The Druid class is now playable in Baldur’s Gate 3. After discussing the race, background, and spell choices for your character, it’s time to talk about shapeshifting abilities. Here’s our Baldur’s Gate 3 Druid guide to help you with Wild Shape, the class’ animal transformations.

Note: For more information, check out our Baldur’s Gate 3 guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide is intended for the game’s Early Access stage. Some information and mechanics might change in due course.

 

Baldur’s Gate 3: Druid guide – Animal transformations via Wild Shape

In Baldur’s Gate 3, the Wild Shape animal transformations become available once your Druid reaches level 2. You have two Wild Shape charges that can be replenished with each short rest.

Now, after turning into an animal, you’ll have an HP bar that’s separate from your character’s default humanoid form. If you wish to cancel the effect, you can click on the “Dismiss Wild Shape” button on the panel.

Anyway, depending on the subclass (“circle”) that you choose, you can have four or five of these animal forms.

Wolf (18 HP)

  • Bite – 2d6+0 piercing damage.
  • Inciting Howl – Increases the movement range of allies on their next turn.
  • Exposing Bite – 1d4+0 piercing damage while distracting a target. If it hits, the next attack against the target will be a critical.

Spider (20 HP)

  • Venomous Bite – 1d8+0 piercing damage; chance to poison.
  • Web (bonus action) – ensnares creatures; the webbing is also flammable, so it’ll synergize well with flame-based attacks.

Badger (13 HP)

  • Bite – 2d4+0 piercing damage.
  • Claws – 1d4+0 slashing damage; chance for the target to get pushed away.
  • Burrow – Digs underground only to reemerge at a chosen spot; nearby creatures might be knocked down.

Cat (2 HP)

  • Claws – 1+0 slashing damage.
  • Meow – Attracts enemies toward you.

Polar Bear (30 HP)

  • Claws – 2d4+0 slashing damage.
  • Goading Roar – Taunts enemies so they attack you.
  • This is only available if you pick the “Circle of the Moon” subclass at level 2.

Without a doubt, the Polar Bear is the toughest Wild Shape animal transformation for the Druids of Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s very tanky and it can take a lot of hits. However, you don’t need to rely on it always since the other Wild Shape forms have their own uses. The Wolf is great for boosting the movement of allies. Meanwhile, both the Spider and Badger forms are decent for crowd-control (CC) effects. Lastly, the cat can prove to be hard for enemies to detect. Plus, it’s a cat, and cats are cute and awesome!

In any case, since I mentioned the Druid’s subclasses, let’s talk about the Circle of the Moon and the Circle of the Land.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available as part of Steam’s Early Access program. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.