I play casually on the eternal realm. I’ve got a level 80 sorcerer. I’ve been playing a blizzard and ice shards hybrid build. Before the infamous patch, it was very strong and I enjoyed the playstyle a lot. After the changes to Aspect of Control, I lost a lot of power and it’s not nearly as fun anymore. Trash mobs go down well but elites and bosses take forever now.
Reading through the latest patch notes, there doesn’t appear to be anything that will help my build. I’d like to respec. It looks like fire and lightning have received boosts. Looking for suggestions on some builds that might be worthwhile checking out. I’m leaning towards Ball Lightning right now but have always liked fire builds as well.
Ditch blizzard and go full ice shards for a minimal respec.
For a full respec there is a lightning build out there that has potential.
It utilizes crackling energy, and proccing unstable currents as often as possible as well as proccing lightning spear.
But before you respec, make sure you have all of the gear and aspects ready to go or else you’ll have a half-baked build that will feel even worse.
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The costs for respeccing will be lowered by 30% with the patch.
But yes, the costs for imprinting, rerolling are the same.
you can reroll an alt and make it from start the build you wish, at zero cost but the levelling time. and since you are only 80, it will take you basically less than waiting the patch to respec. since you share the stash, you can also profit of any potential item you found with main that you don’t use anymore once you reach same lev, or even easier, simply buy from vendors upgrading gear each now and then at little gold cost (low lev things don’t cost much and you don’t have to depend on drops), speeding up the levelling process.
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Stuff just walks out of blizzard it seems so that might be a waste. Also i think you should respec into necro and do actual damage. Sorc sucks and 1.1.1 is like fixing a wet match by tossing it in the ocean. Unless we can actually slow stuff to stay inside the blizzard area or get an increased base dmg its just going to be a war of attrition every single fight where we can only stop to cast if we have ice armor up.
The gold cost is irrelevant. It’s the time invested into respeccing that sucks.
Yes, there is definitely room for improvement.
For me it’s not the time just that I have to click away hundreds of nodes in the right order.
I run a similar build. But i dont use arc lash. Im sure you are using AL right.
I just want lightning builds that dont rely on AL.
Also after the 1.1.1 patch I dont want to lose Over flowing Energy as its nice that is lessens cooldowns. But Vyrs is going to be too good to pass up.
It would be nice to have a unique that makes it so you can use both key passives.
I’m running an ice shard build.
IF I were to swap to lightning, then I would run something like this build:
Yuck, Arc Lash 
Im using spark, just as a fast proc to unstable currents. And im already getting tons of stuns with lightning spear. And Arc lash’s cooldown reduction is ONLY against stunned foes, so its not its up all the time.
Im better off with spark or better off making it work since i dislike AL.
What im hoping for after patch 1.1.1, with the buffs to mana gain with chain lightning, i want to drop basic skills completely.
You can with a Chain Lightning build, but you need perfect aspects and stats to maintain mana.
Check out that channel I linked above, I think they posted one a week or so ago. Unless it’s a different channel. I’ve been wrong once before. 
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If you’re just looking to improve single target/boss damage, classic Ice Shards with Frozen Orb + Ball Lightning enchantments can be the way to go. And a Barber WH of course.
After 1.1.1 fire could be a lot better vs bosses with Esu’s Ferocity being pretty much always active.
I had the same problem you had. After patch 1.1, first boss fight, what just happened?!?!?
My gear was optimal (was being key word since the re-roll due to patch/bug hit my enchanted items). Worse, it wasn’t even a very high NM dungeon.
I took a break from Sorc and played Rogue. I recommend giving it very serious consideration rather than a re-spec within sorc.
The play styles are actually very similar.
Instead of teleport with frostblitz, you have shadow step which is basically teleport. You even have an aspect on rogue to give extra charge if you want. Further, you can use the new aspect Audacity to stun as well every 20 seconds.
You will basically feel better in every stage of the gameplay without any of the sorc drawbacks inherent in current design.
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I suggest Conjurer Sorc. It’s a different playstyle from Ice Shard. Mana won’t be an issue. You can play off screen or jump on the mob style if you want.
You can check my YouTube channel for gameplays in NM 100 so you’ll have an idea how it handles highest tier:
It’s also good in PvP.
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I use ice shard/blizz hybrid, and I can cream anything below NM60 near instantly. cold is and will remain the strongest option until season 2.
Greyghost Please post your build. In the video what are your skills and paragon board?
It’s in the video. I will make a planner later
Easiest respec is to just roll a bone spear necro. So strong and feels good from leveling till endgame - a truly strong caster.
Highly recommended.
Here is your answer to respeccing. 
After I imbued bone element into my ice shards, I gained tremedous power.
Also, I managed to incorporate Raiment’s pull into my manual hotkey skill
Do you have a link to this build? Ive seen your vids but cant find build details anywhere.
