Shred Druid Leveling Guide

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 decent single target damage. Once the build gains access to Poison Creeper it has excellent AoE.

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!

Shred Druid Leveling With Codex Powers

This build guide takes you through the Campaign up to Level 50. Endgame guides will follow soon in our Druid Guides section. Stay tuned!

Pros

Melee Combat
Great Mobility
Excellent Healing
Great AoE Damage

Cons

Slow Start
High Cooldowns
Intensive Spirit Management
Mediocre Single Target Damage

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

Lightning Bolt - A good multitarget skill that can consistently apply Poison.
1. Swift Support - An easy increase to our DPS
2. Arcing Support - Allows us to hit even more enemies with this skill
3. Poison Support- A sizable damage boost that also helps with clear by spreading to additional enemies.
Gyrate - A nice AoE option that helps to clear packs
1. Frigid Support - A damage increase that also applies the Chill debuff, slowing their movement speed.
2. Poison Support -We have the most damage support for Poison, so using it in both Governing skills makes sense to maximize our damage.
3. Electrocution Support - Even more damage, plus the ability to stun enemies.

Shred Druid Leveling Construct Setup

Alternative Stones

Any DoT support skill - Increasing our damage is the main priority in while leveling. Take whatever you can get.
Mockery Support - Good defensive option to keep monsters off of you.

Seasonal Skill Changes

In Season 3, we gain access to the new Virulent the new Legendary Aspect, through the Season Journey. This turns Rabies into a powerful leveling skill, capable of killing entire screens of enemies and then some. Place Virulent on your Amulet and make the Skill Changes shown here to significantly speed up your leveling!

If you find that this setup makes you too squishy, or you're having difficulty with the Capstone, switch back to the default setup to gain access to Debilitating Roar.

Skill Tree Progression

Skill Showcase

Shred uses three attacks per cast to deal damage to your enemies. On the first hit, a timer-bar appears on your Skill bar, indicating the time you have to execute the second and third hit of the combination. When that timer runs out, your next hit costs Spirit again, and you start on the first hit.

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 & Creeper

Continue to increase your damage output by maxing out Shred.

Poison Creeper adds incredible burst damage against larger monster packs. Use it wisely.

Skill Tree Progression

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. Shred provides us with an incredible defensive buff that makes the Capstone Dungeon much easier

Unlocking Key Passive

Trample gives us another movement option that provides Unstoppable to get us out of Crowd Control effects. It also provides another source of Spirit Regeneration. 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 Damage to Close, Damage to Poison, and Damage to Slowed affixes as tie breakers.

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 ranks, Life, Resistance, Cooldown Reduction
Armor: Damage Reduction, Life, Willpower, Armor
Gloves: Shred ranks, Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed
Pants: Damage Reduction, Life, Willpower, Armor
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: Movement Speed, Spirit Cost Reduction, Companion Skill Ranks, Damage
Rings: Critical Strike Chance, Damage to Close Enemies, 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
Stormclaw's Aspect	Anica's Claim - Fractured Peaks
Aspect of Disobedience	Halls of the Damned - Kehjistan
Skinwalker's Aspect	Fading Echo - Kehjistan
Aspect of the Protector	Lost Archives - Fractured Peaks
Eluding Aspect	Caldera Gate - Fractured Peaks
Aspect of Retaliation	Seaside Descent - Dry Steppes
Edgemaster’s Aspect	Oldstones - Scosglen
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.
Aspect of the Blurred Beast is a sizable damage boost When dashing between enemies that have been poisoned from Toxic Claws.

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.
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

General Guides

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 Stormclaw's Aspect, put it on your Amulet to get a big damage boost from every Critical Strike.
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 Jymnasium