The Druid class is an all-around beast in Diablo 4. They can fill many roles, from tank to storm caster, and anything in between. In this Diablo 4 Druid leveling build we will focus predominantly on the Werebear skills to deal massive damage with Overpower and Pulverize.
Like many Druid builds this build will feel a hair underpowered in the beginning levels but as you get towards level 40 you will really start devastating the denizens of Sanctuary.
As you progress past 50, or get some lucky drops that include some of the Aspects listed below, your Werebear skills will also be Earth skills and the whole build will come together. Once you get Aspect of Ursine Horror and Aspect of Shockwave, Pulverize can trigger Earthen Might and the Critical Strike damage is fantastic.
Skills Overview
Maul
This is your Spirit generator. All early level Druids are Spirit-starved, spam this whenever needed. We will also put a point in Enhanced Maul and Fierce Maul. Enhanced Maul is great for the Fortify generation and the extra range from Fierce Maul is a welcomed addition when dealing with hordes of enemies.
Pulverize
This is the most satisfying skill in the build. We use this to burn through groups of enemies. As you progress certain Aspects make this even better but, in the early levels you will just hammer it when surrounded. We are going to put a point in Enhanced Pulverize and Primal Pulverize as well. With Enhanced Pulverize your Pulverize will Overpower every 12 seconds when Healthy (over 80% health). This devastates normal foes and is a great tool for boss fights. It has saved me on multiple occasions.
Earthen Bulwark
This is a fantastic damage mitigation tool. Pop this at the beginning of large pulls or throughout Boss fights to mitigate high damage abilities. It takes time to get comfortable with this skill and in tough Boss fight, but if timed well, it is a life saver. I went with a point in Enhanced Earthen Bulwark to become Unstoppable for the duration of the Barrier and then I took Innate Earthen Bulwark for the extra damage boost but you could go with Preserving for the Fortify as well. You can't lose with either choice.
Trample
This is a high DPS tool for engaging large groups of foes but it also excels at single target DPS. With Enhanced Trample upping the damage by 150% and Savage Trample generating 20 Spirit you get a great engagement mechanic with high DPS. The extra Spirit generated also allows you to follow up with a Pulverize immediately after finishing the charge.
Boulder
Stay with me on this! I know we have spent most of the time talking about Werebear skills but you are going to want to throw in Boulder. It is a great multi target DPS tool, with pushback, and it works well with the Earthen Might key passive for this build. Put a point in Enhanced Boulder for the Crowd Control and take Savage Boulder for the Critical Strike chance.
Petrify
This is an amazing Ultimate Skill. It immobilizes everything except bosses and raises your Critical Strike chance. Pop this and melt your incapacitated foes with Pulverize, Boulder and Trample. With Prime and Supreme Petrify you gain extended duration and a huge Spirit gain mechanism.
Playstyle
This is a pretty straightforward Diablo 4 Druid Leveling build in terms of its moment-to-moment gameplay. Open with Trample or Boulder, pop Earthen Bulwark for tough pulls, Maul for Spirit and then burn Spirit with Pulverize.
You want to keep an eye on your health to keep it over 80% as the spectacular damage in this build comes from Overpower damage.
Petrify is great for huge pulls and it has a relatively low cool down of 50 seconds so feel free to weave that in when you feel like the room is getting crowded!
Skills Leveling Guide
| Skill Points 1-10 | Skill Points 11-20 | Skill Points 21-30 | Skill Points 31-40 | Skill Points 41-50 | Skill Points 51-58 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maul 1/5 | Pulverize 3/5 | Trample 3/5 | Boulder 3/5 | Predatory Instinct 3/3 | Earthen Bulwark 3/5 |
| Enhanced Maul | Pulverize 4/5 | Trample 4/5 | Boulder 4/5 | Mending 1/3 | Earthen Bulwark 4/5 |
| Pulverize 1/5 | Pulverize 5/5 | Trample 5/5 | Boulder 5/5 | Provocation 1/3 | Earthen Bulwark 5/5 |
| Enhanced Pulverize | Heart of the Wild 1/3 | Boulder 1/5 | Earthen Bulwark 2/5 | Provocation 2/3 | Maul 5/5 |
| Primal Pulverize | Heart of the Wild 2/3 | Petrify 1/5 | Earthen Might | Provocation 3/3 | Maul 5/5 |
| Fierce Maul | Heart of the Wild 3/3 | Prime Petrify | Abundance 1/3 | Mending 2/3 | Maul 5/5 |
| Earthen Bulwark 1/5 | Trample 1/5 | Supreme Petrify | Abundance 2/3 | Mending 3/3 | Maul 5/5 |
| Enhanced Earthen Bulwark | Enhanced Trample | Enhanced Boulder | Abundance 3/3 | Iron Fur 1/3 | Ancestral Fortitude |
| Innate Earthen Bulwark | Savage Trample | Savage Boulder | Predatory Instinct 1/3 | Iron Fur 2/3 | |
| Pulverize 2/5 | Trample 2/5 | Boulder 2/5 | Predatory Instinct 2/3 | Iron Fur 3/3 |
Boons
Druid gains access to the Boons mechanic through Spirit Animals at Tur Durla. This can be accessed at level 15 through completing the quest "Spirits of the Lost Grove". Note that the Tur Durla Stronghold in Socsglen must be cleared first.
The Boons are tied to the Spirit Animals that provide them. You can also select a second Boon from one of the Spirit Animals by "bonding" with them. Don’t worry, you can change this at any time, but you must fully unlock the Spirit Animal to Bond with them. Unlocking is achieved by delivering 100 Druidic Spirit Offerings to each Spirit Animal. Spirit Offerings start dropping from mobs around Sanctuary as soon as you hit level 15 and it is very easy to unlock all the Spirit Boons.
For this build you should take:
- Snake - Obsidian Slam:
Every 20th kill will cause your next Earth Skill to Overpower
- Eagle - Scythe Talons:
Gain 5% increased Critical Strike Chance
- Wolf - Energize:
Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to restore 10 Spirit
- Deer - Wariness:
Take 10% reduced damage from Elites
- Eagle - Iron Feather:
Gain 10% maximum Life (Nice to have to help keep you over 80% health)
- Deer - Gift of the Stag:
Gain 10 maximum Spirit (Might not seem like a lot, but you never have enough)
Aspects
Aspects are extremely powerful gear modifiers available only on Legendary and Unique items.
Most Aspects can be earned as first-time clear rewards for completing Dungeons throughout the world of Sanctuary. These Aspects are stored in your Codex of Power – you have full access to them and can imprint them onto your Rare gear at the Occultist.
There are also other Aspects that are more scarce and can be found only on Legendary drops in the world. These Drop Only Aspects can be extracted from their host items and saved in the stash to be later imprinted onto another Rare piece of gear.
Since this is a Diablo 4 Druid Leveling build, in the list below we will include mostly Aspects that you are guaranteed to get through Codex of Power system. In a few cases, we will add mentions of the Drop Only Aspects as alternatives.
Note: (xx) means this value is a random roll. However, imprinting from Codex of Power always gives the lowest possible rolls.
Helm
 | Aspect of Mending Stone The duration of Earthen Bulwark is increased by xx seconds. In addition, killing an enemy with Earth Skills replenishes xx of your active Earthen Bulwark's Barrier. Location: Sealed Archives, Dry Steppes A very nice Aspect to boost your main source of damage mitigation. |
Chest
Gloves
 | Aspect of Quicksand Damage from Earth Skills Slow enemies hit by xx% for xx seconds. Location: Feral's Den, Scosglen This one provides a little more CC for the build. |
| Aspect of the Trampled Earth Trample now summons xx Landslide pillars of earth during its duration that deal xx% normal damage. Trample is now also a Nature Magic and Earth Skill. Location: Drop Only Great enhancement to one of our bread and butter abilities. This provides fantastic AOE damage to Trample. |
Pants
| Aspect of the Protector Damaging an Elite enemy grants you a Barrier absorbing up to xx damage for xx seconds. This effect can only happen once every xx seconds. Location: Lost Archives, Fractured Peaks Great tool to help keep your Health above 80% and keep that Overpower damage high. |
Boots
 | Ballistic Aspect When you have Fortify your Earth Skills gain +xx Ranks. Location: Whispering Pines, Scosglen This build will generate Fortify and the added ranks to Earth Skills are welcomed. |
Amulet
| Shockwave Aspect Pulverize creates a shockwave that travels forward, dealing xx% of its damage to targets in the path. Location: Drop Only An invaluable Aspect that adds more range and AoE to Pulverize. Unfortunately, it is Drop Only, so you will just have to get a little lucky. |
Rings
| Mangled Aspect When you are struck as a Werebear you have a xx% chance to gain xx Spirit. Location: Immortal Emanation, Fractured Peaks This is a nice Spirit Generation tool. |
| Crashstone Aspect Earth Skills deal xx% more Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. Location: Stockades, Scosglen A solid Critical Strike Damage boost to crowd controlled enemies. |
Two-Handed Weapon
| Aspect of Ursine Horror Pulverize is now also an Earth Skill. After casting Pulverize, tectonic spikes continue to deal xx damage over xx seconds. Location: Belfry Zakara, Hawezar Central to the build - a great damage boost and makes Pulverize an Earth Skill. Put this on a two-handed weapon for maximum effectiveness. |
Item Sub-Stats
During early levels, sub-stats on items do not matter too much as they will be replaced often with the items that simply have the highest Item Power. At higher levels, items do reach breakpoints where their sub-stat values can roll higher and that’s when the players have to start hunting certain specific Stats.
These sub-stats are highly recommended when looking at equipment for Earth Bear Diablo 4 Druid Leveling build:
| Equipment Slot | Great Sub-Stats | Good Sub-Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Helm | Willpower, Max Life, Max Spirit | All Stats, Healing Received |
| Chest | Overpower with Werebear Skills, Willpower, Earth Skill Damage, Werebear Skill Damage | Fortify Generation, Maximum Life, Life on Kill |
| Gloves | Overpowered Damage, Ranks of Pulverize, Willpower | Critical Strike Chance, Critical Damage with Earth Skills, All Stats |
| Pants | Maximum Life, Total Armor in Werebear Form, Ranks of Trample, Willpower | Ranks of Boulder, All Stats, Damage Reduction |
| Boots | Willpower, Spirit Cost Reduction | Movement Speed, All Stats |
| Amulet | Overpower Damage with Werebear Skills, Damage while Shapeshifted, Werebear Skill Damage, Earth Skill Damage | Willpower, Total Armor, Damage, Damage to Close Enemies |
| Rings | Overpower Damage, Maximum Life, Damage to Close Enemies, Critical Strike with Earth Skills | Maximum Spirit, Physical Damage |
| Two-Handed Weapon | Overpowered Damage, Critical Strike Damage, Skill Damage, Willpower | Damage to Close Enemies, Damage to Crowd Controled Enemies, All Stats |
Gems
Gems are slotted into items and provide substantial bonuses for your equipment.
Below is the list of recommended Gems for this Diablo 4 Druid Leveling build, depending on the equipment slot:
- Weapons = Rubies
- Armor = Sapphire | Rubies
- Accessories = Skulls | Diamonds
