Diablo 4 Druid Build - Howling Tempest (LvL 70+)
Jun. 29, 2023Diablo 4 Druid Build – Howling Tempest (LvL 70+)
Diablo 4 Druid Build – Howling Tempest (LvL 70+): In this Diablo 4DruidBuild, I’ll show you how to play a LvL 70+ Howling Tempest Druid that’s aimed at World Tier 4. If you’re looking for a Build that combines the Tempest and Howl Storm Builds that I did for World Tier 3, then thisDiablo 4 Howling Tempest Druid Build Guideis for you!
Both the Tempest and Howl Storm Builds focused on the use ofLightning Stormto deal damage. Now in the Howl Storm Diablo 4 Druid Build, I not only set Poison on enemies in order to gain increasedCritical Strike Damagebut also to help take damage off of them. Here, we’ve sort of altered away from that in favor of other strategies, but the general concept is the same.
We’re still going to spam Lightning Storm to annihilate everything that’s on the screen, especially since it got buffed in the last Patch 1.0.3. So the duration in which the amount of Lightning Bolts that come out has been increased from 4 to 6 seconds. This gives you a 6-second winder in between casts to get the maximum bolts out. Additionally, on thePrimal Lightning Stormupgrade, the Immobilize chance has been raised from 8 to 12%, which is fantastic because you do increased damage to Immobilized targets due to a lot of passive that Lightning Druids have.
Another obviously notable passives is thePerfect Storm Key Passive. This makes is so that storm skills grant one spirit and even deal increased damage againstVulnerable,Immobilized, or slowed enemies. Bad Omen is also another great pick, since on Lucky Hit you have up to a 30% chance to deal even more lightning damage to these crowd-controlled enemies.
TheElectric Shockpassive will help trigger immobilize whenever you deal lightning damage. If a target is already immobilized when this procs, then it will deal even more damage to that target. Our secondParagon Board, Constricting Tendrils, features a Legendary Node that further gives all Nature Magic skills a chance to entangle enemies in vines, effectively immobilizing them for two seconds and dealing poison damage. Lastly, thePoison Creepercan be activated to manually immobilize and poison enemies. As we’re taking thePackleaderSpirit Boon, any critical hits we do will also have a chance to reset any Companion Skill cooldowns, giving us more opportunities to reapplyPoison Creeper’s immobilize.
We also make use ofBlood HowlandInnate Blood Howlto help manage our Life and Spirit resources. You can potentially enhance this ability by making use of theNighthowler’s Aspectwhich we will discuss later on. Last isDebilitating Roar, which we only make use of in conjunction with theAspect of the Dark Howlwhich immobilizes poisoned enemies.
Once you hit Tier IV you’ll want to start thinking about min/maxing to get the most out of your Build, and that starts with Skills. Thanks toParagon Boardsand to the increasedEquipmentaffixes, you’ll be able to bypass most of the restrictions you previously faced while leveling up. I also won’t get too deep into Skills, as you most probably know how they work by now.
Equipment is the most important part of any Endgame Build, and It’s important to understand that it’s a long-term goal. You won’t have all Paragon Boards available right away, and getting all uniques will probably take a lot of farming, so try to useLegendary Aspectsto adjust to your needs while you farm levels and better gear.
I’ll divide the Equipment into different slots, so it’s easier to understand what you should be using and what affixes you should be looking for. Remember that unique equipment has fixed affixes and powers, so if you are using one, you might need to re-slot a Legendary Aspect into a different piece.
Another important thing to notice is that, when looking for stats, you’ll want to make sure you are fulfilling your Paragon Rare Node requirements. Some rare nodes have very high requirements, and equipment is what allows you to fulfill them. These bonuses often double the rare node effect so, for example, getting an Equipment piece with +100Dexteritymight unlock one or more Node bonuses, giving you a massive bonus as a result.
Legendary Aspect
Aspect of Disobedience: We take this Aspect to further increase the armor we have to make us much tankier.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Aspect of Shared Misery: This makes it so when you crowd control an enemy, you have up to a 50% Lucky Hit chance to spread the debuff to another enemy that’s unaffected by crowd control. Essentially, this will mean that you immobilize more enemies, which increases your damage against them and increases your resource gain.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Runework’s Conduit Aspect: This makes it so that critical strikes with Storm Skills make the air around you charged up, which casts damaging lightning bolts periodically. Just like theLightning Dancer’s Aspectbelow, you’ll want to keep upgrading this Aspect for its damage. The duration on it isn’t super important, because you can keep extending it withCritical Strikes. Because Lightning Storm hits so many enemies, and because of our highCritical Strike Chance, you’re going to be able to keep extending this indefinitely.
– OR –
Nighthowler’s Aspect: This is an alternative aspect that we can use if you don’t want to equip the Runework’s Conduit. It makes Blood Howl increase Critical Strike Chance in addition to its effects. The skill also affects nearby Companions and Players.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Protecting Aspect: This summons a bubble whenever you get hit when not Healthy once every 90 seconds. This is great because you get to stand inside that bubble, take no damage and can freely cast spells. You don’t need to worry about anything such as dodging hazards.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Aspect of the Dark Howl: This converts Debilitating Roar into a Werewolf Skill and gives it a secondary effect that immobilizes poisoned enemies for up to four seconds. The aspect is great because of Poison Creeper. Once that skill’s immobilization wears off, you can retrigger another round of immobilize with Debilitating Roar.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Lightning Dancer’s Aspect: This the most important Legendary Aspect of the build, and should be placed on a Two Handed Weapon, specifically aStaffwhich adds damage to crowd controlled enemies, to maximize its effect. This makes it so that any Critical Strikes from Lightning Storm will spawn 3 smaller dancing bolts that will seek out enemies and deal even more Lightning Damage. However, this is one of those Aspects that you will need to keep upgrading throughout your journey. As your level goes higher, and you pass through Sacred and Ancestral quality aspects, the damage from Lightning Dancer will keep increasing.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Accelerating Aspect: This is just a means to further increase your attack speed. Critically Striking with your Core Skill, Lightning Storm, will be extremely reliable. The faster you can cast Lightning Storm, the faster things die, and this will be greatly enhanced with this Aspect’s Attack Speed bonus.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Smiting Aspect: Both of the components of this aspect are really important. First, you get increased Critical Strike Chance against enemies below 35% health, making finishing them off much, much easier. The second part of this skill makes it so that you have 40% increased Crowd Control Duration whenever you are Healthy. Doing so will keep enemies Immobilized longer, meaning you damage them more and more.
Affixes
Legendary Aspect
Aspect of the Umbral: This works extremely well with the number of sources of Crowd Control you have at your disposal. Aspect of the Umbral restores a small portion of your Spirit whenever you Immobilize a target, which we will do so regularly, whether via Poison Creeper, or just by dealing Lightning Damage. This is one of the best ways to alleviate the Druid’s Spirit management problems.
Affixes
For gems, you’ll want to slot:
When it comes toParagon Boards, we are mainly going to aim for Rare Nodes that increase our damage output, as well asGlyphsthat synergize with our Build. Please note that the order in which I get the Nodes is just a general guideline, and you can adjust it to your current needs.
The first Glyph you’ll want to slot on your Base Board here is theExploit Glyph. This makes it so that whenever you damage enemies, they become Vulnerable for three seconds. It also increases your Vulnerable Damage. Exploit gives a huge boost to this build’s damage, because Lightning Storm constantly makes things on the entire screen Vulnerable.
For your Second Paragon Board, you’re going to takeConstricting Tendrilsas mentioned earlier. This makes it so that all of your Nature Magic Skills have a chance to immobilize targets and poison them as well. Since we’re also using the Envenom passive, all Critical Strike Damage against poisoned enemies will be greatly enhanced.
The Glyph we’ll be placing here isSpirit, which further boosts the Critical Strike Damage of our Core Skill, Lightning Storm. Its secondary effect also gives Critical Strikes a ramping debuff that makes enemies take up to 12% increased damage from us for 20 seconds.
Last on the Second Board are two really good rare nodes. You will want to getDevastationandNature’s Willas soon as possible as both drastically increase our Nature Magic Skill Damage. Devastation, in particular, also increases our Damage to Elites.
So then you’ll move on toAncestral Guidancefor our third Paragon Board. The Legendary Node on this board makes it so that after spending 75 Spirit, you deal 30% increased damage for 5 seconds. While the Node by itself is already extremely powerful, we are actually after the rareReclamationnode and the magic nodes around it. Reclamation and the nodes directly around it increase your Maximum Spirit and also grant you Spirit on Kill. These two are huge for this build, as they really help you generate a lot of Spirit. I would even go as far as recommend that you take Ancestral Guidance for your second Paragon Board in case you don’t have enough points to get to these nodes.
The next Glyph we’re using isHuman. This increases the damage you do while in Human form, but also decreases the damage you take while in this form. While you do change into a Werewolf briefly to use two skills, you immediately shift back to Human form to cast your Lightning Storm.
This build absolutely destroys. It is extremely strong and satisfying, particularly when there are lots of enemies on the screen and there’s lightning bolts going everywhere. It is tons and tons of fun to play, and for those of you that would look great looking for an upgrade to The Tempest build, here you go.
Be sure to check out ourDiablo 4 Wikifor any other questions you have about the game and theBuildspage if you are looking for more Diablo IV Builds, as well as ourUltimate Beginner GuideandAll Classes Overviewif you are looking for more Diablo 4 content!
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
The extra points are in Blood Howl. It should be 1/5.
He must have copied it from in-game where he has items adding 4 more points.
I’m sorry but the math for the talent points is off cuz there’s only 58 points in the game. You’re showing four additional points that just unfortunately do not exist. Could you please update the guide ASAP?
