Build Introduction
The 
Firewall Sorcerer burns foes to a crisp, leaving only ashes and scorched ground behind. This is your Sorcerer leveling guide for Diablo 4, with the maximum Skill Point allocation at Level 50. Let us go over the build mechanics, character progression, and playstyle!
The Firewall Sorcerer deals Burning Damage to eventually melt enemies with Damage Over Time (DoT). This build utilizes a “fire and forget” playstyle, casting Firewall to build fatal damage and moving on.
Firewall excels at killing large groups of enemies, but can struggle to kill tougher elites and bosses, especially if they tend to move around often. Alternatively, check out our Chain Lightning Leveling Guide for the best build to start a new Sorcerer character.
Once your Sorcerer character reaches Level 50 or enters World Tier 3, switch to the Endgame Guide for Firewall Sorcerer to continue this build.
To find out more general information about leveling as a Sorcerer in Diablo 4, check out our main Leveling Guide.
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 leveling a Sorcerer character.
- 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.
Supreme Unstable Currents – Additional functionality added to make Crackling Energy pulse 25% faster while Unstable Currents is active.
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.
Best Vampiric Powers Tier List for Sorcerer Leveling
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 Sorcerer leveling, ranked by importance. Stat values displayed reflect maximum Level 3 Vampiric Powers.
- Major Vampiric Powers (6 Pacts Required):
- 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.
- Moonrise (6 Ferocity): Hitting an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining 160% Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
- Accursed Touch (6 Divinity): Lucky Hit: Up to a 44% chance to inflict Vampiric Curse on enemies. Enemies with the Vampiric Curse have a 15% chance to spread it to other surrounding enemies. Accursed Souls deal 200% increased damage.
- Minor Vampiric Powers (1–3 Pacts Required):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sanguine Brace (1 Divinity, 1 Eternity): When you kill an enemy, Fortify for 6% of your Base Life. While you have more Fortify than half of your Maximum Life, you gain 8% Critical Strike Chance.
- Hectic (3 Divinity): For every 5 Basic Skills you cast, one of your active Cooldowns is reduced by 2 seconds.
Skill Tree Points
The following table shows the order in which to allocate your Skill Points for Firewall Sorcerer leveling. You gain 48 points at Level 50 and 2 points from completing Renown in each Act zone, for a total of 58.
Respec main damage skill: After spending the first 21 Skill Points, remove 4 points from 
Fireball (keep 1 point in Fireball for the Enchantment slot) and place them into Firewall Level 4. Firewall replaces Fireball on your Skill Bar and becomes the main damage dealer.
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 and 
Inferno.
With enough damage, weaker enemies can be dragged through Firewalls while you move forward to the next group of enemies. Freeze tougher opponents, or run circles around them, to keep them from moving out of multiple Firewall placements.
Damage Rotation
Optimize DPS with the following rotation.
- Cast Firewall under enemies.
- Cast
Frost Nova to Freeze enemies while they are standing in multiple Firewall placements. - If needed, use Inferno to group enemies up and freely spam Firewall.
- Spam Fire Bolt to regenerate Mana.
Enchantment Slots
The Specialization of the Sorcerer can be unlocked at Level 15. Complete the Legacy of the Magi questline as soon as possible to gain access to your first Enchantment Slot, and then assign Fireball for group clearing. Once you unlock the second slot at Level 30, assign Firewall to it.
Gear Choice and Stat Priority while Leveling
Make sure to pick up all Rare equipment drops that may be upgrades while you are leveling Firewall Sorcerer. Save Legendary items with useful aspects in your stash to be used later for extraction and imprinting onto well rolled Rare items.
When comparing weapons with similar item levels, Two-Handed Staves are preferred over Wands for higher damage per hit while leveling.
Stat Priority List
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Firewall Sorcerers. Each line of affixes are 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.
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes |
|---|---|
| Staff, Dagger or Wand | + Damage to Close Enemies, Intelligence + Vulnerable Damage + Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies |
| Focus | + Cooldown Reduction, Mana Cost Reduction + Crowd Control Duration + Damage Reduction from Burning Enemies + Intelligence + Resource Generation + Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource, Critical Strike Chance + Lucky Hit Chance, LHC while You Have a Barrier |
| Helm | + Cooldown Reduction, Maximum Mana, Armor + Maximum Life, Crowd Control Duration, Intelligence + Barrier Generation, Lucky Hit Chance while you Have a Barrier, |
| Chest | + Armor, Damage Reduction, DR from Close Enemies, DR from Distant Enemies, DR from Burning Enemies + Maximum Life, Intelligence + Barrier Generation + Fire and Pyromancy Skill Damage |
| Gloves | + Attack Speed, Intelligence, Critical Strike Chance + Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource, Lucky Hit Chance |
| Pants | + Ranks of Firewall, Damage Reduction, DR from Burning, Close and Distant Enemies + Maximum Life, Armor + Dodge Chance, DC Against Close Enemies, Intelligence |
| Boots | + Mana Cost Reduction + Ranks of Frost Nova, Ranks of Teleport + Movement Speed, Intelligence + Dodge Chance and DC Against Distant Enemies + Damage Reduction while Injured |
| Amulet | + Cooldown Reduction, Mana Cost Reduction, Ranks of All Mastery Skills, Ranks of All Defensive Skills + Ranks of Elemental Dominance, Inner Flames, Endless Pyre or Hoarfrost + Movement Speed + Armor, Damage Reduction, DR from Burning Enemies, DR from Distant Enemies, DR from Close Enemies + % Intelligence + Crowd Control Duration, Pyromancy Skill Damage |
| Rings | + Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Close Enemies + Maximum Life, Lucky Hit Chance, Maximum Mana, Resource Generation+ Fire Damage + Barrier Generation, Critical Strike Chance |
Legendary Item Aspects and Codex of Power
Aspects found on dropped Legendary Items have stronger effects than those applied from the Codex of Power. Additionally, it is important to know that certain Aspects can only be obtained by finding them on a legendary item, and are not accessible through the Codex of Power. Extract Aspects from unusable Legendary Items to imprint them onto well-rolled Rare Items. Avoid imprinting valuable extracted Aspects onto weapons, because weapons they get replaced often while leveling.
We have a dedicated in-depth Aspect and Codex of Power guide that you can check out for more information.
Listed below are the Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for the Firewall Sorcerer leveling build. They are listed in order of priority.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|
 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. | Oldstones, Scosglen |
| Aspect of the Expectant | Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by [5 – 10%], up to 30%. | Underroot, Scosglen |
| Aspect of Control | You deal [25 – 35%] more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies. | Sunken Library, Kehjistan |
| Rapid Aspect | Basic Skills gain [15 – 30%] Attack Speed. | Buried Halls, Dry Steppes |
| Conceited Aspect | Deal [15 – 25%] increased damage while you have a Barrier active. | Random Drop Only |
| Storm Swell Aspect | You deal [11 – 20%] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies while you have a Barrier. | Onyx Hold, Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of Might | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0 – 6.0] seconds. | Dark Ravine, Dry Steppes |
| Frostblitz Aspect | Frost Nova gains an additional Charge but the Cooldown per Charge is increased by [40 – 30%]. | Random Drop Only |
 Flamewalker’s Aspect | Coming in contact with your Firewall grants you + [15 – 25%] Movement Speed for 6 seconds. | Cultist Refuge, Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of the Bounding Conduit | Gain [25 – 30%] Movement Speed for 3 seconds after Teleporting. | Komdor Temple, Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of Searing Wards | After spending [200 – 100] Mana your next Firewall is free to cast and will destroy incoming Small Missiles. | Random Drop Only |
Gems
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.
Elixirs and Health Potions
Visit the Alchemist in Kyovashad 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 an 
Assault Elixir to boost 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.
Changelog
- October 17th, 2023: Guide created for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0)
