Best in Show 5E D&D Magic Items for a Druid

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted commune with the natural world to come up with the best magic items for druids in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Like the previous discussions on top magic items for various character classes in 5E D&D this is an unusual topic because it’s rare for a character to choose magic items. However there’s a few opportunities I can think of off the top of my head. In Adventurers League play items can be traded on a one-for-one basis for items with the same rarity at a cost of 15 downtime days unless they’re playing at the same table. Games beginning beyond 1st level often allow for players to choose magic items too, like in our own monthly fan one shots. These looks at 5E D&D magic items are difficult for an entirely different reason though. The best of anything is subjective, if for no other reason than campaigns are as diverse as the people playing them. This time around we’re going to stick to looking at homebrew magic items at D&D Beyond but instead of following the factor of three model I’m going to lean into the subjectivity. For each type of magic item (excluding potions and scrolls) I’ll consider the rating, views and adds for each kind and choose the one I think best serves a druid. So let’s get into it.

Magic items for druids at D&D Beyond

It’s worth noting you can create homebrew content for private use and share your homebrew content publicly at DDB at no cost — there’s no subscription required to access these services. However if you want to add any of the homebrew magic items mentioned below or any other homebrew content you come across to your collection you must subscribe at the Hero Tier or above. There’s a lot you can do at DDB for free. Check out what you can do here.

The DDB homebrew collection uses several statistics to track entries. Views shows how many people looked at any particular homebrew creation, Adds shows how many times a creation was added to someone’s collection and Rating is an upvote/downvote system. Since there are over 150,000‬ magic items in the collection I’m going to use an ad hoc selection method to find some that also make naturally good magic items for druids.

Armor

Highest rating

Armor of Beasts. Studded leather armor that provides an AC bonus when you use Wild Shape holds the top spot for rating full stop. It just so happens to be literally custom made for a druid.

Most adds

Armor of Beasts again! This is rather fascinating if I’m honest. Out of 150K+ magic items the same one comes up in the top spot in two categories. If this doesn’t scream go to magic items for druids I don’t know what would.

Most views

Wow. You just cannot keep armor of beasts down. There’s a handful of armors with more views but clearly this is the runaway winner.

Ring

Highest rating

Band of the Dryad. A simple magic ring with some healing power not only holds the lead in rating by a significant margin, it’s elegantly written and evokes the kind of imagery you might expect for a druid.

Most adds

Band of the Dryad again! Hmmm…I wonder if this will become a pattern. Previous delves into DDB homebrew did not turn out this way and now I’m quite curious.

Most views

Ring of Lightning Strikes. Full disclosure: band of the dryad was No. 3 but I’m choosing this item from the No. 2 position because it enhances your Wild Shape combat and also it’s not the same item again.

Rod

Highest rating

Bookworm’s Nightlight. Essentially a flashlight, the description evokes an image of a naturally occurring phenomenon so it’s got the druid flavor I’m looking for but you can also cast dispel magic and daylight with it along with some combat advantage too.

Most adds

Heartwood Rod. This dense wood object acts as a spellcasting focus and a club (perfect for shillelagh!) while boosting your spell save DC and spell attack rolls.

Most views

Heartwood rod takes the spot again, not surprisingly thanks to the tremendous usefulness in a variety of circumstances.

Staff

Highest rating

Staff of Utility. One of the more perfectly named magic items this one indeed provides lots of utility through a variety of spells you can cast using charges. It also transforms into a tree with the benefits of alarm plus it sprouts goodberries and can be transformed back into a staff for further use. Now that’s boss.

Most adds

Moonfire Staff. Coming in at No. 9 on the overall list this one gets my vote for pure chutzpah. An artifact only a druid or sorcerer can attune to this is one of the more awesome magic items I’ve come across. Lots of creative design makes this a signature magic item for the lucky druid who discovers this staff.

Most views

Thankfully Moonfire Staff shows up high on this list too because frankly the other 19 magic items on page one didn’t capture that druid je ne sais quoi I’m looking for in a staff.

Wand

Highest rating

BEARSTICK. The only one of the magic items I spotted in all caps this technique succeeded by drawing my attention. Lots of powerful wands appear in the homebrew magic items at DDB but druids are already powerful characters with tons of versatility so for sheer wild nature I’m planting my flag in BEARSTICK.

Most adds

Fork of Bees. Like BEARSTICK this one represents a druid flavored opportunity to connect with the source of their power in a fun way.

Most views

Wand of the Broken Unicorn Horn. I enjoy the relationship between druids and beings of different orders like fey and celestials so this very rare wand feels appropriate in the hands of a druid. Plus it comes with a d100 table of effects.

Weapon

Highest rating

Dryad’s Gift. For a conservationist druid in 5E D&D this is the ultimate weapon. The longbow transforms ordinary branches into arrows when drawn, which then resume being branches after striking. There’s some other neat thematic features too.

Most adds

Dryad’s Gift impressed me enough to take this spot as well. Druids with longbows sounds really cool to me.

Most views

Look, there’s a lot of cool and powerful magic items over at DDB but this exercise is also very subjective and dryad’s gift planted a clothyard shaft in my heart. Across the board this longbow deserves to be strung by a 5E D&D druid.

Honorable mention

Petal Blade. I came across this one while doing research and thought I’d share. A player in my home group used this sword’s power very soon after discovering it during a very druid and fey flavored adventure, creating one of those memorable moments us gamers always prattle on about.

Wondrous item

Something of a tradition developed over the course of these semi-related posts. Each time, whether it’s magic items for a druid, Sacred Oaths for a paladin or whatever, I run into a snag. These snags create various problems for one category or another and this time around it’s wondrous items. When I scan the first page several times and nothing jumps out at me, I reserve the right to invoke this tradition and skip this part.

You can take a look at all the wondrous items in the homebrew magic items database at DDB here. Take a look and let me know which magic items you think are best for a 5E D&D druid. Yeah, yeah I know — Matt Mercer’s boots of the vigilant are really incredible for any character. But which ones really embody your vision of a druid?