Melee Sorceress [1.3]

User avatar
Solfege
Harpylisk
1461 | 209
Common Posting Badge
Posted over 1.000 messages
Legendary Popularity Badge
Has a thread with over 250.000 views
Great Love Badge
Earned over 100 cookies
Common Guide Badge
Created a complete character guide
Engersion wrote:That's true. I was mostly thinking of ways to deal with situations when you can't melee your target and fusillade can't reliably target the boss. Although with the lack of investment into synergies flamefront probably won't be too effective either.

Speaking of, what do you think can be adjusted to give us a reliable single target attack outside of fusillade


Astrogha, right?

So far, I haven't found an effective and reliable source of single-target damage. It's a Melee Sorc's biggest weakness. Moonstrike looks like it should be great, but it's worse than normal attack against single targets. Khany used to have Stormblast as an oskill for a short time. It was amazing.

Sorcs as a class have the fewest gear options, and they don't have access to any good melee oskills. Gorefest might be passable, but it's not that great imo. I've suggested Fusillade's targeting mechanic be tweaked so if you click on a monster, it only targets that monster, but if you click on an empty space, it targets random monsters. I was told it could be done in theory, but it would be too much trouble to implement.

Stereox wrote:Still not quite enough, i mean i'm not comfortable with non full mana bar :D
But that helps. BTW i level bladestorm to get at least 60% magic conversion because i use crafted Warp Blade beforehand


Aside from what thedarkbobo suggested, the only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is boosting Mana via gear or points into NRG.

Are you putting points into Bladestorm to equalize the amount of Phys and Magic damage so you can deal with both Phys and Magic-immunes on the same level? If so, while it's a solid theory, there are too many downsides, imo (e.g. high Mana cost, Base Points that could be better used elsewhere, etc.). You already have access to 2 pure Phys damage attacks (Wraithsword and Fusillade) and 1 50/50 attack (Moonstrike). So it's more efficient to keep Bladestorm as primarily Magic damage and switch to Wraithsword for Magic-immunes, if necessary.
thedarkbobo
Jungle Hunter
27 | 0
Gfresh wrote:well, solfege, if you're ever interested, feel free to add/msg me on TSW, my acct name is *gunit

I normally don't use fire tree. I've found for my playstyle that warp armor & nova charge > living armor & firedance.
You're on the right track though, I think. we'd be building an unholy melee sorc. All points go into life regen skills and passives/buffs. It'd be interesting to make a few honorifics and see how effective having like +800 life regen really is. see if elemental pierce and dmg buff items affect oskills, and probably max out either blades or ice elementals depending how the build goes. I think you're right about fire tree being important with the huge buff from living flame though regardless.

*edit* well shit if witchblood doesn't increase oskill dmg then I don't really know.... things keep getting more and more useless.
does miasma stack slows with chrono?

*post edit edit* I'm pretty sure fate is mocking me... I made a melee sorc this season because My holy melee paladin was so goddamn boring and lifeless, yet, here I am, considering how to make my sorc into a paladin!


Hmm so did you manage to get grizzly working? I've one now (1 socket though...lol) but sorc is not 121 yet and am I not sure if terror strike overrides bonuses from moonstrike or adds? How much def/spell damage does terror strike give you?
If both work then I could live with that and still fire/psn otherwise def would be too low and need to switch to ltn/X.
Not sure if thorns/lemures would be worth using other than single target or finishing off phys immunes (?) since we have good multi-hitting auto-aiming sorc skills anyway. So i'd rather use this as a buff if possible (would this be more than we loose from baneblade...hmm..need to re-gear for velocity and FBR and more block..). I see one good thing - we could switch to timefield which seems to reduce enemy resists further (physical too), which could give us an edge. I will try that in few days. Just bit afraid of running around with 40k def.

Edit:
Ok got 121 - so grizzly, wall of text:
morph does not provide spell damage, just the looks and velocity and ofc disables baneblade
Moonstrike blessing and terror strike (for me 80% bonus def 450% AR 49% spell damage for 5.8s) do stack
Lemures and blood thorns are rather low dmg but lemures with firedance lvl 20(37) did okay on D Andy (just a test really, fusillade would do better)

Now main issue that I think of is that best spec dmg wise would involve firedance, but DR comes from PSN and def from LTN so the choice is not easy, I think LTN is a must to be at ~150/200k def and then fire not to loose the dmg and then one needs to re-gear for ~40/50% DR, keeping block >50% at the same time. And then you become moonstrike/terror strike/lemures/fussilade/(optionally bladestorm 1 pnt anyway) sorc.
So either loose fire spec go PSN/LTN to keep dr high, def high and loose bit of dmg and lot of regen or fire/ltn and get dr from gear(which limits choices).
2nd issue with this is capping FBR, but I will skip talking about it for now.
3rd issue is that firedance requires frequent casting - I rarely see anyone doing that as it needs to be cast just so often. Its 90% spell and 380% phys dmg bonus for me though, so noticeable vs bosses for example. One could cap it for timer and use only against bosses and not during farming and then no problem. Since I farm most of the time I can go psn/ltn.

So I've done psn tree as usual(same as this guide), ltn tree as usual (smaxed Warp Armor and rest 1pnt) and then obvious choice from my current gameplay is to put in Fusillade(FS) till ~6/6.5s timer. And maxed chronofield which lowers physical and feedback(mana?) res by -24% which should be a lot.
Smaxed Familiar.
Def stats outside town: (using 5% block shield and Rebel armor)
17% avoid, 32% DR(can be 43% swapping mf belt to 11% rw one), 129k def, 64% block.
153k on terror strike
Playing it in Torajan jungles was bit tricky at first..still getting used to it..its like either u want to bladestorm or lemures - and lemure need terror strike every 5.8s sooo u have to switch a lot.
Pro's that I've noticed: chronofield res reduction (and speed) works great even if you won't see dmg increase on screen - it is working fine.
Then realized I forgot to cast Familliar..def increases to 144k/188k after terror strike when using it.

Tried D K3K - noticed obvious thing - Chronofield is locked out while terror strike is up, but it lasts ~16s for me so just had to get used to it.
Slow works as an additional def. Lack of maek/ll on sword - one needs to find some sources of life replenishment.
I suspected good rotation for farming would be (chrono)/TS(on timer)/MS(keep up)/Bladestorm/FS(on timer) and for single target more of:
(chrono)/TS(on timer)/MS(keep up)/Lemures/FS(on timer, not locked by TS).
Tried that on andy and meph (easy enough) with my gear (no -cold res or + cold% dmg other than blade) - and result was that FS done most dmg on timer, bladestorm bit higher than lemures. This I suppose is due to Timefield - phys res.

Going again to Torajan jungles for the big trees - this time checked Timefield + Wraithsword and FS alone and TS alone.
All worked well - now the hard part is to know why and I don't - one is that TS provides huge AR boost so I hit them easier, 2nd the phys dmg on this blade is higher than what I previously had by around 100.

So I'd say if Timefield is chosen then most of the time go for sorc skills phys dmg. Not sure what are monster phys resists on destru but -24% from 90% is a huge increase for example. From 0 that would still be nice.

Now Witch blood *might* be easier to use (no recasting of time field) and if you can cap DR and go fire/ltn then it will be hell lot of spell dmg from lemures. And LAEK and regen from fire. Not sure if firedance is locked by TS. Myself I won't do that because 1) I use Rebel now and would need to go Erawan at least for ~15% DR on armor and swap belt and 2) slow from chronofield is good.

Will see after a week or so if it's enjoyable to play ;)

*One could use this blade as a pure caster too as - enemy fire/cold res is really high.
User avatar
Stereox
Cog
247 | 4
Solfege wrote:
Stereox wrote:Still not quite enough, i mean i'm not comfortable with non full mana bar :D
But that helps. BTW i level bladestorm to get at least 60% magic conversion because i use crafted Warp Blade beforehand


Aside from what thedarkbobo suggested, the only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is boosting Mana via gear or points into NRG.

Are you putting points into Bladestorm to equalize the amount of Phys and Magic damage so you can deal with both Phys and Magic-immunes on the same level? If so, while it's a solid theory, there are too many downsides, imo (e.g. high Mana cost, Base Points that could be better used elsewhere, etc.). You already have access to 2 pure Phys damage attacks (Wraithsword and Fusillade) and 1 50/50 attack (Moonstrike). So it's more efficient to keep Bladestorm as primarily Magic damage and switch to Wraithsword for Magic-immunes, if necessary.


Nope, i level it to get as much phys damage as i could because i'm utilizing leech (it's too good in high number and i have high phys sword).
While that elemental sword gives so much damage, i can't spam them mindlessly like i could.

Also i invest only in DEX (enough STR to use armor, i have Linga Shariha waiting after i get enough STR and block to use it), because Avoid + Block works wonder in Duncraig
User avatar
Solfege
Harpylisk
1461 | 209
Common Posting Badge
Posted over 1.000 messages
Legendary Popularity Badge
Has a thread with over 250.000 views
Great Love Badge
Earned over 100 cookies
Common Guide Badge
Created a complete character guide
thedarkbobo wrote:
► Show Spoiler


A few things to consider during your testing:
1. NRG boosts the damage of Elemental melee oskills such as Shock Flower and Black Lotus Strike, so it should also boost the damage of Grizzly's oskills.
2. Regular monsters have 0% Phys/Magic res in all difficulties. However, all regular monsters in Destruction have a 10% chance to spawn with an extra +15% Phys res. Bosses have 15%-35% Phys/Magic res in Destruction.
3. Terror Strike doesn't lock out Firedance.
4. Witchblood's +%Spell Damage only affects Sorc spells. It doesn't boost Elemental melee oskills, so I don't think it'll boost Grizzly's either.
5. If you're gonna main Blood Thorns or Lemures, you may want to start with an Elemental Melee Sorc gearset as a base, rather than a Phys gearset, and work from there.

M2017 (and later patches) changed the way many character skills worked. This was generally a good thing b/c it opened up new build possibilities. The problem was, most items weren't updated to reflect these new changes. So some items that were must-haves in the past became practically irrelevant. The Grizzly seems to be one of those items. In the current paradigm, you're basically trying to force a build to work around a legacy item when there are better and more efficient options available--like choosing to drive a horse and buggy when you have a perfectly good car sitting in the garage. So the question isn't "can Grizzly work?" The question is "is it worth using Grizzly in Median's current state?" If the morph didn't disable Baneblade, or Terror Strike didn't lock out Chronofield, or Witchblood boosted all spell damage, Grizzly might be worth it.

Stereox wrote:Nope, i level it to get as much phys damage as i could because i'm utilizing leech (it's too good in high number and i have high phys sword).
While that elemental sword gives so much damage, i can't spam them mindlessly like i could.

Also i invest only in DEX (enough STR to use armor, i have Linga Shariha waiting after i get enough STR and block to use it), because Avoid + Block works wonder in Duncraig


Starhawk isn't much good for leeching anyway b/c of it's low Phys damage. If you're investing heavily into LL, you may as well just main Wraithsword and switch to Bladestorm for Phys-immunes, or let an Abjurer deal with them (in Dunc, just ignore Necromorbs or go back and kill them later with Bladestorm). Linga Sharira may help if you wanna invest points in Bladestorm, though having enough STR for it shouldn't be an issue if you use Sacred Sorc armor. Sacred Ceremonial Armor has higher defense than Sacred Ancient Armor anyway.
vanthegia
Skeleton
2 | 0
solfege you think abouts weapons chaos Crystal Swords "Chaos
100% Chance to cast level 60 Apocalypse on Melee Attack
100% Chance to cast level 60 Ancients' Hand on Melee Attack
Indestructible
+80% Enhanced Damage
Adds 100-200 fire damage
Fire Resist -100%
Requirements -12%"
User avatar
IVIike
Pit Knight
104 | 5
Common Popularity Badge
Has a thread with over 10.000 views
Great Supporter Badge
Donated 5 times
Common Guide Badge
Created a complete character guide
It would be nice if you roll a high base eth. Maybe worth while. Would have low damage but the procs should make up for that
thedarkbobo
Jungle Hunter
27 | 0
Solfege wrote:
A few things to consider during your testing:
1. NRG boosts the damage of Elemental melee oskills such as Shock Flower and Black Lotus Strike, so it should also boost the damage of Grizzly's oskills.
2. Regular monsters have 0% Phys/Magic res in all difficulties. However, all regular monsters in Destruction have a 10% chance to spawn with an extra +15% Phys res. Bosses have 15%-35% Phys/Magic res in Destruction.
3. Terror Strike doesn't lock out Firedance.
4. Witchblood's +%Spell Damage only affects Sorc spells. It doesn't boost Elemental melee oskills, so I don't think it'll boost Grizzly's either.
5. If you're gonna main Blood Thorns or Lemures, you may want to start with an Elemental Melee Sorc gearset as a base, rather than a Phys gearset, and work from there.

M2017 (and later patches) changed the way many character skills worked. This was generally a good thing b/c it opened up new build possibilities. The problem was, most items weren't updated to reflect these new changes. So some items that were must-haves in the past became practically irrelevant. The Grizzly seems to be one of those items. In the current paradigm, you're basically trying to force a build to work around a legacy item when there are better and more efficient options available--like choosing to drive a horse and buggy when you have a perfectly good car sitting in the garage. So the question isn't "can Grizzly work?" The question is "is it worth using Grizzly in Median's current state?" If the morph didn't disable Baneblade, or Terror Strike didn't lock out Chronofield, or Witchblood boosted all spell damage, Grizzly might be worth it.


1. Hm maybe, but this would not multihit as much as the other skills that we have
2. Nice, this is at least 24% dmg increase of physical dmg portion part then(in my case) and huge 75% slow.
3. Good to know ;) So Fire/Ltn but with Chrono with high DR% gear is an option.
4. Hmm okay still LAEK could help.
5. Not so sure, it has Ltn dmg on it - so doesn't fit much - option I see would be Grizzly + caster gear + caster spec(where maybe one would need to use oskills) just for the spell dmg boost and huge - enemy res that is not easily available now. + Superbeast morpth
Not many runewords with -enemy% resists exist, same SU's as this was nerfed accoss the board. So maybe we have miss looked this property a bit focusing too much on melee for this weapon ;)
I am not using set now, not even 1 piece...but gear choices are bit limited as if I went Fire/ltn its hard to gap the DR% //while not loosing block or mf. Unless loosing 20% DR would be fine due to life regen.
I still think it is worth using if you do not have additional Xis ;)
One can live with chronofield lock issue. The thing is that now on realm you mix a set to get this blade, so could potentially reach it quickly, and as I've said earlier physical dmg part is higher by around 100 than a quite good craft or set blade. And you look cool hehe.

Edit:
Issue with fire/ltn (chrono):
Not enough points. Maxing chrono, warp armor, living flame, moonstrike leaves some points for fusillade and none really for Firedance, which would lock out fusillade timer. So rather no go ;)
Mana feedback damage is of Magic damage nature?
User avatar
Solfege
Harpylisk
1461 | 209
Common Posting Badge
Posted over 1.000 messages
Legendary Popularity Badge
Has a thread with over 250.000 views
Great Love Badge
Earned over 100 cookies
Common Guide Badge
Created a complete character guide
vanthegia wrote:solfege you think abouts weapons chaos Crystal Swords "Chaos
100% Chance to cast level 60 Apocalypse on Melee Attack
100% Chance to cast level 60 Ancients' Hand on Melee Attack
Indestructible
+80% Enhanced Damage
Adds 100-200 fire damage
Fire Resist -100%
Requirements -12%"


It should work, but I've never tried it, so IDK how good it would be. It's a Fire-based weapon, so you're gonna want a good base Crystal Sword to effectively deal with Fire-immunes. Also, the RW only works in Crystal Swords, not Warp Blades.

thedarkbobo wrote:1. Hm maybe, but this would not multihit as much as the other skills that we have
2. Nice, this is at least 24% dmg increase of physical dmg portion part then(in my case) and huge 75% slow.
3. Good to know ;) So Fire/Ltn but with Chrono with high DR% gear is an option.
4. Hmm okay still LAEK could help.
5. Not so sure, it has Ltn dmg on it - so doesn't fit much - option I see would be Grizzly + caster gear + caster spec(where maybe one would need to use oskills) just for the spell dmg boost and huge - enemy res that is not easily available now. + Superbeast morpth
Not many runewords with -enemy% resists exist, same SU's as this was nerfed accoss the board. So maybe we have miss looked this property a bit focusing too much on melee for this weapon ;)
I am not using set now, not even 1 piece...but gear choices are bit limited as if I went Fire/ltn its hard to gap the DR% //while not loosing block or mf. Unless loosing 20% DR would be fine due to life regen.
I still think it is worth using if you do not have additional Xis ;)
One can live with chronofield lock issue. The thing is that now on realm you mix a set to get this blade, so could potentially reach it quickly, and as I've said earlier physical dmg part is higher by around 100 than a quite good craft or set blade. And you look cool hehe.

Edit:
Issue with fire/ltn (chrono):
Not enough points. Maxing chrono, warp armor, living flame, moonstrike leaves some points for fusillade and none really for Firedance, which would lock out fusillade timer. So rather no go ;)
Mana feedback damage is of Magic damage nature?


I think Grizzly is mostly for Sorcs cosplaying as Unholy Melee Paladins, but it could be used as a caster weapon, too.

Max block isn't a must-have, especially if using the Lightning tree. Anything above 55% is acceptable, (though 65%+ is recommended), so you can sacrifice CtB for other defensive mods such as DR, ACD, Avoid, etc.

Fire/Lightning is a hard sell if you want a Fusillade build, but there are a few things you can try (assuming the recommended 26 points Warp Armor and 15 points Firedance):
> Reduce Moonstrike and Living Flame to 20 points to keep 26 points Fusillade.
> Reduce Fusillade to 20 points for a 6s timer and put the extra points somewhere else.
> Max Moonstrike and Living Flame and dump the remaining points into Fusillade to at least make it usable.
> Drop Fusillade altogether and go for a more traditional Bladestorm/Wraithsword build, but put points into Familiar for higher -Enemy Phys Res from Chronofield.

Feedback damage is its own damage type, but it's counted as Phys damage.
summer18
Invader
9 | 0
Hi,

Not sure if this was asked before..but, how do you make Teganze Pendant ?
User avatar
Solfege
Harpylisk
1461 | 209
Common Posting Badge
Posted over 1.000 messages
Legendary Popularity Badge
Has a thread with over 250.000 views
Great Love Badge
Earned over 100 cookies
Common Guide Badge
Created a complete character guide
summer18 wrote:Hi,

Not sure if this was asked before..but, how do you make Teganze Pendant ?


Cubing 2 ACs and an Oil of Enhancement with any amulet will create a random Unique amulet, so you may need to do it a few times before getting the one you want (works the same with rings, btw).