The Shadowform Dread !Claws Metamorphosis Warlock build is one of the more potent builds we’ve seen in the game so far, capable of easily clearing Torment X difficulty with good gear - not even perfect or near-perfect gear. Just solid gear that’s been tempered, enhanced and had some affixes rerolled. But everything’s gotta start somewhere, and to help you take your first steps (or first seventy levels) as a Dread Claws Warlock in Diablo IV we’ve written this page, which will give you a level-by-level guide to skill point allocations and tips and pointers for gameplay as the build evolves! This page won’t get you to the endgame, but it’ll get you to the point where you can start working on gearing up for the endgame!

Page Breakdown¶

Level 1-14: Starting Slow with Dread Claws¶

The early levels of this build - of most builds, really - aren’t terribly exciting. Shank enemies until you get a skill point at Lv2, then purchase Doom, which will help you get through the painful early game. You don’t even get Dread Claws until Lv3, at which point it becomes your work horse. Use Dread Claws when you have the Wrath and Doom when you don’t. You’ll get Nether Step at Lv4 for some mobility, Profane Sentinel at Lv8, which allows you to render enemies Vulnerable and Sigil of Subversion, which is an AoE Hex debuff that can give you your first taste of Shadowform - an essential buff for this build, but more of a curiosity at this point.

We’re not too keen on Doom’s upgrades, so we ignore them. This is a skill you use to generate Wrath, and it’s not long for this build. We also don’t care about Profane Sentinel’s first upgrade either, as this skill is more about inflicting debuffs to power up our other attacks than it is about dealing damage directly. We spend any excess points on ranking up our main damage-dealer, Dread Claws.

By Lv14 you’ll be debuffing enemies with Sigilt of Subversion and Profane Sentinel, laying into them with Dread Claws, and using Doom as needed to regain Wrath. Starting to see the core of this build’s skill rotation!

Level 15-39: Enveloping Terror and Command Laalish¶

Level 15 is a huge level for this build. Dread Claws is our main damage dealer, but it leaves a bit to be desired… until you reach Lv15 and purchase the Enveloping Terror upgrade, which gives it a significant damage boost, much wider range, and allows your last Greater Demon summon to echo its effects. Simply put, your kill rate will increase significantly.

That’s not all, however! Hitting Lv15 also allows you to complete the Warlock’s quest Warlock: Disciple of the Forbidden, which will unlock Soul Shards. Not only do these apply passive boosts for you, but depending on which Soul Shard you equip you’ll be able to use a new summon based on which shard you selected. In this case we want the Mastermind Shard, which boosts our Abyss damage while we have Shadowform stacks - suddenly that buff gets interesting! Shadowform is generated by Nether Step, Sigil of Subversion and by the Command Laalish spell that comes with the Mastermind Shard.

Command Laalish should be equipped, as it’ll passively attack, inflict Vulnerable and Slow, and when used actively it’ll create an AoE “Terror Zone” that generates Shadowform if you stand in it while increasing the Vulnerable and Slow debuffs to enemies in the area. It’s often a good idea to start out fights with Sigil of Subversion and Summon Laalish before laying into foes with Dread Claws - a playstyle that won’t change a lot going forward.

When you hit Lv30, be sure to pick the Blasphemous Fragment, which causes Recast spells (like Profane Sentinel) to Hex enemies on hit and to increase the damage from Abyss Demonology skills to said enemies by 30% - Profane Sentinel now directly buffs Dread Claws, which is good to keep in mind for harder fights, especially since we don’t have a better use for our Dominance!

Honestly most of this build’s elements are in place by Lv34. You’ll have unlocked most of the skills we’ll use on rotation and maxed out Dread Claws. After Lv34, just start maxing out skills in order: Metamorphosis, Nether Step and Sigil of Subversion. Why are we putting points into Metamorphosis? Should we be actually using it? No, not yet. But we will soon. That’s the final phase of this leveling guide…

Level 40-70: Metamorphosis Terror Demon¶

At Lv40 you’ll unlock the final new skill for this build, the Metamorphosis upgrade, Terror Demon. This turns Metamorphosis into an Abyss skill that gives you four stacks of Shadowform every second it’s active. There are plenty of effects that deal extra damage if you have Shadowstep or Demonform, and Metamorphosis grants both for its duration, making it the go-to buff for this build. To equip it you’ll need to refund the points spent in Doom (not reflected on the table above), but this also takes away your primary means of Wrath generation. Depending on your gear, this could be a serious annoying, a mild nuisance or completely unnoticeable, so if you’re not willing to part with Doom yet, that’s fine - Metamorphosis is overkill until you hit Torment difficulty anyways, but you should start building towards it.

From this point on the build doesn’t change much. Keep putting any skill points you gain into skill that aren’t yet maxed, and if you max everything save for Profane Sentinel, start dropping points into that… not that it really matters much. Using Demonology and Command Laalish before laying into enemies with Dread Claws should be enough to power through any fight until you hit Torment difficulty, at which point details like your skill rotation, Paragon Boards, and gear start to matter a lot more - topics delved into at depth on the aforementioned Shadowform Dread !Claws Metamorphosis Warlock build page.