Storm Lord 4.0 Druid BUILD for Diablo IV [BIG Spam Synergy]

(Call forth the power of Storms as you rapidly Claw away at your foes)

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Diablo IV Season 2 (Season of the Blood) started on October 17th, 2023 for Players on PC (Battle.Net & Steam), XBOX, & PlayStation). After extensive testing, I bring you a Claw & Petrify Druid with a ULT Spam Synergy for the Archetype. The build’s relatively easy to gear up & get things going but requires 1 non-codex aspect. 4 out of the 5 Uniques are also Duriel Drops. As usual, I’ll evolve & keep my builds updated. This is one such build for the Druid Class called Storm Lord 4.0.

I’ve also made spreadsheets for my 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 a link to a new build calculator/planner (MOBALYTICS) that I’ll be using from now on as well which seems amazing.

This build will be updated when needed.

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 Latest & older Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Storm Lord 4.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

Basic Skill (Resource Generator/Builder) (Required Points: 0)

• (active) Claw – Shapeshift into a Werewolf and shred an enemy, dealing 20% (X-?) damage.
  Lucky Hit Chance: 50%
  Type: Shapeshifting ; Damage: Physical
  Generates: 9 Spirit
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Claw – Claw’s Attack Speed is increased by +10%.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Wild Claw – Claw has a 10% chance to attack twice.

• (active – auto-cast by Greatstaff of the Crone) Storm Strike – Electricity gathers around your weapon, dealing 20% (X-?) damage to your target and chaining to up to 3 surrounding enemies, dealing 20% less damage each time it chains.
  You gain 25% Damage Reduction for 3 seconds after dealing damage with Storm Strike.
  Lucky Hit Chance: 25%
  Type: Storm Magic ; Damage: Lightning
  Generates: 15 Spirit
  • (1st upgrade) Enhanced Storm Strike Storm Strike has a 15% chance to Immobilize all enemies hit for 2.5 seconds.
  • (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Fierce Storm Strike Storm Strike has a 50% chance to make enemies Vulnerable for 3 seconds.

Spirit / Core Skill(s) (Resource Spender) (Required Points: 2 ) we’re not using an Active Core Skill

• (active)
• (1st upgrade)
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2)
• (passive) Predatory Instinct – Critical Strike Chance against nearby enemies is increased by +3%/+6%/+9%.
  • (upgrade – did NOT take) Iron Fur
  • (upgrade – did NOT take) Digitigrate Gait
• (passive) did not pick other 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% Maximum Life as Fortify.

• (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Debilitating Roar – Shapeshift into a Werebear and bellow a mighty roar, reducing Nearby enemies’ damage dealt by 70% for 4 seconds.
  Cooldown: 22 seconds | Type: Shapeshifting
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Debilitating Roar – Debilitating Roar also Fortifies you for 22% Maximum Life.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Preserving Debilitating Roar – Debilitating Roar also heals you for 4% of your maximum Life each second for its duration.
• (passive) 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.

Companion Skills (Required Points: 11 )

• (active – ONLY put 1 point here) Vine Creeper
  Passive: A vine creeper periodically emerges from the ground every 7 seconds and applies 36% (X) Poisoning damage over 6 seconds to an enemy in the area.
  Active: Vines strangle all surrounding enemies, Immobilizing them for 2 seconds and Poisoning them for 30% damage over 2 seconds.
  Lucky Hit Chance: 40% | Cooldown: 20 seconds
  Type: Companion ; Damage: Poison
• (1st upgrade) Enhanced Vine Creeper – Vine Creeper’s Immobilize duration is increased by 1 second.
• (2nd upgrade – my pick of the 2) Brutal Vine Creeper – Your chance to Critically Strike Chance is increased by +20% against enemies strangled by Vine Creeper.
• (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) Savage Hurricane – Enemies affected by Hurricane deal 20% less damage.
• (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 – Increase the duration of Hurricane and Cataclysm by 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative). This node is ONLY required to unlock Bad Omen
  • (upgrade) Bad Omen – Lucky Hit: Up to a 10%/20%/30% chance when dealing damage to a Vulnerable, Immobilized or Stunned enemy that a Lightning Strike also hits dealing 55% (X-?) damage.
  • (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here) Charged Atmosphere – 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 – did NOT take) Electric Shock –
• (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Neurotoxin – Poisoned enemies are slowed by 8%/16%/24%.
  • (upgrade) Envenom – Poisoned enemies take 10%/20%/30% (multiplicative) additional Critical Strike Damage.
  • (upgrade – ONLY put 1 point here) Toxic Claws – Critical Strikes with Werewolf skills deal 8%/15%/23% of their base damage as Poison damage over 4 seconds.
• (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 3.75 seconds. You deal 25% (multiplicative) increased Critical Strike Damage to enemies affected by Petrify. Against Bosses,the Critical Strike Damage bonus is increased to 50% (multiplicative) and its duration is increased to 7.5 seconds.
  Type: Earth Magic ; Damage: Physical
  Cooldown: 60 seconds
• (1st upgrade) Prime Petrify – Petrify’s duration is increased by 1 seconds.
• (2nd upgrade – did NOT pick as it’s not needed) Supreme Petrify – Killing an enemy affected by Petrify grants 25 Spirit.
• (passive) Defiance – Nature Magic skills deal 4%/8%/12% (multiplicative) increased damage to Elites.
  • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Natural Disaster
  • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Circle of Life
  • (upgrade – did NOT pick to save points) Resonance
• (passive – ONLY put 1 point here) Quickshift – After Shapeshifting into a different form, your next skill deals 5%/10%/15% (multiplicative) increased damage.
  • (upgrade) Heightened Senses – Upon shapeshifting into a Werewolf or Werebear, gain 4%/8%/12% damage reduction against Elites for 5 seconds.
  • (upgrade – did NOT take) Natural Fortitude
• (passive) did not pick other Ultimate passives to save points

Key Passive / Capstone (Required Points: 33 )

• (passive) Nature’s Fury – Casting an Earth Skill has a 30% chance to trigger a free Storm Skill of the same category. In addition, casting a Storm Skill has a 30% chance to trigger a free Earth Skill of the same category.

Seasonal Mechanic (Vampiric Powers):

In Season 2 (Season of Blood), the seasonal Mechanics involves slotting in up to 5 (out of 22) Vampiric Powers at once. Each power requires a certain number of pacts to be applied to your armor. There are 3 types of Pacts: Ferocity, Divinity, Eternity. Pacts can be applied to Armor as follows: Helmet & Boots up can have to 3, Pants up to 4, while Chest Armor and Gloves can have up to 5 pacts applied to them. That Makes a Total of 20 and is enough for any possible combination of 5 powers. Below you can find Information of the total pacts this build needs + the 5 powers we’ve used.

VAMPIRIC POWERS:
Vampiric Powers Total Pacts Required: ferocity 4, divinity 3, eternity 6

Powers Used:

• Metamorphosis = ferocity 2, divinity 2, eternity 2
  Evading making us unstoppable is great! This helps triggering Tibault’s Will‘s unique special/effect. Also causes Vampiric Curse (read below why it’s needed)
• Prey on the Weak = ferocity 2
  it’s good bit of extra dps but also good synergy with Flickerstep builds so we don’t require Accursed Touch as evading through enemies will keep the curse on them (due to Metamorphosis).
• Moonrise = eternity 1
  TOP synergy for this build. Why? Well each basic attack is actually two, BUT it can also end up being 3 due to our Key Passive so the bonus DMG to basic attacks really adds up.
• Anticipation = divinity 1
  -20% cooldown time for our Petrify is great!
• Sanguine Brace = divinity 1 + eternity 1
  a very good fit for classes that can keep the fortify up (like a Druid) for that extra +8% crit chance is great here.
• Alternative: Hemomancy = eternity 3
  this one helps with trash mobs clear and also heals us a bit every 4 seconds. Very good on Overworld content like Helltide or Blood Harvest.

Class Mechanic (Spirit Boons):

The Spirit Boons system lets you pick 1 spirit Boon per bond out of 4 categories. Eventually you unlock the option to specialize into a certain bond which will let you get 2 Boons from that category. I advise using the following 2 + 1 +1 +1 for now.

• Eagle Category: take those two
  • Scythe Talons: +5% Critical Strike Chance.
  • Avian Wrath: +30% Critical Strike Damage.
• Deer Category: take this one
  • Wariness: Take 10% reduced damage from Elites
• Snake Category: take this one
  Calm Before the Storm: Lucky Hit: Nature Magic Skills (Earth & Storm) have up to a 15% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 2 seconds.
  • Alternative Option 1) Masochistic: Critical Strikes with Shapeshifting Skills heal you for 3% of your maximum Life.
  • Alternative Option 2) Overload: Lucky Hit: Lightning Damage has up to a 20% chance to cause the target to emit a static discharge, dealing 63.53% damage to surrounding enemies.
• Wolf Category: There are also two decent picks here. I personally think Energize is the best fit since Calamity‘s duration increase only counts Petrify/Cataclysm‘s base duration when counting those 25%. Pick based on whether you need more Poison Creeper Active Skill spamming or longer Ultimates.
  • option 1) Packleader: Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a 20% chance to reset the Cooldown of your Companion Skills.
  • option 2) Calamity: Extend the duration of Ultimate Skills by 25%.

Unique Items

In Diablo IV 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 Uniques inherited from the Mythical gear they supposedly replaced was scrapped even before the closed beta tests. My top picks will be the following:

Top Pick Uniques for the Build

Flickerstep (Boots) [bread and butter of this build]

Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown by 0.8 Seconds

Each enemy you Evade through reduces your active Ultimate Cooldown by 2-4 seconds, up to 10 seconds.

+[10.5 – 17.5]% Movement Speed
+[10 – 18] All Stats
+ [7 – 14]% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
+[31.5 – 52.5]% Ultimate Skill Damage

“Considered a failure by their creator, it wasn’t until the assassination of an “untouchable” Caldeum noble that these boots’ true power was understood.” – Barrett’s Book of Implements

Greatstaff of the Crone (Staff)

+[17.5%] Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies

Claw is now a Storm Skill and also casts Storm Strike at [120 – 150]% normal damage.

+[16.5 – 23.5]% Damage to Close Enemies
+[9.5 – 16.5]% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies
+[7 – 14]% Non-Physical Damage
+[X – 9] Ranks of Claw

“She has existed in Scosglen since before Fiacla-Géar walked the land. Her purpose is a mystery to us all. However, approach her with deference; she may grant you her counsel.” – Airidah, to Donan

Godslayer Crown (Helm)

When you Stun, Freeze, or Immobilize an Elite enemy, or damage a Boss, it pulls in nearby enemies. You deal x[30-60]% increased damage to them for 3 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 12 seconds.

+[4.2 – 7]% Cooldown Reduction
+[X – Y] Maximum Life
+[10.5 – 17.5]% Damage
+[5 – 12]% Crowd Control Duration

“The Sahptev faithful believe in a thousand and one gods. If it takes me as many lifetimes, I will find and kill them all.” – Gaspar Stilbian, Veradani Outcast

Alternative Helm Choice 1: Right now this seems like a very good option for any build and if you’re lucky enough to get I Strongly advise trying it. I personally felt that my DPS fell too much while wearing it so I went back to a Godslayer Crown.
Harlequin Crest (Helm)

Gain [20%] Damage Reduction. In addition, gain +[4] Ranks to All Skills.

+[N] Maximum Life
+X% Cooldown Reduction
+12% Resource Generation
+[28] All Stats

“This headdress was once worn by an assassin disguised as a court mage. Her treachery was unveiled, but not before she used its magic to curse the king’s entire lineage.” – The Fall of House Aston

Alternative Helm Choice 2: This seems like a very good poison + X’Fal’s Corroded Signet Syenrgy for this build and if you’re lucky enough to get I advise trying it and deciding if you like it or not. The lifesteal also seems like an amazing basic attack build syenrgy too.
Andariel’s Visage (Helm)

Lucky Hit: Up to a [15 – 20]% chance to trigger a poison nova that applies X Poisoning damage over 5 seconds to enemies in the area.

+18 All Stats
+10% Attack Speed
+2% Life Steal (fully upgraded goes to +3%)
+60% Poison Resistance (fully upgraded goes to +90%)

The horrific whispers of the Maiden of Anguish flicker through your mind, pushing you ever closer to madness…

X’Fal’s Corroded Signet (Ring)

+X% Resistance to All Elements
+Y% Fire Resistance

Lucky Hit: Your damage over time effects have up to a 50% chance to erupt, dealing [X-Y] damage of the same type to Nearby enemies.

+[20 – 28] All Stats
+[14 – 28]% Damage Over Time
+[3.2 – 6]% Lucky Hit Chance
+[4.2 – 7]% Cooldown Reduction

Skulking in the shadows of the Realm of Destruction, the Scarred Baron plots the downfall of the mortal who banished him there.

Tibault’s Will (Pants) (this one’s very good to use if you don’t feel like your survivability sucks or for overworld and other easier content as well as to swap to for boss fights)

While Injured, Your Potion Also Restores 20% Resource You deal x[20-40]% increased damage while Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after. When you become Unstoppable, gain 50 of your Primary Resource.

+[2 – 3] Potion Capacity
+[7 – 14]% Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
+[10.5 – 17.5]% Damage
+[5 – 13] Maximum Resource

“The younger apprentices think wearing heavy plate in the swamps is foolish. They fail to understand that our armor is our legacy, and without it we are nothing.” – Crusader Pembroke

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. (if you don’t have any use Topaz for a bit)
Armor: Ruby or Saphire/Topaz (dmg reduction can help you If needed in higher tier NM dungeons).
Jewelry: Skull (ideally) OR Diamond if not capped on resists. Unless you need specific resistance more.

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 Latest & Older Builds spreadsheet on this link. This build (Storm Lord 4.0) is one of the builds on that spreadsheet.

• Helm: Aspect of The Protector OR Exploiter’s Aspect / Godslayer Crown OR an Alternative Helm Pick (see notes in the Unique Items section)
• Amulet: Rapid Aspect
• Chest: Aspect of Disobedience
• Pants: Aspect of Might or Vigorous Aspect / Tibault’s Will (see notes in the Unique Items section)
• Gloves: Symbiotic Aspect
• Boots: Ghostwalker Aspect / Flickerstep
• Ring 1: Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect
• Ring 2: Overcharged Aspect / X’Fal’s Corroded Signet
• Main Hand Weapon: Aspect of Control
• Off-hand Weapon: Aspect of Three Curses
• 2-H Weapon: Conceited Aspect or Edgemaster’s Aspect
  (I actually Don’t recommend playing this build before getting at least the unique staff in the first place. However, if you insist on using this build before the staff drops then I recommend ideally using a 1h + Off-hand combo before you get Greatstaff of the Crone. Why? Because it means a LOT of potential Cooldown reduction lost (up to 2x 10.3% at max item power) and this build is heavily dependent on CDR even with Flickerstep equipped. However, if you want to use a Legendary Staff or Hammer for a bit, then make sure you use a very high rolled Conceited Aspect or Edgemaster’s Aspect on the the 2h weapon)

Paragon Boards:

Use the links below to check the paragon boards selected and the nodes I’ve taken. I’ve made two version: 1 for before the Abattoire of Lord Zir (December 5th) Patch and 1 for after the Abattoire patch. On the link you’ll see what the boards will look like at lvl 100 with ALL paragon points spent and fully min-maxed to get the most out of every board BUT it’s base on my gear’s attributes bonuses (INT, DEX, WIL) so you may need to reorder some of the floating nodes to make sure you get the double bonus requirements of all rare nodes. Leveling in Season 2 is fast so I no longer will provide a version with less points spent.

• MAX LEVEL & MAX Paragon points spent Before Abattoire Patch : Click THIS LINK
• MAX LEVEL & MAX Paragon points spent After Abattoire Patch: Click THIS LINK

Suggested Gear Rolls to look out for (in order of priority):

I’ve shortlisted various 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. NOTE: I’ve added a new “Top Priority per Slot” list but left the old unsorted list below it.

This is the Sorted by Slot list of Top Priority Affixes/Rolls:

• Helm:
  • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction, Total Armor
  • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Basic Skill Attack Speed
  • Priority 3: Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats)
  • Priority 4: +N% X Resistance(es)
• Chest:
  • Priority 1: Total Armor, Damage Reduction while Fortified,
  • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Damage Reduction from Close/Distant Enemies
  • Priority 3: Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats), + X% Damage, Damage Reduction
  • Priority 4: +x Ranks to Earthen Bulwark, Damage while Shapeshifted, Werewolf Skill Damage, Storm Skill Damage, Nature Damage, Physical Damage, +N% X Resistance(es)
• Gloves:
  • Priority 1: Critical Strike Chance, Lucky Hit Chance
  • Priority 2: Attack Speed, Damage to Injured Enemies, Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats)
  • Priority 3: Storm Skill Cooldown Reduction, Lightning Critical Strike Damage, Critical Strike Damage with Werewolf Skills
  • Priority 4: Critical Strike Chance Against Injured Enemies. +N% X Resistance(es)
• Pants:
  • Priority 1: Total Armor, Damage Reduction from Close/Distant Enemies, Damage Reduction while Fortified
  • Priority 2: Maximum Life, Damage Reduction while Injured
  • Priority 3: Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats)
  • Priority 4: +N% X Resistance(es), Damage Reduction
• Boots:
  • Priority 1: Movement Speed, Damage Reduction while Injured
  • Priority 2: Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats)
  • Priority 3: Total Armor while in Werewolf Form
  • Priority 4: +N% X Resistance(es), Fortify Generation
• Amulet:
  • Priority 1: Total Armor, Cooldown Reduction, Movement Speed
  • Priority 2: Storm Skill Cooldown Reduction
  • Priority 3: +X Ranks of a Passive you like, Damage Reduction from Close or Distant Enemies/While Injured/While Fortified
  • Priority 4: Damage while Shapeshifted, Werewolf /Earth Skill Damage, +X% Damage,
• Rings:
  • Priority 1: Critical Strike Damage, Critical Strike Chance, Damage to Close Enemies
  • Priority 2: Lucky Hit Chance, Maximum Life
  • Priority 3: Damage to Distant/Injured Enemies, Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Poisoned
  • Priority 4: Fortify Generation
• Main Hand Weapon:
  • Priority 1: Critical Strike Damage, Damage to Close Enemies
  • Priority 2: (All Stats or Willpower), Damage to Distant Enemies
  • Priority 3: Basic Skill Damage, Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Injured Enemies, Critical Strike Damage with Werewolf Skills, Lightning Critical Strike Damage, Damage to Poisoned Enemies, Damage to CCed
  • Priority 4: Other Core Stats (Dex, Int)
• Off-hand Focus:
  • Priority 1: Cooldown Reduction, Critical Strike Chance, Lucky Hit Chance
  • Priority 2: Basic Skill Attack Speed, Basic Skill Damage
  • Priority 3: Core Stats (Wil, Dex, Int, All Stats), Damage Reduction while Fortified
  • Priority 4: Damage Reduction from Enemies That Are Poisoned, Critical Chance Against Injured
• 2-H Weapon (1H+off-hand setup is preferred until the unique Staff Drops): Same priorities as 1H Main Hand Weapon (scroll up a bit and read)

This is the UNsorted by list of useful Affixes/Rolls:

Useful Links (Spreadsheets & more):

For all of my Diablo IV Latest Season 2 & Older (Post-Launch, RDY-4-Launch) Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

For my Diablo IV Class Skill Trees (can be used as mini-calculator): This Spreadsheet

For all of my Diablo IV Pre-Launch Theorycrafts/Builds: This Spreadsheet

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This concludes the Storm Lord 4.0 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, Steam)

XBOX

PlayStation

Official Website