10 Best Feats For Druids In Baldur's Gate 3

Druids play a surprisingly large role in Baldur’s Gate 3, from the druids of the Emerald Grove to the two recruitable druid companions who can join the party. Offering a mixture of spellcasting and shapeshifting druids is one of my favorite classes in BG3 and Dungeons & Dragons. And some feats will make playing this unusual class even more fun for everyone.

As with most classes in the game, druids can select three feats at levels four, eight, and 12 to help customize their class builds for BG3. The tricky part of choosing the best feats for druids is finding which ones will work alongside the class’s iconic feature, Wild Shape. But with feats that help with spellcasting to those that focus on melee, this list will provide helpful options to suit every play style.

10 Alert – Boost To Initiative

Wild Shape As Quickly As Possible

It’s hard to go wrong with Alert, which suits many classes needing to jump on enemies. Alert gives the druid a fantastic plus-five boost to their initiative roll at the start of combat, pushing them up the initiative order. This is particularly useful for druids relying on Wild Shape to give them a chance to transform and get into a position to best help the party.

The second aspect of Alert is that it prevents the druid from being surprised and, therefore, missing a turn. This is brilliant for Wild Shape-focused druids as their animal forms provide extra health pools. But Alert is also great for spellcasting focused builds as it allows them to use crowd control spells such as Entangle or Hold Person to tip the scales back in the party’s favor.

9 Defensive Duellist – Boost To AC

Get The Most Out Of Finesse Weapons

Rather than having a block of weapon types, like simple or martial, they are proficient in druids have a specific list of eight weapon types they can use at level one. This list includes finesse weapons such as daggers and scimitars, as seen with Jaheira, who dual-wields scimitars. Defensive Duellist is the perfect feat for any druid also using finesse weapons in BG3 or just looking to get the most out of the High Harper when she joins the party.

With Defensive Duellist, the druid will be able to use their reaction when they are attacked in melee to add their proficiency bonus to their AC. This is a bug bump to AC, even at lower levels, and can easily prevent an attack from landing. Defensive Duellist is one of the few feats in BG3 that has an ability score prerequisite, as it requires the character to have a Dexterity score of 13 or higher.

A character’s proficiency bonus increases as they level up, going from plus two at levels one through four, to plus three (levels five to eight), and finally plus four after level nine.

8 Mage Slayer – Combat Options Against Spellcasters

Impose Disadvantage On Enemy Concentration Checks

Enemy spellcasters are always a problem, and whether building a druid specializing in spells or one prioritizing combat Wild Shape, Mage Slayer is an incredibly useful feat. The feat can be broken down into three different features, the first of which grants the druid advantage on saving throws against spells cast within melee range of them. Mage Slayer also imposes disadvantage on concentration saving throws for enemies that the druid hits with an attack.

This is fantastic for disabling some of the more powerful control spells in BG3 that can cause other party members to skip turns, such as Hypnotic Pattern, Hold Person, or slow. Finally, Mage Slayer allows the druid to use their reaction to make an attack on enemy casters when they cast a spell within melee range, however, the Attack Caster reaction does not work in Wild Shape.

7 Spell Sniper – Learn New Cantrip

Better Odds Of Spell Critical Hit

Spell Sniper is a fantastic feat for any spellcasting class in BG3 and works well with many different druid builds. The feat allows the druid to learn a new cantrip from a list of six, which include many they would not usually be able to learn. The cantrips on offer are Chill Touch, Eldritch Blast, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, and Thorn Whip, and will use the druids Wisdom modifier for spellcasting.

The different cantrips allow the druid to fill any gaps in their repertoire and adapt to their playstyle. Spell Sniper also has a powerful passive feature, which reduces the number needed for a critical hit when attacking with a spell by one. This will only apply to spells that need an attack roll, such as an ice knife, and not those that require saving throws.

6 Resilient – Proficiency In Constitution Saves

Increase Constitution Score & Maintain Spell Concentration

Sticking with spellcasting, Resilient is a brilliant and versatile feat for many classes, but can really come in handy for spellcasters. Resilient covers all six of a character’s abilities and allows one ability score to be chosen and increased by one. For druids, the best choice is Constitution, as this will directly impact their hit points and their ability to maintain concentration on spells.

Resilient also grants proficiency in saving throws for the chosen ability, letting the druid add their proficiency bonus to any saving throws made to concentrate. Best of all, this proficiency persists when in Wild Shape, which often has higher Constitution scores. To get the best use out of Resilient, it is best to leave the druid’s Constitution score on an odd number at character creation, so the plus one increase will also increase the modifier value.

5 Mobile – Better Movement Options

Increases Speed & Prevents Issues When Moving

Mobile is a brilliant feat for druids as it’s one of many whose effects fully persist whether the druid is in Wild Shape or not. Firstly, Mobile increases the druid’s movement speed by three meters/10 feet, and given that some of the Wild Shape forms in BG3 already have significant movement speeds, this increase can make things fun in combat. But Mobile has two more tricks that are perfectly geared towards Circle of the Moon druids who will be using Combat Wild Shape.

The first prevents difficult terrain from reducing the druid’s speed when they use the dash action. The second prevents targets from gaining attacks of opportunity when the druid moves after they have attacked that target. Both of these are fantastic for repositioning, allowing the druid to quickly get where they are most needed on the battlefield to backup other party members.

4 Durable – Better Short Rests

Heal Fully Between Long Rests

While Circle of the Moon druids benefit from increased Wild Shape hit points, other druids can feel squishy. Durable is perfect for this, as it increases the character’s Constitution ability score by one. This might not sound like much, but when used alongside other feats that increase the score, or if the score was left on an odd number at character creation, it can bump up the modifier, increasing hit points at each level.

But what makes Durable work so well with druids is that it also improves how their short rests work. Durable allows the druid to regain their hit point every time they short rest, instead of just half. As Wild Shape charges also recharge on a short rest, the druid can keep going for longer between visits to camp.

The full hit point heal from Durable will work in Wild Shape, however, the change in Constitution score doesn’t affect Wild Shape Constitutions.

3 Elemental Adept – Better Elemental Damage

Ignore Enemy Resistances & Deal More Damage

Elemental Adept is another feat that works fantastically with Wild Shape and various druid builds. The feat allows the druid to choose from five elemental damage types and let any spell they cast of that damage type ignore any resistances an enemy may have. Many fiends are resistant to fire, while some undead are resistant to cold, for example, with Elemental Adept allowing the druids fire or cold spells to deal full damage to them.

Elemental Adept prevents the druid from rolling ones when dealing damage of their chosen element. This means when rolling damage, anyone is treated as two to get the most out of every spell cast. This feat is perfect for more spellcasting focused druids like Circle of the Land, however, Wild Shape forms that deal elemental damage also benefit from Elemental Adept’s passive features.

Elemental Wild Shapes include the four Myrmidons and Dilophosaurus forms.

2 War Caster – Maintain Spell Concentration

Advantage On Saving Throws & New Reaction Option

The best feat for a spellcasting-focused druid is easily War Caster. War Caster is designed with the simple premise of helping casters in BG3 keep their powerful concentration spells active by specifically granting them advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration. This advantage also carries over into Wild Shape, further increasing the chances of keeping a spell going, especially for Circle of the Moon druids.

War Caster also grants the druid Shocking Grasp, one of the best cantrips in BG3, to use as a reaction if an enemy moves out of melee range. Shocking grasp is great as it not only deals damage but also prevents the target from using their reactions for a turn. Obviously, this aspect of War Caster doesn’t work in Wild Shape but is excellent for Circle of the Land or Circle of Spores druids.

1 Tavern Brawler – Better Wild Shape Damage

Deal Out Awesome Damage With Unarmed Attacks

Finally, the best feat for a druid is one that primarily benefits those who prefer to use Wild Shape in combat. Tavern Brawler increases the druid’s Strength or Constitution ability score by one, which is not the main reason this feat is so perfect for druids. It is perhaps best to opt for Constitution here, pairing it with Durable or Resilient for more hit points and better Constitution saving throws.

However, the main reason for choosing Tavern Brawler when playing as a druid in Baldur’s Gate 3 is its awesome bonus to unarmed attacks. With Tavern Brawler, when the druid makes an unarmed attack, their Strength modifier is added twice to both the damage and attack roll. As Wild Shape attacks count as unarmed and the forms often have higher Strength scores, this can lead to Moon druids dealing with devastating damage in battle.