Summoner Druid D2R Build Guide

If you love the idea of a pet-focused build, the Summon Druid is the ultimate pet zoo, summoning wolves and bears to fight as your companions. With the latest updates in Patch 2.6 and Ladder Season 3, the Summon Druid has become a viable option for players looking for a unique playstyle.

In this guide, we will help you master the Summon Druid in all aspects of the game, from leveling to end-game equipment selection. We will provide you with everything you need to know to build your Summon Druid, including skill and attribute assignment, as well as gear selection.

The Summon Druid's pets include one Summon Grizzly, three Summon Dire Wolves, five Summon Spirit Wolves, five Ravens, and the Heart of Wolverine. Now all fighting simultaneously. The Summon Druid may not have the fastest clearspeed, but he makes up for it in calm meditative gameplay as you watch your zoo do battle in your stead. This build is not designed for optimal farming, but is an end-game variant of a little used build that has regained some popularity with the recent buffs.

In order to maximize their effectiveness, Summon Druids need specific gear to buff their minions and provide themselves with enough survivability. This guide will detail the gear suggestions for a Summon Druid.

GEAR

Weapons

1. Beast Runeword: This weapon is the best option for the Summon Druid build, with fanaticism aura that adds +3 to bear and lycanthropy. The aura provides attack speed and damage for your summons and mercenary.
2. Heart of the Oak Runeword: A cheaper alternative to beast that is a great well-rounded caster item. There is a significant damage drop from loss of Fanaticism aura if opting out of Beast.
3. Spirit Runeword: This weapon is a good temporary weapon and cheap.

Shield

1. Spirit Shield (Monarch): This is the best shield for your druid, providing 2 skill up to 35 fcr and tri-res to poison, cold, and lightning. It also provides mana and vitality and a huge 55FHR boost, making it the best in slot shield.

Helmet

1. Summon Pelt (Magic / Rare): A summon pelt with +3 to summons and +3 to Grizzly with additional mods or 2 sockets would be the ideal item for this slot. 

1. Jalal's Mane: This is a strong option granting +4 to shapeshifter skills, which gives a boost to your life and +2 to all your summons. It also has 30 resistance, FHR, added strength, and energy, a well rounded choice.
2. Shako: This is the viable option offering +2 to all skills, some added life, +2 to attributes, 10% DR (damage reduction), and 50% magic find.

Armor

The best in slot armor is Enigma which offers boosts to all skills, FRW, magic find, damage reduction, strength, and teleport. Teleport grants you significant mobility advantages as well as the capability to relocate your mercenary and zoo army at will.

Another good choice for your armor is Chains of Honor, which provides a significant boost to your resistances, damage reduction, and Magic Find (MF). 

Belt

Arachnid Mesh is the best belt you can get for a Summon Druid, providing a skill bonus, Faster Cast Rate (FCR), and Mana boost. Faster cast rate assists your zoo summon speed.

If you cannot obtain Arachnid Mesh, a good alternative is the Verdungos belt, which offers high Vitality, and damage reduction.

Boots
For boots, your best choice is War Travelers, which provides a significant Magic Find bonus along with increased movement speed and strength drain. Alternatively, you can use Sandstorm Treks, which offer poison resistance, vitality, and other useful mods.

Gloves
Trang-Oul's Claws are the best gloves for a Summon Druid, offering faster cast rate, and a bonus to cold resistances.
Chancegaurds are the best MF gloves for a Summon Druid offering 40% increased magic finding.

Rings
Stone of Jordan is the top choice for a Summon Druid ring, offering a skill bonus and a large boost to Mana. Bul Kathos Wedding Band is equally strong, offering life instead of mana.

Amulet

The Mara's Kaleidoscope amulet is the optimal choice for a Summon Druid, providing +2 skill bonus, increased resistance, and a +2 boost to all attributes. However, any amulet with skill bonuses and useful mods like resistance and/or life is viable.

Switch Weapon/Shield
Call to Arms /Spirit Monarch should be used.

Charms
You should focus on obtaining charms with bonuses to skill levels, life, resistance, and MF. Annihilus, Hellfire Torch, Gheed's Fortune, are default inventory slots. 

Mercenary (Important)
As a Summon Druid in Diablo 2 Resurrected, having a strong and reliable mercenary is essential to your success. In this guide, we will discuss the recommended equipment for a mercenary to accompany a Summon Druid. The recommended equipment will enhance the survivability and damage output of the mercenary, making them a valuable asset to your gameplay.

Weapon
The recommended weapon for the mercenary is the Pride runeword. The Pride runeword grants up to level 20 Concentration aura, which gives a significant attack rating bonus and up to 300% damage to demons based on character level. Additionally, it adds 50-280 light damage, 3 to freeze target, 10 vitality, and gold from monsters. Concentration also grants a 20% chance of unbreakable attacks, allowing your wolves to tank hits while providing a damage bonus. The freezing effect of the weapon can immobilize targets, making them vulnerable to attacks. The Pride runeword also enables the mercenary to kill some physical immunes, making them a versatile ally in combat.

Armor
For the armor, two options are recommended for the mercenary. The Bramble runeword grants up to level 21 Thorns, 50% faster hit recovery, +300 defense, 5% maximum cold resistance, 30% fire resistance, 100% poison resistance, and +13 to life after each kill. This armor makes the mercenary an excellent damage reflector for your party, making it a valuable asset for defensive players.

Alternatively, the Fortitude runeword is also an excellent option. The Fortitude runeword provides 300% enhanced damage, 200% enhanced defense, up to 30 resistance, 20% chance to get level 15 Chilling Armor on strike, life based on character level, and 12% damage taken goes to mana. This runeword makes the mercenary stacked and ready for action, increasing their damage output and survivability in combat.

Helmet
The recommended helm for the mercenary is Andariel's Visage. Andariel's Visage grants 2 to all skills, 8% life leech, 20% increased attack speed, 25 strength, 70% poison resistance, and 10% maximum fire resistance. Additionally, it has a 15% chance to cast a level 15 Poison Nova when struck, enabling the mercenary to handle lighter work quickly. The two skills added to Pride's Concentration and Bramble's Thorns make Andariel's Visage the most appropriate helm for the mercenary in this build.

Attributes
With Spirit Monarch, you will not be trying to attain max block %. With that in mind, put all your points into vitality after you have enough strength and dexterity to equip your gear with charms and jewelry bonuses.

Skills
As a summon druid, your main goal is to maximize the effectiveness of your summoned wolves and bears. The following guide will provide a comprehensive breakdown of the recommended skill allocation for this build.

I. Skill Allocation Table

Notes:

Werewolf, Lycanthropy, and Werebear: These skills only require one point each, as they are used for transformation purposes only. Werebear is recommended over werewolf, as it provides life and defense for you, and you won't need an attack rating boost because your attack damage is not required for damage output. Lycanthropy can be leveled up past 1 for extra life and duration.