Druids - Likes and Dislikes?
- Thread starter TheLe
- Start date
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Now we have a (mostly) positive class!
Likes: Summon spells often more powerful than those of a wizard or cleric. Summoning a more powerful animal is usually superior to summoning a weaker fiendish or celestial version. Summon spells are rarely based on alignment. Summoned unicorns are great. Animal Growth synergizes very well with summons and the animal companion. Spontaneous summoning is a wonderful feature.
Animal companion kicks some arse. They tend to have lame defenses, though.
Relatively good flavor, few complaints in that area.
Decent selection of spells. Some, like Spike Growth, are really fun. A few, like Entangle, might be overpowered.
Cool skill list, with a nice number of skill points.
Wild shape can make you very strong. The change preventing the use of wild shape with Animal Growth was a positive one, IMO.
Dislikes: Hard to find anything in the druid's flavor that I dislike. The 3.5 change to weapon restrictions fixed my biggest flavor problem from 3.0. The alignment change from 2e to 3e also fixed a flavor problem. Any problems now generally deal with balance or playtime.
Too many minions: a druid's turn can take a long time. Summoning a creature per round, plus an animal companion, gives the druid many actions.
Wild shape does not work well with the Periapt of Wisdom. I can see losing most benefits as the equipment is subsumed (post errata), but you shouldn't lose extra spell slots. That's just silly.
Natural Spell is overpowered. Really.
Wildshape as a disguise is not well described. If I turn into a bird, what are the chances the enemy will think I'm just a regular bird?
Wild shape is complicated and not entirely balanced. Introducing a new creature can result in overpowered wild shapes. Wild shape into plant and elemental doesn't seem as strong (you don't necessarily gain all the benefits of the creature type).
Likes: Summon spells often more powerful than those of a wizard or cleric. Summoning a more powerful animal is usually superior to summoning a weaker fiendish or celestial version. Summon spells are rarely based on alignment. Summoned unicorns are great. Animal Growth synergizes very well with summons and the animal companion. Spontaneous summoning is a wonderful feature.
Animal companion kicks some arse. They tend to have lame defenses, though.
Relatively good flavor, few complaints in that area.
Decent selection of spells. Some, like Spike Growth, are really fun. A few, like Entangle, might be overpowered.
Cool skill list, with a nice number of skill points.
Wild shape can make you very strong. The change preventing the use of wild shape with Animal Growth was a positive one, IMO.
Dislikes: Hard to find anything in the druid's flavor that I dislike. The 3.5 change to weapon restrictions fixed my biggest flavor problem from 3.0. The alignment change from 2e to 3e also fixed a flavor problem. Any problems now generally deal with balance or playtime.
Too many minions: a druid's turn can take a long time. Summoning a creature per round, plus an animal companion, gives the druid many actions.
Wild shape does not work well with the Periapt of Wisdom. I can see losing most benefits as the equipment is subsumed (post errata), but you shouldn't lose extra spell slots. That's just silly.
Natural Spell is overpowered. Really.
Wildshape as a disguise is not well described. If I turn into a bird, what are the chances the enemy will think I'm just a regular bird?
Wild shape is complicated and not entirely balanced. Introducing a new creature can result in overpowered wild shapes. Wild shape into plant and elemental doesn't seem as strong (you don't necessarily gain all the benefits of the creature type).
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Li Shenron
Legend
Likes:
- all their abilities
- how their powers can vary depending on the environment (however, this really depends on the DM's style)
Dislikes:
- too narrow concept: weapon/armor restrictions and wildshape are both great ideas, but do not fit ALL druids; I would like a selection of different ethos and different abilities
- all their abilities
- how their powers can vary depending on the environment (however, this really depends on the DM's style)
Dislikes:
- too narrow concept: weapon/armor restrictions and wildshape are both great ideas, but do not fit ALL druids; I would like a selection of different ethos and different abilities
blargney the second
blargney the minute's son
Likes:
- Blasting and healing spells. Ch-ching!
- Spontaneous summons
- 4 skill points/level (this is the minimum a class should have, as far as I'm concerned)
- A thousand faces ability
Dislikes:
- Wild shape overpowered
Overall: It's a neat class, and fun to play. If the wild shaping were less prone to massive abuse, it'd be a really cool feature. I've heard that the PHB2 alternative fixes that, and I'd like to have a peek at it.
-blarg
- Blasting and healing spells. Ch-ching!
- Spontaneous summons
- 4 skill points/level (this is the minimum a class should have, as far as I'm concerned)
- A thousand faces ability
Dislikes:
- Wild shape overpowered
Overall: It's a neat class, and fun to play. If the wild shaping were less prone to massive abuse, it'd be a really cool feature. I've heard that the PHB2 alternative fixes that, and I'd like to have a peek at it.
-blarg
Olgar Shiverstone
Legend
Like:
- Variety of archetype options
- Mix of abilities
- Abilities mesh nicely into a package
- Can neglect an ability area (wild shape, or summons) and not gimp the character
Dislike:
- Animal companions lack some staying power unless they're overpowered combat monsters
- Wildshape open to abuse, yet doesn't grant some minor abilities that would be appropriate
- Can't do multiple less powerful animal companions by RAW, which makes a "Beastmaster"-type character tough to play.
(and a ranger-druid gripe. Ranger caster level, and more imprttantly animal companion level, should be Level -3).
- Variety of archetype options
- Mix of abilities
- Abilities mesh nicely into a package
- Can neglect an ability area (wild shape, or summons) and not gimp the character
Dislike:
- Animal companions lack some staying power unless they're overpowered combat monsters
- Wildshape open to abuse, yet doesn't grant some minor abilities that would be appropriate
- Can't do multiple less powerful animal companions by RAW, which makes a "Beastmaster"-type character tough to play.
(and a ranger-druid gripe. Ranger caster level, and more imprttantly animal companion level, should be Level -3).
Likes
Pretty much everything I don't cover below.
Dislikes
"Nature" as a concept did not exist before the Englightenment. Rather than making druids ass-kicking, magic using 20th century hippies, why not make them a little more like rural pagan religious leaders. Druids should gain Know (Religion) as a class skill and should be required to choose a god. They are, fundamentally, a kind of priest and should be treated as such.
Pretty much everything I don't cover below.
Dislikes
"Nature" as a concept did not exist before the Englightenment. Rather than making druids ass-kicking, magic using 20th century hippies, why not make them a little more like rural pagan religious leaders. Druids should gain Know (Religion) as a class skill and should be required to choose a god. They are, fundamentally, a kind of priest and should be treated as such.
Jdvn1
Hanging in there. Better than the alternative.
I dislike that multiclassing ruins animal companions (relatively).
I dislike that wildshaping gets complicated at times.
I really like the color/theme.
I dislike that they get a bit too much (d6 HD is enough, I think) and though I like the color, I feel like a powergamer by playing one.
I like spontaneous summons.
I dislike that summons are relatively weak.
I dislike that wildshaping gets complicated at times.
I really like the color/theme.
I dislike that they get a bit too much (d6 HD is enough, I think) and though I like the color, I feel like a powergamer by playing one.
I like spontaneous summons.
I dislike that summons are relatively weak.
Like: Interesting flavor, after new wave of errata, reasonably well-balanced, interesting spell list which gives them a subtly differnt feel than other spellcasters. Have a nice mix of spells, with useful utility spells at lower levels, and good direct damage at higher levels.
Dislike: Weapon proficiencies don't seem to follow any particular logic; I would prefer if they simply had Simple Weapons Proficiency. The importance of wild shape to the class means that the class has more bookkeeping than any other class. Animal companion is somewhat odd in that you can freely replace dead companions, with no penalty for leading your companion to its death.
Dislike: Weapon proficiencies don't seem to follow any particular logic; I would prefer if they simply had Simple Weapons Proficiency. The importance of wild shape to the class means that the class has more bookkeeping than any other class. Animal companion is somewhat odd in that you can freely replace dead companions, with no penalty for leading your companion to its death.
Lord Pendragon
First Post
Like: Flavor and variety of abilities. In a core game, they are pretty well balanced, though I personally think Natural Spell puts them over the top, and remove it.
Dislike: Splatbooks completely break the class. Various splatbook writers seem to believe "if it's balanced for any other class, then it's just fine as a druid spell," meaning that if splatbooks are allowed, a druid is not only just as versatile and powerful a spellcaster as a wizard and cleric combined, but they also get a bucketful of abilities to boot.
Dislike: Splatbooks completely break the class. Various splatbook writers seem to believe "if it's balanced for any other class, then it's just fine as a druid spell," meaning that if splatbooks are allowed, a druid is not only just as versatile and powerful a spellcaster as a wizard and cleric combined, but they also get a bucketful of abilities to boot.
Well, I guess I like having an alternative healer class. That's about all I like though.
Dislikes:
Dislikes:
- Disposable pets + Spontaneous summoning is too much playing by proxy. Don't pokemonize my D&D.
- Shapeshifting + disposable pets + Natural spell feat + shared spells ability makes for a ridiculous melee combination.
- Riding dog is hands-down the best battle pet.
- Snare spells like entangle, plant growth, soften earth and the spikey variants with their ridiculously large areas of effect slow battles down to a snail's pace. Other than dispelling them (when possible) they're there to stay.
- It seems that druid spells are either woefully broken, or they're so highly situation-specific that they're not worth bothering with. Not much middle ground.
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