Summon Druid Guide
Last Updated:August 10, 2024|Change Log
Who let the dogs out? Patch 2.4 let the dogs out!...and the birds...and the bear...all at once! The Summon Druid is the ultimate zookeeper! The legions of hell don't stand a chance against his animal army. Regular monsters, Elites, Bosses, and even Uber Bosses are quickly overwhelmed by savage pecking, biting, tearing, and mauling. This Druid brings the full fury of nature to "bear"...tooth, claw, and all!
The Summon Druid has become a viable option with the ability to summon all of his pets at once. These pets include 1 Summon Grizzly, 3 Summon Dire Wolf, 5 Summon Spirit Wolf, and 5 Ravens. Heart of Wolverine is an additional summon that provides a Damage and Attack Rating boost for your Wolves (Summon Dire Wolf and Summon Spirit Wolf) and Summon Grizzly. Beast further boosts your zoo's Attack Rating, Attack Speed, and Physical Damage.
There are many ways to play a Summon Druid. You can sit back and let your pets do all the work, aggressively Teleport on top of your foes “Telestomping” them, or even shapeshift into a Werebear and use Shock Wave to control the battlefield. This build is extremely beginner friendly, and can reliably get you through the game with minimal gear. Now go forth and command your beasts to victory!
This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 75 before transitioning to it. Check out our Druid Leveling Guide and our General Leveling Strategies to reach Level 75.
Solid Support ✔
Beginner Friendly ✔
Great Elite Hunter ✔
Low Maintenance Playstyle ✔
Can Farm Almost Everything ✔
❌ Passive Playstyle
❌ Clunky Summon AI
❌ Bad Density Clearer
❌ Low Damage Output
❌ Requires Enigma For Full Potential
Sunder Charm Setup
Patch 2.5 introduced a new way of breaking Immunities: Sunder Charms. Any enemy that would be Immune to your damage type is instead reduced to 95% Resistance, before any other Resistance reductions apply. (e.g. Conviction, Lower Resist) These Charms also reduce YOUR Resistance against the sundered damage types! Check out our post on Sunder Charms to learn more about these new Charms. The following setup uses Bone Break, allowing you to farm anywhere you want.
Gear Changes
To optimize this Sunder Charm you need as much -% Enemy Physical Resistance as possible. The Decrepify proc from your Mercenary's The Reaper's Toll provides enough -% Enemy Physical Resistance to make Bone Break effective.
You can choose to counteract the negative effect of Bone Break with % Damage Reduction gear such as Harlequin Crest and Crown of Ages.
Terror Zones
The new Terror Zone mechanic combined with Sunder Charms open up a wide range of farmable areas. The following list highlights the best and worst Terror Zones for this build. With the Sunder Charm Setup, more Terror Zones become accessible. Learn more about Terror Zones here and see how they stack up in our Terror Zone Tier List.
Best
✔ Travincal - Council Members, Quick Access, No Immunities
✔ Dark Wood + Underground Passage - Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
✔ Black Marsh + The Hole - Quick Access, Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
✔ Pit - Quick Access, Easy Mobility, Many Elite Groups, No Immunities
✔ Frigid Highlands (Eldritch ONLY) - Quick Access, Easy Mobility, No Immunities
Worst
❌ Arcane Sanctuary - Trash Mobility, Immunities
❌ Far Oasis - Few Elite Groups, Immunities
❌ Durance of Hate - Many Obstacles, Low Density, Trash Mobility, High Physical Damage
❌ Crystalline Passage + Frozen River - High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage, Immunities
❌ Ancients' Way + Icy Cellar - High Physical Damage, High Elemental Damage, Immunities
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Carrion Vine
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Heart of Wolverine
Put all remaining Skill Points into Lycanthropy to increase your Life in Werebear form past Level 96.
Damage
Utility
Attributes
Note: This section provides you with the standard Stat Point allocation. Build Variants may require different allocations!
Strength
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Strength your gear provides when equipped.
Dexterity
Allocate enough Stat Points into Dexterity to equip all of your gear. Take into account how much Dexterity your gear provides when equipped.
Vitality
Allocate any remaining Stat Points into Vitality after meeting Strength, Dexterity and Energy requirements.
Energy
Don't allocate any Stat Points into Energy. This build gets enough Mana from gear, buffs, Charms, and Mana Potions.
Essentials
Gear Options
Farming Spots
Mercenary
Playstyle
Breakpoints
Hardcore
Build Variants
Setup
The Starter variant of the Summon Druid meets the minimum gear requirements for farming the Starter ✔ tagged areas in the "Farming Spots" section above. These areas can be Solo-farmed by this setup (/Players1 on Single Player) in both Nightmare and Hell difficulty. Prioritize + to Skills, Resistances, Faster Cast Rate, Magic Find, and Life/Attributes on your gear. A Teleport Charge Staff on Weapon-Swap allows you to reposition your Pets, dealing maximum DPS to targets. Follow the Druid Leveling Guide to get your Druid to Level 75.
Mercenary
The Starter Summon Druid employs an Act 2 Might Mercenary for increased Physical Damage on your Summons. Equip him with Insight for high Mana Regeneration. Hustle is also a great option for its Level 1 Fanaticism Aura. Mercenaries require Resistances, Life Leech, and/or Damage Reduction to stay alive. Smoke is a cheap Body Armor option for Resistances, while Bulwark is the cheapest Helmet that provides Life Leech and Damage Reduction.
Skills
Put 1 Point into Werebear, Shock Wave, and Lycanthropy before maxing Summon Spirit Wolf and Heart of Wolverine. Also, do not bother with Carrion Vine on a Starter Summon Druid. The rest is the same as the Standard Build.
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Lycanthropy
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Heart of Wolverine
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
This is the Standard Best in Slot (BiS) Summon Druid featured in the beginning of the guide. It is the balanced "jack-of-all-trades" version, capable of performing the most tasks well. This variant is the point of comparison for all other variants. It carefully balances Damage, Magic Find, and Teleport mobility. Bone Break enables this build to crush monsters that are Immune to Physical. This setup achieves the 99% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on its main weapon loadout.
Mercenary
The Standard Summon Druid uses an Act 2 Might Mercenary for increased Physical Damage on your Summons. Equip him with The Reaper's Toll for the -50% to Enemy Physical Resistance from Decrepify. Fortitude and Guillaume's Face add to this Mercenary's damage and survivability. This setup allows your Mercenary to reach 9 frame Jab for reliable Decrepify procs.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Carrion Vine
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Heart of Wolverine
Put all remaining Skill Points into Lycanthropy to increase your Life in Werebear form past Level 96.
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
This variant achieves maximum Faster Cast Rate (163% FCR) for high Enigma Teleport mobility. It uses gear such as Heart of the Oak and 20% FCR Circlet to accomplish this. This setup also commands high Magic Find by using Magic Find Charms in place of Trainer's Grand Charms, and Magic Find Jewelry such as Fortuitous Ring of Fortune and Caster Crafted Amulet. Prioritizing fast Teleport cast speed, this setup is optimal for farming The Pit, Uber Key Bosses (e.g. Nihlathak), Act Bosses, and any Farming Spots which require travel such as several Terror Zones. This Summon Druid excels at Elite Hunting in general in Low Player Count games (/Players1-3 on Single Player). Use Bone Break to crush monsters that are Immune to Physical.
Mercenary
The Mobility/Magic Find Summon Druid employs an Act 2 Might Mercenary equipped with The Reaper's Toll, Treachery, and Guillaume's Face. This setup allows your Mercenary to reach the 75% Increased Attack Speed Breakpoint (9 frame Jab) for reliable Decrepify procs.
Skills
Put 1 Point into Werebear, Shock Wave, and Lycanthropy immediately after maxing Heart of Wolverine. The rest is the same as the Standard Build.
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Lycanthropy
5. Carrion Vine
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Heart of Wolverine
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength and Dexterity to equip your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
The Ubers variant specializes in defeating the Uber Bosses, including mini-Ubers such as Lilith. + to Skills, Damage Reduction, Resistances, and Life are priority stats on this setup. Beast's Fanaticism Aura proves essential for this purpose. Pre-buffing Fade with Treachery provides Damage Reduction, Resistances, and Curse Duration Reduction. Bone Break enables your Summons to deal with Uber Baal's Physical Immune minions. Thundergod's Vigor and stacked Lightning Resistance allows this build to tank Uber Mephisto.
Mercenary
Just as with the Standard Build, the Ubers Summon Druid employs an Act 2 Might Mercenary equipped with The Reaper's Toll, Fortitude, and Guillaume's Face. This setup allows your Mercenary to reach 9 frame Jab for reliable Decrepify procs.
Skills
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Oak Sage
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Carrion Vine
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Heart of Wolverine
Put all remaining Skill Points into Lycanthropy to increase your Life in Werebear form past Level 96.
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear. Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Setup
For the Hardcore mode variant, aim for high % Damage Reduction and maximum Chance to Block (75%) to guard against taking extreme amounts of Physical Damage. Additionally, overcap Resistances beyond the natural cap of 75% if possible to counteract hostile Conviction or Lower Resist. If you choose to use Bone Break to destroy Physical Immunes, equip Harlequin Crest or Crown of Ages to further increase your % Damage Reduction. This Summon Druid setup achieves the 68% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on its main weapon loadout and the 99% Faster Cast Rate Breakpoint on Weapon-Swap, primarily for Teleport mobility. Consult the "Hardcore" section for more detailed information.
Mercenary
Just as with the Standard Build, the Hardcore Summon Druid employs an Act 2 Might Mercenary equipped with The Reaper's Toll, Fortitude, and Guillaume's Face. This setup allows your Mercenary to reach 9 frame Jab for reliable Decrepify procs.
Skills
Max out and primarily use Oak Sage instead of Heart of Wolverine for as much Life as possible. The rest is the same as the Standard Build.
Put 1 Skill Point into each of the following Skills:
1. Heart of Wolverine
2. Werebear
3. Shock Wave
4. Carrion Vine
Max out the following Skills in this order:
1. Raven
2. Summon Dire Wolf
3. Summon Grizzly
4. Summon Spirit Wolf
5. Oak Sage
Put all remaining Skill Points into Lycanthropy to increase your Life in Werebear form past Level 96.
Attributes
Allocate enough Stat Points into Strength to wear your gear and enough into Dexterity to achieve maximum Chance to Block (75%). Put all remaining Stat Points into Vitality.
Summary
- Keep all of your Summons alive; re-summon them when they die.
- Cast Teleport to reposition your zoo and "Telestomp" Bosses and Elites. Make sure to use a Teleport Charge Staff on Weapon-Swap or a Teleport Charge Amulet if you do not have Enigma.
- You can utilize Werebear form for the insane Crowd Control provided by Shock Wave. Put all the bad monsters to bed!
- With enough + to Skills, Faster Cast Rate, Bone Break, and the power of The Reaper's Toll Decrepify proc on the Mercenary, the Summon Druid can efficiently farm virtually every area in the game, and can even safely farm Uber Bosses.
We hope you enjoy this build and its newly found power in Patch 2.4! Unleash the beasts from within! Overpower demon legions with your own personal zoo!
Good luck!
Credits
Written by DarkHumility
Original Post by BTNeandertha1
Reviewed by Teo1904