This leveling build for the Sorcerer in Diablo 4 focuses on the early game progression of the class, all the way through the campaign’s completion. We’ll guide you through the leveling process, including Skill Order and notable Aspect from dungeons.
This guide is up-to-date for Season 4 and Patch 1.4.0.
Check our Diablo 4 Builds Catalog of uniquely crafted builds for each class.
Sorcerer is a very well-balanced class, offering very stable power progression throughout the Campaign. Our Unstable Arcs Leveling Build is a Lightning-Focused build centered around their Crackling Energy effect, supplemented by a couple of skills of other elements for their utility.
This build will assume you’re starting out fresh from Level 1. This means we’re not going to account for the Skill Points from Altars of Lilith or anything else that could possibly come from another character.
To learn more about the available Classes in Diablo 4, read our beginner guide. It will give you more than enough information on each one and show you the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
Build Overview
While this build focuses on the Crackling Energy effect of the Sorcerer, it’ll take a bit to get to a point where it’s in full effect. Thankfully, we’ll have good enough mobbing and single-target power to make do until it does.
Our main Damage sources will be Arc Lash and Chain Lighting. Between these two we’ll have great mobbing potentially, especially after we get Enchantments. As we get later into the leveling process, we’ll also be critically striking with these fairly often, which will help clear speed even more.
We’ll have Teleport to help us get around faster, as well as break out of any Crowd control. Paired with Ice Armor for an on-demand Barrier, we’ll be set for a while defensively.
Skills and Passives Breakdown
In this section, we’ll be talking about each skill we use. This is the whys and hows of how the build works, and then we’ll cover the general leveling order.
Important Skills
These are our main skills for the build, which we’ll be taking as we level our character.
Arc Lash
Arc Lash is one of the best leveling skills the Sorc has. It’s Strong, AoE, and spammable since it’s a Basic Skill. It’ll make up the bulk of our damage in most situations. We’ll upgrade it to Flickering Arc Lash early on for the added mobility.
Chain Lightning
Chain Lightning will not only help with mobbing, but also provide excellent damage in 1v1s against bosses. This will mainly be due to the effect of Greater Chain Lightning, but even without this upgrade, it’ll still hit a single target up to three times as it bounces off you.
Teleport
Teleport is both our mobility skill, and early on our only way of breaking Crowd Control. This combination of effects makes it quite powerful and hard to pass up on in the early game. If that wasn’t already enough, we also take Shimmering Teleport for the added Damage reduction, allowing us to use it offensively more often.
Ice Armor
Ice Armor is great for the on-demand Barrier it provides. Since it scales with both Life and the damage we deal, it remains very strong throughout our journey. We’ll only be taking it to Enhanced Ice Armor, for the utility of added Mana regeneration, but we’ll also be getting an Aspect that will also make it another way of getting our of Crowd Control.
Lightning Spear
Lightning Spear is a bit of an underrated Conjuration, but it works exceptionally well with our build. It had great upgrade options for Damage or added Crowd Control. Most of the time, we’ll want to use Summoned Lightning Spear for the added damage, as it remains consistent and gets stronger later on. Season 3 even improved this further and can make it a very reliable source of Vulnerable.
Unstable Currents
Unstable Currents is honestly the best DPS Ultimate. When you pair it with a couple of other aspects, it has insane potential to go crazy and just melt Elites and Bosses alike. Once we get it to Supreme Unstable Currents, it’ll also feed into our Crackling Energy, adding more AoE to its already high AoE.
Passives
Here we’re only going to talk about the main passives we absolutely want as well as our Key Passive.
Key Passive – Overflowing Energy
This Key Passive is what really lets this build shine. With three of our skills being Shock Skills that work off cooldowns, we are able to refresh them fairly often. The potential of this passive can be further enhanced by upgrading our skills to instead generate more Crackling Energy.
Glass Cannon
Glass Cannon is pretty straightforward, it’s an unconditional damage increase so we take it. We’ll be taking Ice Armor as well as another passive to offset the extra incoming damage.
Precision Magic
A couple of the effects that make the build work rely on Lucky Hits, Precision Magic just makes those more reliable. This can be dropped later on if you can get a decent amount of Lucky Hit Chance on your gear as well, but until then, it’s a great stop-gap.
Conjuration Mastery
We don’t take Conjuration Mastery until late in the build, but it’s an extra damage boost we can get by frequently casting Lightning Spear, as each instance of it will boost our damage. It will really put in work during Unstable Currents, where we’ll have lots of spears flying around.
Static Discharge
Static Discharge ends up working in combination with Coursing Currents and Precision Magic to allow us to consistently generate more Crackling Energy. This in turn helps boost our overall damage by shortening cooldowns thanks to Overflowing Energy
Invigorating Conduit
This a passive we pick up after we get Static Discharge going. Since we don’t have a ton of Mana sustain, this helps with that, allowing us to consistently have mana so long as we have Crackling Energy available.
Coursing Currents
Coursing Currents really helps to enable the build by guaranteeing crits fairly often. With most of our skills hitting multiple targets or multiple times, this gives us a significant power boost when we get to it.
Electrocution
Electrocution is a passive we pick up at the end of our leveling, and will help to consistently offset the downside of Glass Cannon. Any time we land a Critical Strike, our foe will deal less damage, which with Coursing Currents will be often enough that we have high uptime against the enemies we really need it for.
Leveling Order: Where to Assign Your Skill Points
To start out, we’ll take Arc Lash and upgrade it straight to Flickering Arc Lash. Next, we’ll move on to Chain Lightning and upgrade that to Greater Chain Lightning. This gives us a lot of damage to work with at the start, and it’ll be a bit before we get more.
Next, we’ll head to our Defensive Skills and grab Teleport before upgrading it to Shimmering Teleport. This gives us a solid way in or out of an encounter as we need. Then we take Ice Armor up to Enhanced Ice Armor, for extra sustain in combat.
Now, we can pick up the next piece of our Build, Lightning Spear. While we don’t have anything to really support it just yet we’ll be upgrading it to Enhanced Lightning Spear. Alternatively, you can use Hydra here as well, which uses mana in favor of cooldown and can help with single-target more.
If you took Lightning Spear, max out the level of Chain Lightning. This will make up for the lack of single-target. If you took Hydra, max out Arc Lash Instead for stronger AoE. Regardless of the choice made, pick up and max out the Glass Cannon passive.
After this, we’ll grab a point in Fireball. We won’t actively be casting this, but we’ll have access to Enchantments right around this time and it’s a great option to clear out packs faster. Afterward, max out the Precision Magic passive.
Now that we’re finally to the Ultimate Tree, grab Unstable Current and fully upgrade it to Supreme Unstable Current. After this, the build will start to really take off and feel stronger
Pick up and max the Coursing Currents passive, this lets us Critically strike with Shock Skills more reliably, granting a stacking Critical Chance bonus until we land a Critical Strike. Then we’ll take the Static Discharge and also max it so we can begin building Crackling Energy with Critical Strikes.
We now have access to our Key passive, Overflowing Energy. This will make it so our Crackling Energy will help cut down the cooldown for Teleport, Lightning Spear, and Unstable Currents.
We’ll already be generating a ton of Crackling energy already, but we can take this a step further and take a point in Spark to use as our second Enchantment. Both Spark and Fireball can come from gear levels, they are not required to have points spent in them, you just need access to them.
Finish upgrading Lightning Spear by taking Summoned Lightning Spear. While we’re here we’ll also take Conjuration Mastery to max. This makes it so every Lightning Spear we summon, either manually or through Unstable Currents will boost our damage.
Then we can round off the build by taking Invorgating Conduitfrom the Mastery section of the tree for Mana generation, as well as Electrocution in the Ultimate section for additional defenses.
This will leave us around level 46, where we’ll have already completed the campaign or be nearly finished.
Sorcerer Leveling Progress Summary
This section sums up the Leveling Process in an easier-to-reference format.
| Levels | Icon | Skill | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-4 | | Arc Lash | Flickering Arc Lash for early mobility, swap to Glinting later. |
| 5-7 | | Chain Lightning | Greater Chain Lightning for better single-target DPS. |
| 8-10 | | Teleport | Shimmering Teleport for Damage Reduction. |
| 11-12 | | Ice Armor | Enhanced Ice Armor for Barrier and Mana Regeneration. |
| 13-14 | | Lightning Spear | Extra Skill for damage, take to Enhanced |
| 15 | | Fireball | Complete Legacy of the Magi and use as Enchantment. |
| 16-18 | | Precision Magic | Extra Lucky Hit Chance for later. |
| 19-22 | | Chain Lightning | Max out to increase single target damage. |
| 23-25 | | Glass Cannon | Unconditional damage boost. |
| 26-28 | | Unstable Currents | Our Ultimate Skill, which provides a lot of DPS. |
| 29-31 | | Coursing Currents | Consistent Critical Strikes. |
| 32-34 | | Static Discharge | Crackling Energy from Critical Strikes |
| 35 | | Overflowing Energy | Key Passive that provides Cooldown Reduction |
| 36 | | Spark | Second Enchantment Slot, Crackling Energy from defeating enemies. |
| 37 | | Lightning Spear | Take Summoned Lightning Spear, now that we have consistent Crackling Energy. |
| 38 | | Devastation | Take one point to reach Elemental Dominanace |
| 39-41 | | Elemental Dominance | Boost the damage of 3 of the 4 skills cast during Unstable Currents, including our main skill. |
| 42-44 | | Invigorating Conduit | Additional Mana sustain from Crackling Energy. |
| 45-47 | | Electrocution | Additional Damage Reduction on Crit. |
| 48-R1 | | Convulsions | Adds extra Crowd Control to the build, enables Shock Skill to trigger Shocking Impacts |
| R2-R4 | | Shocking Impacts | Nice extra bursts of damage when we stun an enemy. |
| R5-R7 | | Align the Elements | Provides a fairly strong defensive bonus and allows Protection to be taken as well. |
| R8-R10 | | Protection | Additional Mana sustains from Crackling Energy. |
Aspects and Uniques
In this section, we’ll cover the Aspects you’ll want to grab from dungeons as you can, as well as ones to keep an out for to help the build along. We’ll also talk about the uniques that can help the build out in a few ways, though these will be fairly rare compared to the aspects.
Dungeon Aspects
These are Aspects awarded for completing specific dungeons, which you can use to boost your power without relying on luck.
Rapid Aspect
Rapid Aspect works really well for this build, as not only does it make Arc Lash feel even better to use, but it also works well in combination with Unstable Currents. Having rapid-fire spells going off is just so satisfying.
The Rapid Aspect is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Buried Halls dungeon in Dry Steppes.
Aspect of Splintering Energy
The Aspect of Splinting Energy is a decent boost for Lightning Spear. While it
The Aspect of Splintering Energy is available in your Codex of Power after completion of the Crumbling Hekma dungeon in Kehjistan.
Recharging Aspect
Recharging Aspect is great at reducing the cost of Chain Lightning when it comes to bossing. Each cast on a single target will restore 4-6 Mana each time it bounces off us, for 8-12 back per cast. This results in 25-33% of the mana back for each cast.
The Aspect of the Protector is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Zenith dungeon in Fractured Peaks.
Prodigy’s Aspect
Prodigy’s Aspect is good for our build as well and is a better late-game Mana generator for us. Since we’ll be casting three different spells with cooldowns that we’re actively reducing, we’ll able to trigger it frequently.
The Podigy’s Aspect is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Witchwater dungeon in Hawezar.
Charged Aspect
Charged Aspect is a great Mobility aspect for the build, as it gives a small burst of speed when collecting Crackling Energy. The nice thing here is that its a slightly longer bonus, but it’s also slightly weaker than the other options. If you want a Mobility Aspect still, but don’t like this one, Ghostwalker, Bounding Conduit and Wind Striker are all viable options.
The Charged Aspect is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Maddux Watch dungeon in Scosglen.
Aspect of the Protector
Easily a top-tier defensive Aspect, Aspect of the Protector will grain us an additional Barrier when we damage an Elite. This means extra defenses for the encounters when we really need them. Being available early on adds to this value.
The Aspect of the Protector is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Lost Archives dungeon in Fractured Peaks.
Edgemaster’s Aspect
Edgemaster’s Aspect is a great Offensive Aspect that increases our damage based on how much of our resource we have remaining. This is also a Multipicative Damage bonus, which is exceptionally valuable for an Aspect. If we only use Arc Lash during Unstable Currents, we’ll always have the maximum bonus.
The Edgemaster’s Aspect is available in your Codex of Power after completing the Oldstones dungeon in Scosglen.
Other Aspects
Unlike Dungeon Aspects, these are not as reliably accessible, so you’ll want to keep an eye out for them as you play. You may not be able to fit all of these in, but you can mix and match depending on what feels best to you.
Stable Aspect
With decent enough Attack Speed, this will make it almost feel like Unstable Currents is always active. It will drastically increase the power of the build, to the point that it’s worth keeping a lower item-level piece of gear to have it.
Aspect of Abundant Energy
The Aspect of Abundant Energy allows our Crackling Energy to chain and hit additional targets. Additional hits with Crackling energy means we get more cooldown reduction from our Key Passive.
Aspect of Overwhelming Currents
The Aspect of Overwhelming Currents really pushes more damage out of Unstable Currents, but honestly doesn’t add a ton to the build overall. While you’ll occasionally cast an additional spell when triggering it, it’ll be hard to notice.
Accelerating Aspect
The Accelerating Aspect is much like the Rapid Aspect, but is a way more conditional Attack Speed boost that applies to all skills. Thankfully, getting Critical Strikes with our Core Skill, Chain Lightning, is very easy to do and can really boost how much damage we do overall with Unstable Currents and the Stable Aspect.
Conceited Aspect
The Conceited Aspect is a nice damage boost we can pick up. Between Aspect of the Protector and Ice Armor, we’re not without a Barrier for long. Since the build often wants to use Ice Armor in conjunction with Unstable Currents to just focus on DPS, this works very well.
Aspect of the Unbroken Tether
This pairs exceptionally well with the Recharing Aspect. With enough Mana Cost Reduction and Resource Generation on gear, we can use Chain Lightning without having to ever really build mana as it will sustain itself.
Gravitational Aspect
This can be pretty situational but can work decently well once you get the Stable Aspect. This will make any casts of Ball Lightning orbit you, which means a lot of consistent damage to nearby enemies when combined with Crackling Energy. It’s definitely low priority, but good to hold on to it if you do find it.
Unique Items
We will only talk about the few that offer the most substantial effects on the build. While others help, these are the ones you really want to slot into your build if you get the chance. These will begin dropping in World Tier 3.
Esadora’s Overflowing Cameo
Esadora’s Overflowing Cameo is a Unique Amulet that will cause Shock Novas to go off when we collect Crackling Energy. This is actually a bit situational but does add plenty of damage regardless if you’re getting the most out of it. It’ll get the best use against bosses, especially if we opt for Destructive Chain Lightning to try and create more Crackling Energy.
Raiment of the Infinite
Raiment of the Infinite is an interesting unique that pulls and Stuns enemies to you after you Teleport. Combined with Glinting Arc Lash, this results in even more cooldown reduction, in addition to the stun also being a decent defensive bonus. Since we’ll be able to use Teleport often, this can be worth using if the rest of your gear can handle it.
Mother’s Embrace
While Mother’s Embrace is a unique ring available to all classes, it has great stats and a good effect that compliments the build well. The added Critical Strike Chance and Damage are always welcome. It’ll also effectively give the same bonus as the Recharging Aspect when it hits the max enemy count.
Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop
This Unique Ring will provide a ton of damage for the build thanks to our Enchantments adding a second damage type for us. Its stats are perfect for the build giving us everything we need including Cooldown Reduction and Resource Generation.
Sorcerer Leveling Build Video Gameplay
The video below contains three clips with gameplay, two from Act 2 and one from Act 6. They are from the main story, but are standard mob fights. No spoilers.
This concludes our guide to the optimal Sorcerer Leveling Build in Diablo 4. Check out more Diablo 4 Builds here on VULKK.com.
If you enjoy this class, we have a full endgame version of the Shock build as well as Frost Build and Fire Build available, which focuses on the Ice Shard Skill. It is great for post-campaign gameplay, but also contains a leveling segment near the end in case you want to play it from level 1.
