The Druid table displays the number of spell slots available for casting 1st-level and higher druid spells. To cast a spell, one must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. For example, if a druid has a Wisdom modifier of +3, they can prepare 2+3=5 spells of any level. Druids have access to all 52 cards in the game, so they must choose a number of druid spells equal to their Wisdom modifier and Druid level (minimum of one spell).
Key 1st-level spells include entangle, faerie fire, goodberry, and healing word, providing utility, healing, and combat effectiveness. In Dungeons and Dragons 5e, druids are an unusual class with two slots at 1st level but can prepare 1 + Wis mod spells each day. At level 1 with a +3 wisdom modifier, casters can prepare 4 spells, but 2 cantrips do not count against the prepared spells. With a Wisdom of 16, casters can prepare six spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination.
A first-level druid would have two 1st level spell slots and know two cantrips. When choosing a druid spell, choose a number equal to their Wisdom modifier and Druid level (minimum of one spell). Most Druids in D and D will be able to prepare three or four spells at level one, but they can only cast two first-level spells. At 1st level, a druid knows two cantrips of their choice from the druid spell list, and additional druid cantrips are learned at higher levels.
📹 Druid spells ranked (1st level): D&D 5e
Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 2:37 preparation strategy 5:16 absorb elements (green) 8:29 animal friendship (orange) 11:40 beast bond …
How many times can you cast a level 1 spell in D&D?
At the initial level, three spell slots are available, enabling the casting of three spells until further resources are acquired. The aforementioned slots may be utilized to cast any prepared spells, either the same spell three times or three different spells. It should be noted, however, that JavaScript may be disabled or blocked by an extension.
How many spells can I prepare as a druid?
A 3rd-level druid has four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots, and with a Wisdom of 16, they can prepare six spells of 1st or 2nd level in any combination. Casting a 1st-level spell, Cure Wounds, doesn’t remove it from their list. They can change their list of prepared spells after a long rest, but it requires at least 1 minute of prayer and meditation per spell level for each spell. Wisdom is their spellcasting ability, based on their devotion and attunement to nature. They use Wisdom when a spell refers to their spellcasting ability and when setting the saving throw DC for a druid spell and making an attack roll.
How many spells does a 1st level druid have?
Druids have two available slots at the first level, but are permitted to prepare one additional spell for each level of Wisdom possessed, subject to a minimum of one spell per day. It is not necessary for casters to determine which spells are to be placed in which slots until the spells are cast. The Druid table illustrates the requisite number of spell slots for first-level and subsequent spells.
Can you rage while in Wildshape?
It should be noted that the game does not allow for the use of Wild Shape and Rage as bonus actions. Additionally, the game may contain content that is not suitable for all age groups. This may include content that is generally mature in nature, as well as potentially nudity or sexual content. It is incumbent upon the player to Wild Shape on their next turn. To update content preferences on Steam, users are directed to the link provided.
How many spells do druids get to prepare?
A character’s ability to prepare spells is determined by their level and their spellcasting ability score modifier. For instance, a level five Druid with a Wisdom ability score of 18 would have nine prepared spells. However, a character is not required to have a certain number of prepared spells of a certain level. For instance, a level five Druid could have any number of prepared spells be first-level, second-level, or third-level in any combination.
It’s up to the player to choose which spells they want to use. It’s crucial to be aware of the number of spell slots a character has access to, as only preparing high-level spells may not allow them to maximize their lower-level spell slots.
Can a druid turn into an Owlbear?
It is not possible for druids to assume the form of an owlbears, as such a transformation would be regarded as a monstrosity in the context of the fifth edition of the game. However, owlbears exhibit comparable statistics to beasts with an equivalent challenge rating, thereby allowing a Dungeon Master to permit a druid to transform into one without compromising the overall equilibrium of the game.
What is a cool druid name?
Druid names are magical keys in fantasy stories and games, representing wise nature protectors and forest dwellers. Derived from the Celtic words “Dru” meaning “oak” and “wid” meaning “to know”, Druidism is a storehouse for names. Druids served as guardians of the world, using their magic to protect and preserve places where beasts still existed. Good Druid names can have deep meaning and significance to those who pursue the philosophy. Here is a list of well-curated, decent male and female Druid names that may catch your fancy.
How many druid circles can you have?
Druids in Dungeon and Dragons are nature-centric characters who can summon animal allies, control plant life, and shape their bodies into dangerous or celestial forms. They share an affinity with the natural world and elements, and spend their long lives attempting to maintain the balance of nature. There are seven Druidic Circles to choose from, each offering an opportunity to explore nature.
Druids are often portrayed as Wild Shape users who love nature, but there are more to this class and its seven official subclasses. They have a deep understanding of their land and can cast specialized spells at levels three, five, seven, and nine, connected to their original land. These regions include arctic regions, grasslands, deserts, coastal regions, forests, mountains, swamps, and even the Underdark.
In summary, Druids are a nature-centric class with seven official subclasses and eight regions to choose from. They have a deep understanding of their land and can cast specialized spells at different levels.
How many times can a druid cast a spell?
A player is permitted to cast a maximum of 21 spells per day, inclusive of cantrips, based on the number of spell slots allotted to that particular level. The selection of spells must be made from the list of spells known. It should be noted, however, that JavaScript may be disabled or blocked by an extension, and that the browser in question does not support cookies.
Do druids have access to all spells?
Druids are constrained in the number of spells they can prepare on a daily basis. Furthermore, their capacity for spellcasting is contingent upon the number of spells on their spell list, which may be rendered inoperable or obstructed by extensions.
📹 D&D Spellcasting Explained | Part 1
This is spellcasting explained for D&D 5e! Here in part 1, we’ll go over go over spell levels, casting at higher levels, spell slots, …
Pretty solid. I will add that in my experience, the Druid first level spells hold value longer than some other casters. When I play a Druid, I will never get to a point where I consider those first level spells irrelevant. Especially now that Druids can have a familiar, those touch spells get a second look.
Ice Knife is the coolest idea for a spell that actually ends up sucking most of the time unfortunately. Snare is even worse than you think, it eats .5gp worth of rope every time you use it, even if it never ends up doing anything, and I think that’s trash. There’s almost certainly a dozen more useful things you could use a rope for, especially when Entangle does everything better.
It’s worth remembering that scrolls of these 1st-level circumstantial spells, especially the ones without save DCs, are really cheap for their value. Having a fire extinguisher, poison detector, blanket of fog, or beast speech translator in your pocket for a mere 25 gp a pop can help you be prepared for many more situations without eating up all your slots.
I played a low level moon druid recently. The other party members were a kensai monk and valor bard. I ended up being the tank,healer and top damage dealer. I routinely had to drop wildshape and cast healing word on the bard to get him back up.The monk did decent damage but was so squishy that I had to occasionally cast healing word on him also. This campaign was very frustrating,I felt like the bard wasn’t even trying. The point of my rambling story is I couldn’t cast any spells but healing word the entire campaign or players were going to die
Let me tell you about the time I literally derailed the campaign with entangle. Our party were prisoners and were being delivered via train, so I had my spore druid use entangle on the rails and the added plants lift the cart off the rails and we crashed in the tunnel sides. Marvelous use of the spell, and one the DM didnt expect at all.
Earth tremor should probably be orange. Situationally it can be used to knock down foes near you – large is OK because it’s Dex and not Strength – and put 20 feet of difficult terrain between you and your nearest foe. In constrained areas it could be used to effectively stall or blunt an advance. Not good in any real way, but orange.
One of my favorite uses of Fog Cloud was when our party was up against a troop of crossbow wielding Duergar. There wasn’t a way to get to them without being seen (Smooth stone cavern, lit with dim light) and a lot of ground to cover, like 300ft. So I upcast to level 2, which makes a surprisingly massive Cloud, 80ft across, and set it 10-20ft in front of them. They went on alert, and when I stepped out of the cloud every held action went right at me. I was an Eldritch Knight. At best 1 or 2 bolts actually landed, and my party was able to charge out of the cloud and mow them down safely.
I feel like Beast Bond is underrated because you didn’t consider Elephants in the mount section of the PHB. They have an Int of 3, and deal 3d8+6 on a Gore, and 3d10+6 on the Stomp if the enemy faisl their Str Save. Sure, 200g is a bit pricey low-level, but if the fighter can make due with chainmail for a bit longer the druid can give the party a living siege weapon.
Great article as always, however I’m not sure Earth Tremor should be red. I’ve never used it and it certainly seems red but if its combined with Slow it could really stall enemy movement. Just happened to be looking at spells that affect movement and was literally reading Earth tremor when it came up on the list. Definitely wouldn’t give it any better than orange but I think it could be useful.
Based on Crawford’s ruling do you think goodberry would work with the Moon sickle? At first glance the wording is different. The Life domain feature saying “Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature” and the sickle reads “When you cast a spell that restores hit points…”. So my thought is no it doesn’t work because goodberry just makes berries but doesn’t restore hp. However the life feature works tenuously suggesting it does restore hp and each berry could heal an additional d4 damage rolled at the casting of the spell. If it works the spell starts looking even better since it is just an uncommon item.
I’m definitely late for the party, but I still wanted to defend the Jump spell a little bit. Jump is generally a bad spell, but on a druid, I think it can be circumstantially pretty useful, because of wild shape allowing you to turn into beasts that can take more advantage from Jump’s benefits, with much higher movement speeds and strength scores than your humanoid form would have(druids don’t also get a lot of ways to fly, so jumping is the next best choice for the time being). The best example of this is the giant frog, with the standing leap trait: which would allow you — with Jump and dash action — to make a 60ft long jump, or a 30ft high jump without a running start, and you could even bring a small size party member on your back with you!
One more thing to say about Fog Cloud: it can be used to shut down certain creature abilities that rely on sight. One example is the Intellect Devourer who can do very little if it can’t see its target. Another use of Fog Cloud is to allow players to Hide at any time which may be situationally useful depending on party composition.
I’m a little surprised healing word is only green, taking20 (Another DND youtuber) rated it as one of the most broken spells in the game and made an entire article ranting about it. I don’t think it is quite as good as he says it is, since you need still to keep one or two 1st level spell slots on reserve to get the value out of saving someone and you aren’t using those spell slots pro-actively if your doing so, but the value of being able to bring an ally up from a safe distance and still have your main action is clutch when it comes up.
animal friendship will potentially also stop the animal from attacking your allies if you carry around goodberries. i keep goodberries wrapped in jerky to toss to charmed predators when traveling around places i expect dangerous beast. no beast is gonna feel the need to eat your allies if its stomach is full and you leave it alone
I had to read the spell description for Earth Tremor several times and then go back and read the PHB section on spell ranges and areas of effect. It’s still not 100% clear but I think Chris has it correct here. So here’s (what I think is) the incorrect interpretation; does it make Earth Tremor more valuable and would you allow it at your table? The range is 10 feet, so the center of the area of effect can be 10 feet away from you. The area of effect is a 10-foot radius square (so, the same as Entangle or Faerie Fire).
I’m looking at the color coding of choice here like the quiz that tells you to identify the color of the words but you have words like “blue” colored purple and so on so it fries your brain just trying to process that. Decades of gaming have taught me that quality 1 is white, 2 is green, 3 is blue, 4 is purple, and 5 is orange….usually classified from common to legendary where the best of the best is orange, purple is epic, blue is mid, green is just better than the worst, and white is lowest of the low. The color coding of choice here just turns all that on its head.
Even if Goodberry is allowed to be used to bring back a downed opponent, how is this a better way to do so than Healing Word ? I understand that the berries can be spread around to all party members so anyone could do it, but it still requires moving over to the unconscious character and using your action to bring them up with 1HP, disrupting the current combat flow and wasting an entire turn for that character. Healing Word allows the Druid to stay put, raise a character and throw in a cantrip or, let’s say..strike down a lightning from an active Call lightning Spell. Additionally, even if it can be combined with the Life cleric Disciple of Life, it usually won’t, so it will still “only” heal 10HP (and more likely out of combat), which is good, but IMO Healing Word is still a go-to spell and the best at raising characters up.
14:00 Ah but that’s different than the charmed condition too. The charmed condition does not state that the creature knows its been charmed unlike this spell so other charmed conditions can be used to build a sphere of influence unlike this spell. So charm person makes someone think you are a aquintance but other charmed conditions let you create permanent acquitances.
I know Goodberry is already being rated as good, but you didn’t touch on the food factor of Goodberry. In some campaigns, DMs just don’t care about food, but some do. Even if they don’t, especially early on, when a party has very few assets and, from a storytelling and campaign construction perspective, are dealing with problems much more close to personal level, Goodberry is an incredible social tool as well. A full day’s nutrition, likely two, is a great bargaining tool that costs the party only one point of healing that they may not even need anyways. On the flip side, a particularly sinister DM, or one extremely miffed about their survival mechanics being circumvented may also make goodberry abuse have dire implications for a character’s waistline.
I’d argue that Detect Poison and Disease is the very definition of an “orange” spell – it doesn’t really get any more circumstantial. Many campaigns don’t have a default encounter that can cause disease in a PC, and if you’re poisoned chances are you’re going to have a good idea what it does based upon the damage you’re taking and/or your ability score reduction; not to mention that you’re likely going to try and cure it as soon as you can anyway, whether it’s been identified or not.
Holy Shit!!! THIS is the BEST ANALYSIS OF LOW LEVEL DRUID SPELLS I’VE COME ACROSS. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Yes– that was ALL shouting, lol!!! But I absolutely LOVE the way you analyzed low level DRUID spells, BUT ALSO talked about WHICH ONES GET BETTER and WHICH ONES LOSE IMPACT as you level up!! I just listened on a long walk, but going to listen again with my notebook out. Will THIS article necessarily be the #1 “clickbait monetizer” out of ALL the D&D vids on YouTube? Maybe, maybe not. But as a first time player with a Druid PC, I APPRECIATE this SO MUCH. Thanks again, and bless you, friend!!😘💖💖💖💖💖
So, I just realized something looking back on this article: Absorb Elements effects Melee Attacks, not specifically melee attacks. That means Thorn Whip, a melee attack, can use Absorb Elements’ additional damage. So a Druid could use Absorb Elements and then use Thorn Whip to return it to sender at a decent range.
I mostly play some kind of gish. I don’t think I’ve ever used the extra damage from Absorb Elements because I was either doing something else on my turn, or never hit an enemy who didn’t have immunity. Now funny story with it. I was playing a low level game and forgot the DM basically homebrew all his monsters. “The goblin shaman casts fireball on your guys. Make a dex save.” “I cast Absorb Elements. Even if I make the save, I still could use the damage reduced by 7.” A Few Moments Later “its a 2d6 fireball?!!!???”
I might take Longstrider at first or second level if I was playing, or the party included, a dwarf, gnome or halfling … particularly one whose specialty is mixing it up in melee (Hello, Circle of the Moon druid!). Also, one other (highly circumstantial) instance in which Purify Food and Drink could be useful: Court Intrigue or Espionage campaigns in which you’re meant to either survive a feast with a notorious poisoner (think Livia from “I, Claudius”) or protect someone politically important from poisoning. STILL super-circumstantial. but I might consider creating such a scenario specifically so a druid in the party could feel important in a social situation. 😉 Finally, one of my Moon druid buddies used to LOVE Thunderwave at second and third (character) level because he could cast the spell, drive at least a couple of creatures back to create an escape route, use his Bonus Action to Wild Shape into a wolf, and then use the wolf’s 40′ movement to go hide behind the fighters and heavily-armored clerics. Nice tactic for softening the enemy up for said fighters and clerics, though it certainly didn’t last past character level 4 or so …
Charm spells started pretty powerful in original dnd (where were encountered mostly in dungeons. So a very restricted context) and only got nerfed with time. It is interesting to read the past iterations of the spell, that are usually more detailed/specific. It gives great insight on how they should be today, because even in past editions, there were already a lot of restrictions. Also, contrasting the explicit text with a much more modest description of its powers, indicate that they don’t include the powers it had in the past, or it would be stated clearly. For example, past editions said the caster was regarded as its best friend and will try to defend the caster against any threat (real or imagined). All in all, I don’t think they know what they want this spell to do or why it is there. It is an iconic spell, but they don’t really want to keep it or take it away. So they nerf it endless, put a lot of caveats, etc.. so the player finally says: “ok, it is not worth the hassle” and the DM exhales relieved. The biggest nerf in my view is that the person knows it was charmed. No ifs and buts. That takes a lot away from it’s possible use for manipulation, specially since it only last a few minutes (it used to last days or even months).
I think the weirdest effect of going full RAW on Fog Cloud is that you can have a gnomish rogue spend 72 hours straight setting up a moronic 360 no scope max range arcing volley blindfolded behind-the-back trickshot while wearing plate mail using a longbow against a prone, dodging, blurred target, and as long as you dump a fog cloud on them, they’re rolling straight-up.
Entangle does have two advantages over Web that you didn’t mention. One is that sometimes you don’t want anyone who moves into that space afterwards to have to make a save, if it’s your own party members. That is situational, but I do find it’s a situation that does come up. The other big advantage is the spell doesn’t give any way to destroy it, unlike web. Now obviously DM’s may rule it can be destroyed with fire or attacks or something, but without that, it is a pretty big advantage, especially against anything that uses fire.
Note that earth tremor doesn’t need to be cast in combat. A no concentration 10 foor radius of difficult terrain that stays untill cleared has it’s uses For example my party had to defend a tower while a mage did research and we knew we were going to get attacked by hobgoblins. Our druid spent a couple of 1st level spells slots and we were able to defend that building with ease for days. They all got destroyed at range
I was surprised to see faerie fire as green, and entangle as blue. Due to faerie fire causing objects to glow as well I’ve seen it used in a party without much darkvision to illuminate a treacherous cave, while also getting advantage against some of the enemies inside. However, I did not consider how strong entangle stays even at higher levels, and for that I thank you for another great article!
Ok, so as a Shepherd Druid, I already speak Sylvan and naturally have the ability to speak with animals. I’m trying to convince my DM to let one of any animal I conjure to be my consistent buddy, named “Boody”, for flavor. I’m thinking Beast Bond might be helpful if my DM agrees to the other stuff…(yeah, I’m looking for a familiar, lol).
I don’t understand this love for entangle. Maybe I am missing something… First its a 20ft cube, or 4 squares so it’s unlikely to work on more than one target. Second you always say “FailSave of Nothing” is bad, but not a mention of this on this spell… But this is the case, isn’t it? I mean, the difficult terrain is minimal. Am I missing anything? I don’t know, I just feel Fairy Fire is superior… I mean, when fail on FF it’s a garante 1m debuff, even been a weaker debuff.
My experience in play up to lvl 9 at least, is that goodberries is very much worthwhile even without life cleric or to “revive”. It’s just a supremely potent ooc healing spell. You get solid healing without wasting spell slots. It just adds value to spellslots that would otherwise go to waste. Going into the day with 50ish free bonus ooc healing is pretty decent. This is somewhat down to GM, and even knowing mine is cool with it I usually save at least one higher level slot in case of a nightly event. It’s still a very high value spell to have prepared. In a different vein I find healing word better than presented as it’s not only a bonus action, but also ranged. I’m sure there are ways to use “druid familiar” and goodberries to emulate it, but sometime you just want to say “heal” and have your ally up from 30 feet.
Absorb Elements is worth upcasting when you’re out of first level slots, but only if the reduction in damage taken is worth the second level slot. The added damage is just a little bonus that you can use if you have good melee attacks. Also as someone has already pointed out, it could be a melee spell attack, as “weapon” is not specified in the spell.
In my opinion Faerie Fire is blue. Group advantage is just so powerful, you get advantage on every attack your party makes against any creatures affected. It’s not like knocking someone prone and only melee attacks having advantage and ranged having disadvantage. It scales well because the more attacks your allies have the more attacks it applies on. It has a circumstantial but useful rider. The only disadvantages of it is the are pretty small and you could hit some of your allies if you don’t go first. But if you managed to force your enemies close together you are going to have a really effective spell. Probably a lot more effective than other spells you ahve rated blue in the past.