It feels like passing up the opportunity to play a magician in a fantasy game like Diablo 2: Resurrected is a missed opportunity. Swords and shields exist. Bows and arrows exist. But magic? When else can a person feel like a wizard or see sorcery come to life?
An amateur player will enjoy seeing magic's power firsthand for an act or two before getting clobbered. That's when Diablo 2: Resurrected dials up the difficulty and throws monsters with magic resistance and immunity at the player. Don't worry, the sorceress still works well, it just takes a special build to maximize her talents.
Skills
Frozen Armor | 1 |
Warmth | 1 |
Static Field | 1 |
Telekinesis | 1 |
Teleport | 1 |
Energy Shield | 5 |
Nova | 20 |
Charged Bolt | 20 |
Lightning | 20 |
Chain Lightning | 20 |
Lightning Mastery | 20 |
The reason so many players flock to this build is that it is the fastest farmer of high-level content in the game. To do that, it involves using some of the best endgame skills around. The lightning skills help each other through synergy bonuses, which is nice, and, unlike other classes that build around one skill, all of them will come into use and overlap with one another.
Our friends over at Icy Veins have a skill calculator (as seen here) for those who would like to customize the skills for themselves!
Attributes
Strength | 156 |
Dexterity | Until hitting a 75% block chance |
Vitality | None |
Energy | All the rest |
Getting to 156 strength is required for equipping the Monarch shield base for the Spirit Runeword. Energy Shield does not reduce magic damage but it will account for blocks, so getting the dexterity up to that 75% maximum block chance is important for survivability. Even though Energy Shield only has five skill points, charms and equipment will end up boosting this number to the point where only energy matters, vitality just comes along for the ride.
Equipment
Weapon | Eschuta's Temper |
Offhand | Spirit |
Head | Chains of Honor |
Body | Griffon's Eye |
Hands | Magefist |
Feet | Sandstorm Treks |
Waist | Arachnid Mesh |
Neck | Mara's Kaleidoscope |
Finger 1 | The Stone of Jordan |
Finger 2 | Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band |
Unique Charms | Gheed's Fortune, Hellfire Torch, Annihilus |
Grand Charms | Sparkling Grand Charms of Storms |
Small Charms | Shocking Small Charms of Storms |
Unsurprisingly, some of the best Runewords in the game are listed here as the Sorceress makes good use of them. Eschuta's Temper is a weapon designed entirely for this build and since it only takes up one hand, it's the default weapon. Enigma is usually a no-brainer except for the Sorceress who already has Teleport, so feel free to get the Chains of Honor for more damage. Again, due to the Energy Shield, no magic resistance is needed, so stack up even more lightning damage with charms.
Mercenary
Mercenary | Act 2 Defensive Desert Mercenary |
Weapon | Infinity |
Head | Andariel's Visage |
Body | Fortitude |
There are few classes that can take advantage of the Desert Mercenary like the Lightning Sorceress. When equipped with the Infinity Runeword, the character gains two auras, one that reduces enemy resistances and another that slows and freezes opponents. The damage of this build is designed to be fast and it does just that; most enemies will die before the mercenary gets a swing in, so have him act as a support instead of a primary damage dealer.
Diablo 2: Resurrected was released on September 23rd, 2021, and is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.