The Sorcerer is not a class to be trifled with on the Fields of Hatred in Diablo 4. In the past, the typical "mage" class might have been seen as easy to kill or pick off. It makes sense, the best parts of being a Sorcerer have little to do with defense, health, or armor.
Yet trying to take out the Sorcerer with a good PvP build in Diablo 4 is close to impossible. Even without the paragon levels and gear of other gamers, the class can either escape or stay at a safe distance while destroying opponents who get anywhere close.
Updated on June 29th, 2023 by Hodey Johns: This guide has been updated for the huge rebalance patch in 1.0.3. Many guides have remained untouched because most skills got a simple numerical buff or nerf to bring them in line with the rest of the skills in the game. Especially with Vulnerable builds becoming so powerful, this was an appropriate rebalance. However, not every skill received a small buff or nerf. Some of these were significant enough to change builds for and this build was one of those. Some of these buffs weren't to damage but to cooldown or resource reduction which alters the skill rotation entirely. The old build might still be better than it was before but this new guide gets the absolute most out of the class.
Skill Tree
Skill | Points |
Frost Bolt | 5 |
Enhanced Frost Bolt | 1 |
Flickering Frost Bolt | 1 |
Ice Shards | 5 |
Enhanced Ice Shards | 1 |
Destructive Ice Shards | 1 |
Ice Armor | 5 |
Enhanced Ice Armor | 1 |
Mystical Ice Armor | 1 |
Frost Nova | 5 |
Enhanced Frost Nova | 1 |
Mystical Frost Nova | 1 |
Glass Cannon | 3 |
Elemental Attunement | 2 |
Ice Blades | 5 |
Enhanced Ice Blades | 1 |
Summoned Ice Blades | 1 |
Icy Veil | 1 |
Snap Freeze | 3 |
Cold Front | 3 |
Deep Freeze | 1 |
Prime Deep Freeze | 1 |
Supreme Deep Freeze | 1 |
Permafrost | 1 |
Icy Touch | 3 |
Hoarfrost | 3 |
Shatter | 1 |
At the maximum level and with all the Renown gathered, players will have 58 skill points to invest. This frost build is a nightmare for opponents in PvP for several reasons. By skipping the mastery skill and doubling up on defense, this PvP Sorcerer can have either a barrier or an instant Frozen debuff ready to go thanks to Supreme Deep Freeze and Summoned Ice Blades reducing the cooldowns.
Enemy players will also need to understand that they are guaranteed to be Vulnerable in addition to being slowed from Chill and possibly Frozen. If they get stuck, rapid-fire Ice Shards will kill most attackers. If they continue the pursuit, three of these skills punish enemies just for being nearby.
Paragon Boards
Board | Paragon/Legendary Nodes | Glyph |
Start | Elementalist, Elemental Balance | Exploit |
Icefall | Cryomancy, Polar Rime, Icefall, Frosts, Frigid | Winter |
Enchantment Master | Elementalist, Ruinous, Enchantment Master, Elemental Balance | Tactician |
Elemental Summoner | Swift Conjurer, Elemental Summoner, Keeper of Elements, Conjurer | Conjurer |
Frigid Fate | Frigid Fate, Weakness, Oppressive | Control |
The paragon boards and glyphs can be a bit tough to figure out. It's a matter of adjusting the boards so that they snake properly. Few players will get to the maximum 200 paragon points but those that do will find that their powers are enhanced by enormous magnitudes.
Listing all nodes would be tedious and impossible to read, but if gamers move between the major nodes listed, it shouldn't be an issue. Make sure to purchase all relevant stat bonus nodes inside the designated glyph areas.
Although this is unmistakably a frost PvP build, the conjuration spell, Ice Blades, represents both a bulk of the damage and survivability by keeping the defensive spells off of cooldown. Don't be afraid to give the associated boards equal attention as the frost boards.
Gear
Slot | Aspect/Piece |
Helm | Harlequin Crest |
Chest | Encased Aspect |
Gloves | Frostburn |
Pants | Frostblitz Aspect |
Boots | Penitent Greaves |
Amulet | Snowveiled Aspect |
Ring | Aspect of Biting Cold |
Ring | Aspect of Control |
Main Hand | Aspect of the Frozen Tundra |
Off-Hand | Aspect of the Frozen Wake |
With the new aspect system, gamers have a ton of freedom to take the piece of gear they find with the best stats and then add their favorite effect to it. Increasing potion efficiency helps out a bit but these aspects are game-changing. Note that some of these aspects can be swapped in and out on other pieces of gear; which piece has which aspect is not important.
There are a few unique pieces of equipment that appear to be specially crafted for the Sorcerer using this build. The Frostblitz Aspect may be the most controversial of these as it increases the cooldown on Frost Nova but gives the skill an extra charge. This is a price all PvPers should be willing to pay. Being able to guarantee a freeze on an enemy twice in a row (or when critically necessary) is invaluable. Plus, the cooldown will be mitigated by the frequent Ice Blades and the Elemental Attunement skill.
Enchantments
- Ice Shards
- Frost Nova
World Tiers can get out of control when it comes to difficulty. Thankfully, enchantments are a simple way to keep pace with the escalating challenge. In the base of this build, the enchantments take it from strong to borderline broken/overpowered.
Ice Shards is the toughest skill to cast for the PvP Sorcerer since it requires standing in place for a bit. But when the skill is enchanted, it automatically conjures and attacks Frozen enemies, allowing players to focus on better positioning which is critical to surviving in the Fields of Hatred.
The Ice Blades, with the Frost Nova enchantment, have a 30% chance of casting a Frost Nova when they hit. This makes the situation against this build something akin to a perma-stun. Opponents will find they spend very little time able to even move against this PvP Sorcerer and will often die before getting a chance to react. It's better to retreat than to engage a PvP Sorcerer build.
Diablo 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.