Revision as of 13:16, 5 March 2008

The Sorceress' fire spells provide the highest total damage of any of her skill trees, but tend to be slower to use and to require more exact positioning and aim to use to their greatest effect.

Fire Bolt

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: Points in the following skills boost the damage of Fire Bolt.

• Fire Ball: +16% Fire Damage Per Level
• Meteor: +16% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: Shoots a small ball of fire. Fire Bolts hit only one target and have no splash damage.

• A new Sorceress starts out with a staff of +1 to Fire Bolt.

Warmth

Required Level: 1
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: None.
Details: Warmth increases the Sorceress' mana regeneration rate. A mandatory skill for all Sorceresses, the only question with Warmth is enough. This depends largely on the build; Sorcs who cast a lot of high mana skills, such as Nova, will want more points in this skill, while a Sorceress who specializes in Blizzard or Hydra will not need as much mana.

• Mana regeneration rate is based on your total mana pool; more mana means more will regenerate per second.
• If a Sorceress has mana regeneration items as well, the formula is: (BaseRegenrate*Warmth)+item.

Inferno

Required Level: 6
Prerequisites: None
Synergies:

• Warmth: +13% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: Inferno turns a Sorceress into a human flamethrower, capable of emitting a massive spout of flame for as long as the spell is kept active.

• More points increase the damage and the range of this skill, making it capable of cooking dozens of enemies at once, if they are tightly packed.

Blaze

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Inferno
Synergies: None. Details: Blaze leaves a trail of fire behind the Sorceress as she walks or runs along, for as long as she keeps the spell active.

• An interesting spell; this one can not be cast at anything; only created on the ground behind the Sorceress. It's therefore useless against shamans, ranged attackers, and other monsters that do not pursue.
• Blaze is essentially a novelty spell, something fun to play with early on, but not practical or damaging enough to use long term.

Fireball

Required Level: 12
Prerequisites: Fire Bolt
Synergies: Points in the following skills boost the damage of Fireball:

• Fire Bolt: +14% Fire Damage Per Level
• Meteor: +14% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: A substantial upgrade from Firebolt, Fireballs are larger and more damaging, and they hit with splash damage, burning the target and any nearby monsters too.

• This spell was unused for many versions of Diablo II, but since all the synergies were added it's become more popular for variants, and duelers.

Fire Wall

Casting Delay:: 1.4 Seconds
Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Inferno, Blaze
Synergies: None.
Details: A wall of flame springs up in both directions from the spot the Sorceress targets for ignition.

• One of the most damaging spells in the game, Firewalls can be stacked up to increase the damage to truly horrifying levels.
• Monsters must stand still in the flames for the damage to truly cook into them, so using natural obstacles or minions to tank is a necessary strategy.
• Some monsters have enough AI to attempt to avoid the flames.

Enchant

Required Level: 18
Prerequisites: Fire Bolt, Warmth, Fireball
Synergies:

• Warmth adds +9% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: Temporarily grants bonus fire damage and boosts the Attack Rating of any friendly player or minion. Enchant must be cast directly on the recipient.

• This skill is largely a novelty or support skill for most Sorceresses, though some few variants specialize in it.
• The benefit to minions is considerable, which can make it worthwhile for a Sorceress to carry an Orb with +enchant on it. When added to her usual +skills modifiers, this can be worth using, thanks to the long duration of the skill.
• Enchanted characters and minions will display their damage in red numbers. When the red goes away, the spell has worn off.

Meteor

Casting Delay: 1.2 Seconds
Required Level: 24
Prerequisites: Fire Bolt, Inferno, Blaze, Fire Wall, Fireball
Synergies: Points in the following skills boost the damage of Meteor:

• Fire Bolt: +5% Fire Damage Per Level
• Fire Ball: +5% Fire Damage Per Level
• Inferno: +3% Average Fire Damage Per Second Per Level

Details: A flaming ball of rock is called down from above, dealing explosive damage to the target and leaving a patch of burning earth behind.

• Meteors deal 100% fire damage, despite looking like a flaming stone on the way down.
• The firefield left by a Meteor is less damaging and much smaller than that of a Firewall, so the key to using this skill effectively is to nail the targets with the meteor itself, as well as the firefield. This can be tricky with the casting delay, since it takes 1.2 seconds for the Meteor to reach the point you target. Use a tank to hold monsters still, or learn to "lead" the target.
• Meteors can be used anywhere, even in underground levels. Hey, it's magic.

Fire Mastery

Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: None
Synergies: None
Details: This skill passively raises the damage of all the Sorceress' fire skills, and is an essential skill for any fire sorceress.

Hydra

Casting Delay: 2 Seconds
Required Level: 30
Prerequisites: Fire Bolt, Warmth, Fireball, Enchant
Synergies: Hydra's damage is boosted by points in the following skills:

• Fire Bolt: +3% Fire Damage Per Level
• Fire Ball: +3% Fire Damage Per Level

Details: Hydras are three-headed dragons composed of pure flame. The heads each fire a constant stream of firebolts, dealing damage to the target, but not splashing to the sides. The Hydra causes no damage itself; there's no area of effect damage simply from the flaming dragon, it has to shoot targets to hurt them.

• Each three-headed Hydra lasts for 10 seconds, so with the 2-second casting delay it's possible to have 4 or 5 of them active at once. Individual Hydras aren't that effective, but when several of them are firing at once, the damage adds up quickly.
• Some skill is necessary in placing Hydras. It's best if several of them can concentrate their fire on the same monster, so casting a bunch of them in a row to one side is usually the best tactic, instead of simply popping them up all throughout a mass of enemies, where their shots will be dispersed into numerous targets.
• As with other casting delay skills, it's best to pick an alternate skill to use in between each Hydra cast. Firewall or Meteor work or if you want to diversify your damage Frozen Orb, Blizzard, or Nova work well.