Build Introduction
Stone Burst is a satisfyingly impactful Core Earth Skill that can be channeled and grown in size, or held to pulse minor damage within its area. With Aspect of Anticline Burst, Stone Bursts cast above 75 Spirit will be cast at full size without having to channel to grow the blast, and will be the preferred playstyle.
This guide will cover everything necessary to get started on your Stone Burst adventure, including Skill Tree points, Paragon, Gearing, and Seasonal updates. The guide will primarily cover Endgame pushing, but will also cover alternative playstyles, options during leveling and gearing, Spirit management, and offer in-depth explanations for gameplay.
Strengths and Weaknesses
- Wide screenclearing clickcasts
- Focused damage for low target/bossing
- Simple gameplay
- Spirit-hungry build
- Cannot Overpower
To see how this build compares to the other builds on our site, check out our build tier lists.
Build Requirements
The following Legendary Aspect is required for build functionality to get started on the Stone Burst Druid:
Aspect of Anticline Burst is a significant damage multiplier and quality of life addition, allowing Stone Burst to be cast at full radius while above 75 Spirit, without having to channel and grow the cast. This lets the build send a significantly higher volume of attacks. While leveling-friendly, Stone Burst should not be started without this aspect.
Skill Tree Points and Skill Bar
- Earth Spike can be taken for convenience as a Basic Spirit Builder, especially while leveling and gearing. Claw is useful for shapeshifting maintenance, especially with Wildheart Hunger.
- Cataclysm with Mjölnic Ryng may be a viable Ultimate option for Spirit Management and ease of gameplay. See the Uniques section for necessary build adjustments.
- (Leveling) Before getting access to Constricting Tendrils, swap Cyclone Armor for Poison Creeper to apply Poison for Envenom.
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.
Boon Name | Animal | Effect |
---|---|---|
Gift of the Stag | Deer | Gain 40 Maximum Spirit. Gain 5 Spirit Per Second. |
Swooping Attacks | Eagle | Gain 20% Attack Speed. |
Avian Wrath | Eagle | Gain 40% Critical Strike Damage. |
Energize | Wolf | Lucky Hit: Dealing damage has up to a 15% chance to restore all Spirit. |
Masochistic | Snake | Lucky Hit: Critical Strikes with Shapeshifting Skills have up to a 75% chance to Heal you for 10% Maximum Life. |
Once Spirit management is sufficient, take Calamity Boon over Energize.
Gear, Stats, Gems and Elixirs
The following are the recommended Legendary Aspects, Gear Affixes, Gems, Runewords and Consumables for the Stone Burst Druid.
Legendary Aspects
Gear Slots with multiple options are listed in recommended priority. Any slot with an Optional Mythic Unique or Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power to use while still leveling and gearing.
Slot | Gem/Runewords | Unique/Legendary Aspect | Unique/Legendary Power |
---|---|---|---|
Dagger | Grand Emerald | Aspect of Anticline Burst | Stone Burst deals 15-35%x increased damage and when Cast at or above 75 Spirit, it is immediately at its maximum size. |
Unique Totem | Grand Emerald | (Recommended Unique) Stone of Vehemen Accelerating Aspect | While Channeling Stone Burst, and for 2 seconds afterwards, gain 15% Damage Reduction. Stone Burst’s final explosion deals 15-20% increased damage, further increased by 15-20% for each size increase. |
Helm | Grand Sapphire | (Recommended Unique) Vasily’s Prayer Juggernaut’s Aspect | Your Earth Skills are now also Werebear skills and Fortify you for 2-5% of your Maximum Health. |
Chest | Grand Sapphire | (Recommended Mythic) Shroud of False Death (Recommended Unique) Insatiable Fury | If you haven’t attacked in the last 2 seconds, gain Stealth and 40% Movement Speed. |
Gloves | Aspect of the Changeling’s Debt | You deal 25-65% increased damage while hitting a Poisoned enemy as a Werebear or a Crowd Controlled enemy as a Werewolf. | |
Pants | Grand Sapphire | Tibault’s Will OR Skinwalker’s Aspect | You deal 10-20%x increased damage while Unstoppable and for 5 seconds after. When you become Unstoppable, gain 50 of your Primary Resource |
Boots | (Recommended Unique) Wildheart Hunger Aspect of Metamorphosis | Shapeshifting into a new animal form increases the value of your Bestial Rampage bonuses by +2-5%, up to +20-50%. This bonus decays by 2% per second. | |
Amulet | Grand Skull | Aspect of Retaliation | Your Core Skills deal up to 35-75% increased damage based on your amount of Fortify. |
Ring 1 | Grand Diamond | Crashstone Aspect (Optional playstyle) Mjölnic Ryng | Earth Skills deal 35-75% increased damage to Crowd Controlled enemies. |
Ring 2 | Grand Diamond | (Recommended Mythic) Ring of Starless Skies Starlight Aspect | Spending your Primary Resource reduces the Resource cost of your Skills and increases your damage by 10%x for 3 seconds, up to 50%. |
Armor cap is 1000 for up to 85% Physical Damage Reduction. This is generally reached with either one Armor Gear Affix and one Total Armor% Temper, the armor from Vasily’s Prayer, or using a Juggernaut’s Aspect.
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
Each line of affixes is listed in order of importance. The bolded affixes are the most important targets for Masterworking upgrades. Unique Items cannot be Tempered, but can be Masterworked. Check the Tempering guide and Masterworking guide for more details about these topics.
Any slot with an Optional Mythic Unique or Unique Item will include a valid alternative legendary power to use while still leveling and gearing.
Slot | Gearing Affixes | Tempering Affixes |
---|---|---|
Dagger – Legendary Power | Willpower Max Life Chance on Hit to Restore Spirit Life on Hit | Earth Augments – Chance for Stone Burst to Cast Twice Natural Finesse – Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies |
(Recommended) Totem – Stone of Vehemen | Willpower Critical Strike Damage Chance for Stone Burst to Cast Twice Ranks to Stone Burst | |
Totem – Legendary Aspect | Critical Strike Chance Cooldown Reduction Lucky Hit Chance Chance on Hit to Restore Spirit | Earth Augments – Chance for Stone Burst to Cast Twice Earth Finesse – Earth Critical Strike Chance |
Helm – Vasily’s Prayer | Willpower Maximum Life Armor Ranks to Defensive Posture | |
Helm – Legendary Aspect | Cooldown Reduction Spirit Per Second Armor Willpower | Worldly Endurance – Total Armor% Nature Magic Innovation – Petrify Duration |
Chest – Insatiable Fury | Maximum Life Werebear Overpower Ursine Strength’s Bonuses Ranks to Iron Fur | |
Mythic Unique Chest – Shroud of False Death | All Stats Maximum Life Damage on Next Attack After Entering Stealth Resource Generation | |
Gloves – Legendary Power | Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Ranks to Stone Burst Chance on Hit to Restore Spirit Chance to make Enemies Vulnerable | Earth Finesse – Earth Critical Strike Chance Worldly Fortune -Chance on Hit to Slow/Stun/Freeze |
Pants – Tibault’s Will | All Stats Max Life Maximum Resource Damage Reduction While Unstoppable | |
Pants – Legendary Aspect | Willpower Max Life Armor Resistance to All Elements | Worldly Endurance – Total Armor% Nature Magic Innovation – Petrify Duration |
Boots –Wildheart Hunger | Movement Speed Shapeshifting Attack Speed Cold Resistance Ranks to Heightened Senses | |
Boots – Legendary Aspect | Implicit – Attacks Reduce Evade’s Cooldown by 1.5 seconds Movement Speed Spirit Per Second Willpower All Resistances | Druid Motion – Movement Speed Worldly Fortune – Chance to Stun/Freeze |
Amulet – Legendary Aspect | Willpower% Ranks to Envenom Ranks to Nature’s Reach Ranks to Quickshift Movement Speed Critical Strike Chance | Earth Finesse – Earth Critical Strike Chance Ultimate Efficiency — Druid – Petrify Cooldown Reduction OR Manual: Worldly Stability – Resource Generation |
Ring – Legendary Aspect | Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Chance to Make Enemies Vulnerable Lucky Hit Chance | Earth Finesse – Earth Critical Strike Chance Ultimate Efficiency — Druid – Petrify Cooldown Reduction OR Manual: Worldly Stability – Resource Generation |
Ring – Ring of Starless Skies | Attack Speed Critical Strike Chance Lucky Hit Chance Ranks in Core Skills | |
Ring – Mjölnic Ryng | Willpower Critical Strike Chance Movement Speed While Cataclysm is Active Ranks to Endless Tempest |
At least one Temper for Chance to Slow or other Controls will help maintain the Crashstone Aspect multiplier against non-bosses.
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the recommended Gem and Runeword setups for the Stone Burst Druid.
Gems
Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
---|---|---|
Grand Emerald for Critical Strike Damage | Grand Sapphire for Willpower | Grand Skull until Armor Cap at 1000 Armor, then Grand Diamond for All Resistance |
Seasonal: Use the recommended Occult Gem Setup for Jewelry.
- Moonlight Ward – For each rank in your slotted Unique Witchcraft Power, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and .5% Maximum Resistance to All Elements.
- Voice of the Stars – While you have an Aura active, your Ultimate Skills gain each Witchcraft tag and deal 10% increased damage.
- Friend of the Bog – While you have three or more Growth & Decay Witch Powers slotted, you gain 10% primary stat, 10% Maximum Life and you are always Unhindered.
Runewords
Use these Runeword combinations for the Stone Burst Druid, placed in Armor slots.
Runeword Combination | Runeword Effects |
---|---|
Poc Wat | Poc – Gain: 5 Offering. Spend 5% of your Maximum Resource. Wat – Requires: 100 Offering Cooldown: 1 Second. Overflow: Increased Duration. Evoke the Necromancer’s Horrid Decrepify, Slowing enemies, reducing their damage, and letting you Execute them. |
Xol Yom | Xol – Gain: 150 Offering. Evoke power from another Class. Yom – 500 Offering Cooldown: 5 Seconds. Overflow: Increased Duration. Evoke the Druid’s Petrify, Stunning enemies and restoring Spirit. |
Runewords use a conditional Rune of Ritual to generate Offering. The Offering is consumed by the Rune of Invocation to trigger its effect. Runes replace Gems in gear with two sockets. Up to two sets of Runeword Pairs can be placed at a time.
Stone Burst is a Spirit-hungry Skill, and will trigger high volumes of Horrid Decrepify, which is an efficient trigger for Xol. Periodic casts of Petrify will be a strong Stun, Critical Strike Damage multiplier and Spirit Generator. Tempering for Petrify Duration will mean significant uptime on Petrify.
Other combinations can also situationally work well; adjust to the content you are running. These can include:
- Offering Efficiency: Other Ritual options such as Lith for Stand Still, Bac for Move, or Feo for get Crowd Controlled may trigger more often.
- Spirit Management: Poc Lum in combination can give strong Spirit Refund. Que Invocation for Earthen Bulwark can also give spirit back with Tibault’s Will.
- Early Gearing: While leveling and gearing before legendary Runes become accessible, many Magic and Rare runewords such as Gar for Critical Strike Chance will be viable.
Elixirs, Incense and Health Potions
The Alchemist offers helpful consumables at the cost of foraged materials found throughout Sanctuary.
- Craft the highest available Elixir of Advantage II for Attack Speed and Lucky Hit bonuses.
- If mats are available, craft Chorus of War
- Remember to upgrade your potion as you level, increasing the instant healing of the potion.
Paragon Board
The following are the preferred Glyphs, Boards, and pathing recommended for making the most of the Stone Burst Druid.
The road to max Paragon is long. The above Paragon tabs show the following:
- The BASE SETUP tab spends 50 fewer points than the max 328 points, taking stricter pathing to take all most all Legendary, Rare and Magic Nodes, and activates all Glyph Nodes with their secondary effects.
- The FULL SETUP tab completes the paragon board in its final form, filling in the rest of the board to give additional additive bonuses especially within the Glyph areas.
Glyphs have two significant breakpoint increases. At level 15, the glyph grows in radius and gains a special effect. At level 46, the glyph grows to its max radius and gains a strong conditional damage multiplier.
Glyphs are placed as if they are at least level 15+ in radius. Total Boards placed are now limited to a max of 5; the Starter Board and four Class Boards. Rotate boards as necessary.
For more Damage Reduction in hard-hitting content, swap Spirit for Territorial.
For further info on Paragon choices, check the Paragon Information in the Additional Information Section.
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. Witchcraft Powers gain additional effects at higher ranks. Occult gems are placed into the jewelry sockets, and can be crafted at the Tree of Whispers. Use the following setup for the Stone Burst Druid:
Witchcraft Powers
Unique Power
The Cycle – Growth and Decay
- Dealing any damage with your skills has a 15% chance to grow a flower from the ground. When an enemy is near, the flower deals X Poison damage to that enemy over 5 seconds. If an ally is near, the flower heals for 6% maximum Life. The flower withers away after use. A flower may grow once every 2 seconds per enemy. Frequency limited to a maximum of 3 per second.
- Rank 5: The damage and healing affects all enemies or allies near the flower.
Normal Powers
Aura Specialization – Lost Power
- The size of your Aura Effects is increased.
- Rank 10: Increase the Critical Strike Damage by 50% against enemies inside your Aura Effects.
Hex of Shattering – Psyche
- Damage done by your Witchcraft Effects afflicts enemies with Hex of Shattering causing them to deal reduced damage for 5 seconds.
- Rank 8: When any Hex Effect is applied to Headrotten, all damage will be guaranteed Critical Strikes for 5 seconds.
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.
Soul Harvest – Growth and Decay
- Feed upon the life force of nearby enemies whenever you use a skill with a cooldown, increasing your primary stat by 3% per monster for X seconds.
- Rank 9: Soul Harvest does not lose duration so long as enemies are nearby.
Breath of the Coven – Lost Power
- Dealing damage or applying a Crowd Control effect with any of your Witchcraft Effects increases your Attack Speed by X for 10 Seconds, stacking once per unique Witchcraft Effect (Eldritch, Psyche, and Growth & Decay).
- Rank 8: Gain 40% Lucky Hit chance while bonuses from Eldritch, Psyche, Growth & Decay are active at once.
This is a Friends of the Bog – Breath of the Coven setup that will give strong Damage, Willpower, Max Life, Attack Speed and Lucky Hit bonuses.
Occult Gems
- Moonlight Ward – For each rank in your slotted Unique Witchcraft Power, you gain 3% Damage Reduction and .5% Maximum Resistance to All Elements.
- Voice of the Stars – While you have an Aura active, your Ultimate Skills gain each Witchcraft tag and deal 10% increased damage.
- With the Witchcraft tags, Stuns from Petrify will fully trigger Breath of the Coven.
- Friend of the Bog – While you have three or more Growth & Decay Witch Powers slotted, you gain 10% primary stat, 10% Maximum Life and you are always Unhindered.
Optionally, for farm or quality of life, swap Friend of the Bog for Hungering Void.
- Hungering Void – While you have an Aura active, pull Nearby enemies toward you every 8 seconds.
Unique Items
- Stone of Vehemen is a simple Damage Reduction and Damage Multiplier buff to the final explosion of Stone Burst. The Damage To Crowd Controlled Enemies instead of Lucky Hit is good for Earthen Devastation but less Lucky Hit can mean fewer Energize Spirit Boon or other Lucky Hit triggers. Use this over a Legendary Totem if your Spirit Management is good.
- Vasily’s Prayer is a strong source of Fortify and makes Stone Burst a Werebear skill. This enables the maintenance of several strong multipliers like Bestial Rampage and Quickshift and granting auras including Survival Instincts while the Form is active.
- Insatiable Fury is a strong defensive Unique Item, and grants skill ranks to Werebear skills, including Stone Burst because Vasily’s Prayer makes Stone Burst a Werebear Skill. This chest also helps to maintain shapeshifting bonuses like Heightened Senses or Quickshift by keeping the Werebear Form active between combat.
- Tibault’s Will is a tidy damage multiplier and periodic source of Spirit. Enhanced Earthen Bulwark and if used, Aspect of Metamorphosis provide sources for Unstoppable.
- Wildheart Hunger is a stacking additive buff to Bestial Rampage, requiring shifting between or to Werebear and Werewolf forms. This bonus stacks high but decays every second, requiring near-constant upkeep. This can be a disruptive item that pays off well, with a strong buff to Damage and Attack Speed well worth maintaining. In more trivial content, this Unique item can be skipped for convenience.
Optional Playstyle Unique Items
- Airidah’s Inexorable Will is a usable Unique Item that shines in farm content at the cost of some top-end damage. It will give periodic grips from casts of Petrify, which happen often thanks to our Runeword setup. Masterwork the Willpower%.
- Mjölnic Ryng is a viable optional playstyle variant item that can make Spirit Management less of a concern for most druid builds. For the Stone Burst Druid, this allows constant clickcast of max radius Stone Bursts while Cataclysm is active, as well as a strong damage multiplier. To play into this Unique, make the following changes:
- Exchange ranks and passives in Petrify for their equivalent skill ranks in Cataclysm, and ranks in Catastrophe for Endless Tempest.
- Exchange any Resource tempers on Amulet and Rings for Ultimate Efficiency — Druid – Cataclysm Cooldown Reduction.
- Exchange Masochistic Boon for Calm Before the Storm, and Energize for Calamity.
- Maintain Cataclysm when engaging enemies.
Mythic Unique Items
- (Recommended) Shroud of False Death – This Chest can be a strong option, offering +1 to all Skill Passives. That includes several offensive multipliers, utility choices, and defensive gains. Masterwork the All Stats.
- (Recommended) Ring of Starless Skies is a high value Mythic with strong Gear Affixes, high damage multiplier and Resource Cost Reduction for the Spirit-hungry Stone Burst. Masterwork the Attack Speed or Critical Strike Chance.
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.
The following Mercenary options are recommended for the Stone Burst Druid:
Main Mercenary – Varyana, the Berserker
- Core Skill: Cleave
- Core Passive: Hysteria
- Iconic Skill: Bloodthirst
- Iconic Passive: Bloodlust
Reinforcement – Raheir, the Shieldbearer
- Reinforcement Ability: Crater
- Opportunity: Stone Burst
Hysteria and Bloodlust will both give strong Attack Speed bonuses.
For a Spirit Management setup, try Raheir’s Iron Wolf’s Call for periodic free casts of Stone Burst, or Aldkin’s Ember’s Gift for Spirit Per Second while in Storm of Fire.
Rotation
Before Combat:
- Claw in place or Blood Howl to activate Werewolf Shapeshifting buffs Bestial Rampage, Quickshift and Heightened Senses.
When Engaging enemies:
- Maintain Shapeshifting buffs Bestial Rampage, Quickshift and Heightened Senses. Try not to be in Human form for longer than 3 seconds at a time.
- If using Wildheart Hunger, cycle abilities like Blood Howl or Cyclone Armor that allow shifting between or to Werebear and Werewolf Forms to ramp and maintain Wildheart Stacks.
- Petrify dangerous enemies for a large Critical Strike Damage multiplier, Spirit generation and Stun.
- While Above 75 Spirit, clickcast to Stone Burst enemies at full Radius. Target important enemies within the 1st radius Enhanced Stone Burst multiplier.
- While Below 75 Spirit, build Spirit from abilities such as:
- Earthen Bulwark for Spirit from Tibault’s Will
- Prime Petrify to gain Spirit.
- If used, trigger Aspect of Metamorphosis for Unstoppable for Tibault’s Will.
- Build Spirit with Claw
Claw and other Skills that change your Form do not need to hit enemies to gain the Shapeshifting benefits. It can often be beneficial to keybind and tap Force Hold to be able to cast in place.
Check out the advanced Build Mechanics section for a more in-depth description of how the build works, what synergies exist, and what to look out for.
Season 7 Updates: Season of Witchcraft
The Stone Burst druid’s gameplay will not change much with season 7, though there are a few buffs to damage and easier Spirit Management with changes to Spirit boons. Stone Burst still remains a solid farming build especially in Infernal Hordes, but not the highest pit push build. This is largely because Stone Burst cannot Overpower so loses several Earth-Bear Synergies for topend output.
These Season Updates are for important changes in the Season 7 Patch Updates that are specific to the Pulverize Druid. For general Season 7 information, check out our Season 7 Hub.
Itemization
- Mjölnic Ryng – New Effect- While Cataclysm is active, you gain unlimited Spirit and deal 40-100% increased damage. Cataclysm receives your Lightning Bolt benefits.
Skills and Stats
- Petrify – New effect at Rank 5: Casting Petrify resets all your non-Ultimate Skill Cooldowns.
- Cataclysm New Effect at Rank 5: Casting Cataclysm Slows surrounding enemies by 70% for 8 seconds.
- Heightened Senses – New Effect – When Shapeshifting, Werebear grants 3% Damage Reduction and Werewolf grants 3% Movement Speed. Both bonuses persist as long as you are in either animal form. They are lost after 3 seconds in Human form.
- Note: This is a significant nerf, effectively killing the 17 ranks immortality cheese.
- Spirit Boon Gift of the Stag new effect – Gain 40 Maximum Spirit. You gain 5 Spirit every second.
- Spirit Boon Energize new effect – Lucky Hit: Dealing damage has a 15% chance to fully restore your Spirit.
- Ancestral Guidance – New Effect – After spending 75 Spirit, you deal 40% increased damage for 5 seconds. Your Ultimate Skills deal 1% increased damage per Spirit when cast.
- Survival Instincts – New Effect – Now: While in Werebear form, you deal 30% increased damage or 45% when you are at full Life. You have 1% increased Overpower damage, up to 25%, for every 1% difference in current Life percent and Fortified Life percent between you and the enemy.
- Territorial – Increased Damage Reduction against Close enemies from 10% to 15%.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Stone of Vehemen incorrectly required Vessel of Hatred to equip.
- Fixed an issue where Stone of Vehemen was not tradeable.
Advanced Information
It is time to start your Stone Burst Journey!
Or see below for further information on how the build works, as well as explanations of Build Mechanics, Paragon, Spirit Management, and Gameplay.
Build Mechanics
The Stone Burst Druid is a simple gameplay cycle:
- Maintain all your buffs.
- Stay above 75 Spirit.
- Click-cast spam your Stone Bursts to kill your enemies.
Stone Burst is our high-damage Core Skill, and the build is centered around it. The base form of Stone Burst is held and channeled to grow up to two times, then released to deal high-impact damage.
- Aspect of Anticline Burst allows Stone Burst to already be max radius when cast above 75 Spirit.
- As a channeled Skill, Stone Burst cannot Overpower. This means we do not get to capitalize on the usual Overpower-Earth-Bear Synergizes like Provocation or Spirit Boon Obsidian Slam.
- Stone Burst deals Physical Damage, but as an Earth Skill, will be able to take advantage of Nature and Earth damage modifiers.
- Enhanced Stone Burst gives Stone Burst a skill shot for a higher multiplier where the first radius of the Stone Burst would be. This can unfortunately get shifted when the Earth Augments double-cast triggers, placing two Stone Bursts side by side.
- With Vasily’s Prayer, Stone Burst will also be a Werebear Skill and receive Werebear and Shapeshifting modifiers as well as helping to maintain Shapeshifting buffs and bonuses such as Survival Instincts, Quickshift, Heightened Senses, and Wildheart Hunger.
Supporting Skills
Earthen Bulwark gives Unstoppable, and if used with Tibault’s Will is a means for Spirit and a damage multiplier.
Claw is a filler Basic Attack that can help maintain Werewolf buffs like Heightened Senses or Bestial Rampage. While leveling and still using a Basic for Spirit Generation, Earth Spike or Wind Shear may be preferred to accommodate Stone Burst‘s ranged playstyle. Once Spirit Management is solved and you do not need a builder, this can be swapped for options like Innate Debilitating Roar or Poison Creeper.
Blood Howl gives an Attack Speeed bonus, a heal for Starlight Aspect also helps maintain shapeshifting bonuses.
Cyclone Armor is a passive, low investment defensive gain. The active part of the Skill can be a supplementary method of changing Form to help maintain shapeshifting bonuses like Wildheart Hunger. Changing to Human will not give bonuses, but the subsequent change back into Form will.
Petrify is our Ultimate Skill. This is a strong Spirit gain, a multiplicative layer of Critical Strike Damage and Crowd Control Stun application. If you do not need the healing from Masochistic Spirit Boon, Calm before the Storm can be a strong choice for more total casts of Petrify.
The Key Passive is Bestial Rampage for a high Damage Multiplier and Attack Speed buff. The buffs are maintained so long as you do not stay in Human Form for longer than three seconds. Wildheart Hunger can ramp these bonuses much higher, requiring near-constant shifting to beat the stack decay.
Poison for Envenom is maintained by Lucky Hits from Constricting Tendrils.
Managing Spirit
Stone Burst is a Spirit-hungry build, especially when using the skill passive multipliers Raging Stone Burst and Wild Impulses. The goal while playing is to stay above 75 Spirit when casting Stone Burst so that Aspect of Anticline Burst automatically casts Stone Burst at max radius without having to hold and channel. Spirit is managed through several means:
- Energize Spirit Boon grants a lucky hit to give Spirit.
- Gift of the Stag Energize Boon gives higher Maximum Spirit and Spirit Per Second.
- Tibault’s Will with Enhanced Earthen Bulwark and if used, Aspect of Metamorphosis to grant Spirit on Unstoppable.
- Prime Petrify gives Spirit on cast.
- Starlight Aspect can give Spirit after healing 20% or overhealing 200% of Max life. Masochistic Boon, potions, and if used, Skinwalker’s Aspect all provide sources of healing. Willpower improves healing received.
- The Ancestral Guidance paragon board gives Spirit on Kill, Resource Generation and Maximum Spirit increases.
- Gear Affixes like Spirit per second and Chance on Hit to grant Spirit.
- If used, Mjölnic Ryng maxes Spirit and makes Stone Burst free while Cataclysm is active.
In an Endgame state, these sources are sufficient for Spirit management. If these are not sufficient while leveling and gearing, consider one or more of the following supplementary options:
- Use the Spirit Management Runeword setup.
- Use the Spirit Management Mercenary setup.
- Use Earthen Might Key Passive.
- Gear for Spirit Per Second gear affixes on helm, chest or boots.
- Gear for Spirit on Kill, Resource Cost Reduction, or Chance to gain Resource on Weapons.
- Target Resource Generation for Tempers and Masterworking.
- Use Aspect of Quicksand as a Utility Aspect and Aspect of the Umbral as a Resource Aspect.
- Use Aspect of the Dark Dance to give periodic free casts of Core Skills at a health expense.
- Use Primal Stone Burst over Raging Stone Burst.
- Take ranks from Wild Impulses and place them in Circle of Life. The extra healing will interact with Starlight Aspect.
- Worst case, use your Basic Skill as a Spirit Builder.
Paragon
The Paragon Board is a progression system unlocked at Level 60, giving player power through Common stat Nodes, Magic affix Nodes, Rare leveled Glyphs, and Legendary board-exclusive Nodes. For general paragon board information, check the guide here. Paragon Points are earned from leveling, Renown and Altars of Lilith.
The recommended Paragon Boards for the Stone Burst druid are listed above. The following section goes over some explanations and descriptions for the pathing process for the Stone Burst Druid.
Broadly speaking, decisions for pathing through the Druid Paragon Board are divided into three categories:
- Damage – The Paragon Boards provide a significant amount of Damage Multipliers and Additives. This includes:
- Socketed Glyphs such as Spirit and Outmatch.
- Legendary Nodes such as Earthen Devastation and Survival Instincts.
- Magic and Rare nodes for Additive damage sources.
- Defense – The Paragon Boards help reach goals on Damage Reduction, Armor, and Resistances. This includes:
- Damage Reduction is improved from Werebear secondary effects, as well as individual nodes providing bonuses like Damage Reduction from Poisoned Enemies.
- Resistances are improved from Magic and Rare Resistance nodes.
- Armor goals are reached with the help of Armor nodes.
- Build Functionality – The Paragon Boards improve Spirit Generation for the build from a few sources, including:
- Access to Resource options like Spirit on Kill or Maximum Spirit.
- Poison application from Constricting Tendrils.
Changelog
- 12 Jan, 2025: Started on Season 7 and Patch 2.1 updates. Two tab paragon board introduced.
- 17 November, 2024: Minor updates for Patch 2.0.5.
- 15 October, 2024: Updated for new onsite Paragon Tool.
- 23 September, 2024: Cleaned up page and added appropriate links.
- 4 September, 2024: Speculative Stone Burst Druid guide made based on PTR information for the upcoming Season 6: Season of Hatred.