Diablo 4's Sorceress class pays homage to the Sorceress of past Diablo games, focusing on the casting of cold, fire, and lightning spells. The class is the lightest on defense but packs a powerful punch from a distance with its magic.
Sorceress gameplay and combat feel very fluid and visceral. All three damage types - Lightning, Fire, and Cold - have distinctive ways of making a build "work".
First, Lightning builds provide a decent amount of crowd control in the form of stuns while dealing substantial direct damage. Many abilities also interact with the Crackling Energy keyword which will spawn a crackling energy ball on the ground that deals damage to nearby enemies on pickup. While, much like in the early days of Diablo II: Resurrected, some Lightning skills lack visual clarity, the overall theme feels great and the damage numbers were quite impressive even early on.
For Cold skills, their crowd control part plays a much more important role. Almost every single Cold skill interacts with either the Chilled or the Frozen keyword, offering copious amounts of control on the battlefield. This brings more D4 gold during boss fights where players are able to make full use of Diablo IV's new Stagger mechanic, weakening bosses after a certain amount of CC is applied to them.
Sorceress Skills
Minor Destruction – Zero cost mana mana generator skills dealing all types of elemental damage
Lightning • Fire Bolt • Frost Bolt • Arc Lash
Major Destruction – Higher cost mana skills dealing all types of elemental damage
Charged Bolts • Fireball • Ice Shards • Incinerate • Chain Lightning • Frozen Orb
Defensive – Skills to remove the sorceress from danger or envelope her in protective elements or destructive barriers
Flame Shield • Ice Armor • Blizzard • Teleport
Conjuration – Direct and Area of Effect elemental damage
Frost Nova • Lightning Spear • Ice Blades • Hydra
Mastery – High damage at a high mana cost
Firewall • Nova • Meteor • Ball Lightning
Ultimate – Offering immunity on very long cooldowns
Deep Freeze • Inferno • Conduit