Storm Claw Druid Endgame Build for Diablo 4 (Season 1)

Build Introduction

This is your comprehensive guide for building a speed demon Werewolf with lightning claws and an unending thirst for enemies! Welcome to the Raging Storm build. This unique build is focused on a high basic Attack Speed, unleashing Claw and Storm Strike on every enemy around you. Add in a devastating amount of Vulnerable Damage increases and stacked Critical Strikes, the result is endgame enemies that will drop to the ground in a maelstrom of Lightning damage. Please note, as this build is Unique based, the build cannot be attempted without the use of Greatstaff of the Crone.

Our guide will cover all basic mechanics and deep dive into the optimal setup for skills, Paragon and gear for the build. Further down below you will find a supporting YouTube video as well to showcase the build in action.

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

This build has a single Unique requirement and several Legendary Aspects that will need to be acquired before it will function properly. As for the Legendary Aspects, you will need the following at a minimum to make the build work at its most basic level. These Aspects are all non-codex, which means you will need to find them on a Legendary Item and then imprint them onto specific gear.

Required Uniques

Greatstaff of the Crone

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Aspect of the Crowded Sage

Dire Wolf’s Aspect

Aspect of the Dark Howl

To even begin this build, we recommend you have these three Aspects ready for imprinting at a minimum. For the build it become fully functional, we recommend you have all the Legendary Aspects listed further in this guide for the build to work optimally.

Season of the Malignant

Season 1 Patch Updates

Below is a list of specific changes from the Season 1 Patch Update that affect this build. If any of these changes create significant issues within the build, they will be discussed in more detail under their relevant sections.

• Enhanced Claw Attack Speed bonus increased from 10% to 15%.
• Stormstrike Damage Reduction reduced from 25% to 15%
• Prime Grizzly Rage now grants Unstoppable for 6 seconds instead of while active.
• Masochistic now also requires a Lucky Hit chance of 75%.
• Cooldown Reduction: Reduced by ~30% on gear slots.
• Significant reductions to Vulnerable and Critical Strike Damage values (needs to be tested more).

Patch 1.1.1

The second major update for Season 1, Patch 1.1.1 released on August 8th 2023, brings some positive changes to Basic Generator Skills for Druids. The changes that directly affect this build are listed below.

• Claw – Spirit gain increased from 11 to 12.
• Storm Strike – Spirit gain increased from 14 to 15.

None of these changes are build-breaking and we still have full confidence in this build.

Malignant Hearts

The theme for Season 1 introduces a new form of legendary gem called Malignant Hearts. There are three types of hearts that need to be socketed into matching colored sockets on all equipped jewelry and one type of heart that can be placed into any socket. For more information about the Malignant Hearts theme for Season 1 check out our Malignant Hearts guide.

Listed below are the Malignant Hearts that are useful for this build, ranked by importance. Stats displayed reflect what a level 20 character would receive as a drop. Note that this list is based on our early opinions on the Malignant Hearts, and we will update it as and when it is necessary.

1. Caged Heart of the Unconstrained Beast
2. Caged Heart of Inexorable Force
3. Caged Heart of Revenge

Video Guide

Please note that since this written build guide is ever-evolving and videos cannot easily be updated, the below video should serve as more of a guideline, whereas the written guide will always have the most accurate information.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for Storm Claw Build (Order does not matter)

Claw Storm Strike Grizzly Rage Blood Howl Debilitating Roar

Follow the points allocated in the image above for the complete 58 point build. The additional 10 skill points are completed using the Renown system.

Priority Skills	Cluster
Claw Level 5, Enhanced Claw, Wild Claw Storm Strike Level 5, Enhanced Storm Strike, Fierce Storm Strike	Basic Skill
Predatory Instinct Level 3	Core Skill
Blood Howl Level 5, Enhanced Blood Howl, Preserving Blood Howl, Debilitating Roar Level 5, Enhanced Debilitating Roar, Preserving Debilitating Roar, Ancestral Fortitude Level 1, Vigilance Level 3	Defensive Skill
Elemental Exposure Level 1, Charged Atmosphere Level 1, Electric Shock Level 3, Bad Omen Level 3, Neurotoxin Level 1, Envenom Level 3, Toxic Claws Level 1	Wrath Skill
Grizzly Rage, Prime Grizzly Rage, Supreme Grizzly Rage, Defiance Level 3, Natural Disaster Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Lupine Ferocity	Key Passives

Spirit Boons – The Druid Specialization

Boons are additional buffs provided to the Druid class as part of their specialization. To unlock your Boons, you will need to complete a simple quest on the west side of the map in the stronghold of “Tur Dulra”. This becomes available at Level 15 and should be completed as soon as possible. The Boon mechanic allows you to pick a single buff from each of the corresponding master animals and the addition of a second Boon buff from a chosen master animal you select.

Once you are in the endgame and have completed the skill tree from the previous section, utilize the following set of Boons for the best results.

As with many other Druid builds, we are going to use the Boon Calamity to help extend our Grizzly Rage. This Boon is our first of two pillars for using our ultimate skill Grizzly Rage during the endgame. We will also rely on the Boon Calm Before The Storm to drive down the Cooldown timer as much as possible. With the new balance patch changes for Season One, having Grizzly Rage up constantly is no longer be possible, we will still take advantage of the skill utilizing a very short Cooldown.

Paragon

We recommend using these Legendary nodes and Rare Glyphs to truly take this build into the endgame. Note that each Rare Glyph’s information listed below is for the Level 21 version.

Name	Effect
Exploit	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[3.85]% increased damage to Vulnerable targets. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Dealing damage to a Vulnerable enemy increases your damage by x1% for 6 seconds, up to x10%.
Thunderstruck	– Storm Skills deal 30%[x] increased Critical Strike Damage against Vulnerable or Immobilized enemies.
Territorial	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[9.6]% increased damage to Close targets. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain 10% Damage Reduction against Close enemies.
Werewolf	– For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, you deal +[6.24]% increased damage while in Werewolf form. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain 10% damage reduction while in Werewolf form.
Undaunted	– For every 5 Intelligence purchased within range, you deal +[9.6]% increased damage while Fortified. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Intelligence points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain up to 10% Damage Reduction the more Fortify you have.
Fang and Claw	– Grants +[150]% bonus to all Magic nodes within range. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: While in Werewolf or Werebear form, Close enemies take 12%[x] increased damage from you.
Spirit	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[10.4]% increased Critical Strike Damage. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Critical Strikes increase the damage an enemy takes from you by x2% for 20 seconds, up to x12%.

Let’s break down each of these beneficial Nodes and where our Paragon Points are positioned in each of the Paragon Boards we use. This part of the build is presented in order of importance. If you do not have enough Paragon Points for use in your Paragon Board, just slowly work towards each step.

Starting Board

1. Begin with by selecting the Nodes on the right hand side of the board towards the Rare Node Prime.
2. Collect all the Magic Nodes surrounding Prime then continue towards the Glyph location in the center of the starting Board. This will give us a raw damage boost and Life increase.
3. Focus on selecting as many Dexterity Nodes in the surrounding area highlighted by inserting the Territorial. This boost both our offenses and defenses against Close Enemies.
4. Select both Rare Nodes inside the Glyph radius, Impel and Resolve. For Resolve, select the Magic Nodes that offer us a Dexterity bonus for use with the Territorial. For Impel, select all Magic Nodes except the single Intelligence Node shown in the image above.
5. Come back down and complete the Rare Node Tenacity and the Magic Nodes around it. This choice is all about increasing our health pool and survivability.
6. Finally, head towards the top of the Paragon Board and attach the Inner Beast board in the same position as you see in the image below.

Inner Beast (2nd Board)

1. Head towards the Glyph slot and insert the Glyph Werewolf, remember to take all the Willpower nodes needed for the bonus.
2. Take the two Rare Nodes in the Glyph’s radius, Shapeshifter and Determination, these will increase both our Damage and our Armor.
3. Now take the pathway up the right hand side of the board and pick up the two Rare Nodes, Tenacity and Havoc, taking the Magic Nodes shown above. These Nodes will boost our Damage, Maximum Life and Armor.
4. Complete the pathway to the connection points on both the top and right hand side of the board. We will be using these connection points later.
5. Now attach the next Paragon Board Thunderstruck to the right hand connection point.

Thunderstruck (3rd Board)

• Path towards the Glyph slot and insert Fang and Claw. This glyph will buff the two nearly by Rare Nodes we will select, Stormcaller and Hubris. We will also receive the bonus benefit of increased Nature skill damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Follow the image above and select all the Magic Nodes around each of the two Rare Nodes. This will increase our Storm skill damage and provide us with Damage Reduction from Vulnerable enemies.
• Now follow the pathway up to the Rare Nodes Deluge and Restorative. This will once again increase our damage and healing output.
• Select all the surrounding Magic Nodes and then proceed to the Legendary Node Thunderstruck. This will increase our Critical Strike Damage.
• Now head up to the upper right hand bottom corner of the board and pick up the Rare Node Tempest as well as the surrounding Magic Nodes to increase our Critical Strike Damage once again.
• Now return to the previous board, Inner Beast and head to the top of the board. This time attach our fourth board Constricting Tendrils.

Constricting Tendrils (4th Board)

1. Head towards the open Glyph slot and insert the Exploit Glyph. This will increase our damage to Vulnerable Enemies. Be sure to take the needed Dexterity points for the bonus as well.
2. Now take the both Rare Nodes, Courage and Nature’s Will, for the increase to Maximum Life and Nature damage.
3. Now head to the left hand side of the board and attach the Heightened Malice.

Heightened Malice (5th Board)

1. Move along the board straight towards the Glyph slot and insert the Spirit. This Glyph amplifies our Critical Strike Damage enemies but also buffs the surrounding Magic Nodes.
2. Now acquire the Dexterity needed to complete the bonus requirements for Spirit.
3. Take target the two Rare Nodes, Sinking Fangs and Nature-born. Be sure to select all the Magic Nodes surrounding them as shown in the image above.
4. Follow the pathway to the bottom of the board and attach our final paragon board Lust for Carnage.

Lust for Carnage (6th Board)

1. Head down towards the open Glyph and pick up the Rare Node Ferocity along the pathway.
2. Now go to the open Glyph slot and insert Undaunted. This boost your Damage while Fortified and increase your Damage Reduction while Fortified.
3. Be sure to take the need Intelligence for the bonus for Undaunted Glyph.
4. Go ahead and take both Rare Nodes inside the Glyph, Feral and Regenerative, these will increase your healing and increased Werewolf damage.
5. This completes the paragon tree for this build.

Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Mechanics and Playstyle

The playstyle for the Raging Storm build is simple. Activate your Grizzly Rage and Blood Howl, which will trigger Vigilance and a 20% Attack Speed buff for you to start swinging at enemies with Claw. Your Claw will trigger a Storm Strike attack. As Grizzly Rage amplifies your Critical Strike Damage with kills, these two skills will quickly ramp up their damage. Be smart with your movement and avoid elite attacks. You will also be Unstoppable for the initial 6 seconds of your Grizzly Rage, this effect will fade until you reactivate Grizzly Rage again.

If things get too crazy, drop your Debilitating Roar on the enemies around you and take down the harder enemies while you have the increased Damage Reduction. Additionally, poisoned enemies will be Immobilized by your roar and allow you to readjust your position. If you get into a bad spot, drink a potion or use Blood Howl for the Life gain, then reposition to attack again. This freeing movement and simple right click attack style will be buffed the entire time by Grizzly Rage and the supporting aspects of Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast and Dire Wolf’s Aspect.

Now that you understand the skill rotation and benefits, let’s look at some of the additional benefits our skills provide while using certain Legendary Aspects.  

Debilitating Roar and Blood Howl

Both Debilitating Roar and Blood Howl benefit from using the Vigilance passive in our skill tree. This passive offers us 15% damage reduction whenever we cast either of these skills. Your best strategy is to balance the use of both skills for the 6 seconds of damage reduction at rank 3. Keeping the Vigilance buff active during endgame activities will be essential to you staying alive.

Grizzly Rage

This skill is paramount to the build; you cannot push endgame content with an effective setup to use with your Grizzly Rage. To create an effective setup for endgame, we will equip two specific Legendary Aspects, Dire Wolf’s Aspect and Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast.

First, Dire Wolf’s Aspect alters the werebear only skill to be performed as a Werewolf, offering Movement Speed instead of Damage Reduction as well as a huge amount of Spirit reduction. While the Movement Speed is a minor buff for us, the Spirit reduction does very little for us as we are using Claw as our main attack skill. The main benefit we receive from using Dire wolf’s Aspect is we can stay in werewolf form the majority of the times. 

The second part of this setup is Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast. This Legendary Aspect focuses on not only extending the uptime for our Grizzly Rage to be active, but also builds up a staggering amount of Critical Strike Damage with each critical strike you make. By using this Aspect and focusing on Critical Strike Chance on our gear, we can effectively boost our Critical Strike Damage by over 500% – 1000%. This adds a huge damage boost for running endgame content. 

Overall, the game playstyle is simple to follow: pop Grizzly Rage then charge into a pack of enemies, use Blood Howl and start swinging. By using Claw on enemies, you will trigger Storm Strike for added damage which will keep our Grizzly Rage cooldown at a minimum, thanks to our chosen boons, while we focus on avoiding targeted skills from elites. Don’t forget to be using your Debilitating Roar for the 70% Damage Reduction, increased life per second and increased fortify per second.

Movement

Another component that makes this build an S-Tier choice for endgame is the fact that we have no skill on our left click. We found utilizing your left click for movement-only made a massive difference for controlling your character in the thick of a fight, especially with the close quarter skills we have chosen. The ability to manage your positioning in an instant is vital to this build, even more so when trying to stay alive in a Nightmare Dungeon past tier 50. Now you might see this as a wasted slot, or consider rebinding your movement skill to something – your choice. The build will function either way, but feels the most fluid with this setup which made the sacrifice of one skill slot an easy decision.

When this build is complete, you will have a lightning brawler that dominates elites and packs of enemies, all while staying in the right position with a strong set of defenses that can handle when things go wrong.

Gear Choice and Stat Priority

As you begin to farm in World Tier 3 and 4, Rare and Legendary item drops will begin to appear with some regularity depending on your luck. We recommend saving the targeted Legendary items that have the needed Legendary aspects listed below. We also recommended to keep multiple copies of the build’s Aspects in your Stash for future upgrades.

As for the Rare items, you will need to inspect each one for targeted affixes for use in each specific slot and do your best to match the recommended rolls. We have listed our targeted affixes in order of importance. Check the chart below and make note of what affixes you are searching for when you see a Rare gear piece drop.

Gear Slot	Targeted Affixes
Helm	1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Basic Attack Speed 3. Willpower 4. Maximum Life  5. Total Armor
Chest	1. Damage Reduction 2. Damage Reduction while Fortified  3. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies  4. Maximum Life  5. Flat Damage 7. Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Attack Speed 3. Werewolf Critical Strike Damage 4. Willpower 5. Lightning Critical Strike Damage
Pants	1. Damage Reduction 2. Damage Reduction while Fortified 3. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies  4. Damage Reduction while Injured  5. Maximum Life 6. Willpower
Boots	1. Movement speed  2. Damage Reduction while Injured 3. Willpower 4. Total armor while Werewolf  5. Movement Speed for 4 seconds After Killing an Elite
Amulet	1. Cooldown reduction  2. Rank Up Envenom 3. Damage Reduction while Injured 4. Damage Reduction 5. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies  6. Movement Speed
Rings	1. Vulnerable enemies 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Critical Strike Damage with Werewolf 5. Lightning Critical Strike Damage 6. Damage to Close Enemies

Please note that these affixes are the recommended picks for the Raging Storm build, but that is simply our opinion. Other affixes could certainly work instead of the ones listed above, but may not be optimal. There are several very specific affixes that are required to make the build work, they are as follows:

• Critical Strike Chance
• Cooldown
  • On the topic of keeping our Ultimate Skill available at all times, this affix should be on as many gear slots as possible. However, recent changes in the Season One balance patch lowered the overall amount of Cooldown available by ~30% so this stat will be critically important to get as high as possible. The base cooldown for Grizzly Rage is 45 seconds, so lowering this timer will be key as you continue to push high-end content.

A final point on acquiring the right affixes and Legendary Aspects, use your Obols to target farm them. Obols are awarded from many different activities in the game, you will always stockpiling them until you hit your maximum. Instead of just randomly spending them on a random pick, use them to target what you might be missing from this build. It is a great way to target a specific slot of loot and find what you need.

If you are interested in checking out a new tool for gambling Obols check out this article below from Icy Veins.

Legendary Aspects

Below you will find the optimal setup for Legendary Aspects for the Raging Storm build. Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each aspect in the slot it was posted with.

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Raging Storm Druid build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used if you cannot find the proper Legendary drops, but they have weaker effects. Extract Aspects from lower level Legendary Items and imprint them onto better Rare Items with preferred stats. The endgame itemization goal will be to imprint Aspects with the best values Ancestral Rare items with Item Power above or as close to 800, then upgrade them through the Blacksmith.

Gear Slot	Legendary Aspect	Legendary Aspect Power
Helm	Vigorous Aspect	Gain [10.0 – 15.0%] Damage Reduction while Shapeshifted into a Werewolf.
Chest	Aspect of the Crowded Sage	You Heal for [X] Life per second for each Close enemy, up to [X] Life per second.
Gloves	Dire Wolf’s Aspect	Grizzly Rage now shapeshifts you into a Dire Werewolf. As a Dire Werewolf you gain [15-25%] Movement Speed instead of Damage Reduction and a [30-50%] Spirit cost reduction bonus. In addition, kills Heal you for 10% of your Maximum Life.
Pants	Aspect of Might	Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for [2.0-6.0] seconds.
Boots	Aspect of the Dark Howl	Debilitating Roar is now a Werewolf Skill. In addition, Debilitating Roar will Immobilize Poisoned enemies for [2 – 4] seconds.
Amulets(50% bonus)	Rapid Aspect	Basic Skills gain +[15 – 30]% Attack Speed.
Ring	Edgemaster’s Aspect	Skills deal up to [10- 20%] increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource.
Ring	Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast	The duration of Grizzly Rage is increased by [1 – 5] seconds. In addition, Critical Strikes while Grizzly Rage is active increase your Critical Strike Damage by 10% for the duration.
Weapon	Greatstaff of the Crone

Unique Items

The Raging Storm build is designed around a single unique to create a strong endgame. Let’s take a look at the unique weapon now.

As you can see the unique offers us the ability to trigger Storm Strike with every Claw attack at a [120-150]% damage bonus. Additionally, this makes Claw a Storm Skill, which offers us a further benefit through the boon, Calm Before the Storm, to keep our Grizzly Rage on the lowest cooldown possible. To achieve this, put some investment into Lucky Hit Chance on gloves and ring slots to help trigger the boon effect and reduce your Grizzly Rage cooldown by seconds each time. 

Gems

Listed below are the best gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

• Weapon: Royal Emerald for the increase damage to Vulnerable Enemies.
• Armor: Royal Ruby for Maximum Life.
• Jewelry: Exclusively using our Malignant hearts for these slots.

Elixirs and Health Potions

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Use an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Assault Elixir to increase Attack Speed.

Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80 and 90, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.

Changelog

• August 8th 2023: Updated Paragon and Aspects.
• August 8th 2023: Added notes about Patch 1.1.1
• August 4th 2023: Malignant Heart and Paragon Updated for Clarity.
• July 19th, 2023: Season of the Malignant section added.
• July 18th, 2023: Reviewed and altered build with Season One Patch Notes.