One of the surprise builds to come out of the Season 7 PTR has to be Cataclysm Druid. On one hand it makes some sense as Ultimates got a lot of buffs this season, but it’s actually the seasonal powers that push this one over the line. That and a change to a Unique ring, so let’s see what’s going on here.
Why Though?
Cataclysm was already a build for Druids, but it was pretty niche and certainly not the top tier. This time around it’s almost certainly looking to be the best Druid build this season and it may also clinch the title of best overall. Outside of pure power, it’s just a very breezy build. You do some pre-cast-buffs to set it up, cast the Ultimate, and then just walk around and watch everything die!
Some of the main reasons behind its emergence are its huge AoE, permanent uptime for an Ultimate, and some snapshotting shenanigans that boost its damage. One particular Unique change in the latest patch notes put it over the top, however. And on top of all that, there’s even some very handy Witchcraft powers to boost it all.
What Makes It Work
Let’s get into the details shall we? 
Cataclysm is a Druid Ultimate Skill that sends out Twisters and Lightning Bolts over a long duration. There’s several parts of this that come together to make for strong damage:
- You can maintain full uptime on Cataclysm so it’s always killing things in a large area, or bolting down important enemies. This takes some gear investment for duration and cooldown reduction, but is achievable.
- Similar to
Hurricane, you can ‘snapshot’ Overpower and Critical Strike for the entire duration of the cataclysm’s damage. This is easily done with the 
Xan Rune. In fact, recast refreshes of your Cataclysm while in the same area keep the Xan effect so it’s easy to maintain after set up.
Those are the basics, but there’s even more to it in this season.
- The new
Ancestral Guidance Legendary node gives a hefty multiplier to Ultimate Damage. - The
Mjölnic Ryng has a new effect: Cataclysm receives your Lightning Bolt benefits. This gives a number of new sources of easy-to-access multipliers and additives to Cataclysm, including: 
Charged Atmosphere directly scaling Lightning Bolt Damage.
Runeworker’s Conduit Aspect Scaling Lightning Bolt Damage based on Willpower
Electrocution Paragon Glyph- Lightning Bolt damage Tempers from Storm Finesse Manual
There are also new Aspects for Ultimates and for Lightning Bolts that replace the more generic ones:
- Aspect of Apogeic Furor gives ramping Ultimate Damage
- Aspect of Electrified Claws adding Damage and Stun to Lightning Bolts, which is going to be ridiculous stagger and crowd control volume.
You’ll also need that Druid staple, 
Tempest Roar to get this thing going.
Seasonal Benefits
Altogether Cataclysm is getting pushed from a niche build into a full-fledged powerhouse capable of pushing the highest content competitively. For seasonal players, witch powers are incredibly favorable to Ultimate Builds. For example, the 
Voice of the Stars gem directly applies to Cataclysm, and lets it directly scale from powers like 
Purging Touch or 
Decay Augmentation.
If you want to try out this potentially best but definitely fun build, head on over to our Cataclysm Druid build guide for all the details.
