Ntf1015 wrote:I didn't see if someone posted this or not, but what would be considered a decent setup as far as early game gear and skills go? Thanks in advance!
I made my own start TU set recently and I'm about to beat Hell with just this stuff. ( I have no idea how to hotlink)
Wep - Icebird ( get a sacred knife and go Lo RW when you can)
Gloves - Pollice Verso - Good mana sustain on packs
Belt - Wormtongue - leech etc
Helm - All Seeing Eye - More mana and some damage to main skill.
Chest - Griswolds - Welfare chestpiece with great stats, most of the res etc.
Shield - Black Sheep Totem - best option IMO. Raw damage. I'd accept an argument for the other one that has a ton of reanimates just cause they make life so much easier, but really.... that's what jewelry or junk shrines can do.
Lionpaw Boots - defensive + stats. Zealot's are ok but require a lot more str.
Jewelry - rares. Prefer: Skills, dex, Leech, phys skill damage, Reanimates. Attack speed too I guess.
Mystic Orbs/Gems/ETC -
Armors: ED, TCD, DEX or whatever you want really.
Weapon : ED, Wep DMG, DS(?).... I just threw Rainbow Stones in mine but if I find some Jah I'll do that.
Jewelry: I put max mana regen on mine as soon as I could and run around like crazy on bosses then blow everything on Maelstroms and Broadside when its up. I learned to do this with my Melee sorc cause they have kind of the same issue in the earlier stages where you are waiting for your burst CDs or mana to rebuild until you get sustain. It's not a long term solution but it's far quicker than trying to keep up with mana pots or just portaling back to vendor heal. Your mana will be 100% dandy with just this setup but bosses not so much until you make a Void. It's nice to have regen as a backup if your damage falls behind, because it kinda slips off as you are going through hell if you get unlucky with sacred knife drops and runes.
Gems: You'll be cramming resists all day everyday for a while, but after that, some P-Am for DEX or make some Ber Jewels with % dex.
I tried to keep everything low str. Your defenses won't be amazing at this stage, but you are still tankier than a lot of classes/builds. It's more like playing a top down shooter rather than tanking stuff, but that's my jam. Just get enough STR to wear all this stuff and upgrade each tier as you level with weapon as your first goal to hit T4, which will be pumping DEX followed by STR to boost other pieces. After that go nuts with DEX.
I'm working on getting attack speed up but really for leveling up it doesn't seem nearly as important as some builds while on early progression. You can always rune/jewel/MO for it if you like.
Skills:
This build seems really messy and jank. I've read through this post and took some advice with just 8 points in Maelstrom to save mana. I personally max Broadside because I use it a lot like my melee sorc uses Fuselide and prefer it that way so I value it as a tactic rather than a damage number. I put some more in the blade shield to get some extra knives. More blink. 1 point in Beacon, the most random thing ever ( they really need to make it just drop on your character every time) and then go nuts with Prismatic Cloak once you get it. Way of the Spider/Pheonix as this post said, is give or take. I'm still trying to figure out if Doom actually helps but it's there.
I think the good thing about this build is while the skills don't really mesh together well due to implementation, you can kinda set it up all around preference and probably be alright? Seems that way.
Either way do that and you can make it through Hell.
After that?... I'll have to experiment, but seems there's good advice in here about crafting and Tracker's Set as options.