Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build and best skills

Discover the best Ice Sorcerer build in Diablo 4

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Blizzard Entertainment

Want the best Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build? Despite nerfs to Vulnerable damage with the launch of Season 1 , the Ice Sorcerer continues to be one of our favourite Diablo 4 builds. It’s a high-damage playstyle that can deal with single targets and larger packs with ease. Where it falls down is survivability, which is even worse with the defensive nerfs in Patch 1.1.0. Fortunately, we’ve got a couple of ways to buff the Sorcerer in this area with some of the new Malignant Hearts .

In this guide, we’ll break down how to make the best Ice Sorcerer build in Diablo 4 , covering the Skills, Enchantments, Aspects, Stats, Gems, and Malignant Hearts that you’ll need. It’s current with the recent Patch 1.1.0, but we’ll continue to update it as future patches and hotfixes arrive.

Check out our Diablo 4 Lightning Sorcerer build or our Fire Sorcerer build , if you’d like to try some different playstyles!

What is the best class in Diablo 4? Watch this video to find out.Watch on YouTube

Best Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build

Our Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build focuses on dealing huge damage to Frozen and Vulnerable enemies. With these two status effects, we can limit enemy mobility and apply huge damage modifiers that will shred single-target foes and larger packs alike.

Of course, it can’t all be about damage, because we also want to make this build viable for endgame content. With that in mind, we’ve built around trying to maintain a Barrier as often as possible, giving you an extra pool of hit points to tank enemy hits before you take any fatal damage.

Best Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build skills

Below, you’ll find a full list of all skills that you should get for our Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build, in order:

Frost Bolt

Frost Bolt is your basic skill in this build, dealing damage to and Chilling enemies without spending any Mana. The really exciting part, though, is the Enhanced Frost Bolt upgrade that makes Frost Bolt explode and hit other enemies after damaging a Frozen enemy.

Perhaps surprisingly, we’ve opted for Glinting Frost Bolt as the final upgrade here. While Flickering Frost Bolt would help us make enemies Vulnerable, we have another source of Vulnerable later on that is far stronger, and the Glinting upgrade turns Frost Bolt into a much-needed Mana Generator.

Ice Shards

Ice Shards is our main damage skill for this Ice Sorcerer build, and it works excellently thanks to its added damage against Frozen enemies.

With Enhanced Ice Shards, it’ll also ricochet from Frozen enemies to keep spreading the damage through a crowd, and Greater Ice Shards makes it always treat enemies as Frozen while you have a Barrier active.

Teleport

Teleport is an incredibly important defensive option for the Sorcerer, as it allows you to get out of danger fast and also provides Unstoppable (which ends any status effects currently inhibiting your character).

With Shimmering Teleport, it’ll also boost your Damage Reduction by 30% for 3 seconds, ensuring that you can survive while moving away from enemies to a safer space.

Ice Armor

Ice Armor is another key defensive skill for this build, granting you a Barrier that absorbs 30% of your base Life. While it’s active, Ice Armor also adds 5% of your damage dealt to its Barrier, and that is doubled against Vulnerable enemies when you get the Mystical Ice Armor upgrade.

Frost Nova

Frost Nova is our main way to make apply status effects with this build, as it unleashes a torrent of frost to Freeze enemies and, with the Mystical Frost Nova upgrade, inflict them with Vulnerable.

Ice Blades

Ice Blades is another damage dealer, but it relies on a cooldown rather than Mana. On top of dealing some damage, it also has a 30% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for two seconds.

While you might be initially put off due to Ice Blades’ 16 second cooldown, the Enhanced upgrade actually reduces that cooldown by 0.5 seconds each time it hits a Vulnerable enemy. With the Summoned Ice Blades upgrade, 20% of that cooldown reduction will also apply to other skills, allowing you to quickly regain access to Teleport, Ice Armor, and Frost Nova.

If you’re unsure how to use these skills effectively, follow the attack pattern below:

1. Use Frost Nova near enemies to make them Vulnerable.
2. Use Ice Armor to boost your defense.
3. Use Ice Blades to start triggering your cooldown reduction.
4. Spam Ice Shards until you are out of Mana.
5. Use Frost Bolt to regenerate Mana.
6. Use Teleport whenever you need to escape from danger, and otherwise repeat the above.

Image credit:Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build: Best Enchantments

The Sorcerer has a unique Enchantments class mechanic in Diablo 4, which allows them to convert two spells into passive bonuses. Each spell has their own unique Enchantment effect, and finding the right ones for your build can massively boost your DPS or survivability.

Below, you’ll find the best Enchantments for our Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build:

• Ice Shards : Ice Shards automatically conjure and fly towards Frozen enemies.
• Flame Shield : Flame Shield automatically activates when you take fatal damage. Can only happen once every 120 seconds.

While Flame Shield doesn’t really fit the icy theme we’re going for with this build, it’s absolutely one of the best Enchantments for the Sorcerer’s survivability and well worth using regardless.

Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build: Best Aspects

As you complete Side Dungeons and find Legendary Gear in Diablo 4, you’ll also get Legendary Aspects . These are the thing that grants Legendary Items their special Legendary effect, and finding the best Aspects for your build will unlock powerful new synergies that are crucial for surviving higher-difficulty content.

Below, you’ll find the Aspects that we’d recommend using for this Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build:

• Snowveiled Aspect (Sarat’s Lair - Scosglen): Casting Ice Armor makes you Unstoppable for 2-3 seconds.
• Aspect of Fortune (Legendary - random drop): Your Lucky Hit Chance is increased by 10-20% while you have a Barrier active.
• Aspect of Piercing Cold (Dead Man’s Dredge - Fractured Peaks): Ice Shards pierce 3-4 times, dealing 20-25% less damage per subsequent enemy hit.
• Iceheart Brais (Unique Pants - random drop): Enemies that die while Frozen have a 11-20% chance to unleash a Frost Nova.
• Penitent Greaves (Unique Boots - random drop): You leave behind a trail of frost that Chills enemies. You deal 7-20% more damage to Chilled enemies.
• Aspect of Control (Sunken Library - Kehjistan): You deal 25-35% more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies.
• Aspect of Frozen Memories (Legendary - random drop): The Avalanche Key Passive now applies to 1 additional casts.
• Aspect of the Frozen Wake (Legendary - random drop): While Ice Armor is active, you leave behind exploding Ice Spikes that deal damage. Your Ice Spikes Chill enemies for 15%.
• Prodigy’s Aspect (Witchwater - Hawezar): Using a cooldown restores 15-25 Mana.
• Mother’s Embrace (Unique Ring - Campaign reward): If a Core skill hits 5 or more enemies, 20-40% of the Resource cost is refunded.

Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build: Best Stats

When hunting for Gear, it’s important to also find items that increase important stats for your build. These randomly-rolled stats, known as Affixes, will greatly enhance the capabilities of your build, and are highly important if you want to stay alive on World Tier 3 and 4.

Below, you’ll find the Stats that you should hunt for with this Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build:

• Vulnerable damage
• Damage vs Chilled
• Damage Reduction from Vulnerable
• Damage Reduction from Chilled
• Lucky Hit Chance
• Willpower (increases Mana Regeneration)
• Intelligence (increases skill damage)

Once you reach World Tier 3, you can reroll Affixes on your gear by visiting the Occultist in any of the major cities. This will cost Fiend Roses, an incredibly rare resource that you can only get in Helltide areas.

Image credit:Blizzard Entertainment

Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build: Best Gems

Gear can also have Gem Sockets, into which you can place Gems for even more passive stat bonuses. Unlike Affixes, Gems offer set stat boosts depending on the type of Gear into which they are placed.

In Weapons, you should use Emeralds to increase your Critical Strike damage against Vulnerable enemies. This Ice Sorcerer build aims to always make enemies Vulnerable during combat, so this is essentially a straight boost to your Critical Strike Damage.

In Armor, we’d recommend using Rubies to increase maximum Life. The Ice Sorcerer is one of the weaker classes in terms of survivability, so using Rubies in any Armor Gem slots offers a much-needed Life boost that should help you tank a few more enemy hits before finding yourself close to death.

Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build: Best Malignant Hearts

Season 1 introduces Malignant Hearts, a temporary Seasonal mechanic that will greatly enhance builds throughout the Season of the Malignant. If you want to survive high-level content, especially after the recent defensive nerfs, then you’ll need specific Malignant Hearts for this Ice Sorcerer build.

Below, we’ll list the best Malignant Hearts for the Ice Sorcerer:

• Prudent Heart : You become Immune for 2-4 seconds after you lose more than 20% Life in a single hit. This effect can only occur once every 110 seconds.
• The Malignant Pact : Cycle through a Malignant bonus every 20 kills: Gain 20% Attack Speed/Core and Basic Skills have a 15% chance to fully restore your Primary Resource/Every 21 seconds, gain a Barrier absorbing 85-102 damage.
• Revenge : 10-20% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge, or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250% and explodes, dealing up to 1360-2040 Fire damage to nearby enemies.

That wraps up our Diablo 4 Ice Sorcerer build guide. If other classes are also taking your fancy, check out our Diablo 4 Twisting Blades Rogue build , Whirlwind Barbarian build , Bleed Barbarian build , Pulverize Druid build , Storm Druid build , Corpse Explosion Necromancer build , and Bone Necromancer build , and Blood Necromancer build guides.

Changelog:

• Updated 11/06/2023 : Removed Fireball from the skill list and replaced it with Hoarfrost level 3.

Activision Blizzard are currently the subject of a number of legal actions , labour disputes and allegations of workplace harassment . Rock Paper Shotgun will continue to write about these issues, as well as covering Activision Blizzard games as part of our commitment to cover subjects of interest to our readers. The latest news can always be found under our Activision Blizzard tag.

Diablo IV

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.

All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Rock Paper Shotgun is better when you sign in

Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.