I managed to figure out some gear check “breakpoints” for my sorceress where I could switch back to my regular farming build, but used a few different pieces that dropped out of some Tree of Whispers caches (especially a helmet that gave me a lot of life recovery). I also stacked armor (3.2K) and threw points into my Frost Nova (to decrease the cooldown) and Flame Shield (to increase its duration). Getting two more levels (to 52) also helped since I used those Paragon points in Intelligence and Willpower (which helps with resource regen). Following shows the gear info.
This time around, I had enough fire power to take out the elites with the animus by applying vulnerability with Frost Nova and Ice Blades, then dumping Ice Shards with pulled mobs. I also got a better amulet that had the maximum amount of Ice Shard piercings (7) and the lowest damage reduction per subsequent enemy hit (13%). The first real test came with the mini boss fight. This time around, it took less than 3 minutes to clear. The final test though was the actual boss fight. I used an Elixir of Man-Slaying just for the boss fight since every bit of damage helps once the boss is staggered. I stayed close to the boss throughout most of the fight, cast Ice Armor, Frost Nova and unleashed Ice Shards until my mana ran out, and simply popped Flame Shield when he launched the skulls (that also provided healing). In between, I’d cast Ice Blades (and hoped it would apply vulnerability), and used my basic to deal additional damage while waiting for my main skills to come off cooldown.
So I didn’t have to spend too much time grinding to get past this initial gear check (but it helped that I’ve been keeping various pieces of gear that I can swap in/out. But now the process begins anew again since I can now start farming tier 3 for Sacred gear (and give a better overview on how I feel about the end game in Diablo IV).
