Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build - Shredder
Jun. 2, 2023Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build – Shredder
In this Diablo 4 WerewolfDruidBuild Guide I’ll show you how to play my Shredder Werewolf Build, which is an End Game Druid Build in Diablo 4, aimed at World Tier 3 that is capable of doing Helltide and Nightmare Dungeon content. If you’ve been looking for a good Diablo 4 End Game Druid Build, then this Guide is for you!
The general strategy for this Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build is to set the Poison status effect on many enemies, and then teleport to enemies usingShredwhich triggers theAspect of the Blurred Beast, instantly dealing up to 150% (if you have it on a two-handed weapon) of the Poison Damage on them instantly. This is a HUGE amount of damage when you pair it with other skills the deal Poison Damage likeRabies,Poison CreeperandToxic Claws.
Critical Strikes also play a large part in this Build thanks to theStormclaw’s Aspect, which makes you deal Lightning Damage to the target and around the target when you Crit against them. And since we have thePackleader Spirit Boon, we can often cast back to back Poison Creepers, stacking tons of Poison Damage on enemies, before one shotting them with Shred thanks to the Aspect of the Blurred.
Nighthowler’s Aspectboosts our Critical Chance further for this Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build, as does theScythe Talons Spirit Boon, and theShapshifter Glyphfrom theParagonboard. Shapeshifter makes your next Shapeshifting Skill have a +20% Critical Strike Chance when you change into a Werewolf or Werebear to use a Skill, in this case Shred. This is made possible because we useStorm Strikeoften, which transforms us back to human, so this is a near constant 20% Critical Chance upgrade as long as you alternate between Shred and Storm Strike.
You also gain 20% Critical Strike Chance against Entangled enemies from Poison Creeper if you take the Brutal Poison Creeper upgrade as well, and Predatory Instinct provides you with 6% Critical Chance against Close enemies. All these add together granting you at least 56% Critical Chance against enemies trapped in your vines that are close to you, and that’s not factoring in any Critical Chance on gear you have.
The synergies don’t end there however, as theMasochistic Spirit Boonheals you when you Critically Strike with Shapeshifting Skills, so you should stay topped up on Health constantly. AndLupine Ferocitymakes Shred attacks guaranteed to Critically Hit and for more Critical Damage every so often, whileLust For Carnageprovides you 2 Spirit every time you Critically Strike with Werewolf Skills.
Each Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build is made up of the 6 Active Skills they have equipped and changing theseSkillscan drastically change the way the Druid Class in Diablo IV plays. In this section we’ll take a look at what Skills you should slot for the Shredder Build. Your Skill distribution should look something like this:
The above list gives you the points you should invest from top to bottom assuming you’re level 50 already, but if you’re not, keep in mind that you should prioritize picking up new Skills over investing in passives, so pick up passives later if you can get new Skills when you level up.
Poison Creeper is essential for this build for several reasons. First, it ensnares enemies, preventing them from moving, protecting you and also allowing you to take advantage of Damage Vs. Immobilized and Damage vs. Crowd Controlled bonuses on gear.
Second, it deals a LARGE amount of Poison Damage over time. Why this is so good for this Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build is that the Aspect of the Blurred can take advantage of this to deal insane damage to enemies affected by this Skill.
And third, it’s a Companion Skill, which means you have a chance to instantly refresh it with a Lucky Hit when you Critical Strike thanks to the Packleader Spirit Boon. This means you can often use this Skill repeatedly, stacking very high Poison Damage, and also keeping enemies pinned down so they cannot attack you.
Make sure to upgrade Poison Creeper with Enhanced Poison Creeper andBrutal Poison Creeperfor a longerImmobilizationduration and a +20% chance to Crit against enemies in the vines. This is huge for this Build and helps you trigger Packleader more often, allowing more Poison Creeper refreshes.
Shred is essential to this Build because it not only hits in an AoE, it teleports you to enemies, and when you Critically Hit with it you’ll do extra Lightning Damage to the target and surrounding enemies thanks to Stormclaw’s Aspect.
Aspect of the Blurred really makes this Skill shine, but the caveat is that you have to physically teleport to the target with Shred to deal the extra damage to Poisoned enemies. This means you often have to use Poison Creeper and then either take a few steps backward and then use it, or aim for a distant entangled enemy so that you actually jump to them.
Because the gap close damage from this Aspect is so high, thePrimal Shredupgrade is a much better choice, since it allows you to teleport with each strike of Shred, which can often net you multiple triggers of this effect. Plus it boosts your Critical Damage with this Skill, which synergizes nicely with our Crit themed build.
Ravens are just a nice way to get additional damage on enemies when you trigger a pull, and they can apply Vulnerable to enemies, increasing your damage against them for a few seconds. This Skill also refreshes when you trigger Packleader, so you can drop this quite often, and it doesn’t consume Spirit which is essential as Spirit is a limiting factor to this Build.
You’ll use Blood Howl pretty much any time it is off cooldown if you don’t have maxSpirit, which is most of the time. With theInnate Blood Howlpassive it will provide you 20Spirit, making it easier to use Shred more often, which is why you’ll spam it, as this helps fuel your Shredding. Be more selective about using it in Boss fights since its primary function is to heal, and you the healing is more important than theSpiritin these encounters.
Nighthowler’s Aspect can make this give you Critical Chance for a few seconds after using this, which also helps out a lot with this Build, so make sure you slot this somewhere, and this one Aspect is why we use this Defensive Skill over any other.
Storm Strike is used for a few reasons. It provides a lot of Sprit when striking enemies, and it also makes many of them Vulnerable, which increases your damage against them by minimally 20%, but this can be more depending on your gear bonuses. This is particularly great against Bosses, who tend to be rather tanky.
Additionally, it shifts you back into Human form allowing you to gain 6 Spirt from Clarity, and will make your next Shred have +20% Critical Strike Chance thanks to the Shapeshifting Glyph from the Paragon system. You have to actually Shift when you use a Werewolf Skill to gain this bonus, so alternate between Storm Strike and Shred for best results.
Rabies is the new addition here, and really it’s here because of the Aspect of the Blurred effect. The more damage stacked onto enemies, the more damage they’ll take when you jump to them with Shred. If you drop Poison Creeper and then Rabies, step back a few steps and then Shred, you’ll often kill an entire group of elites instantly. Natural Rabies makes it spread faster, which makes for faster clear speed, so I suggest taking this upgrade.
In this section we’ll cover the Equipment you’ll use for the Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build, and what you should be on the lookout for. I’ve mentioned some of it before, but I’ll reiterate the important points here.
For weapon you’ll ideally want a two-handed staff since this weapon type provides you with increased Damage to Crowd Controlled enemies, and a lot of it. Since you constantly attack enemies that are Immobilized by Poison Creeper, and enemies that are slowed thanks to Neurotoxin, this applies to your attacks nearly all the time.
Bonuses you want to look for are Critical Strike Chance, Damage Over Time, Damage to Crowd Controlled and Damage to Poisoned enemies. Remember than the more damage over time enemies take from your Poison, them more damage you will do with Aspect of the Blurred Beast. Lucky Hit is also good since you triggering Packleader really helps with Poison Damage.
For Armor you’ll want to focus on Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies. You vary rarely have issues with melee enemies with this Build since they are Slowed or Immobilized most of the time, but you can get whittled down by ranged enemies, which is why this comes in handy.
For Jewelry you’ll want to look for similar bonuses as that of your Weapon, since these are the best things for this Build.
Both Mighty and Vigorous Aspect give you Damage Reduction, which helps you stay alive, and Aspect of the Umbral provides you with Sprit whenever you CC an enemy. Spirit management is a huge part of this Build since Shred costs a ton, and this Aspect really helps to alleviate some Spirit issues. Accelerating Aspect increases your Attack Speed for 5 seconds after you Critically Strike, which can speed up your Shreds and Storm Strikes.
When you hit 50 and unlock the Paragon System, you’ll begin hunting for Glyphs to slot into your board, as well as picking up other bonuses as well. There are a few good choices of Glyphs for this Diablo 4 Werewolf Druid Build early on, and those are:
Shapeshifter is the best possible Glyph for this Build, so I highly recommend it, but Sprit is also good for increased Critical Strike Damage. Bane increases your Poison Damage, and gives a chance for double Poison Damage, which is also good. Exploit applies Vulnerable to enemies, which boosts your damage and isn’t a bad option, and Fang and Claw simply increases your damage while Shifted.
The board you want to focus on is the Lust for Carnage, as this will help you with damage and the primary passive makes it so your Critical Strikes restore 2 Spirit, which pretty solves any Spirit issues you ever had with this Build.
Remember thatNeurotoxinis extremely valuable for this Build because it turns yourPoisonsintoSlowswhich allows you to use things like Damage vs. Crowd Controlled enemies and Damage vs. Slowed enemies to further increase your damage. You only need 1 point to make this happen, so make sure you do this as soon as you can!
UseElixirsto not only boost your damage, but to increase your XP gain. They are not hard to craft, and you should have a bunch of materials by this point of the game. They can make your Dungeon clear speed a bit better if you know the enemy type you will be facing. You might need to enter the dungeon first to see what’s inside before using.
Remember to upgrade your gear at the Blacksmith and Jeweler in order to increase the effectiveness of your gear. The game slows down a lot at this point in terms of leveling so you can use a piece of gear much longer than you could on Tier II. This can help you out a lot!
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 GuideandBest Class to Play Guideif 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.
At level 50 I am still 4 points shy of completing this build.
Is it possible to show us a paragon Layout ?
Many thx
A paragon lay out would be really nice
So this build passes up on an ultimate and goes for quickshift? Going to try it out.
