Best Diablo 4 Druid build: Best skills for the Druid
Looking for the best Diablo 4 Druid build? The Storm Druid is one of our favourite classes in Diablo 4, with surging lightning powers that deal massive damage and leave surviving enemies with debuffs that will make them melt to your next attacks.
If you're eager to try the Storm Druid build at launch, then you're in the right place! In this guide, we'll break down everything you need to know to make the best Druid build in Diablo 4, covering the best skills, Spirit Boons, Aspects, Attributes, and Gems for the Storm Druid.
This build is fully prepped for launch, covering the skills you'll need to get with all 58 available skill points! That includes the skill points you'll get from levelling (which stop at level 50) and those you'll get from earning Renown in the various regions across Diablo 4's map. We'll be back to update this guide soon with info on how to use your Paragon Points as we progress towards level 100.
Best Druid build in Diablo 4
Our Diablo 4 Storm Druid build is an AoE champion that spreads huge damage through mobs of enemies while also applying countless debuffs, nerfing hordes of enemies until they can do little more than stand there waiting for death. We do have a single-target option in Trample, which is practically a must-have for most Druid builds, but we otherwise focus on melting mobs with surges of electricity.
A handy way to see the end goal of any build is to look at the Key Passive. In this build, we opt for Perfect Storm, as it makes all Storm Skills grant 1 Spirit and deal an extra 15% damage when used on Vulnerable, Immobilized, or Slowed enemies. There are lots of other buffs we'll get for the various Storm skills along the way, but hopefully this helps you get a quick idea of the goal for this Storm Druid build - huge AoE damage, while weakening enemies.
Since it has an AoE focus, you should find that this Storm Druid build performs best while clearing Dungeons. That could be Side Dungeons during the campaign or those challenging Nightmare Dungeons in the endgame - as long as there are groups of enemies to obliterate, this Storm Druid build will wreak havoc.
Diablo 4 Storm Druid build skills
Below, you'll find a full list of the skills that you should acquire for our Diablo 4 Storm Druid build, in order:
Storm Strike (Basic) Enhanced Storm Strike Fierce Storm Strike Lightning Storm (Spirit) Enhanced Lightning Storm Primal Lightning Storm Cyclone Armor (Defense) Enhanced Cyclone Armor Innate Cyclone Armor Heart of the Wild lvl 1 Abundance lvl 1-3 Nature's Reach lvl 1-3 Hurricane (Wrath) Enhanced Hurricane (Wrath) Natural Hurricane (Wrath) Trample (Wrath) Enhanced Trample Savage Trample Elemental Exposure lvl 1 Charged Atmosphere lvl 1 Electric Shock lvl 1 Bad Omen lvl 1 Cataclysm (Ultimate) Prime Cataclysm Supreme Cataclysm Elemental Exposure lvl 2-3 Charged Atmosphere lvl 2-3 Electric Shock lvl 2-3 Bad Omen lvl 2 Perfect Storm (Key Passive) Bad Omen lvl 3 Endless Tempest lvl 1-3 Defiance lvl 1-3 Natural Disaster lvl 1-3 Storm Strike lvl 2-5 Lightning Storm lvl 2-5 Hurricane lvl 2-4
That includes all active and passive skills that you'll want to grab with your 58 available skill points in Diablo 4. Almost all of these skills focus on applying debuffs, with multiple ways to get Vulnerable, Slowed, and Immobilized on enemies using Storm Strike, Lightning Storm, Cyclone Armor, Hurricane, and Cataclysm.
Below, we'll break down each of the active skills in this Storm Druid build:
Storm Strike
Storm Strike is the first skill you'll grab with this Storm Druid, and it'll act as your main builder - the skill you use to generate Spirit, which is the spellcasting resource for the Druid. Don't underestimate this just because you get it early though, because Storm Strike is incredibly powerful.
When you use Storm Strike, it will chain between enemies to deal damage to up to four enemies total with each hit. It also grants you 25% damage resistance, helping your Druid to tank enemy hits as you start swinging. With upgrades, each hit will also have a 15% chance to Immobilize enemies for 2.5 seconds, and a 50% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
These effects will impact all enemies hit by the Storm Strike chain, making this an easy way to apply two debuffs to crowds of enemies straight away.
Lightning Storm
Lightning Storm is your main spender, meaning it spends your Spirit resource to deal devastating damage. When you use Lightning Storm, it will bring one bolt of lightning crashing down in the target area. However, if you hold the skill and maintain casting, it will continue to unleash lightning strikes, with the number of bolts increasing each time up to a maximum of five. That means the longer you can hold Lightning Storm, the more damage you'll deal and the wider its AoE effects will become.
Lightning Storm is most effective when dropping a bunch of lightning bolts at once, and Enhanced Lightning Storm makes that more consistent by preserving the size of your Lightning Storm for four seconds when you stop casting it. That means if you increase it to five bolts, dash into a group of enemies to refill your Spirit, and then start casting Lightning Storm again within four seconds, it'll start at maximum power.
Just because it's your main source of damage, that doesn't mean Lightning Storm can't give out some of those lovely debuffs! With Primal Lightning Storm, it gets an 8% chance to immobilize enemies hit for 3 seconds. That might not seem often, but it's just another way to lock down enemy movement with this Storm Druid build.
Cyclone Armor
Cyclone Armor is your main defensive skill for this Storm Druid build, offering 10% non-physical damage reduction and pushing back all nearby enemies, while also dealing some damage as they get knocked away.
The real boost comes from the upgrades though, with Enhanced Cyclone Armor slowing enemies and Innate Cyclone Armor making them Vulnerable for 3 seconds. That makes Cyclone Armor an excellent comeback skill, giving you some space and making all nearby enemies weaker so that you can tear them apart with your Storm skills.
Hurricane
Hurricane is another excellent skill to activate if you find yourself surrounded by enemies Unsurprisingly, it unleashes a Hurricane around your character that deals huge damage over 8 seconds to all surrounding enemies. Like Cyclone Armor, it will also slow enemies and has a 15% chance to make them Vulnerable, making the two abilities work perfectly in tandem.
Trample
When you use Trample, you shapeshift into a Werebear and become Unstoppable, which ends any status effects that are currently on your character (such as Stunned). You then charge forward, dealing huge damage and knocking back any enemies in your path. As an added bonus, it'll also stun any enemies that are knocked into terrain, while dealing additional damage.
Trample's upgrades turn it from a decent skill into one of the best in this build. Enhanced Trample increases the damage dealt by an additional 150%, which is an absolutely huge increase. This damage bonus does decrease by 50% for each additional enemy hit after the first, so save it for when you're facing down a boss or Elite enemy that you want to take the brunt of the damage.
Savage Trample is a nice added bonus, granting you 20 Spirit after casting Trample. That allows you to quickly follow up with Lightning Storm, which is especially useful if you recently cast it and charged it to max power.
Cataclysm
Cataclysm is the ultimate ability for our Storm Druid build, and it'll absolutely melt groups of enemies and bosses alike. It unleashes a massive storm around your character for eight seconds, sending out bolts of lightning and twisting tornadoes all over, dealing huge damage and knocking back nearby enemies. It'll tip the scales in a particularly tough battle, and the Prime Cataclysm upgrade will extend it for an extra two seconds, giving you 10 seconds of chaos in which to devastate your enemies.
Of course, we haven't forgotten about those debuffs! The final upgrade here, Supreme Cataclysm, will make any enemies hit by its lightning strikes Vulnerable for two seconds. With the multitude of ways to apply Vulnerable and other debuffs with this build, it's unlikely that you'll ever fight an enemy that isn't weakened in some manner.
If you're not sure how to use these skills effectively, follow the attack pattern below:
Dash into a group of enemies and use Storm Strike to generate Spirit while making enemies Immobilized and Vulnerable. Use Whirlwind and Cyclone Armor to knockback enemies, apply more debuffs, and deal plenty of damage while giving yourself some space. Use Lightning Storm while manoeuvring between enemies. Use Trample to escape if you find yourself boxed in, or use it to deal massive damage to a boss or single Elite enemy. When you're out of Spirit, get back in the fray with Storm Strike and use Cataclysm to keep up the AoE damage while waiting for Spirit to regenerate.
Diablo 4 Storm Druid best Spirit Boon
The Druid class also has access to a unique Spirit Boon system, which allows you to pick a single unique effect from four different spirit trees. Each tree has four Boons that you can choose from, and you can have one Boon from each tree active at once, giving your four total. After unlocking all of the Boons, which you do by spending Druidic Spirit Offerings, you'll gain the ability to activate a fifth Boon of your choosing.
Below, we'll break down the five Boons that we'd recommend using with our Storm Druid build:
Prickleskin : Gain 48 Thorns.
: Gain 48 Thorns. Avian Wrath : Gain +30% Critical Strike Damage.
: Gain +30% Critical Strike Damage. Energize : Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to restore 10 Spirit.
: Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to restore 10 Spirit. Overload : Dealing Lightning damage has up to a 20% chance to cause the target to emit a static discharge, dealing 20% Lightning damage to surrounding enemies.
: Dealing Lightning damage has up to a 20% chance to cause the target to emit a static discharge, dealing 20% Lightning damage to surrounding enemies. Calm Before the Storm: Nature magic skills have up to a 15% chance to reduce the cooldown of your Ultimate skill by 2 seconds.
Diablo 4 Storm Druid best Aspects
As you complete Side Dungeons in Diablo 4, you will gain access to Aspects which modify or improve your abilities. Below, we'll list the best Aspects for the Storm Druid and which dungeons you must complete to get them:
Aspect of Cyclonic Force (Collapsed Vault - Kehjistan): Cyclone Armor also provides Physical damage reduction. In addition, Cyclone Armor will also be applied to all nearby allies.
(Collapsed Vault - Kehjistan): Cyclone Armor also provides Physical damage reduction. In addition, Cyclone Armor will also be applied to all nearby allies. Aspect of Inner Calm (Campaign unlock - Scosglen): Deal 5% increased damage for each second you stand still, up to 30%.
(Campaign unlock - Scosglen): Deal 5% increased damage for each second you stand still, up to 30%. Aspect of Might (Dark Ravine - Dry Steppes): Basic skills grant 20% damage reduction for 2 seconds.
(Dark Ravine - Dry Steppes): Basic skills grant 20% damage reduction for 2 seconds. Aspect of Shared Misery (Oblivion - Hawezar): Lucky Hit: When you hit a crowd controlled enemy, there is up to a 30% chance for that crowd control effect to spread to another unaffected enemy.
(Oblivion - Hawezar): Lucky Hit: When you hit a crowd controlled enemy, there is up to a 30% chance for that crowd control effect to spread to another unaffected enemy. Aspect of the Expectant (Underroot - Scosglen): Attacking enemies with a basic skill increases the damage of your next Core skill by 5%, up to 30%.
(Underroot - Scosglen): Attacking enemies with a basic skill increases the damage of your next Core skill by 5%, up to 30%. Aspect of the Tempest (Blind Burrows - Hawezar): Hurricane damage is increased by 7% each second while active.
(Blind Burrows - Hawezar): Hurricane damage is increased by 7% each second while active. Aspect of the Umbral (Champion's Demise - Dey Steppes): Restore 1 of your primary resource (Spirit) when you crowd control an enemy.
(Champion's Demise - Dey Steppes): Restore 1 of your primary resource (Spirit) when you crowd control an enemy. Aspect of Disobedience (Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan): You gain 0.25% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25%.
(Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan): You gain 0.25% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25%. Overcharged Aspect (Mariner's Refuge - Scosglen): Lucky Hit: Up to a 10% chance when dealing Lightning damage to overload the target for 3 seconds, causing any direct damage you deal to them to pulse 336 additional damage to surrounding enemies.
Diablo 4 Storm Druid build Attributes
While we aren't quite in a position to break down the best Legendary Gear for the Storm Druid just yet, we can help you prioritise which gear to wear as you progress through your levelling journey.
Gear will often offer stat increases for various attributes, and you'll want to focus on increasing Intelligence and Willpower for this Storm Druid build.
Intelligence increases your resource generation, allowing you to boost the amount of Spirit you earn when using your builder. That means you can spend less time generating Spirit with Storm Strike and more time casting Lightning Storm, which is one of the most powerful skills available in this build.
Willpower increases all skill damage, making every single skill available to this Storm Druid build more powerful. It also has the bonus of increasing any healing received, which will make your potions more effective and help you escape death in particularly tough fights.
Diablo 4 Storm Druid build Gems
Many pieces of Gear in Diablo 4 will have gem sockets, in which you can place Gems to gain additional passive effects. These effects differ depending on whether the Gem is placed in a piece of Armor or a Weapon, but they'll each offer small boosts that stack up to make your build far more powerful.
In Weapon Gem Sockets, use Rubies for increased resource generation. This grants a handy boost to your Spirit gained from using Storm Strike, which means you'll have less time to wait before casting Lightning Storm again. This is especially useful for regenerating Spirit and using Lightning Storm again in that 4 second window to ensure the charge from your previous Lightning Storm cast carries over!
In Armor Sockets, Amethysts offer reduction to damage over time effects. This is especially useful for the Druid, as you'll be stood still while casting Lightning Storm and therefore an easier target for any damage over time effects that enemies might sling your way.
For Jewelery, use Diamonds to increase your resistance to all elements. It's slightly less resistance than that offered for specific elements by other Gems, but it covers any attacks that your enemies might use. Since you'll often be up against all sorts of unpredictable enemies, it seems better to take the resistance to all elements offered by Diamonds.
To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings
To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings
That wraps up our Diablo 4 Storm Druid build guide. If you want to check out a different class, take a look at our Diablo 4 Barbarian build guide, Rogue build guide, Necromancer build guide, and Sorcerer build guide.
Activision Blizzard are currently the subject of a number of legal actions, labour disputes and allegations of workplace harassment. Rock Paper Shotgun will continue to write about these issues, as well as covering Activision Blizzard games as part of our commitment to cover subjects of interest to our readers. The latest news can always be found under our Activision Blizzard tag.
Source: Rock Paper Shotgun
