Summon Druid Build Guide - D2R 2.6

Summon Druid Introduction

The Summon Druid is a build that has only recently been made viable from patch changes.  For the past 20 years, we have only been able to summon either Spirit Wolves, Dire Wolves or a Grizzly Bear – the recent changes have now allowed players to summon all three at the same time!  The benefit this build has over the conventional Necromancer Summoner is that the summoned units do not need to come from corpses, they can be spawned whenever and wherever needed.

This build has a passive playstyle and relies on its summons to do all the damage, whilst we concentrate on positioning to minimise our damage taken.  As you can expect, our focus is on the Summoning skill tree with a couple of utility points placed into Elemental skills to improve our survivability.  The build is not held back from monster immunity due to the Spirit Wolf dealing Cold damage.

As this is a new build available to the game there are a number of ways it can be played, this guide is our take on the optimal build!

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Easy playstyle, great for beginners
• Safe build, viable in hardcore
• Can farm anywhere in the game

Cons:

• Slow farmer
• Not viable for Ubers
• Limited options for magic find

Skill Tree

Elemental:

• Ice Blast (1)
• Cyclone Armor (1)

Shape Shifting:

• None

Summoning:

• Raven (20)
• Poison Creeper (1)
• Oak Sage (1)
• Summon Spirit Wolf (20)
• Carrion Vine (1)
• Heart of Wolverine (20)
• Summon Dire Wolf (20)
• Summon Grizzly (20)

The above allocation is complete at level 94, my recommendation is to maximise your points in Raven, Spirit Wolf, Dire Wolf and Grizzly Bear before maximising Heart of Wolverine.  Beyond level 94 points can be placed into Cyclone Armor to increase the amount of damage absorbed.

Levelling

The Summon Druid can be played right from the start of the game.  I would recommend placing your first skill point into Poison Creeper – this isn’t a skill we maximise in our build, however the damage is extremely strong at the start of the game, one point here will be enough for your first few levels whilst we build up the damage in Raven.  The build progression is very simple, all of the summon skills we maximise gain bonuses from each other, this means we can place as many points as possible in each one as we level up – for example place points into Raven until you unlock Spirit Wolf, then place points into Spirit Wolf until you unlock Dire Wolf etc.

When you gain additional skill points make sure you unlock your utility skills in the Elemental tree to improve your survivability.  Also make sure you get a point in Heart of Wolverine, this is the last skill you maximise however even a single point here provides a good damage boost to your summoned units.

Early Game

This section is intended to showcase an item build that is achievable after completing the game and you are ready to start farming.  Some of the runes may require repeat farming of Normal and / or Nightmare Countess, however this is normally achieved within a short timeframe.

Helm: “Lore” Runeword (Ort Sol) / Peasant Crown

Amulet: Utility Amulet with +Druid Summoning Skills, life, resistances, magic find etc

Weapon: “Spirit” Runeword (Tal Thul Ort Amn) in Broad / Long / Crystal Sword

Shield: “Ancient’s Pledge” Runeword (Ral Ort Tal); or

“Spirit” Runeword (Tal Thul Ort Amn) in Monarch

Weapon Swap: Teleport staff

Armor: “Smoke” Runeword (Nef Lum)

Gloves: Bloodfists

Rings: Utility rings with life, resistances, magic find etc

Belt: Goldwrap

Boots: Faster Run Walk with Resistances / Aldur’s Advance

Inventory: Life / Resistance Charms or Magic / Gold Find Charms

Mercenary: Act 2 Desert Mercenary with “Might” Aura and “Insight” Runeword (Ral Tir Tal Sol) or “Obedience” Runeword (Hel Ko Thul Eth Fal)

The kill speed of your summons during the early game will not be very fast, it is possible to clear most areas in the game but monsters with high amounts of health may be slow.  Your survivability will be very good, as long as you maintain a good position your summons will protect you from incoming damage.

The Pit in Act 1 is a good option for early farming as the monsters here do not have high amounts of health and our summons can take care of them very easily.  The movement of summoned units can be very frustrating sometimes, and they will not always target what you want them to.  This is not an issue with the end game build as we use the “Enigma” Runeword to give us the ability to teleport and reposition, however this is an expensive Runeword and will not be available for some time.  As a temporary fix, I recommend using a Teleport staff or amulet to allow you to reposition.  A teleport staff can be purchased from vendors in Act 3 Normal onwards, you will need to reset them (go out of town and back in) a few times, however it should not take longer than 15 minutes to find one and will cost approximately 100k in game gold.  Have the teleport on your weapon swap and whenever you need to reposition your minions simply swap over and teleport to a clear location close to your target.

During the early game your summons won’t have a high amount of health and you will need to manage them, resummoning them when they die.  Your Ravens are un-targetable so will not take damage, however they do “expire” after a certain amount of hits and you will need to resummon them when they disappear.

End Game

The end game build is a lot of fun, it is a similar playstyle to the more conventional Summon Necromancer however has different mechanics and is new!  The build hits the 99 Faster Cast Rate and 99 Faster Hit Recovery breakpoints for the Druid.  From Runewords in our item slots and the Mercenary’s we gain Fanaticism, Concentration and Might Auras which provide a huge Damage and Attack Speed boost to our summoned units.  When combined with the Heart of Wolverine aura from our spirit, our summons can shred through anything in their path.

Helm: Jalal’s Mane socketed with an Um rune or Life / Resistance Jewel

Amulet: Crafted Caster Amulet with +2 Druid Skills, 14+% Faster Cast Rate and All Resistances.

Weapon: “Beast” Runeword (Ber Tir Um Mal Lum) in Double Axe

Shield: “Spirit” Runeword (Tal Thul Ort Amn) in Monarch

Weapon Swap: “Call to Arms” Runeword (Amn Ral Mal Ist Ohm) and “Spirit” Runeword (Tal Thul Ort Amn)

Armor: “Enigma” Runeword (Jah Ith Ber)

Gloves: Trang-Oul’s Claws

Ring #1: +10% Faster Cast Rate, + All / Fire Resistance, + Life

Ring #2: Stone of Jordan

Belt: Arachnid Mesh

Boots:  Ethereal Sandstorm Trek

Inventory: Grand Charms with + Druid Summoning Skills and + Life (as much as possible)

Small Charms with +Life / Resistances (Single or All Resistance)

Druid Hellfire Torch Large Charm

Annihilus Small Charm

Mercenary: Act 2 Desert Mercenary with “Might” Aura, ethereal “Pride” Runeword (Cham Sur Io Lo) weapon, ethereal “Fortitude” Runeword and ethereal Andariel’s Visage socketed with an Increased Attack Speed / Fire Resistance Jewel

Stats

Strength: Enough to wear your gear

Dexterity: Enough to wear your gear

Vitality: As much as possible

Energy: None

Hardcore

This build is viable in Hardcore with no tweaks, however you may choose to put points into Oak Sage instead of Heart of Wolverine to provide additional life.  The protection your summoned units provide is normally sufficient survivability for a summoner build to make their way through Hardcore mode.

There is no change required to the playstyle in general, however the progression will be slightly slower than if you were playing softcore as you naturally take on a more conservative playstyle to make sure you stay alive.  The Summon Necromancer is considered a top-tier build for Hardcore and the Summon Druid is on a similar level to this.

Playstyle

I mentioned at the start of this guide that the Summon Druid has a passive playstyle, this is due to the fact that it is not yourself fighting and dealing damage but your summoned pets doing all the work.  This does not suit some players but is a great build for beginners and those wishing to try Hardcore for the first time.

The first step will always be to summon all of your units, this can be done in town before entering whichever area you intend to farm.  Enter the area and cast Battle Command and Battle Orders, making sure all of your summoned units and mercenary receive the buff and also Cyclone Armor on yourself.  Teleport around the map until you find an elite or champion pack (or boss if you are boss farming), when you find one you will need to “telestomp” them.  Telestomping is where you teleport directly on top of a unit, this will mean all of your summons and your mercenary will be in the same place and attacking the same target simultaneously – you will see the monster’s health melt away very quickly!  You will be well protected from damage with your summons around you, and also the added protection of Cyclone Armor.  Be careful teleporting into very large packs with auras or curses as they can deal a lot of damage, and if you become surrounded your summons may die quickly leaving you exposed.

The combination of Physical and Cold damage from your summons means that we are not held back by monster immunities and can take down any pack we want to!  If you are struggling early on with killing Physical Immune monsters, consider swapping the “Pride” Runeword on your mercenary to a Reaper’s Toll.  This will mean your mercenary casts Decrepify on targets, reducing their defense and their Physical Immunity.

Unlike the Summon Necromance, this build unfortunately cannot take on Ubers as the damage output is not sufficient.  Diablo Clone is possible but will be slow, unless you have reached the full end game items.

Alternative / Hybrid Builds

This is a new build and there is constant development in how they are played.  The guide has set out a pure summoner build, however there are hybrid options available combining the power of the Shape Shifting and Summoning skill trees.  My personal favourite is to only use a few points in Shape Shifting and get the Bear and Shockwave skills – this will allow you to stand behind your summons and cast Shockwave on packs of monsters, stunning them and allowing your summons to attack them freely.

You can also consider investing a few more points into Shape Shifting and become a Werewolf, using the Fury and Feral Rage skills to get in on the action with your summons and deal damage yourself.

The downside to any of these Shape Shifting / Summoning hybrid builds is that you are unable to teleport when in Bear or Wolf form so using the “Enigma” Runeword loses a lot of its benefits.

If you'd rather skip farming you can quickly buy D2R Items from our D2R Store.