Season 1 Creeping Death Incinerate Endgame Build

This is a Season 1 Creeping Death Incinerate endgame build for Sorcerer in Diablo 4 (D4) that uses Incinerate to release engulfing Fire Damage Over Time to slowly but surely burn down hordes of enemies. Read on to learn all the Gear, Skills, and Aspects you need and how to play the build for Season 1 (Version 1.1.2).

Creeping Death Incinerate Build Overview

Build Summary

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Summary		Skill Progression		Best Aspects
Gems and Hearts			Paragon

This is a mid range endgame burning build that utilizes Fire Damage Over Time through the use of Incinerate and several other Skills, Enchantment, and Aspects. This is further improved by Malignant Hearts, namely Creeping Death, Tal’Rasha, and Revenge to boost Damage Over Time and toughness.

You will find this to be a consistent Damage Over Time build that will allow you to live through the barrage of burning enemies.

Creeping Death Incinerate Build Breakdown

Skill Progression

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Summary		Skill Progression		Best Aspects
Gems and Hearts			Paragon

Active Skills

Skill		Upgrade Path
Incinerate (5 Points)	→	Enhanced Incinerate	Destructive Incinerate
Flame Shield (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Flame Shield	Shimmering Flame Shield
Teleport (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Teleport	Shimmering Teleport
Frost Nova (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Frost Nova	Mystical Frost Nova
Hydra (1 Point)	→	Enhanced Hydra	Summoned Hydra
Inferno (1 Point)	→	Prime Inferno	Supreme Inferno

Passive Skills

Creeping Death Incinerate Passives
Devastation (1 Point)	Elemental Dominance (1 Point)	Glass Cannon (3 Points)
Elemental Attunement (1 Point)	Precision Magic (3 Points)	Align the Elements (1 Point)
Protection (3 Points)	Mana Shield (3 Points)	Inner Flames (3 Points)
Crippling Flames (1 Point)	Permafrost (1 Point)	Hoarfrost (3 Points)
Fiery Surge (1 Point)	Endless Pyre (3 Points)	Combustion (1 Point)

Skill Progression Breakdown

Recommended Skill Progression
Lv.2	Lv.3	Lv.4	Lv.5
Fire Bolt	Fire Bolt	Incinerate	Enhanced Incinerate
Lv.6	Lv.7	Lv.8	Lv.9
Destructive Incinerate	Incinerate	Flame Shield	Teleport
Lv.10	Lv.11	Lv.12	Lv.13
Frost Nova	Enhanced Frost Nova	Mystical Frost Nova	Hydra
Lv.14	Lv.15	Lv.16	Lv.17
Enhanced Hydra	Summoned Hydra	Align the Elements	Protection
Lv.18	Lv.19	Lv.20	Lv.21
Incinerate	Incinerate	Incinerate	Enhanced Teleport
Lv.22	Lv.23	Lv.24	Lv.25
Shimmering Teleport	Enhanced Flame Shield	Shimmering Flame Shield	Inferno
Lv.26	Lv.27	Lv.28	Lv.29
Prime Inferno	Supreme Inferno	Fiery Surge	Endless Pyre
Lv.30	Lv.31	Lv.32	Lv.33
Firewall	Enhanced Firewall	Wizard's Firewall	Endless Pyre
Lv.34	Lv.35	Lv.36	Lv.37
Endless Pyre	Combustion	Permafrost	Hoarfrost
Lv.38	Lv.39	Lv.40	Lv.41
Hoarfrost	Hoarfrost	Elemental Attunement	Precision Magic
Lv.42	Lv.43	Lv.44	Lv.45
Precision Magic	Precision Magic	Inner Flames	Crippling Flames
Lv.46	Lv.47	Lv.48	Lv.49
Inner Flames	Inner Flames	Devastation	Elemental Dominance
Renown Skill Points (Lv50 Onwards)
R1	R2	R3	R4
Elemental Dominance	Elemental Dominance	Protection	Protection
R5	R6	R7	R8
Glass Cannon	Glass Cannon	Glass Cannon	Mana Shield
R9	R10
Mana Shield	Mana Shield

Enchantment Slots

Creeping Death Incinerate Build Enchantment Slots
Teleport (Level 15)	Firewall (Level 30)

Teleport Enchantment is the first Enchantment to get in this build. This is very important to the build as it will help you group up enemies through the Raiment of the Infinite Unique passive, give you Mana sustain through the Static Surge Legendary Node, and will allow you to reposition without losing stacks from the Aspect of Inner Calm.

Firewall is the next recommended Enchantment due to how often it can trigger with all the Lucky Hit Chance in the build and because of the benefits it can provide. Not only do you get an additional source of burning, which affects your total damage and the Combustion Key Passive, but you also get increased Burning damage and Mana regenaration.

Enchantment Slots Explained

Aspects and Affixes

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Summary		Skill Progression		Best Aspects
Gems and Hearts			Paragon

Best Weapons

Weapon	Aspects and Affixes
Wand	Flamescar While Channeling Incinerate, you periodically shoot embers that are attracted to enemies, each dealing (XX) Fire damage. ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance (Inherent) ・+X% Non Physical Damage ・+X% Damage to Burning Enemies ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance with Fire Damage ・+X Ranks Incinerate
Focus	Serpentine Aspect You may have 1 additional Hydra active, but Hydra’s duration is reduced by (20-10)%. ・+X% Cooldown Reduction (Inherent) ・+X% Cooldown Reduction ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・+X% Lucky Hit: Up to a +X% Chance to Slow ・+X% Damage Reduction from Enemies That Are Burning

Best Armor

Equipment	Aspects and Affixes
Helmet	Frostblitz Aspect Frost Nova gains an additional Charge but the Cooldown per Charge is increased by (30-40)%. ・+X% Cooldown Reduction ・Lucky Hit Chance while You Have a Barrier ・+X% Maximum Life ・+X% Total Armor
Chest	Raiment of the Infinite After using Teleport, Close enemies are Pulled to you and Stunned for (XX) seconds, but Teleport's cooldown is increased by 20%. ・+X Intelligence ・+X% Damage to Close Enemies ・+X% Damage to Stunned Enemies ・+X Rank to Glass Cannon Passive
Gloves	Aspect of Inner Calm Deal (5.0-10)% increased damage for each second you stand still, up to 30%. ・+X Ranks Incinerate ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・Lucky Hit: Up to 5% Chance to Restore +X% Primary Resource ・+X% Fire Damage Over Time
Pants	Aspect of Disobedience You gain (0.25-0.50)% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to (66)%. ・While Injured, Your Potion Also Grants (XX)% Maximum Life as Barrier (Inherent) ・+X% Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies ・+X% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies ・+X% Damage Reduction from Enemies That Are Burning ・+X% Damage Reduction
Boots	Aspect of Fortune Your Lucky Hit Chance is increased by (10-20)% while you have a Barrier active. ・+X Max Evade Charges (Inherent) ・+X% Movement Speed ・+X Ranks Frost Nova ・+X Ranks Teleport ・+X% Damage Reduction While Injured

Best Jewelry

Jewelry	Aspects and Affixes
Amulet	Aspect of Conflagration While channeling Incinerate, your Burning damage is increased by (20-30)%. ・+X% Resistance to All (Inherent) ・+X% Cooldown Reduction ・+X% Mana Cost Reduction ・+X Ranks Endless Pyre ・+X Ranks All Defensive Skills
Ring	Conceited Aspect Deal (15-25)% increased damage while you have a Barrier active. ・+X% Resistance (Inherent) ・+X% Resistance (Inherent) ・+X% Vulnerable Damage ・+X% Resource Generation ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・+X Maximum Life
Ring	Aspect of Control You deal (25-35)% more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies. ・+X% Resistance (Inherent) ・+X% Resistance (Inherent) ・+X% Vulnerable Damage ・+X% Critical Strike Damage ・+X% Lucky Hit Chance ・+X Maximum Life

Best Gems and Malignant Hearts

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Summary		Skill Progression		Best Aspects
Gems and Hearts			Paragon

Item Type	Effect
Royal Emerald (Weapon)	+12.0% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
Royal Ruby (Armor)	4.0% Maximum Life
Creeping Death	Type: Wrathful Your damage over time effects are increased by 30-40% for each different Crowd Control effect on the target. Unstoppable monsters and Staggered bosses instead take 110-130% increased damage from your damage over time effects.
Revenge	Type: Brutal 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.
Tal’Rasha	Type: Vicious For each unique element you deal damage with, you deal 7-12% increased damage for 3-10 seconds.

Gems

For the Gems section, it's best to equip Amethyst to increase your Burning damage since it's considered as Damage Over Time. Burning is your main source of damage for the build so this is the best option to slot in for weapons.

Next is Ruby on armors, which will increase overall Maximum Life. This is potent for Sorcerer builds, as the class has lower Maximum Life compared to others. Maximum Life also directly affects the Protection Skill Passive, giving you stronger Barriers!

Malignant Hearts

For Malignant Hearts, slot in Tal'Rasha for extra overall damage. This build, however, only has access to Fire and Lightning Elements, so it might not be as effective compared to other builds. With that said, it is still a viable damage boost.

Next is Revenge mainly for added survival as channeling skills prevent you from moving, which makes you an easy target for enemies.

And lastly, as the highlight of the build, slot in Creeping Death to significantly increase the Damage Over Time you can deal. This has great synergy with the build, as Creeping Death gives more bonuses the more Crowd Control effects you have access to. And in this build, you'll have Stun, Frozen, Immobilize, and Slow.

Alternative Malignant Heart

As mentioned earlier, you'll only have access to two different elements in this build: Fire and Lightning, making the Tal'Rasha Malignant Heart less valuable. If you believe that you've attained the damage you want but are lacking in survivability, you can replace Tal'Rasha with Spellbreaking.

Spellbreaking Malignant Heart has significantly improved with the patch 1.1.1 update and will help a lot in making your build more durable.

Paragon Board Setup

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Summary		Skill Progression		Best Aspects
Gems and Hearts			Paragon

Creeping Death Incinerate Playstyle

Creeping Death Incinerate Build Tips
Recommended Openers and Rotations Use Teleport or Evade to Reposition Stand On Top of Your Firewall Save Inferno for Mana Sustain

Recommended Openers and Rotations

Trash Mob Opener and Skill Rotation

Boss Opener

Use Teleport or Evade to Reposition

This build utilizes the Aspect of Inner Calm which requires you to stay stationary in order to activate. The aspect has good synergy with Incinerate already since you won't be able to move while channeling, but it can be taken one step further by only using Teleport or Evades with Teleport Enchantment to reposition during a fight.

Teleport does not reset the Inner Calm stacks so you won't have any damage down time if you master this.

Stand On Top of Your Firewall

If your Firewall enchantment procs, it's best to stay on top of it for as long as possible. This will increase your Burning damage by 25% through the Enchanced Firewall Skill passive.

Save Inferno for Mana Sustain

There are a lot of Mana regeneration that can be found in the build; however, there are still times where Mana can be an issue, especially in boss fights. To minimize these situations, it's best to save Inferno when you run out of Mana. This will temporarily allow you to cast your Pyromancy skills with no Mana cost and will allow your Mana pool to replenish in the process.

Learning to utilize this properly will allow you to have longer rotations and better burning uptime.

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