ES nova sorc concerns

[evild2player]

ES nova sorc concerns

Good morning,

I'm planning to make an es self-infinity nova sorc on east ladder (mostly a pvm focus, but I'll pvp once in awhile). This is my gear setup so far

griffons
rare sorc ammy w/ 2 skills, 10 fcr, 15 str, 20 all res, 4 mana, 6 replenish
35 vipermagi (upped or not, I have both)
arachnids
soj
soj
etreks
trangs (for resists, I badly need them)
some sort of low req infinity (haven't acquired this yet, waiting for rune prices to drop some more)
cta/lidless

19/17/x anni
17/17 storch

Now my main concern is my resists, which is why I need someone who has made a sorc like this before to answer my questions I'll be primarily running chaos with an ice bow merc (I rather my merc live). I'll have about 14 resists after penalties in hell (I can get 30 more if I um'd or res jewel'd my helm/armour). Now IIRC es absorbs 100% of all elemental attacks, but I'm not sure about this. How well do you guys think an es sorc with low resists will fair? I imagine mana burn to be a very dangerous thing.

My second question, since I'm going with an act 1 merc, I won't be able to utilize insight. This shouldn't be too big of a problem would it? I should have ~3k mana, and each nova would cost about ~50. The ratio looks good to me so far, but I'm not sure if I can keep up nova spam.

If anyone out there has an es nova sorc and can share his or her experiences with me, that'd be great :thumbup:

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: ES nova sorc concerns

ES doesn't absorb poison attacks, and Abyss Knights & bosses with 'spectral hit' can poison you. Otherwise, it works against the other elements (and your etreks should help against poison anyways).

I think you should be ok with your resists. Assuming you get level40 ES, then 95% absorb from ES means that very little will get past your Energy Shield. A gloam's ~400 lightning damage is only ~20 after your ES, so the difference between 0 resist and 75% is only ~15 points of damage (i.e. 20-damage at 0% resist, 5-damage at 75% resist). Most elemental attacks will deal significantly less damage than that, so the difference will be even smaller.


I can't speak for your mana & a lack of Insight... it might work, and it might suck. You could always keep it on your own weapon-switch and use it when needed, but that would make it harder to use a CtA.

 

[evild2player]

Re: ES nova sorc concerns

Ah I see. I can always just switch the a holy freeze a2 merc if it doesn't work out. Oh, maybe I'll put a low damage insight on an a2 merc. How well would a merc survive without much damage? I'd imagine gear choices would be different as well.

Here's what I'm thinking

low req insight
andy's
eth um'd shaft

But then it'd make killing immunes difficult

 

[guface]

Re: ES nova sorc concerns

I would try and get the cannot be frozen mod somewhere. A Raven or something like gladiators bane can be considered.

Resists are redundant in a ES build, this is their strength and weakness. Mana burn mobs are deadly. I would also say that without infi, nova is unusable.

The only gloves in an ES build to use are frostburns. Its basically getting u 40% extra life. I'd stick CTA on a switch and use something like crescent moon (-35% light resist) if you dont have infi atm.

 

[sirpoopsalot]

Re: ES nova sorc concerns

I would also say that without infi, nova is unusable.

Definitely not the case. I'm currently taking a solo ES/Nova sorc through the game - on /players8, and without Infinity. I'm still early in hell (almost finished Act1), but have encountered NO problems at all so far, as long as I kept my merc alive. And that statement includes the mana burners and Lightning Immunes I have met. (God bless Insight and Telekinesis, respectively).

My /players8 setting is a little more of a self-imposed experiment, but in a game with lower settings I have no doubt that a decently-equiped Novasorc would kick complete butt.


Edit: And since your casting speed isn't affected by being chilled, the cannot-be-frozen mod isn't very important (or useful) for most sorcs either, in my opinion.

 

[evild2player]

Re: ES nova sorc concerns

I will be equipping infinity on my sorc, to clear any confusion. My merc equipment is still up for debate, but I don't know how much I can mix my sorc gear around. If I changed to frostburns, I would have to make up the 20 fcr somewhere else, likely in the rings because that is the only slot available. If I did that, I would lose more mana than I would gain from frostburns.