Storm Claw Druid Abattoir of Zir (AoZ) Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 2)

This build guide is specifically designed for Season 2 of Diablo 4, and may not be effective for use after the season ends.

Abattoir of Zir (AoZ) Build Introduction

The Abattoir of Zir (AoZ) variant build for Storm Claw Druid is a late endgame setup, designed to specifically tackle the hardest content in Diablo 4. This build task is not for the faint of heart and will test your skills against very difficult circumstances. For more information on this endgame activity, check out our Abattoir of Zir Guide.

The Abattoir of Zir is scaled to push you further at each level, racing against a clock and fighting through hordes of hells more powerful demons. This Abattoir of Zir build guide assumes your character is Level 100 and you have proper gear equipped, not just the Uniques, but farmed for a solid set of affixes and aspects for the rest of your gear slots. This is build not meant for a new character; if you are looking for resources on creating a new character using Druid, our Leveling Build is what you will want to use. This content was made for characters that have beaten Nightmare Dungeons at level 100, defeated the Endgame Bosses, and completed their Season’s Journey. This build is a high-tier modified version of the Storm Claw Druid build.

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

Tibault’s Will

Hunter’s Zenith

Harlequin Crest

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect

To begin this build, we recommend you have everything ready as there are no substitutions. For this build to become fully functional and able to fight in the Abattoir of Zir, we recommend you have everything including the Uber unique drop from Duriel the Maggot King.

Season of Blood

Season 2 Patch Updates

The following list details the changes in the Season 2 Update (Patch 1.2.0) that are specific to this build. Check the Changelog for all other guide updates.

• Resistances new stack additively and no longer become less effective with each additional source, while also contributing their full value to Non-physical Damage Reduction. Resistance values on equipment, Elixirs and Paragon have been increased to more easily reach the new 70% cap. Furthermore, Intelligence now gives +0.025% All Resistance per 1 Intelligence instead of 0.05% All Resistance to compensate.
• Increased Critical Strike / Vulnerable Damage affixes are now additive with other damage increases instead of being multiplicative. This change is a nerf to make Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage comparable to other dame increase options. All classes are affected by this change.
• % Total Armor affix has been increased by 160%.
• Ancestral Fortitude
  • You gain +5/10/15% Resistance to All Elements.
• ‍Electric Shock
  • Lucky Hit: Chance to Immobilize increased from 5/10/15% to 8/16/24%.
  • Bonus damage to Immobilized enemies increased from 6/12/18% to 7/14/21%.
• ‍Thunderstruck
  • Previous: Storm Skills deal 30%[x] increased Critical Strike Damage against Vulnerable or Immobilized enemies.
  • New: Storm Skills deal bonus damage equal to 50%[x] of the total amount of your Damage to Close and Damage to Distant bonuses.

Vampiric Power Tier List

Season 2 introduces Vampiric Powers that provide build-altering bonuses. We start by spending Potent Blood, which is acquired from vampiric enemies, to unlock and upgrade your Vampiric Powers. Make sure your equipped chest armor, pants, gloves, boots and helm contain the appropriate Vampiric Pacts (Ferocity, Divinity and Eternity) that match the activation costs needed to unlock a Vampiric Power.

A Vampiric Curse status effect has been added to complement the new powers: killing an enemy affected by your Vampiric Curses will store their soul. Casting a Defensive skill will unleash your stored souls to attack nearby enemies. You can store up to 8 souls total.

Listed below is the tier list for Vampiric Powers , ranked by importance to this build. Stat values displayed reflect a maximum level 3 Vampiric Power.

Minor Powers:

• Sanguine Brace (1 Divinity, 1 Eternity): When you kill an enemy, Fortify for 6% of your Base Life. While you have more Fortify than half of your Maximum Life, you gain 8% Critical Strike Chance.
• Hectic (3 Divinity): For every 5 Basic Skills you cast, one of your active Cooldowns is reduced by 2 seconds.
• Ravenous (3 Ferocity): Lucky Hit: Up to a 20% chance to increase your Attack Speed by 40% of your Total Movement Speed for 6 seconds.

Major Powers:

• Moonrise (6 Ferocity): Hitting an enemy with a Basic Skill grants you 4% Attack Speed for 10 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Upon reaching maximum stacks, you enter a Vampiric Bloodrage, gaining 160% Basic Skill damage and 15% Movement Speed for 10 seconds.
• Metamorphosis (2 Ferocity, 2 Divinity, 2 Eternity): When you Evade you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 4 seconds. Enemies along your path take 160% Physical damage and are inflicted with Vampiric Curse.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

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

Claw Blood Howl Debilitating Roar Hurricane Cyclone Armor Petrify

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
Cyclone Armor Level 1, Enhanced Cyclone Armor, Preserving Cyclone Armor, Blood Howl Level 1, Enhanced Blood Howl, Preserving Blood Howl, Debilitating Roar Level 1, Enhanced Debilitating Roar, Ancestral Fortitude Level 3, Vigilance Level 3	Defensive Skill
Hurricane Level 1, Enhanced Hurricane, Savage Hurricane Elemental Exposure Level 1, Endless Tempest Level 3, Electric Shock Level 3, Bad Omen Level 3, Neurotoxin Level 1, Envenom Level 3, Toxic Claws Level 1	Wrath Skill
Petrify, Prime Petrify, Defiance Level 3, Quickshift Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Ursine Strength	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.

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 +[8]% 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%.
Territorial	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[10]% 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.
Tears of Blood	– For every 5 Core Stats purchased within range, you gain + [2]% increased damage. – Additional Bonus Grants +50.0% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. Bonus increases by 10% every 10 levels.
Electrocution	– For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, your Lightning Bolts and Dancing Bolts deal +[39.6%] increased damage. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Radius Bonus: Enemies damaged by your Lightning Bolts or Dancing Bolts take x20% increased damage from you for 5 seconds.
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 +[20]% 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%.
Heightened Malice	– While there are 3 or more poisoned enemies nearby, you deal 45% increased damage.
Thunderstruck	– Storm Skills deal increased damage equal to x20% of your Damage vs Close and Damage vs Distant bonuses.

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 left hand side of the board towards the Rare Node Tenacity for the bonus Armor and Maximum Life
2. Now loop around and get the other Rare node Prime for the Damage and Maximum Life.
3. Head towards the open glyph slots and insert Exploit, this glyph will boost our damage against Vulnerable Enemies and be able to inflict Vulnerability on Enemies.
4. Select the Rare node within the glyphs radius, Resolve , this will boost your Resistance.
5. Finally, head towards the top of the Paragon Board and attach the Inner Beast board.

Inner Beast

1. Head towards the glyph slot picking up the Rare node Shapeshifter for the Shapeshifting Skill Damage.
2. Now take the open glyph slot and insert Electrocution, boosting our Lightning Bolts and Dancing Bolts damage.
3. Take the other Rare node in the glyph’s radius, Determination, for the increase Armor.
4. Now take the Rare node Tenacity for the additional Armor.
5. Complete the pathway to the connection point on the top side of the board and complete the pathway to the right hand side as well.
6. We will use the top connection point later, for now, attach the next Paragon Board Thunderstruck to the right hand connection point.

Thunderstruck

• Path towards the glyph slot and insert Tears of Blood. This glyph is so important to us for progressing inside the Abattoir of Zir, and ramps up our damage to brand new levels.
• Now take the two Rare nodes inside the glyph radius, 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 Core stat nodes around the glyph Tears of Blood. These Core stat nodes will amplify our damage multiplicatively, offering us huge gains in damage.
• Now follow the pathway down to the Rare Nodes Deluge . This will once again increase our damage output.
• Proceed to the Legendary Node Thunderstruck, increasing our Storm damage.
• Now the pathway to the top of the board and attach Constricting Tendrils.

Inner Beast

1. Head towards the open glyph slot and insert the Territorial glyph. This will increase our Damage and Damage Reduction to Close Enemies.
2. Now take the both Rare nodes, Courage and Nature’s Will, for the increased damage with Nature Magic and Maximum Life.
3. Take the pathway to the right hand side of the board and attach the Heightened Malice.

Heightened Malice

1. We will start at the bottom side of the board from the connection from the Inner Beast.
2. Move along the pathway and pick up Rare node Poison Resilience.
3. Now take the Legendary Node Heightened Malice.
4. Now go to the connection point from Constricting Tendrils.
5. Take the pathway and pick up both the Rare nodes Sinking Fangs and Nature-born, these points will help when fighting Poisoned Enemies.
6. Now take the open glyph slot and insert Fang and Claw, this will boost the Magic nodes inside the glyph radius.
7. Follow the pathway to the top of the board and attach Ancestral Guidance.

Ancestral Guidance

1. Take the open glyph slot and insert Spirit, increasing our Critical Strike Damage.
2. Now take the Rare node Resolve inside the glyph radius.
3. This completes the Paragon Tree for this build.

Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Mechanics and Playstyle

The playstyle for the Storm Claw build is simple. Activate your Hurricane 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 you push into your enemies, you just need to keep swinging, using Blood Howl and Cyclone Armor as needed to be defensive against Elites or large packs of mobs. Be smart with your movement and avoid elite attacks. You will also have Petrify to stun everything on the map if you need to reset your position or just need pause the fight while everyone is stunned. 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. Otherwise, you want to just attack with your basic skill as much as possible.

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. Be aware that Debilitating Roar will put you into Werebear, then you will go back to Werewolf form when you use Claw. This will activate Quickshift granting you a damage buff.

Gear Choice and Stats

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.

Season 2 Update (1.2.0): Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage affixes are changed to be additive with other damage increases. All additive damage increases of the same amount are equal in value, as long as their conditions are active.

Gear Slot	Targeted Affixes
Helm	Harlequin Crest
Chest	1. Total Armor 2. Damage Reduction while Fortified  3. Maximum Life  4. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
Gloves	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Attack Speed 3. Lucky Hit Chance 4. Willpower 5. Lightning Critical Strike Damage
Pants	Tibault’s Will
Boots	1. Movement speed  2. Damage Reduction while Injured 3. Total armor while Werewolf  4. Willpower
Amulet	1. Willpower % 2. Cooldown Reduction 3. Damage Reduction While Injured 4. Rank Up Envenom
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Damage to Close Enemies 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Maximum Life
2-handed Staff	Greatstaff of the Crone

Please note that these affixes are you need to survive in this Endgame dungeon, you can stray from the recommended affixes, but the build may suffer. You have been warned.

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 and Unique Items for Abattoir of Zir

Below you will find the optimal setup for Legendary Aspects for the Storm Claw 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	Harlequin Crest
Chest	Aspect of Disobedience	You gain [0.6 – 1.1]% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [36.0 – 66.0]%.
Gloves	Rapid Aspect	Basic Skills gain +[15 – 30]% Attack Speed.
Pants	Tibault’s Will
Boots	Stormshifter’s Aspect	While Hurricane is active, gain +2 ranks to your Shapeshifting Skills.
Amulets(50% bonus)	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	Hunter’s Zenith
Ring	Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect	Critical Strikes with Storm Skills charge the air around you for [1.0-2.0] seconds causing a Lightning Strike to periodically hit an enemy in the area for [X] Lightning Damage.
Weapon	Greatstaff of the Crone

Gems

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

• Weapon: Royal Topaz for the Basic Skill Damage.
• Armor: Royal Ruby for Maximum Life.
• Jewelry: Royal Diamond for All Resistances, however, certain bosses may require you to switch to their corresponding resistances. These can change to Royal Skull if you have maximum Resistances.

Elixirs and Health Potions

Listed below are the best Elixirs to consume for Abattoir of Zir, ranked by importance. Elixirs that are not available at the Alchemist can only be found as drops. Open Splitting Steel and Mystery Chests in Helltides to farm non-craftable Elixirs.

1. Iron Skin Elixir (non-craftable): Essential to cap Armor against high level enemies, especially in higher AoZ Tiers. Alternatively, Heady Iron Barb Elixir can be crafted at the Alchemist.
2. Elixir of Combatant Fortune (non-craftable): Lucky Hit Chance provides more chances to hit with Lightning Bolt and Dancing Bolts.
3. Heady Assault Elixir (craftable): Attack Speed is critical to our build and this Elixir can help you speed farm lower tiers.
4. Elixir of Cruelty (non-craftable): Provides the highest source of Critical Strike Chance from an Elixir, if not already capped at 100%. Alternatively, Heady Precision Elixir can be crafted at the Alchemist.

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

• December 12th 2023: Build Creation.