I’m curious what’s the Sorc forum’s take on Season 5 tier list after playing for a week? As a foundation, let’s use Maxroll’s tier guide as a guide whether you fully agree with it or not.
Their criteria is Endgame and Pit pushing builds. Let’s add Infernal and Tormented boss too.
Maxroll’s Tier List:
https://maxroll.gg/d4/tierlists/endgame-tier-list
S Tier
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Lightning Spear Sorc
Firebolt Sorc
Fireball Sorc
Chain Lightning Sorc
A Tier
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Frozen Orb Sorc
Blizzard Sorc
B Tier
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Ball Lightning Sorc
Arc Lash Sorc
Meteor Sorc
Ice Shards Sorc
Firewall Sorc
C Tier
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None
D Tier
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None
My comments:
S tier
- I would put Lighting Spear Sorc at S+ tier
- Watching YouTube streams and reading threads, I haven’t seen anyone played Maxroll’s version of Firebolt Sorc in S5, so I don’t know what to say here. According to their guide, the issue here is execution.
- Chain Lightning Sorc from what I heard and seen is lesser than Fireball in performance, so I would put it at tier A
- Fireball Sorc is strong but not as strong as Lightning Spear so I think tier S makes sense for Fireball
A tier
- I haven’t seen this Frozen Orb in action in S5. There are no YouTube vids or threads so this one is questionable
- Blizzard Sorc seems to be stable across seasons but I haven’t seen much folks talking about it and there’s not much YouTube vids as well for S5. But I think based on historical performance, it’s safe to assume this is still Tier A
B tier
- Ball Lightning. I haven’t heard anyone with great success yet with this build
- Arc Last Sorc. Same comment on Frozen Orb but I did hear folks with varying success and complaints. So probably B+
- Meteor Sorc. Same with Ball Lightning
- Ice Shard Sorc. Same with Ball Lightning
- Firewall Sorc. Maxroll’s build is different from my Firewall build. I think I agree with their version is B tier, but my version is A tier with Flameweaver/Firebolt but it’s not their Firebolt version either.
Other tiers
- Where is Incinerate?
- Where is pure Conjuration (Hydra, Ice Blades, Lightning Spear)
- Where is Charged Bolts?
How do these builds perform without Uber? Do they go down one tier?
Edit: One thing I realized in their guide is they call Blizzard, the Blizzard build but it’s actually the Ice Spike build in technicality. However they call Firewall, the Firewall build and it’s all just using Firewall. So if we are talking about pure Blizzard, it should probably sit at Tier B too.
Edit 2: Is there really such a build in endgame where you just use one pure skill without any modification from item and aspects? Like when someone says Fireball, does anyone really play Fireball with just the standard Fireball (no bouncing or split) for endgame?
I really like the new Fireball build, it really popped off with the revamped uniques. Unfortunately, it struggles with bosses like all other sorc builds. Every third cast you get a whopping 6 fireballs but they fire in a wide arc and most of them miss the boss.
I tried the Chain Lightning too and it’s fun for speed clearing but again trash on bosses.
The only reason sorcs are getting attention this season is because the Infernal Hordes are all the rage rn and it’s an all out AoE mode.
4 Likes
Maxroll is good in general, but not for Sorcs.
Incinerate, for example, may not be anywhere near the top for pits, but it’s at least B tier for that, and it’s S tier for leveling.
Do you see any Incinerate builds for any purpose anywhere at Maxroll?
3 Likes
I agree. In general it’s a good baseline template but once you dig in with their list and guides, you’d fine some cracks and less optimal guides specially on the none meta builds that they don’t main.
Base from what I have seen in S5, Incinerate is at least B tier. I think it could be A tier but I need someone to tell me their Pit, Tormented, and Infernal experience.
Lightning Spear is definitely s tier. But calling it lightning spear is somewhat deceiving since we’re using FO and Winterglass. Not the best naming.
In any event, i dislike that build just as much as i did before because it requires no effort**. More so than that, with so many conjurations on the screen, you cant tell whats going on.
Full disclosure, one of my sorcs is an LS sorc since nothing else is viable and efficient for materials / equipment.
**I can litterally just stand there in t8 hoard, close my eyes, and hit the FO skill. I dont even need to use the lightning spear to win.
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I give blizzard sorc a B. Why? Very slow. Not fun. Just stand there and sprinkle. You cant alter the build to change up aspects; you have to use: tundra, glacial, shredded, stormswell. It also cant do any damage to pit 117 boss
3 Likes
maxroll tiers and guides are written by very specific guy - Northwar.
He put FO sorc in A tier in S4 and it was F tier at most.
So I wouldn’t really trust it.
I too dislike lighting spear, but it is surely the way this season.
Overall sorc design is still incredibly bad, D3 wizard, not real sorc. Game became too casual friendly, you literally can faceroll any high end activity if you are playing meta.
It’s just too boring for me.
3 Likes
İ couldnt try lightning spear/orb build since i havent got the amulet yet
Chain lighntning build is definetely not s tier
İ would put it in B tier tbh … and it feels clunky to me
Fireball is great for thrash mobs and quite enjoyable but for bosses it is quite bad so i respecced back to blizzard
Blizzard (ice spikes) doesnt faceroll stuff but it is still solid imo… and the good part is it is decent on bosses as well … not the fastest but get the job done
2 Likes
My S4 Blizzard Barb felt awful in S5. I ended up re-specing, but I’m curious if there is any tweak or change you made that helped gets yours playable.
Maybe is just a “git gud” problem, but i struggled a lot with chain lightning. I agree when people say it is A or even B tier, because it struggles hard against bosses. I have used fireball build up to level 98 'cause i couldnt get fractured winterglass up to then, but i guess it’s A tier max. it can clear trash essily, but struggles against bosses in some rooms (you need a very large room without any obstacles to not have mana problems). LS is S+ tier for sure. I did not try firebolt, because it is too boring for me, but it’s certainly strong. Blizzard can spike for huge damage, but in general it’s damage is medium; not great for general content but a bit better for bosses. I don’t think the list is bad at all, though.
İ basically followed mekunas guide
However i am using a two handed weapon
And have conceited aspect in the amulet (the similar aspect which requires vulnerable has a higher multiplier but i find conceited to be more consistent)
1 Like
So for us what is exactly S tier if Frozen Orb / LS is S+ tier?
S tier:
Is this the common criteria?
Definitely not. S tier means you can face tank pit 120 and hoard 8.
Pit 100 anyone can do. For example, i could do pit 101 in about 4 or 5 minutes with Bliz. Any max level 100 can also do hoard 7 and 6.
S tier means you are super / elite and can compete at very hard levels with ease.
So which ones are in S tier as of now (let’s not use Maxroll because that’s just a list).
if there is some sorc who want experiments with high gear i can give raiment with ga in glass cannon on season, so as esu with ga in crit for free, cuz i’m not planning to play this boredoom anymore.
I thought that I would at least completely do the right mw, but the season turned out to be so boring that I was too lazy to even do it.
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My arc lash gal is a blast this season.
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Actually I use Winterglass in my Meteor Setup. Vul + Zero CDs.
Incinerate is kinda strong. You get all that huge multis.
Chainlightning needs so much gear to be good. Fireballs damage curve is much more “natural.”
The numbers are strong but how does it perform in Pit? I assume it’s really good against Tormented Bosses but difficult in Infernal Horde T6 and above?
After quite a bit of tormented zir runs not dropping the winterglass amulet … i finally got one from helltide farming the mats for zir 
Although it had the minimum roll on cooldown reduction the clear speed is much above blizzard
My masterworks both hit the cooldown making it a normal perfect roll of 0.3 seconds and that takes the build to next level (0.3 is enough for contious spam so i will try to get a 0.3 normal roll and try to hit conjuration mastery)
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The build is very strong HOWEVER i dont find it very fun to play because i am smashing literally every button on my gaming mouse casting every skill constantly … it is a piano build for sure (i am guessing high end players use macros for this build) … if i cont to play the build i will probably break my mouse side buttons 
3 Likes
The funny part about the sorc meta is how they somehow made the same mistake as Druid with Companions. It’s now pretty much mandatory to have Conjuration Mastery on most Sorc builds.
I guess that depends on the context. If you wanna be OP and push really hard on Pit and Infernal, that’s true, but you are still fine with the non-meta builds as long as you accept the limitations. I won’t say it’s mandatory. I’m having fun with my Firewall which now hovers at Pit 100s but somewhat disappointed too because I’m stuck at Infernal T7.