The Dragon

[Pentecostal]

Bold Impressive Attention Grabber:
I bet we can wring out 225k Damage per second with this build. Let's talk.

Intro:
The focus on this Sorc play style is obviously Holy Fire combined with Fire Mastery to deal out copious amounts of damage. I understand that this build is nothing new but I wanted to help you think about the possibilities in a way perhaps you haven't.
I will create the build from a Rich, Mid, and Poor Option Set, however, The runes that go into this build are going to be expensive anyway so bare in mind if you're not willing to spend the money than perhaps this build is not for you. Let's not spend too much time talking about the build and get straight into it.

GEAR:

Helm:
1. Rich Option: 3 Fire Skills+ 3 Socketed Tiara: Fill with Fire Die Facets and/or 15/40 Jewels. Damage vs Atk Speed. (Also I believe its possible to find a helmet like this with 20%IAS. Can anyone confirm? Extremely Rare if so.)
2. Mid Option: Andariel's Visage: 2 Skills, 20IAS, 10LL, and 30Str. May want to Ral it but I would probably 15/40 it or Fire Die Facet because Venom will make up for your resistances. You choose.
3. Poor Option: Any helm with at least one skill and whatever stats you can get. Socket it with Larzuk and Put in a facet if you can afford it otherwise an Um rune, or whatever benefits your char most.

Armor:
Dragon Runeword (Sur + Lo + Sol) obviously +14 Holy Fire Skill and that strength makes using a Monarch much easier

Shield:
Dragon Runeword (Sur + Lo + Sol) Obviously. Also note that both give a 20% Chance to cast 18 Venom so that helps with the lack of resistances in this build. We will end with Max Resistances or at least close enough that Venom will make up for what we lack.

Weapon:
Hand of Justice Runeword (Sur + Cham + Amn + Lo). The added 16 skills brings your Holy Fire to a whopping level 44. It's lightning counter part Dream only reaches level 30. (Yes Conviction breaks Lightning immunties. I'll give you that.) There are other weapons that you may prefer such as BOTD, LW, or Grief but this is a Pure Dragon/Holy Fire build and I want to stick with the mode of authenticity.

Gloves:
1. Rich Option: Crafted Gloves for IAS, Stats, CB, etc.
2. Mid and Poor Option: Magefists are easy to get ahold of and add a skill to Fire Mastery in turn giving you more damage than perhaps the Crafted Gloves but build to your own liking.

Boots:
1. Rich Option: War Travs for added damage and stats
2. Mid and Poor Option: Infernalstrides may even be a better option than Wartravs. They add fire damage, fire resist which would make up for the loss we may have taken from choosing Andariel's Visage. Also Max Fire Res are nice.
Sandstorms are also a nice option or else anything you can get with Resistances, Stats, or FRW.

Belt:
1. Rich Option: Arachs for skills or Nosferatus is a nice option that provides IAS, Stats, LL, and Slows Target too
2. Mid Option: Thunder Gods for Stats and Damage, Razor tail for Attack Penetrate, String of Ears for damage reduction.
3. Poor Option: Nightsmoke for AR, GoldWrap for IAS, or Bladbuckle for FHR

Ring 1: Ravenfrost for CBF plus add-ons

Ring 2: BK or SOJ or else a nice blood ring might be a better option for you.
Ring Poor Option: Any Resistances, Stats you can get, HFD, or LL etc.

Amulet:
1. Rich Option: Maras for Skills + AR / Crafted Sorc Amulet
2. Mid Option: 3 Sorc Skills plus Stats / Cats Eye would be worth considering
3. Poor Option: Any Amulet you can get with Skills, Res, and/or Stats.

Inventory:
Skillers: 1 Fire Skills + 45 Life x9
Hellfire Torch: Highest Stats Possible
Anni Small: Highest Stats Possible
Rest: 20 Life 5AR Small Charms


STATS:
Strength: 0 - Enough to Wear Gear
Dexterity: 0 - Max Block
Vitality: All Here
Energy: 0 - Energy Shield



SKILLS:

Fire Mastery: 20
Enchant: 20
Warmth: 20 (Enchant Syn)
Teleport: 1
Static Field: 1
Shiver Armor and/or Energy Shield: Rest Here

Damage Notes:
Let's talk about damage and how I calculated things. If there are holes feel free to mention them in the comments.

Damage: Approx. 225k
My Thought Process: I believe 120k is easily a close average approximation with a possibility of well over 200k physical damage per second if we also take into consideration the Damage Per Second added by the Aura and additional fire damage from Rainbow Facets at 15% and Physical Attack Damage, etc. All this damage with The Conviction Aura, HoJ -20% Enemy Fire Res, and Enemy Defense Breaks factored in make for one mean Dragon.

Holy Fire Damage Calculation: At a possible level 44, Holy Fire has an added Max Damage of 356 multiplied by the 324% added fire damage to fire type skills from our Level 44 Fire Mastery gives us 1,153.44 Max Damage now we factor in Fire Masteries damage multiplier of 25: 1,153.44 × 25 = 28,836.
Enchant Damage Calculation: Enchant at level 44 Gives us 364 max damage plus Fire Masteries 324% +9% = 333% (include 9% Additionally from Warmth Synergy) gives us 1,212.12. Now we factor in the damage multiplier for 30,303 damage which when added to our Holy Fire Damage for a whopping 59,139 damage per hit.
Holy Fire Aura Damage Calculation: Holy Fire Aura at level 44 gives a max damage of 45 × 324% = 145.8 ×25 = 3,645 + 59,139 = 62,784 damage per hit per second. I think she can manage 2-3 hits per second so at 3 successful hits per second we come to 188,352 damage per second.
+ Rainbow Facets 15% = 216, 604
+ Physical Damage
+ Shrine (+2 Skills)
+ Battle Commands (+1 Skills)
I don't believe were stretching too much for 220k - 225k Damage.


Putting It In Action:
The first place I hit was Hell Level Frigid Highlands to see how well Dragon stood up against Eldritch and Shenk. I was not disapointed. I was immediately impressed. When I approached them I expected to be squashed like a bug but Dragon wasn't nearly as mushy as I had expected. In fact I let them hit me quite a while to see Venom's effect on the character and realized this build is not heavily reliant on Health Pots which blew my mind and gave me a much deeper respect for it's build considering its Dream Counterpart.

As I played I found that The Dragon will 1-Hit any Mob that is not Fire Immune, Champion, Mini Boss, Boss, or Uber. It takes Baal down in a matter of seconds in a solo game. I had no problem out of the mini bosses in The Throne Room either. In fact because of all of the damage bonus even Fire Immune Monsters go down within a few seconds.
Dragon's Defense is huge depending on how many points you add to your Shiver Armor and Dexterity but she can reach Max Block Rate and High Defenses.
It's a lot of fun and very versatile. I believe it would make a decent PvP Build as well, however I have not tested that. Comment your PvP experience and any changes that you had to make in order to make it work for you. This build was a lot of fun to experiment with. I hope you guys have an awesome day!

P.S. Typos may be included. Fight me.

 

[ioupainmax]

1. Rich Option: 3 Fire Skills+ 3 Socketed Tiara: Fill with Fire Die Facets and/or 15/40 Jewels. Damage vs Atk Speed. (Also I believe its possible to find a helmet like this with 20%IAS. Can anyone confirm? Extremely Rare if so.)

The best you could hope for is something like this:

Rare
Prefixes:

• Arch-Angel's [+2 to Sorceress Skills]
• Mechanic's [sockets (1 to 2)]
• Prismatic [+16% to +20% to each Resistance]

Suffixes:

• of the Magus [+20% Faster Cast Rate]
• of Speed [+30% faster Run/Walk]
• of Atlas [+21 to +30 to Strength] (or some other suitable rare suffix like Mana/Life/MF/Energy/FHR)

 

[onderduiker]

3 Fire Skills+ 3 Socketed Tiara

A Volcanic Tiara or Diadem can have +3 Fire Spells (Sorceress Only) and get maximum 2 sockets from Larzuk, but only an Artisan's or Jeweller's Tiara or Diadem can have 3 (but no Fire Spells bonus).

Venom will make up for your resistances.

Venom adds poison damage to your attacks; it's Fade that grants resistance bonuses.

The added 16 skills brings your Holy Fire to a whopping level 44. It's lightning counter part Dream only reaches level 30.

Level 44 Holy Fire inflicts 92.5-94.5 (93.5 average) fire damage within 32 2/3 yard radius, and adds 555-567 (561 average) fire damage to attacks. Fire Mastery increases Fire Skill Damage by (23 + 7*slvl)%.

Level 30 Holy Shock inflicts 1-278 (139.5 average) lightning damage within 23 1/3 yard radius, and adds 1-1688 (844.5 average) lightning damage to attacks. Lightning Mastery increases Lightning Skill Damage by (38 + 12*slvl)%.

Razor tail for Attack Penetrate

Piercing Attack only affects ranged attacks, and these aren't possible for a Sorceress with a Hand of Justice weapon and a Dragon shield.

Holy Fire Damage Calculation: At a possible level 44, Holy Fire has an added Max Damage of 356 multiplied by the 324% added fire damage to fire type skills from our Level 44 Fire Mastery gives us 1,153.44 Max Damage now we factor in Fire Masteries damage multiplier of 25: 1,153.44 × 25 = 28,836.

I've no idea where you got "Max Damage of 356" and "Fire Masteries damage multiplier of 25"... and it's +324%: 100% + 324% = 424%, which means you'd multiply by 4.24 (424/100) not 3.24.

Level 44 Holy Fire adds 555-567 (561 average) fire damage to attacks. Level 43 Fire Mastery applies +324% Fire Skill Damage (and is the maximum you can get with Raven Frost and Battle Command, but no Skill Shrine), so with two perfect Rainbow Facet Jewels (+5% FSD each) that's +334% FSD in total.

Thus level 44 HF with +334% FSD adds ~2409-2461 (2435 average) fire damage to attacks. If that damage is added to melee attacks, then +334% FSD applies to it again, resulting in ~10454-10680 (10567 average) fire damage per hit.

Enchant Damage Calculation: Enchant at level 44 Gives us 364 max damage plus Fire Masteries 324% +9% = 333% (include 9% Additionally from Warmth Synergy) gives us 1,212.12. Now we factor in the damage multiplier for 30,303 damage which when added to our Holy Fire Damage for a whopping 59,139 damage per hit.

Level 44 Enchant adds 276.5-321.5 (299 average) fire damage to attacks, before Warmth's synergy bonus and Fire Mastery, which do not add together: 20 points in Warmth increases this by 180% (20*9), resulting in ~774-900 (837 average) fire damage; +334% FSD (level 43 FM + 10%) then results in ~3360-3907 (3633.5 average); and if that's added to melee attacks, +334% FSD again results in ~14582-16956 (15769 average) fire damage per hit.

So the combined total is ~25036-27636 (26336 average) fire damage added to each melee attack. With the equipment necessary for level 43 Fire Mastery and +10% FSD, you only have 33 Increased Attack Speed from a Hand of Justice weapon: according to this Attack Speed Calculator, if that weapon is a Phase Blade then each attack takes 11 frames (10 frames is maximum attack speed, achievable with 48 IAS, or 15 (48-33) more).

Since there are 25 frames in each second, multiply by 25/11 for ~56900-62809 (59854.5 average) potential fire damage per second... although since you can have maximum 95% chance to hit, that should be multiplied by 0.95... and blocking would also reduce it.

Holy Fire Aura Damage Calculation: Holy Fire Aura at level 44 gives a max damage of 45 × 324% = 145.8 ×25 = 3,645 + 59,139 = 62,784 damage per hit per second. I think she can manage 2-3 hits per second so at 3 successful hits per second we come to 188,352 damage per second.

Level 44 Holy Fire inflicts 92.5-94.5 (93.5 average) fire damage within 32 2/3 yard radius, which +334% FSD increases to ~402-410 (406 average). Normally this should only be inflicted once every 2 seconds, but due to a bug it's inflicted once for each of the three Aura When Equipped items, resulting in ~1204-1230 (1,217 average) fire damage every 2 seconds, or ~602-615 (608.5) per second.

 

[ffs]

Don’t check these forums often. For what it’s worth, I build this character before, actually a stronger version with Beast. Very fun, but overall much weaker than dual Dream for sure.