A Diablo game wouldn't be complete without the option to sling spells at legions of demons. The very first game included a Sorceress class, and ever since, there have been Wizard and Sorceress classes that players can choose to live the fantasy of being a master of magic.
Although the Sorceress' capabilities at short range are limited, she is hard to rival in terms of explosive ranged and area damage. Here is a breakdown of the Sorceress' abilities and a few possible playstyles.
Resources and Elements
The Sorceress spends Mana to cast her abilities. Although the ability shares a name with the Witch Doctor's resource from Diablo 3, it functions much more like the Wizard's Arcane Power from the same game. The Sorceress' Mana pool is limited in size, but the resource regenerates quickly. Players will need to time their abilities strategically and keep a close eye on their Mana to remain effective in combat. As always, there are a variety of passive talents that help with Mana management, like Align the Elements for reducing costs or Burning Resonance for generating Mana when attacking burning enemies.
Abilities like Burning Resonance highlight the importance of the Sorceress' various elements. Although the Sorceress lacks the Arcane element that Diablo 3's Wizard included, Sorceresses are still masters of fire, lightning, and ice. Each elements has a slightly different playstyle, from overwhelming damage to crippling crowd control. Although a Sorceress of many elements is perfectly viable, leaning into one element can result in a very potent caster. It's worth noting that although the basic attack Arc Lash deals lightning damage, its ability to generate extra Mana could make it useful for just about any build.
Might of the Pyromancer
For players interested in blowing up enemies and ravaging the battlefield in Diablo 4, the choice is obvious: fire. The Fire Bolt basic attack is the key to a pyromancer playstyle, since it lights enemies on fire, which activates other abilities like the previously mentioned Burning Resonance. Other bread and butter abilities for a fire build are on the Major Destruction list of skill, like the Fireball for a powerful explosion or Incinerate for a channeled beam of fire that gets stronger over time.
If a player is feeling frail and wants some backup in battle, a fire Sorceress has a few options. The Defensive skill Flame Shield will scorch enemies that get too close, or players can turn to Conjuration to summon a Hydra that'll attack enemies on its own, just like in Diablo 2. The Mastery list offers Firewall and Meteor as options for area of effect fire damage, as does the Ultimate ability Inferno, creating lasting pulses of fire at a location that dominates the battlefield.
To top off these devastating abilities, several passive Talents will help a pyromancer's fire burn brighter. As mentioned before, many of these Talents interact with targets that are on fire. There are options like Blaze of Glory to weaken burning enemies while empowering fire damage, Conflagration to deal more damage to burning targets, and Endless Pyre to make the burning effect itself stronger. Those are only a few of the Talents designed to power fire builds -- there a lot of options for making a unique master of fire.
A Cold Reception for Demons
Where fire builds specialize in constantly dealing damage, a Sorceress who focuses on ice will wear Diablo 4's demons down with relentless crowd control. Just like fire skills can apply the burning effect, ice skills will chill enemies. Once an enemy has been chilled enough times, it will freeze. The basic attack Frost Bolt is a great way to rack up the chill effect for free in combination with other skills. The Major Destruction list features synergistic skills like Ice Shards to destroy frozen enemies and Frozen Orb to chill enemies leading up to an explosion.
An ice build is notably good at escaping injury if enemies get too close. There two Defensive skills related to ice. Ice Armor will conjure a shield of ice to protect the player from damage, while Blizzard will create a lingering storm of ice to waylay enemies, damaging and chilling them. One Conjuration skill, Frost Nova, instantly freezes nearby enemies, while another called Ice Blades is a more aggressive option. The Ultimate ice skill, Deep Freeze, is extremely useful for protecting the Sorceress, encasing her in invincible ice while emanating a powerful icy storm.
As one might expect, many Sorceress Talents are useful for punishing chilled and frozen enemies. Chill to the Bone and Frostbite will increase damage against frozen and chilled enemies respectively. Cold Snap makes skills apply more chill, which is a good combo with Numbing Cold, which makes chilled foes deal less damage. Although Icy Touch is simple, its bonus to ice damage will fit into any ice build. For the moment, this launch class's ranged capabilities seem unrivaled.
Crackling into Battle
Lightning operates somewhat differently from ice and fire in this Diablo installation. While it lacks a dedicated special effect, its specialties lie in bouncing between targets and raw speed. The basic attack Lightning exemplifies this, shooting a bolt that bounces around to hit multiple enemies. Major Destruction offers Chain Lightning, a bolt more powerful than the basic attack, as well as Charged Bolts to unleash erratic lightning on the enemy.
A lightning Sorcerer protects itself not with shields, but by outpacing the enemy. That's best exemplified by the Defensive skill and Diablo 2 holdover Teleport, which turns the Sorcerer into lightning and makes them immune to damage while moving to a new location. The Conjuration skill Lightning Spear also works on speed, summoning a fast-moving bolt of lightning that flies around the battlefield seeking targets. The Ultimate skill Conduit combines the two in a way, turning the player into a huge lightning orb, immune to enemies, incredibly fast, and constantly dealing damage.
Lightning talents often help the damage skill apply additional effects. Convulsions can make lightning stun enemies briefly, and Shocking Strikes rewards dealing lightning damage by increasing the Sorceress' damage output. Lightning is also an excellent way to build the Sorceress for powerful critical strikes. Several lightning Talents that strengthen critical strikes like Ceaseless Bolts and Overcharge can be combined with more general critical strike talents like Devastation or Elemental Attunement. All in all, the upcoming Diablo 4's Sorceress has all kinds of playstyles and skills.
The Multi-Talented Sorceress
All of these areas of focus are only suggestions, as stated before. Mixing two or three elements together can be just as tactical as focusing on one. There's a lot to be said for freezing an enemy in place before dropping a Meteor on it or shooting Chain Lightning through it. Talents like Precision Magic and Potent Warding will back up generalist builds like these. Like so many of Diablo's classes, the Sorceress has a deep pool of customization options. Fans of magic users will find all kinds of ways to tear up the battlefield as the Sorceress.
Diablo 4 is in development for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.