DarrkPhoenix: I think I tried it on one sorc build I did, and although the raw damage could be absolutely devastating my personal opinion was that targeting it effectively was way more trouble than it was worth. In pvm it could take down enemies fast if you had a decent merc that could tank them, but you still had to lay down several to cover enough ground to take out a large group of enemies. In pvp it could definitely take out some people quickly if you dropped it right on them, but again the targeting of it made it more trouble than it was worth. Trying to accurately drop one right on an opponent while teleporting almost twice a second just wasn't something I was able to do. Hydra was basically just a "fire and forget" type of thing where just getting it close to the person was good enough. Firewall also had much less utility against opponents who were constantly moving (e.g. barbs, other sorcs), and unlike hydra which required opponents to vacate the entire area, with firewall an opponent only had to move a small distance before they were safe again and could resume their attacks.
I also have to say that the most fun sorc build I ever did was a charged bolt/fireball sorc, which surprisingly could actually do quite well in pvm and was an absolute blast to play.
Using a firewall sorc certainly took more skill then a thunderclap/orb sorc that nearly every other person was but it was devastating. It was doing 11-14k damage a second with nice gear and basically spanned the entire screen and tons more so against barbs you could force them to run through it to get to you. Most people died fast vs it even with 75 fire resistance. I did also use hydra as a backup though as you could switch between firewall, and hydra. With enough faster cast rate gear as well you could pen people in with firewalls and drop a hydra or two in with them.
Coming up with random builds was probably as much fun as the dueling for me. Though gearing them up could be a bit of a pain.
Charged bolt actually worked in 1.09? I wouldn't imagine it had much damage regardless of + to its skills.
orcishgamer: Yeah, Firewall wasn't good vs. a WWing Barb and that was a Sorc's worst enemy. Also, the few good Zeal Pally's out there could effectively ignore it and "lol I'm clubbing you for tiny chunks of life 10 times per second" you to death.
I had no problem with it, Infact I could tank a Barbs wirlwind with my sorc easy enough and kill them just by sitting in a pile of hydras/firewall if I wanted. 75% Damage reduction and 75% block rate saw to that.
