Lightning Storm Werewolf Druid Endgame Build for Diablo 4 (Season 3)

This is a legacy build that is not competitive for the current version of Diablo 4 and which we do not recommend using. It only exists for documentation purposes and will not receive any further updates.

Build Introduction

This is your comprehensive guide for building a Werewolf thunder god who smites their enemies with blasts of lightning as they cower before him. Welcome to the Lightning Storm Werewolf build. This build focuses on using the unique Tempest Roar helmet to summon the power of a Lightning Storm in Werewolf form to terrorize the hordes of hell with unending bolts of lightning.

Our guide will cover all basic mechanics and deep dive into the optimal setup for skills, Paragon points, and gear for the build. Further down below, you will find a supporting YouTube video as well to showcase the build in action.

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

Required Uniques

Tempest Roar

Tibault’s Will

Flickerstep

Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps

Required Aspects (Non-codex)

Dire Wolf’s Aspect

Aspect of the Stampede

Season of the Construct

Season 3 Patch Updates

The following list details all changes of Season 3 that may pertain to Druids.

Skills

• Wolves
  • Passive damage increased by 30%.
  • Active damage increased by 45%.
• Poison Creeper
  • Passive damage increased by 30%.
  • Active damage increased by 40%.
• Ravens
  • Passive damage increased by 30%.
  • Active damage increased by 20%.

Aspects

• Aspect of Retaliation
  • Bonus damage reduced from 20–40% to 20–30%.

Seneschal Construct Companion Powers

The Season 3 theme introduces a Seneschal Construct Companion that can deal damage or provide support to complement your character. Equip the Seneschal with two Governing Stones to activate their abilities, and then link them to three Tuning Stones each to augment the abilities. There are 12 different Governing Stones and 27 different Tuning Stones that can be found in Vaults scattered across Sanctuary. Fuse together duplicate stones to level them up, increasing the potency of Governing Stones or adding augments to Tuning Stones.

Listed below are the general recommended Governing Stones and their linked Tuning Stones for Druids, ranked by importance.

1. Focus Fire: The Seneschal Construct channels a ray of fire onto targets dealing damage to each over time.
   • Genesis: Increase the effectiveness of the supported Skill by 150%.
   • Mockery Support: Damage done by the supporting Skill Taunts enemies hit for a limited duration of time. This can only occur once every so often per enemy. Does not work on bosses.
   • Efficiency Support: When the supporting skill deals damage, you gain Critical Strike Chance to the same targets hit.
   • Arcing Support: The support Skill can hit additional enemies.
2. Flash of Adrenaline: Administers a quick flash of adrenaline into the player, granting bonus damage for a duration.
   • Evernight: The supported Skill grants you +4 to all Skills when used for 2.0 seconds.
   • Tactical Support: Decrease the cooldown of the supported Skill.
   • Duration Support: Supported Skills have their durations increased.
   • Safeguard Support: When used, the supported Skill grants Damage Reduction to you.

Video Guide

Please note that since this written build guide is ever-evolving and videos cannot easily be updated, the below video should serve as more of a guideline, whereas the written guide will always have the most accurate information.

Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar

Skill Bar Setup for the Lightning Storm Werewolf Build (Order does not matter)

Lightning Storm Poison Creeper Wolves Ravens Hurricane Grizzly Rage

Follow the points allocated in the image above for the complete 58 point build. The additional 10 skill points are completed using the Renown system.

Priority Skills	Cluster
Claw Level 1, Enhanced Claw	Basic Skill
Lightning Storm Level 5, Enhanced Lightning Storm, Raging Lightning Storm, Heart of the Wild Level 1, Wild Impulses Level 3, Predatory Instinct Level 3, Digitigrade Gait Level 3	Core Skill
Ancestral Fortitude Level 3	Defensive Skill
Wolves Level 1, Poison Creeper Level 1, Ravens Level 1, Enhanced Ravens, Brutal Ravens, Nature’s Reach Level 3	Companion Skill
Hurricane Level 1, Enhanced Hurricane, Savage Hurricane, Elemental Exposure Level 1, Endless Tempest Level 3, Bad Omen Level 1, Electric Shock Level 3, Neurotoxin Level 1, Envenom Level 3, Toxic Claws Level 1	Wrath Skill
Grizzly Rage, Prime Grizzly Rage, Supreme Grizzly Rage, Defiance Level 3, Circle of Life Level 2, Resonance Level 3	Ultimate Skill
Lupine Ferocity	Key Passives

Spirit Boons – The Druid Specialization

Boons are additional buffs provided to the Druid class as part of their specialization. To unlock your Boons, you will need to complete a simple quest on the west side of the map in the stronghold of “Tur Dulra”. This becomes available at Level 15 and should be completed as soon as possible. The Boon mechanic allows you to pick a single buff from each of the corresponding master animals and the addition of a second Boon buff from a chosen master animal you select.

Once you are in the endgame and have completed the skill tree from the previous section, utilize the following set of Boons for the best results.

As with many other Druid builds, we are going to use the Boon Calamity to help extend our Grizzly Rage. This Boon is our first of two pillars for keeping our cooldown on Grizzly Rage as low as possible during the endgame. We will also rely on the Boon Calm Before The Storm to drive down the cooldown timer as much as possible.

Paragon

We recommend using these Legendary Nodes and Rare Glyphs to truly take this build into the endgame. Note that each Rare Glyph’s information listed below is for the Level 21 version.

Name	Effect
Werewolf	– For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, you deal +[6.5]% increased damage while in Werewolf form. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You gain 10% damage reduction while in Werewolf form.
Keeper	– Grants +[125]% bonus to all Rare nodes within range. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Intelligence points are purchased in the glyph’s range: You and your Companions deal x10% increased Non-Physical damage.
Spirit	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[20]% increased Critical Strike Damage. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Critical Strikes increase the damage an enemy takes from you by x2% for 20 seconds, up to x12%.
Electrocution	– For every 5 Willpower purchased within range, your Lightning Bolts and Dancing Bolts deal [39.6%] increased damage. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Enemies damaged by your Lightning Bolts or Dancing Bolts take x20% increased damage from you for 5 seconds.
Fulminate	– For every 5 Dexterity purchased within range, you deal +[10]% increased Lightning damage. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 25 Dexterity points are purchased in the glyph’s range:  You deal x12% increased Lightning damage to both Healthy and Injured enemies.
Earth and Sky	– Grants +[150]% bonus to all Magic nodes within range. – Additional Bonus unlocked after 40 Willpower points are purchased in the glyph’s range: Radius Bonus: Nature Magic Skills deal x10% increased damage to Crowd Controlled or Vulnerable enemies.
Thunderstruck	– Storm Skills deal increased damage equal to x20% of your Damage vs Close and Damage vs Distant bonuses.
Ancestral Guidance	– After spending 75 Spirit, you deal x30% increased damage for 5 seconds.
Lust for Carnage	– Critical Strikes with Werewolf Skills restore 2 Spirit.

Let’s break down each of these beneficial Nodes and where our Paragon Points are positioned in each of the Paragon Boards we use. This part of the build is presented in order of importance. If you do not have enough Paragon Points for use in your Paragon Board, just slowly work towards each step.

Starting Board

1. Begin with by selecting the nodes on the left hand side of the board towards the Rare Node Tenacity. This will give us a Maximum Life and Armor.
2. Loop to the other side through the glyph’s radius and take the Rare node Prime for the damage bonus.
3. Path upwards to the open glyph slot and insert Fulminate granting us a large damage boost to Lightning Damage.
4. Select the Dexterity nodes as shown above and pick up both Rare Nodes inside the Glyph radius, Impel and Resolve. These two Nodes will help with a damage boost and some resistances.
5. Finally, head towards the top of the Paragon Board and attach Thunderstruck.

Thunderstruck

1. Path towards the open glyph slot, picking up the Rare node Hubris along the way.
2. Now go to the open glyph slot and insert Keeper. This will boost the rare nodes inside the glyph radius and increase our Nature Damage.
3. Take the other Rare node inside the glyph radius, Stormcaller, helping our Storm damage.
4. Path on the left hand side of the glyph radius, up to the Rare nodes, Deluge and Lightning Resilience, these will increase our damage output and our Resistances.
5. Now take the Legendary Node Thunderstruck.
6. Now head to the right hand side of the board to the connection point and attach Heightened Malice.

Heightened Malice

1. Head to the open glyph slot and insert Earth and Sky, remember to take all the Willpower nodes needed for the bonus as shown above.
2. Now path through the radius of the glyph and take both the Rare Nodes Nature-born and Sinking Fangs, this will help us against Poisoned Enemies with increased Damage Reduction.
3. Continue up along the path to the top of the board and attach Ancestral Guidance.

Ancestral Guidance

1. Path towards the open glyph slot picking up Harmony along the path.
2. Insert Electrocution into the glyph slot for the bonus damage to our Lightning Storm.
3. Take the other Rare node Resolve for the added Resistances inside the glyph radius.
4. Now follow the pathway to the left and pick up the Rare Node Natural Attunement for the bonuses to Spirit and Maximum Life.
5. Next take the Rare node Reclamation for the important Spirit on Kill affix.
6. Now take the Legendary node Ancestral Guidance.
7. We will be use both connection points on the sides of the board: left and right.
8. Take the pathway to the right hand side of the board and attach Constricting Tendrils.

Constricting Tendrils

1. First, go and pick the Rare node Devastation for the bonus to Nature Magic and damage to Elites.
2. Path to the open glyph slot and insert Spirit to add to our Critical Strike Damage.
3. Now take both Rare nodes Courage and Nature’s Will, this will increase our Maximum Life and Nature damage.
4. Now go back to the previous board, Ancestral Guidance, and go to the left hand connection point, attaching Lust for Carnage.

Lust for Carnage

1. Head towards the open glyph slot and insert the Werewolf Glyph. This will increase our damage while in Werewolf form.
2. Now take the Rare Node Feral to increase our Werewolf Skill damage.
3. Lastly, take the Legendary node Lust for Carnage.
4. This completes the paragon tree for this build.

Paragon Board images courtesy of d4builds.gg.

Mechanics and Playstyle

The playstyle for the Lightning Storm Werewolf build is very similar to some of our previous builds. Activate your Grizzly Rage, which will trigger a massive amount of Spirit Cost Reduction due to Dire Wolf’s Aspect in our amulet slot. Start spamming your core skill: Lightning Storm and activate your Hurricane to slow any enemies that approach you . Lightning Storm will quickly ramp up its AoE damage and keep your Spirit at its maximum while you melt enemies from a distance. You will still need to use your evade to stay out of any major attacks and keep to safe positions.

This build utilizes every companion skill, and while they will not be our primary source of damage, they do offer some nice utility. First, our Poison Creeper can briefly trap enemies and poison them, this can help us create some separation from our enemies while we reposition. Second, is our Wolves, this single target attack can help us do damage against Elites and Bosses. Lastly, we have our Ravens which will trigger a raven attack which can grant us bonus Critical Strike chance against the targets.

The last element of this build is the Shepherd’s Aspect and the primary reason we have all of our companions out. This aspect grants us a multiplicative damage increases per companion that we have out on the field. Due to this, we can gain a very large damage increase by adding Brutal Ravens and the Aspect of the Stampede for additional companions. We also use Shepherd’s Aspect on a two-handed weapon to amplify the effect by 100%, granting us a 20% damage bonus per companion at maximum value.

Grizzly Rage

This skill is paramount to the build; you cannot push endgame content with an effective setup to use with your Grizzly Rage. To create an effective setup for endgame, we will equip two specific aspects: Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast and Dire Wolf’s Aspect.

First, Dire Wolf’s Aspect alters the werebear only skill to be performed as a Werewolf, offering Movement Speed instead of Damage Reduction as well as a huge amount of Spirit Cost Reduction. This reduction is one of the main keys to us being able to spam Lightning Storm. Next, Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast focuses on extending the uptime for our Grizzly Rage. We also use Flickerstep to lower our cooldown further by using our Metamorphosis to several times to pass through several groups of enemies before we renew our Grizzly Rage.

Gear Choice and Stat Priority

As you begin to farm in World Tier 3 and 4, Rare and Legendary item drops will begin to appear with some regularity depending on your luck. We recommend saving the targeted Legendary items that have the needed Legendary aspects listed below. We also recommended to keep multiple copies of the build’s Aspects in your Stash for future upgrades.

As for the Rare items, you will need to inspect each one for targeted affixes for use in each specific slot and do your best to match the recommended rolls. We have listed our targeted affixes in order of importance. Check the chart below and make note of what affixes you are searching for when you see a Rare gear piece drop.

Season 2 Update (1.2.0): Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage affixes are changed to be additive with other damage increases. All additive damage increases of the same amount are equal in value, as long as their conditions are active.

Gear Slot	Targeted Affixes
Helm	Tempest Roar
Chest	1. Total Armor 2. Damage Reduction 3. Damage Reduction From Close Enemies 4. Maximum Life 5. Willpower 6. Damage Reduction from Distant Enemies
Gloves	1. Rank up Lightning Storm 2. Critical Strike Chance 3. Lightning Critical Strike Damage 4. Werewolf Critical Strike Damage 5. Lucky Hit Chance
Pants	1. Damage Reduction  2. Damage Reduction while Fortified 3. Damage Reduction while Injured 4. Total Armor 5. Maximum Life
Boots	1. Spirit Reduction 2. Movement Speed 3. Damage Reduction while Injured 4. Needed Resistances
Amulet	1. Cooldown reduction  2. Rank up Envenom passive 3. Willpower % 4. Damage Reduction while Injured 6. Total armor while Werewolf
Rings	1. Critical Strike Chance 2. Critical Strike Damage 3. Lightning Critical Strike Damage 4. Maximum Life 5. Lucky Hit Chance
2-handed Weapon	1. Willpower 2. All Stats 3. Critical Strike Damage 4. Lightning Critical Strike Damage 5. Core Skill Damage

Please note that these Affixes are the recommended picks for the blank, but that is simply our opinion. Other Affixes could certainly work instead of the ones listed above, but may not be optimal. Also, there are several very specific affixes that are required to make the build work, particularly around Spirit generation, they are as follows:

• Cooldown Reduction
• Maximum Life – Helps survival while channeling.
• Spirit Cost Reduction – Keep channel costs to a minimum.

A final point on acquiring the right affixes, Legendary Aspects use your Obols to target farm them. Obols are awarded from many different activities in the game, you will always stockpiling them until you hit your maximum. Instead of just randomly spending them on a random pick, use them to target what you might be missing from this build. It is a great way to target a specific slot of loot and find what you need.

If you are interested in checking out a new tool for gambling Obols check out this article below from Icy Veins.

Legendary Aspects

Listed below are all the best-in-slot Aspects found on Legendary Items that are important for the Lightning Storm Werewolf Druid build. Aspects from the Codex of Power can be used if you cannot find the proper Legendary drops, but they have weaker effects. Extract Aspects from lower level Legendary Items and imprint them onto better Rare Items with preferred stats. The endgame itemization goal will be to imprint Aspects with the best values Ancestral Rare items with Item Power above or as close to 800, then upgrade them through the Blacksmith. Each aspect is listed with its matching gear slot. Do your best to keep each aspect in the slot it was posted with.

Gear Slot	Legendary Aspect	Legendary Aspect Power
Helm	Tempest Roar	Unique Helmet
Chest	Aspect of Disobedience	You gain [0.6 – 1.1%] increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to [33.00 – 66.00%].
Gloves	Unsung Ascetic’s Wraps	Unique Gloves
Pants	Tibault’s Will	Unique Pants
Boots	Flickerstep	Unique Boots
Amulets(50% bonus)	Dire Wolf’s Aspect	Grizzly Rage now shapeshifts you into a Dire Werewolf. As a Dire Werewolf you gain [15-25%] Movement Speed instead of Damage Reduction and a [30-50%] Spirit cost reduction bonus. In addition, kills Heal you for 10% of your Maximum Life.
Ring	Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast	The duration of Grizzly Rage is increased by [1 – 5] seconds. In addition, Critical Strikes while Grizzly Rage is active increase your Critical Strike Damage by 10% for the duration.
Ring	Aspect of the Stampede	Gain 1 additional Companion. In addition, your Companion Skills deal [16-26%] bonus damage.
2-handed weapon	Shepherd’s Aspect	Core Skills deal an additional [6-10%] damage for each active Companion.

Uber Uniques

The chart below is our recommendation for Uber Uniques that will work within this build. However, all Uber uniques are extremely powerful and can shine in different situations. Good Hunting!

Uber Uniques	Recommended(Y/N)	Replaces
Andariel’s Visage	No
Harlequin Crest	No
Melted Heart of Selig	No
Ring of Starless Skies	No
Doombringer	No
The Grandfather	No
Ahavarion, Spear of Lycander	No

Gems

Listed below are the best gems to socket into gear for each slot type.

• Weapon: Royal Emerald for critical strike damage to Vulnerable enemies.
• Armor: Royal Ruby for the Maximum Life.
• Jewelry: Royal Diamond for All Resistances, however, certain bosses may require you to switch to their corresponding resistances. If Resistances are capped, use Royal Skull.

Elixirs and Health Potions

Visit the Alchemist in any main town to craft helpful Elixirs that increase stats and experience gain for 30 minutes. Make sure to forage plants and pick up the necessary crafting materials during your adventures; they randomly spawn around the world. Use an Elixir providing any Resistance you need most, or the Assault Elixir to increase Attack Speed.

Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 20, 30, 45, 60, 70, 80 and 90, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival.

Changelog

• March 5th 2024: Updates for Patch 1.3.3
• February 6th 2024: Build adjustments for clarity.
• January 20th 2024: Season 3 speculative changes.
• December 11th 2023: Build revamped.
• October 13th 2023: Build Adjusted to prepare for Season 2 launch.
• August 8th 2023: Added notes about Patch 1.1.1.
• August 6th 2023: Full build review and improvements in paragon tree and Affixes.
• August 4th 2023: Malignant Hearts and Paragon updated for clarity.
• July 19th, 2023: Season of the Malignant section added.
• July 18th, 2023: Reviewed and altered build with Season One Patch Notes.