I think he's talking about PvM, as he only mentioned playing HC.

Well, it would be tough if you're playing HC. Even Nova sorc is tough in HC without good gear. Also, Nova isn't a really good choice...for you won't have points for warmth, (and you'd probably want more Vita then Energy, in HC)

For Fire, I think Hydra would be better, because it aims for you. If you could, you can try building a nova/hydra sorc...I used to have one but she was in softcore, and she was very successful...