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d2jsp Forums > Diablo II > Diablo 2 Discussion > Strategy & Guides > An Uncommon Guide, For An Uncommon Sorc.. > Enchant/brand Bow A1 Merc + Frozen Orb
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Feb 20 2018 12:25pm
First, let me say that I came from the .08-.09 Days.. and I had a build that was probably damn close to what this is now, only then my bow was an upped koku with 40/15 armor and a life leech helm..

With that said, Meet Kundri. https://imgur.com/a/VJafN

This build achieves a few things.

105 FCR + Tank with a Fire Enchanted Exlpoding Bolts A1 Merc (yes it's totally viable, def not better than infinity.. but whatever infinity + lightning isn't fun at all to me)

It had no problem Clearing Santuary, Baal, or doing random pit runs. Shenk is probably the only place that does give me a hard time.. I even did an anya run just to test it out.. and I was fine down there too. Pics for a bit of proof.

Gear on Merc:

Brand Bow - It's just a lul factory, splash damage, amp going off, bone spears, cold arrows ripping every which way. While I am Casting frozen orb. The damage isn't the most insane thing on the planet.. But she kills cold immune just fine and adds more DPS while I blast Orbs everywhere.. Plus it knocks back obnoxious ass monsters when I just want to chill and ID something. You want to go with a brand or a Koku because of the splash.. yes the splash damage gets bonuses from being enchanted.

Fortitude armor, obvious damage boost. (note, the fort that I have isn't even etherial.. and Kundri Didn't die once in 4 hours of gameplay

Andy Helm - Ias, rez, life leech.

Gear On Me:

Vipermagi upped with an UM. (Can swap for skullders for mf, or a COH if you really want to swap stuff around but you lose breaking points on teleport buuut frozen orb IS on an internal timer anyway so meh

Hoto (Can swap with an isted isted occy for mf)

Arach

Shako (can swap for nightwing)

Maras

2x Soj's

Magefists upped

War Travs

STORM SHIELD. Yeah I went there.. YOU A TANK NOW BRO.

Any which way you dice these items I was able to rip through pretty much every corner in the game and tank (max block is super effective. Who knew!? Besides HC players ;P *sarcasm). Shenk and Eld is probably the only area that has TOO much cold immune for me to say skip just because it takes too long but was able to do it just fine by porting there and throwing out some static and waiting 2-3 mins to clean every small fry monster up there.. I did not try Nith now that I think of it.. But I went everywhere besides there.

Stats (people prob ganna look at me sideways)

STR: 156 (enough for Storm Shield) You can lower this you want to use gear as a crutch to get to wear a SS.. I Don't like doing that though. I guess I am trained to do everything from avoid getting popped from back in the day.

Dex: 200 Flat! (rawr) You'll get even more for items too and achieve max block.. Yeah scary dumping that much into dex I know.. but blocking is worth it.. if I were to use a spirit and go with max vit.. it's like 200 hp more but you get hit around every corner and end up potting and sent into a panic.. Spirit imo looks great on the outside.. then you die. (however I think spirit is fantastic for a max energy shield build and dumping into vit then for that particular build)

Rest into vit. I have 600 HP.. yeah that's it.. remarkable I know. If you were to add BO on the swap id prob get what like 900-1100? idk I don't switch off very often except for magic finding. But you can def get yourself a BO stick and Spirit if you really want to.

Skill Points! You'll get at least +16 from gear with a torch, more with charms and an Annhi.

20 Ice Bolt - yes contrary to popular belief it is worth the damage buff to Frozen orb

20 Frozen Orb

1-5 Cold Mastery - Depending on your items.. get this to level 17 with your +1 Skills

20 Warmth - Never think about waiting for mana to spam with again plus the synergy with Enchant

20 Enchant

1 Fire Mastery - dump remaining points here (IF you want PVP then Max Cold mastery and take away some warmth points and leave +1 to FM)

1 Static Field

1 Teleport

1 Frozen Armor

As you can see my Orb Damage is pretty good and by Swapping out for a Nightwing I can add a lot more to it.. and even more with a Deaths Fathom and then Add A COH for the missing resists.. but I think this setup is just fine and cheaper. There is room for swapping for other items as like I said the FCR is mostly just for teleport.

Well enjoy, try it out. It's honestly the most fun build I played from back in the day and I was glad I could recreate it. Just mass explosions and bone spears and shards everywhere lmao. I already can't wait to get home and play it again.

level 17 Cold Mastery is a good baseline for PVM.. max it for PVP.. With that Said.. I would recommend aiming for the 17 with your skill bonuses.. and dumping the rest into fire mastery for more Enchant Damage My current Screen Shots have my skills put more towards cold mastery instead of Fire mastery =( But I will fix that later and edit the picture. I would expect my merc to be doing 3.7-5k Dmg after I fix my skill tree.

Sources on that why lvl 17 is a good baseline for PVM and 20 is for PVP

http://diablo.wikia.com/wiki/Cold_Mastery

https://www.diabloii.net/forums/threads/cold-mastery-monster-res-cap.757148/


In conclusion, this build is just fun. Plain and simple, it's fun, it gets the job done, and you can roam pretty much anywhere with it. You can convert it into a PVP and still have an enchanted merc as well. Oh and the LUL's are worth every bit of effort into this too. :banana:

This post was edited by 1337Heretic on Feb 20 2018 12:41pm
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Feb 20 2018 12:34pm
soo, why not make a fo/bowsorc hybrid with demon machine?

ench seems a bit wasted otherwise imo
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Feb 20 2018 12:38pm
Quote (memoism @ Feb 20 2018 01:34pm)
soo, why not make a fo/bowsorc hybrid with demon machine?

ench seems a bit wasted otherwise imo


Because I get to port around and orb as my merc fires away instead of just me. Plus a bowsorc can't tank and would probably be utter shit in both PVM and pvp..

My merc is basically casting fire balls for me..

This post was edited by 1337Heretic on Feb 20 2018 12:39pm
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Feb 20 2018 12:49pm
I feel like this is too similar to a basic orb sorc just with a gimmick merc. Your choice to go max block seems very counter intuitive with the amount of life you have.

I'm a big fan of demon machine on the sorc with an infinity merc. 105 fcr on swap with cta/spirit for orbs/tele.
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Feb 20 2018 12:50pm
would this work with Tals set?
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Feb 20 2018 01:03pm
Quote (Oilerfan @ Feb 20 2018 01:49pm)
I feel like this is too similar to a basic orb sorc just with a gimmick merc. Your choice to go max block seems very counter intuitive with the amount of life you have.

I'm a big fan of demon machine on the sorc with an infinity merc. 105 fcr on swap with cta/spirit for orbs/tele.


Max block over life... Its ingrained in me from .09 - the rise of the spirit shield to me is inherently bad for the game its an OP +2 skiller that looks juicy and only makes you more squishy. You use your life as a clutch too often. The game design is supposed to follow a suite geared for blocking and resistances and damage reduction. I tried all the cookie cutter builds with spirit.. and without fail, no matter where I went or what cookie cutter I delved into.. It sucks unless you have an energy shield build. I will gladly take the 200 life lost for the ability to walk up to meph/baal/council or whoever and laugh at them rather than run away.
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Feb 20 2018 01:04pm
Quote (quagmire726 @ Feb 20 2018 01:50pm)
would this work with Tals set?


I am sure it would. The itemization is pretty open for adjustments as long as imho you get max block and follow the skill tree. Try it out on an editor if you like! You basically get a free Fire ball caster while you orb shit down.
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Feb 20 2018 01:14pm
Quote (1337Heretic @ Feb 20 2018 02:03pm)
Max block over life... Its ingrained in me from .09 - the rise of the spirit shield to me is inherently bad for the game its an OP +2 skiller that looks juicy and only makes you more squishy. You use your life as a clutch too often. The game design is supposed to follow a suite geared for blocking and resistances and damage reduction. I tried all the cookie cutter builds with spirit.. and without fail, no matter where I went or what cookie cutter I delved into.. It sucks unless you have an energy shield build. I will gladly take the 200 life lost for the ability to walk up to meph/baal/council or whoever and laugh at them rather than run away.


Monsters with blockable attacks should never be in range to hit you to begin with, especially as a sorc with free teleport. I can only think of 2 hard hitting physical ranged enemies (Skeleton archers and Spear Cats) both of which are easy to avoid as well.

Everything points towards more life (and more damage) being a better option.
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Feb 20 2018 01:26pm
you're stating 200 in dex
that means 400life
that means 700life after bo.
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Feb 20 2018 01:36pm
Go for your vit then if that's how you feel.. me personally. It's over rated. Try it out. A higher total life only looks impressive till you get hit three times in a row..

And when you are orbing.. yes you are def in melee range a lot as well as archers and ranged. Fleeing away and potting is a poor crutch when a powerful block rate helps way more. I'd rather walk up to meph and any other boss or monster and stand there and laugh as I orb them down than to kite and pot.. but you know that life total sure looks nice..

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