Hydra Orb Sorceress Build for Diablo 2 Resurrected

Utilizing Hydra and Frozen Orb, this Sorceress aims to solve the Immunity problems faced by single Element Characters. Due to its low synergy count, Frozen Orb is a strong skill that leaves enough Skill Points available to achieve powerful Hydra damage.

You can check the viability of this build in PvM by consulting our PvM Tier List.

The following section shows the core skills for the Hydra Orb Sorceress. For a detailed breakdown of all core and optional skills as well as the recommended order for allocating skill points, refer to the Skills page of this guide.

1. 1 point to all prerequisites
2. 20 points to Frozen Orb — max immediately, required
3. Enough points in Cold Mastery to reach -150% Enemy Cold Resist
4. 1+ points to Ice Bolt — synergy for Frozen Orb, required
5. 1 point to Frozen Armor — invest when starting to teleport, required
6. 1 point to Teleport — invest immediately at level 18, required
7. 1 point to Static Field — invested at level 6, let the rest of your plus skills increase its range, required
8. Secondary Element
9. 20 points to Hydra — one of the main damage dealers, required
10. 20 points to Fire Ball — Synergy for Hydra, required
11. 20 points to Fire Mastery — Boosted Damage for Fire Skills , required
12. 1+ points to Fire Bolt — Synergy for Hydra, required

Since a Hydra Orb Sorceress cannot be played from the start, we recommend using a generic Fire or Light Sorceress build. For more information, refer to the Early Leveling section of this guide.

Strength	Dexterity	Vitality	Energy
Enough for gear	Enough for gear	Everything else	None

You can read more details about the Stats and Attribute requirements for this build on our Skills page.

The following section shows some of the most important items for the Hydra Orb Sorceress. For a detailed per-slot breakdown of all Hydra Orb Sorceress Items and alternative builds, refer to the Gear page of this guide.

• Weapon: Heart of the Oak
• Weapon Swap: Call to Arms and Spirit Monarch Shield
• Shield: Spirit Monarch Shield with 35% Faster Cast Rate
• Body Armor: Chains of Honor
• Helm: Harlequin Crest
• Gloves: Magefist
• Boots: Etheral Sandstorm Treks
• Belt: Arachnid Mesh
• Ring 1: The Stone of Jordan or 10% Faster Cast Rate Ring
• Ring 2: The Stone of Jordan or 10% Faster Cast Rate Ring
• Amulet: Mara's Kaleidoscope
• Charm 1: Sorceress Hellfire Torch
• Charm 2: Annihilus
• Charm 3: 9x Cold Skiller Grand Charms with Life or Faster Hit Recovery to reach the 86% or 142% Faster Hit Recovery breakpoint
• Charm 4: 10 Small Charms with Life, Resistances, Mana, or Faster Hit Recovery depending on needs

In Diablo 2, stats that affect action speed (known as frames) for attacking, casting, blocking, and recovering from a hit can almost never be taken literally. For example, gaining 10% Increased Attack Speed from an item will not necessarily translate into 10% faster attacks. To achieve faster actions, certain breakpoints must be reached, which vary for every class. The tables below list how much of a given stat is required to actually improve the action speed of the class for the stated action.

Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints
Frames to perform action	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5
Faster Hit Recovery required to reach frame	0%	5%	9%	14%	20%	30%	42%	60%	86%	142%	280%

Faster Cast Rate Breakpoints
Frames to perform action	13	12	11	10	9	8	7
Faster Cast Rate required to reach frame	0%	9%	20%	37%	63%	105%	200%

Faster Block Rate Breakpoints
Frames to perform action	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Faster Block Rate required to reach frame	0%	7%	15%	27%	48%	86%	200%

You can either choose a Defensive ( Holy Freeze) or Offensive ( Might) Act 2 Nightmare Mercenary here depending on if you want a slower and safer pace, or want your Mercenary to have added damage.

• Weapon: Etheral Infinity or Ethereal Insight
• Body Armor: Ethereal Fortitude
• Helm: Ethereal Andariel's Visage socketed with a Ral Rune

1. 5 points to Charged Bolt
2. 1 point to Static Field at level 6
3. 6 points to Charged Bolt at levels 6-11
4. All points to Nova from levels 12-16
5. 1 point to Telekinesis at level 17
6. 1 point to Teleport at level 18
7. All remaining points to Nova
8. Respec when ready

For more comprehensive leveling advice, please refer to our Sorceress Fastest Leveling Build.