Lightning Storm – Druid Build for Diablo 4

Build Introduction

Wielding thunderous power, the Lightning Storm Druid is a force of nature, commanding the elements to rain down a storm of destruction upon the enemies of Sanctuary! Use Lightning Storm and Tempest Roar to become the Lightning Storm Werewolf, and lash out with luminous lightning!

This guide covers everything necessary to get started on your Lightning Storm adventure, including Skill Tree points, Paragon, Gearing, and Seasonal updates. The guide will primarily cover Endgame pushing, but will also give alternative options and in-depth gameplay information.

Season 6: Lightning Storm now has a dedicated Weapon temper for Chance to deal double Damage.

Strengths and Weaknesses

To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, you can check out our build tier lists.

Build Requirements

The following Unique Items are required for build functionality to get started on the Lightning Storm Druid:

Required Uniques

Tempest Roar

Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps

Mjölnic Ryng

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Recommended

Skill Bar for Lightning Storm Druid

Cyclone Armor Earthen Bulwark Blood Howl Cataclysm Maul Lightning Storm

Use Key Passive Perfect Storm while leveling and gearing.

Raging Lightning Storm is now more reliably giving the extra lightning strike, and can be taken during farm. Primal Lightning Storm can be taken for bossing to help Stagger the boss sooner.

Spirit Boons – The Druid Class Specialization

Druids unlock powerful Spirit Boon passives, giving offerings to the animal spirits to receive their Blessing. Once fully unlocked, activate the final Boon by Spirit Bonding with one of the four animal spirits to take two passives from that row.

While leveling and gearing, use the Wolf’s Energize for Spirit management. Replaces Calamity.

Paragon Board

The following are the preferred Glyphs, Boards, and pathing recommended for making the most of the Lightning Storm Druid.

The road to max paragon level is long. Pathing priority should be the following:

• Path for the Legendary Node effects and the board’s Glyph Slots, filling out enough surrounding nodes to activate the Additional Bonus for the Glyph.
• Fill out Rare Nodes along the path taken for Legendary Nodes and Glyphs.
• Take the rest of the paths inside the Glyph Radius, such as filling in all Dexterity nodes for Spirit for their additive bonuses.
• Take the branching paths to the rest of the Rare Nodes.
• Fill out the remaining Magic Nodes near their Rare Nodes.
• Complete the rest of the board.

Glyphs have two significant breakpoint increases. At level 15, the glyph grows in radius and gains a special effect. At level 46, the glyph grows to its max radius and gains a strong conditional damage multiplier.

Glyphs are placed as if they are at least level 15+ in radius. Total Boards placed are now limited to a max of 5; the Starter Board and four Class Boards. Rotate boards as necessary.

For a more defensive setup, exchange Fulminate for Territorial.

For further info on Paragon choices, check the Paragon Information in the Additional Information Section.

Gear, Stats, Gems and Elixirs

The following are the recommended Legendary Aspects, Gear Affixes, Gems and Elixirs for the Lightning Storm Druid.

Legendary Aspects

Gear Slots with multiple options are listed in recommended priority. Any slot with an Optional Mythic Unique or Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power to use while still leveling and gearing.

Slot	Gem	Aspect	Unique/Legendary Aspect Power
1 Handed Dagger	Grand Emerald	Accelerating Aspect (Defensive Optional Mythic) Doombringer	Critical Strikes with Core Skills increase your Attack Speed by 10-30% for 5 seconds.
Totem	Grand Emerald	Aspect of the Changeling’s Debt	You deal 25-65% increased damage while hitting a Poisoned enemy as a Werebear or a Crowd Controlled enemy as a Werewolf.
Helm	Grand Sapphire	(Required Unique) Tempest Roar	Lucky Hit: Storm Skills have up to a 15-35% chance to grant 4 Spirit. Your base Storm Skills are now also Werewolf Skills
Chest	Grand Sapphire	(Recommended Mythic) Shroud of False Death (Recommended Unique) Mad Wolf’s Glee Juggernaut’s Aspect	If you haven’t attacked in the last 2 seconds, gain Stealth and 40% Movement Speed.
Gloves		Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps	Lightning Storm gains 1 additional strike each times it grows. Lightning Storm Critical Strikes cause lightning to strike twice, dealing 10-40% increased damage.
Pants	Grand Sapphire	Vigorous Aspect	Gain 7.5-17.5% Damage Reduction while Shapeshifted into a Werewolf.
Boots		(Optional Minmax Unique) Wildheart Hunger Aspect of Metamorphosis	Shapeshifting into a new animal form increases the value of your Bestial Rampage bonuses by 2-5%, up to 20-50%. This bonus decays by 2% per second.
Amulet	Grand Amethyst	Aspect of Retaliation	Your Core Skills deal up to 35-75% increased damage based on your amount of Fortify.
Ring 1	Grand Ruby	(recommended Unique) Mjölnic Ryng Aspect of the Umbral	While Cataclysm is active, you gain unlimited Spirit and deal 40-100% increased damage.
Ring 2	Grand Sapphire	(Recommended Mythic) Ring of Starless Skies Aspect of the Unsatiated	Spending your Primary Resource reduces the Resource cost of your Skills and increases your damage by 10% for 3 seconds, up to 50%.

Aspect of the Unsatiated damage buff is for any Werewolf Skill, which with Tempest Roar, includes Lightning Storm.

For information on Legendary Aspects and the updated Codex of Power, see here.

Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes

Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. Tempering Manuals and their recommended affixes are provided in the final column. The bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. Unique Items cannot be Tempered, but can be Masterworked.  Check the Tempering guide and Masterworking guide for more details about these topics.

Any slot with an Optional Mythic Unique or Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power to use while still leveling and gearing.

Slot	Gearing Affixes	Tempering Affixes
One-Handed Dagger	Willpower Maximum Life Critical Strike Damage Resource Cost Reduction Spirit on Kill	Storm Augments – Chance for Lightning Storm to Deal Double Damage Storm Finesse – Storm Critical Strike Chance
One Handed Sword- (Defensive Optional Mythic) Doombringer	All Stats Maximum Life% Damage Reduction Lucky Hit: Chance to Heal
Totem	Willpower Critical Strike Chance Cooldown Reduction Maximum Life	Storm Augments – Chance for Lightning Storm to Deal Double Damage Storm Finesse – Storm Critical Strike Chance
Helm – Tempest Roar (Required Unique)	Willpower Maximum Resource Lightning Resistance Ranks to Wild Impulses
Chest – Mad Wolf’s Glee (Recommended Unique)	Max Life Werewolf Attack Speed Lupine Ferocity’s Damage Bonus Ranks to Digitigrade Gait
Chest – Legendary Aspect	Willpower Max Life Spirit Per Second Armor	Worldly Endurance – Total Armor Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: Chance to Immobilize/Stun for 2 Seconds
Gloves – Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps (Required Unique)	Damage to Distant Enemies Ranks to Lightning Storm Critical Strike Chance Ranks to Defiance
Pants	Armor Willpower Max Life Dodge Chance	Worldly Endurance – Total Armor% Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: Chance to Immobilize/Stun for 2 Seconds
Boots – Wildheart Hunger (Recommended Unique)	Movement Speed Shapeshifting Attack Speed Cold Resistance Ranks to Heightened Senses
Boots – Legendary Aspect	Impicit: Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown By 1.5 Seconds Willpower Movement Speed Max Life Spirit Per Second	Druid Motion – Ranks to Digitigrade Gait OR Movement Speed Worldly Fortune – Lucky Hit: Chance to Immobilize/Stun for 2 Seconds
Amulet	Ranks to Envenom Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Ranks to Quickshift	Druid Motion – Ranks to Digitigrade Gait OR Movement Speed Storm Finesse – Storm Critical Strike Chance
Ring – (Recommended Unique) Mjölnic Ryng	Willpower Critical Strike Chance Movement Speed While Cataclysm is Active Ranks to Endless Tempest
Ring – (Recommended Mythic) Ring of Starless Skies	Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Lucky Hit Chance Ranks to Core Skills
Rings – Legendary Aspect	Critical Strike Chance Maximum Life Resource Cost Reduction Critical Strike Damage	Natural Finesse – Damage to Close/Distant Enemies Ultimate Efficiency – Cataclysm Cooldown Reduction

• Some Gear Affixes like Cost Reduction, Spirit on Kill or Spirit Per Second can be useful in early gearing or leveling, especially if not using the Mjölnic Ryng with full Cataclysm uptime.
• Daggers have the best attack speed and give Damage to Close which is a bonus for Thunderstruck. The rest of the legendary node is covered by Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps.
• Armor cap is 1000 for up to 85% Physical Damage Reduction. This is generally reached with either one Armor Gear Affix and one Total Armor% Temper, or using a Juggernaut’s Aspect.

For the dedicated page for Gear Systems and Itemization Overview, check here.

Gems and Runewords

The following are the recommended Gem and Runeword setups for the Lightning Storm Druid:

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Grand Emerald for Critical Strike Damage	Grand Sapphire for Willpower	Grand Amethyst for Shadow Resistance Grand Sapphire for Cold Resistance Grand Ruby for Fire Resistance

Poison and Lightning Resistance are covered by Paragon nodes.

Runewords

Runewords are a flexible power to help strengthen a build or fill its weaknesses. Two Runes combine for the total Runeword effect:

• A conditional trigger Rune of Ritual that supplies Offerings when the condition is met.
• An effect Rune of Invocation that costs Offerings.

Once the Rune of Ritual has supplied enough Offerings, the Rune of Invocation will trigger its effect. Some Runes of Invocation will have overflow effects, where excess Offerings will spillover to empower the triggered effect.

Runewords replace Gems in gear. Up to two sets of Runeword pairs can be placed at a time. Runeword combinations are placed within 2 sockets of the same item e.g. Helm, Chest, Pants or 2-handed Weapon.

The following are Runeword combination options for the Lightning Storm Druid, placed in Armor slots:

Standard

Runeword Combination	Runeword Effects
Lith Wat	Lith – Gain: 25 Offering. Stand still for 0.3 seconds while fighting. Wat – Requires: 100 Offering Cooldown: 1 Second. Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them.
Xol Que	Xol – Gain: 150 Offering. Evoke power from another Class. Que – Requires: 300 Offering (Overflow: Increased Duration) Cooldown: 1 second. Evoke the Druid’s Earthen Bulwark, granting yourself a Barrier.

Horrid Decrepify is an efficient trigger for Xol. Que will constantly upkeep Earthen Bulwark, granting Barrier, Unstoppable and Fortify. This is an effective defensive combination.

Options

• The Qax is an interesting option as well, offering the boost for the entirety of the channelled spell, but availability and capability to keep channeling will be very gear and Lucky Hit dependant. Something like FeoQax would overcharge your Lightning Storm by 250% for its channeled duration.

• Other more offensive setups could trade Que for options such as Ohm for War Cry, Kry for Vortex or Gar for Critical Strike Chance.

• Depending on the content, other Runes may give more Offering than Lith or Xol, such as Moni for Skill after Moving, Bac for Travel or Feo for getting Crowd Controlled.

Elixirs, Incense and Health Potions

The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.

• Craft the highest available Elixir of Precision for Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage.
• If mats are available, craft Chorus of War.
• Remember to upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion!

Unique Items

The following Unique Items are recommended for the Lightning Storm Druid.

• (Required) Tempest Roar is required for the build to function, making Lightning Storm a Werewolf Skill as well as providing significant Spirit Generation. This also allows Lightning Storm to benefit from Shapeshifting passives such as Quickshift, Toxic Claws, and synergize with other Unique Items Mad Wolf’s Glee.

• (Required) Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps gives extra Lightning Strikes and double-strikes on Critical Strike.

• (Recommended) Mad Wolf’s Glee is an excellent offensive Unique Item, giving movement speed and Skill Ranks to all Werewolf Skills.

• (Optional for Resistances) Tassets of the Dawning Sky is a valid item If pushing high and more elemental resistance is necessary. Mastercraft the Max Resists and Resistance affixes.

• (Optional Minmax) – Wildheart Hunger has gear affixes and grants a stacking bonus to Bestial Rampage. For a boot slot, this is a strong offensive option. However, the stacks decay unless maintained by constant shifting. This bonus can be well worth maintaining by cycling between and to Werewolf or Werebear forms, but makes the rotation much more frenetic.

• (Recommended) The Mjölnic Ryng grants a high damage multiplier during Cataclysm and makes Lightning Storm cost zero Spirit. See the Cataclysm and Spirit Management section for more information about Cataclysm uptime.

Tempest Roar can be target-farmed from Duriel. Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps can be target-farmed from The Beast in the Ice.

Mythic Unique Items

The following Mythic Unique Items are situational to the build:

• (Recommended) Ring of Starless Skies is a powerful Resource Cost Reduction tool and damage multiplier with exellent Gear Affixes. Replaces Aspect of the Unsatiated. The damage buff will stack even while using Mjölnic Ryng.

• (Recommended) Shroud of False Death gives +1 rank to all Skill Passives which means several bonuses to Damage Multipliers, Damage Reductions, Resistances, Fortify, Healing and Critical Strike Chance.

• (Optional Defensive) Doombringer – Doombringer’s Gear Affixes for Large Maximum Life, Damage Reduction, and Lucky Hits to Heal and apply Damage Reduction debuffs from enemies is a great way to clear content safely. This will be at a damage loss from losing access to a Weapon Temper for Chance for Lightning Storm to deal Double Damage.

• (Optional Defensive) Tyrael’s Might – High Defensive capability usable in high push content. Damage loss to Mad Wolf’s Glee.

Mercenaries

Once unlocked, Mercenaries are followers that aid the Player in combat. A main mercenary is chosen to fight alongside you, granting strong buffs or perks, and a secondary Mercenary is chosen to periodically Reinforce you under a chosen Opportunity condition. As you build Rapport with your Mercenary, you gain more access to their Skills and Perks.

The following Mercenary options are recommended for the Lightning Storm Druid:

Main Mercenary – Varyana, the Berserker

• Core Skill: Cleave
• Core Passive: Hysteria
• Iconic Skill: Bloodthirst
• Iconic Passive: Bloodlust

Reinforcement – Raheir, the Shieldbearer

• Reinforcement Ability – Crater
• Opportunity – Lightning Storm

Hysteria and Bloodlust will both give strong Attack Speed bonuses.

Rotation and Playstyle

1. Maul in place to activate Werebear Shapeshifting buffs like Bestial Rampage.
2. Cataclysm as you engage enemies.
3. Maintain Preserving Blood Howl for Attack Speed bonuses.
4. Channel and hold or Clickcast your Lightning Storm to slay your foes.

Use Earthen Bulwark for Barrier and Unstoppable, as needed.

Maul does not need to hit a target for Werebear Shapeshifting buffs. Make sure you’re familiar with your Force Hold keybind to easily Maul in place.

Check out the advanced Mechanics and Playstyle section for a more in-depth description on how the build works, what synergies exist and what to look out for.

Season 6: Season of Hatred Rising

The following list details the important changes in the Season 6 Patch Updates that are specific to the Lightning Storm Druid. For general Season 6 information, check out our Season 6 Hub.

Itemization:

• New Weapon Temper on Storm Augments – Chance for Lightning Storm to deal double damage (yay)
• Temper for Lightning Storm Duration Removed from Nature Magic Innovation (lol).
• New items including Shroud of False Death.
• Mad Wolf’s Glee Ranks of Werewolf Skills increased from 2-5 to 4-7.
• Aspect of Retaliation increased to 35-75%.
• Wildheart Hunger – New Effect – Shapeshifting into a new animal form increases the value of your Bestial Rampage bonuses by 2.0-5.0%, up to 20-50%. This bonus decays by 2% per second.

Skills and Stats:

• Paragon Boards are now limited to 5 boards; the Starter Board and up to four Class Boards.
• Several Paragon Boards have shifted their nodes around.
• New Skill Passives including Feral Aptitude.
• Quickshift – New Effect – Shapeshifting into a new animal form grants 1/2/3% increased damage, up to 6/12/18%. This bonus is lost after 3 seconds in Human form.
• Heightened Senses – New Effect – When Shapeshifting, Werebear grants 3/6/9% Damage Reduction and Werewolf grants 2/4/6% Movement Speed. Both bonuses persist as long as you are in either animal form and are doubled while both are active. They are lost after 3 seconds in Human form.
• Bestial Rampage – New Effect – When Shapeshifting, Werebear grants 30% increases damage and Werewolf grants 20% Attack Speed. Both bonuses persist as long as you are in either animal form, but are lost after 3 seconds in Human form.
• Cataclysm – Lightning Strike damage increased from 95% to 115% Weapon Damage. Lightning Strikes now cannot hit the same target more than once every 0.5 seconds.
• Ancestral Guidance increased from 30% to 40%.
• Lust for Carnage now also gives 50% more damage to Werewolf Critical Strikes.

Patch 2.0.5

• Bestial Rampage:
  • Werebear damage increased from 30% to 40%.
  • Werewolf attack speed increased from 20% to 30%.
• Perfect Storm:
  • Spirit Gain increased from 1 to 2.
  • Damage increased from 45% to 60%.
• Calamity Boon increased to 35%.
• Swooping Attacks increased to 20%.
• Avian Wrath increased to 40%.

Advanced Information

It is time to start on your Lightning Storm journey!

Or see below for further information on how the build works, as well as further explanations for Paragon, Gearing, and Gameplay, and available playstyle options.

Build Mechanics

The Lightning Storm Druid has simple execution as a build, but a lot of mechanics are coming together to make it work.

Lightning Storm is our Core Skill and main ability. It is a Channeled Skill. While channeled:

• The storm grows, covering a larger area as the ability is held. This size is preserved for 6 seconds between channels. As the storm grows, the Lightning Bolts can grow more inaccurate.
• Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps adds strikes and double-strikes on Critical Strike.
• Channeled abilities cannot Overpower.
• Lightning Storm now (mostly) scales with Attack Speed modifiers even while held Channeled. There is a still a slight increase to rate of fire by clicking rapidly over holding to channel.

Supporting Skills

Maul is Werebear buff maintenance Skill to help maintain Shapeshifting skills like Quickshift, Heightened Senses, Bestial Rampage and Unique Item Wildheart Hunger. This does not need to hit an enemy, it’s just the Form change that matters. Force Hold and swipe at the air before engaging enemies for the Bestial Rampage buff. Alternatively, other Werebear abilities like Innate Debilitating Roar or Trample could be used to maintain Werebear buffs.

Cyclone Armor is largely just used for the passive effect, but the active knockback can be handy.

Earthen Bulwark is used for Unstoppable, and also provides strong Barrier and Damage Reduction from Vigilance.

Blood Howl is maintained for the Attack Speed bonus and Vigilance buff.

Ultimate and Key Passive

Cataclysm casts Lightning Storm and Tornado frequently, applies Vulnerable and with Mjölnic Ryng can provide a hefty 100% multiplier to all damage and make Lightning Storm cost zero Spirit. Cooldown Reduction Gear Affix, Inner Beast, Endless Tempest ranks and Calm Before the Storm and Calamity Spirit Boons help keep this Skill active. See the Cataclysm and Spirit Management section for more info on maintaining Cataclysm.

Our Key Passive is Bestial Rampage for the high damage and attack speed multipliers. These are maintained easily with Maul for Werebear and Lightning Storm for Werewolf. While leveling and gearing, especially before full Cataclysm uptime or you have gotten your Mjölnic Ryng, use Perfect Storm for better Spirit Generation.

Paragon Information

The Paragon Board is a progression system unlocked at Level 60, giving player power through Common stat Nodes, Magic affix Nodes, Rare leveled Glyphs, and Legendary board-exclusive Nodes. For general paragon board information, check the guide here. Paragon Points are earned from leveling, Renown and Altars of Lilith.

The recommended Paragon boards with images for the Lightning Storm Druid are listed above. The following section goes over some explanations and descriptions for the pathing process for the Lightning Storm Druid.

Broadly speaking, decisions for pathing through the Druid paragon board are divided into three categories:

• Damage – The paragon boards provide a significant amount of Damage Multipliers and Additives. This includes:
  • Socketed Glyphs such as Outmatch and Headhunter.
  • Legendary Nodes such as Heightened Malice and Thunderstruck.
  • Magic and Rare nodes such as Impel and Reclaim.
• Defense – The paragon boards help reach goals on Damage Reduction, Armor and Resistances. This includes:
  • Damage Reduction is improved from individual nodes providing bonuses like Damage Reduction against Vulnerable enemies.
  • Resistances are improved from Magic and Rare Resistance nodes.
  • Max Life and Armor nodes raising Effective Health.
• Build Functionality – The paragon boards improve functionality for the build, including:
  • Lust for Carnage to help with Spirit Generation while leveling and gearing or during Cataclysm downtime.

Cataclysm and Spirit Management

With the new Unique Item Mjölnic Ryng, many Druid builds will play around Cataclysm for the significant Damage Multiplier and full Spirit Cost Reduction while Cataclysm is active. We make several choices on Spirit Generation and Spirit Boons that enable or make this choice shine. This also means downtime can be punishing, so we want to keep Cataclysm up to avoid Spirit problems.

In order to maintain Cataclysm, we use:

• Calm Before the Storm for Ultimate Cooldown Reduction and Calamity Spirit Boon for Longer Ultimate duration.
• Ranks in Endless Tempest extend the duration of Cataclysm.
• Ranks in Cataclysm reduce Cataclysm cooldown.
• Ultimate Efficiency —  Cataclysm Cooldown Reduction on the 2nd ring slot if using a Legendary Aspect.

If this is not sufficient for uptime, we can optionally use:

• Target Cooldown Reductions or Lucky Hit Chance with Greater Affix or Mastercrafting.
• Flickerstep for Ultimate Cooldown Reduction when evading through enemies. This competes with other good options and as such is not a default choice.
• Zec rune of Invocation can give more Cooldown Reduction on Cataclysm.

In Early Gearing and Leveling, or before using the Mjölnic Ryng, consider doing the following for Spirit Generation and Management:

• Use Key Passive Perfect Storm.
• Take the Wolf’s Energize Spirit Boon, replacing Swooping Attacks.
• Use Tibault’s Will. Periodic casts of Enhanced Earthen Bulwark from casting and Runewords will grant the Unstoppable for giving the Spirit.
• Use Aspect of the Umbral for Spirit against Crowd Controlled enemies.
• Adjust Gear affixes: Resource Cost Reduction on Weapon, and Resource Generation on Rings. Spirit on Kill on weapon, or Spirit Per Second on Helm, Chest, or Boots can all be useful.
• Use the PocLum Runeword Setup.
• Use Rahair’s Iron Wolf’s Call Iconic Passive, with Varyana’s Bloodthirst with Lightning Storm Opportunity.
• Worst case, use Maul as an attack to build Spirit.

Changelog

• 15 October, 2024: Updated for new onsite Paragon Tool
• 29 September, 2024: Updated for Season 6. Changes to Paragon, Skill Tree, Skill Bar, and recommended Uniques.
• 7 August: 2024: Updated for post-launch of season 5. No Changes to Skills, Gearing or Paragon.
• 4 August, 2024: Significant changes to Skills and Paragon to adjust for season 5, the change to Shepherd’s Aspect and the introduction of the Mjölnic Ryng.
• 17 June, 2024: Updated for mid-season patch 1.4.3.
• May 15, 2024: Small changes in gear affixes to adjust for season launch changes from PTR.
• 3 May, 2024: Guide reworked for the significant 1.4.0 changes to gearing and for season 4 speculative changes. Format changed to frontload basic build information and offer extra information and options afterwards.
  14 March, 2024: Guide created, fully replacing previous guide.

• Ownership transferred.
• Adjusted Gear, Skills, and Paragon sections to hit defensive stats targets and improve overall damage output.
• Improved readability, explanations, and options.