Rocky 2.0 Druid BUILD for Diablo IV [RDY-4-Launch]
Diablo IV launches on June 6th, 2023 for PC (Battle.Net), XBOX, & PlayStation with a 4 days Early Access (no wipe) for pre-orders (so kind of really launching June 2nd).
Diablo IV‘s Launch is getting closer and it’s time to make some Ready-For-Launch full Builds/Theorycrafts that should be good for both ‘fresh-into-endgame’ characters as well as late endgame. I also plan to evolve them further when the game is released & keep them updated when we get rebalance updates. This is one such build for the Druid Class called Rocky 2.0.
I’ve also made spreadsheets for those builds (see the links below) that have shortlisted the active and passive skills + legendary aspect + unique item + gems & sockets + suggested stat rolls + paragon boards that work well with the build which you can use to tinker. Alternatively, I’ve added build calculator links (mostly needed for the paragons)
This build will be updated post-launch to a new & expanded version when I have more in-game information as reference.
Video Version:
Skill Trees
Below you’ll see ONLY the Active & Passive skills that were selected for this build. For additional skills that can be taken + alternative skill options, you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Rocky 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.
Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0)
- (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Earthspike – Sunder the earth, impaling the first enemy hit for 16% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 25% Requires s Bludgeoning weapon. Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Generates: 8 Spirit
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthspike – Earthspike has a 10% chance to Stun for 2.5 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Earthspike – Fortify for 2% of your Base Life whenever Earthspike damages enemies who are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2)
- (active) Landslide – Crush enemies between 2 pillars of earth, dealing up to 113% (X-?) damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 20% Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Spirit Cost: 30
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Landslide – After Landslide damages enemies 4 times, the next hit will Immobilize enemies for 3 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Primal Landslide – When you Immobilize or Stun an enemy, you gain a Terramote. Each enemy hit by Landslide consumes a Terramote causing a guaranteed Critical Strike with 40% (multiplicative) Critical Strike Damage. Bosses always have up to a 10% chance to grant a Terramote when hit.
- (passive) did not pick any Spirit/Core passives to save points
Defensive Skills (Required Points: 6) I took both of the Defensive skills listed below
- (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Earthen Bulwark – Rocks surround you for 3 seconds, granting a Barrier that absorbs 45% of your Base Life in damage. Lucky Hit Chance: 50% Cooldown: 16 seconds Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Earthen Bulwark – Earthen Bulwark makes you Unstoppable while active.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Earthen Bulwark – Casting Earthen Bulwark grants 18% Base Life as Fortify.
- (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Blood Howl – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and howl furiously, Healing you for 20% of your Maximum Life. Cooldown: 15 seconds Type: Shapeshifting
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Blood Howl – Kills reduce the Cooldown of Blood Howl by 1 second.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Innate Blood Howl – Blood Howl also generates 20 Spirit.
- (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Ancestral Fortitude – Increase your Non-Physical Resistances by 5%/10%/15%.
- (upgrade) Vigilance – You gain 5%/10%/15% Damage Reduction for 6 seconds after using a Defensive Skill.
- (passive) did not pick any other Defensive passives to save points
Companion Skills (Required Points: 11) I did NOT take a companion Active Skill
- (active)
- (1st upgrade)
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
- (passive) Nature’s Reach – Deal 3%/6%/9% (multiplicative) increased damage to Distant enemies Double this bonus if they are also Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
- (passive) did not pick any Companion passives to save points
Wrath Skills (Required Points: 16 )
- (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Hurricane – Form a hurricane around you that deals 97% (X-?) damage to surrounding enemies over 8 seconds. Lucky Hit Chance: 33% Cooldown: 20 seconds Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Physical
- (1st upgrade) Enhanced Hurricane – Enemies who are damaged by Hurricane are Slowed by 25% for 2 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Natural Hurricane – Hurricane has a 15% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.
- (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Elemental Exposure – Lucky Hit: Your Storm Skills have up to 20% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 1/2/3 second(s).
- (upgrade) Endless Tempest – did NOT take this
- (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here) Charged Atmosphere – Every 18/15/12 seconds, a Lightning Strike hits a nearby enemy dealing 45% (X-?) damage. This node is required to unlock BOTH Bad Omen & Electric Shock
- (upgrade ) Bad Omen – did NOT take this
- (upgrade) Electric Shock – did NOT take this
- (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Crushing Earth – Earth Skills deal 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage to Slowed, Stunned, Immobilized or Knocked Back enemies.
- (upgrade) Stone Guard – While Fortified for over 50% of your maximum Life, your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage.
- (upgrade)Safeguard – Critical Strikes with Earth Skills Fortifiy you for 2%/4%/7% Base Life.
- (passive) did not pick any other Wrath passives to save points but there are some worth considering
Ultimate Skills (Required Points: 23)
- (active) Petrify – Petrify all Nearby enemies in stone, Stunning them for 3 seconds. You deal 25% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage to enemies affected by Petrify. Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical Cooldown: 60 seconds
- (1st upgrade) Prime Petrify – Petrify’s duration is increased by 1 seconds.
- (2nd upgrade) Supreme Petrify – Killing an enemy affected by Petrify grants 25 Spirit.
- (passive) Defiance – Nature Magic skills deal 4% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
- (upgrade) Natural Disaster – Your Earth Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Vulnerable enemies. Your Storm Skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to enemies that are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
- (upgrade) Circle of Life – Nature Magic skills that consume Spirit restore 1%/2%/3% of your maximum Life.
- (upgrade) Resonance – Nature Magic Skills deal 2%/4%/6% (multiplicative) increased damage. Triple this bonus if an Earth Skill is the next Skill cast after a Storm Skill, or a Storm Skill is the next Skill cast after an Earth Skill.
- (passive) Defensive Posture – Increases the amount of Fortify you gain from all sources by +5%/+10%/+15%.
- (upgrade) Thick Hide – Whenever you are Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Down, Fortify for 6%/13%/19% Base Life.
- (upgrade) Nature’s Resolve – 5%/10%/15% chance when struck to Fortify you for 4% Base Life.
- (upgrade) Unrestrained – did NOT take this
- (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points
Specializations (Required Points: 33 )
- (passive) Earthen Might – Lucky Hit: Damaging enemies with Earth Skills has up to a 5% chance to grant Earthen Might, which does:
Restore all of your Spirit Cause your attacks to be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds
This chance is increased by:
10% for Critical Strikes 10% if the target is Stunned, Immobilized, or Knocked Back.
Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):
I don’t have much info regarding the Spirit Boons but I think you can pick at least 2 from the same category (when you specialize into it) + maybe 1 more from every other category . I’d advise getting the following 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 for now.
- Eagle Category:
Scythe Talons: +5% Critical Strike Chance
Avian Wrath: +30% Critical Strike Damage - Deer Category:
Wariness: Take 10% reduced damage from Elites - Snake Category:
Calm Before the Storm: Lucky Hit: Nature Magic Skills have up to 15% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 2 seconds - Wolf Category:
Bolster: Fortify for 10% of your Maximum Life when you use a Defensive Skill
Unique Item
In Diablo IV apparently (I have multiple sources that confirmed this) we can equip more than one unique item at the same time (not so ‘unique’ if we can get decked out in full uniques I guess). It seems that the one unique per build idea that Unique inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top pick will be the following one but check the notes under the Aspects list for some additional picks:
Vasily’s Prayer (Helm)
Your Earth Skills are now also Werebear Skills and Fortify you for N.
+[7 – 14]% Damage while Shapeshifted
[24.5 – 45.5]% Lightning Resistance
[0.12 – 0.26] Maximum Life
[12 – 20] Spirit On Kill
“Roots from the Great Oak growing at the seaward statue of Vasily will, on rare occasions, be found twisted back upon themselves, suffused with ferocious magic.” – Barrett’s Book of Implements
Sockets & Gems
There are various possible good/viable choices for the gem slots. I’ve shortlisted what works by slot. I’d recommend picking one of those:
Weps: Emerald, Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Armor: Saphire, Ruby, Diamond, or Skull.
Jewelry: Diamond unless you need specific resistance more than all.
XYZ Diamond (Requires Level XY)
• Weapon: +N% Ultimate Skill Damage
• Armor: +N% Barrier Generation
• Jewelry: N% Resistance to All Elements
+5%/+5%/5% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)
XYZ Skull (Requires Level XY)
• Weapon: +N Life On Kill
• Armor: +N% Healing Received
• Jewelry: +N Armor
+13/+5%/+170 for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)
XYZ Saphire (Requires Level XY)
• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies
• Armor: N% Damage Reduction While Fortified
• Jewelry: N% Cold Resistance
+7.5%/5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)
XYZ Ruby (Requires Level XY)
• Weapon: +N% Overpower Damage
• Armor: +N% Maximum Life
• Jewelry: N% Fire Resistance
+15%/+5.5%/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)
XYZ Emerald (Requires Level XY)
• Weapon: +N% Critical Strike Damage to Vulnerable Enemies
• Armor: +N Thorns
• Jewelry: N% Poison Resistance
+7.5%/+39/14.3% for chipped (the 2nd grade at lvl 20)
Legendary Aspects / Powers
I will only list the Legendary Aspects that have been selected for the build and the slots in which I advise putting those. For in-depth information you can check my RDY-4-Launch Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Rocky 2.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.
- Helm: *Stormshifter’s Aspect / Vasily’s Prayer OR Harlequin Crest (see notes below)
- Amulet: Ballistic Aspect
- Chest: Earthguard Aspect / Insatiable Fury (see notes below)
- Pants: Aspect of Mending Stone
- Gloves: Seismic-shift Aspect
- Boots: Exploiter’s Aspect
- Ring 1: Nighthowler’s Aspect
- Ring 2: Aspect of The Aftershock / Mother’s Embrace (see notes below)
- 1H Weapon: Crashstone Aspect
- Off-hand: Mighty Storm’s Aspect
- 2-H Weapon: Crashstone Aspect
NOTE 1: Seismic-shift Aspect goes in the Gloves slot ONLY until you get the Vasily's Prayer Unique Helm. After that, scrap it and put Stormshifter's Aspect in the Gloves to make room for the Unique Helm. There are three other alternative picks for Uniques you could use if you get those first: Insatiable Fury (Chest Armor), Harlequin Crest (Helm) & Mother's Embrace (Ring) NOTE 2: How to re-arrange the aspects for any of the alternative Unique drops: (I tried to make is as painless as possible): - For Insatiable Fury (Chest Armor): Earthguard Aspect gets removed from the Chest slot to make room for the Unique Chest Armor. - For Harlequin Crest (Helm): Seismic-shift Aspect gets removed from the Helm slot and Stormshifter's Aspect goes in the now empty Gloves slot to make room for the Unique Helm. - For Mother's Embrace (Ring): Aspect of The Aftershock gets removed from the Ring 2 slot to make room for the Unique Ring.
Paragon Boards:
Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. One link is for what the boards will look like at lvl 88 without any paragon points from renown (so more paragon points will be obtained on the way to 100 as well as from renown. The other link will be what the boards will look like when fully maxed out on paragon points.
- LVL 88 & no Points from renown: Click THIS LINK
- MAXed out points (left the last 2 unspent): Click THIS LINK
Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (NOT in order of priority):
I’ve shortlisted 43 different affixes that work well with the build of almost 300 total. I’ll highlight in Orange the ones I think should get higher priority
| Bonus to All Damage | ||||
| Critical Strike Chance/Critical Damage Bonus | ||||
| Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Skills | ||||
| Critical Chance/Critical Damage with Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills | ||||
| Damage with Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills | ||||
| Lucky Hit Chance | ||||
| + X Ranks to Core/Earth/Wrath/Defensive/Werebear/Shapeshifting/Nature/Storm Skills | ||||
| + X Ranks to Landslide/Hurricane/Earthen Bulwark/Earth Spike/Blood Howl | ||||
| Overpower Damage | ||||
| Physical/Lightning Damage Bonus | ||||
| Lucky Hit Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage | ||||
| Resistance to All Elements | ||||
| + % Critical Chance / Critical Damage with Physical/Lightning Damage | ||||
| + % Physical/Lightning Damage to Elites | ||||
| + % Critical Strike Chance with Physical/Lightning Damage Against Elites | ||||
| + % Damage for X Seconds After Killing an Elite | ||||
| Damage Reduction for X Seconds After Killing an Elite | ||||
| Damage Reduction from Elites | ||||
| Damage to Close Enemies | ||||
| Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Close Enemies | ||||
| Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies | ||||
| Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Crowd Controlled Enemies | ||||
| Damage to Vulnerable Enemies | ||||
| Critical Chance / Critical Damage Against Vulnerable Enemies | ||||
| Vulnerable Damage | ||||
| Damage while Shapeshifted | ||||
| Damage while in Werebear Form | ||||
| Damage while Healthy | ||||
| Fortify Generation | ||||
| Damage while Fortified | ||||
| Chance When Struck to Fortify for X Life |
| + All Stats | ||||
| Damage vs Injured Enemies | ||||
| Lucky Hit: Up to a +X% Chance to Execute Injured Non-Elites | ||||
| Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies | ||||
| Damage vs Healthy Enemies | ||||
| Weapon Damage (not sure if there are any bonuses to that as rolls) | ||||
| Spirit Generation / Regeneration / On Kill | ||||
| Movement Speed | ||||
| Attack Speed | ||||
| Willpower | ||||
| Resource Cost Reduction |
Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):
For all of my Diablo IV RDY-4-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet
For my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet
For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet
♦ ◊ ♦ ◊ ♦
This concludes the Rocky 2.0 Druid Build for Diablo IV. If you’re interested in the game, below are links to the various platforms where one can buy it (you can just click the links to open a new tab):
PC (Battle.Net)