Diablo IV: Essential Sorcerer Builds For Mastering The Dark Arts

With the gift of magic, Sorcerers can set things on fire, freeze their enemies, and create wondrous demonstrations of lightning’s lethality. Reminds me of when I was a teen, really. As a result, the Sorcerer is a hell of a lot of fun to play and very versatile thanks to their many options for direct damage, area of effect damage, and healing.

That in mind, here are three powerful but straightforward builds for the Sorcerer, with Frost, Fire, and Lightning specializations.

Frost Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15

Kick things off with Frost Bolt, Enhanced Frost Bolt, and Flickering Frost Bolt. Flickering will make frozen enemies Vulnerable for three seconds. A universal truth across almost every Sorcerer build (and probably every class for that matter) is that the more you can send enemies into Vulnerable status, the better.

Next up, grab Ice Shards, Enhanced Ice Shards, and Greater Ice Shards. Greater Ice Shards helps us plan ahead for the next upgrade. Select Ice Armor, Enhanced Ice Armor, and Mystical Ice Armor. Here, we’re looking to stack as many opportunities as possible to freeze and make enemies Vulnerable. After Ice Armor, get yourself Frost Nova, Enhanced Frost Nova, and Mystical Frost Nova. To wrap up your first 15 levels, continue investing skill points into previously acquired skills, and consider unlocking Teleport and Enhanced Teleport. You can leave Teleport at Enhanced for a while if you want, otherwise consider Mystical Teleport if you want to up your damage output or Shimmering Teleport for some damage reduction. If you grab the second Teleport upgrade, go ahead and grab Glass Cannon or Devastation. Ideally you should have both before you reach level 50.

Once you hit level 15, take on the “Legacy of the Magi” quest which will automatically appear in your quest log. That complete, it’s time to start building toward 50, taking additional skills and powering up existing ones.

Fire Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15

For our Fire Sorcerer, start with Firebolt, Enhanced Firebolt, and Glinting Firebolt. (Glinting Firebolt is the better choice here as it’ll have you outputting more damage over time.) You’ll find that fire builds benefit greatly from abilities with the “Burn” keyword. Following Firebolt, grab Fireball, Enhanced Fireball, and Destructive Fireball. Because it’s so useful, grab Teleport and Enhanced Teleport next. Unlock Flame Shield, Enhanced Flame Shield, and Mystical Flame Shield. You should also take Glass Cannon.

Continue investing in previously unlocked abilities until you hit level 15 for the Sorcerer’s class quest, “Legacy of the Magi.” Now it’s time to aim for level 50, unlocking additional abilities and investing further into existing ones along the way.

Lightning Sorcerer Build: Levels 1-15

For a Lightning-focused build, start with Arc Lash, Enhanced Arc Lash, and Flickering Arc Lash. After that, grab Chain Lightning, Enhanced Chain Lightning, and Greater Chain Lightning. Now you’ll want to get Teleport, Enhanced Teleport, and Shimmering Teleport. You may also find Mystical Teleport to be useful if you’re not satisfied with your damage output. Few Sorcerers can live on Lightning alone, however, so you’ll also want to unlock Ice Armor, Enhanced Ice Armor, and Mystical Ice Armor. You may also wish to grab Frost Nova or Fireball and be sure to unlock Glass Cannon and try to put at least two skill points into it in your first 15 levels.

Finish the Sorcerer class quest “Legacy of the Magi” that unlocks at level 15, and then proceed to level 50 by juicing current abilities and unlocking new ones.

Frost Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50

As you progress toward level 50 as a Frost Sorcerer, consider the following abilities:

• Ice Blades > Enhanced Ice Blades > Summoned Ice Blades
• Frozen Orb > Enhanced Frozen Orb, Greater Frozen Orb
• Align the Elements > Mana Shield and Protection
• Icy Veil > Cold Front and Snap Freeze
• Blizzard > Enhanced Blizzard > Wizard’s Blizzard
• Permafrost > Icy Touch > Frigid Breeze
• Deep Freeze > Prime Deep Freeze > Supreme Deep Freeze
• Avalanche

Upgrade as much of these as you can, prioritizing anything that increases your ability to deal more damage to Vulnerable enemies, such as Ice Blades.

Fire Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50

In the run-up to level 50, consider these abilities:

• Devastation
• Hydra > Enhanced Hydra > Summoned Hydra
• Firewall > Enhanced Firewall > Mage’s Firewall
• Meteor > Enhanced Meteor > Wizard’s Meteor
• Align the Elements > Mana Shield and Protection
• Inner Flames > Devouring Blaze and Crippling Flames
• Inferno > Prime Inferno > Supreme Inferno
• Fiery Surge > Endless Pyre > Warmth
• Esu’s Ferocity

Increase these as necessary, when you’ve acquired all the skills you think are necessary, start investing into the AoE and healing skills you find yourself using most.

Lightning Sorcerer Build: Levels 16-50

As you level up your Lightning Sorcerer to level 50, consider the following abilities:

• Charged Bolts > Enhanced Charged Bolts > Destructive Charged Bolts
• Devastation > Elemental Dominance
• Enhanced Ice Armor > Mystical Ice Armor
• Enhanced Frost Nova > Mystical Frost Nova
• Static Discharge > Shocking Impact
• Unstable Currents > Prime Unstable Currents > Supreme Unstable Currents
• Coursing Currents > Conduction > Convulsions
• Vyr’s Mastery

Feel free to experiment with skills from different elements for the Lightning Build, especially ones that’ll stun or freeze enemies in place, making it even easier to chain lightning off of them.

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These elemental specializations merely scratch the surface of Sorcerer build possibilities, but they’ll help you get a taste of the many different arcane arts at the class’s disposal. As demonstrated by the hybrid aspects of the Lightning build, combining different elements can make for even more destructive possibilities.

How have you built up your Sorcerer?

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