Akukami's Glitch Hell Meph MF Sorc Guide

[Akukami]

Akukami's Glitch Hell Meph MF Sorc Guide

Hi Everyone, and thanks for stopping by.

Welcome to my version of the Glitch Hell Meph MF Sorc!

First off, I will say that this type of MF Sorc is NOT my original idea, and from what I understand, a lot of players use this tactic on LoD to grab goodies off Meph.

What is a Glitch Hell Meph MF Sorc?

The idea behind this MF Sorc is simple: MF Hell Mephisto in Act 3 without getting the Meph Quest using a barrage of Static Field and Frozen Orb (no Moat Trick needed). Think of it as CSing with a Lord/Lady character and grabbing the drops off Hell Diablo without getting the Diablo Quest.

What's great about this Sorc is that you don't need ANY MF at all in order to get a whole wad of Rares, and you can stack as much Resist and/or Life gear as you want in order to tank what Meph will throw at you.

The gear I am about to show you is extremely simple to get, and will probably run you only a few PSkulls and/or a little patience.

Gear
Helm: Face of Horror OR 3-Sock PRuby Helm OR 3-Sock PSkull Helm
Weapon: Spectral Shard
Shield: The Ward OR 3-Sock PDiamond Large Shield OR 30/20 Priz Bone Shield (from Hell Drognan, Act 2)
Armor: Twitchthroe
Gloves: Magefist OR Frostburn
Boots: FHR Dex 3x FR/LR/PR or 2x FR/LR/PR Boots OR Tearhaunch
Belt: Nightsmoke OR Bladebuckle
Left Ring: (FCR) 1x Dex 2x FR/LR/PR (any combination of any 2 works)
Right Ring: (FCR) 1x Dex 2x FR/LR/PR (any combination of any 2 works)
Amulet: +1 or +2 Sorc Priz Amulet OR The Mahim-Oak Curio

There's nothing really fancy about this gear, and it works very well. Depending on what you decide to wear, the overall ideas are to:

1. Get Maximum Blocking with Good FHR - You'll need blocking in order to tank Meph's melee and missile attacks. Twitch + any non-30/20 Bone or Spiked Shield will work, but I recommend getting The Ward or a 30/20 Priz Bone or Spiked Shield shopped from Hell Act 2 Drognan. As for FHR, Bladebuckle, in addition to Twitch, will help you get out of annoying packs you may accidentally Tele into.

2. Stack on as Much Resist and/or Life Possible - Since you won't need to worry about putting on MF gear, you are open to piling on FR, LR, or PR (CR not needed since you won't be dueling) and/or Life attire. You'll want to put on a lot of FR and LR for the annoying monsters that decide to wander over to you while Static-ing Meph. PR will be for Andy, but more on that later.

3. Get Dex from Gear in Order to Wear Shard - You don't need to worry about Str since you'll be adding, but please resist the urge to add to Dex. There's plenty of gear that will get you to the required 51 Dex for Shard, and Twitch, Bladebuckle, Tearhaunch, and Mahim-Oak can help you get there. If some of the gear I mentioned is too heavy for you, then find some 1x Dex Resist Rings.

4. Get 70 FCR - Shard + Magefist will get this for you easily, but in case you want to use Frostburn, find some FCR 1x Dex Resist Rings.

Stats
30-60 Base Str (depending on gear), Base Dex, Base Energy, Rest Vita

Added Str will vary with each MF Sorc, but the minimum added Str is 30. This is so you can wear Twitch easily without having to scramble for Str gear. Again, resist the urge to add anything to Dex. (Re-)Read point #3 in the Gear section if you want to know why. Also, you can leave Energy at base, and I'll tell you why in the next section.

Skills (done at Level 80)
20 Frozen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
20 Icebolt
20 Teleport
1 Static Field
3 Warmth
1 Frost Nova
1 Ice Blast
1 Glacial Spike
1 Blizzard
1 Telekinesis

With this build, you won't have to Mana potting constantly because of Maxed Teleport. For those of you who don't already know, adding points to Teleport reduces the amount of Mana required for each Tele. (Maxed Tele = 5 Mana per Tele, and 24 Tele from added skills = 1 Mana per Tele.) This is why I said to leave Energy at base in the Stats section. Adding a point to Warmth is optional for Mana regeneration, but I recommend putting one into it. Combined with Magefist or Frostburn, you'll be able to Tele indefinitely.

How to MF Meph

Stand in front of him, Static him down, then clean up with Orb. It takes less than 20 seconds to kill him after you've found the entrance to Level 3 in an 8 player game. Be careful not to lure any Council Members from the sides so you won't have to deal with them, and don't go too far in to meet Meph so you don't attract those Cold Immunes at the top.

Which Games to MF In

Any game where you can't get the Meph Quest. Typically, Hell Cow, Hell Act 4 Questing, and Trade games are the best places to pick, and if you're really good at finding the entrance wink2: ), join a CS run!

Leveling

This is the hardest part of building this MF Sorc because you won't be able to level by CSing. If you don't have someone to give Chant you, please refer to Orphan's Guide to find the best place to level.

Get the Sorc to Level 20, and hit up Cow games to Level 25-30. Once you acquire Frozen Orb, you can try Norm CSing to gain a few levels, or you can NM Cow with a group to Level 40-45. You can begin to MF Hell Meph if you want, but if you choose not to, you should be able to NM CS without to Level 60 without too much trouble. After this, you can start MFing Meph regularly.

Now, I mentioned before to stack PR in the Gear section, and that is for Andy. After Meph, you'll probably want to go for Andy, too, if it's not already done. You'll gain some nice XP by clearing out the room. Also, the Fire Eye pack (easily accessed in Act 2 through the Arcane waypoint and heading up into the portal) gives excellent XP. One more option to level in Hell is to join some Hell Flayer runs with Barbs who can kill for you.

There are other ways of leveling the MFer, and I can't cover all of them, but this is what worked for me.

My Build

I had enough extra gear to build my Glitch Hell Meph MF Sorc, and this is what my she wore before I traded her gear away:

Gear
Helm: FHR 80 ED 3 Energy 2 Life 29 LR 27 FR 24 MF Bone Helm (PTopaz Sock)
Weapon: Spectral Shard
Shield: 10/30/20 20 Priz 30 PR Grim Shield
Armor: Twitchthroe
Gloves: 9 Str 2 Dex 39 Mana 24 LR 23 FR Demonhide Gloves
Boots: FHR 38 Mana 40 CR 30 LR 15 MF Demonhide Boots
Belt: 24 FHR 59 ED 17 Str 44 Life 15 CR 21 FR Belt
Left Ring: FCR 9 Dex 25 CR 19 FR 11 MF
Right Ring: FCR 24 CR 29 LR 6 MF
Amulet: +1 Sorc 14 Dex 18 Priz 51 CR

Stats
30 Base Str, Base Dex, Base Energy, Rest Vita

Skills (done at Level 80)
20 Frozen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
20 Icebolt
20 Teleport
1 Static Field
3 Warmth
1 Frost Nova
1 Ice Blast
1 Glacial Spike
1 Blizzard
1 Telekinesis

This is obviously a rich build, and with enough luck, you, too can pull this off. :wink:

I've gotten a lot of good gear from Meph, but the two items that stick out the most are my Marts:

Dread Crusher
Martel de Fer
165 to 273 Dmg
40 IAS
171 ED
5 Max Dmg
144 AR
6 LL
50 Dmg to Undead

Carrion Gnash
Martel de Fer
168 to 290 Dmg
+2 Barb Skills
177 ED
16 Max Dmg
102 AR
1-2 Cold Dmg
7 Psn Dmg
50 Dmg to Undead

That's all for this guide. Thanks for reading, and I hope you, too, will enjoy this MF Sorc. :grin:

- Akukami

 

[Pied]

Hands up for this nice guide.

Altho i have one big question.
Is static+orb that must faster then using the moat trick with lets say blizz? Is it worth taking the risk of dieing out there at mephisto? Isnt the "Skull" Missile (the ball of lightning) to dangerous?

 

[Creon]

Anyone competent at playing a Sorceress should never die to Mephisto as Static/Orb, even with -50 resist all and 200 life unless lag hits. 75 resists and 1000 life just makes it easier to kill him without dancing or with lag, and makes the teleporting not suicidal. I can't comment on the speed, though, as I've never made a Blizz sorc.

 

[tdlofcc]

This sounds like a nice idea.

And I got some spare stuff around ... the cheap version anyway.

@warlock
Should do this tonight

 

[Metalshredderr]

Thanks, you've inspired me to make this sorc. BTW, hurry up and get on, I need to get chanted lawl kthx bai.

 

[Akukami]

Hands up for this nice guide.

Altho i have one big question.
Is static+orb that must faster then using the moat trick with lets say blizz? Is it worth taking the risk of dieing out there at mephisto? Isnt the "Skull" Missile (the ball of lightning) to dangerous?

I've run Meph with my Vita Blizzer before, and using the Moat Trick just took way too long for me. I ended up Teleing in his face and spamming him with Ice Blasts.

As for that missile, with high blocking, you have a really good chance of blocking it. In the case that he does hit you good and your HP get knocked down, just TP to town, replenish, and head back in. I had to do this several times when I was Level 45-50, but after that, I never really got hit with the missile.

- Akukami

 

[Rawly]

I've run Meph with my Vita Blizzer before, and using the Moat Trick just took way too long for me. I ended up Teleing in his face and spamming him with Ice Blasts.

As for that missile, with high blocking, you have a really good chance of blocking it. In the case that he does hit you good and your HP get knocked down, just TP to town, replenish, and head back in. I had to do this several times when I was Level 45-50, but after that, I never really got hit with the missile.

- Akukami

why bother with moat trick if you going to static orb him toe to toe why not static blizz him toe to toe, bliz does more damage than orb.

 

[Akukami]

why bother with moat trick if you going to static orb him toe to toe why not static blizz him toe to toe, bliz does more damage than orb.

First off, my Vita Blizzer wasn't meant for MFing, so I don't have Static on her. Secondly, I don't like having to constantly Mana Pot when searching for the entrance to Level 3, which is the reason why I like using Orb; you have a lot of extra points to distribute to Teleport, and having a 3-4 Mana Tele with regeneration beats out how much damage I can deal in one shot. Think about it: why would I need high damage in the first place when I could just Static him down and finish with Orb?

- Akukami

 

[Monzee]

Bladebuckle is a belt right? not an armor?

You've also inspired me to make yet another char so she is already in the works. :thumbsup:

Just have two questions:

1: Does #numbers of players in the game affect the drop like e.g. andy?

2: If the answer is no I suppose this would be alot easier to do with two chars by yourself right?

 

[Akukami]

Bladebuckle is a belt right? not an armor?

You've also inspired me to make yet another char so she is already in the works. :thumbsup:

Just have two questions:

1: Does #numbers of players in the game affect the drop like e.g. andy?

2: If the answer is no I suppose this would be alot easier to do with two chars by yourself right?

Yes, Bladebuckle is a Belt, not an Armor.

And also, thanks for bringing up the number of players in game. My best drops came when there were at least 5 people, myself included, in the game.

- Akukami

 

[Pied]

Hm so the numbers of players do determine the bugged drop? That makes finding good games alot harder i'm afraid.

 

[WarlockCC]

One would think CS runs are common.
I do Trav, Fireeye, Dark Wood, Rakanishu in CS games with my GF barb, so it should be easy enough to find and do Meph in them with such a sorc. Also makes it so you don't get the quest.

Going to add this one to the sticky btw. Axelent guide Akukami.

 

[Akukami]

It's much easier than you think. If you're thinking about the fact that it will be harder to kill Meph in a filled game, don't forget that Static Field is a 1 point wonder that will knock Meph down quickly. However, if you're thinking about finding games to MF in, I'm very sure that there will be a lot of them available. However, since Glitchers are becoming more common in Classic (at least on ESCCL), you may have some competition to deal with...which why I also geared my MFer to double as an SvS Orber. I am not a mean person, but I try to make every game I enter a productive one, and if another Sorc is in the way...well, let's just say that I get quite annoyed. :grin:

- Akukami

EDIT: Thanks, Warlock!

 

[squiggle]

Hmmm


How well does this build go with very new gear?

I saw this and feel like perhaps returningto classic for a bit of fun and hopefully get a good mfer and make some LLD'ers

 

[Monzee]

Helm: Face of Horror OR 3-Sock PRuby Helm OR 3-Sock PSkull Helm
Weapon: Spectral Shard
Shield: The Ward OR 3-Sock PDiamond Large Shield OR 30/20 Priz Bone Shield (from Hell Drognan, Act 2)
Armor: Twitchthroe OR Bladebuckle
Gloves: Magefist OR Frostburn
Boots: FHR Dex 3x FR/LR/PR or 2x FR/LR/PR Boots OR Tearhaunch
Belt: Nightsmoke
Left Ring: (FCR) 1x Dex 2x FR/LR/PR (any combination of any 2 works)
Right Ring: (FCR) 1x Dex 2x FR/LR/PR (any combination of any 2 works)
Amulet: +1 or +2 Sorc Priz Amulet OR The Mahim-Oak Curio

In the gear section you've listed bladebuckle under armors together with Twitch. But I think I get you point by now: Either you use twitch for armor, thereby leaving the belt open and the other way around. If you use Bladebuckle for belt you leave the armor open. Or is it just a simple mistake?

 

[Akukami]

In the gear section you've listed bladebuckle under armors together with Twitch. But I think I get you point by now: Either you use twitch for armor, thereby leaving the belt open and the other way around. If you use Bladebuckle for belt you leave the armor open. Or is it just a simple mistake?

No, this was a mistake. Bladebuckle was supposed to be listed as a Belt, not an Armor. My point is that Twitch is probably the best, and least expensive choice for this Sorc. Bladebuckle is there for the extra FHR and/or added Str/Dex to wear gear.

Squiggle - Hi, Jake! Long time no see! I listed a quick build for those who are new to D2 or coming over from LoD. If you need gear, you can ask Zodi for it. I think he's still got a lot of stuff left on his unexpired mules.

- Akukami

 

[Monzee]

I give it a 10/10!

Best mf guide by far imho :thumbsup:

Very nice work m8

Just my $0.02

 

[Rawly]

Yes, Bladebuckle is a Belt, not an Armor.

And also, thanks for bringing up the number of players in game. My best drops came when there were at least 5 people, myself included, in the game.

- Akukami

the more players in the game the less likely you are to get a no drop instead of a magic/rare/unique. 4+ is enough usually

 

[WarlockCC]

There, I took the liberty to move the belt to the belt section, as this might cause confusion for some.

 

[quadeddie]

Does this work with Hell Diablo as well? (Lady kills diablo in a baron-made game?)

Just wondering - I've been MFing CS lately with two chars in a private game and the drops seem pretty dang good. (Better than my average Meph drop, and better than all the Traving I've done)