In this article, we’re sharing our list of the top 10 best magic items for druids in 5E D&D!
As always, we’ll focus on non-legendary magic items listed in the Dungeon Master’s Guide – with a few honorable mentions of magic items from newer releases – and won’t care too much about the order we list them in.
Rule Clarification – Wild Shape & Magic Items
Before diving into the list, I should probably mention that druids are a bit weird when it comes to magic items and Wild Shape – if you don’t care about the nitty gritty stuff, you can just skip right on to the next section, but if you’re wondering about what the rules have to say about a wolf wearing a cape, we’ll do a quick explanation below as this has a pretty significant influence on which magic items are the best magic items for druids in 5E.
As per the Wild Shape section, we’re told that the DM “decides whether it is practical for the new form to wear a piece of equipment, based on the creature’s shape and size”. Worn equipment functions as normal, but it doesn’t change size or shape to match your new form, so when your DM rightfully determines that your armor simply can’t be worn by your Giant Scorpion-form, you’ll instead have to decide whether the armor falls to the ground or merges into your body. Ok. So far so good. What does this mean when it comes to magic items?
In the Dungeon Master’s Guide, we’re again told that it’s up to the DM to decide whether a magic item functions as intended when used by a nonhumanoid – a ring placed on a tentacle might work, but magic boots simply won’t fit on a yuan-ti with a snakelike tail.
Now, a lot of this is a grey area – up to the DM, in other words – but it’s safe to say that some magic items can’t be used by certain Wild Shape forms, while you may be able to use some in some forms, at least. Depending on how your DM rules this, some magic items that aren’t on this list – such as bracers of defense – might become great for you, while other items that are on the list (such as a cloak of protection) become a bit less powerful if your DM won’t allow them to be worn in your Wild Shape form.
With that out of the way, let’s jump into our picks of the best magic items for druids in 5E D&D!
1. Staff of the Woodlands
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A staff of the woodlands is a fantastic magic item that only druids can use. It gives you a decent but not overly useful +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with as well as a +2 bonus to your spell attacks, which druids can only really use for its cantrips and the rare casting of ice knife or contagion. What really makes a staff of the woodlands shine, however, is the spells it grants you access to.
The staff has 10 charges which you can use to cast a bunch of druid spells that are super fun and flavorful but also niché enough in their use cases that you’d rarely want to prepare them yourself, such as animal friendship, awaken, locate animals or plants, and speak with animals. While this would’ve been enough to warrant this rare staff a spot on this list by itself, it also lets you cast other amazing spells such as wall of thorns (6 charges) and barkskin (2 charges) – as well as pass without trace at will, which is just fantastic – and likely incredibly annoying for the DM!
You can also transform the staff into a tree and back again, which might be handy at some point. You never know.
2. Cloak of Protection
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A cloak of protection is a simple yet great magic item that gives you a +1 bonus to your AC and saving throws. Now, a ring of protection does the exact same, but the reason I’m highlighting the cloak and not the ring version is that I think it would make sense that a (large) cloak of protection can be worn in various Wild Shape forms – which would make the cloak significantly better than the ring, especially if you’ve chosen Circle of the Moon.
3. Animated Shield & Dancing Sword
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An animated shield and a dancing sword are also fantastic magic items for a druid since they synergize well with your Wild Shape. While a sword and a shield might not have much to do with each other at a glance, what these two magic items have in common is that you can use a bonus action to animate either of them – which you’d be able to do right before you use your Wild Shape action.
So, with a dancing sword, you’d now be able to command a flying scimitar to hack away at your foes while you did the same in your bestial form, and with an animated shield you’d have a +2 AC from a hovering shield. Awesome!
4. Necklace of Prayer Beads
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A necklace of prayer beads is a fantastic magic items that can only be used by druids (and clerics and paladins, but who cares – this list is for the druids!). While wearing this amulet you gain access to a handful of spells amazing spells such as bless, branding smite, greater restoration, and even planar ally, depending on the amulet’s beads.
What really makes this necklace fantastic, though, is that you can cast these spells as a friggin bonus action – which is incredibly powerful on its own and especially so for a druid as you’d be able to cast a spell and then use Wild Shape on the same turn. Mind you that greater restoration usually costs 100 gp worth of diamond dust to cast but would be free to use with this necklace – and planar ally normally has a casting time of 10 minutes!
All in all, a necklace of prayer beads is one of the best magic items for druids in 5E, no matter what spells it grants!
5. Staff of Healing
If you’re the party’s designated healer and feel somewhat tired of continuously having to burn off all your spell slots on healing your comrades, a staff of healing might be the magic item for you. The staff has 10 charges which you can use to cast cure wounds (1 charge per spell level, up to 4th), lesser restoration, and mass cure wounds (5 charges) – and while this isn’t incredibly powerful or anything, it can really help you save your magic to for the fun stuff!
6. Ring of Spell Storing
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A ring of spell storing is one of my favorite magic items – and it has managed to creep into my list of the best magic items for almost every class I’ve covered so far. For good reason, I might add.
This ring basically lets you store 5 levels worth of spells in it, so whenever you have a spell slot or two to spare before you take a well-deserved long rest, you can always fill this ring up with a bit of magical power for later use, which is really great, especially at lower levels when you don’t have that many spell slots.
The greatest thing about this ring, however, is that anyone can fill their spells into it. This means that you can ask your party members to fill it up with awesome spells that you’d otherwise not have access to such as counterspell or shield – or bless, blur, or haste, all of which would synergize really well with your Wild Shape!
7. Amulet of Health
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An amulet of health is another simple yet super-powerful magic item. It basically sets your Constitution score to 19, and while I know that isn’t a 20, it’s likely much more than you’d otherwise have! As a druid, you’ll want to focus on maxing out your Wisdom score, get some fun feats (if you use those in your game), and then spread out the spare points between Dexterity and Constitution. Well, with this amulet, you can focus your efforts where they matter!
Aside from an extra bunch of hit points, it should be noted that a high Constitution score will also improve your Constitution saving throws and thus make you better at concentrating on spells, which is great for a druid.
While you gain the Constitution score of the beast you transform into with Wild Shape, this ring specifically states that your “Constitution score is 19″, so it could be argued that this amulet would also do just that in your Wild Shape form (assuming your DM determines your form can wear it). It would probably be annoying to calculate, though.
8. Wands
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There are a number of great magic wands in 5E D&D that are really great for druids. Out of the bunch, a wand of lightning bolts or a wand of fireballs would give you access to numerous daily uses of a powerful area of effect spell that druids are sadly missing on their own spell list. Likewise, a wand of binding would give you access to hold monster, another fantastic spell that’s usually not within a druid’s reach, as well as the ability to gain advantage on a saving throw made to escape a grapple or avoid being paralyzed or restrained as reaction up to 7 times per day.
9. Ioun Stone of Mastery, Insight, Strength/Dex for Wild Shape..
The Dungeon Master’s Guide features a large number of ioun stones – weird stones that orbit your head – and many of these are quite great for a druid since the benefit they give extends to your Wild Shape form. The best of the lot is a legendary ioun stone of mastery, which is useful for any class as it simply raises your Proficiency Bonus by 1.
Specifically for a druid, an ioun stone of insight grants you a +2 bonus to your Wisdom score (up to a maximum of 20, unfortunately), while an ioun stone of fortitude, an ioun stone of strength, and an ioun stone of agility do the same for your Constitution, Strength, and Dexterity score, respectively, all of which can be useful with Wild Shape.
An ioun stone of protection gives you a +1 bonus to your AC, which is also nice, and lastly (on this list – there are too many of these stones to list all of them!) we have an ioun stone of reserve, which functions like a ring of spell storing capable of storing 3 levels worth of spells instead of 5.
10. Dragon Scale Mail
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Last but not least, we have a dragon scale mail. In 5E, druids are proficient in medium armor, but they can’t wear “will not wear armor or use shields made of metal”, according to the Player’s Handbook. However, a dragon scale mail is specifically described as being made of the scales of a dragon rather than metal, making it just about the only medium armor from official releases (that I know of, at least) that druids can actually wear.
As a scale mail with a +1 bonus to your AC, it will give you a base AC of 15, which is significantly better than any light armor, and still let you add up to a +2 bonus from your Dexterity score to that – so if you’re okay with having disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, this armor is a pretty great magic item for you.
Aside from a tangible boost to your AC, a dragon scale mail also gives advantage on saving throws against the Frightful Presence and breath weapons of any dragon as well as resistance to a type of damage determined by the type of dragon that provided the scales for the armor. It even lets you sense the distance and direction of that type of dragon, if there is one within 30 miles of you, which is pretty situational but still pretty cool.
Honorable Mentions
Before we round up this list, I feel I ought to mention to additional magic items for druids, even though they aren’t featured in the Dungeon Master’s Guide!
Moon Sickle
A moon sickle is one of the few magic items in 5E D&D that’ll raise your spell save DC as a druid – and since most of your spells are based on saving throws rather than you making a spell attack, this is nothing short of incredible.
The sickle gives you a bonus to your spell attacks and spell save DCs depending on the sickle’s rarity – the uncommon version will give you a decent +1 bonus, the rare one an amazing +2 bonus, and the very rare one will make you a true force of nature with a +3 bonus. As an added benefit, the sickle also lets you add a d4 to the roll of any spell you cast that restores hit points!
Insignia of Claws
An insignia of claws is an uncommon item that doesn’t require attunement and simply gives you a +1 bonus to your attack and damage rolls made with unarmed strikes and natural weapons, which is really great with your Wild Shape – assuming your DM lets you wear the insignia in your bestial form.
Conclusion
Magic item card handout from our 5E Magic Item Card Deck. Right-click on the image to save it!
That concludes our list of the top 10 best magic items for druids in 5E D&D! Let us know in the comments if you agree with our choices and share your own favorite magic items for druids in 5E.
And, if you’re as much a fan of magical loot as we are, don’t forget to check out our decks of printed magic item card handouts for the 300 most iconic magic items in 5E D&D featured in the Dungeon Master’s Guide!
