The Sorcerer received a lot of love in Season 6 of Diablo 4, with the Chain Lightning Sorcerer build getting the best complimentary legendary loot.
Since the Sorcerer is the cream of the crop this season, you’d better nail the build right from the get-go. We’ll show you how to turn your Sorcerer into an endgame beast, covering the best skills, items, Aspects, and Glyphs to snag.
The Chain Lightning Sorcerer build turns your character into a lightning-fueled whirlwind, zapping through mobs with reckless abandon. And, for all you PvP enthusiasts, we’ll give you the lowdown on whether the Chain Lightning Sorcerer is actually worth your time.
Here’s the best Chain Lightning build for both PvP and PvE in Diablo 4 Season 6, as well as how to best level a Sorcerer while focusing on the skill.
Best Chain Lightning Skills
Once you hit endgame in Season 6, you can finally respec into the endgame Chain Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4.
First things first, it’s time to overhaul your active and passive skills. With those 50 skill points and any Renown points you’ve racked up, you’ll want to reallocate them strategically to the key skills listed below.
Active Skills
| Active Skill | Upgrades | Points allocated |
|---|---|---|
| Fire Bolt | – | 2 |
| Charged Bolts | Enhanced, Destructive | 1 |
| Chain Lightning | Enhanced, Greater | 5 |
| Flame Shield | – | 1 |
| Teleport | Enhanced, Shimmering | 5 |
| Ice Armor | Enhanced, Shimmering | 1 |
| Ice Blades | Enhanced, Summoned | 1 |
| Familiar | Enhanced Familiar | 1 |
| Lightning Spear | Enhanced, Invoked | 1 |
| Unstable Currents | Prime | 5 |
Passive Skills
| Passive Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Elemental Dominance | 3 |
| Glass Cannon | 3 |
| Elemental Attunement | 1 |
| Align the Elements | 3 |
| Mana Shield | 3 |
| Protection | 3 |
| Conjuration Mastery | 3 |
| Inner Flames | 1 |
| Devouring Blaze | 3 |
| Permafrost | 1 |
| Hoarfrost | 3 |
| Evocation | 3 |
| Elemental Synergies | 3 |
| Static Discharge | 3 |
| Invigorating Conduit | 3 |
| Coursing Currents | 1 |
| Electrocution | 3 |
| Enlightenment | 1 |
The Chain Lightning Sorcerer has a fireworks display every time you zap something. This endgame build is one of the flashiest in the game, frying monsters with a relentless storm of electricity.
It rips through world events and Helltides like they’re nothing, but it’s no slouch in Nightmare Dungeons, either. Chain Lightning, when built properly, is a great all-rounder build.
Chain Lightning and Unstable Currents are your go-to damage dealers here. In the late game, Axial Conduit supercharges Chain Lightning but eats through mana. Luckily, the build has more tricks up its sleeve to handle the mana drain.
Best Chain Lightning Enchantment setup
These are the best enchantments for the endgame Chain Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4:
- Enchantment Slot 1: Chain Lightning
- Enchantment Slot 2: Ice Blades
- Teleport
- Ice Armor or Flame Shield
- Chain Lightning
- Ice Blades
- Unstable Currents
- Destruction
- Flamefeeder
- Exploit
- Elementalist
- Tactician
- Unleash
- Charged
- Reinforced
- Destruction
- Flamefeeder
- Exploit
- Elementalist
- Tactician
- Unleash
- Charged
Best Chain Lightning rotation
The best rotation for the Chain Lightning Sorcerer build is as follows:
Start with Teleport to zip around and dodge trouble and cleanse any pesky status effects. Next, beef up your defenses with Ice Armor for a damage-absorbing Barrier and Flame Shield for an extra shield and to shake off debuffs.
Then, let Chain Lightning do its thing, zapping foes left and right. Toss in Ice Blades to shave off cooldowns and make your other skills come off cooldown faster.
Finally, unleash Unstable Currents to supercharge your lightning spells. Just keep an eye on your mana and cooldowns, and adjust as needed.
Best Chain Lightning Aspects
You’ve now got a treasure trove of Legendary Aspects to augment your Chain Lightning Sorcerer build in Diablo 4 and make your primary skills even more ridiculous. Sure, some of them are old favorites from your leveling days, but now you get to play with a bunch of new toys.
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| Aspect | Power | Dungeon | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recharging Aspect | Regain mana each time Chain Lightning bounces | Zenith | Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of Control | Deal more damage to Frozen enemies | Sunken Library | Kehjistan |
| Prodigy’s Aspect | Using a Cooldown restores Mana | Witchwater | Hawezar |
| Unbroken Tether | Gives Chain Lightning 5 additional chances to chain | – | Purveyor of Curiosities |
| Disobedience | Boosts armor based on the damage you deal | Halls of the Damned | Kehjistan |
| Conceited | Deals more damage while you have a barrier active. | – | Purveyor of Curiosities |
Remember, you can also strip these Aspects from their original item and apply them to an item of your choosing.
Best Paragon Board Glyphs
At level 50, say goodbye to skill points and hello to Paragon points. This system is a whole different beast, letting you pick upgrades from various boards with their own themes and buffs.
Every path you take is unique, but the upside is that by targeting specific Glyphs on the Paragon Board, you can tailor your Chain Lightning Sorcerer build exactly how you want it.
Once you hit Paragon Level 15, start targeting these Glyphs. You’ll unlock more as you rack up Paragon points, but focusing on these specific Glyphs in this order will keep your Chain Lightning Sorcerer build on the straight and narrow path to maximum power.
Level 15
Level 21
Best Mercenaries
Subo and Raheir are ideal mercenaries for a Chain Lightning Sorcerer due to their synergy and support. Subo’s passive maphack reveals the map, making exploration smoother and safer – an invaluable asset that’s hard to go without once tried.
Additionally, his Opening Fire skill boosts your overall damage output, complementing Chain Lightning’s rapid attacks. Raheir, with his Bastion skill set to trigger when you’re injured, offers essential damage reduction in critical moments.
Best Chain Lightning item build
| Item | Socket | Item type | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heir of Perdition | TamWat | Helm | Give in to hatred and earn Lilith’s Favor, increasing your damage dealt by 60%. |
| Mage Lord’s Runic Mail | 2 Rubies | Chest Armor | Vyr’s Mastery also grants damage reduction. |
| Fists of Fate | – | Gloves | Attacks deal 1-300% more damage. |
| Axial Conduit | XolOhm | Pants | Chain Lightning zaps between you and up to 3 enemies. It costs 6 Mana each time it hits, and after it’s used up 66 Mana, it detonates, dealing 23,058 lightning damage. |
| Runic Cleats of the Orange Herald | – | Boots | Reduces the cooldown of your Ultimate. |
| Obsidian Blade of Shredding Blades | Emerald for critical damage | Weapon | Ice Blades have an increased chance to apply Vulnerable. |
| Storm Swell Amulet | Skull | Amulet | Deal increase damage to Vulnerable enemies if you have barrier. |
| Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop | Skull | Ring | Gain increase damage for each type of Elemental damage you deal. |
| Recharging Circle | Skull | Ring | Get 3 Mana each time Chain Lightning bounces. |
| Conceited Serpent Stone | Sapphire | Focus | Deal 25% more damage if you have a barrier. |
Is Chain Lightning good for PvP in Diablo 4 Season 6?
The same build you’re using for the endgame can help you clear any PvP encounter as a Chain Lightning Sorcerer in Diablo 4.
However, to fully unleash the Sorcerer’s power, you must grab the Axial Conduit. This piece of gear lets you unleash up to nine Chain Lightnings in one go.
With this kind of burst potential, you could practically one-shot opponents – just make sure your mana pool is big enough to keep up, aiming for at least 175 mana. Because, you know, zapping people into oblivion is thirsty work.
Survivability is your next concern in any PvP encounter. Flame Shield and Ice Armor are your best friends here, providing you with barriers and immunity to shrug off enemy attacks while you prep for your next lightning strike.
Now that you know how to craft this top-tier Necromancer build, make sure to check out our guides for the Druid, Sorcerer, Rogue, Barbarian, and Spirtiborn. There’s also our Diablo 4 Class tier list so you can see where this build fits in the current meta.
