Diablo 4 Season 9 was a heyday for one class after a series of underpowered seasonal performances in the meta. Although the Hydra Sorcerer was a top-tier build for Diablo 4 players in Season 9, the build is getting a serious nerf in Season 10. Thankfully, fans of Diablo 4's Sorcerer class won't have to despair in the upcoming season, as there are plenty of other build options that are primed to be at the top of the meta in Season 10.
The primary culprit behind the nerf to Hydra Sorcerer builds in Season 10 is the reduction to the damage per point of Mana offered by the Serpentine Aspect. This Legendary Aspect also now caps the amount of Mana that can be converted into damage at 500, drastically reducing the DPS that each Hydra summoned can provide. Despite this nerf reducing the viability of Hydra Sorcerer builds, the new Diablo 4 Season 10 mechanics and buffs to other Sorcerer skills have given the class a kit of other tools to work with in the upcoming season.
Diablo 4 Sorcerers Have Nothing to Fear in Season 10, Even with the Hydra Nerf
Sorcerers Could Dominate the Meta in Diablo 4 Season 10
Even without Hyrda to push Diablo 4 Sorcerer builds to the upper echelons of the Season 10 meta, the class still has some tricks up its sleeve that could make it quite a threat. Lightning skills, in particular, are in for a huge upgrade with Crackling Energy getting a buff that increases its base damage from 30% to 80%. This increase should allow players to get a lot of mileage out of heavily investing in Lightning skills that can generate Crackling Energy Orbs, making a few builds stand out as top Season 10 contenders:
- Chain Lightning Sorcerer
- Crackling Energy + Charged Bolts Sorcerer
- Lightning Spear Sorcerer
Chain Lightning Sorcerers have maintained a healthy position among the class's best build options for several seasons, and with key Uniques for this build, like Axial's Conduit and Fists of Fate, both being in the pool for Chaos Armor, the door is open for Chain Lightning Sorcerers to access even more gear combinations. Despite the base damage for Charged Bolts reducing from 45% to 35%, Enhanced Charged Bolts are getting a nice buff, taking its Nova damage from 175% of Charged Bolts' damage to 250%. Similarly, Lightning Spear is getting a significant base damage boost, going from 80% to 120%.
Esadora's Overflowing Cameo is another key Unique for maximizing Crackling Energy damage that is joining the Chaos Armor pool in Diablo 4 Season 10, meaning Crackling Energy builds will get the opportunity for more diverse Amulet options.
Diablo 4 Season 10's Chaos Perks Create the Perfect Storm for Sorcerers
Buffs to Lightning skills and Crackling Energy are not the only parts of Diablo 4 Season 10 Sorcerer players have to look forward to. The new Chaos Perks mechanic gives the Sorcerer some potentially overpowered build options, as is the case with the Mana Shield Unique Chaos Perk. This Perk reduces the Sorcerer's health by 99% but allows their Mana to act as their primary health pool instead. With the perk also increasing the Sorcerer's max Mana by 200-400% and also boosting it by 1 additional point for each point in Intelligence, players can potentially survive much longer than would be possible with just their health pool.
The Mana Infused Conjurations Legendary Chaos Perk also has the potential to make the Lightning Spear Sorcerer a solid contender in Diablo 4 Season 10. This Chaos Perk gives Lightning Spear a 10% chance to spawn static Lightning Balls, on top of the 10-30%[x] increased damage to all Conjuration skills. Between the various ways the Sorcerer's Lightning skills are getting buffed in Season 10, the nerf to Hydra should hardly register for Sorcerer players.
Diablo 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
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WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
