The best Druid feats in DnD 5e are those that complement their playstyle and base class features well. Druids are full spellcasters with the ability to Wild Shape into beasts. Many of their most potent spells require concentration to maintain, making concentration protection particularly important for Druid players.
Then there’s the difference between Moon Druids, who focus specifically on shapeshifting and engaging in melee combat as a beast, and all other Druids, who are most comfortable as backline or midline spellcasters who don’t want to be in the middle of things.
For spellcasting-focused Druids (i.e., most of them), maximizing their Wisdom ability score to 20 is of prime importance. It’s how you boost your chances of spells landing successfully. So, for the most part, Druids don’t want to pick up their first feat until at least level 8, when a “half-ASI” feat (one with +1 Wisdom) can bring them to 20 Wisdom.
With all these factors in mind, I’ve broken down the 7 best Druid feats into three categories, depending on your playstyle.
DnD 5e Best Druid Feats (All Druids)
1) War Caster
Advantage on concentration checks, can perform somatic elements of spells when hands are full, and can cast a single-target spell as an opportunity attack.
Druids have a ton of good concentration spells (Entangle, Faerie Fire, Pass Without Trace, Spike Growth, Hold Person, and Conjure Animals, to name some standouts), meaning you’ll pretty much always be concentrating on something. Advantage on concentration checks works out to a +3 to +5 bonus, ensuring that these important spells last a lot longer in combat if enemies decide to target you.
This is even good for Moon Druids, who can maintain their concentration on a spell after shapeshifting.
Being able to cast a single-target spell as an opportunity attack is a fine little bonus, but you’ll mostly be using a cantrip here, since Druids don’t have a ton of single-target leveled spells (still, it’s a nice little damage boost).
Being able to cast somatic spells while your hands are full is fine, but it’s not really that important for Druids; there’s really not much reason to be wielding a weapon anyway, so you can just hold onto your druidic focus and a shield and use the hand holding the druidic focus to perform the somatic component of spellcasting (PHB 203).
2) Resilient (Constitution)
+1 Constitution and proficiency in Constitution saving throws. If you get this at level 8, it’s worth +3 to your Con saves, increasing to +4 once you hit level 9 and +5 at level 13. So it’s arguably better than War Caster for protecting your concentration (which is just a Constitution save).
It also provides a boost to ALL Con saves (not just concentration checks), which can be attached to some nasty monster abilities, spells, and other effects. Overall, War Caster is worth more at lower levels, but Resilient (Con) is definitely superior for Druids from levels 13 on.
Plus, you get a half-ASI from this feat, so if you’re sitting at an odd-numbered Constitution score, you’ll get some additional hit points out of Resilient as well.
3) Telekinetic
+1 Wisdom, can cast Mage Hand (with 60-foot range and it’s invisible), and can use a bonus action to try shoving a creature within 30 feet of you 5 feet toward or away from you on a failed Strength saving throw (creature can willingly fail).
The half-ASI in Wisdom makes this feat a good choice for level 8 if you’re currently at 19 Wisdom, and Mage Hand is a wonderful utility spell with a ton of applications (here’s my article detailing some of my favorite uses of the cantrip). It being invisible and double the range is just icing and opens up the door to even more shenanigans.
But the most exciting part of Telekinetic is the ability to use your bonus action every round to manipulate foes’ (and friends’) positioning in the battlefield. Paired with persistent area-of-effect spells like Spike Growth, Spirit Guardians, Moonbeam, etc., you can trigger those spells’ damage immediately on your turn with just a bonus action. Or you can push enemies off cliffs, into lava, and stuff like that.
Being able to willingly fail the save means you can also protect allies with this. For example, if a squishy party member is next to an enemy bruiser, you can push them out of the enemy’s melee range, allowing them to escape without provoking an opportunity attack.
All around, Telekinetic is a fun feat that adds a lot more to do with your turn as a Druid, both offensively and defensively, while not slowing down your ability score progression as much as other feats.
DnD 5e Best Druid Feats (Utility)
4) Fey Touched
+1 Wisdom, access to Misty Step (2nd-level spell that lets you teleport 30 feet as a bonus action), and a 1st-level Divination or Enchantment spell, both castable once per day without expending a spell slot (or more times if you do expend a spell slot).
Again, the half-ASI for Wisdom makes Fey Touched accessible earlier on than other feats without hurting your modifier progression if you’re at 19 Wisdom. Misty Step is a fantastic spell that Druids don’t normally get and makes it easier to escape dangerous situations and reach normally unreachable places.
As for a Divination or Enchantment spell, Bless (+1d4 to 3 allies attack rolls and saving throws for a minute) is always attractive for support characters, although you already have a lot competing for your concentration as a Druid. Dissonant Whispers is a strong choice to make an enemy flee (and take psychic damage and provoke opportunity attacks), which pairs really well with Rogues (more Sneak Attack damage).
Overall, Fey Touched offers more spells, more effective spell slots, and a point in Wisdom — a lot to like for for Druids in one feat.
5) Skill Expert
+1 Wisdom (or another ability score, probably Constitution, if your Wisdom is already maxed), +1 skill proficiency, and expertise in a skill you’re proficient in (double proficiency bonus).
Having expertise in Perception gives you and your party a big boost. Along with your +5 Wisdom modifier, you could easily be sitting at a +15 Perception modifier by level 13 — that’s a 25 Passive Perception, by the way. No enemies will be able to surprise you, and you’ll much more reliably spot traps, clues, and other hidden features (like secret doors).
The half-ASI and extra skill proficiency are also excellent reasons to pick up Skill Expert after you’ve maxed out your Wisdom modifier (or are currently at 19).
DnD 5e Best Druid Feats (Moon Druid)
6) Sentinel
Hitting a creature with an opportunity attack drops its speed to 0 for the turn, you ignore the Disengage action, and when a creature within 5 feet attacks a target other than you, you can immediately make a melee attack against them.
For Moon Druids who want to tank, Sentinel is an excellent feat that allows you to actually keep enemies next to you, rather than run around to your squishy backline. Plus, getting another way to make reaction attacks opens up more consistent damage OR forces enemies to only focus on you — exactly what you want as a tank.
7) Mobile
+10 movement speed, Dashing causes difficult terrain to not slow you, and after making a melee attack, you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from the target (regardless of whether it hits).
For non-tanky Moon Druids who’d rather skirmish and perform hit-and-run tactics, Mobile is a top-tier feat. Even when you’re in humanoid form, +10 movement is a huge boon for keeping you safe.
Good Druid Feats Runners-up
These feats are neat and can be fun on a Druid, but I don’t think they’re “optimal.” That said, they’re worth considering if they suit your character’s backstory, role in the party, or you just think they’re nify and would be cool in your campaign.
-
Magic Initiate. +2 cantrips and +1 1st-level spell from any full spellcaster class. You can cast the 1st-level spell once a day without expending a spell slot. Druids are normally limited to d8 cantrips, so Magic Initiate raises that roof to d10 (Fire Bolt) or even d12 (Toll the Dead). Plus, you can pick up another good utility cantrip, like Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, or Prestidigitation.
As a 1st-level spell, something like Mage Armor can be helpful when you transform into a beast with a bad AC. Shield is also always a great spell to have, although being limited to once a day is kind of annoying.
-
Alert. +5 initiative, can’t be surprised, and unseen attackers don’t get advantage against you. Going earlier in combat is always an advantage, since if you can kill or control an enemy before their turn, they’re no longer/less of a threat. Druids don’t usually have great Dexterity modifiers, so this patches that hole and makes sure you don’t end up going last in every fight.
-
Observant. +1 Wisdom, +5 bonus to passive Perception and Investigation scores, and can understand a creature’s speech by watching its lips (if you know the language). Half-ASI in your main stat is solid, and a +5 to two important passive scores is great. For my money, Skill Expert (Perception) is still the better option, but if you really want to go all out on never missing anything, you can get both (hello, 32 passive Perception score!)
-
Metamagic Adept. +2 Metamagic options and +2 sorcery points. Being able to Quicken a spell as a bonus action to allow for a cantrip on the same turn, Twinning a single-target spell, casting a spell stealthily with Subtle Spell, and Extending a spell for double duration can all be attractive for certain Druid playstyles.
-
Shadow Touched. +1 Wisdom, Invisibility spell, and one 1st-level Illusion or Necromancy spell, both castable once per day without a spell slot or more using a spell slot. Invisibility is a great addition to any party, and upcasting to cover more party members can help scout safely or set up a surprise round/first-attack advantage. And Druids don’t get many Illusion or Necromancy spells, so something like Silent Image or Disguise Self adds more utility spells to your tool kit as a Druid, even if they won’t see all that much play. The +1 ASI is also good, but I’d still rather have Fey Touched for most Druid character builds.
-
Gift of the Chromatic Dragon. A once-a-day bonus action to increase weapon damage by 1d4 (elemental type of your choice) and can use a reaction to gain resistance (half damage) from acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison damage a number of times each day equal to your proficiency bonus. The damage boost is useless for almost all Druids, but getting Absorb Elements without expending a spell slot is great.
-
Lucky. Can reroll 3d20 per day, including attack rolls against you. Technically good on any character in DnD 5e, but boring as heck.
-
Savage Attacker (Moon Druid). Can reroll damage dice once per turn and use either result. This is normally a garbage feat, but it’s more attractive for Moon Druids for a simple reason: many beasts have multi-dice attack damage. This means that their damage is much “swingier” — a Giant Elk’s 4d8 damage spans from 4 to 32, for example. Getting to reroll bad results is actually decent for such situations.
-
Telepathic. (Moon Druid) +1 Wisdom, can one-way speak telepathically within 60 feet, and can cast Detect Thoughts for free once per day (or using spell slots more often). Beasts can’t communicate with their allies, which can make things awkward when you’re in Wild Shape, and this feat gets around that — it doesn’t even matter that the communication is one way, as your allies can still speak normally to you. Plus, Detect Thoughts is a great spell that Druids don’t normally get, and +1 Wisdom is always handy for a Druid.