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Jaakko Raipala <raipala@pcu.helsinki.fi>, in a display of leetness, fell down
the stairs, tripped over an urn, and then threw a cracked sash at Baal...
>> Take your pick... Blizzard, Meteor, Firewall, Fireball, or Frozen Orb. The
>> last one seems quite underrated as a Meph killer, but with a high cold
>> mastery, Hell Mephisto drops in seconds. I can't comment on the use of
>
>Yes. High Cold Mastery is the key. (Not too high, as points above the
>point where it reaches 100 % are apparently wasted. But high.)
For Mephisto, points above -100% are not a waste, since he has 75% cold
resistance in Hell. In fact, there's is a strong case for MAXING cold
mastery for a sorceress running Mephisto.
>(BTW FO damage on Meph varies depending on the distance you fire it
>from, so people who have never played sorcs should experiment on that.)
Exactly!
>> On a better connection, hitting the third-to-last or preferably
>> second-to-last cast speed breakpoint will usually allow you to teleport
>> past the monsters without them getting much of a chance to swing at you (a
>> holy freeze mercenary will help there, depending your connection/ability
>> to do this in general),
>
>A Defiance mercenary also helps. A lot of people write off defense for
>a sorc, but it really does help (unless you're far below the monsters'
>level; level makes a huge difference for chars without blocking). When
>the monsters have a 90 % chance to hit you, you're instantly screwed
>if you ever get close to a pack (like when teleporting), but you can
>take that chance much lower with a bit of defense. Most of the best
>sorc gear out there does have some def, especially if you upgrade all
>the normal/exceptional stuff that won't take too much strength as
>exceptional/elite, and the sorceress actually has a skill to boost
>defense unlike even some melee chars. (Not that I'd recommend pumping
>the skill beyond 1 point and +skill items.)
>IMHO Holy Freeze is a bit of a waste, if you use cold spells. Sure, it
>also chills a few monsters that the cold spells don't, so it's not a
>total waste, but that's really a minor benefit and won't really help
>at all against Mephisto.
Certainly. I've always been a big fan of having holy freeze AND cold damage
on a sorceress, since the effects stack, and I like to play quite defensively
given my connection. But that's also as much a stylistic matter as well.
>> which will render blocking largely unnecessary, in which case, go base
>> dexterity and use the saved points to pump up vitality, or energy.
>Nooooo! No energy. Use Insight.
Well, I'm a HUGE fan of Insight myself, but not everyone likes to rely on it,
and might prefer to use a nice big damage crushing blow stick on their
mercenary instead. Also, there is much variation depending on gear,
especially at this point on the ladder.
>> 3C) For a non-block sorcereress not using the moat trick, life tap Mephisto,
>> then let your merc (hopefully) tank Mephisto while you finish him off.
>
>For tanking him, what really seems to matter is the merc's level (that
>Life Tap is a good idea for compensating a low level, though). My
>ladder sorc is now 90 and Mephisto usually can't kill the merc (who is
>currently wearing Insight in an eth colossus voulge, Tal's mask and
>Gladiator's Bane, so hardly any godly stuff) before I kill him.
Definitely!
It's interesting that you mention mercs and their ability to tank Mephisto.
My current ladder girl either uses the moat trick or simply tanks Mephisto
herself, as the mercenary is only level 87 and has no damage reduction items
on, so even with Life Tap on him, he has to be thrown a lot of potions to
live. Currently, it's much easier to simply run without him (this is SC,
though), until I can buff him up some more. By contrast, the mercenary of my
season 2 main magic finder would survive just fine.
Good thread.
--
USWest SCL: 80 barb, 87 necro, 87 paladin, 87 sorceress.
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