The sorceress is my favorite character class, and as such I've built many sorceresses. From my experience, the LIGHTNING sorceress is, by far, the best character for novices and veterans alike — If you know what you're doing, it's hard to go wrong with a lightning sorceress.

Now I like them because:
— They have huge damage
— Because they are the cheapest sorceress to build.
— And I will show you that they kick the most ass.
My lightning sorc can solo 8 player baal in hell, given that there arent any lightning immunes. I'm level 86 and, depending on my gear, do around 36-40k max damage per lightning. I also cast very, very quickly.

Here we go:

STATS
Because you will have so many points into energy shield (a lightning tree skill =) and because of the massive energy cost of spells, it only makes sense (in my opinion) to have an energy sorceress. So:
Strength: Depends on your items. 90 is a good number as well.
Dexterity: 25. dont touch it.
Vitality: Rest of points in here.
Energy: 300-350. It is up to you, just so long as your mana is massively high.

SKILLS
The main skills this sorc will use are Lightning, Chain Lightning, and Static Field. Your stats should be as follows:
1 into Warmth, for the initial bonus
20 into Charged Bolt.
20 into Lightning.
20 into Chain Lightning.
20 into Lightning Mastery.
1 into Telekenis.
1 into Teleport.
1 into Energy Shield.
1 into Static.
1 into Thunderstorm.
Rest into Nova.

I really dont think that using the frost shields are necessary:
— They eat up far too many skill points.
— You shouldn't be getting hit anyway. This sorceress is fairly fragile.

ITEMS
Here is where the light sorc really shines, she is DIRT CHEAP! Its possible to build a lightning sorceress that kicks ass for under 1 SoJ, which is a budget a lot of people are stuck with.

Head
1 — Griffon Eye. This is the best possible helmet for a lightning sorc (duh), but it can get a bit pricey. I've seen low ones go for ~ist before.
2 — Shako. Cheap. Common. Good. Need i say more?

Neck
1 — Mara's Kaleidoscope. The resistances and +skills make up for the lack of Faster Cast Rate. Aa low one isn't too hard to get.
2 — Tal's Ammy. Nice ammy that you could get for as low as MAL.
3 — Rare ammy with +FCR and +skills. With the grinding bug, they are common now days.

Body
1 — Chains of Honor. its the best choice because of the +2 skills, damage reduction, and resistances.
2 — +3 Lightning Ormus. Well... duh! I've seen these go for LEM.
3 — Vipermagi. DECENT armor. I've seen these given away.
4 —Que-Hegan's Wisdom. Dirt cheap and has +skills and FCR. Not bad, actually.

Weapon
1 — Eschutas Temper. It's as cheap as an Occulus. In fact, there really isnt any excuse NOT to have one of these on your light sorceress. Make sure you get +3skills/15+ light damage. I've seen these go for LEM. Don't get ripped off trying to get one.
2 — Occulus. If you're too lazy to get Eschutas...

shield
1 — Lidless Wall. Cheap. Good. Use it.
2 — Stormshield. Again, not TOO pricey but you have to put a lot into STR for this. I don'st think its worth the points, but some may feel otherwise.

Belt
1 — Arachnid Mesh. It's kinda pricey (MAL) but worth it due to the +skills and Faster Cast Rate.
2 — Verdungos. AGREAT way to make up for having low Vitality. Also has Damage Reduction and is cheap.

Rings
1 — SoJs. You need +skills and +mana. SoJs are perfect for this build.
2 — Bul Kathos. Half the price and they add health and skills. Agood choice.
3 — Rare rings with FCR. If you cant afford SoJs or Bul Kathos, find good rare FCR rings with health or mana mods.

Gloves
1 — Frostburns. Adds to max mana and are cheap. 'Nuff said.
2 — Magefist. If you prefer Faster Cast Rate (and more mama regeneration), take Magefist. Both are cheap.
3 — Trang-Oul's Claws. Faster Cast Rate and Cold Resist.

Boots
I've been unable to find any unique boots that really fit this build, so I would say rare ones with +resistance, or any other boots you might have. Boots in this game suck. My sorc uses Wartravellers.

Inventory
10 Lightning Grand Charms. These babies are a LEM each (w/o mods) and you need at LEAST 5 to have an effective lightning sorceress. It's not that hard to get 10 over a couple of weeks. I believe each GC adds around a thousand damage, so they are worth getting. =)

Well, that about sums up how to make one. Now let me justify my build:
Since you'll have so many +lightning skills, your Static Field, Energy Shield, Thunderstorm, and Teleport will all be at a very high level (mine are slvl21), and all very useful. You will have infinite mana, which is nice because you can fill your belt with 16 healing potions.

I dont know what else to say so i guess that wraps this guide up. If you have any questions or comments post them Here =)