Druid (Diablo IV)

"The Druid is a savage shapeshifter, fluidly transforming between the forms of a towering bear or a vicious werewolf to fight alongside the creatures of the wild. He also commands the power of earth, wind, and storm, unleashing nature’s wrath to devastating effect."

- Class description

The Druid is one of four classes to be confirmed in Diablo IV.

Gameplay
The master of shapeshifting makes his triumphant return to Sanctuary! Seamlessly changing forms from human to Werebear to Werewolf, his command over earth and storm magic is second to none.

Different skills utilize different forms, and entirely new skills like Cataclysm will annihilate hordes of enemies with the unbridled fury of nature itself. Storm magic persists on the battlefield, so you’ll be able to unleash torrents of lightning, wind, and rain before shifting forms to ravage foes.

A unique class mechanic of the Druid is the chance to deal Crushing Blows with any Earth skills, reducing the enemy Life by a flat percentage of their total (not current!) health, although its effect against Bosses and other players is reduced.

Another mechanic used in many Druid skills is Vulnerable debuff, an inversion of the Fortified. While Vulnerable, the enemy takes 30% additional damage from attacks. Vulnerable lasts until the enemy loses the specified amount of Life from any source, not expiring over time and stacking the Vulnerable damage (but not the damage bonus) from multiple applications.

Unlike Diablo II, Druid has no skills that exist purely to transform in and out of the various Forms: instead, each skill can only be cast from one (sometimes two, but not any) form, shifting to it before cast without any extra action. Once shapeshifted, the Druid remains in that form for 3 seconds or until a different action forces them to shapeshift again. The three forms are human, Werebear and Werewolf.

Development
The Druid was not originally going to be a playable class in Diablo IV. The developers reversed course after seeing a piece of concept art.

When designing the class, the developers cut out fire magic and replaced it with storm and earth magic, as it was felt that the use of fire didn't feel right for a class that was meant to be in tune with nature.