Welcome to the Shred Druid leveling guide. If you want to level up as a Werewolf, this is your place to be.
Focusing on the Werewolf's Shred ability, this build combines great defensive tools with the offensive power of Companions.
The Shred Druid is a melee build with excellent mobility and solid single target damage. Once the build gains access to Poison Creeper it has excellent AoE, while getting a lot of single target damage from Wolves. These supplement the damage already provided from Shred.
Blood Howl and Trample give you access to large amounts of Spirit which smooths out the rotation. Blood Howl also pairs with Debilitating Roar to provide incredible healing that makes you very hard to kill, even against bosses.
This guide teaches you all about how to reach the endgame in Diablo 4 with the Shred Druid. Let's get started!
This build guide takes you through the Campaign up to Level 50. Endgame guides will follow soon in our Druid Guides section. Stay tuned!
- Melee Combat
- Great Mobility
- Excellent Healing
- Great AoE Damage
- Slow Start
- High Cooldowns
- Intensive Spirit Management
- Mediocre Single Target 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
We start by unlocking Storm Strike, a melee skill that generates Spirit extremely reliably, and also provides damage reduction.
Shred
Shred is the centerpiece of this build. The Spirit costs are decently high, but you get 3 hits per cast out of it. Keep an eye on your Skill bar. Once the first hit is executed, you find a bar there that indicates the time you have to hit with the second strike without additional Spirit costs.
Damage & Pets
Continue to increase your damage output by maxing out Shred.
Poison Creeper adds incredible burst damage against larger monster packs, while Wolves handle the burst for single target. Use them wisely.
Trample & Debilitating Roar
By adding Trample, we not only get a very good movement skill, but also additional Spirit generation that allows us to spam Shred even more. If your Spirit Generation is good enough through gear, Debilitating Roar can replace Trample to provide us with an incredible defensive buff that makes the Capstone Dungeon much easier. Note that this change takes away your source of Unstoppable, but this is much less important earlier game.
Unlocking Key Passive
Lupine Ferocity is a great all-around option that increases Damage and Critical Strike Chance.
The Final Stretch
Toxic Claws applies Poisoning to targets, which allows us to take advantage of several buffs that are conditional on the target being Poisoned, including Envenom. Debilitating Roar is an excellent defensive skill that will make it much easier to get through the first Capstone Dungeon.
Check out our Renown Guide to unlock all your additional rewards efficiently.
Spirit Boons
The Druid Spirit Boons allow you to select a total of 5 Boons from 4 Spirits that act as a Passive buff to your character. You can select 1 Boon per Spirit by default. The 5th Boon can be allocated once ALL Spirit Boons have been unlocked. This requires you to bond with one of the Spirits, choose one and interact with it in Túr Dúlra.
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.
Spirit Boon Progression
- The first 25 Druidic Spirit Offerings go to the Wolf Spirit to activate Packleader.
- Collect 25 Druidic Spirit Offerings and unlock the first Boon of the Eagle Spirit. Activate Scythe Talons for additional Critical Strike Chance.
- Save up to 100 Druidic Spirit Offerings to gain access to Masochistic on the Snake Spirit.
- Pick up 75 Druidic Spirit Offerings to unlock Prickleskin on the Deer Spirit.
- Collect another 175 Druidic Spirit Offerings to unlock the remaining Boons and the ability to bond with one of them. Bond with the Eagle Spirit and activate Swooping Attacks.
Learn more details in our full Druid Spirit Boons Guide.
Gear Progression & Stat Priorities
The best weapon for Leveling Shred Druid is a 2-Hander with the highest possible DPS. The rest of the stats are not as important, but if you're comparing 2 weapons with similar DPS, prioritize Resource Cost Reduction, Willpower, and Attack Speed.
Hint: Press SHIFT over an item to compare it to what you're wearing!
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: Poison Creeper, Wolves or Companion ranks, Spirit per Second, Resistance
- Armor: Spirit per Second, Resistance, Life
- Gloves: Shred ranks, Life, Willpower
- Pants: Life, Resistance, Life per Second
- Boots: Movement Speed, Spirit per Second, Resistance
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, Spirit on Kill, Life
- Rings: Resistance, Spirit on Kill, Life
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 can significantly help us if we have the funds to imprint them:
Codex Leveling Aspects in Order of Priority:
| POWER | DUNGEON |
| Shepherd's | Bloodsoaked Crag - Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of Disobedience | Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan |
| Vigorous | Steadfast Barracks - Hawezar |
| Might | Dark Ravine- Dry Steppes |
| Eluding Aspect | Caldera Gate - Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of Retaliation | Seaside Descent - Dry Steppes |
| Unsatiated | Tormented Ruins- Fractured Peaks |
| Aspect of the Umbral | Champion's Demise - Dry Steppes |
Learn more details in our article covering the Codex of Power.
Helpful Legendary Powers
Here are all helpful Legendary Aspects for the Blight Corpse Explosion Necromancer 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.
- Accelerating Offensive Aspect allows you to generate and spend your Spirit much faster.
- Subterranean gives you more opportunities to reset your companion skills with Packleader. Especially good if you take Primal Landslide. Remove points in Defensive Posture to make space.
- Changeling's Debt can be used with Poison Creeper and Trample to get large bursts of damage.
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 Shred Druid has great AoE and decent Single Target damage.
- The build really shines thanks to incredible movement from Primal Shred.
- Focus on improving your 2-Handed Weapon, ideally Staves.
- When you unlock the Shepherd's, put it on your Amulet to get a big damage boost.
- Look out for helpful Legendary Aspects in the Codex of Power, especially those that generate Spirit and buff your damage/damage reduction.
Credits
Written by McFluffin
Reviewed by Moxsy