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Arc Lash Ball Lightning Sorcerer Build for Diablo 4

Arc Lash Ball Lightning Sorcerer Build for Diablo 4

One of the best Lightning Sorc setups for Diablo 4's end-game

Arc Lash/Ball Lightning
Sorcerer Build for Diablo 4

Last Update: July 3, 2023
 

Build notes:
July 3, 2023
-Build created 

 

Build Overview

It's a Sorcerer build that uses Arc Lash combined with the Ultimate Unstable Currents. It allows for rapid casts of Ball Lightning, which is the main damage source. Arc Lash cost no Mana, can be cast frequently with the accumulated Attack Speed, and greatly reduces Cooldown due to the Glinting modifier. It allows for nearly permanent uptime on the Unstable Currents which normally has high Cooldown. The build uses Frost Nova to Freeze and make enemies Vulnerable, and a Fire Bolt enchantment to cause Burning. It heavily relies on Critical Strike and Lucky Hit Chance due to Passives and Aspects one can benefit from. It's also extremely durable and safe - enemies are very often Stunned or Frozen, while the character can accumulate plenty of Barriers each time it uses a Cooldown or Freezes.

Please keep in mind, that the following Guide explains the basic variant of the build, without diving into all alternative variants that may utilize different utility skills for various benefits. This will be obviously updated as we have a chance to test out this build properly in the actual game. 

You can also check our other Diablo 4 Builds

 

 Pros  Cons
Has superb Barrier generation with Protection Passive, Ice Armor, and Icefall Legendary node.  It requires an investment into Lucky Hit and Crit Chance.
 Enemies are nearly constantly Burning, Stunned, or Frozen.  
Your opponents are also Vulnerable, and your Critical Strike Chance and Damage should be high, resulting in good damage output.  

 

Skills

 

ARC LASH [5/5]

One of the most important Skills in this build. It deals Lightning Damage in front of you and Stuns enemies every 10th swipe. It's not as strong as other abilities, but combined with Unstable Currents it will frequently trigger your other Core (Charged Bolts), Conjuration (Lightning Spear), or Mastery (Ball Lightning) Shock Skills. Its Glinting upgrade is also crucial.

Modifiers:

  1. Enhanced Arc Lash [1/1] - Arc Lash swipes an additional time on Critical Strikes.
  2. Glinting Arc Lash [1/1] - Hitting Stunned enemies with this Skill reduces Cooldowns by 0.15 seconds.

FIRE BOLT [1/5]

Fire Bolt is only used for its Enchantment - Direct Damage with any Skill will cause Burning for 8 seconds. It also opens up a lot of great possibilities for Rare nodes on a Burning Instinct Board.

 

CHARGED BOLTS [1/5]

Fires five Bolts dealing low damage. It won't be used directly but via Unstable Currents only.

Modifiers:

  1. Enhanced Charged Bolts [1/1] - Hitting an enemy 3 or more times with a single cast of this Skill releases a Nova for additional damage.
  2. Destructive Charged Bolts [1/1] - Hitting the enemy with Charged Bolts causes them to deal 20% reduced damage for 3 seconds.

 

FROST NOVA [5/5]

Use it immediately after Teleporting into a pack of enemies to Freeze and apply Vulnerability. Increase its Rank to lower the Cooldown.

Modifiers:

  1. Enhanced Frost Nova [1/1] - Killing enemies Frozen by the Nova will reduce its Cooldown by one second per enemy, up to 4 seconds.
  2. Mystical Frost Nova [1/1] - Makes enemies Vulnerable on hit, this effect will last 4 seconds, 6 against bosses.

 

TELEPORT [1/5]

It's the utility Skill you should use to Teleport in the middle of the fight. It won't deal a lot of damage, but it will Stun if you have the Raiment of the Infinite Chest Armor.

Modifiers:

  1. Enhanced Teleport [1/1] - Decreases Cooldown by half a second for each enemy hit, stacking up to 3 seconds.
  2. Shimmering Teleport [1/1] - The 30% Damage Reduction after Teleporting lasts for 3 seconds.

 

FLAME SHIELD [1/5]

You're immune for the next two seconds, dealing Burning damage to all nearby enemies. Use in case of emergencies.

 

ICE ARMOR [1/5]

A Barrier Skill with a 20-second Cooldown. For the next 6 seconds, it will absorb 30% of your Base Life in Damage. 5% of Damage dealt is added to the Barrier. With the overabundance of CDR, you should be able to have it up nearly permanently.

 

BALL LIGHTNING [5/5]

One of the most crucial Skills, which, as was the case with Charged Bolts, you won't cast yourself. It's a slowly-moving projectile that zaps nearby foes. Here you will also need to select its Enchantment - Critical Strikes with Lucky Hits have a 25% chance of spawning a static Ball Lightning. It should be a primary damage source.

Modifiers:

  1. Enhanced Ball Lightning [1/1] - Its damage rate is increased by 200% of your Attack Speed Bonus.
  2. Wizard's Ball Lightning [1/1] - If the ball zaps one enemy at least 4 times, it forms a Crackling Energy. It can only happen once per cast.

UNSTABLE CURRENTS [1/1]

It's the Ultimate Skill that you should strive to have up most of the time despite its 70-second Cooldown. For the next 10 seconds, each time you cast a Shock Skill (Arc Lash or Teleport) another Skill will be cast from the pool of Shock Core, Conjuraion, or Mastery Skills. Spam the Arc Lash for the best result.

Modifiers:

  1. Prime Unstable Currents [1/1] - It also increases your Attack Speed by +25% so that you deal more damage with Ball Lightning and cast Arc Lash faster.
  2. Supreme Unstable Currents [1/1] - While the Skill is active, Crackling Energy pulses continuously and consumes no charges.

 

Passive Skills

ELEMENTAL ATTUNEMENT [1/3]

Critical Strikes with Lucky Hits (the same conditions to spawn a static Ball Lightning) have a 5% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills, and it can happen once in ten seconds.

ALIGN THE ELEMENTS [1/3]

It grants a 1% Damage Reduction every second, for up to 40% damage reduction, against Elites until you get hit by one.

PROTECTION [3/3]

Using Cooldown grants 30% of your Maximum Life as a Barrier for 2 seconds. You're using a lot of Cooldown Skills.

INNER FLAMES [1/3]

Its bonuses are insignificant, but it unlocks the path to progress further.

DEVOURING BLAZE [3/3]

Makes you deal x30% increased Crit Damage against Burning Enemies (which they are at all times due to the Fire Bolt Enchantment). If they're also Immobilized the bonus grows to x75%.

STATIC DISCHARGE [3/3]

Critical Strikes with Lucky Hits and Shcking Skills have a 15% chance of creating Crackling Energy.

SHOCKING IMPACT [3/3]

Each time you stun an enemy, you will deal 45% Lightning Damage to them.

COURSING CURRENTS [3/3]

Hitting an enemy with a Shock Skill increases Critical Strike Chance by 3% until you Strike Critically, then the bonus resets.

ELECTROCUTION [3/3]

Enemies will deal 15% less damage for 5 seconds after getting struck with a Critical Strike from a Shock Skill.

CONVULSIONS [3/3]

Lucky Hits with Shock Skills have a 9% Chance to Stun for 3 seconds.

 

Key Passive

 

OVERFLOWING ENERGY

Crackling Energy hits an additional enemy, and each time it hits one, your Shock Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 0.1 second or a quarter of a second against elites.

 

Items

Here's the stat priority list. Its BiS Boots and Chest are Unique so we'll skip those. Seek primarily Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, Crit Damage, and Lucky Hit Chance. CDR is not as important, but still very useful. To enhance your durability, get Max Life, DMG reduction, and Armor. Your enemies will be often Stunned, Immoblizied, and should be always Vulnerable and Burning. Most of the time you'll battle them at a close distance.

  1. Main Hand - % Vuln DMG → % Crit DMG → Lucky Hit Chance → % Lightning Crit DMG → % Crit Chance
  2. Off-Hand - % CDR → % DMG Reduction from Burning → % Crit Chance
  3. Helm - % CDR → % Basic Skill Attack Speed → Lucky Hit Chance with Barrier → % Max Life
  4. Gloves - Attack Speed → % Crit Chance → % Crit DMG → Lucky Hit Chance → All stats
  5. Pants - Rank to Ball Lightning → % DMG Reduction → % Max Life
  6. Amulet - % CDR → % DMG → % Max Life → % DMG Reduction
  7. Rings - % Vuln DMG → % Crit Chance → % Crit DMG → Lucky Hit Chance → % DMG to Burning

In the Sockets use Emerald Gem in a Weapon slot for Critical Strike Damage against Vulnerable enemies. Use a Diamond in your Armor for a better Barrier Generation, or a Ruby for more Max Life. For the Jewelry, choose a Diamond too for extra Resistance of all kinds, or a Skull for Armor.

RECOMMENDED UNIQUE ITEMS

Harlequin Crest (Helm) - It's overall extremely good. You can pick it for extra Armor, Maximum Life, CDR, Resource Generation, +20 to All Stats, Damage Reduction, and +4 Ranks to all Skills.

Harlequin Crest

+Maximum Life

+Cooldown Reduction

+Crafting Material Find

+All Stats

+Gain [10.0 - 20.0%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +4 Ranks to all Skills.

Raiment of the Infinite (Chest) - We would recommend this Chest Armor. The build benefit from having an extra Stun source because of the Glinting Arc Lash. It increases clear speed too.

+Intelligence

+Damage to Close Enemies

+Damage to Stunned Enemies

+Ranks to Glass Cannon

+After using Teleport, Close enemies are Pulled to you and Stunned for [2 - 3] seconds, but Teleport's Cooldown is increased by 20%

Esu's Heirloom (Boots) - With enough Movement Speed these Boots become the best option due to the extra Crit Chance. Other stats present here are moderately beneficial.

+Dodge Chance while Evading

+Movement Speed

+Movement Speed for X seconds on Elite Kill

+Shrine Buff duration

+Reduced duration of enemy Slow

+Your Critical Strike Chance is increased by [15 - 25%] of your Movement Speed bonus.

CODEX OF POWER
Legendary Aspects

Optional Aspects

  1. Aspect of Control makes you deal up to 40% more Damage to Frozen, Stunned, or Immoblized enemies.
  2. Aspect of Might grants you a 20% Damage Reduction for a few seconds after using Arc Lash.
  3. Aspect of Fortune increases your Lucky Hit Chance by up to 20% while you have Barrier active, which is sourced mainly from Protection Passive, Ice Armor, and an Icefall Legendary node.
  4. Storm Swell Aspect increases your Damage to Vulnerable enemies while you have Barrier active.
  5. Conceited Aspect increases your damage while you have a Barrier active.
  6. Aspect of Fortune gets you an extra 10 to 20% increased Lucky Hit Chance if you have a Barrier active.
  7. Aspect of Protector will get you an additional Barrier lasting 10 seconds when you Hit an Elite enemy. It can be triggered only once every 30 seconds.
  8. Rapid Aspect Increases Basic Skill's Attack Speed.
  9. Accelerating Aspect once more increases your Attack Speed, by 5 seconds after hitting an enemy Critically with Charged Bolt.
  10. Everliving Aspect makes you take up to 25% less damage from CC'd or Vulnerable enemies.

Paragon

1st Board - Starting Board

Nodes - Purchase Dexterity for the Control Glyph's bonus.

Glyphs - Use Control Glyph to deal increased damage to CC'd targets, even more to Frozen and Stunned ones.

2nd Board - Ceaseless Conduit Board

Nodes - Pick Dexterity around the Glyph and the Legendary node for Crackling Energy's unique bonuses.

Glyphs - Exploit Glyph makes you deal increased damage to Vulnerable targets. It increases your damage by 1% for 6 seconds each time you hit a Vulnerable enemy, it stacks up to 6%.

3rd Board - Enchantment Master Board

Nodes - Get the Legendary node for increased damage and utility.

Glyphs - Electrocute fits here perfectly. Lightning Damage has a +5% chance to Strike Critically enemies that are Stunned, Frozen, or Immobilized.

4th Board - Icefall Board

Nodes - Allocate all Rare nodes around the Glyph socket. Icefall Legendary node is an excellent Barrier source if you manage to kill enemies Frozen by Frost Nova.

Glyphs - Reinforced get you an additional 10% Damage Reduction if you have a Barrier active.

5th Board - Burning Instinct Board

Nodes - Purchase Dexterity in the area around the Glyph. Here you should purchase Rare nodes such as Smoldering Embers, Cinders, Kindling, and Keeper of Flames.

Glyphs - Get the Destruction Glyph so that your Critical Strikes will increase the damage taken by the enemy for 10 seconds - this effect stacks up to x12%.

 

END NOTE

This is the beta version of our Unstable Currents Sorcerer Build for Diablo 4. The game has just launched so we expect all of the Guides will require constant updates when we get to test all the builds properly. Make sure to check out the Guides regularly to keep track of all the changes!

If you have any Build requests, please post them in the Comments section below. We will be happy to cover your most requested builds in the future! Also, we hope that you have found this guide useful and informative. Also, we will be happy to receive constructive criticism that will help us improve our future work, so don't hesitate to give us your feedback. 

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment 

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