The Colton Sorcerer (Build Reposted)

[MilliVanilli]

Hello all! I figured since I posted my rogue build, that I would plan my sorcerer build and post it as well for you all to critique and build as well! It is no different from other sorcerers and it is built to be strictly PvE and focused on extreme AoE and Damage and decent crowd control!

Enjoy the build, I have it to level 8 and so far is decent fun and a great asset! Here he is:

The Colton Sorcerer



PROS:

• Great AoE Damage!
• Decent Survivability With Shield and Might Passives!
• Good Crowd Control With Time Shift and Frost Bolt!
• Can Solo If You Can't Find A Party
• Oh! So Much Fun To Play!

CONS:

• Without Shield You Are Very Squishy Without Right Gear
• Bad Dodge % and Not So Great Armor
• Takes A While To Get Fantastic AoE Damage

Level-By-Level Guide:

Level 01: No Statistics, No Skills
Level 02: +6 INT, Unlock: Time Shift
Level 03: +6 INT, Unlock: Time Shift; Dodge and Death
Level 04: +6 INT, Unlock: Time Shift; Freeze Time
Level 05: +6 INT, Unlock: Time Shift; Countdown of Pain
Level 06: +6 INT, Unlock: Fireball
Level 07: +6 INT, Unlock: Fireball; Impact
Level 08: +6 INT, Unlock: Time Shift; Time Bomb
Level 09: +6 INT, Unlock: Fireball; Engulf
Level 10: +6 INT, Unlock: Frost Bolt
Level 11: +6 INT, Unlock: Arcane Shield
Level 12: +6 INT, Unlock: Arcane Shield; Extended Shield
Level 13: +6 INT, Unlock: Arcane Shield; Static Resonance
Level 14: +6 INT, Unlock: Frost Bolt; Shiver
Level 15: +6 INT, Unlock: Frost Bolt; Ice Wielder
Level 16: +6 INT, Unlock: Arcane Shield; Hardened Shielding
Level 17: +6 INT, Unlock: Frost Bolt; Jagged Ice
Level 18: +6 INT, Unlock: Fireball; Ignite
Level 19: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Knowledge 1
Level 20: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Knowledge 2
Level 21: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Knowledge 3
Level 22: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Knowledge 4
Level 23: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Knowledge 5
Level 24: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Damage 1
Level 25: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Damage 2
Level 26: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Damage 3
Level 27: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Damage 4
Level 28: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Damage 5
Level 29: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Might 1
Level 30: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Might 2
Level 31: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Might 3
Level 32: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Might 4
Level 33: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Might 5
Level 34: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Agility 1
Level 35: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Agility 2
Level 36: +6 INT, Unlock: Passive Skill; Agility 3

Build Summarized:

Pets: Colton or Ethyl (I am running Ethyl for the STR and Crit over Colton!)
Statistics: All Statistics Into Intelligence!
Skills:
Timeshift (MAX)
Fireball (Don't Take Scorch)
Arcane Shield (Don't Take Displacement Wave)
Frost Bolt (Don't Take Arctic Shatter)
Passive Skill; Knowledge 1 - 5
Passive Skill; Damage 1 - 5
Passive Skill; Might 1 - 5
Passive Skill; Agility 1-3

Any tips or upgrades y'all might have for me would be fantastic!

On the other hand this build is extremely fun to play and it is interesting watching a clock fall from no where and just totally root and destroy all enemies in its path! Combine that with fireball; impact and frost bolt and you got yourself some good AoEs and crazy crowd control!

Enjoy the build, I know I am! If you wish to party with me to find out how well this build performs, find my sorcerer in game, under the name Archsmurf!

Thanks for reading!
Milli Vanilli

[chorba69]

theres no need to max none of the skills u use.. expecially shield and frost bolt.. even tiem shift u dont need to max it. no need for that dodge debuff. and fireball? why max it? that -25hit and increase aoe dmg isnt important. its good but not so important.. better spend points on passives.. build just aint good. sry

[keikali]

Constructive criticism here: Why are you maxing every single active skill? There is no need for the last upgrade in Icebolt (Arctic Shatter) or Fireball (Scorch). The knockback upgrade in Arcane Shield (Displacement Wave) is not necessary as is the explode upgrade for Timeshift (Time Bomb).

This literally will free up 4 Skill points where you can put elsewhere especially in a passive. And I suggest it go into Crit % as with the upgrade to a Sorc's DoT damage crit definitely helps.

Adding my build that I currently use for endgame based on Gaieje's old build he posted before expansion. It worked for me back then and it still holds up now.

4/5 Fireball (No Scorch)
4/5 Icebolt (No Arctic Shatter)
4/5 TimeShift (No Time Bomb)
3/5 Lifegiver (Mana Upgrade & HP Regen Upgrade)

5/5 Intelligence
5/5 Agilty
5/5 Might
5/5 Crit

I settled for Agility mainly because it gives HP, some crit along with damage.

Full mythic less ammy/ring. Cycling these pets in no order: Clyde, Wrathjaw, Haze, Valkin, Ethyl, Ribbit, Horton

Might pick up Kettle, Colton in the future. Works well for me in endgame.

[MilliVanilli]

theres no need to max none of the skills u use.. expecially shield and frost bolt.. even tiem shift u dont need to max it. no need for that dodge debuff. and fireball? why max it? that -25hit and increase aoe dmg isnt important. its good but not so important.. better spend points on passives.. build just aint good. sry

This is how I wanted to build it so this is how I am going to build it. I will be soloing with this build and the way I see it is this:

Displacement Wave: I'm surrounded getting pounded and pounded, charge up Arcane Shield and poof, they go flying.
Scorch: Once again, will be soloing and archers kick my butt! 25% less chance for them to hit me is amazing! meaning I'll die 25% less of the time!
Arctic Shatter: The more enemies that are slowed the better. I can't always perfectly target groups of mobs with Time Shift, and even if I do a few always get missed, and extra slowed enemies by any means while soloing is very very nice!

The way I see it, I give up 15 dexterity for these 3 skills, and I can honestly say, I won't miss it!

[MilliVanilli]

Here is THIS build at level 16, quite a beast if you ask me!

[MilliVanilli]

Update! Level 19 and slayed the demon controlling the dead! Here he is at 19:

[Taejo]

While I appreciate the time you took to make a Sorcerer build guide, I feel it deserves some criticism as it's not your typical build. Also, many of the skills/upgrades for a Sorcerer that you have chosen are highly debatable - you're really not going to dodge any criticism on these matters no matter how well you write. For starters, I agree with most of what Keikali said, except for 5/5 Agility and Crit being in the core build. Shield users (especially those who solo) should consider maxing out Might, as Archsmurf has, to increase their shield absorption and overall HPs. The +HP, +dmg, +crit, and +dodge from 5/5 Agility (+25 dex) are all negligible in my opinion, especially while equipping a good pet. For the average Sorcerer, +5% Dmg would be much more consistent than +5% Crit, unless your gear is based solely around +crit stats and Colton's arcane buff actually landing on you (good luck with that). However, with this type of gear, you would lose a significant amount of HPs and/or int/dmg. I suppose the choices behind +str/dmg and +dex/crit depends highly on how you play.

Getting back to Archsmurf's skill build, however, the fact of the matter is some of the skill upgrades you're using in this build guide are not as useful as you think - even though they may sound good in theory.

1. The -20% dodge from Dodge and Death is not needed. You will rarely - if ever - see a mob dodge your attacks. However, as chorba69 pointed out, this upgrade also increases the damage of your initial clock drop. For some, that may balance out it's usefulness.

2. Arctic Shatter isn't really useful anywhere except crypts or hauntlet where there's a high concentration of mobs within a given space. However, you already have root from your clock (which is on a 10 second cool down), snare/freeze from your charged frost bolt (3s CD) and knockdown/stun from your charged fireball (4s CD). I don't see the need for any more crowd control than that in a typical scenario.

3. The -25% hit chance from Scorch simply doesn't work as advertised; and even if they did hit you (75/100 shots, they will), why not just counter it with a potion instead of wasting a skill point? Sorry to say, but it's not going to save your life 25% of the time as you seem to think.

4. Time Bomb has been proven to have a very, very small blast radius, and unless you have a high concentration of mobs within your clock's bubble, it's a pointless upgrade to have. The damage it deals can be offset by an extra fireball, anyway.

5. I can't offer any sound advice on Displacement Wave, simply because I've never used it. I just don't see the point of knocking mobs backwards when I can simply run the other direction or free/snare/root/knock them down. I also want my groups of mobs as concentrated as possible for more effective AE damage and easier freezing/clock placement.

So by skipping those 4-5 upgrades, you now have 4-5 skill points to put into Agility or Crit, which both have much better payouts than the upgrades which I listed as unnecessary. The basis behind my opinions is gathered from experience, lots of testing, and reading dozens of forum threads on all of these skills. Again, I'll emphasize that not all of the skill upgrades are as great as they sound - and this goes for all classes.

[chorba69]

1. The -20% dodge from Dodge and Death is not needed. You will rarely - if ever - see a mob dodge your attacks.

Sorry but.. Dodge and Death upgrade also increases damage of clock drop. (see description)
Yes, I agree it's not neccessary because of dodge because mobs dont ever dodge our attacks but..
This upgrade increases damage by 20%-40%, tested.
For example, you hit 1k with Time Shift without the upgrade, and if you upgrade Dodge and Death, you will hit lets say 1,2k.
If you badly need that upgrade, upgrade it because of the additional damage, not the dodge. Never enough of additional dps ^^
Hope I helped.

[MilliVanilli]

I will play this build as is, just for the sake of players possibly using it now. If I find those active skill upgrades useless, I will spend 5 platinum to respec, thanks for all the input, however!

[Spyce]

Is Orion better than Colton?

[Taejo]

Sorry but.. Dodge and Death upgrade also increases damage of clock drop. (see description)
Yes, I agree it's not neccessary because of dodge because mobs dont ever dodge our attacks but..
This upgrade increases damage by 20%-40%, tested.
For example, you hit 1k with Time Shift without the upgrade, and if you upgrade Dodge and Death, you will hit lets say 1,2k.
If you badly need that upgrade, upgrade it because of the additional damage, not the dodge. Never enough of additional dps ^^
Hope I helped.

Yeah, you're right! I forgot about that aspect of Dodge and Death.

[MilliVanilli]

I like Colton because of the huge intelligence boost and damage but I am not sure about Orion's stats.

[keikali]

Too many sorcs sacrifice HP for DMG thinking this is the way to go. This is why you die so fast. Whats the point of trying to deal damage when you can't surive 1 shot of a rogues AS Crit.

[MilliVanilli]

This character isn't dying fast, and I am taking might for the extra HP and the extra soak for my shield. If I wanted dog instead of survivability I would have taken agility over might passives.

[MilliVanilli]

Rebuilt, kept Max time shift as I like the exploding clock but removed fireball scorch, one of frost bolt and displacement wave on arcane shield.

[MilliVanilli]

I respec'd and maxed intelligence like in the original build, but removed Fireball; Scorch, Arcane Shield; Displacement Wave and Frost Bolt; Arctic Shatter for three agility passives. It was the 3 agility passives or crit, I wanted agility for the little hp, damage and dps that they give.

Archsmurf

[MilliVanilli]

Updated picture after I respec'd to remove displacement wave, scorch and arctic shatter. I currently have 3 knowledge passives, gonna finish the build with my passives now will keep updating with photos as I level up and get better gear!

This image is with 3 knowledge passives!

[keikali]

I respec'd and maxed intelligence like in the original build, but removed Fireball; Scorch, Arcane Shield; Displacement Wave and Frost Bolt; Arctic Shatter for three agility passives. It was the 3 agility passives or crit, I wanted agility for the little hp, damage and dps that they give.

Archsmurf

Excelllent job. I'm glad you turned around and did this.

In the future levels, consider Crit % mainly with the buff that Mages received for DoT damage. When a Mages DoT crits, it adds up and its deadly.

Question are you going to be staying with just a Colton? I know its the name of your Sorc and this build but there are nicer balanced pets out there. One underrated and unestimated pet for a Sorc is Ethyl.

[Taejo]

I respec'd and maxed intelligence like in the original build, but removed Fireball; Scorch, Arcane Shield; Displacement Wave and Frost Bolt; Arctic Shatter for three agility passives. It was the 3 agility passives or crit, I wanted agility for the little hp, damage and dps that they give.

Archsmurf

I think you'll be very pleased with how this new build works out. Maybe at L41 if they don't add new skill upgrades you can add Scorch and Arctic Shatter (I still wouldn't get Displacement Wave); but for now since you're limited to 35 points you must go with what's vital for survival and efficiency.

[MilliVanilli]

Should I go with the 3 agility passives or trade them for the crit passives? I won't give up any more active skills or the knowledge, might, damage passives so I can either go crit or agility. What do you guys think?

And what would be the best sorcerer pet for levels 20+?