Firewall Sorcerer Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 2)

Firewall with Combustion Build Introduction

The Firewall Sorceress is an endgame build designed for those who enjoy harnessing the power of fire. This build offers high Mana Regeneration, and deals significant Burning Damage over time, making it effective for both Area of Effect (AoE) and single target encounters.

By incorporating multiple unique sources of Burning damage, Combustion adds a significant separate damage multiplier. Additionally, the Sorceress can use Flame Shield and Frost Nova for self-defense when necessary.

This build is currently not as viable as Ice Shards or Blizzard Sorcerer builds for endgame content, so proceed with caution.

The only starting requirement for this endgame build guide is a character around level 50 in World Tier 3. Check the Sorcerer Leveling Guide if you need help getting there.

Strengths and Weaknesses

To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.

Season of Blood

Season 2 Patch Updates

The following list details the changes in the Season 2 Update (Patch 1.2.0) that may pertain to Firewall Sorcerers. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.

• Resistances now stack additively and no longer become less effective with each additional source, while also contributing their full value to Non-physical Damage Reduction. Resistance values on equipment, Elixirs, and Paragon have been increased to more easily reach the new 70% cap. Furthermore, Intelligence now gives +0.025% All Resistance per 1 Intelligence instead of 0.05% All Resistance to compensate.
• Increased Critical Strike / Vulnerable Damage affixes are now additive with other damage increases instead of being multiplicative. This change is a nerf to make Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage comparable to other damage increase options. All classes are affected by this change, therefore it doesn’t necessarily make Sorcerers weaker compared to other classes.
• Armor no longer contributes to Non-physical Damage Reduction and now only reduces damage against Physical damage.
• +% Total Armor affix has been increased by 160%.
• Aspect of Disobedience – Armor % value has been increased from a maximum of +30% Armor to +66% Armor.
• Aspect of Engulfing Flames
  • Previous: While enemies are affected by more Damage Over Time than their total life, you deal 30-40% increased burning damage to them.
  • New: You deal 10-30% bonus Burning damage to enemies who are below 50% of their total Life or 80-100% if they are affected by more Damage Over Time than their total Life.
• Glinting Fire Bolt
  • Previous: Critical strikes with Fire Bolt increase the Burning damage you deal to the enemy by 20% for 4 seconds.
  • New: Fire Bolt increases the Burning damage you deal to the enemy by 25% for 3 seconds.
• Potent Warding – Resistance to All Elements increased to +3/6/9% from +2/4/6%.
• Align the Elements – Bonus now persists for 2 seconds after taking damage.
• Fists of Fate – Lucky Hit: Chance to Heal Life affix replaced with Lucky Hit: Chance to Gain Damage for 4 Seconds.
• Esu’s Heirloom
  • Slow Duration Reduction affix replaced with Critical Strike Damage.
  • Evade Grants Movement Speed inherent affix duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds.
• Burning Instinct
  • Previous: Your Burning damage is increased by 40% of your Critical Strike Damage, further increased by 5% for every 20 Intelligence you have.
  • New: Your Burning damage deals bonus damage equal to x10% of the total amount of your Critical Strike Damage bonus, plus x1% for every 75 Intelligence you have.
• Static Surge
  • Previous: Stunning Close enemies restores 10 mana.
  • New: After spending 100 Mana, your next cast of Chain Lightning or Charged Bolts makes enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds and grants you 10% of your maximum Mana. This Mana cost requirement is reduced by Mana Cost Reduction bonuses.

Best Vampiric Powers Tier List for Firewall Sorcerer

The Season 2 theme introduces Vampiric Powers that provide build-altering bonuses. Spend Potent Blood, acquired from vampiric enemies, to unlock and upgrade Vampiric Powers. Make sure your equipped Chest Armor, Pants, Gloves, Boots, and Helm contain the appropriate Pacts (Ferocity, Divinity, and Eternity) that match the activation costs listed on the powers.

A Vampiric Curse status effect has been added to complement the new powers: Killing an enemy affected by your Vampiric Curse stores their soul. Casting a Defensive, Macabre or Agility Skill will unleash stored souls to attack nearby enemies. You can hold up to 8 souls.

Listed below is the Vampiric Power Tier List for Firewall Sorcerers, ranked by importance. Stat values displayed reflect maximum Level 3 Vampiric Powers.

1. Flowing Veins (2 Ferocity, 2 Divinity, 2 Eternity): You deal 60% increased Damage Over Time to enemies that are moving or affected by a Vampiric Curse.
2. Metamorphosis (2 Ferocity, 2 Divinity, 2 Eternity): When you Evade you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 4 seconds. Enemies along your path take 160% Physical damage and are inflicted with Vampiric Curse.
3. Anticipation (1 Divinity): Your Ultimate Skills gain 20% Cooldown Reduction. Your Ultimate Skills gain 12% increased damage for each nearby enemy affected by your Damage Over Time effects.
4. Prey on the Weak (2 Ferocity): You deal 16% increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Enemies are Vulnerable while affected by a Vampiric Curse from your other Vampiric Powers.
5. Domination (1 Ferocity): You deal 24% increased damage to enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, Frozen, or Feared. If they’re also Injured and not an Elite, they’re instantly killed.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for Firewall Sorcerer (order does not matter)

Fire Bolt Firewall Flame Shield Teleport Frost Nova Inferno

The following tables show the full allocation of Skill Points for the Firewall Sorcerer build. The first table has the most important 52 points to start the build. The second table has the remaining 6 points that are allocated once you obtain all Skill Points from Renown.

Priority Skills	Cluster
Fire Bolt Level 1, Enhanced Fire Bolt, Glinting Fire Bolt	Basic Skill
Fireball Level 1, Enhanced Fireball, Greater Fireball (for enchantment slot) Devastation Level 1, Elemental Dominance Level 3	Core Skill
Flame Shield Level 1, Enhanced Flame Shield, Shimmering Flame Shield Frost Nova Level 1, Enhanced Frost Nova, Mystical Frost Nova Teleport Level 1, Enhanced Teleport, Shimmering Teleport Glass Cannon Level 3 Elemental Attunement Level 1	Defensive Skill
Align the Elements Level 1, Protection Level 3, Mana Shield Level 3	Conjuration Skill
Firewall Level 5, Enhanced Firewall, Mage’s Firewall Inner Flames Level 3	Mastery Skill
Inferno, Prime Inferno, Supreme Inferno Fiery Surge Level 1, Endless Pyre Level 3 Permafrost Level 1, Hoarfrost Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Combustion	Key Passives

Remaining Renown Points	Cluster
Frost Nova Level 4	Defensive Skill
Warmth Level 3	Ultimate Skill

Enchantment Slots

For this Fire Build, equip Firewall in the first Enchantment Slot, as it will have a chance to trigger two additional Firewalls underneath enemies when they take burning damage. 

For the second Enchantment Slot, equip Fireball for explosions to help with clearing enemies. Teleport Enchantment is equipped instead in the Telestomp build variant.

Paragon

The Paragon progression system unlocks after reaching Level 50, and offers a considerable boost to character power. Within the Paragon Board, there are many different bonuses, ranging from minor stat enhancements on Magic Nodes to more significant gains with Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes.

Important Notes:

• Additional Bonus requirements on Rare Glyphs may not be obtainable until they gain increased radius range at Level 15.
• Attach Legendary Boards in the correct order. Bonus requirements of Rare Nodes increase with their placement order.
• Make sure you rotate Legendary Boards into the correct orientation.

Season 2 Update (Patch 1.2.0) – The priority of Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage are lower due to them becoming additive with other damage bonuses. Separate damage multipliers from Additional Bonuses on Rare Glyphs, along with Damage Reduction nodes, remain highly valuable.

The list below contains the most beneficial Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes for the Firewall Sorcerer build, sorted in the order obtained in the final Level 100 Paragon Tree. The images that follow provide a visual of each Paragon Board setup.

Name	Effect
Destruction	• For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [19.2%] increased Critical Strike Damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Dexterity purchased in radius range): Critical Strikes increase all damage the enemy takes from you by x2% for 10 seconds, up to x12%.
Searing Heat	Your Fire skills have their Critical Strike Chance increased by +10% and their Direct Damage is increased by an amount equal to x10% of the total amount of your Bonus Damage with Fire, up to a maximum of x30%.
Pyromaniac	• Paragon nodes within range gain + [72%] bonus to their Fire damage and damage reduction modifiers. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Willpower purchased in radius range): Every Pyromancy Skill you cast or every second you channel Incinerate increases your Fire damage by x2% for 6 seconds, up to x10%.
Burning Instinct	Your Burning damage deals bonus damage equal to x10% of the total amount of your Critical Strike Damage bonus, plus x1% for every 75 Intelligence you have. (Legendary Node not used)
Tactician	• Grants + [120%] bonus to all Rare nodes within range. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Dexterity purchased in radius range): You deal x10% increased damage for 4 seconds after casting a Defensive Skill.
Elemental Summoner	Your Conjuration Skills have 10% reduced Cooldown or Mana cost. They also deal bonus Damage equal to x3% of the total amount of your Bonus Damage with Cold, Fire, and Lightning. (Legendary Node not used)
Control	• For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [14.4%] increased damage to Crowd Controlled targets. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Dexterity purchased in radius range): You deal x10% increased damage to Slowed or Chilled enemies or, instead, x20% increased damage to Stunned or Frozen enemies.
Enchantment Master	Your Enchantments are 20% stronger. (Legendary Node not used)
Torch	• For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, you deal + [9.6%] increased Burning damage. • Additional Bonus (requires 25 Willpower purchased in radius range): You deal x2.5% increased damage per Nearby Burning enemy, up to x12.5%.

1. Starting Board (Destruction)

2. Searing Heat (Pyromaniac)

3. Burning Instinct (Tactician)

4. Elemental Summoner (Control)

5. Enchantment Master (Torch)

Paragon Board images courtesy of d4builds.gg. Click this link for the Paragon planner.

Mechanics and Playstyle

This Fire build is focused around powerful Damage Over Time (DoT) from Firewall. Its damage is enhanced with Combustion, by applying other Burning sources from Fire Bolt, Flame Shield and Inferno.

Critical Strike Damage is applied to Burning Damage with Burning Instinct from Paragon. This allows us to benefit from Critical Strike Damage on gear.

With an almost impenetrable defense and unmatched burning damage, the Fire Sorceress can remain relatively stationary during combat. The Flame Shield skill not only provides excellent protection, but also heals the character.

Damage Rotation

Optimize DPS with the following rotation.

1. If you have Raiment of the Infinite, teleport on enemies to group and stun them.
2. Cast Firewall under enemies.
3. Cast Flame Shield and run through enemies to Immobilize them.
4. Cast Frost Nova to Freeze enemies.
5. If needed, use Inferno to group enemies up and freely spam Firewall.
6. Spam Fire Bolt to regenerate Mana.

Gear Choice and Stat Priority in the Endgame

While adventuring across Sanctuary, make sure to pick up all Rare Item drops that may be upgrades. Additionally, save Legendary Items that have useful aspects in your stash to be used later, or for extracting and imprinting onto well rolled Rare Items.

When comparing weapons of similar item levels, Two-Handed Weapons are generally favored over One-Hand Weapons paired with a Focus, as they benefit from the 100% bonus of the equipped aspect and higher damage per hit.

Stat Priority List

Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Firewall Sorcerers. Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. Affixes on the same line are considered to be equally important, but their benefits may vary depending on how much is stacked or other character stats. Bolded stats are the most important and sometimes vital for the build to function properly.

Season 2 Update (Patch 1.2.0): Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage affixes are changed to be additive with other damage increases. All additive damage increases of the same amount are equal in value, as long as their conditions are active. Utility and survivability affixes, like Resource and Maximum Life on Rings, are more useful than highly stacked additive damage increases.

Resistances have been reworked to be more effective in Patch 1.2.0, and they are now included in the Stat Priority List. The priority order of Resistances is Lightning > Poison > Fire > Cold > Shadow. Maximum Resistance is 70% by default for each element and can be increased to 85% by various sources.

Barrier Generation bonus is bugged. It does not work correctly to increase the Barrier amount from Protection and is not worth obtaining until fixed. Click this link for a video explaining and testing the Barrier bug.

Legendary Aspects and Codex of Power

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Firewall Sorcerer build.

Gear Slot	Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Amulet (+50% bonus effect)	Conceited Aspect	Deal [15 – 25%] increased damage while you have a Barrier active.
Ring Slot #1	Prodigy’s Aspect	Using a Cooldown restores 15 Mana.
Ring Slot #2 (optional replacement with Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop)	Aspect of Engulfing Flames	You deal 10-30% bonus Burning damage to enemies who are below 50% of their total Life or 80-100% if they are affected by more Damage Over Time than their total Life.
Dagger, Focus, or Gloves	Aspect of Control	You deal [25 – 35%] more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies.
Dagger, Focus, or Gloves	Edgemaster’s Aspect	Skills deal up to [10 – 20%] increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource.
Dagger, Focus, or Gloves	Storm Swell Aspect	You deal x [21 – 30%] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies while you have a Barrier.
Chest (replaced by Raiment of the Infinite)	Frostblitz Aspect	Frost Nova gains an additional Charge but the Cooldown per Charge is increased by [40 – 30%].
Helm or Pants	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0 – 6.0] seconds.
Helm or Pants	Aspect of Disobedience	You gain [0.6 – 1.1%] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [36 – 66%].
Boots (optional replacement withPenitent Greaves or Flickerstep)	Flamewalker’s Aspect	Coming in contact with your Firewall grants you [15 – 25%] Movement Speed for 4 seconds.

Unique Items

Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique Items for this build.

• Raiment of the Infinite (Highly Recommended): After using Teleport, Close enemies are Pulled to you and Stunned for [2 – 3] seconds, but Teleport’s cooldown is increased by 20%. – This Unique Chest Armor synergizes well with this build to group and Stun enemies. Check the Telestomp Variant section for more details.
• Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop (Recommended for Maximum DPS): For each type of Elemental damage you deal, gain [10 – 15%] increased damage for 4 seconds. Dealing Elemental damage refreshes all bonuses. – This Malignant Unique Ring can provide a 60% multiplier with 4 elemental damage stacks for a maximum DPS setup. Take into consideration utility or survivability lost from a Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop setup. Click this link to the video explanation for more details.
• Flickerstep (Optional): Each enemy you Evade through reduces your active Ultimate Cooldown by [2.0 – 4.0] seconds, up to 10 seconds. – The unique effect from these boots do not work with Teleport Enchantment, so do not use them with the Telestomp variant build. Otherwise, Flickerstep can be useful for more Inferno uptime.
• Penitent Greaves (Optional): You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal [7 – 10%] more damage to Chilled enemies. – These Unique Boots provide a damage increasing effect in a gear slot that does not allow for Offensive Aspects. The Chill effect also provides an alternative activation of Hoarfrost for more damage outside of Frost Nova. Unfortunately, they do not have the preferred implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, for the Telestomp variant build.

Not Recommended Unique items

Listed below are the Unique Items not recommended for this build and the reasons they are not worthwhile.

• Tibault’s Will: You deal [20 – 40%] increased damage while Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after. When you become Unstoppable, gain 50 of your Primary Resource. – The unique effect provides a huge separate damage multiplier if rolled at 40%, but you lose 2 Damage Reduction affixes, a Defensive Aspect and +4 Ranks of Firewall.
• The Oculus – The random Teleport location is a major downside. The unique affix, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, can be obtained as an implicit affix on Legendary Boots instead. The Telestomp Variant is a better setup that already allows for permanent stun-locking and non-random Teleport locations. In addition, a Legendary Weapon provides much more DPS with damage affixes and an Offensive Aspect.
• Frostburn – These Unique Gloves are a major DPS loss compared to well-rolled Legendary Gloves or Fists of Fate.
• Iceheart Brais – The occasional Frost Nova on enemy death should not be needed, and it does not help while moving from pack to pack. Legendary Pants provide more important Damage Reduction affixes and a Defensive Aspect.

Gems

Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

• Weapon: Royal Sapphire for Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled enemies.
• Armor: Royal Ruby for Maximum Life or Royal Topaz to prevent deaths from chain Crowd Controls.
• Jewelry: Royal Skull for Armor or Individual Resistance Gems for Resistances that are not already capped at 70%. The priority order of Resistances is Lightning > Poison > Fire > Cold > Shadow.

Elixirs and Health Potions

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats, and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Craft a Precision Elixir for Critical Strike Chance and Damage, or an Assault Elixir for Attack Speed.

Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80 and 90, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.

Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer Build Variant

Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer is a Stun variant build created by Lexyu. It is designed to speed farm Normal or Nightmare Dungeons even faster for more experience and loot. Telestomping is the act of using Teleport offensively right on top of enemies to vortex and Stun them.

This version of the build requires the Unique Chest Armor, Raiment of the Infinite. Target farm Raiment of the Infinite from the uber versions of Varshan and Lord Zir for the best chances of it dropping.

Evade is transformed into another Teleport with an Enchantment. Both Teleports Stun and group up enemies with Raiment of the Infinite, allowing you to move quickly through dungeons while melting up enemies with Firewall!

The Paragon setup remain unchanged from the original version of the build. All changes made for the Telestomp Variant are included in the sections below.

Skill Tree for Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer

Remove 3 Skill Points invested into Fireball Level 1, Enhanced Fireball and Greater Fireball and put them into Frost Nova and/or Teleport.

Enchantment Slots for Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer

Fireball is replaced by Teleport in the Enchantment Slots to make use of the Stun on Raiment of the Infinite. The extra Teleport that replaces Evade also benefits from additional Ranks to Teleport, Cooldown Reduction, and Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown implicit effect on Boots.

Firewall stays in the other Enchantment Slot.

Mechanics and Playstyle for Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer

Stun provides an alternative way to Crowd Control (CC) enemies, reducing the dependency on Frost Nova for Freezing. Reserve Frost Nova for tougher elites and larger groups of enemies.

Use the Evade Teleport foremost and often, as the Cooldown is easily reduced with the Boots implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown by 1.2 Seconds. Use the normal Teleport on the Skill Bar as a backup whenever Evade Teleport is unavailable. Get into a rhythm of spamming Firewall in one place, and then telestomping a group of enemies to pull them into the stacked Firewalls.

Gear Choices for Telestomp Firewall Sorcerer

Most of the stat priorities stay the same for the Telestomp version of Firewall Sorcerer. The major differences are listed below.

• Equip Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown by 1.2 Seconds. Upgrade the Boots 5 times at the Blacksmith to get the highest effect possible.
• +4 Ranks to Teleport is preferred in addition to +4 Ranks to Frost Nova on Boots.
• A Staff with Smiting Aspect can be swapped to in order to stagger Bosses quickly with telestomps.

Changelog

• November 15th, 2023: Paragon Board images added.
• November 11th, 2023: Barrier Bug mentioned and Barrier Generation affix lowered in Stat Priority List.
• November 9th, 2023: Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop added to Unique Item section.
• November 1st, 2023: Resistances added to Stat Priority List and Gem sections.
• October 26th, 2023:
  • Telestomp variant build section added.
  • Aspects reevaluated.
  • New items, Flickerstep and Tibault’s Will, added to Unique Item section.
• October 23th, 2023:
  • Vampiric Power setup reevaluated.
  • Stat Affixes for Rings reevaluated.
• October 17th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0).
• August 15th, 2023: Caged Heart of Tal’Rasha fixed in Patch 1.1.2 to be correctly calculated as multiplicative instead of additive. Malignant Heart Tier List adjusted accordingly.
• August 9th, 2023: Malignant Heart rankings reevaluated for Patch 1.1.1 changes.
  • Caged Heart of The Barber no longer prevents “on hit” effects and Lucky Hit chance from working.
  • Caged Heart of Spellbreaking now reduces all damage taken, instead of providing resistances to individual elements.
  • Caged Heart of Tal’Rasha bonus was found to be additive with other damage increases, instead of separate multiplier.
• August 2nd, 2023: Patch 1.1.1 section added with a buff to Combustion.
• July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1. Destruction is now usable to increase Critical Strike Damage for Burning Instinct and has been included in the Paragon setup.
• July 2nd, 2023: Paragon setup redone for optimizations. Frigid Fate moved to the 2nd board position to make the bonus requirement for Rare Nodes providing Vulnerable damage easier to fulfill.