Druid 5e: DnD 5th Edition Class Guide – RPGBOT (2024)

Introduction

Druids are a very versatile class. Between their available archetypes, they’re able to serve mixes roles as scouts, strikers, blaster, support casters, and controllers. Their spell list has a lot of unique options. There is a strong emphasis on area control spells, and most of the Druid’s best spells require Concentration. By spellcaster standards, the Druid is relatively simple to play because you so rarely need to track more than one ongoing effect, but it certainly doesn’t make them less fun or less powerful.

The Druid is primarily a spellcaster, and fills a role in the party similarto the Cleric, serving as a Healer, Support, and Utility caster. However,their capabilities don’t end there. Several subclasses also allow the Druid toserve as an effective Defender or Striker in an impressively broad and uniquenumber of ways.

Druids experience a dramatic power spike at 2nd level when they gain their subclass, and the Circle of the Moon Druid remains among the most powerful builds at level 2 several years after the publication of the core rules. However, despite their strengths, the Druid is not without challenges.

Druid subclasses vary wildly in complexity, and some druid subclasses like Circle of Spores are exceptionally hard to build and play effectively, while some subclasses like Circle of the Land are extremely simply to play so long as the player is comfortable managing their spells. Beyond the fluctuating complexity, druids also have notoriously poor AC due to their inability to wear metal armor, and with only d8 hit points they can be frail compared to similar classes like the Cleric.

Despite all of that, the Druid can be a lot of fun to play, and if you stick to one of the low-complexity subclasses, the Druid is among the easiest spellcaster classes to play. For new players looking to try their first spellcaster, Circle of the Land can be a great introduction to the complexities of managing spellcasters. Beyond that, the ability to turn into an animal is always a recipe for fun.

After reading this handbook, I encourage you to read our supporting articles:

• Druid Subclasses Breakdown
• Druid Spell List Breakdown
• Playing Druids Naturally

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Druid Class Features
  • Optional Class Features
• Ability Scores
• Druid Races
• Druid Skills
• Druid Backgrounds
• Druid Feats
• Druid Weapons
• Druid Armor
• Multiclassing
• Druid Magic Items
  • Common Magic Items
  • Uncommon Magic Items
  • Rare Magic Items
  • Very Rare Magic Items
  • Legendary Magic Items
• Example Druid Build – Hill Dwarf Druid (Circle of the Land)
  • Abilities
  • Race
  • Background
  • Skills and Tools
  • Feats
  • Levels

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Druid Class Features

Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.

Hit Points: d8 hit points is good for afull caster.

Saves: Two mental saves. Intelligence is adump stat for Druids, so even with proficiency it won’t be a great save.

Proficiencies: Medium armor and shieldsshould give you a decent AC, but since you can’t use metal armor the best youcan use is Studded Leather and a shield for a total of 14+dex. Your weaponproficiencies really don’t matter for most builds, and even in builds thatrely on weapon you’ll be using a club.

Druidic: This will probably never matterunless your DM specifically writes something into the campaign to use it. Ifyou summon creatures with spells, some of the spells specify that your summonsunderstand languages that you speak, so you may be able to use this tocommunicate with your summoned creatures in a language which noone elseunderstands.

Spellcasting: The Druid’s spell listincludes a lot of really fantastic options which are only available to theDruid (and a handful which are only available to Druids and Rangers). TheDruid has many of the best area control effects, like Entangle and SpikeGrowth, and a lot of unique damage spells like Call Lightning. However, Druidsdon’t have the healing options of the Cleric, and lack many utility optionsavailable to Clerics and Wizards.

For help selecting spells, see myDruid Spell List Breakdown.

Wild Shape: Unless you’re a Circle of theMoon druid, Wild Shape is a utility option. Any druid can turn into an animalto scout or to avoid notice, but turning into an animal to go into melee isnot likely to end well since your available forms are so weak. See myPractical Guide to Wild Shapefor specifics on how to make the best use of Wild Shape.

Some druid subclasses make use of your Wild Shape uses to fuel otherabilities, such as the Circle of Spores’ Symbiotic Entity feature. In a lot ofways, the Druid’s pool of Wild Shape uses has become the Druid’s go-toexpendable resource pool for anything beyond spells, so even if you never useWild Shape many druids can still make good use of the limited resource.

Druid Circle: Druid subclasses are briefly summarized below.See myDruid Subclasses Breakdownfor help selecting your subclass.

• Circle of Dreams: A tricky mix of healing, support, and teleportation options.
• Circle of Stars: Draw on the power of magic constellations to change your capabilities,choosing to attack your foes, support and heal your allies, or withstandyour foes attacks.
• Circle of Spores: A poison-themed master of fungi and mushrooms, you gain the ability toadopt a powerful symbiotic form and to deal huge amounts of poisondamage.
• Circle of Wildfire: Tame a powerful wilfire spirit which serves you as an ally in combat, anduse magic fire to defeat your enemies.
• Circle of the Land: Emphasize your connection to the natural world by adding extraspellcasting related to specific natural environment.
• Circle of the Moon: Master Wild Shape, gaining access to more powerful wild shape formssuitable to combat.
• Circle of the Shepherd: A powerful summoner with useful abilities to buff and support theirallies.

Timeless Body: Almost certainly no effect onthe game.

Beast Spells: Fly around as a bird and shootspells at unsuspecting foes. A great way to use spells like Call Lightning,but keep an eye on which spells have a visible effect which originates fromyou. If you’re flying around as an owl and someone notices, you’re going toget attacked and anything past the owl’s 1 hit point goes straight to yourregular pool of hp.

Archdruid: For the base druid and for druidsubclasses that don’t make use your Wild Shape uses, this has limitedbenefits. Combined with Beast Spells, it’s often a good idea to turn into abeast outside of combat in order to pad your hit points and gain access toflight, darkvision, and other benefits. But if you take enough damage to fallout of your best form, you lose those benefits and if the best thing you cando with your Action in combat is turn into a low-CR beast, something is super wrong (out ofspell slots, etc.).

The second benefit of Achdruid is easy to overlook. Ignoring Verbal, Somatic,and some inexpensive material components means that you don’t need to hold afocus, you can cast spells without issue while restrained and in areas ofsilence, and in many cases creatures will have no way to determine that spellsare coming from you so you can easily run around as an inconspicuous animal(small birds and rodents are great for avoiding notice) and enjoy most of yourusual capabilities (spellcasting, etc.) without drawing attention which mightresult in something attacking you.

For druid subclasses like Circle of Spores and Circle of the Moon which usethe Wild Shape uses more heavily, this is much more impactful. Circle of theMoon can switch back into an animal form at the beginning of every turn,thereby making themselves extremely difficult to damage. Circle of Spores canreactivate Symbiotic Entity at no cost beyond spending an Action to do,allowing them to remain in their combat form almost perpetually and allowingyou to refresh your pool of temporary hit points (which is 80 points at thislevel) whenever you have a moment to do so, allowing you stand still and shrugoff upsettingly large quantities of damage at no cost beyond your Action.

Optional Class Features

Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Optional Class Features offer ways to add additional features or replace existing ones. These rules are optional, and you should not assume that your DM will allow these features without consulting them first.

Assessments and suggestions for specific Optional Class Features are presented here, but for more information on handling Optional Class Features in general, see my Practical Guide to Optional Class Features.

Additional Druid Spells (Addition): Almosteverything on this spell list makes sense on the Druid’s spell list.Protection From Evil and Good seems like a bit of a stretch, but since theactual effect of the spell is protection from extraplanar creatures it makessense. Divination is perhaps the least logical addition to the spell listsince it puts the caster in touch with a god or their servants, and druidsdon’t have any other direct relationship with deities. Other notable additionsinclude Revivify, allowing the Druid to truly replace the Cleric as theparty’s healer without any loss of healing capability, as well as Cone of Coldand Incendiary Cloud, filling some gaps in the Druid’s directly offensiveoptions.

I recommend allowing the expanded spell list for all druids. Nearly all ofthe new spells are an excellent fit for the Druid, and the additionalcapabilities close the gap between the Cleric’s spell list and the Druid’sspell list so there’s less of a capability discrepency there, and parties areless likely to find themselves staring in frustration at their party’s clericand wondering why their spells are so weird and limited compared to theCleric. There’s still a ton of dependence on Concentration here, though, sodon’t expect a bunch of these spells to be used in combinations orsomething.

Wild Companion (Addition): Access to afamiliar is great on any character, and I really like the way this wasimplemented. Rather than just granting a familiar for free, the Druid spends ause of Wild Shape (thereby making use of an existing resource pool), and onlygets to keep the familiar for a few hours. This allows the Druid to call up afamiliar when they need one, but means that the Druid won’t have a familiarall the time like many wizards will.

Allowing the Druid to easily call up a new familiar several times per dayallows them to choose a type of familiar which fits situational needs ratherthan always defaulting to an owl like everyone else using a familiar. Call upa bat to help navigate caves, or a quipper to help explore bodies of water.Removing the material component also makes it less costly to treat thefamiliar as an expendable pet, allowing you to use it in combat withabsolutely no regard for its safety.

I recommend allowing Wild Companion on all subclasses which I’ve ratedred ororange, and consider allowing it onsubclasses which I’ve rated green on acase-by-case basis. I specifically recommend allowing this on Circle of theLand because, while it’s plenty effective the subclass lacks mechanicalcomplexity and Wild Companion adds a useful tool that will make it more fun toplay without making it too powerful.

I do not recommend allowing it on multiclass characters who dip into theDruid because characters who only take two or three levels in druid will findthat it’s too effective as a way to spend their Wild Shape uses. Druids whotake class dips into other classes may be able to use Wild Companion withoutcausing balance issues, but be cautious. If a druid is taking class dips intoother classes they may be running a build that’s powerful and complex enoughthat Wild Companion will add a problematic amount of complexity to thecharacter that could cause problems at the table.

Cantrip Versatility (Addition): Retrain onecantrip every few levels. Sometimes a cantrip doesn’t work out how you hope itwould, or maybe as you gain levels you’ve found that your leveled spells canfill needs which previously required cantrips (attack options, etc.).

I recommend allowing Cantrip Versatility on all druids. You can’t getanything which you couldn’t already have, so it doesn’t make your charactermore powerful. Hopefully it will make your character more satisfying toplay.

Ability Scores

Wisdom is everything for the Druid. Moon Druids use their Wild Shape form’sability scores and hit points, so physical ability scores are essentiallywasted on the Druid.

Str: If you’re in melee, you should be ananimal. And if you’re an animal, you’re not using your own Strength score. Ifyou can’t be an animal but you’re still in melee, cast Shillelagh.

Dex: A bit for AC while you’re not in WildShape is nice, but not super important.

Con: A bit for hit points is nice, but eventhe Moon Druid will spend most of their time burning through Wild Shape hitpoints, which don’t rely on your Constitution at all.

Int: Only needed for Knowledge skills.Dump unless you want Knowledge skills.

Wis: The Druid’s spells are powered byWisdom.

Cha: Dump.

Druid Races

Wisdom increases are crucial, and increases to Dexterity and Constitution can help with the Druid’s relatively poor durability compared to classes like the Cleric. Innate spellcasting is often helpful, but the usefulness of most traits will vary depending on your subclass.

For help selecting a race, see our Druid Races Breakdown.

For a very druid feel, consider the Firbolg or the Wood Elf. For a sturdy wizard, consider the Dwarf or the Warforged. For a powerful cast druid, consider the Owlin or the Fairy.

Druid Skills

• Animal Handling (wis): Basicallyuseless.
• Arcana (Int): One of the most importantknowledge skills.
• Insight (Wis): Great for a Face, but manyFaces don’t have good enough Wisdom to back this up.
• Medicine (Wis): This skill is useless.Medicine is best done magically.
• Nature (Int): Good knowledge skill, butnot as crucial as Arcana or Religion.
• Perception (Wis): The most rolled skill inthe game, and you have the Wisdom to back it up.
• Religion (Int): One of the most importantknowledge skills.
• Survival (Wis): Situational.

Druid Backgrounds

This section does not address every published background, as doing so would result in an ever-growing list of options which don’t cater to the class. Instead, this section will cover the options which I think work especially well for the class, or which might be tempting but poor choices. Racial feats are discussed in the Races section, above.

Druids don’t get a lot of great options with skills, but since they need sofew ability scores they can afford a bit of Intelligence to back up Knowledgeskills, and they have the Wisdom to back up important skills like Insight andPerception. Unfortunately, Druids dodn’t get any Face skills so even if youput some resources into Charisma you’ll need to scrabe together enough skillproficiencies from your race and your background to get by.

If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:

• Acolyte^PHB: Insight, a Knowledge skill and two languages, but with no conversationskills the languages don’t help the Druid much.
• Clan Crafter^SCAG: History and Insight are both fine skills for the Druid, but the otherbenefits don’t do much for you.
• Cloistered Scholar^SCAG: Two Knowledge skills and two languages, but with no conversation skillsthe languages don’t help the Druid much.
• Faction Agent^SCAG: Insight and your choice of a wide range of helpful skills, plus twolanguages.
• Far Traveler^SCAG: Two skills from the Druid skill list, one language, and a useless gameset or instrument.
• Folk Hero^PHB: Animal Handling and Survival make sense for a Druid, but they’re not verygood skills and the other proficiencies are even worse.
• Guild Artisan^PHB: Insight is the only useful bit.
• Hermit^PHB: Medicine isn’t a terribly useful skill, but Medicine and Insight bothcapitalize on your Wisdom. The Herablism Kit is redundant (Druids getproficiency by default), so you can retrain into any other tool.
• Inheritor^SCAG: This would be fine if Survival weren’t such a situational skill.
• Knight of the Order^SCAG: A Face skill and a worthless game set or instrument proficiency.
• Noble^PHB: History is the only useful bit.
• Outlander^PHB: Survival is the only useful bit, and it’s not very good.
• Sage^PHB: Two knowledge skills, but the languages aren’t helpful.
• Sailor^PHB: Perception is the only useful bit.
• Urban Bounty Hunter^SCAG: Very customizable, and includes several options which you can make workfor the Druid.
• Uthgardt Tribe Member^SCAG: The flavor makes sense for a Druid, but the proficiencies aremechanically useless.

Druid Feats

Thissectiondoesnotaddresseverypublishedfeat,asdoingsowouldresultinanever-growinglistofoptionswhichdon’tcatertotheclass.Instead,thissectionwillcoverfeatswhichIthinkworkespeciallywellfortheclassorwhichmightbetemptingbutpoorchoices.

• Alert^PHB: Going first isn’t terribly important for anyone but Rogues.
• Athlete^PHB: Awful.
• Cartomancer^BoMT: The card spell effectively lets you choose one spell from your spell list (not from your prepared spells) and quicken it ahead of time. You do still need to spend a spell slot, so this isn’t any better than quickening a spell with Metamagic Adept, and you give up the ability to change which spell you quicken. This isn’t bad, it’s just not as good as Metamagic Adept for prepared spellcasters.
• Charger^PHB: If you want to charge, Wild Shape into a goat.
• Chef^TCoE: With the choice of a Constitution or Wisdom increase, it’s easy for manydruids to fit this into their build. The problem is finding a druid who canuse this in a meaningful way. If you plan to share the treats InspiringLeader will be more effective. If you plan to use the treats yourself,you’re likely planning to fight in melee, and the only two subclasses whichencourage that are Circle of Spores (which provides conflicting temporaryhit points) and Circle of the Moon (your treats will meld into your form),so it’s hard for the Druid to use Chef to great effect.
• Crossbow Expert^PHB: You’ll do more damage with spells.
• Defensive Duelist^PHB: Druids don’t typically use weapons, and their only Finesse weapon is thedagger. Elf druids might get proficiency in rapiers, but that’s not muchbetter and if you’re brave enough to go into melee you’re probably usingShillelagh.
• Dual Wielder^PHB: If you want an extra attack as a bonus action, Polearm Master is a betterfit for the druid.
• Dungeon Delver^PHB: Druids aren’t well-equipped to handle traps.
• Durable^PHB: You can heal magically.
• Elemental Adept^PHB: Druids get a lot of spells which deal elemental damage (especially fire),so Land Druids might get a lot of mileage out of this.
• Fey Touched^TCoE: Misty Step is a fantastic spell that’s not on the Druid’s spell list, sogetting it once per day and the ability to cast it again using your spellslots is a huge benefit. The additional 1st-level spell known is good, andoffers access to some interesting options from other class’s spell listslike Bless (excellent buff), Hex (great for Circle of the Moon as a damageboost), and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter (single-target save-or-suck).

  For more advice on Fey Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Fighting Initiate^TCoE: The Druid’s AC is notoriously poor, so you may be tempted by FightingStyle (Defense), but in most cases a Dexterity increase will be moreeffective. Fighting Style does appear to work while using Wild Shape, butremember that natural weapons don’t qualify for Dueling or Great WeaponFighting, so offensively your best options is Unarmed Fighting if you planto use forms that are good at grappling.
• Gift of the Chromatic Dragon^FToD: Chromatic Infusion should be shared with allies unless you’re going for Circle of Spores, and even then your allies with Extra Attack will benefit more. Reactive Resistance is largely redundant with Absorb Elements, but it’s uniquely appealing for Circle of the Moon since you can use it while wild shaped.
• Gift of the Gem Dragon^FToD: Great for Circle of the Moon because you can use Telekinetic Reprisal while Wild Shaped. Circle of Spores might also benefit, but you already get a way to use your Reaction every turn so there’s little need for this in your action economy.
• Gift of the Metallic Dragon^FToD: Protective Wings is very tempting since the Druid’s AC is typically worse than that of a comparable cleric. It even works while using Wild Shape. But personally, I think it makes more sense to take Fighting Initiate to get Fighting Style (Defense) for the persistent bonus to AC.
• Grappler^PHB: Helpful if you really like the constrictor snake and octopus forms, butWild Shape forms become obsolete after a few levels, and there currentlyaren’t enough forms which grapple to justify this.
• Great Weapon Master^PHB: The best two-handed weapon druids get is a greatclub. Circle of Spores might be tempted to use a quarterstaff two-handed, but you need the AC from a shield way too much to justify doing so.
• Healer^PHB: Use magic. Healing Spirit is the best source of hit point restoration inthe game, and it’s a 2nd-level spell.
• Heavily Armored^PHB: All heavy armor is metal, which means that you can’t use it.
• Inspiring Leader^PHB: You don’t have the Charisma to back this up.
• Keen Mind^PHB: Awful.
• Linguist^PHB: Use magic.
• Lucky^PHB: Good on anyone.
• Mage Slayer^PHB: Too situational.
• Magic Initiate^PHB: Druids know their entire spell list, and you get plenty of preparedspells. You might want some spells from other classes, but there’s nothingthat the Druid absolutely needs. Circle of Spores Druids are the bestcandidate for Magic Initiate: Adding Booming Blade (or Green-Flame Blade),Swordbust, and Mage Armor or Shield from either the Warlock or the Wizardspell lists will provide a significant boost to your capabilities in meleecombat. Other clerics might enjoy options from the Cleric’s spell list likeSacred Flame (druids don’t have radiant damage on a cantrip) and 1st-levelbuffs like Bless or Shield of Faith.

  For more advice on Magic Initiate, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Martial Adept^PHB: Not useful enough with only one superiority die.
• Metamagic Adept^TCoE: Excellent on any spellcaster. The Druid has some great options forExtended Spell like Darkvision. For advice on Metamagic Adept, see mySorcerer Metamagic Breakdown.
• Medium Armor Master^PHB: Studded Leather is the best armor available to Druids, and it’s light.The additional point of Dexterity to your AC only matters if you can wearhalf-plate, and you can’t because half-plate is metal.
• Mobile^PHB: All of the effects apply while you’re in Wild Shape. Forms like Goat andElephant which have a useful Charge or Pounce effect become immensely moreuseful when you can safely move away and set up for another round ofcharging. If you just need an escape mechanism, look for Wild Shape formswith Flyby like the Owl and you won’t need to bother with Mobile.
• Mounted Combat^PHB: It’s hard to play a mounted character without a special mount ability ofsome kind.
• Observant^PHB: Perception is a great skill for Druids, and the +1 Wisdom is nice if youhave an odd Wisdom score.
• Piercer^TCoE: While this works with Wild Shape, it’s not a good choice. Lockingyourself into one damage type will strictly limit the number of forms whichyou find appealing, which negates much of what makes Wild Shape soeffective.
• Polearm Master^PHB: Druids generally don’t use weapons, but polearm master works withquarterstaffs, and you can use Shillelagh with a quarterstaff, so PolearmMaster isn’t a totally terrible idea for a Circle of Spores druid. However,since Shillelagh also consumes your Bonus Action you’ll want to cast itahead of time to make sure that your Bonus Action is available to hitthings.
• Resilient^PHB: Proficiency in Constitution saves is really helpful for a class with alot of really great spells which require Concentration and notoriouslyterrible AC. If you care primarily about Concentration it’s easy to comparethis to War Caster. Advantage works out to a little more than +3, so onceyour Proficiency Bonus hits +4 Resilient becomes the more effective optionof the two.
• Savage Attacker^PHB: This is a bad feat. The largest damage die (d12), yields an average of 2extra damage per turn.
• Sentinel^PHB: Great if you want to be a Defender, but many Wild Shape forms offer theability to trip foes or grapple them on a hit, which greatly reduces theutility of this feat for Circle of the Moon. Circle of Spores couldabsolutely benefit, but I think there are other feats which are morebeneficial, and you need too many Ability Score Increases to have room for alot of feats.
• Shadow Touched^TCoE: Invisibility isn’t available to most druids, and the 1st-level spells aremostly new options, too. There are few consistently good options here,unfortunately, but they open up some capabilities which the Druid can’tnormally provide.

  For more advice on Shadow Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Sharpshooter^PHB: Druids don’t typically use weapons, and don’t have enough spells whichuse attack rolls to justify this.
• Shield Master^PHB: Druids don’t have enough Strength to make the Shove option useful.
• Skill Expert^TCoE: With your high Wisdom, Expertise in Perception is a massive asset foryour party. Spend the skill proficiency on Perception if you don’t alreadyhave it, get Expertise in Perception, and increase your Wisdom by 1. If youhave an odd-numbered Wisdom score, this is an easy, reliable featchoice.
• Skilled^PHB: More skills never hurt, but Druids don’t really need them.
• Skulker^PHB: Sniping is for Rogues.
• Slasher^TCoE: Don’t lock yourself into one damage type. While this does work whileusing Wild Shape, locking yourself into a single damage type makes WildShape difficult because the number of forms which appeal to you is greatlydiminished.
• Spell Sniper^PHB: Druids generally don’t use weapons, and they don’t have enough spellswhich use attack rolls to justify this.
• Tavern Brawler^PHB: Druids don’t fight using Unarmed Strikes.
• Telepathic^TCoE: Tempting for Circle of the Moon, this nicely solves the issue ofcommunication while using Wild Shape, and since you still get a Wisdomincrease the feat’s cost is reduced.
• Tough^PHB: Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to Wild Shape forms, so you won’t reallysee any meaningful benefit.
• War Caster^PHB: Advantage on saves to maintain Concentration is really useful, especiallysince the Druid is heavily dependent on Concentration spells. Unfortunately,the ability to use cantrips in place of Opportunity Attacks is hard to usefor most druids. Moon druids are typically using Wild Shape during combat,so until you get Beast Spells at 18th level you can’t cast spells whileusing Wild Shape. Circle of Spores is the best use case since spores druidsare typically a front-line melee build. Other druid options are typicallyback-line casters, and making opportunity attacks should be rare. Unless youplan to be in melee to capitalize on the Reaction mechanic, I recommendResilient instead.
• Weapon Master^PHB: You get all of the weapon proficiencies that you need to function. If youreally want to use a weapon, cast Shillelagh.

Druid Weapons

Druids really don’t need weapons. Instead, turn into something with claws.If you do need a real weapon, carry a club or a quarterstaff and castShilleagh. The damage will meet or beat anything else you’re proficientwith, and it makes your attacks use your Wisdom instead of your Strength orDexterity.

Druid Armor

Armor is a difficult prospect for the druid. Despite proficiency in mediumarmor, the best armor you can actually wear is Studded Leather, at 12+Dex.With a shield and high Dexterity that may be enough, but Druids benefit verylittle from Dexterity so it may be hard to justify investing your AbilityScore Increases. Most druids can realistically expect to have an AC of at most16 with 14 Dex, Studded Leather Armor, and a shield, while druids that get aracial Dexterity increase might hit 17.

If you have someone in the party who can cast Mage Armor, beg them to do cast it on you. A 1st-level spell for a +1 to AC over your best armor is a big difference, and the spell’s effects persist while using Wild Shape so many low-AC forms will be considerably more durable.

The text of the Druid’s proficiencies states that “druids will not wear armor or use shields made of metal”. Nothing in the rules explicitly says they can’t and nothing breaks if they do, the proficiencies entry simply asserts that they won’t and gives no justification for why. The rest of this site assumes that you’re adhering to this restriction.

But also, nothing in the rules says you can’t ask your DM nicely if your Half Plate can be made of chitin from a giant scorpion or the shell of a giant crab. Eberron: Rising from the Last War describes Bronzewood and Leafweave, which are used in place of metal for equivalent armors. WotC has stated several times that this imposition wasn’t a balance decision, but was left in place to respect the history of druids within DnD.

We had explicit rules for unusual materials in 3rd edition but it doesn’t need to be complicated. It can just work the same as regular material except oh cool now Druids can wear it.

• Leather Armor: Free starting gear.
• Hide: As much AC as studded leather, andit costs much less. You may want to upgrade to Studded Leather if yourDexterity exceeds a +2 bonus, but otherwise Hide is perfectly fine.
• Shield: You need one hand for a spellfocus, but since you probably don’t need weapons there’s no reason to notcarry a shield.
• Studded Leather Armor: The best armor youcan get, but only an improvement over Hide if you have at least 16Dexterity.

Multiclassing

This section briefly details some obvious and enticing multiclass options, but doesn’t fully explore the broad range of multiclassing combinations. For more on multiclassing, see our Practical Guide to Multiclassing.

Keep in mind that Druids are prohibited form wearing metal armor. Beforemulticlassing, consider how that might affect your armor options.

• Barbarian: Barbarian is a common choicefor Moon Druids due to Unarmored Defense and Rage. Unarmored Defense isnice, but the Monk’s version is more effective and the introduction of theBarrier Tattoo provides a way to get access to a reliable AC option withoutspells or multiclassing. For a single-level class dip, you only get tworages per day and +2 damage, which isn’t a lot for the cost of a level. Twolevels won’t get you much because many Wild Shape forms have access toabilities which grant you Advantage such as Pack Tactics. Three levels istempting for Primal Path and a third Rage per day, but you’re giving up anentire CR step in Circle of the Moon’s Wild Shape progression, which willprovide considerably more damage than Rage. Primal Path offers some goodoptions but you’ll need to dig around in the subclasses to see what willwork for you within the broader context of your party..
• Cleric: Clerics are also Wisdom-based,and many Cleric domains offer some fantastic features at level 1,including some helpful spells. The Cleric’s offensive cantrips aregenerally better than the Druid’s, but unless you go several levelsinto the class you won’t see any essential leveled spells that youdon’t already get as a druid.
• Monk: The better option for UnarmoredDefense if you’re only going for a single level. However, Barkskin willexceed the AC of almost every Wild Shape form, even with 20 Wisdom, and theintroduction of the Barrier Tattoo provides a way to get access to areliable AC option without spells or multiclassing. The Monk is an unusuallygood option for Circle of Spores: unarmored defense will exceed the maximumAC you could expect otherwise, and Martial Arts adds an extra attack toapply the poison damage from Symbiotic Entity.
• Paladin: Two levels for Divine Smite andFighting Style (Defensive) can be a good option for spores druids and moon druids. Many of thePaladin’s features (including Aura of Protection at 6th level) work whilewild shaped, but spending that many levels outside of your class likelywon’t pay off since you’re giving up so much of Wild Shape’s higher-level capabilitiesin exchange for paladin features.
• Warlock: A single level and the GreatOld One patron grants telepathy, which is useful for druids who spend a lotof time in wild shape. However, high-level parties which include a wizardmay prefer Telepathic Bond.

Druid Magic Items

Common Magic Items

• Staff of Adornment/Birdcalls/Flowers^XGtE: Works as a quarterstaff, and it can overcome damage resistances to
  non-magicalattacks. The actual magic stuff is amusing, but probably not
  important.Helpful for druids using Shillelagh, but otherwise not
  helpful.

Uncommon Magic Items

• Bag of Tricks^DMG: While you don’t get to choose what you get, you always get a friendlybeast that obeys your commands, similar to what you would get from casting asummon spell. You need to use your Bonus Action to command the beast, but ifyou give it general orders (“attack my enemies”, “don’t let my enemies passthrough this hallway”, “make noise if you detect enemies”, “walk into thishallway and try to trigger traps”) you can leave the beast to carry out yourorders without committing your Bonus Action every turn. The beast isfriendly to you and your allies, so you can target it with things like BeastSense and use it as an expendable scout. The bag notably doesn’t requireattunement, so you can accumulate a stack of them and they remain somewhatuseful at any level. While even the highest-CR creatures will stop beinguseful offensive threats, they’re still big bag of hit points that you canthrow in front of enemies to draw attention away from you and your party.Note that there are three varieties of bags with different selections ofbeasts, but they’re all roughly equivalent.
• Barrier Tattoo (Uncommon)^TCoE: Most druids should stick to studded leather unless you can get a bettertattoo, but Circle of the Moon may find that this boosts their AC in certainforms.
• Cloak of Protection^DMG: Good on any character, but it requires Attunement and it’s not veryinteresting.
• Eldritch Claw Tattoo^TCoE: Natural weapons, such as those offered by Wild Shape, are not “UnarmedStrikes”. Unarmed strikes are their own thing. Therefore, unfortunately,Eldritch Claw Tattoo doesn’t work while in Wild Shape.
• Eyes of the Eagle^DMG: A Sentinel Shield is a better option for the Druid.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +1 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls, and youcan use the sickle as a spellcasting focus which reduces the need to juggleyour weapon when casting spells. The bonus healing is great for the Druid,and since it applies each time you roll for healing it synergizes well withSpirit of Healing, making it an efficient use of a low-level spell slot forhit point restoration despite how hard the spell was weakened by errata.Unfortunately, no druid should be using a sickle to attack (use Shillelaghor cast a spell), so the weapon portions of the Moon Sickle are lesseffective than you’d hope.
• Nature’s Mantle^TCoE: A great item, but most druids aren’t great at stealth, and if you need tobe sneaky you can typically turn into an animal of some sort.
• Pearl of Power^DMG: Useful on any spellcaster.
• Sentinel Shield^DMG: Perception is the most frequently rolled skill in the game, and you arelikely the person in the party who is best at it (provided that you gotproficiency from your race or your background). Advantage provides a greatdeal of insurance and protection against ambushes and other surprises.Advantage on Initiative rolls is really nice so you can get a buff or andare control effect running before everyone else starts moving. This is agreat item on any character using a shield, but the Cleric and the Druid areprobably the two characters best-suited to using it.
• Shield, +1^DMG: +1 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Slippers of Spider Climbing^DMG: The next-best thing to flight. Walking up a wall has all the benefits offlying out of reach, making this an excellent option for ranged builds.
• Staff of the Adder^DMG: This looks viable for a Circle of Spores Druid who plans to take PolearmMaster, but Polearm Master specifies that you only get the bonus attack ifyou only attack with the listed weapons, so attacking with the snakeinvalidates the best part of the feat. The snake attack also doesn’t benefitfrom Shillelagh, so you’re stuck using Strength. Very cool, but it’s justnot a good fit.
• Staff of the Python^DMG: A decent low-level summon. At CR 2, the Giant Constrictor Snake isexcellent at incapacitating single targets, especially if they have poorbonuses to Athletics and Acrobatics. With blindsight, the snake can evenfunction is area of magical darkness or other sight-blocking conditions likefog or smoke, allowing the snake to be useful well above what its CR wouldsuggest. Keep in mind that the snake’s 12 AC and 60 hit points won’t standup to repeated attacks, so plan to revert the snake to its staff formquickly or risk losing the item permanently.
• Stone of Good Luck^DMG: Excellent on literally any character, but if you just want better defensea Cloak of Protection may be more effective. Stone of Good Luck shines ifyou’re heavily reliant on skills and ability checks.
• Wand of the War Mage^DMG: Produce Flame is basically the only spell you’ll use which benefits fromthis.
• Weapon, +1^DMG: For Circle of Spores, a +1 Quarterstaff is very beneficial.
• Winged Boots^DMG: Excellent on its own, but Winged Boots are more limited in use than abroom of flying, and they require Attunement.

Rare Magic Items

• Amulet of Health^DMG: Setting your Constitution to 19 means that you don’t need to put AbilityScore Increases into it unless you’re really certain that you want 20Constitution. Less ASI’s into Constitution means more room for feats.However, the Druid’s biggest durability problem is their AC rather than lowhit points, so if you can get a Barrier Tattoo instead I strongly recommendit.
• Armor of Resistance^DMG: Excellent, but unpredictable in most games since you can’t perfectlypredict what sort of damage you’ll face. Fire and poison are safechoices.
• Armor, +1^DMG: +1 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Barrier Tattoo (Rare)^TCoE: AC is among the Druid’s biggest problems, and matching the AC ofHalf-plate without wearing metal armor is an absolutely massive improvementto the Druid, especially since this works in Wild Shape. It hurts that itcosts a Rare item to do it, but it’s hard to argue with how effective thisis.
• Bell Branch^TCoE: The detection effect suffers the same problem’s as the Ranger’s PrimevalAwareness, plus it’s blocked by total cover (walls, etc.) so even ifapplicable creatures are nearby you can’t guarantee that you’ll detect them.The option to cast Protection From Evil and Good is nice, but then this isessentially a wand of a 1st-level spell. Not good enough for the rarity.
• Belt of Dwarvenkind^DMG: Maybe appealing for Circle of the Moon, I think this might still applyduring Wild Shape. Adding Darkvision and poison resistence to beasts whichdon’t normally get it is really nice, though the +2 Constitution won’t havemuch impact since your beast forms will have few hit dice.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Hill)^DMG: This works while using Wild Shape, which is mechanically amazing andconceptually hilarious. Imagine using Wild Shape to run into a mouse with 21Strength. Once you’ve had a sensible chuckle about that, consider how manywild shape forms give up some Strength-based attack and damage bonus fordurability or special abilities (Pack Tactics, Flyby, etc.).
• Bracers of Defense^DMG: A Barrier Tattoo (Rare) will be more consistently effective. Bracers ofDefense may result in higher AC for certain Wild Shape forms, but given thechoice you shouldn’t favor items which will limit your choices to those fewWild Shape forms which already have high base AC and therefore benefit mostfrom Bracers of Defense. You might also prefer a Cloak or Ring ofProtection, given the choice between the two.
• Cloak of Displacement^DMG: Among the best defensive items in the game. Taking damage from any source(spells, etc.) suppresses the effect temporarily, so make a point to killanything that can damage you without an attack roll.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +2 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls. See MoonSickle under Uncommon Magic Items for more. Also consider the Staff of theWoodlands.
• Necklace of Prayer Beads^DMG: Unpredictable, but potentially very powerful. You’ll get an average of4.5 beads, and the effectiveness of the item varies wildly depending on whatyou get. You can notably cast every spell from the beads as a Bonus Action(yes, including Planar Ally which normally has a 10-minute casting time),allowing you to quickly heal allies or get Bless running while leaving yourAction for attacks or cantrips.
• Periapt of Proof Against Poison^DMG: Poison damage is common across the level range, but .
• Ring of Evasion^DMG: A great way to mitigate damage from AOE spells and things like breathweapons which can often be problems from front-line characters.
• Ring of Protection^DMG: Cloak of Protection is lower rarity and has the same effect.
• Ring of Resistance^DMG: A fine item in a vaccuum, but a Ring of Spell Storing full of AbsorbElements will be much more effective.
• Ring of Spell Storing^DMG: Fill it with Absorb Elements and Shield and recharge it wheneverpossible, and this is a spectacular defensive asset.
• Shield, +2^DMG: +2 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Staff of the Rooted Hills^GotG: A fantastic option for Shillelagh users. The DC to resist the Restrained effect won’t be reliable, but it works without you doing anything except attacking, and sometimes you’ll get lucky.
• Staff of the Woodlands^DMG: Essentially a +2 quarterstaff with some extras. Like the Moon Sickle, itserves as a spellcasting focus and adds +2 to your spell attacks’s, butnotably the Staff of the Woodlands doesn’t add to your spell save DC’s soyou still want a Moon Sickle for the majority of your spells if you canmanage to find both items.

  The spellcasting provided by the staff convenient allows you to skipseveral druid spells which are too situational to prepare on a dailybasis, but which feel so thematically appropriate to the Druid that itfeels weird to not have them ready. You also get Pass Without Tracewithout spending a charge, so your party has a functionally permanent +10bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks.

  Since this is is a quarterstaff, it’s a really great option for Circle ofSpores druids who are using Polarm Master.

• Sun Staff^BoMT: Works with Shillelagh. Since this is is a quarterstaff, it’s a really great option for Circle of Spores druids who are using Polarm Master.
• Weapon, +2^DMG: For Circle of Spores, a +2 Quarterstaff is very beneficial. Staff of theWoodlands will work roughly as well and also serves as a spellcasting focus,but it also requires Attunement which may be an issue.

Very Rare Magic Items

• Animated Shield^DMG: Tempting for anyone not fighting with a one-handed weapon, but a Cloak ofProtection is two rarities lower, works persistently, and arguably providesa better numeric bonus.
• Armor, +2^DMG: +2 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Barrier Tattoo (Very Rare)^TCoE: If you lived long enough to get one of these, you probably have the 14Dexterity to max out a Barrier Tattoo (Rare)’s +2 Dex cap, so you only get+1 AC for upgrading which isn’t worth the item’s rarity. Get a Cloak or Ringof Protection instead.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Frost, Stone, Fire)^DMG: Still great, and it still works while using Wild Shape.
• Manual of Bodily Health^DMG: Permanent Constitution bonus and raises your cap by 2. Unless you’reusing a magic item that fixes your Constitution as a specific score, this isexcellent.
• Manual of Quickness of Action^DMG: Unless you’re worried about the cap on attuned items, a Cloak or Ring ofProtection will be more effective.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +3 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls. See MoonSickle under Uncommon Magic Items for more. Also consider the Staff of theWoodlands.
• Rod of Hellish Flames^BoMT: The damage resistances are nice, but you’re here for the ability to maximize fire or necrotic damage once per day. Easily missed but very important: It’s not “the first damage roll” like most similar effects. You simply don’t roll damage. That means that this works with spells that do repeated or ongoing damage such as Dragon Breath, Fire Shield, Hex, Illusory Dragon, Scorching Ray, Spirit Shroud, and Wall of Fire. Yes, it’s only once per day, but you can get a ton of mileage out of that single use. Not all of those are on your spell list, but I really want you to understand the possibilities here.
• Shield, +3^DMG: +3 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Staff of Fire^DMG: Druids don’t normally get access to Burning Hands or Fireball, and accessto those spells offers some powerful go-to damage options. You’ll likely getthis long after wizards are able to cast fireball, but even at high levels a3rd-level fireball is often an excellent area damage option.
• Staff of Ice^DMG: Cone of Cold for quick AOE damage and Wall of Ice for a combination ofdamage, area control, and utility. Wall of Ice is a good spell that’snormally exclusive to the Wizard’s spell list, and it can be a usefulutility in situations where Wall of Stone doesn’t work.
• Staff of Thunder and Lightning^DMG: Great for Circle of Spores Polearm Master builds, this is effectively a+2 quarterstaff with some active abilities. It’s more complicated than a +3quarterstaff, but if you can make good use of the active abilities it’sworth the loss of a +1 bonus to attack and damage.
• Tome of Understanding^DMG: Permanent Wisdom bonus and raises your cap by 2.
• Weapon, +2^DMG: For Circle of Spores, a +3 Quarterstaff is very beneficial, but you mightalso enjoy a Staff of Thunder and Lightning.

Legendary Magic Items

• Belt of Giant Strength (Cloud, Storm)^DMG: Still great, and it still works while using Wild Shape.
• Cloak of Invisibility^DMG: Invisibility is extremely powerful in 5e. Note that this is just theinvisible condition, not the spell spell Invisibility, so you can stillattack or whatever while invisible. Unless you’re playing a Defender andactively trying to draw attacks away from your allies, this is absolutelyamazing.
• Ioun Stone (Mastery)^DMG: Proficiency Bonuses apply to a lot of things and a +1 bonus goes a longway. Attacks, saves, skills, etc. all benefit. However, most druids relymostly on spells which require saving throws so it’s not as beneficial as itwould be for other characters. A Stone of Good Luck may be just asuseful.
• Orb of Skoraeus^GotG: Darkvision, see in magical darkness, a bonus to saves to maintain concentration, and mitigate 300gp of material component costs per day. This feels very tempting, but it’s just not good enough for this rarity. By this level, 300gp is a pittance, and you have access to magical options that make magical darkness much less of a problem.
• Ring of Amity^GotG: Hit yourself with Heal or Mass Heal and automatically heal a friend for the same amount. Great for healing yourself and your party’s Defender at the same time regardless of distance.
• Ring of Spell Turning^DMG: Given the choice, I would much rather haqve a Mantle of Spell Resistancesimply because the Ring of Spell Turning doesn’t provide any protectionagainst area effect spells. Otherwise, this is a really fun item, and if itprovided Advantage on saves against area of effect spells it would shootstraight up to blue.
• Ring of Three Wishes^DMG: Use this to do one of the things that risks permanently removing theability to cast Wish, such as granting 10 creatures permanent resistance toonce damage type. If you lose the ability to cast Wish, pass this off toanother ally who will never be able to cast Wish by any other means. Repeatuntil the last charge is used.

  For more help with Wish, see myPractical Guide to Wish.

• Scarab of Protection^DMG: An upgrade from the Mantle of Spell Resistance, the Scarab of Protectionadds a limited benefit against necromancy and undead creatures, and doesn’ttake up your cloak slot, leaving you free to take items like a Cloak ofProtection or Cloak of Invisibility instead.

Example Druid Build – Hill Dwarf Druid (Circle of the Land)

Elmheer Mossbeard the Hill Dwarf Circle of the Land Druid

The wild-looking dwarf stands stout and strong, their bark-brown hairstreaked with silver and braided with vibrant green plantlife. They lean ona gnarled staff of oak engraved with strange symbols, wrapped in leather,and topped with a sprig of holly. Garbed in well-worn leather armor, a vinerope belt laden with pouches of herbs, a knife, and a small sickle forharvesting shrubs, moss, and the like hangs loosely around the hips. Theymove slowly, purposefully, and their emerald eyes shine with a subduedwisdom.

— Boxed text provided by dScryb^{(affiliate link)}

Thisisa“StapleBuild”.Thisbuildissimple,andreliesonoptionsfromtheSRDandtheBasicRuleswhereverpossible.Ifyouneedafunctionalbuildwithnothingfancyorcomplicated,thisisagreatplacetostart.

Circle of the Land is often decried as boring because it adds more spellcasting, but no new features. Hill Dwarf is often overlooked because it’s a fantastic option for clerics and little else. Combining the two gives us a mechanically robust (if somewhat dull) druid.

For a more optimized build, see our Circle of the Land Druid Handbook.

Abilities

We will assume the point buy abilities suggested above.

Race

Hill Dwarf. A bit of Wisdom and a whole pile of durability are a great combo.

Background

We’ll go with Hermit for that classic feel.

Skills and Tools

Nature is among the most iconic of druid skills, and in many campaigns it will be very useful. Animal Handling also fits thematically, but you can go an entire campaign without needing it even as a Druid, so take Perception instead.

Feats

Druids really only need high Wisdom. Other ability scores are helpfuldefensively, but even then you can often get more out of a feat. If you’refeeling brace enough to explore beyond the SRD, consider exploring feats onceyou hit 20 Wisdom.

Levels