Dragon Sorceress
by DSTheHermit

Class: Sorceress
Tag: DS

Introduction

From times immemorable, there have been dragons. They filled the skies at one time, over the world of Sanctuary. Dragons were always the neutral beings of Sanctuary; they couldn't care less whether Heaven or Hell chose to claim cosmic superiority, for they knew they were the true masters of the world.

Then came the humans.

Humans intrigued dragonkind; they had the bodies of angels, but without wings. Their hearts and minds were easily swayed to either that of Heaven, or Hell. While capable of free will and not by their own nature divided to one side or the other of the Sin War, they were not unlike the dragons themselves! Some of dragonkind took offence at these creatures who presumed upon themselves to act as though they had the wisdom of the very dragons themselves! Yet, some others saw humans and were frenzied with a passion for learning about these creatures, and changed their own shapes to be more like that of these new creatures. Some of them were very impressed with humans, and created their own frenzied passions...

And of these couplings, most produced females - and these females were like no other humans which had come before them. Their skin was like bronze, their eyes and nails were pointed, sharp. And, most strangely, they possessed the magicks of dragons - even their fiery breath! These "sorceresses", as they were called, were the progeny of both mankind and dragonkind, but it was soon found that they, like humans, would choose their own way in the Sin War.

Rules

Dragon Sorceresses are to be played untwinked, and may optionally be played either softcore or hardcore. The Dragon sorceress starts out young and weak, but with age and exploration becomes less restricted and more powerful. This is good, as she starts heavily restricted. Optionally, the DS tag in the character's name may be used to denote her status.

The Dragon Sorceress is expected to perform full clears of normal difficulty, and only in special circumstances may she opt not to do so for Nightmare or Hell difficulty. While she may be played in mutli or single player, she is only rewarded for completed quests if they are accomplished alone, or with other Dragon Sorceresses.

There are no restrictions on allowed mercenaries or mercenary equipment, but most Dragon Sorceresses are loners.

Items

Weapons
All bows/xbows, maces, wands, staves, sceptres, and 2 slot orbs are disallowed.

Once she has placed a skill point in to firebolt, she must discard her initial staff. From this point on, she must have a dragon's claw. This may be represented by any unforbidden weapon with a blade (dagger, sword, pike, etc.). Allowed are the orbs which take up three inventory slots - these are dragon's claws holding orbs, and thus are acceptable.

Enchantments/Jewels/Gems/Runes
She may not, under any circumstance, use an item which adds cold damage to her melee attack, be it a charm, weapon, jewel, gem, or rune. Also, she cannot wear items that release cold spells when struck/swung.

Thul and Sapphire gems may not be inserted into weapons, though elsewhere is fine.

Snowy, Shivering, Boreal, Hibernal, Frost, Icicle, Glacier, and Winter enchantments are disallowed.

She very much likes Wyrm, Great Wyrm, and Bahamut prefixes.

Any gear which has a chance of releasing Nova or Frost Nova when struck is restricted until she may learn these spells herself.

Sets/Uniques
She may not wear a complete set or individual set item which adds cold damage to her attacks, nor may she use any unique which does so.

Tiamat's Rebuke is allowed due to its being a dragon shield as well as being named after a dragon. Similarly, the DS greatly covets pieces of the Trang-Oul set (the ones she can equip).

Skills

Skills are restricted based on quests completed.

Quests

Her journey begins as any other, in the Blood Moor.

1) Blood Moor
Starting out, the young Dragon Sorceress is just coming in to her own, both magically and with her draconic heritage. Her skill point at clvl 2 must be placed in Warmth to signify the inner draconic fire which burns in her soul, and at least one attribute point must be placed in to strength every level. Dragons take great pride in their strength, as to honour her heritage, so must the Dragon Sorceress (DS).

Any other skill points accrued prior to the completion of the Den of Evil also go to Warmth, as she has no other skills available to her yet. Upon completion of the Den of Evil, she may place skill points in to the Firebolt skill, and must place at least one in it. This represents her first experimentations with her draconic breath.

2) Blood Raven
The next task of the DS is the extermination of Blood Raven, and upon doing so, she learns greater mastery over fire; starting at clvl 6 (or 7, if six has been achieved), she must place one point in the Inferno skill. This is her dragon's breath, and from here on out, no skill may have more points in it than the DS has in Inferno. At some point during this quest, Bishibosh will be encountered; this unholy terror is immune to the flames of even draconic strength! He is to be torn apart tooth and claw. Around this time, other developments begin to take place within the DS...

3) The Malus
Dragons are a hardy lot, and as such, heal quickly and are tough to damage. Upon recovering the Horadric Malus and returning it to Charsi, the DS must buy at least one piece of equipment that has the Replenish Life trait. From this point on, she can never have a replenish life value of less than 1, and the more, the better. This may be accomplished by any possible means which are within other guidelines: socketing skulls in to helms or armours is perfectly acceptable. Upon reaching clvl 12, if Pitspawn Fouldog has been defeated, the DS may begin to develop the Fireball skill if desired. At least one point must be placed here in the future.

4) Andariel
After the defeat of Andariel, the growing draconic urge to amass a horde of treasure takes over; from this point on, the DS must always have an increased gold find, whether from equipment or charms. Also, it should be noted that it is possible to run in to some fire immune monsters with more frequency at this time - these are to be destroyed physically, not avoided. A dragon never backs down from a fight.

5) Radament
Upon completing Atma's request and slaying Radament, the skill book found is to be used to enhance your draconic mind to the point of being able to affect the physical realm - the DS now learns telekinesis. After besting the Summoner in the Arcane Sanctuary, Horazon's journal contains, amongst information on Tal Rasha's Tomb, the secrets to leaving a wake of draconic destruction as you move. At this point, one (and *only one*) point may be placed in Blaze. Ancient Kaa the Soulless, of Tal Rasha's false tombs, allows you to place a point in static field, however it may not yet be used. It is there as a prerequisite to a future reward.

6) Duriel
The DS faces her first real challenge at the end of her travels in Lut Gholein, the Lord of Pain, Duriel. If she is able to best him in combat, she learns to make a forceful display of her powers; from now on, she may place any number of points in the Nova skill, so long as it does not exceed her number of points in Inferno. Also, she may wear gear which has a chance of releasing a Nova when struck.

7) Kurast
In Kurast, the DS will eventually come face to face with the Witch Doctor Endugu. Upon defeating this fiery master, Hratli will teach her how to imbue her claw with the power of flame. She must place at least one point in Enchant. Later on, when she fights the High Council in Travincal, her name is spread and strikes fear in the hearts of Diablo's minions, making them reluctant to attack her. She may, at this point, choose to develop the Frost Nova skill within her skill limits, and use items which release it when struck. Furthermore, she is allowed to use any daggers, helms, or shields with Terror charges on them.

8) Durance of Hate
On the last level of the Durance of Hate, she encounters Wyand Voidbringer - this foe is capable of teleportation! Upon defeating him, the DS realizes for herself this power, and may invest in it up to her Inferno level.

9) Other Advancement
Bishibosh in nightmare allows for Fire Mastery, Horazon's Journal allows for a second point in Blaze, Duriel's defeat allows you to use your point in static field; also, you may add one more. Defeat of the entire High Council now allows for investment in Hydra up to your Inferno level, and Mephisto allows one more Static Field point, as do all future act bosses (seven more, counting Hell Baal). Lord de Seis in NM allows you to use helms, daggers, and eventually staves with Lower Resist charges. Lastly, NM Baal allows you to dispense with any and all replenish life and gold find items if you so choose, in favour of freeing up more equipment to be able to take on Hell difficulty (a feat I have not yet tested with this variant, and am not entirely sure of its viability).