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Diablo II: Resurrected

Wind Druid

By
Nathan Garvin

Build information for the Wind Druid, including suggested skills, stat distribution and gear.

Wind Druid Pros

Pros
Hurricane’s AoE decimates mobs, and freezes what it doesn’t outright kill.
Tornado has high damage output and pierces enemies in a line.
Very low gear requirement.
Oak Sage, Hurricane’s freeze AoE and Cyclone Armor make this build surprisingly tanky.
Incredibly simple build and playstyle.
Deals both physical and cold damage, limiting immunity concerns.

Wind Druid Cons

Cons
Oak Sage is super squishy until late game.
Physical immunes slow progress.
Somewhat slow at killing bosses.
Lower overall damage output compared to the Blizzard Sorceress, Meteorb Sorceress and Hammerdin.

Like other casters, the Wind Druid doesn’t require a lot of gear to perform, and between its Beginner Build as a Fire Druid, it may be one of the easiest, fastest starters in the game. The only reason it’s not recommended over something like, say, the Blizzard Sorceress is because of Teleport - the Wind Druid will have to walk everywhere, and its damage output is lower, so it’ll be considerably slower at killing bosses than some of the other starter characters.

The main goal of the Wind Druid is to get close to enemies and let Hurricane and Tornado tear apart your foes.

Still, the Wind Druid has a lot going for it, including a simple, effective, tanky build. You activate Hurricane to give yourself a long-lasting AoE spell that constantly damages and chills enemies around you, slowing them down when it doesn’t outright kill them, and you walk right up to enemies and spam Tornado, which does decent damage and can fly through mobs, tearing apart anything in a line. Hurricane deals cold damage, while Tornado deals physical damage, and between the two, very few enemies will be immune to your attacks, although things do bog down considerably when you have to rely on Hurricane to deal damage.

Get an Act 2 Nightmare mercenary with Holy Freeze or Might, give him an [Insight] polearm (Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol), and you don’t have to worry about Mana anymore, and you’ll have another target to distract enemies - this build should be capable of just walking through Nightmare difficulty, thanks to its damage output and the buffs to Max Life you’ll get from Oak Sage, and the ability to shrug off elemental damage Cyclone Armor gives you. Get them [Stealth] armor (Tal + Eth), a Spirit sword (Tal + Thul + Ort + Amn) and perhaps a Lore helmet (Ort + Sol) and you’re good to go. All of these runes can be easily farmed from Nightmare [Countess].

After that, you’ll find this class is quite competent at clearing many high aLv dungeons, including the [Mausoleum], [The Pit] and the [Ancient Tunnels] to name a few. The cold immune, flighty Oblivion Nights in the [Chaos Sanctuary] might make that somewhat of a slog, but it’s definitely doable. As for bosses, you probably want to leave those to the Sorceress - Andariel is simple enough, but a close-range caster trying to fight through the Undead Stygian Dolls and vampires in the Durance of Hate is a recipe for frustration.

(1 of 2) Hurricane deals cold damage in a wide AoE,

Hurricane deals cold damage in a wide AoE, (left), while Tornado deals physical damage in a line. (right)

Wind Druid - Skills

There are several skills in a line that the Wind Druid wants to focus on - Cyclone Armor, Twister, Tornado and Hurricane. While the damage of both Hurricane and Tornado aren’t as great as, say, Fireball, Blessed Hammer or Blizzard, they’re easy to aim; Hurricane is a long-lasting AoE with plenty of range and Tornado slices through enemies in a line. None of the frustration involved with Blizzard or Blessed Hammer, but it does make the Wind Druid a relatively slow bosser, but a great mobber. Hurricane will be cast once every minute or so, while Tornado will be spammed every time you get close to an enemy.

Cyclone Armor will absorb elemental damage, improving the Druid’s survivability.

Cyclone Armor is also interesting, as it’s a synergy with both Tornado and Hurricane, giving the former damage and the latter duration. While this is fine by itself (it’s enough to get Twister attention, which is otherwise unused during gameplay), Cyclone Armor is also a decent spell in its own right, absorbing elemental damage which, along with Oak Sage, a high Vitality and resistances, can make a Wind Druid surprisingly tanky. It also gains bonuses to damage absorbed when you invest in your offensive skills - the Wind Druid really can have its cake and eat it, too.

Finally we’ve got Oak Sage, which gives the Druid and all nearby (nearby being incredibly generous here - its starting range is 20 yards, and can easily exceed 40+ yards as you dump point into it) a bonus to Max Life equal to 30% + 5% per sLv. Once over sLv20 this skill is giving well over +100% Max LIfe to all allies, which is a huge boon. A downside is that Oak Sage is a summon, not just a passive effect or timed buff - it’ll last indefinitely, as long as the minion summoned survives. At lower levels, Oak Sage is pretty squishy, and it’s a real bummer when the critter accounting for a significant portion of your Life dies on you - and fighting enemies like [Diablo] or [Baal] with high-damage AoE attacks, it will die on you. Still, it can be resummoned fairly easily and once you’ve maxed your elemental skills you can start dropping points into it, making it somewhat tanky.

Skills on the Elemental tree the Wind Druid should invest in.

Optionally you can also climb the Summoning Skills tree and get a point into Summon Grizzly. There’s not enough spare points to max it, or really invest into it at all, but with enough +Skills and a high level Oak Sage, it should be sturdy enough to draw some fire from you, and you’ll also have to purchase Summon Dire Wolf en route, which you can also use to help tank. Just don’t expect too much from them and they should buy you time to line up shots.

Wind Druid Suggested Skills

Wind Druid Level-by-Level Skills

Wind Druid - Stats

Like most characters, the Wind Druid needs enough Strength to wear his gear, the rest can go into Vitality. He’ll be tanking hits in close combat, but between Oak Sage, Cyclone Armor and minions, the Wind Druid really shouldn’t need to shoot for Max Block, especially since any points invested into Vitality are ultimately going to be amplified by Oak Sage. Since he wants a Spirit shield in his offhand, the Wind Druid’s going to need to reach 156 Strength - a hefty investment, but worthwhile considering the gear in question.

Wind Druid Level-by-Level Stats

Lv Stat
2 - 9 Strength +40 (50)
10 - 29 Vitality +100 (110)
30 - 39 Strength +50 (100)
40 - 44 Vitality +25 (135)
Lam Esen’s Tome Vitality +5 (115)
45 - 54 Strength +50 (150)
55+ Vitality (250+)

Wind Druid - Gear

Much like your typical caster, the Wind Druid wants anything that boosts +Skills and +Cast Rate, with +Life/Mana, +Resistances and +Magic Find being secondary concerns. Due to their simple, potent synergies, offensive output is exceptional even without much in the way of gear, and likewise so is survivability with Oak Sage and Cyclone Armor. They want most of the same gear as a Sorceress, Necromancer or Hammerdin, but they don’t really need it as much to perform well… at least up until Hell difficulty.

Up until that point, however, cheaper runewords like aSpirit sword, Stealth armor and a Lore helmet will serve them just fine. To really start getting comfortable in Hell difficulty, they’ll need to supplement and replace that gear with Harlequin Crest, Skin of the Vipermagi and a Spirit shield. Their unique class item - pelts - allows them to substitute the Harlequin Crest with Jalal’s Mane, which isn’t as good, but it’s a fine hold-over until you get something better.

Getting gear with the Wind Druid isn’t the easiest thing to do, since they’re a poor bosser, but a poor Druid can probably handle Nightmare [Diablo], [Baal] and even Hell [Andariel]. Once they’ve sturdy enough, clearing out aLv85 areas like the Mausoleum, The Pit and the Ancient Tunnels is their true calling.

Wind Druid Helmets

Helmet Notes
Harlequin Crest +2 Skills, +Life/Mana per Level, Damage Reduced 10%, +50% Magic Find
Jalal’s Mane +2 Druid Skills, +2 Shape Shifting Skills, +20 Strength/Energy, All Resistances +30%
Tarnhelm +1 Skills, +25-50% Magic Find
Peasant Crown +1 Skills, +Run/Walk Speed, +Vitality/Energy
Lore +1 Skills, +10 Energy, +2 Mana/Kill, +Lightning Resist +30%

Wind Druid Amulets

Amulet Notes
Mara’s Kaleidoscope +2 Skills, All Resistances +20-30%, +5 All Attributes
Magic/Rare +Skills, +Caster Rate, +Life, +Mana, +Resists

Wind Druid Weapons

Weapon Notes
Heart of the Oak +3 Skills, +40% Cast Rate, +10 Dexterity, Max Mana +15%, All Resistances +30%-40%
Spirit +2 Skills, +25-35 Cast Rate, +55% Hit Recovery, +22 Vitality, +89-112 Mana

Wind Druid Armor

Armor Notes
Enigma +2 Skills, +45% Run/Walk Speed, +1 Teleport, +Strength per Level, +5% Max Life, Damage Reduced 8%, +Magic Find per Level
Chains of Honor +2 Skills, +20 Strength, All Resistances +65, Damage Reduced 8%, +25% Magic Find
Skin of the Vipermagi +1 Skills, +30% Cast Rate, All Resistances +20-35
Skullder’s Ire +1 Skills, +Magic Find per Level

Wind Druid Shields

Shield Notes
Spirit +2 Skills, +25-35 Cast Rate, +55% Hit Recovery, +22 Vitality, +89-112 Mana Cold, Lightning, Poison Resist +35%
Lidless Wall +1 Skills, +20% Cast Rate, +10 Energy, Max Mana 10%

Wind Druid Gloves

Gloves Notes
Trang-Oul’s Claws +20% Cast Rate, Cold Resist +30%
Magefist +1 Fire Skills, +20% Cast Rate, Regenerate Mana +25%
Frostburn Max Mana +40%
Chance Guards +25-40% Magic Find

Wind Druid Rings

Rings Notes
Stone of Jordan +1 Skills, +20 Mana, Max Mana +25%
Nagelring +15-30% Magic Find
Magic/Rare +Caster Rate, +Life, +Mana, +Resists

Wind Druid Belts

Belt Notes
Arachnid Mesh +1 Skills, +20% Cast Rate, Max Mana +5%
Snowclash +2 Blizzard
Verdungo’s Hearty Cord +30-40 Vitality, Damage Reduced 10-15%
String of Ears Damage Reduced 10-15%
Goldwrap Magic Find +30%

Wind Druid Boots

Boots Notes
War Travelers +25% Run/Walk, +Strength/Vitality, +30-50% Magic Find
Aldur’s Advance +40% Run/Walk, +50 Life, Fire Resist +40-50%
Sandstorm Trek +20% Run/Walk, +Strength/Vitality, Poison Reist +40-70%
Silkweave +30% Run/Walk, Max Mana +10%
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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Activision Blizzard
  • Platforms,
    PS4, PS5, Switch, XB One, XB X|S
  • Genre
    Action RPG, Hack-n-slash
  • Guide Release
    20 September 2021
  • Last Updated
    1 March 2023
    Version History
  • Guide Author

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The guide for Diablo 2 Resurrected seeks to help new players find their footing in Sanctuary by providing build advice and information on gear and how to farm it.

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