I couldn’t really find a recent build that someone talk about Frozen Orb. It’s always about shards or something like that. Is it that bad that no-one use Frozen Orb anymore? It’s one of the best build in D2/D2r. Is it that bad now? I play the Sorc in first beta and FO doesn’t feel that good not sure about the recent Server Slam. What’s your take on it?
probably because it was dethroned by blizzard in D2R, well an after synergies. its good in this version
hasnt been good in D2 since like 1.09 though so youre wrong on that
Well anything you’re seeing now is just builds to mostly get to lvl 50 so if players don’t feel a skill is worth they just won’t use it. Doesn’t mean there won’t be a build with frozen orb in the endgame but doesn’t mean their will be one either.
The distance it explodes at is very awkward. If an enemy is close to you, it only gets the pass-through damage and the explosion blows up behind them out of range.
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Didn’t try it much honestly but I think the problem was the explosion range from the cast making it unreliable.
Also since now Vulnerable applications on sorc is downright bad after the nerfs. People will probably rather go ice shard with vulnerable.
the above 2 posters have described what the kids these days call a “skill issue”
D2 vets had no problem landing the orb explosion directly on meph back in the day, at 800x600 resolution to boot. LOL
Expensive.
4% Lucky Hit Chance(Lowest I’ve seen - note: I haven’t perused the entirety of all Class trees/skills)
Aiming & Mechanics - Can be difficult to maximize DPS. FO has a set travel distance before explosion. Ideally, you want the FO exploding on the Center Mass of a Single Target or a group of enemies to achieve full DPS.
It’s likely not all that attractive a skill early game. DPS vs Mana Cost & Mechanics.
It may be a sleeper skill that will shine in later game with Gear and Paragon.
its still really good but it needs to be linked up skills like blizzard to bring out the full spell spam potential along with some other perks. If you want to me the FO monster you still can be
İ dont like blizzard very much and usually play orb sorc in d2 and land my Orbs perfectly
İ could still clear stuff quite good but i still think there is a slight mechanical problem with it in d4
You cant teleport endlessly like in d2 and the orb range here seems longer than d2 so my issue was when i was trying to position my self to the right distance aka walking the monsters walk as well so positioning is not as easy if you couldnt kill them in the first strike when they are approaching
There is also a general problem of most skills if you have 2 monsters on the opposite sides you need to cast twice
Now switch to chain light aiming issue is solved instantly, it is cheaper to cast as energy wise, and clearing speed is at least as good if not better than orb
So why would you use orb unless yo get a good legendary aspect for it
It’s not so good in D4, funny thing Blizzard is still better as in D2 lol. The main problem of frozen orb is the timing of the explosion vs any other skill that does damage without overthinking about it.
chain lightning doesnt apply a slow. plus all the other cold passives later in the tree. we didnt get enough points to mess with in beta. ice spells also stack up the break bar faster.
id use it over lightning
You might be (and probably is) right for higher lvl but when lvling to 20-25 slowing down wasnt really a benefit since regular monsters died quite quickly
İmo what orb needs is a reduced energy cost imo like smthg to 25
I was loving frozen orb in the first two beta’s. The legendary aspect of frozen orb plus the passive 25% to make targets vulnerable for 2 seconds was great for vulnerable build. The aspect of frozen orb gave much higher chance to make vulnerable due to the orb sitting there and pulsing.
I did blizzard plus frozen orb, they both add chill so I could freeze mobs fast. No need for frost nova really. I combined it with ice shards enchantment to add more damage. Add this to a barrier damage buff build and its nasty.
The server slam I was really angry with the nerf to frozen orb lucky hit chance, went from 20% to 4%. I made a post about how key passive are now useless like avalanche because you will have less than 1% chance to trigger avalanche with frost nova. So if you use frost nova there is no point in investing in key passive.
My first character in the first beta was a frost sorc using Frozen Orb. Fine most of the time but extremely awkward ability when you are in a boss fight where the boss chases you around and doesn’t just stand still in one place. Den Mother was a nightmare. Would probably never use this ability again if I made a sorc.
That was the beauty of FO in D2, just cast and run. Can’t see how different it would be in D4. Though it was totally nerfed in D2R patch 2.4 (due to sunder charms), but I’m definitely planning to try it in D4.
I always played a firewall/orb build on D2 / D2r so Im definately going to give it a shot. I used FO on the open beta and it seemed fine to me …
I like the frost orb, but I wish it exploded on enemy hit instead of exploding after a certain range. I think it would much more valuable if it exploded on contact. It would real help with grouping up enemies.
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I am leveling up a frozen orb sorc. It’s very bland. The visual, the audio, the damage, the range, the area-of-effect - nothing to write home about.
This skill needs some lovin’ by blizzard.
To get the most out of Ftozen Orb, you need an aspect that allows it to sit at the end of its travel and explode twice more. That turns it into a very nice skill.
So you have to get used to launching it so it arrives just in front of or in the mob/pack you want and watch it explode three times.
I also have an aspect that will launch off random orbs when I use my defensive skill or conjugation, I forget. So I can sometimes get 1-2 random orbs launched out in combat.
As with anything, you need to be lucky with the aspects you get.
Frozen Orb ahredded in d2r. My sorc with cold dmg helm anf desths fsth +31 skills used frozen orb and blizzard. It felt so good. The d4 version sucks