Let’s all take a moment to think about what magic user is at its core…no game in history has tried to pretend that sorcerers aren’t squishy little guys. Take D and D for example…they use a d4 for HP…fighters and other close combat classes have d10 or d12…I bring this up as some context as to why we as sorcerers fall over in a stiff wind lol. We are the artillery of the fantasy world…in real life war no one use there artillery on the front line…you use a tank or tough soldiers. It’s because they would instantly be destroyed if not used from the rear and out of range of the enemy. It’s technically a support class in a way. Unfortunately in Diablo there is no way to achieve this distance from the enemy. You have to make a choice. If you wanna play rough up close your gonna have to make them tankier…which reduces your damage output…and if you wanna deal the pain out…your gonna be wimpy…that’s the deal with spellcasters in general in every game. D3 was a flawed game due to the insane imbalances in how much damage you can inflict…I think this game has more realistic spellcaster attributes over d3 . This doesn’t mean you can’t have a bad a** sorcerer but it definitely is far harder to achieve than other classes like my wife’s druid. That being said I can achieve similar damage output…not always but I can do it. I also have higher DPS output quite often because while her single target damage is often way higher…I’m almost always hitting more enemies…so I have lower single target damage but higher actual TOTAL DPS output. Careful studying of skills …aspects…effects…and paragon boards can really help punch up your abilities. THIS…this dynamic right there is the true challenge in games like this…figuring out how to manipulate all these things into a capable character…and it’s not always the same for each class…the same strategy won’t work for every single class and it shouldn’t…THAT would be real game imbalance. Just one opinionated old farts thoughts on all the hate sorcs be getting… Enjoy the game fellow saviors of the virtual world… save the fussing for real life problems. Peace love and chicken.
I think you nailed it with this one. Whenever I make a pure glass cannon, it always fails against those jumpers and teleporters or anyone who can get into your face quick. It would be fine if they didn’t have 1 shot mechanic, but most of them almost do and even exaggerated by the fact that you’re glass cannon (or maybe you get 1 shot because you’re glass cannon lol)
I agree with most everything you said. However, the D&D reference is understandable, but not a totally direct comparison. With D&D, you are generally always in a group; thus you can afford to be a little squishy; what a good game does right with spellcasters is finding a way to balance their enormous damage output but at the same time not being too squishy because there is no tank/defender in front. It feels like Blizzard’s answer to this is all things barrier, whether you agree or disagree.
I think that’s a fair statement for sure… sorcerers are a hard class to play all content solo and I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the barriers and armor makes up for that fact…good point!.
Sorc needs Bulwark. If we have that we’re all good but unfortunately they gave it to Druid and the best Sorc build right now is still Necro.
I would murder a druid for their bulwark skill lol.
I dont really understand why they gave a bigger barrier/shield with bulwark to the druid and a smaller one (ice armor) to the sorcerer. Did they think Druids were going to be squishier?
Ya know…I use the temerity pants with pretty good success that keeps me barriers almost continuously so I don’t lament the lack of stronger defensive skills but I do think it doesn’t make sense for the druid who can rack up massive damage resistance sans bulwark…my wife wont agree cuz she loves her bulwark tho lol. I have a buddy playing who can’t seem to make them work for him but I’m almost constantly enabling the barrier myself…he plays a barbarian.
I actually got a Temerity drop but havent played it yet. What NMD have you pushed into with it? I really want to try this but was advised without 4 DR pants you’re toast in high NMD’s, which is basically all I have left at this point hehe.
In combat I also pretty much always have a barrier up via protection passive/ability, icefall paragon, and ice shield (its also helpful for storm swell).
I’m at tier 38 nmd ATM and pushing upwards…so I use ice shards with ricochet and pierce and have a 39% lucky hit chance so hitting even a few monster literally gives me dozens of chances at a lucky hit which those pants give a big heal when that happens …overhealing me and popping up barrier…they also allow me to use a heal potion while at full life…boom…overheal and barrier…I have a perk that pops a barrier when using a cool down or defensive spell(I can’t remember which…I can log on and see if I can clarify that for you if you need to know for sure). It’s possible this build peaks at higher tier dungeons…I suppose I will find that out sooner rather than later lol. The barrier temerity gives for me is almost half my life so it’s probably the stoutest barrier I can throw up.
It really depends on your build. I prefer Temerity than DR pants with or without hearts.
But I won’t mind wearing DR pants too. It just feels for my build Temerity has that extra juice.
Hmm. Im playing on Eternal with a hybrid shards/blizz build. Cant hurt to try-mind as well give it a shot and a see what happens. Maybe…barriers are the answer instead of straight damage reduction.
Just fyi…I have several eternal sorc builds that I use as a test bed so I don’t have to use all my resources to respect gear and and all that on my seasonal build. I like to try different builds to see their effectiveness as well. Good strategy sir.