Max Block + ES with Light sorc? Gear is as followed Griffons (21/19) Vipermagi Um'd Hoto/Wizardspike Stormshield(main blocking shield) and sometimes faceted shield... 2x FCR rings with 70+mana Mara Frostburn Treks Arach 6 Light gcs, rest with lifers/rests/mana small charms Torch/anni Does max block and Es work together? or should I just choose one, ES or Block?
Is this for PvM or PvP? What slvl ES are you casting? Slvl 40? EDIT: Looking again at your gear, it looks like a PvP setup, but I'll wait for you to confirm.
I'm not a PvP player, so take what I say as theoretical. In PvP, I don't see how ES can last for long with such huge damage ranges from your opponents, even after the 1/6 PvP penalty. If a fire sorc does 20,000 Fireball damage, and assuming you have a slvl 40 ES, your mana will sustain (20,000 / 6) * 0.95 * 0.75 = 2375 mana lost. Depending on how large your mana pool is, ES will be good enough to sustain one or two hits, or three at best. But for the dedicated ES sorc, I think max block would go well with it. A blocked melee or ranged attack means no massive drain on your mana, which consequently prolongs the duration of your ES (i.e. it doesn't collapse from one big hit that drains your mana bulb completely, because you blocked it). And since 1 stat point is only worth 2 life, a sorc doesn't lose as much with max block. But some would argue it the other way round, and say that is even more reason to pump vitality, which is BO'able. If I had to choose between max block or ES for PvP, I'd go with max block and forget ES. But there might be something I'm missing, since this is PvP.
I'm in the same boat as frostburn here that anything I say for PvP is only theory based. I don't think I'd use stormshield for blocking with ES. The DR% is pretty much worthless with ES isn't it? You'll also use a lot of str and dex to max block with it, taking away from your mana and life. If you want max block and ES, I'd go with a better blocking shield.
I have tons of experience with PvP sorcs, they are my favorite chars for your question, it all depends on who you want to kill. If your mainly focused on killing casters, then max block would obviously be useless, go ES If you want to kill melee/ranged attackers, then use max block, and forget the ES. Me, i personally duel only in Pubbies, therefore theres no character i technically can't come across, so I ALWAYS get Max Block AND ES. DR isnt worthless if your dueling melee chars obviously, since its your only resistance against them. Also resistance is also pretty useless vs casters when having ES, but people still have maxed res. Whats a better blocking shield then SS? whitans, the ugly piece of grey trash :jig: ? SS has nice def/block/res and Dr. My max block sorc uses a Sanctuary Troll nest. and it still works perfectly fine. I lose about 50 points of dexterity compared to an SS but i also save around 50 points of strength, so it all evens out, but i end up adding a whopping 70% res to all, and slow missile charges which are quite handy
Hey, thanks a bunch, but what would be an optimal spread between dex and energy if going both es/max block? no points in vita??
depends on your lvl of energy shield. get max block first, then add energy points proportional to the amount of energy shield being absorbed. lets just say if you have 95% sorb you should basically put almost everything into energy. Charms do a much better job at giving you life then stat points. So if you can get at least 1.5k life after charms and battle orders then i wouldnt even spend a single point into life. make sure you have over 1k ish life though so that poison and open wounds dont massacre you.
