Lightning Sorceress Build -D2R 2.7

Do you want to unleash wrath upon your foes? Do you want to get fully loaded and zap enemies with destructive lightning bolts? If the answer to these questions is a resounding YES, then we have a treat for you!

In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about the Lightning Sorceress in Diablo II: Resurrected. Considered by many players as one of the best in farming Uber Key Bosses and monsters found in Uber Tristram, this character has the potential to destroy the minions of Hell foolish enough to get in her path.

So, if you are interested, read further! This is our comprehensive D2R Lightning Sorc build guide!

Build Introduction

The Lightning Sorc is probably the most extreme Sorceress build in Diablo II: Resurrected as it is the only one capable of reaching a 200% Faster Cast Rate (FCR). Furthermore, having a 7-frame Teleport speed makes this the fastest build in the game.

With the right gear, teleporting to Mephisto, Andariel, or the Throne of Destruction from the nearest waypoints within 30 seconds is easily doable. In addition, the Lightning Sorc also has insane clear potential thanks to Chain Lightning, which deals up to 13,000 damage per bolt and up to 37,000 lightning damage with the main Lightning skill.

If you want to break the record for the quickest Meph run, this is the build you should play! The downsides are the same as other sorceresses: the relatively weak survivability compared to other classes, and the monsters with elemental damage immunities. The latter can be overcome by equipping your mercenary with Infinity to provide you with Conviction aura and remove enemy resistances and immunities in most cases.

Budget and Ladder starter versions of the build are available, but if you want the best gearing options, it's going to be very expensive. Do not worry, we have got you covered!

Gameplay

The Lightning Sorceress is relatively easy to play due to the fact that it gives you several skills that you can use at your disposal.

Attacking skills

Your main skill here is the old-fashioned Lightning. This skill deals insane amounts of damage, which can be felt really well when you have the proper gear. Lightning has an intrinsic property, where the bolt pierces through enemies in a straight line. Because of this, utilize Lightning when dealing with monsters that are lined up to kill them in one or two casts.

Chain Lightning (CL) is mainly for dealing with enemies that are positioned adjacently from one another. For the most part, however, you should stick to Lightning because this skill deals more damage than CL.

Static Field is an incredible skill that reduces the target's damage by 25% of their current HP. If you fight a monster that has 1,000 HP, for example, this skill decreases that value to 750. Use Static Field as an opener when fighting against tougher bosses like Uber Diablo or Mephisto.

Charged Bolt is a complementary spell typically used after Static Field. Only utilize this if you want tremendous single-target damage.

Movement

For movement, you will rely on Teleport. Lightning Sorcs are the most mobile characters in the game with the fastest possible teleportation speed, as this build is capable of reaching 200% FCR, and thus, 7-frame teleportation. Otherwise, you should aim for the 63% FCR breakpoints (9-frame teleportation), or the 105% FCR breakpoint (8-frame teleportation). Make sure to walk instead of run, so you retain your chance to block against physical attacks.

Survivability

This build is amongst the more fragile sorceress builds in D2:R. You have to rely on very expensive equipment in order to boost your survivability, like lightning skill charms with life, as well as small charms with life and + to all resistances. Wear Call to Arms as your switch weapon so you can buff your life and mana through the Battle Orders skill. Make sure to have 75% all resistances on Hell Difficulty, and wear a Raven Frost ring so you don't get frozen. If you are willing to give up damage and Faster Casting Rate, using the Stormshield instead of Spirit as your primary shield can greatly help with your survivability.

Party and Solo play

Soloing with the Lightning Sorc is not an issue if you are able to afford Infinity for your Merc. Without that, you will have to face plenty of lightning-immune monsters that will cause you trouble. If you cannot afford Infinity yet, you can put Crack of the Heavens in your inventory. This is a Sunder Charm that allows you to defeat monsters with immunity to lightning damage, though it comes with a heavy downside that you somehow need to address.

You will still be able to farm endgame bosses, but for clearing areas like the Chaos Sanctuary or the Throne of Destruction, you will have to rely on your party. When doing Baal runs, the Lightning Sorc can be the most helpful character in the party. This is because it can teleport to the Throne of Destruction faster than any other class, making it an unrivaled boss farmer in Diablo II: Resurrected.

Magic Find

The Lightning Sorc can be a very decent Magic Find (MF) character. It can achieve a high magic find % and still deal immense damage, but you will need separate gear for MFing and for farming. It is also a great ladder starter, you will be capable of efficiently farming Meph, Andy, Countess, and many other monsters with ease right after a season start.

Stats

• Strength: Put just enough points on it to be able to wear your gear.
• Dexterity: Put just enough points on it to be able to wear your gear.
• Vitality: Put all remaining points on it.
• Energy: Don't put any points on it.

The Lightning Sorceress requires a bit of strength to equip some of the endgame pieces of gear. Since you are going to utilize the Spirit Runeword on a Monarch Shield, you should have at least 156 STR. This is more than enough, though, so you could invest some points in dexterity.

Speaking of which, the amount of dexterity you put it really depends on your other items. Make sure to look at their attribute requirement and adjust your DEX accordingly.

Surprisingly, even though the Lightning Sorc is a caster build, putting points on Energy is not needed. If anything, you can just leave it and never worry about it.

After putting points on strength and dexterity, you should dump the remaining ones on Vitality to improve your HP.

Skills

• 20 points on Lightning
• 20 points on Chain Lightning
• 20 points on Lightning Mastery
• 20 points on Nova
• 20 points on Charged Bolt
• 6 points on Warmth
• Put 1 point on the following skills:
  • Frozen Armor
  • Telekinesis
  • Static Field
  • Teleport

Lightning and Chain Lightning are your two primary skills. The former should be used often and the latter must be utilized when fighting multiple adjacent enemies for faster clearing speeds.

Even though Nova is not part of your main skill rotation, you put 20 points to it as it increases the damage of Lightning and Chain Lightning by 8% and 4% per level, respectively.

Only one point is necessary for Static Field because you only use it to reduce the monster's current life by 25%. This is, of course, followed by Charged Bolt, which deals a significant amount of damage to a single target. Charged Bolt also increases the damage of the other lightning skills mentioned above.

Frozen Armor, Telekinesis, and Teleport are just there for utility. You can forgo Teleport if you plan on wearing Enigma as your body armor. That point can be spent on Warmth to further increase your mana regeneration - a must for this build.

Breakpoints

There are two important breakpoints you have to address for the Lightning Sorceress. The first is Faster Cast Rate (FCR), which is a gauge of how fast you can complete the animation of a skill.

That being said, Lightning and Chain Lightning actually require a slightly higher FCR value compared to the other skills available to the Sorceress. The reason for this is that these skills complete their animation in 19 frames (without FCR) compared to just 13 frames for others. As a result, you should aim for at least 78% to reduce the frames to complete Lightning and Chain Lightning's animation down to just 13 frames. However, we recommend that you attain 117% to reach the next breakpoint (12 frames) for maximum efficiency.

The second breakpoint that you need to address is Faster Hit Recovery (FHR). This refers to how fast you can recover from the hit stun animation, which typically occurs after receiving damage equal to 1/12 of your total HP.

For this build, aim to have at least 30% FHR or 42% if you can reach it without sacrificing FCR.

For more information about breakpoints in D2R, you can refer to our dedicated guide.

Gearing

Just like any build in Diablo II: Resurrected, you can start with some budget gear for the Lightning Sorceress. However, its true potential will only be unlocked if you get your hands on the endgame items.

The listed items are organized by slots.

• The usefulness rating of an item is based on how good it is for farming.
• The price rating reflects the cost of the item (cheaper ones are available after ladder starts as budget options), higher price ratings reflect exponentially higher cost for an item.
• Magic Find ratings are added to items that are good options for MFing.

Adding sockets and improving your items

• If you complete the Act 5 quest Siege on Harrogath, Larzuk will grant extra socket/s to your items. Use the quest to add sockets to your gear and put useful jewels, runes, or gems in your item sockets.
• You can also upgrade your unique items from normal to exceptional quality and from exceptional to elite by using Horadric Cube recipes. After upgrading, your armor pieces will have more defense, and your weapon pieces will have more damage. The downside of upgrading is the increased strength/dexterity requirements.
• To increase your cold damage, put +5/-5 Lightning Rainbow Facets in your item sockets.

Helm

• Lore runeword -usefulness 4/10, price 1/10
• Peasant Crown unique helm - usefulness 5/10, price 2/10
• Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest - usefulness 7/10, price 2/10
• Harlequin Crest Shako unique helm - Usefulness 8/10, price 6/10
• Griffon's Eye - Usefulness 10/10, price 6/10

When you are still in the process of leveling your character, you can use the Lore Runeword to help you. This is quite helpful early on because it raises the level of your skills by one, making them more potent. Find a helmet with two sockets and put the Ort and Sol runes inside. As with all of the Runewords in D2R, you have to put the said runes in the exact order. Otherwise, it will not work.

If you have enough currency, the Peasant Crown is a better helmet to use. At level 28, you have a piece of gear that not only grants +1 to all skills, but provides 100% Enhanced Defense, 15% faster run/walk speed, and a huge chunk of Energy and Vitality as well.

Set items in Diablo II: Resurrected are powerful, but only if you are able to wear multiple pieces of a set together to avail of the bonuses. Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest has modifiers that do not greatly benefit the Lightning Sorceress. However, they are great for survivability. So, if you are struggling to survive in the higher difficulties, you might want to give this set helmet a try.

In the endgame, there are really only two viable options. Griffon's Eye is a very powerful choice for this build, mainly because it amplifies the damage of your lightning spells, and gives you a considerable amount of FCR.

Harlequin Crest is a staple among many endgame builds in D2R. This is because of its "+2 to all skills" modifier and 50% Magic Find. Even if you do not focus on MF, per se, you will still find the "Shako" a pretty awesome helmet for the Lightning Sorc.

Amulet

• Any amulet with +1-2 to sorceress skills or + % faster cast rate - usefulness 4/10, price 1/10
• Tal Rasha's Adjudication - usefulness 7/10, price 6/10
• Mara's Kaleidoscope unique amulet - usefulness 8/10, price 7/10
• 2 To Sorc skills +20% faster cast rate crafted amulet - usefulness 10/10, price varies

Tal Rasha's Adjudication is a pretty useful amulet for the Lightning Sorceress. The added lightning damage coupled with the +2 to Sorceress skills make it a good option for the endgame. The hefty lightning resistance it provides can help mitigate the downside of the Sunder Charm, Crack of the Heavens.

When you play D2R on Hell Difficulty, your character will suffer a resistance penalty of 100. This means that whatever resistance values you have on Normal, you deduct 100 from that. That is why it is imperative that you address your resistances when you tackle the harder content in the game.

Mara's Kaleidoscope is a popular amulet due to the fact that it gives you up to 30 points to all resistances. The +5 to attributes is nothing special, but the "+2 to all skills" is.

If you have plenty of high runes to trade, you can invest in a rare amulet that has 20% FCR and other useful bonuses, such as life, elemental/poison resistance, and mana.

Weapon

• Spirit Crystal Sword -usefulness 6/10, price 2/10
• Wizardspike unique weapon - usefulness 6/10, price 4/10
• Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye - usefulness 6/10, price 3/10
• The Oculus unique weapon - usefulness 8/10, price 5/10
• Heart of the Oak runeword - usefulness 9/10, price 6/10
• Eschuta's Temper unique weapon - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

What's great about this build is that there are a lot of amazing options for the weapon slot! Let's start with Spirit. This is a Runeword that has incredible bonuses that greatly benefit the build, including 35% FCR, 55% FHR, lightning damage, and magic absorption. You will use the Tal, Thul, Ort, and Amn runes to create the Spirit Runeword. Insert it into a Crystal Sword as this weapon has low stat requirements.

Achieving a 117% Faster Cast Rate is crucial to maximize the damage output of the Lightning Sorceress. As such, you need items that provide you with FCR, and that is what this next weapon does.

Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye has a lot to offer, including +2 to all masteries, 20% FCR, 77 mana, and 10 Energy, among others. Wear the Tal Rasha amulet earlier and you will get +1 to Sorceress skills as well.

The Wizardspike is another endgame weapon you can consider. Its 50% Faster Cast Rate allows you to reach the 117% FCR breakpoint more easily. Besides that, the +75 to all resistances helps mitigate the 100-point resistance penalty in Hell Difficulty.

A well-rolled Eschuta's Temper is also incredibly tough to beat. If you are able to acquire one with perfect rolls, you will get +3 to Sorceress skills, 20% lightning damage, +30 to Energy, and +40% FCR. Because of the things that it gives, expect it to be a bit on the expensive side.

While you can still pick up an Eschuta's Temper at an affordable price, this next weapon might need a much higher investment. The Oculus is a very popular choice for endgame Sorc builds in D2R. It has everything that this class needs, including +3 to skill levels, +20 to all resistances, +30% FCR, and a huge chunk of VIT and Energy to boot.

The only downside to the Oculus is that it casts Teleport when you are hit by the enemy. This can be problematic, particularly because you do not know exactly where you land when teleporting.

Be that as it may, there is a reason why The Oculus is the go-to endgame weapon for the Lightning Sorceress! It is just so good!

Despite the powerful stats that are available on The Oculus, there is a weapon that can defeat it. That weapon is none other than Heart of the Oak.

Heart of the Oak is filled with caster modifiers, including +3 to all skills, 40% FCR, and 15% increased maximum mana, among many others.

However, the reason why it is the preferred option of some players is that it deals 75% more damage to demons. Why is that important, you ask? It is useful because the Uber Bosses in the game, such as Uber Mephisto, Uber Baal, and Uber Diablo are all considered as such.

If you are going for Heart of the Oak, we recommend that you get a four-socketed Flail and insert the following runes in the exact order: Ko, Vex, Pul, Thul.

Shield

• Lidless Wall - usefulness 5/10, price 2/10
• Stormshield - usefulness 8/10, price 4/10
• Spirit Monarch - usefulness 8/10, price 2/10
• 4*Lightning Rainbow Facet Jeweler's Monarch of Deflection magic shield - usefulness 10/10, price 9/10

The Spirit Runeword is a common fixture among many caster builds in Diablo II: Resurrected due to the +2 to all skills and 35% FCR. That said, because you need several runes in order to form the said Runeword, the earliest shield that has four sockets is the Monarch Shield, thus the hefty STR allocation.

If the runes necessary to form Spirit are still expensive for you, there is a viable alternative that you can utilize in the meantime. The Lidless Wall is an incredible shield that increases your maximum mana by 10%, has 20% FCR, and +1 to all skills. The +5 mana gained after each kill can help with your mana sustain as well.

Taking on the Uber Bosses requires you to have some level of survivability. Due to the fragile nature of the Sorceress, you must use any items you can get your hands on to improve her chance of survival.

Fortunately, there is one item that can aid you in achieving that: the Stormshield. This unique Monarch Shield is best known for providing you with 35% reduced enemy damage, which is the highest value on a single item in D2R.

In addition, you get a 35% Faster Block Rate, 60% cold resistance, and 25% lightning resistance, making you tankier than without it.

Switch Weapon

• Call to Arms Runeword - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

As a Sorceress, you want to increase your life and mana by whatever means necessary. Call to Arms is a renowned weapon swap due to its ability to grant you the power of Battle Command, Battle Orders, and Battle Cry. Activating these buffs will raise your skill levels by one, increase your life, mana, and stamina, as well as lower your enemies’ defenses, making them ripe for the picking!

Switch Shield

• Spirit Monarch - usefulness 10/10, price 2/10

Do you now see why Spirit is a popular choice? If not, it is because of its "+2 to all skills", which actually affects the bonuses provided by Battle Cry, Battle Command, and Battle Orders.

Body Armor

• Stealth Runeword - usefulness 5/10, price 2/10
• Skin of the Vipermagi unique armor - usefulness 7/10, price 5/10
• Tal Rasha's Guardianship- usefulness 6/10, price 6/10
• Ormus's Robes unique armor - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10
• Chains of Honor Runeword - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

Oh boy, there are plenty of incredible armors you can wear for the Lightning Sorc to bring out the best in her. Let's start with a good leveling Runeword, Stealth. By putting the Tal and Eth runes into body armor with two sockets, you gain 25% FCR, run/walk speed, and FHR. And oh, you get a small reduction in magic damage received as well.

There is no harm in going beyond the 117% FCR. In fact, if you do hit the next breakpoint (which is 194% for 11 frames, in case you are wondering), the casting animation for Lightning and Chain Lightning will be noticeably faster as a result.

Having said that, if you want to push for that, you can wear the Skin of the Vipermagi. This boasts the highest FCR value of all body armors in Diablo II: Resurrected. Plus, this thing grants magic damage reduction, +1 to all skills, and +35 to all resistances!

If you want to pump up those damage numbers, then you need to wear Ormus' Robes. This unique Dusk Shroud not only increases your lightning damage by up to 15%, but it also grants 20% FCR and +3 to a random skill. For this reason, grab the Ormus' Robes, preferably with +3 to Lightning or Chain Lightning for maximum benefit.

As mentioned earlier, sorting out your elemental resistances is key to your survival, especially on higher difficulties. Having said that, Tal Rasha's Guardianship is awesome because it gives you 40% elemental resistance. Additionally, it mitigates the magic damage you receive by 15%, which can spell the difference between living and dying.

This last body armor might not have a Faster Cast Rate, but it makes up for it by granting you other useful bonuses.

Chains of Honor is basically one of the best body armors in the game, notably if you plan on killing the Uber Bosses. That is because of the huge 200% increased damage against demons and 100% more damage to the undead.

Other noteworthy modifiers include +65 to all resistances, 8% damage reduction, and 25% MF.

Belt

• Rare belt with +resistances and +life - usefulness 3/10, price 2/10
• Nightsmoke unique belt - usefulness 4/10, price 2/10
• Tal Rasha's set belt - usefulness 6/10, price 3/10
• Arachnid Mesh unique belt - usefulness 10/10, price 6/10

Do you have problems sustaining mana when you are zapping the minions of Hell with Lightning or Chain Lightning? If so, you might want to wear Nightsmoke to address that.

Nightsmoke has this unique modifier where you gain huge amounts of mana based on 50% of the damage you have received recently.

To ensure that you do not die in the process of recovering some of your mana back, this belt provides you with up to 50% Enhanced Defense, +15 flat defense, +2 damage reduction, and +10 to all resistances.

Tal Rasha's Fine-Spun Cloth has a similar effect to Nightsmoke, albeit you will find greater value in this belt if you couple it with other pieces from Tal Rasha's set.

If you have your mana already sorted out, then there is no better belt than the Arachnid Mesh. This thing boasts incredible bonuses, with +20% FCR and +1 to all skills leading the pack.

Rings

• Raven Frost unique ring - usefulness 8/10, price 4/10
• Bul Katho's Wedding Band unique ring - usefulness 8/10, price 6/10
• Stone of Jordan unique ring - usefulness 8/10, price 6/10
• Rare or crafted ring with a 10% faster cast rate with additional life, mana, resistances - usefulness 10/10, price varies

As you delve deeper into the depths of Hell, you will encounter stronger enemies that have the ability to freeze you to death, literally. That is why Raven Frost is a staple in many endgame builds because of its "Cannot Be Frozen" modifier.

For the other ring slot, you have a few viable options. First, Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band - a unique ring that raises your skill levels by one and gives you a hefty amount of HP just by wearing it.

Second, Stone of Jordan also gives you +1 to all skills. But, what's more noteworthy about this ring is that it increases your maximum mana by a considerable 25% and grants lightning damage as well.

Third, you can obtain a rare ring with +10% FCR, mana, life, and lightning resistance, among other useful bonuses.

Gloves

• Magefist unique gloves - usefulness 10/10, price 3/10
• Trang-Ouls Claws - usefulness 8/10, price 4/10

The gloves slot is another way to increase your FCR. For that reason, you can turn your attention to two amazing gloves for the Lightning Sorc - Trang-Oul's Claws and Magefist.

Trang-Ouls Claws is the more defensive option of the two because of its added cold resistance and defense.

The Magefist, on the other hand, is meant for offense due to the added fire damage and 25% mana regeneration. So, the choice here is whether you want to don a more defensive approach or an offensive playstyle.

Boots

• Rare boots with 30% faster run and walk, % to faster hit recovery - usefulness varies, price varies
• Sandstorm Trek unique boots - usefulness 7/10, price 4/10
• Aldur's Advance - usefulness 5/10, price 2/10
• War Traveler - usefulness 7/10, price 5/10

Diablo II: Resurrected employs a stamina system, where you are forced to walk when your stamina is completely depleted. If you do not want to be bothered by that, then the Sandstorm Trek boots are for you!

Don't get us wrong, but Spirit is always a nice Runeword for caster builds even though it does not provide you with elemental resistance whatsoever. The good thing is that you can easily address that with your other pieces of gear - one of which is the Aldur's Advance.

The 50% fire resistance provided by Aldur's Advance is pretty helpful, especially when you are going against Diablo. Moreover, its 40% faster run/walk speed is the highest possible FRW bonus in the game.

Do you plan on defeating Uber Bosses with your buddies? Then the War Traveler is an awesome choice! On a well-rolled War Traveler, you gain a 50% boost in Magic Find, giving you the ability to acquire some of the best loot in D2:R.

Charms

• Any charm with +skill, life, faster hit recovery, or faster run and walk - usefulness 4/10, price 1/10
• Annihilus unique charm - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10
• Hellfire Torch unique charm - usefulness 10/10, price 6/10
• +1 to Lightning Skills Grand Charm - usefulness 7/10, price 4/10
• Magic grand charms with +1 to Lightning skills and +life, +faster hit recovery or +faster run and walk - usefulness 8-10/10, price 5-10/10
• Magic small charms with resistances and life - usefulness 8-10/10, price 6-9/10
• Gheed's Fortune unique charm - price 4/10
• Crack of the Heavens - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

No matter what build you plan on using in Diablo II: Resurrected, there are always four different charms that you should put in your inventory.

Annihilus has everything you could ask for, including +1 to all skills, +20 attributes, +20 to all resistances, and up to 10% XP gain. The fact that it is a small charm makes it so that you have plenty of inventory space left to work with.

Acquired from completing the Pandemonium Event, the Hellfire Torch is another staple in D2R. This thing is primarily obtained for its +3 to all skills. For this reason, you must get your hands on the Hellfire Torch specifically with +3 to Sorceress Skill Levels.

If you do not want to fully invest in Magic Find, at least put Gheed's Fortune in your inventory. This thing is incredible because of its high MF and extra gold modifiers. Just having it in your inventory is useful because it reduces all vendor prices by up to 15%!

While Gheed's Fortune can be optional, Crack of the Heavens is non-negotiable. This Sunder Charm enables you to slay the minions of Hell even if they are immune to lightning damage. Of course, you still have to address the lightning resistance penalty somewhere. However, because of its usefulness, you must obtain this Sunder Charm as soon as possible!

The rest of your inventory should be populated with a combination of small charms and grand charms with any of the following bonuses:

• +1 to Lightning Skills
• Life
• Mana
• Resistances
• Magic Find
• Faster Hit Recovery

Mercenary

Have a Normal Act 2 Combat or Defensive Mercenary (Prayer or Defiance aura) to provide you with mana and life regeneration, or additional defense.

Ethereal items don't lose durability if your mercenary wears them, so having ethereal item bases for each gear slot is preferred due to their increased defense on armor items and increased damage on weapons. In many instances ethereal items that are great for mercenaries will be much more expensive than non-ethereal ones.

Mercenary gear

The choice of equipment for your Mercenary is all a matter of which bonuses you want to get. Turning your measly Merc into a bonafide killing machine is also possible by having them wear certain items.

Helm

• Any 3-socketed helm with 3 perfect diamonds to increase mercenary resistances and survivability - usefulness 5/10, price 1/10
• Tal Rasha's set helm - usefulness 6/10, price 3/10
• Vampire Gaze unique helm - usefulness 7/10, price 4/10
• Guillaume's Face set helm - usefulness 8/10, price 4/10
• Andariel's Visage unique helm - usefulness 10/10, price 5/10

Your Mercenary is often equipped with a fast-attacking weapon. To maximize that, you want to introduce some form of life leech, which the Vampire Gaze gladly provides. The damage and magic damage reduction that this helmet offers cannot be ignored because it can greatly improve the survivability of your Merc.

Guillaume's Face is mainly used as a means of granting your Mercenary the ability to land a Deadly Strike or initiate a Crushing Blow. In other words, this helmet is more suited for offense rather than defense.

Andariel's Visage often goes head-to-head (no pun intended) with Guillaume's Face. If the main selling point of the latter is the ability to land a Deadly Strike or Crushing Blow, for Andy's Visage, it is its 20% IAS. Do not be deterred by that -30% to fire resistance because that can easily be rectified by socketing a Ral rune.

Weapon

• Insight Runeword to provide you with meditation aura so you never run out of mana - preferably in elite base - usefulness 7/10, price 4/10
• The Reaper's Toll unique weapon - usefulness 7/10, price 6/10
• Infinity Runeword - usefulness 10/10, price 8/10

You are already more than capable of destroying enemies on your own, so you could treat your Mercenary as just a companion that can provide you with some buffs and utility. That is why Insight is a popular choice among many D2R players because of that very useful Meditation Aura, which enhances your mana regeneration significantly.

If you want your Mercenary to have enough power to kill monsters on his own, then you should have him equip The Reaper's Toll. This is one of the best weapons for the Act 2 Mercenary simply because of that chance to land a Deadly Strike and the ability to cast Decrepify for even more damage!

Back to being a companion that provides some utility, the Runeword "Infinity" is a common choice for caster builds in Diablo II: Resurrected. Why is that, you ask? Well, that is due to the Conviction Aura - a Paladin-exclusive skill that reduces the elemental resistance of nearby monsters.

Infinity is a lot more expensive than the previous options because of the presence of two Ber runes. Be that as it may, this Runeword provides a ton of value to your build, making this a worthwhile investment for the Lightning Sorc for sure!

Body Armor

• Treachery runeword - usefulness 9/10, price 4/10
• Fortitude runeword - usefulness 10/10, price 7/10

By inserting the Shael, Thul, and Lem runes into a three-socketed body armor, you will form "Treachery" as a result. Treachery is known for granting the wearer the ability to cast Fade when struck.

Fade is an Assassin-exclusive skill that increases resistance to elemental damage and curses for a short period of time. This makes Treachery a defensive option that does not break the bank.

Going all out on offense is not a bad idea, particularly when fighting tougher monsters in D2R. Hence, the presence of Fortitude on this list. If you have been playing the game for a while now, you know how this Runeword became a common fixture on Act 2 Mercenaries.

But, for the uninitiated, Fortitude is famous for providing a whopping 300% Enhanced Damage. Any source of flat physical damage will be amplified by this modifier to a much greater extent. Now you see why it is popular?

Conclusion

The Lightning Sorceress is fully loaded with the power of lightning. She has the ability to zap enemies to oblivion by casting powerful spells that deal immense lightning damage.

You will be utilizing the Lightning skill for the most part. This devastating spell has the highest maximum damage possible in the game, making it the prime choice for destroying monsters in Hell Difficulty.

For your other skills, Chain Lightning is used when there are more than one monsters that are adjacent to one another. When fighting against tougher enemies, cast Static Field to reduce their HP by 25%, and then follow that up by spamming Charged Bolts until they are dead.

Oftentimes, you will see your Mercenary running around, veering too far away from your location. Fortunately, you have the Teleport skill to resolve that. By using the said skill, your Merc's position will be reset, thus prompting them to attack the enemies that are near you.

It is important to note that while the Lightning Sorc is capable of destroying monsters on budget gear, its true potential can only be unlocked by wearing the right items. It should also go without saying that you need a considerable amount of strength, which is a bit odd for a caster build. But, that is a sacrifice you have to be willing to make because the Spirit Runeword is just too hard to pass up.

All in all, if you want a fast farmer and Uber Boss killer in Diablo II: Resurrected, the Lightning Sorceress is definitely a build worth considering!

With that said, if you do not want to waste time farming the highly coveted items yourself, then don't worry. We have you covered!

Rpgstash.com will have D2R items in its Ladder selection already on day 1. We will be doing our best to let you buy 2.4 ladder items right at the beginning of the season including the new Runewords, so you can climb the ladder rankings as fast as possible!

If you want to get the best items and Runewords in the game, check out our D2R Store.