Mana Sorceress

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Hrishi
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MANA SORCERESS


ImageImageImageImage

Apologies for the lack of updates with the new 2.0 patch, I've been quite busy and don't want to fully update the guide until I've played a lot myself so I know for a fact I'm suggesting the right things here. Will update eventually, but might be a while!

INTRODUCTION


The Mana Sorceress is a very different kind of caster compared to most other caster builds in this game. Instead of caring about Elemental types or Spell Damage, virtually all your damage derives from your mana pool. She offers very fast clear at the higher levels as well as very respectable single target damage.

When doing this write-up, my biggest wish is to allow readers to understand how to build their own Mana Sorceresses, and make informed decisions on their own gearing process and otherwise, without needing to necessarily refer to some list of items. I personally feel that a guide's first job is to be able to teach the reader how to be able to understand the ins and outs of a particular spec, and be able to devise their own plan after understanding this. Of course, I will also provide some examples of gear you might want to use and some recommendations there.

To this end, let me start by going over some basics, and then proceed onto more advanced mechanics here. This guide will assume you know the basics of ARPGs in general along with basic Diablo 2 and Median XL knowledge.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me over Discord too: Hrishi#9580

PATCH HISTORY


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OVERVIEW


Concept


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Feedback Damage


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Elemental Trees


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ATTRIBUTES


Attributes are incredibly straightforward for a Mana Sorceress. Because virtually all your damage derives from your mana pool, you're going to want to dump as many points as possible into Energy. STR/DEX is only in order to wear your gear, and your aim should be to get as much as possible from charms/gear such that you don't need to invest much, or at all.

STR: Enough for gear (ideally none)
DEX: Enough for gear (ideally none)
VIT: None
NRG: All

SKILLS


Skills are a lot more interesting than attributes are, with a number of decisions you can make here. To start with, in Median XL, you are only able to learn skills from any 2 of the elemental trees (fire, cold, lightning and poison). Your first major decision will be deciding what these supporting elements will be. Also you'll be distributing points across the entire Arcane tree, so figuring out which skills will be most important to you will be the other decision.

Below I will describe every skill that is relevant to the interests of a mana sorc and provide some suggestions.

Innate Skill


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Arcane


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Elemental Trees


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Melee


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Reward Skills


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Conclusion


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GEARING


Compared to Stats and Skills, your gear will be the place where you'll have the greatest flexibility in what you wear, as well as being the biggest place where you get to put your own spin on your mana sorceress.

Before going into the specific pieces of gear that you'll want to be looking out for, I'd like to start by explaining the types of stats that are useful to you, and why. This way, I hope you will be able to look at any gear and be able to tell if this is useful to you or not.

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MANA SCALING


I wanted to have a separate section for this, because this is an extremely important topic for people to understand. Mana is just weird in Diablo 2, and it's worth understanding the quirks associated with it.

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Edited by Hrishi 2 years.
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Hrishi
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EARLY GAME WALKTHROUGH


This section will cover the various aspects of playing through both normal and nightmare difficulty.

Progression


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Stats


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Skills


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Gear


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MID GAME WALKTHROUGH


This section will cover the various aspects of playing through hell all the way to level 120.

Progression


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Stats


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Skills


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Gear


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LATE GAME WALKTHROUGH


This section will cover the various aspects of playing from 120+. By this point you hopefully have a good idea of what you are doing and will be able to take informed decisions on everything.

Progression


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Stats


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Skills


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Gear


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CONCLUSION


I do hope this complete write-up was useful to you, whether your intention is to play a mana sorceress or not. I strongly encourage you to try things out on your own and deviate from this if you can. There is no one correct way to play this game, and a lot of the fun is figuring out these different ways to play established archetypes. I hope you have as much fun exploring this archetype as I have.
Edited by Hrishi 3 years.
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Solfege
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Y no one use
Cloudladder
Cloudladder
Spiked Shield (4)

Defense: (102 - 116) to (203 - 230)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 7
Required Dexterity: 55
Item Level: 10
+1 to All Skills
+1 to Druid Skill Levels
+1 to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
+20 to all Attributes
+10 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (1)
Defense: (372 - 414) to (629 - 699)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 24
Required Dexterity: 81
Item Level: 36
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
+(1 to 2) to Druid Skill Levels
+(1 to 2) to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(71 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
+30 to all Attributes
+20 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (4)
Defense: (920 - 1007) to (1503 - 1645)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 42
Required Dexterity: 170
Item Level: 51
+2 to All Skills
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(101 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
+40 to all Attributes
+30 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (5)
Defense: (1443 - 1687) to (2346 - 2743)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 51
Required Dexterity: 353
Item Level: 85
+2 to All Skills
+2 to Druid Skill Levels
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
+(131 to 170)% Enhanced Defense
+50 to all Attributes
+40 Life Regenerated per Second
Socketed (6)
? qq

But seriously, try Cloudladder for Early/Mid-Game. You'll end up with higher damage output and higher boosts to your defensive passives than with
The Ivory Tower
The Ivory Tower
Tower Shield (4)

Defense: (205 - 233) to (404 - 459)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 7
Required Strength:
17
Required Dexterity: 43
Item Level: 19
+1 to All Skills
+(4 to 5)% Bonus to Spell Focus
5% Cast Speed
+(11 to 15)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(3 to 5)%
Requirements -40%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (678 - 712) to (1219 - 1280)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 25
Required Strength:
31
Required Dexterity: 58
Item Level: 36
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
+(8 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
10% Cast Speed
+(16 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(81 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(9 to 11)%
Requirements -45%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1525 - 1593) to (2685 - 2805)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 42
Required Strength:
101
Required Dexterity: 113
Item Level: 59
+2 to All Skills
+(12 to 13)% Bonus to Spell Focus
15% Cast Speed
+(21 to 25)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(101 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(15 to 17)%
Requirements -50%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2278 - 2371) to (4002 - 4165)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 51
Required Strength:
181
Required Dexterity: 210
Item Level: 85
+2 to All Skills
+(14 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
15% Cast Speed
+(26 to 30)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(121 to 130)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(18 to 20)%
Requirements -55%
Socketed (4)
, and you won't take that hit to your Movement Speed. Plus, flat Attributes to help you wear gear (so more base points for NRG) and 6 sockets at T4. Finally, it's a DEX shield, so nn for STR to wear it.
mortimer_85
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Some quite knowledgeable people told me, that feedback damage is considered physical and so their are a few possibilities to reduce the enemies resistance against it.
The most budget one that comes to my mind is bane on
Xorine's Cane
Xorine's Cane
Battle Staff (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: 61 to 66
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 234
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+(7 to 9) to All Skills
+(101 to 150) Spell Focus
60% Cast Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
+(26 to 30)% to Spell Damage
+1 to Bane
Maximum Mana +(10 to 25)%
Elemental Resists +15%
Physical Resist 15%
Socketed (4)
. According to patch Notes it is now a curse. Would it overwrite Chrono or stack the - PR?
Do you have time and items to test this stuff? I am really interested in it because I wanna try to make a Mana Druid around
Lincos (Xis)
at some point...
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Hrishi
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Solfege wrote:But seriously, try Cloudladder for Early/Mid-Game. You'll end up with higher damage output and higher boosts to your defensive passives than with
The Ivory Tower
The Ivory Tower
Tower Shield (4)

Defense: (205 - 233) to (404 - 459)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 7
Required Strength:
17
Required Dexterity: 43
Item Level: 19
+1 to All Skills
+(4 to 5)% Bonus to Spell Focus
5% Cast Speed
+(11 to 15)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(11 to 15)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(41 to 60)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(3 to 5)%
Requirements -40%
Socketed (1)
Defense: (678 - 712) to (1219 - 1280)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 25
Required Strength:
31
Required Dexterity: 58
Item Level: 36
+(1 to 2) to All Skills
+(8 to 9)% Bonus to Spell Focus
10% Cast Speed
+(16 to 20)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(16 to 20)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(81 to 90)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(9 to 11)%
Requirements -45%
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1525 - 1593) to (2685 - 2805)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 42
Required Strength:
101
Required Dexterity: 113
Item Level: 59
+2 to All Skills
+(12 to 13)% Bonus to Spell Focus
15% Cast Speed
+(21 to 25)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(21 to 25)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(101 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(15 to 17)%
Requirements -50%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2278 - 2371) to (4002 - 4165)
Chance to Block: Class%
Required Level: 51
Required Strength:
181
Required Dexterity: 210
Item Level: 85
+2 to All Skills
+(14 to 15)% Bonus to Spell Focus
15% Cast Speed
+(26 to 30)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(26 to 30)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(121 to 130)% Enhanced Defense
Maximum Mana +(18 to 20)%
Requirements -55%
Socketed (4)
, and you won't take that hit to your Movement Speed. Plus, flat Attributes to help you wear gear (so more base points for NRG) and 6 sockets at T4. Finally, it's a DEX shield, so nn for STR to wear it.


Thanks for that suggestion, I had never tried it before but it makes a lot of sense to me. I've added it to the list of Early/Mid game options.

mortimer_85 wrote:The most budget one that comes to my mind is bane on
Xorine's Cane
Xorine's Cane
Battle Staff (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: 61 to 66
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 234
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+(7 to 9) to All Skills
+(101 to 150) Spell Focus
60% Cast Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
+(26 to 30)% to Spell Damage
+1 to Bane
Maximum Mana +(10 to 25)%
Elemental Resists +15%
Physical Resist 15%
Socketed (4)
. According to patch Notes it is now a curse. Would it overwrite Chrono or stack the - PR?


You are absolutely correct, I have updated the section on Feedback damage to be clearer on how this works. Bane and Spellbind (from
Black Masquerade
Black Masquerade
Bone Helm (Sacred)

Defense: (2420 - 2904) to (2622 - 3147)
Required Level: 80
Item Level: 120
+100 Spell Focus
+100% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(150 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+200 Life Regenerated per Second
Physical Resist (0 to 10)%
Requirements -100%
Socketed (4)
) are both options for skills that would let you do this! And
Lincos (Xis)
sounds very interesting to try!
EST-Commander
Sasquatch
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Spire of Kehjan
Spire of Kehjan
War Staff (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: 63 to 69
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity:
199
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+(8 to 10) to All Skills
+(101 to 150) Spell Focus
20% Cast Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
(25 to 50)% to All Attributes
+250 Life Regenerated per Second
Elemental Resists +(30 to 40)%
+(201 to 250) Life after each Kill
250% Damage Reflected
Requirements -40%
Socketed (6)


This could also be an interesting / cheap option. Depending on the rolls ofc. What do u guys think?
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Hrishi
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EST-Commander wrote:
Spire of Kehjan
Spire of Kehjan
War Staff (Sacred)

Two-Hand Damage: 63 to 69
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity:
199
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.15 per Dexterity)%
+(8 to 10) to All Skills
+(101 to 150) Spell Focus
20% Cast Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
(25 to 50)% to All Attributes
+250 Life Regenerated per Second
Elemental Resists +(30 to 40)%
+(201 to 250) Life after each Kill
250% Damage Reflected
Requirements -40%
Socketed (6)


This could also be an interesting / cheap option. Depending on the rolls ofc. What do u guys think?


This would work really well. I actually used this for quite a while last season, all the way till level ~125 or so. Even more than everything else, this really helps your attribute situation, letting you pump so many more points into NRG.
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Kinetickz
Dark Huntress
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Any mid-/lategame switch weapons recommended?

Or do you just keep your teleport staff?


Also I would love a mercenary section if thats not too much work =) (I could really use help because since I hit hell difficulty mine is straight up 1hit even tho he has 175% resistance with more or less 0 physical tho)
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Hrishi
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Kinetickz wrote:Any mid-/lategame switch weapons recommended?

Or do you just keep your teleport staff?


I updated the guide with it now, thanks! Ideally you can use
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
till you get
Moon of the Spider
Moon of the Spider
By Richard Knaak

Required Level: 90
Keep in Inventory to Gain Bonus
+(21 to 25) Spell Focus
+1 to Jitan's Gate
Half Freeze Duration
from Lord Jitan (one of the early uber bosses you will face). After that you don't really need a weapon switch anymore.

Kinetickz wrote:Also I would love a mercenary section if thats not too much work =) (I could really use help because since I hit hell difficulty mine is straight up 1hit even tho he has 175% resistance with more or less 0 physical tho)


D'oh, I knew I forgot something. I will update this with a mercenary section when I can. To be honest though, I just don't use mercs. I've found they die too often for my liking and they're annoying to upkeep. The A5 merc is probably your best bet. This guide might be useful to you in the meantime.

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=vi&u=https://forum.median-xl.com/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D31957&prev=search
Edited by Hrishi 4 years.
Valaraukar
Jungle Hunter
28 | 0
one quick question , in the early gering section you mentiond
Queen of Glass
Queen of Glass
Ancient Armor (4)

Defense: (315 - 344) to (630 - 688)
Required Level: 11
Required Strength:
33 to 34
Item Level: 29
15% Cast Speed
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(76 to 125) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Cold Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (899 - 969) to (1718 - 1852)
Required Level: 30
Required Strength:
57 to 60
Item Level: 40
25% Cast Speed
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(176 to 225) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Cold Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (2084 - 2224) to (3911 - 4173)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength:
175 to 186
Item Level: 67
35% Cast Speed
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(276 to 325) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(41 to 45)%
Cold Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (3013 - 3202) to (5650 - 6005)
Required Level: 54
Required Strength:
323 to 344
Item Level: 85
40% Cast Speed
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(326 to 375) to Mana
Lightning Resist +(46 to 50)%
Cold Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
cause of skills and mana, but queen of glass dont give skills, still worth equiping just cause of the massive mana boost or did you mean
Ennead's Bane
Ennead's Bane
Kazarghand (4)

Defense: (173 - 204) to (354 - 417)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 6
Required Dexterity:
46 to 48
Item Level: 10
+1 to Sorceress Skill Levels
5% Cast Speed
+(3 to 4)% to Lightning Spell Damage
-(6 to 8)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(24 to 46)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 15) to Dexterity
+(11 to 15) to Energy
Lightning Resist +(11 to 15)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (625 - 710) to (1152 - 1309)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 24
Required Dexterity:
60 to 63
Item Level: 36
+2 to Sorceress Skill Levels
15% Cast Speed
+(5 to 8)% to Lightning Spell Damage
-(11 to 13)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(69 to 92)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Dexterity
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Lightning Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1618 - 1784) to (2915 - 3213)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 41
Required Dexterity:
110 to 117
Item Level: 51
+3 to Sorceress Skill Levels
25% Cast Speed
+(9 to 12)% to Lightning Spell Damage
-(16 to 18)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(115 to 137)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Dexterity
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Lightning Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (2444 - 2670) to (4372 - 4776)
(Sorceress Only)
Required Level: 51
Required Dexterity:
211 to 225
Item Level: 85
+4 to Sorceress Skill Levels
30% Cast Speed
+(13 to 15)% to Lightning Spell Damage
-(18 to 20)% to Enemy Lightning Resistance
+(138 to 160)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Dexterity
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Lightning Resist +(36 to 40)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)
and just linked the wrong one?