D&D 5E Shillelagh. Am I missing something?

[Klaus]

So shillelagh. It boosts the damage of a club or staff for a druid and lets the druid attack with Wisdom. It also makes it magic. That's a nice boost of damage at low levels.

But it doesn't scale. Most of the 'attack" cantrips scale with level.
It's not horrible but it feels off. The "warrior" clerics don't get Divine Strike until level 8 (which is pretty long). But that's something. Most classes get a damage boost for their "at-will" between leve 5-8 via a scaling cantrip, Extra Attack, more Sneak Attack or something.

But shillelagh seems off. It looks like you are intended to use it for low levels then "forget about it" to go for "attack" cantrips for land druids or wildshapes for moon druids.

It's a great cantrip for warriors who can cast (bards with a secret or paladins, rangers, and EKs with a feat).

But it feels weird. Does shillelagh not scale to weaken Extra Attackers who can snag it?
Was there supposed to be a Circle of the Wood "warrior" druid taken out planned for later?
Or is it an oversight?


Any insights?

Don't overlook the fact that it allows a spellcaster to make melee attacks (including opportunity attacks) with his primary spellcasting ability. The fact that the druid is likely to maximize his/her Wis is a small built-in scaling (from d8+2 or +3 at 1st level to d8+5 around 8th level).

In addition, since the spell alters the weapon (instead of being an attack by itself, like Thorn Whip), it stacks with weapon-based abilities, such as feats, Fighter maneuvers or fighting styles, Barbarian Rage, Ranger and Paladin "strike" spells, without incurring MAD.

 

[Minigiant]

Don't overlook the fact that it allows a spellcaster to make melee attacks (including opportunity attacks) with his primary spellcasting ability. The fact that the druid is likely to maximize his/her Wis is a small built-in scaling (from d8+2 or +3 at 1st level to d8+5 around 8th level).

In addition, since the spell alters the weapon (instead of being an attack by itself, like Thorn Whip), it stacks with weapon-based abilities, such as feats, Fighter maneuvers or fighting styles, Barbarian Rage, Ranger and Paladin "strike" spells, without incurring MAD.

But my point is that the spell is not all that great for an iconic spell for druid. It gets weak fast, the melee druid is a shapeshifter, and other classes use it better.

 

[PnPgamer]

Human cleric of nature can get shillelagh and polearm master feat at first level, so he can attack twice using only his casting stat. Three times if you count that opportunity attacks become also more plentiful.
He can also equip a shield and heavy armor for great ac.

 

[Dausuul]

It does seem like being a nature cleric with Polearm Master is key to getting the best use out of shillelagh. That's where it really shines.

Still, even just the regular 1d8+Wis is perfectly good cantrip damage through level 10. After that, it does start to fall behind unless you find ways to keep it competitive (e.g., a magic quarterstaff).

 

[Klaus]

the melee druid is a shapeshifter

The melee druid *can* be a shapeshifter, or he can be a Land druid with Shillelagh and Barkskin.

 

[Joe Liker]

But my point is that the spell is not all that great for an iconic spell for druid. It gets weak fast, the melee druid is a shapeshifter, and other classes use it better.

Did high-level druids use it a lot in AD&D or 2e? It's not something I saw very often, if ever. The 3.5 version was a bit beefier, I'll admit. But 3.5 is not the basis of "iconic," unless 3.5 happens to be the first and/or only edition you've known.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I don't think it's iconic in terms of awesome, just in terms of it being one of the few melee spells a low level Druid could do.
AD&D Shillelagh made your 1d6 club a +1 to hit doing 2d4 (shift up average damage from 3.5 to 5).
5E Shillelagh turns your 1d6 staff into a 1d8 staff (shift up average damage from 3.5 to 4.5). As other posters point out, 5E gives you proficiency (+2 at 1st level) and you can use your Wisdom modifier too, but the proportionate increase due to the spell alone is less than the AD&D version.
But then, AD&D Druids needed all the help they could get as they weren't exactly Conan. Pine Conan, maybe.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

If it allowed you to treat a club as light and added your Wisdom bonus even though you were two-weapon-fighting, fighting with scimitar and shillelagh would start better than produce flame and end up equivalent to it at high level. Sounds about right. Time for a houserule!

(It's also not highly abusable, and a non-wildshaped druid is still bottom of the barrel for at-will damage even with this houserule.)