Druid is a wild faction that makes use of their personal nature magic to tame beasts of the forests. Like Trolls and Dryad their primary resource lies in controlling forests and building up Ancient Forests to summon stronger mythic beasts and ancient gods. Obviously they are strongest when the map centers around dense forests more than city centers but any map with animals gives them a shot at an early army.

Pros

• Easy early game recruits with good rolls for animal charms, swarms of moose and bears start to build up, gets cheesy against factions that also rely on animal summons (Monkey Maharaja, Priest King, Dryad Queen)
  
• Forest stealth, hard to track their movements or might just walk into a bad position
  
• Herb economy detaches you from gold dependence
  
• With wide territory and good summons, you can easily fuel an army of wild monsters (or an ent garden)

Cons

• Weak human selection, barechested warriors and slingers just to fill ranks, most gold should go to casters or specialty units when they're needed
  
• Lacking innate siege or fire/banishment coverage, settlements are possible but you'll struggle against undead and hades units without huge mythic units
  
• Trudging through forests slows you down, requires getting to ancient forests for their best rituals
  
• Reliant on getting new druids through gold, can be a slow start, and higher end summons are rather luck dependent or become a huge investment

Shout out to Genpei Turtle I'm stealing your stats format
HP: Hit Points – health make good life, no health make dead
STR: Strength – ability to do physical tasks (break out of entangle, also relates to damage)
MO: Morale – resistance to fear effects, animals tend to be low
MR: Magic Resistance – resist magical damage and status
AR: Armor – flat reduction to physical damage

IN: Initiative – high numbers attack first each round
RNG: Range – distance you can throw a rotten tomato with that attack
DMG: Damage Dealt – no health make dead
(1-X+Y is a range for the random damage number, +Y increases X but not 1. Imagine it as dX, you roll a die of that number, Y does not add to your final result but give you a strange die with more sides. ex. 1-5+2 is really 1-7 (imagine a d7) before applying armor. +Y also applies to weapons you pick up.)

Human units that can be recruited at any time. Early game you'll get a few to fill out your ranks, maybe more slingers to provide light defense but you'll grow out of them quickly and they're generally inferior to the human recruits of other factions.




Barechested Slingers - Cost: 5 for 50 gold
HP:5, STR:4, MO:4, MR:4, AR:0
Forest Stealth, Shield
Sling - IN:2, RNG:4, DMG:1-2 blunt
Dagger - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-3 pierce
=Pretty decent against no armor and animals, but compared to archers they're rather bad.



Barechested Warriors - Cost: 5 for 50 gold
HP:5, STR:4, MO:4, MR:4, AR:0
Forest Stealth, Shield
Javelin - IN:1, RNG:3, DMG:1-4 pierce, once per battle
Spear - IN:6, RNG:1, DMG:1-4 pierce
=Spearmen showing up to work without their shirt, comes with javelins so they're versatile against trashy levies and wild neutrals.



Barechested Swordsmen - Cost: 5 for 50 gold
HP:5, STR:4, MO:5, MR:4, AR:0
Forest Stealth, Shield
Broadsword - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-6+1 slash
=More damage in combat but that's not saying much, honestly a waste when warriors can at least throw a shot from safety and you will move past these units soon.



Beast Cavalries - Cost: 3 for 50 gold 5 Iron
HP:10, STR:4, MO:5, MR:4, AR:1
Shield, Fast
Javelin - IN:1, RNG:3, DMG:1-4 pierce, once per battle
Broadsword - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
=Fast moving light cavalry, one way to spend iron you collect. Javelin and broadsword, they're not bad compared to the other units but tend to enter combat first and take most of the hits.

Rarer selections and token leaders who aren't druids. Some aren't too bad to get and sometimes you just need a person to lead your troops to claim some forests or hang onto an artifact that just went on sale.



Boar Warriors - Cost: 4 for 50 Gold 10 Iron
HP:12, STR:5, MO:6, MR:5, AR:1
Forest Stealth, Shield, Berserker
Axe - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-7+3 slash
=Stronger frontline fighters with a decent iron cost. They're better than swordsmen, a d7+3 in slash damage and will go berserk as soon as they take a hit, fighting through charms and even 20% below their max health, effectively 14hp. If you have plenty of money to buy a druid maybe grab a stack but don't get excited for them.



Hornblower - Cost: 1 for 25+(1-10) Gold
HP:5, STR:4, MO:5, MR:4, AR:0
Forest Stealth, Local Leadership 1
Carnyx Horn - IN:2, RNG:3, DMG:1-5 fear*
Fist - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1 blunt
*Horn ignores armor and affects in a cone 6
=An interesting unit, providing an extra moral buff and dealing a d5 fear effect. It's not great but it can work on small animals like deer or larger wolf packs. Most of the time it's better to save for a scout, but if you notice goblins or kobolds nearby, you can break a good number of their units and not have to fight them.



Chieftain - Cost: 40+(1-10) Gold
HP:11, STR:5, MO:6, MR:4, AR:1
LEADER, Forest Stealth, Shield, Local Leadership 1
Broadsword - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-6+2 slash
=Warrior leader, better attack but tends to get killed at the front. At the very least they're not as useless in combat or if you're ambushed by brigands.



Vergobert - Cost: 30+(1-10) Gold
HP:6, STR:4, MO:5, MR:5, AR:0
LEADER
Staff - IN:5, RNG:1, DMG:1-3+3 blunt
=Some guy with a stick set up to be the human shepherd, literally just there to walk units across the map. If he stays in back and never sees combat, he's doing his job.



Beast Knight - Cost: 50+(1-10) Gold 5 Iron
HP:13, STR:5, MO:6, MR:4, AR:1
LEADER, Fast, Shield
Javelin - IN:1, RNG:3, DMG:1-4 pierce, once per battle
Broadsword - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
=Occasional cavalry leader. Like the chieftain he's okay to fight on his own but will probably die. It's the cavalry fast unit leader for small skirmishes and scouting but you'll probably never get two for insurance to take riskier dives on hamlets.

Druid Apprentice: Cost - 55+(1-20) Gold
HP:6, STR:4, MO:5, MR:8, AR:0
LEADER, Forest Stealth; Animal Forest Stealth
Cast Spell: IN:1 Druidism lvl 1
Dagger: IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-3 pierce

When they upgrade from Ritual of Mastery:



Druid
HP:7, STR:4, MO:6, MR:8, AR:0
LEADER, Forest Stealth; Animal Forest Stealth
Cast Spell: IN:1 Druidism lvl 2
Sickle: IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-3+4 pierce
Also upgrades to Elder Druid with Greater Ritual of Mastery

Druids will be your primary spell casters to support early game units and hopefully recruit wandering animals. While not as flashy as Dark Prayers or other magics, it gives the backline range to support the field with poison damage or lock down low strength enemies. With some redundancy to help with rolling a healthy variety of spells, you can pick the spells you need from damage or ground trappings or charming animals.

Most spells are useful or have a niche, the worst you can do is double up on redundant entangle+poison spells when you'd rather get some animal charm options early or that coveted barkskin.

before discussing spells and rituals[docs.google.com]*, feel free to consult this handy resource for quickly looking up what magics you might be missing or just cross referencing other factions
*https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nboFWYKpFNFtAu4nN_ZnQ0yNW-Mz3pYegDx9fVUr7Q4/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Level 1

• Barkskin – range 8, burst 5 - +1 armor, making even beasts like powerful human units, except it's waves of wolves and grizzly bears
  
• Befriend Animal – range 5, charm 1 animal – apprentice level feed the bears, fine enough early game but gets replaced and needs back up against mass swarms
  
• Poison Arrow - range 5, pierce 1-6, poison 1-10, simple ranged damage option for acolytes
  
• Poison Vine – range 6, entanglement, poison 1-5, less damage but will hold down distant enemies as ranged units take turns throwing rocks, honestly it's the inferior version of tangling a whole army
  
• Tangle Vine – range 6, burst 1, entanglement, no damage but holds down one enemy, best option if you want to recruit a bear and not poison them but in a real town raid it's almost useless
  
• Vine Arrow – range 5, pierce 1-6, entanglement, finally just condenses all previous spells

Level 2

• Animate Tree – Turns a small tree into your ally. Kind of minor besides larger fights where you have time for the tree to join your ranks and a little armor buddy would help.
  
• Briar Cage – range 6 entanglement, burst 9, upgraded vines, if you're confident in your infantry damage this'll do great
  
• Command Beasts – range 6, charm, burst 9, mass conversion of a small ball, very good against swarms of beasts and the only spell you need to save 50-150 gold each wild encounter
  
• Curse of Wood – range 10, burst 25, save vs 2d4 or get turned to a tree, doesn't affect lifeless but it is kinda funny and tends to work better with low magic resist compared to being able to eventually break entanglement. Keep in mind it will affect friendly units too.
  
• Domestication – range 5, 3 strikes, charm, more focused on a specific animal with multiple hits to ensure it works out
  
• Oak Army – range 8, Armor +1, burst 25, quickly giving your whole army thicker skin
  
• Poison Vines – range 6, entanglement, burst 3, poison 1-5, upgraded vine arrow, if it can handle more people it's fine in between other spells
  
• Shooting Thorns – range 6, pierce 1-2, 7 strikes, poison 1-10, rapidly shoot thorns at enemies for longer damage, works wonders on low armor targets or finally being able to do damage with your caster

Level 3

• Animate Forest – Fill a forest battle with wooden BS.
  
• Earthquake – full screen takes blunt 1-5 damage with a chance to stun, destroys walls but make sure your own army is mainly flying units, or it's 300 kobolds vs a handful of bears
  
• Lord of the Wild – range 10, burst 25, mass charm animals, honestly it's a bit overkill next to domesticate doing the same thing one step down, but if your opponents still haven't learned or it's Druid v Druid this'll result in absolute chaos
  
• Poison Vine Growth – range 8, burst 25, poison 1-5, entanglement, everything the druid can do, gunk up the enemy army and slowly damage them with poison
  
• Wild Growth – range 10, entanglement, burst 100, must break a 1d14 strength check or a whole army gets bunched up and can't move.

Ritual Casting

Druid rituals start very weak just summoning some extra animals just to fill out your ranks. The sweet spot is in tier 2 rituals to spawn bigger beasts and reinforce your ancient forests. Grand Mastery is between Legendary Beings (cheaper but still nice) and going big on Primal Beings, or Faery Paths and waiting another 3 turns to do anything.

Lesser Ritual Mastery – 25 Herb
Ritual Mastery – 75 Herb (Forest or Jungle)*
Ritual Grand Mastery – 300 Herb (Ancient Forest)*
*upgrade rituals cost double for the first time, once you're at that level learning new rituals cost the listed amount

Level 1

• Messenger Crows – 15 Herb - summons a flying scout who can claim territory for you. Not bad for some close range searching but they always seem to crash into windows when I use them, especially when there are enemy camps nearby.
  
• Minor Animal Summoning – 15 Herb - lowest level animal support, falls off later on but will spawn some front line guards to widen your encirclement. Use whenever you have extra movement since
  
• Plant Forest Guardians – 15 Herb; 3AP – stop moving and plant trees to guard an area, decent enough to protect an area but animals are almost always better than some fly traps

Level 2

• Heart of the Forest – 150 Herb - Plants a special tree in ancient forests to slowly take over nearby woods, sets up a longterm base
  
• Lord of the Wild - 100 Herb – Enchants the Ancient Forest to periodically spawn roaming animals, helps claim forests, minor scouts and neutrals get trampled, and just walking past is a slog.
  
• Major Animal Summoning - 75 Herb – more reliable list of summons for a reasonable price, this is the only low level summon you should be spamming if you need an army soon but don't want to wait for bigger stuff
  
• Revive Ancient Forest - 350 Herb - An effort to reclaim Ancient Forests from Shadow Woods.
  
• Summon Mythic Beasts - 100 Herb – lets get crazy now, summons more mythic creatures that can do some serious damage on the battlefield
  
• Wild Hunt – 300 Herb - summons a Horned God and a list of animals to go claim an ancient forest for you, the Horned God's hunt cannot be controlled but will lead the way to your next tree base and stomp any lesser forces in it's way. If you're just lost give it a try.

Level 3 – all are at Ancient Forest

• Faery Paths – 100 Herb – Warp a druid and his army to an Ancient Forest. Probably the least powerful but can be very useful if you've learned all other rituals and need to control the map with all stacks.
  
• Sheperds of the Wood – 300 Herb - Enchants an Ancient Forest to spawn wooden beings to roam around and animate trees. Very tanky and makes exploring Ancient Forests a massive pain, animals are cheaper to stop scouts while these require late game stacks for a hefty price.
  
• Summon Legendary Beings – 450 Herb – Summons incredible beings, the higher tiers of Mythic summons and a chance at some godly beings, end game units.
  
• Call Primal Being – 1000 Herb - SUMMON NATURE GODS, win more with banked up herbs and a one man army on top of your current forces. While this gets hyped up a lot and Horned God is better under your control, it feels bad when all you draw are slow Ents.

A lot of animals that may be charmed early on or are part of the summons. Minor Animal Summon has a lot of trashy units that amount to 'Rabbit: 1HP, 0 DMG' and will just tank a shot as the slingers move up.

Minor Animal Summoning: 15 Herbs
This is primarily the forest summon list, you will see different results in jungles and possibly deserts. Casting in an ancient forest tends to give better results but feel free to experiment or cast for a few herbs before any battle.



Wolves (1-8)
HP:4, STR:4, MO:4, MR:2, AR:0
Fast
Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
The real frontline fighters of the Druid army. While they're lacking compared to human fighters in health, they tend to come in large numbers, their bite is nothing to ignore, and lucky druid spell lists can mass charm them for free. And when you consider barkskin to help close the gap, forget shirtless warriors.



Boars (1-4)
HP:5, STR:4, MO:4, MR:2, AR:0
Berserker, Fast
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-4 slash
What the boar warriors are trying to emulate. In small numbers they're lucky to ambush a lone scout and do some damage with their Berserk. In large numbers, actually they still suck but they have 6HP in practice and 14morale.






Great Boar (1)
HP:18, STR:6, MO:5, MR:2, AR:0
Berserk, Fast
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
Higher level summons tend to get bigger and bigger boars along with a small army of little boars. It's a good way to fill out an early army with Major Summoning while late game will feel bad even with Monster Boar when half your army is susceptible to AoE effects.



Giant Ant
HP:21, STR:5, MO:7, MR:2, AR:2
Wall Climbing, Siege Tunnel 5
Acid Spray - IN:7, RNG:2, DMG:1-4 acid beam, ignores armor
Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
Everyone thinks their safe until the wild animals have ranged attacks. They are surprisingly durable and acid will start eating away at units even before they get into melee. Absolutely go out of your way to charm a small group of them or keep them in your offensive army through mid game.



Serpents (1-2)
HP:8, STR:4, MO:4, MR:2, AR:0
Forest Stealth, Cold Blooded*, Swamp Move, Wall Climbing
Weak Venom Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-4 slash +1-5 poison(armor negate)
Your best tool for sieging settlements, their ability to crawl up walls and not just stall archers but poison them will make breaking the front gate easier. It's still an issue of swarming them with small flying/crawling animals so you want a lot of just about everything.
*Will slow you down in cooler climates. Usually not a concern but if you're further north or on smaller maps you will feel half the year just makes you slugish.



Bears
HP:28, STR:7, MO:5, MR:2, AR:0
Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG: 1-6 slash
Claw - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG: 1-3 slash
Claw - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG: 1-3 slash
Your tank for the early game, can take plenty of damage but alone they can get surrounded easily, which is why we want to summon and charm as many as possible while slingers back them up while warriors and wolves flank the back. By the way all of those claws happen in one turn once they're in range, they may shrug off a low roll claw but not the full flurry of scratching and biting and especially not if the bears start to gang up.



Moose
HP:30, STR:6, MO:3, MR:2, AR:0
Trample 2, Fast
Antlers - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 pierce
Hoof - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 blunt
Very disruptive to army organization, running to the back line ranged units and casters and has the health to try it.

Major Animal Summoning: 75 Herbs
More of the minor animals in larger numbers, filters out the dud draws. Expect better swarms or at least a better army of boars. Unlike minor summoning anywhere, this can only be done in a forest, jungle or mountain.

Summon Mythic Beasts - 100 Herbs
Animals work fine in the early game, but now we get into some serious units.






Amphiptere
HP:43, STR:6, MO:7, MR:5, AR:2
Poison immune, Flying
Poison Spit - IN:2, RNG:3, DMG:1-10 poison
Venomous Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-9 slash + 1-10 poison
A large flying serpent with good bulk, able to close in on enemy units and spray poison over them. Armored units can be difficult when still dealing with d4's and d6's so being able to spray magic damage over a crowed (assuming they're not resistant) helps a lot.



Wyverns (1-2)
HP:31, STR:6, MO:7, MR:6, AR:1
Poison immune, Flying
Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-8 slash
Stinger - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-8 pierce +1-20 poison
Flying units able to get over walls and close in on archers. With enough numbers they have a good chance at disrupting enemy infantry and have two d8 attacks but are sort of lesser compared to the Amphitere.



Leogryphs (1-4)
HP:20, STR:6, MO:6, MR:5, AR:0
Fast
Beak - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-7 slash
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-5 slash
The unfortunate cousin of the gryphon, the head of an eagle and body of a lion without the flying. Still a vicious beast and they come in decent numbers.






Monster Boar
HP:75, STR:9, MO:8, MR:5, AR:1
Berserker, Trample 4, Fast
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-14 slash
Larger boars and includes a sizable trample. Legendary summon gives the chance of this plus a boar army but on it's own it's decent unit better able to deal with waves of small units and able to break into the backline.



Sacred Moose
HP:40, STR:7, MO:5, MR:6, AR:0
Awe 1, Trample 2, Fast
Antlers - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-9 pierce
Hoof - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 blunt
A shiny moose with a special aura around it giving it a small advantage against low morale enemies. It's another moose but with more stats and will continue to disrupt enemy lines as it goes straight for casters and passes by the smaller crowds. Compared to the Monster Boar it's more defensible against smaller units as it plows through and two separate attacks comes out to base damage of 2-15 with an average around 8. Both are worth using and better than relying too much on smaller unit spam from Animal Summons.

Summon Legendary Beings - 450 Herbs
Summons incredible beings, still at Ancient Forests and higher tiers of Mythic summons can show up with better chances for some incredible stuff. With widespread forest control these will make up your end game army.






Chimera
HP:72, STR:8, MO:7, MR:6, AR:2
Acute Senses, Fire resist, Shock Resist, Poison Immune, Giant Size, Flying
Fiery Breath - IN:7, RNG:5, DMG:1-8 fire, narrow cone 10
Bite - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-19 slash
Claw - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-12 slash
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-4 slash
Strong Venomous Bite - IN:2 , RNG:1, DMG:1-5 slash + 1-20 poison
Lets start with a strong pull, an amalgam of animal parts that all have a chance to slash at the enemy, also it breathes fire. Imagine a bear that can walk past walls, burns trolls and inflicts poison up close with a stronger claw attack. They're hard to get but well worth it if you can stock up a few.



Giant Moose
HP:130, STR:9, MO:6, MR:2, AR:2
Acute Senses, Trample 8, Fast, Giant Sized
Antlers - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-25 pierce
Hoof - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-22 blunt
The most moose that ever moosed. It's big, it walks all over smaller units, and damage that better fits fighting horrors from beyond dimensions even if it's still a minor fighter rather than the doom caster.






Monster Boar Army(2 MB, 1-6 Great Boar, 4-24 boars)
HP:75, STR:9, MO:8, MR:5, AR:1
Berserker, Trample 4, Fast
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-14 slash
At this point pigs are basically rabbits but any disintegrate targeted at them or away from the backline is a shot your casters and higher value units aren't taking. Same old Berserk rage to resist mental effects, trample lets the big boys mow down swarms, and since they're less valuable it's not so bad they're faster and able to gain a lot of attention first.






Gryphon
HP:36, STR:7, MO:7, MR:5, AR:1
Acute Senses, Shock resist, Giant sized, Flying
Beak - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-10 slash
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 slash
Note as of 5.32 there these are known as lesser Gryphon, the Greater Gryphon added to the sky realm. Result is still the same, big lion bird, nice for scouting and taking on the sky with a floating leader, otherwise another beast that ignores walls and water terrain. While it's attacks are somewhat low it can throw a lot of them out.



Cockatrice
HP:24, STR:5, MO:6, MR:6, AR:1
Poison Immune, Flying
Petrifying Gaze - Init:10, RNG:10, DMG:1-999 magic, Paralyzation
Stinger - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-5 +1-20 poison
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-3 slash
This isn't an awful monster but certainly leave it to defend a bridge or ambush enemies in the forest, not in your main army. The Petrifying Gaze is very dangerous and it will almost certainly destroy some of your more valuable fast and large units. If it hits your opponent or they have to weigh going up against the death chicken, it's well worth the herbs. If it's eating away at your front units, you'll be disappointed in him.






Roc
HP:82, STR:9, MO:7, MR:6, AR:1
Acute Senses, Giant Sized, Flying
Boulder - Init:1, RNG:50, DMG:1-60 blunt, siege
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-20 slash
Talon - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-20 slash
Beak - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-25 slash
Large bird able to move over terrain and make sieges go smoother. With a couple high level summons you should be able to take any city. As a regular unit, they're also pretty good with big swinging slashes, just make sure they're not the only thing on the front since they'll get swarmed by smaller 1x1 units.
(I might be wrong, I didn't summon any my last few games, they might be part of the Cloud Forest?)

Summon Primal Being - 1000 Herbs
More risky rolls when you're already so far ahead or haven't summoned in a while (it'll happen when you're only able to try in you ancient forests). Aside from Ents a lot of these are massive pieces to your army or come out as high level casters. Mostly a win more strategy or a tie breaker for who had the better economy before the next clash.






Horned God
HP:153, STR:10, MO:15, MR:10, AR:0
Giant sized
Cast Spell - IN:1, Druidism 3, can be used in melee
*Horn of the Hunt - IN:2, RNG:4, DMG: 1-8+1 fear, 25 burst
Golden Toc - IN:5, RNG:1, DMG: 1-3+15 blunt
Snake - IN:5, RNG:1, DMG: 1-4 pierce +1-20 poison
As a Wild Hunt leader, the Horned God is fairly weak and doesn't have the means to siege a fortified settlement, nice in the early game when they can't be stopped and might even take an Ancient Forest. However, as a primal being under your control it's essentially getting another high level caster to help poison and entangle enemies. Give them some proper units or some snakes to climb the walls and you may be able to take on fortifications properly.






Beholder
HP:48, STR:5, MO:8, MR:10, AR:1
Acute Senses, Fire resist, Cold resist, Shock resist, Floating, Library Master
Cast Spell - IN:1, x6 lists
Bite - IN:2 , RNG:1 , DMG:1-4 slash
One of the craziest casters in the game. While they're usually off limits from the bigger level 3 spells, each eyestalk is able to cast a spell as they throw a mix of everything or splash multiple resistances to your army and disintegrate random shrubs just for fun. Library Master allows it to upgrade it's lvl1 spell lists to lvl2, and at this point it's well worth investing in them as a leader with all sorts of spells. Fire, Ice, Storm, Command, Serpents(?) and some dangerous Black Magic, if you get Decay on you during a battle you're already dead. While the Cockatrice is nice able to instantly kill high priority targets but is better off alone, Beholders are well worth losing some of your front, until you can give it more restrained black spells.






Ent
HP:370, STR:10, MO:9, MR:9, AR:2
Forest Stealth, Fire vulnerable, Poison immune, Pierce resist, Blunt resist, Giant sized, Slow
Branch - IN:1, RNG:1, DMG:1-6 blunt x4
One of the most obnoxious summons. Not that it's all bad with high health and resistances, the constant branches are eventually going to get through, but their slow speed and low utility makes them less exciting. Basically a large tree to block hits for your army when you could have gods and primal casters. Leave them at an Ancient Forest that could be at risk or pull them into a slower army, but I hope that wasn't all of your Herbs over the last 10 turns.








Hooded Spirit
HP:34, STR:7, MO:12, MR:10, AR:0
Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Spirit Sight, Ethereal, Triple Entity, Amphibian, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - Druidism 2 + other Magic lvl 0-2* (Forest, Geomancy, Hydromancy)
Divine Fist - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-1+4 blunt
Three entities combined, when separated their magic capabilities are reduced but also allow you to cast mass crowd control. Imagine getting put to sleep, buried alive, poisoned, and turned into a tree. Not just a new caster for mid tier rituals, but a full stop to large scale armies that don't have anything with adequate magic resist.









Ram-Headed Serpent
HP:138, STR:10, MO:10, MR:10, AR:2
Regeneration 5, Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Giant size
Cast Spell - IN:1, Druidism 2
Headbutt - IN:1, RNG:1, DMG:1-19 blunt
A perfect battering ram. He tends to line up in front letting him use the regeneration and get early shots on some druid spells. Making him broken depends on what spells he starts with and how much punishment he absorbs, I wouldn't test it but if you've seen trolls shrug off Decay you know Regen is something special.






Thrice Horned Boar
HP:100, STR:11, MO:17, MR:11, AR:3
Ritual Caster, Trample 5, Berserk, Fast
Cast Spell - IN:1, Druidism 2
Gore - IN:2, RNG:1, DMG:1-17 slash
There's probably a good reason to add casting to a boar, I'm just more favorable of the Ram-Serpent. He's certainly durable, high armor and beefy, he's 100% going to go berserk and get 20hp. Main problem with these big monsters that run straight into crowds they're going to get messed up. Not saying it's a bad summon or you can't exploit it's speed on the overworld.









God of Seasons
HP:156, STR:11, MO:17, MR:10, AR:1
Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Combat Caster, Giant Size, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - IN:8 (Solar, Forest, Storm) each lvl 2
Lightning Strike - IN:8, RNG:10, DMG: 1-21 lightning, strikes anywhere, burst 1
Wheel of Changing Seasons - Init:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-5+16 blunt
Big caster with a lots of magic and a fat wheel to bash people with. Beholder is stupid fun because you never know what you'll get, while Seasons will have access to more concentrated map wide blasts. Just short of level 3 Druidism but I can live with constant lightning strikes and fire based orbital strikes.









God of War
HP:156, STR:11, MO:17, MR:10, AR:1
Immune to charm, Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Combat Caster, Giant Size, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - IN:8, Warrior Ward 3
Cast Spell - IN:8, Druidism 2
Axe of Lords - IN:3, RNG:1, DMG:1-20+16 slash
Combines a druid god with an enchanter with spells focused on buffing large crowds.
(Did he come with that axe or grab it while in the Primal World?)










Hammer God
HP:156, STR:11, MO:17, MR:10, AR:1
Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Combat Caster, Giant Size, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - IN:8, Druidism 3
Cast Spell - IN:8, Enchantment 2
Great Maul - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-8+16 blunt
Similar to War God, buffs ally units in a smaller amount but seems to focus on giving a lvl 3 Druid. Same idea, entanglement and poison are all over the place, but Earthquake can really pull you out of a bad siege if you don't mind your army getting wiped, saved me against a Dwarf Queen citadel.









Goddess of Sacred Spring
HP:147, STR:11, MO:17, MR:11, AR:1
Awe 3, Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Giant size, Amphibious, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - IN:1, Druidism 3
Cast Spell - IN:1, Hydromancy 2
Snake - IN:5, RNG:1, DMG:1-4 pierce + 1-20 poison
Another god with high level Druid magic on top of dipping into a new school. Her stuns don't work on aquatic and lifeless enemies, but a high level Awe adds an extra layer of melee protection if sent out on her own. Can be used as a navel escort against enemy ships or cross rivers and lakes.










*God of Sea
HP:124, STR:11, MO:17, MR:11, AR:1
Large Shield, Other Planar Immortal (Primal), Combat Caster, Giant size, Amphibious, Ritual Caster
Cast Spell - IN:8, Hydromancy 3
Cast Spell - IN:8, Illusion 2
Javalin - IN:1, RNG:3, DMG:1-4+16 pierce
Sword of Enfeeblement - IN:4, RNG:1, DMG:1-7+16 slash
A lot of what you expect from the gods, like Goddess of spring his Hydromancy has a chance to stun or drown any living being that breaths air, Illusion magic working the same able to sleep or confuse enemies.

Druid's best units are behind herb summons and after leveling up your casters. A lot of your success relies on good rolls on being able to charm early wild animals, gaining proper rituals, and not spawning next to an early aggressive faction that will test your ability to field an army with just deer and barechested rock throwers. Druid casters make your armies better but they're not an early game powerhouse, they only become worth it at level 3 or when Shooting Thorns is relevant. Many of your units can skulk through forests and not be detected or get an ambush to attack their leader sooner.

Keep your main caster safe, check if anyone starts with Domestication or Befriend Animal and start recruiting nearby forest animals. Save gold for more druids, necessary ranged slingers and riders or extra leaders for a small scouting party. Take it slow, gather forests and locate Ancient Forests, you may also release Messenger Crows to help scout forested areas with things to claim though they're much worse when a lot of camps are guarded. Once you have a sizable force, you can take settlements for more gold income and push further out. Planting rooted plant guards for an ambush isn't the worst but their effectiveness is limited and Woodmen will just slow you down.

Heart of the Forest and Lord of the Wild are able to secure your Ancient Forests with roaming animals and stop neutrals and token scouts from stepping in. By this point they're decent to collect for free cheap units but chasing after them isn't worth it, just further secures your ritual spot. Sheperds of the Wood provides better units and a better chance against temporary events but it's a large investment and you only do it to turtle up or you're defending a hotspot. It likely won't stop a full invasion event if you just ignore them.

Mid game gets better with more consistent stacks and druids able to use more of their spells to gunk up the battlefield and you should have a reliable stream of herbs and reinforced forests. Summon mythic bests as often as you can, Minor Animals if you have the movement for cannon fodder, Major Animals are decent from various forests but aren't as good and only delay your army of legendary beasts.

Late game you start rolling for larger gods and able to bounce back quickly with tons of herbs rolling in, you should be able to make summons fairly regularly and your opponent either has to slowly walk through every forest to hit your economy or walk out in the open trying to deal with populated areas. You can still take gold sources for more generic human guards or the odd non-druid caster who shows up but your real army is going to look like Chimeras, Cockatrice ambushes, Rocs pushing sieges, and a flood of leftover boars and big mooses. If anything seems difficult to kill, Beholders have fast working death magic you can spray on them, or just hold out for more summons after claiming as many forests as possible.

Druid might not seem like the most impressive Class to play, they're very slow going and rely on a few things clicking to stay ahead. Still they have plenty of tools to deal with other small unit factions and with a herb economy set up can field breathing chimeras and the chaos of a beholder who spent finally visited the library. With some patience they can get off the ground well enough and match other factions, slowly building up their resources even on more developed maps like Empire or Monarchy. Having a ritual resource income of 100+ herbs and repeatedly rolling for higher summons soon leaves them with an overwhelming force of various animals and high level casters.