Full Dr Sorcie Guide

[Taem]

I'd just like to say that I have a fantastic HTML guide of this with hyperlinks on the items, bold topic and everything. If someone will tell me a way to insert it here successfully, let me know. In later guides, I will finish tips, add a section for alternative items and power skill items, and a pvp and pk section. I first pasted version 1.00 on here.





DR SORCIE GUIDE: v1.01

INTRODUCTION:

Hail friends. I have made countless sorcies in my diablo career and can tell you now without hesitation that the DR sorcie is the BEST build for RUSHING, DUELING, PK'ING, COWS, and EVERYTHING ELSE. Hands down.

This guide is not for the poor and not for people who aren’t getting rushed. If you will, it is a long term goal of your character as this particular sorcie is extremely, yes EXTREEMLY hard to play at lower levels in hardcore with the low HP you'll start off with. If you are looking for a guide more suited towards a less expensive playing style, try this site here.

So what is a DR Sorcie? DR is an acrynon for Damage Reduction. The goal of a normal DR Sorcie is to equip gear allowing her 75% physical damage reduction, have her mana shield absorb at least 60% damage (preferrably 65%), and have a block rate of 75%. In this guide, we break the mold to include 90% resists and still maintain a killer damage rate. This allows us to fear NOTHING! Literally, nothing! With this set-up (and I have thouroughly played it in hardcore), you can tank LE monsters, not fear msle damage or hell diablos fire attacks, fight in duels and not worry about the hidden elemental damage on your opponents charms, stand in the middle of a group of cows and be whispering a friend w/out taking any damage (if you opt for the amulet with at least -18 damage), rush charactesr uncontested and easily, and basically not worry about anything in the world of diablo.


CONTENTS:
1.) Skills
2.) Attributes
3.) Item Checklist
4.) Mercenary Choices
5.) Totals
6.) Tips


SKILLS:

You will have a total of +110 Skill points to use in Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction, all of which you will use! You have the choice of one of two possible MAIN focuses for your character: Charged Bolt and Nova

Charged Bolt: Charged Bolt is my preferred skill with the DR sorcie because it costs very, very little, allowing you minimum energy reserves to survive and more into vitality. It is also MORE POWERFUL than Nova in a one on one situation against bosses; at Level 36, it will be firing off 38 bolts, each doing 29-31 lighting damage. This is equivilant to 38 x 29 = 1102 minimum damage before lighting mastery is applied, assuming you are right on top of the boss, which you will be with this build. As you can see, without Mastery, it is already equally, if not more powerful than Nova with Mastery.

Nova: Nova is a also a great option as it kills approximatly 2.5x faster than Charged Bolt does in cow games which means more experience for you faster. However, this build focuses on rushing, dueling, pking, and cows, not just cows. If you choose to go with Nova, you will need a lot more energy; I'd suggest around 120-160 depending on how often your blasting your nova and how high your warmth is. You might want to hold off on maxing orb until last and put your eggs into warmth first if you do this build to save yourself some points wasted in energy later on.

(-27) Cold Skills:
5 Prerequisites
1 Frozen Armor
1 Cold Mastery
20 Frozen Orb
(-68) Lightning Skills:
6 Prerequisites
1 Static
1 Energy Shield (61% absorb)
20 Thunder Storm
20 Charged Bolt (or Nova)
20 Lightening Mastery
(-15) Fire Skills:
0 Prerequisites
15 Warmth


Frozen Armor: This armor spell is the best for two reasons: Best defense and freezes attackers. It dosent get much better than this. The other two armors retialite, but the damage is ineffective and the chill time is barly noticable compared to a frozen statue.

Frozen Orb: This skill is fantastic for containing cows and the best overall PVP weapon of choice. I'd recommend ditching your ideas of getting a Holy Freeze Merc and practive casting in this manner in cows: Orb, Static, Static, Orb, Charged Bolt, Charged Bolt, Orb, Charged Bolt, Charged Bolt - until the entire mob is dead. They will never touch you, but the beatiful part of a DR sorcie is, it really dosent matter if they do anyways because you will only be taking 18 maximum damage from hell bovines.

Static: Static is a very important skill but hardly worth investing more than one point in. At level 16, its radius is so large, it covers most of the screen perfectly.

Energy Shield: With just one point invested into this skill, you will have a 61% absorb. Combined with your full DR, that amounts to 18 maximum damage from a hell bovine. Its tempting to get rid of guardian angel and throw on a valor, or get rid of Tals amulet and get a +2 sorcie skills, -30 damage amulet. Both are good choices, but not recommended with this build, however, you will be virtually invincible in cows if you do this :D .

Thunderstorm: What is there to say about this skill other than IT ROCKS! Sure, one bolt every 4 seconds dosent seem like much, but in PVP, watch your opponent squeal when your level 36 TS hits him. Also fantastic Boss killer. Leave it on and off you go.

Warmth: A very important skill to keep up. Once you hit level 73, balancing warmth and orb become tricky. You need to find out where you start needing more mana regeneration and where you start needing more damage from orb. Generally, if your focus is cows, do warmth first. If its rushing or Dueling, do orb first.


ATTRIBUTES

Here are the EXACT attribute scores you will need at character level 99:
154 Strength; 159 Dexterity; 60 Energy; Rest into Vitality!

STRENGTH: 156 Strength is required for a Storm shield, which is the highest Strength requirement from any item you’ll be using. Subtract –2 from Shako and you get 154 Strength required to equip all your gear by clvl 73.

DEXTERITY: 186 Dexterity is required for 75% block at clvl 99. Subtract the –15 Dexterity from waterwalk, -2 from shako, and –10 from the KO Rune in your wizard spike and you get 159 Dexterity required.

VITALITY: Everything else goes into here. You should be able to have all the Strength, Dexterity, and Energy you need by level 60. After this point, all the rest of your attributes should go into vitality.

ENERGY: 60 Energy is all you will ever need by the time you equip all of your gear; between +80 mana, 3.5 mana per level, and a 322% mana regeneration rate, you’ll never even see your mana go down!


ITEM CHECK LIST:

These items are the best items you will ever find for your DR sorcie.

Storm Shield (+UM): click the link - the storm shield offers superb cold and lightening resists, 35% damage reduction, and a good block rate. For a DR sorcie, this is her shield of choice, mainly for the damage reduction. With the UM rune added in, your sorcie will now have adequate resists to withstand diablo's fire, survive msle attacks, pk'ing hydra sorcies, and more.

Shako (+BER): click the link - the harlequin crest has +2 skill levels which are very important to the sorcies damage. It also has 10% damage reduction and +life and +mana per level. This headgear helps tremendously making up the mana and life you loose by investing so many points into strength and dexterity. The added BER will bring you that much closer to 75% damage reduction, which is our ultimate goal.

Guardian Angel (+BER): click the link - so why a Guardian Angel over a Valor? The question everyone asks. Well the answer is not as simple as a single statement or image. It comes down to what each provides. Lets start with the valor: It gives you +2 skill levels, great for that added damage, and two levels means hundreds of points of damage. It has -15 reduced damage which means only 3 damage from cows IF they do maximum damage. It has a 30% hit recovery rate, which means NOTHING for a sorceress because of her terrible hit recovery rate. It also has a terrific defense. But most importantly, and the main argument here, it has added vitality per level. The Angel has 30% faster block, which unlike hit recovery, is a very noticable difference in how many hits your sorcie can block per second. It has +15% maximum resists - I can't possibly stress to you what a difference 90% resists is over 75% or less, especially in duels or when rushing! And it has +20% block. With valor, you'll need 237 Dexterity to have maximum block at level 99. With Angel, only 186. Thats a difference of 51 points that could go into vitality; 102 life. Valor gives 0.5 Vitality per clvl, so at level 99, it will give you 49 vitality. Close, but still can't make up for the lost life and especially not the lousy resists you'll have. Is the added damage from valor worth all that? No! The added BER in Guardian Angel will bring you that much closer to 75% damage reduction, which is our ultimate goal.

String of Ears (14%+): click the link - a 14% DR string of ears or better will bring you to 75% damage reduced. Other than this the SOE has a good defense and -magical damage reduction which works great in duels and in chaos sanctuary.

Wizard Spike (+KO): click the link - the wizard spike gives you 75% resists, yes SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT! A whopping 50% faster cast which will bring you down to a 9 FPS cast - perfect for charged bolt or nova. It has +maximum mana and +mana per level - extreemly important for this build with your low mana rate. And it also has a +15% mana regeneration rate, also very important for regaining mana. The other option is to go with an oculus for the damage, but you'll have a hard time making up those resists and you'll be stuck at a 10 FPS cast, which is slow for charged bolt or nova! The added KO rune will bring down your dexterity needs and allow you more points into vitality!

Tal Rasha’s Adjudication: click the link - tals amulet has some much needed +2 skill levels. It also has a whopping +50 life and +42 mana; just what a DR sorcie needs. The 33% lighting resist is also an added bonus. So why not maras? If your using a wizard spike and not an oculus, then your resists are already high enough and you don't to waste yoru time with a maras when tals has more qualities you need. The obvious option is a maras with an oculus, but then you take a serious hit to your mana, which means more than 60 into energy for sure, which means less into vitality. Believe me, you'll be doing enough damage with this set up.

Stone of Jordan x 2: click the link - +20 mana, +25% maximum mana, +1 skill level - there is no alternative. This IS the best there is. 'nuff said.

Mage Fist: click the link - some will argue frostburns, but you dont need that much mana, and besides, the added fast cast from mage fist is just enough to push you over to a 9 FPS cast rate. Why ruin a good thing? It also has +1 fire skills which helps your warmth rate and it has a +25% mana regeneration rate itself which I think togeather more than make up for the 40% maximum mana from frost burn. A faster mana regeneration is more important than a higher mana rate. The difference is simple: do you like having lots of mana and eventually running out or have a little mana but never running out?

Waterwalk Boots: click the link - the 20% run walk and +15 dexterity on these boots alone almost make them plenty, but to add to that, they have +45-65 life, and a +5% maximum fire resist. With this DR set up, you will have 95% fire resist! PK Hydra sorcie? HAHAHA.. make my day!

10 Grand Charms +1 Lighting Skills
1 Small Charm of Shimmering 5% Resist All
6 x Small Charms of x Crimsion 10% Fire Resist
2 x Small Charm of Balance 5% Hit Recovery

SWAP-OUT GEAR: (FIRE ABSORB) Rising Sun : You can use then when fighting Diablo if you want, but you really dont need it. I like to keep it in my stash when fighting other sorcies. Ill equip a full absorb arsonal and surprise them (see below).
SWAP-OUT GEAR: (LIGHTENING ABSORB) Blackhorns + T.Gods : This gear is GREAT for msle - you actually heal hit points! Also, when fighting another sorcie or trapassassin, swap to this gear for 100% immunity.
SWAP-OUT GEAR: (COLD ABSORB) Luna Shield + Lightsabre : keep these on your other weapon switch. You will NEVER need cold absorb with 90% resist unless you are fighting another sorcie. When fighting another sorcie, swap out your gear for all absorb gear and switch your weapon switch for a surprise. The Lightsabre not only has Lighting absorb +20, but Ignores Target Defense, which makes this a deadly weapon when fighting an absorb sorcie with your absorb gear on :D .

Fastest Cast Frames Per Second
0 13
9 12
20 11
37 10
63 9
105 8
200 7

Optional Items:


I will complete this in a later version.


MERCENARIES:

There are three choices that go well with a DR sorcie. None are wrong, but there are some considerations:

Cold Arrow Rogue: The cold arrow mercenary is truly the best PK'ing friend you will ever have. If you plan on PKing, this IS the choice for you! No, dont even think of the baba's as a consideration because they're not! They move across the screen towards your prey much slower than an arrow, trust me! The cold arrow merc does somewhat okay in cows, but I would not recommend her for rushing as she will die often.

Holy Freeze Desert Warrior: Whats to say about this cheap merc other than LAME? If you can't orb kill your cows, then you dont deserve the comfort of a Holy Freeze mercenary anyways ;) . However, they are nice to have in cows, but I can never tell if their aura actually works on bosses or not since I'm always blasting the boss with my orb and charged bolts.

Defiance Desert Warrior: IMO, the best for cows hands down! You have a FAT absorb between your mana shield and DR, a 75% block, true your hit recovery sucks, but your block rate is outstanding and what else could you ask for? Well, you have 28% chance to get hit in cows at level 83, so why not change this to 5% every game with a defiance mercenary? 5%... Now your a true DR sorcie! Now only do you almost never get hit, but when you do, you almost always block it, and if somehow the attack bypasses all this safeguard, your absorb most of the damage! Dosent get much better than this.

Gear: For my little buddies to be successful beside me in rushing, pk'ing, and cows, they need all the help they can get, and since they help me so much, I give my mercenaries good gear. For the Rogue mercs, I give them 160/60 armor, Vampire Gaze, and a Windforce. For the Desert Warriors, I give them Vampire Gaze, Shaft Top, and a Unique Lance with an Amn Rune in it. I suppose later on I would socket their armor and either put BER's in or UM's.


TOTALS @ LEVEL 73:
· Cannot Be Frozen
· Resist’s:
o +Maximum Resists: +15% (90% Maximum)
o +Maximum Fire Resist: +5% (95% Maximum)
o Fire: +195% (95%)
o Lightening: +190% (90%)
o Cold: +192% (90%)
o Poison: +132% (32%)
· Mana:
o Maximum Mana: +65%
o +Mana: +80; +3.5 per level
o Mana Regeneration: +322%
o Magical Damage Reduce: 10-15%
· Levels:
o +Fire Skills: +7
o +Cold Skills: +6
o +Lightening Skills: +16
· Attributes:
o +STR: +32
o +DEX: +27
o +VIT: +2
o +NRG: +2
· Magic Find: +50%
· Damage Reduce: 75%
· +Life: +115 (+1.5 per level)
· +Blocking: 45% (87% total)
· Faster Block: 65%
· Fastest Cast: 70% (9 FPS)
· Fastest Walk: 20%
· Fastest Hit Recovery: 0% (8 FPS)

TIPS:

I'll update this guide later and include some tips.

[Zafarium]

Dude you should email this to Bolty so he can put it on the strat page.

[ShadowHM]

Most of the lurkers here are not power gamers.

A guide that states up front that:

You HAVE to be rushed to be able to manage to have this build.
You NEED the following uber-gear to be able to manage it.
It is a build for PK'ing (as opposed to dueling).

These are not the usual criteria for guides hosted at this site. Doubltess there are many other places that would be pleased to host it though.

[smithy]

"and basically not worry about anything in the world of diablo."

What is the fun of that?

To each his own I guess, but what's the fun of being able to talk to someone and cook dinner at the same time as sitting in the middle of a pack of cows?

Effective but boring.

Smithy

[WarBlade]

Dude you should email this to Bolty so he can put it on the strat page.

LMAO!!! :lol:
*Me rolls off the seat in hysterics*

:P

[SwissMercenary]

Removed, due to me misjudging Meat.

[Taem]

I write this not out of spite, but to educate. My words are not upset or forced, but level-headed and thought out. Without further adu:

Your guide's requirements can only be attained by cheating. Why won't you just give a link to the pindlebot website in it, so we can have another reason to flame you. I would suggest for you to take a walk. A good long walk. When you are done, come back, and think about your guide.

Apparently you've never heard of ebay. I don't cheat or use hacks or bots. My friends dont either. However, before I was playing diablo, I was spending $40 a month on a new video game. But diablo was different. It kept me entertained and I never spent money on video games again. I always try to give myself at least $20-$60 a month for personal spending, and since I wasn't blowing it on video games, I might as well spend it on personal enjoyment. Yes, I buy some of my gear that I can't trade for. Now I know some of these people use bots, but at least those items are not duped. I only mentioned the 160/60 armor for the ONE time I ever had some on ONE of my characters, and for the completeness of this guide, included it for a merc. I have never had a rogue merc, so rather it works or not is speculation - but I've heard from numerous sources that rogue mercs are the best set-up for PK'ers.

It is a build for PK'ing (as opposed to dueling).

I stated that it was build for all element of diablo - not specifically PK'ing. It only emcompasses pking as an option since Pking is part of the game, isint it? As for PK'ing... I enjoy it from time to time, but I'd rather duel. All I'm saying is that this build allows you PK (if you wanted to - and do keep in mind that PK'ing IS part of the game!!! IS there a little hostile button? Does the attacked party have to OKAY a hostile to be attacked by you? NO!) if you want to, and do hell rushes, and Duel. Isint that the ultimate goal of every build? To be able to have fun while withstanding the horrors thrown at you?

I'd love to see a level 43 barb with Cruel exceptionals, Vamp gaze, +15 max damage jewels, and an item that has a chance to cast amplify damage tear you from limb to limb...

And, I was talking about legit Pking. Even heard of ethereal duped ITH hacked swords? Ever heard of Scarcen's chance? Even heard of Amplify damage screwing you to hell? What about conviction? Cold mastery? Buriza?

As for getting owned in duels... I'm sorry friend, but you seem to have no knowledge of what you are talking about. I dueled a baba carrying an ITH CCB and zerking me like a mad man. First off, I teleport when I duel so he rarly ever hit me, but when he did hit me, my energy shield absorbed most of the damage and it only shaved off maybe 150 damage at the most. Did it hurt? You bet! Did I survive? Not only this, but I killed the guy too. And he was bragging how his zerk was soooo powerful that I would surly die. I had a tendancy to believe him because he showed me his gear before the fight, as did I. Corpes exploding necros? Never encountered that problem in a duel - I just stay away from the dead bodies - orb is great, and bone spears are too slow my friend. Inless your reffering to corpse exlposion from Nith... dosent hurt me...

Conviction: FoH palis dont stand a chance - trust me... I've dueld plenty - switch to LE absorb gear
Cold Master: If your fighting another sorcie, switch to Luna
Reduce Speed by: it dosent matter if my speed has been reduced to 100% - spell casting is unaffected and I don't run, I teleport and cast spells. Try it out sometime.

Also, your math is flawed. -damage is applied before -DR. If a hell bovine does 200 damage, and you have 95% DR, you will take 10 damage. If you have -50 damage, then you will take 95% of 150 = 7.5 damage.

Thanks for pointint out how my math is flawed. It most definatly is. I will update my guide.

Have you heard of block-lock? What about Might Extra fast, Extra strong cows?

Block lock? Of you mean that silly assassin mind blast trick that will be fixed in the patch? Or do you mean getting hit so many times in cows that you can't move? I dont know how you make your characters, but I am literally standing in the middle of a mob of at least 200 cows and am casting orb and charged bolt left and right and barly ever getting interrupted. As for mind blast - cheap trick. Still, I end up winning.

Extra fast? Might? LOLOL.. this proves you dont know what your talking about. Do the math... I did from diabloii.nets darkness site. A fanatic cow with might from another cow and curse hitting me will only do about 60-120 damage. Does it hurt? You bet! But I will survive and I don't place myself in situations where I will get slaughtered. I suppose my statement that I'll be TOTALLY IMMUNE has ruffled a few feathers. I wan't trying to boast bragging rights, but state that against most of the dangers in diablo, you will NOT get one hit killed, which means you have time to leave the danger. And if you do happen to lag out before you drop, you will survive *almost* any encounter in the 20 seconds your character is in game.

Frozen armor: Yes, 1 second in hell cows. Apparently you have NO idea how fast a teleporting sorcie moves or what FPS stands for. When Im casting at 9 FPS and shooting at 2.5 attacks a second, cows that are frozen and not attacking me in the period because they are solid statues are dead. Just one orb, two statics, another orb, three blasts from charged bolt and the cows are dead. First off, I never get hit, but if I do get surrounded, despite what you think, that one second makes a HUGE difference. HUGE! I guess thats the difference safely teleporting out of a group of fanatic/might cows or getting stun/block locked and dying, isint it?

Conclusion: Again, I'm sorry for whom ever I offended with this guide. It is a thouroughly thought out and well-tested build. It works using LEGIT items. My claims that it is full-proof are misunderstood, because I proved here that this build does take damage, and as with all builds, the horrors of diablo can be dangerous at times.

It supports whatever playing style you enjoy and is not biasses towards the game (it supports dueling, rushing, pk'ing, cowing, and whatever else you can think of). Im so sorry the Lurker Lounge does not support this game which it represents. I guess I have been mislead the entire time because if I am right, PK'ing is an entricate part of the Diablo game, is it not? Why are you allowed to PK if it is NOT part of the game? When you have a web-site dedicated towards the greatness and improvements of a game, dont you support all of the games strengths? If pking were a bug or hack, then I'd say you all are correct, it is a mistake to support it - but c'mon guys, its part of the game!!! Your holier than thou approach towards this makes me sick. Why not boycott dueling or how about sending a petition to blizzard to ban MSLE's because they're so dangerous? Your concerns about pk'ers are noted, but your reasoning is obselete because Pking is part of the game, was intended to be part of the game, and will always LEGITAMETLY be here FOREVER!

Thanks for your time in reading my reply.

[TheDragoon]

Yes, I buy some of my gear that I can't trade for. Now I know some of these people use bots, but at least those items are not duped.

Are you saying that since you buy it on Ebay it must be legit? I hate to break it to you, but I'm sure that many of those items are just as duped as the rest of them.

As for getting owned in duels... I'm sorry friend, but you seem to have no knowledge of what you are talking about. I dueled a baba carrying an ITH CCB and zerking me like a mad man. First off, I teleport when I duel so he rarly ever hit me, but when he did hit me, my energy shield absorbed most of the damage and it only shaved off maybe 150 damage at the most. Did it hurt? You bet! Did I survive? Not only this, but I killed the guy too. And he was bragging how his zerk was soooo powerful that I would surly die.

We recently had someone with just this attitude trolling on the Diabloii.net Druid forum. He couldn't understand that when you talk of dueling, you should not bring up specific instances and assume they hold for all situations. In this, you appear to be comparing someone who seems to be good a dueling (yourself) with someone who is less good at dueling. If you really want to make a strong case, compare yourself to someone who knows what he's doing with a PvP character. Also note that using powerful items does not necessarily make one good at dueling.

Your concerns about pk'ers are noted, but your reasoning is obselete because Pking is part of the game, was intended to be part of the game, and will always LEGITAMETLY be here FOREVER!

Perhaps you are right. Blizzard did make a conscious decision to allow hostiling and such. However, they did not balance the game for it at all. The game is designed to be played in PvM combat though it does allow one to play it for PvP combat, if you so desire.

However, all of this is irrelevant in this forum since everyone I know who posts here does not care for PKing. A few might enjoy PvP combat, but they do that for a challenge, not to be the best or to be invincible or to try and ruin the playing experiences of others.

[DeeBye]

Apparently you've never heard of ebay.

I guess that makes your "guide" infinitely more useful. Do you need it spelled out how really, really stupid it is to buy ITAMZ from ebay?

[Bolty]

LMAO!!! :lol:
*Me rolls off the seat in hysterics*

:P

You think that's funny? You should see some submissions I get in email...

-Bolty

[WarBlade]

Don't I know it. I used to get messages like, "Can i be a ADmin plz? i relly relly wana be a adminhow do i become a Admin plz?" on a regular basis. :blink:

Damn I wish I could could find a message I saved to cheer me up when I was down, but it eludes me at the moment. Oh well. I did find something similar in my search . . .

Posted by [FOD]Mirage on 7 September 2000 - Gamer Forums

What I meant to say is that u shouldnt be carefull, seeing dying doesnt really matter..

Ok, he was referring to D2, but out of context and considering that was the entire forum post, I quite enjoyed the implied result.

Posted by SerialSpice on 19 September 2000 - Unreality

I don't think you even have to unzip it. Just double click on it in winzip

Um. Oh never mind.

ICQ transmission recieved from ^SmAcK^ (a UT player) 12:27 17/10/00

will somebody kill the ping inventor?

Holy Moly! I have a lot of these . . .

1. "RE: Someone please help if you can"
it not your comp it bnet i had the problem too for a while its the sofware incompatibality{i know i spelled it wrong} but its bnet is the problem you see the internet and bent has to be able to swap info and since your haveing the same problem ist the software of bent and your internet provider i been kicked of aol while playingand i can stay on line toll the sun comes up and not get droped but once i start d2 up its like a botomless pit but with ledges

Damn this is nuts. I'm find stuff stashed all over my hard drives. :lol:
Ok, I'd better stop now. :blink:

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

:huh: :blink:

I have a feeling that these two gentlemen, seen above, will be by FAR the most applicable smilies on this forum. They just fall into so many appropriate moments.

Don't you agree, WB? ;)

[WarBlade]

It's possible.

Then again I might refine this new Sorceress I've been building along with the other D2 smilies I started and give this smilie set a run for it's money.

My Smilies will rule the world!

[Archon_Wing]

Yes, strategy is very important, but where? I'm afriad this is no guide, this is just a cookbook or a uber-item list at best. Which can be found by just asking in the common b.net channels.

Mine is better:
1.) Spend $150 on ebay for the best ITAMS. You will know what teh best ITAMs are by hanging out in the trading channels. And despite what the dictionary says, it's ITAM and teh, not item and the. Because only n00bs speak real english. :)

2.) When you have the best ITAMS, go spam the channels with "I need rush to hell plz 1 soj u take all drops." It's best if your sentences are incohrent as possible. Because only n00bs play the game through.

3.) Remeber to die and don't press esc as this person kills the boss.

4.) Join games beginning with "cow" Never go get the leg, let the n00bs do it.

5.) Do nothing. Follow the amazon with the stick that shoots lightning bolts. You'll hear a sound. You gained a level! More closer to 133tness.

6.) Look at the str and dex req of your ITAMS. Press "c" hover above the "+" signs. Since you were leeching all the way along you'll have around 300 points to spare. Match the str and dex req. When you reach the right level, click on your ITAM and hold it over the equipment slot. If it turns green, you can wear your uber l33t itams.

7.) Finally, you are uber leet! Now join games like pk35 and stand there. There n00bs won't be able hurt you. They will phear you. And rememeber to mispell words and screw up your grammer as much as possible. As they attempt to retrieve their pathetic corpses, kill then again. They will cuss at you. Respond with insults about their mothers, their dogs, and anything you can think of. Use PWN as much as possible

8.) Rinse and Repeat.

See, I can do the same thing in a compact space. :)
Each to his own though. If you can find all of these items, have fun.
Warning: this guide was written in sacrasm, and God help you if you took it seriously. :)

[Taem]

Are you saying that since you buy it on Ebay it must be legit? I hate to break it to you, but I'm sure that many of those items are just as duped as the rest of them.

I don't ask where the items came from when I purchase them. I'd like to think they are all legit - that blizzard tries really hard to stop all duping and hacks so that I dont buy illegitamet items- so its with this happy attitude that I buy my items.

I guess that makes your "guide" infinitely more useful. Do you need it spelled out how really, really stupid it is to buy ITAMZ from ebay?

I respect your opinion, however, it is still just an opinion, not a fact. Keep that in mind. I feel that the money I would of spent on buying other games is spent on playing diablo and I personally have no problems with that, but I'm sorry you do. I do not need moral lectures on my personal prefrences. This is a web-site for opinions and facts of a game, not of negative critisicm and flaming, is it?

We recently had someone with just this attitude trolling on the Diabloii.net Druid forum. He couldn't understand that when you talk of dueling, you should not bring up specific instances and assume they hold for all situations. In this, you appear to be comparing someone who seems to be good a dueling (yourself) with someone who is less good at dueling. If you really want to make a strong case, compare yourself to someone who knows what he's doing with a PvP character. Also note that using powerful items does not necessarily make one good at dueling.

Tuche' I suppose it seems like I'm trying to give the appearance of someone whom is better than everyone else and "knows" it all when in fact, I was merly trying to defend my 'guide' against the claims that, and I quote you here, a "SPECIFIC" type of character could kill me, when in fact I've dueled these types of barbarians before and killed them personally. However, I have not fought everyone on battle.net, now have I? And I know from plenty of experience that there is an antithesis for every character build.

It appears that most of the people here assume I think my build is not only HIGH and MIGHTY, but indomitable. I do not think this way at all, but I can see where I said "and can tell you now without hesitation that the DR sorcie is the BEST build" could be interpetdid as egocentric. Please cut me some slack. This is my first guide and I was excited to release it. I wrote the guide out of enthuasim, not to be an self-centered egotistic idealist. But now I feel ashamed and I didn't even do anything wrong. If it makes you all happy, I will edit out how I FEEL about my guide in my guide (since this is causing me more grief than anything) and take out the refferences to items altogeather and just recommend a quality of gear you should possess without mentioning anything in particular. Really, if thats what it takes to get a little respect around here, I'll do it. Like I said, I wasnt trying to step on toes, I was excited to be releasing what I felt was a quality guide...

Are my feelings hurt? A little. I must admit I wasn't expecting to get flammed for my playing style. We all have different playing styles. But it is the way of people to strike down that which they don't like or understand. I'd prefer constructive critisicm, but flames get the point across just as well. It can only mean that you guys really dont like my guide. I'm a reasonable individual and, as I said above, will gladly remove whatever you think needs to be edited from my guide to make it more fitting for the LL. Any opinions on how to do this welcome.

[Archon_Wing]

I don't think anyone here hates you or anything. I was just kidding :P

You can play anyway you like, as long as you do not hack or stuff like that. Diablo is a game after all, and it's silly to hang you just because we disagree with you.

Unforunately, when you post a guide, it is subject to crtitism. If it incurs a lot, then you know something was wrong. Would you want us to not say anything or mumble "Oh good job" and snicker at you? In fact, when writing these kinds of things, you should expect negative feedback, because that's the only way you can get better. You can't take it personally, people attack the guide, not you. (I hope) :)

Here's an example of a guide in which it was evident, that the author did not bother to get polish from other people http://www.diabloii.net/strategy/x-guides/...explodcro.shtml Also note the stunning lack of depth. The author's crappiness was immortalized, and you will notice there is no link to it anymore.

But you see, I don't think it's really a guide. It's like what I said before, it's more like a comprehensive list of items. Mind you, it's a good and through list of items. The problem with this is, if people actualy had access to these items, they wouldn't need a guide after all.

Another thing is that, a "legit" duel would not allow such massive dr/block on a sorc.

Ok, so maybe your post would be a decent comprehensive list for the people that wish to wear to optimal setup.

Another thing is "strategy" While being practialy immune to attacks, you still need to describe to utility of it through the game.

So I'll be honest. A DR sorc is a setup; it's not really a variant or even a character build, because you could use any skill and slap the EQ on.

Maybe this isn't your fault, the guide lacks depth, but honestly there's not meant to say about a DR sorc. So there. Perhaps you can write about another build that is an actual character build rather than just a setup. Cheers.

[ShadowHM]

its with this happy attitude that I buy my items.
I respect your opinion, however, it is still just an opinion.

It may *only* be an opinion, but since it is shared by the vast majority of Lurkers, you had best consider your audience.  Do you really want to join a group that has such diametrically opposed opinions to your own?

This is a web-site for opinions and facts of a game, not of negative criticism and flaming, is it?

This is a private forum, hosted by the genial Bolty, where a group of like-minded people get together to talk about the game we love.  If you barge in and start declaiming that we are wrong at the top of your lungs, you are going to get a negative response.  You have now received the negative response, and it was fairly mild, as we are all fairly mature people. 


  Please cut me some slack.  This is my first guide and I was excited to release it. 

Benjamin Franklin once wrote, in response to a backer who wanted results:  "Results?  Why, I have got a lot of results.  I know at least a thousand things that don't work."

So your first guide failed to excite your audience.  So what?  You have two choices.  Find another audience, or write one that makes *this* audience excited.

Really, if thats what it takes to get a little respect around here, I'll do it.

Respect around here gets earned, and it takes some time and a pattern of quality posts to get it.

I'd prefer constructive criticism, but flames get the point across just as well.  It can only mean that you guys really don't like my guide.  I'm a reasonable individual and, as I said above, will gladly remove whatever you think needs to be edited from my guide to make it more fitting for the LL.  Any opinions on how to do this welcome.

Make it a 'strategy guide' for playing?  Tips on how to play the game are wonderful.  Tactics on how to deal with troublesome situations are always useful.

My suggestion is that you withdraw the guide for the nonce, take it back to your drawing board, and think about your audience here.  Do you really want to fit in with the likes of us, who have shown you we are not impressed with your stated dependence on cheated items?

[SwissMercenary]

Trading for a cheated item is the same as cheating to get the item yourself. Not only that, but it makes the original cheater nice and warm and fuzzy inside...

Please don't tell me that Pindlebot is a better cheat then duping. Cheating is cheating - you sir, are a cheater. An indirect cheater, but not an accidental one.

No, I did not get PKed for a while. Nor did I duel with anyone over level 30.

Seeing as 90% of ITH users don't have brains, I assume that you haven't fought one that does not lack them...

Amplify damage will screw your DR to hell. Insted of taking 1/4 damage, you will take 5/4x the damage.

That is going to do a nice hit to your mana...

Your resists can also be screwed up by, ahem, lower resist, cold mastery, ect. Against a descent cold sorc, your **Invincibility setup** will leave you without energy shield, and no mana to teleport - ripe for the finishing blows. Your guide can stop 90% of the game's attacks. Don't claim you are invulnerable.

Re: Might/Fanat cows:

I believe I was referring to extra fast fanat cursed/extra strong bosses. Rare, but don't claim to be immortal against them.

My point is: This is not the best PKing character. The best PKer is a lvl 25 Ethereal Honor Lance chargeadin. Too deadly for his level.

This is not the best PKK character. The best PKKer is a level 33 amazon with Riphook bow.

This dueler may work against 95% of the dueling population, but some will smack you. Hard.

This is the best all-around PvM character. Is it the funnest? That's my opinion.

However, when you aqquire that kind of stuff, be assured that 90% of it will be cheated. Don't give cheaters more incentive to cheat...

[TheDragoon]

5.) Do nothing. Follow the amazon with the stick that shoots lightning bolts. You'll hear a sound. You gained a level! More closer to 133tness.

This is the funniest line I've read in a while! :lol:

[TheDragoon]

Tuche' I suppose it seems like I'm trying to give the appearance of someone whom is better than everyone else and "knows" it all when in fact, I was merly trying to defend my 'guide' against the claims that, and I quote you here, a "SPECIFIC" type of character could kill me, when in fact I've dueled these types of barbarians before and killed them personally. However, I have not fought everyone on battle.net, now have I? And I know from plenty of experience that there is an antithesis for every character build.

I did not mean that as a personal attack. :) You may very well be good at dueling (and that, at least, is how you carry yourself) and I don't know. My point was that often when guides quote such domination duels, it is because they are talking of dueling someone greatly beneath their own level of PvP skill. These sorts of stories may be decent at getting people excited about the build (though not so much for this forum, I'm afraid) but they don't really educate the public about how the build works. A better story would be one in which you talk of duels that you have lost, but have learned about weaknesses in the build and how to compensate for them! :)

However, much as others have said, this guide of yours seems to cater to a different audience than you'll find on the Lurker Lounge. You might get a more positive response if you took this guide to either the Battle.net forums or to the Diabloii.net Sorceress/PvP forums. As it is, few people here play with that sort of style and many take exception to some of the things you have mentioned (Ebay, PKing, the quest for 1337ness) hence the not-so-warm-and-fuzzy response.