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Tal Rasha Meteor Wizard Guide
Last Updated: July 19th 2024
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Introduction
The Tal Rasha's Elements Set is probably the most iconic Wizard set in the Diablo franchise, originating from Diablo II where it was the Sorceress set. Over the years, Tal Rasha's Elements dictated the META multiple times. First in Season 3 with Mammoth Hydra using Pain Enhancer to get an obscene amount of Flame Blades stacks, uncapped back then. It returned in Season 6 with Vyr's Amazing Arcana (4) Bonus during the glory days of the Archon Twister zET META.
For the longest time, Tal Rasha has been played with Energy Twister and Arcane Orb Frozen Orb. Season 27 finally brought this set back into the spotlight for Wizard players, with a rework based around Meteors and two new items, The Smoldering Core and Mempo of Twilight, to back it up.
It’s quick, impactful and the explosions are very satisfying when played correctly. Very few builds incorporate the fantasy of a spell-slinging Wizard as well as this one. However, the LoD "Bazooka" is more convenient since it frees up skill slots and allows for the craziest interactions.
During Season 29, Star Pact variants were under steroids due to the Paragon Cap with special distribution rules, allowing for +100 Arcane Power and 200% Area Damage! Unfortunately, Tal'Rasha's Elements got a huge nerf with Season 30, making the set hardly competitive against other Meteor builds.
This is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Meteors, even when coming from Tal Rasha's Elements (2) Bonus, can proc it. The whole playstyle revolves around the precise use of Teleport and a specific skill choice to play around Tal Rasha's Elements Bonuses as much as possible, in order to wreak havoc onto the battlefield. This guide will show you the way to become a formidable Meteor Wizard!
Iconic Meteor ✔
Active Playstyle ✔
Fun and Satisfying ✔
Easy to Get Starter Gear ✔
❌ Squishy
❌ Slightly Clunky
❌ Lack of Gear & Skill Options
❌ Vulnerable to Crowd Control
Core Setup
Items
- Tal Rasha's Elements provides us with a 4,000% separate global damage multiplier but requires us to juggle four abilities with four different elements Arcane, Cold, Lightning and Fire.
- The Grand Vizier provides us a 400% separate damage multiplier and reduce the Meteor Arcane Power cost by 50%.
- The Smoldering Core grants us a stacking damage multiplier on consecutive hits on targets, up to 150%. It also lures normal monsters towards Meteor Impacts.
- Mempo of Twilight grants us a 400% damage multiplier on top of the Meteor Shower rune effect, the latest only affecting selfcast Meteors.
- Nilfur's Boast gives another huge 600% damage multiplier and even up to 900% when you hit only 3 targets or less.
- Halo of Karini is a core Wizard defensive item, providing us with a tremendous 80% damage reduction at the cost of using Storm Armor.
- Convention of Elements is another separate damage multiplier, giving you triple damage during your Elemental cycle.
- Ring of Royal Grandeur allows us to complement our Tal Rasha's Elements Set with Captain Crimson's Trimmings and another Set.
Season 32 Ethereals
Ethereals are powerful rare weapons that can only be found during Season 32. They were initially the Season 24 Theme. They have incredible stats, a random Legendary power, and a free passive for your class. Read our Ethereal Mechanics Guide for full details on how they work and our Ethereal Farming Guide to learn how to acquire them. What you should prioritize on them is the following:
- The Legendary Power
This build requires The Grand Vizier and The Smoldering Core to be functional. We need our Ethereal to roll The Grand Vizier power so we can cube The Smoldering Core which is not available on Ethereals. We also want a good roll on our Legendary power if it has a range. For speed content it is always helpful to have Ethereals with Echoing Fury, In-geom or Messerschmidt's Reaver powers, so keep those if you find them. - The Ethereal Itself
There are 3 different weapons available to us, each with its own benefits:- Mang Song's Lesson - This is an amazing Ethereal for all kind of content from speed runs to endgame push. Its 50% Undead Damage makes it unbelievably strong on specific monstersets, especially the Hulks & Dust Eaters one.
- The Oculus - This is the option you can go for when it comes to speed content, especially T16 farming, due to its Damage Reduction debuff and its high Arcane Power on Critical Hit (APoC) roll to help out with resources.
- Wizardspike - This Ethereal can be used instead of The Oculus for speed content.
- The Ethereal Stat Rolls
Each Ethereal comes with its own fixed set of powerful affixes. While some have a static value, many have a wide stat range. This means the difference between good and bad rolls is significant and something you should look for. - A Useful Passive
This is just icing on the cake because a fifth passive is not going to make or break your build. You're better off hunting for the things above. Check out the Passives section down below to see which ones you're looking for.
Global Stat Priorities
You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Area Damage as well as Elemental Damage and Meteor Damage. When playing Star Pact, fit Maximum Arcane Power and Resource Cost Reduction everywhere you can to scale Star Pact damage.
Regarding toughness, like most Wizard builds, in some setups we take advantage of Galvanizing Ward, Diamond Skin and Magic Weapon Deflection to generate Shields based on our HP pool. This means Vitality and Life % are very important as they double dip into Shields. This is the reason why you want to aim for a decent HP pool. But due to the very locked itemization and skill choice of Tal Rasha's Elements, only specific setups can benefit from these mechanics.
Crowd Control Reduction is an incredibly valuable secondary Affix to roll on both Rings, Amulet and Helmet as we are very sensitive to Hard Crowd Control effects and mitigating these will ease up our gameplay significantly. Make sure to get the Primary Affixes locked in before attempting to get CCR though.
Assembling the Build
Item Stat Priorities
Gems
Skills
Passives
Paragon Points
Altar of Rites
Follower
Gameplay
Hardcore
Variants
Nephalem Rifts
GR Speeds
GR Solo Push
GR Group
Echoing Nightmare
Concept
In Nephalem Rifts we try to combine a great mixture of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is more fast-paced since we drop Arcane Dynamo and use Meteor Thunder Crash. We use Boon of the Hoarder in conjunction with Avarice Band (on your follower).
Gameplay
Focus on Elite Packs and big pulls of monsters, keep your Tal Rasha's Elements stacks, spam Meteor on top of Elites if there is one, and nuke them before moving onto the next one with Teleport.
Setups
In groups, swap Stone of Jordan, Warzechian Armguards & Pauldrons of the Skeleton King with Avarice Band, Nemesis Bracers & Homing Pads.
Select Build Version
Aether Walker Setup
Concept
In Speed Greater Rifts we try to combine a great mixture of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is more fast-paced since we use Meteor Thunder Crash. Bane of the Stricken is not necessary, so we can take Bane of the Powerful instead. This setup can be used in both solo and group speeds. This setup is great at Lower Greater Rifts and is extremely mobile but requires a lot of Resource Cost Reduction to sustain Aether Walker Teleport!
Gameplay
Focus on Elite Packs and big pulls of monsters, keep your Tal Rasha's Elements stacks, Teleport on Elites and spam Meteor to nuke them before moving onto the next one. With this setup, Meteors from all elements should rain onto the battlefield!
Setups
You can use Esoteric Alteration instead of Zei's Stone of Vengeance if you feel too squishy. This setup can also play with Comet for higher Greater Rift speeds. In that case, swap Energy Armor with Storm Armor in order to get the Lightning Tal'Rasha Stack.
Concept
In Speed Greater Rifts we try to combine a great mixture of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is more fast-paced since we use Meteor Thunder Crash. Bane of the Stricken is not necessary, so we can take Bane of the Powerful instead. This setup can be used in both solo and group speeds. We use both Audacity and Power Hungry as well as Stone of Jordan to maximize damage output in all situations.
Gameplay
Focus on Elite Packs and big pulls of monsters, keep your Tal Rasha's Elements and Orb of Infinite Depth stacks, Teleport on Elites and spam Meteor to nuke them before moving onto the next one. With this setup, Meteors from all elements should rain onto the battlefield!
Setups
If you feel too slow, use Illusionist instead of Elemental Exposure, which cost you damage for a massive movement speed boost as long as you fight enemies. It is also possible to play Comet for higher Greater Rift speeds. In that case, swap Ice Armor with Storm Armor in order to get the Lightning Tal'Rasha Stack.
Select Build Version
Comet Setup
Concept
We stack up as much damage as possible and take advantage of Teleport. The idea is to spam Comet during your Cold Convention of Elements cycle.
Gameplay
Pull monsters all around using Teleport. As your Cold CoE cycle is coming up, use Black Hole Absolute Zero to lock monsters, make sure you got all your Tal Rasha stacks and start nuke with Comet.
Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.
Setups
At lower Paragon, you can swap Aughild's Authority (Bracers & Shoulders) and Squirt's Necklace with Guardian's Jeopardy (Bracers & Belt) for more damage and toughness. Removing Zei's Stone of Vengeance to take in Esoteric Alteration is a possibility to make you even tankier.
Concept
We stack up as much damage as possible and take advantage of Teleport for mobility. The idea is to release Star Pacts on steroids during your Arcane Convention of Elements cycle.
Gameplay
As your Arcane CoE cycle is coming up, spam Star Pacts for ground DoTs to stack The Smoldering Core and for Magic Weapon Conduit, then finish with a fully powered Star Pact as your Arcane cycle starts. After that spam Star Pact again.
Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.
Setups
If you feel too squishy, swap Elemental Exposure for Blur. If this is not enough, you can equip Esoteric Alteration instead of Zei's Stone of Vengeance. You'll lose a few tiers worth of damage but you will definitely be tanky enough.
Select Build Version
Comet Setup
Concept
We stack up as much damage as we can. We use Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we have a zBarb with us. We take Magic Weapon Conduit to generate Arcane Power. The idea is to spam Comet during your Cold Convention of Elements cycle. This build is decent at both Trash Killing and Boss Killing.
Gameplay
Keeps distance from the pulls created by the zBarb to be safe and to benefit from Power Hungry and Zei's Stone of Vengeance. Follow the zBarb carefully. Stops for Cold CoE cycle, make sure to have Black Hole Absolute Zero active and spam Comet. Teleport into any Oculus Ring that spawns. Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build.
Setups
If you feel too squishy, you can swap Astral Presence with Blur.
Concept
We stack up as much damage as we can. We use Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we have a zBarb with us. We take Magic Weapon Conduit to generate Arcane Power. The idea is to release as much Star Pacts on steroids as you can during your Arcane Convention of Elements cycle. This build is decent at both Trash Killing and Boss Killing.
Gameplay
Keeps distance from the pulls created by the zBarb to be safe and to benefit from Power Hungry and Zei's Stone of Vengeance. Follow the zBarb carefully. Stops for Arcane CoE cycle and make sure to have Arcane Dynamo ready to cast Star Pact on the pull. Immediatly repeat afterwards. Teleport into any Oculus Ring that spawns. Tal Rasha's Elements stacks should be maintained pretty smoothly with this build.
Setups
If you feel too squishy, you can swap Astral Presence with Blur.
Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is good for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift pushing build with a few tweaks.
Changes
- Discard The Smoldering Core for Aether Walker and Tal Rasha's Unwavering Glare.
- Go for Thunder Crash since these meteors have no landing delay, which blends perfectly with this game mode.
- Swap Bane of the Stricken and Esoteric Alteration with Bane of the Powerful and Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we are fighting hordes of enemies.
- Drop Convention of Elements for Stone of Jordan.
- Reroll Area Damage to Average Damage as we do not need to make huge pulls.
Gameplay
- Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
- Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
- After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
- At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.
Cast Storm Armor as soon as you enter. Then proc and maintain Tal Rasha's Elements stacks. Dominance and Galvanizing Ward will make sure you get permanent full benefit from Squirt's Necklace and Pride's Fall. Storm Armor Power of the Storm and Diamond Skin Prism are making sure your Meteor has almost no Arcane Power cost... Spam Thunder Crash everywhere... Profit!
Video Guide
Mechanics
Tal Rashas Elements
Meteor Star Pact
The Smoldering Core
Elemental Exposure
Summary
- Put together the core items and acquire the full Tal Rasha's Elements set.
- Keep up your Storm Armor for Halo of Karini buff at all times.
- Don't forget to use your abilities to keep up your four Tal Rasha's Elements stacks.
- Play around the Convention of Elements cycle to maximize your damage.
I hope you enjoyed this guide! Meteor is one of the core Wizard skills, and Tal Rashas Elements the most iconic Wizard set in Diablo. It can be very fun and rewarding setting up the correct pulls and destroying them with Rains of Meteors. Good luck!
Credits
Written by Chewingnom.
