First things first: if you derail this build, be sure you are doing so with VALID arguments; way too often, people derail this or that build because it is out of their comfort zone. Needless to say, such opinions are worthless and I'd rather this topic not be polluted with libel from imbeciles.

Basically:

* you want to optimize your synergies;
* you want to have gear (merc included) which provides either bonus damage to the element or -% to enemies' element resistances (the latter being even more useful than even javazons using Griffon and Infinity realize),
* you need good APM.

Selection of damaging spells:

* fire: Fireball (put 12 to 13 more points into firebolt than fire mastery for damage optimisation), 1 into Warmth (1 point wonder);
* cold: Frozen Orb, 1 into Cold Mastert (one point wonder);
* lightning: Chain Lightning (put 13 to 14 more points into lightning mastery than charged bolt), Static Field (one point wonder), Thunderstorm (one point wonder).

Max out Fireball first, then Chain Lightning; invest wisely into synergies. Must read: https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/synergies-and-masteries-explained.485416/

So, why those spells in particular: FO is the only one with a casting delay (well, there's the particular case of CL), all others are "free to cast" at a moment's notice, and that includes Teleport to reposison (again, CL is particular here; this has to do with FCR but I don't want to extend upon that here).

Selection of gear:

* weapon: Death's Fathom, because of its increase to cold damage;
* helmet: Griffon's Eye, because of both its lowering resistance and increase damage to lightning (apart from all the other, very nice bonuses for this build);
* shield: no, not Spirit but... Phoenix! Not for the Redemption aura, although it is very nice, but for the fact that it lowers enemies' fire resistance by a whopping 28% (fixed value!), and that alone is worth a crapload of skill points you would have to invest into the fire tree otherwise...
* body armor: Chains of Honor; Enigma for this build is not even worth considering despite its bonus to strength (because zero resistances, compare that with 65 to all provided by CoH);
* rest of the gear: enough to reach 105% FCR, which pretty much means Arach, 2 10% fcr rings, Magefist... Boots are yours.

Stat points: enough strength to wear the gear (Phoenix, like Spirit, requires a monarch hence 156 str), 0 in dex, enough in energy to be comfortable, the rest into vitality.

Merc: have him wear Infinity and Dream.

If you level up your character carefully enough, she will have no problems killing everything that comes her way.

I can do a detailed writeup on this build, but one post is not enough. Let me know if you are interested.

This post was edited by notfge on Sep 9 2021 04:01pm

Shako/10

Wait, why has this topic been moved to the PvM section?

This is supposed to be a strategy guide. Dedicated to PvM, sure, but a strategy guide nevertheless.

Shako/10 what?

Oh dear...

I do have to apologize for all of the spelling errors in the first post. I hope that you will forgive me :/

What did the rest of the gear look like, along with merc gear?

I imagine that you would need to load up on the FCR somewhat if youre aiming for 117 for chain lightning.

again, spirit offers much more to this build than phoenix

Have you made this build?
Oh you havent?
Then stfu

yes, and spirit offers much more to this build than phoenix

That is not my opinion for the following reasons:

* fire: -28% to fire resistances is worth a lot more than +2 to fire skills, all the more so when skill levels are high, EVEN with a merc equipped with Intinify (and even more so when he doesn't have it); this is simple maths (and I have magefist anyway which already grants +1);
* cold: cold mastery is effective enough, 2 points more into it (or into frozen orb) really doesn't bring that much more damage; the big damage dealer here is Death's Fathom anyway (I don't plan to invest any point into FO synergies, because of...)
* lightning: yep, that is the one suffering somewhat but then my main damage dealer remains Static Field which doesn't care; CL as it is does enough damage for my liking, plus Thunderstorm benefits from the synergy advantage of the mastery. And I have the merc, too;
* fcr: yep, I don't hit 117 so CL is slower than it could be but to be frank I don't miss it;
* fhr: I am a glass cannon, but then I do have a good CtA as a secondary weapon (plus Spirit!) and situations are rare when I'm up close anyway, _and_ I have max resistances, which lead to...
* resistances: CoH for the win again, plus Phoenix provides +10% max fire res and +5% max lightning res -- I don't care for glooms Good for survivability, and on that front...
* redemption: I didn't factor that in at first but it's a huge help against even moderately crowded mobs, since I can spend more time casting spells than drinking potions My mana is not that high...

Were I to switch to Spirit as a shield, I would then switch to Eschuta's as an orb instead of Death's Redemption; this would lead to more efficiency of lightning damage at the expense of fire and cold which are rather monstruous at that point... Eh, worth a try I guess. But it would somewhat change the playstyle a little. As we all know, old habits die hard