After what many considered to be a rocky start for the class, Diablo 4's Druid is now rebalanced and showing much more promise for the game's launch following three beta testing periods and significant fan feedback. One of the chief complaints regarding the Druid in Diablo 4 was that the class was underpowered, with Blizzard themselves admitting that the Druid was a class that wasn't performing as intended until it was more fully-leveled. With the Druid now in a much more appealing state following the open beta and server slam, fans interested in playing as the new class should look at the Pulverizing Werebear build.
Similar to the Toxic Shredder Werewolf build, the Pulverizing Werebear is a melee-focused Druid build that also makes use of the class' summoning abilities. However, unlike the Toxic Shredder the Pulverizing Werebear does not use DoT affects for crowd control and melting mobs, instead placing emphasis on using the Druid's Pulverize skill to deal massive damage to single targets as a shape-shifted bear. In addition to dealing massive damage with buffs to health and defense, transforming the Druid into a semi-tank, the Pulverizing Werebear build sees players invest points into summoning skills that have the Druid call on creatures of the forest to aid them in battle.
Skills to Prioritize for the Pulverizing Werebear Build
The Pulverizing Werebear build is slightly complex in that it requires using nearly all 6 of the Active Skills available to the Druid, changing them up on the fly given how a particular encounter is playing out. For anyone seeking to understand why the Druid is Diablo 4's most polarizing class, the basic principle behind the Pulverizing Werebear build can shed some light. While the Pulverize skill is the primary means of attacking using this build, players will also need to slot points into Vine Creeper, Wolves, and Ravens to summon alongside the Druid in encounters.
One interesting aspect to the Pulverizing Werebear build is its reliance on the Overpower mechanic alongside using the Pulverize skill. Overpower is a new wrinkle to combat in Diablo 4 and can transform the effectiveness of some abilities. In order for an attack to become Overpowered, there are certain conditions that must be met such as maintaining a high percentage of the player's max HP. When the Druid's Pulverize skill becomes an Overpowered Pulverize, entire groups of enemies can be wiped out in a single attack.
Pulverize - As the name of the build implies, it is built entirely around the Pulverize skill. Pulverize (especially when Overpowered) is capable of almost instantly one-shotting most enemies and doing significant damage to elites. Upgrading to Enhanced Pulverize will guarantee Overpower damage to activate but will also require players to monitor the Druid's health as a result. As long as the Druid maintains over 80% HP, Pulverize will decimate even Diablo 4's toughest enemies and have a fast cooldown period to boot.
Maul - Maul is essential as the basic attack to generate Spirit, which is a necessary resource to use Pulverize. Maul will do decent damage but is sluggish and targets a very specific cone-shaped area in front of the player. The primary purpose of slotting points into Maul is simply to be able to still attack enemies while generating Spirit to use Pulverize. Players can speed up the skill using the Rapid Aspect but will otherwise be at the mercy of the Druid's slow attack speed in Diablo 4.
Vine Creeper - Vine Creeper is one of the best Druid skills in Diablo 4 thanks to its ability to make the class more effective at crowd control while also dealing DoT. While players are building back their Spirit reserves with Maul or waiting on the cooldown for Pulverize, activating Vine Creeper will simultaneously slow and poison enemies. Vine Creeper is essential to almost any Druid build and the Pulverizing Werebear is no exception.
Earthen Bulwark - Earthen Bulwark is a great defensive skill to invest points in and activate prior to advancing on groups of enemies. The skill generates a barrier made of rocks that will absorb up to 45% of the user's base life in damage, helping the Druid maintain that critical 80% or higher health for the Overpower buff. It's advised to upgrade it to Innate Earthen Bulwark to generate an AoE damage effect when the barrier is broken, which will happen more often in Diablo 4's later sections against more intimidating threats.
Hurricane/Wolves - Players using the Pulverizing Werebear build will want to allocate at least one skill point into both Hurricane and Wolves for the same purpose - AoE damage to large enemy groups. Since maintaining the Druid's Overpower buff is critical to the build and requires keeping the player's health above 80%, managing mobs and avoiding getting swarmed is key.
How to Use the Pulverizing Werebear Build Against Diablo 4's Enemies and Bosses
Based on the skills that players will be using as part of this build, the general strategy for regular enemy encounters is to activate Earthen Bulwark for a defensive buff prior to engaging enemies and then launch into them with Pulverize. Once the player's Spirit has been depleted, it's then time to use Maul as the primary attack to regenerate the Spirit pool while having Vine Creeper do the heavy lifting of crowd control and negating the downsides to the Druid's relatively sluggish feel. In terms of dealing wider AoE damage to affect enemies outside of Maul's cone, players should use Hurricane when dealing with mobs.
Where the Pulverizing Werebear build's summons shine is during Diablo 4's boss encounters, with Ravens and Wolves able to deal damage to the boss with the player at a safe distance. Additionally, both of these summoned allies have the bonus of applying the Vulnerable effect which will make using Overpowered Pulverize even more effective. With the right combination of skills, aspects, and gear, the Pulverizing Werebear is almost unstoppable.
Diablo 4 will be available June 6 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.