Why Diablo Immortal’s Druid Isn’t a Carbon Copy

Diablo Immortal is about to deliver its latest new class, and it’s no stranger to Blizzard’s long-running ARPG franchise. As the newest addition to the roster, Diablo Immortal‘s Druid has some big shoes to fill, considering the class’s fan-favorite status. In fact, its introduction now is, according to Blizzard, largely due to fan requests. However, directly porting the Druid from elsewhere in the series would be a missed opportunity to explore interesting new gameplay twists, and would likely be yawn-inducing to series veterans. As such, the Diablo Immortal team knew a fresh take was needed to bring a satisfying new class into the fold.

In an interview with Game Rant, Dablo Immortal senior narrative designer Ryan Quinn and lead artist Emil Salim spoke in-depth about the process of bringing the classic and beloved Druid into Blizzard’s mobile ARPG, complete with all-new lore, abilities, and playstyle opportunities. While it may superficially represent the nature-loving classes from past series entries, Diablo Immortal‘s team took pains to ensure that it looks, feels, and even sounds distinct.

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The Diablo Immortal Druid’s Primal Power Mechanic

Mechanically, Diablo Immortal‘s Druid stands out the most thanks to its Primal Power meter, which is essentially a timed meter. Transforming into Druid forms depletes this meter, and certain abilities may also spend Primal Power. This almost rhythmic resource management system keeps Druid players on their toes, but never leaves them without something to do. Quinn explains:

“The Druid has a unique resource called Primal Power. This is basically the ability—the track—that you have to spend in order to remain transformed in your werewolf or werebear form, and also to use some of these very radical outpouring powers of nature.

For example, we have an ability called Surging Stone that makes these huge rock jetties jut up from under the ground at random and knock enemies airborne. That will also use your Primal Power.

Then we have a number of Legendaries that cause you to treat Primal Power as a resource—something that will give you a spike of extreme offense or control as the Druid, or in a few rare cases, channeled healing. But it’s on a timer, and that’s a very clear timer, and something that you, as a Druid player, have to manage if you want to dip into that.”

Primal Power also has strong ties to buildcrafting Diablo Immortal‘s druid, with a collection of Legendaries that interact with this new system and transform Druid abilities in dramatic ways. It’s a unique system that doesn’t leave players stuck waiting for strict cooldowns on shapeshifting, instead letting them manage the tempo of the Primal Power meter more directly by adjusting their toolkit and ability rotation.

The Diablo Immortal Druid’s Life and Elemental Magic

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Another unique angle Diablo Immortal took on the Druid was its use of magic, both life magic and elemental spells. This brings Diablo Immortal’s Druid closer to something like World of Warcraft‘s Druid, whose strong relationship with nature leads to elemental and healing magic. Quinn describes the Druid:

“We focused on identifying the core: werewolf, werebear—and then asked, what could we do that’s new? Things like using life magic: Circle of Life, Living Thorns, and leaning more into brambles and dangerous plants. That gave us more room to explore that side of the fantasy.

Then we really narrowed the Druid’s elemental focus down to fire and earth, which helped give us a very cohesive fantasy—something that feels a little bit different. But no one’s going to play this and go, “Oh, that doesn’t feel like a Druid.” You know what I mean?

That was really key—trying to land right on that 50/50 line.”

Alongside its animal forms and the ability to summon wolves and bear companions, having access to numerous types of spells ranging from healing and thorns buffs to fiery tornadoes makes Diablo Immortal‘s Druid one of the most versatile and customizable classes in its arsenal, and one that manages to stand out from the pack in comparison to previous incarnations of the Druid.