Intro

Welcome to the Druid class guide where we’ll talk about stat, races, and other important information about the Druid. 

Epic

Good

Meh

Bad

Ability Scores

STR Dump

DEX This would be third highest.

CON This stat should be the second highest.

INT Dump

WIS This should be highest. 

CHA Dump

Races

Aarakocra Boost to DEX

Aasimar CHAR boost

–Protector WIS boost

–Scourge You get a CON boost.

–Fallen Nothing good for druids.

Bugbear Boost to DEX and STR. STR isn’t needed.

Centaur STR and WIS boost. You don’t need STR.

Changeling: Nothing for druids.

Dragonborn Nothing for druids.

Dwarf Con boost by 2. 

–Hill WIS boost

–Mountain Nothing good for druids.

–Duergar: Nothing good for druids.

Elf DEX boost by 2. 

–Drow: DEX and CHAR.

–Eladrin Nothing good for druids.

–High Nothing good for druids.

–Wood WIS +1 

–Sea Elf: CON + 1. 

–Shadar-Kai: CON + 1. 

Firbolg Boost to WIS and STR.

Genasi CON boost

–Air Boost to DEX

–Earth Nothing good for druids.

–Fire Nothing good for druids.

–Water WIS boost

Gith Boost to INT.

–Githyanki Nothing good for druids.

–Githzerai WIS boost.

Gnome INT boost

–Deep DEX boost. 

–Forest DEX boost.

–Rock Boost to CON

Goblin boost to CON and DEX; excellent combo.

Goliath STR and CON but more STR than CON. 

Half-Elf 2 ability scores can be increased by 1 and +2 to CHAR.

Half-Orc STR and CON. STR isn’t necessary. 

Halfling DEX boost.

–Lightfoot Nothing good for druids.

–Stout DEX boost

Hobgoblin CON and INT. Don’t need the INT.

Human: Each ability score gets a +1. As a variant human, you get a feat.

Kalashtar WIS +2 and CHAR + 1; CHAR isn’t necessary.

Kenku: DEX and WIS. Both are great to have.

Kobold DEX and -2 to STR.

Leonin CON and STR. More CON than STR. CON is good but STR isn’t needed.

Lizardfolk CON +2 and WIS +1. Great to have

Loxodon CON and WIS. Great to have.

Minotaur STR and CON. More STR than CON. Not really worth it. 

Orc STR and CON boost but more STR than CON.

Satyr CHAR and DEX. More CHAR than DEX. 

Shifter

Beasthide: CON +2 and STR gets a +1. 

–Longtooth: Your STR +2 and your DEX gets a +1. 

–Swiftstride: DEX + 2 and CHAR +1. 

–Wildhunt: DEX gets a +1 and WIS increases by 2.  

Simic Hybrid CON +2 and +1 to another stat.

Tabaxi DEX and CHAR. 

Triton CON, STR, and CHAR boost. CON good but I don’t recommend this one.

Tiefling INT and CHAR boost. 

–Asmodeus Nothing good for druids.

–Baalzebul Nothing good for druids.

–Dispatcher CHAR and DEX. 

–Fierna CHAR and WIS. MORE CHAR than WIS.

–Glasya CHAR and WIS.

–Levistus CHAR and CON. More CHAR than CON. But I wouldn’t recommend this one.

–Mammon Nothing good for druids.

–Mephistopheles Nothing good for druids.

–Zariel Nothing good for druids.

–Feral INT and DEX. 

Tortle STR and WIS boost.You don’t need STR.

Warforged CON and +1 to another stat.

Yuan-Ti Pureblood Nothing good for druids.

Class Features

Hit points: 1d8

Armor: light and medium armor, shields but druids can’t use armor or shields made of metal

Weapons: clubs, daggers, darts, javelins, maces, quarterstaff, scimitars, sickles, slings, spears

Tools: Herbalism kit

Druidic – a secret language for druids, very situational on when you can use this

Wild Shape – the bread and butter of a druid, tells you what you can turn into and how many times per long rest

Timeless body – you age slowly, roleplay purposes mostly.

Beast spells – you can cast magic while using Wild Shape

Archdruid – you can use your Wild Shape as many times as you want

Subclasses

Circle of the Land – Arctic, Coast, Desert, Forest, Grassland, Mountain, Swamp, Underdark – pick one of those geographic locations to get spells specific to that place where you became a druid. Wide variety of spells depending on your land. Spellcasting focus.

Circle of the Moon – fierce guardians of the wilds, combat focus. 

Circle of Dreams – This subclass focuses on healing. 

Circle of the Shepherd – This subclass is summon focus where you’re a support to the party

Circle of Spores – Good option if you want to play a DPS druid. Plus, you also use fungus to deal damage to enemies.  

Circle of Stars – It has a good combination of combat and healing.

Circle of Wildfire – you get a pet made out of a fire. This subclass focuses on fire damage. Primarily. You can be healing focus or damage focus druid.

Skills

Acrobatics you can wiggle and do parkour

Animal Handling You’ll be able to make friends with animals.

Arcana INT based. 

Athletics STR based.

Deception CHAR based but leave this to your talkers.

History not used very much

Insight WIS based and you can judge people’s intentions

Intimidation CHAR/ STR based (depends on DM)

Investigation INT based. Good to have

Medicine rarely used at times but you might need this to heal or check condition

Nature INT based 

Perception how good your eyesight is.

Performance CHAR based and how well you can act.

Persuasion CHAR based and it tells you how persuasive you can be.

Religion This isn’t used very often.

Sleight of Hand DEX based and you’ll be decent at it.

Stealth being sneaky but you always turn into a small animal

Survival you can navigate 

Top 3 Backgrounds

Hermit – proficiency in Medicine and Religion, herbalism kit, and one language

Outlander – gives you Athletics and Survival and one language

Folk Hero – proficiency in Animal handling and Survival

Top 3 Weapons

Quarterstaff – 1d6 damage but cast shillelagh and you’re good to go.

 As a druid, you will be casting spells and using your beast shapes to damage and those are going to be used primarily as your ‘weapons’.

Armor

Your wild shape acts like a second health bar so you don’t have to worry much about armor. You’re also limited to armor that is not metal. You can use wooden shields as well. 

Leather armor is a choice as well as dragon scalemail. Now, of course, you’ll need materials from a dragon so it won’t be available from the start or at all. Depends if you’re doing homebrew or organized play. Ask your DM. Plus, you won’t be fighting a dragon at 3rd level. 

Top 5 Feats

Healer – let’s you heal your party members and stabilized creatures if you’re going for a healing druid

Tough – gives you hit points.

Resilient – +1 to a chosen stat

Elemental adept – lets you overcome damage resistances. Great option for a Wildfire druid.

Mobile – mobility increase 

Multiclass options

I wouldn’t recommend multiclassing if you’re starting as a druid. Typically, you want to go full druid. Or multiclassing into a druid. E.g. starting as a barbarian then multiclassing into a druid for a few levels would be possible. 

However, I will put down options in case you wanted to multiclass as a druid but like I said I don’t recommend it at all.
Cleric – you’ll need a WIS of 13. This is a spellcaster so it gets a little complicated if you’re multiclassing as two spellcasters. Wouldn’t recommend it.

Fighter – DEX at 13 is needed for this. However, if you’re going to multiclass, start as a fighter then go druid. 

Monk – DEX and WIS at 13 to multiclassing into monk. But, as a monk you probably should go full monk to get those ki points, ect.

Ranger – DEX and WIS both need to be at a 13. Wouldn’t recommend it either since you want all levels of druid.