This guide was written by Blyndside.
Gauntlet has been fully released, and our Druid Expert, AceofSpades, has been committed to finding the best build for Druid in Gauntlet. AceofSpades was last season’s Abbattori of Zir Rank 1, so you can be confident you’re getting the best Druid builds.
Ace was able to come in 3rd on the Solo Druid Ladder with his build, which was incredibly impressive.
If you want to watch, have questions about the build, or are just interested in how he does it, you can watch him live on Twitch here.
If you’re looking for general Gauntlet tips that apply no matter what class or weekly dungeon, head to our Gauntlet fundamentals guide.
Shred
Ace has invested a lot of time into this build. The man has the desire and will to attempt the top one on the Druid Ladder.
His Shred build is thus top-tier, simple to play, and built around capitalizing on as much damage as possible while throwing out the class’s heavy built-in Damage Reduction that is commonly taken; this will allow you to maximize your Gauntlet experience.
The build focuses on speed as well, as is a common trend when it comes to builds built for the Gauntlet, and it’s achieving this with Shred, which allows you just instantly to move from pack to pack; an AceofSpades verified pro-tip is the bind your Shred to the mouse wheel to make this significantly easier.
The build also focuses on using Airidah’s Inexorable Will in key areas of the Gauntlet to maximize its benefits as it pulls all mobs within your character’s vision. I’d recommend watching this section of Ace’s video for an in-depth explanation of this, here.
Let’s also go over movement speed; most builds commonly have it roll on whatever it can, but as we’ll be using Mad Wolf’s Glee, we’ll already have a roll. Thus, we can subtract a Movement Speed roll from our boots or Amulet, as we’ll be capped through shrines.
It’s also important to note that Shrines are a huge part of Gauntlet; the Shrine Buff Duration roll should be on your Amulet and Boots.
Boons
We’ll be running Gift of the Stag for more Spirit, as we do not need the Damage Reduction from Wariness. Swooping Attacks and Avian Wrath, for attack speed and Critical Strike Damage, Avian Wrath (Eagle) is what we’re Spirit Bonding. Bolster for Fortify and Overload will give us more defense and some extra lightning damage that functions with other things within the build.
Paragon Board
The Paragon Board for this build is heavily focused on damage, again sacrificing many of the usually taken damage reduction nodes.
The build takes Lust of Carnage and Ancestral Guidance as Legendary nodes, though it’s worth noting that Ancestral Guidance isn’t always active, as you often have the Resource Buff active, which gives you zero resource costs; it’s still worth grabbing because that 30% damage increase you gain without the Resource Buff is worthwhile.