yada yada, but I think I can hit 78% comfortably -- I'll see whether I'll go (and need) 105. Nova requires getting a little too close to enemies for my (and my merc's) comfort Also, that obligatory point into Teleport and one into that equally obligatory Static Field.

Summarizing planned skill points so far, without exploiting synergies:

* Fire: 1 (warmth) + 21 (Fireball + prereq) + 1 (mastery) is 23.
* Cold: 1 (armor) + 25 (Orb + prereq) + 1 (mastery) is 27.
* Lightning: 1 (Static Field) + 2 tTeleport) + 22 (Chain Lightning) + 1 (mastery) is 26.

Total: 76.

Note: I know that this is NOT optimal. At one point, in order to increase a spell with synergies, it is more interesting to invest alternatively into the synergy then the spell (by my calculations for instance, when FB reaches level 12 hard, it is more interesting to then invest a point into Firebolt). I have to find an online calculator which I'm pretty sure exists and has done all the calculations.

OK, the sorc is now level 74, one level away from wearing Griffon.

Right now her gear is as such:

* Tal's belt;
* two rings with 10% FCR and other properties (one of which is 19 strength -- Monarch!);
* that Shako, again;
* Inferno Stride;
* Death's Fathom (only 17% extra cold damage...);
* Phoenix on a monarch;
* Mara 25;
* Chains of Honor;
* Magefist;
* charms: a torch and no anni, no skillers.

The merc is of course an Act 2 defensive merc with... Insight, right now I do not have, nor can I afford, Infinity.

I expected fire to be the least damaging element in spite of Phoenix but no: it is lightning which is the problem. Apart from Static Field, CL does not do as much damage as I expected it to. Maybe griffon will fix that problem...

Also, I have yet to test out two things:

* the full Tal set,
* Ormus instead of CoH.

As to skill points, all now go to energy, and I invested one point into ES. Phoenix's redemption aura (although I picked the low end: 10...) helps me a LOT here, along with the merc's Meditation. FCR is only 60 but once I equip Griffon's this will jump to 85.

As to the most damaging elements in order for me to far, it has to be fire and cold at an equal level and then lightning. Phoenix help A LOT. That -28% to enemy cold fire resistance is nothing to be sneezed at, just as I suspected! And Spirit is no replacement for that -- calculations speak for themselves.

When I can equip Griffon, I can equip with Ormus of course and reach that holy 105 FCR threshold; what I currently lack and fail to see how I can obtain, however, is Infinity. RIght now, my second hand weapon is... A wand with lvl2 LR charges I use that on particularly tough bosses, hoping to break an immunity or at least lowering resistances to an element which I am sure to damage the foes with.

I also need to try the full Tal set.

Anyway, once I'm done solving those two problems (lackluster lightning damage; Infinity) I think I'm set on that trielemental build... Famous last words

Energy Shield, 20 points. what about that prebuff staff...memory staff I believe? It gives several points to ES if I recall.

So, the character has now completed hell and, as she currently stands, at level 84, has nearly all the gear that I envisioned, merc included:

* helm: Griffon;
* shield: Phoenix;
* weapon: Death's Fathom;
* body armor: Chains of Honor;
* belt: Arachnid Mesh;
* rings: two rares, each 10% fcr, some resistances;
* gloves: Magefist (not even upgraded at this point);
* boots: Aldur's;
* notable charms: torch, one skiller for each tree and NO anni;
* merc: Tal mask, eth elite ebugged Fortitude, eth elite Infinity.

Skill and stat wise, I had to respec her once; I made the mistake of putting one point into ES and too much into energy, this time no ES and all further points into vitality -- strength is enough to wear a monarch, should I swap the rings out which, combined, give 33 str.

I also found a very interresting link, you should read that carefully: https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/synergies-and-masteries-explained.485416/

Basically, this link confirms some of my earlier calculations and I am sticking with these guidelines as to skill point attributions.

Also, as to FCR, eagle eyed readers will have noticed that I have 105% FCR -- frankly, that's thanks to the rings, and I do NOT aim for 117. I am plenty satisfied now with the damage CL does and as a whole, my most damaging lightning spell is still Static Field with only a one point investment (aided in that order, by Infinity and Griffon).

What I still have to test is replace Phoenix with Spirit but my hunch is this: no, Spirit is no match. That -28% to enemy fire resist cannot be compensated by any + to skills. It just cannot. Simple calculations make that painfully clear. But calculations are on paper of course. I'll have to see this in practice, which means I need another monarch, at the very least white, to confirm my suspicions

your comment has literally nothing to do with what thesnipa said. -x% is even better with skills like firewall/nova so why are you so against it? your reasoning doesn't make sense

If a monster has 50% fire resistance, chances are that it's other resistances are lower than that. So if I'd have a triple ele sorc I would blast them with my 'equally' powerful spells from other elements instead of a fire spell in which case phoenix would be obsolete. But that's only me...

Targeting reasons.

Firewall requires that enemies either stand still or you kite so that they stay within it. Plus it has a cooldown. Fireball does not. And it has a radius to boot.

Nova has a limited reach. Chain Lightning (and Static Field; with + to skills you easily cover at least half the screen) does not. Granted, I cast less of them, but then Static Field is "maxed out" with 105 FCR which I have.

Really, my choice of spells is for tactical reasons. I prefer to cast often and switch "at a moment's notice" to what spell fits the situation best. Including Teleport if I need to flee...

That is true, which is why I do not neglect cold or lightning

When an enemy, or a pack of them thereof, is not immune to cold, I first cast Frozen Orb (which, thanks to Death's Fathom and Cold Mastery, does quite a bit of damage in an of itself, especially when well targeted) then Static Field and CL (if fire immune, and helped by Griffon's) or spam Fireball (if lightning immune). Also, when it comes to lightning, given that CL requires basically 13 points more into the mastery before synergies become effective, I took the opportunity to invest one point into Thunderstorm.

If enemies are cold immune I usuall spam Static Field or Fireball or both depending on the situation.

In general however, fire IS the most commonly resisted element so lowering fire resistance just makes sense. Even if the enemy has no fire resistance at all, well, I prefer they take 1.28 times the damage than 1 time; it takes a crapload of skill points to improve the damage of any fire spell by 28%...