Incredible Rankings: Unveiling the Ultimate Druid Subclasses in Baldur's Gate 3

In Baldur's Gate 3, the available classes offer unique abilities to characters in both combat and exploration. Subclasses further enhance a character's skills and capabilities, providing even more diversity. Most classes have three subclasses to choose from, with a few exceptions.

When creating a character in Baldur's Gate 3, players can select from nine classes taken from the D&D 5e Tabletop game. The Druid class specializes in utilizing magic derived from nature and the natural world, allowing them to shapeshift and command the forces of nature in various ways. Each subclass of the Druid focuses on a different aspect of nature, granting additional abilities related to their chosen focus. The Circle of the Land draws power from specific environments, granting abilities associated with those environments. The Circle of the Moon emphasizes shapeshifting and harnessing the power of the animal kingdom. Lastly, the Circle of Spores taps into the power of decay and the emergence of new life.

The Circle Of The Land

Content updated by Thomas Hawkins on August 15th, 2023: Following Baldur's Gate 3's departure from Early Access, players now have the opportunity to reach level 12 and make use of the "Circle of Spores" druid subclass. This article has been revised to incorporate details on abilities unlocked after level 5 and provide comprehensive coverage of the "Circle of Spores" subclass.

The Circle of the Land Druid excels at spellcasting, prioritizing their magical abilities above all else. With their unique capability called "Natural Recovery," they can restore their spell slots once during a long rest. This grants them exceptional versatility as utility casters, enabling them to wield their magic with remarkable freedom and frequency compared to other Druid subclasses.

At level 3, Circle of the Land Druids can choose a Spell Circle that corresponds to a specific type of terrain. By selecting a Spell Circle, they acquire extra spells associated with their chosen circle.

The table provided illustrates the spells that are bestowed upon players at level 3 through this decision. When reaching level 5, players have the option to select a different Spell Circle, resulting in the acquisition of new spells from that particular Circle. It is important to note that these spells differ from the ones offered when initially choosing that Circle at level 3.

At level six, the Druid acquires the ability called "Land's Stride: Difficult Terrain," enabling them to traverse challenging landscapes without any decrease in speed. Upon reaching level seven, the Druid is granted the opportunity to choose an additional spell circle, thus expanding their repertoire by adding several level four spells to their selection.

At level nine, players get to choose another Spell Circle and get additional level five spells based on their choice.

The Circle Of The Moon

Druids who wish to enhance their shapeshifting prowess should consider selecting the Circle of the Moon as their subclass. Upon reaching level 2 and choosing this path, the druid gains the Combat Wildshape ability and the special power known as "Lunar Mend." With Combat Wildshape, transformation becomes a quick bonus action rather than a time-consuming full action, enabling the druid to utilize their shapeshifting abilities more seamlessly during combat encounters. These transformations can be performed twice before requiring a short rest, allowing a total of six shapeshifting instances between long rests.

The Druid's Lunar Mend ability enables them to utilize their spell slots for self-healing while in their transformed state. This not only provides an alternative purpose for their spell slots but also aids in prolonging their transformation. The healing amount, which equals 1d8HP per level of the spell slot used, allows players to potentially heal more by utilizing higher-level spell slots if necessary.

Furthermore, the Circle of the Moon Druid gains the advantage of acquiring more potent Wildshape forms at a faster rate compared to other subclasses. For instance, they obtain the Deep Rothe form at level 3 instead of level 4. Additionally, they have access to certain Wildshape forms that are exclusive to their subclass, such as the Dire Raven at level 3.

At level six, the Druid acquires the ability "Primal Strike," enabling them to treat their natural attacks as magical. This grants them the power to overcome damage reduction while they are transformed. At level eight, they unlock the Wildshape of a Saber-Toothed Tiger, a formidable form capable of effortlessly tearing through armor. Upon reaching level ten, the druid gains access to four unique "Elemental Myrmidon" wildshapes. These enable the druid to assume elemental forms, granting them the ability to modify their damage type and capitalize on the surrounding environmental conditions such as igniting lighting oil or electrifying water.

Circle Of Spores

At level two, the Circle of Spores Druid obtains the ability called "Halo of Spores." This unique skill allows them to reactively inflict necrotic damage (1d4) to a target within a range of 6 meters every turn. Additionally, they acquire the power of "Symbiotic Entity" at the same level, enabling them to utilize a Wildshape charge as an action to gain temporary hit points equal to four times their Druid level. While these temporary hit points persist, they can also deal an additional 1d6 necrotic damage. Moreover, the damage caused by "Halo of Spores" is doubled. As another means of dealing necrotic damage and impeding an opponent's ability to self-heal, they acquire the "Bone Chill" Cantrip.

The Druid at level three acquires two new spells, "Blindness" and "Detect Thoughts," that are always prepared. These spells enable them to temporarily blind enemies and effortlessly delve into the minds of others. At level four, they expand their repertoire with an additional cantrip. As they progress to level five, the Druid learns "Animate Dead" and "Gaseous Form," granting them the ability to raise undead allies from nearby corpses and transform themselves or others into a gaseous state, facilitating movement through tight spaces and enhancing evasive capabilities.

At level six, Druids following the Circle of Spores gain access to "Fungal Infestation," allowing them to reactively create a zombie. Moving on to level seven, they attain "Blight" and "Confusion" as supplementary spells, providing them the means to inflict substantial necrotic damage and discombobulate groups of adversaries. Level nine brings forth the addition of "Cloudkill" and "Contagion" spells, empowering the Druid to summon lethal poisonous clouds and afflict their enemies with an assortment of diseases.

At level ten, Druids unlock "Spreading Spores," enabling them to generate spore-filled clouds that inflict damage equivalent to their "Halo of Spores" on targets within the affected area. To utilize this ability, the Druid must be currently benefiting from the "Symbiotic Entity" effect.

Baldur's Gate 3 is currently accessible for PC and Mac users, while it will be released on September 6th, 2023, for the PlayStation 5.