10 Great Druid AOE Skills In Diablo 4
Druids who want to do some AOE damage, especially when playing Diablo 4 by themselves, should put these skills at the top of their list.
When Diablo 4 came out, there were five classes to choose from. The Druid has gotten the most bad press. Complaints that came up during the open test of the game said that the class moved slowly in the early game. This has only been partially fixed. Even though late-game Druids are a force to be reckoned with and well worth the time players put into them, it’s still a lot of work to get there compared to, say, the Rogue, who is dangerous from the start.
Since this is the case, Diablo 4 players who want to become masters of nature will need to plan their Druid builds more carefully and thoroughly when they first start playing. In the game, there are two main themes for each class: single-target and AOE (Area of Effect). Druids can be built to be good at either one. Single-target builds are great for playing with other people, but AOE builds should be more appealing to people who play alone. These builds can be very powerful if the player knows where to put their important skill points.
Storm Strike
Before being upgraded, a Druid’s basic strikes almost always only hit one target. Storm Strike is the only one that doesn’t work this way. Even though this ability only hits one enemy at first, it can damage up to four more enemies behind the first one. This lets players give damage to more than one enemy at once.
Then, Storm Strike can be upgraded, and the most important thing for players to do is make it make enemies weak. With just a few hits from Storm Strike, an entire group of enemies can become weak, and players can then use a stronger skill to kill them all at once.
Lightning Storm
Now we’re getting into the Druid’s main skills, and right off the bat, Lightning Storm can be used as either a single-target or area-of-effect ability, based on how players use it and how much Spirit they have at the time.
When Lightning Storm is used once, it sends a lightning bolt at a single target. But if players hold down the button they’ve given to Lightning Storm, that single strike will turn into two, then three, then four. Each hit does a lot of damage, and the spread of those hits can often kill several enemies at the same time.
Pulverize
The way people talk about Druids has changed over time, but one thing has stayed the same: Pulverize is one of the best skills for this class. With this core skill, the Druid changes into a Werebear and then slams the ground, causing an explosion that hurts any enemies nearby.
Pulverize is a great AOE power even when it isn’t upgraded. But Enhanced Pulverize will make the attack overpower enemies when the player is healthy (above 80% health), and Raging Pulverize will stop any enemies that the attack overpowers, making it not only a great AOE but also a great crowd control ability.
Tornado
The next Druid skill does exactly what it sounds like it does. The Druid calls up a storm and sends it out onto the battlefield. Even though the player can’t control the storm once it’s started, all they really need to do is point it at a group of enemies and let the winds do the rest.
Once players improve this ability, every time they use it, they have a 20% chance to create a second twister. This means that the skill’s area of effect (AOE) is effectively doubled. If you add one more upgrade to Raging Tornado, the storm will make enemies weak after it hits them. This makes it easy to kill any enemies that are still alive after the storm ends.
Landslide
This core skill doesn’t get enough credit, partly because it depends so much on random number generation (RNG). When a druid uses Landslide, two rock walls rise from the ground and slam into each other, crushing any enemies stuck in the middle.
Once it’s been improved or combined with a Legendary Aspect, the fact that it depends on random chance is less of a problem. When Raging Landslide hits an opponent who is frozen or stunned, it calls up another set of rock walls. If players can combine this skill with one that stuns big groups (like Pulverize), they can use one cast of Landslide to summon six separate rock walls that can quickly take out even the toughest mobs that are trying to defend themselves.
Hurricane
A skill that is a lot like Tornado, but gives the player more power. Hurricane makes the Druid call up a wind that swirls around them. When the player is surrounded by enemies and needs to deal damage quickly in all directions, this skill is great.
The best thing about Hurricane is that it can be improved so that every enemy it hits gets a status effect. Enhanced Hurricane slows enemies by 25%, Natural Hurricane has a 15% chance to make enemies weak, and Savage Hurricane makes enemies do less damage. No matter what improvements players choose, this skill can make a big difference when fighting the biggest monsters in Flappy Bird.
Trample
Trample is the other Druid skill that has been getting a lot of attention. The Druid changes into a werebear and charges forward in a straight line, dealing damage to any enemies they hit along the way.
Even though that doesn’t sound like an AOE, what really makes this skill stand out is that it throws enemies backwards when it hits them. This makes it a great skill for clearing out a big group of enemies if the player is facing a lot of them at once. If an enemy is thrown back into a wall or an item in the environment, it will take extra damage.
Petrify
When it comes to the Druid’s ultimate skills, many of the most powerful ones are AOE skills. Petrify is the first one. When this ability is used, nearby foes are encased in stone for 3 seconds. As long as they are shocked, critical hits do more damage to them. When used on boss enemies, the damage boost and the length of the stun are both increased.
Then, players can improve Petrify to make its effects last longer and to recover their Spirit when they kill an enemy that has been petrified. Even though this skill doesn’t do much damage on its own, it can be a very powerful AOE ability when paired with a skill like Landslide that gets stronger when it hits stunned enemies.
Cataclysm
Imagine if Tornado and Lightning Storm had a child, and that child went on an attack without being stopped. This child would be the Cataclysm skill for Druids. The Druid calls up a huge storm with dozens of lightning hits and a few tornadoes that follows them around for 8 seconds.
The thing about Cataclysm is that it is unpredictable, just like nature’s forces. Aside from where the person stands, there isn’t much they can do to control the storm. They can just call it up and hope it hits the people or places they want it to. Thanks to all the different forces of nature at work, it usually does.
Lacerate
There aren’t many werewolf skills on this list, mostly because most werewolf skills work best when used against a single enemy. Lacerate is the only exception to this rule. It turns the Druid into a werewolf and makes them dash around the battlefield 10 times, hitting an enemy each time.
Lacerate is great because it can go both ways. If there is only one target, all 10 hits will hit that one target. When surrounded by a group of enemies, those 10 hits will be spread out among all of them. It can be upgraded to heal the player when it lands a critical hit and to guarantee a critical hit on its first hit. This makes it easy to suggest even if players aren’t investing in other werewolf skills.
Diablo 4 came out on June 5, 2023, for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
