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Druids inDungeons & Dragonstie themselves to the land through worship, a series of meditative practices, or through years and years of study to understand the energies and balance of the world around them. But what happens when that land is distorted and corrupted by vile, destructive forces that seek to undermine that balance?
In Matthew Mercer’s Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting: Reborn, druids bound to corrupted land make up the Circle of the Blighted. Warped by this bond, these druids worship death and decay, often bringing its rot to every corner of the world, reminding those who forget that nature is as cruel as it is beautiful.
Circle Of The Blighted Features
you may choose your druidic circle atsecond level, where you will be expected to exalt the corrupted land around you. Some druids are befouled by happenstance and others are warped by ancient evils with wicked designs. Some willingly walk to the decay of the land, angry, saddened, or simply intrigued by the power the rot can offer them.
The Circle of the Blighted focuses primarily on summoning creatures as opposed to turning into them, relying on what others can do for you rather than vice versa.
Perhaps nothing embodies this circle more than the first feature you receive, which allows you totamper with the land you walk on.
Defile Ground
Defile Ground is afantastic control optionand can make for a good tactical decision while fighting groups. Casting this right off the bat ensures that some enemies will be slowed and that your party can get in some damage bonuses with their attacks, stacking damage up prematurely to take down your foes.
The next feature appears atsecond levelas well, changing your form to reflect the unconsecrated land you draw power from.
Blighted Shape
Atsixth level, you learn to summon creatures drawing on the life energy of your foes. This is the Blighted Druid’s bread and butter, so making sure you have a summon on hand may be integral for your build.
Call of the Shadowseeds
Your next ability clocks in attenth level, in which your summons receive a boost to their stat block. They will become rife with decay and will gain two new features.
1/4 or lower
1d4
1/2
1d6
1 or higher
A number of d8s equivalent to the creature’s CR
No CR
A number of d6s equivalent to your druid’s proficiency bonus
Exploding your sapling will allow you to stay far away from the battle and will work best if your character plans on backlining. By contrast, your sapling will also be able to soak up a small amount of damage for your party if you want to assist more frontlining party members. Your sapling doesn’t require a spell slot to be used up. It is a free cast.
Yourlast featureleans heavily into the defiled land your druid draws from, letting you boost your armor class. This happens atfourteenth level.
Best Circle Of The Blighted Species
For the Circle of the Blighted,you should not wait to have resistance to necrotic damage.Choosingaasimar,shadar-kai, orgem dragonbornwill do this job for you early, and while it may negate some of your class features, the last thing you’ll want is to receive that buff at fourteenth level if you get caught in melee with your sapling nearby. Shadar-kai will also give you a teleporting option withMisty Step, andProtector Aasimarallows you flight.
Firbolgis also a great option and a good way to take the classic firbolg druid in a darker direction. Their features won’t expend the ability to speak with animals from your spell slots, which could be potentially useful.Fire Genasiwill give youfire resistance, andwater genasilends youacid resistance, both of which improve your durability.
In terms of lineages,dhampirandhexbloodmay be worth looking at: dhampir for its mobility, allowing you to walk up trees and cast your Defile Ground feature from a safe distance, and hexblood for its access toHex, which will stack damage with your Defile Ground feature.
Lizardfolkgives a boost to your AC and a pool of temporary hit points with their innate features. Once the Blighted Druid’s features start kicking in at later levels, you may have a ridiculously high AC and a very frustrated Dungeon Master.
Best Ability Scores For Circle Of The Blighted Druid
Wisdomis yourspellcasting modifierand will determine how high your spell save DC is. As such, this should be first.Dexterityshould be next in terms of your ability scores. Keep this high for Blighted Druid, as your AC bonuses will give you an already higher-than-the-regular-druid AC. Slap some medium armor on, and you won’t need to worry as much about yourConstitution.
As a Circle of the Blighted Druid, you won’t be expected to take hits, but becauseConstitution determines your hit points, you should at least consider it. Because your AC may be high, you may afford to keep this third.
If you want to do well on ability scores,Charismamay be fourth, as you’ll get proficiency in Intimidation, andIntelligencemay come next, asStrengthwill not be essential outside your Wild Shape feature.
What About Wild Shape?
Wild Shapeis one of the druid’s universal features: the ability to turn into creatures as long as they are within the druid’s CR rating, and they have seen the creature before.
Your Blighted Druid gains an AC bonus to their Wild Shape, which will make them a semi-effective last resort defensive option as long as they’re able to avoid hits, but the class doesn’t overly emphasize Wild Shape, which is more uncommon for the druid.
Recommended Spells For Circle Of The Blighted Druid
Recommended Cantrips
These are the key cantrips that every Circle of the Blighted Druid should consider in their mystical repertoire.
Guidance
You get1d4added ontoability checksat will. If nothing else, this will make your party far nicer to you than your decaying self may otherwise beget.
Thorn Whip
Thorn Whipmakes a melee spell attack on your foeand if it hits, the creature will take1d6piercing damage. If they are smaller than size large or size large themselves,they’ll pull ten feet closer to you.You can stand thirty feet back and do this from across the field,dragging your enemy right into your Defile Ground feature.
Shillelagh
It’s a standard druid cantrip, and while Blighted Druid is all about a break from form, you may be happy to have this cantrip in a pinch in case someone attempts to attack you while in melee rather than at a distance and won’t damage everything around you like Thunderclap.This will let your summons (assuming they’re nearby) remain at peace until something explodes them, doing what Thunderclap would’ve done for you.
Frostbite
This does1d6of damage to your enemy and gives themdisadvantageon their next attack.
Recommended Spells
These spells are for early levels to help you craft your Blighted Druid. As the subclass is about control, some buffing could serve you well, as could some more viable control options.
Entangle
Slapping Entangle on top of Defile Ground will be disrespectful, which means you should always do it. At early levels, this will help prepare you for actually playing a class that helps with control, and it stays a pretty viable option for the first few levels. This can also be used to restrain enemies outside your Defile Ground feature, asStrength saves aren’t incredibly common.
Absorb Elements
You absorb damage from a spell and expel it on your next attack.You shouldn’t be overly concerned about this happening as Blighted Druid works best at a distance, but should you adapt melee into your playstyle, this will work nicely with Shillelagh.
Faerie Fire
Unless you’re playing a drow or half-drow, Faerie Fire is a great buffing spell,giving advantage to your party’s next hitsand highlighting all hostile creatures in a shimmering aura. You may want to stack this with Defile Ground to maximize damage.
Healing Word
This is a source of easy healing to pull from, and it extends to a group that may be spread out, making it a more viable option than other healing spells like Cure Wounds. Furthermore, it casts on abonus action.
