Melee Sorceress [1.3]

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Serge91 wrote:Hi guys, i know im goin' to ask something different from the topic, but i've never played a sorceress so i think that you can give me some general information. I can't find a specific topic for elemental or poison sorcerer, so sorry for this.

I started this season playing SP offline with Bowmazon, and i think i cant upgrade: i cant find a good bow, i got some uber charm but now i cant go further, and since i've played a lot with that bowmazon now i'm a bit tired of her. So i think that i should start a new char.
Since i have completed two different set for sorceress (Elemental Clash and Adria's Circle), i just want simply to ask if one of those two set are capable to farm some uberlevel in order to farm gear (even for my Bowmazon, which i hope someday to improve again someday). I dont need very specific tips (i will appreciate them ofc), it's just i fear that maybe im doing a new char and then find myself in a worser position than my bowmazon... i know that's somewhat silly but xD

Sorry for the offtopic, and thanks for any tips.


Entire Lightning Sorc guide in the guide section. Older outdated guide but it exists. Check out before you post in wrong topic. Short questions thread would probably be a better spot for something like this.
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iamq1803
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Solfege wrote:
iamq1803 wrote:Hello! I'm new here.
I would like to ask why only 1 point on Bladestorm/Wraithsword? Why don'y you max them?


Basically, 2 reasons:
1. You don't have enough Skill Points to spare.
2. Any extra damage you'd get wouldn't be noticeable.

Maxed Moonstrike and maxed Baneblade already give you 1225%+ to Physical damage by end-game, so your best option for increasing damage at that point is finding gear with Flat Damage mods. Adding points into Bladestorm just converts Magic damage to Physical damage (the bonus Magic damage it gives is trivial). Besides, you can get that with Soft Points (i.e. points from +Skills/+Sorc skills on gear/Charms). Wraithsword is the same way. Soft Points will increase it's base Physical damage, so there's no need to add Base Points.


Thanks for your quick reply! I got it.
I'm a newbie, and I'm trying to figure things out. I'm above level 100 now and perhaps I will find some scared gears because I don't know how to craft items; it really confuses me.
I would like to ask about some options: Open wounds, Deadly strike and Crushing blow; which one would be the better choice here?
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Solfege
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iamq1803 wrote:Thanks for your quick reply! I got it.
I'm a newbie, and I'm trying to figure things out. I'm above level 100 now and perhaps I will find some scared gears because I don't know how to craft items; it really confuses me.
I would like to ask about some options: Open wounds, Deadly strike and Crushing blow; which one would be the better choice here?


In case you haven't seen it, there's a "Crafting" section near the end of the guide. There, you'll find subsections that tell you step-by-step how to jewelcraft, Shrinecraft, and base-craft.

I usually opt for Crushing Blow over Deadly Strike because it's easier to get. 100% Open Wounds will only be needed later for certain Uber bosses, but it's also super easy to get.
The Butcher's Tooth
The Butcher's Tooth
Required Level: 90
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
+10 to all Attributes
20% Magic Find
+1 to Light Radius
Horror Under Tristram (Heroic)
Difficulty Level: 120
Transmute in the cube after reaching Level 120
Charm will give you 50%. Then just equip either
Ripstar
Ripstar
Ring

Required Level: 60
Item Level: 60
+0.5625 to Maximum Damage (Based on Character Level)
+20 Life on Melee Attack
,
Hammerfist
Hammerfist
Gauntlets (Sacred)

Defense: (1227 - 1450) to (1436 - 1697)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 105
Adds (1 to 15)-(20 to 30) Damage
5% Life stolen per Hit
+(15 to 25) to Spiral Dance
5% Chance of Crushing Blow
Weapon Physical Damage +(30 to 60)%
+(120 to 160)% Enhanced Defense
Elemental Resists +15%
Socketed (4)
, or
Akarat's Crucifix
when you need the rest. They're fairly common drops as far as Uniques/SUs go, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding them.

Edit:
I added a navlink to the Crafting section in the "EZ NAV" at the beginning of the guide to make it easier to find.
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iamq1803
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Yes, I got The Butcher Tooth charm and Akarat Crucifix, so I might go for Crushing Blow then. What's about Auhe rune? It gives u 5% deadly strike right?

I'm using kind of an acceptable gear atm (all sacred):
Starhawk
Starhawk
Warp Blade (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 49 to 86
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 400
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Innate Tri-Elemental Damage:
(45.0% of Dexterity)
Area Effect Attack
25% Chance to cast level 50 Magic Missiles on Melee Attack
+(3 to 5) to Sorceress Skill Levels
50% Attack Speed
Adds 400-500 Magic Damage
-(25 to 35)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
10% Chance to Avoid Damage
Socketed (6)
,
Royal Circlet
Royal Circlet
Tiara (Sacred)

Defense: (1740 - 1957) to (1968 - 2214)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 392
Item Level: 105
+2 to All Skills
+50% Damage to Demons
+50% Damage to Undead
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
(21 to 25)% to All Attributes
Elemental Resists +(25 to 30)%
Physical Resist 5%
(21 to 25)% Magic Find
Socketed (4)
,
Akarat's Crucifix
,
Strength Beyond Strength
Strength Beyond Strength
Gothic Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (8339 - 9198) to (10115 - 11157)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 675
Item Level: 120
1% Chance to cast level 36 Pyroblast on Striking
Adds 25-38 Damage
150% Bonus to Attack Rating
+50% Damage to Demons
25% Life stolen per Hit
10% Deadly Strike
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
-5 to Light Radius
Socketed (6)
,
Glor-An-Fhaidha's Firebark
,
Black Void
Black Void
Heavy Belt (Sacred)

Defense: (3060 - 3442) to (3304 - 3717)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
20% Attack Speed
Adds 10-15 Damage
(10 to 15)% Life stolen per Hit
Slow Target 10%
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
10% to Strength
10% to Dexterity
Target Takes Additional Damage of (25 to 50)
30% Magic Find
Socketed (2)
,
Akarat's Trek
Akarat's Trek
Light Plated Boots (Sacred)

Defense: (1960 - 2352) to (2170 - 2604)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
2% Chance to cast level 30 Hammertime on Melee Attack
2% Chance to cast level 30 Thunder Wave on Melee Attack
2% Chance to cast level 30 Thunder Hammer Nova on Melee Attack
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 20) to Charged Strike
Weapon Physical Damage +(60 to 90)%
+(150 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
10% to All Attributes
+10 to Light Radius
Socketed (4)
,
Lamen of the Archbishop
Lamen of the Archbishop
Amulet

Required Level: 110
Item Level: 120
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
+4 to All Skills
(don't have a decent amulet or ring atm, I'm still farming).
In addition, I have found some other useful sacred uniques (armor, gloves, boots...) but I don't really know if they are good enough to combine.

I'm also learning to make some runewords to be stronger.
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Solfege
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iamq1803 wrote:Yes, I got The Butcher Tooth charm and Akarat Crucifix, so I might go for Crushing Blow then. What's about Auhe rune? It gives u 5% deadly strike right?

I'm using kind of an acceptable gear atm (all sacred):
Starhawk
Starhawk
Warp Blade (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 49 to 86
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 400
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Innate Tri-Elemental Damage:
(45.0% of Dexterity)
Area Effect Attack
25% Chance to cast level 50 Magic Missiles on Melee Attack
+(3 to 5) to Sorceress Skill Levels
50% Attack Speed
Adds 400-500 Magic Damage
-(25 to 35)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
10% Chance to Avoid Damage
Socketed (6)
,
Royal Circlet
Royal Circlet
Tiara (Sacred)

Defense: (1740 - 1957) to (1968 - 2214)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 392
Item Level: 105
+2 to All Skills
+50% Damage to Demons
+50% Damage to Undead
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
(21 to 25)% to All Attributes
Elemental Resists +(25 to 30)%
Physical Resist 5%
(21 to 25)% Magic Find
Socketed (4)
,
Akarat's Crucifix
,
Strength Beyond Strength
Strength Beyond Strength
Gothic Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (8339 - 9198) to (10115 - 11157)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 675
Item Level: 120
1% Chance to cast level 36 Pyroblast on Striking
Adds 25-38 Damage
150% Bonus to Attack Rating
+50% Damage to Demons
25% Life stolen per Hit
10% Deadly Strike
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
1% Reanimate as: Random Monster
-5 to Light Radius
Socketed (6)
,
Glor-An-Fhaidha's Firebark
,
Black Void
Black Void
Heavy Belt (Sacred)

Defense: (3060 - 3442) to (3304 - 3717)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
20% Attack Speed
Adds 10-15 Damage
(10 to 15)% Life stolen per Hit
Slow Target 10%
+(140 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
10% to Strength
10% to Dexterity
Target Takes Additional Damage of (25 to 50)
30% Magic Find
Socketed (2)
,
Akarat's Trek
Akarat's Trek
Light Plated Boots (Sacred)

Defense: (1960 - 2352) to (2170 - 2604)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 625
Item Level: 120
2% Chance to cast level 30 Hammertime on Melee Attack
2% Chance to cast level 30 Thunder Wave on Melee Attack
2% Chance to cast level 30 Thunder Hammer Nova on Melee Attack
(10 to 40)% Movement Speed
+(15 to 20) to Charged Strike
Weapon Physical Damage +(60 to 90)%
+(150 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
10% to All Attributes
+10 to Light Radius
Socketed (4)
,
Lamen of the Archbishop
Lamen of the Archbishop
Amulet

Required Level: 110
Item Level: 120
Orb Effects Applied to this Item are Doubled
+4 to All Skills
(don't have a decent amulet or ring atm, I'm still farming).
In addition, I have found some other useful sacred uniques (armor, gloves, boots...) but I don't really know if they are good enough to combine.

I'm also learning to make some runewords to be stronger.


If you want to use Deadly Strike, go for it. It can be effective if you can stack enough of it, especially considering damage conversion on skills such as Bladestorm and Stormblast takes place after DS is applied. This means the full converted damage gets the benefit, not just the Physical part of it. As for Auhe Runes, once you have enough DEX to achieve max block, you can socket your gear with whatever you want.

That said, you'll want a weapon with high Physical damage to make DS worth it.
Starhawk
Starhawk
Warp Blade (Sacred)

One-Hand Damage: 49 to 86
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 400
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Innate Tri-Elemental Damage:
(45.0% of Dexterity)
Area Effect Attack
25% Chance to cast level 50 Magic Missiles on Melee Attack
+(3 to 5) to Sorceress Skill Levels
50% Attack Speed
Adds 400-500 Magic Damage
-(25 to 35)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
10% Chance to Avoid Damage
Socketed (6)
is fine for added flat Elemental/Magic damage, but as far as I know, that damage isn't factored in to the DS damage calculation. This would mean the actual damage a DS does when using Starhawk will be much lower than what the Character Sheet would have you believe.

As for the rest of your gear, you have some expensive pieces for a clvl 100 character. You can certainly make them work, but your gear set lacks cohesion. For example: your body armor, helm, belt, shield, and boots suggest you're building WDM-based character, but your weapon, gloves, and amulet suggest you're building an Elemental/proc-based character. Either character type is fine, it just doesn't look like you've decided which one you want to make yet. Once you do, choosing the right gear will be much easier.
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Oh, let's forget DS, I won't use it. Btw, how do I know if I have enough DEX to achieve max block? I just put every points to DEX :-]

I would like to build a weapon-damage based Sorceress with offensive style (main skills: Bladestorm, Wraithsword, Fire Dance) so what are the important bonuses should I focus on? (enhance damages? enhance weapon damages? increased attack speed, bonus attack rating... ??). As for weapon, gloves and amulet I use them because currently I don't have many choices. Do you have any suggestion for those items? I had
Auriel's Robe
Auriel's Robe
Light Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (7583 - 9229) to (8905 - 10882)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 650
Item Level: 120
50% Movement Speed
Weapon Physical Damage +100%
+(140 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+1000 Defense
+3000 Defense vs. Missile
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (6)
but it seemed not making any significant change.

In regards to mercenaries, I got a Bloodmage. Which gears should I put on him? energy factor to spell damage, faster cast rate, add more damages or something else?

Thank you in advance for your help!
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mouseover your defense to see chance to block
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Solfege
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iamq1803 wrote:Oh, let's forget DS, I won't use it. Btw, how do I know if I have enough DEX to achieve max block? I just put every points to DEX :-]

I would like to build a weapon-damage based Sorceress with offensive style (main skills: Bladestorm, Wraithsword, Fire Dance) so what are the important bonuses should I focus on? (enhance damages? enhance weapon damages? increased attack speed, bonus attack rating... ??). As for weapon, gloves and amulet I use them because currently I don't have many choices. Do you have any suggestion for those items? I had
Auriel's Robe
Auriel's Robe
Light Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (7583 - 9229) to (8905 - 10882)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 650
Item Level: 120
50% Movement Speed
Weapon Physical Damage +100%
+(140 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+1000 Defense
+3000 Defense vs. Missile
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (6)
but it seemed not making any significant change.

In regards to mercenaries, I got a Bloodmage. Which gears should I put on him? energy factor to spell damage, faster cast rate, add more damages or something else?

Thank you in advance for your help!


The DEX you need for max block is listed in the "Chance to Block" section near the beginning of the guide. The amount of DEX you need depends on how much extra %CtB your shield has. For example, Akarat's Crucifix doesn't give any extra %CtB, so you need 4515 DEX with that shield to reach max block.

As for weapons to pair with Bladestorm, look at
Sway of the Stars
,
Dark Exile
,
Dryhten Ealdor
,
Shattered Stone
, etc. Anything with Enhanced Damage and flat Physical damage. For gloves, you can use almost anything (it's the least important gear slot). I use Abandoned-Crafts, but something like
Blind Anger
Blind Anger
Light Gauntlets (Sacred)

Defense: (1179 - 1447) to (1342 - 1647)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 600
Item Level: 105
8% Chance to cast level 13 Crucify on Melee Attack
+(0 to 1) to All Skills
(1 to 5)% Chance of Crushing Blow
Blinds Attacker +3
+(120 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
(11 to 15)% to All Attributes
Socketed (4)
can be a decent choice. For amulet, again it's your choice. I use a Rare with +Skills and Banish proc or
Klaatu Barada Nikto
Klaatu Barada Nikto
Amulet

Required Level: 110
Item Level: 105
30% Enhanced Damage vs. Necrobots
10% Chance to cast level 40 Nova Bomb on Melee Attack
+2 to All Skills
25% Attack Speed
Adds 1-188 Lightning Damage
+650 Poison Damage over 2 seconds
Stun Attack
+(11 to 16) to Hive
Lightning Resist +(40 to 50)%
Poison Resist +(40 to 50)%
. As for
Auriel's Robe
Auriel's Robe
Light Plate (Sacred)

Defense: (7583 - 9229) to (8905 - 10882)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 650
Item Level: 120
50% Movement Speed
Weapon Physical Damage +100%
+(140 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+1000 Defense
+3000 Defense vs. Missile
Physical Resist 10%
Socketed (6)
, that's just used mostly for the Archbishop Lazarus Uber (and maybe 1 or 2 others).

For mercs, I usually use an Abjurer, but Bloodmage is fine. With Bloodmage, focus on +Fire Spell Damage, -Enemy Fire Res, and Faster Cast Rate gear. Basically, all his gear can just be Fascinating-Crafts.
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iamq1803
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@Gekko64: Thank you!

@Solfege: That's a lot of DEX... :shock:
I will continue to farm in order to find strong amulets and rings. Atm I only use sacred uniques but I'll learn to craft items then.
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pls vid with melee clearing tran fast this ladder. im trying to farm it right now, it works kinda, but its no comparison with something proper