Spells no Druid should start the day with out considering?

[killem2]

I've been scouring lots of forums and looking over the lists of spells here and there. I'm currently level 8, but unlike wizards where I pick the spells and walk away I've never played a caster where you can reset each day :).

This is what I have:

• Level 0 –
o Create water, Light, Detect Magic, Cure Minor Wounds
• Level 1 –
o Magic Fang, Entangle, Produce Flame, Speak With Animals, Wall of Smoke, Cure Light Wounds, Faerie Fire, Obscuring Mist, Enrage Animal,
• Level 2 –
o Kelpstrand, Blinding Spittle, Creeping Cold, Resist Energy, Splinterbolt, Fog Cloud, Master Air, Snake’s Swiftness Mass, Cure Moderate Wounds, Obscuring Snow,
• Level 3 –
o Spiritjaws, Call Lightning, Sleet Storm, Energy Vortex, Vigor, Mass Lesser, Greater, Magic Fang Mass, Resist Energy ,Stoneshape ,Venomfire, Cure Serious Wounds,
• Level 4 –
o Arc of Lightning, Flamestrike, Enhance Wildshape, Ice Storm, Scrying, Moon Bolt, Cure Critical Wounds, Greater Luminous Armor,
• Level 5 –
o Animal Growth, Owl’s Insight,
• Level 6 –
• Level 7 –
• Level 8 –
• Level 9 -

[Blackhawk748]

Replace cure with the vigour line, much less spell intensive for healing

[ddude987]

I find the entire Conjure Ice Beast line to be very helpful, I use the lower level ones for utility. Some other spells of note

1
2 - Frost Breath
3 - bite of the werewolf, heart of water
4 - freedom of movement, vortex of teeth

[Marlowe]

If you're not Evil and have 4 ranks K/Religion, try picking up "Spontaneous Healer" as a feat. That way, you'll never have to prepare the healing spells.

Although I'm informed Druids can heal better by summoning magical creatures that can heal. And stick around to fight as well. So lets see what others more familiar with the Druid say.

[questionmark693]

Summon Nature's Ally IV. Druids can cast this spontaneously instead of another spell they have prepared, and it summons a Unicorn. By this point, it'll last at least seven rounds, and it can cast Heal....I believe at will. And it can fight decently. I'm afb, so I'm not sure how often it can cast Heal, sorry.

[Blackhawk748]

If you're not Evil and have 4 ranks K/Religion, try picking up "Spontaneous Healer" as a feat. That way, you'll never have to prepare the healing spells.

Although I'm informed Druids can heal better by summoning magical creatures that can heal. And stick around to fight as well. So lets see what others more familiar with the Druid say.

The use Summon Natures ally four i think? to summon a Unicorn

Edit: i been Rogued

[eggynack]

To start off with, I'd probably ditch some of those spells. Magic fang, speak with animals, cure light wounds, enrage animal, energy vortex, mass lesser vigor, cure serious, arc of lightning, flame strike, ice storm (these should all be boreal wind, as I will mention later), and greater luminous armor (I'd go with the lesser version, as I will also mention later) can all be safely removed from the list. You may note that I got rid of any and all healing spells, except cure minor, cause that spell is sweet. Anyways, onto additional spells. As a note beforehand, some of these spells, like primal hunter or snowsight, are only good in conjunction with other spells, like primal instinct or obscuring snow. It should be pretty apparent what the combo is most of the time, cause it's usually called out in the spell.

0: dawn (SpC, 59)

1: impeding stones (City, 66), instant of power (FoW, 114), omen of peril (SpC, 149), snowsight (Frost, 104), spider hand (BoVD, 104), spore field (CS, 104), wood wose (SpC, 242)

2: gust of wind, heart of air (CM, 106), luminous armor (BoED, 102), primal hunter (DrM, 71),

3: alter fortune (PHB II, 101), hammer of righteousness (BoED, 100), heart of water (CM, 107), plant growth, primal instinct (DrM, 72), vine mine (SpC, 72)

4: boreal wind (Frost, 89), dispel magic, eye of the hurricane (SpC, 86), heart of earth (CM, 106), passage of the shifting sands (DrM, 70), stone metamorphosis (Underdark, 61), vortex of teeth (SpC, 232), wall of salt (Sand, 127)

5: baleful polymorph, blizzard (Frost, 89), call avalanche (Frost, 90), control winds, dire hunger (SpC, 65), heart of fire (CM, 107), wall of thorns

So, that's not all of the good spells, cause I need to draw the line somewhere, but it's a lot of them. I can't tell if you wanted 6+, but I can fill those in later if you like. As for the luminous armor thing, the main justification is that you're using a slot two levels higher for a +3 to AC. You can justify that at later levels, but at level 8 you should be using your 4th's to take action, and you should continue doing that for a good amount of time. Eventual switching off is good, but right now switching off is meh. Anyways, these spells aren't all things you must prepare, obviously, but they're all worth looking into.

[macdaddy]

Assuming you are in a party with at least a fighter or two, druid's have access to a great set of spells 1 level earlier than wizards

1st: Snake's swiftness(SpC) (1 target gets a bonus attack immediately)
2nd: Mass Snake's swiftness(SpC) (all allies in the radius get a bonus attack immediately).

So you summon up a critter, charge into combat in bear form, next round mass snakes swiftness everyone gets to attack, including you.

These spells help drop baddies in rapid succession. The mass snakes swiftness is a 3rd level wizard spell and having it at 2nd level is fricken AWESOME.

If you are going into combat in animal form, the Heart of XXX spells are great too. Air(2nd) is the weakest and doesn't give you much unless its used with the others for fortification, Water(3rd) gives you water breathing and can be burned for freedom of movement. Earth(4th) gives you bonus Hit points and can be burned for stone skins. Fire(5th) gives you extra land speed and fire resistence and can be burned for a fire shield. 2 of them give you partial fortification, All 4 together gives you TOTAL fortification (no sneak attacks, no crtis). With an hour/level duration, these 4 spells are heavily used by wizard Gishes and should be by any druid who is a wild-shape combatant.

[Twilightwyrm]

It seems to me as though you are taking a large number of blasting spells, over most of your spell levels. Now, I can very much appreciate wanting to take blasting spells, as I do not think spell casters dealing damage is strictly a waste of time. However, you are a druid, not a blasting-focused sorcerer. By the point that you can cast 5th level spells, you should already have multiple wild shape uses that you can use to be helpful in combat, so I'd say, in your lower levels slots anyways, some more utility spells might be called for. I'll quickly give one spell swapping suggestion for each level of spell you have here, to give you an idea of what I am talking about.
1st- Replace Produce Flame with Omen of Peril. The paltry ranged damage from Produce Flame really isn't necessary when you have Flamestrike. Potentially averting catastrophe is.
2nd-You can probably get rid of Creeping Cold, and replace it with Soften Earth and Stone. Yes, 6d6 over three rounds is nice, but it is single target, so unless you plan to stack these DoT effects on the BBEG, they generally aren't worth it at your level. Bypassing walls, however, still may be, and if you want to undermine structures, mire the battlefield, or get past that stone door, Soften Earth and Stone will do this for you (Note: has some redundancy with Stone Shape, but still helps).
3rd-Replace Energy Vortex with Icelance. The damage from Energy Vortex is rather paltry for this level, even if it is an area effect, and you already have Call Lightning and Sleet Storm for dealing with groups. Icelance, by contrast, is single target, but has higher average damage, and potentially stuns the opponent, potentially taking them out of combat for multiple rounds.
4th-Replace Greater Luminous Armor with Air Walk. Greater Luminous Arm's AC is nice, but the ability to fly for you (in a not naturally flying form) or your party members is invaluable.
5th- Replace Owl's Insight with Baleful Polymorph. At your level, Owl's Insight is, at best, barely beating out Owl's Wisdom in terms of bonus, so if you want a sudden Wis bonus, just prepare Owl's Wisdom. Baleful Polymorph (if you can deal with the potential headache of Polymorph spells), has applications as both a debuffing spell, and potentially a Utility spell.

[eggynack]

2nd-You can probably get rid of Creeping Cold, and replace it with Soften Earth and Stone. Yes, 6d6 over three rounds is nice, but it is single target, so unless you plan to stack these DoT effects on the BBEG, they generally aren't worth it at your level.
Nah, what you really want to do is extend it, which turns 6d6 damage over three rounds into 21d6 damage over six rounds. You can do that feat style, with a rod, or with fairy dust.

3rd-Replace Energy Vortex with Icelance.
I'd probably prefer splinterbolt, which deals competitive damage at a lower level. Also, hammer of righteousness, which deals force damage. The stun effect is nice though.

5th- Replace Owl's Insight with Baleful Polymorph. At your level, Owl's Insight is, at best, barely beating out Owl's Wisdom in terms of bonus, so if you want a sudden Wis bonus, just prepare Owl's Wisdom.
Owl's insight lacks the provision which stops you from preparing extra spells with your wisdom. I'm never entirely sure how that works, but it might work.

[erikun]

How are you getting Cure Moderate Wounds as a 2nd level spell (it is 3rd on the list), and Cure Serious Wounds as a 3rd level spell (it is 4th on the list), etc.?

1st level: I'd question Speak with Animals, as it isn't something you will use regularly. Endure Elements is similar. Both are nice is wands, though.

2nd level: Spider Climb is a nice method to get around. Resist Energy is very good if you have the time to prepare and cast it beforehand. Lesser Restoration is invaluable when you need it, but will just be lost for a spontaneous Summon Monster otherwise.

3rd level: Stone Shape and Water Breathing are impressively useful. I'm surprised you don't list Greater Magic Fang, as you can cast it on yourself and give the benefit to your animal companion. (Not sure why you'd use Mass Magic Fang instead.)

4th level: Air Walk, Dispel Magic, Freedom of Movement, and Reincarnate (when needed) are all invaluable. Rusting Grasp just messes up a good number of humanoid opponents. You get Scrying at that level, when you want to use it.

[eggynack]

I'm surprised you don't list Greater Magic Fang.
Actually, I'm pretty sure he does. It's just written either weird or wrong. Mass is modifying lesser vigor, then greater is modifying magic fang, then mass is modifying resist energy. The spells surrounding the three spells lack modified variations, so it probably has to be the way I'm saying.


Air Walk, Freedom of Movement
Eh, they both seem rather redundant. The former can be replaced with druidic flight, though using it no party members could occasionally be nice, and the latter can definitely be replaced by heart of water. It's just a generally better spell, unless you plan to create your own FoM requiring situations.

[jedipilot24]

I am shocked that no one has mentioned Longstrider yet; it's an hour/level buff, so at your level it will last the entire adventuring day; better still is that it works even while Wild Shaped, while Boots of Striding and Springing don't without a Wilding Clasp.

[eggynack]

I am shocked that no one has mentioned Longstrider yet; it's an hour/level buff, so at your level it will last the entire adventuring day; better still is that it works even while Wild Shaped, while Boots of Striding and Springing don't without a Wilding Clasp.
I do love low level spells with low action cost. Longstrider probably isn't all that relevant at level 8 though, given how many movement modes druids have, particularly flight.

[Greenish]

If you notice your DM paging through Frostburn or Sandstorm, remember Endure Elements. :smalltongue:

Also, Beget Bogun.

[eggynack]

Also, Beget Bogun.
I thought that spell was impressive, but then I noticed that you need to cast control plants, which is an 8th level spell. If you have access to that, then I'm not entirely sure that a bogun begets any utility. I prefer something like wood wose.

[Vizzerdrix]

0: dawn (SpC, 59)

1: spore field (CS, 104)

These should be mandatory from level 1 on word. I can't count the times I've been denied Entangle on the grounds of no available vegetation (at least one time while in a darn forest):smallfurious:.

[eggynack]

These should be mandatory from level 1 on word. I can't count the times I've been denied Entangle on the grounds of no available vegetation (at least one time while in a darn forest):smallfurious:.
Yeah, you generally want a mix of BFC, cause they work in different situations. Thus, you'd probably rather have entangle, impeding stones, and wall of smoke instead of just three entangles. Spore field is probably the fourth best BFC of its level, after the three I mentioned, but that doesn't make it bad. The real problem is the area, I think.

[Draz74]

Eh, they both seem rather redundant. The former can be replaced with druidic flight, though using it no party members could occasionally be nice, and the latter can definitely be replaced by heart of water. It's just a generally better spell, unless you plan to create your own FoM requiring situations.

Freedom of Movement, even more than Air Walk, still has a niche by virtue of "using it on party members." Heart of Water, while awesome, is Personal-only, and your party Warblade will definitely appreciate a buff that lets him charge through BFC spells. :smalltongue:

[Talya]

I love druids.

I know they've both been mentioned, but I want to reiterate:

Blinding Spittle
Kelpstrand

Those two spells can end an enemy's threat to you. Blinding Spittle is basically "no save, just lose," so long as there's not a handy source of water around.

It's 3.0 material, but still valid, one nobody has mentioned:

Edit: Corrected link.
Feathers (http://dndtools.eu/spells/masters-of-the-wild-a-guidebook-to-barbarians-druids-and-rangers--44/feathers--1925/) can be incredibly useful. By the time you get it, you can turn your entire party and their cohorts into small-or-smaller sized birds for 1 hour/level. (Endable at will for each participant, individually.)

[eggynack]

Freedom of Movement, even more than Air Walk, still has a niche by virtue of "using it on party members." Heart of Water, while awesome, is Personal-only, and your party Warblade will definitely appreciate a buff that lets him charge through BFC spells. :smalltongue:
I guess. The duration and spell level are real killers though. If it were just the duration, then failing to time it properly wouldn't be too costly, and if it were just the spell level, then you could keep it up on everyone all day. It is both though, and that means that it's a lot less worthwhile. If you know you're going to need it, then sure, but that's true for pretty much any spell in existence.

[Fitz10019]

I see mass snake's swiftness is on the OP's list, and I want to second the recommendation of L1 (normal, single-target) snake's swiftness. Sometimes a party member is in the right place (or has the right weapon), and just needs that extra attack. Perhaps it's more wand-worthy than prep-worthy.

[eggynack]

I see mass snake's swiftness is on the OP's list, and I want to second the recommendation of L1 (normal, single-target) snake's swiftness. Sometimes a party member is in the right place (or has the right weapon), and just needs that extra attack. Perhaps it's more wand-worthy than prep-worthy.
I feel like you could just prepare an actual spell, and you'd do better in most cases. Like, imagine something like produce flame in that slot. Range isn't really an issue with that spell. Things get a lot better if you pump the spell level too. As is, you're claiming snake's swiftness as some sort of conditional ranged damage spell, and it's halfway reasonable at that, but the conditional part troubles me. I can certainly imagine some scenario where you'd want a snake's swiftness, but I can't imagine enough of such a scenario that it'd be something I'd prepare. Your wand idea is feasible, though that's a lot of uses to tear through.

[killem2]

I'm a level 5 druid 3 planar druid.

we have a level 6 warblade 2 bloodclaw master

3 wizard 5 master specialist (conjurer)

level 6 fighter (with a slew of archery stuff) and 2 (warrior UA version)


Also, don't think because I left off a spell, it should be taken as an a front :) I only compiled these from forums thus far :)

[eggynack]

Do you mean planar shepherd? I'm mostly asking cause planar druid substitution levels are a thing. Anyways, the omission of even one useful spell is an affront to the very nature of the druidic arts. By the way, does anyone who's not me like darsson's cooling breeze (Shining South, 45)? It seems rather good as a fog mover, especially out of a first level long duration spell.

[killem2]

Do you mean planar shepherd? I'm mostly asking cause planar druid substitution levels are a thing. Anyways, the omission of even one useful spell is an affront to the very nature of the druidic arts. By the way, does anyone who's not me like darsson's cooling breeze (Shining South, 45)? It seems rather good as a fog mover, especially out of a first level long duration spell.

sorry, yes Planar shepered in all it's OPnes.

[Phelix-Mu]

If someone has, perchance, acquired a fleshraker AC, or has specialized in snake use (that's a thing), then venomfire (Serpent Kingdoms FR supplement) is a pretty killer buff. Niche use for the few druids that can boast their own "natural" poison. I personally don't approve of anything less than racial features as qualifying for the poison req for venomfire, though other DMs may be more lenient, I guess. I'd be interested in eggy's view on just who RAW is allowed to use venomfire to buff themselves.

[killem2]

I do have that, and it is for my fleshraker :)

[eggynack]

I'd be interested in eggy's view on just who RAW is allowed to use venomfire to buff themselves.
I'd generally assume that it works fine. You're a creature that naturally produces poison, so the spell works. The thing about "naturally" could be problematic though. I generally take it to mean that you're one of the creatures with natural poison production.

Edit: Also, this druid is crazy cheesy. Maybe this is the place to bust out the weird aspect of the wolf/ghost companion combo to become a ghost full time. You'd probably have to reincarnate yourself, which has issues, but it'd be neat. I wonder if you can do it without level loss at level 8.

[Phelix-Mu]

I do have that, and it is for my fleshraker :)

Oh, lol, I checked the wrong level of spells. Been a while since I reprised druid, myself, but I plunked venomfire on some allied ti-khana hydras in an epic level fights. No cap on damage? Come on, WotC. Rookie mistake. Especially where CL-pumping is so eminently possible at even moderate levels of optimization (like, DMG items-easy).

The fleshraker is a thing of beauty. Even though, back when I played, I wasn't hip to the issue with "ACs don't increase in size," lol, it's still a stupidly awesome AC. That Leaping Pounce special attack is totally borked, especially given the best of the buffs for ACs.

Also, consider investing in a lesser metamagic rod of energy substitution(type). For those cases where having lots of one energy type or another is preferable, or when acid-immune enemies start showing up. You're still early for that type of investment, but it can help a lot in fights that you can anticipate (like a trip to the Elemental Plane of Fire, for instance). Also works on other spells aside from venomfire, which is good value-for-money.

[killem2]

I am shocked that no one has mentioned Longstrider yet; it's an hour/level buff, so at your level it will last the entire adventuring day; better still is that it works even while Wild Shaped, while Boots of Striding and Springing don't without a Wilding Clasp.


Sadly, my move speed is only 5'.

:( (Anthro bat)




Edit: Also, this druid is crazy cheesy. Maybe this is the place to bust out the weird aspect of the wolf/ghost companion combo to become a ghost full time. You'd probably have to reincarnate yourself, which has issues, but it'd be neat. I wonder if you can do it without level loss at level 8.



You are correct.

See, I play with three other D&D novices. They got the basics down and can see advantages, but don't generally scour for optimization as much.

I wouldn't think of it is purposely being cheezy but rather, having a reserve of easy ready cheese wiz, when the time needs it. Sorta like a volume nob that looks like it only goes to 10, but I painted over 11 thru 20. :P

[Mithril Leaf]

If you can afford the spell slot (usually at higher levels), it's always a good time to have last breath handy!

[eggynack]

You are correct.

See, I play with three other D&D novices. They got the basics down and can see advantages, but don't generally scour for optimization as much.

I wouldn't think of it is purposely being cheezy but rather, having a reserve of easy ready cheese wiz, when the time needs it. Sorta like a volume nob that looks like it only goes to 10, but I painted over 11 thru 20. :P
Yeah, I've seen that logic. Still, someone has to test out this ghosting about thing at some point. It just seems sweet, especially if you use cocoon as your raise dead source. That's a bit above your level though.

[killem2]

Thanks everyone, this is a really good list thus far. Hope it helps future druids as well. :smallsmile: