Druid with Magic Initiate: useful wizard spells?

[Unoriginal]

I was wondering: is there any Wizard spells you can get from Magic Initiate that a Land Druid could find useful?

I'm talking about the spells themselves, without concern for MAD or how another feat could be better.

[nickl_2000]

I like the control and utility spells for that personally. Mold Earth, Gust, Control Water, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation. If you are looking at damage, Chill Touch and Ray of Frost are solid choices since they are different damage types that you get normally.

As a side note, it may be work taking 1 level in Arcana Cleric instead of Magic Initiate (depending on the level 1 spell you are trying to get). If you aren't trying to get Find Familiar from MI you can get a lot more utility for a lower overall cost.

[Maelynn]

The first that comes to mind is Dancing Lights and Minor Illusion to lure intruders away from the area you're protecting.

Edit: sorry, thought it was only cantrips. For 1st-level spells I'd go with Alarm (and possibly Silent Image) for the same reason, or Find Familiar for an extra companion.

[NaughtyTiger]

mage armor - +3 to several wildshapes (though i suppose some may argue mage armor hides in wild shape)
find familiar

green flame blade + shillelegh
booming blade + shillelegh (boom stick!)
minor illusion
mage hand (non-concentration)

[DarkKnightJin]

I like the control and utility spells for that personally. Mold Earth, Gust, Control Water, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation. If you are looking at damage, Chill Touch and Ray of Frost are solid choices since they are different damage types that you get normally.

As a side note, it may be work taking 1 level in Arcana Cleric instead of Magic Initiate (depending on the level 1 spell you are trying to get). If you aren't trying to get Find Familiar from MI you can get a lot more utility for a lower overall cost.

Indeed, a dip of Arcana Cleric would give you some Cleric and Wizard cantrips, all scaling off of Wisdom.

Beyond that, having Prestidigitation is always a good one. One of the elemental cantrips is good for flavor. Mage Hand or Minor Illusion could also work.
For a first level spell.. Find Familiar is one that always works. Just go for stuff that doesn't rely on your Int score to be safest. And not have to try and remember multiple save DCs..

[Dr. Cliché]

Find Familiar would seem both useful and fluffy (potentially in more ways than one :smallwink:).

- Minor Illusion and Prestidigitation are both useful, and neither rely on your Int modifier.

- Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade give you a nice melee cantrip.

- Ray of Frost, Chill Touch and Firebolt use your Int modifier - but they also have 4x the range of Produce Flame.

[Treantmonk]

For Cantrips I would grab Prestidigitation and Minor Illusion

For first level spell the obvious choice is Find Familiar.

Here's what find familiar does for you:

1) Goodberry delivery system: I take Magic Initiate:Druid with my wizards to get this combo. It makes Healing Word obsolete. Cast goodberry at the beginning of the day for 10 goodberries. When someone goes down in combat use your familiar to deliver a goodberry to bring them up to 1hp. This does not require an action, a bonus action, or anything beyond that 1 first level spell slot.

2) Help action: Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford agree, your familiar can take the help action in combat.
That means advantage on an attack for you or an ally. Bet the Rogue wouldn't mind that, or the crit-seeking paladin...

3) Perfect spy: You can see through your familiar within 100', and your familiar can take a bunch of different useful forms (with a re-casting of the spell). Blindsight, Darkvision, Flight, Swim speed. Granted, eventually you can take all these forms too - but look when Druids can take a flying form, quite a wait. Also, a bat familiar is pretty helpful in finding that darned sneaking invisible enemy so you can blast it with fire.

[Vogie]

If you're a moon druid, grabbing Mage Armor is a huge boon when you shift into beast forms without natural armor

For Land/Shepherd Druids, Find Familiar is probably better.

For cantrips:

Shocking grasp is great if you want to get out of melee without the Mobile feat
Fire Bolt is an more-damage-less-utility Produce Flame
Mage hand can be used right before Wild Shaping to allow you to manipulate things while larger/smaller than a normal humanoid hand


Note you can also use MI:Wizard to grab non-damaging spells that are shared between the wizard and druid list, giving you more "druid" utility cantrips - Mold Earth, Shape Water, Mending, Control Flames - without wasting any of your wisdom-scaling druid slots on such spells

[Unoriginal]

All those suggestions for Find Familiar makes me think of those pictures of big dogs and tiny kittens being friends

[NorthernPhoenix]

All those suggestions for Find Familiar makes me think of those pictures of big dogs and tiny kittens being friends


Or the classic Bird-sitting-on-a-rhino!
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--09W5Z5RJ--/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_675,q_80,w _1200/iqcs6t857omvfps7hay7.jpg

Definitely go with Find Familiar.

[Maelynn]

All those suggestions for Find Familiar makes me think of those pictures of big dogs and tiny kittens being friends

Or the classic Bird-sitting-on-a-rhino!
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--09W5Z5RJ--/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_675,q_80,w _1200/iqcs6t857omvfps7hay7.jpg

Definitely go with Find Familiar.

https://img00.deviantart.net/78bc/i/2011/087/4/3/pooh_and_piglet_by_skyknightnd-d3cntkd.jpg

[BoxANT]

Find Familiar

Booming Blade

Minor Illusion

[Beelzebubba]

Mage Hand, themed to look like flying humming birds

Light and Dancing Lights are both better at providing light than Produce Flame, in flexibility and/or duration

Feather Fall, for safety when using wild shape and flying

Expeditious Retreat, to enable a really fast escape when being a scout

[MaxWilson]

I was wondering: is there any Wizard spells you can get from Magic Initiate that a Land Druid could find useful?

I'm talking about the spells themselves, without concern for MAD or how another feat could be better.

Unseen Servant seems like an obvious one. When you live as a hermit in the woods surrounded by mud, do you really want to do your own cooking/sewing/cleaning? I do not. Make the magical Unseen Servant do the chores instead.

[Beechgnome]

Beyond the natural find familiar, grease gives a nice little area control spell without concentration. Combine with spike growth or entangle or plant growth to really muck baddies up. Suitable for swamp or coastal druids, I would think.

False life might make your Scout wildshapes like cats slightly more survivable or expeditious retreat could make you a blur.

And in general, I find protection from evil/good a great buff for fighting unnatural creatures and one I wish druids had. For that reason I often multiclass cleric with either nature, tempest, life or trickery when I play druids.

[Beechgnome]

Grease also works well with grasping vine since you can keep dragging opponents back to slippery spot. Doesn't come on line until round two unless you can precast grease as part of a trap, but fun way to muck up baddies.

[Dalebert]

Indeed, a dip of Arcana Cleric would give you some Cleric and Wizard cantrips, all scaling off of Wisdom.

That's actually really clever!

[DarkKnightJin]

That's actually really clever!

Thanks! You'd lose out on 1st level Wizard spells to pick from, but being able to snag something like Fire Bolt that scales on your already primary casting stat would be pretty neat.
You would also get Detect Magic and Magic Missile as domain spells, and Proficiency with Arcana, for free.

It's certainly something to look into, if you don't mind getting the higher spell levels of Druid a level later than normal. Upside: Hit Die size is the same, and you don't lose out on any spell slots.

[nickl_2000]

Thanks! You'd lose out on 1st level Wizard spells to pick from, but being able to snag something like Fire Bolt that scales on your already primary casting stat would be pretty neat.
You would also get Detect Magic and Magic Missile as domain spells, and Proficiency with Arcana, for free.

It's certainly something to look into, if you don't mind getting the higher spell levels of Druid a level later than normal. Upside: Hit Die size is the same, and you don't lose out on any spell slots.

I'll be doing it with my moon druid at level 11 (we are about 400xp from level 10).

[DarkKnightJin]

I'll be doing it with my moon druid at level 11 (we are about 400xp from level 10).

You might wanna chat with your DM if a Monk's Unarmored Defense works in Wildshape.
I personally don't see why it wouldn't be something to allow. The caster is getting a bit more AC. It's still a caster, in a melee based form, doing what a caster isn't really meant to do.

If you are spending more time as a caster instead of a beast, perhaps Arcana Cleric would be the 'better' pick.

[nickl_2000]

You might wanna chat with your DM if a Monk's Unarmored Defense works in Wildshape.
I personally don't see why it wouldn't be something to allow. The caster is getting a bit more AC. It's still a caster, in a melee based form, doing what a caster isn't really meant to do.

If you are spending more time as a caster instead of a beast, perhaps Arcana Cleric would be the 'better' pick.

I've evaluated pretty carefully and thought it through. I've found that beast forms tend to be more of a strategical solution in particular combats, rather a primary combat form (this may change with elemental forms though). Also, I've been able to pull in some combat forms from Tome of Beasts, which have a higher AC than other beasts out there. So, the Arcana cleric makes more sense for me and the characters style.

Edit: I also didn't mention that I wanted to continue my spell progression and not lose out on that. So, it was a pretty easy choice for me.

[DarkKnightJin]

I've evaluated pretty carefully and thought it through. I've found that beast forms tend to be more of a strategical solution in particular combats, rather a primary combat form (this may change with elemental forms though). Also, I've been able to pull in some combat forms from Tome of Beasts, which have a higher AC than other beasts out there. So, the Arcana cleric makes more sense for me and the characters style.

Edit: I also didn't mention that I wanted to continue my spell progression and not lose out on that. So, it was a pretty easy choice for me.

Sounds like you did the research.
Now you just need a plausible reason for your Druid to embrace a god of 'arcane' magic to become a Cleric.
Unless you can fluff it as just part of your Druid's character, that doesn't have a mechanical split.

My Ek Fighter/Warlock isn't really a 'Fighter-Warlock'. He's an *Eldritch* Knight.

[RSP]

I was wondering: is there any Wizard spells you can get from Magic Initiate that a Land Druid could find useful?

I'm talking about the spells themselves, without concern for MAD or how another feat could be better.

Mage Armor’s not bad, and I like the Find Familiar idea, however, I’d probably recommend going Ritual Caster over MI if you want FF: it’ll be much more useful on the long run.

[8wGremlin]

Arcana cleric is a good choice, 2 cantrips that scale with wisdom
I recommend Chill touch, it has good range, is a damage type that is better than fire, an has a nice little rider.
Yes you lose out in a point of damage per dice, but the benefits are better than firebolt.

Booming blade is always awesome, but doesn't need to scale off of wisdom to be good, i'd pick this up with Magic Initiate if you can

Shocking grasp is good, and gives you some breathing space if you don't have mobility.
Also very thematic druids with lightning.

Prestidigitation has more versatility than Druidcraft

Minor illusion has benefits as well, and people don't think that druidc cast illusion that often. but you may be wanting to do other things in combat.

lastly - why not pick up both Arcana cleric and Magic initiate?

[DarkKnightJin]

Arcana cleric is a good choice, 2 cantrips that scale with wisdom
I recommend Chill touch, it has good range, is a damage type that is better than fire, an has a nice little rider.
Yes you lose out in a point of damage per dice, but the benefits are better than firebolt.

Booming blade is always awesome, but doesn't need to scale off of wisdom to be good, i'd pick this up with Magic Initiate if you can

Shocking grasp is good, and gives you some breathing space if you don't have mobility.
Also very thematic druids with lightning.

Prestidigitation has more versatility than Druidcraft

Minor illusion has benefits as well, and people don't think that druidc cast illusion that often. but you may be wanting to do other things in combat.

lastly - why not pick up both Arcana cleric and Magic initiate?

Building on this: You should consider making Toll the Dead and/or Sacred Flame a Cleric cantrip pick. For the 3rd one.. go nuts. Guidance is always good, but you probably have that already from Druid. Light or Thaumaturgy would be a nice pick. Just round out the 'do everything' trio of cantrips. Why? Because you can, damnit!

[Osrogue]

Feather fall. You can turn into a bird, but have no defenses for getting knocked from the sky.

[Citan]

Hi OP!

I like the control and utility spells for that personally. Mold Earth, Gust, Control Water, Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation. If you are looking at damage, Chill Touch and Ray of Frost are solid choices since they are different damage types that you get normally.

As a side note, it may be work taking 1 level in Arcana Cleric instead of Magic Initiate (depending on the level 1 spell you are trying to get). If you aren't trying to get Find Familiar from MI you can get a lot more utility for a lower overall cost.
On that note, there is also Forge Cleric that has the Shield spell IIRC. As a full spell, it can be very worthy too for non-Moon Druids.


mage armor - +3 to several wildshapes (though i suppose some may argue mage armor hides in wild shape)
find familiar

green flame blade + shillelegh
booming blade + shillelegh (boom stick!)
minor illusion
mage hand (non-concentration)
As far as "making the most out of 1/day spell", I think this wins the discussion. ^^
My second choice being Comprehend Languages: paired with Wild Shape and Observant feat, it makes you a hell of a great spy.

[Derpldorf]

Prestidigitation, Mage Hand and Unseen Servant is my standard loadout for Int independant Magic Initiate: Wizard. They are all massively useful utility spells that will enhance any playstyle.