Diablo II Resurrected - Fireball Sorceress Build (Normal)

Even though I have played Diablo II in the past, this was the first time I made a Sorceress character. 

I know I wanted a Fire Spells build because Leaf Runeword Staff was fairly easy to make. I might change to a Cold Spell build during Nightmare, but for Normal, Fire Spells build was enough. 

Stats

Here's my Base Stats after completing Normal: (Base + Bonus)

Strength: 46 + 9
Dexterity: 25 + 6
Vitality: 119 + 24
Energy: 70 + 10

• I invested in Energy. Most Guides will tell you to not invest in Energy. But It's fine especially if you have plans of having your stats/skills reset. Having a lot of Mana helps.
• I did not put anything on Dexterity

Skill Tree

Below are Base Levels. Skill Level bonuses from Items are not included.

Cold Spells:

• Frozen Armor: 1

Lightning Spells:

• NONE

Fire Spells:

• Fire Bolt: 16
• Warmth: 1
• Inferno: 1
• Blaze: 1
• Fireball: 10
• Firewall: 1
• Meteor: 1
• Fire Mastery: 5

• 2 of the Skill Points were from the Fallen Angel Quest in Act IV
• I have not yet used the Book of Skills reward from Radamant's Lair Quest in Act II
• 1 Skill Point to Frozen Armor can help you survive mob attacks.
• I spent too many points on Fire Bolt. Make sure to focus on Fireball the moment it becomes available for your level.

Equipment

I've only included Notable Items that I used.

Weapon: Primary (1): Leaf Runeword Staff

• When I reached Level 19, I spent a good number of hours farming Runes from The Countess in the Forgotten Tower. 
• You will need Tir + Ral runes for a Leaf Runeword Staff
• Leaf only works on Staff Class weapon
• This was pretty much my weapon throughout Normal until I got lucky in my Act V run.

Armor: Stealth Runeword

• Another Runeword Recipe that was easy to make.
• You will need Tal + Eth runes for Stealth Runeword Armor
• Both can be farmed from The Countess
• The Faster Run/Walk, Faster Cast Rate, and Regenerate Mana bonuses really helped.
• I made a second one for my Mercenary. Studded Leather was for me. Scale Mail was for my Mercenary. I swapped them when I had enough Strength to wear a Scale Mail

Helm: Nadir Runeword

• Another Runeword Recipe that was easy to make
• You will need Nef + Tir for Nadir Runeword Helm. Make sure you use your Tir Rune for your Leaf Staff first before using it on Nadir
• Strength Bonus helped me equip better armors
• I made a second one for my Mercenary. Helm for me, Full Helm for my Mercenary. I swapped them when I had enough Strength to wear the Full Helm

Belt: Demonhide Sash

• Since I don't have a lot of Strength, equipping Plated Belt was hard.
• A Demonhide Sash dropped in Act V. 
• I used Charsi's Imbue Reward in Tools of the Trade Quest in Act I
• I only got to wear a +12 Slots belt at Act V

Amulet: Magic Amulet

• +1 to Sorceress Skills
• This dropped somewhere in Act V

For the rest of my Equipment, I used what I got from Drops.

Mercenary Weapon: Malice Runeword Polearm

• Nothing Special about this Runeword. It was easy to make and I had the runes on my stash
• You will need Ith + El + Eth for Malice Runeword.
• Please use a Polearm over Spear

Equipment Upgrades (Act V)

Weapon: Primary (2): Spirit Runeword Sword

• Spirit Runeword is pretty hard to make in Normal because Thul, Ort, and Amn are rare and don't drop from The Countess in Normal. 
• You will need Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn for Spirit Runeword.
• I got lucky and both Thul and Amn Runes dropped while traversing Act V. 
• I crafted the Ort Rune.
• I picked up a Normal Broad Sword
• I had it socketed using Larzuk's Reward for the Siege of Harrogath Quest in Act V
• After making this Runeword, my Leaf Staff became my Secondary Weapon.
• I got lucky again. The item gave the max Faster Cast Rate bonus (+35%)

Off-hand Shield: Ancient's Pledge Shield

• You will need Ral + Ort + Tal for Ancient's Pledge Runeword Shield
• All three runes are given as a reward from Rescue on Mount Arreat Quest in Act V
• Resist Bonus and More Resist Bonus

Final Thoughts

Ending my build with some tips and suggestions

• Farm The Countess in Forgotten Tower. I usually do 2-3 Runs before I start progressing with my Quests. It gets easy as you level up.
• Save your Stat/Skill Reset Reward from Den of Evil Quest in Act I. Normal Difficulty should be easy enough regardless of any stat/skill mistakes that you do. Use the Stat/Skill reset once you're familiar with your character and you know what you want for its build.
• Study Runes and Runewords. It's not that hard to learn. 
• Save your Rejuvenation Potions. I have plenty in my Private Stash and I use them for big boss fights.
• Always check Superior Normal Items for Sockets. Keep the useful ones in your stash.
• Sorceress uses spells. You don't need high-level slotted weapons for Runewords. Just find a staff with 2 slots for your Leaf Runeword

Related Links

• Runes and Runewords
• Rune Crafting

Diablo II Resurrected - Rune Crafting

Looking for a specific Rune? Most of the time, the runes you are looking for can be farmed via The Countess in Forgotten Tower. But sometimes, the runes you need are rare and are not easy to come by.

Below is the list of runes that you can get by transmuting 3 common runes.

Requirement

• Horadric Cube. You will get this in Act II

Recipe

• 3 El Runes will transmute into 1 Eld Rune
• 3 Eld Runes will transmute into 1 Tir Rune
• 3 Tir Runes will transmute into 1 Nef Rune
• 3 Nef Runes will transmute into 1 Eth Rune
• 3 Eth Runes will transmute into 1 Ith Rune
• 3 Ith Runes will transmute into 1 Tal Rune
• 3 Tal Runes will transmute into 1 Ral Rune
• 3 Ral Runes will transmute into 1 Ort Rune
• 3 Ort Runes will transmute into 1 Thul Rune

The List is still incomplete. I'll update this soon

Diablo II Resurrected - Gem Shrine Effect

Chances are, you've encountered some Gem Shrines while playing the game. If you are new to the game, then you need to know how Gem Shrines work.

1. If you don't have any gem/skull in your inventory, the Gem Shrine will give you one chipped gem at random or one chipped skull 

2. If you have any gem/skull in your inventory, the Gem Shrine will upgrade one of your gems/skulls at random. 

Here's the Quality Tier for Gems/Skulls

Chipped > Flawed > Normal > Flawless > Perfect

Diablo II Resurrected - Runes and Runewords

Let's talk about Runes and Runewords

Definition

Runes - small objects similar to gems and jewels that add attributes to a socketed item.

Runeword - an item that is socketed by several runes making the weapon more powerful and possess 'runeword'. There are several rules that you need to follow in order to make a proper runeword item.

Runeword

In order to make a Runeword item, you need to follow the following rules

1. The item must be the correct type. Use staff if the formula requires a staff. Use a wand if the formula requires a wand.
2. Item must be a normal item. It can be Low Quality, Superior, and/or Etherial. But it must be a normal item. (gray text items). Magical, Rare, Set, Crafted, or Unique items will not work. Just remember: Grey Text Items
3. The item must have the correct number of sockets. Making a 3-socket runeword using a 4-socket item will not work. 
4. You must place the Runes in the item in the correct order. For the Runeword Leaf, you will need Tir + Ral runes. You need to place Tir first then Ral. Otherwise, it will not work.

Leaf Runeword. Using Tir + Ral runes

Superior Short Staff. Note that I used a 2 socket staff.

Rune Farming

Early gameplay, I farmed my runes from The Countess in the Forgotten Tower. You won't miss it because it's part of the Act I quests. Just go back and raid Forgotten Tower multiple times. You'll get at 1-3 runes every raid.

Based on the set of runes that I got from 5-6 raids of The Countess, the staff 'Leaf' was the best that I could do for my sorceress. 

I'll try to update the farming spots as I progress during the game release.

You can check The Arreat Summit for a list of runewords available. Happy research!

Reference: D2wiki, The Arreat Summit