Diablo 4 Chain Lightning Sorcerer Endgame Build

Even during the beta of Diablo 4, one of the most popular schools of magic for the Sorcerer class is the Storm skills. It’s hard to deny that the damage, Stun, and Crackling Energy you get from Storm skills are useful on all fronts. Even after all of the nerfs and buffs for the class, builds centered on Storm skills are still very popular.

It’s been a while but we think it’s time to create a Diablo 4 endgame build focused on one of the fan-favorite spells of the class - Chain Lightning. With this build, you’re literally going to shock all of Sanctuary and the forces of Lilith with your spells.

The Lightning Rod Build

Aside from being very effective,  this build for the Sorcerer in Diablo 4 is known for being very stylish. All of Sanctuary will stand in awe as a flurry of lightning shoots out of your weapons to strike every enemy on the field. It will focus mainly on dealing damage with Chain Lightning.

As all Diablo 4 players know, Chain Lightning is favorable in many situations. Be it single-target fights or mobs on the field, this is an effective skill to use. With the right build, Chain Lightning can carry you through all of what Diablo 4 Season 1 has to offer and that’s the build we’re going to teach you today. 

To begin with, let’s talk about the Caged Hearts you’ll need for this build first.

Caged Hearts

For this build, make sure to farm for these Caged Hearts.

1. Caged Heart of the Barber

Effect: Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within [2.0 - 4.0] seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 11%[x] per second.

Although Chain Lightning is already good enough to clear out crowds and dense fields, you’re still going to want to get Caged Heart of the Barber for even more firepower. With this and the rest of your Skills, you can clear out trash mobs in just a few seconds so you don’t have to worry about them anymore.

2. Caged Heart of Revenge

Effect: [10.0 - 20.0]% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge, or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250%[x] and explodes, dealing up to [200 - 42,340] Fire damage to nearby enemies.

This gives you a bit of defensive prowess to cover for the vulnerabilities of the Sorcerer. Caged Heart of Revenge is an excellent choice for most glass cannon builds. While the damage suppression is good enough already, the extra burst and Fire damage this Caged Heart creates makes the build even more deadly.

3. Caged Heart of Tempting Fate

Effect: You gain [45 - 65]%[+] Critical Strike Damage but your Non-Critical Strikes deal [20 - 25]%[x] less damage.

Chain Lightning hits multiple times so there are a lot of opportunities to trigger Critical Strike Damage. Even with the compromise of Tempting Fate, you’re still getting a good bonus because of the attack speed that this entire kit brings to the table. Overall, you shouldn’t worry too much about Tempting Fate’s downside.

Enchantment Slots

1. Fireball

Effect: When you kill an enemy, they explode in a Fireball and inflict damage to nearby enemies.

Chain Lightning is already a good AoE spell on its own. However, if you want more crowd-clearing capabilities and even more firepower, you’re going to want to use Fireball as an Enchantment. This gives you even more opportunities to destroy huge hordes in an instant.

2. Chain Lightning

Effect: Chain Lightning forms automatically, after spending 100 Mana.

Being able to passively cast Chain Lightning is a good idea. Considering the fact that this build is very heavy on Mana, you’re going to want to get this as an Enchantment as it will proc very regularly. That’s an extra Chain Lightning under your name and it doesn’t come with a cooldown or Mana cost.

Skill Point Allocation

1. Arc Lash - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Arc Lash, Glinting Arc Lash

For this build, we’re going to use Arc Lash as a Basic Skill. Although its range is short, Arc Lash is an excellent choice because it has great attack speed for Mana generation, and it also has a guaranteed Stun for every 10th strike. Remember that you don’t need to hit enemies to proc the Stun. Make sure to jump into combat with your Arc Lash on its 9th stack so the first hit will be a Stun.

2. Fireball - 1 Skill Point

Fireball is only necessary for the Enchantment it has.

3. Chain Lightning - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Charged Bolts, Greater Chain Lightning

This is the heart and soul of this build. Chain Lightning is a great Core Skill that can attack multiple enemies in a single strike. The Greater Chain Lightning upgrade makes this skill deal even more damage every time it jumps to an enemy. Spamming this and having the skill as one of your Enchantments means you can deal an insane amount of damage.

4. Devastation - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to gain access to the next passive. Don’t worry too much about increasing your Maximum Mana as you can make up for it with Mana generation instead.

5. Elemental Dominance - 3 Skill Points

Elemental Dominance can greatly increase the damage of Chain Lightning as long as you cast it with more than half of your Mana. This makes your initial cast of Chain Lightning very dangerous for the enemies. What’s great is that you’ll have a ton of chances to regenerate your Mana so you can proc Elemental Dominance even more.

6. Flame Shield - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Flame Shield, Shimmering Flame Shield

This makes you invulnerable to crowd control while the Skill is active. It’s a great saving grace when you’re deep inside hordes and the enemies surrounding you can deal crowd control effects. If you have the Aspect of Binding Embers, you can even immobilize every enemy you hit.

7. Teleport - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Teleport, Shimmering Teleport

Most builds make Teleport as a primary means of escape but for this one, you’ll need to use Teleport as a main engagement tool. It makes you Unstoppable on cast and it can Stun enemies around you too. This opens up many opportunities to spam Chain Lightning.

8. Ice Armor - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Ice Armor, Shimmering Ice Armor

Ice Armor is going to be a great go-to move when you need extra survivability with the help of a Barrier. You can also use Ice Armor to generate Mana when needed.

9. Frost Nova - 7 Skill Points

Upgrades: Enhanced Frost Nova, Mystical Frost Nova

This is going to be another heart of this build. Frost Nova is an amazing Frost Skill that can Freeze and Chill enemies in an area around you. Use it in conjunction with Teleport and you’ve got a deadly combo to initiate fights with.

10. Glass Cannon - 3 Skill Points

The Sorcerer is a glass cannon class at its core. Better make the most out of the Sorcerer’s strength and weakness with the help of this passive. Don’t worry too much about your health dwindling as you have a total of 4 Defensive Skills and the Caged Heart of Revenge to protect you.

11. Elemental Attunement - 1 Skill Points

Chain Lightning is great for Lucky Hit mechanics because it hits multiple times. Even just one level of Elemental Attunement can already help you a lot when it comes to cooldown management.

12. Align The Elements - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to get to the next set of passive abilities.

13. Mana Shield - 3 Skill Points

The Chain Lightning Enchantment will give you an extra use of the Skill every time you spend 100 Mana. With the offensive side covered, it’s now time to cover you defensively when using 100 Mana and that duty goes to Mana Shield.

14. Protection - 3 Skill Points

You can trigger Lucky Hit mechanics a lot of times so Elemental Attunement will help you recover your skills at a faster rate. With Protection, you get an amazing bonus whenever you trigger a cooldown.

15. Inner Flames - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to gain access to the next passive skill.

16. Devouring Blaze - 3 Skill Points

This passive increases your Critical Strike Chance significantly. Don’t worry too much about your source of Burn as that’s covered by Flame Shield, the Fireball Enchantment, and Caged Heart of Revenge.

17. Unstable Currents - 3 Skill Points

Upgrades: Prime Unstable Currents, Supreme Unstable Currents

Every Storm Skill-centered build works wonders with Unstable Currents. This Ultimate Skill guarantees a ton of damage whenever you trigger it. With this, you can deal more hits using Arc Lash as well.

18. Permafrost - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to gain access to the next passive.

19. Hoarfrost - 3 Skill Points

With Frost Nova and Ice Shield, you have a lot of chances to Freeze and Chill enemies on the field. The extra damage bonus you get from this passive makes it worthwhile to get even if you’re going to be focused on Storm Skills only.

20. Coursing Currents - 1 Skill Point

Only needed to gain access to the next passive. Still, it’s a great passive that gives you more Critical Strike bonuses.

21. Electrocution - 3 Skill Points

This passive can greatly reduce any incoming damage to you as long as you make a Critical Strike. This build offers a ton of opportunities for that so expect this passive to trigger regularly.

22. Vyr’s Mastery -1 Skill Point

There’s no better Key Passive for this build than Vyr’s Mastery. It offers defensive and offensive bonuses for this build but most importantly, it makes your Storm Skills deadlier.

Gameplay

As we’ve said, you’re going to use Chain Lightning as a primary damaging spell with this build. Most of the time, you’ll need to use Teleport to initiate fights with the enemy. The technique is to use Teleport to get into the center of a huge mob and then cast Frost Nova to Freeze all nearby enemies. After that, begin spamming Chain Lightning.

When you’re deep into a tough boss or Elite fight, simply cast Unstable Currents. If the RNG Gods are in your favor, then you’ll be able to cast Chain Lightning again and again. Even if Unstable Currents don’t work in your favor, you can still expect a great deal of damage from it.

Both Ice Armor and Flame Shield are great for survivability but they each have their own purpose. Use Ice Armor if you want a quick barrier and a means to regenerate Mana. On the other hand, use Flame Shield if you want to get out of crowd control effects or if you’re in dire need of healing.

Of course, you can also use Teleport as a means of escape when needed. With this build, the key is to get enemies to get as close to each other as possible so that you can make Chain Lightning jump again and again between all of them. Caged Heart of Revenge and the Fireball Enchantment will make dealing with huge mobs a lot easier.

Aspects

To get the most out of this build, get these Aspects from Codex of Power rewards at the end of dungeons.

‍Recharging Aspect in Zenith (Fractured Peaks): Provides the best possible Mana sustain on this build.

‍Aspect of Disobedience in Halls of the Damned (Kehjistan): Essential for making you tanky.

‍Aspect of Control in Sunken Library (Kehjistan): Put this on your Amulet for maximum damage output.

• ‍Aspect of Efficiency in Domhainne Tunnels (Scosglen)

• ‍Aspect of Might in Dark Ravine (Dry Steppes)

• ‍Aspect of Retribution Abandoned Mineworks (Kehjistan)

• ‍Aspect of the Bounding Conduit in Komdor Temple (Dry Steppes)

• ‍Aspect of the Expectant in Underroot (Scosglen)

• ‍Elementalist's Aspect in Pallid Delve (Dry Steppes): Maximizes your Critical Strike Chance.

• ‍Ghostwalker Aspect in Broken Bulwark (Scosglen)

• ‍Snowveiled Aspect in Sarat's Lair (Scosglen)

• ‍Storm Swell Aspect in Onyx Hold (Dry Steppes)

Aside from these, you should also get the following Aspects.

1. ‍Accelerating Aspect

Effect: Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your attack speed by 15%-25% for 5 seconds.

Chain Lightning can proc Critical Strikes a number of times because of its nature sees it attack multiple times in a single cast. With that, you can start whipping away with Arc Lash to further deal damage to enemies or to stun them..

2. Frostblitz Aspect

Effect: Frost Nova gains an additional charge but cooldown per charge is increased by 30%-40%

Although the added cooldown per charge is significant, you’re still going to get two charges for Frost Nova which means that you can better manage this skill for offensive and defensive purposes.

If you have the time to farm even more, you should get the Rainment of the Infinite. This amazing Unique gear will pull in enemies nearby if you use Teleport. It will be way easier to use Chain Lightning to its fullest with this Unique gear.

It can be hard and frustrating to farm for specific gear, especially for Unique loot. If you want to make it easier, make sure to focus on doing Helltides and World Events. These give you the highest mob densities so the drops are better.

Electrify The Field

This amazing Sorcerer build for Diablo 4 can decimate huge mobs in an instant. Chain Lightning is a favorite of fans for many reasons and in our opinion, this build is going to be the most efficient when it comes to clearing the dense mobs of demons that plague Sanctuary.