Build Introduction
The 
Companion Druid leveling build embraces the pet druid gameplay that brings your 
Wolves, 
Poison Creeper and 
Ravens to speed through leveling. Companions get several high multipliers from Legendary Aspects like 
Shepherd’s Aspect and Key Passive 
One With Nature that synergize to boost damage significantly.
After progressing through the Main Story and reaching level 60, continue your Companion adventure with the Companion Druid Endgame Guide, or choose any of our Endgame Builds.
For general tips and information about leveling a Druid in Diablo 4, check out our Druid Leveling Page.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
Lacerate 
Wolves 
Poison Creeper 
Ravens 
Claw 
Pulverize The table below outlines the recommended order for allocating Skill Points. 59 Points are gained from leveling, and the remaining 12 are from completing Renown events in each zone, for a total of 71 Skill Points.
Spirit Boons – The Druid Class Specialization
Druids unlock powerful Spirit Boon passives, giving offerings to the animal spirits to receive their Blessing. Once fully unlocked, activate the final Boon by Spirit Bonding with one of the four animal spirits to take two passives from that row. To access Spirit Boons:
- Reach Level 15, accepting the quest chain beginning with Druid: Spirits of the Lost Grove.
- Clear the Túr Dúlra Stronghold scenario in Scosglen.
- Complete the quest chain to gain access to the Animal Spirits.
| Boon Name | Animal | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Gift of the Stag | Deer | Gain 15% Movement Speed and 15% Impairment Reduction. |
| Scythe Talons | Eagle | Gain 15% increased Critical Strike Chance and 15% increased Lucky Hit Chance. |
| Swooping Attacks | Eagle | Gain 20% Attack Speed. |
| Pack Leader | Wolf | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes have up to a 30% chance to reset the Cooldowns of your Companion Skills. |
| Masochistic | Snake | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Shapeshifting Skills have up to a 75% chance to Heal you for 10% Maximum Life. |
Prioritize your first Spirit Offerings to unlock the Wolf’s Pack Leader; Companion Active Skills are a significant source of our damage so cooldown resets go a long way! After that, take Scythe Talons for the increased Critical Strike chance for more Pack Leader resets.
Gear, Gems, Elixirs, and Stats
The following sections cover the Legendary Aspects, Gear Affixes, Gems, and Runewords important for your character’s progression while leveling.
Legendary Aspects and Codex of Power
The Codex of Power updates and improves the quality of the Aspects by salvaging Legendary Powers. Legendary Items with Aspect powers can be found across all content in Diablo 4. Randomly dropped Legendary Aspects can have a specific range of power on them. For example, Shepherd’s Aspect can roll between 5% and 13% for the effect. Salvaging a higher rank will improve the Aspect’s rank within your Codex from then on.
Aspects gained from Dungeons will enter the Codex of Power at rank 1. This makes Dungeons a great way to get started when putting together a build without relying on random drops. For example, to access Shepherd’s Aspect directly without needing a random drop, you can clear Bloodsoaked Crag in the Dry Steppes.
The following are the build-defining Aspects for the Companion Leveling Druid found in dungeons:
| Aspect Name | Aspect Type | Legendary Aspect Power | Source | Preferred Slot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepherd’s Aspect | Offensive | Companion Skills deal an additional 5-13% damage for each active Companion. | Bloodsoaked Crag, Dry Steppes | 2-Handed Weapon |
While leveling, look out for these randomly-dropped Legendary Aspects that are strong for the Companion Leveling Druid:
| Aspect Name | Aspect Type | Legendary Aspect Power |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect of the Alpha | Offensive | Your Wolf Companions are now Werewolf Companions. Werewolf Companions deal 100-140% additional damage and can spread Rabies. |
| Aspect of the Stampede | Offensive | Gain 1 additional Companion. In addition, your Companion Skills deal 15-35% bonus damage. |
| Stormcrow’s Aspect | Offensive | Ravens now deal Lightning damage which is increased by 60-100%. Ravens Active deals its full damage in half the time, and enemies inside it are Stunned. |
| Moonrage Aspect | Offensive | Kills have a 5% chance to summon a Wolf Companion to your side for 20-35 seconds. This effect is a Lucky Hit against bosses. Maximum 3 additional wolves. In addition, gain +3 Ranks to Wolves. |
 Spirit Bond Aspect | Offensive | 10.0-17.5% of the damage you would take is redirected across your Companions. Your Companions cannot die. |
 Aspect of the Rushing Wilds | Mobility | Casting a Companion Skill grants you 5-20% Movement Speed for 5 seconds, up to 15.0-60%. |
Finally, here are dungeon-sourced aspects that will be beneficial while leveling:
| Aspect Name | Aspect Type | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aspect of Inner Calm | Offensive | Deal 5-13% increased damage. Triple this bonus after standing still for 3 seconds. | Raethwind Wilds, Scosglen |
| Aspect of Might | Defensive | Basic Skills grant 20% Damage Reduction for 2–10 seconds. | Dark Ravine Dry Steppes |
| Skinwalker’s Aspect | Defensive | When you use a Shapeshifting Skill that changes your form, gain 5-25% Life. If you are at full Life, gain the same amount as Fortify. | Fading Echo, Kehjistan |
| Aspect of Disobedience | Defensive | You gain 0.4-.8% increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to 25-40%. | Halls of the Damned, Kehjistan |
Check our Legendary Aspect and Codex of Power Guide for general Codex information.
Gear Affix and Stat Priority
Below are the recommended Gear Affixes for each slot for the Pulverize Leveling Build. Gear Affixes are listed by importance. Affixes in Bold are the most important for the build, and alternatives are added as well.
| Slot | Gem | Stats |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Handed Polearm |  Emerald | Willpower Max Life Critical Strike Damage |
| Helm |  Sapphire | Ranks to Wolves Cooldown Reduction Armor All Resistances Willpower |
| Chest | Sapphire | Willpower Max Life Armor Spirit Per Second |
| Gloves | N/A | Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Willpower Armor All Resistances |
| Pants | Sapphire | Willpower Armor Maximum Life All Resistances |
| Boots | N/A | Movement Speed Willpower Dodge Chance Spirit Per Second All Resistances |
| Amulet |  Diamond | Ranks to  Call of the WildRanks to  EnvenomCritical Strike Chance Willpower% Movement Speed |
| Rings | Diamond | Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Maximum Life Chance on Hit to makes enemies Vulnerable Willpower |
- Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed are important for total Critical Strike event for Spirit Boon Pack Leader resets of Companion Skills.
- Cooldown Reduction is beneficial when hitting periods of no resets on Pack Leader.
Tempering
Tempering manuals are found across Sanctuary. The Blacksmith is able to apply extra Tempering affixes on items. Manuals are divided by types similar to Legendary Aspect Powers; for example a Resource Manual like 
Companion Efficiency for Wolves Cooldown Reduction would only fit on Rings and Amulets.
When tempering at the Blacksmith, the item will randomly select one of the listed affixes from the chosen Tempering Manual. There is a limit to the number of times a temper can be rerolled to try to get the desired affix. This means the item can get ruined for the build, and you must try again with a new item. Unique Items cannot be Tempered. Here’s a list of Useful tempers to look out for, sorted by type.
| Manual Type | Manual Name | Manual Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Companion Augments | Chance for Wolves to deal double damage |
| Utility | Companion Innovation | Wolves Attack Speed |
| Resource | Companion Efficiency | Wolves Cooldown Reduction Companion Cooldown Reduction |
| Defensive | Worldly Endurance | Max Life Total Armor% |
| Offensive | Worldly Finesse | Critical Strike Damage |
| Offensive | Worldly Finesse | Damage to Close Enemies Damage to Distant Enemies Damage to Crowd-Controlled Enemies |
| Mobility | Natural Motion | Movement Speed |
Gems and Runewords
See below for the best Gems to socket into your gear for each category:
- Weapon: Emerald for Critical Strike Damage.
- Armor: Sapphire for Willpower.
- Jewelry: Diamonds for All Resistances
Seasonal: Seasonal players can socket Occult Gems in their Jewelry, which are stronger than standard gems. While endgame setups will use Legendary Gems, notable Magic and Rare Gems to use while leveling include the following:
Toadling’s Wish – Your Summons deal 15% more direct damage to Hexed Elites.- Toadling’s Wish – Your Non-Unique Growth & Decay witch Powers gain 35% Potency.
- Hungering Void – While you have an Aura active, pull Nearby enemies toward you every 8 seconds.
Runewords are a flexible power to help strengthen a build or fill its weaknesses. Two Runes combine for the total Runeword effect:
- A conditional trigger Rune of Ritual that supplies Offerings when the condition is met.
- An effect Rune of Invocation that costs Offerings.
Once the Rune of Ritual has supplied enough Offerings, the Rune of Invocation will trigger its effect. Some Runes of Invocation will have overflow effects, where excess Offerings will spillover to empower the triggered effect.
Runewords replace Gems in gear. Up to two sets of Runeword pairs can be placed at a time. Runeword combinations are placed within 2 sockets of the same item e.g. Helm, Chest, Pants or 2-handed Weapon.
The following are Runeword combinations for the Companion Leveling Druid. These leveling recommendations are limited to Magic and Rare quality runes, and are placed in 2-Handed Weapon and one Armor slot:
| Runeword Combination | Runeword Effects |
|---|---|
| Feo Ceh |  Feo – Gain: 1,000 Offering. Become Injured or Crowd Controlled. (Cooldown: 10 seconds) Ceh – Requires: 100 Offering (Overflow: Summon Multiple Wolves) Cooldown: 1 secondsSummon a Spirit Wolf to attack enemies for 8 seconds. |
| Noc Gar |  Noc – Gain: 5 Offering. Inflict a Crowd Control, gain double offering if it isn’t a Slow or Chill. Gar – Requires 25 Offering. Overflow: Gain Multiple Stacks. Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%. |
The Spirit Wolves from Ceh are counted as Summons, and will gain most modifiers for companions, as well as count towards Shepherd’s Aspect. Other trigger runes of ritual will also be effective; adjust to what drops for you while leveling.
Noc Gar will be a consistent Critical Strike Chance additive that helps reset Pack Leader spirit boon. Crowd Controls to trigger Noc include Poison Creeper immobilize, and 
Neurotoxin.
Elixirs and Health Potions
The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.
- Craft the highest
Elixir of Precision for Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Damage and bonus Experience. Or 
Iron Skin Elixir can help push the Capstone Dungeons earlier and easier. - Remember to upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion. Upgrades are available when you reach Level 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60.
Powers of Witchcraft and Occult Gems
Seasonal players can choose from a selection of Witchcraft powers and Occult gems to enhance their gameplay. 1 Unique and 5 Normal Witchcraft Powers can be equipped using the Witchcraft tab on the character sheet. Occult gems are placed into the jewelry sockets, and can be crafted at the Tree of Whispers. While leveling and discovering powers and gems, not all will be immediately available, especially the Unique powers. Slots have to be unlocked and Powers will need leveled up. Feel free to try out powers as you find them. The following setup is recommended for the build:
Witchcraft Powers
Unique Power
Piranhado – Lost Power
- When an enemy is afflicted by both a Hex and an Aura Effect, a Piranhado is summoned pulling enemies towards it and dealing Physical damage over 12 seconds. May occur once every 20 seconds.
Rank 5: Piranhado moves itself towards nearby enemies.
Normal Powers
Grow – Growth and Decay
- After casting an Ultimate Skill, your Servants, Minions, and Companions are empowered with dark magics. Growing larger in size and dealing bonus damage. Lasts 15 seconds.
- Rank 11: Your Servants, Minions and Companions gain 100% Critical Strike Chance while enlarged.
Poison Frog Servant – Summon – Growth and Decay
- Summon a Poison Frog Servant that attacks and Poisons enemies over 3 seconds. On death, the frog explodes violently dealing Poison instantly damage to nearby enemies. This explosion will always Critically Strike.
- Rank 5: Poison Frog attacks will pull enemies towards itself and Taunt enemies for 1 second.
Firebat Servants – Summon – Eldritch
- A deadly swarm of Firebats swarm enemies every 3 seconds, inflicting Fire damage over 1 total attack.
- At Higher Ranks: Enemies are Stunned for 3 seconds after being hit 5 times by your Firebat Servants.
Aura of Siphoning – Growth and Decay
- Conjure an aura of decay that deals Poison damage to enemies every second.
- Rank 10: Each time Aura of Siphoning deals damage, you are healed for 1% of Maximum Life.
Hex of Flames – Eldritch
- Lucky Hit: You have a chance to apply Hex of Flames. Hex of Flames deals additional Fire damage each time you deal damage to the target.
- Rank 7: Hex of Flames explodes dealing damage to all nearby enemies when you land a Critical Strike.
- Other Hexes like
Hex of Shattering are also situationally viable.
This setup grants all available Summon types to add to your zoo. This Aura and Hex are reliable for summoning your Pirahnado.
Grow is a hefty damage multiplier. All your summons, including all your native or Runeword Companions will also benefit from this.
Occult Gems
Socket Occult Gems in Jewelry slots. While endgame setups will use Legendary Gems, here are some notable Magic and Rare Gems to use while leveling:
- Toadling’s Wish – Your Summons deal 15% more direct damage to Hexed Elites.
- Toadling’s Wish – Your Non-Unique Growth & Decay witch Powers gain 35% Potency.
- Hungering Void – While you have an Aura active, pull Nearby enemies toward you every 8 seconds.
Unique Items
The following are useful Unique Items for the Companion Druid to look out for while leveling:
Storm’s Companion grant Wolves the Storm tag and have incredible Gear Affixes to boost your wolves and their damage.
Mercenaries
Once unlocked, Mercenaries are followers that aid the Player in combat. A main mercenary is chosen to fight alongside you, granting strong buffs or perks, and a secondary Mercenary is chosen to periodically Reinforce you under a chosen Opportunity condition. As you build Rapport with your Mercenary, you gain more access to their Skills and Perks.
The following Mercenary options are recommended for the Companion Leveling Druid:
Main Mercenary – Varyana, the Berserker
- Core Skill:
Cleave, 
Hysteria, 
Bloodthirst, 
Bloodlust
Reinforcement – Raheir, the Shieldbearer
- Reinforcement Ability –
Crater - Trigger – Any Skill
Hysteria and Bloodlust will both give strong Attack Speed Bonuses.
Damage Rotation
Lacerate to engage enemies, gaining Werewolf based bonuses and the Supreme Lacerate damage multiplier.- Poison Creeper on gathered enemies for lethal Poison Damage.
- Ravens against Elites and Bosses for increased Critical Strike Chance.
- Wolves against strong single target enemies.
Pulverize and 
Claw as filler, and to fish for Pack Leader Resets.
Advanced Information
It is time to start your Companion journey!
Or see below for further information on how the build works, Skill and gameplay options, and what to do after level 60, including a starter Paragon board to help you transition to the Endgame Companion build.
Mechanics and Playstyle
The Primary Sources of damage for the Companion Druid are your Wolves for single target, and Poison Creeper for multitarget.
Wolves are Companions that are out and active; they attack and can be attacked and tank for you. Their Active Skill grants them Unstoppable and make them leap onto your target for high damage. Each active Wolf makes a separate attack. Wolves becomes Werewolves and apply 
Rabies with Aspect of the Alpha, and become Storm wolves with Storm’s Companion.
Poison Creeper is a Companion that passively attacks to apply a small Poison. The Active Skill deals significant Poison damage over time in a wide area around the player and Immobilizes enemies.
- Enhanced Poison Creeper increases the Immobilize duration.
- Ferocious Poison Creeper increases the duration of the active cast Poison, increasing total damage appropriately.
The active cast of Poison Creeper, especially in early levels, is lethal damage to all but the toughest enemies, making it very efficient to use on most leveling builds. We take Pack Leader boon to reset the Companion Active Skill.
Ravens are used to apply a Critical Strike Chance debuff on enemies within their area. With Stormcrow’s Aspect they will also stun enemies and deal high Lightning damage.
Shepherd’s Aspect scales Companion damage for each active Companion. This includes
- One Poison Creeper
- Two Wolves
- Three Ravens with Brutal Ravens.
- One more of each type with One With Nature.
- One more of each type with Aspect of the Stampede.
- Up to three more Wolves with Moonrage Aspect.
- Spirit Wolves summoned from the Ceh Rune. They are Summons so will get most minion-based multipliers.
- Seasonal: All Summoned Witchcraft power minions. Your new besties the Froggo, Firebats and Pirhanado.
Companions inherit all your Stats; your attack speed bonuses will improve your pet’s attack speed. Even in odd ways like Werewolf Attack Speed; if you are in werewolf form from casts of 
Shred, your wolves attack faster because of the Werewolf Attack Speed modifying the player, and being shared to the wolves. However, Werewolf Attack Speed would not directly affect Aspect of the Alpha Werewolves. Several modifiers like this will not directly help your wolves, including storm modifiers like 
Thunderstruck with Storm’s Companion.
Supporting Abilities
- Lacerate is an Ultimate Skill that deals dashes to deal a series of strikes, heals, and gives a stacking damage buff when you critically strike with it. You are Immune while attacking with Lacerate so this can also be used to avoid damage.
- Pulverize is taken as a filler Core Skill between Companion abilities to fish for Pack Leader Resets. It is the default Core Skill because it is a strong Area of Effect cast and activates Werebear buffs on top. Wolves are strong Single Target but this build can be lacking on multitarget.
- Claw is our basic attack, used to build Spirit. This Skill activates Werewolf form for bonuses like
Quickshift.
Druids Have Options!
Any of the Supporting Skills can be substituted for another desirable supporting Skill depending on looted Legendary Aspects, leveling content, or by playstyle preference. For example:
- Any Core Skill can be usable as they’re largely just supplements to the Companion Skills. If you find a favorable drop-only aspect for another Core Skill, try that combination out. One example would be Aspect of Shattered Defenses; then you could swap Pulverize to
Primal Stone Burst for the attack speed bonus and damage multiplier against the target. - For a more mobile playstyle, Primal Shred could be taken over Pulverize. You would still want a Werebear skill in your kit for the Shapeshifting bonuses like
Heightened Senses, so you might swap in 
Maul as your Basic Skill. - If you wanted to play with a different Ultimate Skill like
Cataclysm or 
Petrify, try either out. Cataclysm deals strong damage in early leveling, and if you found Blood Boiling Aspect, line casts with the Aspect to deal large Overpower damage for the duration of the cast. Petrify stuns enemies and debuffs them to take extra Critical Strike Damage.
Paragon
After Level 60, you gain no more Skill Points and instead start progressing in the Paragon Board. Allocate Paragon Points into nodes along the path to gain further power. Rare Glyphs start at 3 Radius, growing by 1 Radius at level 15, and then at level 46. Level up your glyphs by running The Pit.
Here is an early 3 board setup to get you started. It prioritizes Companion buffs in the 
Untamed board and damage multipliers from 
Heightened Malice.
Thanks so much for reading and good luck on leveling!
Changelog
- January 16, 2025: Updated for season 7 and Patch 2.1.
- November 17, 2024: Minor updates for patch 2.0.5.
- October 17, 2024: Ownership of page transferred, replacing previous guide.
- page restructured for improved readability, explanations and options.
- Changes to recommended Skill Bar and Skill Tree, Legendary Aspects, Gearing, and Mechanics.
- October 3rd, 2024: Updated for Season 6 (Patch 2.0.2)
- August 3rd, 2024: Updated for Season 5 (Patch 1.5.0)
- June 17th, 2024: Updated for Season 4 Midseason (Patch 1.4.3)
- May 10th, 2024: Updated for Season 4 (Patch 1.4.0)
- January 22nd, 2024: Updated for Season 3 (Patch 1.3.0)
- October 17th, 2023: Updated for Season 2 (Patch 1.2.0)
- August 7th, 2023: Updated for patch 1.1.1.
- July 23rd, 2023: Updated Gems section to reflect the presence of Malignant Hearts.
- July 18th, 2023: Updated for Season 1 and added Skill Bar.
