What is the Best Druid Subclass in BG3?

Welcome to our Druid subclass tier list for Baldur’s Gate 3. On this page, we will review all Druid subclasses in BG3 and try to determine which is the strongest.

The Druid is a strong spellcaster in BG3. They can feel a little weak in the early game due to their lack of strong Cantrips, but later on, they unlock a wide range of Concentration spells that can manipulate the elements to dominate the battlefield. They are capable healers, and can utilize the Wild Shape mechanic to transform into various animals. Some Druid subclasses can use Wild Shape to alter their form in other ways, unlocking additional abilities in the process.

Druids can be quite tanky because their animal forms have a separate HP bar. When you die in animal form, you revert to standard form with the same HP you had before you transformed. You can repeat this several times, depending on how many Wild Shape charges you still have.

Table of Contents:

Circle of the Land Druid

The Circle of the Land Druid plays into spellcasting more than all other Druid subclasses.

They can use the Natural Recovery feature to recover Spell Slots outside of combat, with a limited number of uses per Long Rest.

As they level up, they must choose Terrain types from which to derive extra Spells. Some of these spells are not usually available in the Druid spell list, which allows you access to a wider range of spells than all other Druids in BG3.

At Level 6, you unlock Land’s Stride, which makes you immune to the slowing effects of Difficult Terrain and gives you an Advantage on Saving Throws against being restrained by magical plants. You also get immunity to damage from plant-based surfaces like Spike Growth.

At Level 10, you get immunity to disease and poison and cannot be Charmed or Frightened by elemental and fey creatures.

The additional spells available to Circle of the Land Druids and the ability to recover Spell Slots make them excellent spellcasters, adding onto the already impressive Druid spellcasting prowess. If you prefer using Druid magic over Wild Shape transformations, then the Circle of the Land is the go-to subclass.

Learn More: BG3 Circle of the Land Druid Build

Circle of the Moon Druid

While they retain all of the basic spellcasting ability of the basic Druid class, the Circle of the Moon subclass places much more emphasis on the animal transformation mechanic of the Druid.

One of the most notable things about the Circle of the Moon is that they unlock extra animal transformations as they level up, some of which are unavailable to any other Druid subclass. These subclass-unique shapes are:

• Bear (Level 2, great for the early-game)
• Dire Raven (Level 4)
• Sabre-Toothed Tiger (Level 8)
• Elemental Myrmidon (Level 10, choose between Fire, Water, Air and Earth variants)

Unlike other Druids, you can transform into an animal using your Bonus Action instead of a full Action, allowing you to transform and attack on the same turn. You also unlock Lunar Mend, allowing you to heal yourself while in Wild Shape form. You heal by 1d8 for every Spell Slot level that you consume.

At Level 6 you get the Primal Strike feature, which allows your attacks in Wild Shape to bypass enemy physical resistance and immunity.

The Circle of the Moon is the most beginner-friendly Druid subclass thanks to the addition of the Bear Wild Shape, which is available from Level 2 and allows the Druid to tank a huge amount of damage. Overall, the Druid is more powerful when not transformed into an animal, so the Circle of the Moon won’t rank quite as high as the Circle of the Land, but it’s still a very strong subclass and does a good job of maximising your effectiveness with animal transformations.

Learn More: Circle of the Moon Druid Build

Circle of Spores Druid

The Circle of Spores Druid focuses on the darker, less pleasant side of nature – the inevitable decay that comes after death. In gameplay terms, this allows them to use fungal spores to buff themselves, damage enemies and raise zombies to fight for them.

The Circle of Spores Druid starts off strongly, immediately unlocking the Bone Chill cantrip, Halo of Spores which allows you to spend your Reaction to attempt extra Necrotic Damage on a target, and Symbiotic Entity which allows you to spend a Wild Shape Charge to get Temporary HP and double Halo of Spores damage while active. These boosts will help the Druid through the early-game by giving it more reliable damage sources that don’t rely on Spell Slots.

At Level 6 they unlock Fungal Infestation, which allows them to spend a Reaction to raise a Fungal Zombie from a dead creature. The Fungal Zombie is quite weak, but you can keep summoning more of them on subsequent turns.

At Level 10 you unlock Spreading Spores, allowing you to spend a Bonus Action to deal 2d8 AoE Necrotic Damage.

One of the main problems with the Circle of Spores Druid is that Necrotic Resistance is very common among enemies in BG3, and the subclass is very much built around Necrotic Damage. It’s still a decent subclass that offers an interesting alternative take on the Druid, but it’s not quite as good as the Circles of Land and the Moon.

Learn More: BG3 Circle of Spores Druid Build

Circle of Stars Druid

The Circle of Stars Druid was added to Baldur’s Gate 3 in Patch 8. Like the Circle of Spores, it attempts to expand on the Wild Shape mechanic in new ways that don’t involve animal transformations. However, it takes a very different path, instead focusing on astrology and gaining power from the stars.

With this subclass you can spend your Wild Shapes to assume Starry Forms instead of changing into an animal. There are three Starry Forms available:

• Archer – You can cast Luminous Arrows to deal Radiant Damage to enemies from range. This is very useful in the early-game when the Druid is limited for reliable damage options.
• Chalice – After spending a Spell Slot on a healing spell, you can use Chalice Healing to restore extra hitpoints.
• Dragon – Gives you extra mobility and guarantees a roll of at least 10 on Concentration Saving Throws, making it easier to keep your Concentration Spells active (although it won’t protect you against heavy hits; the Difficulty Class of Concentration Saves is dependant on how much damage you take).

At Level 10 these forms become more powerful – the Archer does more damage, the Chalice does more healing and the Dragon gains the ability to Fly.

Circle of Stars Druids also gain Star Maps which can be used to cast Guiding Bolt without using a Spell Slot. This is a strange extra mechanic, but it’s not bad, especially in the early-game.

From Level 6, you can use Cosmic Omens. You gain three of them after each Long Rest, and they can be spent over the course of the day to boost or debuff a dice roll that happens in your vicinity.

Star Druids are very handy in the early-game, but they don’t scale too well into the late-game. It feels like they ought to have a more impactful unlock at Level 10 – the small buffs to the existing Starry Forms just don’t quite cut it. This leaves a somewhat disappointing  conclusion to what starts off as a very promising subclass. It’s also the only Druid class that lacks an obvious identity. Yes, it’s themed around the stars and astrology, but functionally it’s just not as well defined as the others. The Circle of the Land is all about spellcasting, the Circle of the Moon focuses on the Wild Shapes, the the Circle of Spores is a Necromancer Druid. But what is the Circle of Stars? To me, it feels like a bag of random goodies that were stitched onto the Druid class. But admittedly, some of those goodies are pretty good in their own right.

Learn More: BG3 Circle of Stars Druid Build

The Druid Subclass Tier List

Now that we’ve run through and reviewed all of the Druid subclasses for BG3, we came up with this ranking.

The Circle of the Land just about does enough to make it into the S-Tier, considerably expanding on the Druid’s spellcasting by giving you access to a range of useful spells that Druids cannot normally use and allowing you to restore Spell Slots in a similar manner to the Wizard Class.

The Circle of the Moon lands in A-Tier. It’s a very good subclass and the best choice for beginners. It ranks a little behind the Circle of the Land because it focuses on the Druid’s second-best feature rather than its biggest strength. But I think all players should try this subclass sooner or later.

The B-Tier contains both the Circle of Spores and the Circle of the Stars. I think Spores is the better of these two subclasses, but not by a huge margin. They both have a few good extras at their disposal, so neither of them deserves to be dropped into the C-Tier.