Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds: Druid Class Guide

in this baldur's gate 3 druid class build guide i'm going to be covering my druid build for early access and showing you what i've found to work best i'll be doing more build guides at the launch of balder's gate 3 but for now let's look at how you can use a druid effectively in the first act of early access druids are divine spell casters that not only cast damaging spells but can also heal and take the shape of different creatures via their wild shape class feature wild shape is what really sets the druid apart from other classes and in early access druids can currently change into seven different animals including direwolf raven badger polar bear cat deep roth a spider and aberrant intellect devour but more are expected upon full release of the game each of these animals not only has their own hit points abilities and attacks but they also have various features that allow the druid to do much more than it ever could in its human form for example the badger can burrow underground allowing him to go under obstacles that might be in his way or for example the raven allows the druid to fly great distances making it possible to reach places he wouldn't otherwise be able to however because these things are extremely powerful the druid can only use his wild shape two times before needing to short rest to recover this ability one really important thing to note about wild shape as well is that changing into a creature gives you a separate health pool for that creature completely independent to the health pool of the druid before it shifted this makes druids who use wild shape in combat extremely durable since they essentially have two health pools in this section we'll take a look at how to set up your druid during character creation for the best results you don't have to follow this to the letter and it's likely this will change at full launch of the game however this will hold you in good stead during early access for background i suggest taking any that provides you wisdom skills since druids need a good amount of this ability to hit targets with their spells these are animal handling insight medicine perception and survival ideally you'd have all five of these if possible but you're more likely going to get three out of five the first race i think works well for the druid class is gold dwarf not only does it provide plus one wisdom which allows you to get to 16 wisdom during character creation it gives you plus two constitution which increases your hp when not using wild shape and allows you to pass concentration checks more easily should you get hit while concentrating on a spell wood elf is also a decent choice because it provides plus two dexterity and plus one wisdom which helps with armor class when not using wild shape and still allows you to get to 16 wisdom during character creation last but not least is human which allows you to get to 16 in wisdom dexterity and constitution if you want though you'll have to dump all three other abilities note that while using wild shape your strength dexterity and constitution modifiers will be replaced by those of the creature you shift into though you will retain your intelligence wisdom and charisma modifiers for this reason strength is not needed for the druid build in early access however because you cannot cast spells while shifted you will get benefit from constitution and dexterity when you are not for skills again it's not super important but you'll have high dexterity and wisdom so selecting skills that fall under these abilities is ideal dexterity has acrobatics sleight of hand and stealth and i've already listed what wisdom skills there are your primary ability as a druid is wisdom as this makes your spells more effective in combat and can even increase the damage you deal in melee combat if you use the can trip shilli for this reason you'll want at least 16 of this ability during character creation and likely 18 later on constitution and dexterity are really the only other abilities that have use but they have no effect when you're shifted so they aren't as useful as they could be if you plan to cast spells more often than use wild shape and combat such as if you're a circle of land druid then you'll get more use from these get these to at least 14 each note that medium armor only allows you a bonus of plus two dexterity so you don't need more than 14 dexterity you can dump intelligence charisma and strength if you want your ability spread should look something like this during character creation you'll be given many spells but you'll have to choose which to prepare you can only cast your cantrips and prepared spells otherwise if you wish to use other spells that are not prepared you must prepare them first this is not such a big deal since it only takes a quick second to prepare spells so don't think too long on this every time you level up as a druid you'll be able to prepare more and more spells unlike the wizard or warlock you'll be able to prepare any spells you know and drudes know all the spells on their spell list just like clerics note that you can only use the can trips you select during character creation until you learn more so choose wisely there are a few good cantrips the druid could use and thorn whip is one of them thorn whip deals damage and pulls enemies towards you this is great for fights that include elevation as it allows the druid to pull enemies down from below removing the advantage of the target and sometimes flinging them a long distance downward which can damage or kill enemies shilly allows the druid to buff specific weapons you might be using changing the damage roll of the weapon to a d8 and using wisdom for your attack and damage rolls with that weapon since you should have dumped strength anyway this is a great way to boost your melee damage druids do melee sometimes so it's nice to have it doesn't require concentration so you should have this active constantly produced flame not only deals damage but also creates light around the target struck this allows you and party members to strike those in the light more easily because if there is not enough light then attackers have disadvantage if they don't have dark vision some druid spells require concentration in order to remain active you can tell which these are because it will say on the spell itself concentration can be broken if you cast another spell that requires concentration so for example if you cast ferry fire on an enemy but then you cast flame blade you will stop concentrating on fairy fire and begin concentrating on flame blade but that is not the only way concentration can be broken if you take damage while concentrating on a spell then you must make a constitution saving throw and if you fail then the effect of that spell ends should you succeed in your saving throw however then you maintain your concentration and the spell continues this is why it's important for druids to have constitution because they have spells that require concentration and they are wasted if it is constantly broken druids have a wide variety of spells and these differ from other spellcasting classes a couple level one spells i highly recommend are entangled thunder wave and fairy fire good barry and healing word are also not bad choices entangle allows you to crowd control a group of enemies in an area if they should fail a strength check this can be great in fights where you're outnumbered or you need to cover your flank thunderwave is an excellent aoe that can knock enemies backward often to their deaths but has a short range use this when enemies get near you fairy fire is an aoe that gives you and your party advantage on all attack rules versus affected targets but requires concentration to maintain this can seriously change the direction of a battle as long as you can maintain it goodberry can provide a near infinite amount of consumable healing items which is very useful this can be used on other friendlies as well allowing you to provide healing for the group healing word can revive fallen teammates and heal them from a distance what's particularly good about healing word as well is that it is a bonus action so you can still attack or cast another spell in the same turn druids in baldr's gate 3 get to choose a subclass otherwise known as a circle at level 2. the two subclasses they can choose from currently are circle of the land and circle of the moon circle the land allows the druid an additional cantrip as well as the ability to replenish some spells once per long rest although the focus of this subclass in 5th edition dnd is nature magic it doesn't really have much of an impact in early access as it is currently because you can't get past level 4. circle of the moondrieds have a heavier focus on the wild shape ability allowing them to use it as a bonus action in combat this allows them to transform move and attack all in the same turn something circle of the land ruins cannot do additionally circle of the moon druids can change into a polar bear which has a huge health pool at 30 allowing them to tank many hits in combat without dying polar bears can goad enemies into attacking them making a druid who uses this combination a great tank for the group if you're going to use wild shape in combat polar bear is the way to go on top of that circle the moon druids can consume a spell slot in order to heal themselves while transformed allowing them to stay shifted longer the amount of healing gained is equal to a d8 per spell slot level because resting is not so much of an issue in baldur's gate through early access and players can rest pretty much at will i highly suggest choosing the circle of the moon to hit subclass for the time being if resting ever changes or is different at live release then this may change but for now it's your best option at level 3 you'll gain another level 1 spell slot 2 level 2 spell slots and you'll gain access to level 2 druid's spells there are a lot of great spells here and i highly recommend enhanceability spike growth moon beam and heat metal enhanceability allows you to grant advantage on checks related to one ability as well as some other effects in certain cases this is a fantastic way to improve checks like perception or perhaps in dialogue with intimidation or persuasion to get the outcome you want note this does not apply to saving throws or attack roles with that ability spike growth allows you to control a large space of the battlefield with thorns that slow creatures and damage them if they try to move through it this is an excellent way to keep enemy melee units from getting to your friendlies and can be invaluable when you are outnumbered moonbeam hits for 2 d10 radiant damage and a small aoe that persists on the ground after its cast dealing damage every round and what's really great about this ability is that you can spend an action to move the aoe up to 18 meters this means you only need to cast it once per combat and can conserve valuable spell slots heat metal allows you to deal 2 d8 fire damage to a target that is wielding a metal weapon in addition it gives them disadvantage on attack rules and ability checks until your next turn that's all on top of being able to cast it again on the target as a bonus action dealing damage and reapplying disadvantage in short this is a great spell to lock down tough enemies once you reach level 3 you'll be able to cast some level 1 spells as level 2 versions using level 2 spell slots instead of level 1 spell slots this works out tremendously for this build because it allows you to cast some of the better level 1 spells as more powerful versions for instance you can cast thunder wave at level 2 for an extra 1d8 damage or you can cast healing word for an extra 1d4 healing at level 4 you'll gain another level 2 spell slot as well as another can trip additionally you can pick a feat and i highly recommend taking ability improvement to get 18 in wisdom as a druid you simply cannot have enough wisdom so this is the obvious choice equipment is less useful to druids that remain shifted for long periods of time however it can be very helpful in combat situations where they are casting spells since they have decent dexterity they want to have a ranged weapon of some type as well as a club or quarter staff that they can buff with shilaely i recommend a club though since this will allow you to use a shield in your offhand which will increase your armor class by plus too druids can use shields so you might as well take advantage of it druids can wear medium armor and while this won't matter while they're in wild shape since each wild shape has its own armor value it will matter when they are not the best medium armor in early access is lyzelle's githyanki half plate or scale male plus one unfortunately druids cannot use geth yankee half plate or scale male because they are made of metal so your best bet is to get the chain shirt plus one which is not considered metal in the shattered sanctum between this and a shield you can reach 18 total armor class which is quite good when it comes to accessories the absolutes talisman works well for this build because the circle of the moon druids will likely be in combat often while using wild shape this allows them to maintain their wild shape form and keep on fighting without having to stop to heal this necklace can be found in the shattered sanctum the whispering promise ring also has a nice synergy since you can heal yourself and it will increase your attack rules by doing so it's also located in the shattered sanctum final tips it's important to remember that even though you may be playing a circle of the moon druid you do not need to be in polar bear form all the time in combat you cannot cast spells while using wild shape so make sure you cast any spells you want before you transform because you can use wild shape as a bonus action your spells will be just as strong as circle of land druids in early access so don't be afraid to fling them away a lot of what the druid class has to offer besides the flexibility and spell selection is the utility that different creatures it can shift into provides for instance being able to tunnel under a wall or fly over a river etc the druid class really encourages you to think outside the box so don't be afraid to do so remember that your strength dexterity and constitution become that of the creature you change into but your intelligence wisdom and charisma do not for this reason if you plan to be in wild shape form a lot it might be a good idea to pump wisdom intelligence and charisma for better saving throws while in combat as well as skill checks outside of it there is a lot of flexibility to the druid so play around with what you like lastly remember to plan your party around the type of druid you wish to play if you want to be more of a caster then you might want to sub out will gail or shadow heart on the other hand if you plan to be a polar bear tank then maybe you want to swap out shadow heart or lysel just don't take shadowheart plan accordingly so that you have a good party setup stay tuned for more baldur's gate 3 content as we take a look at classes and builds and be sure to drop by our twitch channel if you have questions about the game if you need something specific check out our baldur's gate 3 wiki which we are currently updating for update 4. 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Keywords: baldurs gate 3 gameplay, bg3 early access, bg3 build, baldurs gate 3 druid guide, baldurs gate 3 druid build, early access build, early access guide, bg3 druid build, best druid build bg3, baldurs gate 3 best druid build, bg3 best build, druid build bg3, bg3 druid guide, update 4 druid build, update 4 druid guide, wild shape guide, wild shape build, bg3 wild shape, baldurs gate 3 wild shape, baldurs gate 3 druid tank build, tank build, bear build

Id: EF1pNsPM3vI

Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 26 2021