1.0.7.1 UPDATE ON SECOND POST
TITLE SHOULD BE 1.0.6.0, or I’m from the future. what you think?
Introduction - 1.0.6.0 Fire/Burn nerfs and its effect on Burn builds
The new patch 1.0.6.0 brought us, along with the monster nerfs in crucible, nerfs to two of the most beloved things for Fire/Burn build users - Warpfire burn duration nerfed (from like 100+% to 73% average) and Flame torrent damage nerfed (35% WD to 23% along with flat fire damage nerfs on the skill). This caused quite some uproar from some players, especially about warpfire, where some feel like it was nerfed too hard. I personally thought that the nerfs were fine (flame torrent was actually fine, warpfire is the more debatable one) especially after I tested the first fire build I saw in my list, Fire Hagarrad Purifier, which got me a personal record on 170 gladiator for my builds.
I then decided to try one of the mainstay builds in GD, and my personal favorite build of all time, Infernal Knight BWC Sorcerer, originally created by JoV. Yeah, I like this more than the meteors one. It turns out that the nerf has affected this one more than the first, as expected. But it’s still really good in crucible, especially if you value consistency more than clearspeed.
So why post this build then? Well, there are a few reasons:
- This is my favorite build, as stated earlier.
- JoV stopped updating the Infernal Knight version in favor of his Triple Meteor Version. The one thing that stopped me from posting this during earlier patches is the hope of JoV updating his build with IK but I don’t think that’ll happen now.
- The popularity of the Triple Meteors version and people posting Justicar BWC builds last patch kinda made Infernal Knight unpopular to the point that there was a post calling it underpowered. This was despite the inclusion of an earlier version of this build to Zhuugus’ Reasonably Pwerful Builds thread.
- I think this is the time for IK to rise again due to the warpfire/FT nerfs affecting Justicar BWC more due to the latter’s lack of natural burn duration bonuses.
The Build: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/62aOgKkZ
Character Sheet with all permanent buffs. Also, I just realized I revealed my nationality with this char 
Hello to my fellow contrymen here in the forums if there are some.
Build clears 151-170 in around 12-13 mins average. Not phenomenal compared to most direct damage builds but considering I went full on defensive devo setup while having zero nuke skills and also the recent nerfs then it’s impressive for me.
What this build offers
Offense:This isn’t really the highlight of the build cause this is built defensively but…
- Maximum DoT stacking with BWC, Inferno, Entropy, Infernal Knight set proc, Weapon damage burn, Thermites if you wanna include that and all the other procs
- 70% Crit Damage with around 3380 effective OA (3120 base +250 DA reduction on enemies from Flashbang)
- 28% CDR on average (I got 30+) and more CDR from Eternity for easier dot reaplication and BWC stacking
- Easy buff removal with 10/10 Nullification, getting the cooldown to around 8.5s after CDR.
Defense: This is the main crux of the build for me. I think this is easily top 2 caster when it comes to defense (cause binder exists) and is way easier to play than the one above it. This build features multiple layers of defense that enemies need to break through before even thinking of killing me.
- The sorc defense trio of Mirror, Maiven’s and Blast Shield
- 3250 effective DA (3000 base, 250 OA reduction to enemies from BWC)
- Near permanent Healing Rain.
- Complete CC resists with 80% stun, 80% trap, 41% Freeze and 23% Petrify
- maxed Slow resist along with 23% Movement Speed overcap, making this effectively unslowable even by multiple slow stacks
- Newly-buffed Mark of divinity, cooldown now 80s from 120s as of 1.0.6.0
- Fumble and Impaired aim from Searing light and Confusion from Flashbang
- 2.4k armor (counting Angrim bonus) and 14% physical res, high for most casters
- 18% physical damage reduction (BWC) and 33% elemental damage reduction (Nullification) to enemies
- Nullification for removing debuffs, especially enemy RR
- CDR for easier resetting of Blast Shield, Mirror, Tree proc
- Yeah that’s a lot
All those defensive mechanisms make this one of the safest builds out there to tackle on 170. If you’re not satisfied with these defenses on paper then you should try the build. Of course this isn’t a full facetank build like S&B or the old DA builds if that’s your cup of tea.
Gear, Skills, Devotions
Gearing is pretty flexible for this build. Only the Infernal Knight (Champion) set is really core, though if you really ask my personal tastes, then everything is core aside from Offhand, ammy, pants and boots. The one negative for this build in gearing is that is’s unlikely to ever have a no green setup for this cause resistances are hard. I don’t mean you really need the MI, though. You can go with crafted greens without much loss. Look at the pants, the elemental resist is redundant cause I just use it for Inferno bonus.
Resists you need to look for when picking greens are: Pierce, Bleed, Chaos. The first two are only seen together in Stonehide which makes our poison overap so high. You can also get Vitality if your rings don’t provide enough. Make sure to at least have one Stun res affix on pants/boots or use Cataclysm’s eye for Chaos + stun res. I still prefer Arcane wastes on offhand cause Crit + OA.
Skills are pretty straightforward. Notable changes from the norm are: 16/16 thermites, We got lots of bonuses for that so it’s just a 2 pointer. 13/16 Vindictive Flame cause I just wanted my regen to reach 200/s. 10/10 Nullification is explained in above sections.
Devotion route is inspired by JoV’s original defensive devo setup. Just updated it to match the 55 points we have now and added some personal touches like getting hourglass slow res and Obelisk nodes.
You can choose to go offensive for devotions and get meteors but I haven’t done extensive testing for it yet. The one I tried had Meteors and Hungering void but didn’t have any significant increase in cleartime form this one. It’s fun running from 2 reapers with negative regen, though.
Closing
BWC sorcerer has been a mainstay of GD ever since JoV introduced us to his first build. A lot of variants have been poppoing out ever since. This is a version using the (mythical version of the) original set in the original build but no BWC spamming.
Nerfs hit this build a good amount of times since JoV’s post but it stayed strong through time and has now survived another nerf wave without being kicked out of goodness. This build still has one of the best defenses for casters and is easy to play.
Credits to JoV for the original build that became my favorite. Drizzto whose gameplay thread introduced me to the BWC sorc concept. Chthon and Superfluff not for this specific build but for their extensive general game knowledge that I have applied in making this build.
Maybe for Forgotten Gods? 
