It is widely accepted by the Diablo 4 community that the Sorcerer is considered one of, if not the weakest of the the five classes. Any Google search for “worst Diablo 4 class” features tons of results from other websites that agree, and even the Diablo 4 devs themselves have finally realized that Sorcerers need buffs.
During their July 28 Campfire Chat stream, the directors and class designers sat together and said that a huge focus for the upcoming Patch 1.1.1 was making both the Sorcerer and the Barbarian more fun and effective. For the Sorcerer in particular, that means less “harsh” balancing of their abilities and power, and a focus on late-game survivability.
Patch 1.1.1 will see major changes to Sorcerer skills, passive, Legendary Aspects, Paragon Board, and Unique items.
Sorcerer skill changes in Diablo 4 (Patch 1.1.1)
Three Sorcerer skills are getting buffs in Patch 1.1.1.
Fire Bolt
- Flickering Fire Bolt will generate two Mana when hitting an enemy, rather than just when hitting a burning enemy.
Fireball
- Enhanced Fireball will increase Fireball radius by 50 percent.
- Destructive Fireball will increase Fireball’s critical strike damage by 20 percent, and that bonus is increased to 30 percent if Fireball strikes three or more enemies.
Chain Lighting
- Greater Chain Lightning will result in each time Chain Lightning bounces, its next hit deals five percent increased damage.
- Destructive Chain Lighting causes chance to form Crackling Energy during Chain Lightning, increased from 25 to 30 percent.
Sorcerer passive changes in Diablo 4 (Patch 1.1.1)
Vyr’s Mastery
- Damage bonus increased from 10 to 15 percent.
Esu’s Ferocity
- Both bonuses of Esu’s Ferocity are also granted for three seconds when hitting a Boss with a critical strike.
Combustion
- Your burning effects deal x20 percent increased damage, plus an additional two-times increased damage per unique source of burning you have applies to the enemy.
Sorcerer Paragon changes in Diablo 4 (Patch 1.1.1)
| Upgrade | Change |
|---|---|
| Searing Heat Legendary Node | Casting Fireball or Meteor increases your critical strike chance by five percent for five seconds, up to 15 percent. |
| Ceaseless Conduit Legendary Node | Increase Crackling Energy’s damage from two to three percent per 20 Intelligence the player has. |
| Reinforce Rare Glyph | Damage reduction increased from 10 to 15 percent. |
| Territorial Rare Glyph | Damage reduction increased from 10 to 15 percent. |
| Warding Rare Glyph | Damage reduction increased from 13 to 25 percent. |
| Keeper of Flames Rare Node | Damage reduction increased from four to five percent. Bonus damage reduction increased from four to five percent. |
| Smoldering Embers Rare Node | Damage reduction from burning enemies increased from four to five percent. Bonus damage reduction from burning enemies increased from four to five percent. |
| Guarded Rare Node | Damage reduction from Vulnerable enemies increased from four to five percent. Bonus damage reduction from Vulnerable enemies increased from four to five percent. |
| Oppressive Rare Node | Damage reduction from Vulnerable enemies increased from four to five percent. |
| Lightning Resilience Rare Node | Maximum Life bonus increased from four to six percent. |
| Restorative Rare Node | Maximum Life bonus increased from four to six percent. |
Sorcerer Legendary aspect changes in Diablo 4 (Patch 1.1.1)
A new Legendary aspect will be added for Sorcerers, the Mage-Lord’s Aspect. This aspect causes the Vyr’s Mastery passive’s damage reduction to be increased by 20-30 percent for each close enemy, up to 60-90 percent.
Here are all the changes coming to Sorcerer Legendary aspects in Patch 1.1.1.
| Aspect | Change |
|---|---|
| Serpentine Aspect | You may have one additional Hydra active, and Hydra’s duration is increased by 14 to 24 percent. This now also effects Hydra’s Enhancement effect. |
| Aspect of Conflagration | Bonus burning damage increased from 20-30 percent to 20-40 percent. |
| Aspect of Engulfing Flames | Bonus burning damage increased from 30-40 percent to 60-80 percent. |
| Aspect of Three Curses | Increase the critical strike damage of Meteor and Fireball by 20-40 percent. Double this bonus against healthy enemies. |
| Flamewalker’s Aspect | Bonus movement speed duration increased from four to six seconds. |
| Gravitational Aspect | Ball Lightning orbits around you and deals 15-25 percent increased damage. |
| Recharging Aspect | Each time Chain Lightning bounces, you gain two to three Mana. |
| Aspect of Unbroken Tether | Bonus Chain Lightning bounces increased from two to four. |
| Charged Aspect | Bonus movement speed duration increased from four to eight seconds. |
| Aspect of the Bounding Conduit | Bonus burning damage increased from 20-25 percent to 25-30 percent. |
| Aspect of Frozen Orbit | Damage increased from 20-30 percent to 30-40 percent. |
| Storm Swell Aspect | Bonus damage increased from 11-20 percent to 21-30 percent. |
| Snowveiled Aspect | Unstoppable duration increased from two to three seconds to three to five seconds. Also grants 10 percent bonus Armor for three to five seconds. |
| Incendiary Aspect | Lucky Hit: Damage from your Pyromancy skills has up to a 12-17 percent chance to restore 10 Mana. |
| Snowguard’s Aspect | While within your own Blizzard and for two seconds after leaving it, you will take 20 to 25 percent less damage. |
| Aspect of Concentration | Mana regeneration increased from 20-30 percent to 40-50 percent. Duration requirement to gain its benefit reduced from three to two seconds. |
Sorcerer’s Unique item changes in Diablo 4 (Patch 1.1.1)
The Gloves of the Illuminator, a Unique item for Sorcerers, is getting a number of changes and buffs for Patch 1.1.1.
- Damage penalty reduced from 65-55 percent to 45-35 percent.
- Damage to Stunned affix replaced with Lucky Hit: Chance to Restore Resource.
- Reduced the distance offset per bounce range from three to 2.5, which “should make it easier to hit close enemies with Fireball.”
