The Druid is nature’s champion in the fight against Diablo and his minions. Here’s the best Druid build to use in Season 9 of Diablo 4.
With the power of the earth and creatures great and small at their command, the Druid uses their mastery over the natural world to defend Sanctuary from the forces of Hell. They can also shapeshift into savage werewolves or hulking werebears.
The character was originally introduced in Diablo 2: The Lord of Terror and serves as a hybrid between a minion class and a traditional mage. With Horadric Powers now being the theme of Season 9, here’s the best Druid build to use.
What is The Best Druid Build in Season 9?
The best Druid build in Season 9 is the Companion Druid by a wide margin.
The build relies on using pets such as wolves, ravens, vines, and spirits to aid you in battle, calling on the forces of nature to be your allies. Essentially, it’s a classic minion build that mobs enemies with your own private army of critters.
What Are The Best Skills to Use For This Build?
The foundation of any build in Diablo 4 is the skills you select, how many points you allocate to each, and what upgrades you add, if any. As the name suggests, the key skill we’ll be using for this build is Spirit Wolves, but other active skills like Ravens and Shred will also play a role.
Remember, as most seasonal characters push to endgame within a few hours in Season 9, we’ll be crafting this build with that in mind. But the good news is that this build will also work for anyone who’s playing through the campaign, too.
So, for the Companiom Druid build, pick the following skills as you level:
Active Skills
Select the following Active Skills with the below number of points and upgrades.
| Skill | Points | Upgrades |
|---|---|---|
| Maul | 1 | Enhanced |
| Shred | 1 | Enhanced, Primal |
| Blood Howl | 1 | Enhanced, Preserving |
| Roar | 1 | Enhanced, Inate |
| Wolf Pack | 5 | Enhanced, Ferocious |
| Ravens | 5 | Enhanced, Savage |
| Petrify | 5 | Enhanced, Supreme |
Passive Skills
Select the following Passive Skills with the below number of points and upgrades:
| Skill | Points |
|---|---|
| Predatory Insticts | 1 |
| Iron Fur | 3 |
| Backlash | 3 |
| Ancestral Fortitude | 1 |
| Vigilance | 3 |
| Feral Aptitude | 3 |
| Humanity | 3 |
| Call of the Wild | 3 |
| Neurotoxin | 1 |
| Envenom | 3 |
| Natural Disaster | 3 |
| Defensive Posture | 3 |
| Catastrophe | 3 |
| Quickshift | 3 |
| Heightened Senses | 3 |
| One With Nature | (Key Passive) |
Best Spirit Boons
The Druid’s unique class powers involve using Spirit Boons. These essentially give you stat boosts for as long as you have them active, but you can switch your Boons to suit your build should you wish.
To unlock Spirit Boons, you’ll need to complete the Druid’s unique priority quest once you reach level 15, then you’ll be able to activate one power per animal spirit.
For the Companion build, select the following Spirit Boons for best results:
- Deer Spirit: Wariness
- Eagle Spirit: Avian Wrath
- Wolf Spirit: Packleader
- Snake Spirit: Masochistic
Finally, select Eagle Spirit as your bonded power and activate the Iron Feather skill.
Paragon Board
You’ll reach the Paragon Board once you hit level 60, and normal leveling will stop and be replaced by a selection of nodes that will now serve a similar function. You’ll need to move around the Paragon Board, activating nodes to increase your base stats every time you get a level up.
As you move around the board, you’ll spot special nodes called Glyphs that offer more significant rewards that are geared towards your character class and skills. For the Companion build, try to prioritize the following Glyphs:
- Wilds
- Spirit
- Headhunter
- Keeper
- Earth and Sky
All Glyphs are helpful, but the above will be most useful for this build. You won’t be able to access these Glyphs every time, so don’t worry about it, just move towards them, earning the stat boosts that most suit you as you do.
What Are The Best Mercenaries To Choose?
Mercenaries were added to Diablo 4 during the Vessel of Hatred expansion and allow you to have a powerful follower who aids you in battle. You can also call a Reinforcement merc who strikes when you activate a certain skill and provides buffs.
When hiring mercenaries, it pays to bring one that suits your build. For example, if you’re using a melee-focused character, it’s helpful to bring a projectile-based merc, or one who can provide some magic support.
For the Companion Druid build, we recommend hiring the following mercenaries:
Hired: Subo
Hiring Subo will provide you with some ranged support, which will help weaken or finish off any enemies hit by your attacks. His Seeker passive skill will help you target mobs from a wider distance, annihilating them with grenades and your own skills before they can move on you.
Selecting his Ready At Hand skill also boosts your movement speed, which, coupled with your shapeshifting skills, makes for a deadly combination. Finally, select his Opening Fire skill to stack criticals for massive damage buffs.
Reinforcement: Raheir
For your reinforcement merc, select Raheir and set him to cast Crater every time you attack. Not only will this stun enemies, it will pull them into one place, making them easy pickings for your next round of attacks.
This setup is arguably even more powerful than anything you’ll get from your hired merc, but for it to work, Raheir needs to be a reinforcement.
What Are The Best Horadric Powers to Use?
Season 9 of Diablo 4 is all about using the new Horadric Powers. These have essentially replaced Boss Powers this season, so for the Companion Druid, try and prioritize the following Horadric Powers:
- Catalyst: Celestial Surge (Bind to Wolves)
- Infusion: Nebulous Extract
- Arcana: Musky Essence, Bloody Charm, Fractured Core
It could take a while to find them all, but these are the Horadric Powers to aim for.
What Are The Best Items to Equip?
The loot you equip in Diablo 4 is an important part of your build in Diablo 4, and while it takes time to hunt down this high-level gear, or the Legendary/Mythic Aspects that give each its power, some will make the build even more powerful.
Below, we’ll reveal what items and Aspects you’ll want to use for this Druid build. Remember, some items and Aspects represent the same piece of gear, while others are separate and will need to be combined to create that specific piece of equipment.
| Item | Aspect | Item type | How to get | Sockets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harlequin Crest | – | Helm | Farm Duriel | NaguKry Runeword |
| Shroud of False Death | Shroud of False Death | Armor | Farm Echo of Varshan | 2x Grand Sapphires |
| Runic Gloves of the Stampede | Stampede | Gloves | Random drops | – |
| Storm’s Companion | – | Pants | Farm The Beast in the Ice for the Aspect Pants are a random drop | 2x Grand Sapphires |
| Runic Cleats of Metamorphosis | Metamorphosis | Boots | Random drops | – |
| Shepherd’s War Crest | Shepherd’s | Weapon | Aspect found in Bloodsoaked Crag in Dry Steppes Weapon is a random drop | YulCeh Runeword |
| – | – | Offhand | – | – |
| Ocelot’s Eye of the Alpha Furor | Alpha | Amulet | Both Amulet and Aspect are random drops | Grand Diamond |
| Moonrage Soulwatch Hoop | Moonrage | Ring | Both Amulet and Aspect are random drops | Grand Diamond |
| Ring of Starless Skies | – | Ring | Random drop | Perfect Skull |
You’ll not be able to obtain many of these items and Aspects until endgame, but these are the ones to hunt down once you’re able.
Looking forward to smiting some demons with the Druid build in Season 9? Let us know via the Insider Gaming forum, where you can start up some hot Diablo 4 discussions.
You can also find out the best builds in Season 9 for the Spiritborn, Necromancer, Barbarian, Rogue, and Sorcerer classes while you’re here.
