Remember the days we wrote down the number of skill points to figure out the strongest and most efficient build for each class? Diablo 2: Resurrected is out and we need to do that again! We have three chances to reset our skills and stats, so choose carefully and plan out how you invest your stats and skill points.

So without further ado, we bring you the most efficient guide to level up your Sorceress and which path to choose after you’ve leveled up.

Stats

Energy isn’t that important to Sorceresses in this game — it only grants more mana and mana regeneration — so most of your stats should be invested in Vitality. From Lv. 1 through 11, invest just enough strength to wear your equipment, and up your Vitality and Energy together. In the end, you won’t need to invest more than 60 on both Strength and Energy. Additional stats from later game items will cover the low energy.

Level 1-11

Key Skill: Fire Bolt

The biggest struggle for the Sorceress is getting through the early levels. There’s never enough Mana, and the skills are never as powerful as you think. The best choice to get through these levels is… Just simply killing as many monsters as you can -- whether using magic or just physical attacks. The monsters aren’t as strong at this point, so just use what you have to take them down. 

During this period, you want to learn Fire Bolt, Frozen Armor, and Warmth. Don’t overinvest in Warmth, because it isn’t going to make a big difference — just one skill point would do. You can continue to level up Fire Bolt, but you need to save one skill point at Lv. 5 because you need to learn two skills at Lv. 6 and it isn’t far away.

At Lv. 6, you want to learn Frost Nova and Static Field. Static Field is a very important skill for the Sorceress. You’re going to need this to take down bosses faster later on. For now, we’re only going to distribute one skill point here. After learning Frost Nova and Static Field, keep leveling up Fire Bolt. Fire Bolt will be your main source of damage until Lv. 12.

Level 12-18

Key Skill: Fire Ball

Once you hit Lv. 12, you’ll feel more like a Sorceress, since you learn Fire Ball. It’ll be much faster for you to take down monsters from now on as Fire Ball has strong AOE damage. You’re always going to lack mana, so go find a belt where you can hold more mana potions. Keep investing your skill points on Fire Ball. At Lv. 17, learn Telekinesis so that you can learn Teleport at Lv. 18.

While you level up, there are things you need to look for. The most important is Runes. Starting from Lv. 19, you can use the Runeword item: Leaf. The Runeword is extremely simple — Tir Ral. Sometimes you have the runes, but not the staff. You can buy a 2-socket staff from Akara if you have the money, but keep looking for a 2-socket staff on your way.

Level 19-30

Key Skill: Fire Ball, Teleport

All your struggles are over. At Lv. 19, you’ll be able to use “Leaf”, the Runeword staff that grants you +3 Sorceress Fire Skills. You can use your first skill reset here if your skills aren’t efficiently distributed, but it isn’t recommended. With +3 added to your fire skills, it’ll be a breeze moving forward.

Some more skill points are going to be needed as you want to learn Energy Shield at Lv. 24. 

Level 30 and on

After Lv. 30, you’ll need to decide which way you want to play your Sorceress. There are almost infinite numbers of builds, so here, I’ll just introduce a few. You might want to use one of your skill/stat resets here, if they aren’t invested efficiently.

The maximum number of skill points you can get is 110, including all the level-ups and quests. This is the final build you’re aiming for (without items). When you level up your skills, you want to first level up your main damage skill, and then invest in the synergies.

There will be monsters that are immune to fire. Against those monsters, you can just simply avoid them, or use a different element skill to kill them. Sometimes, your mercenary will come in handy as well.

Blizzard Sorceress

Chain Lightning Sorceress

Fire Ball / Frozen Orb Sorceress

Items

In Diablo 2, there are a LOT of different items. You can choose any item, but here are some simple Runeword items that are extremely helpful for Sorceresses in early levels. You can look for what else you need here.

Lv. 17 Stealth (2-socket body armor, Tal+Eth)

With two runes and a two-socket body armor, you can create Stealth. Stealth is full of great options for the Sorceress in the early game — faster cast rate, faster run/walk, faster hit recovery, and mana regeneration rate are all very helpful. The best part is that everything you need for this is very easy to get. While leveling up to 17, keep an eye out for two-socket body armor and keep it in the stash until you get the runes. Tal and Eth runes are very easy to farm — a few Countess runs will do.

Lv. 19 Leaf (2-socket staff, Tir+Ral)

Leaf is the biggest present Blizzard gave to Sorceresses that are starting from scratch. The +3 to Fire Skills option and additional defense based on character level allow Sorceresses to use only this weapon for a long time. Tir and Ral runes are very easy to find as well.

Lv. 25 Spirit (4-socket sword, shield, Tal+Thul+Ort+Sol)

Once you’ve made Spirit, you won’t need any more weapons until you farm the Oculus or end-game weapons. Spirit grants +2 all skills, faster cast rate, faster hit recovery, vitality, and mana — you probably won’t find a better weapon until you reach Hell. The biggest challenge in making Spirit is finding a 4-socket sword.

It’s good to hold Spirit on both hands, but one little problem is that if you want to wear the Spirit shield, you need at least 156 strength. The minimum strength required to wear a 4-socket shield is 156 — the Monarch. Monarchs are the elite version of the Kite Shield, and its level requirement is 54. 

Lv. 25 Lore (2-socket helm, Ort+Sol)

Lore also has the all-skill option, and it gives you more energy as well. And again, the best part is that the two runes are easy to get. Once you make one, you’ll be using it for a while.

Lv. 27 Insight (4-socket polearm, Ral+Tir+Tal+Sol)

One of the biggest problems while leveling up your Sorceress is the lack of mana. If you make Insight on a polearm and equip it on your Act 2 mercenary, it will be like a mana potion for you. The mercenary will gain the Meditation Aura (Skill level 12-17) which speeds up your mana regeneration by a huge margin.

Lv. 29 Rhyme (2-socket shield, Shael+Eth)

The all-resist, faster block rate, and mana regeneration topped with the cannot be frozen option is a perfect blend. Definitely one of the choices you could make before you get a better shield.

Rings and Amulets

You won’t have that many options to choose from for your rings and amulets. Usually, the best choice is to find a 10% faster-cast rate ring, and a +1 to All Sorceress skills amulet, but it won’t be that easy. You just need to keep farming until you get the best you can find. A rare amulet with an all-skill option and all resist will be what you’re looking for. For rings, it’s faster cast rate and single resist.

Belt, Gloves, and Boots

For the belt, you need to wear one that gives you 12 extra potion slots. The options you’re looking for on these equipment are resistance. When you move on to Nightmare and Hell, the resist penalty is punishing, and there aren’t many ways you’ll be able to supply them.