As Diablo 4 Season 10 approaches, I am once again faced with the task of deciding on a class to play this season. My excitement for a Paladin class has been piqued by the recent Diablo 4 leaks suggesting the class is coming in the next major expansion, but since that is not an option at this time, one of the other 6 Diablo 4 classes will have to suffice. Nearly 10 seasons later, and I've essentially familiarized myself with each class the game has to offer, with one major exception that seems to be coming back to haunt me in the upcoming season.
Although each Diablo 4 season strives to make choosing a class or build feel like a new experience, it's hard to deny that the game still feels largely the same at its core as it did on release. While every class has gained new tools in their kits through the various Uniques added each season, and balance patches have moved the needle one way or the other for a particular class's power, the combat loop for a given class has remained pretty consistent across seasons. Of all the classes in Diablo 4, I've spent the least time with the Druid, for one reason or another, but Season 10 is making the class harder and harder to ignore.
Diablo 4's Druid Class Has Been My 'White Whale' for Almost 10 Seasons Now
I don't have anything against the Druid class in particular, and it's even one of my favorite archetypes in fantasy media. However, my relationship with Diablo 4's Druid has always been a case of two ships passing in the night; the timing has just never been right for me to really sink my teeth into it. I have played a Druid for a little bit, but not enough to really get to know the class, especially since my only experience with it was so long ago and was somewhat tainted at the time.
At release, essentially the game's Season 0, I played the Necromancer for my first playthrough of the Diablo 4 campaign. The Necromancer has been my favorite Diablo class as I've always loved being able to summon minions to take the heat off of my character, often saving my skin in Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 playthroughs. Going into Diablo 4, it was a no-brainer for me to pick this class once again and see how the game's new mechanics differentiated it from past incarnations.
Baldur's Gate 3 Stopped Me from Playing Druid in Diablo 4
Aside from Necromancer, Druid was the other Diablo 4 class that I had set my sights on prior to release, and I had initially intended to play it for my Season 1 character. However, I quickly changed course and decided against playing a Druid in Season 1 because of the release of Baldur's Gate 3, which was launched shortly after the start of Diablo 4's first season. I knew I wanted to play a Druid in Baldur's Gate 3—and I eventually created Drew Id, the Drow Druid, as a play on my own name and the alliteration it created—so this left my Diablo 4 Druid aspirations sidelined for the moment since I didn't want to overlap my characters between the two games.
My Diablo 4 Classes Throughout the Seasons
In the end, I opted for a Sorcerer in Season 2 since there was some buzz surrounding the class getting buffed after a disappointing performance in Season 1. This also made sense, as I was still deep in my Baldur's Gate 3 campaign by the time Diablo 4's Season of Blood rolled around, leaving Druid off the table once again. Overall, the breakdown of classes I've played in each Diablo 4 season looks like this:
- Diablo 4 Season 0 – Necromancer
- Diablo 4 Season 1 – Rogue
- Diablo 4 Season 2 – Sorcerer
- Diablo 4 Season 3 – Druid
- Diablo 4 Season 4 – Barbarian
- Diablo 4 Season 5 – Rogue
- Diablo 4 Season 6 – Spiritborn
- Diablo 4 Season 7 – N/A
- Diablo 4 Season 8 – N/A
- Diablo 4 Season 9 – Necromancer
I took a break from Diablo 4 during Season 7 and 8 to avoid burnout, especially after I went deep into Season 6 and Vessel of Hatred.
I took the plunge on playing a Druid in Season 3 after passing over it in the previous two seasons. However, I didn't get very far into The Season of the Construct, as I felt myself starting to get burnt out on the game's seasonal loop, and the seasonal mechanics of the Seneschal Companion and Vaults were too lackluster to keep me interested. Top that off with the broken Diablo 4 Gauntlet strategy that allowed players to use a bug to reach the top slots on the Leaderboard, and it felt like there was no reason for me to continue playing the season.
As a result, I never fully leveled my Druid and dropped the season after a few hours, feeling disappointed with the little time I had invested in the class. With Diablo 4 Season 3 leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I moved on from the Druid in the following seasons, playing nearly every class but. It's been long enough now that I think I owe it to the Druid to give it another shot, and there doesn't seem to be a better time to do so in the upcoming Season 10.
Diablo 4 Season 10 is Finally the Time for My Druid's Redemption
There is a lot of hype for the Druid going into Diablo 4 Season 10 that is making it hard for me to justify passing over the class again. The combination of the Druid's new Kilt of Blackwing Unique and Season 10's Chaos Armor mechanic could potentially make the Companion Druid a powerhouse this season. Kilt of Blackwing gives Ravens a renewed utility with a damage increase and more chances to summon them. At the same time, Chaos Armor allows this Unique to appear on a piece of gear other than Pants, meaning that Storm's Companion, another must-use Unique on a Companion Druid build, can also be used.
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Kilt of Blackwing
- Ravens deal 120.0%[x] increased damage and Shapeshifting into a different form or activating a Companion Skill Summons a Raven that attacks nearby enemies. Summoning a Raven has a chance to call forth an Unkindness for 10 seconds, increasing the number of Ravens Summoned to 3 for the duration.
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Storm's Companion
- Your Wolf Companions are infused with the power of the storm, dealing Lightning damage and gaining the Storm Howl ability.
The appeal of playing a Companion Druid build as a fan of the Minion Necromancer in Diablo 4 is clear. If I were to play a Druid in Season 10, I would absolutely want to summon Raven and Wolf companions to aid me, and it seems like this build will be among the top choices for the upcoming season. With an argument as convincing as this, I can feel the call of nature and my inner Druid howling to jump into Sanctuary when Season 10 launches.
Diablo 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash
