Build Introduction
The Pulverize Druid is a dependable Werebear build, with large smashes of 
Pulverize and wide casts of 
Poison Creeper to clear areas of enemies and level swiftly! Supporting abilities help keep up Spirit, heal, and apply debuffs to enemies.
After progressing through the Main Story and reaching level 60, continue your Pulverize adventure with the Pulverize Druid Endgame Guide, or choose any of our Endgame Builds.
For general tips and information about leveling a Druid in Diablo 4, check out our Druid Leveling Page.
Seasonal: Looking for the right Horadric Spell for the build? Check them out here.
Quick Navigation
This guide covers everything necessary to get started on the Pulverize Druid, including Skill Tree points, Paragon, Gearing, and Seasonal updates. Jump to the sections you’re looking for here:
Allocation of Skill Points
The table below outlines the recommended order for spending Skill Points. 59 Points are gained from leveling, and the remaining 12 are from completing Renown events in each zone, for a total of 71 Skill Points.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Trample 
Blood Howl 
Wolves 
Poison Creeper 
Wind Shear 
Pulverize The Build Mechanics section helps explain how these Skills play and interact. Head there after setting up your skill bar.
Druid Class Mechanic – Spirit Boons
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. To access Spirit Boons:
- Reach Level 15, accepting the quest chain beginning with Druid: Spirits of the Lost Grove.
- Clear the Túr Dúlra Stronghold scenario in Scosglen.
- Complete the quest chain to gain access to the Animal Spirits.
| Boon Name | Animal | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Gift of the Stag | Deer | Gain 30 Maximum Spirit. You gain 10 Spirit every second. |
| Scythe Talons | Eagle | Gain +15% increased Critical Strike Chance and 15% increased Lucky Hit Chance. |
| Pack Leader | Wolf | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a 30% chance to reset the Cooldowns of your Companion Skills. |
| Energize | Wolf | Lucky Hit: Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to fully restore Spirit. |
| Obsidian Slam | Snake | Every 6th attack cast will cause your next Earth Skill to Overpower. |
Prioritize your first Spirit Offerings to unlock the Gift of the Stag for the Spirit Recovery and then Wolf’s Pack Leader for resets on Companion Skills, which is a significant source of our damage.
Obsidian Slam will only function with 
Aspect of the Ursine Horror, which makes Pulverize an Earth Skill.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
Check these sections for important Pulverize gearing considerations to improve the power of your character while leveling.
Legendary Aspects
The Codex of Power updates and improves quality of the Aspects by salvaging Legendary Powers. Legendary Items with Aspect powers can be found across all content in Diablo 4. Random dropped Legendary Aspects can have a specific range of power on them. For example, Aspect of the Changeling’s Debt can roll between 25% and 65% for the effect. Salvaging a higher rank will improve the Aspect’s rank within your Codex from then on.
Aspects gained from Dungeons will enter the Codex of Power at rank 1. This makes Dungeons a great way to get started when putting together a build, without having to rely on random drops. For example, to access Aspect of the Ursine Horror directly without needing a random drop, you can clear Belfry Zakara in Hawezar.
The most significant aspects for the Pulverize Leveling Druid are the following:
| Aspect | Legendary Aspect Power | Location | Recommended Slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shockwave Aspect | Pulverize creates a shockwave that travels forward, dealing 80-120% of its damage to targets in the path. | Salvaged Legendary | Weapon or Amulet |
| Aspect of the Ursine Horror | Now: Pulverize is now an Earth Skill. After it Overpowers, your Earth Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 0.5-1.25 seconds. | Belfry Zakara, Hawezar | Pants or Boots |
- Shockwave Aspect is an Offensive Aspect gives Pulverize a shockwave effect from the initial impact. There is some overlap between the initial Pulverize and the Shockwave where enemies can be by both effects for a double hit!
- Aspect of the Ursine Horror is a Utility Aspect that makes Pulverize an Earth Skill. This is useful for getting damage multipliers related to Nature an Earth abilities like
Defiance and 
Crushing Earth. This also allows aspects like Crashstone Aspect to become useful.
See below for a list of Dungeon Legendary Powers that can be useful to the Pulverize Druid while leveling.
| Legendary Aspect | Aspect Type | Aspect Power | Dungeon Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspect of the Changeling’s Debt | Offensive | You deal 25-65% increased damage while hitting a Poisoned enemy as a Werebear or a Crowd Controlled enemy as a Werewolf. | Conclave, Kejistan |
| Aspect of Retaliation | Offensive | Your Core Skills deal up to 35-75% increased damage based on your amount of Fortify. | Seaside descent, Dry Steppes |
| Crashstone Aspect | Offensive | Earth Skills deal 35-75%% more Critical Strike Damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. | Stockades, Scosglen |
 Aspect of the Umbral | Resource | Restore 1 – 8 of your Primary Resource when you Crowd Control an enemy. | Champion’s Demise, Dry Steppes |
 Aspect of Disobedience | Defensive | You gain 0.4-.8% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25-40%. | Halls of the Damned, Kehjistan |
| Aspect of Might | Defensive | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for 2-10 seconds. | Dark Ravine, Dry Steppes |
| Skinwalker’s Aspect | Defensive | When you use a Shapeshifting Skill that changes your form, gain 5-25% Life. If you are at full Life, gain the same amount as Fortify. | Fading Echo, Kehjistan |
 Ghostwalker Aspect | Mobility | While Unstoppable and for 4 seconds after, you gain 10 – 30% increased Movement Speed and can move freely through enemies. | Broken Bulwark, Scosglen |
 Aspect of Quicksand | Utility | Damage from Earth Skills Slow enemies hit by 20-60% for 5 seconds. | Feral’s Den, Scosglen |
| Ballistic Aspect | Utility | When you have Fortify your Earth Skills gain +2 Ranks. | Whispering Pines, Scosglen |
Some aspects only become useful in combination. For example:
- Aspect of the Ursine Horror, Aspect of Quicksand and Aspect of the Umbral would all come together to make your Pulverize be Earth type, apply a slow, and then that slow gives Spirit back.
- Ballistic Aspect would become useful only after having Aspect of the Ursine Horror to make Pulverize be an Earth Skill.
Druid can adjust to what drops or to playstyles they enjoy when they level. See what flex choices are available in the Druids Have Options! section.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Below are the recommended Gear Affixes for each slot for the Pulverize Leveling Build. Gear Affixes are listed by importance. Affixes in Bold are the most important for the build, and alternatives are added as well.
| Slot | Gem | Stats |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Handed Mace |  Ruby | Chance on Hit for Spirit Willpower Max Life Overpower Damage |
| Helm |  Sapphire | Ranks in Poison Creeper Ranks to Companion Skills Willpower Max Life Spirit Per Second |
| Chest | Sapphire | Max Life Spirit Per Second Willpower Armor |
| Gloves | N/A | Ranks in Pulverize Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Willpower Critical Strike Damage |
| Pants | Sapphire | Max Life Armor Willpower Dodge Chance |
| Boots | N/A | Movement Speed Spirit Per Second Willpower Dodge Chance |
| Amulet |  Diamond | Movement Speed Ranks to  EnvenomCritical Strike Chance Willpower% Resource Cost Reduction |
| Rings | Diamond | Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Maximum Life Resource Generation Chance on Hit to makes enemies Vulnerable |
- Critical Strike Chance is important for Pack Leader Spirit boon resets and overall damage.
- Resource Cost Reduction and Spirit Per Second will go a long way to help us keep smashing out our Pulverizes.
- A couple Armor Affixes will help us stay ahead of the Damage.
- 2 Handed Weapons are double budget for aspects. This means we can make our Shockwave Aspect or other strong multiplier even better. 2-handed Maces are recommended for the Overpower damage.
Tempering manuals are found across Sanctuary. The Blacksmith applies Tempering affixes on items. Manuals are divided by types; a Resource manual like 
Worldly Stability has Resource type tempers, and can only be placed on rings and amulet.
When tempering, the item will select one of the affixes from the chosen Manual. Temper rerolls to get the desired affix are limited. Unique Items cannot be Tempered.
Here’s a list of useful tempers to look out for, sorted by type.
| Manual Type | Manual Name | Manual Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Werebear Augments | Chance for Pulverize to Hit Twice |
| Offensive | Earth Finesse | Earth Critical Strike Chance Earth Lucky Hit Chance Earth Damage Earth Overpower Damage |
| Offensive | Shapeshifting Finesse | Werebear Overpower Damage |
| Offensive | Natural Finesse | Damage to Close Enemies Damage to Distant Enemies |
| Utility | Werebear Innovation | Pulverize Size |
| Defensive | Worldly Endurance | Total Armor% |
| Mobility | Natural Motion | Movement Speed |
| Resource | Worldly Stability | Resource Generation |
Our endgame builds are designed for gameplay after level 60, including interactions and systems found in Torment difficulty and beyond. Check the Druid Builds page to progress your character further.
Uniques
Here’s a list of useful Unique Items for the Pulverize Bear to look out for while leveling:
Insatiable Fury has strong gear affixes and extra ranks in all Werebear Skills.
Hunter’s Zenith – strong gear affixes and effect that grants periodic Critical Overpowers. 
Rotting Lightbringer turns the Pulverize Bear into a Puddle Bear, laying poisonous, splashing puddles on the ground for high damage.
Gems and Runewords
The following are the best Gems to socket into your gear for each category:
Gems
- Weapon: Ruby for Overpower Damage.
- Armor: Sapphire for Willpower.
- Jewelry: Diamonds for All Resistances
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. 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 combinations for the Pulverize Leveling Druid. These leveling recommendations are limited to Magic and Rare quality runes, and are placed in 2-Handed Weapon and one Armor slot:
| Runeword Combination | Runeword Effects |
|---|---|
| Poc Lum |  Poc – Gain: 5 Offering. Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. Lum – Requires: 5 Offering, Overflow: Increased Resource Restored. Cooldown: 1 Second.Restore 2.5 Primary Resource. |
| Noc Gar |  Noc – Gain: 5 Offering. Inflict a Crowd Control, gain double offering if it isn’t a Slow or Chill. Gar – Requires 25 Offering. Overflow: Gain Multiple Stacks. Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%. |
Poc Lum will give a refund on Spirit after spending. Noc Gar will be a tidy Critical Strike Chance increase for damage and Packleader Boon resets. Crowd Controls for Noc are applied with things like 
Neurotoxin, Poison Creeper and Aspect of Quicksand.
There will be several Runeword combinations that help out and work, feel free to try them all out as you acquire the runes. For example, some of the damage effect triggers like 
Chac will do especially good damage in very early levels.
Paragon Starts at Level 60. Once you reach this level, switch to one of our Endgame Builds!
Horadric Spell (Season 9)
Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim offers seasonal Powers accessed from a Powers tab on the character Sheet and Horadric.
The Horadric Catalyst is equipped to a Skill on the Skill Bar, triggered on the Skill’s use. One Infusion adds effects and modifies the damage type of the Catalyst, and three Arcana enhance the Catalyst or provide extra effects on Catalyst trigger.
| Type | Power | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Catalyst, Attached to Pulverize |  Propulsion | Generate a Mana Blast that delivers damage and Knocks Back all foes. Enemies that collide take more damage. |
| Infusion |  Corrosive Vapor | Your Spell Catalyst now deals Poison and or Poisoning damage. Bonus: Enemies damaged by it take Poisoning damage over 4 seconds. This effect can only happen on each enemy every 3 seconds. While equipped, your Poison Damage Bonus is equal to that of your highest Damage Type Bonus. Rank 5: Deactivates monster Vampiric effects for 5 seconds. |
| Arcana |  Shifting Powder | Power – Your Catalyst increases your Movement Speed by 30% during its effect and for 5 more seconds after it ends (+8% each rank). |
| Arcana |  Floaty Bobble | Power – Your Catalyst gains a specialized blink effect that grants Unhindered for 2.0 seconds. (+0.4 each rank). Propulsion: Blinks you to the center of the blast and makes you Unhindered for 2.0 seconds. The melee variant blinks you to the Knocked Back enemies. |
| Arcana |  Bloody Charm | Denial – Your Catalyst gains a specialized Execute effect for non-Boss enemies with 10% or less Life. (+2% each rank). Propulsion: The Mana Blast from Propulsion will Execute non-Boss enemies with 10% or less Life. Successful Executions grant 70% Movement Speed for 5 seconds. |
This is a fun little combo for speeding through leveling. Propulsion will blink to your enemy. If it executes the enemy, gain movement speed.
Lots of combinations of Arcana or Catalyst will work; feel free to try them out as they become available.
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 Pulverize Leveling Druid:
Main Mercenary – Varyana, the Berserker
- Core Skill:
Cleave - Core Passive:
Hysteria - Iconic Skill:
Bloodthirst - Iconic Passive:
Bloodlust
Reinforcement – Raheir, the Shieldbearer
Hysteria and Bloodlust will both give strong Attack Speed bonuses.
Build Mechanics
Rotation and Playstyle
- Poison Creeper on gathered enemies for lethal Poison damage.
Wolves against strong Single Target enemies like Elites or Bosses.- Pulverize your enemies, and take note of when Enhanced Pulverize is going to cause Pulverize to Overpower.
Blood Howl and 
Trample for Spirit generation and to help maintain Shapeshifting buffs such as 
Quickshift.
Wind Shear as filler to generate Spirit.
Skills, Support and Synergies
The primary sources of damage for the Pulverize Leveling Druid are Pulverize and Poison Creeper.
Pulverize smashes in front of you, dealing physical damage in a wide circle.
- Enhanced Pulverize makes Pulverize Overpower every 12 seconds while you remain Healthy. Overpower deals extra damage based on current Health and Fortify, and Healthy means Current Life is at least 80% of Max Life.
- Raging Pulverize Pulverize deals 75% increased Overpower Damage. Enemies Overpowered by Pulverize are Stunned for 3 seconds.
Two Legendary Aspects modify Pulverize:
- Shockwave Aspect, a secondary shockwave line will erupt from the edge of the Pulverize. There is a small overlap between these two hits where enemies can be struck by both effects.
- Aspect of the Ursine Horror makes Pulverize an Earth Skill, allowing Pulverize to benefit from Earth and Nature modifiers like Defiance and
Stone Guard. This also reduces Earth Skill Cooldowns after Pulverize Overpowers. This can be useful if you end up running Earth Skills like 
Petrify or 
Earthen Bulwark.
Poison Creeper is a Companion that passively attacks to apply a small Poison. The Active Skill deals significant Poison damage over time in a wide area around the player and Immobilizes enemies.
- Enhanced Poison Creeper increases the Immobilize duration.
- Brutal Poison Creeper Increases Critical Strike Chance against enemies Immobilized by the Creeper.
The active cast of Poison Creeper, especially in early levels, is lethal damage to all but the toughest enemies, making it very efficient to use on most leveling builds. We take Pack Leader boon to reset the Companion Active Skill.
Supporting Skills
Supporting abilities for the build include 
Storm Strike, Blood Howl, Trample and Wolves.
- Wind Shear is a ranged projectile Basic Attack, giving some movement speed and with Aspect of the Calm Breeze, applies Poison for high damage.
- Blood Howl is a handy heal and with Innate Blood Howl is a Spirit Generator. Blood Howl also helps maintain Werewolf buffs from Quickshift and
Heightened Senses. - Trample is a damage and mobility tool, knockback, and source of Unstoppable for Crowd Control prevention or removal. With Savage Trample it is another Spirit Generator. Trample also help upkeep Werebear Shapeshifting buffs like Heightened Senses and Quickshift.
- Wolves are useful as a single target focused damage attack, and to help tank enemies. They are also good boys.
Our Key Passive is 
Ursine Strength. This grants 30% Maximum Life, 20% more damage, and a 100% Overpower bonus while in Werebear form and for 5 seconds after leaving it. We will full uptime on this buff since we frequently enter Werebear form with Pulverize
Spirit Generation
This build has a few sources of Spirit Generation to keep Pulverizing. These include:
- Our Basic Skill Wind Shear generates Spirit when hitting enemies.
- Innate Blood Howl and Trample generate Spirit on Active Skill use.
- The Wolf’s Energize Boon grants a Lucky Hit to fully restore Spirit.
- The Gift of the Stag Spirit Boon gives 5 Spirit Per Second and raises our max Spirit.
- Runeword setups like Lum offer Resource refund.
Druids Have Options!
Any of the supporting skills Blood Howl, Trample, or Wolves can be substituted for another desirable supporting Skill depending on looted Legendary Aspects, playstyle, leveling content, or preference. Some examples to try can include:
- Want to use an Ultimate Skill for a big burst cooldown? There’s several good options!
- Petrify stuns enemies, regenerates Spirit and applies a large Critical Strike Damage debuff.
- If you found a Blood Boiling Aspect, line it up with
Cataclysm for Overpower screenwide attacks. - Become the strongest Dire Wearbear with
Grizzly Rage! Look out for enhancing aspects like Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast and Aspect of the Rabid Bear.
- This build recommends the Spirit Generation on Blood Howl and Trample for smoothness of play, but the other passives, such as Enhanced Blood Howl for Attack Speed and Natural Trample for Fortify Generation work too!
- Want extra Defensives? Earthen Bulwark can provide Barrier, Unstoppable, and Fortify. Primal Pulverize can be used as a Damage Reduction debuff on enemies. Spirit Boon Wariness can help against Elites and Bosses.
The Key Passive Ursine Strength is used for the reliable passive damage multiplier, Overpower damage and Max Life. 
Bestial Rampage can be more total damage but requires you to be more careful about maintaining Forms. 
Claw can be used as your Basic Skill to help upkeep these buffs.
Which Elixirs Should You Use?
The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.
- Craft the highest
Elixir of Precision for Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Damage and bonus Experience. Or 
Iron Skin Elixir can help push into higher difficulties earlier and easier. - Remember to upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion. Upgrades are available when you reach Level 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60.
Season 9 Updates
The updates to Basic Skill damage, Ursine Strength, and Pulverize, and Tempering for Pulverize Size will be a welcome boost. Other than that, there’s not much changing this season for this build.
The following list details the important changes in the Season 9 Patch Updates that are specific to the Pulverize Leveling Druid. For general Season 9 information, check out our Season 9 Hub.
Itemization:
- Aspect of the Ursine Horror – Now a Utility Power
- Previously: Pulverize is now also an Earth Skill. After Casting Pulverize tectonic spikes continue to deal damage over 2 seconds.
- Now: Pulverize is now an Earth Skill. After it Overpowers, your Earth Skill Cooldowns are reduced by 0.5-1.25 seconds.
- New Unique Item – Rotting Lightbringer – If no puddle is around you, Pulverize forms a puddle that guarantees its own Overpowers and deals 200-600% of its normal damage as Poisoning over 7 seconds. Pulverize causes all close puddles to splash 20-60% of their total damage within their areas and around them.
- New Tempering – Werebear Innovation for Pulverize Size
Skills and Stats:
- Wind Shear Damage increased from 20% to 60%.
- Pulverize Damage increased from 92% to 150%.
Vigilance Damage Reduction reduced from 7/14/21% to 5/10/15%.- Ursine Strength
- Previously: Gain 30% additional Maximum Life while in Werebear form and for 3 seconds after leaving Werebear form. While Healthy, deal 15% increased damage, and 70% increased Overpower damage.
- Now: Gain 30% Maximum Life, 20% more damage, and a 100% Overpower bonus while in Werebear form and for 8 seconds after leaving it.
Difficulty and Endgame
Choosing your World Tier: The fastest experience is Adventurer. Each additional step in difficulty will increase experience and rewards; but can be at a total speed loss if things are living too long, extending the leveling process. If you find a high value Legendary Aspect multiplier like Shockwave Aspect, try out higher difficulties!
Once you’re ready at level 60 or even sooner it’s time to start those Endgame Activities.
After Level 60, you gain no more Skill Points and instead start progressing in the Paragon Board. Allocate Paragon Points into nodes along the path to gain further power. Rare Glyphs start at 3 Radius, growing by 1 Radius at level 15, and then at level 46. Level up your glyphs by running The Pit. Early investment for this build might prioritize Spirit Generation nodes from the 
Ancestral Guidance board, and Earth Damage Multipliers from the 
Earthen Devastation board.
This will get you ready for that transition to the Pulverize Endgame Guide or other Endgame Druid Builds.
Thanks so much for reading and good luck on leveling!
Changelog
- 27 June, 2025: Updated for patch 2.3 and Season 9.
- 24 April, 2025: Updated to new unified format and for Season 8 Patch 2.2 changes.
- 22 January, 2025: Adjusted recommended Witch Powers. This accounts for Lost Powers and Occult Gems being hard to get while leveling.
- 14 January, 2025: Updated for season 7 and patch 2.1.
- 17 November, 2024: Minor updates for patch 2.0.5.
- 15 October, 2024: Updated for new onsite Paragon tool.
- 26 September, 2024: Updated for season 6, Season of Hatred Rising, including more Skill Points, new Paragon, Runeword and Mercenary systems.
- 7 August, 2024: Updated for post-launch of season 5. Some changes to Skill Tree recommendations and improving readability.
- 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.
- 8 May 2024: Guide created for the launch Season 4.
