Diablo 4 Season 10 May Have Already Crowned a Winner

Even though Season 10 is still over a month away, Diablo 4 has given players a glimpse at what to expect from the new season thanks to the PTR update 2.4.0. Revealed in a Diablo 4 blog post alongside the Sanctuary Sitdown on the official Diablo 4 Discord server, this pre-Season 10 patch for the PTR includes new mechanics such as Chaos Perks and remixed Chaos Armor, which players can experience on the PTR from August 19-26. Players who participate in the Season 10 PTR will want to keep an eye on one class in particular, as it appears to be primed to be a massive threat in the upcoming meta, at least on paper.

While Diablo 4 Season 9 was dominated by Spiritborn builds with the introduction of the extremely versatile Balazan's Maxtlatl Unique, the Druid class seems to be gunning for its crown in Season 10 with a powerful new unique of its own. Although things are still subject to change between the PTR preview period and the start of Season 10, from what has been revealed so far, the Druid may be the winner in the new Uniques department. After having a solid presence in Season 9, the addition of the new Kilt of Blackwing Unique may be enough to push one Druid build to the top of the Season 10 meta.

Diablo 4's Druid is Already in the Running for the Top of the Season 10 Meta

Druids Have Been Stealth Meta Picks in Diablo 4 Season 9

Diablo 4 Season 9 has already been kind to Druid players, with several builds reaching the upper echelons of the meta. Thanks to the buffs to Poison Damage this season and the introduction of the Rotting Lightbringer Unique, which causes Pulverize to create puddles of Poison, Druid players can find great success with builds like:

Pulverize Druid
Fleshrender Druid
Companion Druid
Shred Druid

Barring any major nerfs, each of these builds has the potential to be viable again in Diablo 4 Season 10, as each one has a Unique tailor-made to bring out the best in its skill setup. However, the Companion Druid build is of particular note because it has a new ace up its sleeve heading into the next season. Season 10's new Kilt of Blackwing Unique looks like the perfect addition to this build, and it has the potential to take the Companion Druid all the way to the top of the meta.

Diablo 4 Season 10's New Uniques Give Companion Druid Builds a Huge Advantage

Kilt of Blackwing (Unique Pants)
- +636-685 Maximum Life
- +2-3 Ranks to Ravens
- +13-17.5% Ravens Cooldown Reduction
- +16-25% Chance for Ravens to Deal Double Damage
- Ravens deal 60-100%[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.

Two key parts of the Companion Druid build are the Ravens and Wolves summons that comprise the "companion" part of the build. While the Druid's Wolves already get the fantastic Storm's Companion Unique to aid their damage output, Ravens were missing a similar counterpart. Kilt of Blackwing aims to give Ravens a greater presence on this build by summoning an empowered companion every time a Diablo 4 Druid shapeshifts or uses a Companion Skill. The additional affixes that increase ranks to Ravens and offer a chance for Ravens to deal double damage are just the icing on the cake.

Despite Storm's Companion and Kilt of Blackwing both being Unique Pants, Diablo 4 Season 10 Druids can still make the most of both of these Uniques on one build, thanks to the new Chaos Armor mechanic. Chaos Armor allows Unique Affixes to appear in other gear slots than their standard Unique version, so the Kilt of Blackwing doesn't have to only be on pants and could be found on something like Boots or Gloves. With this system, Diablo 4 Druids will be able to double up on two crucial Companion-centric Uniques for an even better version of the currently top-tier Season 9 build.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 88 /100 Critics Rec: 93%

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Released: June 5, 2023
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s): Blizzard
Publisher(s): Blizzard