When it comes to pure damage over time in Diablo 4, none do it better than Lightning Sorcerers. While Fire and Cold Sorcerers are a close second, the sheer DPS of a Lightning Sorcerer is unparalleled. This guide shows you how to play a Ball Lightning Sorcerer towards the endgame.
A guide to the Ball Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4
The Ball Lightning build focuses on dealing damage over time with the help of the Ball Lightning spell. The damage over time of this skill hits so quickly and so often that it counts as the most powerful DPS (damage per second) skill in the Sorcerer’s spellbook. With the right Aspects and passives, this build really starts to take off the closer you get to the endgame.
Before we get to those parts of the build, first you need to know what Ball Lightning does. Ball Lightning is a Lightning skill that spawns a floating orb of compressed energy that launches forward. This orb passes through all enemies in its way, shocking them constantly, dealing Lightning damage, and applying a minor slow effect.
Ball Lightning, like any other non-Ultimate skill in Diablo 4, has one mandatory upgrade and two optional upgrades. For the sake of this build, this is what we chose.
- Enhanced Ball Lightning: The mandatory upgrade. Ball Lightning damage procs increase by 200 percent of your attack speed.
- Wizard’s Ball Lightning: Our optional upgrade of choice. Ball Lightning spawns Crackling Energy if it hits the same enemy four times.
Enhanced Ball Lightning is a great DPS boost to the skill, with a damage increase based on your attack speed. This incentivizes picking up weapons with a high attack speed threshold to get the most out of your Ball Lightning in the endgame.
Ball Lightning is also one of the perfect spells to spawn Crackling Energy with Wizard’s Ball Lightning. This unique Lightning Sorcerer trait has a chance to spawn a static charge of electricity called Crackling Energy. Once it is picked up, it is stored within the Sorcerer and a visible counter shows up depending on how much Crackling energy you have stored.
When you come in contact with enemies, the energy bursts outwards, shocking and damaging all enemies in its vicinity. The damage of the Crackling Energy scales over time, so it is always effective.
Ball Lightning Sorcerer skill progression
Now that we know everything there is to know about Ball Lightning, it’s time to pick up five other skills that work well in tandem in this build along with their appropriate upgrades.
First, we start off with our Ultimate skill.
- Unstable Currents: The Sorcerer overcharges themselves with Lightning. During this period, any Lightning skill will also cast a random Core, Conjuration, or Mastery Lightning skill at random.
Unstable Currents is a must-have skill in any Lightning Sorcerer build. This Ultimate skill bolsters your damage output by allowing you to cast any other Lightning skill in your arsenal for free as you spam Ball Lightning. Since we will be leveling up Chain Lightning for its Enchantment (see below), be prepared to watch a screen-wide barrage of Lightning in those 10 seconds.
Additionally, if you have skill points to spare, you can also pick up one level each of Lightning skills you like. This will allow you to bring out the most in your Unstable Currents by blasting several spells at a time in the 10 seconds that the Ultimate skill is active.
The rest of our skills are defensive to allow us better chances of survival come the endgame.
- Teleport: Your Sorcerer’s mobility skill. A short-range teleportation ability that damages all enemies at the point of arrival.
- Ice Blades: Creates two blades of frost that constantly attack enemies around you. Affected enemies also have a chance to turn Vulnerable.
Teleport is by far the best mobility spell in the game. With the right gear (discussed below), Teleport also becomes a crowd-control skill. Enhanced Teleport decreases the skill’s cooldown depending on how many enemies you hit upon arriving. Finally, Shimmering Teleport grants you damage reduction on arrival, letting you get out of trouble quickly.
Ice Blades fit this build for two reasons. One, to proc a certain passive we talk about later, and two, to fulfill the requirements of a certain piece of gear. Enhanced Ice Blades reduces the skill’s cooldown each time it hits a Vulnerable enemy. Summoned Ice Blades allows you to share the skill’s cooldown reduction with your other skills, making it a very valuable one-point wonder.
- Ice Armor: Creates a frozen barrier that absorbs a percentage of your maximum health in damage. A small percentage of the damage you deal is also added to your barrier’s hit points.
- Flame Shield: Creates a flaming barrier around you that makes you immune to damage for two seconds. While active, all enemies around you take constant fire damage over time.
The final set of defensive skills is the Sorcerer’s barrier skills. Ice Armor is great in a pinch when you’re surrounded by enemies, allowing you to absorb quite a bit of damage. Enhanced Ice Armor also increases your Mana regeneration, allowing you to spam skills while Shimmering Ice Armor has a chance to freeze enemies that hit you when the skill is active.
The final active skill in this build is Flame Shield. This one is the more offensive option out of the two, making you immune while also dealing damage to all enemies. Enhanced Flame Shield grants you increased movement speed when the skill is active while Shimmering Flame Shield heals you for half of your maximum life when you cast it.
Ball Lightning Sorcerer passive choices
The passive skills chosen for this build are divided into one Key passive and a few secondary passives to support your active skills. First, we pick up the secondary passives.
- Devastation: Increases your maximum mana pool.
- Elemental Dominance: Increases the damage of your Core and Mastery skills when your Mana is above 50.
- Glass Cannon: Increases your damage output while also increasing the damage you take.
- Elemental Attunement: Grants you a chance to reset the cooldown of one of your defensive skills when you land a critical hit.
- Align the Elements: Increases your damage reduction against Elites. This effect increases the longer you haven’t taken damage.
- Mana Shield: Grants you bonus damage reduction every time you spend 100 Mana.
- Protection: Grants you a damage-blocking barrier every time you use a cooldown.
- Conjuration Mastery: Increases your damage depending on how many active Conjurations you possess.
- Static Discharge: Spawns Crackling Energy whenever you critically strike with a Lightning skill.
- Invigorating Conduit: Restores some Mana every time you pick up Crackling Energy.
- Coursing Currents: Increases your critical hit chance every time you deal Lightning damage.
- Electrocution: Reduces enemies’ outgoing damage when you land a critical hit on them with a Lightning skill.
- Conduction: Increases your movement speed whenever you critically strike with a Lightning skill.
Lastly, we pick up the Key Passive for this build.
- Overflowing Energy: Every enemy hit by Crackling Energy reduces the cooldown of your lightning skills by 0.1 seconds. This reduction increases to 0.25 seconds against elites. Additionally, Crackling Energy now hits one additional enemy.
Ball Lightning Sorcerer Enchantment Slots
Enchantment Slots are the Sorcerer’s unique class mechanic. Upon completing the quest “Legacy of the Magi” at level 15, you unlock this mechanic. You unlock the first Enchantment Slot upon completing the quest and the second Enchantment Slot at level 30.
Enchantment Slots grant you two bonus skill slots that you can equip active skills to. The active skills equipped here grant bonus passive abilities that they otherwise would not possess, leading to some strong combinations. For the purposes of this build, these are the skills we have chosen.
- Chain Lightning Enchantment: You cast Chain Lightning for no mana cost automatically every time you spend 100 Mana.
- Ball Lightning Enchantment: You have a chance to spawn a static Ball Lightning for no mana cost every time you land a critical strike.
The Chain Lightning Enchantment grants you more damage by spawning a cast of Chain Lightning to bounce through all nearby enemies. The quicker you spend 100 Mana, the more you will see Chain Lightning spawns tearing through enemies.
The Ball Lightning Enchantment rounds off this build by granting you free Ball Lightning casts. Provided you have a high enough critical strike rate, your Ball Lightning will spawn constantly. With a certain Aspect, you can make the most out of this skill.
Ball Lightning Sorcerer Aspects
The final part of this part involves the endgame gear and Aspects we are going to imbue them with. First, we pick up a couple of important Aspects for this build.
- Gravitational Aspect: Your Ball Lightning casts now orbit around you instead, dealing damage to surrounding enemies.
- Recharging Aspect: You regain Mana every time Chain Lightning successfully bounces.
These are the rest of the Aspects needed for this build.
- Conceited Aspect: You gain increased damage when you have an active barrier.
- Elementalist’s Aspect: You gain an increased critical strike chance on your Core and Mastery skills whenever your Mana is above 100.
- Ghostwalker Aspect: You gain increased movement speed and can pass through enemies when you are Unstoppable.
- Prodigy’s Aspect: You regain Mana every time you use a cooldown.
- Storm Swell Aspect: You deal increased damage to Vulnerable enemies when you have an active barrier.
- Aspect of Control: You deal increased damage to crowd-controlled enemies.
- Aspect of Disobedience: You gain armor that increases every time you deal damage.
Additionally, a few pieces of Unique gear will really push this build over the edge.
- Raiment of the Infinite: You pull in and stun close enemies when you cast Teleport.
- Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop: You gain increasing damage every time you use a different type of Elemental skill.
- Tibault’s Will: You restore 50 Mana and deal increased damage when you turn Unstoppable.
That’s everything you need to know to run a successful Ball Lightning Sorcerer in the endgame.
