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 playstyle variants, in-depth explanations as well as Gauntlet considerations.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Mobile gameplay
- Excels at both AoE and Bossing
- THROW ROCK
- Resource hungry build
- Gameplay can be complicated
- Heavy gearing investment
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Build Requirements
The following Unique Items and Legendary Aspects are required for build functionality to get started on the Boulder Druid:
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
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.
Boon Name | Animal | Effect |
---|---|---|
Wariness | Deer | Take 15% reduced damage from Elites. |
Scythe Talons | Eagle | Gain +5% increased Critical Strike Chance. |
Avian Wrath | Eagle | Gain 30%[x] Critical Strike Damage. |
Energize | Wolf | Lucky Hit: Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to restore 20 Spirit. |
Masochistic | Snake | Lucky Hit chance of 75%. Critical Strikes with Shapeshifting Skills Heal you for 5% Maximum Life. |
In hard hitting push content, swap the Eagle’s Scythe Talons for the Eagle’s Iron Feather.
Paragon
The following are the preferred Glyphs, Boards, and pathing recommended for making the most of the Boulder Druid. All Glyphs are placed as if they are max radius (Level 15+).
While leveling and gearing, prioritize the Spirit Generation Magic and Rare nodes from Ancestral Guidance and the Lust for Carnage Legendary Node.
Click this link to see the Paragon Board in its entirety! Paragon Board images are courtesy of d4builds.gg.
Starting Board
From the Starting Board, path up, placing the Shapeshifter Glyph into the Glyph Socket.
Inner Beast
From the Starting Board, choose Inner Beast, placed against the Starting Board, rotated once. Socket the Exploit Glyph. The Legendary Node is not taken.
Ancestral Guidance
For the third board, choose Ancestral Guidance, placed against the Inner Beast board’s top side, rotated three times. Socket the Outmatch glyph, and take the Legendary Node Ancestral Guidance.
Earthen Devastation
For the fourth board, choose Earthen Devastation, placed against the Ancestral Guidance board’s left side, rotated once. Socket the Earth and Sky glyph, and take the Legendary Node Earthen Devastation.
Heightened Malice
For the fifth board, choose Heightened Malice, placed against the Earthen Devastation board’s bottom side, rotated once. place the Undaunted Glyph. The Legendary Node is not taken.
Lust for Carnage
For the final board take Lust for Carnage, placed against the Inner Beast board’s right side, rotated three times. Socket the Territorial glyph, and take the Legendary Node Lust for Carnage.
For further info on Paragon choices, check the Paragon Information in the Additional Information Section.
Gear, Stats, Gems and Elixirs
Itemization has received significant changes with the Season 4 1.40 patch and will affect the game going forward.
Legendary Aspects
Below are the recommended Legendary Aspects for each gear slot. Gear Slots with multiple options are listed in recommended priority. Any slot with an Optional Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power.
Slot | Gem | Aspect | Unique/Legendary Power |
---|---|---|---|
1 Handed Axe | Royal Sapphire | Accelerating Aspect | Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by [10 – 25]%[+] for 5 seconds. |
Totem | Royal Sapphire | Aspect of Natural Balance | Werewolf Skills function as Storm Skills and Werebear Skills function as Earth Skills for the Nature’s Fury Key Passive. |
Head | Royal Ruby | (Recommended)Godslayer Crown OR Juggernaut’s Aspect | When you Stun, Freeze, or Immobilize an Elite enemy, or damage a Boss, it Pulls In Nearby enemies. You deal [30 – 60]%[x] increased damage to them for 3 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 12 seconds. |
Chest | Royal Ruby | Symbiotic Aspect | When the Nature’s Fury Key Passive triggers a free Skill, your non-Ultimate Cooldowns of the opposite type are reduced by 2-5 seconds. |
Gloves | N/A | Aspect of Nature’s Savagery | Werewolf Skills function as Storm Skills and Werebear Skills function as Earth Skills for the Nature’s Fury Key Passive. |
Pants | Royal Ruby | Aspect of the Crowded Sage | You have 8% increased Dodge Chance. Successful Dodges restore 5-20% of your Maximum Life. |
Boots | N/A | Aspect of Concussive Strikes | Lucky Hit: Damaging an enemy has up to a 20% chance to Daze them for 2 seconds. You deal 5-20[x] increased damage to Dazed enemies. |
Amulet | Royal Diamond | (Required) Dolmen Stone | Casting Boulder while Hurricane is active will cause your boulders to rotate around you. |
Ring 1 | Royal Diamond | Aspect of Metamorphic Stone | Boulder is now a Core Skill and costs 40 Spirit to cast dealing [100 – 120]% of normal damage. |
Ring 2 | Royal Diamond | Starlight Aspect OR Aspect of the Umbral | Gain [20 – 40] of your Primary Resource for every 20% of your Life that you Heal. |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Affixes and Tempers are listed in priority with the desired three Gearing Affixes at the top, but alternatives are also added. Affixes in Bold are the most important to target with the Masterworking quality upgrades. Tempering affixes have their associated Tempering Manuals listed. Unique Items cannot be Tempered, but can be Mastercrafted. Any slot with an Optional Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power setup.
Slot | Gearing Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
---|---|---|
1 Handed Axe | Resource Cost Reduction Willpower Attack Speed Spirit on Kill | Earth Augments – Chance for Boulder Projectiles To Cast Twice Earth Finesse – Boulder Damage OR Natural Finesse – Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies |
Totem | Resource Cost Reduction Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Cooldown Reduction | Earth Augments – Chance for Boulder Projectiles To Cast Twice Earth Finesse – Boulder Damage OR Natural Finesse – Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies |
Helm – Godslayer Crown | Cooldown Reduction Max Life Damage Crowd Control Duration | |
Helm – Legendary Power | Cooldown Reduction Max Life Willpower Spirit Per Second | Worldly Endurance – Dodge Chance Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: [Any of] Chance to Immobilize/Stun/Freeze for 2 seconds |
Chest | Willpower Max Life Spirit Per Second Armor | Worldly Endurance – Total Armor OR Dodge Chance Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: [Any of] Chance to Immobilize/Stun/Freeze for 2 Seconds |
Gloves | Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Ranks to Core Skills Willpower | Earth Finesse – Boulder Damage Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: [Any of] Chance to Immobilize/Stun/Freeze for 2 Seconds |
Pants | Armor Willpower Max Life Dodge Chance | Worldly Endurance – Total Armor% Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: [Any of] Chance to Immobilize/Stun/Freeze for 2 Seconds |
Boots – Legendary Aspect | Implicit: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown By 1.5 Seconds Ranks to Boulder Movement Speed Max Life Spirit Per Second | Natural Motion – Movement Speed Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: [Any of] Chance to Immobilize/Stun/Freeze for 2 Seconds |
Amulet – Dolmen Stone | Ranks to Wrath Skills Nature Magic Skill Cooldown Reduction Resource Generation Maximum Life | |
Rings – Legendary Aspect | Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Maximum Life Resource Cost Reduction | Earth Finesse – Boulder Damage Worldly Stability – Resource Generation |
For pure functionality, the most important affixes for the Boulder Druid are the following:
- Resource Cost Reduction on Weapon and Totem
- At least one well-rolled Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies temper to max out Earthen Devastation.
- Chance for Double Boulder Projectiles for cast volume total.
- Ranks to Boulder.
- Critical Strike Chance for Spirit Generation from Lust for Carnage.
Armor cap is 9230 against any enemies Level 100 and above, for up to 85% Damage Reduction. This is generally reached at 925 Item Power with either one Armor Gear Affix with one Total Armor% Temper, or with a maxed Juggernaut’s Aspect.
Gems
Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
---|---|---|
Royal Sapphire for Critical Strike Damage | Royal Ruby For Max Life% | Royal Diamond for resistance to all elements |
Elixirs, Incense and Health Potions
The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.
- Craft the highest available Elixir of Advantage for Attack Speed and Lucky Hit bonuses.
- If mats are available, craft Chorus of War.
- Remember to upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion!
Unique Items
The following Unique Items are required or recommended for the build:
- (required) 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.
- (recommended) Godslayer Crown is an effective grouping tool, as well as a strong damage multiplier.
Both these Unique Items can be target-farmed from Duriel.
Uber Unique Items
The Boulder Druid can benefit from several Uber Unique items:
- (High Value) Harlequin Crest is better defensively over Godslayer Crown, with strong Gear Affixes and ranks to all Skills. This can allow the build to push higher while staying safer.
- (New, High Value) Yen’s Blessing – Casting a Skill has a [40 – 60]% chance to cast a Non-Mobility, Non-Ultimate Skill that is currently on Cooldown. This effect can only occur once every 12 seconds. This Uber Unique is interesting because it can recast Hurricane, which can mean there’s no need for Symbiotic Aspect. This would be good with the Shepherd Boulder setup since the only skill ever on cooldown is Hurricane. The downside is boots are the slot with ranks in Boulder.
- (Mid Value) Ring of Starless Skies is a powerful Resource Cost Reduction tool and damage multiplier. With the 1.4.0 gearing system, Spirit Generation is largely handled but this can be good nevertheless. Replaces Accelerating Aspect.
- (New, Mid Value) Tyreal’s Might. A solid defensive Chestpiece with strong Damage Reduction and Resistances, with a small damage bonus. Replaces Aspect of the Crowded Sage.
Rotation
- Maintain Hurricane.
- Maintain Shapeshifting bonuses for Heightened Senses and Quickshift. Trample for Werebear, Shred for Werewolf.
- Gap close, apply Poison and Slow with Shred.
- Roll out your Boulders! Maintain several at a time, recasting to keep multiple active.
- Cast Petrify to apply Stuns and a strong Critical Strike Damage multiplier.
- Shred as filler. This will also maintain some Boulders from Nature’s Fury triggers.
Check out the advanced Mechanics and Playstyle section for a more in-depth description on how the build works, what synergies exist and what to look out for.
Season 4: Loot Reborn
Patch 1.4.0 and Season 4 bring significant changes. The following list details the important changes in the Season 4 Patch Updates that are specific to the Boulder Druid and its Variants. For general Season 4 information, check out our Season 4 Hub.
Itemization:
- Tibault’s Will damage reduced from 20-40% to 10-20%.
- The Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown affix has been increased from .8 to 1.5 seconds.
- Physical Damage against Damage Reduction now caps at level 100. Note: this means Armor only needs to be 9230 to cap Armor against enemies level 100 and above.
- Shepherd’s Aspect now includes Wrath Skills.
- (New Item) Tyrael’s Might – Unique Chest Armor – While at full Life, your Skills unleash a divine barrage dealing damage.
- (New) Yen’s Blessing – Unique Boots – Casting a Skill has a 40-60% chance to cast a Non-Mobility, Non-Ultimate Skill that is currently on Cooldown. This effect can only occur once every 8 seconds.
- Aspect of the Crowded Sage redesigned – You have 8% increased Dodge Chance. Successful Dodges restore 5-20% of your Maximum Life.
Skills and Stats:
- Druid Companions now receive 100% of Player Attributes.
- Damage Reduction from Fortify is now 15%, from 10%.
- Energize Spirit Boon Spirit Restoration increased from 10 to 20.
- Wariness Spirit Boon damage reduction from Elites increased to 15%.
- Masochistic Critical Strike Healing increased from 3% to 5%.
- Shred Damage increased by 10%
- Enhanced Shred Healing increased from 2% to 4%
- Wolves
- Wolves now gain Unstoppable when the Skill is cast.
- Health increased by 200%.
- Respawn reduced from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.
- Petrify
- Prime Petrify now grants 50 Spirit when cast and its effect durations are increased by 1s.
- Supreme Petrify – Killing an enemy affected by Petrify reduces its Cooldown by 1 second. Hitting a Boss with Petrify reduces its Cooldown by 10 seconds.
- Quickshift redesigned. When Shapeshifting into a new animal form, you deal 1% increased damage for 3 seconds, up to 6%.
- Heightened Senses redesigned – When Shapeshifting into an animal form, Werebear grants 2% Damage Reduction and Werewolf grants 2% Movement Speed, each for 6 seconds. Bonuses are doubled while both are active.
- Digitigrade Gait Movement Speed increased from 3% to 4%.
Advanced Information
It is time to get started on your Boulder journey!
Or see below for further information on how the build works, as well as further explanations for Paragon, Gearing, and Gameplay, and available playstyle options.
Mechanics and Playstyle
This build has lots of moving parts that come together to make a powerful storm of abilities.
Boulder is our high-damage main Skill. When Hurricane is active, Dolmen Stone causes the Boulders will revolve around the player. Aspect of Metamorphic Stone turns Boulder into a Core Skill, 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. Enhanced Shred‘s heal is also a significant source of Spirit Generation with Starlight Aspect.
Trample is a mobility tool that also applies Unstoppable, and refreshes Werebear Shapeshifting buffs like Quickshift and Heightened Senses.
Earthen Bulwark is a defensive tool for Absorb and Unstoppable.
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.
Paragon Information
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. For general paragon board information, check the guide here.
The recommended Paragon boards with images for the Boulder Druid are listed above. The following section goes over some explanation and descriptions for the pathing process for the Boulder Druid.
Broadly speaking, decisions for pathing through the Druid paragon board are divided into three categories:
- Damage – The paragon boards provide a significant amount of Damage Multipliers and Additives. This includes:
- Socketed Glyphs such as Earth and Sky and Outmatch.
- Legendary Nodes such as Ancestral Guidance and Earthen Devastation.
- Magic and Rare nodes such as Havoc for Critical Strike Damage and Physical Damage or Shapeshifter for Shapeshifting Damage and Willpower.
- Defense – The paragon boards help reach goals on Damage Reduction, Armor and Resistances. This includes:
- Damage Reduction is improved from Undaunted and Territorial secondary effects, as well as individual nodes providing bonuses like Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies
- Resistances are improved from Magic and Rare Resistance nodes, with Earth and Sky and Outmatch bonuses improving their nearby Resistance nodes.
- Armor goals are reached with the help of Armor nodes in Inner Beast.
- Build Functionality – The paragon boards improve Spirit Generation for the build from a few sources, including:
- Lust for Carnage provides Spirit on Critical Strike from Werewolf abilities from casts of Shred.
- Various Max Spirit and Spirit on kill Magic and Rare nodes on the Ancestral Guidance board.
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. |
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. |
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. |
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.
- The Wolf’s Energize Spirit Boon.
- Starlight Aspect grants Spirit each time we heal for 20% health. Our healing sources include Enhanced Shred, Masochistic Spirit boon, Aspect of the Crowded Sage, and Circle of Life.
- Spirit Cost Reduction on Weapon and Totem, Spirit Generation Temper on Rings.
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:
- Spirit Per Second on Chest and Helm.
- Use Aspect of the Umbral, replacing Accelerating Aspect on a ring.
- Tempest Roar can be used to give Hurricane and other storm damage events Spirit Generation.
- Worst case in early leveling and gearing, use Wind Shear over Shred.
Codex of Power and Gearing Affixes
With the release of Season 4 and Patch 1.4.0, Gearing has changed significantly. For the dedicated page, see the updated Gear Systems and Itemization Overview guide here.
The Codex of Power has changed. Extracting any aspect now upgrades it in the Codex of Power. All Aspects now exist in the Codex of Power. For example, extracting a Aspect of Metamorphic Stone of a higher rank than you currently have in your codex improves the Codex. All future applications of Aspect of Metamorphic Stone will have that higher value. This also means Gambling Obols can be a significant method of improving your Codex of power. Aspects in the Codex can be favorited.
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. That meansAspect of Metamorphic Stone could be on weapon, totem or gloves and there is still room for all the rest of the Legendary Aspects that complete the build.
For Gearing Affixes, Normal Items have no affixes, Magic Items have 1 affix, Rare Items have 2 affixes, Legendary Items have 3 affixes, and Unique Items keep their 4 affixes. Applying Legendary Aspects from your Codex will not improve the amount of Affixes on items. In the Endgame, this means Legendary Items are desirable and the rest are largely going to be just salvaged without much inspection. Many available affixes and their ranges have been changed. This is beneficial for this build on some Slots such as weapon with large Spirit Cost Reduction and Attack Speed, but will be worse on other slots. For example, every single resistance is an option on armor slots so rerolling at the Enchantress for the ideal affix can take many more rolls.
Ancestral Legendary items can drop with Greater Affix, indicated with a special icon * both in Inventory and on the ground. Items can have multiple Greater Affixes. Greater Affixes have a 1.5 multiplier to the base Affix.
Tempering and Masterworking
Tempering manuals are found across Sanctuary. The Blacksmith is able to apply extra affixes on items, up to two on Ancestral quality items. This would bring an Ancestral Legendary item up to a total of 5 affixes. When tempering at the Blacksmith, an item will randomly select one of the listed affixes from the chosen Tempering Manual. For example, the Weapon manual Earth Augments can give the desired extra projectiles to Boulder, or give something utterly useless to the build. There is a limit to the number of times a temper can be rerolled to try to get the desired affix. This means the item can get ruined for the build, and you must try again with a new item. Unique Items cannot be Tempered. Boulder getting access to the Extra Projectiles weapon temper means this system is a win for the build!
Legendary Ancestral Items and Ancestral Unique Items can then be upgraded in quality via Mastercrafting using materials from The Pit of Artificers. This increases affix, with special increases at levels 4, 8, and 12 that upgrade the Quality of a randomly chosen affix or temper by 25%. The same affix or temper can be chosen multiple times, further increasing the quality from Magic, to Rare, and finally to Legendary.
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.
Variant Playstyles and Options
Druids generally have options available to flex between depending on game stage, gearing process, playstyle tempo, or accessibility.
Shepherd Boulder
Just want to toss some Boulder? Shepherd Boulder uses a Shepherd’s Aspect setup as a simplified version of Boulder. The perks are:
- Fewer button presses since Companion Skills Active Skills are unused, with Companions strictly acting as a damage multiplier to Boulder.
- Easier buff maintenance for Shapeshifting abilities like Heightened Senses and Quickshift.
- Higher potential damage, with a strong damage multiplier with Shepherd’s Aspect.
The downsides are the following:
- No sources for Unstoppable.
- No Ultimate Skill Petrify as a Crowd Control, especially against Elites with the Suppressor Affix.
- Fewer defensive layers, giving up Earthen Bulwark.
To play this style, change the following:
- Use a 2 handed Staff with Shepherd’s Aspect, replacing Accelerating Aspect and Aspect of Natural Balance.
- Use Vasily’s Prayer to change Boulder into a Werebear skill, to maintain Werebear Shapeshifting related buffs, since we will not use Trample.
- If acquired, use New Uber Unique Yen’s Blessing and replace Symbiotic Aspect. Only Hurricane should ever be on cooldown so the boots will always cast Hurricane.
- Remove Skillpoints in Earthen Bulwark, Trample, Petrify.
- Add Skillpoints to Poison Creeper rank 1, Wolves rank 1, Ravens rank 1, Enhanced Ravens, and Brutal Ravens.
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.
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.
Changelog
- 5 May, 2024: Guide reworked for the significant 1.4.0 changes to gearing and for season 4 speculative changes. Format changed to frontload basic build information and offer extra information and options afterwards.
- 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.