[Guide] Sorcerer PvE Build

[chorba69]

Hello smurfs.
After I've seen lots of builds here, good ones and bad ones, I'd like to present you my PvE build so new players can have an easier start as a mage. Also, this might help old players too.
This build is based on highest AoE damage output, lowest amount of damage recieved and works very well for soloing and elites.

About Mages:

So, you have decided to play a mage, but you'd like to know more about it.
Well, we're little smurfs.

Pros:
- great AoE skills
- nice stuns
- great crowd control
- and more..

Cons:
- low armor
- low critical/dodge chance
- not the highest health amount


Stats:
Inteligence, inteligence and only inteligence..
Inteligence raises our damage, our dps, our mana, our bonus damage and a little amount of health.
Every single point should be invested in >Inteligence<


Skills:
What to upgrade, how many points to invest, which passives etc etc..
If you want to solo maps, have great aoe dps, you're in the right place.
In this build, I'll be talking about most important skills in my opinion.

So let's have a look.

Fireball:
Our first AoE skill. Mostly, it's used to stun lots of monsters. Its damage is decent but not the best one. If upgraded, it has an amazing DoT damage.

Lightning Strike:
Our best single target dps skill. Mostly used to kill bosses faster. If upgraded, there is a chance for AoE damage and stun.

Frost Bolt:
Another great skill. Frost bolt has a great damage output, can freeze and DoT multiple targets.

Time Shift:
In my opinion, best PvE skill we have. It has great damage, great dps, nice DoT and great crowd control.

Arcane Shield:
One of our survivability skills. Absorbs lots of damage, great if there are lots of monsters chasing you. Damage absorbed and duration are based on your Strength stat.

Lifegiver:
What else to say, only heal we have got. If upgraded, restores mana along with the health. In my opinion, it really sucks. Don't get it because, in PVE everyone can use pots. Only good thing is you can restore mana to your teammates but.. Just, don't take it.


Skill Upgrades:
So, that was about the skills. Let's learn about the upgrades.

Fireball:
- Engulf- Increases the spherical area of fireball explosion by 3 meters. Very good if you have a large group of monsters but even without this upgrade, Fireball has great AoE radius so in my opinion, not a must.
- Ignite- After you've hit a monster/s, you deal great DoT damage. In my opinion, must have!
- Impact- Stun them, stun them all! If you charge your fireball, monsters you've hit will be stunned for few seconds. Must have!
- Scorch- Reduces targets' hit chance by 25%. Not neccessary in this build.

Lightning Strike:
- Empowered Bolt- Increases the damage of this skill by 15%. Must have!
- Electrical Discharge- Gives you a chance for AoE damage but chance is low. Not needed.
- Positive Surge- Increases your AoE dmg on critical by 250%. Not needed for this build.
- Shock- Small chance to stun your targets. Not needed too.

Frost Bolt:
- Ice Wielder- Has chance to freeze and damage enemies around your target. Not needed since Frost Bolt DoTs the targets anyways!
- Jagged Ice- If monster is stunned or slowed, it recieves DoT. Must have!
- Shiver- Increases the duration of stun/slow by 3 seconds. Must have!
- Arctic Shatter- Low chance to leave behind an ice patch. Not needed.

Time Shift:
- Dodge and Death- Reduces monsters' dodge chance and increases damage of clock drop. Optional. Upgrade it if you want additional dps. It increases clock drop damage by ~15%-35%.
- Time Bomb- When the clock expires, it deals small damage to all targets nearby. Also optional. If you want to sacrifice a passive, upgrade it, but, better spend a point on a passive than on this upgrade.
- Countdown of Pain- Charge your attack and you will deal nice DoT. Must have!
- Freeze Time- Root your targets. Don't let them move! Great CC, must have!

Arcane Shield:
- Extended Shield- Increases amount of damage absorbable and lets your shield last 5 seconds longer. Must have!
- Displacement Wave- Knocks back targets around you if charged. Not needed.
- Static Resonance- Increases damage reduction by 15%. Must have!
- Hardened Shielding- Grants invulnerability for 2 seconds if you charge your Shield. Optional, if you have spare points, upgrade it.

Lifegiver:
- Increased Ranged- Increases range of heal effect. Not needed.
- Empower- Restores mana along with the health. Optional. If you want to save some pots, upgrade it.
- Regrowth- Heal over time. Doesn't heal good enough, not needed.
- Recharge Mana- Restores mana over time. Doesn't restore good enough, not needed.


Passives:
There are passive skills that are always active. Great, isn't it?

- Durable- Increases your armor by 1% per upgrade.
- Critical Shot- Increases your critical chance by 1% per upgrade.
- Damage- Increases your damage value by 1% per upgrade.
- Agility- Increases your dexterity stat by 5 per upgrade.
- Knowlegde- Increases your inteligence stat by 5 per upgrade.
- Quickness- Increases your moving speed by 1% per upgrade.
- Might- Increases your strength stat by 5 per upgrade.

In my opinion, Knowledge and Might are must have. Others are optional.


Build:

So, now you know everything about the skills. Now, what to use, what to upgrade, when, how? Proceed..

Basic build:
Fireball- Ignite, Impact.
Frost Bolt- Jagged Ice, Shiver.
Time Shift- Countdown of Pain, Freeze time.
Arcane Shield- Extended Shield, Static Resonance.
Passives- 5 points Knowledge, 5 points Might

Those skills and upgrades are important and must have for every PvE build!
Now, you can combine what you want and what you need. My suggestions and full build is bellow..

Build:
Fireball- Ignite, Impact.
Frost Bolt- Jagged Ice, Shiver.
Time Shift- Countdown of Pain, Freeze time, (Dodge and Death).
Arcane Shield- Extended Shield, Static Resonance, (Hardened Shielding).
Lightning Strike- Empowered Bolt.
Passives- 5 points Knowledge, 5 points Might, 5 points Critical Shot, Damage/Agility 5

You can choose either Dodge and Death in Time Shift or Hardened Shielding in Arcane Shield. With Dodge and Death upgrade you hit ~15-35% more with Time Shift, and with Hardened Shielding you can survive those insta-kill boss attacks (red area) if casted on time.
You can see I've added Lightning Strike- Empowered Bolt and new passives. Lightning Strike is used for boss fights only.
I've added Critical Shot because we have low crit chance, and even that little chance will help your attacks and your DoTs to do more damage.
Damage or Agility, what fits you more, upgrade it.
Also, you can notice there is no Lifegiver. Correct. For PvE, it's not so neccessary. You can use pots in PvE as many as you want, and if there's a rogue or a warrior blaming you for not having Lifegiver for health and mana restoration, tell them to use pots, because, well, they can.


Skill rotation and tactics:
Now, after you know everything, it's time for skill rotation and tactics.
I will tell you what do I use, and how do I use. Hope you will understand.
Lets begin..

First, it all depends how much HP and armor you have. If you have more HP and armor, you will be able to lure more monsters. It's all about your gear.
So, you wanna lure 10-15 monsters in Dead City map for example. Run and use your non-charged Fireball, your non charged Frost Bolt and your non-charged basic attack. If you get in trouble, use your Arcane Shield. Now, after you've lured enough monsters, run in a circle around all of them for 1-2 seconds max, place your charged Time Shift. After that, run out of the Time Shift and start dpsing. My rotation is charge Fireball for a nice DoT and to stun the archers and mages because they can reach you with their arrows/spells, charge Frost Bolt for another DoT and to freeze your targets, and then spam your basic attack untill your skills recharge. And then repeat. While monsters are in effect of your Time Shift's root effect, normal monsters can't reach you (except archers/mages with spells and non-cc-able monsters). If any of those non-cc-able monsters get to you, just dps and kill it while keeping all of the cc-able monsters in effect of your Time Shift. For single target dps, meant for bosses, minibosses and other strong monsters, you can switch one of your skills with Lightning Strike. I usually switch Arcane Shield with Lightning Strike for boss fight because if you are running elite runs, you will have a warrior tanking the boss so you can just dps.
And that's it. Just cc everything that can be cc-ed, dps them, dot them, charge important skills (mentioned above) and watch your enemies dying rooted under effect of your Time Shift! Hope you've understood everything I've said. It really works.
In elites, everything stays the same. Except the part where you pull the mobs. You dont pull them, warriors pulls them. Wait for warrior to tank them all, place Time Shift near him, get out of the Time Shift's area and start dpsing. At boss, switch Arcane Shield with Lightning and that's it. Also, watch out for those red area attacks. Lots of bosses might insta-kill you so stay out of the red area.


Pets:
Pets are also very important in our fights. In my opinion, best ones are:
Samael, Abbadon, Slag, Glacian, Clyde, Hammerjaw, Haze, Orion, Malison, Keetle, Colton, Ribbit, Ethyl etc.
In first place, they all help you. One gives HP, other damage, third crit chance, fourth armor etc.
It's up to you which one you will choose.

Gear:
If you have gold, get yourself mythics and arcane staff.
If you don't have gold, Tarlok gear is the second option and I must say it's not bad at all.
Best legendary items are: staff- Architect Pylon of Brutality, helm- Tarlok's Winter Crown of Assault, armor- Tarlok's Vestment of Assault, ring- Ruby Band of Brutality (epic ring), necklace- Tarlok's Heart of Brutality.


The End:

So this is it. I hope I've helped new players, maybe even old players with this guide.
Enjoy it and have fun playing AL!