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Sorcerers are not very confrontational characters in Diablo 4, usually choosing to stay on the outskirts of a battle to pepper the enemies with spells from a distance. Relying on a plethora of magic they can use, Sorcerers are the watchdogs for their group and can help oversee the big picture while their teammates are focused on the present.
There are a lot of different ways to play as a Sorcerer, and there really isn't one that is a wrong way to play. However, there are a couple that really do help you out a lot and offer you the most fun you can have in the game.
Sorcerer Specializations
The two Sorcerer builds you should focus on are the Ice Barrage Sorcerer and the Elementalist Sorcerer. Both of them offer a high amount of damage that your Sorcerer can dish out while also providing you the support that you need for your team and yourself.
Both of them are fun to play and have a strong propensity towards crowd control, not letting many enemies get away when using one of their attacks. You will be able to get a lot more out of all the Skills that Sorcerer has to offer, but that doesn't mean the Ice Barrage isn't a blast in its own way.
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Best Skills
As the name suggests, the Ice Barrage Build is going to be centered around using frost-based attacks to control the battlefield, both dishing out damage to enemies and altering the area physically to your advantage. This will be done by focusing on leveling up Skills such as Frost Bolt, Ice Shards, and Frost Nova. There will also be plenty of pumping Points to help your defenses, as Sorcerers are known for being a weaker type of class.
|
Type of Skill |
Recommended Skills |
|
Basic Skills |
Frost Bolt, Enhanced Frost Bolt, Glinting Frost Bolt |
|
Core Skills |
Ice Shards, Enhanced Ice Shards, Greater Ice Shards |
|
Defensive Skills |
Teleport, Enhanced Teleport, Frost Nova, Enhanced Frost Nova, Mystical Frost Nova, Ice Armor, Enhanced Ice Armor, Glass Cannon |
|
Conjuration Skills |
Ice Blades |
|
Mastery Skills |
Blizzard, Enhanced Blizzard |
|
Ultimate Skills |
Deep Freeze, Prima Deep Freeze, Supreme Deep Freeze, Permafrost Level 3, Hoarfrost Level 3, Icy Touch Level 3, Frigid Breeze Level 3 |
|
Key Passives |
Avalanche |
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Best Aspects
The Ice Barrage Sorcerer aims to use its Aspects to increase the damage you are able to do with your Spells while also making sure you can easily replenish your Mana when it runs out, which it is going to.
|
Gear Slot |
Aspect |
Aspect Effect |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Aspect of Piercing Cold |
Ice Shards pierce 3-4 times, dealing 50-100% less damage per subsequent enemy hit. |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Aspect of Control |
You deal 25-35% more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies. |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Elementalist's Aspect |
Core or Mastery Skills cast at or above 100 Mana gain a 20-40%] increased Critical Strike Chance. |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Smiting Aspect |
You have a 10-20% increased Critical Strike Chance against Injured enemies. While you are Healthy, you gain 20- 40% increased Crowd Control Duration. |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Edgemaster's Aspect |
Skills deal up to 10- 20% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. |
|
Gloves, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Conceited Aspect |
Deal 15-25% increased damage while you have a Barrier active. |
|
Helm, Chest, Pants, Amulet, Shield |
Everliving Aspect |
You take 20-25% less damage from Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemies. |
|
Helm, Chest, Pants, Amulet, Shield |
Aspect of Disobedience |
You gain 0.25-0.50% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25.00-50.00%. |
|
Helm, Chest, Pants, Amulet, Shield |
Aspect of Fortune |
Your Lucky Hit Chance is increased by 10-20% while you have a Barrier active. |
|
Helm, Chest, Pants, Amulet, Shield |
Exploiter's Aspect |
You have a 20% increased Crowd Control Duration. While enemies are Unstoppable, you deal 20-50%. |
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Gear & Gems
To get the most out of your Ice Barrage Sorcerer, you will want to focus on getting Gems and Gear that will give you some small boosts to your damage output, as well as keeping your defenses up enough so that you will be able to survive some of the more heavy attacks.
|
Gear |
Gem |
Affixes |
|
Head |
Skull/Ruby |
The Skull will increase your Healing Received, and the Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Chest |
Skull/Ruby |
The Skull will increase your Healing Received, and the Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Hands |
Skull/Ruby |
The Skull will increase your Healing Received, and the Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Legs |
Skull/Ruby |
The Skull will increase your Healing Received, and the Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Boots |
Skull/Ruby |
The Skull will increase your Healing Received, and the Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Weapon |
Sapphires |
Sapphires will help you deal higher damage to crowd-controlled enemies, which this build will be doing a lot of. |
|
Amulet |
Diamond |
Diamonds will give you higher defense from all elemental damage. |
|
Rings |
Diamond |
Diamonds will give you higher defense from all elemental damage. |
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Best Paragon Nodes
After Level 50, your Ice Barrage Sorcerer will focus on leveling up Paragon Nodes to help boost any ice attacks. This stage is all about making small tweaks and boosts to what you have laid before it and bringing your Sorcerer to its best.
|
Paragon Node |
Node Type |
Effect |
|
Recuperate |
Rare Node |
+4% Potion Healing and +10 Life Regeneration when not damaged recently. |
|
Polar Rime |
Rare Node |
+15% Damage to Chilled Enemies, as well as +10% Non-Physical Damage |
|
Frosts |
Rare Node |
+15% Damage to Chilled Enemies and +10 to Intelligence. |
|
Frigid |
Rare Node |
6% Damage Reduction from Chilled Enemies and +10 Intelligence. |
|
Cryomancy |
Rare Node |
+20% Cold Damage, along with 4% Chill Application. |
|
Keeper of Winter |
Rare Node |
12% Cold Resistance and 6% Damage Reduction from Chilled Enemies. |
|
Icefall |
Legendary Node |
Killing a Frozen enemy grants you 15% of your Maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds. |
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Playstyle
The main aspect of this build is to utilize your frost abilities to freeze your enemies and then use other abilities to do heavy damage to them. It relies on abilities that can both work for single enemies, and that can be highly effective against larger groups.
It also keeps your defense up high enough to not be too squishy, though avoiding getting overwhelmed is still recommended. It's good enough to get you out of a sticky situation, but it will not allow you to tank massive amounts of damage.
Ice Barrage Sorcerer Best Enchantments
Once you have reached a high enough level and have unlocked Enchantments, you are, once again, going to be choosing the options that lean towards Frost damage. There is a handful that you can unlock and use to your advantage:
|
Enchantment |
Attribute |
|
Frost Bolt |
Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Throw a bolt of frost at an enemy, dealing 35% damage and Chilling them for 15%. Enchantment Effect Direct damage from Skills applies up to 15% Chill. |
|
Frozen Orb |
Unleash an orb that Chills for 34% and expels piercing shards, dealing a total of 32% damage. Upon expiration, Frozen Orb explodes, dealing 29% damage and Chilling enemies for 9%. Enchantment Effect When you cast a Non-Basic Skill, you have a 20% chance to launch a Frozen Orb at a nearby enemy. |
|
Ice Shards |
Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Throw a bolt of frost at an enemy, dealing 35% damage and Chilling them for 15%. Enchantment Effect Direct damage from Skills applies up to 15% Chill. |
|
Ice Armor |
A Barrier of ice forms around you for 6 seconds, absorbing 30% of your Base Life in damage. While Ice Armor is active, 5% of your damage dealt is added to its Barrier. Enchantment Effect Upon getting hit, you have a 5% chance to apply Ice Armor. |
|
Ice Blades |
Lucky Hit Chance: 71% Conjure a pair of ice blades for 6 seconds that rapidly slash enemies for 23% damage and have a 30% chance to make them Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Enchantment Effect For every 20 seconds in Cooldowns you spend, you spawn an Ice Blades on a random enemy. |
|
Blizzard |
Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Summon a frigid blizzard that deals 120% damage and continually Chills enemies for 18% over 8 seconds. Enchantment Effect Every 15 seconds, a Blizzard forms over you and follows you for 6 seconds. |
Elementalist Sorcerer Best Skills
The Elementalist Sorcerer is possibly one of the most fun builds you can use as a Sorcerer and relies on every kind of power that is at your disposal. You can dish out damage with every kind of element and won't need to be scared of missing out on one kind of power.
|
Type of Skill |
Recommended Skills |
|
Basic Skills |
Arc Lash, Enhanced Arc Lash, Flickering Arc Lash, Fire Bolt |
|
Core Skills |
Fireball, Enhanced Fireball, Destructive Fireball |
|
Defensive Skills |
Flame Shield, Frost Nova, Enhanced Frost Nova, Shimmering Frost Nova, Glass Cannon |
|
Conjuration Skills |
Hydra, Enhanced Hydra, Invoked Hydra |
|
Mastery Skills |
Blizzard, Enhanced Blizzard, Wizar'ds Blizzard |
|
Ultimate Skills |
Fiery Surge |
|
Key Passives |
Avalanche |
Elementalist Sorcerer Best Aspects
The Legendary Aspects for this build are aimed at bumping up your damage numbers to different kinds of enemies, using the various elements at your disposal.
|
Gear Slot |
Aspect |
Aspect Effect |
|
Glove, Amulet, Weapon, Rings |
Elementalist's Aspect |
Core or Mastery Skills cast at or above 100 Mana gain a 20 - 40% increased Critical Strike Chance. |
|
Helm, Chest, Pants, Amulet, Shield
|
Aspect of the Protector |
Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to 630 - 1,260 damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds. |
|
Ring |
Recharging Aspect |
Each time Chain Lightning bounces off you, gain 4 - 6 Mana. |
|
Boots, Amulet |
Flamewalker's Aspect |
Coming in contact with your Firewall grants you 15 - 25% Movement Speed for 4 seconds. |
Elementalist Sorcerer Gear & Gems
You will use a combination of gems that will help increase your damage done to various kinds of enemies and also bring your health up to a higher level.
|
Gear |
Gem |
Affixes |
|
Head |
Ruby |
A Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Chest |
Ruby |
A Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Hands |
Ruby |
A Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Legs |
Ruby |
A Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Boots |
Ruby |
A Ruby will increase your Maximum Life. Mix and match across your armor pieces. |
|
Weapon |
Sapphire |
Sapphires will help you in dealing higher damage to crowd-controlled enemies. |
|
Amulet |
Diamond |
Diamonds will give you higher defense from all elemental damage. |
|
Rings |
Diamond |
Diamonds will give you higher defense from all elemental damage. |
Elementalist Sorcerer Best Paragon Nodes
The Nodes for your Paragon Board, once you have reached Level 50, are all going to help keep your stats increasing and make your build more efficient. A good chunk of these Nodes will also increase your Intelligence, which raises your resistance to keep you alive.
|
Paragon Node |
Node Type |
Effect |
|
Elementalist |
Rare Node |
+10% Non-Physical Damage and 4% Maximum Life. |
|
Elemental Balance |
Rare Node |
10% Non-Physical Damage and a +10 to Intelligence. |
|
Conjurer |
Rare Node |
+15% Conjuration Skill Damage and a +10 Intelligence. |
|
Cinders |
Rare Node |
+10% Damage to Burning Enemies and a +10 Intelligence. |
|
Kindling |
Rare Node |
+10% Damage to Burning Enemies and +16% Damage to Elites |
|
Keeper of Flames |
Rare Node |
4% Damage Reduction from Enemies That Are Burning and 12% Fire Resistance |
|
Burning Instinct |
Legendary Node |
Your Burning damage is increased by 40% of your Critical Strike Damage, further increased by 5% for every 20 Intelligence you have. |
|
Elemental Summoner |
Legendary Node |
Your Conjuration Skills have a 5% reduced Cooldown or Mana cost per Conjuration Skill you have equipped. |
Elementalist Sorcerer Playstyle
The first thing you will want to do when a battle starts is spawning your Hydra and then feed it with shock attacks. As it does its own damage, you can use your other abilities to target the other enemies. Use Frost Nova to keep enemies away from you and keep yourself from being overwhelmed.
You can use Chain Lightning to easily cut through swarms of enemies and help your Hydra and teammates.
Elementalist Sorcerer Enchantments
The first Enchantment that you select should be Frost Nova so that you can get that ability to protect yourself as soon as you can. After that, you can choose to go with Hydra or Firewall; it doesn't really matter which one you go with first, as you can get the other one later.