D&D 5E Do Cleric/Druid players just ignore a large portion of their spells list?

[Zardnaar]

I don't know why you would say this. Summoning is an extremely powerful tool. Drop 4 flying swarms on the board and go to town. Or, make it a 5th level spell and drop 8. Sure, they're only +3 to hit, but, most baddies aren't that hard to hit and 4d4 damage on a hit is pretty significant. Not when you can get 4 attacks per round. And, aside from a few attacks, they effectively have 44 hp each, meaning they can take a few hits that aren't hitting the party. I found land druids to be very effective.

It's funny how everyone has such different experiences.

That would be one of the good spells. Summoning spells can be a problem a lot of players I notice don't use them because its more bookwork. We know summoning spells are good its rare that they get used as a horde of 8 whatevers or even 4 tends to slow things down.

 

[gyor]

That would be one of the good spells. Summoning spells can be a problem a lot of players I notice don't use them because its more bookwork. We know summoning spells are good its rare that they get used as a horde of 8 whatevers or even 4 tends to slow things down.

So summon 1 really good thing. Personally the best summoning spell is summon celestial because Celestials always punch above their CR in terms of pure utility. The Couatl along is wicked, the most useful conjure x creature in the game so far (at least until Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica and Volo's Guide to Spirits and Specters).

 

[Hussar]

That would be one of the good spells. Summoning spells can be a problem a lot of players I notice don't use them because its more bookwork. We know summoning spells are good its rare that they get used as a horde of 8 whatevers or even 4 tends to slow things down.

Heh. Again, it's all down to experiences. We used the heck out of the summonings and the players were prepped in order to use them without unduly slowing the game down. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that you might be painting with too broad of a brush to say that only moon druids are good in combat.

 

[Guest 6801328]

The cleric spell list in particular has a lot of spells that are so good you are kind of an idiot if you don't take them. Bless, some fo the healing spells, Spiritual Weapon/Guardians etc...

I've played Clerics that don't prepare bless. Thanks for calling me an idiot.

The first couple of times the party has a bless monkey it's kinda cool. "Hey, I get a free 1d4 on all these rolls!" Eventually it just gets boring and repetitive. Both as the giver and the recipient.

God save me from D&D that's nothing but an optimized mechanical grind.

No wonder people complain about the "lack of mechanical options" in D&D if they just play it the same way every time.

 

[Zardnaar]

We don't use bless as much now either for mostly those reasons. There are about 4 spells or so at each level that are really good is the main point.

 

[Charlaquin]

No wonder people complain about the "lack of mechanical options" in D&D if they just play it the same way every time.

We already have one overlong thread about this, let’s not do it here too. Suffice it to say, not everyone who wants more mechanical options exclusively uses the most optimal ones, and not everyone who specifically uses the most optimal options wants more of them. In fact, in my experience the two groups have very little overlap.

 

[Guest 6801328]

We don't use bless as much now either for mostly those reasons.

Ok, so...um...maybe saying that one must be an idiot to not take them is a bit...hyperbolic? And, by extension, there are good reasons to not take the supposedly "best" spells?

 

[Shiroiken]

When I played my last Druid, I did it pretty much the same way I play my wizard now. I have a standard "City" selection (mostly non-flammable/destructive spells) a Wilderness/Traveling selection (lots of situational spells, including Water Breathing/Walking if going by boat), and an "Adventuring" selection that contains what I expect to use in almost all adventures. I might periodically switch something up if I need something at any given time.

 

[Ashrym]

Any time I play a prep caster (class does not matter) I take my typical favorites and only swap them out if I know I will be in a situation where the swap makes sense. Even then, the swapped in spells are pretty much the same as well.

There are many spells I do not use.

 

[Yunru]

I only ever use the same spells until something comes up where another would be better. Unfortunately it takes so long to change them that such situations are usually resolved by then, so...