Welcome to the Companion Druid Leveling Guide. If you're excited about using Companions as your main damage dealers, this guide is your key to success.
With the changes to companions in Season 4, our companions will now benefit from our stats and should be stronger than ever. Unfortunately most of the key aspects for a companion build are drop-only aspects, so in this build we use all the companions but supplement some of the lower damage with Shred paired with Shepherd's, while also keeping the core identity of a companion build.
This guide teaches you all about how to reach the endgame in Diablo 4 with the Companion Druid. Let's get started!
This build guide takes you through the Campaign and Early Game up to Level 50. Check out Endgame Guides in our Druid Guides section.
- Good AoE
- All Companions
- No Resource Cost
- Decent Single Target
- Slow Pace
- Low Mobility
- Cooldown Heavy
- Inconsistent Damage
Season 4 - Loot Reborn
In Season 4, the Season Theme revolves around helping out the Iron Wolves. Compared to past themes, this one does not offer any borrowed power as the entire game has been redesigned with new itemization and crafting options, increasing player power substantially across the board. Instead, you can gather reputation similar to the Vampire Bounty Board from Season 2 to unlock rewards that supercharge your leveling journey to 100 with extra items, crafting materials and eventually even a Resplendent Spark to craft an uber unique.
We recommend to follow the seasonal questline until you unlock the reputation system, check which rewards suit you most and then follow your regular leveling path. To learn more, check out our full Season 4 guide for more information.
Skill Showcase
Skill Tree & Gameplay
Generator
First, you need to unlock your primary Basic Skill and its first enhancement. Your preference is Storm Strike due to its significant damage reduction effect and its ability to apply Vulnerable. Use it as a filler attack between Cooldowns. Remember, it has the chance to reset your Companion's Cooldowns via Packleader. We will later swap this for Maul for its synergies with Bestial Rampage
Shred
Use Shred as your early damage dealer until you can fully invest in Companions.
Blood Howl
Use Blood Howl on Cooldown to benefit from extra Spirit or situationally to heal when needed. It also lets you benefit from Digitigrade Gait's Movement Speed Buff.
Companions
Ravens boost your chance of landing Critical Strikes. Use Poison Creeper and Wolves for maximum companion damage
Use the slider on the bottom to see the Skill progression
Key Passive
Unlocking Bestial Rampage increases our damage drastically. Once we are deep enough into the skill tree to unlock this, we will spec out of Storm Strike and into Maul for a reliable way to stay in werebear form.
Check out our Renown Guide to unlock all your additional rewards efficiently.
Druid Spirit Boons
Packleader is used to reset Poison Creeper, Wolves and Ravens. This is the bread and butter of the Companion build. Scythe Talons, and Swooping Attacks provide some extra damage, while Wariness is there for defense. Your main focus is to unlock Packleader as soon as Level 15.
Masochistic gives us extra healing.
Unlocking Spirit Boons
Once you reach level 15, you have to complete a short questline starting in Túr Dúlra, Scosglen. To gain access to the Priority Quest, you first have to defeat the Stronghold of evil forces that has overrun Túr Dúlra. You receive 25 Druidic Spirit Offerings to unlock your first Boon when you complete the questline.
Each Spirit has 4 Boons that are unlocked with 25 Druidic Spirit Offerings each. On 3 of the Spirits, they unlock in a specific order. The outlier is the Snake Spirit - You have to unlock all his Boons simultaneously, meaning you need to collect 100 Druidic Spirit Offerings to gain access to its Boons.
Learn more details in our full Druid Spirit Boons Guide.
Gear Progression & Global Stat Priorities
Ultimately, the best weapon for a leveling Companion Druid is an Axe and Totem for as much attack speed as possible. Always go for higher DPS over the rest of a weapon's stats during leveling.
If you have multiple weapons with the same DPS, prioritize these stats:
- Weapon: 2 Handed Weapons, Axes & Staffs. Look for Willpower, Attack Speed, Spirit on Kill and Damage.
Upgrade only your Weapon and Totem at the Blacksmith and fill their sockets with Emeralds.
Armor
Armor pieces typically grant us Defense and Utility stats, except the Gloves which offer a tidal wave of Offense. Here are the important stats to look for:
- Helm: Ranks to Poison Creeper, Wolves, Spirit Per Second, Max Health, Willpower.
- Armor: Life, Willpower, Spirit Per Second.
- Gloves: Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, Lucky Hit Chance, Willpower
- Pants: Life, Armor, Willpower
- Boots: Movement Speed, Willpower, Spirit Per Second.
Jewelry
Jewelry provides powerful Offensive stats that help us on our leveling journey. Pay close attention to the rolls as higher leveled pieces aren't always better:
- Amulet: Movement Speed, Ranks to Call of the Wild, Cooldown Reduction.
- Rings: Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed, Life
Do not upgrade Armor or Jewelry while leveling. Socket Armor with Rubies and Jewelry with Diamonds.
Read more about itemization in our Damage Explained, Defense Explained, and Stats Explained articles.
Legendary Aspects
The Codex of Power is a collection of Legendary Aspects you can imprint onto Rare or Legendary items at the Occultist. They unlock after completing specific Dungeons located around Sanctuary. For leveling, there are a few Aspects that are particularly impactful on this build and should be obtained as soon as possible:
Top Codex Legendary Aspects
| Aspect | Dungeon |
| Shepherd's | Bloodsoaked Crag - Dry Steppes |
| Stormclaw's | Anica's Claim - Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of the Changeling's Debt | Conclave - Kehjistan |
| Umbral | Champion's Demise - Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of Might | Dark Ravine - Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of the Protector | Lost Archives - Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of Disobedience | Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan |
| Wind Striker | Shivta Ruins - Kehjistan |
Warning: DO NOT imprint your Weapons as they are constantly replaced while leveling. Put Offensive Aspects on your Amulet, Rings, or Gloves instead.
Learn everything about the Codex of Power here.
Helpful Legendary Powers
Here are all helpful Legendary Aspects for the Companion Druid that can either be found in the Codex of Power or Extracted from an item drop. Note that all Legendary Aspects can be found from item drops, and that these can roll better and often significantly better than ones sourced from the Codex of Power.
- Wildrage is a large damage increase for your companions.
- Gamble Totems
- Will greatly increase the passive damage of your wolves by increasing their attack speed.
- Stampede is yet another damage multiplier for your Wolves, as well as all of your Companion Skills.
- Gamble Totems
- Another damage multiplier for your Wolves, as well as all of your Companion Skills.
- Alpha
- Gamble Totems
- Massive damage increase for your Wolves.
How To Level
In Diablo 4 you level by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, completing Helltide activities, grinding Dungeons, or interacting with the Seasonal mechanics. While there are many ways to level up in Diablo 4, not all of them are made equal.
Campaign Leveling
- For your first character in Diablo 4, completing the Campaign provides the best gameplay experience and gives you access to key unlocks like your Mount.
- If you don't have your Mount, you MUST progress the Campaign until you complete the quest Donan's Favor at the start of Act 4.
- After obtaining your Mount you can skip the remainder of the campaign at any time.
- The Campaign is the slowest way to level, but it's worth experiencing the Campaign and Diablo 4's storyline at least once.
- To play Seasonal Content you need to have completed or skipped the Campaign.
Seasonal / Alt Leveling
- Complete the Seasonal questline, progress your Seasonal Journey to unlock Legendary Aspects and work on your Seasonal powers.
- If your account is below Rank 5 Renown in each zone, focus on completing your Renown.
- This only needs to be done once per realm (Softcore / Hardcore).
- Complete the Dungeons needed for any Legendary Aspects from your Codex of Power.
- From level 1-50 you should focus on getting experience in Helltides by combining Helltide activities with Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers or complete Gathering Legion Events.
- After level 50 you need to balance leveling up, Glyph Experience and participating in Endgame activities like Helltide, Tree of Whispers and Bosses. The fastest experience possible after reaching World Tier 3 is completing Nightmare dungeons with monsters exactly 10 levels above your current level. Check out our Nightmare Dungeon Tier List for the best Nightmare Dungeon layouts!
- Around level 30-45 you should move to World Tier 3.
- Around level 50-65 you should move to World Tier 4.
- Alternatively: Get boosted by a friend to World Tier 4 then leech experience/loot and Glyph exp (post 50), in Nightmare dungeons.
- Find the most efficient way of leveling your character in detail in our Speed Leveling Guide.
Leveling Tips and Tricks
Let's look at some tips and tricks to remember when leveling up!
- Level Up Your Potion. You need to farm materials to upgrade your character's potion.
- Make sure you collect all materials as you explore Sanctuary, especially Gallowvine which is used in many Elixir recipes!
- Compare your Items... Literally. Press Shift over an item in your inventory to compare it to what you're wearing.
- This makes it easy to determine what is and isn't an upgrade.
- Don't Imprint Your Best Aspect Onto Your Weapon. The most critical piece of gear while leveling up is your weapon, which gets replaced constantly.
- It is a better idea to put your best Offensive Aspect on your Amulet, which can be used for a long time.
- Sacred is just better. Between level 30 and 50 you're able to beat the Capstone Dungeon and enter World Tier 3, you gain access to powerful Sacred items which have higher item power and better stats. Getting a Sacred weapon significantly improves your farming speed.
- The same happens with World Tier 4 and Ancestral gear at level 60.
Summary
- The Companion Druid Leveling Build revolves around the fantasy of powering up Companions: Wolves, Poison Creeper and Ravens.
- Focus on getting as much Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed to trigger Packleader as much as possible.
- Look out for helpful Legendary Aspects in the Codex of Power, especially those that buff your damage & damage reduction.
Credits
Written by Moxsy
Reviewed by McFluffin
