Diablo II: Resurrected Blizzard Sorceress or Frozen Orb Sorceress?

For the sake of differentiating the spells we will call the projectiles from Frozen Orb “Spikes” and Blizzard “Hail.”

The Best Cold Sorceress Build

Cold tree skills are popular among Sorceresses since they work well with other elements, such as Fire or Lightning. Depending on how far in the content you wish to progress and what level you’re willing to grind up to, it can drastically change whichever tree you choose.

One of the ongoing debates about Cold Sorceresses, which have been happening since the days of Diablo II Classic, is: “Which is better, Frozen Orb or Blizzard?” Today, I decided to try and answer the age-old question of FO vs Blizz, as well as present my logic.

Firstly, I must acknowledge that it’s difficult to be exact in the damage calculations for both FO (Frozen Orb) and Blizz (Blizzard) due to the sheer number of Spikes that come out of FO and shards of Hail that drops down for Blizz. This makes it hard to measure exact damage output, but we can still get a rough idea of which is higher. It’s also important to note that not every Spike or Hail will hit an enemy, which makes the situational numbers have even more variation. Also, unlike other elemental trees, Cold Skills have a slightly different mechanic in that the Mastery doesn’t increase damage but instead reduces the immunity of monsters. This means that if we use the same spell on an “Immune to Cold” monster or a monster that has higher immunity to cold, it will lead to varying amounts of damage.

With all that being said, let’s start the comparison!

Blizzard (aka Blizz)

• A single Blizzard cast summons 28 shards of Hail. The damage displayed on your character window refers to the damage of EACH individually.
• Hail rains down in a diagonal fashion (it may take getting used to this when trying to land hits on a group of monsters).
• The pattern of the Hail is not uniform and consistent like Frozen Orb, the Hail comes down at different speeds and locations within the designated area
• Hail may drop in the same “square” multiple times and might miss other areas entirely.
• Each shard of Hail has its own individual “hitbox,” meaning that if monsters are very closely bunched such as in Hell Bovine groups, they can be hit by multiple Hail projectiles.
• Shards of Hail are evenly distributed, meaning that there isn’t a consistent sweet spot that will do maximum damage, whereas Frozen Orb can be burst right on top of a monster (more explanation later).

Frozen Orb (FO)

• When cast, Frozen Orb sends out 44 total spikes in a uniform circular 360-degree pattern with the Orb being the origin point: it spreads like a wave emanating from the Orb at the center.
• 16 out of 44 spikes burst at the last second of the spell cast or at the end of the Orb’s path. This means 16 x {FROZNE ORB DAMAGE} will be dealt instantly if aimed correctly, meaning that the Brb bursts on top of a monster
• This makes the final burst account for about 37% of the damage of the entire Orb’s potential damage. It’s impossible to have all 44 spikes hit a single monster as some are projected outwards in the complete opposite direction
• FO only has 1 synergizing spell at 40% if 20 points are invested into Ice Bolt. There have been many debates about whether investing these in Ice Bolt is worth it, in comparison to simply putting more points into Cold Mastery.

Analysis

I have run Bovine Cows, and Mephisto to test for AOE (Area of Effect) and Single-Target (Boss) damage and utility and these are my calculations.

Damage – Both skills can pump out a lot of damage. When accounting for how much Hail/how many Spikes can hit a target, as well total damage done, pound for pound, the builds are relatively equal. However, when fighting Mephisto, I found that if you hit Frozen Orb right on the sweet spot, you will kill him much faster than you can with Blizzard, again, on average.

Feasibility – Both of these skills are largely based on how many Spikes/Hail you can hit your enemies with to deal damage. With Lightning skills, it’s quite easy to hit the single stream of Lightning, but with Cold skills, it’s different. I would argue that if you are a relaxed player that plays D2R while chilling and listening to music, Blizzard is the best best bang for your buck, allowing you to deal high damage without having to target enemies precisely in every encounter. If you can be focused mechanically and aim your spells, it’s faster to clear content with Frozen Orb.

AOE Requirements – Although damage-wise they are equal, if you are looking to clear areas such as Hell Cows and Baal Minions, which requires a lot of AOE damage, Blizzard is the best bet. This is because the spikes from Frozen Orb don’t penetrate, so if you shoot your Frozen Orb into a crowd of Hell Bovine, the spikes will only hit the central group of monsters and not those on the outer layers. Blizzard sends a blanket of Hail down on the group and distributes the damage equally, dealing “splash” damage if the monsters are in proximity, making it superior for AoE heavy encounters.

Conclusions

My favourite places to farm are Mephisto in Act 3, Ancient Tunnels in Act 2, and Hell Bovine (Moo Moo Farm) in Act 1, with that in mind I would highly recommend the Blizzard skill over Frozen Orb in order to deal AOE damage more evenly.

I will admit, Frozen Orb has a special place in my heart as it’s more dynamic to play, as well as being prettier to look at. And increased AOE ability doesn’t make Frozen Orb obsolete, however, as it’s very much still a viable build since Blizzard requires three synergizing skills to max out its damage and Frozen Orb requires only one, which enables you to invest in other elements to deal with “Immune to Cold” monsters better, especially if you don’t have a geared up mercenary.