Diablo 4 devs nerf meta Sorcerer build as servers couldn't keep up with Lightning Spear

The Diablo 4 Lightning Spear Sorcerer build had to be nerfed because it was crashing Blizzard servers. The setup registered so many ability usages that it was actively lagging the game. In some more extreme scenarios, players reported having their entire game crash or losing connection to Blizzard online.

Diablo 4 Season 5 was only recently released but is seeing plenty of play. The community is putting together countless new builds and devising the best ways to tackle fresh content, like Infernal Hordes and Hellbreach Dungeons. However, players managed to cobble up a Sorcerer so strong it blew up Blizzard's servers.

In this article, we'll explain why Blizzard nerfed this build, and what it was doing to its infrastructure.

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Blizzard nerfs Diablo 4 Sorcerer build that crashed servers

After several seasons of being in desperate need of buffs, the sorcerer now needs nerfs (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The developers behind Diablo 4 recently nerfed a Sorcerer build that was so strong it almost fried the company infrastructure. The build in question is the Lightning Spear Sorcerer, one that has seen plenty of play due to its strength and impact. This composition uses a particular unique gear item to abuse the Frozen Orb skill and massively reduce the Lighting Spear cooldown.

To achieve this, players would equip a Fractured Winterglass Amulet in Diablo 4 while running the sorcerer setup. Below we'll list the affixes and unique effects of this item:

Affixes	Unique Effects
13-17.5% chance to cast Frozen Orb projectiles twice	35-65% chance to spawn a Conjuration on Frozen Orb explosion.
57-75% increased non-physical damage	Lucky Hit: 50-90% chance for Conjurations to launch a Frozen Orb at enemies
Conjuration cooldowns reduced by 0.1-0.3 seconds on Frozen Orb explosion
Conjuration mastery increased by 3-4

The most important aspect of this Lightning Spear build is the affix that lowers Conjuration cooldowns when a Frozen Orb explodes. This component paired with the unique effects that multiply the number of Frozen Orbs cast at once leads to a tremendously powerful setup.

Utilizing a unique item allowed players to create this unlikely build (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The main downside of Lightning Spear is its long cooldown, which is completely nullified with the Fractured Winterglass equipped. This allows players to spam the ability almost without any wait time at high levels of play, cluttering the screen with lightning and the servers with calculations.

This was causing serious problems for Blizzard, who realized that players running this build were preventing others from competing. The solution was to nerf the frequency of possible Lightning Spear casts while buffing its damage to compensate. This might quell the issue, but whether the build will remain as strong has yet to be decided.