Diablo 4 Sorcerer Build – Ice Barrage
May. 31, 2023Diablo 4 Sorcerer Build – Ice Barrage
Diablo 4 Sorcerer Build Guide – Ice Barrage: In this Diablo 4 BeginnerSorcererBuildGuide, I’ll show you how to play an Ice Barrage Sorcerer, which is a burst DPS Diablo 4 Build that’s adept in crowd control and destroying enemies in one go. If you’ve been looking for a Diablo 4 Beginner Sorcerer Build that is aimed at World Tiers 1 & 2, and one that unleashes a barrage of ice shards at an unprecedented pace, then this Diablo 4 Build Guide is for you!
The Level 50 version of this build is ourPermafrost Sorcerer
Also, be sure to check out ourDiablo 4 WikiandInteractive Mapif you need help finding specificAltars of Lilith,Dungeons, orSide Quests!
The general strategy with thisDiablo IV Beginner Buildis to make use of Frost Skills to control the battlefield. You’ll usually start off by rallying enemies to you to then activateFrost NovaorBlizzard. What’s great about Frost Nova is that although it has a long cooldown, you’re able to not only deal massive damage, instantly making weaker foes explode, but also apply theVulnerableeffect to those who survive. This can be followed through withIce Shardsto finish them off or Blizzard to continuallyChilland eventuallyFreezethem again.
The great thing about this Ice Barrage Beginner Sorcerer Build is you’ll rarely run out of Mana even if you use Ice Shards and Blizzard, both of which consume this resource. This is due to theAspect of the UmbralandAspect of Efficiency, thereby allowing you to regenerate Mana at a faster pace.
ForElitesandBosses, you’ll often triggerIce Armorto conjure aBarrierand to be able to restore more Mana. So here, you’ll activate Frost Nova to make them Vulnerable, and then Blizzard over and over again until they’re Frozen. Once successful, you can simply melt them away in a matter of seconds with Ice Shards.
Each Diablo 4 Sorceress Build is made up of the 6 Active Skills they have equipped and changing theseSkillscan drastically alter the way the Sorceress Class in Diablo IV plays. In this section, we’ll take a look at what Skills you should slot for the Ice Barrage Sorcerer Diablo 4 Build. There are 26 points in total that you’ll get upon reaching Level 25. 2 points come from earning enough Renown in Fractured Peaks. So your Skill distribution should look something like this:
The above list gives you the general order to invest in Skills, but keep in mind that you should prioritize picking up new Active Skills over investing in passives, so pick up passives later if you can get new Active Skills when you level up.
So there are really several different strategies to employ in this Diablo IV Build for the Ice Barrage Sorcerer, and these change depending on whether or not you’re facing a large group of enemies or a Boss. Let’s start with a group of enemies first, and we’ll cover how to handle Bosses in the next section.
Frost Nova is an extremely potent Defensive Skill of the Ice Barrage Sorceress D4 Build that lets you instantly Freeze mobs and Elites, but not Bosses. Even though you can’t spam it due to the relatively long cooldown, you’ll have enough time to destroy them with Ice Shards orFrost Bolt. As such, you’ll want to invest all 5 points into Frost Nova. Now thanks to theEnhanced Frost Novaupgrade, you’ll be able to reduce this Skill’s cooldown from 18 seconds to 14 seconds upon slaughtering weaker enemies, which will often be the case.
The other modifier you’ll want to take here isMystical Frost NovaoverShimmering Frost Nova. It might be tempting to choose Shimmering Frost Nova to gain more Mana, especially at earlier levels if you don’t have the right aspects yet. However, Mystical Frost Nova instantly makes enemies Vulnerable. This means that they take increased 20% damage! What’s more, is that the Vulnerability duration for Bosses is longer at 6 seconds so you’ll definitely whittle down their HP much faster.
Ice Shards is the bread and butter Core Skill of this Diablo IV Build for the Sorceress Class. It lets you launch several rapidly-moving icicles against targets from any distance. Ice Shards is made all the more effective against Frozen enemies, allowing you to deal increased damage, so it synergizes very well with Frost Nova and Blizzard. As such, remember to max out this Skill.
For upgrades, you’ll first chooseEnhanced Ice Shards. This guarantees that the shards will always bounce off of other Frozen targets to continuously deal damage against them. Next, you’ll be going forGreater Ice Shards, which lets you treat any enemy as Frozen to constantly inflict increased damage. The only condition here is you’ll need to have an active Barrier. This can be conjured with Ice Armor or by attacking Elites and Bosses if you have theAspect of the Protector. Aspect of the Protector can be obtained by finishing the Lost Archives DungeoninFractured Peaks.
To enhance the power of Ice Shards, you’ll want to use it in yourEnchantment Slot. This summons shards that home in on Frozen enemies to kill them much faster. To gain access to this Enchantment Slot, you’ll need to complete the Legacy of the Magi Quest, which becomes available at Level 15.
Blizzard is another powerful Mastery and crowd control Skill that not only deals huge Cold Damage but also Chills enemies over time. This will help you kite them in conjunction with Ice Shards. What makes it shine are theEnhanced BlizzardandWizard’s Blizzardupgrades. Enhanced Blizzard works like Ice Shards in the sense that you deal more damage against Frozen targets, which you’ll eventually inflict with the repeated use of this Skill or in combination with Frost Bolt and Frost Nova.
Once you gain more points, you should invest in Wizard’s Blizzard to lower the Mana cost of Ice Shards when Blizzard is active. This is a huge thing since spamming Ice Shards is what you’re aiming for to destroy impaired enemies quickly.
To be able to effectively traverse areas in the blink of an eye, you’re going to want to invest inTeleport. Doing so will let you deal a bit of damage and grantUnstoppable, which instantly strips you of crowd control effects you may have had before casting this Defensive Skill. It also makes you immune to them. Teleport provides you with the mobility you need to avoid getting stuck in dangerous situations.
In terms of the upgrades, you should prioritize unlockingEnhanced Teleportto reduce its cooldown based on the number of enemies you’ve hit. At higher levels, you can choose to invest inShimmering Teleportto boost your damage reduction but it won’t be mandatory, especially if you already have the Aspect of the Protector.
Frost Bolt is a key Basic Skill for this Diablo IV Beginner Sorcerer Build that deals some damage while Chilling enemies to Slow them down. With theEnhanced Frost Boltupgrade, there’s a small chance for the bolt to explode on affected targets, and a guarantee to explode on Frozen ones to deal additional damage.
But more than this, you’ll want to aim forGlinting Frost Bolt. As a result, you’ll be able to generate extra Mana when attacking Chilled and Frozen enemies.
Boss fights are handled quite similarly in this Diablo 4 Ice Barrage Sorcerer Build, but there are some key differences. You can open with Blizzard or Frost Nova but your priority would be to trigger Ice Armor. On top of the Barrier you get in order to mitigate the damage you take, you’ll amplify the damage of Ice Shards upon activation since Bosses will be treated as Frozen. Remember to also use Frost Bolt from time to time to replenish your Mana.
Next, be sure to trigger Frost Nova for the primary reason of inflicting Vulnerable for 6 seconds rather than attempting to Freeze them. As such, the overall damage you’ll deal will be bigger. You should then activate Blizzard with Ice Shards over and over again until you Freeze the Boss. Afterward, you’ll be bombarding them with Ice Shards all the way.
Ice Armor is the second Defensive Skill that you’ll be getting for this D4 Build. Aside from conjuring a Barrier to absorb damage, any damage you’ve dealt yourself will carry over to the Barrier’s strength. This means that you’ll be able to hold your ground better, making you survive longer in combat. The only upgrade you’ll need here isEnhanced Ice Armorto boost your Mana generation.
Glass Cannonis also a great passive to max out early on as it lets you deal greater damage even if you take more damage yourself. However, it can be mitigated with Ice Armor and Aspect of the Protector, and avoided using Teleport.
For this Diablo 4 Ice Barrage Sorcerer Build, you should be on the lookout for gear that gives bonuses toIntelligenceto boost Skill damage,Willpowerfor the improved Mana regeneration, Core Skill Damage, Frost Skill Damage, Cold Damage, Damage to Chilled Enemies, Damage to Frozen Enemies, Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies, Mana Cost Reduction, and Rank of All Defensive Skills. Damage Reduction from Close and Distant Enemies are also good to have for improved survivability.
The passives you’ll want to invest in as you gather more Skill points areIcy Veil,Cold Front,Permafrost,Hoarfrost,Icy Touch, andElemental Attunement. Icy Veil and Cold Front make it so that your Barrier remains active for a longer period and you’re able to apply Chill more effectively. Meanwhile, Permafrost, Hoarfrost, and Icy Touch focus on significantly amplifying your Cold Damage against Elites as well as crowd-controlled and Vulnerable targets. And finally, there’s Elemental Attunement, which grants a chance to cast Defensive Skills more frequently upon landing crits.
You’ll be swapping from one better gear to the next at a rapid pace to keep up with the types of enemies you face. So if you only have a single copy of the Legendary Aspects you acquire from Legendary Items, it’s best to save them when you reach Level 50. Note that once these are extracted from theEquipmentand imprinted elsewhere, you won’t be able to reuse them in the future. So when it comes to these types of Legendary Aspects, you’ll want to keep theEverliving AspectandRuneworker’s Conduit Aspect. The Everliving Aspect reduces the damage you take from impaired and Vulnerable targets so even with the Glass Cannon passive, you continue to remain resilient. Whereas the Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect improves your Movement Speed after triggering Teleport for enhanced mobility.
The other good Legendary Aspects to go for are theAspect of Piercing Cold,Aspect of Biting Cold, andAspect of Control. The Aspect of Piercing Cold lets your Ice Shards pierce numerous times to affect more enemies while the Aspect of Biting Cold grants a notable chance to make Frozen enemies Vulnerable. So this lets you apply Vulnerable using the other Frost Skills besides Frost Nova. You can acquire the Aspect of Piercing Cold from Dead Man’s Dredge Dungeonin Fractured Peaks and the Aspect of Biting Cold inDry Steppes.
Lastly, the Aspect of Control, which should be slotted in a Two-Handed Weapon for best results, allows you to deal greater damage to Frozen enemies. This is obtained by finishing the Sunken Library DungeoninKehjistan.
Be sure to check out ourDiablo 4 Wikifor any other questions you have about the game and theBuildspage if you are looking for more Diablo IV Builds, as well as ourUltimate Beginner GuideandBest Class to Play Guideif you are looking for more Diablo 4 content!
Reiku
Writer at Fextralife. I enjoy playing RPGs, narrative-driven games, and platformers. Outside of gaming, I like watching meaningful movies and reading sci-fi and dystopian books.
