D&D 5E Need Some Help on Druid Build

iserith · May 23, 2017

I'm stepping into the role of another player's character in a monthly campaign. I've been told it's cool to tweak the character, but I don't want to make a sudden and major departure from what they're used to seeing at the table. I do think based on what I saw it needs some tender loving care, so I'd like to consult with the community for ideas on making a fun character to play.

The basics: 14th level half-elf moon druid. Appears to have been initially set up to be something of a tank with Sentinel feat. Any published WotC book is okay to use. (No UA, for example, or third party.) Feats, multiclassing okay. Backstory, if it matters, is the usual abandoned in the woods and raised by wolves deal.

I think I'd like to cut down on the conjuring because it slows the game down too much in my experience and perhaps run with the idea of a tank. I don't want to go multiclass barbarian because there's a half-orc barbarian in the party so I don't want to step on his toes. Other party members are dwarf cleric and human monk. I'll add that I'm not a huge fan of druids, but want to give this a shot. I could therefore use some tips on the best spells and wildshapes to use to augment my role.

Let me know if you need any additional details and thanks in advance for the help!

lowkey13 · May 23, 2017

*Deleted by user*

iserith · May 23, 2017

lowkey13 said:
Have we gotten to the point where "raised by wolves" is just kind of a "Meh, whatever, like growing up in Peoria?"

Romulus, Remus, that guy Ted at the froyo stand?

Anyway, that's what I noticed. I don't have any more substantive comments, as I don't really play druids.

You and me both. Until now.

I assume that, being raised by wolves, he'll just go lick himself in the corner during any social interaction challenges.

phantomK9 · May 23, 2017

My experience from playing with someone who ran a high level druid and from DMing for a few druids....

Shapechange is nice but at high levels your best option is almost always going to be one of your spells. At high levels Shapechange ends up being one of those abilities of "nice to have" but the type of animal you can turn into tends to not be as effective, at least until you can start turning into much more powerful elementals which wont be until a few more levels. If you have already chosen Circle of the Moon, fine, but tanking really won't be your strong suit because the animals you turn into will not have a very high AC (absent some magic items that transform with you), perhaps a good amount of hit points, but in general low AC.

Really what Shapechange is good for is more of utility animals. A small cat to stealthily get into or out of places. A bird for fast flight, a giant eagle to carry a party member or two quickly over long distance (if not using a spell). These are were higher level Shapechanging really shined in our party. Every time the Druid thought to change into something like a bear or other large beast, she would simply get beat down within a round or two and be right back at her Elven form because of the low AC.

Of course if you really want to dedicate your druid to tanking, it could be possible if you continuously burn your spell slots to heal the Shapechanged form, but again at high level the biggest bang for your buck is going to be those high level spells.....now if were were talking low level, tanking as a Moon Druid would be way more desirable, with the right creature you can out tank some fighters or barbarians, but as I said that would be low level play.

iserith · May 23, 2017

phantomK9 said:
My experience from playing with someone who ran a high level druid and from DMing for a few druids....

Shapechange is nice but at high levels your best option is almost always going to be one of your spells. At high levels Shapechange ends up being one of those abilities of "nice to have" but the type of animal you can turn into tends to not be as effective, at least until you can start turning into much more powerful elementals which wont be until a few more levels. If you have already chosen Circle of the Moon, fine, but tanking really won't be your strong suit because the animals you turn into will not have a very high AC (absent some magic items that transform with you), perhaps a good amount of hit points, but in general low AC.

Really what Shapechange is good for is more of utility animals. A small cat to stealthily get into or out of places. A bird for fast flight, a giant eagle to carry a party member or two quickly over long distance (if not using a spell). These are were higher level Shapechanging really shined in our party. Every time the Druid thought to change into something like a bear or other large beast, she would simply get beat down within a round or two and be right back at her Elven form because of the low AC.

Of course if you really want to dedicate your druid to tanking, it could be possible if you continuously burn your spell slots to heal the Shapechanged form, but again at high level the biggest bang for your buck is going to be those high level spells.....now if were were talking low level, tanking as a Moon Druid would be way more desirable, with the right creature you can out tank some fighters or barbarians, but as I said that would be low level play.

Good points. Circle of the Moon was chosen for me. I'm open to moving away from a tank build if you guys have some other fun ideas.

thenimblebanana · May 23, 2017

In my personal opinion conjuring is the most fun and if done right (have all the stats in front of you, Companions App FTW, don't summon more than 2 at once etc.) then it doesn't really slow the game down.

If that's not your thing though then that's understandable. I also think it's quite fun to play a control druid. They have incredible battlefield utility spells. You have Reverse Gravity as a level 7 spell, Wall of Thorns and Bones of the Earth at level 6, Wall of Stone, Maelstrom, and Insect Plague at level 5, Polymorph, Watery Sphere, Wall of Fire and so on and so on and so on all the way to level 1.

Most of these spells have a moderate damage component too which is quite nice. Some low level spells like entangle, faerie fire, and hold person all scale quite nicely as your spell save DC goes up faster than monsters' saves in general.

A good strategy would be to cast a control spell that is concentration, wildshaping into an earth elemental and then wading into combat. IF you do that though, I'd also recommend seeing if you can swap the Sentinel feat for either Resilience (Con) or Warcaster to help you make the multitude of concentration saves that you'll be forced to make.

Thurmas · May 23, 2017

I love Land Druids. One of the most enjoyable casters in the game. If your DM allowed, it really wouldn't disrupt the character or game that much to let you switch from Moon to Land. All of your abilities are pretty much still there. The play style just switches a bit from shapeshifting to spell casting. Great class for battlefield control. At level 14 you'll still have all the shapeshifting options (swimming and flying), just the CR you can shift into won't be as high. So you have the utility, just not the combat (which isn't there as much at high level anyway).

iserith · May 23, 2017

Thurmas said:
I love Land Druids. One of the most enjoyable casters in the game. If your DM allowed, it really wouldn't disrupt the character or game that much to let you switch from Moon to Land. All of your abilities are pretty much still there. The play style just switches a bit from shapeshifting to spell casting. Great class for battlefield control. At level 14 you'll still have all the shapeshifting options (swimming and flying), just the CR you can shift into won't be as high. So you have the utility, just not the combat (which isn't there as much at high level anyway).

Okay, I got approval to go to Land Druid. So that opens up some options for us.

TwoSix · May 23, 2017

iserith said:
You and me both. Until now.

I assume that, being raised by wolves, he'll just go lick himself in the corner during any social interaction challenges.

"I go over and sniff his butt."
"Are you making a Perception check?"
"No, Diplomacy."

Baldguy33 · May 23, 2017

I have a level 10 half elf moon druid , and I find that I cast more now then I did before. I use my shape changes for more utility now unless I know I'm gonna suck up alot of damage , then I go earth elemental. So in retrospective I kinda wish I'd of gone land druid. Better casting and can still shift for utility

D&D 5E Need Some Help on Druid Build

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

lowkey13

Guest

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

phantomK9

Explorer

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

thenimblebanana

First Post

Thurmas

Explorer

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

TwoSix

Dirty, realism-hating munchkin powergamer

Baldguy33

First Post

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