Baldur’s Gate 3 Druid Guide

Last Updated: March 19th, 2022

Transforming into the beasts of the land and commanding nature’s elements, what’s not to enjoy? Druids are powerful mages who have dominion over the natural world. Able to turn themselves into various animals or have access to nature-based spells, Druids are the tanks of spellcasting.

Being able to turn into various animals, you essentially gain a new health bar. Although at level 4, you won’t have access to some of the higher level Druid abilities, even at level 4 you are still able to prove to be a worthy adversary to your foes.

Druids in Baldur’s Gate 3

In the tabletop version of D&D, players have a wide range of animals and beasts they can transform into. As long as their DM gives them the thumbs up, there’s a lot of liberty and creative ways to problem-solve when playing a Druid. However, that’s a little difficult to translate in a video game. There are only so many animals you can turn into and only so many methods you can deal with the obstacles in your way. For the time being, in Early Access, the majority of animals you can turn into are more combat-orientated. Each with their own purpose:

• Bear: Tanks, able to aggro nearby foes and deal a good amount of damage.
• Wolf: Able to rally your allies and increase their movement speed, and gain pack tactics.
• Giant Badger: Is able to burrow underground, getting into position or escaping a dangerous situation.
• Giant Spider: The spider can web up and slow foes, getting them primed for an ambush.
• Cat: The cat goes unnoticed by most characters, or it can distract foes.

Druids also have access to unique spells such as:

• Shillelaugh
• Goodberry
• Barkskin
• Flame Blade
• Flame Sphere
• Protection from Poison
• Heat Metal

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the best build for a Druid in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Best Race for Druids

Druids work on Wisdom, that’s their main stat. After that, it’s a matter of preference but usually having high Dex, Con or Charisma will get you a long way in the game. With that in mind, which are the best races for Druids?

• Human: +1 to all stats. Can’t go wrong with a regular human!
• Gold Dwarf: +2 Con and +1 Wisdom.
• Wood Elf: +2 Dex and +1 Wisdom.

Moon or Land Druid?

Your options for your Druid subclass is a Moon or Land Druid. Each specialises in the different parts of the Druid class. Moon Druids focus on your Wild Shape and bolstering your animal shapes, while Land Druids focus on the nature-based magic. We’ll go through which is best depending on their features and your level cap of 4.

Moon Druid

As a Moon Druid, you’ll have access to the same Wild Shapes as your regular Druid would, but you also get access to Combat Wild Shape:

Combat Wild Shape: As a Bonus Action, you can assume the form of a beast. You may transform twice per short rest.

This ability basically aims to allow you to use your Wild Shape more, particularly in combat. Druids might feel as though they’re locked into their Wild Shape until it gets beaten or they willingly drop it. This feature allows the Moon Druid to use their Wild Shape a bit more flexibly. As it turns your Wild Shape into a Bonus Action, you can cast a spell against your foes first then turn into your Wild Shape and get ready for your next turn.

Land Druid

As a Land Druid, your features encourage more spellcasting and help bolster your role as a mage. You still have access to Wild Shapes, but they will cost you an Action rather than a Bonus Action.

• Wild Shape: As an action, you can assume the form of a beast. You may transform twice per short rest.
• Natural Recovery: Once per day out of combat, you can replenish expended spell slots.

This is the ideal class if you don’t plan to use your Wild Shape in combat as much as your spells. You’ll still be able to use the Wild Shape as a last resort when you’re running low on health, but if you plan to focus more on your spells then Land Druid is the way to go.

Best Spells for Druids

When making your Druid, you’ll have access to a number of spells. Both support ones and damaging ones, making Druids a very versatile class. But these are the spells we’d recommend you have:

Final Thoughts

If you want to play as a Druid, you’ll find yourself able to explore the game through the eyes of a beast. You’ll also get some special treatment in the Early Access considering the Druid Circle at the start of the game. However, the best build – in our opinion – is a Land Druid Wood Elf!

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