yeah for zod ist vs vex pul+low runes
the runeword itself isnt bad just the runes to make it are way overkill and its not great
not sure where you get extra 2 skills its actually -1 vs hoto+spirits +5

it's in a staff so you get staffmod. +3 fire mastery + 3 fireball +3 hydra/meteor and you're +7 on all the skills you actually use. even the elite version archon staff only requires 36 str, you can use eth. so 26 str max. you need 0 str investment, you gain about 500+ life between the points saved and the 25% boost.

while thats true gl finding a staff with mods like that and 6 os you might be lucky to fid one +3 skill and its a good one
its like finding a +holy shield scepter for cta its possible but rare as fuck

the low str is nice though the monarchs 156 is pretty nutty tbh and if you got torch+anni you dont need much more str for gear

still think zod ist is way overkill

This post was edited by dragoneth on Jan 22 2022 10:24am

you just need white ones, they always get 6os from quest. pretty sure you can even shop them in one of the acts in hell

i believe vendors in nm and hell only carry magic items
socket questing does make it a bit easier but you still gotta find the shell

maybe, forgot havent shopped anything in forever. but the normal, exceptional and elite version all roll with 6os so you can farm it in NM cows I think. can't remember which zone it starts being 6os with quest

also to be fair this is like a end game build for fire sorcs. spirit/spirit works interim. you gotta farm the shell for so many good runewords

This post was edited by Mystic_Bardock on Jan 22 2022 10:36am

would the extra +skills from staff beat out an eschutas 3 skill +25% damage though for fire or light?
or even fathom for a cold sorc?
we have been comparing it to hoto/spirit but if you want to talk end game you generally arent using a hoto end game on a sorc its eschutas or fathom

like i said its not bad its a usable runeword but zod ist for it seems a bit much maybe if it was like vex ist so it was a comparable option vs hoto

This post was edited by dragoneth on Jan 22 2022 10:56am

eschutas is added onto your other buffs, not separate. so if you have 400% fire mastery for example, you now have 420% damage, not 485%. so really it's like a 3% damage boost. idk if +2 skills or 3% damage is more. fathom is clearly better tho because cold mastery doesn't give +% damage at all.

ill have to test on the ptr to compare which is actually better. but you're only going for 105 fcr on fire builds so eschutas is already overkill. you basically are gonna run magefists no matter what cause of +skills and SWS is already best in slot so those + obsession you're already there

This post was edited by Mystic_Bardock on Jan 22 2022 10:56am

Check all white staves now, won’t be too hard to find 2 complimentary skills on them. Or even like a 3es 3fb 3ts would be fun for it

yeah id be curious whats better i really dont know tbh
and i would consider the it a 25/5 eschuts as you can facet it and who cares if your over by 10 fcr lol it doesnt do anything
i still think zod ist is kind of nutty for it though

This post was edited by dragoneth on Jan 22 2022 11:10am