Mld Esfb Guide - Topic

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Jan 8 2022 02:55pm

This is a repost of the Diablo 2 MLD ESFB guide located here -> https://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=38488022&f=143
This updated guide is intended for the game Diablo 2 : Resurrected and I have made some minor adjustments to the original guide.====================================================================================================================================================

EnergyShield FireBall sorc's (or ESFB's), are easy to make, easy to equip, with few or no stash items required, relatively straightforward to play with a good learning curve (namelock) and do massive damage.
Assassins (and max Fohdins) would be the only anti-char but are still do-able. Otherwise they have no real weaknesses and with practice you will be competitive vs just about every build.

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Break Points:

FCR: Always have 105 Faster Cast Rate
FHR: Always aim for 86 Faster Hit Recovery. If you are using an orb in certain matchups, you might not need as much fhr.
Maxblock with whitstans shield. You are freekill vs alot of builds if you don't have maxblock.

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Stat Placement:

Str for gear (70 for gothic armour build, 60 for frostburn build, 53 for eth frost + whitstans build)
Dex for max block
Energy everything else
Vita none, you are Energy Shield (ES) build

Hell Rushed, all stat/skill quests completed.

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Gear:

When it comes to gear you really dont have to switch too many items. Whitstans for maxblock (vs Melee), Lidless for vs elemental (can also use damage armour vs elemental).
A cold res setup is also a good thing to have (but you can win without it). Without further ado:

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Circlet:

1. 3fire 20fcr 2 sox.
A quick comparison between this and a 2 sox rare 2/20 circlet ~ 3fire/20fcr/2sox, when converted to a rare is this good:
2fire/20fcr/30life/51mana,7fhr, 10 all res, 9 str, 9 dex and + 1 free sox. So if you are using a rare circlet instead of a 3/20/2sox this is what you have to beat.
(replacing 1 skiller 30 life with x3 20life 17mana small charms and using a 7/9/9/10 jewel in circlet).

2. 2fire 20fcr with combined mods better then a 3/20/2sox. { Very Hard to Get }
3. 3fire 100 life 2 sox (when using lidless and when you dont use gothic faceted.)

Amulet:

1. 2fire 10fcr 60 Life 10 replenish life 90 mana (+1 mod) is the dream. Your plan would be to look to get an amulet as close to this as possible.
A starter amulet would be something like 2Fire 10fcr and 70 mana. The more good adds, the better.

2. Crafted amulet 2fire 10fcr 60 life 90 mana 10 regen mana // 2fire 20fcr 110 mana 10 regen mana.

A quick comment on crafted amulets: You will not come across alot of +2 MLD amulets for sale because invariably they have too many mods and will spawn lvl 52 (or higher).
In order to target craft for MLD ~ Shop(Gamble) and Craft at Level 54. << NOT RECOMMENDED >>

Weapon(s):

1. Spirit 35fcr 112mana 8absorb. Barbs's have Oath, Sorcs have Spirit. The mods really speak for themselves.
The best place to find a 4 socket Crystal Sword, Long Sword or Broad Sword is Nightmare Cow Level 4 sox, or 0 + Larzuk.
Otherwise simply use JSP to buy one. In terms of rolling Spirits, its also very time consuming to roll a 35/112mana so again, if you can get one relatively cheap from JSP, do that.

2. 2fire 3fireball 3mastery + adds orb. Not many Sorcs will be teleporting around the bloodmoore with this.
Orbs such as this are incredibly difficult to find and are only useful in a couple of matchups. I do not recommend anything other then Spirit.
Hint: if it does not have +2~3fireball and +2~3mastery dont bother with it.

Switch:

1. Memory 9es + ca (+ench if you want to be fancy). You use the Memory to cast Energy Shield, thereby saving points as you dont have to put any hard points into it. In short, your build is based on this item.

Armour:

1. Vipermagi. can be socketed with a Pskull, a PSaphire or an IMBA jewel (something like 7 FHR 9 Str 9 Dex 4 repl or +15Mana).
Viper should really be used in 100% of duels
2.4sox armour x4 facets (for a facet build when you are using a fcr ring). << NOT RECOMMENDED >>
This armor can be used in the event that you dont need max block (say, vs a sorc) and want to boost your damage a bit + Lidless.

There are not many reasonable alternatives here i have to admit. Viper is simply an amazing armor for LLD (low level dueling) and MLD (Mid Level Dueling).

Shield:

1. Whitstans "Shael"
2. Lidless "PRuby", Lidless "PTopaz"
3. stash 30 Life 3 sox cold res shield with x3 20Life 30 Cold res jewels for when you need it.
4. Sanctuary (optional). for all res (if your dueling in nightmare / hell) << NOT RECOMMENDED >>

Gloves:

1. Frostburns. We are ES build, we want as much + % mana as we can get.

Rings:

1. 2 sojs

Belt:

1. Crafted Belt: 10fcr 24fhr 5replen life (or 9 str) 60 Life 50 Mana.
As a starter belt a 10fcr 24fhr 40+ life is perfectly fine.
The best level to shop and craft belts for MLD is level 69. << NOT RECOMMENDED>>
You are better off simply rolling high level belts (for profit) and hoping for a lvl 49 belt to spawn. i.e. Shop and Craft at Level 88. << RECOMMENDED>>

Where to buy magic sharkskin belts: Charsi (Nightmare), Gheed (Nightmare), Fara (Nightmare), Elzix (Nightmare)

Boots:

1. Crafted 20 frw / 10 fhr / 40 Mana / Increase Maximum Mana 5% / Regenerate Mana 10% +1 mod (40 Cold Res)

Formula for Caster Boots: Magic Demonhide Boot + Thul Rune + Perfect Amethyst + Any Jewel
Where to buy magic demonhide boots: Charsi (Nightmare), Gheed (Nightmare), Elzix (Nightmare)
Shop and Craft at level 69. As mana boots are not popular @ HLD, its optimal to target farm these boots.

2. Waterwalks. 15dex, 65life, 5max fire res. all in all some very good mods here. to be honest you can use these 100% of the time as well.
3. tri-res boots (useful in tvt).

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Invent:

x10 skillers 1 fire 30 life skiller
x10 20/17's (19/17's are good too!) if you used 9 skillers, you can add an additional 3 sc's.
The key here is damage and mana.

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Skills:

1 Warmth
1 Telekenesis
1 Teleport
1 Inferno
1 Blaze
1 Firewall
2 Mastery
20 Fireball
20 Firebolt

The rest in Meteor. Some will say put only 1 point into Mastery. 2 points gives you slightly more damage. Some would also suggest maxing Meteor in full and dropping the rest into firebolt.

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Congratulations! You have made a cookie cutter ESFB. Before going into detail for each class please note: when in doubt, NL telestomp. You have built a monster, therefore go forth and crush your opponents!
When in doubt, take your time vs your opponent, you have a massive mana pool and it regenerates pretty fast.

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I have purposesly not added a strategy section to this guide noting its too early in the life of D2r to provide a comprehensive strategy section.

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I or someone else will/can update this accordingly in the future in the event that new gear (runeword/other) become available. Kudos to everyone that has contributed to the previous guide. If I missed anything let me know and I can add on repost.

This post was edited by ferdia on Jan 8 2022 03:48pm