Diablo 4 Players Are Asking Why Druid Still Feels Forgotten

Diablo 4 has plenty of classes with strong identities. Barbarian is angry furniture with weapons. Rogue is speed, knives, and trust issues. Necromancer brings friends made of bones. Sorcerer throws the weather at people.

Then there is Druid: bear, wolf, storm, earth, companions, nature magic, big fantasy, huge potential, and somehow still a class many players seem to walk past like it is standing awkwardly at the character select screen holding a shrub.

On the official Diablo 4 forums, players are asking why Druid still feels like one of the least loved classes in the game. The answers are not all the same, but a few themes keep showing up: damage issues, limited high-end push options, bugged fun-build items in past seasons, and class fantasy that sometimes sounds better than it plays.

Druid Has Identity. That Is Not the Problem

The strange thing is that Druid should be one of Diablo 4’s easiest classes to sell. The fantasy is enormous. You can become a werebear, tear through enemies as a werewolf, call down lightning, crush monsters with earth magic, or command animal companions like Sanctuary’s most irritated forest landlord.

On paper, that is fantastic.

The issue is not that Druid lacks flavor. The issue is that flavor alone does not carry a class through an endgame where players care about speed, damage, bossing, Pit pushing, and whether a build feels powerful before it needs seven perfect items and a signed apology from the loot table.

When the Meta Moves On, Druid Feels Left Behind

Several players in the discussion point to Druid’s history of feeling weaker or more limited than other classes across multiple seasons. That does not mean Druid has no strong builds. It does. Some players are still pushing high content with Storm, Shred, companion, or other setups.

But perception matters.

If a class spends too long being seen as slower, clunkier, weaker, or overly dependent on one standout build, players stop experimenting with it. They go where the power feels easier, cleaner, and less conditional.

That is bad news for a class like Druid, because its biggest appeal should be variety. The class should feel like a toolbox of natural disasters. Instead, too often, the community conversation becomes: “Which one Druid build is actually worth the pain this season?”

Companion Fantasy Still Needs to Hit Harder

The companion angle is especially important. Druid should be the class where animal allies feel wild, powerful, and central to the fantasy. But when companion builds feel weaker than expected, or when players feel forced into strange hybrid setups just to make them work, the fantasy takes a hit.

Players do not pick Druid because they want nature-themed accounting. They pick Druid because they want wolves, storms, bears, vines, poison, rocks, and enough primal violence to make a dungeon regret existing.

If the class needs too much item help before that fantasy comes online, new players may bounce off it before they ever see what it can become.

Druid Needs More Than Numbers

This is where Blizzard’s balance challenge gets interesting. Druid does not only need buffs in the dry spreadsheet sense. It needs confidence. It needs more builds that feel good earlier. It needs less dependence on narrow setups. It needs companion, shapeshift, storm, and earth fantasies to all feel like real choices, not decorative branches on the skill tree.

Lord of Hatred has added plenty of new power layers to Diablo 4, including Seals, Charms, Talismans, War Plans, and more endgame complexity. That gives Blizzard more ways to support class identity, but also more ways for weaker fantasies to fall further behind.

The Forgotten Class Should Be Loud Again

Druid does not need to become the automatic best class in Diablo 4. That would just create a new problem with antlers.

But it should feel exciting enough that players want to pick it for more than loyalty, stubbornness, or the dream of one day making wolves good enough to scare a boss properly.

Druid has the fantasy. It has the visual identity. It has the raw ingredients for some of the coolest builds in the game.

Now it needs the power, flow, and build diversity to stop feeling like Diablo 4’s forgotten forest uncle.

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Why are Anime swimsuits so popular across generations?

Form-fitting, sleek one-piece swimsuits dominate high-school anime’s depictions of girls. Fans demand, in fact, require their anime to feature their favorite female characters in these iconic one-pieces. More than a few fetishes in the fandom focus on this blue spandex swimsuit. In Japan, school uniforms consist of a white shirt, black skirt, and navy blue shorts. These three items are worn together every day. However, during summer vacation, students can wear whatever they want. High-schoolers often choose to wear a bikini instead of the traditional uniform. While wearing a bikini may not be appropriate for work, it is perfectly acceptable for leisure activities such as swimming. The swimsuit features in high-school anime because it is a part of Japanese school life. But where exactly did this one-piece swimsuit come from?

To answer that, we need to look at the history of swimwear in the West. Japan imported Western-style swimwear, along with many other Western ideas and costumes, during the early part of the 1900s. So what does the history of Western swimwear have to do with the Japanese school-girl one-piece? The answer traces back to the Meiji Restoration and the rise of the modan garu in the 1920s.

To understand why the Japanese school-girls wear one-pieces, we must examine the development of swimsuits in the West. In the late 1800s, women began wearing bathing suits similar to those worn today. These were made of cotton and had no undergarments. They were loose fitting and covered only the torso. By the 1930s, however, they became much tighter and shorter. Women also started wearing them with skirts. During World War II, women wore these outfits to hide their bodies from German soldiers. After the war, women continued to wear tight, short, skimpy outfits. Today, women wear bikinis because they feel comfortable in them.

The Meiji Restoration was the beginning of Japan’s rapid industrialization. Japan looked to the west for inspiration, specifically America. The rapid import of western ideas sent shockwaves through Japanese culture. One particular social class noticed a profound difference between traditional Japanese values and those of the west; women. Women were becoming consumers of new western styles of media: mass market publications, films, music, and other imports. An elite class of women started emulating the western fashion they saw in American films. The modan garus, or modern girls, came to represent the ideals of the modern woman.


Fast forward to many years, here are some of the most popular or should I say modernized anime bathing suits:

 

The Uniform Swimsuit

Anime took notice of this trend back in the early 2000s. The one-pieces were a huge hit among male viewers who wanted to see women naked without any clothes covering them. They also tapped into the nostalgic feelings of those who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s. These days, anime fans can enjoy sexy scenes featuring girls wearing nothing but an anime black bikini.

 

The Japanese Anime Swim Shorts

The male swimsuit has followed the same path as the female. As Western society became aware of Western male fashions, so too did men adopt Western clothing. Men's swimsuits have not seen as much change as those of females. From one perspective, Western cultures put a greater emphasis on female skin than male. This is why men tend to have fewer controversies with swimsuits.


Now that we have a brief history moment, the more important question is where do we buy the best anime swimsuits? One of my go to places is Cosplayguru. This is your one stop place if you are looking for anime swimsuits for sale. And for a while I think you can get your swimsuits customized. Prepare your swimsuit anime drawings and ask them for a quote. They have it all.

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[Tips] Followers in Inferno: a complete guide

Sadly, when i wander the forum i see topics where players goes "followers are useless", "my templar does hardly damage", "i don't play with followers"… Those statements are incorrect, therefore those players give away advantages that could have help them in the first place such as AS or crit bonuses… So i've decided to translate my EU topic on followers here.

First of all, do not complain about how much your followers dps is weak regarding yours. They are not weak, they are very powerful. It's just that your character is tremendously strong : that's just the difference between Nephalem and regular humans.

If your followers dies too often, that just mean he's poorly stuffed and there's many way to improve a followers survivability. The Templar and the enchantress for example can easily become immortal even in Inferno PM10.

To equip a followers search in that order : main stat, vita, AS, @res. CC and ChD are very optional. With PM it is more suitable to choose socket on equipment when possible, that gives flexibility to improve damage or LoH, vita or main stat (note : vita is the main stat of the templar).

For their skill, remember that some of them depends on the weapon DPS, so seek high DPS when possible. Some skills don't have cooldown so an only fast skills template is often a good idea.

I have tested all templates described here, prices goes from "very cheap" to "what the hell?". Some item are optional and only serve to max out a specific effect.

Set bonus do not applies to followers.
Follower's buff goes away when he dies, that goes only for passive buffs, equipment bonus stays active (note : a followers never "dies", just goes KO).
MF/GF buffs applies to you with a 1/5 ration, they don't fade away even if your followers goes KO.
Follower will appreciate legendaries you thought were crap for you.

Templar

Follower token : vita, block chance, @res
MF max : 32%
GF max : 32%
Block chance Max : 78%
Dps Max : not much
Exp Max : 13%
+ pts exp Max : 144
ChC max : 33%
ChD max : 400
AS max : 55%

MF weapon : Sun Keeper http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/sun-keeper
DPS weapon : Devil Tongue http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/devil-tongue

Postion : in front of you.

Templar is not here for damage but to disturb foe's actions.

SKILLS :

Heal : useless in Inferno mode.
Intervene : works great with crowd control templates.
Loyalty : useless in Inferno mode.
Intimidate : nice, works well with "Cull the weak" passive.
Charge : idem.
Onslaught : most powerfull templar attack but a bit usless in Inferno too.
Inspire : the best templar skill.
Guardian : useless in Inferno mode.

TEMPLATES :

Slaughterror (Max bleed chance : 130%)
The Butcher's Sickle (with bleed chance) socket + amethysthttp://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-butchers-sickle
Band of hollow whispers http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/band-of-hollow-whispers
Band of hollow whispers [pre-patch]
Shield with max bleed chance
Blackthornes Duncraig Cross http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-duncraig-cross
This template offers two advantages : very cheap and the templar make more effective damages than his DPS sheet.

Tank (Max block chance : 78%)
Follower token with 15% block chance
Doombringer + amethyst http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/doombringer
Stormshield with +34 block chance http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stormshield
Justice Lantern http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/justice-lantern
Bulkathoss Wedding Band http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bulkathoss-wedding-band
With an Amulet of Vitality your templar is now immortal. To max out block chance, replace the Bulkathoss Wedding Band by a second Justice Lantern (pre-patch) (price is crazy with socket ^^).

Troublemaker
Skycutter http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/skycutter
Monlight ward http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/moonlight-ward
Band of hollow whispers http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/band-of-hollow-whispers
Puzzle Ring http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/puzzle-ring
Lidless wall http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/lidless-wall
This template is a fireworks, very fun to play!

Scarecrow (Max fear : 32,6%)
Echoing Fury + amethyst http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/echoing-fury
Shield with fear chance
Justice Lantern http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/justice-lantern
Broken Promises http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/broken-promises
Broken Promises (prepatch)
The star of Azkaranth (fear) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
Your templar is still weak, hits like a little girl but everyone fears him.

IceCube (Max freeze : 22,6%)
Azurewrath http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/azurewrath
The star of Azkaranth (freeze) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
Shield with freeze
Very usefull against bosses and elites.

Speed of Knight (Max AS 55%, APS 2,21)
Follower token with vita and 900 LoH
Azurewrath http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/azurewrath with 21% AS
Blackthornes Duncraig Cross http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-duncraig-cross with 9% AS and 500 LoH
Band of hollow whispers http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/band-of-hollow-whispers with 9% AS
rare ring with 9% AS and 400 LoH (2 of them if cannot afford a BoHW with AS)
Lidless wall with 7% AS) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/lidless-wall
Aiming for 2,21 APS and 2k LoH, this template is amazing : the best i've seen so far. The most efficient use of the templar against bosses and other single target situation : Ubers, and suprisingly, gobs.

Elites Hunter (Max damage against elite : 38% - 59%)
Sun Keeper http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/sun-keeper
stormshield http://eu.battle.net/d3/fr/item/stormshield
or shield with bonus against elites (max 8%)
The star of Azkaranth http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
the-wailing-host http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-wailing-host
Unity http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity
To max out elites bonus, replace one of the ring by a Stone of Jordanhttp://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan (efficient only in small PM).

Scoundrel
Follower token : vita, @res, dex, dcc
MF max : 19%
GF max : 20%
DPS Max : around 30k
Exp Max : 13%
+ pts exp Max : 120
ChC max : 22%
ChD max : 600
AS max : 47%

MF weapon : none
DPS weapon : Manticore (double socket) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/manticore

Position : where he wants.

SKILLS :

Crippling Shot : nice, good combination with "Cull the weak".
Poison Bolts : harmfull
Dirty Fighting : very usefull
Vanish : never find it usefull
Powerded shot : nice but not as great as
Multishot : always use it !
Hysteria : cool extra damage, but one would prefer
Anatomy : greatest scoundrel's buff.

TEMPLATES :
Note : most of these templates are to be used with Multishot skill.

Windforce (Max Knockback : 54,5%)
Windforce http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/windforce
Kymbo's Gold http://eu.battle.net/d3/fr/item/kymbos-gold
Powerfull, that's all. If you play DH, try a double Windforce duo!

Permafrost (thanks to Kibitz and IHateSnow) (Max freeze : 25,2)
Buriza-do kyanon http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/burizado-kyanon
The star of Azkaranth (freeze) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
Stone of Jordan (freeze) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan
Ultimate template for scoundrel. To be efficient, max AS and a Buriza with at least 10% freeze and 50% pierce. Perfect with passives "Cold Blooded" and "Cull the weak".
A cheap alternative to buriza : http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7924373911
An even more cheap alternative is to equip scoundrel with a "Balanced Longshot Bow" the only weapon with a 20%AS bonus and black weapon, a SoJ freeze and 9% AS on the other ring and amulet.

Stay! (Max immobilize : 5,1% + weapon's proc)
Hellrack http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hellrack
The star of Azkaranth (immobilize) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth

Elite Hunter (Max damage against elite : 20% - 46%)
Venomhusk http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/blacksmith/recipe/venomhusk
or any bow or crossbow with 8% against elites.
The star of Azkaranth http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
the-wailing-host http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-wailing-host
Unity http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity
To max out elites bonus, replace one of the ring by a Stone of Jordanhttp://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan (efficient only in small PM).

Enchantress
Follower token : vita, loh, @res, int, dcc (optional)
MF max : 28%
GF max : 30%
Dps Max : around 30k
Exp Max : 13%
+ pts exp Max : 120
ChC max : 23%
ChD max : 600
AS max : 48%

MF weapon : The Grand Vizier http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-grand-vizier
DPS weapon : Skorn http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/skorn

Position : behind you.

SKILLS :

Charm : most popular skill but long cooldown in comparison with
Forceful Push : quite powerful with a good weapon.
Missile Ward : not very effective in Inferno mode.
Powered Armor : the skill to have.
Disorient : works great in addition with other crowd control skills and weapon.
Erosion : my favorite, very powerfull.
Focused Mind : best Enchantress buff !
Mass control : works great in addition with other crowd control skills and weapon.

TEMPLATES :

Me luv u long time (with Charm skill)
The tormentor + ruby http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-tormentor
Tal Rasha's Allegiance (arcane) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/tal-rashas-allegiance
Stone of Jordan (arcane) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan
Just try it.

Maximus
Maximus (with AS) http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/maximus
All jewlery focused on AS
Just the best template for the Enchantress, effective DPS far above her sheet.
Discussed here : http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/6522763777

The Immortal (thanks to Astynax)
Follower token with max LoH
Schaeffer's Hammer http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/schaefers-hammer (min proc rate 40%)
Band of hollow whispers http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/band-of-hollow-whispers
Bulkathoss Wedding Band http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/bulkathoss-wedding-band
Blackthornes Duncraig Cross http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/blackthornes-duncraig-cross
Explained here : http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7415133486
The name says all.

Elites Huntress (Max damage against elite : 20% - 31% - 46% - 53%)
Sun Keeper http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/sun-keeper
or Skorn with 8% against elites http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/skorn
The star of Azkaranth http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-star-of-azkaranth
the-wailing-host http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-wailing-host
Unity http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/unity
To max out elites bonus, replace one of the ring by a Stone of Jordanhttp://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/stone-of-jordan (efficient only in small PM).

Gems and followers
There's a golden rule in inferno : the followers DPS leads to prior LoH on life steal, so Amethyst is always a wise choice on a follower weapon. Sockets give a nice way to set dps/vitality of a follower according PM, the more you go in high PM, the more amethyst comes handy.
The templar loves amethyst, it is useless to use emeralds or ruby with him.
That's a different story for the scoundrel and the enchantress : if LoH is enough on their equipment, around 1000 - 1200, then dps can be obtained with emerald or ruby. That choice depends on skills. Some of them do damage according to the weapon dps so ruby comes here nicely. On the other hand, if your follower gets in ChC, above 10 crit, then the emerald can be used.

Followers and Puzzle Ring : an AH paradox
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/puzzle-ring
Like many items in AH, the most expensive rolls for a Puzzle Ring are dexterity rolls. That is quite funny because best Puzzle Rings for followers are int rolls. I've seen many players use Puzzle Ring dex roll on their scoundrel, with is quite funny. Since dexterity give dodge, they use the Goblin ring on the followers who has the less chance to get often hit... Strength gives armor, intelligence gives @res, wich has to be the first choice to improve a follower survivability! So i guess now you see my point : best Puzzle Ring for a follower is the cheapest on AH.

So... Wich follower must i choose ?
It's a common belief among D3players that a follower would be the most suited for a specific class. Not really a wrong thinking but it's quite inacurate.
There's three way to consider a follower choice :
- bonuses point of view : depend on your build to compensate a lack of characteristic (then your choice is as+armor, chc or extra damage, resource regeneration and heal). Or the parangon farming need : MF/GF/XP.
- skill point of view : passive combination, cc in order to complete your gameplay.
- field point of view : enchantress for corridors and enclosed spaces, scoundrel for opened fields, and templar for bosses/single target fights.
In my opinion, the best way to use follower at your avantage is to use all 3 of them according to the situation.

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