Hydra vs Fireball

understand, but 7:1 ratio only holds true at max res, which you can achieve only with coh, then u lose mf, speed and smoothness of Enigma

with Enigma, my ratio is

fire 2:1
light 3:1
cold 3:1

which isn't that bad

besides, I like the synergies from higher mana pool (Flickering Flame, Spirit, 2x soj), mana regen (26+

Warmth,

Magefist, oculus), and the fact the rejuv potions top up both orbs

vued wrote: 1 week ago

ganseng wrote: 1 week ago

Okay, found this beauty and respecced for the final journey to 99

55 hard points in str, 205 vita, 295 energy

1 point

Frozen Armor, 3

Telekinesis, 1

Teleport, fire tree all the rest. final goal to max

Hydra to lvl 20 at 99

with +3 light

Diadem and+3 light amulet + a couple light skillers get to lvl 24

Energy Shield and 79% dmg red. would be 82% with cta and a perfect Memory

at 26+ total points in

Warmth mana regens kinda fast.

got perfect -15 Flickering Flame, just got perfect -10 sundy, and have a perfect 10/10 jewel in chest.. wonder whether to stick it into my good old ethereal occy?

eschuta will only give a marginal dmg boost and a noticeable survivibility handicap (important on the road to 99!), and i'll prly reitre before i get a perfect 3/3/3/20 orb with 2 sockets.. right?

rogue with Ice helps a lot with cc.. don't feel i need Infinity

and the numbers are bonkers guys.. only disconnect can stop her now (okay i cheated it's with a skiller shrine but still..)

Fireball @51 24.6-26.5k

Hydra @50 5.7-6.3k (i normally say that a single

Hydra is as strong as an

Exploding Arrow zon.. but actually

Hydra is 2x stronger..)

With only 3

Telekinesis ES is not worth it imho. Elemental damage costs you ~7 mana instead of 1 hp.
Going full vita without ES provides better defense than the vita/energy mix.

ganseng wrote: 1 week ago

understand, but 7:1 ratio only holds true at max res, which you can achieve only with coh, then u lose mf, speed and smoothness of Enigma

with Enigma, my ratio is

fire 2:1
light 3:1
cold 3:1

which isn't that bad

besides, I like the synergies from higher mana pool (Flickering Flame, Spirit, 2x soj), mana regen (26+

Warmth,

Magefist, oculus), and the fact the rejuv potions top up both orbs

vued wrote: 1 week ago

ganseng wrote: 1 week ago

Okay, found this beauty and respecced for the final journey to 99

55 hard points in str, 205 vita, 295 energy

1 point

Frozen Armor, 3

Telekinesis, 1

Teleport, fire tree all the rest. final goal to max

Hydra to lvl 20 at 99

with +3 light

Diadem and+3 light amulet + a couple light skillers get to lvl 24

Energy Shield and 79% dmg red. would be 82% with cta and a perfect Memory

at 26+ total points in

Warmth mana regens kinda fast.

got perfect -15 Flickering Flame, just got perfect -10 sundy, and have a perfect 10/10 jewel in chest.. wonder whether to stick it into my good old ethereal occy?

eschuta will only give a marginal dmg boost and a noticeable survivibility handicap (important on the road to 99!), and i'll prly reitre before i get a perfect 3/3/3/20 orb with 2 sockets.. right?

rogue with Ice helps a lot with cc.. don't feel i need Infinity

and the numbers are bonkers guys.. only disconnect can stop her now (okay i cheated it's with a skiller shrine but still..)

Fireball @51 24.6-26.5k

Hydra @50 5.7-6.3k (i normally say that a single

Hydra is as strong as an

Exploding Arrow zon.. but actually

Hydra is 2x stronger..)

With only 3

Telekinesis ES is not worth it imho. Elemental damage costs you ~7 mana instead of 1 hp.
Going full vita without ES provides better defense than the vita/energy mix.

All valid Points
I was in fact assuming max resistance (HC player).

But with all those mana boosting items and regen, you still have to put a lot of points into energy.

My (lvl 96) FB sorc uses neither ES nor

Hydra. I put the left over skills in

Enchant to boost my Merc and occasionally party members.
I might switch to

Hydra or ES. But I wouldn't try to squeeze in both.

after some consideration..

Hydra is indispensable imo in a fire build, even more so on HC, because of its standoff effect and because it doubles your dps against tough targets

And if you max out full fire tree, you have exactly 5 points left

1tk,1tp mandatory, 1 Ice armor conventional Wisdom

i think it's only rational to add the remaining 2 points (3 if you can find a prebuffer with both es and Ice armor) into tk, and use

Energy Shield

my sorc has ~1.4k life and ~2.5k mana after cta; if you tilt it say to 2k/1.5k, and discount the mana by a factor of 7 due to resistances, it's still >200 life or >10% extra, and it regenerates very fast, and gets fully restored together with your life by the rejuv potions

don't presume to recommend anything to HC heroes, but I think it's a clear survivability boost. my sorc only dies to a disconnect or to an exceptional coincidence of my stupidity and her bad luck

PS. Resistances and discount factor on

Energy Shield only apply to the elemental dmg; physical and magic are 1:1 - or even reversed if

Amplify Damage is active?

vued wrote: 1 week ago

ganseng wrote: 1 week ago

understand, but 7:1 ratio only holds true at max res, which you can achieve only with coh, then u lose mf, speed and smoothness of Enigma

with Enigma, my ratio is

fire 2:1
light 3:1
cold 3:1

which isn't that bad

besides, I like the synergies from higher mana pool (Flickering Flame, Spirit, 2x soj), mana regen (26+

Warmth,

Magefist, oculus), and the fact the rejuv potions top up both orbs

vued wrote: 1 week ago

With only 3

Telekinesis ES is not worth it imho. Elemental damage costs you ~7 mana instead of 1 hp.
Going full vita without ES provides better defense than the vita/energy mix.

All valid Points
I was in fact assuming max resistance (HC player).

But with all those mana boosting items and regen, you still have to put a lot of points into energy.

My (lvl 96) FB sorc uses neither ES nor

Hydra. I put the left over skills in

Enchant to boost my Merc and occasionally party members.
I might switch to

Hydra or ES. But I wouldn't try to squeeze in both.

Did some

Herald hunting today, a couple dozen maybe. don't know how it would have been possible without

Hydra and

Energy Shield. excellent firepower, but really missed the safety of the

Valkyrie
a little annoying to recast es every 10 minutes in town but one can live with it
earned some 3% exp on the way to 99
was absent minded towards the end and let t5

Herald brute get close, he almost one shot het, survived with 0 mana and ~200 life. would have died without the shield

hmm just saw a mention of the socketed magic weapon recipe (magic weapon + 3 flawless gems)

is it a viable way to get a 3 fire sk/3 fire mast/3

Fireball/20 fcr/2os Dream orb? what are the odds? shall i reroll the same orb multiple times or each only once? is there an orb type that has the best chances?

nah that would prly not work due to the item level..

however i have a new idea of a yellow orb..

prefixes
archangel's +2 sorc skills
blazing +2 fire skills
artisan's 2 sockets

suffixes
magus 20fcr
wizardry 20 energy
sun +5 light radius, most important

and the orb bonuses
+3

Fireball
+3

Fire Mastery
+3

Hydra

would that be possible?
truly a lifetime achievement...

ganseng wrote: 11 hours ago

hmm just saw a mention of the socketed magic weapon recipe (magic weapon + 3 flawless gems)

is it a viable way to get a 3 fire sk/3 fire mast/3

Fireball/20 fcr/2os Dream orb? what are the odds? shall i reroll the same orb multiple times or each only once? is there an orb type that has the best chances?

Too low ilvl from this recipe (30).
+3 Fire Skills (Volcanic) prefix requires affix level (alvl) 60. So you need either an orb with item level (ilvl) or quality level (qlvl) 59 (due to orbs having magic level 1). The latter can be fulfilled with

Heavenly Stone or higher orb.
However,

Fire Mastery is a tier 6 skill, and it requires ilvl 37.

But you can roll one with

Recipe: Random Magic Item of Same Type, if you use an orb with sufficiently high lvl (and several billions of pgms).

ganseng wrote: 10 hours ago

prefixes
archangel's +2 sorc skills
blazing +2 fire skills

Same affix group - not possible.

thx, that explains why i never saw this combination on a yellow orb..

and a blue orb, can i pick any elite blue item and keep rerolling it until the judgement day?

and by extension, it doesn't make sense to pick up non-elite blue orbs if i'm hunting for a 3/3/3/2/20?

Trang Oul wrote: 10 hours ago

ganseng wrote: 11 hours ago

hmm just saw a mention of the socketed magic weapon recipe (magic weapon + 3 flawless gems)

is it a viable way to get a 3 fire sk/3 fire mast/3

Fireball/20 fcr/2os Dream orb? what are the odds? shall i reroll the same orb multiple times or each only once? is there an orb type that has the best chances?

Too low ilvl from this recipe (30).
+3 Fire Skills (Volcanic) prefix requires affix level (alvl) 60. So you need either an orb with item level (ilvl) or quality level (qlvl) 59 (due to orbs having magic level 1). The latter can be fulfilled with

Heavenly Stone or higher orb.
However,

Fire Mastery is a tier 6 skill, and it requires ilvl 37.

But you can roll one with

Recipe: Random Magic Item of Same Type, if you use an orb with sufficiently high lvl (and several billions of pgms).

ganseng wrote: 10 hours ago

prefixes
archangel's +2 sorc skills
blazing +2 fire skills

Same affix group - not possible.

ganseng wrote: 7 hours ago

and a blue orb, can i pick any elite blue item and keep rerolling it until the judgement day?

As far as I know, yes.

ganseng wrote: 7 hours ago

and by extension, it doesn't make sense to pick up non-elite blue orbs if i'm hunting for a 3/3/3/2/20?

Only elite. The highest qlvl of any exceptional orb is 50 (i.e., too low for this purpose).

EDIT: my answer was based on the assumption that the question was about using flawless gems, which sets the output ilvl = 30, not

Perfect Gems (if using

Perfect Gems then you can use any orb, as long as it has high enough ilvl)

ShadowHeart wrote: 6 hours ago

ganseng wrote: 7 hours ago

and by extension, it doesn't make sense to pick up non-elite blue orbs if i'm hunting for a 3/3/3/2/20?

Only elite. The highest qlvl of any exceptional orb is 50 (i.e., too low for this purpose).

Why only elite? If the ilvl is high enough (such as dropped from Hell TZs), normal and exceptional orbs are also eligible.
https://www.theamazonbasin.com/wiki/ind ... el_formula
https://www.purediablo.com/diablo-2/ite ... _selection

Trang Oul wrote: 5 hours ago

Why only elite? If the ilvl is high enough (such as dropped from Hell TZs), normal and exceptional orbs are also eligible.

I assumed we were talking about the Recipe: Socketed Magic Weapon ilvl 30 using flawless gems, which sets ilvl = 30, meaning only elite items have high enough qlvl to enable the desired affixes.

If we're talking about Recipe: Random Magic Item of Same Type (with perfect gems), then yes, of course any orb works as long as the ilvl is high enough.

Sorry.

thanks.. i'm still not certain i understood it correctly. say, i pick up an elite blue orb in tz 90+. then i can reroll it indefinitely with flawless gems, and theoretically get the desired 3/3/3/2/20. and it's the most rational way, since flawless gems are 3x more abundant, you don't need to cube them, and you spare the visit to

Larzuk. correct?

ShadowHeart wrote: 5 hours ago

I assumed we were talking about the Recipe: Socketed Magic Weapon ilvl 30 using flawless gems, which sets ilvl = 30, meaning only elite items have high enough qlvl to enable the desired affixes.

If I read the online sources (1, 2) correctly, staffmods explicitly require ilvl, not qlvl. So, for

Fire Mastery, a tier 6 skill, you'd need ilvl 37, higher than the recipe with flawless gems.

This recipe is from Classic, and like similar old recipes, it seems to be suitable for leveling only, not for endgame gear. I'd pretend it doesn't exist.

thanks.. no luck improving 1 in n billion chance by 3x then

and a little off topic, what is the best possible + fire dmg roll on a skiller? i guess i have one fletcher's with 1-2 fire dmg (thx for nothing). if it rolled 9-20 would be an alternative to vita for an enchantress or

Exploding Arrow zon?

Trang Oul wrote: 4 hours ago

ShadowHeart wrote: 5 hours ago

I assumed we were talking about the Recipe: Socketed Magic Weapon ilvl 30 using flawless gems, which sets ilvl = 30, meaning only elite items have high enough qlvl to enable the desired affixes.

If I read the online sources (1, 2) correctly, staffmods explicitly require ilvl, not qlvl. So, for

Fire Mastery, a tier 6 skill, you'd need ilvl 37, higher than the recipe with flawless gems.

This recipe is from Classic, and like similar old recipes, it seems to be suitable for leveling only, not for endgame gear. I'd pretend it doesn't exist.

For the properties (+3 to random skill) you need the iLvl. But for affixes (20 fcr, +3 to tree skills) on this item, the quality level can have an impact, as described here: https://diablo2resurgence.fandom.com/wiki/Affixes

That means, when using cube recipes on elite items, you can get better a better pre- and suffix. But qLvl does not effect the properties ("1-3 to random skill") afaik.