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Diablo 4 Chain Lightning Sorcerer build and best skillsLearn how to make our Chain Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4
Learn how to make our Chain Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment
Want the best Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build?If you’ve heard about those Sorcerer nerfs inDiablo 4Season 1, you might be unsure whether it’s worth running right now. Thankfully, there are Sorcerer buffs due in the coming weeks that should right any wrongs ofPatch 1.1.0, and even now it is performing very well in the race to reach level 100 in Season 1.
If you want to Chain Lightning packs of enemies and turn them to ash, then you’re in the right place! In this guide, we break down how to make the best Lightning Sorcerer build inDiablo 4, covering the Skills, Paragon Boards and Glyphs, Enchantments, Aspects, Stats, Gems, and Malignant Hearts that you’ll need. It’s fully updated to reflect the changes from Season 1, but we’ll continue to add any changes from future patches and hotfixes.
For moreDiablo 4 Sorcerer builds, take a look at ourDiablo 4 Ice Sorcerer buildandDiablo 4 Fire Sorcerer buildguides.
Diablo 4 - Which Class Is Best?What is the best class in Diablo 4? Watch this video to find out.Watch on YouTube
Diablo 4 - Which Class Is Best?
Best Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build
Our Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build focuses on using Shock spells to do huge damage, inflict enemies with debuffs, guarantee Critical Strikes, and keep yourself alive with recharging Barriers.
Of course, the main damage dealer in this Lightning Sorcerer build is Chain Lightning, a spell that needs no introduction. Chain Lightning bounces between you and your enemies, and with the Greater Chain Lightning upgrade, it’ll deal 10% extra damage each time it bounces off of you. Whether you’re battling a big group of enemies or facing off against a big boss, this’ll absolutely destroy anything in your path.
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build skills
Below, you’ll find a full list of the skills that you should acquire for our Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build, in order:
Arc Lash
Arc Lashis a basic attack that you can use when out of mana, and it’s incredibly powerful as a quick melee attack.
Chain Lightning
Teleport
Teleportdoes exactly what you’d expect, allowing you to teleport a short distance so you can quickly reposition in a fight. It also provides Unstoppable, allowing you to break any crowd control effects that are currently inflicted on your character.
Ice Armor
Frost Nova
Unstable Currents
Unstable Currentsis the ultimate ability for our Lightning Sorcerer, and it’s incredibly powerful. When activated, you will cast a random core, conjuration, or mastery Shock skill whenever you cast any Shock skill for the next ten seconds.
That essentially doubles up your firepower, delivering an extra spell each time you cast any of the shock skills in this build. As mentioned above, it’s an incredibly powerful skill, but that means it also has a long cooldown of 70 seconds. Hopefully the various ways to reduce your Cooldowns mentioned above should help you use it more often.
If you’re not sure how to use these skills effectively, follow the attack pattern below:
Image credit:Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Paragon Boards and Glyphs
Diablo 4’s Paragon systemunlocks at level 50, allowing you to spend Paragon Points to earn passive bonuses and effects that can substantially improve your build. Boards grant both a Glyph slot, into which you can insert a Glyph that’ll usually buff a certain stat or damage type, and a Legendary node with a more unique effect. For this build, we really want to take advantage of those Glyph slots.
Below, we break down the best Paragon Boards and Glyphs that you should take for this build, mapping out your journey from level 50-100. For a clearer view of how we’ve spent each and every Paragon Point, check out ourDiablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer page on the Lothrik build calculator.
Starting Board
In total, the Starting Board should use 30 Paragon Points.
Enchantment Master
Rotate theEnchantment Masterboard so that the Glyph socket is in the lower left and the Legendary node is at the top-right corner. Take the path up to the left and insert the Elementalist Glyph. Then, scoop up at least 40 points of Intelligence, and also grab the rare Elemental Balance node and the surrounding non-physical damage nodes.
Then, dart right from the Glyph socket and grab the rare Ruinous node and any surrounding magic nodes. Then, head back to the Glyph socket and move up to get the rare Elementalist node and any surrounding magic nodes. Continue up, head right to get the rare Suffused Resilience node, and then continue to grab the Legendary node from the corner.
Head through the Board Attachment Gate at the top and attach the Static Surge board.
In total, the Enchantment Master board should use 64 Paragon Points.
Static Surge
Head right from the Glyph socket and through the rare Paralyzing node to reach the Board Attachment Gate, where you should connect the Ceaseless Conduit board.
In total, the Static Surge board should use 51 Paragon Points.
Ceaseless Conduit
In total, the Ceaseless Conduit board should use 46 Paragon Points.
Frigid Fate
Rotate theFrigid Fateboard so that the Glyph socket is in the center. Then, move directly up, grab the rare Weakness node and any surrounding damage to Vulnerable enemies nodes, and then insert the Enchanter Glyph. Then, move up and get the rare Chilling node, while also scooping up any other Intelligence nodes that are within range.
Finally, use your last few points to move down from the Glyph and head over to get the rare Oppressive node, along with any surrounding magic nodes.
In total, the Frigid Fate board should use 34 Paragon Points.
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Enchantments
The Sorcerer class also has access to a uniqueEnchantmentsystem that allows you to place spells into Enchantment slots on your hotbar. When spells are equipped as an Enchantment, rather than an active skill, they will grant a passive bonus. However, this means that they can no longer be cast as an active skill.
You will get access to a total of two Enchantment slots as a Sorcerer in Diablo 4. Below, we’ll list the two best Enchantments that we’d recommend using in our Lightning Sorcerer build:
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Aspects
As you find Legendary Gear or complete Side Dungeons, you will unlock Aspects in your Codex of Power. These are Legendary effects that you can apply onto Gear, granting it the Legendary effect so that you can tweak things to fit your build.
Below, we’ll break down thebest Aspectsfor our Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build:
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Stats
We aren’t quite in a position to break down the best pieces of Unique Gear for the Sorcerer just yet, but targeting specific Attributes should help you know which pieces of Gear to prioritise throughout your journey from level 1 to level 50 and beyond.
When playing as the Lightning Sorcerer, you should look for gear with high Intelligence and Willpower.
Intelligenceaffects your damage as a Sorcerer, with each Intelligence point offering an extra 0.1% damage. That might seem tiny, but it adds up and can have a significant impact in the late game.
Willpowerties into Mana Generation, with each point giving you an extra 0.1%. Again, it’s a meagre amount in the early game, but even slight boosts to your Mana Generation will help you cast Chain Lightning more often.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Gems
For the Lightning Sorcerer, we’d recommend usingEmeraldsin Weapon Gem sockets. When placed in Weapons, Emeralds offer increased Critical Strike damage against Vulnerable enemies. Since we can guarantee Critical Strikes with this build, and easily make enemies Vulnerable using Frost Nova, this gives you an easy way to increase your damage output.
In Armor Gem Sockets, we’d useRubiesto get up to +5% extra Life. We’ve mentioned that the Sorcerer is a glass cannon class, and of course we use the aptly-named Glass Cannon skill to increase damage dealt and received, making this particular build even more susceptible. Fortunately, the extra Life that you can gain from Rubies will add some much-needed survivability, ensuring that you don’t drop in every fight.
Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build: Best Malignant Hearts
Malignant Heartsare the new Seasonal mechanic for the Season of the Malignant. These items offer powerful bonuses when inserted into Infested Sockets on your Rings and Amulets, and some of the more defensive options are essential if you want to push through higher-level content as the Lightning Sorcerer build in Season 1.
Below, we’ll list the best Malignant Hearts for the Lightning Sorcerer:
That wraps up our Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build guide. If you want to try out other classes, make sure to check out our powerfulDiablo 4 Barbarian builds,Rogue builds,Necromancer builds, andDruid builds.
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