D2R Wind Druid Build Guide for Season 8

When one thinks about the Druid in Diablo II: Resurrected, what usually comes to mind is a character that can shapeshift into a fearsome Werebear or Werewolf that can ravage foes in an instant. However, this class is capable of more than that. In fact, the build we are going to talk about today harnesses the power of devastating wind magic to eliminate the minions of Hell.

The Wind Druid is a powerful spellcaster that utilizes wind-based skills to great effect. When everything is said and done, you will come up with a character that can shred opponents like they are nothing. Have we piqued your interest? If so, we invite you to go on and read ahead for this is our D2R Season 8 Wind Druid Build guide!

Why Choose the Wind Druid

The Wind Druid (aka Wind/Tornado Dudu) is one of the most powerful and beloved builds in D2R Season 8. The intensity of Tornado and the devastating power of Hurricane can rip enemies to pieces. Aside from being an offensive juggernaut, this build can summon a group of allies that act as meat shields, as well as deal supplemental damage.

Your primary damage dealer on this build is Tornado. Judging by its name, you might think that this deals cold damage, right? Nope! It actually deals physical damage to the minions of Hell.

Tornado does require a bit of practice to master because of the way it moves. Blindly spamming the skill won't do you any good because casting it from one direction will only force the Tornado to move in a specific way. Therefore, you have to cast Tornado followed by Teleport (from “Enigma” runeword) or manually run to a different location if you want to hit all of the monsters on the screen.

Hurricane is one of the major Druid Skills that needs to be mentioned as well. Unlike Tornado, this skill conjures a fierce storm that surrounds your character, dealing cold damage in a huge area. The best way to utilize Hurricane is to cast it as soon as you use Teleport (this strategy is also known as “Telestomping”).

The Wind Druid in D2R can work just by casting the two skills mentioned above. However, Twister is not a mere skill just for the purposes of synergy; it provides some utility too.

You see, Twister has a relatively fast cast speed. But more importantly, it can stun enemies for a brief period after getting hit, allowing you to stop them in their tracks or preventing them from casting harmful magic on you.

By utilizing nature magic frequently, you can take on anything in Diablo II: Resurrected without worrying about monster immunities.

Playstyle

The Wind Druid needs a bit of a setup in order to maximize its potential. You have to summon several powerful allies, including the Raven, Spirit Wolf, Dire Wolf, Grizzly Bear, and the Oak Sage. The latter two are quite useful, especially from a survivability standpoint.

In addition, you have to ensure that Cyclone Armor is up at all times. This skill absorbs fire, cold, and lightning damage, which enables you to fight monsters in Hell Difficulty without worrying about dying.

For your main rotation, always cast Hurricane before using Tornado. Hurricane is stationary but it does cover a wide area, so positioning really does not matter for this particular Druid Skill. The same cannot be said for Tornado, though.

The ideal way to utilize Tornado is to cast it once, move, and then cast it again. This ensures that they hit every monster on the screen. This is also the reason why you need a very high FCR value — a mechanic that will be discussed shortly.

Breakpoints

The animation speed of certain spells in Diablo II: Resurrected can be reduced by increasing your Faster Cast Rate (more popularly known as FCR). This can be found on a variety of different equipment slots, such as the weapon, gloves, rings, and belt, among others.

That said, the Wind Druid is one of the D2R builds that require a very high FCR value. Ideally, you want to hit the 163% FCR breakpoint because this will decrease the animation frames of Hurricane and Tornado from 18 frames down to just 10 frames.

If you want to sacrifice a bit of FCR for more defense, you could opt for the 99 FCR breakpoint instead. This will cause the frames to be reduced down to 11, which is still faster than the normal animation speed.

Other breakpoints that you need to sort out include Faster Hit Recovery (FHR) and Faster Block Rate (FBR). Here are the ideal breakpoints to hit for the Wind Dudu in a nutshell:

• FCR: 163% (10 frames) OR 99% (11 frames)
• FHR: 63% (7 frames) OR 42% (8 frames)
• FBR: 52% (6 frames)

Now, achieving the 163% FCR breakpoint is quite a feat and requires you to wear rare and expensive gear. If you do not want to go through the arduous grind and instead, grab the necessary items without breaking a sweat, then visit our D2R store today. We have a wide assortment of D2R items that you can obtain quickly and easily!

Stats

• Strength: 156
• Dexterity: 100
• Vitality: Dump all remaining stat points here
• Energy: None

If you have been playing Diablo II: Resurrected for some time now, you probably have an idea of why we stuck with 156 strength for the Wind Druid. This is mainly to allow you to equip the Monarch Shield, which is the only four-socketed shield that requires the lowest STR to wield.

Dexterity is a bit high on this build as well. The reason for this is to help you achieve a 75% chance to block attacks, which is critical for your survival.

Given that you have already allocated a lot of your stat points on STR and DEX, you might think that this build only has a low amount of HP to work with. However, that is just far from the truth!

You see, the Tornado Dudu is capable of achieving a maximum life of up to 7,000 HP. A major contributor to this is the Oak Sage — one of the Druid Skills that you need to max out. So, even if STR and DEX are high on this build, dumping your remaining points to Vitality would still yield good results overall!

Skills

• 20 points on Tornado
• 20 points on Hurricane
• 20 points on Twister
• 20 points on Cyclone Armor
• 20 points on Oak Sage
• Put 1 point on the following skills:
• Arctic Blast
• Raven
• Summon Spirit Wolf
• Summon Dire Wolf
• Summon Grizzly

When you look at the first wind-based skill on the “Elemental” tab on your skill tree, you will find that Twister is unlocked at level 18. Therefore, leveling the Wind Druid takes on a rather different approach. Instead of grabbing Shapeshifting Skills like Werewolf or Werebear, you have to invest points in Firestorm and Fissure as these will help you finish the Normal Difficulty with relative ease.

As soon as you reach Nightmare Difficulty, farm Acts 1 and 2 to obtain the right D2R runewords and gear that grant FCR. Once this is done, you can respec your character and spend skill points on Twister, Tornado, and Hurricane. Prioritize taking the latter two as they are your bread and butter.

When you have all three wind-based offensive skills maxed out, you can then put alternating points to Cyclone Armor and Oak Sage until they reach max level as well. Oak Sage raises your maximum life by a huge percentage, which means that even if you do not have a ton of points dumped to Vitality, you still have a lot of HP in the end.

We are going to let you in on a little secret. This is one of the Wind Druid tips that not everyone knows. Are you ready?

Tornado is subject to next hit delay (or NHD). Without getting overly technical, this just means that one Tornado only hits enemies once per second. However, this skill deals radial damage, which is surprisingly not indicated in its tooltip.

So, the best way to kill enemies with Tornado is to cast it once, move one frame in any direction, and use it again immediately after. Spacing your Tornadoes this way will cause monsters to take damage continuously!

Wind Druid Gear Recommendations

Always make high FCR a major priority to make the Wind Druid comfortable to play. While bolstering your defenses is important, this comes only in second place for this build because of the many allies you can summon to take damage for you.

Helmet

Raising the maximum level of your skills as high as possible would yield great results in Diablo II: Resurrected. The same principle applies here, of course, which is why the Harlequin Crest is a great option for the Wind Druid. It has that valuable “+2 to all skills” and 50% Magic Find for a better chance of finding some rare gear.

The downside of the “Shako” is that it only increases the level of your skills by two. This is the reason why the ideal helmet for this build is a Druid Gear that increases both Tornado and Hurricane by at least two or three points, in addition to an increase in all of your “Elemental” skills. When you have found such a headgear, add two sockets and insert a couple of Ist runes for additional MF.

Body Armor

If there is one equipment slot that is non-negotiable, it would be the body armor. You need the Enigma runeword because it is the only one that grants Teleport (which is a Sorceress-only skill).

It is quite an expensive runeword, though, because of the presence of the “Jah” and “Ber” runes. That is why make it a priority to obtain them yourself or farm enough currency to acquire both as soon as you can.

Weapon

Heart of the Oak is the most balanced weapon for the Tornado Dudu in D2R Season 8. The stats that you need from this runeword are “+3 to all skills” and that 40% FCR. That 15% increase in maximum mana is also nice to have, especially since you will be casting quite often for your main rotation.

If your main goal is to achieve that 163% FCR breakpoint, then a viable alternative to HOTO is the Suicide Branch. This unique wand has a slightly higher FCR (at 50%) and also raises your skills by one. Obtaining a socketed Suicide Branch is key if you want to add a bonus in Magic Find by inserting an Ist Rune into it.

Switch Weapon

There is a reason why Call to Arms is a staple among many D2R builds. This is because of its unique effect, where it grants you the power to cast Barbarian-only skills, such as Battle Orders, Battle Command, and Battle Cry. This is best paired with the Spirit Shield to raise the level of Battle Command for better results.

Shield

For the most part, you should equip a Monarch Shield with the Spirit runeword on it. This can be achieved by inserting the Tal, Thul, Ort, and Amn runes into a Monarch Shield with four sockets.

How does Spirit benefit the Wind Druid, you ask? Well, it can roll up to 35% FCR, so there’s that. However, it also provides 55% FHR, allowing you to hit that 63% breakpoint by adding one more piece of gear.

This build has no problems with survivability. However, if you are paranoid and would like to ensure that no monster can kill you, especially on Hardcore Mode, then the Stormshield is the best shield for your needs. This unique shield is popular for its 35% physical damage reduction, as well as 35% FBR, among other things.

Shield Swap

• Spirit Shield

Gloves

The Magefist is the best-in-slot gloves mainly for its 20% FCR. All the other bonuses on the gloves don't matter, but the increase in Faster Cast Rate should be more than enough to make this build shine!

Boots

Teleport is your main movement ability, so Faster Run/Walk (FRW) speed is not really a priority. For this reason, you want to boost your defenses instead and that is why the Sandstorm Trek is perfect here. Its 40+ poison resistance coupled with 140+% Enhanced Defense are just great for improving your chances of survival.

As you transition to an MF build, you want to wear the War Traveler for its 50% Magic Find chance. These boots lack poison resistance but what it does offer is a slightly higher maximum ED at 190% (if you are lucky to get the perfect roll that is).

Amulet

It is without question that the 163% breakpoint is a bit challenging to achieve, but it is doable. To help you with that, you can farm an amulet that contains 15-20% FCR. The GG amulet for the Wind Druid, however, is one that also has “+ to Elemental Skills” like the one in the image below:

Rings

Wear a couple of rings that have 10% FCR each, for a total of 20%. Other bonuses to look for include life, resistances, and Magic Find.

Belt

As part of your Druid Gear, we suggest that you wear the Arachnid Mesh for the belt slot. This is assuming that you want to obtain 163% FCR. Another reason why the Arachnid Mesh is incredible for this build is that it allows you to slow nearby enemies down by 10%, making it easier for you to kill them with Hurricane.

Okay, what if 99% FCR is fine for you? Which belt should you equip then? Verdungo's Hearty Cord is a good alternative. Although it doesn’t have Faster Cast Rate, it does offer up to 15% damage reduction, 140% Enhanced Defense, and 10% Faster Hit Recovery.

Charms

• Annihilus: +1 to All Skills and +20 Attributes
• Hellfire Torch: Specifically with +3 to Druid Skill Levels
• Gheed’s Fortune: for extra Magic Find and Gold Find
• Grand Charms: +1 to Elemental Skills (Druid Only) and + to Life
• Small Charms: All Resistances +5, +7% Magic Find
• Optional: Bone Break (for physical immunity) and Cold Rupture (for cold immunity)

Mercenary

One of the things that make the Wind Druid interesting is that it does not rely on the Act 2 Mercenary. Rather, it utilizes the Act 5 Frenzy Mercenary, particularly one that is equipped with the Lawbringer. This is a runeword (Amn, Lem, Ko) that grants your Mercenary a chance to cast Decrepify on hit.

Decrepify is a Necromancer-only skill in Diablo II: Resurrected that weakens enemies. Those who are affected by this curse have their speed, damage, and physical resistance reduced by 50%. Since Tornado deals physical damage, you will get huge benefits from Decrepify.

Having said that, here is the ideal loadout for your Act 5 Frenzy Mercenary:

• Weapon
• Lawbringer: Lowers monster physical resistance via Decrepify and Sanctuary Aura
• Body Armor
• Fortitude (El, Sol, Dol, Lo): Chilling Armor and 200% Enhanced Defense are good for merc survivability
• Helmet
• Andariel's Visage: Helps sustain your Mercenary, especially in the later difficulty levels. Insert a Ral Rune to counter the -30% fire resistance innate in the helmet

If you want to use The Reaper's Toll instead, you could hire the Act 2 Mercenary from Greiz and have them wear the same body armor and helmet as that of the Act 5 merc. Hire one with the Might Aura for more damage.

Tips and Strategies

• Cast Tornado Religiously: Hurricane is your opener, but your main damage dealer is Tornado. Make sure to cast and move often to cover the entire screen with devastating wind magic.
• Always Keep an Eye on Your Allies: Your pets are there to soak damage for you. Therefore, always look at the top-left corner of your screen to see if any of your allies have died in battle. Resummon them if needed.
• Have Cyclone Armor Up: Aside from your allies, Cyclone Armor is a huge part of your overall defense. This skill can absorb elemental damage, which is helpful in your fight against monsters in the Chaos Sanctuary or Uber Tristram. If you see that it is dwindling down, cast Cyclone Armor again.
• Don't Forget to Use Twister: Although Tornado and Hurricane play a significant role in your main rotation, Twister is not that bad at all. Cast Twister whenever you need to stop enemies in their tracks.
• Experiment with Different Mercenaries: Most D2R players would often gravitate toward the Desert Mercenary to aid in their fight against the forces of evil. However, for the Wind Druid at least, you could experiment with the Act 5 Frenzy Barbarian who is equipped with a Lawbringer sword. Lawbringer casts a higher level Decrepify skill compared to The Reaper's Toll, so you will have a better outcome.
• Use Sundered Charms When Needed: The beauty of the Tornado Dudu is that you can deal both physical and cold damage thanks to Tornado and Hurricane, respectively. But, if you feel that monsters with physical/cold damage immunities are a pain to deal with, do not be afraid to use Sundered Charms. Put Bone Break (physical damage) or Cold Rupture (cold damage) in your inventory depending on your needs.
• Fight Fire with Fire: The earliest wind-based skill you can get is Twister at level 18. While you are still leveling up, utilize Firestorm and Fissure to deal with the minions of Hell. Only switch if you have a relatively high FCR value to make Tornado and Hurricane feel comfortable to use.

Final Thoughts

Harnessing the power of devastating nature magic, the Wind Druid can shred the forces of evil with mighty Tornadoes and Hurricanes. Although it takes some time to get used to the playstyle, this build has no problems obliterating anything in its path.

Taking advantage of a high FCR, the build feels quite smooth to play as the animation frames of its primary skills are reduced to 10 or 11 frames depending on the total Faster Cast Rate value. Of course, to achieve this, you need to equip rare pieces of gear with the said bonus. If you do not like farming these items yourself, do pay our D2R store a visit soon!

With that said, are you ready to dominate Sanctuary with a powerful Druid that harnesses nature magic to a great extent? Begin your Wind Druid journey today! Don't forget to share your experiences in the comments!

PROS

• Tornado and Hurricane damage is devastating and can eliminate Uber Bosses without a hitch
• Impressive survivability thanks to Cyclone Armor and summoned pets
• Can deal physical and cold damage, making monster immunity a trivial matter

CONS

• Could take some time to master Tornado
• Not the fastest map clearer
• Enigma is pretty much mandatory