Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of druids, from the denizens of the Emerald Grove, and the two druidic companions in the game, to even the player character in certain cases. And with their unique Wild Shape ability and spells themed around working with animals, it’s easy to understand why players enjoy this class. Especially in Act 1, where talking and working with beasts unlocks so much additional content, having a druid in the party can feel very rewarding.
But the druid’s features are often seen as less powerful than those of other classes. Despite the tankiness their Wild Shape forms offer and the utility of some of their spells, their damage output is easily beaten by other spellcasters and even martial classes. Players looking to build a powerful druid to stand among their other party members should consider carefully each choice they make, including their subclass, which determines much of the druid’s strength in battle.
The Druidic Circles Focus On Different Elements Of The Natural World
From Animalistic Transformations To Harnessing The Power Of Decay
There are three druidic circles in Baldur’s Gate 3 that players can choose for their subclass at level two. These are the Circle of the Land, the Circle of the Moon, and the Circle of Spores, each of which provides different kinds of features to improve the druid’s inherent powers. The Circle of the Land focuses on enhanced spellcasting, the Moon on improved Wild Shapes, and the Spores druid on tankiness and melee damage.
These subclasses are more disparate in their focus and function than those for other classes. In the case of the barbarian subclasses, for instance, most of the subclass features fixate on one class ability, Rage. This gives the druid a bit more freedom in terms of which of their core features to use the most, and which to highlight and emphasize with the game’s many magic items.
It also makes ranking the druid subclasses a bit of a challenge, since the choice of “most powerful” really comes down to what kind of druid players want to make. However, there are still ways to quantify the strength of the features granted at each level by the different subclasses. Overall, one of these subclasses tends to fall short of the others, while the other two vie for the top spot fiercely.
The Shortcomings Of The Circle Of Spores Druid In BG3
A Fun But Flawed Subclass
The Circle of Spores gives the player control of the decaying parts of nature, necromantic abilities that harness the strength of the world’s detritus and fungal growth. And admittedly, the concept is really fun: a druid who maintains the cycle of life, death, and deconstruction, embracing the parts of the natural world that many others would turn up their nose at. Unfortunately, the actual abilities this subclass grants leave much to be desired.
The main flaw of the Spores druid is that many of their powers revolve around a new way to use their Wild Shape: Symbiotic Entity. Instead of taking a new form, the druid gets temporary hit points and a necrotic damage boost to their attacks. At higher levels, they can also create clouds of damaging spores while in this form. The issue here is that the features only last as long as the temporary hit points do, and unfortunately, the amount granted often doesn’t last long enough in combat to make the transformation worth it.
Exchanging the typical Wild Shape forms for this symbiotic entity transformation allows druids to keep casting spells, but ultimately gives them less durability and melee damage than they could have in the form of a bear or dinosaur.
Especially if a Spores druid is in the thick of combat, which their abilities encourage them to be, they will likely get hit and lose that temp HP within two or three turns at the most. The extra necrotic damage boost isn’t enough to stack up against other damage dealers, and though the Spores druid gets more uses of this Wild Shape transformation than their druidic counterparts, it still takes an action to activate. The Spores druid gets a couple of extra spells and abilities, but this shortcoming really drags the subclass down.
Land Versus Moon: The Two Best Druid Subclasses
Druids Can Fill The Role Of Spellcaster Or Tank Depending On This Choice
The Land and Moon druids are both very powerful, with the former granting the druid additional spells and slots, and the latter improving their Wild Shape transformations. Starting with the Circle of the Land, these druids choose an additional cantrip at level two, and get an ability called Natural Recovery, which works just like a wizard’s Arcane Recovery and restores spent spell slots. But the Land druid also gets to choose from among eight different land types to get two new spells permanently prepared.
These land types range from the arctic to the coast to the Underdark, and provide thematically relevant spells to the druid’s list, some otherwise inaccessible to this class, like 
misty step and 
haste. At each level where the druid gets a higher level of spellcasting, they also choose a land type to provide two extra new spells. Because of this, not only will the Land druid have more spell access than the other subclasses, it will also have more prepared at once and the ability to cast more in a day.
The Land druid also gets a few other add-on abilities, like immunity to difficult terrain, immunity to the poisoned and diseased conditions, and they can’t be charmed or frightened by elementals or fey. But these features are really not that consequential in comparison to the Land’s druid’s spellcasting. For players looking to make their druid a powerful caster and support character, Land druids have a lot to offer.
The Moon Druid Is The Ultimate Damage Taker
A Subclass That Can Soak Up Hits Like No Other
The Moon druid, meanwhile, gets the ability to Wild Shape as a bonus action and use spell slots while in animal form to recover hit points. This may not sound like a lot, but being able to act after shifting into animal form is really valuable for starting fights off on the right foot and makes transforming much more viable. Using up all of one’s spell slots on relatively small bonus action heals isn’t optimal, but it can be necessary in a pinch to keep up a transformation just a turn longer.
It’s also worth pointing out that Moon druids can’t cast spells in combat as often as other subclasses can, so using slots for healing might be the best use for them on certain adventuring days.
Of course, the real draw of the Moon druid is that it gets early access to the best Wild Shape forms, like the bear and dire raven. This makes it more powerful than the other subclasses at early levels, churning out higher melee damage than the Spores druid and taking hits in a way that would put barbarians to shame. In addition, the Moon druid’s animal attacks count as magical, which is great in conjunction with how the Baldur’s Gate 3 druid can take multiple attacks in Wild Shape form at higher levels.
At very high levels, the Moon druid can even turn into an elemental myrmidon. These elementals are already quite strong, and with the druid version of them getting multiple attacks, they can be really powerful in high-level encounters. The Moon druid’s biggest flaw is that players can’t cast spells while in animal form, meaning that using this subclass to its full extent neglects the druid’s spellcasting. But druids also get access to many spells that are useful outside of combat, meaning Moon druids can still get a lot out of their magic.
Final Rankings Of Nature’s Warriors
Which Druid Has The Best Magical Toolset?
The druids in Baldur’s Gate 3 can all be pretty powerful by the end of the game, especially considering some of the magical gear that awaits them in the Lower City. But throughout the course of the game, the Moon druid has the highest durability and quickest access to its best features. Though none of the druids are great for multiclassing, the Moon druid benefits the most from its high-level abilities and sticking to its class.
The Circle of the Land can do a lot to improve the druid’s spellcasting, and it probably offers the most choice and versatility to players at each level. But much like the Moon druid neglects spellcasting, it’s really hard to use the Land druid’s Wild Shape effectively while also making the most of the subclass features. And the Spores druid, while great in concept, mechanically lacks the strength to hold a candle to either of its opponents. In the end, the Moon druid is the strongest option in terms of sheer damage and survivability in Baldur’s Gate 3.
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