12-31-2003, 04:13 PM
Quote:My main problem seems to be mana ... as I expected, it is quite mana hungry , and I tend to find myself running my mana ball dry quite often.
Sapphires and skulls, in hat and armor, are a darned effective way to deal with the mana problem at low levels. I've also found it more effective at low levels to simply use less mana-- chill the evil critters, then whack 'em with a stick, rather than trying to do all the damage with spells.
Your Holy Grail is a two-socket staff with +3 Frost Nova, +3 Fireball, and +3 Warmth. (Be realistic and settle for just +2 or 3 to FN and +1 or 2 to FB, or the other way around-- while getting +3 to all three is possible from either Akara or Drognan, the probability of it happening prior to the heat death of the universe is vanishingly small...) Use the stick as-is until level 19, when you can put Tir + Ral into the sockets, making Leaf-- and your life will be totally transformed. :) The power of this rune word has to be experienced to be believed. The +3 to fire skills means an automatic +6 to Warmth, so your mana problems will pretty much cease to exist. And what shield that can be equipped at low levels is gonna give you 2 def/character level and +33% Cold Resist?
I totally concur with AtomicKitKat's endorsement of Stealth! (I strongly disagree with the suggestion to put the rune word into quilted armor, though-- at minimum, two-socket Superior Studded Leather is easily shopped at Charsi, and would have def ~40.) Breast Plate and Light Plate are also "light" armor, and impede R/W and stamina no more than quilted armor. Since 1.10 Ladder play began, I have created 17 characters (many of them mules), and have put Stealth into one Light plate, one Gothic Plate, one Ghost armor, two Superior Ghost Armors (>2500 GP per durability point to repair those babies-- but worth it if ya gotta have yer belly button showing ;)), and one Demonhide Armor. Yeah, I like Stealth... :D
IMO, it's very much worthwhile to run the Countess until you get the runes for both Leaf and Stealth; she has dropped Ral for me in Normal.
I also concur that Lore and Rhyme are wonderful. But the runes for Leaf and Stealth are easy; Ort and Sol (for Lore) and Shael (for Rhyme) are not so easy. Lore is as good as it gets for a sorceress until her level is high enough to gamble (and wear) something better. A hat with a PSapphire and PSkull has served my characters very nicely from level 18 until the runes for Lore and/or level 27 came along.
Zyr