Spoiler: Land Druid Circle Spells
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Blur (2, Desert): Concentration. Defensive Buff that causes disadvantage on attack rolls against the target. Casting this when you need to be the damage sponge can save a lot of slots in healing if you pick the right fight. It will almost inevitably outperform Barkskin in the short run, but then Barkskin lasts 60 times longer. Blur only really shines if you find a way to get a high AC for your current level. If you get to where enemies only hit you on 18+, e.g., you change the risk of being hit from 15% to 2.25% with Disadvantage. And only the .25% are crits. That's pretty tanky for a caster.
It’s a decent defensive buff, and worth having, at least around the level you get it. Later, it’s mostly an on-demand way to shut down sneak attacks, should you run up against those, or if you need to tank a swarm of enemies with low to hit bonus for a while.
Cloudkill (5, Underdark): Concentration. Damage over time with a BC element, as the cloud obscures heavily. The damage amount is about what you would expect, but the type is poison, and therefore likely to fail you. The area of effect is also somewhat unwieldy. Admittedly, this spell can be a terror if everything lines up in its favour: The DM rules that obscurement means no looking out of the cloud too. And that the cloud stops when it reaches a solid barrier and doesn’t flatten against it. And that the enemies stay inside that area. And that they are susceptible to poison. If all those things fall in place, this spell will wreck them and their ability to hit back.
Can you expect the situations you encounter to conform well enough to it be worth having this spell on your list permanently? I think not.
Cone of Cold (5, Arctic): Cold damage dealing is surprisingly rare on the druid list, and as such a welcome addition. The AoE is also a rarity, although you could emulate it to some degree with some of your more flexible spells. And the damage is decent enough, if you consider the capacity to hit multiple foes. As instant damage dealing spells go, you could do far worse than Cone of Cold.
Create Food and Water (3, Desert): Between Goodberry (and if the DM rules that it doesn’t provide fluids, Create or Destroy Water), you already have this covered. And in most campaigns, food is going to be a non-problem anyway. You certainly don’t need it filling up your prepared spells list on an everyday basis.
Darkness (2, Swamp): Concentration. BC spell comparable to Fog Cloud. This one is potentially movable, but on the other hand it cannot pretend to be natural, so it’s bound to attract attention. A point in its favour is that it can be turned off temporarily by covering the targeted object. In a ranged contest, for instance, you could go for turning it off while your side shoots, and turning it on when the enemy shoots, (with a Ready Action if initiative otherwise prevents).
It is not the greatest of spells to have permanently on your list, competing as it does for your Concentration, and considering BC options that come available as you advance, but there are far worse possibilities.
Divination (4, Forest, Grassland): Ritual. Attempts an answer about things to happen in the next week. Problematically, the more shrewdly you ask, the more likely it is that the DM is simply stumped for an answer. Though a ritual, casting this spell multiple times between long rests comes with a risk of getting a false reading. It also costs 25gp per casting, though that should not be prohibitive unless you cast it virtually daily.
This is a hard spell to judge. Very much is up to the DM, both in willingness and ability to predict, and just as much up to your ability to ask good questions. At its best it is a huge boon, and at its worst it’s a waste of spells, money and effort.
Dream (5, Grassland): The ability to communicate in dreams with known persons on the same plane, or attack them. It’s a nice thing to have in your arsenal, allowing quick communication despite distances and whereabouts that could hinder it. It can also be used to attempt to kill known characters with sufficiently few hp. NPC stats for acolytes, commoners and nobles are all well within the capacity for this spell to murder.
So all in all, it’s a spell that gives you more options. But it is not a spell you’ll be casting so often that it’s a good thing to have it permanently on your prepared list.
Gaseous Form (3, Underdark): Concentration. The ability to turn someone gaseous has multiple uses. It can help hide someone, help infiltrate a place, help protect the target (as being gaseous has numerous defensive advantages), and it lets them fly, albeit slowly. All in all a good and versatile spell.
Greater Invisibility (4, Underdark): Concentration. Strong defensive buff, and if you’re into making attack rolls, it buffs those too. A particular favourite of rogues, who can sneak attack to their greedy little hearts’ content with this on. And being invisible, albeit for a fairly short time, can be used for stealthy purposes, too, of course.
Totally worth it.
Haste (3, Grassland): Concentration. Strong offensive buff, with some good defensive and manoeuvrability uses too. As a land druid, you’re less likely to use this on yourself, though it isn’t out of the question. Someone who can make the most of the extra attack is the most likely candidate, though, and they will love it. Note that when the spell ends, the target effectively loses a round.
Only the dead have seen the end of casting Haste.
Invisibility (2, Grassland): Concentration. Hour-long duration stealth buff. Multiple targets when using higher level spell slots. It can also be considered an offensive and defensive buff, but it ends as soon as you cast a spell or attack, so it won’t work like that for long. By the time you get it, and for some levels after, you can still get some mileage out of your wildshape for combat purposes, and activating that doesn’t break invisibility.
There are many, many uses for Invisibility.
Lightning Bolt (3, Mountain): AoE lightning damage, a decent amount for an instantaneous spell. By the time you get it, this can devastate groups of foes, as long as they can’t find a way to handle it. Due to the AoE shape (a line), the ability to target this spell in a convenient way is somewhat dependent on your mobility. The spell makes long, narrow hallways a terror through the mid levels.
Good enough.
Melf’s Acid Arrow (2, Swamp): Acid damage is fairly rare, and not so often resisted. The amount, however, is rather paltry, especially since some of it comes after the target gets to act. Compared to Heat Metal (which you have) or Scorching Ray (which you don’t have), this spell falls well behind in impressiveness. By the time the damage type begins to be important, you will likely have moved on to other spells.
Not worthless, but not so good either.
Mirror Image (2, Coast): A nice defensive buff, mostly because it does not require Concentration. Commonly touted as a great spell, but I can’t really rate it much above average from my experience. It comes with some noticeable drawbacks: The duration is so short, you will likely have to cast it in competition with spells that would work towards ending the encounter, because it will be unusual for you to be able to cast this before a battle (where buffing ideally takes place). The short duration also means it can burn through your spell slots faster than you would like. Finally, it would be a better fit to a moon druid than a land druid. You should have other ways to keep yourself safe, positioning being the most cost effective.
That said, this is a spell that can see use in many combat scenarios, and those shouldn’t be in short supply, so the permanent space of a lesser panic button on the prepared spell list is acceptable.
Misty Step (2, Coast): Bonus action short range teleport. It’s excellent for getting you out of trouble, through a wall of force, safely over a chasm, etc. Remember that you can’t cast a spell both with your action and bonus action in the same round, not counting cantrips.
Passwall (5, Mountain): As you might expect, this is used for getting through walls and other stone or construction, up to 20’ per casting. The hole disappears when the duration runs out, and the magic keeps the structure stable, so you don’t risk (and you can’t cause) a collapse. It’s an interesting option for putting a twist on a dungeon crawl, and can of course be used to get in and out of many places you weren’t meant to go. But it is rather situational for a permanent place on your prepared spell list.
Silence (2, Desert): Concentration. An immobile area of utter silence comes into being. While this stops most spellcasting (as it prevents verbal components), you can usually walk out before casting, as the AoE isn’t too big. That it can’t be moved also makes it a lot less useful, as it can’t be used to sneak about with.
The best use of this is likely to lay it down over a caster, and then restrict their movement (perhaps via grapple), so they can’t escape. Plan it in advance with your team mates, as you may be unable to communicate once the Silence is cast. Also remember that you and the party are as spell-less in the AoE as any enemy, and that there are a few spells that don’t require verbal components. Counterspell and Hypnotic Pattern are two I’d keep in mind for Silence purposes.
Slow (3, Arctic): Concentration. Multi-debuff (affecting both attacks and defence), wisdom save ends. But what a debuff! People from previous editions might expect this to affect spellcasters little, but it is quite as harsh on them as it is on other foes. Affects up to six creatures.
Slow is good, and worth having on your daily list.
Spider Climb (2, Forest, Mountain, Underdark): Concentration. By itself, this isn’t such a bad spell. It lets you get to places otherwise hard or impossible to reach, and can often be used to be immune to enemy melee by climbing up a wall out of reach. The first half is something druids have covered via wildshape since level 2 (spider forms do this naturally). The second half is still a thing, but low level druids in particular are rather dependent on their Concentration for their best combat spells. In combination, this makes an otherwise decent spell a lot less useful to druids compared to other classes.
Stinking Cloud (3, Swamp, Underdark): Concentration. Nasty BC that can seriously inconvenience targets for a little while, unless they are immune to poison. The main problem with this spell is that it does not prevent anyone from leaving, even if they lose their action to the spell’s effect. The next round they are likely free to act. Still, if you can get enough enemies inside the AoE, you will cause sufficiently many of them to lose an action for this to be worth doing. And if you have friends that like to use control effects, maybe they can push enemies back into the cloud for further effect. Once you get to level 10, you can go in the cloud yourself, and maybe use Thorn Whip to pull people back in.
The main use of this spell is against large groups of enemies, the more the better. It is also an area denial spell. That should come in handy in a lot of fights, so the spell rates decently for being permanently on your prepared spell list.
Web (2, Underdark): Concentration. A slightly stronger version of Entangle. It can last a lot longer, it can add some height, and it affects creatures that enter the area after the initial casting (which is a double-edged sword, as it affects your party too). It does have some small drawbacks (besides being a higher level spell): It is susceptible to fire. And those in the spell don’t save until it’s their own turn, which delays the onset of the Restrained condition a bit, and means you won’t know immediately who will be affected.
Good BC spell, perfectly valid to have on your prepared spell list on a permanent basis.
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