In D2R, Nova received a significant buff with Static Field (SF) now being a synergy, greatly increasing her damage output. Considering Sunder Charms and the ability of lightning characters to easily bring resists further down with items like Griffon's Eye and Crescent Moon, she can run all areas in the game even without rare/end game gear.
I have used Nova Sorcs in several RFL tournaments and posted about them in the past, in fact I've been using them for at least part of the Cow rounds of RFL for the last 4 years. (Details about the RFL Sorcs can be found in these posts: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). She's always been a good build, in particular for Cows, but the SF synergy in D2R (along with Anni/Torch) firmly makes her a top tier cow runner and probably my personal favorite.
Many of the aspects discussed below were also addressed in this Mat thread, which was in 1.14 (and in SC, without any HC considerations). In that thread and other posts, I also lauded her ability as a Pit runner for P5/P7 settings, and even considered her a strong P1 MF runner with MF focused setup. In D2R with its terrible loading times, I don't think the P1 version is a serious P1 contender, however the P5/P7 variants are even stronger now, making her one of the best overall area runners in the game on higher player settings.
Since I didn't want to miss any potentially relevant aspect, there's a wall of text incoming.
So for ease of reference, first a quick overview/TOC of this post:
1. General Build Considerations
There are a couple of fundamental crossroads decisions to make when building Nova Sorcs.
The first is whether to go ES or non-ES. In this post I'm only covering the ES variant because it is strictly superior for the most appealing targets with Nova Sorc (such as Cows & Pit). Especially when facing predominantly physical damage, the damage mitigation from ES provides incredible tankiness for this melee-ish caster build. Moreover, even with the SF synergy buff, Nova Sorc has plenty of spare skill points to max Telekinesis and make ES very efficient, without sacrificing offensive potential. And given that Nova is a mana-intensive skill, investing in a big mana pool (and keeping it filled) is a naturally fitting approach for any Nova Sorc, which simultaneously supports ES as well. I have tried pure vita Nova builds in the past and they are by no means bad, and even more comfortable to run in areas with predominantly elemental damage (think WSK gloams and the like). But such areas aren't typically good farming spots for lightning-based characters in the first place and better run with different characters. In most other areas, the non-ES builds will simply be more fragile than ES.
The second fork in the road is whether to go max block, which is not considered here either, not even for HC which I mostly play nowadays. That's because with ES paired with certain complementary stats, she has all the damage mitigation one could wish for, with further efforts better directed at increasing life/mana pools and other beneficial stats, rather than sacrificing such things for dex/block. Plus there's always the chance that successive hits will land despite max block. So I'd argue even in HC it's actually risky to go for block with corresponding lower life/mana.
Finally one could consider the weapon choice between using Infinity or some other setup as a fundamental build choice (as it also affects stat points). I consider this more of a gearing aspect, thus it is discussed below in the weapons section.
2. Essential Stats
Before getting into gear choices, it's important to be mindful of the key stats to look out for on a Nova/ES Sorc that need to somehow be included or at least kept in mind when gearing her.
2.1 Integer Damage Reduction (iDR)
With ES resulting in most damage going to your mana pool, which will therefore be significantly higher than the life pool, an essential question is how to protect your (rather low) life amount. Integer physical (iPDR) and magic (iMDR) damage reduction play a key role here in reducing damage taken to the life pool to very low incremental amounts.
Example: Say you have 90% ES and take a 300 damage hit. 270 will now go to the mana pool, whereas 30 damage will go to the life pool. If you have 15 iPDR, this results in only 15 damage taken to the life pool, effectively translating to 50% reduced damage. If you have 30 iPDR, or if the incoming hit is only 150 damage, your life pool takes no damage at all from this particular hit.
It goes without saying this is a strong mechanic to make use of, and therefore any item with a non-negligible amount of iDR is worth considering.
Item candidates: Arkaine's Valor (10-15 iPDR), Vipermagi (9-13 iMDR), Que-Hegan's Wisdom (6-10 iMDR), Sol (7 iPDR) and Mal (7 iMDR) runes socketed in armor pieces.
2.2 Defense
This stat is extremely important and (frankly) criminally underrated. It often isn't even mentioned, not only in random poor quality guides that can be found online, but even from experienced and knowledgeable players I've rarely seen this point being stressed to the extent it actually needs to be stressed IMO.
Both to avoid the amount of hits and to reduce dangers from mana burn (which is really her only Achilles' heel), having high defense should be a major objective for Nova/ES Sorcs. For example, my Nova Sorc currently has 27% chance to get hit by a P1 cow with around 10k defense. With around 4.5k defense, this number changes to roundabout 45%. This means almost double damage taken overall, the same applies to danger from mana burn/Amp/Might/Fana mobs, and almost halving the effectiveness of whatever mechanisms you rely on for life/mana upkeep. In short: The impact of high defense on overall gameplay safety and smoothness is enormous.
Item candidates: Arkaine's Valor has the highest defense from suitable armors, Enigma and e.g. upped Vipermagi are also solid. Generally one should upgrade other armor pieces such as Magefist, Frostburn and Silkweave for extra defense.
Moreover, Defiance Merc and Frozen Armor (for melee targets such as cows) are crucial in my book. Defiance Merc in most cases essentially doubles your defense value. Frozen Armor adds another defense bonus, and moreover actually freezes enemies that hit you (Shiver Armor only chills them, contrary to what the skill description says), which arguably has an even bigger impact on overall safety and avoiding hits on the Sorc. Chilling Armor is worth a point as well for areas with ranged attackers such as the Pit; it is also triggered by ranged spells (not just physical attacks).
2.3 Life and Mana Upkeep
Refilling life and mana is an essential challenge that any Nova/ES Sorc needs to solve. Assuming nobody wants to rely on potting (not really an option if you want to be somewhat efficient), there are three general approaches to address this:
That being said, if you're looking for a "one and done" solution, Phoenix and Infinity are both really good options. They just come with the drawback of losing out in some of those other departments, and I find it simply unnecessary to make such compromises, given that items providing the required stats (MPK, iDR/replenish, LPK) tend to nicely fit into Nova Sorc setups rather seamlessly and with minimal downsides.
2.3.1 MPK
Target amount depends on overall power level of the Sorc as well as personal playstyle. With a reasonably well geared Sorc and a bit of Nova Sorc gameplay experience, 7 MPK can already be enough, 8 MPK is rather comfortable, 10+ MPK is easy mode.
Silkweave boots provide +5 MPK and, given there aren't any otherwise amazing boots for this build, they are basically a no-brainer unless you're going with the Phoenix or Infinity approach with Insight/Prayer Merc. CM, being one of the best weapon choices anyway, also provides +2 MPK, which can already be sufficient along with Silkweave.
Item candidates: Silkweave, Crescent Moon, MPK jewels, Que-Hegan's Wisdom, Lidless Wall, crafted caster gloves
2.3.2 LPK and Life Replenish
LPK can be sufficient life upkeep on its own, and a good iDR amount coupled with some life replenish will also do the job. The only thing to consider with LPK is that it tends to come from gear slots which are quite competitive for this build. For example, Frostburn are generally a more appealing choice than Dracul's, and while Enigma is a fine armor for Nova/ES Sorcs, you may prefer using something like Arkaine's Valor for its overall great stats, or Viper/Ormus/Que-Hegan for FCR and other utility.
Item candidates: Enigma (14 LPK), Dracul's Grasp (6-10 LPK), Hoto (20 replenish), Verdungo's (10-13 replenish), Dol runes or Perfect Skulls socketed in armor pieces.
2.4 FHR
FHR doesn't matter much as long as ES is up because damage to the life bulb will (or should) not be enough to trigger hit recovery, in particular when using a good amount of iDR. However, in situations where ES breaks (especially mana burn) or when the Sorc is under some effect triggering hit recovery, it makes a massive difference whether you have 0% FHR (15 frames) or 86% FHR (7 frames) to allow you to react and teleport away to recast ES. In HC this is a matter of life and death, but even in SC I paid attention to this stat on Nova Sorcs and generally even preferred going for the 86% breakpoint.
That being said, it's worth noting that with a high defense setup (9-10k+), it's really quite rare for the Sorc to even get hit/mana burned in the first place, even over hundreds of runs. During the cow round in RFL 2023, my Sorc got mana burned a grand total of zero times in 10 hours of running. So, depending on target area, theoretically one could ignore this stat completely, although at least when playing in HC (as I do in D2R) this is not recommended and even in SC I'd prefer having some. Ideally 86 or alternatively 60 FHR. After all, mana burn is the only Achilles' heel of this build, and in my book it makes sense to take some basic (and easily included) precaution to address that particular issue. Certainly when running more dangerous areas like the Pit with monsters like those nasty archers.
Item candidates: Spirit shield or weapon (55), Arkaine's (30), Verdungo's (10), Shael runes, charms.
2.5 FCR
105 FCR is mandatory, but this is usually easy to achieve. The only approaches where this imposes some restrictions on gear is when using Infinity or perhaps some Phoenix and CM setups.
200 FCR setups are possible, but getting there results in less well-rounded setups than with 105 FCR, whereas net damage output on a DPS basis is similar. Main drawback is life/mana upkeep is harder to maintain. Super fun though.
2.6 Reduced Enemy Lightning Resist (-ELR) and Increased Lightning Skill Damage (+LSD)
-ELR is obviously a great stat in general, but some care is warranted regarding exact amounts. Depending on your target, it can potentially reduce Static Field effectiveness. See below for an in-depth explanation specifically for cow running.
You can use this D2R Nova Sorc spreadsheet (more info in the post linked under 8.1 below) to check this particular aspect for other targets.
+LSD is found on Griffon's Eye, Eschuta's Temper and rainbow facets. This is additive with Lightning Mastery and thus doesn't have a huge effect on its own. While not a priority stat, it still helps of course, and can add up to a decent damage increase with high LSD rolls on these items.
2.7 Key Stat Target Amounts
These are just my personal recommendations and by no means set in stone, but perhaps a good benchmark:
I figured I'd also briefly touch upon those as it may not be obvious to everyone in all cases:
With the above considerations in mind, here's an overview of individual item slots and corresponding options.
3.1 Head
Best choice is of course Griffon's Eye, with socketing options being facet, Sol, Dol, Mal, PSkull or MPK jewel.
There is no other proper end game alternative, but for players who don't have Griffon's, that's not the end of the world. The build is certainly viable without it. It will be weaker though, in particular vs broken LIs, and having to make up for the FCR elsewhere. Main alternatives are 2/20 circlets, ideally with 2os and facets.
3.2 Weapon
The choice of weapon has significant consequences on other gear choices, mostly regarding FCR sources. The main contenders are:
3.3 Body armor
Many good options here. I think of them as being split into two groups, depending on weapon choice and resulting FCR needs.
FCR not needed:
Socketing options in each case same as mentioned above for Griffon's.
3.4 Shield
Not relevant for Infinity setup of course.
2x SoJ unless there is really no other way to get the required FCR (e.g. Infinity setups). In case one has to resort to FCR rings, high mana and life rolls should be prioritized.
3.6 Amulet
Typically a caster craft or rare amulet, ideally +2/FCR and useful stats such as life, mana, stats, PR, or 3/10 FCR magic. Some setups do not require FCR, in which case life/mana are the most important secondary mods. Otherwise you can get some iDR, PR/PLR and stats here. Mara's is good enough if nothing more suitable is available and FCR isn't needed here.
3.7 Boots
Silkweave basically always except when self-wielding Infinity or using Phoenix. In such cases it's whatever helps/complements the particular overall setup, often this means Sandstorm Treks or rare boots with useful stats.
3.8 Gloves:
4. Build:
Skills:
Starting with the obvious:
Typical stuff: No dex, strength for gear, and personal preference regarding vitality and energy. I'd try to aim for 1.5k+ life and 2.5k+ mana.
5. Merc:
Standard Merc setup for setups other than self-wield Infinity:
6. Example setups:
These are mostly with her most sensible target areas in mind (in particular Cows and Pit), thus defensive stats are prioritzing mitigation of physical rather than elemental damge.
Hoto/Eschuta
CM
Infinity
Phoenix
200 FCR
Overall, 105 FCR setups are a little more solid and objectively there's little reason to go for 200 FCR, but blitzing around this fast is great fun.
Budget options
Inventory: Anni, Torch, lightning skillers, life/mana SCs (more life-efficient) or GCs (more mana-efficient)
Sunder Charm in areas with LIs, doesn't make a huge difference with a good setup/high ELR
Switch: CtA + Spirit (or Lidless with low strength setups)
7. Cow Running Aspects
As mentioned above, Nova Sorc is a fantastic cow runner and certainly top tier with the SF synergy buff. Accordingly, this section will deal with that activity in particular, as it is one of the main reasons to go for this build.
7.1 General Tactics and Strategy
A couple of general points to note regarding cow running with Nova:
7.2 iDR and Cow Damage
Hell Cows on P1 deal up to 167 damage (minimum 111), which translates to up to 209 on P5 (or 230 on P7). With 85% ES, and in the absence of any effects increasing their attack damage such as Amp/Might/Fana, this means that damage to the life pool by a cow hit can be fully mitigated with 32 iDR when running 85% ES, for example. A couple of benchmark numbers in the following table:
However, life is such that Amp/Might/Fana etc. do in fact exist so you still cannot be sure you won't lose any life when going for such iDR amounts. Since you will take damage every once in a while, it's still advisable to have some mechanism to refill life and not go all-in on iPDR. I personally like to run with some 20+ iPDR and then include some life replenish (or alternatively use LPK).
7.3 Defense and Cow AR
Hell Cows have 4232 AR on P1, translating to 5290 on P5 (or 5819 on P7). Here's a table of a Sorc's chance to get hit by P5 Hell Cows with various amounts of defense (in this example for a level 92 Sorc, amounts will change a bit depending on character level):
Hope this illustrates why I'm such a fan of defense. 9-10k can relatively easily be reached with upgraded armor pieces, Defiance Merc and Frozen Armor.
NB: AR and damage numbers are from basin wiki. While I haven't tested this extensively, this seems to remain unchanged in D2R.
7.4 Nova Damage and Triggering Hit Recovery
Higher damage is always better, no surprise there. But in one particular way, having high damage also adds a ton of safety, namely by triggering hit recovery (HR). If triggered, the HR anmiation prevents cows from performing any actions until the HR animation is over. Naturally, this is good news for a Sorc who doesn't want to get hit but prefers killing stunned cows.
The quick rundown of the underlying mechanics is this: The chance to trigger the HR animation depends on the ratio between the damage taken by a target and its maximum life. Different skills in D2 use different divisors for this calculation (Nova's divisor is 16). There is no general 1/12 boundary that always causes HR (although this used to be the common understanding). Instead, depending on the ratio of damage to the maximum life of a target, your chances of triggering HR will increase in specific steps as shown in the table below, resulting in certain "damage breakpoints".
For skills with a divisor of 16 (such as Nova), these are as follows:
Here's the corresponding tables for max cow HP and min cow life, in each case on P5 and P7, and the Nova damage amounts needed to get the respective HR chance.
Against a max HP (regular) cow, i.e. other than boss packs and Cow King:
Against a min HP (regular) cow:
Note the Nova damage numbers mean the effective Nova damage after Conviction and -ELR. I will call this eDmg here. Most setups I consider to be reasonable end up with Nova eDmg somewhere in the 6.5k to 10k range. When using CM or Eschuta's with several facets and full skiller inventory, max Nova rolls can exceed 12k eDmg, although at the expense of other stats resulting in other practical issues. You can use the Nova Sorc spreadsheet for these purposes as well, as it shows the eDmg number for a given setup in the Nova damage section.
A couple of takeaways from checking the relevant numbers for various setups:
Optimizing for 100% HR chance is not feasible, however 75% HR can be guaranteed easily on P5 and also on P7 with sensible setups. With high damage setups, while not guaranteed, hits with 100% HR chance will be frequent on P5. On P7 this will be a very rare occurrence even with the highest possible damage setups.
To guarantee 75% HR chance on P5, you will need 5794 minimum eDmg. With most of the standard gearing choices, this is achieved almost automatically when using things like Infinity, Griffon's and a couple of skillers.
To guarantee 75% HR chance on P7, you will need 7726 minimum eDmg. This is not automatic but still achievable with reasonable efforts. Assuming Griffon's is used, as a rough benchmark, CM and Infinity users will want to get around 4k LCS minimum damage, whereas Hoto/Eschuta users are looking at around 5k LCS minimum damage. Again, feel free to use the Nova spreadsheet to calculate the effective Nova damage precisely for your (or any) particular setup.
7.5 Gameplay Examples
Just to illustrate some of the above points:
Hoto/Arkaine's setup:
Infinity setup (@Nano)
8. ELR Considerations for Static Field
Perhaps intuitively one might think "the more -ELR the better", but it is not that simple. If a Static Field cast results in exactly 50% life remaining, the next SF cast deals no damage. But if it results in 51% life remaining, the next SF cast will apply full percentage-based damage and bring the target well below 50%, which is obviously much better for overall clear speed.
In particular for Cow running, it should be considered that the Sorc is herding and positioning with SF and typically exhausting SF casts on a given target (i.e. doesn't matter whether that takes 2x or 3x SF casts, for example). This means she often only starts casting Nova after SF casts are exhausted. So remaining life percentage after SF casts is an important aspect to keep in mind.
8.1 Spreadsheet
While the below details are for Cows specifically, finding a reasonable ELR value is something to consider for any target. Here is a D2R Nova version of the Sorc optimization spreadsheet I created a few years back, which allows you to calculate the ideal ELR amounts for a particular target. Eventually I'm planning to update the whole spreadsheet to a D2R version, but for now the Nova section will have to suffice.
8.2 SF Effectiveness for Cow Running
Cows have 50% LR by default. Meaning SF normally deals 12.5% damage rather than its displayed 25%. With -ELR from gear and Conviction coming into play, the "power" of SF varies as to how much it is increased from those 12.5%, but the interplay of -ELR and Conviction is not straight-forward.
First one needs to differentiate between whether or not a target is under Conviction, and in each case look at how sequences of SF casts play out, subtracting the percentage of the life amount after the respective previous cast. Like in this example:
Ideally we want ELR amounts where that last number is as low as possible.
8.4 Without Conviction
Here, only -ELR from Sorc gear matters. The following table shows remaining life % of cows after exhausting SF casts with various amounts of ELR:
(*) denotes values which are worse than the previous (lower) ELR amounts.
Good/reasonable ELR values and item combinations:
If Conviction (or Lower Resist) brings a target below 0% LR (as is the case with cows), the effect of -ELR from gear is diminished. Below table shows remaining life & with same -ELR values as above, this time with the target being under Conviction:
Good/resaonable ELR values and item combinations:
8.6 Required Subsequent Nova Casts & Conviction Triggerent Between SF Casts
Of course the follow-up question to the above scenarios is whether the remaining life % actually reduces the required number of subsequent Nova casts to kill a given target. On P5, with the setups I've had a closer look at, Cows will die after around 2-4 Nova casts after exhausting SF casts, depending on exact Nova damage with a particular setup. Post-SF casting, the difference between 36% and 42% life remaining may or may not reduce the amount of maximum subsequent Nova casts. I found that in many cases it does, but this is impossible to generalize given randomized HP amounts and Nova damage range. I trust people will draw their own conclusions from seeing the differences in remaining life percentage. In any case, you can play around with the spreadsheet linked above to see the impact on required Nova casts with a particular setup. Same applies to SF casting sequences starting without Conviction but with Conviction coming into play after a couple of casts.
8.7 Conclusions
CM setups: While not ideal in all cases, the interaction with SF is not terrible overall, in particular when using facets. Both with and without Conviction these yield good results overall.
Recommended ELR with CM: -55 or thereabout (no specific ceiling to avoid)
Hoto/Eschuta setups: On Conviction, these yield the best results overall in the 15-20 ELR range. When using 1-2 facets they perform well without Conviction, but worse on Conviction.
Recommended ELR with Hoto/Eschuta: Up to -21
Infinity setups: As long as -ELR is not higher than 67 overall, this results in most efficient SF without Conviction, although CM and Hoto/Eschuta setups can get pretty close. On Conviction, it is slightly worse than Eschuta/Hoto setups.
Recommended ELR with Infinity: Up to -67
***
So, that's about all I know about Nova/ES Sorc and running cows with her. Hope it's helpful and makes people want to experiment with Nova/ES in D2R. If there are any inaccuracies, aspects/item options that should be addressed, or other comments or questions, please feel free to let me know. I'll probably add/amend things anyway as I continue to explore the build in D2R.
I have used Nova Sorcs in several RFL tournaments and posted about them in the past, in fact I've been using them for at least part of the Cow rounds of RFL for the last 4 years. (Details about the RFL Sorcs can be found in these posts: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). She's always been a good build, in particular for Cows, but the SF synergy in D2R (along with Anni/Torch) firmly makes her a top tier cow runner and probably my personal favorite.
Many of the aspects discussed below were also addressed in this Mat thread, which was in 1.14 (and in SC, without any HC considerations). In that thread and other posts, I also lauded her ability as a Pit runner for P5/P7 settings, and even considered her a strong P1 MF runner with MF focused setup. In D2R with its terrible loading times, I don't think the P1 version is a serious P1 contender, however the P5/P7 variants are even stronger now, making her one of the best overall area runners in the game on higher player settings.
Since I didn't want to miss any potentially relevant aspect, there's a wall of text incoming.
So for ease of reference, first a quick overview/TOC of this post:- General Build Considerations
- Essential Stats
- Gear
- Build
- Merc
- Example Setups
- Cow Running Aspects
- ELR Considerations for Static Field
1. General Build Considerations
There are a couple of fundamental crossroads decisions to make when building Nova Sorcs.
The first is whether to go ES or non-ES. In this post I'm only covering the ES variant because it is strictly superior for the most appealing targets with Nova Sorc (such as Cows & Pit). Especially when facing predominantly physical damage, the damage mitigation from ES provides incredible tankiness for this melee-ish caster build. Moreover, even with the SF synergy buff, Nova Sorc has plenty of spare skill points to max Telekinesis and make ES very efficient, without sacrificing offensive potential. And given that Nova is a mana-intensive skill, investing in a big mana pool (and keeping it filled) is a naturally fitting approach for any Nova Sorc, which simultaneously supports ES as well. I have tried pure vita Nova builds in the past and they are by no means bad, and even more comfortable to run in areas with predominantly elemental damage (think WSK gloams and the like). But such areas aren't typically good farming spots for lightning-based characters in the first place and better run with different characters. In most other areas, the non-ES builds will simply be more fragile than ES.
The second fork in the road is whether to go max block, which is not considered here either, not even for HC which I mostly play nowadays. That's because with ES paired with certain complementary stats, she has all the damage mitigation one could wish for, with further efforts better directed at increasing life/mana pools and other beneficial stats, rather than sacrificing such things for dex/block. Plus there's always the chance that successive hits will land despite max block. So I'd argue even in HC it's actually risky to go for block with corresponding lower life/mana.
Finally one could consider the weapon choice between using Infinity or some other setup as a fundamental build choice (as it also affects stat points). I consider this more of a gearing aspect, thus it is discussed below in the weapons section.
2. Essential Stats
Before getting into gear choices, it's important to be mindful of the key stats to look out for on a Nova/ES Sorc that need to somehow be included or at least kept in mind when gearing her.
2.1 Integer Damage Reduction (iDR)
With ES resulting in most damage going to your mana pool, which will therefore be significantly higher than the life pool, an essential question is how to protect your (rather low) life amount. Integer physical (iPDR) and magic (iMDR) damage reduction play a key role here in reducing damage taken to the life pool to very low incremental amounts.
Example: Say you have 90% ES and take a 300 damage hit. 270 will now go to the mana pool, whereas 30 damage will go to the life pool. If you have 15 iPDR, this results in only 15 damage taken to the life pool, effectively translating to 50% reduced damage. If you have 30 iPDR, or if the incoming hit is only 150 damage, your life pool takes no damage at all from this particular hit.
It goes without saying this is a strong mechanic to make use of, and therefore any item with a non-negligible amount of iDR is worth considering.
Item candidates: Arkaine's Valor (10-15 iPDR), Vipermagi (9-13 iMDR), Que-Hegan's Wisdom (6-10 iMDR), Sol (7 iPDR) and Mal (7 iMDR) runes socketed in armor pieces.
2.2 Defense
This stat is extremely important and (frankly) criminally underrated. It often isn't even mentioned, not only in random poor quality guides that can be found online, but even from experienced and knowledgeable players I've rarely seen this point being stressed to the extent it actually needs to be stressed IMO.
Both to avoid the amount of hits and to reduce dangers from mana burn (which is really her only Achilles' heel), having high defense should be a major objective for Nova/ES Sorcs. For example, my Nova Sorc currently has 27% chance to get hit by a P1 cow with around 10k defense. With around 4.5k defense, this number changes to roundabout 45%. This means almost double damage taken overall, the same applies to danger from mana burn/Amp/Might/Fana mobs, and almost halving the effectiveness of whatever mechanisms you rely on for life/mana upkeep. In short: The impact of high defense on overall gameplay safety and smoothness is enormous.
Item candidates: Arkaine's Valor has the highest defense from suitable armors, Enigma and e.g. upped Vipermagi are also solid. Generally one should upgrade other armor pieces such as Magefist, Frostburn and Silkweave for extra defense.
Moreover, Defiance Merc and Frozen Armor (for melee targets such as cows) are crucial in my book. Defiance Merc in most cases essentially doubles your defense value. Frozen Armor adds another defense bonus, and moreover actually freezes enemies that hit you (Shiver Armor only chills them, contrary to what the skill description says), which arguably has an even bigger impact on overall safety and avoiding hits on the Sorc. Chilling Armor is worth a point as well for areas with ranged attackers such as the Pit; it is also triggered by ranged spells (not just physical attacks).
2.3 Life and Mana Upkeep
Refilling life and mana is an essential challenge that any Nova/ES Sorc needs to solve. Assuming nobody wants to rely on potting (not really an option if you want to be somewhat efficient), there are three general approaches to address this:
- Self-use Infinity with Insight/Prayer Merc
- Phoenix Monarch
- MPK and LPK and/or life replenish from gear
That being said, if you're looking for a "one and done" solution, Phoenix and Infinity are both really good options. They just come with the drawback of losing out in some of those other departments, and I find it simply unnecessary to make such compromises, given that items providing the required stats (MPK, iDR/replenish, LPK) tend to nicely fit into Nova Sorc setups rather seamlessly and with minimal downsides.
2.3.1 MPK
Target amount depends on overall power level of the Sorc as well as personal playstyle. With a reasonably well geared Sorc and a bit of Nova Sorc gameplay experience, 7 MPK can already be enough, 8 MPK is rather comfortable, 10+ MPK is easy mode.
Silkweave boots provide +5 MPK and, given there aren't any otherwise amazing boots for this build, they are basically a no-brainer unless you're going with the Phoenix or Infinity approach with Insight/Prayer Merc. CM, being one of the best weapon choices anyway, also provides +2 MPK, which can already be sufficient along with Silkweave.
Item candidates: Silkweave, Crescent Moon, MPK jewels, Que-Hegan's Wisdom, Lidless Wall, crafted caster gloves
2.3.2 LPK and Life Replenish
LPK can be sufficient life upkeep on its own, and a good iDR amount coupled with some life replenish will also do the job. The only thing to consider with LPK is that it tends to come from gear slots which are quite competitive for this build. For example, Frostburn are generally a more appealing choice than Dracul's, and while Enigma is a fine armor for Nova/ES Sorcs, you may prefer using something like Arkaine's Valor for its overall great stats, or Viper/Ormus/Que-Hegan for FCR and other utility.
Item candidates: Enigma (14 LPK), Dracul's Grasp (6-10 LPK), Hoto (20 replenish), Verdungo's (10-13 replenish), Dol runes or Perfect Skulls socketed in armor pieces.
2.4 FHR
FHR doesn't matter much as long as ES is up because damage to the life bulb will (or should) not be enough to trigger hit recovery, in particular when using a good amount of iDR. However, in situations where ES breaks (especially mana burn) or when the Sorc is under some effect triggering hit recovery, it makes a massive difference whether you have 0% FHR (15 frames) or 86% FHR (7 frames) to allow you to react and teleport away to recast ES. In HC this is a matter of life and death, but even in SC I paid attention to this stat on Nova Sorcs and generally even preferred going for the 86% breakpoint.
That being said, it's worth noting that with a high defense setup (9-10k+), it's really quite rare for the Sorc to even get hit/mana burned in the first place, even over hundreds of runs. During the cow round in RFL 2023, my Sorc got mana burned a grand total of zero times in 10 hours of running. So, depending on target area, theoretically one could ignore this stat completely, although at least when playing in HC (as I do in D2R) this is not recommended and even in SC I'd prefer having some. Ideally 86 or alternatively 60 FHR. After all, mana burn is the only Achilles' heel of this build, and in my book it makes sense to take some basic (and easily included) precaution to address that particular issue. Certainly when running more dangerous areas like the Pit with monsters like those nasty archers.
Item candidates: Spirit shield or weapon (55), Arkaine's (30), Verdungo's (10), Shael runes, charms.
2.5 FCR
105 FCR is mandatory, but this is usually easy to achieve. The only approaches where this imposes some restrictions on gear is when using Infinity or perhaps some Phoenix and CM setups.
200 FCR setups are possible, but getting there results in less well-rounded setups than with 105 FCR, whereas net damage output on a DPS basis is similar. Main drawback is life/mana upkeep is harder to maintain. Super fun though.
2.6 Reduced Enemy Lightning Resist (-ELR) and Increased Lightning Skill Damage (+LSD)
-ELR is obviously a great stat in general, but some care is warranted regarding exact amounts. Depending on your target, it can potentially reduce Static Field effectiveness. See below for an in-depth explanation specifically for cow running.
You can use this D2R Nova Sorc spreadsheet (more info in the post linked under 8.1 below) to check this particular aspect for other targets.
+LSD is found on Griffon's Eye, Eschuta's Temper and rainbow facets. This is additive with Lightning Mastery and thus doesn't have a huge effect on its own. While not a priority stat, it still helps of course, and can add up to a decent damage increase with high LSD rolls on these items.
2.7 Key Stat Target Amounts
These are just my personal recommendations and by no means set in stone, but perhaps a good benchmark:
- 1.3k+ life (1.8k+ for optimized end game setups), especially in HC this should be enough to allow for reasonable reaction window to survive worst-case mana burn situations
- 2.3k+ mana (2.7k+ for optimized end game setups), higher mana pool to be prioritized when running in areas with mostly elemental damage
- Generally regarding life/mana ratio, anything bewtween 1:2 and 2:3 is reasonable IMO, this can potentially be fine-tuned to selected iDR amounts and life/mana upkeep mechanisms; in SC you can get away with lower life amounts as long as upkeep is good
- 105 FCR
- 4.5-6k+ max Nova damage depending on weapon choice and charms
- 15+ iPDR when running areas with predominantly physical damage
- 15+ iMDR when running areas with predominantly elemental damage
- 8+ MPK when not self-using Infinity (or Phoenix)
- 86 FHR with Arkaine's and Spirit, 60 FHR with just Spirit
- 7k+ defense with Defiance Merc, ideally 10k+
I figured I'd also briefly touch upon those as it may not be obvious to everyone in all cases:
- Fire/lightning/cold resists: These only reduce remaining damage to life pool which isn't absorbed by ES. The issue with elemental damage is rather that it always applies unmitigated to the mana bulb (and the fact that resists don't reduce this). Thus it is recommended to prioritize high mana when facing a lot of elemental damage. With decent iMDR and a mechanism to replenish life, resists don't have much of an impact either way. They do help a little bit (e.g. for LE bosses with dozens of charged bolts, having 0% or 50% LR does make a difference for how the life bulb moves), but this is very situational and certainly not a priority stat.
- Poison resist/poison length reduced: Since poison damage bypasses ES, this is of course relevant in areas with poison damage. Generally the best targets for Nova Sorcs (e.g. Cows, Pit) don't come with meaningful poison damage challenges. But when repeatedly running targets where a whole lot of it is expected, it makes sense to be mindful of a high PR amount and to keep an eye out for PLR on items such as craft amulets or crafted gloves.
- Stats (i.e. strength) from gear: It's rather easy to get high mana amounts on a Sorc with items like Spirit, 2x SoJ, Frostburn, Hoto, Silkweave, Arach, and charms (both SCs and GCs). Getting strength from gear thus mostly saves points in vitality, which however on a Sorc only grant 2 life per point, and her life bulb is relatively low anyway. It's always nice to get stat points on gear, but not quite as good as for other builds.
- % damage reduction: Generally this is much less effective than iDR because of the lower damage amounts hitting the life pool. Sol runes outperform Ber runes, basically. There are situations where %DR helps, such as when facing Might/Fana/Amp, but overall not worth incorporating at the expense of the more relevant stats mentioned above.
With the above considerations in mind, here's an overview of individual item slots and corresponding options.
3.1 Head
Best choice is of course Griffon's Eye, with socketing options being facet, Sol, Dol, Mal, PSkull or MPK jewel.
There is no other proper end game alternative, but for players who don't have Griffon's, that's not the end of the world. The build is certainly viable without it. It will be weaker though, in particular vs broken LIs, and having to make up for the FCR elsewhere. Main alternatives are 2/20 circlets, ideally with 2os and facets.
3.2 Weapon
The choice of weapon has significant consequences on other gear choices, mostly regarding FCR sources. The main contenders are:
- Crescent Moon (CM): Provides a massive -35 ELR, which for most targets in the game is made full use of (i.e. not partially wasted) even with Griffon's. It also has +2 MPK which helps with mana upkeep. Against broken LI targets it's the best option except for Infinity, but even for other targets CM damage is similar to Eschuta/Hoto. Main downside is no FCR.
- Eschuta's Temper: +3/40 FCR, extra lightning damage (although additive with mastery), and a socket. Downside vs CM/Infinity is lower -ELR, and vs Hoto lack of replenish, % max mana and resists.
- Hoto: Also offers +3/40 FCR, +20 life replenish, some resists which can come in handy to reduce damage to the life bulb, and +15% max mana. Downside vs CM/Infinity is no -ELR, downside vs Eschuta is slightly lower damage and no socket.
- Infinity: Provides even more -ELR than CM (45-55) and allows Insight/Prayer Merc for easy mana/life upkeep. Best damage against broken LIs, but worse damage than other weapons in situations where the huge ELR is not fully utilized. Downsides are no FCR and no stats from a shield, reducing overall stats and restricting gear choices due to demanding FCR needs.
- Obsession in a +Nova base: Similar to Eschuta/Hoto/Spirit approach but with up to +2 more skills and a nice boost to life, and saved strength points depending on armor choice. Downsides are lower FCR, no -ELR or socket, no life replenish. A good option for HC in particular (and while not discussed here in detail, could warrant making a pure vita, non-ES build to make better use of the big life boost)
- Spirit: +2 skills, lots of mana, 35 FCR and 55 FHR. Great budget choice for Nova.
- Death's Web: What? Yes. LPK and MPK is appealing here, along with +2 skills and a socket. Most typical setups can obtain good life/mana upkeep in other ways, but it's an option to keep in mind as it can easily remedy MPK/LPK issues.
- Mang Song's Lesson: Similar to Obsession, with higher damage from -ELR but less FCR and no defensive stats.
3.3 Body armor
Many good options here. I think of them as being split into two groups, depending on weapon choice and resulting FCR needs.
FCR not needed:
- Arkaine's Valor: Up to 15 iPDR, highest defense of all armor candidates, +2 skills, socket, 30 FHR and extra vitality (although not BO-able). Shockingly I've rarely seen this even mentioned for the build, IMO it's a standard option and my go-to choice if I don't need FCR here.
- Enigma is great for LPK and helpful stat points, although it's lacking iPDR, a socket and FHR in comparison to Ark. I tend to prefer Enigma over Arkaine's when using CM (and when not using an FCR armor), since iDR/replenish are harder to get to sigfnificant values as a consequence of FCR requirements with CM.
- CoH? Rather mentioned for the sake of completeness and only recommended when running areas with high elemental damage and low ES%. Aside from the +2 skills, high resists and a bit of life replenish, it doesn't offer that much for Nova/ES. However, still worth mentioning as an option for pure vita Sorc and for potential situational use with an ES build.
- (Upped) Vipermagi: Standard and overall solid choice for when FCR is needed from the chest, providing 30 FCR and iMDR.
- Nova Ormus: Best offensive choice if 20 FCR is sufficient and life/mana upkeep is fully addressed.
- (Upped) Que-Hegan's Wisdom: Great choice when needing a little additional MPK and iMDR if 20 FCR is sufficient.
Socketing options in each case same as mentioned above for Griffon's.
3.4 Shield
Not relevant for Infinity setup of course.
- Spirit Monarch is the default shield and generally hard to beat
- Phoenix Monarch if chosen as your life/mana upkeep route
- Lidless Wall with +5 MPK and a facet is a good alternative if mana upkeep is lacking
- Gerke's Sanctuary has numerous good defensive stats, but this should only be used when really struggling with life upkeep/damage mitgation. That's rather an indication of an improper setup which should be easy to rectify and I haven't seriously considered it even in HC.
2x SoJ unless there is really no other way to get the required FCR (e.g. Infinity setups). In case one has to resort to FCR rings, high mana and life rolls should be prioritized.
3.6 Amulet
Typically a caster craft or rare amulet, ideally +2/FCR and useful stats such as life, mana, stats, PR, or 3/10 FCR magic. Some setups do not require FCR, in which case life/mana are the most important secondary mods. Otherwise you can get some iDR, PR/PLR and stats here. Mara's is good enough if nothing more suitable is available and FCR isn't needed here.
3.7 Boots
Silkweave basically always except when self-wielding Infinity or using Phoenix. In such cases it's whatever helps/complements the particular overall setup, often this means Sandstorm Treks or rare boots with useful stats.
3.8 Gloves:
- Frostburn are the standard choice and usually preferred
- Magefist if FCR is needed
- Caster craft gloves if more MPK is needed, can also have other useful stats
- Dracul's Grasp only when in dire need of LPK, generally these are more suitable for a pure vita non-ES build IMO
- Arach for +1/20 FCR
- Verdungo's for life replenish, FHR, vitality and %DR (if FCR is not needed)
- Caster craft or rare belts with e.g. FHR, replenish etc. can be a good choice.
- String of Ears for iMDR
4. Build:
Skills:
Starting with the obvious:
- 20 each Nova, Static Field, Lightning Mastery and Telekinesis.
- 10+ Energy Shield
- 1+ each Warmth and Frozen Armor, optionally Chilling Armor for areas with ranged attacks (e.g. Pit), and pre-reqs
- Remaining skill points are largely a matter of taste. ES should be around 85% or more, and can be fine-tuned a bit to the amount of iDR/life upkeep used with a particular setup. I'd then put remaining points into Warmth, other options being Frozen/Chilling Armor. Going higher and up to full 95% ES build isn't "wrong" per se though if your mana amount can handle the extra absorption.
Typical stuff: No dex, strength for gear, and personal preference regarding vitality and energy. I'd try to aim for 1.5k+ life and 2.5k+ mana.
5. Merc:
Standard Merc setup for setups other than self-wield Infinity:
- A2 Defiance for a massive boost to her tankiness/survivability
- Infinity
- Treachery or Hustle for fast aura triggering, alternatively Forti or CoH for overall sturdiness and tougher areas like the Pit (he doesn't need leech to survive in many areas though)
- Cure is a great fit for Nova/ES, definitely for areas with high physical damage to greatly reduce Amp duration. Alternatives: Andy's, Vamp Gaze or Tal's mask.
6. Example setups:
These are mostly with her most sensible target areas in mind (in particular Cows and Pit), thus defensive stats are prioritzing mitigation of physical rather than elemental damge.
Hoto/Eschuta
- Griffon's (Sol, facet, MPK jewel)
- Hoto/Eschuta (facet, MPK jewel)
- Arkaine's Valor (Sol, facet, MPK jewel)
- Spirit
- Frostburn
- 2x SoJ
- Some useful amulet e.g. +2/3 craft/rare/magic amulet, Mara if nothing better is available
- Arach (with Hoto), Verdungo (with Eschuta or Hoto to further improve life upkeep)
- Silkweave
- Griffon's (Sol, facet, MPK jewel)
- Crescent Moon
- Enigma
- Spirit
- Magefist
- 2x SoJ
- +2/FCR amulet with life, other useful mods
- Arach
- Silkweave
- Griffon's (Sol, Shael)
- Infinity in eth Scythe or other low-req base
- Viper (Sol, Shael)
- Magefist
- Arach
- 2x SoJ
- 3/10 magic or 2/10 craft/rare amulet (with 2/20 it is possible to use Ormus)
- Treks or rare boots with FHR, other useful mods
- Griffon's (Sol, facet, Shael)
- Viper (Sol, facet, Shael)
- Eschuta's (facet)
- Phoenix Monarch
- Arach
- 2x SoJ
- +3 magic or +2 craft/rare amulet with useful stats, or 2/10+ with Ormus
- Frostburn
- Treks or rare boots with FHR, resists, other useful mods
- Griffon's (Sol, facet, MPK jewel)
- Eschuta (facet, MPK jewel)
- Viper (Sol, MPK jewel)
- Spirit
- Magefist
- 2/10 FCR amulet, ideally 2/20 (allowing SoJ)
- 2x FCR rings with high mana, life, ideally some MPK or other useful stats
- Arach
- Silkweave
Overall, 105 FCR setups are a little more solid and objectively there's little reason to go for 200 FCR, but blitzing around this fast is great fun.
This is not really "one setup" as missing end game gear pieces will be different for any particular situation, but rather general considerations and item candidates for when players are starting out.
First of all re Infinity: If you don't have it, use Insight Merc and Crack of the Heavens (Sunder Charm) and you'll still be able to kill everything. Make no mistake, kill speed will be slower, but this comes with other advantages. In particular it means no need to include MPK, freeing up a couple of gear slots and sockets, which can even be used for facets for -ELR.
Overall, Griffon's is the hardest item to replace but still doable when making up for FCR elsewhere.
Possible options for each slot when missing some of the more rare items:
First of all re Infinity: If you don't have it, use Insight Merc and Crack of the Heavens (Sunder Charm) and you'll still be able to kill everything. Make no mistake, kill speed will be slower, but this comes with other advantages. In particular it means no need to include MPK, freeing up a couple of gear slots and sockets, which can even be used for facets for -ELR.
Overall, Griffon's is the hardest item to replace but still doable when making up for FCR elsewhere.
Possible options for each slot when missing some of the more rare items:
- Head: Shako, 2/20 circlet,
- Armor: Viper (Sol, facet, Shael)
- Weapon: Crescent Moon or Spirit sword
- Shield: Spirit
- Belt: Arach/Verdungo/SoE
- Rings: 2x SoJ or FCR/mana rings if SoJs are not available
- Amulet: Random +2/FCR or Mara's
- Gloves: Magefist or Frostburn if FCR is not required
- Boots: Waterwalk or some rare boots (when using Insight Merc, otherwise Silkweave are quite common, too)
Inventory: Anni, Torch, lightning skillers, life/mana SCs (more life-efficient) or GCs (more mana-efficient)
Sunder Charm in areas with LIs, doesn't make a huge difference with a good setup/high ELR
Switch: CtA + Spirit (or Lidless with low strength setups)
7. Cow Running Aspects
As mentioned above, Nova Sorc is a fantastic cow runner and certainly top tier with the SF synergy buff. Accordingly, this section will deal with that activity in particular, as it is one of the main reasons to go for this build.
7.1 General Tactics and Strategy
A couple of general points to note regarding cow running with Nova:
- Herding: SF is used to herd cows, i.e. pull them together into closely spaced groups. With SF being a synergy in D2R and therefore at high levels, this will now aggro cows well beyond the screen. IMO that's good rather than bad, but sometimes it does result in chaotic screens full of scattered cows, which will then need to be pulled to a certain location to group them together by just teleporting around a central point.
- Positioning: Killing groups with Novas should be done in such a way that it hits as many cows as possible. While Cows walk towards the Sorc, this often means just teleporting in place for 1-2 seconds (or literally just "waiting" doing nothing, or continuing to cast SF) until enough cows get in the Nova radius. Starting Nova casts too early can reduce her efficiency, as Cows are put in hit recovery, stunned in place and thereby also preventing Cows behind them to approach further. Teleporting in place is often the best technique in order to keep the Merc close and from running towards cows, as this can make them stop approaching the Sorc (which is what you want them to do).
- Player settings: This playstyle described above makes for efficient beef barbecues, but it also means item cluttering can become an issue as you kill a lot of monsters within Nova's limited radius. Thus it is recommended to run on P5 (despite P7 not being a problem for her to handle) and to herd and kill properly sized groups. Over time one develops a sense of good judgement as to whether a group is so big that it should be killed in two separate places (e.g. pulling one way, killing half the group, then dragging the remaining cows somewhere else to kill them and avoid cluttering).
- Merc: As mentioned above, Merc should be A2 Defiance or (with Infinity) Prayer. Do not use a Holy Freeze Merc as this will really slow down the herding of cows described above.
- iDR and defense should be given reasonable attention, see below.
7.2 iDR and Cow Damage
Hell Cows on P1 deal up to 167 damage (minimum 111), which translates to up to 209 on P5 (or 230 on P7). With 85% ES, and in the absence of any effects increasing their attack damage such as Amp/Might/Fana, this means that damage to the life pool by a cow hit can be fully mitigated with 32 iDR when running 85% ES, for example. A couple of benchmark numbers in the following table:
Code:
ES max cow damage to life pool
---------- ---------------------------
% absorbed P5 P7
---------- ----- ----
80 42 46
85 32 35
90 21 23
95 11 12However, life is such that Amp/Might/Fana etc. do in fact exist
so you still cannot be sure you won't lose any life when going for such iDR amounts. Since you will take damage every once in a while, it's still advisable to have some mechanism to refill life and not go all-in on iPDR. I personally like to run with some 20+ iPDR and then include some life replenish (or alternatively use LPK).7.3 Defense and Cow AR
Hell Cows have 4232 AR on P1, translating to 5290 on P5 (or 5819 on P7). Here's a table of a Sorc's chance to get hit by P5 Hell Cows with various amounts of defense (in this example for a level 92 Sorc, amounts will change a bit depending on character level):
Code:
Defense % chance to get hit Damage taken from 10 max dmg swings
--------- ----------------- -----------------------------------
4k 53.32 890
5k 48.41 804
6k 43.88 733
7k 40.31 673
8k 37.27 622
9k 34.67 579
10k 32.40 541
(Sorc @ lvl 92 and running P5 in this example)Hope this illustrates why I'm such a fan of defense.
9-10k can relatively easily be reached with upgraded armor pieces, Defiance Merc and Frozen Armor.NB: AR and damage numbers are from basin wiki. While I haven't tested this extensively, this seems to remain unchanged in D2R.
7.4 Nova Damage and Triggering Hit Recovery
Higher damage is always better, no surprise there. But in one particular way, having high damage also adds a ton of safety, namely by triggering hit recovery (HR). If triggered, the HR anmiation prevents cows from performing any actions until the HR animation is over. Naturally, this is good news for a Sorc who doesn't want to get hit but prefers killing stunned cows.
The quick rundown of the underlying mechanics is this: The chance to trigger the HR animation depends on the ratio between the damage taken by a target and its maximum life. Different skills in D2 use different divisors for this calculation (Nova's divisor is 16). There is no general 1/12 boundary that always causes HR (although this used to be the common understanding). Instead, depending on the ratio of damage to the maximum life of a target, your chances of triggering HR will increase in specific steps as shown in the table below, resulting in certain "damage breakpoints".
For skills with a divisor of 16 (such as Nova), these are as follows:
Code:
Amount of max life taken % chance to trigger HR
------------------------ -------------------------
less than 1/16 0
1/16 - 1/8 37.5
1/8 - 1/4 75
more than 1/4 100Here's the corresponding tables for max cow HP and min cow life, in each case on P5 and P7, and the Nova damage amounts needed to get the respective HR chance.
Against a max HP (regular) cow, i.e. other than boss packs and Cow King:
Code:
max cow life
--------------------
P5 P7
46347 61976
Required Nova damage
--------------------------------------
HR chance P5 P7
--------------------------------------
37.5% 2898 3868
75% 5794 7726
100% 11588 15450Against a min HP (regular) cow:
Code:
min cow life
--------------------
P5 P7
37764 50352
Required Nova damage
--------------------------------------
HR chance P5 P7
--------------------------------------
37.5% 2361 3148
75% 4722 6295
100% 9442 12589Note the Nova damage numbers mean the effective Nova damage after Conviction and -ELR. I will call this eDmg here. Most setups I consider to be reasonable end up with Nova eDmg somewhere in the 6.5k to 10k range. When using CM or Eschuta's with several facets and full skiller inventory, max Nova rolls can exceed 12k eDmg, although at the expense of other stats resulting in other practical issues. You can use the Nova Sorc spreadsheet for these purposes as well, as it shows the eDmg number for a given setup in the Nova damage section.
A couple of takeaways from checking the relevant numbers for various setups:
- On P5, it's relatively easy to reach eDmg which guarantees 75% HR chance.
- On P7, it's possible to guarantee 75% HR chance for most setups, but it requires some commitment to damage gear (certain amount of skillers, potentially facets). Even if not guaranteed, damage/HP ranges will still frequently land in the 75% HR range on P7 with most standard setups.
- Against a max HP roll cow, it is not possible to guarantee 100% HR chance on either P7 or P5, even with high damage setups.
- For P5, however, you can get Nova damage ranges that will frequently result in 100% HR chance, considering the min/max eDmg and min/max cow HP ranges. This is likely with damage oriented setups including faceted Eschuta's/Griffon's or CM and with a reasonable amount of skillers (4-5) plus Anni & Torch.
- Max HP roll cows will only rarely be put into HR with 100% chance, and only on P5 with quite damage-focused gear. Max Nova rolls can theoretically reach the ~12.5k effective damage required for 100% HR on P7, however with zero inventory space and all sockets stuffed with facets and lacking other stats. Even then you'd need to luck out with a max Nova damage roll.
Optimizing for 100% HR chance is not feasible, however 75% HR can be guaranteed easily on P5 and also on P7 with sensible setups. With high damage setups, while not guaranteed, hits with 100% HR chance will be frequent on P5. On P7 this will be a very rare occurrence even with the highest possible damage setups.
To guarantee 75% HR chance on P5, you will need 5794 minimum eDmg. With most of the standard gearing choices, this is achieved almost automatically when using things like Infinity, Griffon's and a couple of skillers.
To guarantee 75% HR chance on P7, you will need 7726 minimum eDmg. This is not automatic but still achievable with reasonable efforts. Assuming Griffon's is used, as a rough benchmark, CM and Infinity users will want to get around 4k LCS minimum damage, whereas Hoto/Eschuta users are looking at around 5k LCS minimum damage. Again, feel free to use the Nova spreadsheet to calculate the effective Nova damage precisely for your (or any) particular setup.
7.5 Gameplay Examples
Just to illustrate some of the above points:
Hoto/Arkaine's setup:
Infinity setup (@Nano)
8. ELR Considerations for Static Field
Perhaps intuitively one might think "the more -ELR the better", but it is not that simple. If a Static Field cast results in exactly 50% life remaining, the next SF cast deals no damage. But if it results in 51% life remaining, the next SF cast will apply full percentage-based damage and bring the target well below 50%, which is obviously much better for overall clear speed.
In particular for Cow running, it should be considered that the Sorc is herding and positioning with SF and typically exhausting SF casts on a given target (i.e. doesn't matter whether that takes 2x or 3x SF casts, for example). This means she often only starts casting Nova after SF casts are exhausted. So remaining life percentage after SF casts is an important aspect to keep in mind.
8.1 Spreadsheet
While the below details are for Cows specifically, finding a reasonable ELR value is something to consider for any target. Here is a D2R Nova version of the Sorc optimization spreadsheet I created a few years back, which allows you to calculate the ideal ELR amounts for a particular target. Eventually I'm planning to update the whole spreadsheet to a D2R version, but for now the Nova section will have to suffice.
8.2 SF Effectiveness for Cow Running
Cows have 50% LR by default. Meaning SF normally deals 12.5% damage rather than its displayed 25%. With -ELR from gear and Conviction coming into play, the "power" of SF varies as to how much it is increased from those 12.5%, but the interplay of -ELR and Conviction is not straight-forward.
First one needs to differentiate between whether or not a target is under Conviction, and in each case look at how sequences of SF casts play out, subtracting the percentage of the life amount after the respective previous cast. Like in this example:
Code:
Lightning resist 50
% taken per cast 12.5
----------------- --------------
SF cast # life % remaining
----------------- --------------
0 100
1 87.5
2 76.56
3 66.99
4 58.61
5 51.29
6 44.87 (no further reduction via SF possible)Ideally we want ELR amounts where that last number is as low as possible.
8.4 Without Conviction
Here, only -ELR from Sorc gear matters. The following table shows remaining life % of cows after exhausting SF casts with various amounts of ELR:
Code:
-ELR amount from gear Cow life % remaining Gear
--------------------- --------------------- -------------
15 49.19 Min Griffon's
20 46.32 Max Griffon's
25 43.58 Max Griffon's + -5 Facet
30 40.69 Max Griffon's + -5 Facet x2
50 42.18 (*) Min Griffon's + CM
55 40.11 Max Griffon's + CM
60 38.10 Max Griffon's + CM + -5 Facet
65 36.17 Max Griffon's + CM + -5 Facet x2
65 36.17 Max Griffon's + -45 Infinity
70 49.00 (*) Max Griffon's + -50 Infinity
75 47.26 Max Griffon's + -55 Infinity
85 43.89 Max Griffon's + -55 Infinity + -5 Facet(*) denotes values which are worse than the previous (lower) ELR amounts.
Good/reasonable ELR values and item combinations:
- 25-32 resulting in 40-43% life remaining (e.g. Griffon's + Hoto/Eschuta's Temper + facet(s))
- 55 resulting in 40% life remaining (e.g. Griffon's + CM)
- 60-67 resulting in 36-38% life remaining (e.g. Griffon's + CM + 1-2 facets or Infinity + Griffon's with average/lower -ELR rolls)
- 33 resulting in 49% life remaining (and only gradually improving with higher amounts)
- 68 resulting in 49% life remaining (and only gradually improving with higher amounts), mostly relevant for Infinity setups
If Conviction (or Lower Resist) brings a target below 0% LR (as is the case with cows), the effect of -ELR from gear is diminished. Below table shows remaining life & with same -ELR values as above, this time with the target being under Conviction:
Code:
-ELR amount from gear Cow life % remaining Gear
--------------------- --------------------- -------------
15 37.29 Min Griffon's
20 35.74 Max Griffon's
25 48.95 (*) Max Griffon's + -5 Facet
30 47.55 Max Griffon's + -5 Facet x2
50 42.15 Min Griffon's + CM
55 40.85 Max Griffon's + CM
60 39.57 Max Griffon's + CM + -5 Facet
65 38.31 Max Griffon's + CM + -5 Facet x2
65 38.31 Max Griffon's + -45 Infinity
70 38.31 Max Griffon's + -50 Infinity
75 38.31 Max Griffon's + -55 Infinity
85 38.31 Max Griffon's + -55 Infinity + -5 FacetGood/resaonable ELR values and item combinations:
- 15-21 resulting in 35-37% life remaining (e.g. Griffon's + Hoto/Eschuta's Temper)
- 55-67 resulting in 38-40% life remaining (CM and Infinity setups)
- 65 and above: No further improvement as cows are at -100% LR in any case
8.6 Required Subsequent Nova Casts & Conviction Triggerent Between SF Casts
Of course the follow-up question to the above scenarios is whether the remaining life % actually reduces the required number of subsequent Nova casts to kill a given target. On P5, with the setups I've had a closer look at, Cows will die after around 2-4 Nova casts after exhausting SF casts, depending on exact Nova damage with a particular setup. Post-SF casting, the difference between 36% and 42% life remaining may or may not reduce the amount of maximum subsequent Nova casts. I found that in many cases it does, but this is impossible to generalize given randomized HP amounts and Nova damage range. I trust people will draw their own conclusions from seeing the differences in remaining life percentage. In any case, you can play around with the spreadsheet linked above to see the impact on required Nova casts with a particular setup. Same applies to SF casting sequences starting without Conviction but with Conviction coming into play after a couple of casts.
8.7 Conclusions
CM setups: While not ideal in all cases, the interaction with SF is not terrible overall, in particular when using facets. Both with and without Conviction these yield good results overall.
Recommended ELR with CM: -55 or thereabout (no specific ceiling to avoid)
Hoto/Eschuta setups: On Conviction, these yield the best results overall in the 15-20 ELR range. When using 1-2 facets they perform well without Conviction, but worse on Conviction.
Recommended ELR with Hoto/Eschuta: Up to -21
Infinity setups: As long as -ELR is not higher than 67 overall, this results in most efficient SF without Conviction, although CM and Hoto/Eschuta setups can get pretty close. On Conviction, it is slightly worse than Eschuta/Hoto setups.
Recommended ELR with Infinity: Up to -67
***
So, that's about all I know about Nova/ES Sorc and running cows with her. Hope it's helpful and makes people want to experiment with Nova/ES in D2R.
If there are any inaccuracies, aspects/item options that should be addressed, or other comments or questions, please feel free to let me know. I'll probably add/amend things anyway as I continue to explore the build in D2R.
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