Best druid spells

[Ketiara]

Hi all
Im in a game where i have a lvl 7 druid. We play with a manapoint system that gives us the ability to cast more spells of the same type but nomatter how high my wis goes i will only have 4/3/2/1 spells avaliable to me at level 7.
So GitP what spells are good? With only core and sc avaliable.
I have extend spell and im thinking of getting sculpt spell because i heard you could sculpt call lightning... But wont that cause books to fly?

We are in a dragon heavy campaing and atm i love flying in desmondu bat form throwing splinterbolts... Due to it being cheap and fairly high dmg.

[Kuulvheysoon]

Have you taken a look at downdraft yet?

[Phelix-Mu]

Extended creeping cold can be quite effective. There are a bunch of good druid spells in Frostburn, but you may have to talk the DM into letting you have access to them if your character has never been to a cold region in your setting.

I'm pretty sure you can combine energy vortex from SC with resist energy or some other form of energy protection. The area of the spell isn't great, but maybe useful if you can fly into the midst of a bunch of enemies.

You can't get it quite yet, but extended mass lesser vigor can be a very money effective way to heal a party after a battle in which many people were injured.

Don't know enough about Sculpt Spell to know about its precise uses relative to druid, but I don't see any reason for book-throwing, as it is a pretty legit feat.

[Darrin]

So GitP what spells are good? With only core and sc avaliable.


As it happens, I just updated my list of Druidzilla spells (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12183941&postcount=4). Several good Spell Compendium picks in there.



I have extend spell and im thinking of getting sculpt spell because i heard you could sculpt call lightning... But wont that cause books to fly?


That depends largely on what level of cheese your group considers worthy of throwing projectiles at your head. A Sculpted call lightning sounds pretty tame, from a metamagic abuse standpoint... not like it's a Fell-Drained Twinned Split-Rayed splinterbolt. Note: you can use cloudburst to get 3d10 damage outside. However, if you're using the four 10'x10' cubes, better ask your DM about overlapping the cubes before you pull that one on him.

[Hikarizu]

Some good from core:
1st lvl Shillelagh (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shillelagh.htm), Produce Flame (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/produceFlame.htm)(Shillelagh can be made into oil. The spell increases the damage from 1d6+str to 1d10+1+str)
2nd lvl Spider Climb (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/spiderClimb.htm), Animal's Something(+4 to an ability is always nice, depends on the party which one/ones though.)
3rd lvl Call Lightning (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/callLightning.htm) because (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d7OBluielc)
4th lvl Flame Strike (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/flameStrike.htm), Summon Nature's Ally IV (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyIV.htm) (Summon a Unicorn (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/unicorn.htm) for 3*CLW, 1*CMW, 1*Neutralize Poison, Detect Evil at will, Magic Circle against Evil and help with Wild Empathy checks

[Squirrel_Dude]

Entangle.

Level 1 spell, almost always worth memorizing at least once every day, at any level. A simple and easy battlefield control spell that can make any BBEG tank go from threatening to the thing you laugh at while you throw stones to kill it.

[mcv]

Summon Nature's Ally 3 for Dire Wolves.
Spider Climb for extreme mobility. Turning into a tiger and walking on the ceiling is pretty cool.
Flame Strike is pretty much your ultimate blast pell. Call Lightning does more damage per spell, but spreads it over a long period, whereas Flame Strike can end a battle in one blast.

You've got tons of battlefield control spells, from Entangle to Sleet Storm. Ice Storm does battlefield control and damage at once, I believe.

Edit: Don't forget Faerie Fire to deal with invisible creatures!

[Newoblivion]

Spike Stones and Spike Growth are my favorites.

[Leon]

Entangle.

Anytime you are in a area with plant life you should have this spell in a slot.

Encounter tonight had a (partial) Ambush from the sides of a main road ~ the 4 flankers never made it to combat as they leapt out of the shrubbery and were ensnared before they reached the paved area

[StreamOfTheSky]

I'll highlight some spells from SpC.

Level 1:
Beastland Ferocity - Combo w/ a cleric who has Delay Death on the same ally.

Enrage Animal - Nice buff to the animal companion for its level.

Raging Flame - If you blast with fire often (not a horrible idea if you can get Searing Spell from Sandstorm) this will buff your damage.

Lesser Vigor - The best out of combat healing spell. Get wands.


Level 2:
Kelpstrand - Possibly my favorite Druid spell. Thanks to how the replacers work, this adds BAB, caster level, and wis mod together. And gets more strands every 3rd CL. Initially, the strands are few and the bonus small, considering a single failed roll and you lose the strand. But over time, the bonuses climb stupidly fast at mid and high levels. They're grappled, entangled, and anchored to you, so they aren't going anywhere w/o teleporting or freedom of movement. Awesome spell to quicken!

Master Air - Why have to choose between flight OR pounce when wildshaping?

Blinding Spittle - No save blindness!

Mass Snake's Swiftness - Give everyone (including you) an immediate melee or ranged attack. Worse than haste, but it's also lower level.

Blood Frenzy - If someone in the party has barbarian rage, this is helpful.

Listening Lorecall - Very inexpensive way to get long duration blind sense and later blind sight.

Healing Lorecall - Not exciting, but very handy if you're willing to waste skill points in Heal. Lets you use cure minor wounds to even heal dazed eventually.


Level 3:
Girallon's Blessing - Who doesn't need extra arms? Alternatively, use it on yourself so you can get massive str from wildshape and still be able to use weapons.

Downdraft - One of the few spells there are to bring fliers down. Drops them half distance even if they save.

Mass Resist Energy - Invalidate a dragon's breath weapon in just 6 seconds! :smallsmile:

Lion's Charge - The other way to pounce and fly.

Spirit Jaws - It's basically spiritual weapon that for +1 spell level gives more damage and ability to grapple. Very nice, lol-worthy against a ghost type enemy.


Level 4:
Enhanced Wildshape - Gain Ex qualities. Very nice.

Arc of Lightning: For all your no SR blasting needs.


Level 5:
Bite of the Weretiger - This and next level's Werebear are the first ones worth buffing with, IMO. Huge (sadly, enhancement) bonuses that by RAW stack with wildshape...

Dire Hunger - I'm not saying this is a good spell. I'm just saying, it is a hilariously awesome spell.

Owl's Insight - Nice big boost to Wis for save DCs.

Phantom Stag - It's a Phantom Steed that can actually take a hit and fight! Excellent mount for a PC to use. Eventually can turn itself and rider ethereal at will, which is all kinds of abusive. You're going to need to work out its exact ability attributes, save bonuses, BAB, etc... with your DM, the spell is incredibly unclear on these points other than it has Dex 20.

Rejuvenation Cocoon - Poor man's Heal; partly makes up for you getting Heal late.

[Carth]

Blizzard combined with snowsight

[Story]

Mass Snake's Swiftness - Give everyone (including you) an immediate melee or ranged attack. Worse than haste, but it's also lower level. And stacks with haste.


I thought that it explicitly didn't stack with haste.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ah, you are correct.

[ksbsnowowl]

Blizzard combined with snowsight

Obscuring Snow combined with Snowsight.

Decomposition is a great spell for fighting several bad guys. No so great if they allow SR, though.

[Doxkid]

Murderous Mist and Slime Wave are two personal favorites.

[ShriekingDrake]

Friendly Fire is a superb defensive spell from EoE. It will enable you to protect yourself from ranged attack like no other spell. A superb spell to prepare every day.

[ksbsnowowl]

Murderous Mist and Slime Wave are two personal favorites.

Oh, seconding Murderous Mist. Slime wave looks good, but I've never actually seen it in play.

[tiercel]

Don't forget about your ability to spontaneously summon nature's ally. There are many worse things than throwing a tiger or grizzly bear into your opponents' faces. Even if the critters you summon are weak compared to you, it's an extra set of actions every round -- plus every action your opponents spend on trying to kill/nullify your summons is an action that you've taken them out of combat with you and your fellow PCs.

Plus? Just from SNA IV: Tigers can pounce and rake. Bears can grapple like mad. Arrowhawks make ranged touch attacks. A unicorn emanates magic circle vs evil, and using its own actions can fire off 3 cure light wounds, 1 cure moderate wounds and 1 neutralize poison. Not bad for a 4th level spell. (Heck, SNA II: lets you summon Small earth elementals that you can send through walls to find out what's on the other side. For extra cheese, take the Summon Elemental feat to do this at will.)

If your custom spellcasting system doesn't let you spontaneously cast summon nature's ally it's probably worth memorizing it, given its versatility and usefulness.