Hey everyone,

I'm planning to go with a Hydra/Orb sorc for the ladder reset and I have some questions on synergies because I haven't played Hydra at all since it got changed. Previously I played a Orb/Firewall sorc and I could put 20 points in Ice Bolt before pumping Fire Mastery / Fire Synergies to the max and that was enough to kill cold immunes alongside my merc, but I have no clue if this setup works with Hydra.

I primarily want to be using Frozen Orb, but I know that the synergies go a much longer way with Hydra (since they get multiplied by the mastery too). My question is, assuming I have budget starting gear, do I need the synergies for Hydra to feel functional? Or am I still good to pump Ice Bolt first? I don't care if it takes me 5 extra seconds to kill meph with Hydras or w/e, but I would like to feel like I'm progressing through the game at a reasonable pace - if it takes me a long time to clear Hell Den of Evil then that's a no-go. So, how many synergy points does Hydra demand before it starts reasonably clearing content?

Assuming I do pump more Fire synergies, will I then be forced to use Hydra as a main skill because my Orb will be too weak? Or will Orb without Ice Bolt still feel reasonable in Hell with budget gear?

Thank you!