The majority of the userbase is sc. The onus is on the hc players to make their own educated decisions on what works best for preserving their hc chars.
Try hc-specific guides 
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If someone plays HC with so little understanding of the game … :x
The elevated sense of self-importance is strong here.
Enjoy your defensive slowpoke build in slowpoke mode.
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Personally I really like orb and find it’s damage decent if you can position yourself correctly. I max orb and the rest go to maxing blizz then it’s blizz orb orb blizz orb orb blizz orb orb repeat ad nauseam. Just blizz would be fine for bosses but I really hate the cooldown with general play.
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Just put fewer points into cold mastery and add es if you play hardcore. If you are serious about hardcore you know how to adjust builds from sc. Who gave you the idea that you should just cutand paste sc builds? RIP.
I go maxed blizzard and I am 2 points away from max orb. I use both effectively. Blizzard, then orb, rinse and repeat.
MY hc build is faster than your sc build guarantee.
It’s not like Diablo is hard. You will never die in HC in p1-p3 games unless you’re a literal potato.
The meta doesn’t really changes much outside of max block/ no max block. ES< Max tele kind of thing.
But then again you can run P1-P3 literally naked on a sorc so it doesn’t really matter i guess if you play solo which most do.
Do the damage bonuses from socketed jewels counts towards spells/caster attacks? I thought that was only for melee. Great if that’s the case.
Careful with those guarantees.
And yes, Diablo isn’t hard. Which was my point. You come to the thread on a high horse, calling max dps builds bad, using this condescending “holy softcore batman” to make yourself feel better by playing HC, offering an alternative that doesn’t increase killing speed but removes points from dps to increase survivability.
HC isn’t harder, it’s just slower and more annoying because you can’t allow yourself to use similar tactics that SC allows for.
If you think that removing skills from DPS to Energy Shield and max tele will make your build faster then suure. The only way it works if you ignore Orb and go for the traditional Blizz/Ice Blast or GS build but that one is simply slower than maxed out Blizz/Orb for reasons that I already gave here and tested myself.
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No sir you started with the SC SO MEGA AWESOME GOOOOD bs first. I was just correcting you.
All i said was builds like that are bad on HC and they’re bad.
Blizz/orb is NOT a max dmg build lol. Noobs never cease to amaze just spouting crap and because you believe it you think everyone else should to.
…what is the point of dealing twice elite unique monsters’ health worth of damage with Blizzard…?
And one of the reasons I go Blizz-Orb is the fact that you can kill Mephisto, Diablo and Baal faster than pure Blizzard – because they’re big and absorb great amounts of each frozen orb while Blizzard pummels them.
I haven’t started anything. No one said anything about SC before you barged here with your “holy softcore batman”.
You have corrected nothing. So far the only thing you produced is “no you’re wrong”.
Well, here is your chance to raise to the occasion. Show a competitive build for cold sorceress that is able to match a fully developed Blizz/Orb.
Better yet, explain why in your opinion the build is bad.
In other words, put some effort.
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I didnt think much about it at first, but blizzorb actually feels great, the possibility to strike two different spot on the screen at the same time with both spells actually feels like a step up in effectiveness and survivability.
I only play hardcore, and I’m having a blast with a blizzorb sorc right now. I don’t really like blizz because of its clunky feel, sometimes you don’t understand how blizz doesnt hit a mob that’s inside its aoe, and FO sometimes feels short in heavy crowded area …
Combining the two actually works well, and lets be honest, with decent gear, what’s gonna kill you ?
A convic aura souls group, a might aura puppet group, etc …
And I really feel like the way I can hit both spot at the same time with the two spells really is a defensive step up on the build, rip would occur by having too long of an icd when only using blizz or FO …
So yeah I’m still unsure if FO isn’t strictly better for hc as it allows to go heavy on the ES route with max ES / Telek / warmth for maximum sturdiness, so I feel the blizzorb actually is a more offensive alternative, and it feels great to play.
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If and ONLY if you’re playing solo then yes.
Best is full on blizzard spec with Cold sunder.
Put 1 into energy shield and max telekinesis.
Blizz + cold mastery -150 is good for p3-p5
Glacial ice blast synergies
You don’t need orb you should be spamming glacial or blast into blizzard. Orb is nice i guess if you’re a complete noob and don’t understand sorc positioning but its 100% not going to help in P5+ games… Unless you like farming slow as a turtle
I corrected you by telling you that the majority of HC players are better than SC players and thats a fact and is a readily known thing. Its not even debatable outside of the ego maniacs that were never very good at d2 anyways.
I’m not saying everyone on SC is terrible and I get that your intelligence takes you right to that speculation but thats not what I am saying.
YOU HAVE to be better in HC. The successful people in HC are better than the majority of SC and I am speaking from multiple years of experience playing BOTH ladders with the very best people in D2r.
You’re probably not even in a single private dc or JSP group for starting ladders and farming p8 games early.
I get that you’re upset because you only play SC but I play both. There are tons of phenomenal players on SC but the BEST HC guy will always be better than the BEST SC guy.
I am not going into the discussion of HC vs SC with you when you are using it as some kind of argument and stamp of approval. You may think whatever, I don’t care.
As for the argument you made here - I guess you just haven’t seen a fully developed BlizzOrb with good gear post 2.4 if you are talking about it being slow as a turtle.
Maybe, IDK, let’s just say what are some reasonable clearing times for an endgame cold sorc and go from there. Something like:
- Chaos seal pop
- Full Chaos clear
on P8 ofc.
I have seen every build on every character in the very BIS because i have endless FGS.
That being said Orb is dog sheet in P8 and always has been. Its a complete waste of time unless you’re a solo farmer in which case you could play a naked sorc and be just fine.
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My NL HC cold sorc has lvl 40 something FO, and I find it underwhelming in damage as soon as you hit about P4.
to edit: geared with COH, 1 off Nightwings, and perfect DF, facets, and full inventory of skillers.