Werewolf Druid Build Guide - D2R 2.6

Werewolf Introduction

If you like the Diablo games and the genre in general, then like me the thought of a Werewolf build sounds very cool! It is a lot of fun to play, particularly once you reach the end game build. It isn't the most efficient farmer in the game, but if you are looking for a bit of fun and a build that can be played right from the very start then give this a go!

The build focuses on the Shape Shifting skill tree of the Druid, with utility points placed in the Summoning tree to boost our damage and survivability. As you can expect from the build title, we focus on the Werewolf skill in the Shape Shifting tree and supplement this with the bonus from Lycanthropy. When in Werewolf form, the combination of these 2 skills will provide a huge boost to our Life, Attack Rating and Attack Speed. Our main damage skill is Fury (also in the Shapeshifting tree) which is similar to the Zeal skill for a paladin, attacking a target(s) multiple times whilst also providing boosts to our Damage and Attack Rating. The Summoning skill tree provides us with a meat shield in the form of Wolves and a Grizzly Bear and also the choice of sage – either Oak Sage for extra life, or Heart of Wolverine for Damage and Attack Rating boosts.

The beauty of this build is that it's a very simple playstyle and viable all the way through the game, so great for new players!

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Easy playstyle, great for beginners
• Huge single target damage
• Can farm anywhere in the game
• Viable to kill ubers.
• Viable in hardcore.

Cons:

• Slow farmer
• Unable to teleport in Werewolf form, low mobility
• End game weapon is extremely rare
• Limited options for magic find

Skill Tree

Elemental:

• None

Shape Shifting:

• Werewolf (20)
• Lycanthropy (20)
• Feral Rage (5+)
• Rabies (1)
• Fury (20)

Summoning:

• Raven (1)
• Poison Creeper (1)
• Oak Sage (1)
• Carrion Vine (1)
• Heart of Wolverine (20)
• Summon Dire Wolf (1)
• Summon Grizzly (1)

The above allocation will take you to level 82 and is the core for our build, where you allocate skills from this point is user preference. I like to put more points into Feral Rage for more Damage and Attack Rating, alternatives include points into Dire Wolf for more life into your meat shield or Oak Sage as an alternative to Heart of Wolverine if you're struggling for life.

Levelling

The beauty of the Werewolf build is you can play it almost immediately, as soon as you reach Level 2 you can put your first skill point into Werewolf and start tearing things apart! My preference is to maximise the Lycanthropy skill before Werewolf for the life and duration boost (so you don't keep having to recast). As you level it is worth investing some points into your Summoning tree to give you your meat shield and Oak Sage at level 6 for another life boost. At level 12 you will be able to gain Feral Rage, 1 point is enough here for the early game, and I would recommend continuing to invest into Lycanthropy whenever you can. Heart of Wolverine is available at level 18 and should be obtained. Once you reach level 30 you will gain the Fury ability, and from this point onwards invest your points here to maximise your damage and number of attacks from the ability. Once maxed you can invest points back into Lycanthropy and Werewolf until they are maxed, and then focus on your utility summons.

Early Game

This section is intended to showcase an item build that is achievable after completing the game and you are ready to start farming. Some of the runes may require repeat farming of Normal and / or Nightmare Countess, however this is normally achieved within a short timeframe.

Helm: "Lore" Runeword (Ort Sol) / Peasant Crown

Amulet: Utility Amulet with life, resistances, magic find etc

Weapon: "Oath" Runeword (Shael Pul Mal Lum) in an ethereal 2 handed weapon

Note: "Oath" is expensive for an early game item, however by the time you finish the game you should have enough currency to purchase the required runes or you might get lucky with your Hellforge quest.

Armor: "Smoke" Runeword (Nef Lum)

Gloves: Bloodfists

Rings: Ravenfrost / Utility ring

Ravenfrost provides the "Cannot be Frozen" mod which is fundamental for any physical damage dealer.

Belt: String of Ears

Boots: Faster Run Walk with Resistances

Inventory: Life / Resistance Charms or Magic / Gold Find Charms

Mercenary: Act 2 Desert Mercenary with "Might" Aura and "Insight" Runeword (Ral Tir Tal Sol) or "Obedience" Runeword (Hel Ko Thul Eth Fal)

The early survivability of a Werewolf Druid is very strong with reasonable single target, so farming locations are easy to come by. The build does not have any area damage so high density areas (e.g. The Secret Cow Level) are not recommended. Medium dense areas (e.g. The Chaos Sanctuary) are an okay option, but not the most efficient. The Chaos Sanctuary can often be frustrating on melee builds as you will constantly be cursed, sometimes with Decrepify which reduces your Attack and Movement Speed, Defense and Damage. An important mechanic of Fury to keep in mind is that you can get "stuck" in the animation, so if you have the Decrepify curse on you and a slow attack speed the time taken to hit something 5 times is very slow – if you are taking heavy damage at the time this is an easy way to die as you cannot move whilst in the Fury animation!

My recommendations for early game farming are similar to a Barbarian – The Pit and Travincal. Both are popular farming locations, The Pit can drop every item in the game and the Council Members in Travincal are well known for dropping high runes. Travincal may be difficult immediately after finishing the game, unless you have found lots of Fire Resistance charms or Hotspurs / Infernostride boots to increase your maximum Fire Resistance. From time to time you will encounters monsters that are Immune to Physical damage, at this stage of our build we cannot break this immunity so I would suggest ignoring them and moving on.

End Game

The end game build is a lot of fun and can clear any content in the game with ease. The weapon is very rare but there are alternatives, for example using the non-ethereal version of the weapon is feasible but will result in lower damage until you find the end game item. Another option for the weapon is Ribcracker Quarterstaff, this seems like a strange option as it is a staff however the modifications on it provide a huge amount of damage and Crushing Blow making it viable.

Helm: Jalal's Mane socketed with an Um rune or Life / Faster Hit Recovery / Resistance Jewel

Amulet: Highlord's Wrath

Weapon: Ethereal Tomb Reaver Cryptic Axe socketed with a Zod Rune and 2x Increased Attack Speed / Enhanced Damage Jewels

Weapon Swap: "Call to Arms" Runeword (Amn Ral Mal Ist Ohm) and "Spirit" Runeword (Tal Thul Ort Amn)

Armor: "Fortitude" Runeword (El Sol Dol Lo)

Gloves: Laying of Hands / Bloodfists / Dracul's Grasp

Ring #1: Ravenfrost

Ring #2: Rare or Crafted Ring with Life Leech, Mana Leech, Attack Rating and Resistances.

Belt: String of Ears

Boots: Gore Rider War Boots

Inventory: Bone Break Sunder Charm

Grand Charms with + Shape Shifting Skills and + Life (as much as possible)

Small Charms with +3 Max Damage / 15+ Attack Rating / 15+ Life

Druid Hellfire Torch Large Charm

Annihilus Small Charm

Mercenary: Act 2 Desert Mercenary with "Might" Aura, ethereal Reaper's Toll, ethereal "Fortitude" Runeword and ethereal Andariel's Visage socketed with an Increased Attack Speed / Fire Resistance Jewel

Stats

Strength: Enough to wear your gear

Dexterity: Enough to wear your gear

Vitality: As much as possible

Energy: None

Hardcore

This build is viable in Hardcore with minimal tweaks. If you want to be extra safe then there is the option to use "Grief" Runeword "Eth Tir Lo Mal Ral" in a Phase Blade and Stormshield in your other weapon slot, you can then increase your Dexterity allocation so that you achieve 75% Block Chance. With the end game gear above you will already have a reasonable amount of Damage Reduction and very high Life Steal so is also viable in Hardcore – just with a little more risk. You are a melee build which is always risky in Hardcore so will need to play a bit more carefully and watch out for particularly nasty packs with Curses and Auras.

Playstyle

The Werewolf Druid gameplay is a lot of fun, and you're always in the thick of the action as a melee build!

Start by casting your summons, then switch weapons to your "Call to Arm" and cast Battle Command and Battle Orders making sure your summons and mercenary also receive the buff. At this point you can transform into your Werewolf form and start hunting down monsters!

For your first few attacks make sure you use Feral Rage to gain as many stacks as possible and receive all the boosts it provides. As soon as you reach full stacks start hitting monsters with Fury and watch them fall. At this point you'll be hitting monsters / bosses 5 times in very quick succession using the skill, so your damage output is extremely high. We also have a good % of Life Leach to help sustain us in fights. Fury isn't a single target spell, so if you are surrounded by a big pack the 5 attacks will be shared among them. Your mercenary will also be doing work, his Might aura will boost your damage further and Reaper's Toll has a chance to cast the Decrepify curse on targets – further increasing your damage, but also reducing the damage of the monsters. Decrepify can also remove Physical immunity from monsters if you have not found a Bone Break Sunder charm.

Diablo Clone / Ubers

Diablo Clone is very easy with this build, our single target damage is huge and Gore Rider boots gives us a chance for crushing blow which decimates any uber. The gameplay is similar to normal, summon your Wolves and Bear to absorb damage, cast Battle Command and Battle Order then walk up to the Diablo Clone and start attacking. He will fall extremely fast!

Mini Ubers (Duriel, Lilith and Izual) are easy with this build, the only drawback is that you won't have "Enigma" and therefore no teleport so will need to fight your way through the areas until you reach the bosses. This shouldn't be too difficult with end game gear.

I would recommend a few item swaps for tackling any Uber boss (including Diablo clone), simply to increase our Crushing Blow chance and improve our survivability. The first change is to use a Guillaume's Face helmet, again socketed with an Um rune or Life / Faster Hit Recover / Resistance Jewel – this helmet provides extra Crushing Blow chance and also Deadly Strike for critical hits. The second change is to use Dracul's Grasp gloves, for the % chance to cast the Life Tap curse on our enemies and significantly boost our Life Steal. The actual Uber fight is then very similar to a conventional Smiter, slightly slower as we do rely on our Attack Rating to hit the bosses (whereas Smite always hits) however it is still a strong Uber build. I would always recommend prebuffing Fade with the "Treachery" Runeword for the extra damage reduction and resistances, and also taking on the bosses one at a time.

Must have items for this build:

If you'd rather skip farming you can quickly buy D2R Items from our D2R Store.