The Eldritch Druid - Jaheira
"War is an old woman's game."
Jaheira is a Circle of the Land Druid and Eldritch Knight Fighter, relying on spells and swords to get the job done. The High Harper can certainly hold her own.
[check out my other builds!]
Gameplay Notes
We’re leaning heavy into the build disclaimer I mention at the end of all my posts with this one. My priorities with this build are to get as close as I can to Jaheira’s original character… which was designed for 2e DnD and is basically nonfunctional in 5e. The best, most optimized multiclasses with Druid and Fighter all use the Circle of Spores subclass, but I will very much not be doing that (more on that in the Lore section at the end). Basically, this build is objectively not very good, but it feels right and that’s what I care most about.
Stats and Leveling
Final build: Level 7 Circle of the Land Druid, Level 5 Eldritch Knight Fighter
Jaheira’s (default) stats: STR 10 / DEX 14 / CON 14 / INT 8 / WIS 17 / CHA 12
Level 1 - Fighter Level 1
- Fighting Style: Two Weapon Fighting
Level 2 - Fighter Level 2
- Action Surge [nice]
Level 3 - Fighter (Eldritch Knight) Level 3
- Cantrips: Ray of Frost and Shocking Grasp
- 1st Level Spells: Shield, Magic Missile, and Longstrider [these will use INT as the spellcasting modifier, so make sure not to pick something that uses the spellcasting modifier]
Level 4 - Fighter (Eldritch Knight) Level 4
- Feat: ASI+ DEX>16
- 1st Level Spells: Burning Hands
Level 5 - Fighter (Eldritch Knight) Level 5
- Extra Attack [now we’re at two main hand attacks and an off hand attack]
Level 6 - Druid Level 1
- Cantrips: Guidance and Thorn Whip
- 1st Level Spells
Level 7 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 2
- Wild Shape
- Cantrips: add Resistance
Level 8 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 3
- 2nd Level Spells [would recommend Spike Growth]
- Land Type: Coast
Level 9 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 4
- Feat: Alert
- Cantrips: add Produce Flame
Level 10 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 5
- Wild Strike [aka Extra Attack but for Wild Shape]
- 3rd Level Spells [Plant Growth is my favorite]
- Land Type: Coast
Level 11 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 6
- Wild Shape: Panther [Jaheira famously loves turning into a Panther]
Level 12 - Druid (Circle of the Land) Level 7
- 4th Level Spells [the levels in Eldritch Knight will mean a total spellcaster level of 8, fyi]
Items
Armor - Armour of Agility (3 Stormshore Armoury) or Sharpened Snare Cuirass (2 Moonrise Towers) [pick which you think looks the coolest - one leans more into fighter aesthetic, and one more into druid aesthetic. they both have the Exotic Material property, and the other bonuses aren’t central to the build]
Melee Weapon -
- Belm (3 Jaheira’s Basement) [this weapon is from previous games, fyi]
- Sylvan Scimitar (2 Jaheira) [she’s already holding it!]
Ranged Weapon - Spellthief (1 Emerald Grove) [ok don’t judge me - obviously, this is a weak pick, but I tend not to stack my most powerful items on Jaheira… :/ sorry!]
Amulet - Khalid's Gift (3 Jaheira’s Basement)
Helmet - Helmet of Arcane Acuity (2 Mason Guild’s Basement) [this is not an Arcane Acuity build, so if you want to put it on another party member, do it — it’s not essential to the build at all. another option that will help the Eldritch Knight spells using INT is the Warped Headband of Intellect (1 Blighted Village). I also like the vibe of Scabby Pugilist Circlet (3 Rivington) and Browbeaten Circlet (2 Moonrise Towers) for Jaheira]
Ring 1 - Ring of Elemental Infusion (1 Crèche Y'llek)
Ring 2 - Explorer’s Ring (1 Dread Hollow) [not a great pick, but seems like the type of thing Jaheira would like]
Gloves - Unwanted Masterwork Gauntlets (3 Forge of the Nine) [something about these gauntlets feels SO Jaheira to me, I can’t get over it]
Boots - Boots of Elemental Momentum (1 Rosymorn Monastery Trail) or Boots of Genial Striding (1 Myconid Colony) [again, a fighter aesthetic option and a druid aesthetic option - I’m partial to the druid!]
Cloak - Vivacious Cloak (2 Grand Mausoleum)
Lore and Flavor
Jaheira is one of the most recognizable characters from previous games of Baldur’s Gate. ln the decades in real life and century in game, she has changed a lot in BG3 — and so has Dungeons & Dragons as a whole.
Multiclassing in DnD 2e is a whole different ballgame than multiclassing in 5e. Without diving into too many 2e mechanics, it was essentially possible to be fully leveling both classes at once, without missing much when compared to monoclass characters. These mechanics made Jaheira’s Fighter/Druid multiclass not only functional, but strong.
In 5e, multiclassing necessitates foregoing powerful abilities, and so multiclass builds that shine are the ones with high levels of synergy — which Fighter and Druid do not have. And yes, I recognize that Circle of Spores Druid functions better in melee than Circle of Land or Circle of Moon, but absolutely no line of dialogue from Jaheira from the past, present, or future would suggest that she should be a Circle of Spores Druid, and I cannot accept using that subclass. So we’re left with a disappointing lack of synergy.
At the risk of undervaluing Jaheira and getting way too meta, there is an argument to be made that her sticking with a build that is outdated and underutilized makes character sense, given her age and years spent as a high-profile adventurer.
Eldritch Knight might seem like an odd choice, given how strong Battle Master is. To be completely honest, adding Manoeuvres into Jaheira’s repertoire makes a lot of sense, given her background as a leader and commander. The reason I went with Eldritch Knight was basically just to have access to utility spells that would help plug the gap for a few of this build’s main weaknesses. If you wanted to use Battle Master instead, very little of the rest of the build would change. Also, I never played 2e so I might be wrong, but my understanding is that subclasses are a more recent creation, so there isn’t an obvious answer regardless.