Guides, Reviews & Overviews

Diablo 4 Sorcerer: Class Overview

Diablo 4 will have five classes on release. In this series of articles, we will go over what makes each class unique – their skill trees, talents, and special class mechanic. This particular entry is dedicated to Sorcerer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sorcerer is the magic-casting long-range class, a very traditional mage. If you like building up your character to deal massive damage and have lots of options for dealing with crowds of enemies, Sorc (as the community calls them) should be your pick.

Skills Overview

skillspecs
Later on you'll be able to swap the chosen magic element to try out different builds

The allure of the Sorcerer lies in its mastery of arcane elements and ancient knowledge, allowing one to combat demons and beasts alone in the wilderness. Whether you prefer unleashing hell’s flames, summoning bolts of lightning, or wielding the power of ice and blizzards, this class offers a wide range of possibilities.

Despite the varied playstyles, certain aspects remain constant. Expect high damage output but low durability, keeping enemies at bay and optimizing gear and skills to maximize effectiveness. Keep in mind that a legendary item suitable for a Fire Sorcerer might not be useful for one who favors Frost or Shock.

Sorcerers use elemental magic, so they get to choose from 3 different magic schools:

  • Frost – the main feature of using ice as your main power is the ability to slow down or even freeze your enemies.
  • Pyromancy – allows you to use fire magic which specializes in producing DoT-type damage (Damage over Time).
  • Shock – allows using your attacks more rapidly to reduce cooldowns and proc critical damage more often.

Here’s Sorcerer’s basic toolkit:

Name Description Echanted ver.
Spark Launches a lightning bolt that shocks an enemy four times.

Each Spark that hits a target has a 20% chance
to hit three additional enemies; +20% damage to the primary target if no other enemies are
around.

  • Flickering - Each Spark has a 3% chance to
    form Crackling Energy (periodic AoE damage when picked up).
  • Glinting - +2% increased crit chance for three
    seconds, up to 10%.
Frost Bolt Throws a bolt of frost that deals damage and
chills foes. 		+15% chance to explode on chilled enemies;
100% chance against frozen enemies.
  • Flickering - Makes frozen enemies vulnerable (i.e., take +20% increased damage) for three
    seconds.
  • Glinting - +4 mana when hitting chilled or
    frozen enemies.
Fire Bolt Hurl a flaming bolt that deals damage and
applies a burning DoT. 		Pierces through burning enemies.
  • Flickering - +2 mana when hitting a burning
    enemy.
  • Glinting - Fire Bolt critical strikes cause +20% burning damage.
Arc Lash Generate arc lightning in front of you; every 10
swipes stuns enemies for two seconds. 		A critical causes another swipe.
  • Flickering - +6% movement speed for each
    enemy hit (up to 18%).
  • Glinting - Hitting a stunned enemy with Arc
    Lash reduces all cooldowns by 0.25 seconds.
coreskills
Fire Bolt is one of the basic abilities that you'll have as a Sorcerer


These basic attacks cost no mana. Therefore, they’ll remain viable at all stages of the progression.

Core Skills

arcclass
Sorcerer is using lighting powers to dispose of monsters

These skills do require mana for activation and cost some skill points to unlock. They’ll be your bread and butter throughout the first levels of the game. 

Name Description Echanted ver.
Incinerate Channel a beam of fire; damage per second
(DPS) increases over time. 		Burn enemies for 15% of the DPS
  • Destructive - Enemies deal 20% less damage while burning from Incinerate.
  • Greater - Immobilizes an enemy for one
    second for every four seconds that they're hit by Incinerate.
Fireball Hurl an exploding ball of fire that does AoE
damage. 		Increased AoE radius based on the projectile's
distance traveled (up to 50%).
  • Destructive - +10% critical damage; each
    enemy it hits increases the bonus by 5% (up to 25% total).
  • Greater - 10% of burning damage is dealt as
    direct damage.
Frozen Orb An orb that chills and shoots piercing shards;
will then explode and chill enemies once more. 		+30% explosion damage when cast at 50 mana
or more.
  • Destructive - +5 mana when the explosion hits a frozen enemy.
  • Greater - The explosion has a 25% chance to make enemies vulnerable; guaranteed against frozen enemies.
Ice Shards Launch five shards; +25% increased damage
versus frozen enemies. 		+15% chance to ricochet off enemies;
guaranteed to proc against frozen enemies.
  • Destructive - The target becomes vulnerable if all five shards hit them.
  • Greater - If a barrier-type spell is active, Ice
    Shard procs will be as though enemies are
    frozen.
Chain
Lightning 		Chains between enemies (up to six times). +3% crit chance per bounce/chain.
  • Destructive - +25% chance to form Crackling
    Energy when you crit.
  • Greater - +25% damage if Chain Lightning
    bounces off your character.
Charged
Bolts 		Release five bolts of lightning along the ground. Hitting an enemy three times from the same cast unleashes a Lightning Nova that deals AoE damage.
  • Destructive - Reduces the damage dealt by
    enemies when hit by Charged Bolts.
  • Greater - +25% increased damage versus
    stunned enemies.

Defensive Skills

burnzap
Burn, zap or freeze your enemies as Sorcerer

Defensive Skills will help you stay alive for longer. They’ll include shields, mobility skills, etc. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Name Description Echanted ver.
Flame
Shield 		Activate to become immune (i.e., cannot be
damaged and all negative effects are removed)
for two seconds; burns surrounding enemies. 		+25% movement speed while active.
  • Mystical - +25% mana cost reduction while
    active.
  • Shimmering - Heals you for 50% of your
    missing HP.
Teleport Transform into lightning and surge to the target
location to deal damage; become unstoppable when cast (i.e., remove all control impairing
effects). 		0.5-second Teleport cooldown reduction for each enemy you hit.
  • Mystical - Crackling Energy hits two extra
    enemies for four seconds after you Teleport.
  • Shimmering - +30% damage reduction for five seconds after Teleporting.
Ice Armor This barrier-type effect lasts for six seconds,
absorbing 30% of your base HP; 10% of your
damage dealt is added to this barrier. 		+25% mana regeneration while active.
  • Mystical - Damaging vulnerable enemies
    contributes 100% more to the barrier.
  • Shimmering - Enemies that hit you while this
    is active have a 15% chance to be frozen for
    three seconds.
Frost Nova Freeze enemies around you for two seconds. Reduces the cooldown of Frost Nova when you
kill enemies that were frozen by this spell.
  • Mystical - Makes enemies vulnerable for four seconds; bosses become vulnerable for eight seconds.
  • Shimmering - +4 mana per enemy hit.

Mastery skills

You will unlock these skills as soon as you spend 16 skill points. These are high-damage skills that can clear a room of monsters and save your life. You can call them the “oh-shit” button.

Name Description Echanted ver.
Blizzard Cause a Blizzard in an area, dealing damage
while continuously chilling enemies. 		+25% damage versus frozen enemies.
  • Mage's - +4 seconds to the duration when cast at 50 mana or more.
  • Wizard's - Core spells cost 10% less mana
    when Blizzard is active.
Meteor Strike a wide area and burn the target location. 30% chance that an additional Meteor falls on
the same location if you hit three or more
enemies.
  • Mage's - Meteors fall 30% faster.
  • Wizard's - Meteors immobilize enemies for
    two seconds.
Firewall Create a wall of flame that burns enemies for
eight seconds. 		Enemies take +25% burning damage when
standing in a Firewall.
  • Mage's - Enemies burn for +3 seconds after
    leaving a Firewall.
  • Wizard's - +5% mana regeneration for each
    active Firewall.
Ball
Lightning 		This orb slowly moves forward while zapping
foes. 		Damage tick rate is increased by 200% of your
attack speed bonus.
  • Mage's - Once Ball Lightning hits close
    enemies 50 times, its next cast stuns hostiles for one second.
  • Wizard's - If Ball Lightning hits the same
    enemy four times, a Crackling Energy is
    formed.

Ultimate Skills

Inferno in action

Ultimate skills are the most powerful spells in your arsenal. You’ll unlock them when you spend 23 skill points into your build.

Name Description Echanted ver.
Deep Freeze Become immune for four seconds while
encased in ice; continually deal damage and
chill enemies; deal extra damage when the
effect expires.
  • Prime - Gain 10% of your base life as a barrier effect for six seconds for each enemy that you froze.
  • Supreme - Once Deep Freeze ends, all non-
    Ultimate spells have 50% of their cooldowns
    reduced.
Inferno Spawn a fiery serpent that burns enemies in an area for eight seconds.
  • Prime - Continuously pulls enemies toward its center.
  • Supreme - While active, all Pyromancy/Fire
    spells cost no mana.
Unstable
Currents 		For 10 seconds, any Shock spell you cast will
also activate a random Core, Conjuration, or
Mastery Shock skill.
  • Prime - +25% attack speed while active.
  • Supreme - While active, Crackling Energy
    pulses and consumes no charges.

Sorcerer Talents

For the first time ever in the series you can create and customize the appearance of your Sorcerer as well as other classes.

Talents are your passive abilities that enhance the active skills. They’re used to make your build more unique and powerful. Talents use a tier-system similar to skills:

  1. Core
  2. Defensive
  3. Conjuration 
  4. Mastery
  5. Ultimate

Core tier talents

Talent Name Talent Description
Potent Warding Any non-Basic skill you cast grants resistance to all elements, as well as extra
resistance to that spell's element.
Devastation Increases your maximum mana.
Elemental Dominance Core skills deal increased damage when cast above 50 mana.

Defensive tier talents

Talents like Glass Canon allow you customize your playstyle in a new way
Talent Name Talent Description
Elemental Attunement Lucky Hit; +5% chance for critical hits to reset the cooldown of a Defensive spell; can only happen once every 10 seconds.
Glass Cannon Deal increased damage but also take more damage in return.

Conjuration tier talents

Talent Name Talent Description
Precision Magic Increases your Lucky Hit chance.
Align the Elements Have damage reduction against elites for each second that you haven't taken damage from one, up to 50%.
Mana Shield Have damage reduction every time you spend 100 mana.
Protection Skills with cooldowns turn a percentage of your max life into a protective barrier.
Conjuration Mastery Gain increased damage for each active Conjuration spell.

Mastery tier talents

Talent Name Talent Description
Icy Veil Barrier effects gain increased duration.
  • Cold Front - When a barrier is active, increase the chill effect that you apply with
    Frost.
  • Snap Freeze - Frost skills have a chance to instantly freeze.
Inner Flames Increased Pyromancy damage when you're healthy (i.e., 80% HP or more).
  • Devouring Blaze - Increased critical damage against burning enemies; further
    increased if they're immobilized.
  • Crippling Flames - Pyromancy skills have a chance to immobilize enemies;
    doubles the chance if you're healthy.
Static Discharge Lucky Hit; crits with Shock spells have a chance to form a Crackling Energy (i.e., deals damage to surrounding enemies when picked up).
  • Shocking Impact - Deal lightning damage every time you stun an enemy.
  • Invigorating Conduit - Gain mana whenever you absorb a Crackling Energy.

Ultimate tier talents

Talent Name Talent Description
Permafrost Frost abilities deal increased damage versus elites.
  • Hoarfrost - Increased damage versus chilled and frozen enemies.
  • Icy Touch- Increased cold damage against vulnerable enemies.
  • Frigid Breeze - Lucky Hit; cold damage against vulnerable enemies can generate
    mana.
Fiery Surge Increases your mana regeneration whenever you kill a burning enemy.
  • Soulfire - Pyromancy skills have reduced mana costs when you stand still for a
    time.
  • Endless Pyre - Increased burning damage versus enemies for each second that
    they're burning.
  • Warmth - You heal a percentage of your HP for every nearby burning enemy; the
    healing effect is increased against bosses.
Coursing Currents Shock skills increase your crit chance; resets with every crit you land.
  • Conduction - Shock crits increase your movement speed.
  • Electrocution - Shock crits cause enemies to deal less damage.
  • Convulsions - Lucky Hit; Shock skills can stun enemies.

Key Passives

Avalanche is one of few key passives that allow you to further specialize in your chosen build

This a special type of talent and you can only choose one of these when you spend 33 skill points:

  • Avalanche – Lucky Hit; Frost skills provide a +10% chance for your next Ice Shards, Frozen Orb, or Blizzard to consume no mana and deal 40% increased damage; this chance is doubled against vulnerable enemies.
  • Shatter – After the freeze effect expires, enemies will explode for 25% of the damage you dealt while they were frozen.
  • Overflowing Energy – Crackling Energy hits an extra enemy; reduces Shock skill cooldowns by 0.1 seconds when Crackling Energy hits an enemy and 0.25 seconds when hitting elites.
  • Vyr’s Mastery – Close enemies take 10% more damage from Shock skills and deal 25% less damage to you; critical hits increase these effects by 25% more for three seconds.
  • Esu’s Ferocity – +25% fire spell crit chance versus enemies with 50% or more HP; this is increased by another 5% for those below 50% HP. When you kill an enemy with a critical, this bonus is applied against all hostiles for three seconds.
  • Combustion – +2% burning effect damage for each unique source of burning applied to an enemy (i.e., Pyromancy spells that you cast); doubles this effect if a target is burning from three or more sources.

Enchantment Mechanic

Sorcerer’s unique trait is called Enchantment – it gives them two additional skill slots for passive “buffs”. One will be unlocked at level 15 and the other at level 30. We don’t know much about the second time you unlock the Enchantment slot, but for the first one, there’s a class-specific quest tied to it called Sorcerer: Legacy of the Magi. This quest has multiple steps. In a nutshell:

  • Return to the southwest of Nevesk to meet Sorcerer Mordarin.
  • Mordarin will ask you to retrieve the Forgotten Codex from a nearby dungeon.
  • Clear the dungeon and retrieve the Forgotten Codex from a marked chest.
  • Return to Mordarin and interact with the four braziers in the hut.
  • Mordarin accidentally summons demons, defeat them.
  • Unlock the Diablo 4 Sorcerer Enchantment slot for your level 15 character.

After obtaining a Diablo 4 Sorcerer Enchantment slot, you can choose any active spell with at least one rank. This can be from a skill point allocation or an equipped item that adds a rank.

For example, if you have an amulet that grants +1 to Teleport, it unlocks Teleport as an enchanted spell without spending a skill point.

In the Abilities panel, select Skill Assignment and choose a spell to enable its extra effect. These enchantments provide unique benefits different from the usual abilities of active skills, and most will activate regardless of the ability used to defeat enemies.

Pick up the quest item from this chest
Skill Type Enchantment Effect
Basic Skills
  • Spark - +12% chance to form Crackling Energy when you kill an enemy.
  • Fire Bolt - Additional 48 burning damage for eight seconds after dealing direct
    damage.
  • Frost Bolt - +15% chilling effect from direct damage.
  • Arc Lash - Stun enemies for 0.5 seconds after you use a cooldown (i.e., dash).
Core Skills
  • Fireball - Enemies you kill explode in a Fireball that does 50% of its damage.
  • Ice Shards - Automatically conjured and fly toward frozen enemies.
  • Chain Lightning - Automatically formed whenever you spend 100 mana.
  • Charged Bolts - 40% chance to release Charged Bolts when you stun an enemy.
  • Incinerate - A serpent will Incinerate enemies every 20 seconds.
  • Frozen Orb - Any non-Basic skill you cast has a 20% chance to launch Frozen Orb.
Defensive Skills
  • Flame Shield - Automatically activated whenever you take fatal damage; can only
    occur once every 120 seconds.
  • Frost Nova - +30% chance to unleash Frost Nova when casting Conjuration skills.
  • Ice Armor - +5% chance to apply Ice Armor whenever you're hit.
  • Teleport - Your evade is replaced by a short-range Teleport with a 17-second
    cooldown.
Conjuration Skills
  • Ice Blades - Every 20 seconds spent in cooldowns will spawn an Ice Blade on a
    random enemy.
  • Hydra - A five-headed Hydra spawns each time to spend 300 mana.
  • Lightning Spear - +10% chance to create a Lightning Spear whenever you pick up
    Crackling Energy.
Mastery Skills
  • Firewall - +5% chance to spawn two Firewalls underneath an enemy whenever they take burning damage.
  • Blizzard - A Blizzard will form around you every 15 seconds.
  • Meteor - Lucky Hit; +3% chance that a Meteor falls on enemies.
  • Ball Lightning - Lucky Hit; +25% chance to spawn Ball Lightning whenever you land a critical hit.
Even if obtained through an item's properties, a spell's single rank or level still counts as an unlock. This means that you can choose a spell for which you have not invested any skill points. However, it's important to remember that you need to keep the gear that granted you the spell equipped.

Control the Arcane

In conclusion, the Diablo 4 Sorcerer class is a powerful and versatile spellcaster, capable of wielding the elements to devastating effect. With a wide range of skills and talents, players have plenty of options to customize their Sorcerer to suit their playstyle. The Enchantment system adds an exciting new layer of depth, allowing players to enhance their spells and unlock new effects through equipment and skill allocation. Whether you prefer to incinerate your foes with fire, freeze them with ice, or shock them with lightning, the Sorcerer is a class that offers endless possibilities for those who seek mastery over the arcane.

As Diablo 4 gets closer to release, we can’t wait to see what new abilities and Enchantments the Sorcerer class will bring to the table. And if you’re just as excited as we are, you might be interested in our services at LFCarry.com, which can help you make the most powerful Sorcerer build possible!

With that being said, I am signing off. I’ll see you in the next one!

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  • Written by: Andrew Gollow
  • Posted on: October 16, 2024