Sea Druid Build Guide – The Strength of the Ocean
Join the discussion on Reddit!
Article Disclaimers
For all D&D guides on Nat1gaming, they only use the main sourcebooks (Player’s Handbook, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything) as well as Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos (mostly for Silvery Barbs) as those tend to be the most commonly used books at tables. Always be sure that if you’re following a guide that you’re adhering to your tables rules about what sourcebooks you are allowed to follow.
Any spell, class, feature, or other game item that is linkable on this website is covered by the 5th edition Open Games License and will be in the Player’s Handbook, but not everything in the Player’s Handbook will be linked to. All other materials that aren’t linked to are from other sourcebooks or aren’t allowed to be linked to per the 5th Edition Open Games License, so please refer to the appropriate sourcebooks for that information.
For the purposes of this guide, it will be assumed that you would not be multiclassing. While multiclassing can be excellent for many of these, this is for those who want to play the build all the way through in the same class. Guides that use multiclassing will be separate from these.
For spellcasters, you may notice substantial overlap between the spell lists of builds with the same base class. This is due to each guide utilizing a generically good spell list and not considering extenuating factors that will influence how you particularly sculpt your spell list. When creating your own spell list, you should take into account the campaign setting, what spells any other party members are capable of casting, potential overlap (ritual spells tend to overlap so it’s rare you need multiple people capable of casting them), or potential shortcomings in the parties total spell list. While this guide can definitely help point you in the right direction for crafting a spell list, you should use your judgement and preferences to figure out what spells make the most sense for your character.
To that end, please refer to the Spell List and Spell Tier list for any substitutions you’d want to make to the build.
Druid Spell List and Spell Tier List
As Druid can change their spell choices with a long rest, don’t be afraid to liberally change around spells and experiment. The spell choices given in the guide are simply suggestions and do not have to be perfectly adhered to.
Why Circle of the Sea Druid?
Not only is this a brand new subclass, it’s pretty good too! Circle of the Sea is a nice choice for those who want to be a more rough and tumble Druid that gets up close to enemies and hits them hard with their Wrath of the Sea. Alternatively, if you know that you’re going to be near a lot of water, this will be nice as well considering the subclass name!
Over all, if you want to get more into the thick of the fight without being a Wild Shaping Moon Druid, this is the subclass I would go for.
Sea Druid Abilities Ranked
Wrath of the Sea (Level 3) – B Tier – Having to stand right next to enemies is not ideal, but using a bonus action every turn to deal a decent amount of damage and potentially shove enemies around is definitely very interesting.
Cantrips and 1st Level Spells (Level 3) – D+ Tier – Thunderwave is something, but not nearly enough to salvage this ranking.
2nd Level Spells (Level 3) – D Tier – Shatter isn’t useless, but Gust of Wind certainly is.
3rd Level Spells (Level 5) – A- Tier – Lightning Bolt is already an excellent option for Druids as they get functionally no good damage options and Water Breathing isn’t half bad either! This is a really nice level for the Sea Druid.
Aquatic Affinity (Level 6) – C- Tier – While doubling the emanation range sounds good, you are probably in no less danger from 10 feet away than you were 5 feet away. The only advantage that distance brings is not being hit with an opportunity attack if the enemy has no form of reach. The swim speed is a nice little addition as well making this an alright, but unexciting ability.
4th Level Spells (Level 7) – F Tier – Two truly terrible spells.
5th Level Spells (Level 9) – D+ Tier – Once again, pretty rough spells. It’s sad that the only great spell on this spell list is Lightning Bolt from 4 levels ago.
Stormborn (Level 10) – A- Tier – A fly speed is already very nice, but three elemental damage resistances is quite strong.
Oceanic Gift (Level 14) – B+ Tier – Doubling up on your main ability, even if you have to pay the cost twice, is a pretty strong ability. The downside is that you will be really limited in how many fights you can use this. Alternatively, you may be able to really change your team dynamic if you want to stay back and put this on an ally who can make better use of it than you can.
Quick Level Up Guide
| Level | Class Features/Feat | Notes |
| 1 | Druidic, Spellcasting, Primal Order (Warden) | + Guidance + Starry Wisp + Detect Magic + Entangle + Faerie Fire + Healing Word |
| 2 | Wild Shape, Wild Companion | + Goodberry |
| 3 | Circle of the Sea, Wrath of the Sea, Circle of the Sea Spells | + Ray of Frost (Sea) + Fog Cloud (Sea) + Thunderwave (Sea) + Gust of Wind (Sea) + Shatter (Sea) + Spike Growth |
| 4 | Feat: War Caster (WIS) | + Shape Water + Pass Without Trace |
| 5 | Wild Resurgence | – Detect Magic + Conjure Animals + Lightning Bolt (Sea) + Revivify + Sleet Storm + Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 6 | Aquatic Affinity | + Dispel Magic |
| 7 | Elemental Fury | + Control Water (Sea) + Ice Storm (Sea) + Polymorph |
| 8 | Feat: Resilient (CON) | – Faerie Fire + Conjure Woodland Beings + Wall of Fire |
| 9 | – | + Absorb Elements + Conjure Elemental (Sea) + Hold Monster (Sea) + Transmute Rock |
| 10 | Stormborn | + Thorn Whip + Wall of Stone |
| 11 | – | – Goodberry + Heal + Transport via Plants |
| 12 | Feat: Wisdom to 20 | None |
| 13 | – | + Plane Shift |
| 14 | Oceanic Gift | None |
| 15 | Improved Elemental Fury | + Animal Shapes |
| 16 | Feat: Constitution to 18 | None |
| 17 | – | + Shapechange |
| 18 | Beast Spells | + Foresight |
| 19 | Epic Boon: Boon of Luck | + True Resurrection |
| 20 | Archdruid | + Antipathy/Sympathy |
The Ultimate One D&D Druid Guide
Not seeing the build you would want from this guide? This article can help!
Level One Build
Species: Human
Attributes:
| POINT BUY | |
| STRENGTH | 8 |
| DEXTERITY | 14 |
| CONSTITUTION | 14 (+1 background) = 15 |
| INTELLIGENCE | 10 |
| WISDOM | 15 (+2 background) = 17 |
| CHARISMA | 10 |
Class: Druid
Class Features: Druidic, Spellcasting, Primal Order (Warden)
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Perception, and Survival (Variant Human)
Background: Farmer
Human Feat: Musician (or Alert if two or more party members have Musician)
Starting Equipment: Leather Armor, Shield, Sickle, Druidic Focus, Explorer’s Pack, Herbalism Kit, and 9 gp + 50gp from background
Starting Spells:
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
Species: Human
Humans are simple – you get an extra Origin feat, Heroic Inspiration each long rest, and an extra skill. This is a great species for those who didn’t get their origin feat of choice with their background.
Human Feat: Musician (or Alert)
Musician is an excellent feat that at least one party member should have, if not two. However, if your team doesn’t need a Musician, Alert is an excellent backup.
Attributes
| POINT BUY | |
| STRENGTH | 8 |
| DEXTERITY | 14 |
| CONSTITUTION | 14 (+1 background) = 15 |
| INTELLIGENCE | 10 |
| WISDOM | 15 (+2 background) = 17 |
| CHARISMA | 10 |
Like other casters, Constitution and their spellcasting attribute (Wisdom in this case) should be pumped as much as possible. Since Druids with Warden have Medium Armor proficiency, there’s no reason to go above 14 Dexterity as you can only get the +2 modifier while wearing medium armor. The rest of the stat allocations are really up to you, but the best is typically having a split of neutral Intelligence and Charisma. If you don’t have anyone with good Intelligence, investing in that to have slightly better skill checks could be a good idea as well.
Proficiencies: Insight, Perception, and Survival (Human)
Solid proficiencies for Druid as they’re all Wisdom based skills.
Background: Farmer
The best background for Druids as it gives Constitution and Wisdom on top of the best Origin feat that you can get with this attribute split.
Starting Equipment – Leather Armor, Shield, Sickle, Druidic Focus, Explorer’s Pack, Herbalism Kit, and 9 gp + 50gp from background
Standard Druid fare, nothing novel.
Class – Druid
Starting out, Druids get three abilities – Druidic, Spellcasting, and Primal Warden.
Druidic is a language known only among druids, and if you want to covertly talk or leave messages to other Druids, this is how you’d do it.
Spellcasting is pretty much the same as the other full casters and will be expounded on in other sections.
Finally, you get a new feature with Primal Order. You have the choice between Magician which is exceedingly mediocre or Warden which gives you medium armor and martial weapon proficiency. I would personally always take Warden as medium armor proficiency is way too tempting to not pick up.
Starting Spells
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
This is going to be an extremely standard spell list for a level one Druid. You have good cantrips and versatile level one spells with varying effects from healing to CC. You only have one way to deal damage at this point, but Druids are support casters first, so having spells that are good at making your allies lives easier is a good thing.
The Build Level 2 Onward
Level 2-5
Level 2
Class Features: Wild Shape, Wild Companion
Spell Change Log: + Goodberry
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
For your base Druid abilities, you get access to your Wild Shape, and like every Druid except for Moon Druids, you can turn into anything max CR 1/4 that can’t swim or fly. You’re really only going to use this for utility as you should be a more dangerous threat in human form, but you can use it in combat in a real pinch.
The final ability that you get at this level is Wild Companion. You can use Wild Shape to cast Find Familiar, and while it’s not permanent like a Wizard’s would be, getting it for a bit is still pretty good!
For your actual spell choice, you can pick up Goodberry. Goodberry is a weird spell as it functions as food replacement, but also heals whoever eats it by 1. This is good to dish out some light healing in early levels, avoid using rations, and if your DM is willing to play ball (while it doesn’t work within the official rules, most DMs allow it), you can feed it to downed allies to bring them back up with your action (and sometimes a Medicine check). This use is good in particular as each ally can carry a few berries around to bring up anyone who gets downed (you in particular if you have no other healer in the party).
Level 3
Class: Circle of the Sea
Class Features: Wrath of the Sea, Circle of the Sea Spells
Spell Change Log: + Ray of Frost (Sea) + Fog Cloud (Sea) + Thunderwave (Sea) + Gust of Wind (Sea) + Shatter (Sea) + Spike Growth
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
Level 3 brings a lot for you as you get your subclass, two new abilities, and a slew of new spells!
With your subclass, you get FIVE new spells to work with of varying effectiveness.
Ray of Frost is a decent cantrip with a bit of CC tacked onto it which is nice (and can combo really well with other slow effects like the Sap weapon mastery).
Fog Cloud can be a really useful cover spell to stop line of sight so enemies can’t spell cast, to help you infiltrate, make a distraction, make an escape, etc. Solid spell all around.
Thunderwave is an alright damage spell that can also push enemies around which is solid at earlier levels (not at this point realistically, but you never know).
Gust of Wind is pretty bad admittedly, really just a utility spell.
Finally, Shatter is a very middling damage spell that you aren’t going to be using often.
For your ability, you get Wrath of the Sea. This is your alternative use of Wild Shape which gives you a small aura that surrounds you, that as a bonus action, lets you potentially deal a good amount of damage to enemies while pushing them away. You do have to get close to your enemies to use this which is far from ideal, but this is pretty strong if you are close enough.
For level three you get one of the strongest Druid spells in general, not just in the second level slot – Spike Growth. This spell is truly messed up for many reasons. First off, the range on this is absolutely massive with the AOE also being quite solid. Second, enemies take 2d4 damage for every 5 feet that it travels, and considering this is difficult terrain, that can add up. Lastly (as mentioned previously), this is 5 feet traveled, not moved. If you or your allies have a way to force movement, you can stack up an unholy amount of damage extremely quickly. Even if you have literally zero other ways to make this good, it’s still such a good spell that it doesn’t matter.
Level 4
Feat: War Caster (WIS)
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: + Shape Water + Pass Without Trace
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Detect Magic |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
Hitting level four means a feat, a cantrip, and more spells.
For your first feat, you absolutely have to pick up War Caster. Buffing your Wisdom to 18, getting advantage on concentration checks, and being able to spellcast when you don’t have two free hands is excellent.
For your cantrip choice this level, I like Shape Water. This cantrip is surprisingly versatile so it’s nice to have!
Furthermore, you get a new spell to work with this level!
You get the best stealth spell in the game – Pass Without Trace. Pass Without Trace grants your squad a natural PLUS TEN on all stealth checks. That is absolutely egregious and can make even the most heavy-footed companions reasonably stealthy. An absolute essential for any Druid.
Level 5
Spell Change Log: – Detect Magic / + Conjure Animals + Lightning Bolt (Sea) + Revivify + Sleet Storm + Water Breathing (Sea)
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
Now you get access to third level spells and Wild Resurgence!
Wild Resurgence lets you, on each of your turns, to convert a spell slot into a Wild Shape charge if you have none. Conversely, once per day, you can exchange a Wild Shape charge for a first level slot if you like. Realistically, this ability isn’t that helpful, but if you really need to Wild Shape and you’re all out, this will be helpful.
For your Circle spells, you get Lightning Bolt and Water Breathing.
Lightning Bolt is a really solid damage spell for the level, something that Druids don’t normally get. Worse than Fireball, but not by much.
Water Breathing does exactly as advertised. This isn’t something you’ll need often, but it will be invaluable when you do need it.
You get way too many excellent spells at this level, so we’re going to need to make room. To that end, I would recommend cutting Detect Magic. While an excellent spell, it is common enough that someone else should be able to pick up that slack for you anyway!
For your spell choices, you get the excellent Conjure Animals, Revivify, and Sleet Storm.
Conjure Animals is a very solid spell that moves around the battlefield absolutely demolishing anything that comes across it. This is nice as you don’t have to even get close to enemies to put the hurt on them!
Revivify is an absolute staple for every party to have and you can never have too many people who can cast it. You likely won’t cast this often, but it’s invaluable to always have it prepared.
Sleet Storm is an excellent AOE spell that makes a lot of difficult terrain, blinds enemies, can knock enemies prone, and can really stifle spellcasters. This is really brutal against pretty much any enemy that doesn’t have an excellent ranged attack option.
Level 6-10
Level 6
Class Features: Aquatic Affinity
Spell Change Log: + Dispel Magic
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
Level 6 brings a new Class Feature with Aquatic Affinity. Now your Aura extends out to 10 feet and you get a swimming speed. This isn’t much of an improvement, but it is something.
For your spell choice you can pick up Dispel Magic! Dispel Magic is no Counterspell, but it is the next best thing! Being able to stop an existing magical effect is a staple for every party and you really can’t have too many of them.
Level 7
Class Feature: Elemental Fury
Spell Change Log: + Control Water (Sea) + Ice Storm (Sea) + Polymorph
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Faerie Fire |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
Level 7 brings Elemental Fury and fourth level spells!
Your Druid feature is Elemental Fury which lets you choose between adding your WIS modifier to cantrips or you get 1d8 elemental damage to a melee attack once per turn. You’re going to be interested in the extra cantrip damage as you shouldn’t be getting close enough for the melee damage improvement.
For your Circle spells, you get Control Water and Ice Storm. Unfortunately, similar to the spells you got at level 3, these are atrocious. You may at least get some value with the first and second level spells, but I would functionally never use these.
Polymorph is so egregiously good as it can take yourself or an ally who’s low on health, low on resources, or for whatever reason not able to fight and turn you back into a threat. While the Beasts don’t scale past level 8, Giant Ape and Tyrannosaurus Rex will remain viable for quite a long time regardless. Furthermore, this can function as CC as well to turn an enemy into something harmless like a Crab for a little bit in case you need that. Excellent spell all around.
Level 8
Feat: Resilient (CON)
Class Features: None
Spell Change Log: – Faerie Fire / + Conjure Woodland Beings + Wall of Fire
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
You get another feat this level and I like going for Resilient (Constitution). Getting 16 Constitution and proficiency in Constitution saving throws makes you even tankier than you were before and makes it much harder to lose concentration on your spells.
Since there’s a few spells you want, something has to go, and right now it’s Faerie Fire. This is decent CC, but not something you’re looking to use anymore.
For your first spell, you can grab Conjure Woodland Beings. This is like a slightly juiced up Spirit Guardians with less range and no difficult terrain. That said, this spell is still plenty strong as it can dole out a lot of damage if you’re willing to run around the battlefield, something you won’t have issue with as a Sea Druid.
Finally, you get one of my favorite spells in the game – Wall of Fire. Wall of Fire has good range, great AOE, and great damage. It’s just a great spell all around and is super consistent at destroying low health enemies and roasting tougher ones.
Level 9
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: + Absorb Elements + Conjure Elemental (Sea) + Hold Monster (Sea) + Transmute Rock
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
Level 9 brings fifth level spells, and you get your final Circle spells as well!
Your circle spells this level are Conjure Elemental and Hold Monster.
Conjure Elemental changed from the 5e version, and is unfortunately, much worse. The Elemental is stuck in place, and with next to no reach, you are not going to get much value out of this.
Hold Monster is a high risk, high reward spell where, if the target passes, this spell does nothing. However, if the target fails, then you and your squad may be able to gank them in one round. I don’t like spending this high of a spell slot on a gamble, but if you believe you can get this to work, then this can be super potent.
For your spell choices, you’re going with a first level option and a fifth level option: Absorb Elements and Transmute Rock.
Absorb Elements is great at defending yourself against large blasts of elemental damage, like from a Dragon’s Breath weapon. While those types of attacks were likely not common earlier in your campaign, they’ll definitely become more common as you keep ascending in levels, so this is a good time to grab it.
Transmute Rock has an incredible amount of versatility as you can get get enemies stuck in a -4x speed terrain, trap them in stone, destroy buildings/hallways, and so much more. Extremely versatile with strong uses in and out of combat.
Level 10
Class Features: Stormborn
Spell Change Log: + Thorn Whip + Wall of Stone
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Goodberry |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
For level 10 you get another subclass ability, cantrip, and spell!
You get your penultimate subclass ability with Stormborn. While your Wrath of the Sea is active, you get a flying speed and resistance to cold, thunder, and lightning damage. Having Flying in combat is really powerful, especially as many enemies don’t have great ranged attack options, and the resistances don’t hurt either.
For your cantrip choice, you can pick up Thorn Whip. While decent, this is not a cantrip I’m generally super excited about for Druids. However, you can use this to drag an enemy towards you and then you can blast them with your aura. A pretty solid one, two punch!
Finally, for your spell choice you can pick up Wall of Stone. Unlike the other CC spells currently available to you, Wall of Stone is good at truly trapping enemies where they are. While the wall can be broken through, it is very tough so it will likely consume at least a couple of turns worth of actions to get through. However, sometimes that’s all you need as bisecting fights and cutting enemy action economies in half is extremely powerful.
Level 11-15
Level 11
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: – Goodberry / + Heal + Transport via Plants
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
Sixth level spell time and you need to make a little more room to get multiple of them. With that, Goodberry should be nixed at this point as that’s the only non-essential spell still in your rotation. If there ever comes a time you really need it, you can always bring it back.
For spell pickups, you can grab Heal and Transport via Plants.
Heal is excellent as it’s 70 flat points of recovery with some status recoveries on top of it. A little pricey, but worthwhile.
For your second spell, you get the excellent Transport via Plants. While there are limitations here compared to Teleport, this is a full spell level lower and has no failure rate, you just need two big plants you know about. This should be a simple ask and will only stop you from getting where you want to go in very specific biomes or if your DM is being a real stickler.
Level 12
Feat: Wisdom to 20
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
Twelve level brings another feat, and I would recommend simply pushing your Wisdom to 20 for the best spells possible.
Level 13
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: + Plane Shift
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
Seventh level spell time, and you can pick up another excellent transportation option – Plane Shift. While you can’t use it to travel within the same plane, this can be a decent escape tool provided you aren’t in combat and you have the magic fork attuned to the plane you’re trying to go to. What’s nice about this, though, is that if you’re going back to your original plane, this doesn’t have a fail chance like Teleport would. In a real pinch, you can try to banish creatures with this as well making it rather versatile.
Level 14
Class Features: Oceanic Gift
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
Level 14 brings your final subclass feature – Oceanic Gift.
Oceanic Gift lets you put your Wrath of the Sea around an ally, or with two Wild Shape charges, around yourself and an ally with all the added benefits. This is obviously very strong as Oceanic Gift is good. Slap this on an ally who doesn’t have great use of their bonus action and both of you can go to town.
Level 15
Class Feature: Improved Elemental Fury
Spell Change Log: + Animal Shapes
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
You get improvement to your Elemental Fury and access to eighth level spells!
Now you get a 300 foot range on your cantrips. Nothing spectacular, but it can be helpful.
Now you get access to eighth level spells so you can take what’s arguably the best one – Animal Shapes. Rather than dive into it, you should check out the Druid spell tier list to see why I rate this spell so highly, but even without its broken uses, you can still find some solid utility for this.
Level 16-20
Level 16
Feat: Constitution to 18
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: None
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
You get your final feat, and while a bit boring, I like just buffing up Constitution. More health and better concentration checks can never be bad.
Level 17
Class Feature: None
Spell Change Log: + Shapechange
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
| 9th Level Spell | Shapechange |
Finally, you’ve reached ninth level spells!
To kick it off, you have to take the Druid’s best ninth level spell with Shapechange.
Shapechange is a better Polymorph that lets you turn into anything and even change forms as needed if the current one is working for you. This is an incredibly powerful spell as a CR 17-20 monster should be substantially stronger than a single level 17-20 adventurer making you a much bigger threat in a given fight. That said, since this spell lasts an hour. It is possible that you may get to fight multiple times with the spell active making it even more potent!
Level 18
Class Features: Beast Spells
Spell Change Log: + Foresight
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
| 9th Level Spell | Foresight |
| 9th Level Spell | Shapechange |
Level 18 brings a new Druid ability with Beast Spells.
Beast Spells is definitely more interesting as it allows you to spellcast in Wild Shape (provided the spell doesn’t need a material component). This is pretty strong as you can turn into a Flying creature and be a lot more mobile while spellcasting which can drastically increase your odds of surviving an encounter.
For your spell, you can take the best buff spell in the game with Foresight. Foresight turns any melee ally into an absolute beast by giving them advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, saving throws, and all enemies have disadvantage against them. That is extremely powerful, and lasting nearly a whole day is the cherry on top.
Level 19
Epic Boon: Boon of Luck
Class Features: None
Spell Change Log: + True Resurrection
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
| 9th Level Spell | Foresight |
| 9th Level Spell | Shapechange |
| 9th Level Spell | True Resurrection |
Level 19 brings your Epic Boon, and it’s hard to go wrong with Boon of Fate. Being able to potentially turn a failure into a success and vice versa, even if it’s once per short or long rest, can be the difference between surviving an encounter and not.
For your spell choice, you can pick up True Resurrection. While you are unlikely to cast this often, being able to restore a being in their entirety is pretty strong if you’re in a situation where a Revivify doesn’t get the job done.
Level 20
Class Feature: Archdruid
Spell Change Log: + Antipathy/Sympathy
| SPELL LEVEL | SPELL NAME |
| Cantrip | Guidance |
| Cantrip | Ray of Frost (Sea) |
| Cantrip | Shape Water |
| Cantrip | Starry Wisp |
| Cantrip | Thorn Whip |
| 1st Level Spell | Absorb Elements |
| 1st Level Spell | Entangle |
| 1st Level Spell | Fog Cloud (Sea) |
| 1st Level Spell | Healing Word |
| 1st Level Spell | Thunderwave (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Gust of Wind (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Pass Without Trace |
| 2nd Level Spell | Shatter (Sea) |
| 2nd Level Spell | Spike Growth |
| 3rd Level Spell | Conjure Animals |
| 3rd Level Spell | Dispel Magic |
| 3rd Level Spell | Lightning Bolt (Sea) |
| 3rd Level Spell | Revivify |
| 3rd Level Spell | Sleet Storm |
| 3rd Level Spell | Water Breathing (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Conjure Woodland Beings |
| 4th Level Spell | Control Water (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Ice Storm (Sea) |
| 4th Level Spell | Polymorph |
| 4th Level Spell | Wall of Fire |
| 5th Level Spell | Conjure Elemental (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Hold Monster (Sea) |
| 5th Level Spell | Transmute Rock |
| 5th Level Spell | Wall of Stone |
| 6th Level Spell | Heal |
| 6th Level Spell | Transport via Plants |
| 7th Level Spell | Plane Shift |
| 8th Level Spell | Animal Shapes |
| 8th Level Spell | Antipathy/Sympathy |
| 9th Level Spell | Foresight |
| 9th Level Spell | Shapechange |
| 9th Level Spell | True Resurrection |
Your final level brings you the capstone ability – Archdruid. You can regain a charge of Wild Shape when you roll initiative if you have none and you can convert Wild Shape charges into spell slots. This is much weaker than the previous iteration of Archdruid, but so few campaigns make it this far so it probably doesn’t matter much.
For your spell choice, you can pick up Antipathy/Sympathy. This spell is super weird, but can be really good if you know what types of enemies you’re dealing with as it can be set up well in advance in an area of your choosing. Definitely niche and not the easiest to use, but it can be powerful with careful planning.
