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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Indagare Nogitsune" data-source="post: 9764368" data-attributes="member: 40018">Playing as a Druid has me feeling like the Wildshape feature, as written, is basically inefficient at best and basically useless at worse.How can I feel that way when it allows my character to become an animal? Well, let's examine it"As a Bonus Action, you <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#ShapeShifting" target="_blank">shape-shift</a> into a Beast form that you have learned for this feature (see “Known Forms” below). You stay in that form for a number of hours equal to half your Druid level or until you use Wild Shape again, have the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/free-rules/rules-glossary#IncapacitatedCondition" target="_blank">Incapacitated</a> condition, or die. You can also leave the form early as a Bonus Action."Now, being able to stay in a particular form for a number of hours equal to half your Druid level sounds nice, but it's very rarely useful. Early on you can't become anything powerful or even something that can fly. Most combat sessions tend to take mere rounds and, don't forget, unless you've already cast a spell you can't do it again until you leave the form.  And even with temporary hit points, you'd probably do as well in combat (or better) with a weapon than with claws and fang. The shape is also basically useless for scouting purposes. Sure, at 2nd level you can stay as a fox or dog or whatever for at least an hour and you'll...what? split the party? Sure, a keen sense of smell comes in handy, but unless you've arranged signals you need to transform back to tell the group what you've discovered, ending the effect almost certainly well-early of the total duration. So, after maybe a couple rounds of something that could theoretically last an hour it's over and you have to cast again to use it.Now, remember, you can only do it twice before regaining one use by short rest. Unless your GM is pretty generous with short rests you're probably not regaining the use of the ability until you've finished a long rest. Alter Self gives much better options even if it doesn't technically last as long (and, again, unless there's something particular going on would you even need a shape longer than an hour?). If you're not getting any short rests, then it hardly matters that you need a long rest to recover since you're doing that anyway.How do you all feel on this? Do you find wild shape a useful option for Druids or not? If not, what would be a good way to fix it without breaking things?</blockquote>

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