05-18-2004, 03:56 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-18-2004, 04:05 AM by Chesspiece_face.)
Griselda has a good point. One that can be easily transferred onto the rest of this threads topics. If you are expecting to use Charged Bolt much like you do Frozen Orb you are going to fail. If you really want to use Charged Bolt as your main skill the first thing you need to do is change your play style. Charged Bolt does not play like Frozen Orb or Fire Ball. To use CB effectively you need to be standing next to the mobs you are shooting. If you are standing next to the mobs you WILL get hit. If you are planning to use CB from far away, then why bother using it at all. Just go back to the skills that work better from far away.
The CB sorc, while it did gain a lot of good synergies, is not as powerful in 1.10. In 1.9 it was a viable character, mainly because of the minimal skill point allocation that went into making a good CB. In 1.10 you have to dedicate yourself to obtaining every synergy to make it worth while and by doing that you minimize the other secondary skills you can obtain. Personally i think that Fire Wall is a good secondary skill for the CB sorc. It was what i used back in 1.9 and it carries well into the 1.1 environment with the same usefulness.
The main problem with Fire Wall is that it is hard to get your targets to stay in the flames for any period of time. Well with a CB sorc that problem is pretty much negated. You are already going to be in the fray by using your CB so the targets will be stationary. Toss down a Fire Wall and pound out the CBs while you wait for FW's timer to run out. Rinse and Repeat. The key is to find the skills that operate well together. CB and FO are inherantly different skills and playstyles to use them well. By choosing to mainly be a CB sorc you inherantly need to change your playstyle. The main change is to create a castor character that can take hits well. If you can take hits well than you've overcome the biggest burden a CB sorc has. The easiest way to take the hits is to obtain max block rate. Although other methods have been mentioned I think that Mana Shield is far to skill point intensive to be an option. And a un-maxed synergy Mana Shield will more than likely kill you before it saves you.
Edit: also to respond to your last post, Fire wall only needs the 20 points in FW and then the 1 point into Fire Mastery to be more than effective. It is the same skill investment as your FO and it will be much more helpful to the playstyle of a CB sorc.
The CB sorc, while it did gain a lot of good synergies, is not as powerful in 1.10. In 1.9 it was a viable character, mainly because of the minimal skill point allocation that went into making a good CB. In 1.10 you have to dedicate yourself to obtaining every synergy to make it worth while and by doing that you minimize the other secondary skills you can obtain. Personally i think that Fire Wall is a good secondary skill for the CB sorc. It was what i used back in 1.9 and it carries well into the 1.1 environment with the same usefulness.
The main problem with Fire Wall is that it is hard to get your targets to stay in the flames for any period of time. Well with a CB sorc that problem is pretty much negated. You are already going to be in the fray by using your CB so the targets will be stationary. Toss down a Fire Wall and pound out the CBs while you wait for FW's timer to run out. Rinse and Repeat. The key is to find the skills that operate well together. CB and FO are inherantly different skills and playstyles to use them well. By choosing to mainly be a CB sorc you inherantly need to change your playstyle. The main change is to create a castor character that can take hits well. If you can take hits well than you've overcome the biggest burden a CB sorc has. The easiest way to take the hits is to obtain max block rate. Although other methods have been mentioned I think that Mana Shield is far to skill point intensive to be an option. And a un-maxed synergy Mana Shield will more than likely kill you before it saves you.
Edit: also to respond to your last post, Fire wall only needs the 20 points in FW and then the 1 point into Fire Mastery to be more than effective. It is the same skill investment as your FO and it will be much more helpful to the playstyle of a CB sorc.