The prodigal daughter returns! Long has it been since the Nova Sorceress has been considered as one of the stronger builds, but now she is back - with a vengeance! In the before times, Nova was used to strike down hordes of cows. With Patch 2.4 it gains access to a Synergy from Static Field, drastically increasing its damage to a competitive Level.
The low amount of Skill Points required makes Nova a superb candidate for hybrid builds in combination with Cold or Fire Skills. The Pure Nova Sorceress becomes very tanky with Energy Shield and a massive Mana pool to negate large amounts of damage. This version deals well with the intense Mana cost Nova has.
Very Tanky ✔ Beginner Friendly ✔ Fast Paced Playstyle ✔ Flexible Hybrid Versions ✔
❌ Very High Mana Costs ❌ Heavy Item Dependency ❌ Complicated Item Mechanics ❌ Non-Hybrid Bad For Act Bosses
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 insted 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 Crack of the Heavens, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Sunder Charm Setup
Sunder Charm Setup
Gear Changes
To make optimal use of the Sunder Charm, equip as much -% Enemy Lightning Resistance as possible. Equip Infinity Scythe and Griffon's Eye for maximum damage. Make sure to keep at least 105% Faster Cast Rate!
Counteract the negative effect of Crack of the Heavens with Skin of the Vipermagi (Um Rune), Caster Crafted Amulet, and some Amber 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 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 Tower Cellar - High Density, Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, SKIP Archers! ✔ Dark Wood - Quick Access, Elite Groups, No Immunities ✔ Tristram - High Density, Many Elite Groups, SKIP Night Clans! ✔ Arcane Sanctuary - Quick Access, Bosses, Super Chests ✔ Blood Moor ONLY - No Immunities, Quick Access
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport 5. Energy Shield (maxed out later)
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield 6. Remaining points into Warmth
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Use the Scroll Bar to see Skill Point Progression
Damage
Nova* is your main Damage Skill. All enemies around your Characters take Lightning Damage and are put into Hit Recovery.
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.
Hydra* is your secondary Damage Skill in the Hydra hybrid variant. It summons a 3-headed pet on the targeted location that spits out fire bolts. Hydra lasts for 10 Seconds and you can have up to 6 at a time.
Energy Shield* uses your Mana pool to reduce a percentage of incoming damage to your Life pool.
Teleport* lets you cover large distances over almost any gap or 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.). It applies Knockback to non-Boss mobs and keeps them stunned. Telekinesis also reduces the Mana consumed from energy shield with each Skill Point.
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.
Lightning Mastery* boosts the Lightning Damage dealt by your Lightning Skills.
Cold Mastery* boosts the Cold Damage dealt by your Cold Skills by piercing their Cold Resistances. It is only used in the Frozen Orb hybrid variant.
Fire Mastery* boosts the Fire Damage dealt by your Fire Skills. It is only used in the Hydra hybrid variant.
*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 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) Put Memory in your Horadric Cube to re-buff yourself whenever necessary.
Slot
Item Options
Desirable Stats
Weapon
Eschuta's Temper (Rainbow Facet) Eschuta's Temper (ist rune) The Oculus Heart of the Oak Flail Crescent Moon Crystal Sword Infinity Scythe
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance +x% to Lightning Skill Damage +x% to Fire Skill Damage +x to Energy All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Off-Hand
Spirit Monarch Stormshield (eld rune)
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x% Faster Block Rate x% Increased Chance of Blocking +x to Mana X Resist +x%
Weapon-Swap
Call to Arms Crystal Sword Memory1
+x to All Skills +x to Energy Shield [Sorceress Only] +x to battlecommand +x to battleorders
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only) +x% Faster Cast Rate -x% to Enemy Lightning Resistance +x to Strength +x to Life +x to Mana X Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items Socketed [2]
Body Armor
Ormus' Robes (Rainbow Facet) Skin of the Vipermagi (Ber rune) Skin of the Vipermagi (Um rune) Skin of the Vipermagi (Ist rune) Tal Rasha's Guardianship (Ist rune) Chains of Honor Dusk Shroud
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Nova (Sorceress Only) +x% to Lightning Skill Damage +x% to Fire Skill Damage +x% to Cold Skill Damage X Resist +x% All Resistances +x Damage Reduced by x%
+x to Fire Skills (Sorceress Only) +x% Faster Cast Rate Increased Maximum Mana x% Regenerate Mana x% X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Belts
Arachnid Mesh Goldwrap Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth Verdungo's Hearty Cord String of Ears
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate X Resist +x% Damage Reduced by x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
+x% Faster Run/Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x Mana Increased Maximum Mana x% Regenerate Mana x% X Resist +x% +x to Mana after each Kill x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Amulets
Mara's Kaleidoscope Tal Rasha's Adjudication Caster Crafted Amulet
+x to All Skills +x to Sorceress Skills +x to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only) +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x to all Attributes +x to Life +x to Mana X Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Rings
The Stone of Jordan Nagelring Rare Ring
+x to All Skills +x% Faster Cast Rate +x to Strength +x to Life +x to Mana Increased Maximum Mana x% X Resist +x% All Resistances +x x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Charms
Grand Charm Large Charm Small Charm
+x to Lightning Skills (Sorceress Only) +x% Faster Run / Walk +x% Faster Hit Recovery +x to Attribute +x to Life +x to Mana X Resist +x% x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items
Unique Charms
Crack of the Heavens Gheed's Fortune Hellfire Torch Annihilus
Monster Lightning Immunity is sundered +x to Sorceress Skill Levels +x to all Attributes All Resistances +xx% 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 or Budget 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.
Holy Freeze, Infinity
Holy Freeze, Infinity
Infinity, Holy Freeze
Use a Desert Mercenary with Holy Freeze Aura for its powerful Crowd Control. A Mercenary with Might Aura isn’t used, since we don’t rely on his damage or benefit from the Physical Damage increase. Equip him with Infinity to reduce enemy Resistances and Defense with Conviction Aura, drastically boosting damage. This Aura is also capable of breaking some Immunities.
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.
Slot
Early-Game
Mid-Game
End-Game
Weapon
Insight
Insight
Infinity Plague
Body Armor
Smoke Lionheart Rockfleece
Treachery Duress Shaftstop Duriel's Shell
Fortitude Treachery
Helmet
Bulwark Undead Crown Temper Ground Cure
Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest Vampire Gaze Crown of Thieves Stealskull Kira's Guardian Rockstopper
Andariel's Visage Vampire Gaze
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
Equip yourself with Memory and buff yourself with Frozen Armor and Energy Shield before you start your farming session. Note:If you run out of Mana completely, the Energy Shield is removed. Make sure to recast it asap! This is your lifeline!
Teleport to your farming spot. Position yourself to cast the screen-wide Static Field 2-5 times, depending on the farming spot.
Nova deals damage in a relatively small area around your Character. Reposition yourself with Teleport to hit as many enemies as possible. Be aggressive! Nova puts most monsters into Hit Recovery, slowing them down while they approach you!
Hybrid-Builds
Hybrid builds generally allow for a wider range of areas that you can farm in.
Use Frozen Orb or spawn your 6 Hydras to fight enemies that are Immune to your Nova. Also use them in addition to Static Field in places you don't plan to Teleport to. This increases your over-all damage output and can net you some additional loot!
The Hydra-variant destroys Act Bosses. Make sure to utilize this Skill to farm them!
Immunities
Playing around with a Wand of Lower Resistance or an Act 5 Mercenary with plague allows you to deal with some Immune to Lightning monsters. Avoiding areas with Immune to Lightning monsters entirely until you have access to Infinity is the better call. The Nova Sorceress doesn't deal well with monsters that still have high Resistances after their immunity has been broken.
When you are playing one of the Hybrid-version, you and your Mercenary are able to deal with any Immune monster you encounter!
With the addition of Crack of the Heavens, all Immunities are broken and our combined -xx% Enemy Lightning Resistance gear brings monster's Resistances low enough to deal damage!
Late-Game
Start runs by buffing yourself with Battle Command 2 times and afterwards with Battle Orders from Call to Arms.
Switch to Memory from your Horadric Cube and buff yourself with Frozen Armor and Energy Shield as well.
Keep your Mercenary close to apply his Conviction Aura to your enemies.
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 (FCR) speeds up your casting animation for spells. Aim for at least the 105% FCR Breakpoint. Note: FCR only controls the animation speed of the Character, and not any internal Cooldowns spells have.
For all Hardcore gameplay, your primary focus is increasing your Resistances, Damage Reduction, and Chance to Block. 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.
Stat Point Changes
Allocate enough Dexterity to reach 75% Chance to Block with Stormshield (Eld Rune).
Item Changes
Use Gerke's Sanctuary Pavise (Eld Rune) or Stormshield (Eld Rune) instead of Spirit Monarch.
Replace Trang-Oul's Claws with Frostburn for a higher Mana pool, and therefore "Life" from Energy Shield.
Drop the Ormus' Robes for a Skin of the Vipermagi.
Use Rare Boots with high Resistances to over-cap your Resistances. This allows you to deal with hostile Conviction and / or Lower Resist.
Build Variants
Budget
Standard
Magic Find
Infinity Self Use
Hydra Hybrid
Hardcore
Setup
While the Nova Sorceress excels at the early stages of Leveling, it struggles to come online in Hell. With a decent amount of +x to Skills, at least 105% Faster Cast Rate (FCR), and a ton of Mana, you can start using it in the easier to farm areas mentioned in the Farming Spots section. Frostburn and Spirit Monarch are easy to obtain sources of Mana. The Oculus, Skin of the Vipermagi and Spirit Monarch with 1-2 FCR Rings deal with the Cast Rate needs. Put on as many +x to Skills on the remaining gear slots and your Charms to increase your damage and make sure to cap out your Resistances!
Mercenary
The Mercenary in this variant ensures massive Mana Regeneration with Insight Thresher in an Elite Base. Treachery and a Helmet with x% Life stolen per hit such as Vampire Gaze keep your Mercenary alive. With Might he can get rid of monsters Immune to Lightning on low player counts.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport 5. Energy Shield
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Telekinesis
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip your gear. Put remaining Stat Points into Energy. Note: If you don't have access to a bunch of +x to Life you should allocate around 100 Points into Vitality. Goal is to have 3x more Mana than Life.
Setup
The Standard variant uses the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint with a massive Mana Pool for Energy Shield which allows her to spam Nova at will. Equip Skin of the Vipermagi, Spirit Monarch, Griffon's Eye, Arachnid Mesh, and a Caster Craft Amulet to achieve 105% FCR.
Frostburn and 2 Stone of Jordan Rings increase your Mana Pool by 90%.
Replacing gheed's fortune for Crack of the Heavens allows you to farm wherever you want.
Mercenary
The Mercenary is clear-cut across all variants. Use the Might (Damage) or Holy Freeze (Crowd Control) version, depending on your preference. Use Infinity Giant Thresher, Fortitude Sacred Armor, and Andariel's Visage socketed with Ruby Jewel of Fervor to keep him alive permanently.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport 5. Energy Shield (maxed out later)
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield 6. Remaining points into Warmth
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 remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
This variant combines as much +x% Better Chance of Getting Magic Items (Magic Find), exceeding 600% in total, while keeping as much damage as possible. Going down to the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint allows the addition of Chance Guards and the 3-Set-piece combination of Tal Rasha's Adjudication, Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth, and Tal Rasha's Guardianship. Exchanging the Sparking Grand Charm of Vita for Charms with Magic Find and Resistances or Mana round out the build. Play around with this change and put back some Skillers if your damage or life feels too low. Use war Traveler for max Magic Find or any Rare Boots or Caster Crafted Boots with Magic Find and Resistances if necessary.
Mercenary
The Mercenary is clear-cut across all variants. Use the Might (Damage) or Holy Freeze (Crowd Control) version, depending on your preference. Use Infinity Giant Thresher, Fortitude Sacred Armor, and Andariel's Visage socketed with Ruby Jewel of Fervor to keep him alive permanently.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport 5. Energy Shield (maxed out later)
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield 6. Remaining points into Warmth
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 remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
This setup maximizes damage against monsters Immune to Lightning. It opens up the Mercenary to use insight for much better Mana Regeneration, making the Nova Sorceress much tankier against small damage hits, but reduces her ability to handle big damage hits due to a lower Mana Pool.
Equip Infinity Scythe instead of Crescent Moon Crystal Sword + Spirit Monarch and replace Frostburn for Magefist to keep the 105% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint.
Replace a Sparking Grand Charm of Vita for Crack of the Heavens to annihilate Immune to Lightning monsters.
Mercenary
Self using infinity opens up the Mercenaries' Weapon choice. Use the Might (Damage) or Holy Freeze (Crowd Control) version, depending on your preference. Equip Insight Giant Thresher for additional Mana Regeneration, Fortitude Sacred Armor, and Andariel's Visage socketed with Ruby Jewel of Fervor to keep him alive permanently.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Hydra 5. Fire Mastery 6. Remaining Points into Fire Ball or Warmth
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 remaining Stat Points into Energy.
Setup
The Hydra-Hybrid adds a source of Fire Damage to deal with monsters Immune to Lightning. Hydra is also an incredible damage boost to any Act Boss fight. Using Magefist instead of Trang-Oul's Claws is the only item change from the Standard Variant. This Fire Hybrid is Life-based because Hydra requires a lot more Skill Points to deal great amounts of damage, maxing out Fire Mastery. Eschuta's Temper maxes out the damage for both hydra, and nova.
Note: The Mana management is more difficult and this variant is less durable than any other version.
Mercenary
The Mercenary is clear-cut across all variants. Use the Might (Damage) or Holy Freeze (Crowd Control) version, depending on your preference. Use Infinity Giant Thresher, Fortitude Sacred Armor, and Andariel's Visage socketed with Ruby Jewel of Fervor to keep him alive permanently.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Hydra 5. Fire Mastery 6. Remaining Points into Fire Ball or Warmth
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 remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Hardcore variant of this build increases the survivability drastically. Doing so sacrifices some damage for max Chance to Block and % Damage Reduction. Since the Nova Sorceress has to go where it hurts, these Stats are even more powerful than on other Sorceress builds. Using a Gerke's Sanctuary Pavise (Eld Rune), Skin of the Vipermagi (Ber Rune) gets you to 43% Damage Reduction. Use 2 The Stone of Jordan to keep as much damage as possible.
Mercenary
The Mercenary is clear-cut across all variants. Use the Holy Freeze for its Crowd Control. Use Infinity Giant Thresher, Fortitude Sacred Armor, and Andariel's Visage socketed with Ruby Jewel of Fervor to keep him alive permanently.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills: 1. Frozen Armor 2. Warmth 3. Telekinesis 4. Teleport 5. Energy Shield (maxed out later)
Max out the following Skills in this order: 1. Nova 2. Lightning Mastery 3. Static Field 4. Telekinesis 5. Energy Shield 6. Remaining points into Warmth
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 and Dexterity to maintain 75% Chance to Block. Put 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 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.
Teleport casting speed is affected by the Faster Cast RateBreakpoint that you achieve with your gear.
Static Field
Static Field range scales with each Skill Point.
In the Nightmare and Hell difficulty you can't reduce a monsters' life past certain thresholds. For Nightmare this threshold is at 33%, in Hell it is at 50%. You can get a little bit past this threshold if your enemy is at negative Lightning Resistances.
In Normal difficulty you can bring a monster down to "1 Life". Static Field can't deal the final blow on a monster.
Static Field works on any monster you encounter that is not Lightning immune, including all Act bosses.
Static Field reduces the current life of a monster by 25%. The Lightning Resistances of a monster will reduce the effectiveness.
Damage calculation: Monster Life = Current Life - ((Current Life * 0.75) * ((100-Lightning Resistance) / 100))
Summary
Always buff yourself with everything that you got! Energy Shield is removed when your Mana reaches 0, make sure the golden ball is always above your head! Keep an eye on your Mana - It is your lifeline!
Use your screen-wide Static Field to weaken your enemies before you close the gap to slaughter them!
Be aggressive! Nova deals damage around your Character, and most monster are stunned when they get hit by it. Being defensive reduces your efficiency!
Don't farm in areas when you can't break monsters' Immunity to Lightning and reduce their Resistances beyond that. Nova doesn't deal well with high Resistant monsters.
Play around with the Hybrid-variants. They are a lot of fun and open up a wide range of areas to farm in!
The Nova Sorceress is a very rewarding close up Lightning build that can destroy everything in the game. Enjoy jumping into your enemies and zap them to death!
