Boulder Druid Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 3)

Build Introduction

Unleash an Avalanche to bury your enemies! Hurl your Boulders, obliterating those that stand in your path! Boldly barrage and batter the battlefield to beat your foes! The Boulder Druid build uses the Unique Item Dolmen Stone and Aspect of Metamorphic Stone in combination to let your Boulders do massive damage in a large area around you.

This guide covers everything necessary to get started on your Boulder adventure, including Skill Tree points, Paragon, Gearing, and Seasonal updates. The guide will primarily cover Endgame pushing, but will also cover alternative options as well as Gauntlet considerations.

Strengths and Weaknesses

To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.

Build Requirements

Required Uniques

Dolmen Stone

Tibault’s Will

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Symbiotic Aspect

Aspect of Metamorphic Stone

Aspect of Nature’s Savagery

The following Unique Items and Legendary Aspects are required for the build:

• Dolmen Stone is the key Unique Item for the build, which allows Boulder to rotate around the player while Hurricane is active.
• Aspect of Metamorphic Stone makes Boulder a Core Skill, and removes the cooldown.
• Tibault’s Will is a significant damage multiplier and source of Spirit.
• Symbiotic Aspect reduces the cooldown on all non-Ultimate abilities whenever Nature’s Fury is triggered.
• Aspect of Nature’s Savagery lets Shred interact with Nature’s Fury, giving significantly more casts of Boulder.

This build does not require, but recommends the following Unique Items:

• Godslayer Crown

This build does not require, but will benefit from the following Uber Unique Items:

• Ring of Starless Skies
• Harlequin Crest

Season of the Construct

Season 3 patch updates

The following list details the changes in the Season 3 Patch Updates that are specific to this build. For general Season 3 information, check out our Season 3 Hub.

Patch 1.3

Ring of Starless Skies – New Effect: Spending resources reduces your resource costs and increases your damage by x10% for 3 seconds, up to 40%.

Aspect of Retaliation – Bonus damage reduced from 20–40% to 20–30%.

Aspect of Metamorphic Stone – Boulder Spirit Cost reduced from 50 to 40.

Spirit Boon: Avian Wrath – Critical Strike Damage bonus is now Multiplicative instead of Additive.

Patch 1.3.3

Ring of Starless Skies – Now shows a buff on the bar while active.

Wind Shear

• Spirit Generation increased from 14 to 16.
• Damage increased by 10%.

Seneschal Construct

The seasonal theme adds a Seneschal Construct companion to aid your character throughout their adventures in Sanctuary. The Construct’s playstyle and support is modified by Governing Stones that grant the construct abilities, with up to three Tuning Stones per Governing Stone to supplement that ability. Stones can be obtained through Vaults, Arcane Tremors, Journey rewards, or crafting.

The Uber Unique Seneschal Tuning Stones Evernight and Genesis are powerful Tuning Stones that drop from the new boss, Malphas. If obtained, they replace non-uber options.

• Evernight: The supported Skill grants you +4 to all Skills when used for 2.0s.
• Genesis: Increase the effectiveness of the supported Skill by 150%

For this build, use Flash of Adrenaline for a strong personal damage buff, and a Ranged Governing Stone for strong Damage Reduction and Spirit Generation.

Flash of Adrenaline

• Duration Support
• Tactical Support
• Fortify Support (Replace with Genesis)

Tempest

• Safeguard Support
• Resource Support
• Swift Support (Replace with Evernight)

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Recommended

Skill Bar for Boulder Druid

Hurricane Trample Earthen Bulwark Petrify Shred Boulder

Priority Skills	Cluster
Wind Shear rank 1, Enhanced Wind Shear	Basic Skill
Shred rank 1, Enhanced Shred, Primal Shred, Predatory Instinct rank 3, Digitigrade Gait rank 3	Core Skill
Earthen Bulwark rank 1, Enhanced Earthen Bulwark, Ancestral Fortitude rank 3	Defensive Skill
	Companion Skill
Boulder rank 5, Enhanced Boulder, Natural Boulder, Hurricane rank 1, Enhanced Hurricane, Savage Hurricane, Trample Crushing Earth rank 2, Safeguard rank 3, Stone Guard rank 2, Neurotoxin rank 1, Envenom rank 3, Toxic Claws rank 1, Elemental Exposure rank 1, Endless Tempest rank 3	Wrath Skill
Petrify, Prime Petrify, Defiance rank 3, Circle of Life rank 3, Resonance rank 3, Natural Disaster rank 3	Ultimate Skill
Nature’s Fury	Key Passive

Once well-geared, Endless Tempest duration to Hurricane may be unnecessary. These points can be reallocated into Vigilance ranks, Stone Guard rank 3, or Crushing Earth rank 3.

Spirit Boons – The Druid Class Specialization

Druids unlock powerful Spirit Boon passives, giving offerings to the animal spirits to receive their Blessing. Once fully unlocked, activate the final Boon by Spirit Bonding with one of the four animal spirits to take two passives from that row.

Alternative Boons

If Spirit Generation while leveling and gearing is not sufficient, replace the Wolf’s Bolster with the Wolf’s Energize.

In hard hitting push content, swap the Eagle’s Scythe Talons for the Eagle’s Iron Feather.

If healing is sufficient, swap the Snake’s Masochistic for the Snake’s Calm Before the Storm for more casts of Petrify.

Paragon

The Paragon Board is a progression system unlocked at Level 50, giving player power through Common stat Nodes, Magic affix Nodes, Rare leveled Glyphs, and Legendary board-exclusive Nodes. Below you will find the preferred Glyphs, Boards, and pathing recommended for making the most of the build. All Glyphs are placed as if they are max radius (Level 15+).

While leveling and gearing, prioritize the Spirit Generation nodes from Ancestral Guidance and Lust for Carnage.

Name	Effect
Shapeshifter	Grants +25.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. Bonus (25 Dexterity): Shapeshifting has a 20% chance to cause the Skill’s damage to Critically Strike.
Inner Beast	After Shapeshifting, your Spirit costs are reduced by 10% for 5 seconds, up to 30% (Legendary Node not taken.)
Exploit	For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [3.85%] increased damage to Vulnerable targets. Bonus (25 Dexterity): When an enemy is damaged by you, they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. This cannot happen more than once every 20 seconds per enemy.
Ancestral Guidance	After spending 75 Spirit, you deal 30%[x] increased damage for 5 seconds.
Outmatch	Grants +25.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. Bonus (25 Dexterity): You deal 16%[x] increased Physical damage to Non-Elites and Bosses.
Earthen Devastation	Earth Skills deal 10%[x] increased Critical Strike Damage, increased by 20%[x] of the total amount of your Bonus Damage to Crowd Controlled up to 40%[x].
Earth and Sky	Grants +30.0% bonus to all Magic nodes within range. Bonus (40 Willpower): Nature Magic Skills deal x10% increased damage to Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemies.
Heightened Malice	While there are 3 or more Poisoned enemies Nearby, you deal 45%[x] increased damage (Legendary Node not taken).
Undaunted	For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal + [7.7%] increased damage while Fortified. Bonus (25 Intelligence): You gain up to 10% Damage Reduction the more Fortify you have.
Lust for Carnage	Critical Strikes with Werewolf Skills restore 2 Spirit.
Territorial	For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal + [9.6%] increased damage to Close targets. Bonus (25 Dexterity): You gain 15% Damage Reduction against Close Enemies.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE THE PARAGON BOARD IN ITS ENTIRETY! Paragon Board images are courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Starting Board

Inner Beast

Ancestral Guidance

Earthen Devastation

Heightened Malice

Lust for Carnage

Legendary Aspects and Gearing Affixes

Below are the recommended Legendary Aspects and Gear Affixes for each gear slot. Gear Affixes in Bold are the ideal Affixes, but alternatives are added.

Slot	Aspect	Stats
1 Handed Axe	Aspect of Metamorphic Stone	Willpower All Stats Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies Damage to Close Enemies Core Skill Damage
Totem	Aspect of Nature’s Savagery	Critical Strike Chance Cooldown Reduction Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies Damage Reduction while Fortified Resource Generation
Head	Godslayer Crown OR Harlequin Crest	Willpower Max Life Total Armor Cooldown Reduction
Chest	Symbiotic Aspect	Total Armor Max Life Damage Reduction from Close Enemies Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies Damage Reduction while Fortified
Gloves	Aspect of Natural Balance	Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Willpower All Stats Critical Strike Damage
Pants	Tibault’s Will	Ranks in Boulder. Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies Damage Reduction from Close enemies Total Armor Max Life
Boots	Ghostwalker Aspect	Movement Speed Spirit Cost Reduction Willpower All Stats Dodge Chance
Amulet	Dolmen Stone	Unique Item Required
Ring 1	Accelerating Aspect	Critical Strike Chance Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies Max Life Critical Strike Damage Damage to Close Enemies
Ring 2	Aspect of the Umbral OR Ring of Starless Skies	Critical Strike Chance Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies Max Life Critical Strike Damage Damage to Close Enemies

Check our Legendary Aspect and Codex of Power Guide to see which slots can have which legendary powers. For example, Rings can have either Offensive or Resource powers, so there are interchangeable options listed above. Accelerating Aspect could be on any of Totem, Gloves, 1 Handed Weapon or Ring, and there is still room for all the rest of the Legendary Aspects that complete the build.

2 Handed Weapon with Aspect of Metamorphic Stone is not used because the Aspect is bugged to be an additive damage boost, rather than a multiplicative damage boost. On top of that, the benefit of 1 Handed and Totem is a faster cast speed for more Nature’s Fury triggers, as well as strong available Gear Affixes on Totem; including Double Cooldown Reduction, Damage Reductions, and Critical Strike Chance.

Alternative Aspects

For Eternal Realm players without access to the seasonal Seneschal Construct, Starlight Aspect can be used for Spirit generation, replacing Accelerating Aspect.

Unique Items

The following Unique Items are recommended for the build.

• Dolmen Stone is mandatory for the build, changing Boulder into a core skill and allowing Boulder to rotate around the player while Hurricane is active.
• Tibault’s Will is essential to the build, providing strong Spirit generation and a powerful multiplier with high coverage.
• Godslayer Crown is another effective grouping tool, as well as a strong damage multiplier.

All these Unique Items can be target-farmed from Duriel.

If acquired, the following Uber Items are recommended for the build.

• Harlequin Crest is better defensively over Godslayer Crown, with strong Gear Affixes. This can allow the build to push higher while staying safer.
• Ring of Starless Skies is a powerful Resource Cost Reduction tool and damage multiplier and well worth using. Replaces Aspect of the Umbral. The downside is losing some Max Life from a non-unique ring.

The following Unique Items are situational additions to the build.

• Airidah’s Inexorable Will deals screen-wide damage and gathers enemies on Ultimate cast Petrify. This can be a top-end damage loss, and is also a tradeoff from a non-unique rings’ better Gear Affixes.

Mechanics and Playstyle

This build has lots of moving parts that come together to make a powerful storm of abilities.

Boulder is your high damage main skill. Due to Dolmen Stone, when Hurricane is active, the Boulders will revolve around the player. Aspect of Metamorphic Stone turns Boulder into a Core Skill, and removes the cooldown, and adds a Spirit Cost to the skill. Keep several of these rotating around you at a time, and refresh them as they run out. Boulder does Physical damage, but is a Nature Magic Skill; meaning it benefits from Storm and Earth modifiers.

Shred is a mobility tool and filler Skill that will apply Poison and Slow. Because we use Aspect of Nature’s Savagery, Shred will also trigger even more Boulders from Nature’s Fury.

We gain resource, damage multipliers, and Unstoppable from casts of Earthen Bulwark and Trample from Tibault’s Will.

Petrify is our Ultimate ability, which Stuns enemies and applies a heavy Critical Strike Damage taken debuff. This stun is especially useful against Elite enemies that have the Suppressor Affix.

Our Key Passive, Nature’s Fury gives us a large volume of secondary casts of our Skills, which helps maintain volume on Boulder.

Spirit Generation

This build does not use a Basic Attack Spirit generator; instead, it relies on several alternative sources:

• Lust for Carnage legendary Node grants Spirit on Critical Strikes with Werewolf abilities, including Shred.
• Paragon nodes for Spirit on Kill in the Ancestral Guidance board.
• Tibault’s Will, with Unstoppable sources Trample and Enhanced Earthen Bulwark.
• Seasonal: The Resource Support Tuning Stone on the Seneschal Construct.
• Aspect of the Umbral for generation or Ring of Starless Skies for Spirt Cost Reduction.

In the Endgame, these are sufficient sources for Spirit Cost needs, despite Boulder being a resource-hungry Skill. However, if the above are insufficient sources while leveling and gearing, consider using one or more of the following supplementary options:

• The Wolf’s Energize Spirit Boon, replacing The Wolf’s Bolster.
• Spirit Generation on Rings or Totem.
• Use Starlight Aspect, replacing Accelerating Aspect.
• Tempest Roar can be used to give Hurricane and other storm damage events Spirit Generation.
• Worst case, use Wind Shear over Shred.

Rotation

1. Maintain Hurricane.
2. Get your Tibault’s Will multipliers, Unstoppable, and Spirit with Earthen Bulwark or Trample.
3. Gap close, apply Poison and Slow with Shred.
4. Roll out your Boulders! Maintain several at a time, recasting to keep multiple active.
5. Cast Petrify to apply Stuns and a strong Critical Strike Damage multiplier.
6. Shred as filler. This will also maintain some Boulders from Nature’s Fury triggers.

Controller vs Keyboard and Mouse

This build can play smoother on a controller, but more precise and controlled on keyboard and mouse.

On controller, when held, Shred can auto-move to the nearest enemies, or continue direction if no enemies are in range. The Dashes from casts of Shred auto-aim to the nearest enemy.

Keyboard and Mouse can offer better control, allowing you to choose targets to Dash to. Both options are valid. Keyboard and Mouse can also access the auto-aim behavior for Shred by going into ESC -> Options -> Gameplay, and changing Skill Toggle Behavior to Toggle All.

Gauntlet Optimization

The Gauntlet is a Trial event dungeon that changes weekly. The format is a point score system over 8 minutes, and players will compete in weekly Leaderboards for fame and prize.

Boulder excels at all the aspects of the Gauntlet. This build offers:

• High damage against Bosses
• Strong AoE attacks
• Sources for grouping enemies
• High mobility and gap closing

The enemies are level 124, which is the equivalent to Tier 70 nightmare dungeons. Compared to a Tier 100 Nightmare dungeon, the enemies will hurt less, but speed counts even more!

The Gearing and Paragon Setups for Gauntlet will take less Armor, Max Life, Damage Reductions, and top-end multipliers, and instead tune for speed, uptime and efficiency. The following recommendations are for generic Gauntlet play, and considerations may change week to week as new maps are shown.

Gearing and Legendary Affixes for Gauntlet

Make the following changes for the Gauntlet:

• Use Airidah’s Inexorable Will as a screen-wide damage and grip when casting Petrify. Replaces Aspect of Natural Balance.
• Use the Shrine Buff Duration affix on Boots.
• Use Royal Skull instead of Royal Diamond.

Gauntlet Skills

Use the same Skill Tree for the Gauntlet.

Gauntlet Paragon

The Paragon tree has a similar layout, but gives up some Armor and Max Life nodes to take some more damage nodes, as well as replacing Territorial and Undaunted for Spirit and Guzzler.

CLICK THIS LINK to see the Gauntlet Paragon Board in its entirety. Paragon Board tool is courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Gems

See below for the best Gems to socket into your gear for each category.

• Weapon: Royal Emerald
• Armor: Royal Ruby
• Jewelry: Royal Diamond

Elixirs, Incense and Health Potions

The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.

• Craft the highest Assault Elixir available for Attack Speed bonuses.
• If mats are available, craft Chorus of War.
• Upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion.

Changelog

10 March, 2024: Guide created, fully replacing previous guide.

• Ownership transferred.
• Adjusted Gear, Skills, and Paragon sections to hit defensive stats targets and improve overall damage output.
• Improved readability, explanations, and options.