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^*+_|       Diablo II Expansion: Lord of Destruction -  Sorceress Guide v1.00      |^*+_
^*+_|              made by ^Vercingetorix^ [vercingetorix@chatpr.com]              |^*+_
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                                                                                (c) 2001  
ICQ: 6932815
mIRC: Vincitori (on DalNET)

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VERSION INFO AT THE END (***)
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I have always been a HUGE fan of magic-users so choosing the sorceress to begin my quest
through Sanctuary was not much of a surprise.  (Just who cares if Blizzard says that she
is one of the hardest characters to handle along with the necromancer? - I sure don't; I
came to regret my decision MUCH later.)  The sorceress is, in my opinion the hardest one
to play, since she is COMPLETELY dependent on her skills. You must be fully aware of the
full extent of each skill before you begin to add points.  Picking skills simply because
they "sound nice" or "look cool" is a surefire way of getting your derire disconfigured
by the final bosses of each act.  I have made this FAQ simply because I felt that my own
strategy of gameplay has made the game run quite smoothly (to my advantage of course). I
have no intention of detailing EVERY single step I took to reach my current level - that
will take too long, and frankly I don't remember at what level I added what point where.
What I WILL do is give you the reasoning I used to add attribute and skill points, along
with some useful tips to get through tough spots.

One more thing,  this guide takes into account the changes that the Diablo II Expansion:
Lord of Destruction has made to the original game. My approach may be somewhat different
if you are simply playing the ORIGINAL game.  Be warned!!!  Other than that, enjoy and I
hope you will find this useful.

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                         I N   T H E   B E G I N N I N G ...
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The Sorceress starts out with roughly two times as much mana as she has life.   This has
some serious implications.  Because of the fact that there are NO set limits to how many
point you can distribute to each attribute,  the Sorceress has the potential of boasting
the most Mana of any of the seven characters.


ATTRIBUTE POINTS


(Note: I like nice even numbers, so I always add the full five points for leveling up to
       only one attribute per level - this has NO influence on the bonuses that apply to
       that attribute, it's just pure aesthetics.) 


STRENGTH

The first thing I recommend is to begin to add points to strength - just enough to equip
a chain mail later. This might mean the first four or five levels (about 20 - 25 points)
you need to be comfortable. Right now it is simply IMPOSSIBLE to depend on your Mana for
a steady source of fuel for your skills; it wears out too fast now.  

DEXTERITY

The next thing to worry about is dexterity --> it comes in handy to increase your attack
rating against the later monsters in Act I.   You bash them while your mana regenerates.
Just don't add too many points, it's a waste later. (At the moment my Dexterity is at 40
and I'm at Level 45 (as of August 27, 2001), and I don't regret my decision.)  

VITALITY  (1 point = +1 Life, +2 Stamina;  +1 Life, +2 Stamina upon Level-up)

Vitality and Energy should be raised according to your style of gameplay.    If you feel
that the hits you receive take too much of your life - 1/3 to 1/2 - add to Vitality.  If
not, add to Energy for more mana.   Vitality adds only one point to your life and two to
your stamina, so you might need to use up a few levels to significantly increase your HP
and survive more blows.  Regardless of how huch life you have, it is ESSENTIAL you learn
how to dodge ranged attacks and avoid melee combat unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. You just
won't do too much damage - at least when compared to a Barbarian or Paladin. Keep to the
magic attacks.  

ENERGY  (1 point = +2 Mana;  +2 Mana upon Level-up)

Whenever you are unsure as to where to add your next attribute points,  just add them to
energy.  You'd be surprised at the result.   Each point added increases two mana points,
which is the highest rate in the game.  The Necromancer also has the same rate of growth
but since the Sorceress starts off with MORE mana,  she has the greatest potential stock 
of mana in the game (Thus proving my earlier point - yesyes, thank you, no applauses are
necessary - but they are noted ^_^)    Well, anyways *ahem*, with this in mind, by level
30 or so, you will have piled up enough mana to cast a barrage of spells without needing
to wait and regenerate more.  What's more: since mana regeneration is a percentage-based
ability that ALL characters have, the more mana you have, the more regenerates.  What is
higher: 10% of 100 Mana or 10% of 500 Mana?  The rate of regeneration is the same but in
the second case you regenerate about 50 Mana every few seconds,  which is enough to cast
all the fireballs or glacial spikes you want.  


SKILL POINTS


What is important to remember here is that skill points are few and PERMANENT.  The best
Sorceress skills are obtained at later levels (Level 24+).   Which means that you should
hoard those points as if your life depended on it! - since it just might at nightmare or
hell difficulties.  Add a few points to Warmth is just my suggestion.  This is optional;
I know of several people using the Sorceress who save up those points and do quite well.
However, they dedicate a higher percentage of their attribute points to Energy for a big
pool of Mana.  I added about 4 Skill Points to Warmth, and now with 526 Mana at Level 45
I regenerate about 10 points every SECOND!.

The key to hoarding your points is to be completely dependent on staves and orbs for the
free skill points they give upon using them.  This may mean saving up ALOT of gold to go
to Akara to buy them.  

I consider only a few skills worth INVESTING in:
     
     - Blizzard
     - Thunderstorm
     - Fire Wall / Blaze
     - Lightning Mastery
     - Cold Mastery
     - Fire Mastery

Of those skills I specialize the most in Blizzard and Thuunderstorm, along with Lightning
and Cold Masteries.  Blaze and Firewall I ONLY use for Duriel and Mephisto respectively.
The key to success is to keep in mind the skills you TRULY want later, so you don't waste
your points on spells that are useless later on.

My strategy was to add points along the tree to prepare for the truly useful spells.

It is important to know that there are a fewskills that are quite useful with only one or
two points added to them.   Precisely Teleport, Static Field, Warmth (explained earlier),
and Telekinesis.

Teleport is GREAT with just ONE lousy point, all future points simply reduce the cost to
cast it - but with high regeneration and a large pool of Mana that won't be necessary; a
cost of 24 Mana is small enough.  I use teleport strategically, i.e, I don't cast it all
day.  Just for certain reasons:
     (1) To Teleport my Hireling:  Since a Hireling teleports right along with you it is
          EXTREMELY handy throughout the game.   You could teleport your hireling out of
          an ambush or a mob of powerful enemies, or teleport him into a group to kill a
          few ranged attackers while they're off guard.  It is also a great way to avoid
          spells like meteor or more importantly the pesky Bone Spirit that the Oblivion
          Magi cast at you.
     (2) To save MYSELF from dangerous situations - like the Charged Bolts of a powerful
          Lightning Enchanted Unique Monster.
     (3) To save time in maze-like areas of the game - like the tombs in act II, the act
          III dungeons.
     (4) Or to simply save time retracing explored areas (especially after dying - where
          by teleporting you could easily reach your body.

Static Field is a good spell, since it takes a fixed percentage of an enemy's life (25%)
REGARDLESS of the amount of life it has.   Successive points only increase the radius of
the spell, so the amount of points added is proportional to how much you like to gamble.
The only limitation is that Lightning Resistance reduces the damage inflicted, and those
"lucky" <insert curse words here> monsters that are Immune to Lightning receive no harm.

Telekinesis is a nice spell - especially when you want to beat someone to a shrine or an
item (I try to be fair with what I find when I coop, but let's face it, not everyone has
that same attitude).  Only one Skill Point is necessary, since the damage it inflicts is
minimal, and the stunning effect it has only works on SOME monsters, and does not last a
noetable amount of time.   Besides, it's a requirement for Teleport so you might as WELL
give it a try. HEHE.


HIRELINGS


Whether you wish to believe it or not, your faithful (however dumb) companion is a great
necessity for the Sorceress.   There are four hirelings that become available throughout
the game. Two are melee fighters - the Desert Mercenarie (Act II), and the Barbarians of
Harrogath (Act V) - and the other two are ranged attackers - the Rogues (Act I), and the
Iron Wolves under Aeshera (Act III).  Any of these are a great help, but I recommend one
of the two melee attackers.   My particular style of gameplay is through ranged attacks,
which are about 85% of the Sorceress' Skills.  Your hireling should attack while you are
to provide coverfire and ranged support.   The fact that a melee attacker is usually the
closer target should make him cannon fodder,  but since Hirelings are somewhat costly to
revive (usually since you want to place equipment on him to make him more powerful), the
key to your attacks should be to weaken the enemy as much as possible for him to deliver
the finishing blow. The less time he is in contact with one particular monster, the less
punishment he receives.  Later on in the game you will judge what monsters he can handle
on his own so you can cover your flanks and avoid large-scale attacks. You will also see
that with good Skill Point management you will often be able to decimate a group of evil
minions before your hireling can actually get to them.  In this case, keep him alive for
bait - it's better that he should get the punishment than you, since he usually has more
life.

Of the two melee hirelings I recommend the Desert Mercenaries, since they have auras.  A
Thorns Aura or a Defiance Aura come quite in handy. There are three types of mercenaries
available: Offensive, Defensive, and Combat.   Each has upto three auras available as he
gains levels.  The only problem is you can't choose which one he is going to use, but he
usually sticks to one.  My Hireling (Defensive) is stuck with Defiance - which is good -
but I would have much rather had Holy Freeze as his first choice. The auras per hireling
type are as follows:

     Offensive :
     Defensie  :
     Combat    :



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               T H E   J O U R N E Y   T H R O U G H   S A N C T U A R Y
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This section is by NO means a detailed walkthrough, it is only a GENERAL strategy on how
to breeze through each act, along with places where the game might prove to be a greater
challenge (such as certain unique monsters and Act Bosses).

Act I should be no challenge until you reach the Monastery.  The only ones you might see
as a threat are Rakinishu, Griswold, and the Countess(along with the few unique monsters
who are Lightning Enchanted). 

Rakinishu has very few hit points - and by then you should have gotten your *FREE* Rogue
Hireling. If you have given her a good bow, the little imp should be down in a few hits. 

Griswold should be treated carfully. Sometimes he can pack quite a punch especially with
him being Cursed.   Attack from afar with Ice Blast, Ice Bolt, or Frost Nova to slow him
down while using your Rogue to finsh him off.

The Countess is easy - just try not to get too close.  She has alot less hit points than
Griswold, but she gets those lucky shots that do serious damage.  Don't be afraid to run
through the firewalls she casts at the entrance to her room. Keep a potion for that just
in case.

HINT: It can be a good idea to get a bow for your Sorceress so she can help attack while
      her Mana recovers, just don't go spending all your attribute points on Dexterity -
      later on in the game that will NOT have made any difference since damage from bows
      aren't that great.  Your spells do more damage.


                                     A N D A R I E L

The final boss for Act I is not too hard, it just takes some time to kill her. You can't
do alot of damage with your spells,  since they should ALL be at level 1 or unused, like
Frost Shield and it's family.  Ice blast is a good spell to use as well as Blaze (my all
time favorite against her - and Duriel). Before you reach her, go to town to buy several
stamina potions.  You are going to be running ALOT.  Also buy some antidote potions just
in case she poisons you.  Her poison does ALOT of damage and acts rather quickly.  Clear
out the floor and approach the throne room's back wall.  You should hear her speak - now 
RUN.  Outside there is a large, circular pool of blood and human corpses.  You are going
to use this to make her chase you around it.  Cast Frost Nova to slow her down, and then
cast Blaze.  She will follow you around scorching herself in the fires.  Cast Frost Nova
every time you see her unfreeze, and time your Blaze castings so she doesn't catch up to
you.  Keep your antidote and stamina poitons ready in your belt for a quick recharge. In
a few minutes - 10-15 - she will be down and out,  and with luck you will have survived.
I wasn't killed, and I only used a few antidote potions and stamina potions. If your aim
is off or you cast blaze too quickly, i.e, didn't wait for it to burn out before casting
it again, keep some mana potions accessible, but DON'T STOP RUNNING - at least not until
she stops to cast something.


                                        -- * --


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CONTRIBUTIONS:



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VERSION INFO:

v1.00 (27-Aug-2001)  -- Initial Release
      (28-Aug-2001)  -- Completed Recommended Equipment, and Act I strategy.  (Equipment
                        is subject to frequent changes as I find better uniques, rares, 
                        etc.)


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DISCLAIMER/COPYRIGHT:

This FAQ can be freely distributed, however ONLY in its entirety and with due credit to 
its author. It has taken me ALOT of time and effort to do this. If you wish to use this 
information for your own FAQ or web-page, etc.  PLEASE give credit I don't mind sharing 
this information, otherwise I would not have sent it to GameFAQs.com.  I give credit to 
ANY contributions, and I only expect of others what I expect of myself.
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