Best Sorcerer Skills

The Sorcerer Skills are built to take enemies out in a variety of ways, while keeping at a distance. Their elemental mastery shows through the tiers, with the spells becoming more and more powerful the further you go down the Skill Tree. The Defensive tier will give them safety options in case enemies get close, while the Conjuration tier will grant them some temporary help with damage.

Their Mount Skill is Freezing Wake. It allows them to crystallize into a rushing wisp of ice, dealing 110% damage to and Freezing enemies in their path for 2 seconds.

Tips

All damaging Skills will deal either Fire, Lightning, or Cold damage.
- Many of the Skills and Passives of the same element will synergize well with each other.
Some Lightning Skills have a chance to form Crackling Energy on the field. These are balls of energy that can be picked up to periodically damage nearby enemies.
All Skills (besides the ones in the Ultimate tier) will have an Enhancement, and two Upgrades.
- Only one Upgrade per Skill can be chosen, and the Enhancement must be learned first.

Once you reach level 50 in Diablo 4, it’s time to figure out your Build, and the first step in that is determining what Skills you want to focus on. Your skills will determine which weapons and armor you will want to go for, as well as what your rotation and approach will be, so picking the right set can be important.

While some Skills will be for specific Builds (and will often become their focus), other Skills are a staple for just about every Sorcerer.

Best Basic Skills

Arc Lash

Best Build: Arc Lash Build
This will be the primary Skill for this Build. With its speed and higher crit chance, it combos really well with Unstable Currents.

Best Defensive Skills

Teleport

Best Build: Any
This will be the main source of mobility for any Build.

Flame Shield

Best Build: Any
Gives you temporary Immunity, as well as a way to heal yourself.

Ice Armor

Best Build: Any
Grants a huge Barrier and a source of Mana regen.

Best Mastery Skills

Ball Lightning

Best Build: Ball Lightning Build and Arc Lash Build
Gives a consistent source of damage to nearby enemies when paired with the Gravitational Aspect. In the case of the Ball Lightning Build, this will be your main source of damage.

Firewall

Best Build: Firewall Build
Your main source of damage for this Build. It will leave constant walls of fire that will burn all enemies that touch it.

Best Ultimate Skills

Unstable Currents

Best Build: Ball Lightning Build and Arc Lash Build
Gives a huge burst of damage, causing free Shock Skills to consistently be used.

Inferno

Best Build: Firewall Build
A great way to group enemies close together, as well as give you more Mana.

Full Sorcerer Skill List

As the name implies, these are your most basic Skills. They are mainly used to apply debuffs, or deal extra damage while you regenerate Mana.

Name	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Enhancement	Upgrade 1 (Glinting)	Upgrade 2 (Flickering)
Frost Bolt	5	Cold	Throw a bolt of frost at an enemy, dealing 38% damage and Chilling them for 15%.	Frost Bolt has a 15% chance to explode on Chilled targets, hitting surrounding enemies. Chance increased to 100% against Frozen targets.	Frost Bolt generates 4 Mana when hitting Chilled or Frozen enemies.	Frost Bolt makes Frozen enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
Fire Bolt	5	Fire	Hurl a flaming bolt, dealing 18% damage and Burning for 44% over 8 seconds.	Fire Bolt pierces Burning enemies.	Critical Strikes with Fire Bolt increase the Burning damage the target takes by 20% for 4 seconds.	Fire Bolt generates 2 Mana when hitting an enemy.
Arc Lash	5	Lightning	Unleash arcing lightning that deals 42% damage to enemies in front of you. Every 10 times Arc Lash swipes, it Stuns all enemies hit for 2 seconds.	If Arc Lash’s initial swipe Critically Strikes, it swipes an additional time.	Hitting a Stunned enemy with Arc Lash reduces your Cooldowns by 0.15 seconds.	Gain 6% Movement Speed for 5 seconds per enemy hit with Arc Lash, up to 18%.
Spark	5	Lightning	Launch a bolt of lightning that shocks an enemy 4 times, dealing 10% damage each hit.	Each time Spark hits its primary target, it has a 40% chance to hit up to 3 additional enemies, dealing 7% damage. If there are no other enemies to hit, Spark instead deals 20% increased damage to its primary target.	Spark grants 2% increased Critical Strike Chance per cast for 5 seconds, up to 8%.	Each time Spark hits an enemy it has a 4% chance to spawn a Crackling Energy.

These Skills will be the Sorcerer’s main source of damage. This is where the majority of your Mana will be spent.

Name	Skill/Passive	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Enhancement	Upgrade 1 (Greater)	Upgrade 2 (Destructive)
Frozen Orb	Skill	5	Cold	Unleash an orb that Chills for 34% and expels piercing shards, dealing a total of 36% damage. Upon expiration, Frozen Orb explodes, dealing 34% damage and Chilling enemies for 9%.	When cast above 50 Mana, Frozen Orb’s explosion damage is increased by 30%.	Frozen Orb’s explosion has a 30% chance to make all enemies hit Vulnerable for 2 seconds. Frozen Orb always makes Frozen enemies Vulnerable.	Frozen Orb’s explosion restores 5 Mana when hitting a Frozen enemy.
Ice Shards	Skill	5	Cold	Launch 5 shards that deal 25% damage each. Deals 25% increased damage to Frozen enemies.	Ice Shards have a 40% chance to ricochet to another enemy. Ice Shards always ricochet off Frozen enemies.	While you have a Barrier active, Ice Shards treats enemies as if they were Frozen.	Hitting an enemy with 5 Ice Shards in a single cast makes them Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
Fireball	Skill	5	Fire	Hurl an exploding ball of fire, dealing 60% damage to surrounding enemies.	Casting Fireball increases its radius by 50%.	Fireball deals 10% of the Burning damage you’ve applied to enemies as additional direct damage.	Fireball’s explosion’s Critical Strike Damage is increased by 20%. This bonus is increased to 30% if Fireball hits at least 3 enemies.
Incinerate	Skill	5	Fire	Channel a beam of fire, Burning enemies for 54%. Damage per second increases over 4 seconds, up to 66%.	While Channeling Incinerate, you burn nearby enemies for 25% of the damage per second.	Every 3 seconds an enemy has been hit by Incinerate, they are immobilized for 1 second.	Enemies deal 20% less damage while Burning from Incinerate.
Charged Bolts	Skill	5	Lightning	Release 5 bolts of lightning that course along the ground in erratic pattern, dealing 30% damage each.	Hitting an enemy at least 3 times with the same cast as Charged Bolts releases a lightning nova, dealing 30% damage to enemies around them.	Charged Bolts deals 25% increased damage to Stunned enemies.	Hitting an enemy with Charged Bolts reduces their damage dealt by 25% for 3 seconds.
Chain Lightning	Skill	5	Lightning	Unleash a stream of lightning that deals 36% damage and chains between nearby enemies and you up to 5 times, prioritizing enemies.	Chain Lightning gains a 3% increased Critical Strike Chance per bounce.	Each time Chain Lightning bounces, it deals 5% increased damage for its duration.	When Chain Lightning Critically Strikes, it has a 30% chance to form a Crackling Energy.
Potent Warding	Passive	3	–	After casting a Non-Basic Skill, you gain 2% Resistance to all elements and 1% additional Resistance to that Skill’s element for 9 seconds.	–	–	–
Devastation	Passive	3	–	Your Maximum Mana is increased by 3.	–	–	–
Elemental Dominance (requires 1 Point in Devastation)	Passive	3	–	Your Core and Mastery Skills deal 3% increased damage when cast over 50 Mana.	–	–	–

These Skills will boost the Socerer’s defensive capabilities, though the approaches will offer a bit of variety.

Name	Skill/Passive	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Enhancement	Upgrade 1 (Mystical)	Upgrade 2 (Shimmering)
Flame Shield	Skill	5	Fire	Engulf yourself in flames for 2 seconds, Burning surrounding enemies for 40% damage per second. While Flame Shield is active, you are Immune.	Flame Shield grants 25% Movement Speed while active.	You gain 25% Mana Cost Reduction while Flame Shield is active.	Flame Shield heals you for 50% of your missing Life.
Teleport	Skill	5	Lightning	Transform into lightning, becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location, dealing 25% damage around you upon arrival.	Teleport’s Cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.	For 4 seconds after Teleporting, Crackling Energy hits 2 additional enemies.	After Teleporting, you gain 30% damage reduction for 3 seconds.
Ice Armor	Skill	5	–	A Barrier of ice forms around you for 6 seconds, absorbing 30% of your Base Life in damage. While Ice Armor is active, 5% of your damage dealt is added to its Barrier.	While Ice Armor is active your Mana Regeneration is increased by 25%.	Damage against Vulnerable enemies contributes 50% more to Ice Armor’s Barrier.	Enemies that hit you while Ice Armor is active have a 15% chance to be Frozen for 3 seconds.
Frost Nova	Skill	5	–	Unleash a torrent of frost, Freezing enemies around you for 3 seconds.	Killing enemies Frozen by Frost Nova reduces its Cooldown by 1 seconds, up to 4 seconds per cast.	Frost Nova’s makes enemies Vulnerable for 4 seconds, increased to 6 seconds against bosses.	Frost Nova generates 4 Mana per enemy hit.
Glass Cannon	Passive	3	–	You deal 6% increased damage, but take 3% more damage.	–	–	–
Elemental Attunement	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have a 5% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.	–	–	–

These Skills allow the Sorcerer to briefly summon something to help them in combat.

Name	Skill/Passive	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Enhancement	Upgrade 1 (Summoned)	Upgrade 2 (Invoked)
Ice Blades	Skill	5	Cold	Conjure a pair of ice blades for 6 seconds that rapidly slash enemies for 23% damage and have a 40% chance to make the Vulnerable for 2 seconds.	Ice Blades’s Cooldown is reduced by 0.5 second each time it hits a Vulnerable enemy.	20% of Enhanced Ice Blades’s Cooldown reduction is applied to your other Skills.	Your Ice Blades gain 10% increased Attack Speed per active Ice Blades.
Hydra	Skill	5	Fire	Summon a 3-headed hydra for 10.0 seconds. Each head spits fire at a nearby enemy, dealing 12% damage. Maximum 1 active Hydra at a time.	While Healthy, your casts of Hydra gain 1 additional head.	Hydra also Burns enemies for an additional 12% of its Base damage dealt over 6 seconds.	After you Critically Strike, your Hydras gain 30% Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds.
Lightning Spear	Skill	5	Lightning	Conjure a spear of lightning that seeks out enemies for 6.0 seconds, dealing 15% damage per hit. Critical Strikes apply Vulnerable for 3 seconds.	After critically striking, Lightning Spear has a 5% increased stacking critical strike chance for its duration.	Collecting Crackling Energy increases the damage of your next Lightning Spear cast by 20%, up to 160%.	Lightning Spear Stuns enemies for 2 seconds when Critically Striking.
Precision Magic	Passive	3	–	Your Lucky Hit Chance is increased by 5%.	–	–	–
Align the Elements	Passive	3	–	You gain 3% Damage Reduction against Elites for each second you haven’t taken damage from one, up to 40%.	–	–	–
Mana Shield (requires 1 Point in Align the Elements)	Passive	3	–	Every time you spend 100 Mana, you gain 7% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.	–	–	–
Protection (requires 1 Point in Align the Elements)	Passive	3	–	Using a Cooldown grants 10% of your Maximum Life as Barrier for 3 seconds.	–	–	–
Conjuration Mastery	Passive	3	–	You deal 1% increased damage for each active Conjuration.	–	–	–

These are powerful AoE Skills that show the Sorcerer’s mastery of the elements.

Name	Skill/Passive	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Enhancement	Upgrade 1 (Mage’s)	Upgrade 2 (Wizard’s)
Blizzard	Skill	5	Cold	Summon a frigid blizzard that deals 130% damage and continuously Chills enemies for 18% over 8 seconds.	Blizzard deals 25% increased damage to Frozen enemies.	When cast above 50 Mana, Blizzard’s duration is increased by 4 seconds.	While you have an active Blizzard, your Core Skills cost 20% less Mana.
Meteor	Skill	5	Fire	Summon a meteor that strikes the target location, dealing 80% damage and Burning the ground for 35% damage over 3 seconds.	If Meteor hits 3 or more enemies, there is a 30% chance an additional Meteor falls on the same location.	Meteor falls 30% faster.	Meteor’s impact Immobilizes enemies for 2 seconds.
Firewall	Skill	5	Fire	Create a wall of flames that Burns enemies for 160% over 8 seconds.	Enemies take 25% increased Burning damage from you while standing in Firewall.	Enemies continue burning for 3 seconds after leaving Firewall.	You gain 5% increased Mana Regeneration per active Firewall, up to 35%.
Ball Lightning	Skill	5	Lightning	Discharge a ball of lightning that slowly moves forward, continually zapping enemies for 18% damage.	Ball Lightning’s damage rate is increased by 200% of your Attack Speed Bonus.	After hitting Close enemies 50 times with Ball Lightning, your next cast of it Stuns enemies hit for 1 second.	If an enemy is hit at least 4 times by a cast of Ball Lightning, a Crackling Energy is formed. Can only happen once per cast.
Inner Flames	Passive	3	–	Your Pyromancy Skills deal 3% more damage while you are Healthy.	–	–	–
Devouring Flames (requires 1 Point in Inner Flames)	Passive	3	–	You deal 7% increased Critical Strike Damage against Burning enemies. if they are also Immobilized, this bonus is increased to 10%.	–	–	–
Crippling Flames (requires 1 Point in Inner Flames)	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Your Pyromancy Skills have a 5% chance to Immobilize enemies for 2 seconds. This chance is doubled while you are Healthy.	–	–	–
Static Discharge	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Shock Skills have a 5% chance to form a Crackling Energy.	–	–	–
Invigorating Conduit (requires 1 Point in Static Discharge)	Passive	3	–	Upon absorbing Crackling Energy, you gain 4 Mana.	–	–	–
Shocking Impact (requires 1 Point in Static Discharge)	Passive	3	–	Every time you Stun an enemy you deal 15% Lightning Damage to them.	–	–	–
Icy Veil	Passive	3	–	Your Barriers have 5% increased duration.	–	–	–
Cold Front (requires 1 Point in Icy Veil)	Passive	3	–	While you have a Barrier active, you apply 8% more Chill.	–	–	–
Snap Freeze (requires 1 Point in Icy Veil)	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Frost Skills have a 3% chance to instantly Freeze.	–	–	–

These are high-impact Skills with long cooldowns. Unlike the other Skills, these have a two-step linear upgrade path. There are also many Passives in this tier to help you focus on a specific element. You can only choose one Skill from this tree. However, you are free to pick as many Passives you want, just like in all of the previous tiers.

Name	Skill/Passive	Max Rank	Damage Type	Description	Upgrade 1	Upgrade 2
Deep Freeze	Skill	1	Cold	Encase yourself in ice, becoming Immune for 4 seconds, continually dealing 25% damage, and Chilling enemies for 14%. When Deep Freeze expires, it deals an additional 100% damage. Casting Deep Freeze again ends the effect early.	When Deep Freeze ends, gain 10% of your Base Life as a Barrier for 6 seconds for each enemy you Froze while it was active.	When Deep Freeze ends, your Non-Ultimate Cooldowns are reduced by 100%.
Inferno	Skill	1	Fire	Summon a fiery serpent that continually constricts the target area, Burning enemies for 295% damage over 8 seconds.	Inferno repeatedly pulls enemies towards its center.	While Inferno is active, your Pyromancy Skills cost no Mana.
Unstable Currents	Skill	1	Lightning	Lightning surges within you for 10 seconds. Whenever you cast a Shock Skill, a random Core, Conjuration, or Mastery Shock Skill is also cast.	Unstable Currents increases Attack Speed by 25% while active.	While Unstable Currents is active, collecting Crackling Energy continually pulses and consumes no charges.
Permafrost	Passive	3	–	Frost Skills deal 5% increased damage to Elites.	–	–
Hoarfrost (requires 1 Point in Frostbite)	Passive	3	–	You deal 3% increased damage to Chilled enemies, and 6% damage to Frozen enemies.	–	–
Icy Touch (requires 1 Point in Frostbite)	Passive	3	–	You deal 4% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies.	–	–
Frigid Breeze (requires 1 Point in Permafrost of Icy Touch)	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Cold damage against Vulnerable enemies has a 20% chance to generate 5 Mana.	–	–
Fiery Surge	Passive	3	–	Killing a Burning enemy increases your Mana Regeneration by 15% for 3 seconds.	–	–
Soulfire (requires 1 Point in Immolated Flesh)	Passive	3	–	After standing still for 1.5 seconds, your Pyromancy Skills cost 5% less Mana.	–	–
Endless Pyre (requires 1 Point in Immolated Flesh)	Passive	3	–	You deal increased Burning damage to enemies for each second they remain Burning, up to 5% after 5 seconds.	–	–
Warmth (requires 1 Point in Fiery Surge and Endless Pyre)	Passive	3	–	Every 1 second, you Heal for 0.3% of your Maximum Life for each nearby Burning enemy. Healing is increased to 0.6%/1.2%/1.8% from bosses.	–	–
Coursing Currents	Passive	3	–	Hitting enemies with Shock Skills increases your Critical Strike Chance by 1%. Resets upon getting a Critical Strike.	–	–
Electrocution	Passive	3	–	Enemies deal 5% less damage for 5 seconds after being Critically Struck by your Shock Skills.	–	–
Conduction	Passive	3	–	Critical Strikes with Shock Skills increase your Movement Speed by 3% for 3 seconds.	–	–
Convulsions	Passive	3	–	Lucky Hit: Shock Skills have a 3% chance to Stun enemies for 3 seconds.	–	–

These are powerful Passives that will likely define your Sorcerer’s overall playstyle. Only one of these Passives can be chosen.

Name	Max Rank	Description
Avalanche	1	Lucky Hit: Your Frost Skills have up to a 10% chance to make your next cast of Ice Shards, Frozen Orb, or Blizzard consume no Mana and deal 40% more damage. Chance is doubled against Vulnerable enemies.
Shatter	1	After Freeze expires, enemies explode for 25% of the damage you dealt to them while Frozen.
Overflowing Energy	1	Crackling Energy hits 1 additional enemy. Each time Crackling Energy hits an enemy, your Shock Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 0.1 seconds, increased to 0.25 seconds against Elites.
Vyr’s Mastery	1	Close enemies take 10% more damage from your Shock Skills and deal 20% less damage to you. Critical Strikes increase these bonuses by 25% for 3 seconds.
Combustion	1	Your Burning effects deal 2% increased damage per unique source of Burning you have applied to the enemy. If the enemy is Burning from 3 or more sources, this bonus is doubled.
Esu’s Ferocity	1	Your Fire Critical Strike Damage is increased by 25% to enemies above 50% Life. Your Fire Critical Strike Chance is increased by 5% to enemies below 50% Life. Killing an enemy with a Critical Strikes grants both bonuses against all enemies for 3 seconds.