Diablo 4Season 9 has a wide variety of meta builds for classes like the Spiritborn, Necromancer, and Sorcerer, but fans of classes like Barbarian, Rogue, and Druid are stuck with much more limited options. While a meta build is not required to enjoyDiablo 4Season 9, players looking to push into the upper tiers of the Pit and tackle other endgame challenges may want to consider their chosen build’s viability for these activities. The Druid finds itself on the borderline of the meta in the Sins of the Horadrim season, but the class has a top-tier build that may fly under some players' radars.
The viability of a build in any givenDiablo 4season tends to boil down to the status of the class’s primary damage-dealing skills as well as the utility of its new uniques. For classes like the Spiritborn and Sorcerer, Season 9 has several tools that have helped elevate them to the top of the meta builds list, like the Spiritborn’s new Balazan’s Maxtlatl unique pants and the buff to the Sorcerer’s Hydra skill. While the Druid may have lost some of its viability due toDiablo 4Season 9’s nerf to Overpower Damage, it gains new life thanks to the introduction of the Rotting Lightbringer unique.
Druid Players Can Get a Lot of Mileage Out of One Build in Diablo 4 Season 9
Pulverize Druid is Surprisingly Strong in the Diablo 4 Season 9 Meta
Despite many traditionalDiablo 4Druid buildsfalling down in the meta during Season 9, the Pulverize build for the Druid remains the class’s best option. This build is designed to take advantage of Pulverize’s AoE damage with support from the new Rotting Lightbringer Unique to add Poison Damage to the mix. Other Druid Skills players should invest in for this build include:
With Pulverize being the Core Skill of this build, Druid players will want to rely on it as their primary damage dealer. Cyclone Armor, Debilitating Roar, and Grizzly Rage serve to buff the player with Fortify and Unstoppable, while debuffing enemies by making them Vulnerable and pulling them within Pulverize’s AoE damage range. Poison Creeper is also helpful as another source of Poison Damage that will come into play with the Rotting Lightbringer on this build, and Claw serves as the build’s Basic Skill that can be used for generating Spirit as necessary.
An importantDruid Legendary Aspectto include on this build is the Shockwave Aspect, which extends the reach of Pulverize by creating a cone of damage in front of the player.
The Key to the Pulverize Druid’s Success in Season 9 is the Rotting Lightbringer Unique
The cornerstone that this build depends on for success is thenew Rotting Lightbringer uniquetwo-handed mace that was added this season.Diablo 4Season 9 places a new emphasis on the importance of Poison Damage, with some of the season’s best uniques sporting the affix, including the Rotting Lightbringer.
Using the Rotting Lightbringer on this build doubles down on AoE damage, as not only will players have Pulverize to damage enemies around them, but using the skill also creates a puddle of Poison to damage enemies as well. The increase to Poison Damage and the chance for Pulverize to hit twice that also come with the Rotting Lightbringer are just the icing on the cake that takes this build from solid to slept-on in theDiablo 4Season 9 meta.
Players will be able to stay alive longer with damage reduction from Cyclone Armor, Gizzly Rage, and Debilitating Roar, but investing in passives like Mending and Heightened Senses are also useful for this purpose. Essentially, this build allowsDiablo 4Druids to get close to enemiesfor strong AoE damage from Pulverize, compounding it with the Poisoning from Rotting Lightbringer, while still being able to mitigate incoming damage.
