Hurricane Druid Endgame Build Guide for Diablo 4 (Season 5)

Build Introduction

Hurricane is a wide persistent spell surrounding the player for its duration, periodically pulsing damage to enemies in a large area. Set up a giant storm of damage by playing around modifiers such as:

Guaranteed Overpower from Provocation.
High Critical Strike Chance from Clarity and Locran’s Talisman.
Aspect of the Tempest stacks will ramp the Hurricane damage to incredible damage. The duration and radius of Hurricane is extended with the Tempering system.

Season 5: Hurricane Radius is now a Utility Temper, allowing it to be taken alongside Hurricane Duration on the weapon!

This guide covers everything necessary to get started on your Hurricane adventure, including Skill Tree points, Paragon, Gearing, and Seasonal updates.

Strengths

Large Area of Effect clearing
Thematic Gameplay

Weaknesses

Requires timing setups with buff management
High gearing investment to play smoothly

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 and Legendary Aspects are required for build functionality to get started on the Hurricane Druid:

Required Uniques

Required Aspects

You will also need access to the Storm Augments Weapon Manual for Hurricane Duration, and Nature Magic Innovation Utility Manual for Hurricane Size.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

(Important) The amount of Provocation points you take depends on your Hurricane duration. At higher Tempering and Mastercrafting, Hurricane can reach a long duration with higher potential stacks of Aspect of the Tempest. For example, if your Hurricane is 20~23 seconds long, you would only want 1 point in Provocation for the Overpower every 20 seconds, rather than every 12 seconds from having 3 points in Provocation. Too many points can mean fewer stacks of Aspect of the Tempest. These extra points can be shuffled to ranks in Natural Fortitude or Natural Disaster.

Until you are using the Unique Item Mjölnic Ryng, Cataclysm can be swapped for Debilitating Roar for defense, or Trample for Unstoppable and mobility.

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.

Boon Name	Animal	Effect
Wariness	Deer	Take 15% reduced damage from Elites.
Iron Feather	Eagle	Gain 20% Maximum Life.
Avian Wrath	Eagle	Gain 30%[x] Critical Strike Damage.
Pack Leader	Wolf	Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a 25% chance to reset the Cooldowns of your Companion Skills.
Calm before the Storm	Snake	Lucky Hit: Nature Magic Skills have up to a 10% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your Ultimate Skill by 2 seconds.

Once you have sufficient Hurricane Duration from Storm Augments and Companion Cooldown Reduction from Companion Efficiency to maintain Hurricane and Clarity, swap from Pack Leader to Calamity for more Cataclysm uptime.

Paragon

The following are the preferred Glyphs, Boards, and pathing recommended for making the most of the Hurricane Druid. All Glyphs are placed as if they are max radius (Level 15+).

Click this link to see the Paragon Board in its entirety! Paragon Board images are courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Starting Board

For the Starting Board, path up and place the Outmatch Glyph into the Glyph Socket.

Heightened Malice

For the second board, choose Heightened Malice, placed against the Starting Board. Socket the Werebear Glyph, and take the Legendary Node Heightened Malice.

Thunderstruck

For the third board, choose Thunderstruck, placed against the left side of the Heighted Malice board. Socket the Territorial glyph and take the Legendary Node Thunderstruck.

Constricting Tendrils

For the fourth board, choose Constricting Tendrils, placed against the top side of the Heightened Malice board, rotated three times. Socket the Fang and Claw Glyph.

Ancestral Guidance

For the fifth board, choose Ancestral Guidance, placed against the Thunderstruck board’s top side, rotated three times. Socket the Shapeshifter Glyph.

Earthen Devastation

For the sixth board, choose Earthen Devastation, placed against the Constricting Tendril’s right side, rotated once. Socket the Dominate Glyph.

Survival Instincts

For the final board, choose Survival Instincts, placed against the Earthen Devastation board, rotated once. Take the Legendary Node Survival Instincts and socket the Exploit Glyph.

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 Hurricane Druid.

Legendary Aspects

Gear Slots with multiple options are listed in recommended priority. Any slot with an Optional Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power.

Slot	Gem	Aspect	Unique/Legendary Aspect Power
2 Handed Axe	Royal Ruby	Aspect of the Tempest	Hurricane damage is increased by 10.5 – 18.0% each second while active.
Helm	Royal Ruby	(Required) Tempest Roar	Lucky Hit: Storm Skills have up to a 15 – 25% chance to grant 4 Spirit. Your base Storm Skills are now also Werewolf Skills
Chest	Royal Ruby	(recommended) Insatiable Fury OR Aspect of the Crowded Sage	Werebear form is now your true form, and you gain +2-5 Ranks to all Werebear Skills.
Gloves	N/A	Aspect of the Changeling’s Debt	You deal 25-55% increased damage while hitting a Poisoned enemy as a Werebear or a Crowd Controlled enemy as a Werewolf.
Pants	Royal Ruby	Aspect of Might OR Aspect of Fevered Mauling	Basic Skills grant 20.0% Damage Reduction for 2.0-7.0 seconds.
Boots	N/A	(Offensive) Aspect of Concussive Strikes (Unstoppable) Aspect of Metamorphosis OR (Optional for Cataclysm Uptime) Flickerstep	Lucky Hit: Damaging an enemy has up to a 20% chance to Daze them for 2 seconds. You deal 5-20% increased damage to Dazed enemies.
Amulet	Royal Diamond	(optional) Locran’s Talisman OR Edgemaster’s Aspect	Gain 0.10 – 0.40% Critical Strike Chance per point of Primary Resource you have, up to 10 – 40%. Each point of Primary Resource above 100 grants 1%[+] Critical Strike Damage instead.
Ring 1	Royal Diamond	Aspect of Elements OR Edgemaster’s Aspect	Gain 15-30%x increased damage to a set of damage types for 7 seconds. This effect alternates between 2 sets: – Fire, Lightning, and Physical. – Cold, Poison, and Shadow.
Ring 2	Royal Diamond	(Recommended) Mjölnic Ryng Aspect of Elements	While Cataclysm is active, you gain unlimited Spirit and deal 40-100% increased damage.

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. To masterwork, you will need rare materials that only drop from The Pit. Be sure to check our Tempering guide, our Masterworking guide, as well as our guide about The Pit for more details about these topics.

Unique Items cannot be Tempered, but can be Mastercrafted. Any slot with an Optional Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power setup.

Slot	Gearing Affixes	Tempering Affixes
Two-Handed Axe	Maximum Life Willpower Overpower Damage Critical Strike Damage	Storm Augments – Hurricane Duration Natural Finesse – Damage to Close Enemies
Helm – Tempest Roar (Required)	Willpower Lightning Resistance Maximum Spirit Ranks to Wild Impulses
Chest – Insatiable Fury (Recommended)	Maximum Life Werebear Overpower Damage Ursine Strength Bonuses Ranks to Iron Fur
Chest – Legendary Aspect	Max Life Willpower Armor All Resistances	Worldly Endurance – Max Life Nature Magic Innovation – Hurricane Size
Gloves	Critical Strike Chance Max Life Willpower Overpower Damage	Natural Finesse– Damage to Close Enemies Nature Magic Innovation – Hurricane Size
Pants	Armor Willpower Max Life Dodge Chance	Worldly Endurance – Total Armor% Nature Magic Innovation – Hurricane Size
Boots	Ranks to Hurricane Movement Speed Willpower Dodge Chance	Natural Motion – Movement Speed Nature Magic Innovation – Hurricane Size
Boots – (optional) Flickerstep	Movement Speed Ultimate Damage Lightning Resistance Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
Amulet – (optional)Locran’s Talisman	Attack Speed All Stats Critical Strike Damage Maximum Resource
Amulet	Ranks to Envenom Ranks to Clarity Movement Speed Critical Strike Chance	Natural Finesse– Damage to Close Enemies Natural Motion – Movement Speed
Ring – Mjölnic Ryng	Willpower Critical Strike Chance Movement Speed While Cataclysm is Active Ranks to Endless Tempest
Rings – Legendary Aspect	Maximum Life Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Damage Willpower Overpower Damage	Natural Finesse– Damage to Close Enemies Companion Efficiency – Companion Cooldown Reduction

Hurricane Duration is significant for this build for higher stacks of Aspect of the Tempest. Mastercraft quality increases will be highly desirable as well.
Extra Hurricane Size is capped at 100%. After reaching that, Utility tempers can go to Worldly Fortune Crowd Control Effects chance to Immobilize
The Temper for Damage to Close Enemies is taken for Thunderstruck, up to its cap of 60%. After reaching that, Offensive tempers can go to Storm Finesse – Hurricane Damage.
Max Life% will help with increased Overpower damage.
Armor cap is 9230 against any enemies level 100 and above, for up to 85% Damage Reduction. This is generally reached at 925 Item Power with either one Armor Gear Affix with one Total Armor% Temper.
Attack Speed does not improve Hurricane tick rate.

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

Gems

Weapon Gems	Armor Gems	Jewelry Gems
Royal Ruby for Overpower Damage	Royal Ruby For Max Life%	Royal Diamond for Resistance to all Elements

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 Fortitude for Maximum Life. Max Life% is significant for Overpower.
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 required, recommended, or optional for the Hurricane Druid.

(Required) Tempest Roar makes Hurricane a Werewolf Skill. This will enable Hurricane to benefit from Shapeshifting passives like Toxic Claws and Quickshift.
(Recommended) Insatiable Fury is a quality-of-life improvement for the build, helping to keep you in Werebear form to keep Provocation ticking. This is not only a convenient Unique, but gives strong defensive benefit with the ranks to Iron Fur and boost to Ursine Strength.
(Optional) Locran’s Talisman gives significant Critical Strike Chance. We are always at full Spirit so will benefit with up to 40% Critical Strike. Between that, gear affixes and Clarity, we will have full Critical Strike Chance. The secondary effect for higher Critical Strike Damage is nice, but not worth building around. A legendary amulet with full ranks to Envenom and Clarity or Quickshift will be stronger. Those can be hard to find though!
(Recommended) The new to season 5 Mjölnic Ryng is an oppressively strong option with up to a 100% multiplier. The ranks in Endless Tempest are also welcome for a Hurricane-centric build.
(Optional for Cataclysm Uptime) Flickerstep can help keep the multiplier from the Mjölnic Ryng active. The tradeoff is losing a legendary aspect boots with ranks in Hurricane as well as Aspect options like Aspect of Metamorphosis for Unstoppable. It may be worthwhile using, depending on the content to keep Cataclysm rolling.
(Defensive Optional) Hunter’s Zenith is a defensive option Unique Item while providing high ranks in Quickshift and Heightened Senses and resets on Werebear abilities like Debilitating Roar. As a defensive choice, this would replace the Mjölnic Ryng if used. To use this Unique Item:
- Replace Cataclysm with Debilitating Roar.
- Replaces Mjölnic Ryng.
- Replace Calm Before the Storm boon with Masochistic.

Tempest Roar can be target-farmed from Duriel.

Mythic Unique Items

No Mythic Unique Items are recommended for this build.

Rotation and Playstyle

Before max Provocation stacks, cast Wolves and Ravens for Clarity stacks. Wolves and Ravens can consume your Overpower so they need to be cast before Provocation is primed.
Cast Poison Creeper for the final Clarity stack.
Cast Hurricane with Provocation and Clarity stacks.
Maintain Cataclysm while engaged with enemies.
Maul as filler and for Fortify. Be careful not to consume Provocation with Maul.

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

Season 5: Season of the Infernal Hordes

The following list details the important changes in the Season 5 Patch Updates that are specific to the Hurricane Druid. For general Season 5 information, check out our Season 5 Hub.

Itemization:

New Item – Locran’s Talisman – Your skills gain [0.10-0.40]%[+] Critical Strike Chance bonus per point of Primary Resource you have, up to [10-40]%[+]. Each point of Primary Resource above 100 grants 0.2%[x] Critical Strike Damage instead.
New Item – Mjölnic Ryng – -While Cataclysm is active, you gain unlimited Spirit and deal 40-100%X increased damage.
New Temper – Nature Magic Innovation – Hurricane Size is now a Utility Temper
New Temper – Ultimate Efficiency – for Ultimate Skill cooldown reduction.
Shepherd’s Aspect:
- Previous – Core and Wrath Skills deal an additional 5-10% damage per Companion you have.
- Now – Companion Skills deal an additional 5-10% damage per Companion you have.
Several Changes to many Unique Item Gear Affixes.

Skills and Stats:

Gain 1% increased Skill Damage for every 8 primary Core Stat, reduced from 10 primary Core Stat.
Hurricane Damage buffed from 187% to 346%. Note: this is largely an offset from the change to Shepherd’s Aspect.
Poison Creeper can now be cast while moving.
Ravens can now be cast while moving.
Cataclysm Lightning Strike rate is doubled. Now more consistently hits enemies with its lightning strikes.
Debilitating Roar Damage Reduction decreased from 70% to 40%.
Iron Fur increased for each Skill Rank from 3% to 4%
Heightened Senses increased for each Skill Rank from 2% to 3%.
Thunderstruck Now has a maximum bonus capped at 60%.
Survival Instincts now increases damage by up to 60%, from 50%.
Werebear Damage increased from 6.6% to 9.9%, Damage Reduction increased from 10% to 15%.

Advanced Information

It is time to get started on your Hurricane 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 Hurricane Druid is an effective and tanky build with high damage that speeds through content. Our primary Skill is Hurricane, which benefits from several interactions from Skill Passives, Legendary Powers, Gearing, and supporting Skills. There is some important set-up to making this damage work.

Tempest Roar makes all Storm Skills into Werewolf Skills, which allows Hurricane to benefit from Shapeshifting Passives like Quickshift and Envenom. Storm skills, including Hurricane, will benefit heavily from multipliers like Thunderstruck. This is why Damage to Close is tempered onto gear.

Provocation is how we guarantee Hurricane to Overpower. This Overpower works for the entire duration of the cast Hurricane. Insatiable Fury and Maul filler attacks help keep us in Werebear form to keep Provocation stacks ticking.

(Important) How many ranks in Provocation can matter! Since Aspect of the Tempest increases Hurricane Damage with every tick, this means the longer we can Temper and Mastercraft the Hurricane, the more ramping damage it will tick for. Tempest stacks are reset on Hurricane refresh. So for example, if our Hurricane’s duration is 16 seconds, we would only want 2 points in Provocation instead of 3, so that we can still use skills in that downtime and so Tempest stacks can go higher and deal more damage. Likewise, only a single point in Provocation if our Hurricane is longer than 20 seconds.

The active skill use of Companions stack up Clarity for more Critical Strike Chance and Damage multiplier to the entire Hurricane cast.

(Important) The active skill use of Ravens and Wolves can Overpower their attacks. Poison Creeper cannot. This means Ravens and Wolves need to be cast for Clarity stacks before Provocation reaches max stacks.

Cataclysm is our Ultimate ability. With the Mjölnic Ryng, it will provide up to a 100% damage multiplier while active. We use ranks in Endless Tempest, Calm before the Storm and Calamity Spirit Boons, and optionally Flickerstep to keep uptime on the Skill.

Ursine Strength is a steady Damage and Overpower multiplier that benefits from the damage increase in any Form, so long as you are Healthy. Healthy means to be above 80% Life. These bonuses are increased by Insatiable Fury.

There are no native sources of Unstoppable for this build. Use Aspect of Metamorphosis and Boot Impicit Affix for Attacks to reduce Evade Cooldown if desired.

Paragon

The Paragon Board is a progression system unlocked at Level 50, 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.

The recommended Paragon boards with images for the Hurricane Druid are listed above. The following section goes over some explanation and descriptions for the pathing process for the Hurricane 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 asFang and Claw, Earth and Sky and Outmatch
- Legendary Nodes such as Ancestral Guidance and Thunderstruck.
- Magic and Rare nodes such as Toxic Bane.
Defense – The paragon boards help reach goals on Damage Reduction, Armor and Resistances. This includes:
- Damage Reduction is improved from Werebear, Undaunted and Territorial secondary effects, as well as individual nodes providing bonuses like Damage Reduction against Vulnerable enemies.
- Resistances are improved from Magic and Rare Resistance nodes, with Earth and Sky and Outmatch bonuses improving their nearby Resistance nodes.
- Armor goals are reached with the help of Armor nodes in Inner Beast.
Build Functionality – The paragon boards improve total build functionality including:
- Max Life% nodes increase Effective Health but also boost capability for total Fortify as well. This increases overall output for Overpower damage.

Changelog

7 August, 2024: Updated for post-launch of season 5. No Changes to Skills, Gearing or Paragon.
2 August 2024: Updated for patch 1.5.0 and Season of the Infernal Hordes.
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.
10 May, 2024: Guide Created.