Both classes cast from about 20 m. Sorcerer is a glass cannon: huge damage, very little health. Elementalist fights alongside a summoned spirit (fire, water, earth or wind) that deals damage and can pull monsters off you. Elementalist and Spiritmaster are the same class: couga54 and Fextralife say "Elementalist", Game8, aLuckyRO and the game itself say "Spiritmaster" (the official name). New to the terms? See the glossary.
Sorcerer vs Elementalist at a glance
| Sorcerer | Spiritmaster (Elementalist) | |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | spellbook | orb |
| Role | magic DPS: burst and AoE | summoner: ranged damage together with a spirit |
| Solo | good, but you have to keep your distance | very comfortable: the earth spirit holds mobs, you self-heal |
| Group | pure DPS plus control (slows, freezes) | pure DPS, best in long boss fights |
| Difficulty | medium | sources disagree: from "simplest" to "hard" |
| Damage | highest burst and AoE | high, grows with fight length |
| Survivability | very low | low to medium, but higher than Sorcerer |
| Group demand | like any DPS | like any DPS |
| Ping sensitivity | high | medium (macro runs smoothly on low ping) |
DPS means damage dealer. AoE (area of effect) damage hits several targets at once. Ping is the delay between your PC and the game server.
When should you pick Sorcerer?
- You want to hit the hardest. Sorcerer has the highest burst and AoE damage in the game (Fextralife; Game8 gives it 5/5 for damage). Fire deals the damage, ice slows and freezes (couga54, Game8).
- You can stay at the back. Game8 rates Sorcerer survivability 1/5. No block, no teleport, little healing from attacks (DankRNG). Grobs and Society Of Gaming both call it a glass cannon.
- You like planning. Skills shorten each other's cooldowns, so the class is about chaining spells rather than spamming one key (Grobs). Add mana on top: some passives only work while your mana is high, so you can't burn through it (couga54, aLuckyRO). DankRNG: "harder than Gladiator or Ranger".
- You're patient early. Sorcerer starts weaker because it lacks cooldown reduction, and comes online later (DankRNG, aLuckyRO, Grobs).
- Your ping is low. DankRNG warns that high ping hurts Sorcerer a lot, and Korean-server players said the same (Reddit, 2025). Ground spells like Fire Wall and Cold Storm go under the boss — when it walks out, you lose part of your damage (ExpCarry, DankRNG).
Full guide: Sorcerer.
When should you pick Elementalist?
- You mostly play solo. Earth Spirit pulls mobs and even the boss onto itself — "the boss hits the spirit, not you" (aLuckyRO, couga54, DankRNG). Add healing from Wind Spirit and your own buffs. Society Of Gaming also rates it better solo.
- You like long fights. Damage over time and buffs mean the longer the boss fight, the better you do (DankRNG, couga54, Grobs). In short fights it falls behind (Grobs).
- You want a sidekick. Every spirit skill adds one element, and at four you fire your strongest hit, Elemental Fusion (couga54, Fextralife).
- In groups: per the skill tooltip, the earth spirit raises enmity (aggro — who the monster targets), so don't bring it out next to a tank. Elementalist has no party heals or buffs (Game8, Evripides).
Full guide: Spiritmaster (Elementalist).
Where do the sources disagree?
- Elementalist difficulty. Game8: "relatively easy", aLuckyRO: "the simplest class", couga54: "Hard", DankRNG: "low floor, high ceiling". Common ground: the basics are simple, juggling spirits well is not.
- Elementalist survivability. Game8 gives 2/5 and aLuckyRO says "you're an extremely weak class". DankRNG calls it "the tankier mage" and couga54 "by far the tankiest ranged class", but both are talking about PvP. Every source agrees it survives more than Sorcerer.
- Mobility. Game8 lists low mobility for Elementalist, Society Of Gaming finds it more mobile than Sorcerer. Sorcerer gets "Changes to mobile skill" specializations that let it cast on the move (AsianBoy, aLuckyRO).
- Ping. Evripides: the Elementalist macro runs smoothly under roughly 60 ms. aLuckyRO: at 80–100 ms raise the macro delay to 50 ms. The warnings for Sorcerer are stronger (DankRNG). On high ping, also check Assassin vs Ranger — Ranger suffers too.
- Who does more damage in groups? It depends on the patch and fight length. Society Of Gaming: "this month it's Sorcerer, next month Spiritmaster". We don't copy Korean tier lists here, because Global has its own balance.
What next?
- Still unsure? Take the which class quiz.
- Prefer a bow or daggers? Assassin vs Ranger.
- Full guides: Sorcerer and Spiritmaster (Elementalist) — skills, hotbar, macro, gear and a 1–45 plan.