Sorcerer got some insane buffs this season, and with it, it took over the meta with its Ball Lightning. But BL wasn’t the only build that got better as a consequence of said buffs. People are still experimenting and learning how to optimize other skills, like Incinerate or Frozen Orb.
As of now, though, these are the best 5 builds for Sorcs:
5. Fireball
This build harnesses the power of Fireball’s enchantment to incinerate virtually everything in its path. It boasts exceptional area-of-effect (AoE) damage but may encounter challenges when facing tough, isolated foes, particularly high-tier Nightmare Dungeon Bosses. In most other types of content, this Sorcerer build shines brightly.
While this build gains significant benefits from various Unique items, none of them are strictly necessary for the build to function effectively, with the exception of one.
Fireball Sorcerer incorporates the standard set of Defensive Skills, ensuring your safety and resilience until you venture deep into Nightmare Dungeons. In high-tier Nightmare Dungeons, where enemies deal extraordinarily high damage, you must exercise caution, eliminating or Crowd-controlling foes before they have a chance to eliminate you.
What Makes Fireball Great:
- Massive AoE
- Perfect for speed farming
- Easy to play
Choose Fireball if you Like:
- Big Explosions
- Screen-wide AoE Hell
- Upfront massive amount of damage
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous (Minor) - Simply provides unholy amounts of Attack Speed for free. Great for any non-channeling build.
- Anticipation (Minor) - Reduces the cooldown of Inferno, which helps us spam Fireballs at no cost.
- Accursed Touch (Major) - Great to consistently apply Vampiric Curse to everything.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - More Curse application + Unstoppable, which helps generate Mana with Tibault's Will.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - In combination with the previous two powers, this makes everything Vulnerable and provides a damage bonus with 100% uptime.
- Gloves of the Illuminator – Makes Fireballs Bounce.
- Staff of Endless Rage – Makes you fire 3 Fireballs every third Cast (shotguns.
- Tibault's Will – Gives 50 Mana and up to 40%x multiplier for damage.
- Godslayer Crown – Pulls Enemies in and gives up to 60%x Multiplier to damage.
- Flickerstep – Helps reduce Inferno’s Cooldown.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/fireball-sorcerer-guide
4. Firewall
This build allows you to ignite the world and witness the blaze as it engulfs everything. It excels at area-of-effect (AoE) coverage but may face challenges when dealing with Bosses. While it's not the fastest option for clearing Nightmare Dungeons, there's no rush to complete them, allowing you to take your time and slowly roast demons. As long as you can stay alive, they will eventually succumb to the flames.
This build essentially operates in melee range because if you move away from the monsters, they will quickly escape the reach of your Firewalls. Your typical gameplay loop involves constructing a massive pyre and then circling around it, all while reciting ritual spells and perhaps cackling maniacally.
The Firewall Sorcerer is a dependable and sturdy build that functions without any specific requirements. You don't need non-Codex Aspects or particular gear stats to incinerate everything. This makes it an excellent choice for levelling and early endgame, although it may not scale as effectively as other builds in the later stages.
What makes Firewall Great
- Big ass Snake
- Large AoE clearing
- Fun to play
- Can be rather Tanky
- Great for leveling
Pick Firewall if you like:
- Summoning a massive fiery snake from hell
- Burning enemies to ashes
- A solid leveling build to switch into something else later on
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous (Minor) - Simply provides unholy amounts Attack Speed for free. Great for any non-channeling build.
- Flowing Veins (Major) - A separate multiplier for DoT builds with easy to fulfill condition.
- Anticipation (Minor) - Reduces the cooldown of Inferno, which helps us spam Firewall at no cost.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - Applies Vampiric Curse and helps with mobility.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - In combination with the previous above power, this makes everything Vulnerable and provides a damage bonus with 100% uptime.
- Raiment of the Infinite – Vacuum and Stun on Teleport, great to clump enemies together.
- Godslayer Crown – Another source of vacuuming that also increases your damage by up to 60%x Multiplier.
- Flickerstep – Massive cooldown reduction on your SNAKE.
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet – Insane new ring perfectly suited for DOT builds.
For more information, click here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/firewall-sorcerer-guide
3. Chain Lightning
One of the most visually spectacular builds in the game, this Sorcerer stuns and annihilates monsters with a relentless barrage of electricity. It boasts extraordinary mobility and outstanding Speed farming capabilities, effortlessly tearing through open-world Events and Helltides. Its performance in Nightmare Dungeons is also quite commendable.
Chain Lightning and Unstable Currents are the primary sources of damage for this build, with Vulnerable inflicted by Frost Nova adding to the punishment. The combination of Raiment of the Infinite and the Teleport Enchantment ensures a continuous cycle of stunning enemies. With the added Frozen effect from double Frost Nova (Frostblitz Aspect), monsters find themselves trapped in the electric chair with no means of escape from the Chain Lightning Sorcerer's deadly current!
What Makes Chain Lightning Great:
- Extreme High Mobility
- Feels like a true mage of the arcane
- Screen-wide Stuns
- One of the best farmers in the game
Choose Chain Lightning if you like:
- Feeling like Thor, filling the screen with Lightning Bolts
- Zipping around and clearing everything with ease
- High APM builds
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Accursed Touch (Major) - Significantly boosts the damage dealt by Vampiric Curse when you release stored souls with a Defensive Skill, while also serving as a source of Vampiric Curse on its own.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - Exhibits outstanding synergy with Teleport Enchantment and acts as a source of Vampiric Curse.
- Anticipation (Minor) - Enhances the uptime of Unstable Currents and complements Fire Bolt Enchantment to increase damage output.
- Domination (Minor) - Augments your damage output by providing nearly as much damage as another Aspect of Control.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - In conjunction with Frost Nova, this power makes enemies Vulnerable and boosts the damage dealt to Vulnerable targets.
- Raiment of the Infinite - This armour is crucial for maximizing the endgame potential of the build. It enhances your Teleport by pulling nearby enemies close to you and stunning them. Additionally, it increases your damage against close and stunned enemies.
- Esu's Heirloom - If you prioritize Movement Speed from this item and your Amulet while maintaining maximum Critical Strike Chance elsewhere, you can choose to replace Elementalist's Aspect with another damage Aspect, such as Conceited Aspect. Alternatively, you can use it in conjunction with Elementalist's Aspect to maintain a consistent 100% Critical Strike Chance.
- The Oculus - This optional and enjoyable Unique item complements the build well, especially in confined areas like Events and mid-dungeon objectives, as well as in open, high-density areas like Helltides. - Pros: The item makes it extremely difficult for enemies to immobilize you, as it allows you to achieve infinite Teleport with occasional Chain Lightning usage, essentially granting you zero cooldown Teleport. - Cons: Using The Oculus can typically reduce your overall efficiency.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/chain-lightning-sorcerer-guide
2. Ice Shards
This build transforms your Sorcerer into an ice-based machine gun, unleashing Ice Shards at a rapid rate of around 1000 Rounds Per Minute. With its impressive single-target DPS and relatively long-range, this build can take you far in Nightmare Dungeons.
While this build can technically be played at range, it heavily relies on Frost Nova in practice, which necessitates a melee approach to some extent. During Boss fights, however, this restriction no longer applies, allowing you to position yourself at a safe distance and bombard the Boss from there.
The Ice Shards Sorcerer isn't overly dependent on specific Legendary Aspects. Versions of Prodigy’s and Piercing Cold from the Codex of Power are sufficient to make the build work. However, a significant portion of the build's effectiveness hinges on Frost Nova. It may feel somewhat sluggish until you acquire enough Cooldown Reduction and rank up Frost Nova to make it spammable.
What makes Ice Shards Great:
- Highly mobile
- Lots of CC
- Good single-target damage
- Great clearing
Pick Ice Shards if you Like:
- Freezing enemies to death
- Bursting enemies down almost instantly
- Massive explosions when using Frost Nova
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous (Minor) - Simply provides unholy amounts of Attack Speed for free. Great for any non-channeling build.
- Accursed Touch (Major) - Great to consistently apply Vampiric Curse to everything.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - In combination with the previous two powers, this makes everything Vulnerable and provides a damage bonus with 100% uptime.
- Domination (Minor) - Pretty straightforward damage boost that can be easily activated with Frost Nova or Blizzard itself.
- Anticipation - Reduces the cooldown of our Ultimate, which isn't crucial but is always nice to have.
- Tibault's Will – Insane pants that give you 50 Mana and up to 40%x more damage upon getting Unstoppable, which is easy for us, with multiple sources of it.
- Godslayer Crown – Vacuuming item that also grants up to 60%x More damage.
- Esu's Heirloom – A quick pair of boots that grants us a lot of critical chance based on Movement Speed.
- Raiment of the Infinite – Another source of Vacuuming combined with guaranteed stuns when using Teleport.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/ice-shards-sorcerer-guide
1. Ball Lightning
This build employs the Gravitational Aspect to create numerous sparkling Balls of Lightning that revolve around you. It excels in single-target damage and offers decent area-of-effect (AoE) coverage, capable of obliterating any foe in the game. However, this build does have its drawbacks, including its melee range, lack of burst damage, and less favorable interactions with Waller and Suppressor Elites (Ball Lightnings vanish in these scenarios).
Ball Lightning Sorcerer may not produce jaw-dropping damage numbers, and you won't see million-point hits on your screen. Nevertheless, the sheer quantity of damage numbers more than compensates for this, at times reaching such ludicrous levels that you might even have to adjust your settings to avoid being overwhelmed. As the saying goes: "Fear not the man who does 10 million damage per hit; fear the man who does 100,000 damage a thousand times per second."
The build includes the standard Defensive Skills to ensure your safety and resilience, a setup that remains effective until you venture deep into Nightmare Dungeons. When you do, you'll need to switch to a sturdier push setup, which will carry you through tier 100 and beyond.
Your all-powerful cloud of damage numbers will obscure everything in its path, causing the game to lag and striking fear into both friends and foes!
What Ball Lightning Sorcerer Excels in:
- Extremely mobile
- Fairly Tanky, with multiple sources of Barrier + Invuln
- High Single Target (Can solo Uber Lilith at level 90
- Great Clearing with Unstable Currents
Pick Ball Lightning Sorcerer if you Like:
- Playing the Meta Op build
- Demolishing any content to the point where the game feels trivial
- Palpable gear progression
- Teleport around and always be on the move
- Juggling Cooldowns
Vampiric Powers and Unique Items:
- Ravenous (Minor) - Simply provides unholy amounts of Attack Speed for free. Great for any non-channeling build.
- Anticipation (Minor) - Reduces the cooldown of Unstable Currents by 20%, which is our most important cooldown.
- Metamorphosis (Major) - applies Vampiric Curse and gives Unstoppable, which gives us damage bonus and Mana via Tibault's Will. Warning: it's best to leave this power at level 1 to proc the Mana restoration effect more often.
- Prey on the Weak (Minor) - In combination with Metamorphosis, this makes everything Vulnerable and provides a damage bonus with 100% uptime.
- Domination (Minor) - Another Aspect of Control with an extra execution on top.
- Tibault's Will – Insane pants that give you 50 Mana and up to 40%x More damage upon getting Unstoppable, which is easy for us, with multiple sources of it.
- Godslayer Crown – Vacuuming item that also grants up to 60%x More damage.
- Esu's Heirloom – A quick pair of boots that grants us a lot of critical chance based on Movement Speed.
- Raiment of the Infinite – Another source of Vacuuming combined with guaranteed stuns, when using Teleport.
- Flickerstep – Massive cooldown reduction on Unstable Currents.
For more information, check here: https://maxroll.gg/d4/build-guides/ball-lightning-sorcerer-guide
