mf q's

[badgerofdoom]

mf q's

alright so i got this sorc lvl 82, has 20 blizz 20 ice blast 20 glacial spike and 20 cm,i havent started putting on ice bolt yet.... i just read that 20 cm is a waste, but im stumped on where to put my stat points and i need advice on whether to restart her or just keep going because of the cm

 

[badgerofdoom]

and this is really my first mf char ever, so i dont expect any good items until i start mfing... i dont feel like spending 36 dollars or however much on some pixels either.

 

[melianor]

alright so i got this sorc lvl 82, has 20 blizz 20 ice blast 20 glacial spike and 20 cm,i havent started putting on ice bolt yet.... i just read that 20 cm is a waste, but im stumped on where to put my stat points and i need advice on whether to restart her or just keep going because of the cm

Hi and welcome to the forums!

As a pure Blizzard build, 20 Cold Mastery is not a waste. You will want to do all the damage you can. When you encounter cold immunes, simply help your Mercenary (preferably one of the Act2 Mercs) with Static field and Telekinesis and you should be fine.

For a pure Blizzard build i would continue to max Icebolt. You then have almost maximum synergized Iceblast, Glacial Spike and Blizzard. This will let you kill some of the super unique monsters like Mephisto and Andariel real real fast. I expect that you kill Mephisto alrady pretty with ease already.

With you build you can certainly build up some wealth to trade for some better Sorceress items and will certainly not need to pay cash for pixels.

There are some trading forums on this forum aswell. The chance to encounter dupes that poof in your inventory when trading here are pretty low, though it can happen. Also trading on these forums is pretty friendly. Give it a try when you have some items fomr Meph, or a vast amount of perfect gems and runes to sell.

Have fun with your Blizz build
regards, meli

 

[MageChick]

It will work fine. I think Melianor is dead on. MF for a long time with your blizzard sorc. Blizzard is a good build to start out with. Stopping short of 20 CM is highly recommended for dual tree (or all three tree) builds becuase you'll need to use those points elsewhere (i.e. your 2nd tree). But for a Blizzard only build there really isn't a better place to use your points. Blizzard + all of its synergies + CM is fine. About the only other place you could put those points is into one of the cold armors, warmth or static - and those aren't really good options either.

If eventually you get lots of good gear (and eventually you will) and want to equip a second char, go for it. But there's no need to rebuild your blizzard sorc.

 

[badgerofdoom]

thats a relief, but i still have like 325 unused stat points, and im always running low on mana, but i dont know if i should put it all in vitality like with most chars, or to put some in energy to supplement my mana. i think i have some in strength already because i found some tals stuff but thats about it

 

[MageChick]

well, you can put a few into energy if you want, but don't overdo it. I wouldn't go more than like +25 tops. If you have mana problems its easier to get it from your gear.

Forstburns or SOJ's are probably the best, but SOJ's are pretty expensive (I prefer nagels anyway for MFing) and I use Magefists for the Fast Cast. Magefists do come with some mana regen and the +1 to fire will help your warmth too for that matter.

If you haven't tried an insight (runeword) on your merc, check it out. That's a cheap runeword that will probably solve your mana problems by itself.

I'd look into a spirit (runeword) shield too. It comes with +2 skills, 25-35% FCR, 55% FHR and about 100 mana. All great mods for a sorc. The only dilema is that it takes 156 strength to wear it.

Tal Rasha's is real nice, but you really need the whole set to get all the bonus's. If you just have a few pieces, you may be better off with other gear.

 

[helvete]

When meph running, using a merc will be more of an annoyance than a convenience. Try to get some mana from your rings or your charms (mana/fcr rings are great) and then drink potions like mad. Putting points in energy is not my favourite thing to do, for any build except the ES build.

When not meph running, then a insight/prayer or insight/defiance merc can help you survive and will definately solve many mana problems. If you play in areas with many cold immunes, insight/holy freeze merc may be better, but usually your cold spells will slow all you need.

EDIT: OMFG 2k posts 50 posts ago, and now I notice? ....oh well.

 

[badgerofdoom]

ugh, i dont really know how to mf. i tried it and i cant get to meph, i really cant get any of those items until i start mfing. could someone mayb explain how to like tele right or something lol if its not too much trouble

 

[MageChick]

Well, let me start by asking what level you are on, and what your gear and resists look like.

Are you trying to run norm, NM or hell meph?

What kind of merc are you using, what level is he on and what is he equiped with too?

 

[badgerofdoom]

Well, let me start by asking what level you are on, and what your gear and resists look like.

Are you trying to run norm, NM or hell meph?

What kind of merc are you using, what level is he on and what is he equiped with too?

im lvl 82, got tal orb tal mask skin of vipermagi, visceratuant shield, gloves and boots arent even worth mentioning, two nagel rings, a really crappy amulet that isnt worth mentioning, and arctic belt..obviously not that good... thats why im trying to mf. im trying in hell and i dont have a merc cuz i dont have anything worth putting on him

 

[badgerofdoom]

so should i be running in nm or what? i can do nm no prob.. just cant really do hell

 

[Orion241]

When I started back up again I was in your exact situation. What I did was MF in Nightmare doing Andy and Meph for a while. Eventually I had gotten enough gear/stuff to trade for gear that I was able to run hell easily. I also suggest you make the runeword "Insight" for an Act 2 merc in a polearm, assuming you play on ladder. This will allow you to tele without running out of mana. Scroll down and find the exact runes/stats here: http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/runewords-110.shtml

 

[MageChick]

You are probably real close to being able to handle hell. If you have some pgems lying around, you can probably buy everything you need. I'd start by dumpint the tal orb and helm. Without more parts of the set (i.e. amy and armor) its not worth it. But in the mean time - give the tal helm to your merc. The 10% life leech will really help him out.

You're armor is good, if you can "up" it. That will give you around 1000 def, but will cost you a lem+ko+p diamond. Not real cheap if you're on a shoestring budget I know. You can run the countess for the runes, but that will probably take a while. You'll need your merc to kill her too as she's always cold+fire immune.

You can probably pick up a peasant crown for almost nothing - few pgems at most. Check out the trading forums. If you can't find a sorc orb with +2 skills and some fast cast, then make a spirit sword (in a 4os crystal sword). Both the sword and the runes are easy to find.

I'd replace your gloves with either frostburns or magefists. Either can be had for pgems. If you were on US East I'd give you a pair of both. They are dirt cheap, but real useful.

Boots don't really matter for much - other than MF there's no real god mods that a sorc can get from them. If you find a pair that comes with a resist you're missing, +life, +mana and some faster run walk - then go with em.

About the same can be said for a belt. Yes there's arachnids mesh, but its real expensive, so I won't go there. Just try to find the same things I mentioned for boots. Some faster hit recovery never hurts either.

You're shield isn't bad at all. If you are going the max block route than you have the perfect shield. If you aren't planning on spending the stat points to get 75% blocking then I'd say look into a spirit shield.

Try real hard to get your fast cast rate up to 63% minimum. This will really speed up your teleing, which means you don't get hit near as often either. I'm assuming you are having problems getting to meph. That's much harder than actually killing him. (Check out the thread on the "moat trick" stickied in the sorc guide library if you are having any problems killing meph.) The comment on a merc being a pain when meph running is right. You can pretty much count on having him die down there until he's at a pretty high level and has good gear. But for general game play - he's a real help. Check out the guides for cheap merc gear in the library.

The only other thing I can see is that you could stand to level up a little bit more. If you join some public baal run games you can probably get to 85+ real quick. That will be an incremental help.