One D&D Druid Subclass Tier List
Full Subclass Tier List
The subclass rankings are based solely on other available subclasses within the same base class, not necessarily how they would perform in a game or compared to subclasses from other base classes. For a more holistic view on the power level of each subclass, reference the Full Subclass Tier List above.
*All classes with an asterisk (*) are in the 2024 PHB*
S Tier
None
A Tier
Land Druid* – Druids are casters first, so having the subclass that makes you the best caster possible is obviously a good idea! The power of the Land Druid comes from its versatility – the ability to switch between biomes to get access to different spells is quite powerful (even if you are realistically going to be using the same few biomes the vast majority of the time). On top of that, recovering spell slots is excellent so you’re also casting more spells than other subclasses.
Stars Druid* – Despite receiving no changes in the new handbook, the Stars Druid still nearly comes out on top. In short, the abilities here are just all very solid. Your Starry Form is great with all three modes being potentially relevant, Cosmic Omen is cool, and your Starry Form buffs come at just the right time.
B Tier
Wildfire Druid – The “blaster” of the Druids, the Wildfire Druid focuses mostly on doling out as much damage as it can rather than being relegated to the typical support role it normally is. While it was stronger prior to the nerf to Conjure Minor Elementals, this is still the Druid class to play if you want control, healing, and damage all in one neat package.
Sea Druid* – The Sea Druid is an extremely weird subclass that is functionally built around your Wrath of the Sea feature which asks you to walk up to enemies (an action Druids rarely want to do.) This can offer consistent damage and CC over the course of a fight which is nice, especially in conjunction with Spike Growth, but you are likely going to be a bit of a one trick pony. However, when that trick is solid, that’s not always a bad thing.
C Tier
Moon Druid* – The Moon Druid used to be the subject of ire as it would completely monopolize the earliest and later levels with its not so great balancing, but with the changes to Wild Shape, it’s definitely been reigned in a bit. The Moon Druid still excels in the earliest levels as they get multiattack sooner than any other class (save War Cleric who also gets it level 3) while also being tankier than most others. However, this is balanced out relatively quickly once your teammates hit level 5 and you’ll start to get progressively outpaced by your allies (less so than you used to, but still).
Dreams Druid – Dreams Druid is completely all over the place, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Their standout feature is their first one giving you a well of healing that you can use rather than constantly saving your 1st level spell slots for when you inevitably need to Healing Word someone. Beyond healing, Dreams doesn’t do any one thing super well, but has such a range of abilities that this is a great class for someone who doesn’t have a strong direction for their Druid.
D Tier
Spores Druid – The Spores Druid is a weird one as it’s not necessarily popular from a flavor perspective and a lot of the abilities don’t really do much, but if you need an absolute boat load of health, this is the class for you. Since your Symbiotic Entity gives you a large pool of temporary health to work with, this subclass is kind of asking you to front line without giving you any other support in that capacity which is extremely weird. Still, being extremely hard to put down is certainly a fine place to be if you’re ok with standing back and concentrating on an important spell.
F Tier
Shepherd Druid – With the changes to the Conjuration spells, the Shepherd Druid has been the subject one of the biggest collateral damage hits in the new ruleset. Some of your abilities don’t even technically work anymore (any reasonable DM would make sure they do and it’s not hard to update them), and even when they do, they aren’t high impact. This is as close to a Druid base class as you can realistically get.
