Druids are the other exclusively melee class in Diablo 4, and they have plenty of builds that are pretty viable.
Part of our complete Diablo 4 class guide.
Returning from Diablo 2 with a complete makeover when it comes to skills, the Druid is a very strong melee class in Diablo 4. After the leveling is done, head on out to our best Diablo 4 Druid build for endgame. While playing it you can fully embrace your inner beast as you turn into your bestial forms and tear your enemies apart. So if you want to go down the path of the shapeshifter, let’s look at the best Diablo 4 Druid build for leveling.
Main Skills
Storm Strike
Even though it’s a Basic skill, Storm Strike will give us a ton of effects. You will deal 20% damage to your main target as well as a chaining effect that will hit three more enemies. You will also gain a 25% Damage Reduction effect for three seconds after. Three skill points are all that’s needed to unlock the Enhanced and Fierce upgrades.
Tornado
Your Core skill that deals AoE damage by sending forth a tornado. Seven skill points will go into this skill, with two for the Enhanced and Raging upgrades.
Earthen Bulwark
When activated, Earthen Bulwark will surround you with a Barrier that can absorb 45% of your Maximum Life. Three skill points will be added here, with two going into the Enhanced and Preserving upgrades. During its effect, you will also be Unstoppable which is a great way to ignore some incoming Crowd Control effects.
Wolves
This ability will passively give you two wolf companions that will automatically fight enemies. When you activate the skill, both your wolves will jump on your target and inflict 110% of your damage. A total of three skill points will go here, with two for the Enhanced and Ferocious upgrades.
Hurricane
We will need three skill points here, since two will be going into the Enhanced and Natural upgrades. Hurricane will surround you with an AoE damaging effect that will deal 98% of your damage over 8 seconds.
Trample
Trample will turn you into a Werebear as you dash forward and knock enemies back. A single point will be enough here, giving you a great way of activating Unstoppable to ignore a few Crowd Control effects.
Passive Skills
Key Passive – Perfect Storm
Any Storm Skills that you cast will give you one Spirit back as well as dealing 15% more damage towards Vulnerable, Immobilized or Slowed targets.
Heart of the Wild
Like many other builds, we will add a single point here to get access to the rest of the tree. The passive will give us three more Spirit.
Abundance
Three points added here will allow our Basic Skills to generate 18% more Spirit when used.
Wild Impulses
Add three skill points here to increase your Core skills damage by 15% with the downside being that they will cost 9% more Spirit.
Predatory Instinct
After adding three skill points here your Critical Strike Chance against Close enemies will be increased by 6%.
Nature’s Reach
This passive will buff our damage towards Distant enemies by 9%. The bonus will be doubled against enemies that are under a Crowd Control effect. Three skill points will go here.
Elemental Exposure
After adding three skill points here, your Storm skill Lucky Hits have a 10% chance to inflict Vulnerable on your targets for three seconds.
Endless Tempest
This passive will increase the duration of your Hurricane and Cataclysm skills by 15% when three points have been added here. Obviously, we only care about the Hurricane buff since we don’t use Cataclysm.
Defiance
By adding three points here our Nature Magic skills will deal 12% more damage to Elite mobs.
Circle of Life
This passive requires a total of three skill points. Circle of Life will allow our Nature Magic skills to heal us for 3% of our Maximum Life. Keep in mind that it only works with Nature Magic skills that consume Spirit.
Resonance
Three skill points added here will give our Nature Magic skills 6% more damage. This bonus will be tripled if we cast and Earth Skill after a Storm Skill or vice-versa.
Defensive Posture
Since Fortify is a big part of any Druid build, we will be adding three skill points here. Defensive Posture will increase the amount of each Fortify stack by 15%.
Unrestrained
Any Control Impairing Effects will be reduced by 9% if you add three skill points into this passive. This effect will be tripled if your Fortify stacks are worth more than 50% of your Maximum Life.
Nature’s Resolve
You have a 15% chance to Fortify for 4% of your Base Life whenever you get hit. Three skill points will be needed here.
Playstyle
You should always start a fight by activating your Wolves and spam a few Tornadoes toward your enemies. You can then activate your Hurricane to slow down enemies and hopefully inflict Vulnerable on them. If you feel like you’re in danger you can activate Earthen Bulwark to get the Unstoppable effect, allowing you to ignore Crowd Control effects.
When running low on Spirit you can revert to your Storm Strike until you fill up your bar again, then continue spamming Tornado. If you find yourself struggling with correctly landing your Tornadoes, there is a solution to this. The Stormchaser’s Aspect will allow your Tornado to target enemies and head in their direction automatically. If you can get your hands on a Legendary item with this Aspect it will be a huge buff for this build.
As far as mobility goes, sadly we only have Trample available. And the effect is pretty limited compared to other classes’ mobility spells. This is why you should generally hold on to it for a really dicey situation and instead rely on your Dodge roll. Since it also inflicts Unstoppable, you can even pop it beforehand if you know you’re about to encounter Crowd Control effects.
