Build Introduction
The Storm Wolf is a build that is based around a few Unique Items specific to the Druid class.
Greatstaff of the Crone is a unique staff that turns our 
Claw skill into a Storm skill and makes it so that when you use it you also cast a 
Storm Strike at 120 to 150% damage. 
Tempest Roar is a Unique helmet that makes it so all of our Storm skills double as Werewolf skills now, which works with our next Unique, 
Mad Wolf’s Glee. This is a Unique chest that makes it so we are always in Werewolf form and gives us +2 to Ranks of all Werewolf skills.
Finally, we have what is going to be one of the most sought after Uniques in the game: 
Melted Heart of Selig. This makes it so that when we take damage, it drains our Spirit first, at a rate of 3-6 Spirit per 1% of life that would have been lost.
These Uniques, combined with the Skill Tree, Paragon Boards and Legendary Aspects, as shown below, will make you an un-killable damage machine capable of face-tanking anything the game can throw at you, take you into the endgame, and on your way to Level 100 and beyond.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Very Tanky due to Amulet
- Fun to play due to lucky hit procs
- No spirit spenders to worry about
- Amulet is one of the rarest items in the game
- You need to have the right affixes for it to work
- Most uniques required out of any build
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.
Build Requirements
Tempest RoarGreatstaff of the CroneMad Wolf’s Glee
Mighty Storm’s AspectThis endgame build guide assumes your character is at least Level 50 and that you have access to all the aforementioned Unique items. Check the Druid Leveling Guide for a smooth path to level 50.
To clarify further, this build cannot be played and will not work properly before acquiring the Unique Items listed below that have been marked as mandatory. Acquire them all before you transition to this build.
The two 100% Mandatory uniques to start this build are Tempest Roar and Greatstaff of the Crone. You also want to stack as much Lucky Hit Chance and Damage Reduction as possible before you get the Melted Heart of Selig after which you want to also incorporate Maximum Life into your build wherever you can.
Season of the Malignant
Season 1 Patch Notes
The following list details the changes in the Season 1 Patch Update that are specific to this build. Check the Changelog for all the other guide updates.
Patch 1.1
- Mad Wolf’s Glee
- Werewolf Skill Ranks increased from 2 to 3.
- Storm Strike
- Damage Reduction reduced from 25% to 15%.
Cataclysm - Lightning damage increased from 64% to 77%, and Tornado damage from 19% to 23%.
- Supreme Cataclysm
- Vulnerable duration increased from 2 to 3 seconds.
- Prime Cataclysm
- Duration increased from 2 to 4 seconds.
In addition to the build specific changes, multiple sources of Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage were reduced globally for all classes. In addition, the Malignant Hearts also give you armor based on their Item Power Level.
Patch 1.1.1
- Storm Strike
- Spirit gain increased from 14 to 15.
- Claw
- Spirit gain increased from 11 to 12.
Malignant Hearts
Our best-in-slot Malignant Heart for season 1 will be:
Caged Heart of the Malignant Pact (Wrathful, Super): Cycle through a Malignant bonus every 20 kills: - Vicious: Gain 20% Attack Speed.
- Devious: Core and Basic Skills have a 15% chance to fully restore your Primary Resource.
- Brutal: Every 21 seconds, gain a Barrier absorbing 85-102 damage.
Caged Heart of Revenge (Brutal, Defensive): 10-20% of incoming damage is instead suppressed. When you use a Defensive, Subterfuge or a Macabre skill, all suppressed damage is amplified by 250% and explodes, dealing up to 1360-2040 Fire damage to Nearby enemies.- Caged Heart of The Barber (Wrathful, Super): Critical Strikes and all subsequent damage within 2.0-4.0 seconds is absorbed by your target. Then, the absorbed damage erupts onto surrounding enemies. Stored damage is increased by 10% per second.
You can use other Malignant Hearts with a smaller benefit but to get the most power out of the build these are the 3 we suggest you strive for.
For more info on Malignant hearts check out our guide on them here:
Malignant Heart GuideOr check out our Season 1 guide here:
Season 1 GuideSkill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Debilitating Roar Cataclysm 
Hurricane 
Blood Howl Claw 
Earthen Bulwark The following tables show the full allocation of Skill Points for the Storm Wolf Druid build. The first table has the most important 48 points to start the build. The second table has the remaining 10 points that are allocated once you obtain all Skill Points from Renown.
| Priority Skills | Cluster |
|---|---|
| Storm Strike , Enhanced Storm Strike, Wild Storm Strike, Claw Level 5, Enhanced Claw, Wild Claw |  Basic Skill |
 Heart of the Wild,  Abundance Level 3,  Predatory Instinct Level 3,  Digitigrade Gait |  Core Skill |
Earthen Bulwark Level 1, Enhanced Earthen Bulwark, Preserving Earthen Bulwark,  Ancestral Fortitude Level 1, Blood Howl Level 1, Enhanced Blood Howl, Preserving Blood Howl, Debilitating Roar, Enhanced Debilitating Roar, Preserving Debilitating Roar,  Vigilance Level 2 |  Defensive Skill |
 Elemental Exposure Level 1,  Endless Tempest Level 3, Hurricane, Enhanced Hurricane, Savage Hurricane,  Neurotoxin,  Toxic Claws,  Envenom Level 3 |  Wrath Skill |
 Defiance Level 3, Cataclysm, Prime Cataclysm, Supreme Cataclysm |  Ultimate Skill |
 Earthen Might |  Key Passives |
| Remaining Renown Points | Cluster |
|---|---|
Elemental Exposure Level 3,  Bad Omen Level 3,  Electric Shock Level 3 | Wrath Skill |
| Vigilance Level 3 | Defensive Skill |
Spirit Boons – The Druid Specialization
Below is the order in which you should unlock your Spirit Boons. Only offer enough Druidic Spirit Offerings to unlock the first 4 listed Boons and then fully unlock the rest to activate the final Boon with Spirit Bonding.
| Boon Name | Animal | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Calamity | Wolf | Extend the duration of Ultimate Skills by 25% |
| Scythe Talons | Eagle | Gain 5% increased Critical Strike Chance. |
| Gift of the Stag | Deer | Gain 10 Maximum Spirit. |
| Calm Before the Strom | Snake | Lucky Hit: Nature Magic Skills have up to a 15% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 2 seconds. |
| Swooping Attacks | Eagle | Gain 10% Attack Speed. |
Paragon
The Paragon progression system unlocks at Level 50 and provides a vast amount of character power. On the Paragon Board, bonuses range from minor stats on Magic Nodes to more powerful Rare Glyphs and Legendary Nodes.
As you path towards Glyph Sockets and Legendary Nodes, you should prioritize Damage, Willpower, Resistance, and Life for Normal and Magic Nodes. Glyph radius increases as you level them up. Therefore, if you cannot fulfill Additional Bonus requirements early on, skip allocating extra nodes for now.
Listed Below are images of the pathing you should take along with the locations of the glyphs and order you should choose your Paragon Boards past the initial starter board.
For the Starter Board we path along the right side and cross through the middle to place the 
Keeper Rare Glyph making sure to allocate enough Intelligence within its radiance as soon as we can. From there we up the left side towards the top and the exit to our first real board.
Our first real Paragon Board is the Thunderstruck Board. We path along the bottom over to the Rare node on the left and then up through the Thunderstruck Legendary Node heading all the way up to the top right to place the 
Werewolf Rare Glyph in the glyph slot and grab the Rare and Magic nodes along with every Willpower node within the radius of the glyph. We then path back to the left towards the top and the exit to our third Paragon Board.
Our next board is the Constricting Tendrils Paragon Board. First we head to the left and place the 
Fulminate Rare Glyph then grab all the Dexterity within the radius and all of the Rare and Magic nodes as well. After that we actually head back to the start of this board and go up the middle and along the right, grabbing the Rare and Magic nodes and then moving left to grab the Constricting Tendrils Legendary node before sneaking along the top right to grab the Rare and Magic nodes on our way out the right side.
For our last board, we use the Lust for Carnage Paragon Board. We start going directly right and then up to place the Guzzler Rare Glyph then grab all of the Intelligence, Rare, and Magic nodes within its radius. Finally, we head back to the start of the board and take the path down to pick up the Lust for Carnage Legendary Node, followed by the Rare and Magic nodes on the bottom left then the Rare and Magic nodes on the far right.
Paragon board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.
Mechanics and Playstyle
The Storm Wolf build is one of the easiest builds you will play when it comes to utilizing the items and skills we have chosen. Due to our choice of Uniques, we are permanently in Werewolf form. We only have to use our Claw to attack, as using it will also cast our Storm Strike which will also have a chance to immobilize our targets due to Enhanced Storm Strike. We take Earthen Bulwark with Enhanced Earthen Bulwark as an extra defensive layer and an emergency Unstoppable just in case we start to get overrun by enemies. Blood Howl is not just a defensive cooldown, but also an offensive one due to Preserving Blood Howl. While we are bolting through our enemies it will constantly be available due to Enhanced Blood Howl.
One of our goals is to always have Hurricane up as, due to one of our Legendary Aspects, we have +2 to all Shapeshifter Skills while it is active. The way we accomplish this is through Cooldown Reduction, as well as talents like Endless Tempest.
Claw has one of the highest base lucky hit chances of any Basic skill in the game at 50%, and since we turn it into a Storm Skill, we use it to proc numerous Lucky Hit talents on our tree and in our Spirit Bonds, such as Elemental Exposure, Bad Omen, Electric Shock, and, due to the Legendary Mighty Storm’s Aspect, the Earthen Might Keystone Passive.
Finally, we have our Ultimate ability in Cataclysm, which is a great boost to our damage and lasts for over 15 seconds due to our Calamity Spirit bond and the two talents, Endless Tempest and Prime Cataclysm.
Malignant Heart Changes: If you are using the suggested Malignant Hearts you should keep an eye on when your Earthen Might procs and then pop all of your cooldowns as all of your abilities will crit and therefore will be increased in damage due to Caged Heart of The Barber.
Damage Rotation
Our damage rotation is actually a priority system and it is the same for AoE and Single Target situations:
- Hurricane if it is not active and off cooldown;
- Blood Howl if the buff is not active and it is off cooldown;
- Earthen Bulwark if you are overwhelmed and surrounded by too many enemies;
- Cataclysm if fighting an elite pack and it is off cooldown;
- Claw to trigger Storm Strike and keep our Spirit as high as possible at all times.
Gear Choice and Stat Priority
Make sure to pick up all Rare Item drops that may be upgrades while you are farming with Storm Wolf Druid. Save Legendary Items with useful aspects in your stash to be used later for extraction and imprinting onto well rolled Rare Items.
When it comes to weapons once we start using Legendary Aspects until you get your Unique, you want to make sure to use a 2-hander as you get 200% of the Legendary aspect bonus on it.
Stat Priority List
Listed below are the affixes to prioritize on gear for Storm Wolf Druid. Affixes for each gear slot are listed in order of importance. Bolded stats are the most important and sometimes vital for the build to function properly.
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes |
|---|---|
| Helm | Unique (Tempest Roar) |
| Chest | Unique (Mad Wolf’s Glee) |
| Weapon | Unique (Greatstaff of the Crone) |
| Amulet | Unique (Melted Heart of Selig) If you don’t have the Amulet Damage Reduction Damage Reduction from Close Enemies Damage while Shapeshifted Storm Skill Damage Werewolf Skill Damage Cooldown Reduction |
| Gloves | Lucky Hit Chance Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Damage Willpower |
| Pants | Life Damage Reduction Damage Reduction from Close Enemies Damage to Elites Willpower |
| Boots | Damage Reduction while Injured Fortify Generation Movement Speed Willpower All Stats |
| Rings | Lucky Hit Chance Resource Generation Lightning Damage Vulnerable Damage Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Damage |
Best in Slot Aspects, Powers & Uniques
Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Unique and Legendary Items that are important for the Storm Wolf 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.
| Slot | Item/Aspect Name | Legendary/Unique Power | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helm | Tempest Roar | Lucky Hit: Storm Skills have up to a [15 – 25]% chance to grant 4 Spirit. Your base Storm Skills are now also Werewolf Skills | Unique |
| Amulet | Melted Heart of Selig If no Unique then Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect | Gain +30% Maximum Resource. In addition, when you take damage, drain [3 – 6] Resource for every 1% of Life you would have lost instead. If no unique then Critical Strikes with Storm Skills that you cast charge the air around you for [1.0 – 2.0] seconds causing a Lightning Bolt to periodically hit an enemy in the area for [X] Lightning damage. This duration can be extended by additional Critical Strikes. | Unique (Mandatory) |
| Ring 1 | Rapid Aspect | Basic Skills gain +[15 – 30]% Attack Speed. | Legendary |
| Ring 2 | Edgemaster’s Aspect | Skills deal up to x[10 – 20]% increased damage based on your available Primary Resource when cast, receiving the maximum benefit while you have full Primary Resource. | Legendary |
| Chest | Mad Wolf’s Glee | Werewolf form is now your true form, and you gain +3 Ranks to all Werewolf Skills. | Unique |
| Gloves | Mighty Storm’s Aspect | The Earthen Might Key Passive also applies to your Storm Skills. | Legendary |
| Pants |  Vigorous Aspect | Gain [10 – 15]% Damage Reduction while Shapeshifted into a Werewolf. | Legendary |
| Boots |  Stormshifter’s Aspect | While Hurricane is active, gain +2 Ranks to your Shapeshifting Skills. | Legendary |
| 2 Handed Weapon | Greatstaff of the Crone | Claw is now a Storm Skill and also casts Storm Strike at [120 – 150]% normal damage. | Unique (Mandatory) |
Gems
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each slot type.
- Weapon:
Royal Topaz for +#% Basic Skill Damage - Armor:
Royal Ruby for +#% Maximum Life if you have Amulet, 
Royal Sapphire for Damage reduction while Fortified if you don’t - Jewelry: Use the Malignant Hearts recommended at the start of this guide, for the special effects as well as the armor bonus.
- If playing on the Eternal Realm, use
Royal Diamond for all Resistance or any gem that provides you with the resistance type you lack the most.
- If playing on the Eternal Realm, use
Elixirs and Health Potions
To gain an edge in your adventures, head to the Alchemist in any major town, and craft Elixirs that enhance your stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Remember to gather the necessary crafting materials by foraging plants. Select an Elixir that provides the resistance you need most, or try the 
Assault Elixir to boost your 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 7th, 2023: Updated for patch 1.1.1.
- July 23rd, 2023: Updated Gems section to reflect the presence of Malignant Hearts
- July 18th, 2023: Updated for Season 1 added Malignant Hearts, updated item affixes, Changed Skill Tree and Skill Bar.
