The Circle of the Land is the archetypal caster for Druids in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Instead of improving the Druid’s Wild Shape, these Druids learn Circle Spells, magic based on different environments. These choices are very important for a Land Druid, so it’s a good idea to know which Land is best for Circle Spells at each level.
Circle Spells are a pair of spells that are always prepared for a Circle of the Land Druid. You get these spells at level three, five, seven, and nine for second, third, fourth, and fifth-level spells, respectively. These spells are commonly found on the Druid spell list, but some are from other classes and are cast like a Druid spell.
The best Land choices for Circle of the Land in 5E
The best Land spells are useful in a variety of situations and often bring options from outside of the Druid spell list. As a result, many of the Lands have great options, but can often run into the issue of being concentration-based or already on the Druid list, reducing their value.
Thankfully, you can mix and match Lands to make a custom spell list that fits you and your party. Because of this, we’ll separate the best choices for Circle Spells by level.
It’s also important to note that this list does not work for BG3, as its spell lists—and spell effects—have some significant differences. These tips are for the tabletop game, but many of the same ideas can apply to BG3 (with the minor caveat that Haste must be learned at all costs).
Level three Circle spells
The second-level options offered to Druid focus mostly on defensive spells, which isn’t too unusual for spells at this point. This is a great time to shore up your Druid’s relatively middling AC with defensive options that will stand the test of time.
Coast
Level three is a very competitive level with many excellent choices, but Coast is the strongest option. This is because Coast grants two spells outside of the Druid’s native list—Mirror Image and Misty Step—that are critical defensive options unavailable to the class.
These are both quite powerful for a caster Druid, or even one that is willing to Wild Shape into lower-powered animals. Mirror Image will stay active while you shape or while you cast, meaning you can buff up before a fight, walk in, and potentially have up to three auto-misses. For a class that relies on many strong concentration options, this is a stellar defensive buff that doesn’t use your concentration slot.
Misty Step is, shockingly, not usually on the Druid spell list, which is a shame. A bonus action to teleport up to 60 feet is incredibly powerful for every caster in the game. Without Fey Touched, the Druid can’t access Misty Step, but thankfully, you can fix that here. By teleporting 60 feet, you can use Shillelagh to deal some damage before escaping. Or, more commonly, you can get out of a dangerous grapple and dome them with a cantrip. This is a flexible spell that should be in your line-of-sight at all times.
Honorable mentions
- Arctic has Hold Person and Spike Growth, two impactful combat spells that are not bad to have on your list.
- Desert‘s Blur is a bit weak, but Silence provides exceptional anti-mage utility that Druids don’t often get.
- Grassland provides huge stealth buffs, with Invisibility especially being a game-winning spell.
- Swamp offers a great mix of defensive combat control and a fantastic damaging spell for its level.
Level five Circle spells
Third-level spells for the Circle of the Land have a mix of damage, buffs, and area control. The utility options at this level tend to be a bit situational, so ensuring that your spell list has consistent access to damage or crowd control is handy.
Underdark
Entering the Underdark is terrifying, but it’s your best option for level five Circle Spells. Gaseous Form and Stinking Cloud are excellent options that Druids don’t have and definitely want. However, this is largely because there aren’t many fantastic options at level five.
Gaseous Form is one of the most potent escape options in 5E. It gives you the ability to touch someone—including yourself—to make them resistant to most things, able to pass through even the smallest crack, and resistant to most physical objects. It’s a strong scouting spell with utility in fights and even while falling—something Druids don’t tend to have problems with, but your Paladin might like a helping hand.
Druids are no strangers to area control, but Stinking Cloud does things differently. Rather than restraining targets, slowing them down, or causing damage, Stinking Cloud negates actions in a wide area and for a long time. Holding a doorway becomes the easiest thing in the world with this spell. Bards have access to it, and frequently use it to dominate battles starting around level five.
Honorable mentions
- Desert works very well for survival campaigns but also offers Protection from Energy, an excellent option for many encounters.
- For a party with martial characters, like Barbarians or Paladins, Grassland is a viable pick for Haste.
Level seven Circle spells
Fourth-level options primarily include utility magic, with Freedom of Movement being available to a large variety of Lands. Thankfully, you can find some combat-accessible buffs and even damage options if you squint hard enough.
Underdark
Image via Wizards of the Coast.
We’re going back to the Underdark, the best choice for level seven Circle spells in 5E. That’s because Greater Invisibility and Stone Shape are both above-average spells that give Druids a lot to do during their turns.
Greater Invisibility is a spell with multifaceted uses on most classes in the game. Obscuring a Rogue is obviously fantastic, giving them free access to Sneak Attack in almost all situations while keeping their low health and middling AC out of enemy’s faces. Keeping yourself or a Wizard encapsulated in invisibility can let you spam magic without needing to worry about counterplay.
Stone Shape is a solid option on the Druid spell list, and one that can easily be prepared for most situations. We cannot overstate just how strong this spell is in standard campaigns. As most dungeons are made mostly of stone, being able to restructure dangerous rooms or dodge traps by sinking into the wall is great. You can make your own doorways or basic structures with a flick of the wrist.
Honorable mentions
- Desert brings some single-target damage with Blight and a weird but very fun utility spell with Hallucinatory Terrain. Both of these are on the Druid list, but both are nice to have permanently learned.
- Shoutouts to Forest and Grassland for having the exact same spell list. Divination is a good option much of the time, but Freedom of Movement tends to be too situational to have permanently prepared. Still, if you want it, your paralyzed Artificer would certainly appreciate it.
Level nine Circle spells
Fifth-level spells offer a wider range of options than previous levels, with a great mix of area damage, crowd control, and information-gathering magic. Wall of Stone is very popular at this level, which is a great thing to have for several Lands.
Mountain
Despite a lot of competition, Mountain is your best catch-all choice for level nine spells with Circle of the Land in 5E. That’s due largely to the utility of Passwall, but also the strength of Wall of Stone.
Passwall creates a passageway in a surface that is about 20 feet deep. This Wizard-only option usually never sees the light of day for other casters, but being able to have a really weird entrance to a fight, an escape plan that defies all logic, or an easy way out of—or into—a jail cell shouldn’t be underestimated. A weird permanent spell, but one that you will want access to.
Wall of Stone is a more traditional Druid spell, and one that many Lands have access to. However, that’s far from a bad thing. This is an exceptional utility spell. You can create walls to completely block entrances with thousands of health, or entrap a creature for several turns. You can even put walls around your party to give them time to prepare for an encounter. Each section has upward of 100 to 200 health, so chewing through them takes some time. This is excellent multi-faceted spell that can eventually build you a castle.
Honorable mentions
- Arctic offers a neat information spell and Cone of Cold, a viable if fairly low-damaging area-of-effect. We’d recommend Underdark if you want area damage, but this chews through enemies in one turn rather than two.
- Coast’s Conjure Elemental is acceptable, if a bit awkward. Scrying is a great information-gathering spell, though a bit more situational than Commune with Nature.
- Desert gets Wall of Stone, just like Mountain.
- Underdark offers two damaging options that each take concentration—Cloudkill and Insect Plague. They’re both very useful over the course of two or three turns, but fill more or less the same role.
