Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer Leveling Build Guide

Introduction

The Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer build burns your foes to a crisp with great balls of fire! This is your leveling guide for the Diablo 4 Server Slam Beta, with Skill Point allocation up to the max level 20. Hydra & Fireball Sorcerer is easily capable of blasting through the entire Fractured Peaks content that is available. Let us go over the build mechanics, character progression, and playstyle!

Fireball explodes on enemies for AoE damage to destroy groups of mobs. Hydra provides the high single target damage needed to kill bosses and tough elites. Fireball Enchantment causes an explosion on enemies when they die, even when Hydra deals the killing blow. Both these skills complement each other well and can handle any situation.

Multiple sources of blazing fire damage will incinerate your foes. Even the hordes of hell cannot stand the heat of the Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer!

Skill Tree Points

The following table shows the order in which to allocate your Skill Points for the Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer build. You gain 19 points at Level 20 and 2 points from completing Renown in Fractured Peaks, for a total of 21.

Order	Skill	Cluster
1	Fire Bolt	Basic Skill
2	Enhanced Fire Bolt	Basic Skill
3	Fireball	Core
4	Flickering Fire Bolt	Basic
5	Enhanced Fireball	Core
6	Greater Fireball	Core
7	Teleport	Defensive
8	Frost Nova	Defensive
9	Enhanced Frost Nova	Defensive
10	Shimmering Frost Nova	Defensive
11	Fireball Level 2	Core
12	Hydra	Conjuration
13	Enhanced Hydra	Conjuration
14	Summoned Hydra	Conjuration
15	Hydra Level 2	Conjuration
16	Hydra Level 3	Conjuration
17	Hydra Level 4	Conjuration
18	Hydra Level 5	Conjuration
19	Enhanced Teleport	Defensive
20	Shimmering Teleport	Defensive
21	Fireball Level 3	Core

Mechanics and Playstyle

The Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer build revolves around a simple combo. Hydra deals single target damage and Fireball deals AoE damage. Both Hydra and Fire Bolt apply Burning damage, while 10% of all Burning damage stacked on an enemy is added as Direct damage to each Greater Fireball hit.

Shimmering Frost Nova is another Mana generator and provides defensive protection with Freeze. No Sorcerer would be complete without Teleport for mobility.

Engage battles at range with the Damage Rotation shown below, and then use the Mana Generator Rotation to recover and finish off wounded enemies.

Damage Rotation

Cast Hydra nearby enemies.
Spam Fireball for AoE damage.

Mana Generator Rotation

(Optional) Teleport into the middle of mobs to close the gap.
Cast Frost Nova to Freeze all enemies.
Spam Fire Bolt to generate Mana and finish off wounded enemies.

Enhancement Slots

The specialization of the Sorcerer can be unlocked at level 15. Complete the Legacy of the Magi questline as soon as possible to gain access to your first Enhancement Slot. Choose to enhance Fireball for AoE explosions when enemies die.

Legendary Item Aspects

Listed below are the Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for the Hydra and Fireball Sorcerer build. They are listed in order of priority.

Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Serpentine	You may have # additional Hydra active, but Hydra duration is reduced by #%.
Control	You deal #%[x] more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies.
Prodigy	Using a Cooldown restores # Mana.
Edgemaster	Skills deal up to #%[x] increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource.
Rapid	Basic Skills gain #%[+] Attack Speed.
Might	Basic Skills grant 25% Damage Reduction for # seconds.
Unwavering	Taking direct damage has a #% chance to reset the Cooldown of one of your Defensive Skills.
Bounding Conduit	Gain #% Movement Speed for 3 seconds after Teleporting.
Frostblitz	Frost Nova gains an additional Charge but the Cooldown per Charge is increased by #%.
Eluding	Becoming Injured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a # second Cooldown.
Disobedience	You gain #%[x] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to #%[x].
Expectant	Attacking enemies with a Basic Skill increases the damage of your next Core Skill cast by #%[x], up to 50%[x].
Incendiary	Lucky Hit: Burning Damage has up to a #% chance to restore 10 Mana.
Biting Cold	When you Freeze an enemy there is a #% chance they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
Vengeful	Making an enemy Vulnerable has up to #% chance to grant 3%[+] increased Critical Strike Chance for 3 seconds, up to 9%[+].
Inner Calm	Deal #%[x] increased damage for each second you stand still, up to 30%[x].
Energizing	Damaging an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill generates # Energy.
Protector	Damaging an Elite enemy grants you Barrier absorbing up to # damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds.
Umbral	Restore # of your Primary Resource when you Crowd Control and enemy.
Elementalist	Core or Mastery Skills cast at or above 100 Mana gain a #%[+] increased Critical Strike Chance.
Efficiency	Casting a Basic Skill reduces the Mana cost of your next Core Skill by #%.
Retribution	Distant enemies have a #% chance to be Stunned for # seconds when they hit you. You deal #%[x] increased damage to Stunned enemies.

Gems

Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

Weapon: Amethyst for +#% Damage Over Time.
Armor: Ruby for +#% Maximum Life.
Jewelry: Any Gem that gives the Resistance type you are lacking the most.

Elixirs and Health Potions

Visit the Alchemist in Kyovashad to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials. Use an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Weak Assault Elixir to increase Attack Speed by 7%.

Return to the Alchemist when you reach level 10 and 20 to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.