Diablo 4: Hydra Sorcerer leveling guide (Season 9)

Diablo 4’s Hydra Sorcerer is going to be one of the best builds in Season 9, whether leveling or endgame. Today, we’re focused on the leveling build: which talents, enchantments you need, as well as how the build works in general. It’s a pretty mindless, powerful build, with only a few important things to keep in mind. It does tons of damage, is fun, and allows you to relax, and let your fiery hydra do all the heavy lifting.

In my estimation, Hydra Sorcerer is going to be Diablo 4 Season 9’s most overpowered build, so being able to start with a leveling build and transition into late game is a great thing. Not every build has that kind of luxury. If you’re thinking of channeling arcane powers this season, here’s what you need to know.

---

How does the Hydra Sorcerer leveling build work in Diablo 4 Season 9?

Once you have the Hydra spell, it’s game over for all of your enemies in Diablo 4 Season 9; it will take a little time to get this leveling build going, but it’s worth it. Thankfully, if you’ve taken the time to get the free skill points from your Region Progress, such as visiting all Altars of Lilith, you’ll certainly have a leg up.

It's all about that helpful fire hydra friend (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The Hydra Sorc build in Diablo 4 Season 9 is clearly built around the power of the Hydra. It’s a fiery turret you summon that deals damage for you. You combine this with a variety of defensive spells to keep you alive, and tons of AOE clear. Until you get the Serpentine Legendary Aspect, you don’t have to really worry about mana, since Fire Hydra doesn’t cost any.

However, once you do, it’s a must-equip, and while it does require you to start balancing your mana so you can also cast defensive skills, it only enhances the terrifying power of the build. You’re going to run the following abilities on your bar, as you unlock them:

• Hydra
• Spark
• Familiar
• Ice Armor
• Flame Shield
• Teleport

It’s a pretty easy build to pilot. Hydra’s your big damage, and you follow it with Familiar, and your various cooldowns to keep safe, when you’re in a pinch. Eventually you’ll be using Spark and then Familiar, but also keeping your Hydra active. That’s really all there is to it! Eventually you’re going to want to find an item that gives you the Serpentine Legendary Aspect (You may have 1 additional Hydra active, and Hydra’s duration is increased). It’s incredibly helpful, and while not required, I’m a fan of it.

---

Talents and Sorcerer enchantments to pick for Diablo 4 Season 9’s Hydra Sorcerer leveling build

This is a leveling build for the Diablo 4 Season 9 Hydra Sorcerer, so we aren’t covering anything on the Paragon board. However, you do still need to pick the right talents for the job, as well as the proper enchantments. You can find the talent tree below.

You may notice that you’re running Ice, Fire, and Shock spells on your hotbar. That’s to make the most out of the Familiar spell. Shock is your access to Lightning Magic, and Ice Armor gives you access to Ice for your Familiar. When you have the Shocking Impact talent, you will use Shock, followed by Familiar, but before that, Hydra then familiar is the play.

In addition to your plethora of defensive options, you also have Warmth as a talent, which heals you every second, and more from Burning enemies. When it comes to your enchantments, pick Fireball first, and Familiar second. This gives you a lot more clear, and plenty of summoned allies to lend a hand.

---

Ideal Horadric Spell combo pieces to pick for Diablo 4’s Hydra Sorcerer

Cosmic Anomaly is easily my favorite of the Catalysts (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Horadric Spells are customizable options for players to use in Diablo 4 Season 9, and so of course we’ll take advantage of them as Hydra Sorcs. We’re going to be using Cosmic Anomaly + Smoldering Ember + Invigorating Helix as the most ideal pairing. I like Invigorating Helix for the healing, but Pressurized Steam’s also a really great choice. You can also go with Sapping Crux to apply Vulnerable.

The idea behind this combo is to give us plenty of allies to help us deal even greater damage, thanks to Primordial Binding. For that reason, we’re not going to be pressing the button very often. With that in mind, it should go on a spell that we only need to push in a pinch. I’m going with Flame Shield.

---

Which Mercenary and Rune Combos are the best pick for Diablo 4 Season 9’s Hydra Sorcerer?

Raheir's tanky and very reliable, making him the best pick (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If you have the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion, your Hydra Sorc has access to the Mercenary System and Rune Words. This gives you access to way more power than someone who doesn’t have the expansion. Mercenaries run around and fight alongside you, and Rune Words trigger specific effects once the conditions have been met.

Your hired Mercenary will be Raheir, and your summoned (reinforcement) mercenary will be Varyana. We’ll list Raheir’s abilities below, and you’ll connect Varyana’s Bloodthirst to any skill in combat.

Raheir picks

• Ground Slam
• Raheir’s Aegis
• Bastion
• Iron Wolf’s Virtue

You probably won’t get any rare, mega-powerful Rune combos in Diablo 4 Season 9 for your Hydra Sorc until the endgame. I personally8 prefer Cem + Qua (Evade into more Movement Speed) and Cir + Ceh (Cast 5 skills then become exhausted for Spirit Wolves). I used this combo on my summon Necromancer last season and fell in love with it pretty quickly. Cem + Tun is another great one to get more out of your Shocking Impact.

---

Which Uniques and Legendary Aspects help you transition into endgame builds?

Once you hit level 60 — and even beforehand — there are certain things you’re going to want to keep in mind. There are several Legendary Aspects that I recommend having, alongside a couple of Uniques. For example, Tal Rasha’s Iridescent Loop and Esu’s Heirloom are both powerful Uniques for this build. You will also want to consider having high ranks of the following Legendary Aspects:

I can't wait to see this Unique in action (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

• Control
• Disobedience
• Snowveil
• Firestarter
• Elemental Constellation
• Engulfing Flames
• Conceited
• Shredding Blades
• Concentration
• Storm Swell

There’s also the new Unique, Ophidian Iris. If you stumble into one of these, that’s going to be a major boon, because it’s built around enhancing the power of your Hydra. It’s going to make leveling, and endgame wildly powerful, so if you can get a hold of it, that’s to your benefit.

---

Check out our other Diablo 4 guides and features

• Diablo 4 Season 9: All changes since the 2.3.0 PTR
• Diablo 4 Season 9 release date, and everything you need to know
• Diablo 4 Season 9 Endgame tier list: Best builds for Pit push and bossing
• Diablo 4 Season 9: All Horadric Jewels (known so far)

Edited by Jason Parker