The Frozen Orb Sorceress is one of the ideal characters to start your journey in Diablo 2 Resurrected. With little item investment, Frozen Orb is capable of destroying Andariel, Mephisto and Pindleskin, some of the most popular bosses for solo farming. Teleport with a decent Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint gets you there in no time. The Frozen Orb Sorceress has low survivability, but is unrivaled as one of the best Ladder Starters.
Frozen Orb Sorc has great Crowd Control with all the Cold Damage to Chill or Freeze enemies. In Patch 2.5, the Frozen Orb Sorceress was incredible in Terror Zones as she was able to farm everywhere without any issues.
Patch 2.6 slows her down a little on that front by reducing the cold mastery effectiveness to 1/5 against monsters that have their Immunity broken.
Great Boss Farmer ✔ Great Ladder Starter ✔ Fast Paced Playstyle ✔ Can Stack A Lot of Magic Find ✔ Lots of Endgame Gear Options ✔
❌ Very Squishy ❌ Slow Against Cold Immunes ❌ Takes Some Getting Used To ❌ Specific Breakpoints Are Crucial ❌ Damage Falls Off With More Players
Sunder Charm Setup
Patch 2.5 introduces a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) The Charm also reduces YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage type! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Cold Rupture, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
With Patch 2.6, Cold Mastery is 1/5th effective, after this Immunity breaking mechanic.
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Cold Resistance as possible. Frozen Orb has enough Skill Points to max Cold Mastery to get the highest Skill level possible. Equip Nightwing's Veil the largest amount of +xx% Cold Skill Damage possible.
Counteract the negative effect of Cold Rupture with multiple Sapphire Small Charm of Good Luck.
Terror Zones
The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build on the Starter or Budget setup. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.
Best
✔ The Secret Cow Level - High Density, No Immunities ✔ Tal Rasha's Tombs - High Density, Skip Cold Immune Monsters, Many Elite Groups ✔ Chaos Sanctuary - Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, High Density ✔ Travincal - Quick Access, Council Members ✔ Stony Tomb - High Density, Many Elite Groups
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 4. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Damage
Frozen Orb* is your main Damage Skill. It is cast outward from your character toward the direction you aim. The Orb shoots tiny bolts of ice outward in all directions and explodes at a certain distance, dealing its highest damage. Note: Frozen Orb has a cooldown that can not be reduced by any means.
Energy Shield* gives you the ability to take a portion of damage with your Mana Pool instead of your Life Pool.
Glacial Spike* shoots an arrow shaped ice projectile in the direction of your cursor. On impact, it explodes into a small area in which freezes your enemies and deal Area of Effect Cold Damage. It can be used as a Utility Skill with mass freezing nearby targets.
Teleport* lets you cover large distances over almost any gap and wall on the map. This is what gives the Sorceress its huge advantage early on.
Telekinesis* allows you to interact with objects from a distance to save time. It can be used on your Stash, Waypoints, Portals, and utility items (Potions, Scrolls, etc.). You can also use it to Knockback mobs and keep them stunned.
Static Field* deals Lightning Damage equal to 25% of the enemy’s current Life. It can only bring a monster’s Life down to 1 in Normal, 33% in Nightmare and 50% in Hell. Use it on Cold Immune mobs and bosses with high Life pools.
Frozen Armor* protects your Character with an icy armor that freezes enemies who use melee attacks on you. Ranged monsters are not affected by this at all.
Warmth* gives you some passive Mana Regeneration. This is a great investment for this build, especially paired with Energy Shield.
Frost Nova* shoots a ring of ice around you, chilling targets nearby in range. This Skill can be used in niche situations to buy yourself more time for your next move.
Cold Mastery* boosts the Cold Damage dealt to all of your enemies by piercing their Cold Resistances.
Fire Mastery* boosts the Fire Damage to all of your Fire Skills.
* Faster Cast Rate Skills (FCR) * Skills that do NOT utilize either FCR or IAS
Attributes
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants can require a different allocation!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Energy to fully utilize Energy Shield, which requires large amounts of Mana.
Essentials
Gear Options
While every Stat in the Desirable Stats column is useful for this Build, we highlighted the Priority Stats in Teal so you can review the recommended Items and more easily identify the Most Important Stats on them.
Hover over any Item in the Item Options to see a pop-out with the full Item description.
Gear/Base Notes: Any Items with specialized or niche uses have superscript that refer to a Note listed here. 1) Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye is recommended exclusively in combination with other Tal Rasha pieces.
Slot
Item Options
Desirable Stats
Weapon
Heart of the Oak Flail Doom Double Axe Obsession Archon Staff Spirit Crystal Sword The Oculus Death's Fathom Wizardspike Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye1
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Frozen Orb [Sorceress Only] +x to Energy Shield [Sorceress Only] +x% to Cold Skill Damage +x to Attribute +x to Mana X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Off-Hand
Spirit Monarch Jeweler's Monarch of Deflecting (4x Rainbow Facet Jewel) Rhyme Bone Shield Ancients' Pledge Stormshield
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery x% Increased Chance of Blocking +x to Attribute +x Mana X Resist +x% +x Magic Absorb Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Weapon-Swap
Call to Arms Crystal Sword Memory Battle Staff Gull Blade of Ali Baba Wand of Lower Resistance
+x to All Skills +x to battlecommand +x to battleorders +x to battlecry +x to Hydra [Sorceress Only] +x to Fire Mastery [Sorceress Only] +x to Energy Shield [Sorceress Only] x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Level x Lower Resist [x/x Charges]
Off-Hand-Swap
Spirit Monarch Rhyme Bone Shield Magic Find Monarch
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Helmets
Lore Crown of Ages Harlequin Crest Nightwing's Veil Spired Helm Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Rare Diadem Gemmed Mask
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x Life +x Mana X Resist +x% Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Body Armor
Chains of Honor Stealth Skin of the Vipermagi Ormus' Robes Skullder's Ire Tal Rasha's Guardianship
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% to Cold Skill Damage +x to Attribute X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x% Faster Cast Rate Regenerate Mana x% X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Belts
Arachnid Mesh Goldwrap Snowclash Verdungo's Hearty Cord Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth Immortal King's Detail Magic Belt
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Blizzard [Sorceress Only] +x to Glacial Spike [Sorceress Only] +x to Attribute Increased Maximum Life x% +x% to Maximum Cold Resist X Resist +x% +x Cold Absorb Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x to All Skills +x to Cold Skills [Class Only] +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to all Attributes +x Life X Resist +x%
Rings
The Stone of Jordan Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band Nagelring Dwarf Star Rare Ring Magic Ring Magic Ring
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x Life +x Mana X Resist +x% Fire Absorb x% Magic Damage Reduced by x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Charms
Grand Charm Large Charm Small Charm
+x to Cold Skills [Sorceress Only] +x % Faster Run / Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Attribute +x Life +x Mana X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Monster Cold Immunity Is Sundered +x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skill Levels +x to all Attributes All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Reduces all Vendor Prices x%
Farming Spots
The areas below are efficient farming locations that make use of the build’s strengths. Other farming spots might not be as effective due to immunities or bad layouts. These areas are strong without a Sunder Charm.
Anything that has a ✔ in the "Starter" column can be farmed with the Starter Variant.
Uniques Sets Max Area Level Leveling (Baal for Level 97-99)
Mercenary
Your Mercenary serves an incredibly important role to the overall success of your build. They can be a front line tank, provide a pivotal Aura, and/or deal Physical Damage to kill enemies with Immunity to your Skill set.
Act 2 Desert Mercenary
The Act 2 Desert Mercenary is hired from Greiz. He can be equipped with a Spear or a Polearm, a Body Armor and a Helmet. Every Act 2 Mercenary has access to an Aura and uses Jab as his base Attack. The Aura activates once the Mercenary has engaged in combat and remains active between traveling to and from town. The Auras available are based on what difficulty you hire the Mercenary from.
Might Infinity
Might Infinity
Infinity, Might
Use a Desert Mercenary with Might Aura to deal with enemies that are immune to your main damage source. Equip him with Infinity to reduce enemy Resistances and Defense with Conviction Aura, drastically boosting damage.
Mercenary Gear Options
Your Mercenary needs maximum Resistances, Life Leech, a high damage Weapon, and high Defense and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive reliably. Cannot Be Frozen is also a great stat for maintaining Mercenary DPS and leech. Ethereal gear is preferred since it doesn't lose durability. Mercenary Types and Gear Options at each Gear Level perform equally well in different situations; choose based on Farming Spots and/or personal preference.
Gear Level
Early-Game
Mid-Game
End-Game
Weapon
Insight Obedience
Insight Obedience
Infinity Insight
Body Armor
Smoke Hustle Goldskin Rockfleece
Treachery Duress Shaftstop Duriel's Shell
Fortitude Treachery Chains of Honor Shaftstop Skullder's Ire
Helmet
Bulwark Undead Crown Temper Ground Cure
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Guillaume's Face Vampire Gaze Crown of Thieves Stealskull Kira's Guardian Rockstopper Cure
Andariel's Visage Andariel's Visage Guillaume's Face Guillaume's Face Vampire Gaze Stealskull Harlequin Crest
The Mercenary is hard to keep alive until you have the minimum gear recommended in this guide. Remember you can drag Healing Potions onto the portrait, or shift + 1/2/3/4 to directly feed them a Healing Potion from your Belt. The Mercenary also gains bonus Resistances from Thawing Potions and Antidote Potions.
If your Mercenary dies in battle, you can revive them from any of the Mercenary NPCs in each Act. This does come with an increasing cost, capping at 50,000 Gold. Keep that in mind and decide if the Mercenary is currently worth the cost.
Playstyle
General
Cast Frozen Armor and Energy Shield prior to entering combat situations to maintain their duration.
Frozen Orb's gameplay plan is fairly simple. Point and shoot Frozen Orb to Chill things in its path while dealing damage.
Use Telekinesis any time you can on Waypoints, Town Portals, your stash and for utility items such as Potions and Scrolls from a distance. These uses give lots of small-time saves that add up. It can also be used to Knockback mobs and keep them stunned. This is useful to keep Immunes stunned while your Mercenary takes them down.
Use Teleport to reposition yourself and your Mercenary. Your Mercenary stands a better chance of staying alive and taking on Cold Immunes when using Teleport. He can act as a first line of defense after you Teleport, catching incoming damage you would have taken otherwise.
Cast Frozen Orb directly into large monster groups, so that the orb itself explodes on the pack. This causes the biggest amount of damage from the skill.
Against single targets, be far enough away so that Frozen Orb explodes inside them at the end of its animation.
Freeze large number of enemies and dangerous ranged monsters with Glacial Spike.
Use Static Field to bring down the Life of your enemies quickly. This is great for all types of Bosses that are not Lightning Immune.
Before your targets die, swap to your setup with more x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items, especially bosses!
Try not to be too close to your enemies, this build is generally squishy and can either get stuck in Faster Hit Recovery or just die.
Try to avoid killing mobs over non-walkable terrain if possible, as they won't drop items.
Immunities
Use your Mercenary in combination with Telekinesis to keep Immune monsters stunned. This gives him time to take them down.
If you do not have Infinity equipped on your Mercenary, purchase a Lower Resist Charge Wand from Nightmare Drognan. It is great for breaking some Immunities and highly Resistant monsters. Repair this Wand with Gold or the Chipped Gem + Ort RuneHoradric Cube recipe to regain the Charges.
Cold Rupture breaks ALL Cold Immune monsters and brings them to 95% resistance. Pair this with Cold Mastery.
Late-Game
At the beginning of each run, buff yourself by swapping to Call to Arms and cast Battle Command 2 times, Battle Orders, swap back to your main setup and cast Frozen Armor. Make sure these buffs stay active all the time as they are essential to your survivability.
Use Infinity for an overall DPS increase for you and your Mercenary. Reposition him towards the monsters that you want to fight using teleport.
Breakpoints
Breakpoints in Diablo 2 are the minimum values required to reduce the frames of an action. Below are the important breakpoints considered for this build. For more information on the mechanics involved, check out our in-depth Resource: Breakpoints.
Faster Cast Rate (FCR)
Faster Cast Rate speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for the 63 or 105% FCR Breakpoint. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.
Frames
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
FCR
0
9
20
37
63
105
200
Faster Hit Recovery (FHR)
Faster Hit Recovery increases survivability. Aim for at least the 60% FHR Breakpoint.
Frames
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
FHR
0
5
9
14
20
30
42
60
86
142
280
Hardcore
For all Hardcore gameplay, your primary focus is increasing your Resistances, Damage Reduction, Chance to Block and Maximum Life. This can mean sacrificing overall power level for a more secure playstyle. This build can become Hardcore viable with key changes to the Skills, Stat Point allocation, and items. Review the changes below before building this character, as they may differ significantly from the normal build. See the "Hardcore" Variant for an example.
Stat Point Changes
We put enough into Strength to wear gear, as well as enough Stat Points into Dexterity to maintain 50% Chance to Block with Stormshield. Everything else just goes into Vitality.
Item Changes
Be sure to keep your Resistances over capped against things like Conviction.
Crown of Ages
Stormshield
Sandstorm Trek
Verdungo's Hearty Cord
The Oculus is generally dangerous because of it's x% Chance to cast Level 1Teleport when struck. Some options here are either Death's Fathom or Heart of the Oak Flail.
Build Variants
Starter
Standard
Set Build
Damage
Hardcore
Setup
The Frozen Orb Sorceress is strong enough to rely on a few key Runewords. Priority Stats:
Our Spirit, Stealth, Lore, and Ancients' Pledge make up the core of this build. This gives us the core Stats we need to successfully farm any of the "Starter" indicated Farming Spots.
Mercenary
Focus on giving your Mercenary Resistances and Life. Insight is a pretty easy Runeword to farm that gives a great amount of damage and Quality of Life with Meditation. Get the Might Aura Mercenary for extra damage against Cold Immunes.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 6. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put the remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
Focus on + to Skills, Cold Skill Damage, and Magic Find. Important Breakpoints: 63% or 105% FCR and at least 60% FHR. The most impactful items are Death's Fathom for damage and FCR Skin of the Vipermagi for Skills and Resistances, Spirit Monarch, and Harlequin Crest for all around good stats.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Cold Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Cold Immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed. Use Insight Giant Thresher instead if Cold Rupture is equipped.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 4. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear. Put the remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
The Set build, Tal Rasha's Wrappings, is fairly cheap, with the most expensive items being Tal Rasha's Guardianship and Tal Rasha's Adjudication. It is fairly well-rounded and your character glows, what more could you ask for! Important Breakpoints: Reach 86% FHR and 105% FCR. Obtain an additional 6% FHR from Charms, along with the full Tal's set and Spirit Monarch.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Cold Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Cold Immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed. Use Insight Giant Thresher instead if Cold Rupture is equipped.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 4. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear. Put the remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
This is the ultimate "glass cannon," with max damage at the cost of survivability. Our greatest defense is our offense with this setup. Important Breakpoints: Reach 86% FHR and 105% FCR. The most important items to help us dish out damage are Death's Fathom, Nightwing's Veil Spired Helm, and Ormus' Robes. Alternatively, you can use the new Obsession Archon Staff Runeword with a sick base, but it does not have quite the same DPS even with the extra Staff Mods. Note: If you need to get back to town, we use the Scroll of Town Portal on the Belt.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Cold Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Cold Immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed. Use Insight Giant Thresher instead if Cold Rupture is equipped.
Mercenary
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 4. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear, enough Vitality to reach 1000 at least Life and the remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
This variant focuses on staying alive. It obtains the maximum of Damage Reduction (50%) while stacking Life. Important Breakpoints: Reach 86% FHR and 105% FCR. Add extra Dexterity to aim for 50% Chance to Block. The most impactful items for a build like this are Stormshield, Crown of Ages, Sandstorm Trek and Verdungo's Hearty Cord. Use Cold Rupture instead of Chilling Grand Charm of Vita to enable farming of any monster.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Cold Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Cold Immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed. Use Insight Giant Thresher instead if Cold Rupture is equipped.
Skills
Put 1 Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Teleport 3. Frozen Armor 4. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Frozen Orb 2. Cold Mastery 3. Ice Bolt 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Attributes
Put enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear, Dexterity to reach 50% Chance to Block, and the remaining Stat Points into Vitality and Energy (if desired).
Summary
Summary
Patch 2.6 slows her down a little on that front by reducing the cold mastery effectiveness to 1/5 against monsters that have their Immunity broken.
Keep your Battle Command, Battle Orders and Frozen Armor buffs up at all times.
Use Telekinesis any time you can to save time.
Put enough Stat Points into Strength to wear gear and remaining Stat Points go into Energy.
Position yourself well during combat for optimal damage with Frozen Orb and pay attention to the enemy’s positioning, movements, and Auras.
For big damage, make the Frozen Orb explode inside your targets.
Use Wand of Lower Resistance and your Mercenary with Infinity Giant Thresher against Cold Immunes.
Keep a bit of distance and use Glacial Spike in dangerous situations to freeze targets.
Insight on your Mercenary solves your Mana problems in early stages.
Have fun!
We hope you enjoy this build! It can be a very fun way to farm with icy explosions. Once you get practiced with it the early game boss farming can be very rewarding. Have fun out there!
Good luck!
Credits
Updated and Maintained by Jymnasium Originally Written by BTNeandertha1 Reviewed by Lexyu, MacroBioBoi