EnergyShield Blizz sorc's (or ESBlizz's) at LLD play very similary to those at HLD - i.e. edge of screen namelock Blizz, hard to catch, and for LLD - Very mana Intensive. They have a good learning curve and funnily enough the main idea is "dont get hit". The Mechanic for Blizzard is similar to FoH (which is probably why everyone also hates to play vs Blizz haha) but it has area of affect which allows you to both namelock cast and just area cast.
Currently in D2r all LLD sorc's have one very hard anti-class (just like almost everything else at LLD) : The Assassin class (Dragonflights increased range, auto hit and High Open Words) & Mindblast and/or Wake of Fire stunlock. These points, as well as the fact that WSG has been removed from the game make it much harder to escape from certain attacks).
The critical issue of EsBlizz at LLD is the massive drain to mana when hit. it is for this reason you need a massive mana pool (obviously best if you dont get hit!). As noted in the previous guide ~ ES acts as if it has zero resists. also, without points into telekinesis, es takes 2x damage you would expect. so high elemental damage skills (fb, lightning, cs zons, etc) can drain your mana very quickly. however its a life-saver vs physical, magic, or weak elemental attacks. especially vs other cold sorcs, since ES isnt affected by the -res of mastery.
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Break Points:
FCR 105%
FHR 86%
While Blizzard has a time delay, you want 105% FCR to move about freely.
You are also looking to have 600~900Life and 1800~2500Mana
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Stat Placement:
Strength - Enough for gear (50~60).
Dex - Enough for maxblock (90).
Vit - None
Energy - The rest
Hell Rushed, all stat/skill quests completed.
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Gear:
You are looking to get the required breakpoints as outlined above. There is little or no need to have stash gear and there are very few alternate gear choices. The build, like most lld builds, is quite "clean" in this regard.
PSkulls are recommended when you are starting out, and for pubs, noting the repl life and repl mana does wonders for the build. In tournaments we limit the total allowable replenish life, which is why as you attain trophy items (with inherrent replenish life) you should consider putting IMBA jewels in Circlet & Viper (6str / 9dex / 8life(or damage to mana / 15 Mana would be perfect in this regard).
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Circlet
1. Rare Circlet 2 Cold 20FCR +
Starter: 2 Cold 20 FCR 2sox
Intermediate: Aim for one with Mana or FRW, Like: 2 Cold 20 FCR 80 Mana or 2 Cold 20 FCR 30 FRW
End Goal: 2 Cold 20 FCR 30 FRW 60 Life 90 Mana + Adds (2 Sox / Repl / Dex )
Sox with Pskulls or IMBA Jewels
In terms of FRW, this is the one element of Sorc that benefits the most from FRW from Circlet. Light Sorc's dont need as much FRW, Fire Sorc's like FRW on Circlet and the general concensus is that Cold Sorcs need FRW. [ broadly, you want FRW on any LLD Sorc build ok, I am just outlining its more needed here as with your mana pool you want to try to conserve mana consumption wherever possible ].
Amulet:
1. Rare Amulet 2Cold 10fcr +
Starter: 2 Cold 10 FCR 70 + Mana
Intermediate: 2 Cold 10 FCR Str/Dex/Repl 70 + Mana
End Goal: 2 Cold 10 FCR 60 Life 10 Replenish Life 90 Mana
Weapon(s):
1. Spirit Crystal Sword. The standard Weapon is a Spirit Crystal(most preferred base), Long Sword or BroadSword. Eth for Style. Perfect Spirit is 35 FCR 112 Mana and 8 Absorb.
Orbs ~
The problem with Orbs is that you lose breakpoints, and they need to be very very good to beat spirit, and even then spirit is probably better in pubs noting opponents will just go crazy cold stack vs you. A useful point - At high levels its impossible to beat Deaths Fathom, which means you are not competing vs the world for such orbs. Also, in tournaments where there is a limit on Cold Stack, an Orb will in certain matchups be a viable alternative to Spirit.
In terms of Spirit ~
The best place to find a 4 socket Crystal Sword, Long Sword or Broad Sword is Nightmare Cow Level. it will either drop 4 sox, or you can Larzuk for 4 sox (if you find them elsewhere they might roll less sox or more).
Otherwise simply use JSP to buy one. In terms of rolling Spirits, its also very time consuming to roll a 35/112mana so again, so when starting out just aim for 35% FCR. If you can get one relatively cheap from JSP, do that.
Shield:
1. Visceratuant (Visc) – You dont need to socket the one on switch with anything fancy but the one on the Spirit side would ideally have the following jewel: 6 str 9 dex 8Life (or Damage to Mana Mod) and 15 mana. Intermediate Jewels would be 9 Dex 20 mana or 9 Dex 15 All Res or 9 dex 30 Cold Res.
Switch:
Switch is where you acquire your Energy Shield
Starter: Staff with +ES
Intermediate: Visc + Orb with +3ES
End Goal: Visc + Orb with 2Lightning Skills 3ES +Cold/Shiver armor
Armour:
1. Vipermagi. Pskulled
Switch to IMBA jewels if you get replenish life elsewhere.
Gloves:
1. Eth Frostburns
Getting an Eth pair of Frostburns means you save 10 stat points. We are ES build, we want as much + % mana as we can get.
Plain Frostburns work as well of course (highest str requirement item of build, at 60).
Rings:
1. 2 Stones of Jordan
Belt:
1. Crafted Belt: Crafted 10 fcr/24 fhr belt.
A perfect belt would be 10 FCR 24 20 Life 20 mana / 10 FCR 24 FHR 40 mana / 10 FCR 24 FHR 5Repl Life 20 Mana {you can only get so many mods on a craft at this level ok}
There are various ways to craft LLD caster belts ~
Option 1:
Where to buy magic light belts: Charsi (Nightmare), Gheed (Nightmare), Elzix (Nightmare)
What char lvl we need: For both crafting and buying belts we need character level 29
This is the best way to get a Life and Mana roll on the belt.
Option 2:
Where to buy magic sharkskin belts: Elzix (Nightmare)
What char lvl we need: Shop at level 71, Craft at Level 1 (roughly 1/90 chance of a 10/24 for lvl 30)
This looks to be one of the best ways to get replenish life on the belt.
Boots:
1. Rare 30FRW / 10FHR 20 Mana
2. Craft Mana Boots 10FRW / 10FHR 20 Mana 5% max mana
3. Craft Repl Boots 10FRW / 10FHR / 10 Repl
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Invent:
1. x40 15 Life 12 mana small charms
2. 25 Life 45 Mana Grand Charms
Most players start out with 15Life plain small cahrms and LIfe/Mana Grand Charms and then move to sc's 15/10's & 15/11's before finally getting their complete invent of x40 15/12's.
If your Belt is only 17FHR you can use sc's with FHR to make up the difference to get to 86 FHR.
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Skills:
1 into Warmth
1 into Teleport
1 into Cold mastery
7 into Blizzard
20 into Ice Blast
the rest into Ice Bolt
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Congratulations! You have made a cookie cutter LLD ES Blizz Sorc. Without 2000+ mana (you can get 2500+ with itemlame gear) this may feel a bit clunky at first.
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I have purposesly not added a strategy section to this guide noting its too early in the life of D2r to provide a comprehensive strategy section.
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I or someone else will/can update this accordingly in the future in the event that new gear (runeword/other) become available. Kudos most especially to Sxtitan and everyone that has contributed both to the previous guide & the build over the years. Kudos also to kukiFBK for the crafting handbook. If I missed anything let me know and I can add on repost.
