I dont care if its nova or lightning or vita or es. I just want a strong lightning build that isnt a glass cannon and can hold its own in PVP

This post was edited by BlowinEndo05 on Jan 26 2026 02:22am

Same

Good luck

Lightning is generally a bit worse than fire for es due to missing a lot of warmth skills, having extra synergy requirements and being slower than fire.

I'd probably go vita and just get enough life/dr to tank a couple hits. This should help focus on the benefit of lightning of being able to hit ~60k max.

Probably aim for a 3light/3lm obsession and a 2 soc circ (likely just 3light/20fcr or a really good 2 sorc) with 2 bers.
Can keep a dungo/string swap instead of arach for extra dr. Rest of the gear will mostly be aimed at getting 117fcr, or more life.

Should be able to get 3.5k+ hp with decent gear.

If you want extra life you can swap out enigma (dont really need str but still a good choice)/vmagi/coh (whatever you end up using) for a ~100life 4 soc armour and fill with jah/ber for extra life. You wont be that tanky though so I dont really recommend the skill or fcr loss.

Probably wouldnt bother with a max block swap as your damage will drop a lot. But you could try with stormshield or maybe whitsans if you can get enough dr across your gear to minimise dex addition.

This post was edited by Bradymuck on Jan 26 2026 11:00pm

Vita lightning is in most cases the most effective.

You will need several setups:
* 200 fcr
* 117 fcr with oak (nature's peace)
* 117 fcr max block max dr switch with oak (0 points base dex)

Since you will be the mouse most of the time, due to maxres/abs, you will rely on either 200 fcr to keep the distance or oak to soak a hit, moving in and out to kill your opponent slowly with needle sticks.
Vs bowas, and potentially other physical damage dealers, you will need max block AND dr AND oak to stand a chance.

What if I were to use a 3es cta? Es wouldnt be viable? Can get it to 84% absorb without any hard points or buff

This post was edited by BlowinEndo05 on Jan 28 2026 01:43am

It sure is viable, it's just not as effective, since oak eats a hit just as well as your mana. Your mana however recovers rather slow as light sorc, while your oak is recast quickly. On top of this, your damage will be higher as vita sorc, since you don't have to spare points for telekinesis.