Looking for help with Sorceress

[NorthDakota]

Still dieing from the undead stygians, if I teleport into them I'm screwed. Am I the only one who has this many problems with them? On nightmare they should NOT do so much damage. I'm going to have to give up on meph pretty soon due to losing money from reviving my merc so often.

Also, I play online so there is no way of avoiding them unfortunately.

with 546 life I'm not surprised. That seems so low for some reason, I mean I know you're only in NM but that feels very low and I'm not surprised you're dying. I'm hoping you have some respecs available for later on, finding a monarch might take a while. In the meantime, I'd dump those points into vita and get that life total up. Next up, for meph runs, stop ressing the merc. Let him stay dead and just chug mana pots. Merc messes up moat trick and either you'll die or he'll die or both of you will die because of him when trying to moat. You can moat trick mephisto with fireball, it's not ideal but you can. If you haven't spent your skill points yet either then meteor is lookin even juicier to me because it is fast and easy for killing meph over the moat.

The only thing that'll make the stygians better is more life, more faster hit recovery, more fcr, and keeping your merc dead.

Online means this is way harder than if you were offline since no saving maps additionally playing on controller, chugging mana pots, and blind teleporting is just much more difficult than kb/m. If you're truly committed to playing without others, it might be worth switching to offline because of the benefits

I just wanna say that also I feel your pain man and I wish there was some way we could cheer you up. It's definitely not worth getting so upset you might break a controller I feel like you need a little reassurance, I think it's very difficult when starting out and starting over, and most people will experience the type of pain you're experiencing. I know for a fact that I couldn't do it on a controller, I get frustrated just playing in act 1 with potion management and inventory management being so difficult compared to kb/m. So you're doing much better than I would be. And you've done so well this far, like clearly you have the knowledge to put together coherent gear and things like that. I feel like this is the type of situation where you need to just push through, accept the fact that it's going to be frustrating until you hit that one thing that'll turn it around for you. And dump those points into vitality please.

You can do it dude!!

 

[Goomba]

Idk maybe. All I know is I'm the unluckiest person ever, I've been meph running all day and have gotten nothing. How much longer do I need to do this to get gear in order to play hell???

I'm stuck in this game so bad right now I want to break my controller again. There is no reason to keep going, just crappy items and occasional deaths from the undead stygian dolls. I haven't gained a single level from doing meph runs either. How does everyone else do this and actually succeed?

 

[Goomba]

with 546 life I'm not surprised. That seems so low for some reason, I mean I know you're only in NM but that feels very low and I'm not surprised you're dying. I'm hoping you have some respecs available for later on, finding a monarch might take a while. In the meantime, I'd dump those points into vita and get that life total up. Next up, for meph runs, stop ressing the merc. Let him stay dead and just chug mana pots. Merc messes up moat trick and either you'll die or he'll die or both of you will die because of him when trying to moat. You can moat trick mephisto with fireball, it's not ideal but you can. If you haven't spent your skill points yet either then meteor is lookin even juicier to me because it is fast and easy for killing meph over the moat.

The only thing that'll make the stygians better is more life, more faster hit recovery, more fcr, and keeping your merc dead.

Online means this is way harder than if you were offline since no saving maps additionally playing on controller, chugging mana pots, and blind teleporting is just much more difficult than kb/m. If you're truly committed to playing without others, it might be worth switching to offline because of the benefits

I just wanna say that also I feel your pain man and I wish there was some way we could cheer you up. It's definitely not worth getting so upset you might break a controller I feel like you need a little reassurance, I think it's very difficult when starting out and starting over, and most people will experience the type of pain you're experiencing. I know for a fact that I couldn't do it on a controller, I get frustrated just playing in act 1 with potion management and inventory management being so difficult compared to kb/m. So you're doing much better than I would be. And you've done so well this far, like clearly you have the knowledge to put together coherent gear and things like that. I feel like this is the type of situation where you need to just push through, accept the fact that it's going to be frustrating until you hit that one thing that'll turn it around for you. And dump those points into vitality please.

You can do it dude!!

Thanks for the encouragement, I will try to use my points and try meteor. As far as repecs, I have one in nm and one in hell left. Building the sorceress correctly is really a challenge! It's been really fun up until this point, but hours and hours of dealing with undead stygian dolls and farming crappy items from meph is not fun at all. I just want to be strong again and be able to play hell but apparently that is a huge task to get to.

 

[NorthDakota]

Idk maybe. All I know is I'm the unluckiest person ever, I've been meph running all day and have gotten nothing. How much longer do I need to do this to get gear in order to play hell???

I'm stuck in this game so bad right now I want to break my controller again. There is no reason to keep going, just crappy items and occasional deaths from the undead stygian dolls. I haven't gained a single level from doing meph runs either. How does everyone else do this and actually succeed?

I thought about this more. Another thing to think about is dropping some of your MF for more survivability. Like shoot for 100 mf and then start going the rest into more life/fcr/fhr/resists (although I will say resists really aren't a priority when moat tricking meph and also won't help with dolls).

I am devoted to this thread right now. Here's the steps to make this better in bullet form:

• make splendor in shield
• make smoke on armor
• if you can get a FAL rune, make a lionheart rw - this thing has tons of life stats resists this will help possibly more than smoke considering resists not so important for meph.
  • you can get these runes at NM countess - fal less likely, however she can drop it, just much less likely.
• literally a rare armor might be better than stealth. Stealth is good but it's mostly good for the FCR, which you probably won't need if you do some of this other stuff. You've already got magefist/spirit, which is over half the battle
• replace helmet gems with pRubies for over 100 more life. hel+tp scroll in cube with item to unsocket
• Run easier targets to replace magic items with rares
  • boots, faster hit recovery/resists (frw nice but FHR is what you really want if dying is the problem, you're teleporting anyways)
  • head, circlet is an option if you can get your hands on one, others can be good too though, can get FHR/Life/Str/resists on rare, can get skills on circlets
  • belts can get FHR and life/resists
  • do some easier targets such as nm eldritch/shenk/pindle for actual exp and rares/might pick up some uniques. I think this is your best option at the moment. It'll be easy and you'll actually make progress.
  • when spamming these easier targets, pick up armors or class items that sell for 35k gold. Use this gold to gamble circlets/rings/ammys (or whatever item you need another rare of).
• You're shooting for 63 fcr and no more (until you start blasting runs successfully). Spirit sword + magefist gets you at very least 45 fcr, splendor gets to 55, one ring puts you over 63.
• SPEND YOUR SKILL/STAT POINTS. If you're wondering why you're struggling more than others, this is the #1 reason. If you have unspent stat points, it doesn't matter what level you are. 20 unspent skill points and 80 unspent stat points is like being practically level 40.
  • commit to your stats - either you're going 156 str, or you're going like 95 max (for wartravs). You can do without wartravs and go even lower. If you have a respec left to go, then opt for the 95 str option and dump the rest into vita.
  • commit to your build - dual tree is fine for a regular playthrough of the game, it's not going to be a super fast farmer though. If you want a good compromise and you're married to frozen orb, then you should go meteor imo. People might have a different opinion on this, but frozen orb just isn't going to be great for meph or andy especially not early and not with mid game gear. Fireball also won't be great. Meteor at least will give you an option for dealing some damage to andy/meph from a reasonable distance. Frozen orb is a skill shot big time and it's going to be rough on controller for these bosses (better for andy, worse for meph). You're comparing yourself to characters that are likely going pure blizzard though, these characters will have no issue with meph no matter if they're naked or not period.

Completing runs in a reasonable time frame without deaths needs to be priority before MF. If you're dying you're not getting items and mf is a waste.

Vipermagi is a game changer for you, makes 105fcr a reasonable target and gives a big boost in multiple ways, nm meph can drop this. if hell andy is easier somehow, hell andy drops this like crazy

 

[Ohomemgrande]

I thought about this more. Another thing to think about is dropping some of your MF for more survivability.

This is the key point. You'll get more good drops with 50% MF and being able to kill Mephisto 1/minute than having 200% and taking 10 minutes to do it.

For Frozen Orb, the thing that makes it tick is Cold Mastery. Max it. Fully synergized FO with maxed Cold Mastery is good enough to get you all the way through Hell once you have resists, etc. You don't have to fully synergize it and can go for a stronger fire skill to be more balanced but it is that good.

But it needs the Cold Mastery first for sure.

I also agree that initially you should use your stats and probably put it to vitality. You can always respec in the end eventually if you find a 4OS Monarch and want to make Spirit. Get there first.

 

[Goomba]

As far as build I'm wondering if I should've went pure blizzard...

Right now I am level 67 and have 21 pts to put into either cold mastery or meteor (one in inferno, blaze, and fire wall to get meteor also). Which will work better in hell eventually? Or should I split the points? I used my normal but still have nm and hell respecs. I'm so indecisive with this build haha.

 

[NorthDakota]

As far as build I'm wondering if I should've went pure blizzard...

Right now I am level 67 and have 21 pts to put into either cold mastery or meteor (one in inferno, blaze, and fire wall to get meteor also). Which will work better in hell eventually? Or should I split the points? I used my normal but still have nm and hell respecs. I'm so indecisive with this build haha.

what are your goals with the character. what do you want to do with it?

 

[Goomba]

what are your goals with the character. what do you want to do with it?

Ultimately I'd like to be strong enough to beat hell solo. I know I need to get a lot of good gear to do so, so right now it's basically to level and find that gear.

 

[Miron]

Ultimately I'd like to be strong enough to beat hell solo. I know I need to get a lot of good gear to do so, so right now it's basically to level and find that gear.

In this case I would stay FO/Meteor, you will need less gear then single element sorc. After you finish Hell you can respect to blizz sorc for MF and gearing other chars.

EDIT: I really recommend getting Lower Resists wand on switch, it can help alot during early stages. You use static field on Meph right?

Playing Online I would concentrate on fixed targets more then Meph. In every new game I would explore the area near the wp but if lvl 3 is not near (let's say 2-3 next rooms)I would skip the area.

 

[Goomba]

In this case I would stay FO/Meteor, you will need less gear then single element sorc. After you finish Hell you can respect to blizz sorc for MF and gearing other chars.

EDIT: I really recommend getting Lower Resists wand on switch, it can help alot during early stages. You use static field on Meph right?

Playing Online I would concentrate on fixed targets more then Meph. In every new game I would explore the area near the wp but if lvl 3 is not near (let's say 2-3 next rooms)I would skip the area.

Ok, I'll give meteor a try, thanks. And yes I do use static field on meph.

Where would I find a wand with lower resist?

For meph I usually never die on him so the moat trick would only be for speeding it up. The real problem I'm STILL having issues with are the stupid undead stygian dolls. Getting to meph is much worse than actually fighting him. I'm actually afraid to even do runs because I don't want to die. I'll try the sockets helm with Perfect rubies and hope that helps.

 

[Miron]

You can buy this wand from vendors (akara, drognan...), reset the store by exiting & entering the town until you find one.

Maybe a slower approach required? Run ahead a bit then teleport in place and step back, if you lure monsters they will engage the merc and leave you time to decide what to do next. If you see dolls just skip the run and do other targets or see if you can teleport safely past them.

As I said, if you can't find lvl 3 near the wp just skip the run in this game and go for other targets.

Another option is to add NM Andy runs, she goes down easily with strong fireball. If you get lucky and she drop a soj you can try and trade it for spirit shield or viper. You probably won't get a perfect version and I think soj cost more than those items but you will benefit more from them ATM.

 

[Goomba]

Is D2 having server issues AGAIN like they seem to every morning? I've been in a que at 168 and it hasn't moved in a half hour. If I demand my money back will they delete my characters? I don't want to lose my progress but at the same time there is absolutely no excuse for this!

 

[Cattleya]

Is D2 having server issues AGAIN like they seem to every morning? I've been in a que at 168 and it hasn't moved in a half hour. If I demand my money back will they delete my characters? I don't want to lose my progress but at the same time there is absolutely no excuse for this!

If you've put more than a couple hours into the game, there's a pretty good chance they'll deny a refund. (Of course, that doesn't mean you can't ask — just warning you that it will probably be denied.) I don't know if they delete the characters. My instinct says that they won't, just because that doesn't tend to be how it works. (And again, if you've got any real progress, that's a reason to deny the refund in the first place.)

So, as you are in the Single Player Forum, I'm going to have to recommend the obvious solution! Play single player! No queues (hit escape at the queue screen to go offline) and server issues! Maps that stay the same until you change the difficulty! Join us...

 

[Goomba]

What is everyone else doing to have such good luck on meph?

So I've used my points in meteor and used my attributes to get 95 str and rest into vit. I've been doing meph runs but still cannot find anything good. I've gotten like 5 sigon's plates and other even lower set items but absolutely nothing better than that. He doesn't even drop any unique or set items most of the time. The rare times he does they are only normal level uniques and always melee weapons which do me no good.

I'm going to have to quit this game if something doesn't change soon and then I'll have nothing to play. My depression and anhedonia have made videogames so boring to me except for this game but now this is really getting me very depressed.

 

[NorthDakota]

What is everyone else doing to have such good luck on meph?

So I've used my points in meteor and used my attributes to get 95 str and rest into vit. I've been doing meph runs but still cannot find anything good. I've gotten like 5 sigon's plates and other even lower set items but absolutely nothing better than that. He doesn't even drop any unique or set items most of the time. The rare times he does they are only normal level uniques and always melee weapons which do me no good.

I'm going to have to quit this game if something doesn't change soon and then I'll have nothing to play. My depression and anhedonia have made videogames so boring to me except for this game but now this is really getting me very depressed.

You need to do more runs. That's all there is to it. Luck is a scapegoat. Discipline is the master. All the "best" players here are basically human bots, running targets over and over, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times. Why are you cursed? What have you done to deserve this struggle? You aren't, you don't. It's just the way the game is. You are frustrated because you have unrealistic expectations - you think by now you should have gotten something good, by now others would have gotten something good. Every run where nothing comes up you become more frustrated. Change your mindset to this, each run: Nothing will drop this run. When nothing drops, make the next game and expect that nothing will drop again. You do this quickly, nothing drops, you don't sort through the trash, you just go through the red portal, save/exit, new game as fast as you can, then off to the wp and back down to meph, no thinking no expecting. More runs always more runs.

A challenge for you - start counting your runs. Tally mark on notebook paper works great. After every 100 runs, come back here and post your finds and on which run you got them, and let us be the judge of your luck!

 

[snickersnack]

Next up, for meph runs, stop ressing the merc. Let him stay dead and just chug mana pots. Merc messes up moat trick and either you'll die or he'll die or both of you will die because of him when trying to moat. You can moat trick mephisto with fireball, it's not ideal but you can. If you haven't spent your skill points yet either then meteor is lookin even juicier to me because it is fast and easy for killing meph over the moat.

The only thing that'll make the stygians better is more life, more faster hit recovery, more fcr, and keeping your merc dead.

I was going to say the same thing, but you beat me to it!

@Goomba Here is the skill layout for my meteorb (she was my main mfer for a while, she's now level 90 and is quite the beast, but that took years to achieve, for me):

Spoiler

naked/geared

Fire Bolt: 10/19
Warmth: 0/0
Inferno: 1/10
Blaze: 1/10
Fire Ball: 20/29
Fire Wall: 1/10
Enchant: 0/0
Meteor: 20/29
Fire Mastery: 10/21
Hydra: 0/0

Charged Bolt: 0/0
Static Field: 1/6
Telekinesis: 1/6
Nova: 0/0
Lightning: 0/0
Chain Lightning: 0/0
Teleport: 1/6
Thunder Storm: 0/0
Energy Shield: 0/0
Lightning Mastery: 0/4

Ice Bolt: 1/6
Frozen Armor: 0/0
Frost Nova: 1/6
Ice Blast: 1/6
Shiver Armor: 0/0
Glacial Spike: 1/6
Blizzard: 1/6
Chilling Armor: 0/0
Frozen Orb: 20/25
Cold Mastery: 10/17

Note, though, that this is with some gear, but she is not fully geared right now. She's not wearing any rings and has no cold skill charms, but she does have 3 fire skill charms and is otherwise geared up, enough for LK runs anyway. Oh, also, look what's in her stash:

Bone Wand of Lower Resistance
Bone Wand
One Hand Damage: 3 - 7
Durability: 15 of 15
Required Level: 36
Fingerprint: 0x9caf0134
Item Level: 82
Version: Expansion 1.10+
+1 to Revive (Necromancer Only)
Level 2 Lower Resist (74/75 Charges)

 

[Maltatai]

What is everyone else doing to have such good luck on meph?

1. Playing offline so the map stays the same. Do not ignore how important a factor this is. Teleporting a dozen times or so to the right spot to lauch spells across the moat, be it fireballs or orbs or others, across a well-known and safe path from the waypoint takes a fraction of the energy invested in dodging or fighting dolls across an ever unexplored durance. With less effort needed you can do much more running or other things and that is what yields results as @NorthDakota describes above.
2. Often more convenient spells for moat trick approaches. Not always though.

Are you sure about using a controller rather than mouse and keyboard (if the latter is an available option?)? I have no experience with playing the game with a controller but as far as I know pretty much every guardian thread is from a player using a mouse. I have literally never imagined Diablo 2 really being viable without mouse and keyboard but if you are sure it works for you then go for it of course.

Undead stygian dolls, without enchantments, deal up to 46 damage in nightmare. With a helmet and armour packed with Sol runes you can laugh at them and proceed unhindered.

I maintain that a ranged mercenary might prove more convenient. The dual tree sorceress does not typically need killing power in nightmare but a reliable support and distraction that lets her cast more freely. Melee mercenaries who die frequently are not reliable. Or, of course they die reliably but that wasn't what we were interested in.
Just to illustrate the point; I have taken three tri-elemental sorceresses, archmages, through nightmare and about halfway through hell with iron wolves (one of each type), each hired ever since entering Act III in normal. None of those iron wolves have so far died a single time. The sorceressess raided nightmare Mephisto about 300 times or so I think. Town guards are not mandatory.

 

[coju]

The gear you listed at the beginning is totally fine. Seems like you’re sitting at the brink of your next power level, just have to keep putting up that hill. It can and is very discouraging to see streamers and guides recommending items you don’t have and don’t see yourself getting…
But your items are fine for where you’re at.
My tips:
17 points into Cold Mastery if it’s your main attack. 1 point into Shiver Armor (2nd cold armor) will chill and slow attackers when they begin their animation.
65fcr.
I never learned the breakpoints for fhr or other stuff so I never do that (faster hit recovery)
65 Faster cast rate
65 fcr
Putting your stats into vit. Don’t worry about 156 for monarch or 95 for Travis or 63 or helm. You have your spirit Sword and more into str so I’d put the rest into vit. You have 2 respects so you’re good. (Maybe see how much you need for those unique castor armors like silk of the vapormage or whatever)
Resists: fire and light are main res to focus on. Ofc you want 75 in each. Although, you could get to where you can dodge Mephs attacks and go with less if you felt comfortable. But not surviving is dying and you can’t kill him dead while dead.
Plus skills! Anything to plus skills for your sorc.
Then mf. Like others said, killing speed with Mf50 is better than killing slow with 200.

Most of us in this section if the forums are playing single player so we’re not experiencing any server issues and at we can find a map with 8! Teleports to level 3. Maybe even 5!
I couldn’t imagine having to find the level 3 each map. If I did I would go with 105 fcr if and when I could.

I don’t think frozen orb works good with the moat trick, but you can get to where you can just dodge his, mephs, attacks.

You mentioned finding some sigons. You could keep finding gears that would help level another character up if you wanted. I’m partial to summon necros(just raise skeleton and mastery with a point in amp dmg then some into Corpse explosion).

 

[snickersnack]

Undead stygian dolls, without enchantments, deal up to 46 damage in nightmare. With a helmet and armour packed with Sol runes you can laugh at them and proceed unhindered.

This is an excellent point. Some NM Countess runs will net as many Sols as are needed, so keeping a 4os armor and a 3os helm packed with Sol runes would neutralize the dolls. I don't recall how soon 4os armors can drop, but I'd guess mid to late NM would do it. If not, then even 3 Sols in armor and 3 Sols in helm would do.

 

[EatSleepDiablo]

I have been playing single player since the beginning. Never Bnet because I didn't see the point. Leveled one toon to 99 (6,500-ish Baal runs), 3 or 4 to 98, and a bunch thereafter. Maybe 40 in all. Most to 90+.

I hate playing untwinked. Especially with all the loot I have found in my D2 career. Four Zods, 12-ish templars, 50+ green sacred armors, etc. etc. All but Tyraels (grr).

All of that said, my brother wants to play online with D2R. So I roll a sorc, ofc. Pure Blizzard. However, with that first toon, untwinked, its a grind. Dude, its a grind. Playing online adds to the challenge where maps are not static.

I have played exclusively solo at this point because I will not have my younger brother carry me. I am currently lvl 87 gearing roughly where I was when I was lvl 72. Three topaz helm + four topaz armor with a bunch of crap MF gear. Embarrassingly crappy. However, that is why D2 is still around after all these years.

My two cents...

Forget Meph. Get to NM Baal and camp out in WSK. Look out for 4os Broad/Crystal Swords (Spirit) and any 4os polearm (Insight). Merc will be a challenge to keep alive until Treachery, so you know where that first Lem will go. Runewords Stealth, Lore, and Ancients Pledge are your friends.

When bored of Baal, run NM cows. Lots. Those 4os items will not just rain from the heavens so keep at it. Cube every blessed gem that falls. Keep topazes for your eventual Ancient Tunnels gear (Act II; Lost City), but all else use to reroll small charms. You ideally want MF + resists, but take good rolls for the latter at this stage (read "any"). Allows you to creep up MF on gear without getting insta-killed with some random nova.

Pick up anything valuable to sell. White/blue/yellow armors, items/socketables with skills, etc. Stash the cash in the shared stashes so that you avoid death penalty.

Gamble with the scratch to get workable boots, belt, and gloves. By workable, it is MF with some notable resist (particularly lightning).

Get to low 70s and then dip a toe into Hell. Skip any cold immune, although static and even telekinesis will be your friend for those that cannot be parked. Your focus will be to blast through Act 1 to get to Ancient Tunnels where a pure cold build can get by with crappy gear. Do all of the quests leading up to that point and then camp out in AT. Once you get to the low to mid-80s (not kidding), sprint through Acts 2, 3, and 4 until you get Pindle's gate open.

In a perfect world we just grind Pindle for endgame gear. With the server issues, that is not possible. As of right now, my runs are Pindle, tele to town, port to Lost City, run AT, s&e. It is what it is.

In short. you are not alone. Game is a grind, which is the point. Nothing easy. But when Tals armor drops, or even that Shako, you did it.

As an aside, start accumulating stuff. I like Sigons for starting gear, but stash away those pally shields with 35+ resists, bases for white, etc. Next toon will be super easy to go from Normal to Hell.