Skills For Cold MF Sorc:
Ice Bolt: 20
Frozen Orb: 20
Cold Mastery: 20
Teleport: 1
Static Field: 1
Warmth: 2
Fireball: 20
Fire Mastery: Everything else
Energy Shield: Some people like to add a few points here, I don't. ES absorbs magic and some physical damage to Mana instead of Life. Sorc's are mana dependent so I don't like it being leeched.
I choose to build around Frozen Orb, it has a 1 second cast delay (compared to Blizzard's 1.8 sec) and I find it easier to direct.
Items with FCR will not decrease cast delay, nothing affects it.
If you decide on Frozen Orb, you will want to build a Cold/Fire or a Cold/Light Sorc.
This will help with killing monsters that are immune to cold. For this build I have picked fire.
Whatever you decide upon, research the skills and bonuses. Choose a skill that will do the most dmg, then focus the build on that skill.
That means only adding to other skills in that catergory that will give you a bonus.
Stats For Blizzard MF Sorc:
Strength: Minimum needed to wear items.
Dexterity: Minimum needed to wear items.
Vitality: ALL OF YOUR SPARE POINTS!
Energy: None.
Equipment For Blizzard MF Sorc:
Weapon: Oculus with Ist (+80% MF). Personally I like Ali Baba with 2 Ists if you can afford it,
(+150% MF) based on lvl 90 char.
Helm: Ptopaz Harlequin Crest (Shako) Helm (+74% MF)
Gloves: Upgraded Chance Guards (+40% MF)
Rings: 2x Nagels (*60% MF)
Boots: War Travelers (+50% MF)
Armor: Ptopazed Upgraded (if you want to spare the 165 str req) Eth Skullder's Ire Armor (+137% MF)based on level 90 char.
Amulet: +3 Cold skills magical ammy will work fine, I happen to have one that also has +30% MF
Belt: Upgraded Goldwrap +30% MF. Upgrade to at least exceptional (88 str req)so you can carry more potions, upgrade to elite if you want to spare the 151 str req.
Shield: Spirit (if you want to spare the 156 str req), Dream and Splendor add 15-25% MF. There's always the option of socketing a Monarch (156 str req).
I use an upgraded Moser's (with 2 Pdiamonds)for the +63 All Res. Personally, I think it depends on what you prefer.
The big debate is always what to socket a shield with.
I think a Pdiamond (19% Res to all) is just as good as an UM (22% Res to all), especially if you can't afford the Um starting out.
There's also the option of cold facet jewels (to add to your cold dmg), and If your char can stay alive an Ist in a shield will add 25%MF.
Charms: One Gheed's charm (you can only carry one).This is a LADDER ONLY item (+20-40% MF), as many 7%mfsc's you can afford. Truthfully I'll keep any mfsc I find in my inventory over 5%.
Annihilus Small Charm, a Sorc Hellfire Torch and Cold GC's.
Basically wear as much +MF% as you can while still being able to kill and stay alive.
I aim for +750% MF, that increases the chance of unique items dropping to 280%.
Above 750% MF your unique drop percentage increase is so small it's not worth the bother.
You would have to have +1150% MF just to get to +300% for uniques.
Mercs For Blizzard MF Sorc:
Merc Class:I prefer Act 2 mercs. I add some MF to my mercs, because if they do the kill, their MF will be added to yours.
I dont add too much, because they are there to help you kill, not increase your MF % lvl.
Adding too much MF will just make it so it takes them forever to kill anything,
and they'll probably just end up getting killed in the process.
Merc Equipment:I basically put as good of equipment on my merc as I can afford/find.
Infinity (+30% MF), Ptopazed Upgraded Eth Skullder's Ire Armor (+137% MF)based on level 90 merc, Ptopazed Upgraded Eth Crown of Thieves (+24% MF)
Where to do MF Runs:
Basic Monster TC Info:
Obviously the higher difficulty you play, the better your chances of good drops.
Do NM runs only if you can't do fast Hell ones with good MF.
Hell Baal has the highest treasure class, meaning he has the best abilitly to drop elite items.
Hell Pindelskin comes in second, for TC 84 and above .
Hell Diablo has equal chance with Hell Baal, for drops of TC 75 and below.
Hell Mephisto cannot drop anything above a TC of 78.
NM Cows chances of dropping anything above a TC of 48, is 1 in 917 (compared to NM Mephisto who has a 1 in 25 chance).
In Hell Cows the percentages get even worse, to me Cows is NOT the place to do MF runs. Although it is a good place to look for soc items.
Runes: The Countess is great for Rune drops in NM and Hell.
She has the highest odds of mid-level runes of any monster in the game. She is capable of dropping up to Vex.
The other good way to get higher level runes is from the NM/Hell Hellforge.
The Hellforge works differently than other rune drops, in that the odds don't decrease as the rune # increases.
Rune drops are not affected by your % of MF.
To learn more about Treasure Class, check out the Related Links page on this Site!