Nova Sorc Merc Infinity bug?

Firstly, the build is using a blue orb but doesn’t add any +nova?

For the DPS numbers calculated, what monsters were they calculated for? DPS numbers vary for different item setups for different monsters. I’ll post the link to my spreadsheet here.

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Jewelers Monarch of Deflection.
Jewelers Dusk Shroud of Whale.

Jewlers is the magic affix that gives 4 Sockets.
Whale is the affix that gives massive + life.

They are among the most sought after shield and body armors.

JMOD stands for Jeweler’s Monarch of Deflecting

JDSW stands for Jeweler’s Dusk Shroud of whales (btw if you are using JMOD you might get the Archon Plate version, so it’s now called “JAPW”)

Blizzard fixed the bug of instant mana burn in Version 2.4 (I honestly think that instant mana burn was not a bug but rather the intention of the designing team back then 20 some years ago) Which means you will get away with using a 4 socket Archon Plate and a 4 socket Monarch. Energy shield will be the main source of defense, of course, you will not pursue max block without JMOD, but the extra points saved from dexterity will ensure you additional survivability when invested in mana. Especially the +5/-5 or even +x/-5 lighting facets are easy to get right now. I would strongly recommend you try this build which will greatly improve the damage to your nova sorceress

Here is the deal, since you are not using the Skin of Vipermagi you are not going to get to the 200 FCR (you shouldn’t aim for that anyways), and the one lower tier is 105 FCR, this can be easily achieved by the following:

Must have items:

Griffon’s Eye +25 FCR

HOTO +40 FCR

Spiderweb Sash +20 FCR

Trang glove +20 FCR

4 socket Archon Plate

4 socket Monarch

Tri Res boots

Optional items : if you happen to have a 2/20 sorceress amulet (the plus 2 to lighting skill will also do ) you can replace Trang with Frostburn for additional mana. Otherwise, Mara would be good enough.

Preferred item : SOJ for both mana and + skill purposes, or at least get Bul-Kathos Wedding Band Ring

I will not worry about resistance too much with HOTO and Mara equipped because calculations for mana cost regarding energy shield skill bypasses resistance anyways and resistance only kicks in when calculating the damge intake to HP ,which at that time is already reduced by 95% anyways.

Coagulation to you if you have made it this far now here is the REAL DEAL:

Aside from the lighting immune situation that you mentioned above, there is a huge benefit that people tend to overlook with this build when running single-player games.(Sadly that is the reality we all faced right now)As most monster’s HP under player one difficulty is so low that now at least theoretically (or mathematically on paper) they will be killed by lighting nova within a fraction of a second, examples are cows running for high rune or the surrounding monster near the seals of Chaos sanctuary. However, whenever you tele-stump into groups of monsters you will notice that the conviction aura takes about a second to light up after you land. This will be resulting in longer kill time since all monsters in hell level has a base lighting resistance of 50%. Now with this -LR set, you can nova and kill these monsters even before the conviction aura kicks in.

The speed up in kill time will increase efficiency and result in safer runs as it reduces the chance of stuck in the chain reaction of FHR, this will be extremely helpful when you are leveling up in a series of quick signal player games or when playing in hardcore (Although tele-stumping nova sorceress is not a good idea in hardcore). And one final reminder, always make sure your energy shield is on before tele-stumping into monster groups.

thx for notifying me of the orb error…now great…i have to redo the counts for at at least 2 set up

which monster ? aka any…1 scenario had monster with around 90% resists after conviction is apply

the other scenarios had mobs at like 50% resists(the avg resists of hell monsters to an element if they aren’t immune…conv and gear -% were apply after that for the result

Ormus is a glass cannon armor …well it could be used a fourth option if you want to but ya…you loose a truckload of Resists…at least the blue orb can have access to 2X jewels with resists…or crescent + coh you get 65% all resists…but ya…for +1 Nova i think i’d rather stick with CoH…also while Ormus does net 1 extra to Nova…you also loose 2 mana reduc to teleport…you loose 2 point in t-storm(more points increase t-storm hits frequency) in addition to the resists lost

well now to work on the calculations fix aboves…wish nothing had been oversight after being so careful >_<(worked on Nova set up after loading a build which i worked on previously(Lightning build)

edit: oh ya, the skills allocation were apply all at the right spot too…previously i only had it focus on Nova as that was only to make a point…so extra length added to have it finalized…missing charms are obvious as what goes there XD…and that also leave some traces of whats been test with the stuff in the inventory

if you wanna do the ormus maths thats on you :smiley: dont feel up to do additional maths for a build which is glass cannon XD(aka mega whale only option)…and i’am not sure charms could even cover the resists lost to tank up conviction aura

EXTRA EDIT FOR SIlVARI

boots wise you got 3 options(2 for pve and 1 for pvp)
65 Life Waterwalk(thats equivalent to 32.5 Vitality stats points)
it also give 15 to dex and 5% fire resist cap increase
…so for raw life these are better than Sandtreks

Sandtreks is the better option if your trying to reach the 86% FHR bp(UNLESS you pvp this is irrelevant…the 60% FHR BP is enough in pve and can be covert by using 1 5% FHR sc if using waterwalk(spirit shield provide 55%)…the poison resists from sandtreks is irrelevant as the rest of the gear easily cover poison resists
defense wise there about 60 def difference(which isn’t much)(eth trek vs upped waterwalk)

option 3…rare boots(you dont need fhr charm with these)
30% FRW
10% FHR
40% Lightning resists
40% Cold Resists
40% Fire Resists
25% MF

extra extra edit: to not leave confusion as to why the boots choice for sorc
each class earn a different amount of life per vitality stats…sorc, necro and druid gets the lowest…here a list for each char

Necro, Sorc, Druid +2 Life per 1 vitality
Paladin,@ss@ssin,Amazon +3 Life per 1 vitality
Barbarian +4 Life per 1 vitality

That is true at least for players 1 difficulty. Not really sure why blizzard buffed nova instead of nerfing other broken builds. Nova builds are just so strong now.

The benefits of resists seem rather limited with this build, so I don’t think striving for resists is really worth it to the extent that you need to sacrifice certain gear just for resists.

This is assuming you have a 95% ES with fully maxed synergy and with enough mana that it reaches the point where your mana regeneration matches your overall consumption.

Poison is the only resist you’re worried about, which sandstorm, poison length reduction amulet or jeweller’s slot and prayer merc can help address.

This is only a minor problem and even then only a problem with self infinity or CM buiilds. Obsession, hoto/eschuter’s or blue orb builds get a 1 mana cost teleport regardless assuming optimal item setup.

Thunderstorm seems rather optional IMO and mainly for boss hunting. Nova is where most of your DPS lies with this build anyway.

It’s all in the spreadsheet :slight_smile:

Does hit recovery really happen frequently for you with this build? Hit recovery only occurs when the final damage to your life total exceeds 1/12th of your total life.

With energy shield at 95% and CTA, and also nova being quite strong that it in itself puts monsters into hit recovery, it seems overly cautious to invest in higher FHR breakpoints. +life charms is what I would shoot for as it reduces the chances of going into hit recovery all together and also helps mitigate against poison damage.

Despite what people say, Obsession provides % life, 65% FHR and up to 70% all res by the way, as well as being the 2nd highest DPS option overall, making this runeword quite well rounded.

I don’t really mind Nova gets a snergy,but the fixing of the “mana burn bug” really made Nova sorc unblance at the same time, it also resolve the FHR shortage if you choose to go with full damage increasing gears.

I think the mana burn bug fix was needed. With white minions being able to reduce an ES sorc’s mana pool to 0 in just 1 hit made ES nova sorc builds pretty much unviable. Mana burn still works and drains more mana per hit than normally would.

The buff that’s over the top for nova sorcs is the damage increase on nova. She’s powerful even on players 8 difficulty now.

gbane+gerke variant would be nice to have for that spread sheet of yours

did you used d2rplanner for that? (Edit: now i saw the link in the sheet)

95% ES is impossible for a Nova sorc unless you invest a maximum of 3-7 points into thunderstorm

Nova 20
Static 20(for synergy)
light mastery 20
telekinesis 20(ES Synergy so that instead of taking 200% dmg to mana it take 75%)
warmth 1
teleport 1
cold mastery 1(can be handy vs immune with that 1 point in ice blast) in addition to provide tiny bits of dmg to chilling
all frozen armor 1(want chilling to deflect missiles)
ice blast 1
ice bolt 1
lightning bolt 1(pre-requisite for t-storm
lightning 1(pre-require for t-storm)
chain light 1(pre-requisite for t-storm)
91 points invest out of 110(19 points left for t-storm maxing OR ES to 95%(12-16 points)
to max es depending if you keep some slots open to loot or fill the inv of 4 more lightning gc leaving no room to loot anything

Sandtrek doesn’t reduce poison duration…so 75% poison resists wont become 95% resist with treks on

in regard to FHR i didn’t know the % for it to trigger and how much does ES prevent the need for FHR…in otherword 0% FHR is enough if ES rly prevent going into recovery nearly 100% of the time…nyway if you read my whole post i only mentionned the need of a SINGLE FHR sc while not knowing ES remove the need for it…anyway in such case…Sandtreks equal garbage on a Sorc if FHR isn’t needed

Obsession resist Vs Magic Orb with the 2 jewel showcase in + spirit equal to
70% VS 85% Light/Cold …55% Poison…20% Fire…8 Magic Sorb
Obession block rate…0%…Spirit 50%(whales can afford up to 75%)
Obession(max of +7 to skill) vs +6 to 3 specific skills from blue orb and + 2 from spirit
Obsesion + 20 mana…Spirit + 112 Mana
Obession + 25% life vs +120 Life
Spirit bonus provide bonus def vs missiles(thats about -3% chance to be hit by missiles)
fcr wise 65%(Ob) vs spirit//blue orb(55%)…irrelevant nyway

T-Storm hits frequencies(according to amazonbasin)(dunno if ya knew so posting it)
lvl 1 interval 4.44 sec
lvl 10 intervals 2.28 sec
lvl 20 intervals 1.64 sec
lvl 30 intervals 1.36 sec
lvl 40 intervals 1.2 sec
lvl 45 intervals 1.12 sec(best reachable bp…next one is at lvl 49(full skillers inv)

between powering up ES to 95% and getting a buffed up t-storm…i prefer t-storm
79% dmg goes to mana is plenty and T-Storm dmg at lvl 45…8k to 9.6k

lastly…throw Chain of Honor out and you will get slapped by mobs with Conviction Aura(unless your a whale carrying 10 SC with 20 life 5% All resists)

take a look again at d2planner/t401067f
uncapped resist are almost perfect(225% require to tank up to lvl 25 Conviction)
although he prob wont be doing Uber Meph with a Nova Sorc if thats what ya mean by over resists…the rare gloves can get that 40 mana replace by poison resist to cover CoH psn res Lost(why no magefist ? 105% fcr met…the mana regen is almost irrelevant too from it…overall…the build showcase has 50% block and 50% dodge melee attacks

EDIT: how about this if we’re taking Uber Meph out of the picture ? technicly it would require whale sc to cover conviction resists d2planner/35010640

EDIT 2: looked at this sheet of your…they’re using 9 light gc…2 facet in blue orb…1 facet in ormus…1 facet in grif…all resists goes bellow 0 with such a set up…its pure glass cannon your sheet dude…not sure how their mana barrier hold up like that

I’m fine for this as a 1 point wonder or even as a staff mod on obsession or blue orb. With all the skill adders, that’s easily a level 20+.

I also not phased too much about getting any cold skills to handle immunes. Can either let the merc handle it or skip. Most lightning immunes can be broken.

I only go with the 1 point in frozen armour if I can be bothered with prebuffs other than ES and CTA.

Let’s say you get hit by a 500 damage attack. With 95%, that becomes 25 damage. Assuming you have 400+ life after BO, you won’t get into hit recovery. With optimal gear, you should have 1k+ life.

With a 79% ES, that will be 105 damage instead of 25 damage. In that instance, you will get put into hit recovery more often. That’s where 95% ES is so much more valuable than a 79% ES.

95% ES grants your build 2.5 times more survivability than a 80% ES. You might need to drink a blue pot vs these mobs but together with a high mana pool, you’ll have plenty of warning. Hence why you will see frostburns in the builds I prepared that don’t need FCR in that slot.

With an ES sorc, you want your block chance to be low or non-existent to take the hit.

If you block, sure you take 0 damage from that attack, but your sorc will stay stuck in horrible block frames and any monsters that you previously put into hit recovery earlier will have recovered and will start swinging at you.

It’s the interrupt that will increase your chances to be put in danger.

Obsession also grants mana regen through the item itself plus skills towards warmth. Obsession has chance to cast weaken when struck, making successive hits miss more often and do less damage to you and your party.

If you have a blue orb, there’s a very good chance you also have stacks of 20/17 or 5@/20 charms :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

well this about matches the sheet you asked me to look at d2planner/if01063b

had to figure if the stormcaster was a unique or normal to match the numbers displayed for the kill speed shown on the right in addition to filling inv of all 9 light gc(no room to loot)

well…can u show me the resists on your build and what you did exactly ? also how does es tank up with negative resists ?

EDIT: how about this ? this goes more along your alley and the resists wont be in the negative…and fit the ES build entirely d2planner/n002068w

EDIT 2: the 1 thing i dont know how you did is how did you get mana regen at 136 without insight ?..the 4k mana pool is reachable with life//mana sc…but not that amount of regen

I can do a side by side to show how this would work.

If you have a 1,000 lightning damage attack against:

  1. 95% ES with -100% Light res
  2. 79% ES with -10% Light res

Then you will have:

95% ES with -100% Light res

1,000 * 0.05 * (-100 - 100)/-100 = 100 damage to life

79% ES with -10% Light res

1,000 * 0.21 * (-10 - 100)/-100 = 231 damage to life

So even with -100% lightning resists and a level 40 energy shield, you still take much less damage to life than if you tried to cap your resists.

The mana consumption though will be bigger on the 95% ES though but your mana pool is going to be much bigger than your life pool anyway.

well the shield will burn down rather fast for 95%

so (this is with the negative resists you listed)
231 to life + 592.5 taken on the mana…total lost 823.5
100 to life + 712.5 on the mana…total lost 815.5

lets say resists equate 75 to all though
79% es…52.5 to Life…148.125 to mana
95% ES…12.5 to Life…178.25 to mana
lets play a bit more with es numbers…85% ES and 90% ES
85% ES…37.5 to life…159.375 to mana
90% ES…25 to life…168.5

dmg taken is WAY less significant though when your in the positive resists compare to negative resists and the mana regen almost negate the dmg taken too

btw i rly recommend Chilling over Frozen in any case
you dodge like 12% more melee/missiles attacks and i think its 33% ? chance to Deflect missiles
the cold mastery ya can ignore if rely on merc but still a nice alternative to have vs light//phys immunes

EDIT: i see where your mana regen extra income is from now…lvl 22 warmth XD…you literaly got 0 into t-storm

That’s definitely something to watch out for. That said in most cases max energy shield is great because it helps prevent hit recovery and because mana is something that replenishes quickly (150+ regen per second). The more you can prevent your life getting hurt, the more you can just rely on blue potions + prayer to stay alive.

The side-by-side example is an extreme example, I don’t think there’s anything in the game that hits for 1,000 lightning damage, and more less while also being under the effect of conviction.

The -100% example is only possible if you literally do not have any lightning resists from your gear, only from quests + anni + torch. If you can’t afford all res life charms, you can always shoot for a small handful of 11 light res life charms and use them in places like WSK, while using flickering flame on your merc for full fire immunity.

Obsession also has up to 70% all resists so at worst you’re probably sitting on -40% all resists under conviction instead of -100%.

That is going to totally depend on your situation. You can either do all remaining points in warmth for cows/non-boss farming, 1 point wonder in TS or all remaining points into TS if you do lots of Mephisto/Diablo farming.

TS outside of boss farming is honestly not going to help you much at all.