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Best Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid Subclass & Multiclass

This Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid guide will teach players the best subclass and multiclass options for Druids in Pillars of Eternity 2.

If you’re playing Pillars of Eternity 2 (POE2) as a Druid, you’ll want to know what the best subclass and multiclass options are, or else you’ll be stuck on the character select screen for hours. This guide has you covered by letting you know which Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid subclasses and multiclass combinations are generally considered the best.

Pillars of Eternity 2 Subclass & Multiclass Guides:
Monk Fighter Rogue Ranger Barbarian Chanter Cipher Druid Paladin Priest Wizard

pillars of eternity 2 druid subclass and multiclass options

Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid Subclass Options

pillars of eternity 2 druid tekehu

Animist / Pure Druid

Unlike other classes, there is no “pure druid” option; what you get instead is the Animist subclass which has no penalties.

Druids get different spells automatically (other spells are still available via skill points, you just don’t get them automatically) depending on which subclass you choose, and the Animist gets a balanced variety of Druid spells.

It’s alright. It completely pales in comparison to what Tekehu gets, and it’s hard to argue picking it over Shifter or Ancient who have very mild penalties.

Fury

Fury is the way to go if you want to create a purely offensive mage. It loses out on all Rejuvenation spells, which is a significant loss, but in exchange it can transform into a Storm Spirit.

The Storm Spirit form gains +20% damage on all the electric elemental spells, which most of the best damage-oriented Druid spells are.

You might argue that losing out on the versatility that playing a Druid provides completely undercuts the theme of the class, but Furies do a decent amount of damage so you may want to pick this for thematic reasons.

Plus, frankly, the healing arsenal Druid gets in Pillars of Eternity 2 just isn’t that great. It’s basically just one spell: Moonwell.

Shifter

I think you could make the argument that Shifter is hands down the best Druid class. Its penalty is insignificant: it can’t cast spells in Shifted form, which is something you’re almost certainly never going to do anyway.

However, it can also Shapeshift 5 times per fight instead of once and its shifted forms last significantly longer than a standard Druid.

If you have any desire to use the shapeshifting aspect of the Druid kit, go with Shifter.

Keep in mind with regard to the spell lockout penalty that most of the best Druid spells linger on the battlefield doing healing or damage over time, so there’s no reason you can’t cast the spells you want in between shapeshifting forms.

Lifegiver

Lifegiver is a weird one because it gains a bonus to Rejuvenation spells and a penalty to them. Lifegivers have +2 Rejuvenation power level, and +5 if they’re in shifted form, but if you try to go super saiyan with your healing by shifting, they have a big power level penalty until the end of the fight.

They also can’t cast summons. Add to this the fact that Druid healing spells are very underwhelming in Pillars of Eternity 2, and I think there’s a solid case to be made that Lifegiver is the worst possible option.

Ancient

Ancient’s summoning and plant-based spells are cast with increased power level, which is pretty significant. As a penalty, Ancients take slightly more damage from veil piercing attacks (virtually non-existent in-game) and vessels (big whoop). So this subclass basically gives you beefier summons and stronger spells.

If you’re planning to make a spellcasting Druid, Ancient is the subclass I’d definitely recommend since, even if it’s not as quite as strong as the Fury, its penalties are barely noticeable in-game.

Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid Multiclass Options

Pure Druid

Pure single-class Druid is almost always the way to go with Druid, quite frankly. The top level Druid spells are just too good to give up. Greater Maelstrom, for example, is one of the best spells in the game. If you’re playing as a Druid and missing out on those top-level spells, it kind of calls into question the rationale to play as a Druid in the first place.

Monk

Multiclassing Druid only really makes sense if you’re going as the Shifter subclass, in which case multiclassing as a Monk makes sense due to Monk’s attack speed bonuses and the synergy between Monk’s shock lash ability and Druid’s heart of the storm passive.

Fighter

Once again, if you’re going with the Shifter subclass, Fighter makes a decent addition due to its ability to reduce penalties from heavy armor and its various accuracy passives that just make the shapeshifted forms generally more effective as melee damage dealers.

Conclusion – Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid Guide

As with most of the casters in Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid is best utilized as a pure class. Multiclassing works well for shifting druids who might want to multiclass with Monk or Fighter.

Otherwise, generally speaking, pure Druid is the way to go and Fury, Ancient and Shifter are all decent options. If push came to shove, I’d recommend Shifter.


That about covers it when it comes to the best Pillars of Eternity 2 Druid Subclass and Multiclass options. Check out the games section for more game guides and other game-related content, and click here for more articles related to Pillars of Eternity 2.

Author

  • Ryan Night

    Ryan Night is an ex-game industry producer with over a decade of experience writing guides for RPGs. Previously an early contributor at gamefaqs.com, Ryan has been serving the RPG community with video game guides since 2001. As the owner of Bright Rock Media, Ryan has written over 600 guides for RPGs of all kinds, from Final Fantasy Tactics to Tales of Arise.

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