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Tal Rasha Meteor Wizard Guide

Last Updated: January 10th 2024

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Introduction

Tal Rasha Comet Solo Push
View all variants

The Tal Rasha's Elements Set is probably the most iconic Wizard set in the Diablo franchise, originating from Diablo II where it was the Sorceress set. Over the years, Tal Rasha's Elements dictated the META multiple times. First in Season 3 with Mammoth Hydra using Pain Enhancer to get an obscene amount of Flame Blades stacks, uncapped back then. It returned in Season 6 with Vyr's Amazing Arcana (4) Bonus during the glory days of the Archon Twister zET META.

For the longest time, Tal Rasha has been played with Energy Twister and Arcane Orb Frozen Orb. Season 27 finally brought this set back into the spotlight for Wizard players, with a rework based around Meteors and two new items, The Smoldering Core and Mempo of Twilight, to back it up.

It’s quick, impactful and the explosions are very satisfying when played correctly. Very few builds incorporate the fantasy of a spell-slinging Wizard as well as this one. However, the LoD "Bazooka" is more convenient since it frees up skill slots and allows for the craziest interactions.

During Season 29, Star Pact variants were under steroids due to the Paragon Cap with special distribution rules, allowing for +100 Arcane Power and 200% Area Damage! Unfortunately, Tal'Rasha's Elements got a huge nerf with Season 30, making the set hardly competitive against other Meteor builds.

This is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Meteors, even when coming from Tal Rasha's Elements (2) Bonus, can proc it. The whole playstyle revolves around the precise use of Teleport and a specific skill choice to play around Tal Rasha's Elements Bonuses as much as possible, in order to wreak havoc onto the battlefield. This guide will show you the way to become a formidable Meteor Wizard!

Iconic Meteor ✔
Active Playstyle ✔
Fun and Satisfying
Easy to Get Starter Gear ✔

❌ Squishy
Slightly Clunky
❌ Lack of Gear & Skill Options

❌ Vulnerable to Crowd Control

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Tal Rasha's Elements provides us with a 8,000% separate global damage multiplier but requires us to juggle four abilities with four different elements Arcane, Cold, Lightning and Fire.
  • The Grand Vizier provides us a 400% separate damage multiplier and reduce the Meteor Arcane Power cost by 50%.
  • The Smoldering Core grants us a stacking damage multiplier on consecutive hits on targets, up to 500%. It also lures normal monsters towards Meteor Impacts.
  • Mempo of Twilight grants us a 400% damage multiplier on top of the Meteor Shower rune effect, the latest only affecting selfcast Meteors.
  • Nilfur's Boast gives another huge 600% damage multiplier and even up to 900% when you hit only 3 targets or less.
  • Halo of Karini is a core Wizard defensive item, providing us with a tremendous 80% damage reduction at the cost of using Storm Armor.
  • Convention of Elements is another separate damage multiplier, giving you triple damage during your Elemental cycle.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur allows us to complement our Tal Rasha's Elements Set with Captain Crimson's Trimmings and another Set.

Season 30 Soul Shards

Soul Shards are powerful socketable items that initially dropped during Season 25 but they are returning for Season 30! There are 4 available for Weapons based on the Lesser Evils, with another 3 for Helmets based on the Prime Evils. They drop at Rank 0 and be upgraded three times with the brand new Hellforge Embers to unlock additional powers, or be used in the Kanai's Cube as Augments. Here's how they progress:

  • Rank 0: Soul Shards begin with a unique static Legendary Power. Creates a Rank 50 Augment.
  • Rank 1: Gives all powers from the normal gems. Creates a Rank 75 Augment.
  • Rank 2: Grants one additional powerful stat. Creates a Rank 100 Augment.
  • Rank 3: Unlocks 1 of 3 bonus Legendary Powers unique to that Soul Shard. Creates a Rank 125 Augment.

Warning: Leoric's Crown and Broken Crown do not work with Soul Shards!

Read our Soul Shards Guide for full details on how they work. What you should prioritize on them for Solo Pushing is the following:

  1. The Correct Soul Shard & Rank 3 Power
    The best shards for Solo Pushing are:
    • Helmets: We want to use Shard of Hatred for the massive 50% damage buff when surrounded by a lot of monsters. For the Rank 3 power, take the additional damage per stack for a tremendous 100% damage buff in density!
    • Weapons: We want to use Essence of Anguish for the Movement Speed and Cooldown Reduction. For the Rank 3 power take the 50% increased Poison Damage, which actually applies to all damage done! Hint: Make sure to get a Poison Damage Range on your Weapon so it can proc the shard automatically.
  2. The Rank 2 Stat
    The stats that come from the second upgrade are not equal. Here's what we're looking for on them:
    • Helmets: We want either Main Stat for damage or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction to survive. Avoid Armor and All Resistance as their stat ranges are far too low compared to the other options.
    • Weapons: We want either % Damage or Arcane Damage to boost our character's power the furthest.
  3. The Stat Ranges on the Rank 1 and 2 Powers
    This is just icing on the cake because the ranges will not make or break your build. Still, look for the Soul Shards with the best stat ranges, especially on the offensive stats.

For the other game modes, other Soul Shards can be used. Check the Variants below to see what's used there.

What about extra Soul Shards? Either salvage them for gems, or upgrade and use them in Kanai's Cube for Augments.

Global Stat Priorities

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Area Damage as well as Elemental Damage and Meteor Damage. When playing Star Pact, fit Maximum Arcane Power and Resource Cost Reduction everywhere you can to scale Star Pact damage.

Regarding toughness, like most Wizard builds, in some setups we take advantage of Galvanizing Ward, Diamond Skin and Magic Weapon Deflection to generate Shields based on our HP pool. This means Vitality and Life % are very important as they double dip into Shields. This is the reason why you want to aim for a decent HP pool. But due to the very locked itemization and skill choice of Tal Rasha's Elements, only specific setups can benefit from these mechanics.

Crowd Control Reduction is an incredibly valuable secondary Affix to roll on both Rings, Amulet and Helmet as we are very sensitive to Hard Crowd Control effects and mitigating these will ease up our gameplay significantly. Make sure to get the Primary Affixes locked in before attempting to get CCR though.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Speeds
GR Solo Push
GR Group
Echoing Nightmare
Tal Meteor Solo T16

Concept
In Nephalem Rifts we try to combine a great mixture of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is more fast-paced since we drop Arcane Dynamo and use Meteor Thunder Crash. We use Boon of the Hoarder in conjunction with Avarice Band (on your follower).

Gameplay
Focus on Elite Packs and big pulls of monsters, keep your Tal Rasha's Elements stacks, spam Meteor on top of Elites if there is one, and nuke them before moving onto the next one with Teleport.

Setups
In groups, swap Stone of Jordan, Warzechian Armguards & Pauldrons of the Skeleton King with Avarice Band, Nemesis Bracers & Homing Pads.

Select Build Version

Explosive Blast Setup
Tal Meteor Speeds

Concept
In Speed Greater Rifts we try to combine a great mixture of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is more fast-paced since we use Meteor Thunder Crash. Bane of the Stricken is not necessary, so we can take Bane of the Powerful instead. This setup can be used in both solo and group speeds. We use both Audacity and Power Hungry as well as Stone of Jordan to maximize damage output in all situations.

Gameplay
Focus on Elite Packs and big pulls of monsters, keep your Tal Rasha's Elements and Orb of Infinite Depth stacks, Teleport on Elites and spam Meteor to nuke them before moving onto the next one. With this setup, Meteors from all elements should rain onto the battlefield!

Setups
If you feel too slow, use Illusionist instead of Elemental Exposure, which cost you damage for a massive movement speed boost as long as you fight enemies. It is also possible to play Comet for higher Greater Rift speeds.

Select Build Version

Comet Setup
Tal Meteor Comet Solo Push

Concept
We stack up as much damage as possible and take advantage of Teleport. The idea is to spam Comet during your Cold Convention of Elements cycle.

Gameplay
Pull monsters all around using Teleport. As your Cold CoE cycle is coming up, use Black Hole Absolute Zero to lock monsters, make sure you got all your Tal Rasha stacks and start nuke with Comet.

Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
At lower Paragon, you can swap Aughild's Authority (Bracers & Shoulders) and Squirt's Necklace with Guardian's Jeopardy (Bracers & Belt) for more damage and toughness. Removing Zei's Stone of Vengeance to take in Esoteric Alteration is a possibility to make you even tankier.



Select Build Version

Comet Setup
Tal Meteor Comet Group

Concept
We stack up as much damage as we can. We use Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we have a zBarb with us. We take Magic Weapon Conduit to generate Arcane Power. The idea is to spam Comet during your Cold Convention of Elements cycle. This build is decent at both Trash Killing and Boss Killing.

Gameplay
Keeps distance from the pulls created by the zBarb to be safe and to benefit from Power Hungry and Zei's Stone of Vengeance. Follow the zBarb carefully. Stops for Cold CoE cycle, make sure to have Black Hole Absolute Zero active and spam Comet. Teleport into any Oculus Ring that spawns. Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build.

Setups
If you feel too squishy, you can swap Astral Presence with Blur.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is good for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift pushing build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Discard The Smoldering Core for Aether Walker and Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare.
  • Go for Thunder Crash since these meteors have no landing delay, which blends perfectly with this game mode.
  • Swap Bane of the Stricken and Esoteric Alteration with Bane of the Powerful and Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we are fighting hordes of enemies.
  • Drop Convention of Elements for Stone of Jordan.
  • Reroll Area Damage to Average Damage as we do not need to make huge pulls.

Gameplay

  1. Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
  2. Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
  3. After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
  4. At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

Cast Storm Armor as soon as you enter. Then proc and maintain Tal Rasha's Elements stacks. Dominance and Galvanizing Ward will make sure you get permanent full benefit from Squirt's Necklace and Pride's Fall. Storm Armor Power of the Storm and Diamond Skin Prism are making sure your Meteor has almost no Arcane Power cost... Spam Thunder Crash everywhere... Profit!

Video Guide

Mechanics

Tal Rashas Elements

Meteor Star Pact

The Smoldering Core

Elemental Exposure

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Tal Rasha's Elements set.
  • Keep up your Storm Armor for Halo of Karini buff at all times.
  • Don't forget to use your abilities to keep up your four Tal Rasha's Elements stacks.
  • Play around the Convention of Elements cycle to maximize your damage.

I hope you enjoyed this guide! Meteor is one of the core Wizard skills, and Tal Rashas Elements the most iconic Wizard set in Diablo. It can be very fun and rewarding setting up the correct pulls and destroying them with Rains of Meteors. Good luck!

Credits

Written by Chewingnom.

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