I didnt like playing a sorc in closed beta and open beta, i got to around level 6 or maybe 8 and just gave up and made a paladin and an amazon. Amazon was amazing, she tanked tons of mobs and could dispatch them fast with poison spear and even bow. Paladin was very tank and I could kill a full “next” room behind the door with that crazy aoe fire ability. But everywhere I see the smart move is to make a sorc grind thru the game and get drops for a character you do want to actually play…
So my question is, does this look like a fairly good/safe guide as a newbie sorc in d2?
level 1 – lighting 1 point charged bolt
+1 charged bolt (2)
+1 charged bolt (3)
+1 charged bolt (4)
Level 5 – skip point (save it)
Level 6 – 1 point static field +1 in cold frost nova +1
Level 7 +1 static field (2)
Level 8 +1 static field (3)
+1 frozen armor
+1 telekinesis
+1 fire bolt
+1 fireball (you should be level 12 now) – remove charged bolt and replace with fireball
+1 fireball (2)
+1 fireball (3)
+1 fireball (4)
+1 fireball (5)
+1 fireball (6)
+1 fireball (7)
+1 teleport (you should be level 18 now)
+1 fireball (8)
+1 fireball (9)
+1 fireball (10)
+1 fireball (11)
+1 static field (4)
+1 static field (5)
+1 fireball (12)
+1 fireball (13) level 24
Until Level 6 you simply use Charged Bolt to kill monsters. Multiple projectiles of this Skill can hit a single target. Try to get close to single targets to increase your damage output on them.
At Level 6+, start weaving in Frost Nova to slow down the movement speed and Attack Speed of monsters. This makes dealing with them a lot easier. Get close to monsters to cast Static Field 2-3 times before killing them off with Charged Bolt. With increasing Skill Levels in Static Field you can keep more distance.
At Level 12 you won’t use Charged Bolt anymore. Use the range and massive damage of Fire Ball to kill anything from a distance. Your main focus at this point are Elite Groups and clumped up monster groups to use the Area of Effect of Fire Ball as much as possible.
Slow down Act bosses and tanky monsters with Frost Nova and use Static Field to get them down to low Life. Finish them off with Fire Ball. Due to the low Chill duration you have to weave in Frost Nova every few seconds.
Utilize Teleport to keep your distance from your enemies and to move quickly towards your objectives. Fire Ball’s biggest strength is its range, so use your mobility to your advantage!
Early on you can get a Short Staff with +2 or 3 to Charged Bolt.
When you hit Level 12 switch to Wand of the Apprentice.
At Level 21 you can get a Yew Wand of the Magus in Act 3.
On Rings and Amulets your main priority is Faster Cast Rate, so you can reach the Breakpoint at 63% Faster Cast Rate. Other useful stats are Life, Resistances, Magic Find, and Mana.
During the early Levels, you need to keep an eye on your Stamina usage. Make sure to always have some Stamina Potions in your inventory. They give you infinite Stamina for 30 seconds. This duration stacks, so you can spam some at the Vendor. You lose the Duration on death or when using Save & Exit.
At Level 17 you want to equip your Stealth immediately. Use the Runes from Quest 2 Act 5 to build your Ancients’ Pledge Kite Shield and equip it at Level 21. Another option is to use Leaf to increase our damage from Fire Ball.
A Helmet with Ral Runes makes surviving the primary damage of Act 4 type easier and is still useful until you get to Nightmare.
Keep a Tome of Town Portal and Tome of Identify in your inventory for the full leveling process.
Summary
Farm The Countess in Normal and Nightmare for the key Runewords.
Static Field is a very powerful tool to reduce monster Life quickly.
Fire Ball is a beginner-friendly long range Skill.
Nova needs a little more practice, but is an effective alternative early on.
Blizzard is your main Leveling Skill starting at Level 24.
Faster Cast Rate is very important! Prioritize reaching the Breakpoints at 37% and 63% Faster Cast Rate.
Use Teleport to reposition yourself and to skip Cold Immunes.
Use Bone Wand of Lower Resistance against tanky monsters.
Meteor or your Mercenary deals with the Cold Immunes you have to kill.
===================== level 25+===================
This version is only recommended for solo play. The goal is to remove the dependency on your Mercenary to kill unavoidable Cold Immunes. (Lord de Seis and Korlic) Splitting up the Skill Points into 2 Trees results in noticeably reduced damage on Blizzard, be aware of that!
Respec Skill Allocation:
Telekinesis - 1 Skill Point
Teleport - 1 Skill Point
Static Field - 5 Skill Points
Frozen Armor - 1 Skill Point
Ice Bolt - 1 Skill Point
Ice Blast - 14 Skill Point
Frost Nova - 1 Skill Point
Glacial Spike - 1 Skill Point
Blizzard - 1 Skill Point
Note: If done properly, and assuming you have completed all Skill Quests in Normal, you should have 1 Skill Point Left. This is not a mistake! It is reserved for Cold Mastery.
Level 25+ Skill Point Allocation:
Level 25-29: Blizzard
Level 30+ Blizzard + Cold Mastery
Level 31-43: Blizzard (Put Skill Points gained from Quests into Ice Blast)
Level 48-53: Fire Mastery, Fire Bolt, Fire Ball, Inferno, Blaze, and Fire Wall
Level 53-67: Meteor (Including Skill Points from Quests, it should be maxed out at this point)
Level 68-75: Cold Mastery
Note: Instead of putting Skill Points into the Fire Skill Tree while Leveling, you can choose to do a second respec BEFORE Chaos Sanctuary in Hell. You’ll have to skip the Den of Evil in Hell until that point. If you choose to do so, follow the Pure Blizzard version Skill Tree until then.