Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 5

Act 2 Desert Mercenary

Infinity, Might

Mercenary Gear Options

General

• Cast Telekinesis on Waypoints to activate them, on Town Portals to get in or out of town, and on Red Portals to go through them. This allows you to travel through the game faster. Telekinesis can also be used to open chests and pop other clickables for loot.
• Before starting your Magic Find/Experience run, first cast Battle Command 2 times and then Battle Orders once using Call to Arms. Then cast Frozen Armor once. Refresh these buffs as soon as they expire (approx. every 2-3 minutes).
• Use Teleport to travel to your Farming Spot or between Elite Packs.
• Engage most Elite Monsters with Fire Ball. In Solo gameplay, it will usually take 1-3 casts to kill them.
• Engage Fire Immune monsters, such as the Devilkins in The Pit, with Nova in close range. Since Nova deals significantly less damage than Fire Ball, expect it to take anywhere from 3-10 continuous casts to kill an Elite.
• Teleport directly on top of Elites to add your Mercenary's damage to your own for quicker kills.
• If you have Infinity equipped on your Mercenary, use Teleport to reposition your Mercenary close to the enemies you are aiming for to benefit from reduced monster Resistances and broken Fire and Lightning Immunities via its Conviction Aura.

For Solo Gameplay:

• For maximum Solo-farming efficiency, target and kill Elite Monsters with Fire Ball or Nova, and then immediately proceed to the next Elite(s). Don't waste time clearing minions or regular mobs while playing Solo or /Players1 on Single Player.

For High Player Count:

• When encountering Fire Immune monsters with high Life, first cast Static Field 1-3 times at close range, and then finish them off with Nova.
• Against high Life monsters that are neither Immune to Fire nor Lightning, use Static Field before finishing them off with Fire Ball.

For Act Bosses:

• First cast Static Field 2-5 times in range of Act Bosses (such as Andariel) in order to weaken them down to or near the 50% Life cap (in Hell). Then proceed to finish the Boss off with Fire Ball.

Immunities

• For Unique monsters that are both Fire and Lightning Immune, "Telestomp" them with your Mercenary to kill them with his Physical Damage Jab attack. Alternatively, you can skip these monsters.
• You can also use Flame Rift to deal with Uniques that are Immune to both Fire and Lightning.

Optimal Loot/Experience Farming Strategies

• The Pit with 1 Player in the Game (Solo) - This build is specifically designed for Solo success in this Max Level Area. The Pit has universally low Life monsters that advantage this high mobility, hybrid build made for quickly executing Elites. Nova makes short work of hoards of Devilkins, while Fire Ball decimates most everything else. This specialized Sorceress smoothly alternates between these two Skills to efficiently farm this prime Farming Spot for all item types.

Faster Cast Rate (FCR)

Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)

Gear Changes

• Damage Reduction: Equip Stormshield instead of Spirit. The % Damage Reduction and Increased Chance of Blocking granted by Stormshield both drastically improve your survivability. The pairing of Stormshield and Harlequin Crest achieves 45% Damage Reduction. There is no better way to keep your Hardcore Fire Ball Nova Sorceress alive.
• Faster Cast Rate: In order to achieve the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint while using Stormshield, it is recommended to use Wizardspike, Magefist, and an extra Rare Ring with Faster Cast Rate in place of gear shown on the Standard Build. Wizardspike additionally offers a great deal of Mana and Resistances which further improves survivability and quality of life, while Magefist also adds +1 to Fire Skills for Fire Ball.
• Stacking Resistances: Stack your Fire/Lightning/Cold Resistances beyond the default maximum values of 75 each (175 total in Hell). Stacking 85 additional Resistances in Hell completely negates the Conviction Aura of any Elite Boss or the Oblivion Knight's Lower Resist Curse. Beware of encountering both at the same time! Consider the primary damage type(s) of the monsters in the area you want to farm. Wizardspike accomplishes a great deal here. Boots, Jewelry, and Charms are also ideal sources of Resistances on this build.
• Faster Hit Recovery: Aim for the 20 or 30% Faster Hit Recovery Breakpoints with Charms and/or Boots to make up for losing Spirit. Faster Hit Recovery is not as important when going for maximum Chance to Block (75%). You mainly rely on the 48% Faster Block Rate Breakpoint attained by Stormshield socketed with a Shael Rune instead. 

Stat Point Changes

• Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear Stormshield.
• Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%) while having Stormshield equipped.
• Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
  
  See the "Hardcore" Build Variant below for additional suggestions and visuals.