By [ad_1]
Whether you’re looting a dragon’s hoard or perusing a merchant’s rarities, deciding on which magic items are the best for your druid can be a tough call. While some magic items will complement your unique build, others could have effects that are best left forgotten.
Below is our selection of the best magic items for druids (listed in alphabetical order). Keep in mind that if there’s a particular magic item that you like but don’t own the book for, you can purchase just that magic item in the marketplace.
- Amulet of health
- Animated shield
- Cloak of protection, ring of protection
- Dragon scale mail
- Insignia of claws
- Moon sickle
- Rod of absorption
- Sentinel shield
- Staff of the woodlands
- Staff of healing
Rules: Magic items and Wild Shape
Magic items don’t always interact nicely with the druid’s Wild Shape. Here are a couple rules to keep in mind:
- Druids cannot cast spells while in their beast form, even spells that are granted by magic items. This includes both spells that can be cast for free and spells that use charges from an item.
- When entering Wild Shape, you decide whether worn equipment falls to the ground, merges with your new form, or is worn by it. If you choose to wear the equipment, and therefore reap its benefits, it cannot change size or shape to accommodate your new form. Your Dungeon Master might rule that certain equipment cannot be worn by your new form. For example, a wolf might be able to wear magical earrings, but not a giant poisonous snake.
Adding to this second point is this tidbit from the Dungeon Master’s Guide: “In most cases, a magic item that’s meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer.”
Top 10 magic items for druids
1. Amulet of health
Rare, require attunement
The Many of the beasts that druids can transform into have low or middling Constitution scores, so an amulet of health patches that nicely. Increasing the amount of hit points you get in your Wild Shape forms also helps you get more mileage out of them. Circle of the Moon druids who want to maintain their concentration on call lightning or other spells while exchanging blows with enemies in melee range will appreciate having a +4 bonus to Constitution saving throws.
2. Animated shield
Very rare, requires attunement
As a very rare magic item, you might have some trouble snagging an animated shield at lower levels. But they’re worth the wait.
Unlike a regular shield, an animated shield hovers around you, providing the standard +2 AC while leaving both of your hands free. Although this item doesn’t provide a ton of value for druids outside of Wild Shape — since they can already wield shields — it benefits Wild Shape forms with low AC.
You won’t need to drop, merge with, or wear your shield when you Wild Shape. Simply use your bonus action to animate your shield, use your action to Wild Shape into your beast of choice, and you’re off to the races.
3. Cloak of protection, ring of protection*
Uncommon (cloak), rare (ring), each require attunement
Druids have a notoriously difficult time increasing their AC, in part because they typically don’t wear armor made of metal. A quick fix to this problem is to equip a cloak of protection and/or ring of protection. Each increase your AC and saving throws by 1.
Of the two, the ring of protection might be more useful. You can realistically only wear one cloak, but a ring occupies a single finger, leaving you plenty of space for other magic rings or items you find in your journeys (assuming you have attunement slots).
*OK, so we cheated. These are two separate items, but they do the same thing!
4. Dragon scale mail
Very rare, requires attunement
On top of granting you AC equal to 14 + your Dex modifier (max 2), dragon scale mail offers an additional +1 bonus to AC. You also gain resistance to a damage type and other benefits that make locating and fighting dragons much less daunting.
5. Insignia of claws
This magic item’s value for non-Circle of the Moon druids will fall over time. The typical CR limitations on Wild Shape mean that as you level up and face stronger monsters, your beast forms won’t survive nearly as long in combat. But for druids who plan to often use Wild Shape in combat, any bonus to attacks will be a welcome one.
6. Moon sickle
Uncommon (+1), rare (+2), very rare (+3), requires attunement
The moon sickle is great at any level. In addition to the above bonuses, the moon sickle can also be used as a spellcasting focus, so you can dump that sprig of mistletoe for something far cooler. The magic item also gives druids a d4 boost to any healing spell they cast. Druids have access to plenty of healing spells, but Circle of Dreams and Circle of the Shepherd druids will get the most mileage from this last feature.
7. Rod of absorption
Very rare, requires attunement
The rod of absorption is deserving of its rarity. While holding it, you can spend a reaction to absorb the magical energy of a spell that is targeting only you. In doing so, you simultaneously improve the staying power of your druid and set up the magic item’s second ability.
You can convert the magical energy stored in a rod of absorption into spell slots to cast your own prepared spells. Druids are often hampered by the number of spell slots they have available. Unlike wizards or warlocks, they can’t recharge any spell slots on a short rest. This magic item helps patch that issue.
8. Sentinel shield
Uncommon
Found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide, a sentinel shield is a simple but elegant way for druids to ensure that they will never be caught unawares (or go last in initiative). In addition to the normal benefit of a shield, this magic item grants advantage on initiative rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks.
With your already high Wisdom score, the sentinel shield will all but guarantee that enemies won’t get the jump on you. And when combat starts, you’ll be more likely to act first. Spike growth, anyone?
9. Staff of the woodlands
Rare, requires attunement
This is the quintessential magic item for druids. It’s chockful of features, so don’t expect your Dungeon Master to give it to you early in a campaign.
To start, you get a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with the weapon. You also get a +2 bonus on any spell attack roll you make. The staff of the woodlands also comes with charges, which you can spend to cast a small selection of staple druid spells, including favorites like speak with plants and awaken. You also get unlimited castings of pass without trace.
Finally, as an action, you can turn the staff into a tree. Use it to create cover for yourself in combat or climb its branches for a safe place to take a long rest.
10. Staff of healing
Rare, requires attunement
When most people think of making a character that specializes in healing, they think of the Life Domain cleric. But the druid also has access to a suite of healing spells, and subclasses like the Circle of Dreams and Circle of the Shepherd can make you even better at restoring hit points and protecting allies. But a staff of healing can really push you over the top in terms of potency.
The staff comes with 10 charges and allows you to cast cure wounds, lesser restoration, and even mass cure wounds. While these are all spells a druid can prepare, the staff of healing makes it so that you won’t need to worry about preparing or using valuable spell slots on healing spells.
Let’s build a druid
When you’re ready to make your druid and equip them to the teeth with potent magic items, you can pop into D&D Beyond’s free character builder tool to get started. As a reminder, if there’s a particular magic item you want access to, such as the insignia of claws from Hoard of the Dragon Queen, you can purchase just that item from the marketplace instead of the whole book.
Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.
[ad_2]
