How the engine works
Wolves are the damage. Pressing Wolves sends every wolf in a Feral Dash at your target, and each one attacks separately. The Pack Leader boon gives your crits a chance to reset Companion cooldowns, and Aspect of the Wildrage shortens them outright, so you press Wolves again and again. Storm's Companion turns the wolves' damage into Lightning and gives them the Storm and Nature Magic tags, so every storm multiplier you own applies to them. Accord of the Wilds adds an extra companion and gives you the passive effects of Ravens and Poison Creeper without slotting either. Grizzly Rage with Cornered Beast sits on top, and a big pack fills its stacks quickly. Companions inherit all of your stats.
Who it's for
Players who want a pet build and enjoy watching a pack tear one target apart. It starts strong and reaches high Torment tiers, but it is the lowest-rated of the three Druid builds here, with weak area damage. If you want power, play Landslide.
- Rating
- B to C-Tier
- Difficulty
- Moderate — reset fishing
- Key stat
- Critical Strike Chance and Lucky Hit Chance
- Must have
- Storm's Companion
The bar
There are two ways to build the shell. This page follows the Werebear version: a two-handed weapon, Flickerstep, and Grizzly Rage as a Dire Werebear for toughness. The other stays a werewolf with Ifeh's Dire Totem and Dark Howl on a sword and totem, and runs Wolves, Ravens, Trample, Cyclone Armor, Debilitating Roar and Grizzly Rage. Take the Werebear shell unless you already own those two uniques from Storm Shred.
Rank 15. Werewolf Pack turns them into Werewolf companions with 50% more damage that Feral Dash at distant enemies by themselves. Take Damage Bonus, Additional Wolf and Versatile.
Press — on cooldownRank 15 with Cornered Beast and Cooldown Reduction. Wolves is Versatile, so you can keep sending them during it, and a full pack maxes the stacks fast.
Press — on cooldownTake Roar of Resolve for Resolve stacks. It puts you in Werebear form and weakens everything around you.
Keep it upWith Reversal, the active pulls enemies into one spot for the pack.
Press — to groupFiller. It builds Overpower, lands Earth hits, and above all gives you crits to fish for Pack Leader resets. When farming, Claw with Dash is a faster-moving alternative.
Hold — between WolvesOne point, with the Armour upgrade. It keeps an Earth hit ticking under enemies for the Old Mountain talisman set. In ordinary farming you don't need to maintain it.
Pushing onlyPassives
The Druid tree has no passive nodes and no Key Passive this season. What matters instead is your companion count: 2 wolves to begin with, +1 from Additional Wolf, +1 from Aspect of the Stampede, +1 from Accord of the Wilds and +1 from five Nafain's Bestiary charms. Spirit Wolves from the Ceh rune count as well. Ravens and Poison Creeper get one point each and stay off the bar, since Accord of the Wilds supplies their passive effects. Earthen Bulwark is cast by the Que rune, and 18 ranks fully cap it.
Spirit Boons
Pack Leader is the boon that makes the build: crits have a chance to reset Companion cooldowns, which is why Critical Strike Chance and Lucky Hit Chance matter so much. While you gear, bond the Eagle and take Scythe Talons with Avian Wrath to get that crit. Later there is a choice. Once your gear supplies the crit, you can bond the Wolf instead for Pack Leader plus Calamity, and move the Deer and Eagle to the defensive Wariness and Iron Feather. Stay with the Eagle bond until Wolves resets reliably.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Deer: Gift of the Stag | +30 maximum Spirit and 5 Spirit every second. |
| Eagle: Scythe Talons | +10% Critical Strike Chance and +15% Lucky Hit Chance. Both feed Pack Leader. |
| Eagle (bonded): Avian Wrath | +20% Critical Strike Damage. |
| Wolf: Pack Leader | Lucky Hit: critical strikes have up to a 15% chance to reset the cooldowns of your Companion skills. |
| Snake: Calm Before the Storm | Lucky Hit: Nature Magic skills have up to a 10% chance to cut your Ultimate's cooldown by 2 seconds. Your wolves count once Storm's Companion is on. |
What to wear
Moderate demands. One pair of pants changes what the build is, a ring adds a companion, and the starter version needs no worn uniques at all.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Storm's Companion | Pants. Wolves deal 80–100% more damage as Lightning and gain Storm Howl. It can also roll Ranks to Wolves, wolf attack speed and extra Pack Leader chance. Everything storm-related in the build depends on it. Drops from Andariel. | Mandatory |
| Accord of the Wilds | Ring. Each Companion skill gains 1 companion and deals 40–50% more damage, and you get the passive effects of Ravens, Wolves and Poison Creeper for free. Drops from the Beast in the Ice. | Core |
| Flickerstep | Boots. Evading through enemies cuts your Ultimate's cooldown by a few seconds each, up to 10 seconds. It matters most when pushing. Cube only: gamble boots, strip them to Common and upgrade. | Recommended |
| Leoric's Crown | Helm. Counts as jewellery and makes socketed gems 35–50% stronger, so it holds your best two Soul Splinters. First in line for a Mythic upgrade. | Core |
| Dirge of Airidah | Unique charm with the Nafain's Bestiary set, or a ring on the werewolf shell. Storm casts grant 1 Spirit and deal 25–35% more, doubled against Vulnerable, Immobilized or Slowed enemies. It works because Storm's Companion gives Wolves the Storm tag. | Charm |
| The Basilisk | Unique charm for the pushing setup with Song of the Old Mountain. Petrified enemies are much easier to crit and take 60–90% more damage. | Charm |
| Ifeh's Dire Totem and Dark Howl | Off-hand and gloves, werewolf shell only. Grizzly Rage and Debilitating Roar become Werewolf skills, with 100–125% Critical Strike Damage from the totem and 60–80% more damage from the gloves. They replace the two-handed weapon and the Stampede gloves. | Variant |
Before they drop
At a fresh 70 play Wind Shear, Rabies, Wolves, Earthen Bulwark, Poison Creeper and Cataclysm. Wear Vigorous on the helm, Debilitating Toxins on the chest, Reanimation on the totem, Crushing on the sword, Stampede on the gloves, Might on the pants, Overcharged on the boots, Orange Herald and Hellbent Commander on the rings and Wildrage on the amulet. Nagu + Que and Cir + Qua for runes, Nafain's Bestiary charms, and The Furnace as your unique charm.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Shepherd's Aspect | Two-handed weapon. Companion skills deal more damage for every Companion you have. This is why the companion count matters. |
| Aspect of the Stampede | Gloves. +1 Companion, and Companion skills deal 15–35% more damage. |
| Aspect of the Wildrage | Amulet. Companion cooldowns are 5 to 7.5 seconds shorter; on an amulet that can bring Wolves down to half a second. Smooth, but it costs you the amulet's offensive aspect. |
| Envenomed Aspect | Ring. 20–40% Critical Strike Damage against Poisoned enemies, doubled for Companion skills. |
| Overcharged Aspect | Boots or amulet. Storm skill damage makes enemies Vulnerable for 4 seconds, and you deal 20% more to Vulnerable enemies. Storm's Companion is what gives your wolves the Storm tag. |
| Aspect of Hellbent Commander | Ring. 70% more summon damage. |
| Aspect of Reanimation | Weapon or off-hand. Summons deal more the longer they have been alive, up to 90% after 10 seconds. |
| Aspect of Debilitating Toxins | Chest. 30% damage reduction, and Poisoned enemies deal 15% less damage. |
Changing talisman set costs skill points
Five Nafain's Bestiary charms give you every Companion side upgrade for free, so you spend those skill points elsewhere. If you swap to Song of the Old Mountain for pushing, you have to buy those upgrades back. Also note that Might of the Ursine no longer works with Wolves: it only counts Werebear-tagged skills now.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Critical Strike Chance | Gloves, amulet and rings, plus a temper on the weapon. It drives Pack Leader resets. |
| 2 | Lucky Hit Chance | Temper on the gloves, plus Scythe Talons. |
| 3 | Critical Strike Damage | Weapon, gloves, amulet and rings. |
| 4 | Willpower | Weapon, helm, gloves, pants and rings. Sapphires in armour. |
| 5 | Ranks to Wolves | Helm and Storm's Companion. Nature Magic, Storm or Companion ranks on the amulet. |
| 6 | Cooldown Reduction | Temper on the amulet and both rings, until Grizzly Rage stays up. |
| 7 | Maximum Life and Damage Reduction | Helm, chest and pants. |
| 8 | Attacks Reduce Evade's Cooldown | Boots, with Movement Speed. It feeds Flickerstep. |
Hard targets
There is no hard breakpoint for this build — follow the order above. The goals are practical ones: enough Critical Strike and Lucky Hit Chance that Wolves resets often, enough cooldown reduction that Grizzly Rage is always up, and 18 ranks of Earthen Bulwark to cap it.
Tempering & masterworking
Weapon: Critical Strike Chance. Gloves: Lucky Hit Chance. Amulet and rings: Cooldown Reduction. Masterwork into Weapon Damage on the weapon, Ranks to Wolves on the helm, Critical Strike Chance on gloves and jewellery, Damage Reduction on the chest, Willpower on the pants, and both Movement Speed and Attacks Reduce Evade's Cooldown on the boots. Lightning damage multipliers on the weapon only start working once Storm's Companion is on.
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Gems: Topaz in the weapon and Sapphires in armour. Use Diamonds early, while your damage types are still mixed.
- Nagu + Ceh: summons Spirit Wolves that Chill and Freeze, and they count as companions for Shepherd's Aspect.
- Igni + Que: casts Earthen Bulwark for you. On the werewolf shell the endgame pair is Igni + Que with Yul + Gar. Early on, Cir + Qua and Nagu + Que do the job; Mot or Lac if you need defence.
- Soul Splinters: Black Soulstone and Pain or Anguish in Leoric's Crown, then the Mother, Sin or Lies in the jewellery.
- Talisman, standard: five Nafain's Bestiary charms. They add Bear companions whose roar boosts Companion damage by 90% on a 5-second cooldown, split the damage you take, add a companion, give +250% Companion damage at five pieces, and grant every Companion side upgrade for free. Dirge of Airidah or The Furnace fills the unique slot.
- Talisman, pushing: five Song of the Old Mountain charms with The Basilisk as the unique charm. Stronger in dense high-tier content, but disruptive when farming. Enigma on the chest gives you Teleport on Evade for either setup.
Paragon
Starter, then Untamed, Thunderstruck, Lust for Carnage and Survival Instincts. Thunderstruck and Lust for Carnage both apply to your wolves, thanks to the Storm and Werewolf tags. While you are still gearing, run Constricting Tendrils in place of Survival Instincts for the extra Lucky Hit, and swap to Survival Instincts with Keeper once you need the toughness. Order: legendary nodes, then glyph sockets, then defensive rare nodes, then fill. Glyph radius grows at level 25 and again at 51.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Earth and Sky | Starter board. |
| Wilds | Untamed. The most damage for your Companions, so level it first. |
| Spirit | Thunderstruck. |
| Werebear | Lust for Carnage. On the werewolf shell use Fulminate instead. |
| Keeper | Survival Instincts. |
Mercenary
Hire Raheir for armour, taunts and Valiance's block on big hits. Take Aldkin as reinforcement with Field of Languish, triggered by Wolves. Subo is the alternative hire, and Varyana's Bloodthirst is the alternative reinforcement if you want attack speed over safety.
From fresh 70 to finished
You won't have the gear on day one. This is the order it comes together in.
Play the starter bar from the gear section. Aspect of the Wildrage on the amulet is what makes it feel good now: Wolves comes back quickly without any crit.
Farm Andariel. The wolves now deal Lightning damage, so the Thunderstruck board, Storm and Nature Magic ranks and Lightning multipliers all start working for them.
From the Beast in the Ice. One more companion, 40–50% more damage, and Ravens and Poison Creeper can leave your bar. With these two uniques the endgame bar works, so switch to it and make Grizzly Rage your ultimate.
Finish five Nafain's Bestiary charms and refund the Companion side upgrades they now give you. Once your crit and Lucky Hit are high enough that Wolves resets reliably, replace Wildrage on the amulet with a damage aspect.
Make Flickerstep in the Cube and start Evading through packs to bring Grizzly Rage back. For dense high-tier content, swap to Song of the Old Mountain with The Basilisk charm and keep Stone Burst under enemies.
Leoric's Crown first, then Storm's Companion, then Accord of the Wilds.
The rotation
Debilitating Roar puts you in Werebear form and weakens enemies. Press it and Grizzly Rage whenever they are ready.
Cyclone Armor with Reversal pulls the pack into one place. Your area damage is poor, so this matters.
Press Wolves on your priority target every time it is available.
Between casts, hold Earth Spike. Every crit is a chance for Pack Leader to hand Wolves straight back.
With Flickerstep, each enemy you Evade through takes seconds off Grizzly Rage's cooldown.
Keep Living Stones under enemies so the Old Mountain set keeps stacking.
On bosses
Very little changes, because this is already a single-target build. Put Wolves on the boss every time it is ready, keep Earth Spike going for resets, and use Grizzly Rage and Debilitating Roar on cooldown.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- An army of companions that does the work, played as actively or as passively as you like.
- Strong focused damage on Elites and bosses.
- Strong early: the starter version needs no worn uniques.
- Tough in the Werebear shell, with Resolve and a capped Earthen Bulwark.
Where it struggles
- The lowest-rated Druid build here, B at best and C at worst. Both other builds on this site sit above it.
- Low area damage, so dense packs die slowly.
- Depends on Lucky Hit resets, which makes the rhythm stuttery.
- Average movement speed, and pets still sometimes pick the wrong target.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Neglecting Critical Strike and Lucky Hit Chance. Without them Pack Leader never fires and Wolves sits on cooldown.
- Wearing Might of the Ursine. It stopped working for Wolves this season; it only counts Werebear-tagged skills.
- Swapping off Nafain's Bestiary without respeccing. The free Companion side upgrades vanish with the set, and you have to buy them back.
- Dropping Wildrage too early. Keep it on the amulet until Pack Leader resets alone keep Wolves available, then take the damage aspect.
- Playing a Ravens-focused version. It sits more than a full Torment tier behind Wolves.
Not for you? The other Druid builds: Storm Shred · Landslide.