Due to a change to Fractured Winterglass in Patch 2.2.0, this build is no longer viable in Season 8 and has not been updated. Follow the Lightning Spear Sorcerer Build Guide to utilize Fractured Winterglass instead.
Build Introduction
The 
Frozen Orb Sorcerer makes an exciting return to the Diablo franchise. Frozen Orb is reworked to allow targeted explosions, and 
Fractured Winterglass enabled Conjurations to provide additional casts.
This endgame guide assumes your Sorcerer character is Level 60 and meets all the Build Requirements. Follow the Sorcerer Leveling Guide for help getting there.
Check the build tier lists to see how this build compares to others on Icy Veins.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Frozen Orb explosions deal high Area-of-Effect damage
- Capable of dealing damage from any distance
- Multiple Defensive Skills and crowd controls for survivability
- Playstyle requires precise aiming
- Mana issues need to be solved
- Lacks survivability when Defensive Skills or crowd controls are inactive
Build Requirements
Frozen Orb drains resource quickly with a high starting cost of 40 Mana, so specific gear is necessary to maintain consistent casting. Obtain the listed equipment beforehand to drastically improve the gameplay of the Frozen Orb Sorcerer.
Fractured Winterglass- The Fractured Winterglass is required in this Frozen Orb Sorcerer guide. Frozen Orb can still be played on a starting Sorcerer character, but the Chain Lightning Sorcerer build is more effective until you obtain the Fractured Winterglass. Target-farm this item drop from Lord Zir.
Raiment of the Infinite is a highly recommended item to start the Frozen Orb Sorcerer build. This unique item enables a speed setup with 
Teleport Enchantment that efficiently clears Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and The Pit. Target-farm this item drop from Varshan or Lord Zir.
Aspect of Frozen Orbit- Helm, Chest, and Boots with Mana per Second (or
Harlequin Crest and Raiment of the Infinite) - Wand, Focus, and Rings with Resource Cost Reduction (or
Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop and 
Ring of Starless Skies) - Wordly Stability Resource Tempering Manual
- Elixir of Resource greatly helps with Mana management on a starting character.
Quick Navigation
Want to skip ahead? Use the table below to jump to sections.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Frozen Orb
Ice Armor
FamiliarTeleport
Unstable Currents
Flame ShieldThe Skill Tree above shows the full allocation of 71 Skill Points for the Frozen Orb Sorceress build. Make sure you obtain the 12 Skill Points available from Renown.
Frost Bolt is only allocated as a prerequisite to unlock the next Skill cluster. Do not equip it on the Skill Bar.
Hydra, 
Ice Blades, and 
Lightning Spear are not equipped on the Skill Bar. The effects of their allocated nodes are granted when summoned from Fractured Winterglass.
Wondering what comes after Level 60? Head to the Paragon Board section to power up the build even further. If you want to see how everything plays out in combat, check out the Rotation and Playstyle section for a quick breakdown.
Sorcerer Class Mechanic – Enchantments
Slot Familiar in Enchantment Slot #1 to spawn additional Conjurations to ramp up Fractured Winterglass and gain stacks of 
Conjuration Mastery.
Slot 
Teleport in the second Enchantment Slot #2 to increase mobility and alternate elements for 
Enlightenment. Equip Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, to quickly refresh Evade Teleports. Use this setup with Raiment of the Infinite to enable the Telestomp playstyle.
Alternatively, slot Ice Blades in Enchantment Slot #2 for another source of Conjuration spawns.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
The following sections cover the important systems that are essential to improving the power of your character in the endgame of Diablo 4.
Legendary Aspects
Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer build. Salvage Legendary Items with higher Aspect values to unlock them in the Codex of Power, and then imprint them onto Legendary Items with the preferred affixes. For the best results, combine these Aspects with the ideal Stat Priorities.
Do not use Elementalist’s Aspect, as the Critical Strike Chance increase does not work with Frozen Orb procs from Fractured Winterglass.
| Gear Slot | Aspect/Unique | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Amulet | Fractured Winterglass | Casting Frozen Orb has a [35 – 50%] chance to spawn a random Conjuration when it explodes. Lucky Hit: Your Conjurations have up to a [50 – 70%] chance to launch a Frozen Orb at Nearby enemies. |
| Ring Slot #1 (replaced by Ring of Starless Skies) | Storm Swell Aspect | You deal x [15 – 35%] increased damage while Ice Armor is active. This amount is increased by another 15% against Frozen enemies. |
Ring Slot #2 (replaced by  Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop) | Conceited Aspect | Deal [15 – 25%] increased damage while you have a Barrier active. |
Gloves (replaced by  Fists of Fate) | Aspect of Shredding Blades | Ice Blades’ chance to apply Vulnerable is increased by +20% and the Vulnerable duration is increased by 4 seconds. You gain x [15 – 30%] Vulnerable Damage. Note: Ice Blades are not required to gain the Vulnerable Damage. |
| One-Handed Weapon or Focus | Aspect of Frozen Orbit | Frozen Orb stays in place after reaching its destination and explodes 2 additional times for [45 – 60%] of its damage. |
| One-Handed Weapon or Focus | Aspect of Elemental Constellation | Casting Pyromancy, Shock, and Frost Skills conjures a matching Elemental Dagger around you that pierces through enemies dealing [X] damage after 3 seconds. The damage increases by 100% per matching elemental skill you cast. |
Helm (replaced by  Heir of Perdition) |  Snowveiled Aspect | Ice armor makes you unstoppable and grants you 25% Damage Reduction for [3.5 – 5.5] seconds. |
Chest (replaced by  Raiment of the Infinite) | Aspect of Disobedience | You gain [0.4 – 0.7%] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [25 – 40%]. |
Pants ( Tibault’s Will optional) | Everliving Aspect | You take [20 – 25%] less damage from Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemies. |
Boots ( Flickerstep optional) |  Aspect of the Bounding Conduit | Teleport’s Cooldown is reduced by [1.0 – 2.5] seconds. After Teleporting, Crackling Energy hits 2 additional enemies for 5 seconds. |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Frozen Orb Sorcerers, ranked by importance. Affixes on the same line have equal value, so attempt to obtain all affixes in each line before moving on to the next. Bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. For more details, check the Tempering and Masterworking guides.
A One-Handed Weapon and Focus setup is preferred over a Staff, due to the beneficial utility affixes available on a Focus. A Wand or a Dagger is selected for the fastest weapon speed to proc more Conjurations from Fractured Winterglass to stack Conjuration Mastery.
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.
Armor is only needed until capped at 1,000.
If you are using a speed setup with Teleport Enchantment, temper the Evade Cooldown Reduction affix from the Natural Motion Manual onto your Boots. Otherwise, temper the Movement Speed or Teleport Cooldown Reduction affixes.
↑ Back to Legendary Gear Table
| Slot | Gear Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| One-Handed Weapon | 1. Maximum Life, Intelligence, Vulnerable Damage |  Frost Augments (Weapon): Chance for Frozen Orb Projectiles to Cast TwiceWorldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Focus | 1. Critical Strike Chance, Cooldown Reduction 2. Resource Cost Reduction, Lucky Hit Chance to Restore Primary Resource 3. Maximum Life, Intelligence | Frost Augments (Weapon): Chance for Frozen Orb Projectiles to Cast TwiceWorldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
| Helm | 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Mana per Second, Lucky Hit Chance, Maximum Life, Intelligence | Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier GenerationWorldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Frost Cage: Ice Armor Duration |
| Chest | 1. Ranks to Defensive Skills 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Mana per Second, Maximum Life, Intelligence | Natural Schemes (Utility): Barrier GenerationWorldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Frost Cage: Ice Armor Duration |
| Gloves | 1. Ranks to Frozen Orb, Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Resource Cost Reduction, Lucky Hit Chance, Maximum Life, Intelligence | Worldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike DamageNatural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Pants | 1. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 2. Maximum Life, Intelligence | Worldly Endurance (Defensive): Armor up to 1,000 cap, otherwise Frost Cage: Ice Armor DurationNatural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Boots | Implicit Stat: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown 1. Movement Speed 2. Any uncapped Resistances or Armor 3. Mana per Second, Maximum Life, Intelligence | Natural Motion (Mobility): Evade Cooldown ReductionNatural Schemes (Utility): Barrier Generation |
| Amulet | Fractured Winterglass | Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Conjuration Mastery |
| Rings | 1. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 2. Lucky Hit Chance, Resource Cost Reduction, Maximum Life, Intelligence | Worldly Stability (Resource): Resource Generation or Resource Cost ReductionWorldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
Uniques and Mythic Uniques
Listed below are the recommended and optional Unique and Mythic Unique Items for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer build. Each item description includes the most important affix to target for Masterworking upgrades. Check the Mythic Unique Items Guide for information on target-farming them.
- Fractured Winterglass (highly recommended) enables the Frozen Orb Sorcerer to deal significantly more damage.
- Masterworking Priority: Ranks to Conjuration Mastery
- Raiment of the Infinite (highly recommended) enables the Telestomp Build Variant for a faster speed-farming setup.
- Masterworking Priority: Ranks of the Glass Cannon Passive
- Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop (recommended) provides up to a 75% damage multiplier with 3 elemental stacks.
- Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction
- Ring of Starless Skies (recommended) is the best Mythic Unique Item for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer. The unique effect provides a 1.5x damage multiplier and solves any Mana issues.
- Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Ranks to Core Skills
- Heir of Perdition (highly recommended) grants the highest damage increase for the slot.
- Masterworking Priority: Critical Strike Chance or Ranks to Core Skills
- Harlequin Crest (optional) is helpful for additional Ranks to Frozen Orb, 20% Damage Reduction, and a boosted Cooldown Reduction affix.
- Masterworking Priority: Cooldown Reduction
Fists of Fate (recommended) increases overall damage by 50% with a perfect 300% value on the unique effect. The boosted Lucky Hit Chance value synergies well with the Conjuration setup. - Masterworking Priority: Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, or Lucky Hit Chance
- Tibault’s Will (optional) can be utilized if additional Mana generation is needed. Alternate activations of the unique effect with Teleport,
Flame Shield, and Ice Armor (with Snowveiled Aspect). - Masterworking Priority: Maximum Life, Maximum Resource, or Damage Reduction while Unstoppable
- Flickerstep (optional) allows Unstable Currents to be activated more often. The boosted Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown affix is beneficial for the Telestomp setup, but the Unique Boots cannot be tempered with Evade Cooldown.
- Masterworking Priority: Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the recommended Gems and Runewords to socket into your gear.
Gems
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
 Grand Emerald if Critical Strike Chance is capped at 100% or  Grand Sapphire. |  Grand Topaz for Intelligence or  Grand Amethyst for increased Barrier Generation. | Any Resistance Gems needed or  Skull for Armor (up to the 1,000 Armor cap). |
Runewords
Insert one of the following Runewords, consisting of a Rune of Offering and a Rune of Invocation, into your equipped Staff. The other Runeword can be inserted into any equipped Helm, Chest, or Pants item. Add sockets to your equipment at the Jeweler if necessary. Check the Runewords Guide for more details.
| Runewords | Effects |
|---|---|
 Tam Gar | Gain: 25 Offering — Cast a non-Channeled Core Skill. Requires: 25 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%. |
 Cir Ohm | Gain: 300 Offering — Cast 5 Skills then become exhausted for 3 seconds. Requires: 600 Offering, Cooldown: 2 Seconds — Evoke the Barbarian’s Enhanced War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt. |
Paragon Board
Use the following Paragon Boards, Legendary Nodes, and Glyphs for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer.
Witchcraft Powers
In the Season of Witchcraft (Season 7), earn seasonal reputation to unlock Witchcraft Powers. Equip the following Witchcraft Powers to enhance this build.
Piranhado: Lost Power - When an enemy is afflicted by both a Hex and an Aura Effect, a Piranhado is summoned pulling enemies towards it and dealing [X] Physical damage over [22] seconds. Additionally, Piranhado will seek nearby enemies. You can only Summon one Piranhado every 20 seconds.
- At Rank 5: Piranhado now seek enemies.
Aura of Siphoning: Growth and Decay Power - Conjure an aura of decay that deals [X] Poison damage to enemies every second.
- At Rank 10: Each time Aura of Siphoning deals damage, you are healed for 1% of Maximum Life.
Aura Specialization: Lost Power - The size of your Aura Effects are increased by [79%].
- At Rank 10: Increase the Critical Strike Damage by 50% against enemies inside your Aura Effects.
Soul Harvest: Growth and Decay Power - Whenever you use a Cooldown, you gain x1% Primary Core Stat per surrounding enemy. This bonus lasts for [15.5] seconds.
- While there are surrounding enemies, Soul Harvest has infinite duration.
Hex of Shattering: Psyche Power - Damage done by your Witchcraft Effects afflicts enemies with Hex of Shattering causing them to deal [20%] reduced damage for 5 seconds.
- At Rank 8: When any Hex Effect is applied to Headrotten, all damage will be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds.
Hex of Whispers: Growth and Decay Power - Dealing damage to an enemy afflicts them with Hex of Whispers that deals [X] Shadow damage the next time damage is dealt. Afterwards, Hex of Whispers will jump to another enemy up to a maximum of 6 times. Hex of Whispers may only be applied once every 5 seconds.
- At Rank 7: After bouncing onto 6 enemies, the hex bounces back to you granting [X] Fortify and removing all crowd control and negative status effects.
Mercenaries
Once the Den is unlocked during the main questline in the Vessel of Hatred expansion for Diablo 4, complete Mercenary key quests to acquire them. Hire a Mercenary and enlist a Reinforcement in the following setup.
- Hired Mercenary: Varyana
- Skills:
Cleave, 
Hysteria, 
Bloodthirst, 
Bloodlust
- Skills:
- Reinforcement: Raheir
- Skill:
Bastion - Opportunity: Cast when the player becomes Injured
- Skill:
Build Mechanics
The Frozen Orb Sorcerer requires careful management of resource and cooldowns. In Patch 1.4.0, Frozen Orb was updated to allow the travel distance to be controllable. This change enables the Frozen Orb Sorcerer to deal damage from any distance and become a top performing build. Almost all of the damage output in the Frozen Orb build is from the ending explosion, supplemented by Aspect of Frozen Orbit.
Enlightenment is quickly stacked by alternating casts of Teleport or Teleport Evade with the other Skills included in this build.
Shimmering Ice Armor reduces the Cooldown of Ice Armor to allow for consistent usage. Additional Barriers are granted through 
Protection from the use of 5 Cooldown Skills.
Vulnerable status is applied by Greater Frozen Orb.
Unstable Currents is not utilized for any Shock Skill procs, but instead activated for an occasional 25% Attack Speed bonus from Prime Unstable Currents.
Rotation and Playstyle
Use the following rotation to optimize damage.
- Cast Ice Armor constantly to maintain Barriers.
- If you are using Raiment of the Infinite, cast Teleport offensive on top of enemies for the Telestomp playstyle. Alternate Teleport and Evade Teleport with other Skills to quickly stack Enlightenment.
- Against tough elites and bosses, activate Unstable Currents.
- Aim Frozen Orb to explode on top of enemies.
Elixirs
Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs, or find Elixirs by killing enemies or opening chests during various activities in Diablo 4. Listed below are the best Elixirs to consume for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer, ranked by importance.
Elixir of Precision provides the highest damage output increase, if not already capped at 100% Critical Strike Chance.
Elixir of Advantage increases damage output, if not already capped at 100% Attack Speed bonus from gear and Paragon.
Elixir of Resource helps with Mana issues, if you do not already have the appropriate Mana gear. This elixir is highly recommended for starting characters to maintain constant casts of Frozen Orb. 
Elixir of Fortitude is the best general-purpose option for survivability.
Conjurations with Fractured Winterglass
The Conjuration build variant is the most powerful setup for the Frozen Orb Sorcerer, dealing the highest damage and applying the most crowd controls. The final endgame version of the Frozen Orb Sorcerer combines the Telestomp and Conjuration setups for the best speed, damage, and survivability.
The Conjuration Frozen Orb Sorcerer is the default version of the build in this guide, and no changes are necessary. The following list details the important mechanics of the Conjuration setup.
- Fractured Winterglass provides additional Frozen Orb procs, while spawning Conjurations to stack the Conjuration Mastery passive buff.
- Frozen Orb Enchantment provides less overall damage output as more Frozen Orbs are casted by Conjurations. While Frozen Orb Enchantment is still the maximum damage setup, you have the option to switch to
Frost Nova Enchantment for faster Stagger against bosses. - The Chance for Frozen Orb Projectiles to Cast Twice temper does not spawn additional Conjurations through Fractured Winterglass, and their contribution to your overall damage is lessened as damage output is shifted more towards Frozen Orbs casted by Conjurations.
Telestomp with Raiment of the Infinite
Raiment of the Infinite allows the Frozen Orb Sorcerer to use 2 sources of Teleport offensively. Teleporting on top of enemies to Stun and group them up is called “Telestomping”. This playstyle can quickly clear groups of enemies and keep them Crowd Controlled (CC) for safety, perfect for speed-farming Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, and The Pit!
The following list details the important mechanics for the Telestomp setup.
- Raiment of the Infinite enables Telestomps. Target-farm Raiment of the Infinite from Varshan or Lord Zir for the best chances of it dropping.
- Teleport Enchantment is allocated for the Evade Teleport.
- Equip Boots with the implicit effect, Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown, which works with the Evade Teleport.
Flickerstep provides a boosted value of 2.5 seconds, while the value on Legendary Boots is 1.5 seconds, but the Unique Boots cannot be tempered with Evade Cooldown.
Season 8 Updates
A brief summary of the seasonal changes are provided below. For a complete overview of Season 8, take a look at the comprehensive season guide.
Fists of Fate no longer applies random crowd controls.- Worldly Fortune can no longer apply any crowd control tempers.
Aspect of Concussive Strikes no longer provides increased damage.- Fractured Winterglass now only spawns equipped Conjurations on your Action Bar.
Changelog
- January 19, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7 (Patch 2.1.0).
- October 16, 2024: New Paragon tool added.
- October 4, 2024: Guide updated for Season 6 (Patch 2.0.2).
- August 6, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0).
- May 14, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0).
- March 28, 2024: Guide created.
