Shred Tornado Druid Endgame Build for Diablo 4 (Season 1)

Build Introduction

This is your comprehensive guide for building a howling Werewolf who can conjure poisonous tornadoes, spreading plague to every enemy that stands before them. Once the poison hits critical mass, this Werewolf pounces, exploding the stacks of poison to deal massive amounts of damage. This build can easily push Nightmare Dungeons, defeat Helltides and crush World bosses. It is the Apex of the Druid class, built with every strength in mind.

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 requirements before it will function properly. For the Legendary Aspects, you will need the following list below 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. The Unique Tempest Roar is mandatory for this build, without it you will not be able to get the correct skills to function while you are in Werewolf form.

Required Uniques

Tempest Roar

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Stormchaser’s Aspect

Dire Wolf’s Aspect

Aspect of the Dark Howl

Aspect of the Blurred Beast

To even begin this build, we recommend you have these four Aspects ready for imprinting at a minimum. Overall, we recommend you have all the Legendary Aspects listed further in this guide for the build to work optimally.

Season of the Malignant

This build was created within the current Season and utilizes the current in-game information and Aspects. We will note any future changes to this build here.

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.

**Please note this skill is included in this build, but is not equipped or utilized for the Shred Tornado 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 the Malignant Pact
3. Caged Heart of Revenge

Other alternatives:

1. Caged Heart of Tempting Fate
2. Caged Heart of the Dark Dance

These alternatives can be used to gap fill some areas you might be struggling with. For example, if you are struggling with your defensive layers, add Revenge into one of your jewelry slots. Likewise, if you are struggling with Spirit management, The Dark Dance can offer you a free skill for the cost of life to help you continuously use your Core Skills.

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, where as the written guide will always have the most accurate information.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for the Shred Tornado Werewolf Build (Order does not matter)

Shred Tornado Debilitating Roar Grizzly Rage Hurricane Blood Howl

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 1, Enhanced Claw	Basic Skill
Shred Level 5, Enhanced Shred, Primal Shred, Tornado Level 5, Enhanced Tornado, Primal Tornado, Predatory Instinct Level 3, Heart of the Wild Level 1, Wild Impulses Level 3, Digitigrade Gait Level 3	Core Skill
Blood Howl Level 1, Enhanced Blood Howl, Preserving Blood Howl, Debilitating Roar Level 1, Enhanced Debilitating Roar, Preserving Debilitating Roar, Ancestral Fortitude Level 1, Vigilance Level 3	Defensive Skill
Elemental Exposure Level 1, Endless Tempest Level 3, Neurotoxin Level 1, Envenom Level 3, Toxic Claws Level 3	Wrath Skill
Grizzly Rage, Prime Grizzly Rage, Supreme Grizzly Rage, Defensive Posture Level 1, Nature’s Resolve Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Perfect Storm	Key Passives

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.

There are two important components with our boons. The first is keeping our Cooldown for Grizzly Rage as low as possible. This has become slightly more difficulty in Season 1, so stack two boons to directly benefit our Ultimate Skill. The second is keeping our Spirit generation as high as possible. For this, we use the boon Energize to pick up an extra 10 Spirit with out Lucky hits. As you progress past Level 50 Nightmare Dungeons, Grizzly Rage will be needed to be ready at all times to keep you in a state of Unstoppable for six seconds on activation. This element has proven to be one of the most challenging factors for this build to handle since the changes from the Season 1 update that nerfed our Unstoppable state.

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.

Rare Node	Effect
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.
Lust for Carnage	– Critical Strikes with Werewolf Skills restore 2 Spirit.
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.
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.
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.
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%.
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, so if you do not have enough Paragon Points for use in your Paragon Tree, 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 except the Life node which we skip. This will give us a raw damage boost and Life increase.
3. Now, continue towards the open Glyph slot in the center of the starting Board.
4. Insert Territorial Glyph and select the needed Dexterity nodes shown above the Glyph’s radius. Territorial will be a source of increased Damage to Close Enemies and a 10% Damage Reduction to Close Enemies.
5. Select both Rare Nodes inside the Glyph radius, Impel and Resolve. For Resolve, select the Magic Nodes that offer us a Dexterity bonus for in Critical Strike Chance. For Impel, pass straight up as shown in the image above.
6. Finally, head towards the top of the Paragon Board and attach the Lust for Carnage Board in the same position as you see in the image below.

Lust for Carnage (2nd Board)

1. Head towards to the Ferocity Rare Node, this will boost our Critical Strike Damage and Werewolf Damage.
2. Now go and pick up the Legendary Node Lust for Carnage. This a major component to keeping your Spirit up and being able to spam our skills.
3. Now head to the Glyph slot and insert Undaunted. This Rare Glyph amplifies our Damage while Fortified based upon the Intelligence Nodes in the radius. Once you have claimed all of the Intelligence Nodes in the image above, you will be awarded the bonus 10% Damage Reduction while Fortified.
4. Now pick the two Rare Nodes, Feral and Regenerative. Follow the image above and select the correct Magic Nodes surrounding each of these. This will give us increased Werewolf damage and an increase to healing effects.
5. Head to the right hand side of the board and pick up the Rare Node Wild’s Call. Path along the Magic Nodes, picking up all the bonus Attack speed.
6. Now finish the board on the right hand side and attach our next board: Inner Beast.

Inner Beast (3rd 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 lower pathway towards the right hand side of the board and pick up the 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 bottom and right hand side of the board.
5. Lastly, follow the pathway to the connection point at the top of the board, picking up the Rare Node Nimble as you pass by it. This will increase our Attack Speed and Damage.
6. Now attach the next Paragon Board Ancestral Guidance to the bottom connection point.

Ancestral Guidance (4th Board)

1. This is board is very important to our Spirit generation. Take the points in the image above for the Rare Node Reclamation, and the Magic Nodes around it. These will grant us Spirit on Kill and an increase in Maximum Spirit.
2. Now head back to Inner Beast and attach Constricting Tendrils Paragon Board to the right hand side.

Constricting Tendrils (5th Board)

1. Head towards the open Glyph slot and insert the Spirit Glyph. This will increase our Critical Strike Damage. Be sure to take the needed Dexterity points for the bonus as well.
2. Now take the Rare Node Courage for the increase to Maximum Life.
3. Once again head back to the Inner Beast paragon board and attach Heightened Malice to the top connection point.

Heightened Malice (6th Board)

• Head to the open Glyph slot and insert Exploit. Take all the Dexterity nodes shown above for the bonus Damage to Vulnerable Enemies.
• Now take the two Rare Nodes Nature-born and Sinking Fangs, with their corresponding Magic Nodes. These two nodes amplify our damage towards poisoned enemies as well as our defenses against them.
• Finally, head back to the paragon board Lust for Carnage and attach our final board, Thunderstruck, on the left hand side connection point.

Thunderstruck (7th Board)

1. Head to the open Glyph slot, picking up the Rare Node Hubris for the Damage Reduction against Vulnerable Enemies.
2. Insert Fang and Claw into the Glyph slot and take the needed Willpower nodes, including the Rare Node Stormcaller.
3. This completes the Paragon Tree for this build.

Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Mechanics and Playstyle

This build combines two of our most powerful builds together into a deadly combo. By synergizing our Poison Shredder build and our Tornado Werewolf builds – this exceptional blend of power can mow down pack of enemies with Tornadoes then strike down any Elites or Bosses with Shred. The Aspect of the Blurred Beast is the secret to this exploding formula. By using Tornadoes to spread our poison through Critical Strikes with Toxic Claws.

The playstyle for this build is simple: activate your Grizzly Rage and start making Tornadoes. These will clear most of the trash mobs on the map as you move around. Once you run into an Elite or Boss, hit them with a good series of Tornadoes and stack your poisons with each Critical Strike. Now using your dodge skill move away from them and dash back towards with Shred to trigger the Aspect of the Blurred Beast. This will detonate the poison stacks and deal all of their damage at once. Rinse and repeat this technique until they are dead, usually once with elites and a couple of times for a heavy Boss. The longer you cast Tornadoes against a target, the more poison stacks will build and the bigger the damage your Shred will hit them for.

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. Debilitating Roar also offers us the ability to immobilize poisoned enemies, using the Aspect of the Dark Howl. This becomes particularly useless when Grizzly Rage is on Cooldown.

Grizzly Rage

This skill is paramount to the build; you cannot push endgame content without an effective setup to use with your Grizzly Rage. For our build to work best in endgame, we will equip two specific Legendary Aspects: Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast and Dire Wolf’s Aspect, in combination with the specific Boons listed in the Boons section above.

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 Cost Reduction. This reduction is one of the main keys to us being able to spam Tornado and Shred to blow up Elites.

Secondly, Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast 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.

Hurricane

Hurricane is used in this build to keep up our Spirit generation with a decent amount of Lucky Hit Chance and constant ring of damage against any enemies that approach you. This includes Critical Strikes which will instantly fill your Spirit bar as you slam into a group of enemies with your Hurricane. Do your best to keep this skill activated at all times.

Overall, the build’s playstyle is simple to follow: build up your Spirit to maximum and pop Grizzly Rage, then start to spread your poisons with Tornado spam. Use your defensive skills to keep yourself standing strong and then perform targeted strikes against enemies with Shred. All of our Critical Strikes will work together with our Boons to keep our Grizzly Rage Cooldown at a minimum, and keep us generating Spirit. Don’t forget to be using your Hurricane at all times for the easy Spirit increases.

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	Tempest Roar
Chest	1. Damage Reduction while Fortified 2. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies 3. Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies 4. Maximum Life  5. Flat Damage 6. Physical Skill Damage
Gloves	1. Rank up Shred 2. Rank up Tornado 3. Critical Strike Chance 4. Attack Speed 5.  Lucky Hit: Chance to Restore [X]% Primary Resource 6. Critical Strike Damage with Werewolf Skills
Pants	1. Damage Reduction while Fortified 2. Damage Reduction while Injured 3. Damage Reduction from Close Enemies  4. Damage Reduction  5. Maximum Life
Boots	1. Movement Speed 2. Spirit Cost Reduction 3. Damage Reduction while Injured 4. Total Armor While In Werewolf Form 5. Willpower 6. All Stats
Amulet	1. Cooldown reduction 2. Spirit Cost Reduction 3. Rank up Toxic Claws 4. Werewolf Skill Damage 5. Damage Reduction while Fortified 6. Movement speed
Rings	1. Damage to Vulnerable Enemies 2. Resource Generation 3. Critical Strike Chance 4. Critical Strike Damage 5. Maximum life
Totem	1. Cooldown 2. Resource Generation 3. Critical Strike Chance 4. Spirit Cost Reduction 5. Willpower
1-Handed Weapon	1. Damage to Vulnerable Enemies 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Damage to Close Enemies 4. Core Skill Damage 5. Willpower

These Affixes are the recommended picks, but that is simply our opinion. Other Affixes could certainly work instead of the ones listed above, but may not be optimal. Also, there are several very specific affixes that are required to make the build work, particularly around Spirit generation, they are as follows:

• Cooldown reduction
• Spirit Cost Reduction
• Skill Rank Ups

A final point on acquiring the right Affixes or 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 link below from Icy Veins.

Legendary Aspects

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary items that are important for the Wolf-Nado 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. Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each Aspect in the slot it was posted with.

Gear Slot	Legendary Aspect	Legendary Aspect Power
Helm	Tempest Roar
Chest	Aspect of Disobedience	You gain [0.25 – 0.50%] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [15.00 – 30.00%].
Gloves	Aspect of the Blurred Beast	While dashing, Shred seeks nearby poisoned enemies instantly dealing [70-100]% of the poisoning damage to them.
Pants	Vigorous Aspect	Gain [10.0-15.0%] Damage Reduction while Shapeshifted into a Werewolf.
Boots	Aspect of the Dark Howl	Debilitating Roar is now a Werewolf Skill. In addition, Debilitating Roar will Immobilze Poisoned enemies for [2-4] seconds.
Amulets(50% bonus)	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 [30-50%] Spirit cost reduction bonus. In addition, kills Heal you for 10% of your Maximum Life
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.
Ring	Stormclaw’s Aspect	Critical Strikes with Shred deal [20 – 30%] of the damage dealt as Lightning damage to the target and surrounding enemies.
Totem	Stormchaser’s Aspect	Tornado will seek up to [1-3] targets.
1-Handed Weapon	Aspect of Retaliation	Your Core Skills deal up to [20-40%] increased damage based on your amount of Fortify.

Unique Items

This can use multiple different Uniques to enhance the strength and gameplay of the build. However, one Unique is absolutely mandatory: Tempest Roar.

Gems

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

• Weapon: Royal Emerald for critical strike damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Armor: Royal Sapphire for damage reduction while Fortified.
• Jewelry: Exclusively using our Malignant Hearts for these slots.

Elixirs and Health Pots

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: Added notes about Patch 1.1.1.
• August 4th, 2023: Malignant Hearts and Paragon updated for clarity.
• August 2nd, 2023: Build creation Season 1.