Sorcerer Class Overview

The Sorcerer class is a master of magic and annihilates enemies. They use powerful spells imbued with raw elemental power to take command of the battlefield to crush anything that challenge them. This overview covers their Strengths & Weaknesses, Skills, Passives, Legendaries, and much more. Let's teleport in and learn why the Sorcerer holds the ultimate elemental magic!

The Sorcerer has ultimate control over the raw elemental magics to tear apart enemies. They let loose powerful torrents of destructive energy to snare and control the battle at any point. Strong defensive skills make them a deceptively hard target to kill. Further knowledge with Enchantment Slots bring a deeper diversity to their loadout of skills to leave nothing but destruction in their wake. The Sorcerer is fun to play with well-developed skills based around Cold, Lightning, and Fire. They also have amazing depth with seemingly endless skill interactions. Their skills are powered by Mana, a resource generated while in battle.

The four core attributes provide the following to the Sorcerer:

• Strength: Armor (1 per 5)
• Intelligence: All Resistances (2% per 100), Skill Damage (12.5% per 100)
• Willpower: Resource Generation (3% per 100), Healing Received (10% per 100), Overpower Damage (25% per 100)
• Dexterity: Critical Strike Chance (2% per 100), Dodge Chance (0.6% per 100)

Intelligence is considered the main attribute as it multiplies all your damage done. Dexterity and Willpower are also useful for their offensive and defensive bonuses, while Strength does next to nothing. Some items can roll bonuses to attributes and later on Paragon boards allow stacking the right stats for your character. In addition, you may find hidden Altars of Lilith in the open world that unlock a permanent bonus for all of your characters.

The Sorcerer can use Staves, a two-handed weapon which gives a different implicit modifier and stats compared to using the one-handed Dagger, Sword, Mace, or Wand plus a Focus. The trade-off between these depends how many Legendary Aspects required for your build. Using a Staff may give the implicit you require, but you lose out on an additional Legendary Aspect and Cooldown Reduction from the Focus.

Skill points are unlocked by level-ups and the Renown system. As you spend more points, you unlock more and more categories of skills. Each active skill can be leveled up to 5 times or more with items, increasing their power (usually +10% of the base value) or reducing their cooldown with each additional rank. After unlocking a skill, you can enhance it with another point and then choose one out of two upgrades to specialize it further.

In addition, there are passives found all over the tree, attached as optional choices to certain skill clusters. They grant small bonuses to damage, defense or utility under certain conditions and help to round out your build by shifting it further in the direction you want to take. All passives have 3 ranks and usually scale linearly.

Basic Skills

The Sorcerer's Basic Skills are weak and are mostly used to apply debuffs like Vulnerable with Frost Bolt or to reset Cooldowns with Glinting Arc Lash. They can be useful to finish off small enemies or to add extra damage against an Elite or Boss while you prepare one of your stronger Mana-spending attacks.

Frost Bolt

Enhanced Frost Bolt

Flickering Frost Bolt

Glinting Frost Bolt

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 40 frames
• Glinting restores 4 Mana for each enemy hit.
• Chill applied by Enchantment is multiplied by the Lucky Hit Chance of triggering skill.

Fire Bolt

Enhanced Fire Bolt

Glinting Fire Bolt

Flickering Fire Bolt

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 40 frames
• DoT ticks 2 times per second for 16 ticks in total.
• DoTs can stack.

• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 20% for the initial hit and 1.5% for every tick of the DoT.
• Flickering restores 2 Mana for each enemy hit.
• Burning damage applied by Enchantment is multiplied by the Lucky Hit Chance of triggering skill.

Arc Lash

Enhanced Arc Lash

Flickering Arc Lash

Glinting Arc Lash

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 38 and 42 frames
• Glinting reduces your Cooldowns by 0.25 seconds even if it hits multiple Stunned enemies.
• All stacks of Flickering are refreshed when you hit an enemy.

• Additional swipe from Enhanced does not trigger Unstable Currents.

Spark

Enhanced Spark

Flickering Spark

Glinting Spark

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 40 frames
• Lucky Hit Chance is 9% for each of the 4 hits as well as all the extra hits from Enhanced.

Core Skills

These are some of the most iconic Sorcerer skills used in your build, and can count on always having one on your action bar. They hunger for all your resources, so be careful not to get Mana starved. On the upside, they hit more targets than Basic Skills. In addition, Core Skills can be amplified by multiple Legendary effects.

Ice Shards

Enhanced Ice Shards

Destructive Ice Shards

Greater Ice Shards

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 41 frames
• Lucky Hit Chance is 16% for each individual shard.
• Greater provides bonus damage and 100% chance to ricochet but doesn't activate the Enchantment effect.

• Enchantment fires a single shard at each Frozen enemy once every 36 frames regardless of your Attack Speed.

Frozen Orb

Enhanced Frozen Orb

Destructive Frozen Orb

Greater Frozen Orb

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 50 frames
• At rank 1 piercing shards deal 8% damage and apply 9% Chill 2 times per second.
• Lucky Hit Chance is 4% for the orb itself, for each tick of piercing shards and for the final explosion.
• Destructive restores 5 Mana for each Frozen enemy hit.

Incinerate

Enhanced Incinerate

Destructive Incinerate

Greater Incinerate

Notes:

• Both base skill and Enhanced AoE DoT tick 2 times per second.
• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 8% for each damage tick.

Fireball

Enhanced Fireball

Destructive Fireball

Greater Fireball

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 42 frames
• Enemies killed by nearby players also trigger Enchantment explosion.

Chain Lightning

Enhanced Chain Lightning

Destructive Chain Lightning

Greater Chain Lightning

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 50 frames
• Deals damage up to 6 times (initial hit + once after each bounce).
• Lucky hit chance is 25% for each bounce.
• The initial hit does not seek out enemies and can miss.

Charged Bolts

Enhanced Charged Bolts

Destructive Charged Bolts

Greater Charged Bolts

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 43 frames
• Lucky Hit Chance is 20% for each bolt and for the lightning nova from Enhanced.
• Lightning nova from Enhanced doesn't damage the original target.

Potent Warding
Devastation
Elemental Dominance

Defensive Skills

These skills significantly boost the Sorcerer's defensive capabilities by either giving you a shield, by Crowd Controlling enemies, or by letting you get out of harm's way.

Ice Armor

Enhanced Ice Armor

Mystical Ice Armor

Shimmering Ice Armor

Notes:

• This skill can be used while performing other actions.
• Total Barrier cannot exceed your Base Life.

Frost Nova

Enhanced Frost Nova

Mystical Frost Nova

Shimmering Frost Nova

Notes:

Flame Shield

Enhanced Flame Shield

Mystical Flame Shield

Shimmering Flame Shield

Notes:

• This skill can be used while performing other actions.
• Burning damage ticks 2 times per second.
• Lucky Hit Chance is 35% for each tick.

Teleport

Enhanced Teleport

Mystical Teleport

Shimmering Teleport

Notes:

• Teleport can go up and down cliffs and through walls.
• Enchantment works normally with implicit stats on Boots that interact with your Evade.

Elemental Attunement
Glass Cannon
Energy Focus
Dampen Layer

Conjuration Skills

This cluster contains Sorcerer's summoning skills. While these summons are not full-fledged minions because of their short durations and/or inability to move, they are still very useful because they can deal extra damage while you are busy casting your other skills.

Ice Blades

Enhanced Ice Blades

Invoked Ice Blades

Summoned Ice Blades

Notes:

• Attacks 7 or 8 times (depending on attack animation used) over base 6 seconds duration regardless of your Attack Speed.
• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 5% per attack.

• Attack Speed bonus from Invoked only counts for the blades beyond the first
• Enchantment can not summon more than 3 Ice Blades at a time.

Hydra

Enhanced Hydra

Invoked Hydra

Summoned Hydra

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 36 frames
• Each head attacks 8 times with 1.0 APS or 9 times with 1.2 APS over the base 10 second duration.
• Hydra benefits from 30% of your Attack Speed Bonus.

• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 5% for each hit
• DoTs from Summoned can stack

Lightning Spear

Enhanced Lightning Spear

Invoked Lightning Spear

Summoned Lightning Spear

Notes:

• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 10% per hit.

Familiar

Enhanced Familiar

Invoked Familiar

Summoned Familiar

Notes:

• When Familiar is not on your skill bar and it's summoned by the Enchantment, Unstable Currents, or Fractured Winterglass it defaults to the Fire Familiar.

Align the Elements	The buff is removed even if incoming damage from an Elite is mitigated by a Barrier.
Mana Shield
Protection	Barriers do not stack. Using multiple Cooldowns refreshes the duration of the Barrier.
Conjuration Mastery
Precision Magic

Mastery Skills

These skills allow the Sorcerer to master the Elements, dealing massive damage with devastating AoE attacks.

Blizzard

Enhanced Blizzard

Mage's Blizzard

Wizard's Blizzard

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 49 frames
• Deals damage 2 times per second
• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 5% per tick
• Each tick applies 9% Chill

Meteor

Enhanced Meteor

Mage's Meteor

Wizard's Meteor

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 50 frames
• Meteor hits the ground with 1.25 second delay
• Burning damage ticks 2 times per second

Firewall

Enhanced Firewall

Mage's Firewall

Wizard's Firewall

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 68 frames
• Deals damage 2 times per second
• Lucky Hit Chance is approximately 10% for each damage tick

• Due to the way DoTs snapshot buffs Enhanced does not affect the first Firewall you cast.
• DoTs from Mage's Firewall can stack
• Enchantment only procs on Lucky Hits
• Enchantment cannot proc itself

Ball Lightning

Enhanced Ball Lightning

Mage's Ball Lightning

Wizard's Ball Lightning

Notes:

• Animation length at 1.0 APS: 32 frames
• Lasts for 5 seconds
• Deals damage 3.33 times per second

• With Enhanced, the tick rate is multiplied by (1 + 2*Attack Speed Bonus)
• Attack Speed Bonus from Accelerating Aspect does not count for Enhanced Ball Lightning
• At +100% Attack Speed you reach the maximum tick rate of 10 times per second
• Lucky Hit Chance is 5% for each damage tick

Icy Veil
Cold Front
Snap Freeze
Inner Flames
Crippling Flames
Devouring Blaze
Static Discharge
Invigorating Conduit
Shocking Impact

Ultimate Skills

Ultimates are high-impact abilities with a long cooldown and need to be built around to be effective, so not every build runs with one of them. Only one can be chosen and only have a single rank with a two-step linear upgrade path that offers no extra choices.

Deep Freeze

Prime Deep Freeze

Supreme Deep Freeze

Notes:

Inferno

Prime Inferno

Supreme Inferno

Notes:

• Burning damage ticks 2 times per second.
• Prime Inferno pulls enemies 3 times over the duration.

Unstable Currents

Prime Unstable Currents

Supreme Unstable Currents

Notes:

• This skill can be used while performing other actions
• Skills cast by Unstable Currents benefit from ranks and upgrades.

Permafrost
Icy Touch
Hoarfrost
Frigid Breeze
Fiery Surge	Doesn't stack with itself. Additional kills only refresh the duration.
Endless Pyre
Soulfire
Warmth
Coursing Currents
Conduction	Doesn't stack with itself. Additional Crits only refresh the duration.
Electrocution
Convulsions
Elemental Synergies
Evocation	Bonus CDR is not active while in town.

Key Passives

These passives are located at the very bottom of the Skill Tree. They are extremely powerful and define the overall playstyle of your build. Similar to Ultimate Skills, only one of them can be chosen!

Every class in Diablo 4 has a unique mechanic that contributes to its identity. For the Sorcerer, it's Enchantment Slots, allowing you to bolster your build with great passive effects. These can truly alter your playstyle, leading to many unique ways of playing your Sorcerer.

Enchantment Slots are small but powerful additions to your build. We slot certain skills for their offensive, defensive, resource, or utility effects. They can bolster your build or extend its functionality. First, let's go over some mechanics:

• Skills must have at least one Skill Point in them to be used (either from the Skill Tree or through gear).
• You can use a skill on your action bar and in an Enchantment Slot at the same time.
• A skill's Ranks, Enhancement and Upgrade choices carry through when placed into an Enchantment slot.
• Choices can be swapped in and out of the Enchantment Slots at any time.
• Ultimate Skills can NOT be enchanted.
• The first slot unlocks at level 15, the second at level 30.

Effect Examples

The Arc Lash's Slot effect makes it so whenever you use a Cooldown Skill, nearby enemies are Stunned for 0.7 seconds. While unimpressive on its own, this effect has great synergy with Shocking Impact passive, adding a decent chunk of AoE damage to all your defensive skills. On top of that, if you cast Arc Lash immediately after a Cooldown Skill you can proc its Glinting upgrade and reduce the Cooldowns of all your skills!

Ice Armor's Slot effect states that when you get hit, you have a 5% chance to apply Ice Armor. Another defensive effect, simple enough. Adding Enhanced Ice Armor increases your Mana regeneration by 25% when active. Lastly, taking the Upgrade Shimmering Ice Armor, enemies that hit you while Ice Armor is active have a 15% chance to be Frozen for 3 seconds, ramp up Ice Armor's utility. This is especially true when used as a skill and in one of your Enchantment Slots.

Meteor's base Slot effect is every time an enemy takes damage, there's an 8% chance on a Lucky Hit a Meteor falls on them. This chance is very low and you can't expect this Enchantment to produce a lot of damage. However just having a single Meteor fall on enemies every once in a while can be very beneficial as it will apply Burning effect to the enemies and also Immobilize them via Wizard's Meteor. This unlocks powerful Burning and Crowd Control Synergies such as Warmth, Devouring Blaze or Aspect of Control.

Each skill has a unique effect when placed in an Enchantment Slot. Most skills Enchantment Slot effects hold true to their elemental theme. This doesn't mean you need to stick with one element, though. In fact, this could be the bridge to a powerful build by mixing effects with different elements.

Once you reach level 15, you automatically start the Priority Quest "Legacy of the Magi". This short questline is a requirement to unlock the Specialization feature.

Quest Spoilers

Video Guide

Sorcerer Summary

• The Sorcerer is powerful, able to Crowd Control like no other, and destroys entire screens worth of monsters.
• A Sorcerer deals Cold, Lightning, and Fire damage with ranged attacks.
• Mana is their primary resource. It is easy to deplete, so strategic use of skills to make sure you get the most magical bang for your resource use is critical.
• Pay attention to the implicit, Stats, and Legendary Aspects you need when deciding if you should use a Two-Handed Weapon or a One-Handed Weapon + Focus.
• Enchantment Slots are Sorcerer's unique class mechanic. It gives every skill a unique passive effect to further deepen your build. This unlocks at level 15.
• A skill's Enhanced and Upgrade choice carry through when placed into an Enchantment slot.
• The Sorcerer is fun to play and embodies the raw elemental magic you come to expect from the class.

Credits

Maintained by Avarilyn

Written by Dredscythe and Northwar