Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling Guide
Last Updated:October 10, 2024|Changelog
Welcome to the Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling Guide, one of the few melee Sorcerer builds in Diablo 4! If you just want to beat your enemy down, you've come to the right place.
Arc Lash is a Basic Skill and excels once you obtain Moonrise and Adaptability. Arc Lash will get plenty of support from your conjuration skills. Hydra will summon a turret to attack enemies, you can summon up to two. Familiar summons different elements based on your last used skill, cast it after Hydra to burn enemies around you thanks to Enhanced Familiar. You also take the Ultimate Skill Unstable Currents which summons random shock skills each time you cast Arc Lash and also increases you attack speed.
The Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build has great defensive skills as well. Teleport gives mobility and acts as an Unstoppable which breaks crowd control. Ice Armor gives a large Barrier and if you spend the time to unlock Snowveiled it will also make you Unstoppable.
Arc Lash Sorcerer is more challenging to play and also uses Enlightenment which requires you to rotate different elements for a massive buff. Hydra will make it easy to stack Enlightenment. This build requires you to be aggressive at melee range and stay mobile but offers a fun playstyle. An Aspect that makes leveling easier for any build is Elemental Constellation which comes in the first Season Journey cache, as you cast any Skill you will charge up a powerful dagger on your shoulder that pierces in a narrow area for massive damage, this damage increases the more you cast similar elements.
This guide teaches you all about how to reach the endgame in Diablo 4 with the Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build. Let's get started!
This build guide takes you up to level 60 and gets you started for the early Endgame on Torment 1 difficulty. If you're looking for Endgame guides, check out our Sorcerer Guides section!
- Engaging Playstyle
- Low Resource Usage
- Available Immediately
- Melee
- Area Coverage
- Needs Aspects to Scale
Check out our Leveling Builds Tier List to see how this build compares to others.
Season Theme
Season 6 is the Season of Hatred Rising. It features the Zakarum Remnants faction which hunts Realmwalkers, massive behemoths that roam outdoor zones and beckon Mephisto's hellspawn. Participate in these zone events and take down the Realmwalkers to spawn a portal to a Seething Realm. There you can acquire Seething Opals, new consumables that stack with Elixirs for a XP buff and the chance to gather extra rewards when defeating enemies. The types of Opals are:
- Seething Opal of Equipment
- Seething Opal of Gold
- Seething Opal of Materials
- Seething Opal of Torment
- Seething Opal of Socketables
Use these Opals at all times to earn reputation with the Zakarum Remnants faction and unlock further rewards.
Learn more details about the season theme in our full Season Guide.
Skills & Gameplay
Starting Skills
To start off you have to put two points into Basic Skills to unlock the other sections. Arc Lash is your choice and main damage button. Next you unlock Fireball because it will be used for your Fireball Enchantment at level 15, for now it will also be a ranged damage button but you also won't use it for very long. You can move on once you unlock Defensive Skills.
Defensive Skills
Teleport will provide mobility to get into the action faster, it also provides an Unstoppable on cast which allows you to break crowd control and escape the action if needed. Ice Armor gives us a large Barrier for when damage can't be avoided. If you decide to unlock Snowveiled then Ice Armor can provide an extra Unstoppable. We put extra points into Arc Lash ranks. You can move on once you unlock Conjuration Skills.
Conjuration Skills
Hydra will provide damage as a turret that has good range, you can summon up to two. Fireball should be taken off your Skill Bar but we keep the point in it for our Fireball Enchantment at level 15. Familiar will provide damage and Enhanced Familiar gives a special effect based on which element was previously cast, you will want to focus on using Familiar after a fire skill for the burning damage with great area coverage. You can move on once you unlock Mastery Skills.
Enchantments
At level 15, you unlock the Sorcerer Enchantments class mechanic. Finish this Priority Quest as soon as possible to get Fireball Enchantment. Any enemy that dies will explode with a Fireball, providing a chain reaction that destroys weaker enemies and sometimes elites if they are surrounded by weaker enemies.
Mastery Skills
We don't take any skills here but will grab some passives from previous categories. You can get Protection passive from the previous category to provide additional barriers on all skills that have a cooldown. Grab Glass Cannon in the defensive skills category for extra damage. You can move on once you unlock Ultimate Skills.
Ultimate Skills
Unstable Currents is your Ultimate Skill, it will summon random shock skills each time you cast Arc Lash and increase your attack speed. The passive Warmth is also a good priority, this will heal you for each enemy burning around you and allows you to save Healing Potions for important moments. You max Conjuration Mastery for additional attack speed and damage for each active conjuration and put one point in Coursing Currents to unlock your Key Passive.
Key Passive
Enlightenment is your key passive. This will give additional damage, Mana regeneration, and attack speed. It requires you to rotate between different elements to gain stacks until you become Enlightened. The buff will last 10 seconds, during this time you will do not need to rotate your elements and instead can focus on dealing as much damage as your Mana allows. Once the buff falls off, you should go back to rotating between different elements.
Priority Passives
You pick up passives that will have a more direct impact. You take Shocking Impact for extra damage after stunning. Coursing Currents gives a stacking critical strike chance each time you fail to critical strike. You pick up Mana Shield for damage reduction after you spend enough mana, Icy Veil extends your Barrier duration, and Potent for gives resistance for your defenses. Grab Evocation for cooldown reduction and Conduction for movement speed. Shimmering Teleport will give damage reduction for a few seconds. Shimmering Ice Armor will reduce the cooldown of your Ice Armor the more you spend Mana.
Final Journey to 60
Your final passives will include Elemental Synergies for a minor damage increase, Electrocution to reduce enemies damage after critically striking with Shock Skill, ranks to Unstable Currents to get as much cooldown reduction as we can, ranks to Fireball for extra splash damage with your Fireball Enchantment, and Elemental Attunement. You can change your order of passives if you feel the desire to, focusing on all damage before grabbing extra defense.
Check out our Renown Guide to unlock all your additional Skill Points efficiently.
Sorcerer Enchantments
Fireball is our first Enchantment. This will provide addition clear speed, destroying weaker enemies quickly so you can keep moving. The weaker enemies will sometimes shotgun Elites, overall this is a very powerful Enchantment for leveling but will rarely be used in the Endgame.
Familiar Enchantment will give a chance at a free Familiar when you cast Hydra. This means you will have a much easier time keeping a Familiar active at all times for consistent clear speed.
Unlocking Enchantments
Once you reach level 15, you have to complete a short quest line starting west of Nevesk, Fractured Peaks. A Priority Quest leads you there to seek out Mordarin. You will enter a dungeon to find a quest item and then finish a short encounter in a nearby shack.
Learn more details in our full Sorcerer Enchantment Guide.
Gear & Stat Priorities
To get started with the Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build, always use your highest DPS Staff available for more damage. You can use one hand and offhand if they both have higher item power than your current Staff but will be less likely to find consistent upgrades for two items instead of one. Otherwise, follow the priority list below. While you don't have all of the desired temper manuals available, simply try to get anything useful on your gear until you acquire the right ones. For example, % Damage, Damage to Close, Vulnerable Damage, etc. all work as long as you activate their conditions. Likewise, you can temper multiple defensive options such as Resistances, Life, Armor to fill gaps in your survivability. Tempering low level gear is relatively cheap and the results can be very impactful.
Tip: For the early game, Elemental Surge Weapon Tempers are very powerful due to their high base damage, especially if you are twinking. If you find these, you may want to keep imprinting them on your weapons for an easy time.
Legendaries & Uniques
The Codex of Power is a collection of Legendary Aspects you can imprint onto Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist. They unlock after completing specific Dungeons located around Sanctuary or salvaging items with these powers. Check out our Map Tool to locate these Dungeons.
For leveling, there are a few powers that can significantly help us if we have the funds to imprint them. In addition, keep an eye out for powerful Unique items you may find for this or other builds.
First Season Journey Cache
- Elemental Constellation
- This Aspect will easily carry any build through leveling and into the early Torment difficulties. To get started with this aspect you can simply cast Hydra instead of any leveling build's main skill for burst damage. After casting a skill you will form a dagger on your shoulder that will be empowered by each matching element that is Cast. If you get enough Mana sustain you can use other skills as well but Hydra or a Basic Skill will be easiest when you first find this item.
Must-have Dungeon unlocks
- You don't need any aspects to get started with the Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build.
Nice-to-have Dungeon unlocks
- Rapid
- Disobedience
- Might
- Snowveiled
- Control
Other useful Aspects (drop/gamble)
- Elemental Constellation
- Moonrise
- Adaptability
- Conceited
- Shredding Blades
- Concentration
- Elemental Acuity
What to Gamble
Offensive | 1h Weapon, Offhand |
Defensive | Helm, Chest, Pants |
Utility, Mobility | Boots |
Resource | Rings |
Great Uniques for this build
- Tal Rasha's Iridescent Loop
- X'Fal's Corroded Signet
- Esu's Heirloom
Jackpot Drops
As you level up, you may get lucky and find some great random drops. Some of these can massively amplify your power and speed up the leveling by switching to another build. Keep in mind that there are many more Aspects and Uniques that can be useful to multiple builds; this just lists some of the most impactful ones. While we usually recommend starting with Endgame Builds at level 60, you often can make them work earlier with these drops:
Build-defining Aspects
- Elemental Constellation (enables Elemental Constellation Endgame)
- Glacial / Frozen Tundra (enables Blizzard Endgame)
Build-defining Uniques
- Fractured Winterglass (enables Frozen Orb Endgame)
- Blue Rose (enables Blizzard Endgame)
- Gloves of the Illuminator (enables Fireball Endgame)
- Axial Conduit (enables Chain Lightning Endgame)
Learn more details in our articles covering the Codex of Power and Unique Items.
Runes
You can have up to two Runewords in your setup, each consisting of one Ritual and one Invocation Rune. Socket them in Two-Handed Weapons if your build calls for them, otherwise place them into your Armor pieces to replace normal gems. The Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build focuses on the following combos:
Best in Slot
- Cir + Wat for additional damage reduction combined with Xol + Ohm for additional damage.
Alternative choices
As long as you haven't unlocked the final setup or found the top Runes, you can also benefit from these options:
- Moni, Cem, and Cir are good options for Ritual Runes.
- Ton, Tal, and Gar are good options for Invocation Runes.
Learn more about Runes and how they work in our dedicated Runewords Overview and Runewords Tier List.
Mercenaries
Mercenaries are unlocked during the Vessel of Hatred campaign and assist you in battle. There are 4 separate Mercenaries to choose from, each with their own skill trees and abilities. You can have one hired (permanent) mercenary during solo play and a reinforcement who assists you from time to time in certain situations.
Hired: Subo
- Subo is a great choice for casual gameplay thanks to his passive Seeker that reveals enemies and objects, this is a nice quality of life addition and also gives some Mana sustain. Grab Wire Trap along with Ready At Hand for some mobility. Next you pick Cover Fire with the damage increase from Opening Fire.
- Raheir is a great alternative if you don't mind dropping the maphack, Valiance is an amazing defensive tool that will prevent damage from large hits along with give you Unstoppable. Take Ground Slam and grab Raheir's Aegis for extra defense. Next you want Bastion with Inspiration. Valiance is a very powerful mechanic for pushing more difficult content or playing on Hardcore.
Reinforcement: Raheir
- Raheir will potentially save your character with his reinforcement Bastion. Setting this to trigger on Injured can keep you going in difficult encounters.
- Varyana is a great alternative to Raheir if you are either using Raheir as your hired or if you just want some extra damage. Bloodthirst will give some extra attack speed and you can set it on any attack.
Learn more about Mercenaries and how they work in our dedicated Mercenaries Overview.
How To Level
In Diablo 4, you can level by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, completing Helltide activities, grinding Dungeons, clearing Strongholds, fighting in the Undercity of Kurast or interacting with the Seasonal Mechanics. While there are many ways to level up in Diablo 4, not all of them are equal.
Campaign Leveling
- For your first character in Diablo 4, completing the Campaign provides all the background lore information but is not necessary.
- The Campaign is the slowest way to level, but it's worth experiencing the Campaign and Diablo 4's storyline at least once.
- To play Seasonal Content you need to have completed or skipped the Campaign.
- If your account is below Rank 4 Renown in each zone, focus on completing your Renown.
- This only needs to be done once per realm (Softcore / Hardcore).
- After finishing the campaign, you should focus on earning experience in Helltides by combining Helltide activities with Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers or completing Gathering Legion Events.
- Strongholds provide a big boost of experience for little time investment. Make sure to clear all of them after around level 40.
Seasonal / Alt Leveling
- Complete the Seasonal Questline in order to progress your Seasonal Journey to unlock additional Legendary Aspects and work on your Seasonal Powers.
- If your account is below Rank 4 Renown in each zone, focus on completing your Renown.
- This only needs to be done once per realm (Softcore / Hardcore).
- Complete the Dungeons needed for any Legendary Aspects from your Codex of Power.
- From level 1-60 you should focus on earning experience in Helltides by combining Helltide activities with Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers or completing Gathering Legion Events.
- Strongholds provide a big boost of experience for little time investment. Make sure to clear all of them after around level 40.
- If you're playing an Alt, make sure to use Tempers and Leveling Caches crafted from the Alchemist to speed up your progression.
- Find the most efficient way of leveling your character in detail with our Speed Leveling Guide.
Tips and Tricks
- Don't Imprint Your Weapon
- It is a better idea to put your best Offensive Aspect on your Amulet, which will usually not be replaced as often as your Weapon.
- Compare Your Items
- Press Shift to activate item comparison. Use this build guide's Stat Priorities section to identify potential upgrades.
- Choose an Easy Difficulty
- Ideally, start on Hard difficulty for the extra XP modifier, then try to go higher when it's way too easy. If that slows you down noticeably, it's better to stay on a lower difficulty.
- Use Your Materials
- There's no point in holding on to your gold or materials for later. Use everything to speed up your journey to 60. If you're twinking, make sure to craft the Allowance Caches from the Alchemist at level 20 and if available, equip your Mythic Uniques at level 35 to make the leveling a breeze.
Speedrun Route
- If you're looking to min/max your time spent on the way to 60 instead of following a generic guideline, you need to use a specific strategy.
- This usually includes farming certain activities up to a specified level and then switching to other tasks while gathering XP in high density areas and pushing the difficulty as high as you can.
- We update this strategy seasonally in our Speed Leveling Guide.
Endgame Transition
As you approach level 60 with the Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build, you unlock higher item power gear that represents a massive jump in character power. This is a good time to refresh your setup with new tempers and imprints.
At level 60, Paragon Levels and The Pit unlock. Work towards Tier 20 to enter Torment 1, where the Endgame begins. Focus on overcapping your Armor (1000+) and Resistances (70%+) as you receive some penalties to your character's stats:
- -250 Armor per Torment difficulty
- -25% All Resistances per Torment difficulty
At this point, your setup should look roughly like this before you dive into min/maxing with Uniques, Mythics & Masterworking. With better gear, more levels and Glyphs, you can push further and eventually unlock higher difficulties for increased rewards.
This step marks the end of the leveling guide. Below is the Paragon setup to get you started in Torment difficulty, but ideally, you should now transition towards the endgame version of this build or choose another of your liking.
Paragon & Glyphs
Carefully check your Paragon Boards to ensure correct board rotation. Glyphs go from a radius of 3 to 4 at level 15 and from 4 to 5 at level 46. Some of them cannot be activated before reaching these thresholds! Progress through The Pit to rank up your Glyphs.
Use the slider to see progression steps. At around Paragon 200, leveling slows down significantly and all important Rare clusters, Legendary nodes and Glyph sockets should be unlocked. Afterwards, you can min/max your build with minor tweaks and by picking up additional smaller nodes.
Some Glyph position swaps, board changes and other pathing adjustments may occur as you unlock your full potential. The setup displayed by default is the final version of the build before spending additional points that do not significantly impact your character's power.
Glyph Leveling Priorities
To Level 15
- Flamefeeder
- Tactician
- Elementalist
- Unleash
- Destruction
To Level 46
- Destruction
- Tactician
- Elementalist
- Unleash
- Flamefeeder
There are a total of 328 Paragon Points. After reaching level 60, you gain up to 300 Paragon Levels, 24 from Renown and 4 from Altars of Lilith. Check out our dedicated in-depth guides to learn more about Paragon Boards and Glyphs.
Video Guide
Coming soon.
Summary
The Arc Lash Sorcerer Leveling build is an engaging melee build that gets extra mobility and scales well with the right equipment.
- Get in the action and start swinging away. Stay mobile while attacking.
- Use conjurations for support and as a rotation for Enlightenment.
- Use your defensive skills and Familiar to gain a Barrier from Protection to stay alive.
Credits
Written by pandaglassjaw