Druids in Diablo 4 are a unique class that call upon animal spirits to aid them in combat, while also acting as powerful forces of nature all on their own. We’ll uncover the best Druid builds for Season 5 and place them in a tier list.
Season of the Infernal Hordes unfortunately didn’t boost Druids much higher when compared to the other classes, but with the right build your Druid can still take down waves of enemies with the power of nature.
Players should be mindful that the meta shifts often, so what’s best now may not be the best later in the Season. Otherwise, the strongest Druid builds don’t change too often unless Blizzard decides to heavily nerf them in the future.
From leveling to endgame, and even PvP, here are all the best Druid builds ranked in a tier list for Season 5 of Diablo 4. Below the tier list, you can find even more information about each build and their strengths in certain situations.
Best Druid leveling builds
Best leveling build – Lightning Storm
Players running a Druid this season should try out the Lightning Storm Druid build while leveling. This build focuses on the Lightning Storm Core skill, which conjures a crackling lightning storm for massive AoE damage.
Accompanied by skills such as Trample and Wind Shear, your Druid will be able to become Unstoppable and deal piercing wind damage to nearby enemies. They also have a few companions such as Wolves and Ravens to help deal multiple different types of damage.
With Blizzard buffing Lightning Storm in the latest Season 5 patch, the damage vastly improved from 40% to 74%. This makes Lightning Storm a frightening build to be up against as the enemy, though the requirement to stand still and channel makes it weak in the endgame.
This is a universal problem with Druid, however. The leveling process is a slog, and you’ll almost certainly have to change out your build once you’re leveled. Landslide and Boulder both don’t deal much damage until you’ve got the right items, so leveling with them is just not recommended whatsoever.
Best Druid PvP builds
Best PvP build – Boulder
When entering the Fields of Hatred for some PvP action, your Druid build should lean towards the Boulder Druid. This build is all about the Boulder skill, which meshes well with the Hurricane ability to cause a tornado of boulders.
These two skills, alongside Shred and Rabies, can make your Werewolf Druid damage enemy players in melee range. You also have the highly defensive Earthen Bulwark for a Barrier against oncoming damage.
Season 5 brought along a Boulder buff that resulted in a weapon damage increase from 46% to 70%. As such, your Boulder Druid should easily wipe through enemy players in the Fields of Hatred this Season.
That said, Boulder is a bit of an inconsistent skill when it comes to longer range, and there is an easier build: Lightning Storm.
The biggest downside here is that channeling Lightning Storm requires you to stand still, but the sheer wall of damage you create by channeling for a while creates a wall of DPS enemies can’t get through. This build in PvP is less about mechanical skill and more about proper positioning, though it’s not great for PvE content in endgame.
Best Druid endgame builds
Best Endgame build – Landslide
During the endgame phase of this Season, you may want to try out the Landslide Druid build. It became the star Druid build for the higher levels ever since Landslide was buffed from 37.5% to 70% of damage per hit.
Other than Landslide, this build is accompanied by skills such as Storm Strike and Blood Howl, which can rip into groups of enemies in no time.
This build is just as defensive as it is offensive with Earthen Bulwark protecting them through its Barrier, while Poison Creeper can deal Poison damage over time. Landslide is a great build for both AoE and focused damage during difficult endgame activities.
And, while Boulder Druid sits alongside it in S-Tier, it’s just slightly worse due to how finicky Boulder can be as an ability. While it has the potential to do more DPS, lining up enemies properly and setting up for big burst damage is difficult. If you’re looking for more of a challenge, try this build instead.
All in all, Season 5 granted quite a few buffs for Druids to make them a bigger contender in the class pool. Although we may rank your favorite build lower than you’d like, all Druid builds can be good depending on how much the player enjoys it.
Our tiers explained
- S: The best
- A: Very good
- B: There might be situations where these can perform well
- C: Best to avoid unless you find yourself drawn to them
With each new Season of Diablo 4, players will often see small to massive changes with classes and builds. This means we rank based on the current meta, although the best-of-the-best builds shouldn’t change too much.
All Druid class rankings in Diablo 4 Season 5 explained
Pulverize Druid
The Pulverize Druid build is a perfect pick for a leveling or PvP player, but less so for endgame play. These Druids focus on the Pulverize Core skill, which deals AoE damage after a ground slam.
A major component of this build is the Shockwave Aspect, which creates a shockwave alongside the Pulverize ability to deal extra damage to targets in its way. This is a good build for tanky players who would rather rely on melee combat instead of ranged, but it also suffers against big bosses.
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It’s a great build for mobbing and leveling, but not so much for endgame bosses.
Landslide Druid
The Landslide Druid is a dependable build during the endgame, and pretty good to use in PvP and leveling. It’s accentuated by gear such as the Earthbreaker ring (makes Landslide leave behind Tectonic Spikes) and Vasily’s Prayer (Earth skills Fortify you).
Landslide Druids are great for survivability with Blood Howl healing you and Earthen Bulwark placing a Barrier around you. Additionally, it’s highly effective against bosses and Elite enemies and perfect for facing the new Infernal Hordes.
It may not be the statistically strongest build, but it’s easy to use, consistent, and effective. Check out our build guide for the Landslide Druid to make it yourself.
Boulder Druid
Boulder Druids are all about massive AoE damage, great survivability, and floating spinning rocks. The best part about this build is when your Boulders start to fly around your Hurricane to wreak havoc against enemy hordes.
With the Boulder skill receiving a nice buff from 46% of weapon damage to 70%, players this Season should have a good time with this build. It does revolve a lot around earning the right gear, such as the Dolmen Stone Amulet and Vasily’s Prayer, but it’s worth it for the mighty Boulder Druid.
Just be aware that Boulder has a learning curve, and that getting it to roll where you want it to will take some practice. Additionally, the leveling process for Boulder builds is a bit slow, and other builds are substantially better. Items and aspects hold this build together, so it’s not nearly as good when you don’t have them.
Companion Druid
The Companion Druid build focuses mostly on your powerful friends such as Wolves and Ravens who can help deal damage as you perform other skills. While being a great build choice in leveling and endgame, it underperforms in the PvP space.
Alongside your furry companions, you have a high defense with Earthen Bulwark, alongside incredible AoE damage skills like Pulverize. The Companion Druid is a well-rounded build for animal lovers, and it makes leveling a breeze.
If you’re looking to turn your brain off, hang out, and cruise through the endgame, check out our Companion Druid build guide.
Hurricane Druid
Hurricane Druids may not be one of the highly recommended builds for this class, but it can still be fun if done right. The build revolves around the Hurricane skill, alongside the Maul Basic skill for heavy melee damage and the Wolf companions to accompany you.
With an arsenal of AoE skills, the Hurricane Druid can demolish groups of enemies easily. But it requires quite a bit of recommended gear such as Locran’s Talisman (boosts Critical Strike Chance) and Tibault’s Will (buff to damage when Unstoppable).
Additionally, as an AoE build, it’s got the same problem as Pulverize Druid when it comes to killing bosses but even worse. Hurricane is fun, but it’s one of the weaker endgame builds.
Lightning Storm Druid
The Lightning Storm Druid build embraces the Lightning Storm ability to deal incredible AoE damage, especially when paired with Unsung Ascetic’s Wrap (causes Lightning Storm strikes to hit twice).
While not the most recommended build for endgame, it’s an impressive build in leveling and PvP. Lightning Storm is accompanied by skills like Trample and Debilitating Roar to render you Unstoppable and Fortified.
It’s a great balance of massive damage and tough defenses, and it’s serviceable for pretty much any content you want to run through.
Wind Shear Druid
Finally, the Wind Shear Druid build is more applicable to endgame and PvP over the leveling phase, but it still packs a punch with the powerful Wind Shear skill that inflicts Vulnerable on enemies.
Alongside Wind Shear, this build is strong with skills like Pulverize and Debilitating Roar which can make you Overpowered and Fortified. If you want to survive while also dishing out amazing damage numbers, try out the Wind Shear build.
Now that you’ve learned all about the best Druid builds in Season 5 of Diablo 4, there’s also the Sorcerer, Necromancer, Rogue, and Barbarian builds to check out.
