Tag: Harlequin

Starfall 2.0 Diablo IV Sorcerer Build [RDY-4-Launch]

Starfall 2.0 Sorcerer BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]

(make the Stars fall to scorch the earth, setting your enemies ablaze, while Hydras help finish them off)

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Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).

Diablo IV‘s Launch is getting closer and it’s time to make some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I’ also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Sorcerer Class called Starfall 2.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively i’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)

This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.

Video Version:

Skill Trees

Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Starfall 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Minor Destruction / Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0 )

  • (active) Fire Bolt – Hurl a flaming bolt, dealing 10.00% (X – ?) damage and Burning for 40.00% (X-?) over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Damage: Fire ; Tags: Basic, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Direct damage from Skills applies up to an additional 23% (X – ?) Burning damage over 8 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fire Bolt – Fire Bolt pierces Burning enemies
    • (2nd upgrade) Flickering Fire Bolt – Fire Bolt generates 2 Mana when hitting a Burning enemy.

Major Destruction / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 ) Remove Fireball after you get Meteor

  • (active – only use this until Meteor unlocks) Fireball – Hurl an exploding ball of fire, dealing 60% (X- ?) damage to surrounding enemies. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Core, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball for 50% of its damage.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Fireball – Fireball’s radius is increased based on distance traveled, up to 50%.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Greater Fireball – Fireball deals 10% of the Burning damage you’ve applied to enemies as additional direct damage.
  • (passive) Devastation – Your Maximum Mana is increased by 3/6/9.
    • (upgrade) Elemental Dominance – Your Core Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage when case above 50 Mana
  • (passive) did not pick any other Core passives to save points

Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6 )

  • (active) Teleport – Transform into lightning becoming Unstoppable and surging to the target location dealing 25% (X -?) damage around you upon arrival. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Cooldown: 11 Damage: Lightning ; Tags: Defensive, Shock
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Teleport – Teleport’s cooldown is decreased by 0.5 seconds per enemy hit, up to 3 seconds.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Teleport – After Teleporting, you gain 30% Damage Reduction for 5 seconds.
  • (active) Flame Shield – Engulf yourself in flames for 2 seconds, Burning nearby enemies for 23% (X) damage per second. While Flame Shield is active, you are Immune. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 20 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Defensive, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage. Can only happen once every 120 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Flame Shield – Flame Shield grants 25% Movement Speed while active.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Shimmering Flame Shield – Flame Shield Heals you for 50% of your missing Life.
  • (passive) Elemental Attunement – Elemental Critical Strikes have a 5%/10%/15% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills. Can only happen once every 10 seconds.
  • (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points

Conjuration Skills (Required Points: 11 )

  • (active) Hydra – Summon a 3 headed hydra for 12 seconds. Each head spits fire at a nearby enemy, dealing 30% (X – ?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Mana Cost: 20 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Conjuration, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect After spending 300 Mana, a 5-headed Hydra spawns for 5 seconds.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hydra – While Healthy, your casts of Hydra gain 1 additional head.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Invoked Hydra – After you Critically Strike, your Hydras gain +30% Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds.
  • (passive – i only put 1 point here to unlock the next passives) Align the Elements – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage reduction against Elites for each second you don’t take damage from any of these sources, up to 50%.  
    • (1st upgrade) Mana Shield – did NOT take this one
    • (2nd upgrade – TOP TIER PASSIVE & MUST HAVE) Protection – Using a cooldown grants 10%/20%/30% of your maximum Life as a Barrier for 5 seconds.
  • (passive) Precision Magic – Your Lucky Hit Effect Chance is increased by up to 5%/10%/15%.
  • (passive) did not pick any more Conjuration passives to save points

Mastery Skills (Required Points: 16 )

  • (active) Meteor – Summon a meteor that strikes the target location, dealing 50% (X – ?) damage and Burning the ground for 35% (X) damage over 3 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 40% Mana Cost: 40 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Mastery, Pyromancy Enchantment Effect Lucky Hit: 3% (pre-launch patch: this % will be increased) chance for a Meteor to fall on enemies.
    • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Meteor – If Meteor hits 3 or more enemies, there is a 30% chance an additional Meteor falls on the same location.
    • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Mage’s Meteor – Meteor falls 30% faster.
  • (passive) Inner Flames – Your Pyromancy Skills deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade) Crippling Flames – Lucky Hit: Your Pyromancy Skills have a 5%/10%/15% chance to Immobilize enemies for 2 seconds. This chance is doubled while you are Healthy.
    • (upgrade) Devouring Blaze – You deal 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage against Burning enemies. If they are also Immobilized, this bonus is increased to 25%/50%/75% (multiplicative).
  • (passive) Ice Veil – Your Barriers have a +5%/+10%/+15% increased duration. (Barriers absorb damage from all sources up to a specified amount.)
    • (upgrade) Snap Freeze – did NOT take this one
    • (upgrade) Cold front – did NOT take this one

Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23 )

  • (active) Inferno – Summon a fiery serpent that continually constricts the target area, Burning enemies for 295% damage over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 38% Cooldown: 45 Damage: Fire ; Tags: Ultimate, Pyromancy
    • (1st upgrade) Prime Inferno – Inferno repeatedly Pulls enemies to its center.
    • (2nd upgrade) Supreme Inferno – While Inferno is active, your Pyromancy Skills cost no Mana.
  • (passive) Fiery Surge – Killing a Burning enemy increases your Mana Regeneration by +10%/+20%/+30% for 3 seconds.
    • (upgrade – only put 2 point into this one) Soulfire – After standing still for 1.5 seconds, your Pyromancy Skills cost 5%/10%/15% less Mana.
    • (upgrade – did NOT take to save points) Endless Pyre – You deal increased Burning damage to enemies for each second they remain Burning, up to 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) after 5 seconds.
    • (upgrade) Warmth – Every 1 second, you Heal for 0.3%/0.6%/0.9% of your Maximum Life for each Nearby Burning enemy. Healing increased to 0.6%/1.2%/1.8% from Bosses.

Specializations (Required Points: 33 )

  • (passive) Esu’s Ferocity – Your Fire Critical Strike Damage is increased by 25% (multiplicative) against enemies above 50% Life. Your Fire Critical Strike Chance is increased by +5% against enemies below 50% Life. Killing an enemy with a Critical Strike grants both bonuses against all enemies for 3 seconds.

Enchantment (Class Mechanic):

I’d recommend mix-and matching two of the following Enchantments (you’ll need at least 1 point invested or from gear in the skills):

  • Obvious Synergies
    • Meteor – Lucky Hit: 3% chance for a Meteor to fall on enemies. (my pick)
    • Hydra – After spending 300 mana, a 5-headed Hydra appears for 5 seconds. (my pick)
    • Flame Shield – Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage, Can only happen once every 120 Seconds.
    • Fire Bolt – Direct Damage from Skills applies up to an additional 99 burning damage over 8 seconds.
  • Still good to try
    • Frost Nova – Lucky Hit: Your Conjuration Skills have a 30% chance to unleash a Frost Nova when hitting enemies. (you’ll need to put at least 1 point into this as it’s not part of the build)
    • Frozen Orb – Whenever you cast a non-basic skill, you have a 20% chance to launch a Frozen Orb at a nearby enemy.

Unique Item

In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:

Harlequin Crest (Helm)

Gain [5-8%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +2 Ranks to all Skills.

[0.245 – 0.455] Maximum Life
X% Cooldown Reduction
+[42 – 70]% Crafting Material Drop Rate
[14 – 28] All Stats

“This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king’s entire lineage.” – The Fall of House Aston

Sockets & Gems

Full Diamonds is a good fit for most Sorc builds, including this one, and I’d recommend doing this. Alternatively, here’s the full list I’d recommend for Weps: Diamond, Skull, Saphire, Amethyst . For Armor: Diamond or Skull (or in rare cases even Ruby). For Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.

XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements

+5%/+5%/5 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor

+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance

+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

XYZ Amethyst (Requires Level XY)

• Weapon: +N% Damage Over Time
• Armor: N% Damage Taken Over Time Reduction
• Jewelry: N% Shadow Resistance

+5%/+8.2%/+14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)

Legendary Aspects / Powers

I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Starfall 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

  • Helm: *Aspect of The Protector Until The Unique goes here (see note below)
  • Amulet: Aspect of Three Curses
  • Chest: Exploiter’s Aspect
  • Pants: Aspect of The Unwavering
  • Gloves: Elementalist’s Aspect
  • Boots: Aspect of Fortune
  • Ring 1: Aspect of Shattered Stars
  • Ring 2: Incendiary Aspect
  • 1H Weapon: Aspect of Ancient Flame
  • Off-hand: Aspect of Armageddon
  • 2-H Weapon (if you decide to use one): Aspect of Ancient Flame
NOTE: Use Aspect of the Protector or another Defensive / Utility aspect to your liking as a "filler" until the Harlequin Crest (a.k.a. Shako) Unique Helm drops.

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes i’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 90 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown). The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted 36 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority

Bonus to All Damage
Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Critical Strike Chance
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage with Mastery Skills
Lucky Hit Chance
Fire Damage Bonus
Fire Damage Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage Bonus
Resistance to All Elements
Cooldown Reduction
Mastery Skill Damage
+ % Damage to Elites
+ % Fire Damage to Elites
Damage Upon Killing an Elite
+ % Critical Chance / Crit Damage with Fire Damage Against Elites
Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
+ % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite
Damage Reduction from Elites
Damage to Burning Enemies with Mastery Skills
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Close Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Burning Enemies
Crit Chance / Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
Damage while Healthy
Damage to Burning Enemies
Damage to Close Enemies
Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
High Priority
Damage vs Injured Enemies
Damage vs Healthy Enemies
Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls)
Energy Generation / Regeneration/ On Kill
Movement Speed
Attack Speed
Intelligence
Resource Cost Reduction
Burning Damage
Low Priority

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

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This concludes the Starfall 2.0 Sorcerer Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):

PC (Battle.Net)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website