D&D (2024) New Survey Results | Druid & Paladin | Unearthed Arcana | D&D

WotC has shared a new video going over the survey results following the drud and paladin playtests for One D&D.

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For those who don't have time to watch the video, here are some general notes.

Paladin

• Did extremely well in terms of satisfaction
• All class and subclass features scored 70% or higher - lowest was Divine Smite at 72%
• Got some pushback in written feedback on being able to smite on ranged attacks - class identity concerns, Paladin viewed as melee-centric class, ranged smites might eat into Cleric/Ranger identity too much
• Positive feedback on redesigned smite spells - may become paladin exclusive spells down the road

Druid

• Wild Shape feedback seems to be split - slight majority saying "never want this Wild Shape in print", slight minority saying "this is their favorite version of Wild Shape they've ever seen"
• People love the texture and differences in beast options in '14 Wild Shape, but are open to feature being easier to use (i.e. don't want players to have to weigh the merits of 100+ stat blocks every time they want to use Wild Shape)
• Will have another take on Wild Shape next time Druid appears in Playtest UA
• General concept of Channel Nature seems to have gone over well, but want to see more done with it
• Expected feedback for restoring elemental forms for Moon Druids, but instead found people wanted to lean more into Lunar themes
• Want Moon Druid forms to be more resilient, but still want to reign in power at high levels (frequent/unlimited uses of Wild Shape constantly refreshing HP total)

 

[Gladius Legis]

If ranged smite becomes a thing, then doesn't every single ranger take a dip into paladin?

Because you'd need 13s in literally four stats to even do it?

 

[Gladius Legis]

I don’t usually get involved with multiclassing, but the Druid & Paladin UA says you need to have a 13 in both STR & CHA to multiclass into a Paladin. And if you want to utilize ranged smites, you’ll need a decent DEX as well. And if you want to be affective at spellcasting, you’ll also need a modest WIS. That’s extremely MAD.

Not even so much that. More like to multiclass, you need to have the stats for ALL the classes you want. A Paladin/Ranger multiclass needs 13s in four stats (STR, DEX, WIS, CHA) to even happen in the first place.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Because you'd need 13s in literally four stats to even do it?

That and with Hunter's Mark no longer taking concentration "Ranger smite spells" like Ensnaring Strike and Hail of Thorns have moved out of the absolutely terrible category and into not as good as smite but a decenk knock-off without giving up advancement in your main class.

 

[Shardstone]

Hunter's Mark should be a Ranger-only spell that doesn't require Concentration.

Does anyone really care if a Ranger spends all their spell slots on Hunter's Mark? I think it'd be pretty dope to mark a pack of Orcs and hunt them down when they scatter, etc.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

One, Because Hunter's Mark being nonconcentration Just for Rangers is the whole OD&D Ranger gimmick.

Meaningless. It’s a playtest. Nothing has a “whole gimmick” yet. And if the ranger can use it without concentration and no one else can. They’re still able to layer on hunters mark, subclass damage boosts, things with concentration like Ensaring strike, and whatever other non-concentration stuff they have.

Two, WOTC would have to design new Ranger spells and they don't have a clear idea what a ranger is nor what the community wants in one.
I mean they thought downcasting Conjure Barrage was a good idea.

They…wouldn’t have to do any such thing, though.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Weapon mastery is very important as the Fighter can switch masteries attached to weapons at level 7. With 60-65% accuracy Vex bumps damage by 20%. Topple is another damage increase. And with feedback this will likely go down to lower levels as players say its too high up in surveys. Although Vex likely will be nerfed.

Except you can't put Vex on a polearm or a longsword. And the ranger is also going to get weapon masteries. And is vex on a longbow better than slow on a longbow?

And even if this DOES make a difference.... it only makes a difference for fighters, because no other class can change their masteries at this time. And you don't think ranged fighters are a problem. And topple is only a damage increase if you have other melee characters (or is a very small increase if you happen to knock prone on your first attack). I'm playing as a melee character in an otherwise ranged party right now, and knocking enemies prone is the LAST thing I want to do.

The Vengeance paladin has hunter's mark.

Now it can, but we don't know if the new version won't. But, if it can... congratulations, Vengeance Paladins alone deal more damage. Is that a problem requiring the nerfing of devotion paladins?

The Eldritch Knight and any Paladin can cast Hunter's Mark with its slots with OD&D Magic Initiate that you get for free at level 1.

Okay. And instead of getting hunter's mark with Magic Initiate the Ranger can get shield or Bless. And since for the Ranger Hunter's Mark isn't concentration then they can bless the party AND hunter's Mark, which the paladin and Eldritch Knight can't do.

Again, this doesn't show that Paladins using ranged smites is a problem for the ranger.

That's my point. If the ranger is just a half caster with hunter's mark and Expertise but Hunter's Mark and Expertise are handed out like Halloween candy in feats and subclasses, other classes will be able to do the ranger's gimmick while piling their own features on top of it.

And they still won't be as good with the spell as the Ranger is. Also, expertise is pretty difficult to get, unless I'm forgetting something. And the Ranger subclasses and the feats the ranger gets will also increase their potential. Maybe the Eldritch Knight PAM Fighter gets hunter's mark, but the Horizon Walker PAM Ranger gets Charger for a free, non-spell +1d8.

Also, since the Eldritch Knight wouldn't have the battlemaster superiority dice, they would still do less damage, because they'd be trading the 3d8 the dice gave them for 3d6 for a spell slot.

Tier 3 Ranger and Barbarian are still bad. But the free first level feat wrecks the ranger's uniqueness if all it gets is Hunter's Mark and Expertise.

Funny how this level 1 feat stuff didn't come in til just now. But I've already shown how Bless will be awesome on the ranger, we could also take tough to give the ranger an effective 1d12 HD and help with their defenses, or they could take Lucky. I'm not seeing this as the issue with Ranged Smites at all.

The Paladin will have the option of Hunter's mark or Smite along with Lay on Hands and Channel Divinity to top all the damage categories. The eldritch knight right behind him with their extra feat and weapon swaps. Ranger will drop back into the trash and 2 years lately people will go back to saying "The Ranger is weak".

Or the ranger's non-concentration damage boost will be seen as an amazing ability to combine with party wide concentration buffs, making them a solid damage dealer and support class. Because you go into this with "the paladin and fighter will take a two feats and steal everything unique about the Ranger, woe is the ranger" and completely ignore... the ranger would get two feats as well.

The Paladin takes Thorn Whip and Hunter's Mark, the Ranger takes Guidance and Bless. Who got the better deal at the end of the day? The Paladin takes a feat to get expertise in a kill, the ranger takes a feat to increase their medium armor to equal heavy armor, but without the stealth penalties. We can trade abilities back and forth all day, but in the end, my point has been made.

Ranged Smites are not stealing the Ranger's identity at all.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

The Ranger can also do more damage at 9th level, if they bother to cast Elemental Weapon. They might lose it after 1 round, but that adds some damage on top of Hunter Mark.

Has to be a completely nonmagical weapon for Elemental Weapon. Which really doesn't go well with a 'you get this at lv9' option.

 

[Gorck]

Pallys use cha for spellcasting.

Oops, I should have specified Ranger spellcasting

Because you'd need 13s in literally four stats to even do it?

This is what I meant.

 

[Valetudo]

That's cool I missed the ranger multiclass part for wis. You can get by with a 13 wis. The best ranger spells dont need a dc.

 

[Valetudo]

Oh yeah, play as a standard human for the point in all stats