Baldur’s Gate 3: Every Druid Subclass, Ranked
At level one, they also have the additional spell options «Faerie Fire» and «Sleep,» allowing them to outline targets to grant advantage or just put their enemies to sleep. At level three, they can also choose «Phantasmal Force» and «Calm Emotions,» letting them deal repeating psychic damage that will shift damage type to match the last attack that hit the target and allow them to immunize themselves and their allies from being charmed or frightened. Level five adds the options of «Plant Growth» and «Blink,» letting them create difficult terrain and flicker out of reality after their turn to evade attacks (sometimes Fey Magic is fickle.)
If you’re multiclassing with Barbarian, we recommend Leather Armour +2 for the early-game and then either the Bhaalist Armour or Elegant Studded Leather in the late-game. If you’re looking for heavy armor, you should consider grabbing the Adamantine Splint Armour during Act 1, Dwarven Splintmail from Moonrise Towers during Act 2, or the Flawed Helldusk Armour from Damon in Act 2. Another decent option is the Rippling Force Mail. You can swap in the Reaper’s Embrace or Armour of Persistence later, before picking up the Helldusk Armour as your final set.
The Circle of the Land Druid specializes in spellcasting first and foremost, gaining the ability to recover their spell slots using the «Natural Recovery» ability once per long rest. This makes them excellent utility casters and allows them to utilize their magic more freely and frequently than the other Druid subclasses.
Since the Spore Druid can perform quite a bit of necromancy already, it’s well worth tracking down the book «Necromancy of Thay» during Act 1 to unlock its secrets. Finishing the book will take until Act 3, but results in a ton of extra undead minions in combat.
Level seven offers «Dominate Beast» and «Evard’s Black Tentacles,» allowing them to turn animal enemies to their side and brutally restrain their foes with conjured tendrils. At Level nine, they can get «Dominate Person» and «Telekinesis,» letting them manipulate humanoids and throw people and objects around freely.
Goolocks also get the spell options «Dissonant Whispers» and «Tasha’s Hideous Laughter» at level 1. The former allows them to inflict psychic damage and frighten a foe, while the latter can leave a foe helplessly laughing on the ground for up to ten rounds. They gain the spells «Detect Thoughts» and «Phantasmal Force» at level three, allowing them to read minds without relying on the Mindflayer Tadpole and inflict psychic damage whose damage type changes to match the last attack that hit the target and occurs every turn for ten turns. At level five, they can get «Bestow Curse» and «Slow,» which offer them a huge range of debuff options for dealing with strong foes.
Putting all of this together, players will be able to create huge icy surfaces using spells that deal cold damage, with even the Ray of Frost Cantrip creating a decent amount of ice thanks to the Snowburst Ring, and inflicting the chilled and frost-encrusted conditions in the process. These two conditions both apply vulnerability to cold damage and can be used to freeze foes solid too.
The Circle of Spores Druid gains a «Halo of Spores» at level two. This allows them to deal necrotic damage (1d4) to a target within 6m as a reaction each turn. They also gain «Symbiotic Entity» at level two, letting them spend a Wildshape charge as an action to gain 4 temporary HP per Druid level. «Symbiotic Entity» also allows them to deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage while those temporary hit points remain and doubles the damage dealt by «Halo of Spores.» They also gain the «Bone Chill» Cantrip as an extra way to deal necrotic damage while nullifying a foe’s ability to heal themselves.
The Illusion school is sadly lacking when compared to many of the other Wizard Subclasses in the game, but does have a ton of utility for stealth. As such, taking Rogue levels can be very beneficial when playing an Illusionist. If going down this path, players could use equipment that lowers the target number for a critical hit (the Covert Cowl , for example) to complement their stealthy approach to exploration and combat.
When it comes to multiclassing, Transmutation Wizards are uniquely suited to acting as non-combat support by crafting potions, using Rogue or Bard levels to gain medicine expertise and more efficiently double all potion production. They can also make use of levels in Fighter or Cleric for access to medium and heavy armor, much like the other Wizard subclasses.
The Champion subclass is simple and effective, providing straightforward bonuses that can benefit many other classes. This is especially true of Rogues , who benefit immensely from the Improved Critical Hit effect. When stacked with equipment that further lowers the target number for critical hits (which stack in baldur’s gate 3 character Builds Gate 3), it becomes possible to create a critical hit monster very easily.
For ranged combat, players should pick up the Spellthief bow from Arron at the Druid Grove, allowing them to restore a first level spell slot the first time they land a critical hit each short rest. This can be helpful during the early-game where spell slots are few. The Joltshooter longbow can also be found in Act 1, as a reward for rescuing Councilor Florrick at Waukeen’s Rest, and allows the Ranger to build up lightning charges and dish out extra damage with their attacks.
