Introduction
The Ice Shards Sorcerer build freezes your foes to death with the chilling power of ice. This is your leveling guide for the Diablo 4 Server Slam Beta, with Skill Point allocation up to the max level 20. Ice Shards 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!
Ice Shards provides high single target damage and has a powerful Enchantment Effect that automatically casts it at Frozen enemies. In order to auto-cast often, 
Frost Nova is used to guarantee Freeze. Freezing a group of mobs with the piercing legendary effect causes a shotgun of Ice Shards to fly out, hitting enemies multiple times.
All the Crowd Control and Barriers make this an extremely defensive build, great for Hardcore mode or supporting a team. Render your enemies helpless with the Ice Shards Sorcerer!
Skill Tree Points
The following table shows the order in which to allocate your Skill Points for the Ice Shards 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 |  Frost Bolt |  Basic Skill |
| 2 | Enhanced Frost Bolt | Basic Skill |
| 3 | Ice Shards | Core |
| 4 | Glinting Frost Bolt | Basic |
| 5 | Greater Ice Shards | Core |
| 6 | Ice Shards Level 2 | Core |
| 7 |  Teleport | Defensive |
| 8 | Frost Nova | Defensive |
| 9 |  Ice Armor | Defensive |
| 10 | Greater Ice Shards | Core |
| 11 | Enhanced Frost Nova | Defensive |
| 12 | Shimmering Frost Nova | Defensive |
| 13 | Ice Shards Level 3 | Core |
| 14 | Ice Shards Level 4 | Core |
| 15 | Ice Shards Level 5 | Core |
| 16 | Enhanced Teleport | Defensive |
| 17 | Shimmering Teleport | Defensive |
| 18 |  Align the Elements | Conjuration |
| 19 |  Protection | Conjuration |
| 20 | Protection Level 2 | Conjuration |
| 21 | Protection Level 3 | Conjuration |
Mechanics and Playstyle
The Ice Shards Sorcerer build requires some careful management of Mana, Cooldowns and Barrier. Ice Shards can easily kill individual enemies, but Frost Nova needs to be used offensively to shotgun multiple targets. Stacking Cooldown Reduction, multiple charges for Frost Nova and piercing effect for Ice Shards allows you to clear groups of mobs faster.
Engage battles with the Damage Rotation and then use Frost Bolt to recover Mana.
Damage Rotation
- Activate Ice Armor to gain more damage with Greater Ice Shards. Alternatively, any cooldown skill can also be used to gain a Barrier from Protection.
- (Optional) Teleport into the middle of mobs to close the gap.
- Cast Frost Nova to Freeze all enemies, activating auto-casted Ice Shards.
- Spam more Ice Shards manually at the toughest 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 Ice Shards to automatically cast them at Frozen enemies.
Codex of Power
Aspect of the Piercing Cold can be unlocked in the Codex of Power by completing the Dead Man’s Dredge dungeon in Fractured Peaks. Visit the Occultist to imprint this Aspect onto an item to allow Ice Shards to pierce through four enemies. An amulet is a good choice for imprinting Aspects since the effects gain a 50% bonus.
Legendary Item Aspects
Listed below are the Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for the Ice Shards Sorcerer build. They are listed in order of priority.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power |
|---|---|
| Piercing Cold | Ice Shards pierce # times, dealing #% less damage per subsequent enemy hit. |
| Frostblitz | Frost Nova gains an additional Charge but the Cooldown per Charge is increased 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. |
| Biting Cold | When you Freeze an enemy there is a #% chance they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. |
| Bounding Conduit | Gain #% Movement Speed for 3 seconds after Teleporting. |
| Protector | Damaging an Elite enemy grants you Barrier absorbing up to # damage for 10 seconds. This effect can only happen once every 30 seconds. |
| Eluding | Becoming Injured while Crowd Controlled grants you Unstoppable for 4 seconds. This effect has a # second Cooldown. |
| Deflecting Barrier | While you have a Barrier active, there is a #% chance to ignore incoming direct damage from Distant enemies. |
| Storm Swell | You deal #%[x] increased damage to Vulnerable enemies while you have a Barrier. |
| 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]. |
| 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]. |
| Snowveiled | Casting Ice Armor makes you Unstoppable for # seconds. |
| Energizing | Damaging an Elite enemy with a Basic Skill generates # Energy. |
| 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: Sapphire for +#% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies.
- Armor: Diamond for +#% Barrier Generation.
- 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.
