The Pulverize Druid is a simple-to-play melee build that is great for leveling in Diablo 4. It combines AoE with incredible defenses and consistent Unstoppable for an overall smooth experience.
Pulverize is a Core Skill that deals damage to a circular area around your target. You have to go into melee range and pull together a couple of enemies to get the most out of it. If you come across Shockwave Offensive Aspect, a key Offensive Aspect that is not available in the Codex, then that will make your Pulverize shoot across the entire screen. Once acquired, apply it to your amulet for a 50% increase to the aspect's power.
Once you have the main setup together, it's smooth sailing until the endgame. Wind Shear generates Spirit and inflicts Vulnerable to make enemies take extra damage. All of your active skills provide some form of utility. Between Fortified Life, absorbed damage, reduced enemy damage, healing over time, reliable Spirit generation, increased damage, immobilizing enemies and a source of Unstoppable, there is little you can ask for!
This guide teaches you all about how to reach the endgame in Diablo 4 with the Pulverize 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
- Extremely Tanky
- Easy To Understand
- Healing and Unstoppable
- Low Mobility
- Bad Single Target
- Small Area of Effect
- Intensive Spirit Management
Season 3 - Season of the Construct
In Season 3, you obtain the Seneschal Construct through the Season Questline, then collect Governing Stones or Tuning Stones to add attacks and augment them to support your build. Only certain Tuning Stones work with a particular Governing Stone. Look at the bottom of any Tuning Stone tooltip to see if it is compatible with your Construct's currently equipped Stones. Lastly, they can be leveled up by getting duplicates to max out their power. Check out our full Season 3 guide for more information.
Recommended Stones
- Gyrate - Attack around the Construct
- Resource Support - More Spirit!
- Swift Support - Faster attacks enables the Resource Support to provide more Spirit!
- Mockery Support - Taunt.
- Lightning Bolt - Good way to hit many monsters at once
- Arcing Support - Even more enemies get chained!
- Efficiency Support - Increased Critical means more Packleader resets.
- Fortify Support - Fortify increases our Overpower damage.
Alternative Stones
- Gripping Support - Druids of all classes know how effective grouping mechanics like this one can be.
- Breaking Support - Application of Vulnerable for increased damage.
- Voluminous Support - Improving the coverage will affect more monsters.
If you are lucky enough to get either Evernight or Genesis from Uber Malphas, you want to swap them in on your Construct for their powerful effects.
Skill Showcase
Skill Tree & Gameplay
Getting Started
To start off, we have to put 2 points into Basic Skills to unlock the Core Skill section. Wind Shear is our choice. Wind Shear because it is a ranged Skill that generates Spirit and provides a source of Vulnerable and Movement speed increase.
Unlocking Pulverize
Pulverize is the centerpiece of this build. It deals massive damage in an area around your target location. As a melee ability, you need to get fairly close to your enemies to deal with them. The Spirit costs are pretty high, so make sure that you hit as many targets with it as possible. Fierce Wind Shear increases your Movement speed, which is important early on.
Adding Poison Creeper Damage
Continue to increase your damage output by maxing out Pulverize. We also grab Heart of the Wild to set ourselves up for the future passives, but for now we're going to unlock more skills. Poison Creeper is the Druid's highest damage ability in the early game, Poisoning and Immobilizing enemies in a massive area of effect around you!
Use the slider on the bottom to see the Skill progression
Mobility & Spirit Generation
Trample is the only real mobility Skill on the Pulverize Druid. To be able to reach it on the Skill Tree, we double our Poison Creeper damage by taking the Ferocious node, and grab a couple of points in Clarity for some Spirit generation. Now we can acquire Trample and the incredible 40 Spirit per cast through the Savage Trample rune!
In this stage, you gain access to Spirit Boons - the unique class mechanic of the Druid. Check out the Spirit Boon Progression below!
Ultimate & Defensive & Overpower
It's time to get some defenses and utility. Earthen Bulwark creates a ring of rocks around you that absorbs a large amount of damage for 3 seconds. You also become Unstoppable thanks to Enhanced Earthen Bulwark, so you can activate it to remove or prevent Crowd Control. With Preserving Earthen Bulwark you gain access to more damage reduction through Fortify.
Overpower is the best source of multiplicative damage in the early game, so we want to grab Provocation to help generate more procs of Overpower.
Now we can obtain our Ultimate skill, Grizzly Rage. We can in combination obtain the Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast to increase the duration and our damage output while in our Ultimate form!
Unlocking the Key Passive
Ursine Strength is our Key Passive of choice. It increases your damage almost permanently, as you should be Healthy most of the time. To unlock it, you need to place another 4 Skill Points first. Grab Quickshift to increase your damage output and Abundance to assist with Spirit generation. After Ursine Strength we'll finish Abundance and improve our Resistances with Ancestral Fortitude.
Wild Creeper
We want to maximize our Poison Creeper damage at this point and get the last damage increases to Pulverize through the passive Wild Impulses until we obtain aspects to add Earth skill damage. Some of these skills may not be reflected in the Endgame build because certain legendary affixes are required which aren't obtainable through the Codex of Power.
Spending Renown
After gathering all Renown in Diablo 4, you have 10 extra Skill Points to spend on every character. Your first priority is to spend them toward the leveling progression we've shown above. Once you've reached the end, put them into these nodes to build toward the Pulverize Druid Endgame Build Guide
In order for Pulverize to gain the benefits of Earth skills, you need to imprint Offensive Aspect of the Ursine Horror on your gear.
Check out our Renown Guide to unlock all your additional rewards efficiently.
Druid Spirit Boons
Packleader is used to reset Poison Creeper. This is the most important ability for leveling early. Scythe Talons, Obsidian Slam, and Swooping Attacks provide some extra damage, whileWariness is there for defense. Your main focus is to unlock Packleader as soon as Level 15.
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 & Stat Priorities
Ultimately, the best weapon for a leveling Pulverize Druid is a Two-Handed Mace for as much damage 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:
- 2-Handed Weapon: Preferably Maces, prioritizing Weapon Damage, then Willpower, Core Skill Damage, Damage to Stunned, Critical Strike Damage and Vulnerable Damage
Hint: Press SHIFT over an item to compare it to what you're wearing!
Only upgrade your Weapon at the Blacksmith and fill weapon sockets with Rubies.
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: Life, Cooldown Reduction, Willpower, Ranks to Poison Creeper
- Armor: Life, Physical Damage, Werebear Skill Damage, Damage Reduction from Close Enemies
- Gloves: Ranks to Pulverize Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, Overpower Damage
- Pants: Life, Damage Reduction while Fortified, Damage Reduction from Close Enemies, Willpower
- Boots: Movement Speed, Spirit Cost Reduction, Willpower
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: Spirit Cost Reduction, Cooldown Reduction, Damage, Werebear Skill Damage, Movement Speed
- Rings: Life, Overpower Damage, Critical Strike Chance, Vulnerable Damage, Damage to Slowed/Close Enemies, Physical Damage, Critical Strike Damage
Do not upgrade Armor or Jewelry while leveling. Socket Armor with Rubies and Jewelry with Diamond.
Read more about itemization in our Damage Explained, Defense Explained, and Stats Explained articles.
Codex of Power
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 help us significantly if we have the Gold to imprint them and take the time to unlock them.
Codex Leveling Aspects in Order of Priority:
| Aspect | Dungeon |
| Offensive Aspect of Retaliation | Seaside Descent - Dry Steppes |
| Combination: Utility Aspect of Quicksand Offensive Aspect of the Ursine Horror | Feral's Den - Scosglen Belfry Zakara - Hawezar |
| Aspect of the Rampaging Werebeast | Endless Gates - Hawezar |
| Defensive Aspect of Mending Stone | Sealed Archives - Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of the Changeling's Debt | Conclave - Kehjistan |
| Defensive Aspect of Might | Dark Ravine - Dry Steppes |
| Ballistic Aspect | Whispering Pines - Scosglen |
Warning: DO NOT imprint your Weapons unless you have the materials, as they are constantly replaced while leveling. Put Offensive Aspects on your Amulet, Rings, or Gloves instead.
Learn more details in our article covering the Codex of Power.
Helpful Legendary Aspects
If you're lucky enough to find a Legendary while leveling, chances are it'll be an upgrade for you and you should equip it immediately. However they are not all created equal, and some of them can accelerate your journey tremendously. Let's look at additional Aspects you could find and how to take advantage of them:
- Shockwave Offensive Aspect
- Gamble Totems
- If you get this, use it to replace the Changeling's Debt
- Apply it to your amulet
- Crashstone Aspect
- Gamble Totems or complete Stockades in Scosglen
- With more Critical Strike Chance use it to replace the Changeling's Debt
- Aspect of the Umbral
- Requires having both Aspect of Quicksand and Aspect of the Ursine Horror
- Gamble Rings
Discover every Druid Legendary Aspects in our Druid Overview.
How To Level
You level in Diablo 4 by completing the Campaign, collecting Grim Favors for the Tree of Whispers, grinding Dungeons, or interacting with 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 Season 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.
- Complete the Dungeons needed for any Legendary Aspects from your Codex of Power.
- From level 1-50 you should focus on getting experience, by completing dungeons with high monster density like the Domhainne Tunnels, or Sirocco Caverns.
- If you get bored of the dungeon grind, you can farm 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, and Bosses.
- The fastest experience possible is completing Nightmare dungeons with monsters up to 10 levels above your current level.
- Check out our Nightmare Dungeon Tier List for the best layouts!
- Around level 45-50 you should move to World Tier 3.
- Around level 60-70 you should move to World Tier 4.
- The fastest experience possible is completing Nightmare dungeons with monsters up to 10 levels above your current level.
- Alternatively: Get boosted by a friend to World Tier 4 then leech experience/loot and Glyph exp (post 50), in Nightmare dungeons.
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.
- This makes imprinting a Legendary Aspect that CANNOT be found in the Codex of Power onto your weapon a bad idea in the long run.
- While leveling, only imprint Legendary Aspects from the Codex of Power onto your weapon if any at all.
- 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 45 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.
- There's little point to entering World Tier 3 before 45 because that's the minimum level where you can equip Sacred items.
- The same happens with World Tier 4 and Ancestral gear at level 60.
Next Steps
Druid Guides
Summary
- The Pulverize Druid is a great all-around build, combining decent area damage at close range with incredible defenses. Single target damage is not its strong suit.
- Use your skills to stack up a ton of Fortify Life for increased survivability, and Overpower damage.
- Focus on improving your 2-Handed Weapon more than any other item. Make sure it is always a Mace to further increase your Overpower damage.
- 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 Jymnasium
Reviewed by IBoilerUp, Binashole