TABLE OF CONTENTS
Hybrid Sorc Build Introduction
The hybrid sorc is one of the most popular and efficient builds in D2. It’s a great ladder starter, can effectively farm any area even in budget gear, deals a great amount of single target and area damage, can have very high magic find % while still dealing decent damage and can also achieve very fast casting speeds and teleport, so it really is a jack of all trades. Hybrid sorcs are usually Cold Skill + Fire skill or Cold Skill+ Lightning Skill variants. Frozen Orb is a cornerstone skill in both builds, as it deals a great amount of damage and has only one synergy skill. The most common type of hybrid is a combination of Frozen Orb with Lightning/Chain Lightning, or Frozen Orb with Meteor. However you can also efficiently combine Frozen Orb with Fire Wall or Hydra.
You can also use Glacial Spike to Freeze targets, which comes handy in many situation. Your are damage and single target damage will both be amazing. Baal and Chaos runs will be doable in 3-4 minutes, and you will be able to deal with Uber Diablo, however you will have difficulties at Uber Tristram. As with all sorceress build, the downside is it’s fragility, and because of that i do not suggest it for Hardcore unless you are very skilled at teleporting away from Mobs.
Pros and Cons
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Pros
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Cons
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Suggestions
Playing solo: You can solo the entire game, as you will deal damage from two different elemental damage skills. In case you face a dual immune monster, you can still tele-stomp it and let your mercenary kill it via physical damage.
Playing in a party: In parties, members can take advantage of your fast teleporting ability to reach bosses quickly. The build is capable of dealing an insane amount of damage in parties, and others can help protect you in difficult situation. Having a paladin with Conviction aura or a necromancer with the Lower resist curse can greatly increase your damage output. Survival can be boosted by many ways, including Paladins with Defensive Auras, a Barbarian with high level of Battle Orders and Shout skills, a Druid with high Oak Sage, or several of the Necromancer Curses. In case there is a summonmancer in your party, his summons can protect you against any harm.
Survivability, Hardcore: On Hell difficulty, in high-end gear the build can achieve 75 all resistances, 3k+ life (With Call to Arm’s Battle Orders), 4k+ defense (via Shiver Armor), 1k+ mana, 70%+ damage reduction via Energy Shield and around 50% block rate. In case you want to avoid being frozen, use a Raven frost ring. Make sure to use teleport so you don’t end up in the middle of a monster mob, and use Glacial Spike in case you want to freeze your enemy. In addition you can wear physical damage reduction items and elemental damage absorption items to further boost your survivability.
Damage output: Frozen Orb deals a great amount of area and single target damage. Against bosses you should use Static Field to quickly lower their life, then switch to Frozen orb or your hybrid attacking skill.
Where to farm: Any area can be farmed, as immunes will not be an issue. The build is ideal for Boss runs such as Mephisto or Andariel, but you will be able to efficiently farm high density areas like the Cow level. If you plan to do Baal and Chaos runs, it’s best to do it in a party with other players.
Magic Find: Hybrid sorcs are amongst the best builds for magic find. They have super fast movement speed with teleport and high damage output even in budget gear. They are probably the best choice for MFing at a new ladder season. In high-end gear it will have similar performance to hammerdins.
Budget: The build can work very effectively on a tight budget. Top-tier gear will be quite expensive.
Mana/Life: You will need good mana regeneration as Blizzard’s mana cost is quite high. Put a skill point on Warmth, and always have mana or rejuvenation potions ready in your belt so you never run out. If you don’t want to bother with potions, you can have an act2 merc additionally with an Insight runeword equipped. For life, rejuvenation potions can solve the issue. In case you want to have an Infinity Merc, you can use Metalgrid as your amulet and cast an Iron Golem from Insight to gain it’s meditation aura. Wearing a Phoenix shield can also solve your life and mana issues as you will gain Redemption aura.
Movement/Mobility: Use teleportation. Reaching the 63% FCR or 105% FCR breakpoints are great for quick teleport re-casting. Reaching the 200% FCR breakpoint is doable in high-end gear at the expense of some damage.
Ubers: You will be able to deal with Uber Diablo if your gear is decent, but Uber Tristram will cause trouble.
Mercenary: Use Normal Act2 Combat or Defensive Merc for increased mana recovery via Prayer, or increased defense via the Defiance aura.
Leveling
Skills: Put a skill point on Warmth, as this will help a lot with your mana recovery. On your Lightning skill tree, put a point on Charged Bolt, Telekinesis, Lightning, Chain Lightning, Teleport and Energy Shield once they become available. Keep Energy Shield up at all times. Use Teleport for movement. For attacking purposes, use Ice Bolt, Ice Blast and Glacial Spike and Blizzard as you progress, then switch to Frozen Orb. When Cold Mastery is available, put a point on it as well. For defensive reasons, put a skill point on Frozen Armor, and later on put one on Shiver Armor, which should also be used at all times. Once you maxed out Frozen Orb, start putting points on your preferred hybrid attacking skill and its synergies.
Stats: Have enough strength and dexterity to be able to wear useful gear. Put all the remaining stat points on Vitality.
Breakpoints
Check out the Sorceress breakpoints at the Breakpoints guide.
Aim for at least 105% FCR. In case you wear a Stormshield, putting a Shael rune in it can help you reach the 48% FBR breakpoint. Having some Faster Hit Recovery on your charms and gear will also help your survivability, but generally try to avoid enemy monsters by teleporting far from them.
Skills and Stats
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Cold Spells |
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Lightning spells |
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Fire Spells |
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Stat points:You should have enough Strength and Dexterity to be able to wear your gear. In addition, Dexterity can help you with your block chance, however you should rely on Teleport if any monster gets near your.
Hybrid skills
Maxed Frozen Orb damage: In case you put 20 points on Frozen Orb, Ice Bolt and Cold Mastery to max out cold damage, you will only be left with about 40 skill points to spare. Lightning spells won’t be effective enough with just 40 points on them, so i suggest using a Fire Wall or Hydra hybrid with maxed Fire Mastery.
Lightning Hybrid: If you only put one point on Cold Mastery and Ice Bolt, you will be left with about 80 skill points to spare. This allows you to max out Lightning, Chain Lightning, Lightning Mastery and one more synergy. I suggest putting a point on Thunder Storm as well, as it provides some extra damage.
Meteor Hybrid: If you only put one point on Cold Mastery and Ice Bolt, you will be left with about 80 skill points to spare. You should max out Meteor, Fire Mastery, Fire Bolt and Fire Ball.
Hydra Hybrid: If you only put one point on Cold Mastery and Ice Bolt, you will be left with about 80 skill points to spare. You should max out Hydra, Fire Mastery, Fire Bolt and Fire Ball.
Fire Wall Hybrid: In case you go with a Fire Wall hybrid, you should max out Fire Wall, Warmth and Fire Mastery. A maxed Warmth will greatly boost your mana recovery, and you will have 20 skill points to spare for Ice Bolt and Cold Mastery.
Item setups
Ladder starter setup
◆ Cost-effective build to start out at a new ladder season ◆
Helm: Lore / Peasant Crown / Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest
Amu: Any amulet with +skill ot + Faster Casting Rate
Weapon: Spirit / Wizardspike
Switch Weapon: none
Shield: Spirit
Switch Shield: none
Body Armor: Stealth / Vipermagi
Belt: Tal Rasha’s Belt / Trang Oul’s belt / Nightsmoke / Crafted Caster Belt
Rings: Any ring with 10% FCR and other useful stats like allresist, life, magic find, etc.
Gloves: Magefist / Trang Oul’s gloves / Frostburn
Boots: 30% FRW boots with additional resist/resists
Charms: Any charm with +skill, life, mana, resist or FHR will help
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Tal Rasha’s helm
Body Armor: Treachery (Eth bugged armor base preferred)
Weapon: Insight in an elite two-handed ethereal Polearm
Tal Rasha setup
◆ Cost-effective build to progress at a new ladder season ◆
Helm: Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest
Amu: Tal Rasha’s Adjudication
Weapon: Tal Rasha’s Lidless Eye
Switch Weapon: none
Shield: Spirit
Switch Shield: none
Body Armor: Tal Rasha’s Guardianship
Belt: Tal Rasha’s Fine Spun Cloth
Rings: 2*Stone of Jordan / 10% FCR with other useful stats
Gloves: Magefist / Trang Oul’s gloves
Boots: War traveler / Waterwalk / Sandstorm trek / Rare 30% frw +multiple resists or FHR boots
Charms: Annihilus, Hellfire torch, Gheed’s Fortune, Magic +Skills grand charms for your preferred attacking skill, life, mana, resist or FHR small charms.
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest (Ethereal base, socketed with Um rune is preferred)
Body Armor: Treachery (Eth bugged armor base preferred)
Weapon: Insight in an elite two-handed ethereal Polearm / Eth The Reaper’s Toll
Beginner setup
◆ Decent dps and clear speed, one of the best overall builds ◆
Helm: Harlequin Crest Shako (Socket it with Um rune)
Amu: Mara’s Kaleidoscope
Weapon: Spirit Sword / Wizardspike / The Oculus / Heart of the Oak Flail / Eschutha’s Temper
Switch Weapon: Call to Arms
Shield: Spirit
Switch Shield: Spirit
Body Armor: Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud or Archon plate / Vipermagi (Upgrade it if you have enough strength) / Ormus’s Robe (preferably with +3 to your main attacking skill)
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Rings: 2*Stone of Jordan / Bul Katho’s rings / Rare rings (10% faster cast rate, possibly with life and resists) / Raven Frost
Gloves: Magefist (Upgrade it if you have enough strength)
Boots: Sandstorm Trek / War Traveler / Waterwalk (Upgrade them if you have enough Strength) / Rare 30% frw +multiple resists or FHR boots
Charms: Annihilus, Hellfire torch, Magic Grand Charms (+1 to skills of your preferred attacking spell), Magic Small Charms (with +all resistances, or +life)
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Andariel’s Visage / Guillaume’s Face / Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest / Vampire Gaze (Ethereal bases, socketed with Um rune are preferred)
Body Armor: Treachery (Eth bugged armor base preferred)
Weapon: Ethereal Insight in an elite two-handed ethereal Polearm (preferably Cryptic Axe) / Eth The Reaper’s Toll
Advanced setup
◆ Decent dps and clear speed, one of the best overall builds ◆
Helm: Nightwing’s Veil / Griffon’s Eye / Harlequin Crest Shako (Socket it with +5/-5 Facet)
Amu: Mara’s Kaleidoscope
Weapon: Death’s Fathom (Socket it with +5/-5 Cold Facet) / The Oculus / Heart of the Oak Flail / Eschutha’s Temper
Switch Weapon: Call to Arms with 6 to Battle Orders and 6 to Battle Command
Shield: Spirit with 35% Faster Cast Rate
Switch Shield: Spirit
Body Armor: Ormus’s Robe with +3 to your preferred skill (Socket it with +5/-5 Facet)
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Rings: 2*Stone of Jordan or 2*Rare ring (10% Faster Cast Rate, life, mana, resists)
Gloves: Upgraded Magefist
Boots: Ethereal Sandstorm Trek / War Traveler / Waterwalk (Upgrade them if you have enough Strength) / Rare 30% frw +multiple resists or FHR boots
Charms: Annihilus, Hellfire torch, 9*Magic Grand Charms (+1 to your preferred skill, +life), 10*Magic Small Charms (+ to all resists, +to life)
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Andariel’s Visage / Guillaume’s Face / Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest / Vampire Gaze (Ethereal bases, socketed with Um rune are preferred)
Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude Runeword in an eth bugged body armor / Ethereal Treachery Runeword in an eth bugged body armor
Weapon: Ethereal Infinity in an elite two-handed Polearm (preferably Cryptic Axe) / Eth The Reaper’s Toll
Top tier setup with 200% FCR
Helm: Griffon’s Eye / Rare Circlet with 2 Sorc Skills, 20 FCR, 2 socket and additional useful stats (Socket with 5/-5 Facets)
Amu: Crafted Caster’s Amulet (+2 to sorc skills, 20% FCR, + all resistances, life)
Weapon: Heart of the Oak Flail / Eschutha’s Temper (Socket with 5/-5 Facets)
Switch Weapon: Call to Arms with 6 to Battle Orders and 6 to Battle Command
Shield: Spirit Runeword with 35% Faster Cast Rate
Switch Shield: Spirit
Body Armor: Ormus’s Robe with +3 to preferred skill (Socket it with +5/-5 Facet) / Vipermagi
Belt: Arachnid Mesh
Rings: 2*Rare ring (10% Faster Cast Rate, life, mana, resists) / 2*Stone of Jordan
Gloves: Upgraded Magefist
Boots: Ethereal Sandstorm Trek / Rare 30% frw +multiple resists or FHR boots
Charms: Annihilus, Hellfire torch, 9*Magic Grand Charms (+1 to preferred skills and +life), Magic Small Charms (with +all resistances, +mana or +life)
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Andariel’s Visage / Guillaume’s Face / Tal Rasha’s Horadric Crest / Vampire Gaze (Ethereal bases, socketed with Um rune are preferred)
Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude Runeword in an eth bugged body armor
Weapon: Ethereal Infinity in an elite two-handed Polearm (preferably Cryptic Axe)
Insane Magic find setup
Helm: Harlequin Crest Shako (Socket it with Ist rune)
Amu: Magic amulet with 40-50% Magic Find
Weapon: Spirit Sword / Wizardspike / The Oculus / Heart of the Oak Flail
Switch Weapon: 6*Ist socketed Crystal Sword
Shield: Spirit Runeword with 35% Faster Cast Rate
Switch Shield: 4*Ist socketed Monarch
Body Armor: Skullder’s Ire socketed with Ist rune
Belt: Upgraded Goldwrap
Rings: 2*Nagelring / Magic rings with 30%+ MF
Gloves: Upgraded Chance Guard’s
Boots: Upgraded War Traveler
Charms: Annihilus, Hellfire torch, Gheed’s Fortune, Small Charms with 7% Magic find (and also @all resistances if possible)
Mercenary Type: Normal Difficulty, From Act 2, Combat or Defensive (Prayer / Defiance Aura)
Helm: Andariel’s Visage socketed with Ist rune, or Guillaume’s Face with Ist rune
Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude Runeword in an eth bugged body armor / Ethereal Treachery in an eth bugged body armor
Weapon: Ethereal Infinity / Ethereal Insight in an elite two-handed ethereal Polearm (preferably Cryptic Axe) / Eth The Reaper’s Toll
