Hello,

with season 3 coming out soon, i'd like to have your feedback on my early ladder plan in HC mode. I usually play foh pala, and farm pits and chaos until my eyes bleed but this time i'd like to play sorc - i've never really done a fresh ladder start on a sorc, weird i know.

Here is my plan : play online and do all the progression alone. I'll start as a nova sorc and rush to NM then respec to ORB/hydra and beat Hell Mode. Once i am done progressing and have unlocked Hell terror zones, i'll respec to a pure cold or fire build.
I think about two builds. Frozen orb/ES (i hate Blizzard so it is a no go) or maybe a fire spec like Meteorb. My plan is to farm bosses such as Andariel/Mephisto/good terror zones to get going, get a sunder charm and move on to farming cows once i have enough gear/toughness.
In the long run, i wanna be able to play a lightning build on my sorceress with gg gears.

From my understanding, cold and fire have about the same performance on non immunes mobs, bosses included. So i could literally farm Andy/Meph/non immune terror zones and areas with fire and cold spec, it'd make no difference. But Frozen orb seems to be a safer choice overall since it chills and freeze ennemies.
When it comes to immune mobs, cold mastery still totally beats the %increased fire damage from fire mastery, even at 1/5 effectiveness with starter gears which makes cold build more versatile (without gg gears) So overall, i am more inclined to play Frozen Orb/ES than a fire build in HC.

First question : am i totally wrong and should i consider other HC builds (after beating the game and going for the big farm) ?

Second question : Would you prioritize farming bosses over TZ/level 85 areas no matter what? Or would you include some stony tombs/arach lair famring in between, depending on the spec?

Third question : What about cows? Would you wait a bit to get some gears to go there, and what spec would you choose if you were to farm Cows ? I know blizzard is really good for it, but i really don't like the playstyle.

Last question : When would you respec to Nova/ES? What gears would you wait to get before going for the respec?

Thank you

You need to play the game and find out.

You are right, i overthink a bit too much.

It will be nova into Orb Hydra and i'll see how fast i can get a sunder charm I'll focus on farming bosses early on ! I also remembered i couldn't get over -100% cold resist on mobs so i'll modulate points spent into CM depending on what i farm !

This post was edited by Baija on Feb 16 2023 01:50pm

step one is have a few K fg you have 0

For hc I go orb/es. You will want to get cold sunder asap so switch to tz if the zone is doable, otherwise Andy, meph, tunnels. For day1 safe teleporting don’t sleep on prayer merc with the new cure helm. Three instances of meditation with es makes sorc even safer this season

Move onto chaos/baals/zones once your build is stronger and you have levels

While I do like orb and prefer it to blizz day1, blizz is better. Or do nova/light after you get infinity

that's why i ask the best way to do this. In order to accumulate wealth fast

That's exactly the kind of information i am looking for. Thank you And i know that blizz is better, but i'll probably switch to nova/light when i have enough gears

This post was edited by Baija on Feb 16 2023 02:09pm

Accumulate wealth fast...Credit Card

ahah i am poor in real life unfortunately ! But ty for those kind words, i'll work my way up the old way, by farming and sweating !

thanks!

where to get 3 meditation?