Highlights
- In the upcoming patch for Diablo 4, a number of QoL improvements and buffs were announced, but fans of the Sorcerer class are unhappy with the changes.
- The glyph buffs provide extra damage reduction, but it only works when the Sorcerer has a barrier or is taking damage from specific conditions, limiting its usefulness.
- The lack of proper defensive options for the Sorcerer class hinders build diversity and makes it difficult for Sorcerers to survive in endgame and nightmare dungeons.
In the latest Diablo 4 Campfire Chat livestream, a number of QoL improvements, class balance changes and drop rates were announced to be coming along with patch 1.1.1 on August 2nd. However, and after being unfairly nerfed in the last patch, fans are apparently not happy with the announced 'fixes' or buffs for the Sorcerer class.
Take the glyph buffs, for example. These glyphs have received a buff that allows you to get about 10% extra damage reduction, which IronCladLou83 likes. That said, and as user omggga points out in the fine print, these 'damage reductions' work while the user has a barrier or is taking damage from burning or vulnerable enemies, depending on the glyph, not just any enemy type or condition.
Barrier is an attribute tied to certain skills and works for a certain number of seconds before it disappears, so it's more of a timed defense than a true defense option. In the case of the Sorcerer, the skills that apply vulnerable conditions to enemies also apply Frozen status (such as Frost Nova, a mandatory skill for all end-game builds). In other words, vulnerable enemies are stunned enemies who cannot fight back. So defending against them is not useful per se for Sorcerers, not to mention all these buffs won't protect Sorcerer players from enemies that are out of range or don't suffer from any magic debuffs.
SupaikuN9 argues that Sorcerers don't need to be 'tanky' like other classes to function, but this still doesn't solve how the Sorcerer class lags behind other classes in terms of overall survivability. User TheFascinatedOne adds that the lack of proper defensive options for the Sorcerer class forces most builds to use all 4 defensive skills in the game (Teleport, Fire Shield, Ice Armor, Frost Nova), and this goes against build diversity by forcing players to leave more optional skills for mandatory defensive ones.
Sorcerers want both crowd control and good defensive abilities that allow them to stay around for a while. Most players are fine with sacrificing defense for power, but the problem is mainly in the endgame and nightmare dungeons, where there is still room to experiment with your Sorcerer builds. At later levels, the amount of damage you take requires much better defensive capabilities for this particular class.