Mana Feedback Sorceress [1.2]

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Solfege
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I mean, I'd only do videos if there was an overwhelming demand for them. Recording/editing videos on Linux is a supreme pita, and I'm not in the habit of doing more work than I need to most of the time.

@Grasshopper
Yeah, Blade Spirits are nice little summons that too many people ignore. Once their res is high enough, they almost never die. It takes a lot of pressure off Ice Elementals.
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I'm interested in this line from the "Cons":

    - Lower DPS compared to some Caster builds (Feedback spells are slow).

Does that mean there are higher damage sorceress builds or just other class builds in general?
If sorceress, then I assume the higher damage sorceresses have lower defence - or presumably there would have to be a reason why you chose feedback?
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Solfege
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It's basically a disclaimer. It just means it's possible the total DPS output over a set time may be lower than some other Casters that are able to spam lower-damage/higher-velocity spells.

For example, an Amazon that can spam Stormcall endlessly may clear a particular area slightly faster than a Feedback Sorc, b/c a Feedback Sorc needs to wait for Antimass' CD timer to expire before casting another Mana Sweep (this is why setting up your shot with a Feedback Sorc is so important). But at the same time, a Stormcall Amazon may not have the same level of survivability as a Feedback Sorc thanks to high defense, an army of summons at the ready, and constant healing with Antimass. So there are some trade-offs.

I mostly chose Feedback for 2 reasons:
- It seemed like an underplayed build, and I wanted to get a wider variety of Caster Sorcs out there.
- I don't like respeccing. And since fewer enemies (including bosses) have Phys-immunities vs. Elemental immunities, more can be done with a Feedback spec than an Elemental spec.
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Thanks for explaining, it makes sense.

By the way, there are a couple of typos in the mercenary section (two item tags are not opened / closed in the mercenary's armour section).
Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Sorceress Orbs

'Cham'
Runeword Level: 83
+3 to Sorceress Skill Levels
-1% Base Block Chance
60% Hit Recovery
+(6 to 16) to Divine Apparition
20% to Energy
Maximum Life and Mana +5%
+(100 to 200) Life when Struck by an Enemy
- why make in Sacred Jared's Stone? I can see no benefit over a T1 if the switch item is only for Divine Apparition?

I also notice that the mercenary gear is never upgraded. It seems that the slow is the key modifier on the Black Dame bow, so if I have better bows with slow I assume it's a good idea to use them? E.g.
Dear Esther
or
Faerie Pyre
Faerie Pyre
Serpent Bow (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: (213 - 271) to (302 - 392)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 555
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.19 per Dexterity)%
Laughing Ghost: +8% Bonus Magic Damage per Summon Skill Base Level
1% Chance to cast level 10 Arrow on Striking
Adds (50 to 80)-(130 to 190) Damage
15% Life stolen per Hit
+(130 to 170)% Enhanced Damage
+28 to Laughing Ghost
Fire Absorb (1 to 5)%
Lightning Absorb (1 to 5)%
Cold Absorb (1 to 5)%
(25 to 50)% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (6)
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Solfege
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Ok cool. Thanks for letting me know. I haven't looked at the guide in weeks.

Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Sorceress Orbs

'Cham'
Runeword Level: 83
+3 to Sorceress Skill Levels
-1% Base Block Chance
60% Hit Recovery
+(6 to 16) to Divine Apparition
20% to Energy
Maximum Life and Mana +5%
+(100 to 200) Life when Struck by an Enemy
can be made in whatever Sorc Orb you want. I chose Jared's Stone b/c it's the only Sorc Orb that can get 3 sockets (and thus, more FCR potential from jewels). And for whatever reason, a Sacred Jared's Stone has lower DEX requirements than a T6 Jared's Stone.

Priestess gear was never upgraded b/c I stop using mercs altogether once I'm done with the BRC. There are too many instagib and 1-shot mechanics in Median, and merc AI is too dumb to avoid them. Keeping mercs alive is a pain, and their "depressed" state after they're killed and revived is annoying, so I kinda gave up on testing end-game gear for them. (I just realized how terrible a person that makes me sound.)

The Slow mod on the Black Dame is only part of the reason I listed it, since it's essentially meaningless once you get Chronofield. It's the highest damage TU bow, which means it has the highest regen potential from LL to help keep her alive. And that's the point of her: not to kill things, but for her to stay alive so your summons can benefit from her skills. Though tbh, I just gear her with a
Webspinner
Webspinner
Short War Bow (4)

Two-Hand Damage: (10 - 12) to (26 - 32)
Required Level: 8
Required Dexterity:
73 to 77
Item Level: 19
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
5% Chance to cast level 5 Arachnomancy on Kill
3% Chance to cast level 4 Miasma on Striking
+(11 to 15) to Maximum Damage
+(18 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
+(2 to 3)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (6 to 10)%
Maximum Life +(2 to 3)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Two-Hand Damage: (33 - 37) to (61 - 75)
Required Level: 28
Required Dexterity:
95 to 100
Item Level: 40
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
6% Chance to cast level 10 Arachnomancy on Kill
4% Chance to cast level 10 Miasma on Striking
+(16 to 25) to Maximum Damage
+(52 to 69)% Enhanced Damage
+(5 to 6)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (11 to 15)%
Maximum Life +(3 to 4)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (76 - 83) to (135 - 153)
Required Level: 47
Required Dexterity:
161 to 171
Item Level: 59
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
7% Chance to cast level 14 Arachnomancy on Kill
5% Chance to cast level 16 Miasma on Striking
+(31 to 40) to Maximum Damage
+(87 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(8 to 9)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (21 to 25)%
Maximum Life +(4 to 5)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Two-Hand Damage: (102 - 110) to (179 - 199)
Required Level: 54
Required Dexterity:
294 to 313
Item Level: 85
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
8% Chance to cast level 18 Arachnomancy on Kill
6% Chance to cast level 19 Miasma on Striking
+(41 to 50) to Maximum Damage
+(104 to 120)% Enhanced Damage
+(9 to 10)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (31 to 35)%
Maximum Life +(5 to 6)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
and some random Rares I find. I only give her other TUs if I find them naturally. She's pretty good at staying alive on her own during the leveling process.

If you want to keep her end-game, my personal favorite is to build aournd
Hand of Karcheus
.
Grasshopper
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Sorry one other point. The jewelcrafting section says to roll with a Lem rune to get +1% to All Attributes. There is no rune that gives that directly, the Lem gives +(3-5) to All Attributes, so...

Is that just a typo or are you saying to re-roll jewels until they get +1% in addition to the +(3-5) ?
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Solfege
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Thanks. I appreciate people bringing these things to my attention. And yes, craft jewels until you get +1% All Attributes in addition to the flat Attributes given by the Lem Rune.

That said, could you copy/paste the text that's confusing? I'm looking through the sections of the guide where jewelcrafting is mentioned and I'm not finding where I wrote Lem-crafted jewels give +1% All Attributes (though I did find more spelling errors and broken tags I'll need to fix).
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It's this part, near the end of Mid-Game section:

Solfege wrote:Crafting Your Gear:

For more info on Shrine-crafting and Jewel-crafting, see the Crafting section of this guide.

Jewels
Using a Lem Rune, craft 9x jewels with +1% All Attributes. Any additional FCR, FHR, flat Mana, or Res mods are also helpful. If you get any +(1 to 2)% NRG jewels with good mods, hold onto them for now (you can remake your armor later with these jewels after you get more +Stats Charms). Be sure to cube each crafted jewel you intend to keep with an Oil of Luck.


I now understand what the sentence "Using a Lem Rune, craft 9x jewels with +1% All Attributes." means, but when I read it before, it seemed that Lem runes gave 1% to all attributes, not that they give something else and you keep going until you get +1% attributes as well. And as I said, when I realised what Lem runes do give I thought the above quote might be just a typo.
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Solfege
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I can see how that sentence could be confusing, since it assumes the reader already read the Jewelcrafting part of the guide. I'll tweak the wording to make it clearer.
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Just wondering why Nova Charge is not worth 1 point?