The Hydra Sorceress is a "Hot" Character build to start your journey into the world of Diablo 2. With very little item investment, the Hydra Sorc is capable of destroying Mephisto, Andariel, and Stony Tombs. With a decent Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint and the use of the Skill Teleport, you can get to these bosses in no time. She can be somewhat difficult to pilot with low survivability in some stages, but is a solid Ladder Starter.
The combination of Static Field and your Mercenary, are a good way to take out Fire Immunes and other difficult targets until you get a Flame Rift.
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 Flame Rift, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Fire Resistance as possible. Equip Flickering Flame Diadem and Phoenix Monarch.
Counteract the negative effect of Flame Rift with Flickering Flame Diadem. It is not only a great source of damage, it also counters the negative effects!
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, Many Elite Groups, Super Chests, Skip Fire Immune Tombs ✔ Flayer Jungle + Flayer Dungeon - High Density, Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups ✔ Stony Tomb ONLY - High Density, Many Elite Groups, No Immunities ✔ Far Oasis - Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, Quick Access, Beetleburst
Put 1 Skill 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. Hydra 2. Fire Mastery 3. Fire Ball 4. Fire Bolt 5. Telekinesis 6. EnergyShield
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Damage
Hydra* summons a 3-headed pet on the targeted location that spits out fire bolts. The Skill lasts for 10 Seconds and you can have up to 6 at a time.
Meteor* makes a large Meteor that crashes down at the targeted location after a small delay and continues to burn with Fire Damage at the impact location.
Fire Ball* shoots a large Fire-Ball that deals Fire Damage, explodes on impact, and deals Area of Effect (AOE) Damage. It travels quickly and deals a lot of damage, becoming the primary damage Skill at a high Character Level.
Teleport* allows you to travel large distances quickly, and go through gaps and walls. This is what gives the Sorceress a 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.
Energy Shield* gives you the ability to take a portion of damage with your Mana Pool instead of your Life Pool.
Warmth* gives you some passive Mana Regeneration.
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
Don't allocate any Stat Points into Vitality, because Energy Shield is being fully utilized. This build gets some Life from gear, buffs, and Charms.
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 easily identify the Most Important Stats on them.
Hover over any Item to see a pop-out with the full Item description.
Gear/Base Notes: Any Items with specialized or niche uses have a superscript that refers 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 Spirit Obsession Archon Staff The Oculus Eschuta's Temper Wizardspike Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye1
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Hydra [Sorceress Only] +x to Fire Mastery [Sorceress Only] +x to Energy Shield [Sorceress Only] +x% to Fire Skill Damage +x to Attribute +x to Mana X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Off-Hand
Spirit Monarch Rhyme 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 Magic Find Monarch
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Helmets
Flickering Flame Diadem Lore Crown of Ages Harlequin Crest Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Rare Diadem Magic Find Mask
+x to All Skills +x to Fire Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery -x% to Enemy Fire Resistance +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 Fire Skill Damage +x to Attribute X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x to Fire Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate Regenerate Mana x% X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Belts
Arachnid Mesh Goldwrap 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 Attribute X Resist +x% Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Attribute +x to Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Level x Bone Prison [x/x Charges]
+x to All Skills +x to Fire Skills [Class Only] +x to Character Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to all Attributes +x Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
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 Fire Skills [Sorceress Only] +x % Faster Run / Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Attribute +x Life X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Monster Fire 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.
Anything that has a ✔ in the "Starter" column can be farmed with the Starter Variant.
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 durations.
Use Telekinesis any time you can on Waypoints, Town Portals, your stash and to pick up utility items such as Potions and Scrolls from a distance. These uses give lots of small-time saves that add up. In addition, you can also use it to Knockback mobs and keep them stunned. This is useful to keep Fire Immunes stunned while your Mercenary takes them down.
Use Teleport to move from place to place, to reposition yourself, and your Mercenary. Your Mercenary stands a better chance of staying alive and taking on Fire immunes when using Teleport. He can act as a first line of defense after you Teleport, catching incoming damage you would have taken otherwise.
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.
With Hydra you want to continually cast either on top of or leading your targets. Stack Hydra for more damage against stationary targets.
Try to get your enemy stuck on things or hung up on specific terrain to deal maximum damage through stacking Hydra.
Fire Ball is great for fast Area of Effect damage.
Before your targets die, swap to your setup with more 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 Fire immune monsters stunned.
If you do not have Infinity equipped on your Mercenary, purchase a Lower Resist Charge Wand from Nightmare Drognan, this is great for breaking some Immune and highly Resistant monsters. Repair this Wand as needed using Gold or the Chipped Gem + Ort RuneHoradric Cube recipe.
Flame Rift breaks ALL Fire Immune monsters and brings them to 95% resistance. Pair this with as much -% Enemy Fire Resistance as possible and a source of Lower Resist and Conviction.
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.
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.
Skill Point Changes
Add points into Energy Shield for additional survivability or use a Staff with Energy ShieldStaff Mods like Memory Battle Staff or Obsession Archon Staff.
Item Changes
Be sure to keep your Resistances over capped against Conviction and Lower Resist.
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 Eschuta's Temper or Heart of the Oak
Build Variants
Starter
Standard
Damage
Hardcore
Setup
The Hydra 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 Immunes.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Telekinesis 3. Teleport 4. Frozen Armor 5. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Hydra 2. Fire Mastery 3. Fire Ball 4. Fire Bolt
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put the remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
Important Breakpoints: 63% or 105% FCR and at least 60% FHR. Stacking damage or x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (MF) are dependent on the playstyle you seek. Additionally, stats such as Resistances, + to Skills, and Damage are important. Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud, Spirit Monarch, The Oculus, and Arachnid Mesh make this a well rounded build.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Fire Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Fire immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed.
Skills
Put 1 Skill 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. Hydra 2. Fire Mastery 3. Fire Ball 4. Fire Bolt 5. Telekinesis 6. EnergyShield
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
FireBall and Meteor supliment our Hydra deal out maximum damage! Important Breakpoints: 63% or 105% FCR and at least 60% FHR. Stacking damage or x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (MF) are dependent on the playstyle you seek. Damage comes from Ormus' Robes, Eschuta's Temper,Mara's Kaleidoscope, and Flickering Flame Diadem.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Fire Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Fire immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Static Field 2. Telekinesis 3. Teleport 4. Frozen Armor 5. Warmth
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Hydra 2. Fire Mastery 3. Fire Ball 4. Fire Bolt 5. Meteor
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 Vitality.
Setup
Obtain the maximum Damage Reduction (50%) while stacking Life and Mana for EnergyShield. Important Breakpoints: Reach 60% FHR and 105% FCR. Add extra Dexterity to aim for 50% Chance to Block. The most impactful items for this build are Stormshield, Crown of Ages, and Sandstorm Trek.
Mercenary
Might Aura Mercenary works well for extra damage against Fire Immunes. Infinity Giant Thresher pierces Resistances and even breaks some Fire immunities. Andariel's Visage, and Fortitude provide the remaining damage and survivability needed.
Skills
Put 1 Skill 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. Hydra 2. Fire Mastery 3. Fire Ball 4. Fire Bolt 5. Telekinesis 6. EnergyShield
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, enough Vitality to reach at least 1,000 Life and the remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Mechanics
Teleport
Teleport instantly moves you to a selected square on the visible screen in which you can stand. The game tries to place you within a small radius around your cursor even if it would be impeded normally.
Teleport is not obstructed by walls or other impediments but can fail if your cursor is not completely passed those impediments when cast. Your Mercenary and Minions teleport with you, Traps do not.
Certain Minions in large quantities can become “stuck” in position after teleporting. Move away from that position to give them the chance to spread out.
You can “extend” the visible screen by opening UI-windows like the Inventory or the Character screen. Continuously cast Teleport and drag your mouse to the edge of your screen.
The Mana cost of Teleport decreases with additional Skill Levels down to 1 Mana per cast.
You can use “ESC” to open the menu in single player to pause the game after a Teleport to determine if you are safe.
Summary
Use Telekinesis any time you can to save time.
Put enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. The Remaining Stat Points go into Energy.
Get your targets stuck or keep them stationary for maximum DPS.