The Bipoleress - a build I wish I could afford
(Edit: I changed the name from Poleress - I find Bipoleress much more amusing and it reminds of me of at least one ex-girlfriend)
Yeah, it was only a matter of time. Since there is now a rune word with the conviction aura any sorc with cash no longer has to deal with physical immunes. The stats for two new rune words are supposedly as follows.
Insight 4 Socket Polearms/Staves Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol
Level 12-17 Meditation Aura When Equipped (varies)
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+200-260% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+9 To Minimum Damage
180-250% Bonus to Attack Rating (varies)
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
+75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
+1-6 To Critical Strike (varies)
+5 To All Attributes
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Infinity
4 Socket Polearms
Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist
50% Chance to Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+305% Enhanced Damage (varies)
-49% to enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Heal
0 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (?/30 Charges)
This build puts Infinity into the hands of your chosen act II Merc (I like Prayer just cuz I hate bothering with healing pots) while placing Insight in the hands of your Sorc who has gone through considerable weight training in order to do so. Of course, with conviction, that Holy Freeze merc would be no joke.
The build plan is quite simple.
20 in Frozen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
5 Prereqs
And it's energy shield time!
Warmth 1
Telekinesis 20
Teleport 1
Energy Shield 20
3 Prereqs remaining
What you want to do with that last 20 points is your call. You could crank Warmth higher but that probably won't be necessary. You could throw most of it into getting that additional 38% synergy to Frozen Orb, but this too is probably overkill. Or throw half and half into warmth and Enchant. Be my guest! That's twenty points you've always wished you had just to throw around as you please. Personally, I would crank up Static Field to an ungodly radius, but that's just me.
Recommended stats:
Strength: ~150-200ish depending on your polearm
Dex: No shield. Minimum required for the polearm. 55-240.
(Note: At 165 Str. 103 Dex, the cryptic axe looks to be the least demanding on your stats. Have fun finding one with exactly four sockets)
Vitality: Pad this a little bit. IMO, most ES sorcs are too eager to feel invincible and don't account for chargers or excessive mana burn. Furthermore, it's going to be a lot harder to get ES to 95% so you'll want the extra health. Maybe get it up to about 100-125.
Energy: All the rest here which won't be nearly as much as most ES builds. Remember. Meditation aura.
Now here's what this build sacrifices and it looks pretty steep.
lost + skills, FCR, and MF from one or both hand positions (you get some of this from insight)
A good 20 levels worth of stat points devoted to strength
The respect of all your peers who believe in "Game Balance"
Here is what you gain:
+570-700% improved mana recharge (BEFORE Warmth kicks in!)
-85 to maximum resists before your cold mastery kicks in :xmad:
A sorceress who does absurd amounts of damage with only a fraction of the offensive skill point cost, and can tank Duriel in Hell while splattering him with the one element he's supposed to be strongest against.
An idea: Having resist problems? Swap those polearms for a prebuff. Infinity has Cyclone armor charges at lvl 21. Woot! If you can afford this build, you can afford the Ort runes.
Gear: I'm not a gear wiz by far and since I don't duel much, I'm pretty happy with FCR once it's "good enough." Clearly, you're going to need a lot of help in the +skills department and also in resists. Shako, a +2 all sorc skills amu (hopefully with some desperately needed resists), and Arachnid's Mesh should help get them up a little. I don't recall any gloves or boots that give modifiers to lightning skills but I would focus on those first to get that ES maxed out since your orb is going to be quite sufficient after Conviction and Mastery have destroyed any hope of resistance and in fact dropped the resists of any monster well into the negatives. I'm not sure how immunes work, but anything else will be at about -200% at the lowest. That's triple damage at the least, maybe less for immunes who may merely take the entire brunt of your blasts or a piddly double dose thereof depending on how those immunities work.
I expect the biggest challenge will be in maxing your resists.
Gear? Flames? Let's hear 'em. I can't build this thing to test it and probably won't be able for weeks or months, so please let me know what you think.
(Edit: I changed the name from Poleress - I find Bipoleress much more amusing and it reminds of me of at least one ex-girlfriend)
Yeah, it was only a matter of time. Since there is now a rune word with the conviction aura any sorc with cash no longer has to deal with physical immunes. The stats for two new rune words are supposedly as follows.
Insight 4 Socket Polearms/Staves Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol
Level 12-17 Meditation Aura When Equipped (varies)
+35% Faster Cast Rate
+200-260% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+9 To Minimum Damage
180-250% Bonus to Attack Rating (varies)
Adds 5-30 Fire Damage
+75 Poison Damage Over 5 Seconds
+1-6 To Critical Strike (varies)
+5 To All Attributes
+2 To Mana After Each Kill
23% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Infinity
4 Socket Polearms
Ber + Mal + Ber + Ist
50% Chance to Cast Level 20 Chain Lightning When You Kill an Enemy
Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+305% Enhanced Damage (varies)
-49% to enemy Lightning Resistance (varies)
40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Heal
0 to Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (?/30 Charges)
This build puts Infinity into the hands of your chosen act II Merc (I like Prayer just cuz I hate bothering with healing pots) while placing Insight in the hands of your Sorc who has gone through considerable weight training in order to do so. Of course, with conviction, that Holy Freeze merc would be no joke.
The build plan is quite simple.
20 in Frozen Orb
20 Cold Mastery
5 Prereqs
And it's energy shield time!
Warmth 1
Telekinesis 20
Teleport 1
Energy Shield 20
3 Prereqs remaining
What you want to do with that last 20 points is your call. You could crank Warmth higher but that probably won't be necessary. You could throw most of it into getting that additional 38% synergy to Frozen Orb, but this too is probably overkill. Or throw half and half into warmth and Enchant. Be my guest! That's twenty points you've always wished you had just to throw around as you please. Personally, I would crank up Static Field to an ungodly radius, but that's just me.
Recommended stats:
Strength: ~150-200ish depending on your polearm
Dex: No shield. Minimum required for the polearm. 55-240.
(Note: At 165 Str. 103 Dex, the cryptic axe looks to be the least demanding on your stats. Have fun finding one with exactly four sockets)
Vitality: Pad this a little bit. IMO, most ES sorcs are too eager to feel invincible and don't account for chargers or excessive mana burn. Furthermore, it's going to be a lot harder to get ES to 95% so you'll want the extra health. Maybe get it up to about 100-125.
Energy: All the rest here which won't be nearly as much as most ES builds. Remember. Meditation aura.
Now here's what this build sacrifices and it looks pretty steep.
lost + skills, FCR, and MF from one or both hand positions (you get some of this from insight)
A good 20 levels worth of stat points devoted to strength
The respect of all your peers who believe in "Game Balance"
Here is what you gain:
+570-700% improved mana recharge (BEFORE Warmth kicks in!)
-85 to maximum resists before your cold mastery kicks in :xmad:
A sorceress who does absurd amounts of damage with only a fraction of the offensive skill point cost, and can tank Duriel in Hell while splattering him with the one element he's supposed to be strongest against.
An idea: Having resist problems? Swap those polearms for a prebuff. Infinity has Cyclone armor charges at lvl 21. Woot! If you can afford this build, you can afford the Ort runes.
Gear: I'm not a gear wiz by far and since I don't duel much, I'm pretty happy with FCR once it's "good enough." Clearly, you're going to need a lot of help in the +skills department and also in resists. Shako, a +2 all sorc skills amu (hopefully with some desperately needed resists), and Arachnid's Mesh should help get them up a little. I don't recall any gloves or boots that give modifiers to lightning skills but I would focus on those first to get that ES maxed out since your orb is going to be quite sufficient after Conviction and Mastery have destroyed any hope of resistance and in fact dropped the resists of any monster well into the negatives. I'm not sure how immunes work, but anything else will be at about -200% at the lowest. That's triple damage at the least, maybe less for immunes who may merely take the entire brunt of your blasts or a piddly double dose thereof depending on how those immunities work.
I expect the biggest challenge will be in maxing your resists.
Gear? Flames? Let's hear 'em. I can't build this thing to test it and probably won't be able for weeks or months, so please let me know what you think.