Spores Druid Build Guide – The Ultimate Druid Tank – 2024 Update

Learn the best build for the Spores Druid with full leveling guides, full spell lists, and easy to navigate sections to only read what you need!

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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 Spores Druid?

As the title states, the reason you’d pick this up is for the third level ability – Symbiotic Entity. This allows you to gain a good amount of temporary health when you use a Wild Shape charge making you really hard to put down. As you go up in levels, this health scales linearly making it get better and better with time. Since you have two Wild Shape charges per short or long rest, even at level 2, that means you’ll have 16 temporary health to work with and each level increases that amount by 8. If you want to be a spellcaster that’s incredibly resilient, this is a great option.


Spores Druid Abilities Ranked

Halo of Spores (Level 3)D- Tier – I have been saying that free damage is free damage and Druids really don’t use their reaction, but this is pitiful damage.

Symbiotic Entity (Level 3) A- Tier – You get so many temporary hit points with this ability, it’s pretty incredible. This also makes you a decent martial character for a few levels until you are obviously outpaced by those who get Extra Attack (but you still surprisingly don’t lag behind too terribly). I wish I could rank this ability even higher as it does somewhat deserve it, but you are unlikely to be in the line of fire often so the temporary health is not super helpful on you, but still solid.

Cantrips and 1st Level Spells (Level 3)C Tier – The cantrip sucks, but Blindness/Deafness is a decent CC option that you’ll likely use.

2nd Level Spells (Level 3) F TierGentle Repose is butt cheeks.

3rd Level Spells (Level 5)D Tier – Both spells are very unexciting, but neither is completely useless.

Fungal Infestation (Level 6)D Tier – This is a super weird ability, but a free minion is a free minion. This definitely does not scale the best as the Zombie stat block never changes, but you don’t have to use it for combat necessarily!

4th Level Spells (Level 7)D- Tier – Not completely useless spells, but man are they flirting with it.

5th Level Spells (Level 9)D+ Tier – I’m not really a fan of either spell, but it’s not like they’re unusable.

Spreading Spores (Level 10)D Tier – This ability is really bad, but if you have a squad that can keep pushing and pulling enemies, then this can be somewhat acceptable, but much worse than any AOE damage option pretty much anyone else could do.

Fungal Body (Level 14)C Tier – This is a lot of status immunities which is neat, but it’s hard to say how often this is going to come up. It really depends on what monsters your DM throws at you.


Quick Level Up Guide

LevelClass Features/FeatNotes
1Druidic, Spellcasting, Primal Order (Warden)+ Guidance
+ Starry Wisp
+ Detect Magic
+ Entangle
+ Faerie Fire
+ Healing Word
2Wild Shape, Wild Companion+ Goodberry
3Circle of Spores, Halo of Spores, Symbiotic Entity+ Blindness/Deafness (Spores)
+ Gentle Repose (Spores)
+ Spike Growth
4Feat: War Caster (WIS)
Wild Shape improvement
+ Shape Water
+ Pass Without Trace
5Wild ResurgenceDetect Magic
+ Animate Dead (Spores)
+ Conjure Animals
+ Dispel Magic
+ Gaseous Form (Circle of Spores)
+ Revivify
6Fungal Infestation+ Sleet Storm
7Elemental Fury+ Blight (Spores)
+ Confusion (Spores)
+ Polymorph
8Feat: Resilient (CON)
Wild Shape improvement
Faerie Fire
+ Conjure Woodland Beings
+ Wall of Fire
9+ Absorb Elements
+ Cloudkill (Spores)
+ Contagion (Spores)
+ Transmute Rock
10Spreading Spores+ Thorn Whip
+ Wall of Stone
11Goodberry
+ Heal
+ Transport via Plants
12Feat: Wisdom to 20None
13+ Plane Shift
14Fungal BodyNone
15Improved Elemental Fury+ Animal Shapes
16Feat: Constitution to 18None
17+ Shapechange
18Beast Spells+ Foresight
19Epic Boon: Boon of Luck+ True Resurrection
20Archdruid+ Antipathy/Sympathy

Level One Build


Species: Human

Attributes:

POINT BUY
STRENGTH8
DEXTERITY14
CONSTITUTION14 (+1 background) = 15
INTELLIGENCE10
WISDOM15 (+2 background) = 17
CHARISMA10

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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripGuidance
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellHealing 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
STRENGTH8
DEXTERITY14
CONSTITUTION14 (+1 background) = 15
INTELLIGENCE10
WISDOM15 (+2 background) = 17
CHARISMA10

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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripGuidance
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellHealing 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripGuidance
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing 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 Spores

Class Features: Halo of Spores, Symbiotic Entity

Spell Change Log: + Chill Touch (Spores) + Blindness/Deafness (Spores) + Gentle Repose (Spores) + Spike Growth

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth

Level 3 brings your subclass, two new abilities, and a bunch of new spells!

The first ability you get is Halo of Spores. This ability is absolutely atrocious. You use up your reaction to deal next to no damage that barely scales as you go up in levels. If you have no other uses of your reaction, then this is better than literally nothing, but not by much.

The second ability you get, and the main reason you pick this class, is Symbiotic Entity. The main draw of this ability is you get a good amount of temporary health as well as some additional damage on your Halo of Spores and melee attacks. While the damage boost is nice (though marginal), the temporary HP is the real prize as it scales well and you can functionally have it every fight as long as you consistently short rest to recharge your Wild Shape charges.

For your Circle spells, you get Chill Touch, Blindness/Deafness, and Gentle Repose.

Chill Touch is unfortunately not a great cantrip, so this is a miss.

Blindness/Deafness is a decent single-target CC spell that can really neuter anyone relying on attacking at range which is pretty unique for Druids. Use this on an archer or spellcaster and watch them struggle!

Gentle Repose, on the other hand, is atrocious. The only possible use for this is if, for some reason, you don’t have the diamonds on you to bring someone up immediately with a Revivify and you need to stall a bit. Otherwise this spell is completely worthless.

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: Wild Shape improvement

Spell Change Log: + Shape Water + Pass Without Trace

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth

Hitting level four means a feat, better Wild Shape, 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.

You get an improvement to Wild Shape – up to CR 1/2 and you can swim now. Not the highest impact upgrade, but it can be nice for some adventures/campaigns!

For your cantrip choice, I like picking up Thorn Whip early for this build. This can synergize well with Spike Growth to drag enemies along it which would make this the highest DPR cantrip available to you. There is risk involved as dragging enemies closer isn’t ideal, but this will shred lower health enemies.

Furthermore, you get a new spell to work with this level!

You get the best stealth spell in the gamePass 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

Class Feature: Wild Resurgence

Spell Change Log: Detect Magic / + Animate Dead (Spores) + Conjure Animals + Dispel Magic + Gaseous Form (Spores) + Revivify

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellDetect Magic
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level Spell Conjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify

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.

You get two more circle spells to work with in Animate Dead and Gaseous Form.

Animate Dead is a decent pseudo summoning option that can get you a few goons to boss around. Ok for combat and utility, but definitely not anything stellar.

If you need to infiltrate or escape somewhere, hard to do better than Gaseous Form. While it feels like you should be invulnerable in this form, you can still take damage, and since you move so slowly, you can be pretty vulnerable. Despite that, this is a decent spell overall.

For your spell choices, you get the excellent Dispel Magic and Revivify.

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.

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.


Level 6-10


Level 6

Class Features: Fungal Infestation

Spell Change Log: + Sleet Storm

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm

For level 6 you get your next subclass ability with Fungal Infestation. Similar to Animate Dead, you can get some goons if you have corpses to work with. While they only have one health, you’d be surprised how annoying they can be in numbers.

For your spell choice, you can pick up Sleet Storm! This 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 7

Class Feature: Elemental Fury

Spell Change Log: + Blight (Spores) + Confusion (Spores) + Polymorph

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellFaerie Fire
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellPolymorph

Level 7 brings a new Druid feature and a new 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. For most Druids, you’re interested in the improvement to cantrips as you’re not going to be in melee, so that’s what you’re picking.

For your Circle spells, you get Blight and Confusion. In a real sense, both of these spells are quite bad, so I would not worry about casting them personally.

For your spell, you get the best fourth level spell in the game – Polymorph. 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: Wild Shape improvement

Spell Change Log: Faerie Fire / + Conjure Woodland Beings + Wall of Fire

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire

You get another fear 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.

Level 8 also brings you the final upgrade to your Wild Shape where you can go up to CR 1 and pick Beasts with a Flying speed which is excellent for utility. Not something you’ll realistically use in combat still, but can be great in niche situations.

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.

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 + Cloudkill (Spores) + Contagion (Spores) + Transmute Rock

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock

Level 9 brings a bunch of new spells!

For your Circle spells, you get to pick up Cloudkill and Contagion.

Cloudkill is a decent AOE damage spell that’s good at filling up small rooms and absolutely obliterating its occupants. This is much worse when you’re outside as it’ll blow away, but it can still be decent there.

For your final Circle spell, you get access to the very wonky Contagion. While there are a lot of risks involved with this, if you can nail someone with this, the effects can be debilitating. Realistically, I’d have to be pretty desperate to use this as it’s so inconsistent, but it can be strong against targets with poor Constitution scores.

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: Spreading Spores

Spell Change Log: + Thorn Whip + Wall of Stone

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellGoodberry
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock

For level 10 you get another subclass ability, cantrip, and spell!

Your subclass ability for this level is Spreading Spores. This is more or less an upgrade to your Halo of Spores ability that activates when Symbiotic Entity is active, so unsurprisingly, this is not great. On the bright side, the damage is at least more reasonable at this point making this not terrible.

For your cantrip, none of the options left are super appealing, but I can get behind Thorn Whip. While not a particularly good cantrip in general, it does synergize well with Spike Growth to drag enemies along it, but also works well with other CC spells in general. Be careful using this as dragging a tough enemy towards you may invite them to smack you, but with some strategy, this can be pretty potent.

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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane 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: Fungal Body

Spell Change Log: None

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift

You get your final subclass ability with Fungal Body. You are now immune to a bunch of status conditions and can’t be crit anymore which is a pretty nice capstone ability.

Getting resistance to non-magical attacks while using your Starry Form is just a generally excellent ability and capstone abilities like this are pretty popular on other subclasses, and like those subclasses, it’s always good.


Level 15

Class Feature: Improved Elemental Fury

Spell Change Log: + Animal Shapes

SPELL LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal Shapes

You get improvement to your Elemental Fury and access to eighth level spells!

Improved Elemental Fury increases your cantrip range to 300 feet. Not that exciting, but it could 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal Shapes
9th Level SpellShapechange

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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal Shapes
9th Level SpellForesight
9th Level SpellShapechange

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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal Shapes
9th Level SpellForesight
9th Level SpellShapechange
9th Level SpellTrue 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 LEVELSPELL NAME
CantripChill Touch (Spores)
CantripGuidance
CantripShape Water
CantripStarry Wisp
CantripThorn Whip
1st Level SpellAbsorb Elements
1st Level SpellEntangle
1st Level SpellHealing Word
2nd Level SpellBlindness/Deafness (Spores)
2nd Level SpellGentle Repose (Spores)
2nd Level SpellPass Without Trace
2nd Level SpellSpike Growth
3rd Level SpellAnimate Dead (Spores)
3rd Level SpellConjure Animals
3rd Level SpellDispel Magic
3rd Level SpellGaseous Form (Spores)
3rd Level SpellRevivify
3rd Level SpellSleet Storm
4th Level SpellBlight (Spores)
4th Level SpellConfusion (Spores)
4th Level SpellConjure Woodland Beings
4th Level SpellPolymorph
4th Level SpellWall of Fire
5th Level SpellCloudkill (Spores)
5th Level SpellContagion (Spores)
5th Level SpellTransmute Rock
6th Level SpellHeal
6th Level SpellTransport via Plants
7th Level SpellPlane Shift
8th Level SpellAnimal Shapes
8th Level SpellAntipathy/Sympathy
9th Level SpellForesight
9th Level SpellShapechange
9th Level SpellTrue 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.


DoggertQBones
DoggertQBones

DoggertQBones is an avid player of games, predominately D&D! Previously a highly published author for another popular Wizards of the Coast game, Magic: the Gathering, he's been playing D&D since childhood as both player and DM!

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