I am very surprised that Blizzard nerfed Sorcerer so much in the 1.1 Patch. Despite that, I took advantage of some buffs in the patch and updated my favorite Thor build to perform decently in 1.1 and Season 1.
Key Nerfs For Sorcerer
Before diving into the build, I’d like to talk about a few key nerfs to Sorcerer in the 1.1 Patch.
From my testings, in general it feels like I can push 10-15 Tiers lower than before the patch and speed farm 5 Tiers lower than before because of around 30% Nerfed Damage, Cooldown and Survivability.
Also, the Aspect of Control is nerfed that it now applies to only one stack instead of 3 stacks to a stunned, Frozen and Immobilized Enemy, not just bosses.
Plus, the Devouring Blaze’s big nerf to Immobilized Enemy from 75% to 30% And for 6 ranks it is 150% to 60%.
So, it leads to a 77.9% damage nerf to the Nuke moment that the Nuke moment now deals roughly one fifth of the damage and is no longer viable.
Thor For 1.1
But my favorite Thor build is getting buffed in the 1.1 Patch because of the change on Destruction Glyph and Elemental Dominance that builds with a mix of Core and Mastery skills work better now.
I updated my Thor build and changed a few aspects, and was able to complete a Tier 71 Nightmare Dungeon and finish a Tier 54 Boss in 28 seconds.
It still has space to improve as I haven’t replaced my Weapon to Conceited, as I am out of High Value Conceited. But I want to showcase the good potentials of the build in Season 1 first while iterating on it.
Build Keys
Here are the gear and skills I used for this build:
Gears:
- Exploiter’s Aspect (Helm)
- Raiment of the Infinite (Chest Armor)
- Aspect of Control (Gloves)
- Aspect of Might (Pants)
- Aspect of Fortune (Boots)
- Conceited Aspect (Weapon)
- Aspect of Disobedience (Amulet)
- Elementalist’s Aspect (Ring 1)
- Edgemaster’s Aspect (Ring 2)
Gems:
- Sapphire
- Ruby
- Skull
Skills:
- Spark
- Chain Lightning
- Releport
- Frost Nova
- Lightning Spear
- Unstable Currents
Enchantments:
- Ball Lightning
- Fire Bolt
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Here are some keys to this build:
The first important thing is to use Aspect of Disobedience at my Amulet. This might sound weird given the noticeable nerf on the maximum value from 50% to 30%.
But it is much easier to keep max stacks now because of the reduced stack depreciation speed. Prior to the patch 1.1, I can hardly keep 100 stacks vs single enemy. If I get Crowd Controlled, I lose my stacks quickly that I will get one shot.
But after the patch, I can easily keep 60 stacks even with a single enemy and it takes much longer before the stack starts to depreciate, making it much more consistent in fights and between fights. And since Armor Stats on gears get nerfed a lot, putting Aspect of Disobedience on Amulet is extremely important for high survivability in the endgame.
Second, you may wonder, does using Aspect of Disobedience on Amulet downgrade a lot of my Damage? Not really. Because I am going to use Exploiter’s Aspect and Aspect of Fortune to further improve my damage.
As I have much more stun sources now with Lightning Spear instead of Flame Shield, Enemies can often get unstoppable. So, Exploiter’s Aspect gives another 40% damage boost to unstoppable enemies. Plus, the 20% increased Crowd Control Duration that staggers the boss faster.
Second, I am running Ball Lightning only at the Enchantment Position that the Lucky Hit Chance becomes very important in triggering it. So, Aspect of Fortune gives me more Ball Lightning, Crackling Energy and Mana Gears and Paragon Board.
Gears & Paragon Board
As for gears and Paragon Board, they are all the same as the Chain Lightning Nuke build.
Also Read: Diablo 4 Chain Lightning Nuke Sorcerer Build: Full Damage Boost Guide
The Gylphs I chose are: Control, Destruction, Tactician, Flamefeeder, Territorior, Exploit
So, no to need worry about the gears getting outdated or spending millions of Diablo 4 Gold respecing if you followed the Chain Lightning Nuke build.
I am still using my +3 Devouring Blaze Amulet, which works fine.
Ending
It is heartbreaking to see Blizzard made such a move to nerf globally. Some say it is the worst patch in recent gaming history. This seems to be really bad for people who played pre-season as for the big regressions.
Personally, I would say it is basically a new game now that I need to relearn what I have learned. I am researching the Caged Hearts and the new unique and aspects and will share my findings. It might save the 15 Tiers difference. What do you think?
