I’ve been a dedicated Diablo player for years, eagerly diving into each new season and exploring the latest changes and builds. However, after taking a deep dive into the details of Diablo 4 Season 4, I’ve decided to sit this one out. The reason? The Sorcerer build is an absolute disaster, particularly when it comes to damage output compared to other classes.
Let’s break it down:
Damage Disparity
One of the most glaring issues is the Sorcerer’s damage output. While other classes have seen tweaks and buffs that significantly enhance their performance, the Sorcerer seems to have been left in the dust. Whether you’re focusing on elemental damage, AoE spells, or single-target attacks, the numbers just don’t stack up. Here are a few points that highlight the problem:
Elemental Spells: Spells that should be dealing massive damage, such as Meteor or Chain Lightning, feel underwhelming compared to equivalent skills in other classes. The cooldowns are too long, and the damage simply doesn’t match up to the standards set by other classes.
Survivability vs. Damage: While Sorcerers have always had to balance between damage output and survivability, Season 4 has tipped the scales too far. To survive, you need to invest heavily in defensive skills and gear, further gimping your damage potential. Meanwhile, classes like the Barbarian and Rogue can achieve high damage and maintain decent survivability without such sacrifices.
Skill Synergy: Other classes have received updates that enhance the synergy between their skills, leading to devastating combos and powerful builds. The Sorcerer, on the other hand, feels disjointed. The skills don’t flow well together, and trying to create a cohesive build that maximizes damage often feels like an exercise in futility.
Community Feedback Ignored
It’s not just my opinion – the community has been vocal about these issues since the patch notes were released. Forums and social media are filled with feedback from Sorcerer players who feel ignored. It’s frustrating to see such an imbalance go unaddressed, especially when the developers have had ample time to respond to the community’s concerns.
No Battle Pass Support
Given these glaring issues, I can’t justify supporting the game this season. I won’t be purchasing the Battle Pass, and I know many others who feel the same. As much as I love the Diablo franchise, supporting a game that doesn’t address fundamental balance issues feels wrong. The Battle Pass should enhance my experience, not leave me feeling like I’m paying for a subpar character build.
Conclusion
Diablo 4 Season 4 has missed the mark with the Sorcerer build. The damage disparity compared to other classes is too significant to ignore, and the lack of meaningful synergy and survivability options makes the Sorcerer feel like a chore rather than a powerhouse. Until these issues are addressed, I’ll be taking a break from Diablo 4 and withholding my support for the Battle Pass. Here’s hoping the developers listen to the community and make the necessary changes for future seasons.
If you’re considering diving into Season 4 as a Sorcerer, you might want to think twice. The current state of the build just isn’t worth the frustration.
This is true. I rotate class every season, though missed one. I remember my half geared double swing barb slapping each and every boss with eyes closed, and now a very decent geared sorc cant even scratch lilith, yet try higher than pit60 without getting insanely rekt.
“o but sorc #1 pit ladder”. permanent flame shield is not the way.
It’s harder than other classes to be certain, and certainly more pigeonholed in terms of skill diversity, but it’s nowhere near unplayable. There are several very fun builds out there for each tier of play: Notably, Incinerate is by far the quickest and easiest leveling build in the game by a LONG shot, and it takes you through the entire season and Iron Wolf journey save perhaps Destroyer Tier. Now, are sorcs still “put 4 defensives on the skill bar and lower their cooldown as far as possible” after 4 seasons? Absolutely. But two of the four are iconic and always fun to press (teleport and nova), and the other two make you feel invulnerable.
Also, careful cherry picking complaints on forums as evidence that there is some sort of overwhelming consensus. The vast majority of sorc players are just playing sorc and having fun, which requires no comment, especially as they’re too busy playing the game. You will ONLY get qq here, save for a couple of white knighting “don’t yell at my game” folk. Neither is particularly representative.
There are legitimate concerns. Turning that into “GAME IS BROKEN” when the game clearly isn’t delegitimizes them.
Unless they fix Season 5, and I doubt they will, it will be even worse.
There are a few new toys to play with as we saw in the PTR, and probably more in the actual season, but right now I’m just not excited to play S5. It was just a mess, and the season mechanic is the worst I’ve seen in the entire lifetime of Diablo 4. I am so crestfallen that I can’t even muster the will to play S4 anymore.
i believe this forum is just a honeypot to let all the criticism hidden from the public.
those “we heard you” and “we got people reading the forum” are just perfunctory. because it has been already 1 year since launch, sorc players
keep receive disappointment tunings.
Honeypot is the best way to describe it. I have some hope, considering one of the producers apparently just left the team, but not much.
After a year, sorcerer is still nowhere close to top tier. This is the opposite of the traditional meta of D2, which they claim to love and copy at every opportunity.
Historically in D2, Barbarian was a bit of a meme build compared to others like hammerdin and any of the three elements of sorcerer.
Content creators are now doing damage control on Blizzard’s behalf, stating they have said they hear the concerns of sorc mains and are working on long term solutions… But dude, we’ve heard that for a year and the tiny bit of progress we had, S4, is totally destroyed on PTR.
I don’t want to be forced into a single build when I play. I want choices. That’s simply human nature and simply good balancing.
I stand by what I’ve said elsewhere too, the game should not be balanced around uniques. Classes should be balanced at a base level. Besides, nerfing all of our survival skills because every sorcerer uses them, does not solve the issue.
It’s like they’re seeing trends and don’t know the reason for the trends. Kind of unsettling. I am hopeful for the future, but in S5 I’ll be maining barb most likely. The prodigal son always overperforms.
Tested barb in S4, and the difference in survivability and damage output even at the mid 30’s is frankly shameful.
Wonder why that is… oh yeah they have more weapon slots than the other classes! Honestly, it’s beyond my how they still haven’t figured that out. The game will never be balanced as long as these core mechanics aren’t straightened out.