Nova Sorc Merc Infinity bug?

General Discussion
1

Hi there.

Im fairly new to advanced D2(r)-play.

I’ve made my first Nova Sorc. I put Infinity on my Merc and expected to one-shot every mob in the game!

Sadly this isn’t so. Not even close, actually. Lightning immune mobs do shed their immunity, but they are still almost immune! It takes like 15-20 pulses for them to die.

It’s quite a different story if I equip Infinity myself though. Then I can take them down with 4-5 pulses. (Im not THAT well geared yet, so I wouldn’t expect to one-shot anyone anyway)

But I don’t get it. Everywhere I read that the Merc should wield the Infinity, but it’s nearly impossible to grind act 5 hell at this pace!

Does anyone know what the deal is with this? Am I doing something wrong or not doing something?

2

It’s not a bug. If you look at the stats of infinity:

Level 12 Conviction Aura When Equipped
+35% Faster Run/Walk
+255-325% Enhanced Damage
-(45-55)% To Enemy Lightning Resist
+40% Chance of Crushing Blow
Prevent Monster Heal
0.5-49.5 To Vitality (Based on Character Level)
30% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Level 21 Cyclone Armor (30 Charges)

You’ll see that it has -45 to -55% to enemy lightning resistance. In addition to the effects of the level 12 Conviction that you normally enjoy while it’s on your mercenary, you gain this stat when you equip it on your sorceress. If Conviction breaks the monsters lightning immunity, then the monsters lightning resistance is reduced by another 45 to 55%, which means the monsters that the lightning immunity is broken will have at most 44-54 lightning resistance. This stat ONLY affects the wearer.

3

So you’re saying that the -45% to -55% reduced lightning res only kicks in if Im wearing the Infinity myself?

What do Nova Sorcs use then? I don’t suppose they all run around with Infinity?

4

That is correct.

Whatever is most effective with what you have available, I suppose. :slight_smile:

https://d2.maxroll.gg/guides/nova-sorceress-guide

5

Well, some Nova Sorceresses do wield the Infinity themselves. It is a common variant; you can probably find a youtube video about that variant if you are interested.

The more common approach though is to have the Merc use the Infinity, and for the Nova Sorceress to wear something else that grants -X% Enemy Lightning Resistance.

Griffon’s Eye being the most desirable. (And rare/expensive).

Crescent Moon is another common choice. Tal Rasha’s Set also provides reduction in enemy Lightning Resistance.

And of course, there is always the option of focusing your farming in areas without a lot of Lightning Immunes.

2 Likes
6

Thanks for the info! It was very helpful :slight_smile:

7

stick to Griffon Helm only along infinity on merc

EDIT 4: removed the miscalculations text to only leave the corrected info and also did the maths for second scenario…redone from scratch so numbers are a lil different now(could not remember what lvl i had set nova at in planner XD)
EDIT 5: last fix(thx Ona for notifying me of Orb having the wrong skills on it)

Pre-Math numbers(see math calculation section for the numbers after conv and -res are applied)
Crescent + Chain + Grif(lvl 39 Nova)…3.8k - 5k dmg…-60% Resist + Conviction(-85%)
(3/3/3/3 M-Orb + Facet Armor + Grif)…4.8k - 6.3k dmg…-45% Resist + Conviction(-85%)
(3/3/3/3 M-Orb + Chain of Honor + Grif)…5.1k - 6.6k dmg…-25% Resist + Conviction(-85%)

Math Calculations for dps outcome(assuming M resist equal 90% after conv is applied)

2.6k to 3.5k(Facets armor + 3/3/3/3 Magic orb + Griffon)
2.7k to 3.5k(Crescent moon + Chain of Honor + Griffon)

Math calculation for dps outcome 2(assuming Monster resist = 50% b4 conviction is applied)

7.4k to 9.4k(Crescent Moon + Chain of Honor + Griffon)
8.6k to 11.3k(Facets armor + 3/3/3/3 Magic orb + Griffon)
8.2k to 10.6k (Chain of Honor + 3/3/3/3 Magic Orb + Griffon)

FCR Req(Amy 10%, Shield 35%, Gloves 20%, Belt 20%, Grif 25% = 110%(105% fcr bp needed for Nova build)…can use Chain of Honor for Nova build
FCR Req(Amy 20%…Gloves 20%…Shield 35%…Belt 20%…grif 25% = 120% fcr(117% needed for Lightning build)

ok so…technicly there was missing critical info with some missing maths

Scenario 1(Crescent Moon + Chain + Grif) = slightly better at dealing with mobs whom you broke their lightning immunity over 3/3/3/3 orb, Chain + Grif or even the facet armor

Scenario 2(3/3/3/3 Orb + Facets Armor + Grif) = a lot better at dealing with mobs which WEREN’T lightning immune to begin with but has less resists to all elements

the 200% fcr built you can’t use crescent moon so…stick to 105%-120% for using crescent

pewh…done fixing all of this up

just in case someone wanna verify if there any error…tossing planner code in
(new code for edit 5)
d2planner/a10106us
although i’am 100% certain nothing has been overlook this time nor calculated wrongly
…this time >_<

edit 6: minor gear adjustment but UNRELATED to the maths above for the dps
note: rare gloves can only be use with the 2 version using the orb + griffon…Crescent require magefist to meet the 105% fcr bp along griffon

also those are the expensives//a bit costier versions

lazy to make a budget version(with shako) for either mf or more affordable gear…and well…tired of playing in the simulator XD

2 Likes
8

As others have said, once you break the immunity with the merc aura from infinity the mob resistance will still be very high. Let’s assume it’s now at 95%. You will want to drop that down as much as possible with facet socketed griffons and a facet socketed armor (like skulders if you are mfing or ormus).

That can bring their 95% res to 65%, while still not changing weapons from a hoto/spirit combo. Or you can go harder and drop the spirit or ormus for a 4 socketed armor/shield and push the -res further. Though sacrificing +skills for -res offset eachother damage wise. That’s why griffons is so valuable, your not sacrificing much.

When giving up armor, shield or weapon slots for more -res you will want to make sure you aren’t dropping fcr breakpoints.

9

Damn - You’re thorough! :smiley:

Im playing on NL though, so I cannot use Griffins :frowning:

But I have the runes for both HOTO and CoH.

I still need to find decent gear for hands, feet, head and jewelry, but as long as Im able to do chaos runs in hell, they will come eventually! :slight_smile:

10

i don’t even switch to lit until i have infinity + griffs, it does seem very underwhelming if you still have ze silly green hat on.

11

@BadHabits: Yeah well, Im new and I got curious :slight_smile:

@Vvin: Like I told blood13666 I play NL so I cannot get Griffins. But what would be a decent alternative?

1 Like
12

Griffon can drop on non-ladder in remaster…so does all previous ladder only items…

only the 10 new runewords are ladder only now(although they are crap for most XD)

btw i reviewed my post and fixed some things up…i had forgot to account for scenario 2 which actually yield different results…do note that i didn’t do math for crescent + facets armor(it sacrifice way too much resists to be worth it)…and it also do nothing to put both together vs enemies whom resist are 50% or lower(aka non-immunes ones)

13

What is the general conclusion on Nova Base Obsession?

14

That with the right base it is 2nd best compared to a perfect rare Orb, and thus much more attainable.

15

pure lit / chain lit will always be better than nova, sure they buffed it a bit so people think it’s doable, but on p8. lit and chain lit will still be WAY STRONGER than any nova sorc.

16

It truly surprises with how many new players are joining the game, congratulations. However sometimes with all kinds of advice that players provide to other players which tends make them stay in that stage for as long as possible.

Let’s talk about how lighting immunity, -lighting resistance, and Level 12 Conviction Aura from Infinity work.

There are monsters with 100% or more lighting resistance which make them ignore any lighting damage, it has the title lighting immune under their name. This immunity is not affected by any gear with -lighting resistance before it gets broken. This means any item that the character has whether it is items with lighting facet or Crescent Moon -35% lighting resistance will not have any impact on monsters with 100% or more lighting resistance. This concept applies to cold mastery as well.

For example, if the monster has 95% lighting resistance, with Crescent Moon -35% it will become 60%, if the monster has 100% lighting resistance with Crescent Moon -35% it will still be 100% because it’s not impacting monsters with 100% or more lighting resistance.

There are ways to break the immunity of the monster by using conviction aura and lower resistance buff however they also work differently on monsters that with 100% or more lighting resistance. The effect of these aurae and buffs will only be at 1/5 if the monster with 100% or more lighting resistance. This means level 12 conviction aura from infinity (-85% LR) will only lower the resistance of monsters by 17% if they are lighting immune.

And even though they all appear to be lighting immune the degree of their immunity is different. Ranging from 100% to 145%. (Except the cow king 170%?) And anything above 116% will not be broken by 12 conviction aura from infinity alone.

In your case, you have encountered one of the few monsters with 115% lighting resistance, which left them with 98% lighting resistance after conviction aura. However, if you got a Griffon’s Eye with 25% - lighting resistance (20%+5% with facet) their resistance will be drastically lowered from 98% to 73% which will make your final damage 13.5 times stronger. Remember 98% is less than 100% so the gears start to kick in.

This explains why a godly rolled lighting sorceress weapon with 2 sockets is insanely expansive even in non-ladder. JMOD and JDSW are also expansive end-game items, together with Griffon’s Eye they provide 11 sockets with an equivalent of 75% - lighting resistance to a sorceress when socketed with facet. It will reduce 98% to 23% which is 38 times your original damage. Btw -100% is the monster resistance cap so none of the above will be wasted

The conclusion is that aura and buff break immunity, but gear stats don’t. and they don’t stack or have any impact before the immunity is broken. The only thing that does stack is lower resistance (with conviction aura together they provide 44% lower resistance to lighting immunity (after the 1/5 applies) Which means any lighting immune with 145% or more is not breakable, but it is rare, which make lighting sorceress a fun character to play.

2 Likes
17

Wow man! Such an incredible post!! THANK YOU for taking the time to write such a rich reply! And btw you are very good at explaining advanced stuff so even we newbies can understand it :slight_smile:

One question though: What are JMOD and JDSW?

I got my sorc now with HOTO and CoH, nearly perfect griffin with facet, magefist, two SoJs and Maras. Preeeeeetty siiiick damage! I like 5-shoot Diablo and Duriel :smiley: And everything else dies from no more than two bursts :smiley: Never knew how fun a Nova Sorc could be :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT: Also what boots would you recommend? I got Marrowwalk right now for the strength and dex, but Im sure I could do a lot better.

18

JMOD = magic monarch with 4OS for 5/5 light facet (also has block chance)
JDSW = magic blue armor with life I think and 4OS for again 5/5.

Neither are necessary when making a nova sorc.

Typical nova needs infinty in hand, it is the best build out there, you do use other things, but it won’t be optimal. Because you probably already made your infinity for your merc, you might want to switch to a lightning sorc to make up for the damage lost because you’re not wearing the infinity.

Hoto is a great weapon for a ligh sorc btw. CoH really IMO isn’t a great armor and a waste of a ber rune. It has stats that sucker people into thinking it is a good armor. Perhaps on HC it might be okay, but vmagi is almost as effective and there are just other options that are almost as good without costing a ber rune.

Now for your build you’re doing well, hopefully you’re hitting 105FCR, if you switch to lightning you need 117FCR. That being said you are mad dash farming with a DECENT build in players 1. Nova in P7/8 will struggle even with the best of gear. It is all good to farm around P1, but it isn’t as efficient as a higher player count game.

For boots you have many options. Treks/Travs/Rare 30/10/Res/Mf are all good options.

1 Like
19

Sheeeesh… All those shorts man! It’s a true jungle!

Im usually great with words and logic, but I cannot seem to get how JMOD translates into magic monarch with 4OS (dunno what OS stands for either)

JDSW makes even less sense!

I’ve joined a trading group on Facebook and they use all sorts of shortcuts… A term they use a log is fg, and no matter how hard I try, I simply cannot deduct what it stands for :stuck_out_tongue:

Well the problem is that I built a eth infinity, so it would really be a shame to use in and break it :confused: And my dmg is great anyway :slight_smile: Im really a single player type - Im not much on multiplayer games, so Im doing great with this build :slight_smile:

I agree that CoH isn’t really much of a caster armor piece. But it’s what I’ve got for now. Maybe if Ormus Robes or Skin of the Vipermagi (I suppose that’s what vmagi means) drops for me then I could make the switch :slight_smile:

But please… Treks? Travs? Please elaborate :smiley:

20

Jewelers Monarch of Deflection
and
Jewelers Dusk Shroud of the Whale

Google them, but neither of them are really important to PvM play except in some rare circumstance and they’re overpriced and honestly not worth it.

OS = open socket for diablo

Your trading group on face book uses a website called d2jsp, it is a trading site that made it’s own currency to make trading in diablo easier. That currency is called fg aka forum gold. If you don’t know those people on facebook, please beware people try to scam, even in game, so just don’t make trades unless you know exactly what you’re getting.

In single player you can set the player count higher and improve your drops while making the monsters harder. In some situations P7 is much better than P1. In some situations P1 is fine. In most situations P3 or P5 or P7 will be what you want to try and farm. You can set this manually (though I don’t play SP and dont know how).

I’m surprised you got so many ber runes on single player, but haven’t found a viper magi. Thats imrpessive tbh. I still wouldn’t have made a COH, but apparently you find bers all over. Are you doing lower kurast all day?

Treks = Sandstorm treks (good stat boot with PR)
Travs = War Travelers = good magic finding boots
There are good rare boots you could use as well, but you have to get lucky.