Druid Class Guide DnD 2024 (2024)

Introduction

DnD 5e’s Druids are a very versatile class, mixing full spellcasting with powerful utility from their ability to turn into beasts. The Druid’s spellcasting has a strong emphasis on area control spells, allowing them to shape the battlefield to their party’s advantage. 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 similar to the Cleric, serving primarily as a Controller, Healer, Scout, Support, and Utility caster. Subclass features can emphasize those roles or expand them to include Blaster, Defender, and Striker. Druids also have notoriously poor AC in only light armor, and with only d8 hit points they can be frail compared to similar classes like the Cleric.

Druid subclasses vary wildly in complexity. Some Druid subclasses like Circle of Spores are exceptionally hard to build and play effectively, while some subclasses like Circle of the Land are relatively simple to play. 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.

This article is for the 2024 dnD 5e rules. For the 2014 rules, see our 2014 Druid Class Guide.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Druid Class Features
• 2024 Druid Changes from 2014 Rules
• Druid Backgrounds
• Druid Species
• Druid Ability Scores
• Druid Skills
• Druid Feats
  • Origin Feats
  • General Feats
  • Epic Boons
• Druid Weapons
• Druid Armor
• Druid Multiclassing

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

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: Simple weapons, light armor, and shields.You won’t be able to match the Cleric’s AC, and using weapons in any meaningful way isn’tan option for the vast majority of Druids. Primal Order adds medium armor and martial weapons,but proficiency in martial weapons doesn’t suddenly make you good at using weapons.

1. 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, Druidslack many utility optionsavailable to Clerics and Wizards, and their approach to problems like raising the dead is often different from other spellcasters.

1. Druidic: The ability to speak Druidic and use Druidic symbols will never matterunless your DM specifically writes something into the campaign to use it. In 10+ years of 5e, I’ve never seen Druidic symbols written into a published adventure (they might be there, but I haven’t noticed them).

Having Speak With Animals prepared for free is likely more impactful. The ability to talk to local animals means that you can gather information from rats, bats, birds, bugs, and other beasts which are ubiquitous in most parts of the material plane. It’s up to your DM how useful it is for you to do so, but if your DM is willing to play along, local beasts can be a useful source of information.

1. Primal Order:

• Magician:
• Warden: Medium armor is a nice upgrade to your AC, but what are you going to do with martial weapons? Druids don’t get Weapon Mastery or Extra Attack. Elemental Fury (Primal Strikes) provides a modest damage boost, but, just like the Cleric’s Divine Strike, it doesn’t provide enough of a damage boost to compete with unmodified cantrips. Even worse, the Druid’s best weapon options are clubs and quarterstaves thanks to Shillelagh. Literally the only reason to take Warden is medium armor. If you’re worried about AC that much, start with a level of Fighter.

2. Wild Shape: Wild Shape is a fantastic utility option, but it’s only a combat option for Circle of the Moon. Other features like Wild Companion and some subclass features may use Wild Shape as a resource pool, and those uses are frequently more impactful than Wild Shape for many Druids.

Pay careful attention to your Wild Shape forms. Much like a prepared spell, each known form is a tool in your toolbox, and you want a diverse set of tools for solving multiple problems. At low levels, even non-Moon druids might find options like the Wolf useful in combat, but that stop being useful as enemies outpace the Wolf in combat. Options like the Rat are useful for stealth in a variety of environments, and options like the Octopus and the Bat can lets you explore in a variety of environments.

2. Wild Companion: A disposable familiar. Normally Find Familiar costs 10gp to cast, which deters you from throwing away your familiar at least slightly. Without that cost, and with an inexpensive renewable resource pool like Wild Shape, you can use this to summon familiars and use them with no regard for their safety. Send them to scout any even remotely dangerous environment.

3. Subclass: Druid subclasses are briefly summarized below. See our Druid Subclasses Breakdown for help selecting your subclass.

• Circle of the Land: Expand your spellcasting with powers based on specific biomes.
• Circle of the Moon: Turn into beasts and fight stuff.
• Circle of the Sea: Summon a water-based emanation to damage and repel enemies, and eventually to let you fly and resist damage.
• Circle of the Stars: Adopt one of three powerful modes in combat to expand your abilities.

5. Wild Resurgence: This gives you a great way to manage limited resources throughout the day. For subclasses dependent on Wild Shape, turning a spell slot into a Wild Shape can dramatically expand your resource pool. For other subclasses, you can get an extra level 1 spell slot once per day. That’s obviously very lopsided, but bottomless spells from consuming Wild Shape slots would be a huge problem.

7. Elemental Fury: Remember that your choice here locks you into your choice when you get Improved Elemental Fury at level 15.

• Potent Spellcasting: Consistently useful.
• Primal Strike: This is only useful for Circle of Spores and Circle of the Moon. Unless your subclass pushes you into making weapon attacks by giving you a good reason to do so, cantrips will consistently beat Primal Strike’s damage output with much less effort. But for Moon Druids and Spores Druids, this is a decent damage boost for things that you were going to do anyway.

15. Improved Elemental Fury: Remember that your choice of Elemental Fury at level 7 locks you into your choice here.

• Potent Spellcasting: Thorn Whip folks from an absurd distance away.
• Primal Strike: Another damage increase. It still won’t compete with cantrips for most druids.

18. Beast Spells: For most druids, the ability to cast spells in Wild Shape allows you to use Wild Shape much more frequently in combat in order to improve your mobility. Turning into an owl or another flying beast with Flyby allows you to move in and out of melee safely, allowing you to deliver touch range spells with no risk or to get out of reach without relying on teleportation like many spellcasters.

For Circle of the Moon, this is even better. You could already cast your subclass spells while in Wild Shape, but this opens up your entire spell list. This presents a massive change in your tactics, so be sure to reexamine your prepared spells as soon as you get this.

20. Archdruid: You’ve had a much weaker version of these features since you got Wild Resurgence at level 5, but this is a massive upgrade.

• Evergreen Wild Shape: This means that Circle of the Moon and other subclass that depend on Wild Shape uses can’t walk into combat without their signature feature. For other subclasses it’s a nice convenience, but you’re probably fine without it.
• Nature Magician: By this level you get 4 uses oPerceptonf Wild Shape per rest. If you convert all of them, you can restore a level 8 spell slot once per day. Evergreen Wild Shape will guarantee you 1 use whenever you roll initiative, so you can cast a long-running level 8 spell outside of combat, recover the spell slot, then still use Wild Shape in combat. That’s a very powerful option even for subclasses that depend on Wild Shape uses in combat, though you may still want the ability to Wild Shape multiple times in the same encounter, so you’ll need to weigh your options before you use this.
• Longevity: Almost never impacts the game, but very cool thematically.

2024 Druid Changes from 2014 Rules

This section is from our 2024 DnD Rules Transition Guide.

• 1. Weapon proficiencies are no longer a specific list; now just simple weapons, which omits scimitars. Druids have had proficiency with scimitars for as long as there have been druids, but there has rarely been a good reason for that to be the case.
• 1. Armor proficiencies no longer include medium armor, but druids have also lost the prohibition on metal armor, so if you get armor proficiency from other sources you might happily stomp around in full plate.
• 1. Druidic. Now gives you Speak with Animals prepared for free. The check to spot hidden druidic messages is changed from Wisdom (Perception) to Intelligence (Investigation).
• 1. Primal Order. New. Choose an additional cantrip and the ability to add your Wisdom modifier to Arcana and Nature checks or proficiency in martial weapons and medium armor.
• 1. Spellcasting. Now allows you to change a cantrip when you gain a Druid level.
• 2. Wild Shape. Big rework here.
  • Now a Bonus Action for everyone rather than just Circle of the Moon
  • You can use Wild Shape again without returning to your original form
  • 2 uses per Short Rest at level 2, but scales to 4 per Short Rest
  • Known Forms. Druids are now limited to just 4 known forms. You can change one on a long rest, so it would take 4 days to replace all of your forms.
  • Forms limited to CR ¼ and no fly speed, but burrow and swim speeds are not restricted.
• Beast Spells is gone.
• 20. Archdruid. Big rework here.
  • Evergreen Wild Shape. Gain one use of Wild Shape if you’re out when you roll initiative. 2014 Archdruid gave you infinite uses. This prevents you from using Wild Shape as a bottomless pool of hp, but that’s already not a problem since you use your own hit points in Wild Shape.
  • Nature Magician.

Druid Backgrounds

An increase to Wisdom is too crucial to forego, so any Background which doesn’t include Wisdom is immediately out. Wisdom-based skills are also ideal, especially if you can get Perception.

For information and advice regarding Origin Feats, including those granted byyour Background, see the Druid Feats section, below.

• Acolyte^(PHB) :Better skills than Sage, but Sage’s ability scores are better.
• Farmer^(PHB) :Excellent ability scores for the Druid, and more hit points never hurt, but the skills aren’t great.
• Guard^(PHB) :The Wisdom increase, Perception, and Alert are enough to make this work.
• Guide^(PHB) :An easy default for the Druid. Perfect ability scores, more spellcasting, and decent skills.
• Hermit^(PHB) :Decent ability scores, but the skills are middling, and there’s little reason for Healer when you can cast Healing Word.
• Sage^(PHB) :Better ability scores than Acolyte, though the Intelligence-based skills are harder for the Druid.
• Sailor^(PHB) :Decent ability scores for a melee build, plus one good skill, but you’re absolutely not going to use Tavern Brawler.
• Scribe^(PHB) :Decent ability scores, and with Skilled you may fill in for a Rogue in your party. That feels like an odd choice for a scribe, but here we are.
• Wayfarer^(PHB) :Good ability scores, and between the skills and Thieves’ Tools you could fill in for a Rogue in your party. Lucky is an easy feat on any character.

Druid Species

With only light armor and shield, additional durability is wonderful since you are likely your party’s primary healer. Innate spellcasting and additional skills are nice, too.

Because Wild Shape doesn’t let you keep most of your Species traits, Circle of the Moon has slightly different needs. More hit points and skill proficiencies are probably your best choices, but innate spellcasting might still provide some utility outside of combat.

• Aasimar^(PHB):Two damage resistances, Darkvision, a once per day heal, and a once per day combat transformation.We don’t yet have a melee-friendly Druid that’s not relying on Wild Shape, and since species traits aren’tretained in Wild Shape, there’s very little appeal here. The transformation may still be useful for flightand for the modest damage boost, but at once per day I don’t think it’s enough to justify.
• Dragonborn^(PHB):Darkvision, a damage resistance, and once per day flight are great, but you will likely never use the breath weapon beyond very low levels.
• Dwarf^(PHB):Darkvision, resistance to the most common non-weapon damage type, and more hit points.Tremorsense is neat, but you have spells to handle invisible or hidden enemies. Without medium armor like the Cleric, you may find the extra durability helpful.
• Elf^(PHB):Darkvision and an extra skill are both great, plus you can get access to some spells from outside of the Druid’s spell list. The High Elf’s cantrip can get you a great offensive cantrips from the Wizard’s spell list.
• Gnome^(PHB):Darkvision and Gnomish Cunning are both great, and the added cantrips from Gnomish Lineage offer some interesting utility options. Paired with good Wisdom and proficiency in Wisdom saves, failing those saves will be exceptionally rare.
• Goliath^(PHB):Giant Heritage offers some great options. Cloud Jaunt offers teleportation, which normally isn’t an option for the Druid, and Stone’s Endurance offers some excellent damage mitigation. Unfortunately, the other options won’t do anything useful, and the Druid has little use for Large Form or Powerful Build.
• Halfling^(PHB):Brave and Lucky are both helpful, and Halfling Nimbleness may help you get past enemies to get into a safer position, though it won’t prevent Opportunity Attacks when you need to leave an enemy’s reach. Naturally Stealthy might let you hide before combat starts, but without Cunning Action it won’t see use in combat.
• Human^(PHB):An additional skill and origin feat are an easy choice on any build.
• Orc^(PHB):Adrenaline Rush is an excellent option for getting out of dangerous positions quickly without a spell, and the Temporary Hit Points are great. If that doesn’t keep you alive, Relentless Endurance provides some insurance, which is great since you’re probably your party’s healer
• Tiefling^(PHB):Darkvision, a damage resistance, and some innate spellcasting almost entirely from outside of the Druid’s spell list. The spell choices aren’t crazy, but there are some consistently useful options here.

Druid Ability Scores

Despite a conceptual split between Druids who take Primal Order (Magician) and those who take Primal Order (Warden), the practical reality changes almost nothing for the Druid. The only significant change is whether you want 14 Dexterity for medium or maybe 16 Dexterity for light armor.

The PHB recommended ability scores appear to assume Primal Order (Magician). Those stats scream “back line caster”.

Str: Dump.

Dex: 14 to max out medium armor for wardens. Maybe more for magicians, but likely no more than 16.

Con: Hit points and saving throws, including Concentration.

Int: A few useful skills.

Wis: Your primary ability score.

Cha: Dump.

Druid Skills

• Animal Handling (wis): Basicallyuseless.
• Arcana (Int): One of the most importantknowledge skills. Magician Druids also get to add their Wisdom modifier as an additional bonus, making this an easy choice.
• 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. Magician Druids also get to add their Wisdom modifier as an additional bonus, making this an easy choice.
• 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): Very situational.

Druid Feats

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

Origin Feats

These feats typically come from your Background, but you can also select anOrigin Feat any time that you could select a General Feat, and you may getmore from sources like the Human’s species traits.

• Alert ^(PHB):Great for starting big area control spells or for dropping big area damage spells before allies get in the way or enemies get into melee range.
• Crafter ^(PHB):Neat, but not especially impactful. Crafting mundane gear stops being impactful early in the game as players quickly accumulate enough to afford nearly anything in the Player’s Handbook. This notably omits the Herbalist Kit as a choice, so you can’t even use this to craft Potions of Healing.
• Healer ^(PHB):Rerolling dice on healing spells is nice, but not especially impactful. The vast majority of hit point restoration is either Healing word to rescue dying allies or hit dice during a Short Rest. Sources of healing intended to bring creatures up to a significant portion of their hit points usually use a static number rather than dice (ex: Heal).
• Lucky ^(PHB): An easy choice on any character. It won’t directly impact your build,but it’s a great default if you don’t need anything else.
• Magic Initiate ^(PHB):Wizard spells to get more cantrips and access to Shield can have a huge impact.
• Musician ^(PHB): A great way to contribute to any party.
• Savage Attacker ^(PHB):Only works with weapons, and beasts’ attacks in Wild Shape are not weapons.
• Skilled ^(PHB):Decent, but you can probably get all of the skills you want between your Background and your class skills unless you’re trying to fill in for a Rogue.
• Tavern Brawler ^(PHB):The named attacks in stat blocks that you’ll use in Wild Shape are not Unarmed Strikes, so this does nothing to help Wild Shape.
• Tough ^(PHB):Helpful for keeping your party’s healer alive. Even better for Circle of the Moon because you still use your own pool of hit points while in Wild Shape.

General Feats

• Chef ^(PHB):Looks tempting for Circle of the Moon, but remember that Temporary Hit Points don’t stack, and you’ll get more from Wild Shape.
• Crusher ^(PHB):This will work in Wild Shape, but very few beasts deal bludgeoning damage.
• Durable ^(PHB):Cast Healing Word.
• Elemental Adept ^(PHB):Druids rely heavily on elemental damage, but you don’t have any spells so important and amazing that you can’t just change damage types. Circle of Wildfire may be an exception.
• Fey Touched ^(PHB):Two more prepared spells and access to some 1st-level spells from outside of your spell list. Misty Step is great on any spellcaster.
• Grappler ^(PHB):Beast forms’ attacks are not unarmed strikes, so there’s no synergy with this feat.
• Heavily Armored ^(PHB):You might consider Primal Order (Warrior) and then this feat, but that’s a lot of investment just to get better AC. Take a single level of Cleric or start your build with a level of Fighter.
• Inspiring Leader ^(PHB):A massive amount of temporary hit points.
• Lightly Armored ^(PHB): A 1-level class dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unlessyou’re expecting to reach 20th level.
• Mage Slayer ^(PHB):Druids are already proficient in two mental saves, and they’re really good at Wisdom saves, which is the important one, so the benefits here are minimal.
• Martial Weapon Training ^(PHB): A 1-level class dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unlessyou’re expecting to reach 20th level.
• Medium Armor Master ^(PHB): Borderline worthless. Put +2 into Dexterity and wear light armor.
• Moderately Armored ^(PHB): A 1-level class dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unlessyou’re expecting to reach 20th level.
• Observant^(PHB): This is only helpful if your DMlikes to use stealthy enemies and/or likes to include traps in combatencounters.
• Piercer ^(PHB):Many beasts deal piercing damage, making this a useful choice for Circle of the Moon.
• Poisoner ^(PHB):A few druid spells and a few beast forms deal poison damage, but not enough to justify this.
• Polearm Master ^(PHB):Works with Shillelagh, but short of Circle of Spores, there’s no reason to take this.
• Resilient ^(PHB):Constitution saves are crucial for Concentration. War Caster may be better if you’re building for the front lines so that you can use Reactive Spell, but if you only care about Concentration, Resilient is better.
• Ritual Caster ^(PHB):There are some great level 1 Ritual spells like Comprehend Languages and Find Familiar, but the fact that this only lets you get level 1 spells significantly limits its usefulness. Getting rituals from outside of your own spell list is nice, but unless there are specific Rituals that you want, this isn’t worth a feat.
• Sentinel ^(PHB):Potentially useful for melee builds like Circle of the Moon.
• Shadow-Touched^(PHB): Two moreprepared spells are always nice, and Invisibility is a staple spell, butShadow Magic’s options for 1st-level spells simply aren’t as good as thoseavailable via Fey Touched.
• Shield Master ^(PHB):You won’t have the Strength to back up Shield Bash.
• Skill Expert ^(PHB):There are some great Wisdom-based skills that might be worth Expertise.
• Slasher ^(PHB):Many beasts deal slashing damage, making this a useful choice for Circle of the Moon.
• Speedy ^(PHB):Potentially useful for reaching allies in need, but you can Wild Shape as a Bonus Action into an owl or something else
• Spell Sniper ^(PHB):Druids have a few interesting ranged spell attacks, but not enough to justify this. If cover is an issue, use a different spell.
• Telekinetic ^(PHB):An easy choice on any spellcaster. Telekinetic Shove will compete for your Bonus Action with options like Healing Word, but you won’t be able to use it effectively every turn, so it’s not really an issue. Remember that creatures can willingly fail saving throws,allowing you to use this on allies in order to move them out of dangerouspositions, break grapples, or otherwise help them.
• Telepathic^(PHB): Very cool,but usually talking works fine.
• War Caster ^(PHB):Great for Druids built for the front lines, such as Circle of the Moon. If you only care about Concentration, Resilient (Constitution) provides a bigger bonus, but War Caster can improve your mental ability scores, so it’s often easier to fit into a build.

  The text of the Opportunity Attack rules allow you to make an Opportunity Attack whenever a creature leaves your reach. War Caster’s Reactive Spell feature allows you to replace that attack with a single-target spell. This is intended to be used on enemies, but RAW this also allows you to cast buffs or healing spells on your allies when they leave your reach.

Epic Boons

• Boon of Combat Prowess ^(PHB):This looks useful for Circle of the Moon, but beasts don’t use weapons or unarmed strikes, so this won’t help you. Circle of Spores might benefit, but by this level your weapon attacks have fallen far behind your spell damage.
• Boon of Dimensional Travel^(PHB): Basicallyfree Misty Step every time that you cast a spell as an Action.Unfortunately, Bonus Action and Reaction spells don’t qualify. According tothe Rules Glossary: “When you take the Magic action, you cast a spell thathas a casting time of an action or use a feature or magic item that requiresa Magic action to be activated.”

  Outside of combat, you can still use this to get around obstacles. Cast aharmless spell like Prestidigitation and you can teleport without making amess.

• Boon of Energy Resistance ^(PHB): A powerful defense on any character.
• Boon of Fate^(PHB): 2d4averages to 5. Adding +5/-5 to a saving throw can rescue you or an ally, orit can cause an enemy to fail a save. On a d20 scale, 5 means that there’s a25% chance on any given roll that this will have an impact. Granted, it isstill a dice roll, so the smaller the gap, the safer this is to use. On afull caster where save-or-suck spells are such a huge part ofyour arsenal, this is devastatingly effective. The fact that you can use itonce per encounter is amazing.
• Boon of Fortitude ^(PHB): You will benefit more from Resilient (Constitution). Circle of the Moon will get more out of this than most Druids, but it’s still not an amazing choice.
• Boon of Irresistible Offense ^(PHB):Circle of the Moon is the only subclass where this is remotely appealing, and Circle of the Moon can make their beast form attacks deal Radiant damage.
• Boon of Recovery^(PHB): The LastStand feature is great insurance, but definitely not enough to justify yourfirst Epic Boon. Try to get someone to cast Death Ward on you.
• Boon of Skill ^(PHB):Potentially useful in a small party with poor skill coverage.
• Boon of Speed ^(PHB):Wild Shape into a bird.
• Boon of Spell Recall^(PHB): This givesyou a 25% chance to retain your spell slot when casting spells of up tolevel 4. You get 4 level 1 spell slots and 3 of each of levels 2, 3, and 4.On average, you get 1 extra level 1 spell slot, and slightly less than 1 forlevels 2, 3, and 4. This is fine, but definitely don’t make it your firstboon.
• Boon of the Night Spirit^(PHB): Beinvisible at all times outside of combat. Take advantage of invisibility atthe start of combat, then look for ways to become invisible as frequently aspossible. Even if you’re not making attack rolls (and you almost certainlyaren’t doing so often), the defensive benefits of invisibility are massive.However, remember that a lot of things are an Action, so it’s very easy tobreak this invisibility. Notable examples that people easily overlookinclude Hide, Search, and Study.
• Boon of Truesight ^(PHB):You have magic options to handle invisible enemies.

Druid Weapons

The Druid is proficient in simple weapons. Primal Order (Warden) adds martial weapons. Druids do not get weapon mastery. Even with martial weapons, there’s little reason to use weapons instead of cantrips.

• Club / Quarterstaff: Shillelagh is your best weapon option.
• Dagger: A fine backup weapon.

Druid Armor

The Druid is proficient in light armor and shields. Primal Order (Warden) adds medium armor.

Players native to previous editions should note that Druids no longer have a prohibition on meal armor.

• Leather Armor: Free starting gear.
• Studded Leather Armor: Probably your best AC option.
• Half Plate: The best armor you can get if you’re proficient in medium armor..
• Shield: You need one hand for a spellfocus, but since you probably don’t need weapons, there’s no reason to notcarry a shield.

Druid 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.

• Barbarian: Rage and Reckless Attack both work in Wild Shape, which can be very helpful for Circle of the Moon, but Rage twice per day may not be enough to get you through an adventuring day.
• Cleric: One level to get heavy armor proficiency and more Wisdom-based spellcasting without slowing your spell slot progression.
• Fighter: Starting with one level gets you proficiency in Constitution saves and proficiency in heavy armor. Fighting Style (Defense) is great.
• Monk: The Monk’s Unarmored Defense will easily beat light armor, and you can use Martial Arts to make an Unarmed Strike as a Bonus Action, including while you’re in Wild Shape.
• Ranger: You can probably get whatever you want more easily from either the Fighter or the Rogue.
• Rogue: Expertise is nice, and options like Sneak Attack and Cunning Action work while in Wild Shape, making them interesting options for Circle of the Moon.
• Sorcerer: 2 levels for Font of Magic is really tempting, but the ability score requirements are hard.
• Wizard: 1 level for the Wizard’s level 1 Ritual spells and for powerful level 1 options like Mage Armor and Shield can be very powerful, but the ability core requirements are hard.