D&D 2024 Druid Spell List: Best Spells by Level

Introduction

This guide is part of the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub.

The 2024 Druid remains a prepared caster with strong control, recovery, and exploration magic. Its revised conjuration spells and Wild Shape rules mean that old 2014 advice is not a reliable guide to which spells to prepare.

This guide evaluates Druid spells by Concentration, action economy, terrain, target count, and party needs. A Moon Druid may cast a control spell before entering Wild Shape; a Land Druid may reserve preparation for exploration and recovery instead.

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Spell Casting Basics

Druids are prepared casters. You begin with four prepared level-1 spells, gain more prepared spells as the class table directs, and can replace choices after a Long Rest. Tailor the list to the campaign, the next expedition, and the party's gaps.

Druids use Wisdom as their spellcasting ability and can use a Druidic Focus as a spellcasting focus. Spells granted by a Druid feature are always prepared and do not consume a normal prepared-spell choice.

Wild Shape changes the timing of spell choices. A Moon Druid has Circle spells that can be cast while in Wild Shape, while the wider Beast Spells benefit arrives much later. Before that point, cast the spell that sets up the encounter before you shift; other circles often get more from Wild Shape as scouting, infiltration, or traversal utility.

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Cantrips: Ranked

Spells by Level

Level 1

Entangle ● Use Entangle when a group of enemies must cross or hold a space. Restrained creatures have speed 0, disadvantage on attack rolls, and grant advantage to attackers. It uses Concentration, so skip it when another concentration spell will do more for the encounter.

Healing Word ● Its Bonus Action casting time lets you restore consciousness without giving up an Action. Prepare it when the party needs emergency healing; its low healing total is not a substitute for preventing damage or ending a fight.

Thunderwave ● 2d8 thunder damage in a 15-foot cube, pushes 10 feet on a failed save. Good for escaping grapples, pushing enemies off ledges or into hazards, and clearing adjacent threats. Scales acceptably with upcasting.

Faerie Fire ● It can grant advantage against creatures that fail the save and reveals affected invisible creatures. Choose it when several allies can exploit the advantage; it competes for Concentration with Entangle and later control spells.

Level 2

Spike Growth ● Spike Growth creates difficult terrain that deals 2d4 piercing damage for every 5 feet moved through it. It requires Concentration and is strongest at a chokepoint or when allies can push or pull enemies through the area. It is less useful when enemies can ignore the terrain or the party needs a different concentration spell.

Moonbeam ● Moonbeam deals recurring radiant damage in a movable area while you maintain Concentration. Choose it against a target that will remain in the area or when radiant damage matters; Spike Growth is often the better control choice against multiple mobile enemies.

Lesser Restoration ● Prepare it for an expedition where the conditions it cures are likely, especially when another party member cannot cover that job. It is insurance, not a spell to reserve automatically every day.

Pass Without Trace ● It gives chosen creatures in your 30-foot aura a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks and leaves no tracks. It is excellent when the party has a real stealth objective, but it occupies Concentration while active.

Barkskin ● Compare Barkskin's AC benefit with the armor and shield the character already uses. It can help a lightly protected Druid, but it is not a default prepared spell when ordinary equipment already provides comparable AC.

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Level 3

Call Lightning ● Call Lightning rewards a long encounter where you can maintain Concentration and keep using later turns to call down damage. It is less attractive when the battlefield or enemy movement makes its area hard to use, or when Spike Growth and another control effect would change more turns.

Conjure Animals ● The 2024 version has a revised effect. Read the current spell entry before preparing it and compare its Concentration cost with Call Lightning, Spike Growth, and other third-level options. Do not rely on the 2014 multiple-creature version.

Wind Wall ● Wind Wall blocks many ranged weapon attacks and gases while damaging creatures that enter or pass through it. Prepare it when ranged enemies, gas, or a narrow route are recurring problems.

Dispel Magic ● Prepare this when you know magical effects are coming. Automatic success against level-3 and below; skill check for higher. It matters most in campaigns with recurring magical wards or effects.

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Level 4

Conjure Woodland Beings ● Use the current spell entry rather than 2014 creature-selection advice. Its Concentration cost must compete with Polymorph, Wall of Stone, and other encounter-defining spells at this tier.

Blight ● 8d8 necrotic, Constitution save, half on success. Big damage number but single-target no-save half is mediocre. Plants automatically fail which is a niche boost. Not bad, not great.

Freedom of Movement ● It is a no-Concentration mobility and restraint-defense option. Prepare it when a front-liner must move through restrictive terrain or escape a grappling-heavy encounter.

Polymorph ● Polymorph can remove a failed-saving-throw enemy from a fight or give an endangered ally a pool of beast hit points. It requires Concentration and has a saving throw, so use it when one target is worth the risk and the party can protect your concentration.

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Level 5

Mass Cure Wounds ● 3d8 + spellcasting modifier to up to 6 creatures. Good burst healing when the party took a beating. Better than healing individual targets over three rounds.

Commune with Nature ● Use it for outdoor intelligence gathering. Learn terrain, creatures, and hazards in a 3-mile radius. Prepare it before an exploration day when that information will change the party's plan.

Wall of Stone ● Create a wall of stone panels, permanently if concentration holds for 10 minutes. Reshape dungeons, seal doors, or trap creatures when the party has a plan for the panels.

Insect Plague ● 4d10 piercing per turn in a 20-foot radius sphere, difficult terrain included. It requires Concentration, and its area matters when difficult terrain and repeated damage suit the encounter.

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Level 6

Heroes' Feast ● Immunity to poison and being frightened, advantage on Wisdom saves, and increased max HP for 24 hours with no concentration. Prepare it for an expedition when those defenses match the threats expected that day.

Heal ● It restores 70 hit points with no roll and ends the Blinded, Deafened, and Poisoned conditions. Its level-6 slot is best reserved for a target whose recovery changes the encounter.

Sunbeam ● It creates a repeatable 60-foot line that deals radiant damage and can blind on a failed save. It is a sustained-damage Concentration choice when a line will regularly catch worthwhile targets.

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Level 7-9

Fire Storm ● (Level 7): 7d10 Fire damage in up to ten contiguous 10-foot cubes, no Concentration. Arrange the area around the enemy formation instead of catching allies in it. That control over the spell's shape is its real advantage.

Animal Shapes ● (Level 8): Transform willing allies into Large or smaller CR 4-or-lower Beasts for 24 hours. Each target keeps key mental statistics and gains Temporary Hit Points from its form. It can reshape a party for an unusual encounter, but the table needs forms that actually fit the problem.

Foresight ● (Level 9): Give one creature Advantage on D20 Tests and impose Disadvantage on attacks against it for 8 hours, without Concentration. Put it on the party member who will make the most important attacks, checks, and saves.

Shapechange ● (Level 9): This is a high-complexity Concentration transformation. Use the current spell text and the campaign's available creature material rather than assuming a particular form is available.

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Strong Prepared Spells

1. Entangle (Level 1): A strong early control spell when several enemies can fail its save and remain in the area.
2. Spike Growth (Level 2): Prepare it for chokepoints, forced movement, and a party that can keep enemies in the area.
3. Call Lightning (Level 3): Prepare it for a long encounter where repeated damage is more valuable than a different concentration spell.
4. Polymorph (Level 4): Use it for a dangerous enemy or an endangered ally when the saving throw and Concentration risk are acceptable.
5. Wall of Stone (Level 5): Prepare it where reshaping a battlefield, creating cover, or sealing a route will matter.
6. Heroes' Feast (Level 6): A strong pre-expedition choice when its protections match the day's expected threats.
7. Foresight (Level 9): A long-duration buff for a character who will make many attacks, checks, or saving throws that day.

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Spells That Changed in 2024

Conjure Animals: The 2024 version has a revised effect. It should be evaluated from its current text, not the 2014 multiple-creature version.

Barkskin: The current version does not require Concentration. It remains a choice for a character whose existing AC does not already match its benefit.

Healing Word: Its Bonus Action casting time keeps it useful for restoring consciousness while preserving an Action for another spell, movement, or an attack.

Wild Shape: The 2024 Druid's form rules and Circle of the Moon spell access change the order in which a Druid sets up an encounter. Cast a spell before shifting unless a feature specifically lets you cast it in form.

Guidance: It remains a useful ability-check cantrip, but its Concentration requirement matters when another concentration spell is already active.

Spells to Skip

Poison Spray: It targets Constitution, a commonly strong monster save, and has short range. Prefer it only when its damage type and range suit the encounter better than Thorn Whip or Thunderclap.

Animal Friendship: Its Beast-only target restriction makes it narrow. Prepare it for a campaign where calming beasts is a recurring solution, not as a general-purpose social spell.

Locate Creature: Its range, Concentration cost, and limitations make it a targeted investigation spell. Prepare it when the party has a specific known target and expects to search an appropriate area.

Blight: It is single-target damage against a Constitution save. Prepare it when direct necrotic damage is the needed answer; otherwise, Polymorph or a battlefield spell may create more value from the same slot.

Build-Specific Picks

Moon Druid (Melee/Tank)

Moon Druids can use beast forms in combat. Their spell priorities favor effects cast before shifting and options that still matter while the form is active.

Key spells: Spike Growth (establish it before you close in), Freedom of Movement (keep a front-liner mobile), Moonbeam (if the target can remain in its area), and Heal (recover an ally after a brutal fight).

Avoid committing to a concentration damage spell when the form will take repeated hits and the party cannot protect your Concentration. Favor support or control spells that establish the situation before you shift.

Blaster/Caster Druid

Prioritize sustained damage, control, and environmental manipulation when those effects can affect several turns. Do not prepare only burst damage if terrain control will serve the party better.

Key spells: Call Lightning, Insect Plague, Wall of Stone, Sunbeam, Fire Storm. Choose among them based on Concentration, enemy formation, and whether difficult terrain or blindness will change the encounter.

Land Druid (Support/Control)

Land Druids select a land after each Long Rest, gain its Circle spells as always prepared, and can cast one of those Circle spells without a slot once per Long Rest. Natural Recovery also restores a limited number of spell-slot levels after a Short Rest, once per Long Rest. Use those benefits deliberately, then prepare utility and control spells that match the next part of the adventuring day.

Key spells: Pass Without Trace, Commune with Nature, Heroes' Feast, Conjure Woodland Beings, Foresight. Choose the ones that solve the party's immediate information, travel, or defense problem.

Hot Take: Land Druid rewards a player who uses the preparation phase. Natural Recovery can return a valuable slot after a Short Rest, so a utility spell is easier to justify when it will change exploration or avoid a later resource cost.

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Sea Druid (Area Pressure)

Sea Druids benefit from spell choices that keep enemies in the area where their sea magic matters. Entangle, Spike Growth, and Sleet Storm each reward a battlefield with constrained movement, but they all ask for Concentration. Prepare one primary control plan, not all of them.

Stars Druid (Flexible Support)

Stars Druids can use their Starry Form alongside a spell plan that responds to the party's gaps. Guidance, Healing Word, Faerie Fire, and Divination all contribute in different kinds of adventuring days. Keep a concentration spell ready for a fight, but do not spend every prepared choice on combat.

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Additional Approved-Source Spells

The following options are not part of the 2024 Player's Handbook list. Use them only when the listed sourcebook is permitted at the table.

Arcana Unleashed

Heroes of Faerun

Use the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub for the full access map, Arcana Unleashed for its wider sourcebook context, and the Forgotten Realms guide for its setting options.

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Bottom Line

The 2024 Druid succeeds when prepared spells match the day ahead. Entangle controls an early fight, Spike Growth punishes movement, Call Lightning supports a long encounter, and healing or exploration spells cover party gaps. Choose one main Concentration plan for a likely encounter, then use the remaining prepared choices to cover risks the rest of the party cannot.

Related D&D 2024 Class Guides

For the full Druid class breakdown, including ability scores, subclasses, feats, and level-by-level features, see the Druid Class Guide.

Other D&D 2024 Spell Lists

Each 2024 class has its own defined spell list, so comparing lists is the fastest way to see what a multiclass dip actually buys you, or what you give up choosing one caster over another: Artificer, Bard, Cleric, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.

Start from the D&D 2024 Spell Guides hub for what changed across every list in 2024.