NORMAL
Zap is my Lightning-Skills-Only sorceress. I could have been brave with her and eschewed much, or even any, Static Field, but I opted not to. I've done plenty of Lightning sorcies and I've tried all the skills out in earnest except for Chain (and I've used it a lot at low skill levels).
So my main goal with this char was to get my own perspective on it, some first-hand experience. I had already 3-dotted a Fire-Only sorcie and well on my way to completing a Cold-Only. I've got a Fire-Only Hardcore trying to make it all the way without a death. I just HAD to try a complete Lightning-Only run, if for no other reason than to complete my own resume, so to speak, as a sorceress afficianado.
So I opted for the optimal path: SF and Thunderstorm, some Energy Shield, and perhaps... just maybe a few points into Chain. We'll see.
Zap's skill path plan:
Staff-only for first level
2) CB @ 1
6) Telekinesis @ 1
6-22) SF @ 1-17
12) Lightning @ 1
18) Chain, Teleport @ 1
24-43) Thunderstorm @ 1-20
24, Izzy) Energy Shield @ 1-3
Assorted quest-based skill points: Add to Lightning Mastery, finish SF, maybe some in Chain.
44+) Add to Chain, Lit Mastery
Planned equipment: Nightsmoke, Frosties, 3DS, Magus wand of some kind, Faster/Fastest Run and Fastest Hit Recovery, plenty of Life and Resists.
I figure that Nightsmoke will "pay for" slvl 3 Energy Shield, as well as offer some mana and +10 Resist All. Not too bad, and I can surely get it pretty quickly. I'm usually not a Nightsmoke sort of Sorcie player, but it makes sense here, at least to me.
Now I am NOT the type of player who gambles every penny away the moment it's earned. I target my gambles very specifically for each character and usually don't begin until late in Act 2, when any rares I might turn up could actually be worth keeping. Also, base items I want to gamble for don't usually show up until then anyway: Magefist, Frosties, WoE, plated belts, Toes, or having enough cash to afford to go for rings/ammys. I almost NEVER gamble at all in Act 1 Normal. However, regular belts start showing up in Act 1 and at only 7k a pop, why not? Worst case, I'll get something better than the plain belt Charsi tried to sell me. Might even get a rare, or... who know? Maybe Nightsmoke. Worth a shot, right? Right?
Right! JACKPOT! Zap's very first gamble, clvl 8, barely has 7k to scrape together, and there it is! Nightsmoke! :)
Unbelievable.
I think Gheed planted that there to try and get me to waste endless precious cash in future games, trying to recapture this incredible fortune. That wily worm would be just tricky enough to try that, too! Not me. I'm taking my winnings and going home. :)
Act 1 was mostly melee at first, and some thrown weapons, then more melee with a decent mace, then finally I found a staff with +2 Charged Bolt and Zap was in business. She used SF only on bosses, of course, but it helped a lot with Gris. By the time I got to the Highland, clvl 11, the SF range was pretty impressive (v1.03, this was some time back, and Zap enjoyed the star-radius bonus Area of Effect. If you don't know about that, don't worry. It's gone for good now, and Area of Effect for all AoE skills will be patched up right, so that the area covered is a nice intuitive oval, rather than an erratic four-pointed star).
Then slvl 12, and Lightning! Yay. That got Zap through to clvl 18 and Chain, by which time her SF was really strong and she was using it regularly at least two or three zaps to soften mobs.
LEBs were not too common, but there were a few. Here's one in a False Tomb:
With no Warmth and not much mana yet, it took a lot of SF and some potions to kill LEBs. Not particularly difficult, but you definitely noticed when the opponent had resistance. In fact, opponents could be divided into two categories (as DaShiv noted on his Lit-Only Sorcie Hell run): Non-resistant vs Lightning Resistant. LEBs, Magic Resistant bosses, spitters, horrors, and some assorted other foes, all tougher.
Duriel was cake with high SF. Zapped him down low, finished with slvl 1 Nova.
Chain Lightning, even at skill lvl 1, devastates Fetishes in single player. Just eats em up!
Zap's good fortune continued, hitting Frosties at clvl 24, on the third try!
And all of a sudden, with high SF, decent mana, Nightsmoke, some E-Shield and T-Storm help, Zap is cruising through the game. She had it slightly tougher than Fire-Only through Acts 1 and 2, but much much easier than Cold-Only. Now the tables turned and Zap had it easier than even Hotfoot did.
For example, the Ruined Temple was a tough tough draw, as those things go. Not only Sarina, but a stairs trap with a Rogue champ pack right in the starting room, and then besides that a second Rogue boss, too. So jam-packed with rogues, but having Teleport and SF just made it way too easy.
Zap barely broke a sweat and now I'm starting to wonder if DaShiv isn't right after all: perhaps the Lightning-Only Sorcie really will be the easiest to play all the way through, of the one-tree specialists. I wouldn't have believed it, but with some gamble luck this is sure going well here for Zap. We'll see if she can hold up in Hell tho. I'll have to SEE it to actually believe it, full-clearing nasty spots like Act 3 temples. :)
There's not much to say about Act 4. Yes I drew lurkers, but SF, TS, and some chain honestly made short work of them, Lit Resistance notwithstanding. Yes I drew Burning Souls. Yes I drew Abyss Knights, in both the City and River. Same story. That slvl 17 Static is something amazing (highest I've ever had it -- I'm not much into replaying chars ad nauseum to ladder heights, things getting easier and easier as you go. One Hell run, or maybe a few with a particularly fun char... then retirement and on to new challenges).
Izzy... Heph... Seal Bosses... Diablo... LOL!
Zap will see you in Nightmare. :)
- Sirian
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