Druid Battlefield Control

[Fero]

I am interested in Druidic battlefield control spells, by which I mean spells from the Druid spell list that prevent or impair enemy actions by making lasting (more than instantaneous) physical changes to the battlefield. Is there any consensus on the best Druidic BC spells and/or their strengths/weaknesses at BC relative to wizards?

[Rebel7284]

https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?439991-Being-Everything-Eggynack-s-Comprehensive-Druid-Handbook

There you go, everything you need to know about Druids!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Druids get some of the absolute best control spells in the game. Just a few examples:

1st: Entangle, Wall of Smoke (can be cast across occupied squares to force an immediate save)
2nd: Kelpstrand
3rd: Arctic Haze, Haboob, Sleet Storm
4th: Boreal Wind
5th: Blizzard, Call Avalanche, Wall of Thorns (trapped with no save if you cast it on top of them!)
7th: Constricting Chains (no save, high ability requirements to escape)

There's also the Snowsight + Obscuring Snow combo which is absolutely game-breaking. Have everyone in the party pay 2k gp for a 1st level pearl of power and to go in thirds on lesser rods of extend, so you can put extended Snowsight on everyone in the party for a single 1st level spell slot. Just about anyone can cast Obscuring Snow, so make sure everyone does so.

There's also Greenbound Summoning, which gets you animals with the greenbound template. This gives them the ability to cast Wall of Thorns 1/day, and Entangle at will. So you use SNA 1 to get a greenbound dire rat, have it immediately use Wall of Thorns to trap several opponents, then it can spam Entangle for the rest of the summon duration. Greenbound creatures are significantly tankier than their normal counterparts, so they're likely to last the entire summon duration unless dispelled. You can get that feat at 1st level, effectively gaining access to a 5th level spell from a 1st level slot!

There's also using SNA to get creatures with improved grab (crocodile at 2, lion at 3, tiger at 4, etc.), which you can also cast Animal Growth on, so they grab and hold opponents for you. There's also using SNA to get a unicorn with its magic circle that keeps evil outsiders at bay and suppresses charm effects, plus it gets a lot more healing spell-like abilities than you could get out of that spell slot.

[Crake]

There's also Greenbound Summoning, which gets you animals with the greenbound template. This gives them the ability to cast Wall of Thorns 1/day, and Entangle at will. So you use SNA 1 to get a greenbound dire rat, have it immediately use Wall of Thorns to trap several opponents, then it can spam Entangle for the rest of the summon duration. Greenbound creatures are significantly tankier than their normal counterparts, so they're likely to last the entire summon duration unless dispelled. You can get that feat at 1st level, effectively gaining access to a 5th level spell from a 1st level slot!

Worth noting that greenbound summoning was intended to be, i think, either a +2 or +3 metamagic, as stated by the author, so take any greenbound summoning suggestions with a grain of salt

[Doctor Despair]

Another good low-level druid BFC tech is to get some source of nonmagical or alchemical smoke to give everyone concealment and use the fire eyes spell to make it a one-sided miss chance from as early as level 1.

[Biggus]

Worth noting that greenbound summoning was intended to be, i think, either a +2 or +3 metamagic, as stated by the author, so take any greenbound summoning suggestions with a grain of salt

Yes, it was written as a +2 metamagic feat but when it appeared in print that part was missing. The author never found out if it was a mistake or an intentional change as far as I know. But it definitely was overpowered as it appeared in the book, one of the most commonly houseruled feats I think.

[SirNibbles]

Sticks to Snakes (Dragon Magazine #317, page 71) is definitely worth a mention for battlefield control. For a 3rd level spell slot, you get a number of snakes equal to CL/4, and the snakes scale with caster level all the way up to Gargantaun giant constrictors at CL 20. It's also a standard action instead of full round so it can be a bit easier to use than SNA in certain situations.