Out of the three elements Diablo 4's Sorcerer class can control, Lightning is arguably the most versatile. Many of the skills under this category are great for both single-target and AOE situations, and such is the case with the Sorcerer's Chain Lightning ability. It can carry players through all stages of the game, though some additional setup will be required for World Tier 3 and above.
The following is a Diablo 4 Chain Lightning Sorcerer guide designed for the early endgame that relies heavily on Stunning enemies and scoring both Critical and Lucky Hits to proc passive skills. This is a very gear-dependent setup, so make sure to have good items at the ready before trying this build out.
Diablo 4: Chain Lightning Build Guide
Skills | Total Points |
Glinting Arc Lash | 7 |
Fire Bolt | 1 |
Destructive Chain Lightning | 7 |
Flame Shield | 1 |
Shimmering Teleport | 3 |
Mystical Ice Armor | 3 |
Mystical Frost Nova | 7 |
Enchantments | |
Fire Bolt | |
Arc Lash | |
Arc Lash is mainly here for its ability to stun and to serve as a filler attack for when the Sorcerer is out of mana. Chain Lightning is still this build's main damage dealer, and the reason why Arc Lash has 5 points in it is so players can increase the Stun duration of its Enchantment effect. Players should only enter melee if enemies are Stunned or Frozen.
Flame Shield serves as a panic button for when players get Crowd Controlled, and it should only be used for this purpose. Ice Armor and Teleport will handle general survivability while Frost Nova provides Freeze and Vulnerable.
The Arc Lash Enchantment is this build's primary source of Stun. Use Frost Nova in the middle of a group and swipe them with Arc Lash to reduce ability cooldowns. The Arc Lash skill itself will eventually be replaced by Prime Unstable Current once players get enough Critical Strike Chance and solve their Mana issues. Once players reach this point, remove the Enhanced and Glinting upgrades and keep Arc Lash on level 4 so its Enchantment effect stays at full power.
Passive Skills
Skills | Points |
Devastation | 1 |
Elemental Dominance | 3 |
Glass Cannon | 3 |
Elemental Attunement | 1 |
Align the Elements | 1 |
Protection | 3 |
Precision Magic | 3 |
Inner Flames | 1 |
Devouring Blaze | 3 |
Static Discharge | 1 |
Invigorating Conduit | 3 |
Coursing Currents | 1 |
Electrocution | 3 |
Vyr's Mastery | 1 |
This passive skill setup balances damage and defense to give Sorcerer's the advantage they need late into the game. Glass Cannon's penalty will make enemies hit much harder, but players should be fine as long as they can play around Protection's Barrier.
The build won't shine if players don't have enough Critical Strike and Lucky Hit Chance. Both are needed not just to deal more damage, but also reset cooldowns with Elemental Attunement and restore Mana with item affixes, Static Discharge, and Invigorating Conduit (via Crackling Energy pickups).
Crackling Energy's DPS output is fairly low, but players can use them to reduce the cooldown of Unstable Current via the Overflowing Energy Key Passive. However, if players want more upfront damage, then Vyr's Mastery is the way to go.
Gear and Aspects
Offense | Defense | Utility |
Retribution (1H Wand) | Might (Helm) | Wind Striker (Boots) |
Control (1H Focus) | Disobedience (Chest) | Prodigy (Ring) |
Elementalist (Amulet) | Frostblitz (Pants) | |
Smiting (Gloves) | ||
Unbroken Tether (Ring) |
Ideally, players should have the Raiment of the Infinite Unique Chest Armor so that Teleport pulls in and Stuns enemies near the Sorcerer's destination after teleporting. Make sure to get as much Cooldown Reduction and Lucky Hit Chance from items as possible to reduce the downtime of Defensive skills.
Elementalist and Smiting provide much-needed critical hit chance while Retribution and Control magnify damage against Stunned and Frozen enemies. Unbroken Tether makes Chain Lightning potentially last longer, increasing the damage output of each cast while granting more chances to generate Crackling Energy and restore Defensive spell cooldowns via Elemental Attunement.
When gearing up, prioritize getting the following stats:
- Cooldown Reduction
- Critical Strike Chance
- Critical Strike Damage
- Vulnerable Damage
- Lucky Hit Chance
- Resource Generation
- Resource Cost Reduction
- Intelligence
Paragon Boards
Since the build relies so much on Crowd Control effects, players should insert the Control Glyph at the starting board so they can do more damage against Stunned and Frozen targets.
For the boards themselves as well as their corresponding Glyphs, use the following (in order, preferably):
- Static Surge -Destruction Glyph
- Frigid Fate -Tactician Glyph
- Ceaseless Conduit - Territorial Glyph
Grab any Rare and Magic Nodes while on the way to the Legendary Nodes and Glyph Socket.
The Static Surge Legendary Node helps solve the build's resource problems by generating 10 Mana after stunning Close targets. Meanwhile, Frigid Fate increases the player's Lucky Hit Chance after freezing targets with Frost Nova.
Ceaseless Conduit is good for increasing the damage dealt by Crackling Energy. This isn't completely necessary, but players who are going down the Overflowing Energy route may want to get this regardless.
Diablo 4 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.