A true extension of nature itself, Druids are known for wielding the power of the wild.  With the spellcasting ability of a cleric and the stealth of a Rogue, Druids are known for their devotion to the divinity of nature and offer a wide set of abilities to any D&D player regardless of their experience.  One of the more versatile classes, players can create a formidable asset to any party and foe to any monstrosities that dare cross their path.  To do this, players need to know the absolute best cantrips and spells for their druid and as a veteran Druid, I will let you in on the crème de la crème.

Cantrips:

For your first three levels, you can only have two cantrips.  With eight to choose from, it can be hard to know which two you should have as you will only have those through your third level.  However, two dominate the other six.

Produce Flame

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: A flickering flame appears in your hand.  The flame remains there for the duration of 10 minutes and harms neither you nor your equipment. The flame sheds bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet.

Why is it the best?

You can illuminate a dark area if none of your party members have Darkvision.
If you’re in a tight spot, you can hurl a literal ball of fire at your enemy.

Thornwhip    

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You create a long, vine-like whip covered in thorns that lashes out at your command toward a creature in range.  Make a melee spell attack against the target.  If the attack hits, the creature takes 1d6 piercing damage, and if the creature is Larger or smaller, you pull the creature up to 10 feet closer to you.

Why is it the best?

The whip can be cast out up to 30 feet and allow you to yank them ten feets towards you.  Is there a ravine between you and your opponent?  You can now pull them into the chasm to their death.
Did your fun-loving bard accidentally step over a trap that will one-hit kill them?  You can safely pull them from harm's way.  They will take some damage, but a few thorn pricks won’t hurt nearly as much as the spikes they may fall on.

Spells

Druid spellcasting is special because you can regularly swap out different spells after a long rest.  But with these spells, will you even want to?

Best Level One Spells

Best Level One Spell:  Absorb Elements

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: Caster is protected from and then stores the incoming energy of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage that a player is attacked with.  The player can then release that energy in a melee spell attack.

Why is it the best?

Have you ever just wanted to really ruin a creature’s day? Absorb Elements is going to be your go-to because not only does it make it easier for players to not lose hit points, they can release the same type of energy.  This gives a whole new meaning of giving someone a taste of their own medicine.

This spell allows players in races that don’t carry any natural resistance to elements a fighting chance in combat.

Second Best Level One Spell: Goodberry

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: Up to ten berries appear in your hand and are infused with magic for the duration.  A creature can use its action to eat one berry. Eating a berry restores 1 hit point, and the berry provides enough nourishment to sustain a creature for one day.

Why is it the best?

The humble Goodberry spell is often overlooked by an inexperienced player.  However, an experienced druid knows to unload all of their magic spell slots at the end of a day to amass berries to heal party members out of combat.  Inexperienced players may opt for Cure Wounds or Healing Word, but both of those risk the chance of rolling low dice numbers, making the spells a waste of a spell slot.  Goodberry, on the other hand, has the potential to treat 20 hit points off the top with two spell slots.  You also can divvy out hit points across party members so everyone receives hit points, rather than one person.
You will never know how appreciative you can be of a berry until you cram one down a party member's throat to revive them after their hit points drop to zero.  You also will be thanking yourself (and this article) because you will not have to use a spell slot during combat as you will have stored your leftover berries from the day before.

Best Level Two Spells

Best Level Two Spell:  Pass Without a Trace

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you, masking you and your companions from detection. For the duration, each creature you choose within 30 feet of you (including you) has a +10 bonus to Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can't be tracked except by magical means. A creature that receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or other traces of its passage.

Why is it the best?

Pass Without a Trace is an excellent spell for moving quietly with your entire party.  While individual party members may have the appropriate skills to sneak such as a Rogue with Evasion or a Ranger with Hide in Plain Sight or Vanish, there are occasions such as running through a dungeon crawl that you need to make a quick escape.  Pass Without a Trace ensures everyone can get out of dodge.
If you have a character with kleptomaniac tendencies, they can do so without worrying  about them getting caught.  You might even be able to swipe something for yourself if you ask nicely.

Second Best Level Two Spell: Hold Person

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: Choose a humanoid that you can see within range. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed for the duration. At the end of each of its turns, the target can make another Wisdom saving throw. On a success, the spell ends on the target.

Why is it the best?

It’s like an invisible hug you can’t escape from that nobody wants.  If you have a large humanoid enemy that is out of control, you can cast hold person and then make a group effort attack while they are immobilized.
If you are in a tight spot trying to get past someone who is bent on keeping you away, cast Hold Person and simply walk past them.  This is a good backup for if you fail persuasion roles.

Best Level Three Spells

Best Level Three Spell:  Conjure Animals

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You summon fey spirits that take the form of beasts and appear in unoccupied spaces that you can see within range.  The summoned creatures are friendly to you and your companions. They obey any verbal commands that you issue to them (no action required by you).

Why is it the best?

This spell is incredible because you have options.  There is a ratio of challenge rating and amount of beasts you can summon.  The higher the challenge rating, the less you can summon.  The lower the challenge rating, the more you can summon.  If you’re in combat and feeling outnumbered, cash in your level three spell slot and summon eight wolves.  If you need a beast that packs a punch but you aren’t concerned with being swarmed by enemies, summon a giant constrictor to squeeze the life out of your opponent.
This is the type of gift that keeps on giving with more experience.  When you cast this spell at the 9th level, you can quadruple the amount of summoning.  Circling back to my first point about why it’s the best, you can now summon 32 wolves, 32 of them.  That’s more wolves than the number of people in villages you will come across. I’m not going to say you’re untouchable...but you kind of are.

All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t want to see him on a bad day.

Second Best Three Level Spell: Call Lightning

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: A storm cloud appears in the shape of a cylinder that is 10 feet tall with a 60 foot radius, centered on a point you can see within range directly above you.

Why is it the best?

This is an excellent  choice for two reasons: distance damage and duration.  The fact that you can cast this up to 120 feet is already insane.  When every combat round is six seconds, you have what feels like forever to decimate your enemies with 3d10 damage from a safe distance.
You also have the elements on your side.  To use this spell you have to be outside, which makes sense.  But if you happen to be out in a storm AND cast this spell, you gain an extra 1d10 damage.  This means that hypothetically, you alone (with the help of some insanely lucky rolls), could dole out 4,000 damage in a 10 minute round.

Best Level Four Spells

Best Level Four Spell:  Wall of Fire

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You create a wall of fire on a solid surface within range. You can make the wall up to 60 feet long, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick, or a ringed wall up to 20 feet in diameter, 20 feet

Why is it the best?

Some of these spells I feel like scratching my head when I have to explain why they are undeniably the best.  The elemental wall spells have a special place in my heart because they are the easiest way to do crowd control.  Are enemies getting too close? Cast Wall of Fire. Are you feeling cruel and want to squish enemies together in a small space like sardines?  Cast Wall of Fire.  But wait, it can also become a circle.
Wall of Fire forces enemies to move away from the point in which you cast the fire out as casters pick one side that burns and the other side causes no damage.  If any creature ends their turn within 10 feet, they take 5d8 fire damage.  In battle, this allows you to entrap as many enemies as you can fit in a 20 diameter circle with the fire wall side burning the inside only while your party members can stand just outside the circle and unload more damage.

Second Best Level Four Spell: Dominate Beast

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You attempt to beguile a beast that you can see within range. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for the duration. If you or creatures that are friendly to you are fighting it, it has advantage on the saving throw.  While the beast is charmed, you have a telepathic link with it as long as the two of you are on the same plane of existence.

Why is it the best?

You can think of this spell somewhat like Cinderella with the mice, but instead of mice it might be a Giant Fire Beetle, and instead of making you a dress, it might be biting off an enemy’s arm.

A dark advantage of this spell is that while it might be ethically frowned upon for you to command a beast to harm itself, no caveat prevents you from doing so.  So if you tell your Giant Fire Beetle to jump in a lake, it will.

Best Level Five Spells

Best Level Five Spell:  Commune with Nature

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You briefly become one with nature and gain knowledge of the surrounding territory. In the outdoors, the spell gives you knowledge of the land within 3 miles of you. In caves and other natural underground settings, the radius is limited to 300 feet. The spell doesn't function where nature has been replaced by construction, such as in dungeons and towns.

Why is it the best?

Imagine you are minding your own business with your party members walking through a forest.  Out of literally nowhere, a wizard kidnaps your entire party by creating a water luge that spits you out into a new city that you know absolutely nothing about.  It happened to me, it can happen to you.  But as long as you have Commune with Nature, you are set.  Instantly you can know:

Terrain and bodies of water
Local plants, minerals, people, and animals
Powerful entities such as fey, fiends, elementals, and undead
Building structures

Even if you are entirely thrown off-kilter, you can establish your bearings almost immediately.

Also, now that you know just about everything within a three mile radius, you can figure out how to use the land you just stumbled upon to your advantage.  Are you looking for a certain group of people?  Now you know where they are.  Are you unsure if you can use your herbalism skills to make potions with the local flora?  Worry no more!  This spell is really useful when trying to make headway on whatever quest your DM has sent you on or when you have practical needs that need attention such as food, water, shelter, etc.

Second Best Level Five Spell: Wall of Stone

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: A non-magical wall of solid stone springs into existence at a point you choose within range. The wall is 6 inches thick and is composed of ten 10 foot by 10 foot panels. Each panel must be contiguous with at least one other panel. Alternatively, you can create 10 foot by 20 foot panels that are only 3 inches thick.

Why is it the best?

If you thought Wall of Fire was the only wall elemental spell I was geeked on, you were wrong.  Wall of Stone is like Wall of Fire, but allows heavy strategizing.  Again, your crowd control capabilities are worth their weight in gold. You can separate your enemies from each other and take them down one by one.  Wall of Stone also gives you the ability to create your own cover to hide behind that has an AC of 15 with 30 hitpoints.

Something that might not initially be thought of is you can create structures.  If you need to make a bridge to cross a river, you can.  If you are on a cliff with a steep drop, you can build a ramp.  Additionally, if you can concentrate for the entirety of the spell (10 minutes), the stone becomes a permanent fixture and can’t be dispelled.

Best Level Six Spells

Best Level Six Spell: Heroes’ Feast

According to D&D Player’s Handbook:You bring forth a great feast, including magnificent food and drink. The feast takes 1 hour to consume and disappears at the end of that time, and the beneficial effects don't set in until this hour is over. Up to twelve creatures can partake of the feast. A creature that partakes of the feast gains several benefits. The creature is cured of all diseases and poison, becomes immune to poison and being frightened, and makes all Wisdom saving throws with advantage.

Why is it the best?

The buffs this spell gives off is insane and possibly one of the best ways to prepare a party for battle. Although the jury is still technically out, most DMs will argue that the effects cannot be eliminated  with dispel magic.
It’s important to note that the spell doesn’t say just human or humanoid.  If you have any familiars, they can also receive the same buffs that your party members do.

Second Best Level Six Spell:  Transport Via Plants

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: This spell creates a magical link between a Large or larger inanimate plant within range and another plant, at any distance, on the same plane of existence. You must have seen or touched the destination plant at least once before. For the duration, any creature can step into the target plant and exit from the destination plant by using 5 feet of movement.

Why is it the best?

Before I continue, I beg you to acknowledge that  this spell is like clown car-ring into a tree trunk.  You only have six seconds, but theoretically, you and your party members can  whisk away to a whole new area through tree roots. This enables you to do a sort of teleportation, which is very fun.
This spell isn’t just for moving your own party members. You can also eject enemies to a whole other part of the world as long as you can prove to your DM there are enough linking plant connections between the two locations.

Best Level Seven Spells

Best Level Seven Spell:  Reverse Gravity

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: This spell reverses gravity in a 50 foot radius, 100 foot high cylinder centered on a point within range. All creatures and objects that aren't somehow anchored to the ground in the area fall upward and reach the top of the area when you cast this spell. If some solid object (such as a ceiling) is encountered in this fall, falling objects and creatures strike it just as they would during a normal downward fall. If an object or creature reaches the top of the area without striking anything, it remains there, oscillating slightly, for the duration. At the end of the duration, affected objects and creatures fall back down.

Why is it the best?

Any time you successfully use this spell in battle, you are almost guaranteed to win if your enemy is not capable of flying or teleporting of any sort.  The spell launches them upward, y and then once you release the spell, your enemies fall to their death.
A unique way to use this spell is in a dungeon where the path ahead of you is seemingly impossible to pass from things like lava, spikes, pools of acid, or whatever else your DM comes up with. You can cast Reverse Gravity to jump to the ceiling and run across the obstacle.

Second Best Level Seven Spell:  Plane Shift

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You and up to eight willing creatures who link hands in a circle are transported to a different plane of existence. You can use this spell to banish an unwilling creature to another plane. A creature so transported must find its own way back to your current plane of existence.

Why is it the best?

This is the real deal type of teleportation.  You and your entire squad (at least no more than eight of you.  So if you have nine, have your awkward conversations now about who can’t go) can jump to entirely different planes of existence.  You can jump all around the world, the different planes, and more. The options are limitless.
This is similar to the Transport Via Plants spell, but more intense because you can literally banish your enemies to any one of the Nine Hells.

Best Level Eight Spells

Best Level Eight Spell:  Feeblemind

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You blast the mind of a creature that you can see within range, attempting to shatter its intellect and personality. The target takes 4d6 psychic damage and must make an Intelligence saving throw.  On a failed save, the creature's Intelligence and Charisma scores become 1. The creature can't cast spells, activate magic items, understand language, or communicate in any intelligible way. The creature can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and even protect them.

Why is it the best?

Beyond 4d6 psychic damage, any creature you cast Feeblemind  on will be affected for a minimum of 30 days.  They even aren’t automatically cured of it because they have to roll a Wisdom saving throw.
You can use the threat of casting Feeblemind on NPCs who  are less than privy to help you.

Second Best Level Eight Spell: Tsunami

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: A wall of water springs into existence at a point youchoose within range.  You can make the wall up to 300 feet long, 300 feet high, and 50 feet thick.  The wall lasts for the duration.

Why is it the best?

I know this isn’t technically a Wall of elements spell...but it kind of is. If you are swarmed by enemies, cast Tsunami to inflict 6d10 bludgeoning damage and push them 50 feet from you. This damage can be inflicted six times, making this spell absolutely lethal.
You can use this spell in tandem with Water Walk to give a whole new meaning for sea walking as you coast across the land, drenching everything beneath you as you cross.  It’s kind of excessive, but you’ve earned the right to brag when you get to the 8th level.

Best Level Nine Spells

Best Level Nine Spell:  True Resurrection

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You touch a creature that has been dead for no longer than 200 years and that died for any reason except old age. If the creature's soul is free and willing, the creature is restored to life with all its hit points. This spell closes all wounds, neutralizes any poison, cures all diseases, and lifts any curses affecting the creature when it died. The spell replaces damaged or missing organs and limbs. If the creature was undead, it is restored to its non-undead form.  The spell can even provide a new body if the original no longer exists, in which case you must speak the creature's name.

Why is it the best?

Do I really have to go into why it’s the best spell when you can hack in-game death? Something players fear is their character dying.  It happens.  Sometimes a DM is forgiving and makes it difficult for players’ characters  to die.  Sometimes they aren’t forgiving and players get smacked with the cold hand of reality as their bard gets slam dunked into the gullet of a dragon (or to make it worse, the Tarrasque) with the only a single finger digit left .  Tragic.  But, when your local Druid can perform True Resurrection, all you need is that single digit to bring your bard back into existence.
True Resurrection trumps all other spells that involve bringing the dead back to life by the sheer length of time something can be dead and brought back to life.  With a threshold of 200 years, you have enough time to do just about anything in-game before you have to decide if you want to bring something back to life or not. 

Second Best Level Nine Spell: Wild Shape

According to D&D Player’s Handbook: You assume the form of a different creature for the duration. The new form can be of any creature with a challenge rating equal to your level or lower. The creature can't be a construct or an undead, and you must have seen the sort of creature at least once. You transform into an average example of that creature, one without any class levels or the Spellcasting trait.

Why is it the best?

Wild Shape is just as valuable as it is fun.  I love it because it’s something that has in-combat benefits and out-of-combat benefits.  When specifically thinking of taking on a huge enemy, you can shrink yourself down, find your way inside the creature’s body, and then kill them by changing again to burst your way out of their chest cavity.  Gruesome, but effective. If your Dungeon Master isn’t a stick in the mud, they might let you shape change into something large to grapple huge enemies.
Outof-battle, you have an upper hand if you need to assimilate into a group of creatures without being detected.  As you gain experience, your DM will start working harder to challenge you and  Wild Shape is a spell you will always be able to rely on for undetected sleuthing.

Dungeons and Dragons is fun because you can make your character up as you envision them and choose whatever spells you want to help you play your role for your party.  Every party is different.  I have played different types of Druids for different roles and I always pick these spells first which is why I want you to know them. Save yourself the hard work, I already did it for you! Now that you know, you can pick up your explorer’s pack and head out, ready to answer the call of the wild.