NEW! 200 FCR Nova Sorc in D2R

The 200% Faster Cast Nova Sorceress is back! Just like the good ol' days of 1.09, Activision Blizzard has brought her back for PTR Patch 2.4!
Intro - 0:00
Gear - 0:24
Skills - 5:36
Eldritch & Shenk - 7:32
Cows & Gameplay - 8:09
Chaos Run - 11:22
Baal Run - 12:06
Final Thoughts - 13:37
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Discord
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Stream:
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[@bobsmith6370]

Awesome build. I prefer 105 fcr self-held infinity w. a merc wearing insight personally. It's awesome to find a content creator who actually knows what they're talking about.

[@thomasgrabowski2202]

finally a guide I needed. Thanks Cooley :P

[@michaelludtke3359]

This is a Nova Sorc!!! I saw a video from sweet phil yesterday about the Nova Sorc and had to laugh a bit 😅... Great build, great video as always. 👍🏻👍🏻🤙🏼

[@S13Slydeways]

Nova was my first sorc build i ever really liked. Im glad to see it back!

[@TastySouP-ic7kq]

Great idea, and by no means does this break the spec, but those staff skill mods are impossible. You can't get a lvl 1 skill and a lvl 24/30 skill on a staff: lvl 1 skills require ilvl 18 lvl 24 skills require ilvl >24 lvl 30 skills require ilvl >36. So you'd need to drop warmth on your attack staff for something else, and pick a different cold armor for your buffing staff. Maybe Thunderstrom for offensive staff, and enchant+shiver armor on the offhand?

[@ZzDuffy]

swap warmth to energy shield

[@ferallemur]

I don't think you need Energy Shield, actually. In this video, the buff to Energy Shield on his swap did absolutely 0 for him, because +3 ES and +1 all skills was the exact same as the +4 on his main weapon. You can see that he's at 39 for the skill, and it maxes out at 40. But also, looking at his charms, he has space for one more skiller (by ditching his TP tome and a single small charm). So add one skiller and there you go, maxed out at level 40. Thunderstorm might be the better answer, then. A +3 to Thunderstorm on the staff gets you a level 23 Thunderstorm with a full synergy (If you get that extra skiller too), and that's probably not too impactful compared to your Nova damage, but it's not nothing, and ought to at least look cool. You know, if you're rich enough to be able to buy a staff that is +3 Nova, +3 TS, and +3 LM. I'm certainly not and could never see myself making that sort of investment. While we're on the subject of skills on staves, his staff on switch has T-storm, which is useless (goes away as soon as he switches to his main staff), and ES, which is useless (same bonus on main), and frozen armor. Frozen Armor is theoretically possible in a War Staff, if you were to cube recipe a low quality war staff to get an ultra low ilvl (which Larzuk would still give 5 sockets to), but I have to wonder if that sort of effort is really worth saving one measly skill point, when the alternative is to pair your CTA with a shield that gives you an extra bonus to all skills, buffing up your BO. That seems like a better plan to me.

[@ZzDuffy]

@@ferallemur he cant have warmth. swap warmth for energy sheild on his main 3+4=7.

[@ferallemur]

@@ZzDuffy I know he can't have warmth. But he's already at 39 ES on his main, he has room for one more skiller, and 40 is max. Extra points to Energy Shield won't do anything. So he'd be better off with Thunderstorm, because at least that does SOMETHING.

[@ZzDuffy]

@@ferallemur +3 energy shield lets you max lvl 40 with only 18 hard points though. That lets you put a hard point into LS and frost armor and use spirit for BO buff or still use a buff staff with LS/Shiver armor and 2 additional points into warmth. Sorry I didnt explain myself, was a little sauced lol

[@matty4376]

Love the Cta staff! It’s nice not seeing your typical cta flail with spirit shield, which has been in every build video for like the last 20 years lol

[@thomasgrabowski2202]

Insane. :O ! Very awesome :D !

[@jonasberry4779]

When I started playing D2R when it dropped I knew that the Nova sorc wasn't what it was in 1.09. My absolute favorite build and it's going to be back! YAAASSSS! Thanks for showing the highest end version of her, Cooley!

[@subliminalist7539]

Yess I really miss my nova/orb sorc. Can't wait.

[@KR1DERSH0T]

It’s refreshing to see this sorc get build properly. Of course there’s always a few pieces that are more ideal but the solid base is there for sure. Great video man! Can’t wait to see you piece this char together and chase those items!

[@DigitalMonsta87]

Absolutely insane. Looks so fun

[@manoqueenz]

"It's pretty nuts, in a nutshell"

[@coreysayre1376]

Forb sorc with thunderstorm and mana shield was my fav sorc build from pre 1.10 d2 (for mf/pve); really love the idea that build could be viable again. Great to see the good old nova sorc can play with the adults again too.

[@karolgrzonkowski117]

I think it's a great content... Thanks for sharing this 👍

[@Nonnenmacher87]

Great Build! And Obsession is a great endgame Runeword, I love it.

[@mikedavin671]

yup this is how I remember my sorc - I did try to make a nova sorc and of course it was weak...will be nice when this comes out!

[@kevinthedemolisher]

That new runeword is so good. Nice build man.

[@jamesyuan1280]

That's how my nova sorc did her business back in 1.09....good old memories

[@TheLADRAY]

I played 200 fcr nova sorc this past launch and I'm HYPED for this! Damage was low then but it's INSANELY fun! GOTTA GO FAST!

[@guillaumebesner2331]

hard to stack MF on it thought

[@TheLADRAY]

@@guillaumebesner2331 this is true I used it as a key farmer and I’d also farm places like arcane sanctuary for hrs and it was pretty good for a pit runner too since there was a lot of tping there involved.

[@guillaumebesner2331]

@@TheLADRAY nice! keep it going friend!

[@MadMaxJuggernaut]

@@guillaumebesner2331 Speed > MF %

[@PCGAMELIFE0]

Big style points for this :)

[@WeirdGuy4928]

Can a staff actually spawn with +x to warmth and light mastery? I thought they could not spawn skills that are that far apart, ie lvl 1 skill and lvl 30 skill.

[@NoiseBlizzard]

I could definitely see this being a late-game build with some early-game potential, especially in a group setting. Being able to max Static and focus on Teleport, FCR, and Mana pools early would be huge. Maybe wield your own Insight until you can afford an Obsession, keep an eye out for some early stat-sticks to tide you over until you find both supreme 3x+3 6os/5os dream sticks. Sadly it still suffers from being a Lightning build, so demand for these items is already going to be obscenely high at the beginning of the season, and remain in high demand well through to the end of the season. Solo Sorcs are still probably better with Hydra/Blizzard until they can stack enough gear to respec into something a bit more flexible. Glad to see some 1.09 love back in action, though!

[@corey6011]

Man this is a beautiful build. Just like I remember it.

[@jhaybiebasco8529]

It's obvious in that video that 2.4 still has the bug where a prebuffed Thunderstorm doesn't do damage (it doesn't trigger even once in your runs) if you don't have at least a single hard skill point in it.

[@Cornholers]

That bug is rare and usually happens when someone has skills on an offhand switch and no normal points into when they prebuff it

[@Frilleon]

@@Cornholers it was bugged on LoD too hope they fix it

[@aa65064]

Nah they fix shit… its Blizzard after all. They keep adding „content“ (read: items, runewords) and call it a day.

[@andrewvader1955]

That looks like alot of fun

[@Dimkazaz]

Cool Sorc, well done

[@UltimateEnd0]

Damn dude...nice!

[@drunkenfuryzz]

i was an obsession doubter...now im not. great vid as always man!

[@cogline9]

I've been playing a FrozenOrb/Nova sorc as my first ladder character and have been loving it! Just like old times! XD

[@SlimFarmer]

By far the coolest build I have ever seen. I’ve seen a lot. Lol

[@loganedwards5701]

This is dope af. Never happening this good but dope

[@Tsuntsu86]

Nice build I’ll just remortgage my house to build it 😂 nice end game content 👍

[@mathieugosselin5090]

wow that's awesome. kinda want to make a nova sorc now

[@maxhanson3142]

super sick. love to see it. although.. not hard pointing TS means it won't strike even if it shows it "on" under your feet.

[@yangz0327]

feels buffing Nova makes Dual-Dreams sorc even more play-able. You can use Nova/Static fields to clear mobs really quickly along with buffed shock aura. and chop bosses off with your Passion

[@imalvl10paladin]

GG build man! Nova/TS sorcs are strong/broken in PvP too.

[@miloszrzepecki168]

First positive bulid on ptr so far. Looks very fun and its quite limited becouse its expensive. Nice job!

[@cash2436]

Very nice build.

[@thomasgrabowski2202]

I like the new staff. So good :P !

[@toxicswan7229]

I will be going after this build for key farming. I just finished my uber smiter paladin with Enigma and Last wish. Once I can get this build I'll be all set to farm to my hearts content

[@user-lq7jc9nd3i]

Badass! When can we see you and Synched get some PVP in with these new builds!?

[@D0omscream]

I think going for Holy Freeze merc is going to benefit this build more than the Defiance aura. The slow on the attack and movement speed could outweigh the damage reduction from simply having passive + Defense.

[@dsinemoi1mouton]

It always does

[@jonasberry4779]

I disagree.. your nova stuns.. I use this build in current patch and find that Holy freeze keeps the monsters further away than I want. Great for survival.. not good for speed runs.

[@D0omscream]

@@jonasberry4779 If your goal is speed running then Might would be even better since your merc gets to slap harder?

[@2d42day]

Nothing will be able to beat the infinity to drop res

[@REDMAGEV00]

@@2d42day That's great for item consideration but they're debating over the best default merc aura.

[@lukespowerhouse]

Yeah reminds me of pre-1.10. I used to run orb/nova back then. With all that Warmth you should have a demon limb in stash to enchant your merc for those LI/PIs.

[@Eldred15]

Nice video Coooley, only thing I think you should have mentioned was that you can build this sorc for much cheaper than you presented by taking away the ber runes, the perfect +skill archon staves, and the insane perfect charms and jewelry. I get that this video was basically demonstrating the perfect gg nova sorc. Just putting that out there for all the viewers who might think this build is out of their reach. The only expensive items this sorc needs is griffin's and infinity. You don't even need griffins if you go the hoto, spirit, 20 fcr circlet route.

[@kyleharmon853]

nova looks sick, all the light spells do. your the man for pvp so is FOH op?

[@NinaBabyTV]

The energy shield and frozen armor works, but tstorm doesn’t work. Once you swap back to your primary, u keep the aura of tstorm, but it won’t attack.

[@AeonOfChaos]

yeah the tstorm doesn't work with prebuff & no hard points, its clear in the video there's no thunder strikes lol.

[@aleksandyrveliki162]

another thing is when you dont have 1 point in ES its just weaker then if u have

[@JerBear0328]

@@aleksandyrveliki162 ES is maxed in this video. He just uses es on staff to break lvl 40 es on prebuff to have 95%

[@Filopo69]

How does it do in higher player difficulties? Looks like a good mass mob killer for rune hunting but HRs on player one are ouch regarding drop probabilities.

[@arundipsingh7953]

How can you get anni, torch, gheed, etc on ptr? do you have to use the keys and farm for anni and keep duping to get right one? duping sojs for annis? the 5 socket archon staff for cta? hero edit?

[@isnogud6808]

on hc we used maxblock with storm shild on this nova sorcs. basicly jump into a giant group of cows use frostnova, a few times static and finish off with nova. holy freeze merc did help a lot :D i miss that playstyle so much. had a lvl 99 sorc on bnet hc back then.. 75%block and 75dr you could just stand in the cows and didnt get dmg at all :D

[@JanitaShowaars]

Cooley! Do you think staffs will be pvp viable??

[@mrhristv]

You have some very well-trained muscle memory. I like your gamestyle

[@horadricdoodie4666]

can i found one of these arcon staff's on a vendor on hell diff? Or i only get them from a monster drop?

[@Khoalabare]

Current pre 2.4 nova does pretty good already in p1. How does this build do in p8?

[@Phantom_Shades]

This build is still manageable with viper, magefist aldur boots you don’t need grif and all the other expensive gear but it does help damage wise. You don’t need infinity but if you one kudos but a act two reapers merc does fine. I made one with 140 cast rate isn’t too much of a difference casting wise. I also made it with firewall before the updated it. Energy and telekinesis is a must, thunderstorm should’ve been stated in

[@Tekapeel]

Cast rate has completely definable breaks between improvements though, 140 is the same speed as 105 which is a lot slower than 200. If you want to build a 105 you are definitely losing damage for useless FCR somewhere

[@smalps]

I like the CTA stick! That is a nice option. Why don't you show the D kill or Baal. How does it do with Blood Mana curse? Poison and Blood mana seem like issues still. And obviously Light immunes you can't break. Also assume this is Players 1?

[@anthonystern7864]

That's the one right there 😊

[@chromff9261]

I think it defo looks awesome. Imo the best of all is survivability first along with maximum killing potential. Self Infi while having Eth insight on a Prayer Merc (yes prayer goes well with meditation) then the rest is pretty much the same with few changes. While the rune word staff is great and all, you have to get infi to the Merc and lose survivability on tough situations. I liked the “different” vibes though, amazing video and I am kinda glad game is evolving after all these years!

[@nextos]

with this and the holy fire pally, definitely the d3 patch

[@lvl99dust]

Do you think a merc chant from demon limb could get to kill the phys immunes??

[@clouds5]

I play this right now on live servers. Instead of maxing static (synergy is not active yet) I put 20 points in Blizzard. And then the trick is to tele into cows and in the time it takes for conviction from infinity to apply you cast 1 blizzard and 1-2 statics. Kills pretty much as fast as this or even faster (200fc, similar gear but with hoto/spirit you only need 10fcr on amulet or with 20fcr amu you can equip one soj/buls).

[@xshortguy]

Isn't the max +skills on a bare staff max at +3/+3/+2 or am i remembering this wrong?

[@frankieguelli1385]

Love that it uses a staff

[@jprec5174]

Cooley can you do a vid on the act 5 merc and explain to people why an eth uppd headstriker is godlike on them?

[@AlienMafia17]

What was the player difficulty set at for these runs?

[@johnmcarthur4800]

you think nova will back in pop now or maybe as a low tier build?

[@smokawho]

You could have upped the vipermagi as well. With any of the cold armors it would make a decent difference. Same with the gloves. Decent little bonus

[@moldraxian]

The magefists as well I believe.

[@quarktasche4997]

you'd need to skill strength then. upped viper requires 84 Strength, so with the perfect torch and anni you lose 14 points to reach it. Still might be worth it, though :) I'm more concerned with the Ber Runes, considering damage to mana happens before Resistances are applied. so the 16% DR only works on 5% of the damage that goes thru the ES. Not sure, whether D2R changed much regarding the Icetree Armors, but iirc the higher tier armors were much better than the one you get at level 1. especially the one that retaliates ranged attacks with a freeze might be an exceptional choice, given that ES sorcs are quite weak to extra fast archers, esp. with manaburn

[@godlymajins]

Are the 2.4 class changes going to be updating non-ladder?

[@JabeRaddle]

Do you have the singleplayer save file available to share? I'd like to test this out on PTR!

[@Mac-ik1sg]

Holy shit that runeword is nuts

[@therealmocen719]

Haha! This build is wild :D Great content Coooley. Any thoughts on a FoH/Holy Fire Pala for pvp this patch?

[@Coooley]

OP!

[@sabastianevans2656]

Hf and foh will probably be auto banned in gm duels

[@UnderworldGrim]

Cancer

[@RareFXChrisC]

That's why PVP in D2 is just for fun. It's not to be taken seriously.

[@Phantom_Shades]

Fist of heavens destroys pvp only build that can kill them is a chargedin with max light resist and smite

[@BMPK]

Coooley be using overscan on his monitor?

[@InversoresDisruptivos]

Very cool, NOVA is one of the funniest builds to play. I'm wondering if its worth to go from 105 FCR to 200. The DPS with 200 FCR is 14% higher than with 105 FCR but a big sacrifice has to be done to reach that 200 FCR which might not be worth it from a DPS perspective. For example 105 FCR can be reached by using Eldrich 40, Griffon 25, Arach 20 and Ormus 20 and there is still space left for other options like 2x SOJ, Frost Gauntlets, Mara, Jmod with 4x 5/5 and other options which combined would probably provide more than the 14% increase in DPS that the 200 FCR provides. Sure 200 FCR is more fun than 105 tho. In any case, being able to play NOVA again feels great :D

[@fuvvanfuvopo1705]

If I'm not mistaken back in 1.09 Nova gain additional hits when you had 200fcr, almost like Hammerdins 125 fcr that spawn additional hammer. Not sure if it's still the same process in D2R. :)

[@ProstatePopstar]

Those staves bro... no words...

[@hunterdillon4414]

Looks fun. I hope the thunderstorm prebuff is not bugged out, because this makes me want to put my hammerdin away for a season

[@Frogmike86]

Nova will be the new lightning sorc meta for density clearing. Have you tried infinity on the Sorc and insight on the merc? You can only hit the 105 fcr breakpoint, but you feel safer with the extra mana regen and the -light res on infinity helps overcome the lower fcr breakpoint.

[@alonsoheredia816]

i dont think so that gear is way to expensive , new ladder comes forget about all this perfect items , this sorc wont work like this with other items

[@Frogmike86]

@@alonsoheredia816 no more expensive than current lightning sorc meta. Once you get infinity, this becomes the best density farmer for sorceress.

[@diegokmp]

Where are the best places to farm that GG staff? I see TC 85 areas only, but maybe some merchant can provide plain war staves or rune staves with those +3 skills... Still, that may take quite a bit...

[@omniadoc]

Does the Ber in armour reduction apply to ES?

[@BrainlessNobrainer]

having tried both, i prefer insight on prayer merc instead of infinity on this build. you can transfer all of those warmth hard points to thunderstorm, which (when maxed) is actually really useful. you have to go hybrid to with such setup, since otherwise you wont have enough mana to sustain nova. insight takes care of that and prayer on merc synergises with it. im not lacking -res since i already have -30, and extra damage from thunderstorm offsets those lost -res points from not having infinity on merc

[@bradleybarker4833]

Is this the fastest chaos, baal minion/baal, pit, cow runner in the game? If so I'm making one. If it isn't the fastest could you please tell me what is?

[@marco7858]

sorry what is that Hailstone Amulet? searched online found nothing. how can i aquire it?

[@alexandrubalan22]

Where would one find stafs like that, can they be bought or gambled?

[@jtuber7529]

doesnt using a sunder gc help ur dmg on non lightning imune monsters?

[@Gregski3]

Im thinking what would be better starting sorc build for the season. Fire sorc - got leaf at the start, magefist gives +1, hydras are great for andy and meph farming Nova - available earlier, synergy with static, good for farming countess, good for large density

[@breazybear]

Fire is a better start, nova doesn’t feel good with less than 200fcr or high damage output, also fire now has really good lvl 85 areas that will be very easy to clear with budget gear. Fire will also be far superior with bosses as nova has very bad single target damage even when fully geared

[@wierdguy84]

Nova, which I love, is pretty mana intensive for early game

[@Gregski3]

@@breazybear yeah agree, just thinking about farming countess and nihlathak, with fire its bit pain

[@aliebrubaker7473]

Early game nova Sorcs use Static in a rotation so they really aren't any more mana heavy. Especially in Norm. Until you've got an Insight merc, every Sorc build is chugging mana pots anyways. This specific build would be squishy af early on (first 24 levels at least) if you only put into energy buuuut it would have a lot less mana issues. Good with a friend and for NM teleporting. I would say, Nova is prolly better for key/rune farming and Hydraball is better for item farming, generally. Hydraball is better in the area level 85 game, too, with the Stony Tomb, Drifter Cavern, Icy Cellar addition. Until you have Infinity, that is.

[@Repetoire]

Build is actually sick

[@JobyD2]

Looks strong

[@tylertylerbills]

But does it do more damage than 3/20 Eschuta's with 5/-5 facet?

[@ryandenning4275]

is bear rune new with the patch, never heard of it

[@Emperor_Shao_Kahn]

Cows in 1.09 with Quark bows, 40 hexes in your inv, white gloves and rings etc was pretty bad ass i miss those days haha

[@yojomojo]

where did you get that base staff???

[@invincible0522]

Would've liked to see this on P8.

[@MrDarkBM]

Vouch I feel like this is one of those builds that will drop off hard on P8.

[@Phantom_Shades]

It does well in hell, cow killer (static them spam nova) only issue is light inmunes but you can pretty much farm anywhere although act 3 counsel does give a slight problem sometimes

[@chaisewhitlock1717]

Super slow because nova isn’t strong but the fact of how fast you can cast it is. In p8 monsters have way too much health

[@stevenheroux9199]

@@Phantom_Shades infinity cancel 98% of light immunes in the game where is the problem ?

[@Phantom_Shades]

@@stevenheroux9199 not everyone can afford infinity with the high runes

[@scottleon2311]

dis build looks sick bro

[@FlintingSun]

But can it kill Nihlaktak when you tele into the middle of the mob? :)

[@HBosse90]

omg this totally changes the "hoto spirit" meta

[@EatingCtrlV]

Is the map fully revealed on the PTR?

[@benj1b]

This looks like a super fun build, but I wonder how good it is as a budget version or are you gonna have to wait til you have all your gg gear before you respec into this

[@aliebrubaker7473]

You can run a much cheaper Hoto Spirit. The CTA in a staff is a neat touch for the proper "staff Sorc" street cred but you get just as much from a CTA flail and Spirit (you don't get the free prebuff skills but he dumped extras into Warmth so two or three points wouldn't kill the build). A perfect FCR Hoto Spirit combo is 75 FCR and Obsession is only 65... so you could even run any old 20 FCR helmet (rare circlet?) instead of Gryphons. That makes the build way cheaper on its own. Even a pair of perfect Spirits will get you 70 FCR and let you drop Gryphons. I would be curious how a midbie without infinity looks on this rig. The issue is that you rely pretty heavily on telestomping so it isn't really a build that wants to sit and whittle away packs. Can it? Yeeeees but the longer you're there, the more damage your ES is taking which is draining your mana which is also your source of damage. Also, without infinity, you're limited to areas with no lightning immunes. Goooood luck with that. You can run Countess, Arcane Sanctuary and Summoner for keys. Or cows... just bring a book XD

[@kroliczyca2]

Would be nice if you give us a link to that save file, so we can also test it pretty quick ;)

[@JB-qq1xz]

I think its just plain cool seeing staves used again!! A few more worthy RWs eh? Rebuff some unique staves...

[@ricksanchez8521]

This may be a bug, but you do actually need a hard point in thunderstorm. When I weapon swap with my sorc, using a weapon that gives me lightning storm, my character will have the lightning circle still around her but it wont actually do anything.

[@StricklyCryptic]

Hey buddy how do you think this will be with the new synergies for Nova?

[@aliebrubaker7473]

This is with the new synergies. He's on the 2.4 PTR.

[@lucasmarioricardo1995]

dont you thin a hoto plus spirit is a better combination?

[@limonerer6460]

Can it handle players 7-8 though? I'm guessing damage will be too low for most areas