theOG22093
04-15-2008, 05:29 AM
theOG22093's Blizzard Sorceress Guide
The skill Blizzard is a very deadly allie to the sorceress class. Combine it with the lovely Cold Mastery skill, and throw in a few synergies, and you've got yourself a build. This guide will show you how to make and what to use on your Blizzard Sorceress. There will be a Player vs Monster section and a Player vs Player section.
Table of Contents:
Section A: FCR and FHR
Section B: Skill Allocation
Section C: Stat Distribution
Section D: Gear Selection
Section E: Mercenary(PvM)
Section F: Leveling
SECTION A: FCR and FHR
Faster Cast rate is the statistic that determines how fast you can cast your spells. The more you bring it up, the faster you cast.
Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints Table-
13 frames 0%
12 frames 9%
11 frames 20%
10 frames 37%
09 frames 63%
08 frames 105%
07 frames 200%
In this build, Pvm and Pvp, we'll be aiming for the 105 breakpont.
Faster Hit Recovery is how fast you recover from being stunned by a hit. This is an important statistic in dueling, or PvP.
Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints Table-
15 frames 0%
14 frames 5%
13 frames 9%
12 frames 14%
11 frames 20%
10 frames 30%
09 frames 42%
08 frames 60%
07 frames 86%
06 frames 142%
In the PvP build you should aim for the 86 breakpoint.
SECTION B: SKILL ALLOCATION
Note: Since the preferred pvp build in this guide is a Vitality build as is the pvm, the skill distribution will be the same for both, without Energy Sheild.
Cold Skill Tree-
20 Blizzard
20 Cold mastery
20 Ice Bolt
20 Ice Blast
20 Glacial Spike
1 into Ice Sheild of your choice
Lightning Skill Tree-
1 into Telekinesis.
1 into Teleport.
*1 into Static Feild.( In pvp this is not a necessity)
Fire Skill Tree-
1 into Warmth
SECTION C: STAT DISTRIBUTION
Note: Again, since the preferred build for pvp and pvm in this guide is Vitality, this will be the same on both.
Strength: Only enough here to equip all of your items taking into view how much strength each item will give once it is equipped to your character.
Dexterity: Same as above, only enough to equip all of your gear taking inot view how much dexterity each item will give when it's equipped.
Vitality: After you have equipped all of your items, and have the required amount of dexterity and strength set, put all of your remaining stat points into here.
Energy: You will need none put into here, because you will have plenty from your items.
SECTION D: GEAR SELECTION
In this section, there will be two different set-ups, one for Player vs Monster, and one for Player vs Player.
Pvm Gear Set-up
HELMET:
The best option here would be Harlequin Crest Shako. It's 2 to all skills, 2 to all stats, and huge boosts to life and mana are greatly needed in the pvm scene.
Harlequin Crest Shako.
ARMOR:
The optimum choice here is definetly Chains of Honor. Some people prefer a Skin of the Vipermagi.
It's mostly about preferances, but I think that the extra skill and resistances out-weigh the open socket and FCR, considering you won't even need any more FCR.
Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud
WEAPON:
Here we are going to use the runeword Heart of the Oak. Some people prefer to use Death's Fathom, but HOTO is a better choice because the resists are needed.
HOTO Flail
SHEILD:
The sheild of choice for this build is the runeword Spirit in a Monarch sheild. It gives 2 to all skills, 25-35 faster cast, some mana, life, and even a little resistances. Some people like to use a 20/20 cold facet'd Monarch, but the FCR is needed. Some people even use a Stormsheild and go max block. I feel that is not a guide strategy, as I hardly ever get hit by PATs in runs, and tele away from enemies, while casting from afar. With the rest of these items, you can reach the 105 FCR breakpoint with even a 25FCR Spirit.
SPIRIT Monarch
BELT:
The best option here is definetly Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash. This is the belt for casters with it's 20 FCR, and the only belt in the game that gives 1 to all skills.
Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash
GLOVES:
Like with most casters, the gloves of choice have 20 FCR. That leaves 2 options - Trang Oil's and Magefist. With the rest of the gear you will have plenty of resistances, so the gloves we are going with are Magefist Light Gauntlets, UN-UPPED. It is completely unecessary to up these gloves :D
Magefist Light Gauntlets
BOOTS:
There are quite a few options here. The main two to dispute on are Silkweaves and Sandstorm Treks. We are going to go with Treks for the great mods, but if this was an ES build I would recommend Silkweaves.
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots
AMULET:
Again, there are many options here. Some people like using a rare Amulet with FCR, but I think the best option for a PvM build is Maras. It gives the same 2 to all skills as a rare amulet would for a Sorceress, but replaces the FCR with 20-30 all resistances and 5 to all stats.
Maras Kaleidoscope
RINGS:
Great News! With the rest of this gear equipped you hit the 105FCR breakpoint, so that leaves the ring options wide open. If you want more mana - 2x Stone of Jordan. If you want more life - 2x Bul-Kathos.
2x SOJ or BK
INVENTORY:
The obvious part of this section is the standard Hellfire Torch/Anilus. If you feel you need more resistances then get a few 5 resistance SCs. If you think you're low on Life, get a few Vitality SCs.
Hellfire Torch Large Charm/ Anilus Small Charm
SWITCH:
Here we are going to go with the natural Call to Arms Runeword. Make it in a Crystal Sword so you know when your CTA is on. Some people like to use a Spirit on switch too, but on non-ladder they can cost a pretty penny, so a Lidless is fine.
Call to Arms Crystal Sword/ Lidless Wall Grim Sheild
PvP Gear Set-up
In this section we will be going with the absolute best.
HELMET:
The best option here is NightWing's Veil. We are going to socket this lovely Helmet with a 5/5 Cold Facet.
5/5 Cold Facet'd Nightwing Veil
ARMOR:
For the PvM build we decided on COH, and most people use that on PvP, but for this build we're going with Vipermagi. 1 to all skills, some FCR, and some resistances. Shael it for some FHR.
Shael'd Vipermagi Serpentskin Armor
WEAPON:
For the weapon we're going with Death's Fathom. It gives 3 to skills, some FCR, and some % to cold skill damage. It's the weapon of choice for a damage orientated Blizzard build.
Death's Fathom Dimensional Shard
SHEILD:
Same as with the PvM build, here we are going with a Spirit Monarch. With the rest of the items on this set-up, you will have to have a perfect FCR Spirit or you won't reach the breakpoint.
35 FCR Spirit Monarch
BELT:
The best option here is definetly Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash. This is the belt for casters with it's 20 FCR, and the only belt in the game that gives 1 to all skills.
Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash
GLOVES:
Like with most casters, the gloves of choice have 20 FCR. That leaves 2 options - Trang Oil's and Magefist. With the rest of the gear you will have plenty of resistances, so the gloves we are going with are Magefist Light Gauntlets, UN-UPPED. It is completely unecessary to up these gloves :D
Magefist Light Gauntlets
BOOTS:
There are quite a few options here. The main two to dispute on are Silkweaves and Sandstorm Treks. We are going to go with Treks for the great mods, but if this was an ES build I would recommend Silkweaves.
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots
AMULET:
Again, there are many options here. Some people like using a rare Amulet with FCR, but I think the best option for this build is Maras. It gives the same 2 to all skills as a rare amulet would for a Sorceress, but replaces the FCR with 20-30 all resistances and 5 to all stats.
Maras Kaleidoscope
RINGS:
Great News! With the rest of this gear equipped you hit 95FCR , so that leaves the one ring option wide open. If you want more mana - 1x Stone of Jordan. If you want more life - 1x Bul-Kathos.
1x SOJ or BK and Rare FCR ring with mods
INVENTORY:
The obvious part of this section is the standard Hellfire Torch/Anilus. If you feel you need more resistances then get a few 5 resistance SCs. If you think you're low on Life, get a few Vitality SCs. For the PvP build you want to try to get as much damage as possible, so 9x Blizzard Skiller Grand Charms, with the best mods you can get.
Hellfire Torch Large Charm/ Anilus Small Charm/9x Blizzard Grand Charms
SWITCH:
Here we are going to go with the natural Call to Arms Runeword. Make it in a Crystal Sword so you know when your CTA is on. Some people like to use a Spirit on switch too, but on non-ladder they can cost a pretty penny, so a Lidless is fine.
Call to Arms Crystal Sword/ Lidless Wall Grim Sheild
SECTION E: MERCENARY(PVM)
This section focuses on the very helpful Mercenary, or Merc. This part is only for the PvM build. The reason you need the Merc is mostly to help kill Cold immunes so nothing will be in your way :D
Merc Selection
The Merc of choice for this build is the Act 2 Nightmare, Defensive. This one provides a Holy Freeze aura, which helps slow down monsters.
ACT 2 Nightmare, Defensive
Merc Gear:
HELMET:
The helmet we're going to go with for this build is Eth Vampire Gaze Fal'd for the extra strength. This provides you with great Life Leech and some damage reduction.
Eth Fal'd Vampire Gaze Grim Helm
ARMOR:
On this build we're going with an Eth Fortitude with high defense. One recommended armor is an Archon Plate.
Eth Archon Plate Fortitude
WEAPON:
The merc weapon we're going with is Eth Bonewhew.. This weapon can dish out huge amounts of damage and has two open sockets. A good choice for the sockets is 2x PSkulls for life leech.
Eth PSkull Pskull'd Bonehew
SECTION F: LEVELING
In this section I will explain a few tactics and strategies that I've picked up over the years to help you have immediate success with your Blizzard Sorceress.
Classic Leveling
Normal Difficulty
1-15: Tristram Runs
15-20: Tomb Runs
20-25: Cow Runs
25-26: Ancients
26-40: Baal Runs
Nightmare Difficulty:
40-41: Ancients
41-60: Baal Runs.
Hell Difficulty:
60-61: Ancients
61-80: Baal Runs
80-XX: Chaos/Baal runs.( I prefer Chaos, but its really not too much of a difference.)
One of the best places to run for Exp. with your Blizzard Sorceress will be the Chaos Sanctuary. It's best to try not to solo it, but have a freind with another character come run the games with you. It's great for Exp. and item drops, and not nearly as boring as Baal runs, so do all of your runs there.
Glitch Rush
Get a freind to glitch rush you to Act4 Hell.(Rush through Act1-5 Normal, and find a baal for quest game, and glitch off some one who can get the quest by being in his party when baal is killed. Repeat in Nightmare. Get rushed from Hell Act1-4.)
After you have recieved the rush to Hell Act4, begin chaos games.
1-25 is kind of slow, but after that it definetly picks up the pace.
1-60 Hell Chaos Runs.
60-61 Hell Ancients
61-80 Hell Baal Runs.
80-XX- Chaos/Baal Runs. ( I prefer Chaos, but its not really too much of a difference.)
CONCLUSION:
We'll there it is. Hopefully everyone gets something out of it. Good luck to all.
Josh Young
The skill Blizzard is a very deadly allie to the sorceress class. Combine it with the lovely Cold Mastery skill, and throw in a few synergies, and you've got yourself a build. This guide will show you how to make and what to use on your Blizzard Sorceress. There will be a Player vs Monster section and a Player vs Player section.
Table of Contents:
Section A: FCR and FHR
Section B: Skill Allocation
Section C: Stat Distribution
Section D: Gear Selection
Section E: Mercenary(PvM)
Section F: Leveling
SECTION A: FCR and FHR
Faster Cast rate is the statistic that determines how fast you can cast your spells. The more you bring it up, the faster you cast.
Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints Table-
13 frames 0%
12 frames 9%
11 frames 20%
10 frames 37%
09 frames 63%
08 frames 105%
07 frames 200%
In this build, Pvm and Pvp, we'll be aiming for the 105 breakpont.
Faster Hit Recovery is how fast you recover from being stunned by a hit. This is an important statistic in dueling, or PvP.
Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints Table-
15 frames 0%
14 frames 5%
13 frames 9%
12 frames 14%
11 frames 20%
10 frames 30%
09 frames 42%
08 frames 60%
07 frames 86%
06 frames 142%
In the PvP build you should aim for the 86 breakpoint.
SECTION B: SKILL ALLOCATION
Note: Since the preferred pvp build in this guide is a Vitality build as is the pvm, the skill distribution will be the same for both, without Energy Sheild.
Cold Skill Tree-
20 Blizzard
20 Cold mastery
20 Ice Bolt
20 Ice Blast
20 Glacial Spike
1 into Ice Sheild of your choice
Lightning Skill Tree-
1 into Telekinesis.
1 into Teleport.
*1 into Static Feild.( In pvp this is not a necessity)
Fire Skill Tree-
1 into Warmth
SECTION C: STAT DISTRIBUTION
Note: Again, since the preferred build for pvp and pvm in this guide is Vitality, this will be the same on both.
Strength: Only enough here to equip all of your items taking into view how much strength each item will give once it is equipped to your character.
Dexterity: Same as above, only enough to equip all of your gear taking inot view how much dexterity each item will give when it's equipped.
Vitality: After you have equipped all of your items, and have the required amount of dexterity and strength set, put all of your remaining stat points into here.
Energy: You will need none put into here, because you will have plenty from your items.
SECTION D: GEAR SELECTION
In this section, there will be two different set-ups, one for Player vs Monster, and one for Player vs Player.
Pvm Gear Set-up
HELMET:
The best option here would be Harlequin Crest Shako. It's 2 to all skills, 2 to all stats, and huge boosts to life and mana are greatly needed in the pvm scene.
Harlequin Crest Shako.
ARMOR:
The optimum choice here is definetly Chains of Honor. Some people prefer a Skin of the Vipermagi.
It's mostly about preferances, but I think that the extra skill and resistances out-weigh the open socket and FCR, considering you won't even need any more FCR.
Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud
WEAPON:
Here we are going to use the runeword Heart of the Oak. Some people prefer to use Death's Fathom, but HOTO is a better choice because the resists are needed.
HOTO Flail
SHEILD:
The sheild of choice for this build is the runeword Spirit in a Monarch sheild. It gives 2 to all skills, 25-35 faster cast, some mana, life, and even a little resistances. Some people like to use a 20/20 cold facet'd Monarch, but the FCR is needed. Some people even use a Stormsheild and go max block. I feel that is not a guide strategy, as I hardly ever get hit by PATs in runs, and tele away from enemies, while casting from afar. With the rest of these items, you can reach the 105 FCR breakpoint with even a 25FCR Spirit.
SPIRIT Monarch
BELT:
The best option here is definetly Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash. This is the belt for casters with it's 20 FCR, and the only belt in the game that gives 1 to all skills.
Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash
GLOVES:
Like with most casters, the gloves of choice have 20 FCR. That leaves 2 options - Trang Oil's and Magefist. With the rest of the gear you will have plenty of resistances, so the gloves we are going with are Magefist Light Gauntlets, UN-UPPED. It is completely unecessary to up these gloves :D
Magefist Light Gauntlets
BOOTS:
There are quite a few options here. The main two to dispute on are Silkweaves and Sandstorm Treks. We are going to go with Treks for the great mods, but if this was an ES build I would recommend Silkweaves.
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots
AMULET:
Again, there are many options here. Some people like using a rare Amulet with FCR, but I think the best option for a PvM build is Maras. It gives the same 2 to all skills as a rare amulet would for a Sorceress, but replaces the FCR with 20-30 all resistances and 5 to all stats.
Maras Kaleidoscope
RINGS:
Great News! With the rest of this gear equipped you hit the 105FCR breakpoint, so that leaves the ring options wide open. If you want more mana - 2x Stone of Jordan. If you want more life - 2x Bul-Kathos.
2x SOJ or BK
INVENTORY:
The obvious part of this section is the standard Hellfire Torch/Anilus. If you feel you need more resistances then get a few 5 resistance SCs. If you think you're low on Life, get a few Vitality SCs.
Hellfire Torch Large Charm/ Anilus Small Charm
SWITCH:
Here we are going to go with the natural Call to Arms Runeword. Make it in a Crystal Sword so you know when your CTA is on. Some people like to use a Spirit on switch too, but on non-ladder they can cost a pretty penny, so a Lidless is fine.
Call to Arms Crystal Sword/ Lidless Wall Grim Sheild
PvP Gear Set-up
In this section we will be going with the absolute best.
HELMET:
The best option here is NightWing's Veil. We are going to socket this lovely Helmet with a 5/5 Cold Facet.
5/5 Cold Facet'd Nightwing Veil
ARMOR:
For the PvM build we decided on COH, and most people use that on PvP, but for this build we're going with Vipermagi. 1 to all skills, some FCR, and some resistances. Shael it for some FHR.
Shael'd Vipermagi Serpentskin Armor
WEAPON:
For the weapon we're going with Death's Fathom. It gives 3 to skills, some FCR, and some % to cold skill damage. It's the weapon of choice for a damage orientated Blizzard build.
Death's Fathom Dimensional Shard
SHEILD:
Same as with the PvM build, here we are going with a Spirit Monarch. With the rest of the items on this set-up, you will have to have a perfect FCR Spirit or you won't reach the breakpoint.
35 FCR Spirit Monarch
BELT:
The best option here is definetly Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash. This is the belt for casters with it's 20 FCR, and the only belt in the game that gives 1 to all skills.
Arachnids Mesh Spiderweb Sash
GLOVES:
Like with most casters, the gloves of choice have 20 FCR. That leaves 2 options - Trang Oil's and Magefist. With the rest of the gear you will have plenty of resistances, so the gloves we are going with are Magefist Light Gauntlets, UN-UPPED. It is completely unecessary to up these gloves :D
Magefist Light Gauntlets
BOOTS:
There are quite a few options here. The main two to dispute on are Silkweaves and Sandstorm Treks. We are going to go with Treks for the great mods, but if this was an ES build I would recommend Silkweaves.
Sandstorm Trek Scarabshell Boots
AMULET:
Again, there are many options here. Some people like using a rare Amulet with FCR, but I think the best option for this build is Maras. It gives the same 2 to all skills as a rare amulet would for a Sorceress, but replaces the FCR with 20-30 all resistances and 5 to all stats.
Maras Kaleidoscope
RINGS:
Great News! With the rest of this gear equipped you hit 95FCR , so that leaves the one ring option wide open. If you want more mana - 1x Stone of Jordan. If you want more life - 1x Bul-Kathos.
1x SOJ or BK and Rare FCR ring with mods
INVENTORY:
The obvious part of this section is the standard Hellfire Torch/Anilus. If you feel you need more resistances then get a few 5 resistance SCs. If you think you're low on Life, get a few Vitality SCs. For the PvP build you want to try to get as much damage as possible, so 9x Blizzard Skiller Grand Charms, with the best mods you can get.
Hellfire Torch Large Charm/ Anilus Small Charm/9x Blizzard Grand Charms
SWITCH:
Here we are going to go with the natural Call to Arms Runeword. Make it in a Crystal Sword so you know when your CTA is on. Some people like to use a Spirit on switch too, but on non-ladder they can cost a pretty penny, so a Lidless is fine.
Call to Arms Crystal Sword/ Lidless Wall Grim Sheild
SECTION E: MERCENARY(PVM)
This section focuses on the very helpful Mercenary, or Merc. This part is only for the PvM build. The reason you need the Merc is mostly to help kill Cold immunes so nothing will be in your way :D
Merc Selection
The Merc of choice for this build is the Act 2 Nightmare, Defensive. This one provides a Holy Freeze aura, which helps slow down monsters.
ACT 2 Nightmare, Defensive
Merc Gear:
HELMET:
The helmet we're going to go with for this build is Eth Vampire Gaze Fal'd for the extra strength. This provides you with great Life Leech and some damage reduction.
Eth Fal'd Vampire Gaze Grim Helm
ARMOR:
On this build we're going with an Eth Fortitude with high defense. One recommended armor is an Archon Plate.
Eth Archon Plate Fortitude
WEAPON:
The merc weapon we're going with is Eth Bonewhew.. This weapon can dish out huge amounts of damage and has two open sockets. A good choice for the sockets is 2x PSkulls for life leech.
Eth PSkull Pskull'd Bonehew
SECTION F: LEVELING
In this section I will explain a few tactics and strategies that I've picked up over the years to help you have immediate success with your Blizzard Sorceress.
Classic Leveling
Normal Difficulty
1-15: Tristram Runs
15-20: Tomb Runs
20-25: Cow Runs
25-26: Ancients
26-40: Baal Runs
Nightmare Difficulty:
40-41: Ancients
41-60: Baal Runs.
Hell Difficulty:
60-61: Ancients
61-80: Baal Runs
80-XX: Chaos/Baal runs.( I prefer Chaos, but its really not too much of a difference.)
One of the best places to run for Exp. with your Blizzard Sorceress will be the Chaos Sanctuary. It's best to try not to solo it, but have a freind with another character come run the games with you. It's great for Exp. and item drops, and not nearly as boring as Baal runs, so do all of your runs there.
Glitch Rush
Get a freind to glitch rush you to Act4 Hell.(Rush through Act1-5 Normal, and find a baal for quest game, and glitch off some one who can get the quest by being in his party when baal is killed. Repeat in Nightmare. Get rushed from Hell Act1-4.)
After you have recieved the rush to Hell Act4, begin chaos games.
1-25 is kind of slow, but after that it definetly picks up the pace.
1-60 Hell Chaos Runs.
60-61 Hell Ancients
61-80 Hell Baal Runs.
80-XX- Chaos/Baal Runs. ( I prefer Chaos, but its not really too much of a difference.)
CONCLUSION:
We'll there it is. Hopefully everyone gets something out of it. Good luck to all.
Josh Young