Druid Class Overview in Diablo 4

The Druid is a savage shapeshifter, fluidly transforming between the forms of a towering bear or a vicious werewolf to fight alongside the creatures of the wild. He also commands the power of earth, wind, and storm, unleashing nature's wrath to devastating effect.

Spirit makes a return in Diablo 4, as the Druid class resource. Monk players coming from Diablo 3 should be very familiar with the way this resource works as it is functionally the same.

Spirit has a natural cap of 100 and does not replenish nor decrease over time. It is instead generated by casting the spammable Basic Skills (Earthspike, Claw, Storm Strike, Maul, Wind Shear) and expended by the more powerful Spirit Skills (Pulverize, Landslide, Tornado, Lightning Storm, Shred).

Several Druid talents also improve Spirit generation in various ways.

The primary unique class mechanic of the Druid has not yet been revealed. Stay tuned.

Crushing Blow is a special effect that deals damage equal to a percentage of the maximum Life of the target. Bosses and other players in PvP take significantly less damage from Crushing Blow than normal monsters, however. Earth Spike and Landslide are the only skills currently known to have a chance to inflict Crushing Blow.

Vulnerable is a temporary effect that increases the damage taken by the target by 20%. While Vulnerable is not uniquely available to the Druid, effects that inflict or otherwise interact with Vulnerable in special ways are prominently featured in talents that relate to Storm Skills.

The Druid retains its iconic ability to shapeshift into a Werewolf or Werebear in Diablo 4. However, shapeshifting into either form is not bound to a single Werewolf- or Werebear-specific skill, unlike in Diablo 2. Instead, casting any form-specific skill (Claw, Shred, Blood Howl, or Rabies for the Werewolf, and Maul, Pulverize, Debilitating Roar, Trample, or Grizzly Rage for the Werebear) automatically and seamlessly transforms the Druid without interrupting the flow of combat. Casting any other skill returns the Druid their Human form, as does spending more than 3 seconds in either form without casting a form-specific skill.

Several talents also provide various bonuses for shifting in and out of or simply maintaining a given form.

The Druid may equip classical one- and two-handed melee weapons, offhands (Shields and Foci), and Staves.

This section provides an overview of the main skill categories for the Druid.

For a detailed list of all Druid skills and talents, refer to the pages below.

Basic Skills are spammable skills whose primary purpose is to generate Spirit for skills of the Spirit category. By virtue of being free and having no cooldown, they are also used to fill dead time while waiting for other, more powerful skills to be available.

The Basic Skills for the Druid are Earthspike, Claw, Storm Strike, Maul, and Wind Shear.

Claw and Maul are notable for being the only way of maintaining the Werewolf and Werebear forms indefinitely, as all other form-specific skills either have a long cooldown or a Spirit cost.

Spirit Skills are the main sources of damage of the Druid. Although they have no cooldown, the main limiting factor of Spirit Skills is their Spirit cost.

The Spirit Skills for the Druid are Pulverize, Landslide, Tornado, Lightning Storm, and Shred.

Defensive Skills revolve around protecting the Druid by reducing or healing damage taken or otherwise debilitating enemies. Although Defensive Skills generally have a fairly long cooldown.

The Defensive Skills for the Druid are Cyclone Armor, Earthen Bulwark, Debilitating Roar, and Blood Howl.

Companion Skills passively summon permanent creatures that automatically attack the enemies of the Druid. These skills also have an active component, which "orders" the summoned creatures to perform a special offensive action. Unlike in Diablo 2, summons cannot be attacked by enemies, and therefore cannot be killed.

The Companion Skills for the Druid are Vine Creeper, Wolves, and Ravens.

Wrath Skills are supplementary skills that provide various useful effects, usually crowd control. Although they do not cost Spirit to cast, they generally have a fairly long cooldown.

The Wrath Skills for the Druid are Hurricane, Trample, Boulder, and Rabies.

Ultimate Skills are extremely powerful skills with a cooldown to match. Their use is typically reserved for dispatching powerful enemies or clawing your way out of desperate situations. Sometimes literally.

The Ultimate Skills for the Druid are Cataclysm, Petrify, Grizzly Rage, and Lacerate.

In addition to the categories discussed above, each Druid skill also has at least one of the following tags: Shapeshifting, Storm Magic, Earth Magic, Companion.

Tags are used by other systems, such as items and Legendary Aspects, to improve specific subsets of skills and promote specialised builds.

While mounted, the Druid has access to a unique Dismount Skill which causes the Druid to jump off their mount, shapeshift into a Werebear while in mid-air, and slam into the ground, dealing damage to nearby enemies.

The four core attributes provide benefits that are shared by all of the classes as well as secondary class-specific effects. However, the class-specific effects of attributes have not yet been revealed for the Druid. Until then, this section will only provide general information about the effects of attributes. Stay tuned.

Each point of Strength provides 1 Armor. Armor reduces all damage taken by a percentage, but is only half as effective against non-Physical damage as it is against Physical damage. The calculations to translate Armor into damage reduction is not yet known. Armor provides less damage reduction in PvP than in PvE.

Each point of Intelligence increases All Resistances by 0.05%. All Resistances reduce non-Physical damage taken (Fire, Cold, Lightning, Poison, Shadow) by 50% of the percentage, reduced to 35% in PvP.

Willpower is the primary attribute for the Druid only; each point increases damage dealt by 0.01%. Each point of Willpower also increases Healing Received by 0.1%.

Each point of Dexterity increases Dodge Chance by 0.025%. Dodging an attack completely ignores its damage and associated harmful effects, such as Stun.

Legendary Aspects represent Legendary Powers that can be imprinted onto items to improve them with powerful and unique effects. Certain Legendary Aspects are available to all classes, whereas others are specific to a single class.

This section lists the known Legendary Aspects that are specific to the Druid, arranged by category.

Legendary Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Aspect of Cyclonic Force	Cyclone Armor also provides Physical Damage Reduction. In addition, Cyclone Armor will also be applied to all Nearby Allies.
Aspect of Mending Stone	The duration of Earthen Bulwark is increased by 6 seconds. In addition, killing an enemy with Earth Skills replenishes X of your active Earthen Bulwark's barrier.
Skinwalker's Aspect	When you use a Shapeshifting Skill that changes your form, gain X Life. If you are at full Life, gain the same amount as Fortify.
Stalking Beast Aspect	Gain Stealth for 2 seconds when killing enemies with Shred. Breaking Stealth with an attack grants Ambush which guarantees Critical Strikes for 1.0 seconds.
Vigorous Aspect	Gain 10.0% Damage Reduction while Shapeshifted into a Werewolf.

Legendary Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Crashstone Aspect	Earth Skills deal 40% more Critical Strike damage to Crowd Controlled enemies.
Nighthowler's Aspect	Blood Howl increases Critical Strike Chance by 5.0%. In addition, Blood Howl also affects Nearby Companions and Players for 3 seconds.
Overcharged Aspect	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 X additional damage to surrounding enemies.
Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast	The duration of Grizzly Rage is increased by 1 seconds. In addition, Critical Strikes while Grizzly Rage is active increase your Critical Strike Damage by 10% for the duration.
Aspect of Retaliation	Your Core Skills deal up to 20% increased damage based on your percent Fortified Health.
Shepherd's Aspect	Core Skills deal an additional 6.0% damage for each active Companion.
Aspect of the Tempest	Hurricane damage is increased by 7.0% each second while active.
Aspect of the Ursine Horror	Pulverize is now also an Earth Skill. After casting Pulverize, tectonic spikes continue to deal X damage over 2 seconds.

Legendary Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Aspect of the Changeling's Debt	Werebear Skills restore 1 Spirit when you hit enemies afflicted by your Poisons. When Spirit is restored, your Poison effects are removed from the enemy.
Mangled Aspect	Gain 1 Spirit when you are struck as a Werebear.
Storm Beast's Aspect	Lucky Hit: Storm Skills have up to a 15% chance to grant 10 Spirit. Your base Storm Skills are now also Werewolf Skills.
Aspect of the Unsatiated	After killing an enemy with Shred, your next Werewolf Skill generates 20% more Spirit and deals 20% increased damage.

Legendary Aspect Name	Legendary Aspect Power
Ballistic Aspect	When you have Fortified Life your Earth Skills gain +3.
Aspect of Quicksand	Damage from Earth Skills Slow enemies hit by 25% for 5 seconds.
Stormshifter's Aspect	While Hurricane is active, gain +3 to your Shapeshifting Skills.

None known yet.

Very few Unique Druid items have been revealed so far. Here are a few.

• 1,139 Defense
• +22 Strength
• +51 Max Life
• +4% Dodge Chance
• 5% Damage Reduction
• Poisoned enemies hit by your Lacerate or Thrash instantly deal 25% of the remaining damage to all nearby enemies
• Empty Socket

"He was not a victim of the curse. He sought it out. As his body changed from man to beast, his laughter never ceased." – Master Alento

• 951 Weapon Attack
• Fast Weapon
• +2% Overpower Chance
• +13 All Stats
• 6% Melee Damage
• 8% Critical Strike Damage
• +5% Attack Speed
• Hit Effect: When Hurricane deals damage, there is a chance to automatically cast Tornado at the target for free.

"You do not command the storm. It may hear your call, but it will answer how it pleases." – Tale of the Warg Nobleman

Although the upcoming Diablo 4 beta will be limited to level 25, we will use this opportunity to experiment with and showcase our best early-game Druid leveling builds and tips in preparation for the full launch of the game.

We will also feature some theoretical late-game build ideas to fill in the lull between the beta and the launch. Stay tuned.