Are you looking for an incredibly powerful and tanky build for the Druid in Diablo 4 Season One? Look no further than the Storm claw build. In this guide, we will delve into the Storm Claw Druid build. This powerful build centers around maximizing basic skills and utilizes the Greatstaff of the Crone and Tempest Roar unique items to amplify damage output. By combining storm skills with werewolf abilities, the Storm Claw Druid becomes a fearsome force on the battlefield. We will discuss the ideal Paragon Boards, unique/legendary aspects, and gem/heart/gear stats to optimize your gameplay. 

 

• Skill Tree
• Passive Abilities
• Spirit Boons
• Paragon Boards Progression
• Unique/Legendary Aspects
• Gems, Hearts, and Gear Stats

 

 

↖ Skill Tree

Storm Strike (5 Points): Investing in Storm Strike provides both damage and damage reduction benefits. The cleaving effect, bouncing to multiple targets, and damage reduction make it a staple skill.

• Upgrade 1: Immobilize enemies.
• Upgrade 2: Cause enemies to become vulnerable.

 

Claw (5 Points): Claw synergizes well with Storm Strike, triggering additional Storm Strikes with its attacks.

• Upgrade 1: Increases attack speed.
• Upgrade 2: Chance to attack twice, resulting in two Storm Strikes.

 

Cyclone Armor (1 Point): Grants non-physical damage reduction and knocks enemies back.

• Upgrade 1: Slows knockback, enemies.
• Upgrade 2: Provides damage reduction every 10 seconds.

 

Bloodhound (1 Point): This skill is a significant source of healing.

• Upgrade 1: Cooldown reduction on enemy kills.
• Upgrade 2: Grants increased attack speed.

 

Debilitating Roar (1 Point): AOE damage reduction for all enemies.

• Upgrade 1: Fortifies you.
• Upgrade 2: Provides significant healing per second.

 

Hurricane (1 Point): Primarily used for utility and debuffing enemies.

• Upgrade 1: Slows enemies.
• Upgrade 2: Reduces enemies' damage output.

 

Grizzly Rage (1 Point): A key aspect of the build that offers increased survivability.

• Upgrade 1: Makes you unstoppable.
• Upgrade 2: Provides ongoing fortification.

 

Lupine Veracity (1 Point - Capstone): Amplifies werewolf skill damage through critical strikes.

 

↖ Passive Abilities

• Predatory Instinct (3 Points): Boosts critical strike chance against nearby enemies.
• Increased Movement Speed (3 Points): Enhances movement speed while in werewolf form.
• Ancestral Fortitude (3 Points): Provides additional damage reduction.
• Vigilance (3 Points): Grants damage reduction after using a defensive skill.
• Elemental Exposure (1 Point): This supports the enhancement of the Hurricane's effects.
• Endless Tempest (2 Points): Extends the duration of the Hurricane and its effects.
• Envenom (3 Points): Increases critical strike damage for both you and your companion.
• Defiance (3 Points): Boosts damage against elite enemies.
• Defensive Posture (2 Points): Further enhances defensive capabilities.
• Nature's Resolve (2 Points): Strengthens your damage reduction abilities.
• Unrestrained (3 Points): Reduces crowd control effects on you.

 

↖ Spirit Boons

Advantageous Beasts: Reduces crowd control effects on you.

• Side Talons: Increases critical strike chance.
• Swooping Attacks: Enhances attack speed.
• Calamity: Extends Grizzly Rage duration.
• Calm Before the Storm: This provides a chance to reduce the cooldown of your ultimate.

 

↖ Paragon Boards Progression

Starter Board - Exploit Glyph:

• While leveling, prioritize the "Exploit Glyph" node in the Starter Board.
• This glyph provides extra dexterity for secondary effects, granting increased burst damage.

 

Thunderstruck and Earth and Sky Glyphs:

• After getting the Exploit Glyph, move towards "Thunderstruck" for increased Critical Strike damage against vulnerable or immobilized enemies.
• Obtain the "Earth and Sky Glyph" for storm skill damage increase and damage reduction from vulnerable enemies. Nature skills will also deal more damage to crowd-controlled or vulnerable enemies.

 

Investing in Dexterity/Intelligence Nodes:

• Use the power of glyphs to unlock dexterity or intelligence nodes.
• Max out these nodes to get 17 intelligence or dexterity for each point, enabling you to easily access the secondary effects of rare notes across all boards.

 

Height in Malice and Attack Speed Nodes:

• Obtain "Height in Malice" for a significant multiplicative damage increase against poisoned enemies.
• Prioritize attack speed, increasing rare and magic nodes to boost your overall attack speed.

 

Lust for Carnage and Undaunted Glyph:

• Head to the "Lust for Carnage" board, skipping the note itself.
• Insert the "Undaunted Glyph" for massive damage increase while fortified.
• Max out the board to achieve a substantial damage boost, especially when fortified.

 

Inner Beast and Werewolf Glyph:

• Move to the "Inner Beast" board, skipping the note.
• Utilize the "Werewolf Glyph" to enhance amadron werewolf damage reduction while in werewolf form.
• Continue to focus on attack speed, increasing magic and rare nodes to elevate your attack speed even further.

 

Ancestral Guidance Board:

• For now, prioritize the "Ancestral Guidance" board due to its basic skill damage-increasing nodes.
• These nodes provide notable damage increases from singular points.

 

↖ Unique/Legendary Aspects

Great Staff of the Crone:

Essential for the build's functionality.

 

Tempest Roy:

While not mandatory, this aspect provides substantial damage scaling for certain skills. Highly recommended for end-game effectiveness.

 

Aspect on Necklace - Attack Speed: 

Choose a necklace with the aspect that grants up to 45% increased attack speed to enhance your basic skill of spamming.

 

Offensive Aspects on Rings and Gloves: 

Opt for offensive aspects on your rings and gloves to further amplify your damage output.

 

Grizzly Rage:

• Shape-shift into a dire werewolf using the "Grizzly Rage" aspect.
• Gain movement speed instead of damage reduction, allowing you to maximize werewolf skills' usage.

 

Duration Increase and Critical Strike Aspect:

• Increase the duration of "Grizzly Rage" by 5 seconds for extended benefits.
• Gain increased Critical Strike damage with the "Ingersi Rage" aspect, stacking up to around a thousand percent for immense damage potential.

 

Overload Aspect on Gloves:

• Equip gloves with an aspect that has a chance to overload targets hit with lightning damage, causing damage to surrounding enemies.

 

Mad Wolf's Glee and Defensive Chest Aspect:

• Use "Mad Wolf's Glee" for speed farming, but consider switching to a legendary chest piece for increased damage reduction when tackling higher-tier content.

 

Disobedience and Debilitating Roar Aspects:

• Equip "Disobedience" on your legs for stacking armor and strong defense.
• Utilize the "Debilitating Roar" aspect on boots to immobilize all poisoned enemies, aiding in crowd control.

 

↖ Gems, Hearts, and Gear Stats

We will cover a powerful build focused on enhancing your basic skill damage using gems, hearts, and gear stats. The core concept of this build revolves around utilizing the Barber effect to deal with massive area of effect (AOE) damage. Follow these steps to optimize your build:

 

Gems:

• Focus on gems that enhance basic skill damage, critical strike chance, and critical strike damage.
• Consider using gems that increase damage to specific enemy types or enhance damage in certain scenarios (e.g., damage to fortified enemies, poison damage, etc.).
• Maximize gem ranks to maximize their effects on your overall damage output.

 

Hearts:

• The Barber heart is a crucial component of this build. It triggers an AOE explosion of accumulated damage upon critically striking an enemy.
• Utilize the Barber heart to build up damage over time and then unleash it with devastating AOE damage.
• Consider using other hearts that complement the AOE damage focus, such as hearts that pull distant enemies closer or reduce incoming damage.
• Experiment with different hearts to find the combination that best suits your playstyle and enhances your AOE potential.

 

Gear Stats:

Weapon	Prioritize gear stats that increase basic skill damage, attack speed, critical strike chance, and willpower. Consider replacing lucky hit chance with critical strike damage to maximize the AOE potential of the Barber effect.
Gloves	Aim for gear stats that include attack speed, lucky hit chance, critical strike chance, and willpower. Focus on maximizing damage from different sources, both distant and close combat. Critical strike damage might be a better option than a lucky hit chance to enhance your overall damage output.
Legs	Opt for damage junction from various sources, such as distant, close, fortified, and poison. Prioritize damage reduction while injured, as it offers significant survivability when your health drops below 35%.
Boots	Choose gear stats that provide dodge chance, movement speed, and damage reduction while injured. By combining legs and boots stats, aim to achieve over 80% damage reduction while injured when your health is at or below 35%.
Necklace	Enhance gear stats that boost venom damage, move-in speed, and damage direction from poison. Optimize your build with a mix of offensive and defensive stats to maximize overall effectiveness.
Rings	Prioritize gear stats that increase critical strike chance, maximum life, and critical strike damage. Consider swapping lucky hit chance for other damage-related stats, such as vulnerability, critical strike with storm skills, or additional critical strike chance.

 

Final Thoughts:

This build focuses on maximizing your basic skill damage through synergistic gems, hearts, and gear stats. The Barber heart is central to the build's success, enabling you to deal devastating AOE damage upon critical strikes. Experiment with different combinations of hearts and gear stats to fine-tune the build to your playstyle. With this setup, you should be well-equipped to tackle challenging content in the game. Keep an eye out for variations of this build, such as one without the Barber heart, to compare and assess its strength.