Going to start off by saying, I dont post my walks. Reasons at the bottom if you are interested.

I just got my sorc to hell, and I have respec'd to Fire Ball / Frozen Orb ( 20 Frozen orb / 1 Cold Mastery / 1 pt static / 1 pt teleport / 1 pt warmth / 1 pt Fire Mastery / rest into Fire Ball and synergies, with Fire Mastery being last to max)

I am playing on /p8 and moving forward is pretty rough. I am posting this to ask for ideas / help on how to progress better.

Thoughts so far:
1) Power through with teleport and hopefully make it to A3 Lower Kurast without dying
2) Farm Nightmare (Andy, Meph, Cows) for upgrades
3) ?

My gear is:

Weapon: Spirit CS 35 fcr
Shield: Rhyme Tower Shield
Helm: Lore circlet
Armor: Stealth serpent skin
Boots: Dual res (40 lr / 23 fr) 10 frw boots
--------- I have a pair of Dual res (40 fr / 19 cr) 10 fhr / 6 dex boots in stash for when I get spirit Monarch
Gloves: Blood fist
Belt: 10 fhr / 35 life / 27 lr / 26 pr sharkskin belt
ring 1: 10fcr / 3 mana / 19 fr
ring 2: 10 fcr / 21 cr
Amulet: 1 paladin / 10 fcr / 18 life / 18 mana / 18@res / 27 fire res (total)

Swap weapon/shield: lv 1 Lower Res wand / Whistan's Guard

Mercenary

Weapon: Bec-De-Corbin Insight (lv 15) - could really use an upgrade here, merc kill speed is REALLY slow, his damage range is 347 - 1066
Armor: Rare armor with 324 def / 8 lr
Helm: rare circlet with 5% ll / 37 pr


Here are my stats + stash:



Possibly should use this amulet instead?



I don't post my walks for three reasons: 1) because I play in window mode and screen captures are off. 2) I dont always finish my walks, or I take a long time, I dont want to play d2 on anyone else's time table or create expectations I lose interest in completing. This is my time, and I play this game for me. 3) It requires effort I dont care to put forward (uploading and commenting).

just from glancing at your gear, it seems nightmare andy/meph would give you plenty of upgrades.. and usually you want some DR like rock stoppers before you venture into hell
skin of the vipermagi would be a good upgrade...
string of ears
rock stopper
a res shield if you need hell res, like mosers or something else

also, cold mastery is very important for dealing damage since it pierces monsters res.
and idk how far your static reaches, but it could cover half the screen if not more.. so maybe put some extra points into that until you have enough + skill gear to support it at a lvl 1 base..
static is your best friend to getting everything down to half life instantly

idk what ur merc is using, but he should be a tank for you in hell, and help with immunes... he needs lots of IAS and leach.. CB would be good as well.. but if your using insight, that makes it difficult...vamp gaze Grim helm is probably one of the better options with tals mask as a 2nd choice that and treachery armor runeword for ur merc

This post was edited by Cigin on Sep 25 2018 04:01pm

just get viper and reach 105 fcr and u ready

soe can be life saver too

shako will save your life too

Return to nm for sure

Get better armor (vmagi)
Get better helm (rockstopper)
Get better belt (SoE)
Get magefist if you stay fb
Get better merc armor (duriel/shaft/iron pelt)
Get better merc helm (gaze/guili/tals)

Could even get a tals ammy and soj to drop.

Also, if a good merc wep drops such as hone sundan, I'd use that for kill speed and survivability until you get a better insight base.

This post was edited by Lancet_Jade on Sep 25 2018 04:05pm

Thank you all!

Do you think Fireball / Frozen orb is a good choice for hell progression?

e/

with static as a small lightning boon

e/

Should I speed run the bosses at /p1?

This post was edited by ThatOneGuy9 on Sep 25 2018 04:38pm

at minimum, get viper or if you're scared of res, make smoke.
SoE/rockstopper great finds too. mostly need some levels, entering hell is always a pretty big wall.

orb/fb is fine

Idk but I would probably put more than 1 into cold mastery.

I normally dont hybrid though. Full cold with static and if immune to both I telekinesis over and over while merc kills.

It wont break any immunes will it?

@all, found a rockstopper - been mfing Andy non-stop, she has really good odds of dropping everything I am looking for and she dies really quickly compared to Mephisto

When I get about 1 mil gold I gamble for SoE / Viper for shits n giggles, gambled a mahim-oak amulet when buying a base for a craft

e/

Found a suicide branch - this any viable?

This post was edited by ThatOneGuy9 on Sep 25 2018 06:42pm

suicide branch is nice
I highly recommend farming for dr gear (soe+rockstopper) before progression
cold mastery does not break immunes but damage increase on non immune monsters is significant
Blizz does wayyyy more dmg

Hmmmmm.... You definitely need a Shako bro imo tbh