Each of Baldur's Gate 3's available classes provides different abilities to the character, both in combat and when exploring the world, and subclasses are a way of further diversifying a character's skills and capabilities. With a few exceptions, each class has three subclasses to choose from.
Baldur's Gate 3 allows players to use nine classes from the D&D 5e Tabletop game when creating their character. The Druid is a class that makes use of magic drawn from nature and the natural world, able to shapeshift and command the forces of nature in a number of different ways. Each of its subclasses allows the druid to focus on a different aspect of nature and gain additional abilities relating to it. The Circle of the Land allows them to draw power from specific environments and gain abilities relating to them, The Circle of the Moon allows them to focus on shapeshifting and the power of the animal kingdom, and the Circle of Spores draws power from decay and the new life which springs from it.
The Circle Of The Land
The Circle of the Land Druid specializes in spellcasting first and foremost, gaining the ability to recover their spell slots using the "Natural Recovery" ability once per long rest. This makes them excellent utility casters and allows them to utilize their magic more freely and frequently than the other Druid subclasses.
At level 3 a Circle of the Land Druid is able to select a Spell Circle, each of which is based on a type of terrain, and gain additional spells based on the Spell Circle selected.
Spell Circle | Bonus Spells |
Arctic | Hold Person and Spike Growth |
Coast | Mirror Image and Misty Step |
Desert | Blur and Silence |
Forest | Barkskin and Hold Person |
Grassland | Invisibility and Pass without Trace |
Mountain | Mirror Image and Spike Growth |
Swamp | Acid Arrow and Darkness |
Underdark | Web and Misty Step |
The table above explains all the spells granted at level 3 by this decision. At level 5 players choose another Spell Circle and gain new spells from that Circle. These are different spells to those offered by selecting that Circle at level 3.
Spell Circle | Bonus Spells |
Arctic | Sleet Storm and Haste |
Coast | Sleet Storm and Call Lightning |
Desert | Protection from Energy and Hypnotic Pattern |
Forest | Call Lightning and Plant Growth |
Grassland | Haste and Daylight |
Mountain | Call Lightning and Fly |
Swamp | Vampiric Touch and Stinking Cloud |
Underdark | Gaseous Form and Stinking Cloud |
Essentially, as Circle of the Land Druids gain levels, they will be able to choose Circles and gain additional spells, allowing them access to a greater variety of spells than other Druids and even access to some spells that Druids are otherwise unable to use.
The Circle Of The Moon
Players looking to emphasize their Druid's shapeshifting ability will want to take the Circle of the Moon as their subclass. At level 2, when Druids select their subclass, the Circle of the Moon grants the druid the Combat Wildshape ability and access to a special ability called "Lunar Mend." Combat Wildshape allows the Druid to transform as a bonus action instead of a full action, allowing them easy access to their shapeshifting abilities during combat encounters. They can shapeshift twice per short rest, allowing them a total of six transformations between long rests.
The Lunar Mend ability allows the Druid to spend their spell slots to heal themselves while transformed, allowing them an alternative use for their spell slots and helping them to stay transformed longer. This heals 1d8HP per level of the spell slot used, meaning that players can burn higher-level spell slots to heal more if necessary.
The Circle of the Moon Druid also gains access to more powerful Wildshape forms faster than other subclasses, gaining the Deep Rothe form at level 3 rather than level 4, for example. They also gain some Wildshape forms that the other subclasses currently do not have access to, like the Dire Raven.
Circle Of Spores
Since the Circle of Spores is not playable during Early Access, this information is largely based on the 5e Tabletop version of the subclass.
The Circle of Spores gives the character a halo of Spores that encircles them starting at level 2. This allows them to spend their reaction to activate those spores and deal necrotic damage when a creature is within 10ft of them. The amount of damage increases as the Druid continues to increase in level. They can also spend a charge of Wildshape to activate their "Symbiotic Entity" ability to gain temporary hitpoints and add additional necrotic damage to their Halo of Spores and their melee attacks.
At level 6, they gain the ability to infest corpses with their spores to reanimate them as zombies allowing them to create minions to aid them in combat. At level 10, they gain the ability to create AOE fields that deal their Halo of Spores damage to creatures inside them at the cost of preventing them from using Halo of Spores normally while the field is present.
Baldur's Gate 3 releases on the 3rd of August 2023 for PC and Mac, and the 6th of September 2023 for PS5.