For Jaheira , I kept her honest to her BG2 playstyle of Fighter 6 / Druid 6 [10, 16, 16, 8, 14, 10] Feats: ABI Dex x2, WarCaster. Equipment: Thorn (Scimitar) x2, Poisoner Gloves, Broodmother's Revenge Necklace, Whispering Promise Ring, Regeneration Ring or Helm of Balduran to proc Necklace. Fighter I went Eldritch Knight for Shield and other utility spells. Druid I went Land Druid for Haste, Mirror Image, and Misty Step. The Poison/Heal/Bless synergy was surprisingly effective.
Really appreciate you posting this, I prefer lore friendly builds over optimized builds any day, and it's nice to not see someone turn Jaheira into something she doesn't seem to be
Just wanted to share some of my own notes since I'm playing a Land Druid right now as a pure caster, I never Wild Shape! With a 1 level cleric dip you get Sanctuary, which doesn't end when you cast or move Moonbeam! If you upcast Moonbeam to max level and get in Sanctuary with a bonus action, you're doing 20-120 damage (once on cast/move, once on the enemy's turn) per turn and can't be targeted by enemy attacks. Moonbeam is also great because it has a narrow AoE, so enemies you hit with it can still be attacked freely by your melee teammates. You can also summon woodland spirit / wood woad to get spike growth / entangle under enemies you're attacking without using your own concentration. And you have tons of non-concentration spells too like Ice Storm and Guiding Bolt (with the Cleric dip) that you can choose to use instead of move moonbeam without missing a beat. Moonbeam doesn't trigger ANY gear effects like radiant orb or reverberation, so you can save that gear for other characters. What helps gear-wise is pushing up your spell save DC so that your Moonbeam damage doesn't get halved often. It's a bit like pretending you're a Star Druid, which is in DnD but not in BG3.
@@Cephalopocalypse yup! I think they kind of ignore this spell. I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't trigger like the Glove of Belligerent Skies. It also reads as applying a condition "Moonbeam" in the combat log, so there are other reverberation and radiant orb items it should proc. But it doesn't. But the not triggering Sanctuary trade off is pretty fun!
As always thanks for the guide. I also wanted to point out (mention to all) that the knocking enemies prone is a guaranteed way to break an enemy spellcaster's concentration. If prone, concentration brakes; there is no save. That is one of the main reasons I like owlbear form when used in conjunction with enhanced leap. May everyone have a safe day.
Very true! Especially since so many of the wildshape forms have access to proning effects - at least the rothé, owlbear and sabertooth do, I think the dino as well though can't remember off the top of my head
Hey there, i just found your channel last week and i have been bingeing your build videos. I really like that you go through things in detail and at a pace that isn't too quick. It really helps with my understanding, and i find that there are very few build videos that fill this criteria.
Yeah you get two druids but if you play Druid of spores as your main you can rep all 3 and get a bajillion summons and endless battlefield control…and then cry when the enemy casts a single fireball 😂
The fourth member should be the party's fire watch park ranger. Just have them save a slot or two for counter spell and use it solely against the AoE nukes. Bonus points if one of the druids gets ahold of the staff that allows a single use of counterspell per long rest because it's synergistic with shillelagh (staffs and clubs only).
Fun one. I am a fan of Jaheira as a Circle of the Land druid. Buffed and wildshaped she is almost as good a tank as a kitted out Fighter, plus she goes into combat leading a small army of pets. Resistance can make a huge difference in the Githyanki Creche when you go through the Zathisk (sp)
I LOVE all the things druids give you, and maybe it kind of defeats the purpose, but I would love to explore a way of making these caster druids able to deal decent spell damage as well. Someone who isn't dependant on their wild forms to deal damage in combat
I tested it out with 3 druids in a game just now, halsin jeheara and a dwarf hireling (and halfling hireling). Both elves have 11.5meters movement in owlbear and the halfling and dwarf have 7.5meters movement in owlbear. Same differences for different forms. Ergo wood elf does not increase the movementspeed, but playing a small race does decrease it.
I think you don't understand the land druid. This subclass is basically a wizard. So, to really harvest the benefits of it, you have to play it as a spellcaster and mostly use shape shifting when you're in a bad spot
16:10 Moonbeam is a genuinely good spell for non-wildshape useage. It's a sleeper pick that's becomes ridiculously powerful when combo'd with a cleric ally (or one level multi-class dip). Moving the moonbeam doesn't break a cleric's sanctuary on the druid. So with one cast of moonbeam at your highest spellslot and a level 1 sanctuary you have an untargetable "hammer of dawn) spellcaster that sears enemies for the full 10 turns. The resource/spell economy is insane. Even without the sanctuary cheese moonbeam is deceptively good because the damage double dips like how spirit guardians does. The damage procs both on casting/re-moving and at the start of the enemy's turn. So the spell at base level is doing 4-40 radiant damage as long as you pass any concentration checks between your turn and the casted enemy (ie, the enemy's friends' turns in between). Then anything after that is pure bonus economy, the spell pulled it's weight for the equivalent damaging alternatives. Not to mention moonbeam doesn't need line of sight, so you can be cheeky and run the druid into a corner and purely use the beam. If I am not mistaken. Moonbeam is a top tier spell, especially for land druid because they will be in spellcaster form a lot more than a moon druid would be. Shapeshifting as a land druid is more like a nice (albeit very strong) side alternative to being a fully ranged caster majority of the time.
Huzzah! Land druid, finally! Land druid so underrated. ): They are so gear agnostic! I feel these guys are capable of making fun combos with all the gear available in the game. Reverb/cold druid ftw!
i need to correct you in one thing: wood elf's movement passive DOES work on wild shape. Resistance is also VERY important (alongside blessing and some other stuff) to read the necromancy of thay as you said, but even more to pass all the checks (specially in honour mode) in the zaith'isk if you ever want to use illithid powers. The necromancy of thay will give you the buffs even if you fail the checks, you just need to cast remove curse after that. But the zhaith'isk you need to pass some hard saving throws to succeed. Without being able to savescum it, resistance comes very handy. Other things i usually use there is the shield that gives 1 to saving throws and the staff that gives +2 that you can buy from ethel.
Hello! Thanks for the great guide, I always watch your guides, they keep making me into changing my party, because playthroughs are long and to not get bored of the same combat loop, I change the combat loop two or three times per playthrough. I do have a video request for you. I'm sure you mentioned all this in different places, or maybe in the steams, but I don't watch streams, otherwise I wouldn't have time to play ) But I would gladly watch a comprehensive list of... I don't know how to name it... You say stone wall on it's own wins some encounters, fire wall on it's own wins some encounters, heroes feast is required for some one encounter, sunbeam on it's own wins some one encounter... This would be a video full of spoilers, but I, for instance, seen most if not all encounters in the game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm really interested in such... Tailor-made spell solutions, I guess. Or perfect spell counters. Or “play smart, not hard”. You got the point. Thanks again!
True! I even mention a cleric dip but failed to include that. I generally don't think the cleric dip is better than a feat even so, though obviously it's never *bad* to take cleric 1
@@Cephalopocalypse on my first play through I did a war cleric dip with Jaheira as a moon Druid. It was impactful because of the moon Druid ignoring resistances, but the feat probably would’ve been better. Idk, either way, I feel like the actual wild shape damage would fall off end of act 3 if not moon Druid. I’m doing a MC Durge druid and I might respec to land when I hit 6 since owlbear has the bonus WWE Slam but I am concerned about the attack damage without the ignoring resistances passive. Other problem is my first play through was a Warlock MC and not having eldritch blast with potent robes and the bananas act 3 gloves kinda ruined me and everything feels lackluster now lol
@@Cephalopocalypse The more important thing about the cleric dip is that you can cast sanctuary, and then kill every enemy with moonbeam, because moonbeam counts as environmental damage and does not break sanctuary.
Having just finished an honor mode run with a druid that was inspired heavily by your "fly you fools" build I'll offer that bugged or not, Tavern Brawler is still hugely valuable (and I'd take it as my first feat as it's super valuable at level 4) just because you'll never miss anything again, and given you can knock things around in owlbear makes it very valuable to hit. I ran as a Duergar and it also gives you a nice ranged option for throwing when it might be needed (particularly in Act 3, that Dwarven Hammer thing was wildly good for fights where I didn't bother with shifting but was still able to plink with a ranged attack). I'll also recommend that if you're planning to leverage a lot of shifting, you should evaluate the "bonus item" stat bonuses in the context of your form as well as those are one of the few ways to propagate stats to your forms---Ethyl's Hair, the +2 STR potion from Araj, the stat you apply with resilient and even the Mirror of Loss buff all apply in forms and I found it super nice to be able to pump the Owlbear's STR and CON as there is literally no other way to do it if you care about such things (I didn't succeed in the Mirror of Loss, and it was honor mode, but it's still worth considering).
For PC users, there's a mod 'Druid Quality of Life' that fixes most issues mentioned - you can move moonbeam, etc in wildshape, and tavern brawler works as it's meant to.
Just want to talk about thumbnail between Jaheira and Halsin, in my current playthrough, I don't feel Halsin has any impact because I don't attack the Grove, so after act 1 he just sit there in my camp and say he will wait till we get to moonrise tower. After defeating Ketheric I have a conversation with him and he say that he wanted to stay and rebuild the land so bye bye for me. On the other hand, Jaheira is a decent ally in the fight at the Last Night Inn, she leads the Harpers, involve in the fight inside the tower so I ask her to join me. She also have a nice litte story progress in act 3 with her house and Minsc so yeah, Jaheira for me. About the builds, I love your video because I can learn so much from it, huge amount of information, keep up the good word and hope to see you on other games
You can take arctic land even if it has same spells as base druid. They are always prepared, so you can fill your slots with different spells (though with high wisdom you get a lot of spells to pick).
Hey love your videos.I think alot of people would be interested in a single player party member team comp video. Where you outline what party members work best for what. Just a suggestion but i know me and my noob buddies would love it lol.
Moonbeam and 1 dip of cleric for sanctuary? >.> You're land druid. Not always needing to be in animal form. At least i believe you shouldn't be all the time. Take advantage of being a spell caster as a land druid. Dont always factor "cant do this while wildshaped"
Something to note about High Elf druids is that they have no priority head pieces before act 3 and the int circlet can be a decent decision to give to them if you have no other character who happens to want it..... Which not many characters get a lot of use out of it, and if they do it's a stop gap. So you can easily get 16 Int firebolts without losing much on a druid. Personally I have a tendency to do knowledge cleric 1 land druid 11, which gives you Sacred Flame which becomes better late game, as well sleep and command both spells druid doesn't get, and command remains relevant the entire game.
You talk a lot about how certain things aren't good because their use it limited while in wild shape. Land druid is the least reliant of the two "main" druid subclasses (spore druid I consider it's own side-class). If you get a staff that allows you to cast either ray of frost or firebolt the land druid can essentially act as a party's wizard. Wildshapes are an afterthought to the insane control and specific damage spells they have access too. Ice staff and gear opens up an artic circle of land playstyle. Where you cast sleetstorm and spam ice knife and ray of frost every turn. A fire staff allows you to cast decent cantrip damage with 60ft range. Shillelagh plus stat-maxed medium armour (uncapped like the Yuan-Ti armour) with a shield makes you a non-multi attack temporary melee fighter when you can't get away from enemies in a pinch. Druid is a catch all class and seeing a heavy lean into wildshape on the land druid build is a bit saddening. Sure, you're kitting for min/maxing but "min/maxing" a druid means being able to do a bit or everything uniquely well. Non-shapeshifted options for when you do more than 2 encounters a short rest should have been addressed more throughly.
31:35 There is also an arguement to be had for taking Tavern brawler and putting the +1 into strength instead of constitution. Tavern Brawler's stat bump carries into your wild shapes. So all the odd stat'ed shapes get evened out and technically get a +2 to attack rolls and +2 damage because of the doubling effect of the feat. The +1 to con from Resilient is the same way. Evening out a few of the bread and butter wild shape's con scores.
Played first night of Druid with friends and I did everything right xD. Nice to have a guide I can follow roughly and know I’m not trolling my lands or feats
Could I also play the Land Druid as mainly a caster without transforming much, or is this not viable? I want to play it as a battlefield Controller :) Nice Video!
for me personally I pick arctic pretty much every time because arctic just has all the spells that I usually would have equipped anyway giving me more spellslots to get something with synergy [like if a teammate what's ice or lightning mage then I can get create water without having to sacrifice spellslots that I would have needed for those spells] just overall more freedom for me
As far as fourth party members go, I actually feel that Bards fit that role as well. Although in the case of the Bard at least, they can also double as your face. I'm not sure if Druids actually have access to more spell slots earlier than Bards, since both are full casters, but they definitely have a much wider variety of spells that they can bring. Anyway, I've never brought Jaheira or Halsin along in any of my playthroughs, but was wanting to eventually, so this video will be useful for that future intent. edit: LOL. As soon as you started talking about the race selection, my thoughts instantly went to "Halfling, Halfling, Halfling". 😂 Also, -Medicine- matters when in the underdark when you're trying to pick those plants that allow you to craft the uh "light bombs" (pretty useful in Act 2). Alchemy really relies on Medicine checks too, but I just use a camp alchemist for this anyway. Not everyone will use camp characters though because they think it's "cheese". Edit2: It's Nature, not Medicine for the Nightlights in the Underdark. Resistance also helps in the Creche with some particularly difficult checks. Not really related to this video, but as far as ice surfaces go: a really cool combo is using the Drake Glaive to empower the Titanstring on a Ranger/Assassin that is also wearing the Snowburst ring. If you don't outright kill the target, there's a very high chance they are going prone when they actually get to start the fight (if melee).
Of course team mom Jaheira gets more clicks! Thank you for your guides, I have used both of your previous Jaheira and Minsc builds and greatly enjoyed them - only the need to provide STR potions for both of them became a little intensive so it's nice to have something els to try for Jaheira.
Really great guide, I love the idea of playing into versatility of druid. I do like taking Sorcerer at level 1 and Resilient Wisdom with 17 base Wis - Storm or White Draconic Sorcerer are good
Thanks for the guide, but you could just be a Moon druid instead if you consider every choices are bad because we cant do that in wild shape form, and tavern brawler feat too?
I got kinda tired playing Warlock 10 levels in and reclassed to Land Druid. There are just so many AOE spells it can have, and basically every type/element too.
Absolutely love these simple builds videos. Best I've seen out there Spécial request: is there a good "simple dark urge" build on the way? Like here we are using Jaheira as the base for a druid. Would love seeing Durge being featured since their background isn't customisable. Im sure Durge does well as many classes but id love to see your opinion on this, especially as a dragonborn
So when we first meet Scratch, in my previous playthroughs I hadn't had Speak With Animals and was able to recruit him. In my recent run, I had speak with animals in the first encounter with Scratch, and accidentally turned him hostile.....this was an honour mode run so I couldn't even load a save. Suffice it to say I am unimpressed with this ability. Granted it was completely my fault picking the wrong dialogue option...but still LOL
I'd like to dip two levels in Ranger because I think those two classes make sense together, but I guess the tenth level Druid spells are so good that I should only take the one level.
I was JUST thinking about doing a land druid support character - so excited to peep this video. Your guides are some of my favorites. Just got into BG3 late December and it has wholly consumed me lolol thanks for uhhh ADDING TO THAT CONSUMPTION
is the war caster feat worth getting? I had the impression it would be good when casting a concentration spell and maintaining that concentration while fighting in wild shape form.
I can see why you would want to make your own druid. You have to play half the game before you actually have access to one. Excluding hirelings of course
I checked, Wood Elves get to keep their racial speed bonus in Wildshape though? Or is my playthrough simply bugged? Edit: Great guide still though! I love being a versatile Character to support my friends playthroughs usually.
I just had an idea for run (or technically multiple). A full party where everyone is the same class, but diffrent subclasses (as much as possible). Gear would be quite a problem What party would be the craziest?
Thank you so much again. Your videos help a lot and I wanted to ask if you consider to make a video about the Spore druid. I like the idea to play with all three druids in one party.
Thanks so much again! I really appreciate it - I've done a spore druid video fairly recently ("So many broken combos") and have another coming fairly soon!
Good info here. Thanks! Question- I just got Halsin available as a party member and leveled him up, and I can’t upcast Healing Word. In that something I did, or in that ability only available to clerics?
is this build suitable for the face of the group? when I tried the druid as the main character, I always had to leave the form for dialogue, which causes some inconvenience. And charisma skills are too low. How critical is this when passing? Or is it better to choose another class for the base, and choose Khalsin as a druid?
Defending last light inn was my 4th or 5th combat that day, so I was so focused on keeping my party alive I couldn’t help Jaheira that much. I lost her my first play through
Her build as an NPC is just SO TERRIBLE and she is so desperate to charge into melee. Later on for the moonrise you can take control of her and hide her at the back but for last light I don't think you get that option iirc. My strategy the first time was to block all the NPCs into a room with Gale's familiar standing in the doorway so they couldn't get themselves killed :P
what's the point going circle of land, when you want to use wildshape form majority of time? Circle of the moon is superior for that purpose. Also the gear you are using doesn't benefit the druid once shapeshifted and it is contested by other party members. Lastly druid of the moon wildshapes as a bonus action, therefore depending on combat you can either cast a spell and transform in the same round or transform and do 3 attacks.
I agree with this mostly from the perspective of also missing out on Sabretooth form and the other 3 also. Land druids from when I have tested always feel clunky
Man you totally miss the best spell of the druid: moonbeam. If you start with 3lv druido and 1lv cleric (light), you have access to the best combo of the game, sanctuary in moonbeam. Noone can attack you and you deal huge damages. Try It. Also, when you have access to Sunbeam, you can do radiant damages and you can use great invisibility, minor illusion for group enemies and sunbeam for DMG and give radiant orb and reverberation with the right build, and also you still have access to all companions, haste+wildshape combo and CC spells (spykes Is the best one). You can easly do a lone Wolf Honor run in this way 👌
A couple of things I’d like to add for overall Druid play. Low level moon is probably just flat out better until at least level 6. Being able to cast a spell and shift at the same time is very valuable when combat is kinda fast. Stat items are very strong on Druid like gloves of dexterity because it allows degenerate stats while gaining a lot of benefits. Also for an item that is early, but can be super helpful is mourning frost. It allows you to have an actual cantrip for combat! Also Sabretooth is very underrated 😅
Not quite! If you're a level 2 Transmutation Wizard, you can make a medicine check to double the number of potions you craft. Otherwise, there's no skill checks for alchemy.
They look to have fixed Tavern Brawler wild shapes on Honour Mode now. I tested on a level 4 hireling and attacking a door gave me on the log damage roll + strength modifier plus a random +2 damage. I'm assuming that's the Tavern Brawler damage. I may be wrong.
You'll use the constitution of the animal form - but if you have proficiency, like from Resilient (CON), you'll still get to add your proficiency. With the +1 constitution bonus from the feat added to owlbear's base 17, your con save will be minimum +7 (+8 at level 9) - very hard to fail most concentration saves at that point, especially with halfling's reroll. Hope that helps!
War Caster does work! Resilent gets you slightly better stats, so I think it's very slightly better overall, but you could also just do both. Definitely something I should have mentioned. Stoneskin is unfortunately pretty weak, because it only gives you resistance to non-magical damage - by level 9 when you get access to it basically all threatening enemies will have magical attacks. You could prepare it for a specific combat if you know there's a mundane enemy you want to fight though
I'll echo our channel overlord here and unless you're getting proficiency in constitution savings throws through some other mechanic, resilient is more valuable---the +1 you take in CON applies in form, which for the owlbear pushes you to a breakpoint (18)---so you're getting proficiency bonus, and an additional +1 hitting the CON breakpoint. I did that and was really only failing concentration saves on a critical failure. If you really care, you can also get advantage on concentration saves with an elixir so you really have to have a plan to make it worth taking war caster IMO.
Being honest, your build is wierd but i guess its a "taste" thing, cause i disagree with alot of things u mentioned in your video. For example i did 3 druids 1 cleric run as my first run and shillelagh was great to crack chests and doors open since i had no dex character for that. also tavern brawler is not needed for a land druid cause your main focus as a land druid is casting, so war caster and wisdom to 20, are the feats u really want. lightning bolt is INSANE strong, a cleric works as a supporter anyway and can cast create water so call lightning does more damage yes but lightning bolt does even more and can burst a lot of bosses down. And i hate that people always mention ethels hair cause its a story related thing and i barely see people decide to do that thing to get it but people always put it into their builds. (last point is nothing against you doing it but a general thing)
I am somewhat in that conundrum with Haste vs Lightning Bolt. Haste is great, but Druid really lacks non concentrating damage spells to makes use of Haste (other than wildshape). While with Lightning Bolt I could be concentrating on numerous different spells but still use a strong offensive spell like Bolt.
By the time we actually recruit Jaheira, this build won't be using a bow anymore - it's really just a first-couple-levels thing since druid combat cantrips are bad (if playing this 1-12).
Sure! Druids make an excellent alternative to a cleric (though it's worth noting that Aid goes extremely well with all the summons, so they also play very well *with* clerics).
Not every playthrough needs to succeed every dialogue option. That's boring and diminishes replay value. Why would you want to experience everything exactly the same everytime you play.
@@CAiNiAC you don't need to succeed at every dialogue option sure, but why would you want a play through where it's virtually impossible to succeed in one?
@@user-ef1lc4bt6r for a different experience? It's super boring to succeed everything for the 2nd or 3rd time. If you're that concerned you have 3 other companions you can make into a charisma class.
@@CAiNiAC first off you won't succeed at every dialogue option every time no matter what your cha is unless you're cheating or save scumming. second I'll repeat myself again since you didn't seem to read it the first time. It' maybe boring to succeed on the same dialogue checks multiple times, but it also doesn't make it fun to fail every damn dialogue check. Also, if you're so worried about succeeding you don't have to take every roll check. You can easily choose a none roll that's an auto fail for you.
@@user-ef1lc4bt6r people like to experience the game different ways on multiple playthroughs. All good, all evil, all success, all fail. It's really not hard to comprehend. You not enjoying failing checks is subjective to you. And since you didn't read what I said I'll reiterate again, charisma on literally any party member solves your dilemma. It doesn't have to be MC.
For Jaheira , I kept her honest to her BG2 playstyle of Fighter 6 / Druid 6 [10, 16, 16, 8, 14, 10] Feats: ABI Dex x2, WarCaster. Equipment: Thorn (Scimitar) x2, Poisoner Gloves, Broodmother's Revenge Necklace, Whispering Promise Ring, Regeneration Ring or Helm of Balduran to proc Necklace.
Fighter I went Eldritch Knight for Shield and other utility spells.
Druid I went Land Druid for Haste, Mirror Image, and Misty Step.
The Poison/Heal/Bless synergy was surprisingly effective.
Really appreciate you posting this, I prefer lore friendly builds over optimized builds any day, and it's nice to not see someone turn Jaheira into something she doesn't seem to be
Just wanted to share some of my own notes since I'm playing a Land Druid right now as a pure caster, I never Wild Shape! With a 1 level cleric dip you get Sanctuary, which doesn't end when you cast or move Moonbeam! If you upcast Moonbeam to max level and get in Sanctuary with a bonus action, you're doing 20-120 damage (once on cast/move, once on the enemy's turn) per turn and can't be targeted by enemy attacks. Moonbeam is also great because it has a narrow AoE, so enemies you hit with it can still be attacked freely by your melee teammates. You can also summon woodland spirit / wood woad to get spike growth / entangle under enemies you're attacking without using your own concentration. And you have tons of non-concentration spells too like Ice Storm and Guiding Bolt (with the Cleric dip) that you can choose to use instead of move moonbeam without missing a beat. Moonbeam doesn't trigger ANY gear effects like radiant orb or reverberation, so you can save that gear for other characters. What helps gear-wise is pushing up your spell save DC so that your Moonbeam damage doesn't get halved often. It's a bit like pretending you're a Star Druid, which is in DnD but not in BG3.
Interesting! That probably *shouldn't* work but that's a cool interaction!
@@Cephalopocalypse yup! I think they kind of ignore this spell. I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't trigger like the Glove of Belligerent Skies. It also reads as applying a condition "Moonbeam" in the combat log, so there are other reverberation and radiant orb items it should proc. But it doesn't. But the not triggering Sanctuary trade off is pretty fun!
As always thanks for the guide. I also wanted to point out (mention to all) that the knocking enemies prone is a guaranteed way to break an enemy spellcaster's concentration. If prone, concentration brakes; there is no save. That is one of the main reasons I like owlbear form when used in conjunction with enhanced leap. May everyone have a safe day.
Very true! Especially since so many of the wildshape forms have access to proning effects - at least the rothé, owlbear and sabertooth do, I think the dino as well though can't remember off the top of my head
Hey there, i just found your channel last week and i have been bingeing your build videos. I really like that you go through things in detail and at a pace that isn't too quick. It really helps with my understanding, and i find that there are very few build videos that fill this criteria.
Yeah you get two druids but if you play Druid of spores as your main you can rep all 3 and get a bajillion summons and endless battlefield control…and then cry when the enemy casts a single fireball 😂
The fourth member should be the party's fire watch park ranger.
Just have them save a slot or two for counter spell and use it solely against the AoE nukes. Bonus points if one of the druids gets ahold of the staff that allows a single use of counterspell per long rest because it's synergistic with shillelagh (staffs and clubs only).
Fun one. I am a fan of Jaheira as a Circle of the Land druid. Buffed and wildshaped she is almost as good a tank as a kitted out Fighter, plus she goes into combat leading a small army of pets.
Resistance can make a huge difference in the Githyanki Creche when you go through the Zathisk (sp)
I LOVE all the things druids give you, and maybe it kind of defeats the purpose, but I would love to explore a way of making these caster druids able to deal decent spell damage as well. Someone who isn't dependant on their wild forms to deal damage in combat
I tested it out with 3 druids in a game just now, halsin jeheara and a dwarf hireling (and halfling hireling). Both elves have 11.5meters movement in owlbear and the halfling and dwarf have 7.5meters movement in owlbear. Same differences for different forms. Ergo wood elf does not increase the movementspeed, but playing a small race does decrease it.
Weird! That's definitely a bug (and highly unfortunate). That's not how it should work at all. Thanks for testing!
Damn! I really hope this gets patched as I want to do a forest gnome druid for RP purposes :( @@Cephalopocalypse
I think you don't understand the land druid. This subclass is basically a wizard. So, to really harvest the benefits of it, you have to play it as a spellcaster and mostly use shape shifting when you're in a bad spot
16:10 Moonbeam is a genuinely good spell for non-wildshape useage. It's a sleeper pick that's becomes ridiculously powerful when combo'd with a cleric ally (or one level multi-class dip).
Moving the moonbeam doesn't break a cleric's sanctuary on the druid. So with one cast of moonbeam at your highest spellslot and a level 1 sanctuary you have an untargetable "hammer of dawn) spellcaster that sears enemies for the full 10 turns. The resource/spell economy is insane.
Even without the sanctuary cheese moonbeam is deceptively good because the damage double dips like how spirit guardians does. The damage procs both on casting/re-moving and at the start of the enemy's turn. So the spell at base level is doing 4-40 radiant damage as long as you pass any concentration checks between your turn and the casted enemy (ie, the enemy's friends' turns in between). Then anything after that is pure bonus economy, the spell pulled it's weight for the equivalent damaging alternatives.
Not to mention moonbeam doesn't need line of sight, so you can be cheeky and run the druid into a corner and purely use the beam. If I am not mistaken.
Moonbeam is a top tier spell, especially for land druid because they will be in spellcaster form a lot more than a moon druid would be. Shapeshifting as a land druid is more like a nice (albeit very strong) side alternative to being a fully ranged caster majority of the time.
Huzzah! Land druid, finally!
Land druid so underrated. ):
They are so gear agnostic! I feel these guys are capable of making fun combos with all the gear available in the game.
Reverb/cold druid ftw!
Wow I really just scoured RUclips trying to find a circle of the lands druid and its finally here! Thanks for sharing this, keep doing them.
i need to correct you in one thing: wood elf's movement passive DOES work on wild shape.
Resistance is also VERY important (alongside blessing and some other stuff) to read the necromancy of thay as you said, but even more to pass all the checks (specially in honour mode) in the zaith'isk if you ever want to use illithid powers. The necromancy of thay will give you the buffs even if you fail the checks, you just need to cast remove curse after that. But the zhaith'isk you need to pass some hard saving throws to succeed. Without being able to savescum it, resistance comes very handy. Other things i usually use there is the shield that gives 1 to saving throws and the staff that gives +2 that you can buy from ethel.
Hello! Thanks for the great guide, I always watch your guides, they keep making me into changing my party, because playthroughs are long and to not get bored of the same combat loop, I change the combat loop two or three times per playthrough.
I do have a video request for you. I'm sure you mentioned all this in different places, or maybe in the steams, but I don't watch streams, otherwise I wouldn't have time to play ) But I would gladly watch a comprehensive list of... I don't know how to name it... You say stone wall on it's own wins some encounters, fire wall on it's own wins some encounters, heroes feast is required for some one encounter, sunbeam on it's own wins some one encounter... This would be a video full of spoilers, but I, for instance, seen most if not all encounters in the game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. And I'm really interested in such... Tailor-made spell solutions, I guess. Or perfect spell counters. Or “play smart, not hard”. You got the point.
Thanks again!
I guarantee I won’t be the only one to mention this but War Cleric gives you the extra bonus attacks in wild shape form
True! I even mention a cleric dip but failed to include that. I generally don't think the cleric dip is better than a feat even so, though obviously it's never *bad* to take cleric 1
@@Cephalopocalypse on my first play through I did a war cleric dip with Jaheira as a moon Druid. It was impactful because of the moon Druid ignoring resistances, but the feat probably would’ve been better.
Idk, either way, I feel like the actual wild shape damage would fall off end of act 3 if not moon Druid.
I’m doing a MC Durge druid and I might respec to land when I hit 6 since owlbear has the bonus WWE Slam but I am concerned about the attack damage without the ignoring resistances passive.
Other problem is my first play through was a Warlock MC and not having eldritch blast with potent robes and the bananas act 3 gloves kinda ruined me and everything feels lackluster now lol
@RyanS406 which gloves?
@@Cephalopocalypse The more important thing about the cleric dip is that you can cast sanctuary, and then kill every enemy with moonbeam, because moonbeam counts as environmental damage and does not break sanctuary.
@@purplekt1722 if that’s true, that’s crazy … gonna try it later when I get home
Having just finished an honor mode run with a druid that was inspired heavily by your "fly you fools" build I'll offer that bugged or not, Tavern Brawler is still hugely valuable (and I'd take it as my first feat as it's super valuable at level 4) just because you'll never miss anything again, and given you can knock things around in owlbear makes it very valuable to hit. I ran as a Duergar and it also gives you a nice ranged option for throwing when it might be needed (particularly in Act 3, that Dwarven Hammer thing was wildly good for fights where I didn't bother with shifting but was still able to plink with a ranged attack). I'll also recommend that if you're planning to leverage a lot of shifting, you should evaluate the "bonus item" stat bonuses in the context of your form as well as those are one of the few ways to propagate stats to your forms---Ethyl's Hair, the +2 STR potion from Araj, the stat you apply with resilient and even the Mirror of Loss buff all apply in forms and I found it super nice to be able to pump the Owlbear's STR and CON as there is literally no other way to do it if you care about such things (I didn't succeed in the Mirror of Loss, and it was honor mode, but it's still worth considering).
For PC users, there's a mod 'Druid Quality of Life' that fixes most issues mentioned - you can move moonbeam, etc in wildshape, and tavern brawler works as it's meant to.
Just want to talk about thumbnail between Jaheira and Halsin, in my current playthrough, I don't feel Halsin has any impact because I don't attack the Grove, so after act 1 he just sit there in my camp and say he will wait till we get to moonrise tower. After defeating Ketheric I have a conversation with him and he say that he wanted to stay and rebuild the land so bye bye for me. On the other hand, Jaheira is a decent ally in the fight at the Last Night Inn, she leads the Harpers, involve in the fight inside the tower so I ask her to join me. She also have a nice litte story progress in act 3 with her house and Minsc so yeah, Jaheira for me.
About the builds, I love your video because I can learn so much from it, huge amount of information, keep up the good word and hope to see you on other games
You can take arctic land even if it has same spells as base druid. They are always prepared, so you can fill your slots with different spells (though with high wisdom you get a lot of spells to pick).
Hey love your videos.I think alot of people would be interested in a single player party member team comp video. Where you outline what party members work best for what. Just a suggestion but i know me and my noob buddies would love it lol.
Also Because I beat the game and want a tactician run but want a lore accurate party that works lol
Thank you for this build. I was waiting for this. Now only the hunter ranger remains.
Moonbeam and 1 dip of cleric for sanctuary? >.>
You're land druid. Not always needing to be in animal form. At least i believe you shouldn't be all the time. Take advantage of being a spell caster as a land druid. Dont always factor "cant do this while wildshaped"
Something to note about High Elf druids is that they have no priority head pieces before act 3 and the int circlet can be a decent decision to give to them if you have no other character who happens to want it..... Which not many characters get a lot of use out of it, and if they do it's a stop gap.
So you can easily get 16 Int firebolts without losing much on a druid.
Personally I have a tendency to do knowledge cleric 1 land druid 11, which gives you Sacred Flame which becomes better late game, as well sleep and command both spells druid doesn't get, and command remains relevant the entire game.
You talk a lot about how certain things aren't good because their use it limited while in wild shape. Land druid is the least reliant of the two "main" druid subclasses (spore druid I consider it's own side-class).
If you get a staff that allows you to cast either ray of frost or firebolt the land druid can essentially act as a party's wizard. Wildshapes are an afterthought to the insane control and specific damage spells they have access too.
Ice staff and gear opens up an artic circle of land playstyle. Where you cast sleetstorm and spam ice knife and ray of frost every turn.
A fire staff allows you to cast decent cantrip damage with 60ft range. Shillelagh plus stat-maxed medium armour (uncapped like the Yuan-Ti armour) with a shield makes you a non-multi attack temporary melee fighter when you can't get away from enemies in a pinch.
Druid is a catch all class and seeing a heavy lean into wildshape on the land druid build is a bit saddening. Sure, you're kitting for min/maxing but "min/maxing" a druid means being able to do a bit or everything uniquely well. Non-shapeshifted options for when you do more than 2 encounters a short rest should have been addressed more throughly.
I really appreciate the build guides. They are super helpful.
Thanks very much!
31:35 There is also an arguement to be had for taking Tavern brawler and putting the +1 into strength instead of constitution.
Tavern Brawler's stat bump carries into your wild shapes. So all the odd stat'ed shapes get evened out and technically get a +2 to attack rolls and +2 damage because of the doubling effect of the feat.
The +1 to con from Resilient is the same way. Evening out a few of the bread and butter wild shape's con scores.
Played first night of Druid with friends and I did everything right xD. Nice to have a guide I can follow roughly and know I’m not trolling my lands or feats
Circles not land
Could I also play the Land Druid as mainly a caster without transforming much, or is this not viable? I want to play it as a battlefield Controller :)
Nice Video!
for me personally I pick arctic pretty much every time
because arctic just has all the spells that I usually would have equipped anyway giving me more spellslots to get something with synergy [like if a teammate what's ice or lightning mage then I can get create water without having to sacrifice spellslots that I would have needed for those spells]
just overall more freedom for me
As far as fourth party members go, I actually feel that Bards fit that role as well. Although in the case of the Bard at least, they can also double as your face. I'm not sure if Druids actually have access to more spell slots earlier than Bards, since both are full casters, but they definitely have a much wider variety of spells that they can bring. Anyway, I've never brought Jaheira or Halsin along in any of my playthroughs, but was wanting to eventually, so this video will be useful for that future intent.
edit: LOL. As soon as you started talking about the race selection, my thoughts instantly went to "Halfling, Halfling, Halfling". 😂
Also, -Medicine- matters when in the underdark when you're trying to pick those plants that allow you to craft the uh "light bombs" (pretty useful in Act 2). Alchemy really relies on Medicine checks too, but I just use a camp alchemist for this anyway. Not everyone will use camp characters though because they think it's "cheese".
Edit2: It's Nature, not Medicine for the Nightlights in the Underdark.
Resistance also helps in the Creche with some particularly difficult checks.
Not really related to this video, but as far as ice surfaces go: a really cool combo is using the Drake Glaive to empower the Titanstring on a Ranger/Assassin that is also wearing the Snowburst ring. If you don't outright kill the target, there's a very high chance they are going prone when they actually get to start the fight (if melee).
I'm pretty sure that it's a Nature check to pick the Nightlights.
@@Sam-nt8nk Ah, yes. You are correct.
The biggest difference is gear imo. Bards are amazing, but they often want the same gear as other spellcasters or archers.
There is a hidden necklace in act 3 that can give you +1 to wisdom so you can still take Tavern Brawler instead of ASI to even the stats.
Where is the necklace
@@travisbrown9936in jahiera's basement at the Elerrathin's Home in act 3
Of course team mom Jaheira gets more clicks! Thank you for your guides, I have used both of your previous Jaheira and Minsc builds and greatly enjoyed them - only the need to provide STR potions for both of them became a little intensive so it's nice to have something els to try for Jaheira.
Really great guide, I love the idea of playing into versatility of druid. I do like taking Sorcerer at level 1 and Resilient Wisdom with 17 base Wis - Storm or White Draconic Sorcerer are good
Thanks for the guide, but you could just be a Moon druid instead if you consider every choices are bad because we cant do that in wild shape form, and tavern brawler feat too?
I got kinda tired playing Warlock 10 levels in and reclassed to Land Druid. There are just so many AOE spells it can have, and basically every type/element too.
Honorable mention to Drow spore druids with hand crossbows. All the utility of a druid with absolutely broken damage.
Absolutely love these simple builds videos. Best I've seen out there
Spécial request: is there a good "simple dark urge" build on the way? Like here we are using Jaheira as the base for a druid. Would love seeing Durge being featured since their background isn't customisable. Im sure Durge does well as many classes but id love to see your opinion on this, especially as a dragonborn
been looking forward to this since you mentioned it in the moon video. Fantastic build as always!!
So when we first meet Scratch, in my previous playthroughs I hadn't had Speak With Animals and was able to recruit him. In my recent run, I had speak with animals in the first encounter with Scratch, and accidentally turned him hostile.....this was an honour mode run so I couldn't even load a save.
Suffice it to say I am unimpressed with this ability. Granted it was completely my fault picking the wrong dialogue option...but still LOL
I'd like to dip two levels in Ranger because I think those two classes make sense together, but I guess the tenth level Druid spells are so good that I should only take the one level.
I was JUST thinking about doing a land druid support character - so excited to peep this video. Your guides are some of my favorites. Just got into BG3 late December and it has wholly consumed me lolol thanks for uhhh ADDING TO THAT CONSUMPTION
Why would you be in wildshape form as a land druid?
I’m a simple man, I see Jaheira in the thumbnail, I watch the video.
What a gilf
is the war caster feat worth getting? I had the impression it would be good when casting a concentration spell and maintaining that concentration while fighting in wild shape form.
I can see why you would want to make your own druid. You have to play half the game before you actually have access to one. Excluding hirelings of course
I checked, Wood Elves get to keep their racial speed bonus in Wildshape though?
Or is my playthrough simply bugged?
Edit: Great guide still though! I love being a versatile Character to support my friends playthroughs usually.
Great video my man.
Druids don't have proficiency with crossbows
I just had an idea for run (or technically multiple). A full party where everyone is the same class, but diffrent subclasses (as much as possible). Gear would be quite a problem
What party would be the craziest?
Thank you so much again. Your videos help a lot and I wanted to ask if you consider to make a video about the Spore druid. I like the idea to play with all three druids in one party.
Thanks so much again! I really appreciate it - I've done a spore druid video fairly recently ("So many broken combos") and have another coming fairly soon!
I really like your builds. Keep it up please.
Hey, thank you so much for the support! I really appreciate it - glad you're enjoying the builds!
Good info here. Thanks!
Question- I just got Halsin available as a party member and leveled him up, and I can’t upcast Healing Word. In that something I did, or in that ability only available to clerics?
is this build suitable for the face of the group? when I tried the druid as the main character, I always had to leave the form for dialogue, which causes some inconvenience. And charisma skills are too low. How critical is this when passing? Or is it better to choose another class for the base, and choose Khalsin as a druid?
Defending last light inn was my 4th or 5th combat that day, so I was so focused on keeping my party alive I couldn’t help Jaheira that much. I lost her my first play through
Her build as an NPC is just SO TERRIBLE and she is so desperate to charge into melee. Later on for the moonrise you can take control of her and hide her at the back but for last light I don't think you get that option iirc. My strategy the first time was to block all the NPCs into a room with Gale's familiar standing in the doorway so they couldn't get themselves killed :P
what's the point going circle of land, when you want to use wildshape form majority of time? Circle of the moon is superior for that purpose. Also the gear you are using doesn't benefit the druid once shapeshifted and it is contested by other party members. Lastly druid of the moon wildshapes as a bonus action, therefore depending on combat you can either cast a spell and transform in the same round or transform and do 3 attacks.
I agree with this mostly from the perspective of also missing out on Sabretooth form and the other 3 also. Land druids from when I have tested always feel clunky
All these questions and more answered in the video :D
Man you totally miss the best spell of the druid: moonbeam. If you start with 3lv druido and 1lv cleric (light), you have access to the best combo of the game, sanctuary in moonbeam. Noone can attack you and you deal huge damages. Try It. Also, when you have access to Sunbeam, you can do radiant damages and you can use great invisibility, minor illusion for group enemies and sunbeam for DMG and give radiant orb and reverberation with the right build, and also you still have access to all companions, haste+wildshape combo and CC spells (spykes Is the best one). You can easly do a lone Wolf Honor run in this way 👌
A couple of things I’d like to add for overall Druid play. Low level moon is probably just flat out better until at least level 6. Being able to cast a spell and shift at the same time is very valuable when combat is kinda fast.
Stat items are very strong on Druid like gloves of dexterity because it allows degenerate stats while gaining a lot of benefits.
Also for an item that is early, but can be super helpful is mourning frost. It allows you to have an actual cantrip for combat!
Also Sabretooth is very underrated 😅
Act three there’s an excellent light armor option called armour of moonbasking
medicine checks are made when you craft potions, FYI
Not quite! If you're a level 2 Transmutation Wizard, you can make a medicine check to double the number of potions you craft. Otherwise, there's no skill checks for alchemy.
good work with the bio
Thank you for pronouncing shillelagh correctly. Other content makers saying "shilly-lagh" was driving me crazy.
Knowing how to say "shillelagh" and "geas" correctly is basically my only skill
Thumbs up for Jaheira.
If only one of their wild shapes could inflict Bleed
Which is the encounter that is helped by Sunbeam in the late game?
Sorry, please explain what's so great about Wall of Stone
Do you stream on Twitch or RUclips?
P.S. First like and comment!
I've streamed occasionally on youtube, and would like to do more this year!
They look to have fixed Tavern Brawler wild shapes on Honour Mode now. I tested on a level 4 hireling and attacking a door gave me on the log damage roll + strength modifier plus a random +2 damage. I'm assuming that's the Tavern Brawler damage. I may be wrong.
elixir of hill giant strength, enhanced leap, wild shape cat....most entertaining early game fun
Okay sorry but that constitution bit was confusing. Are con saves in wild shape based on your human stats or wild shape stats?
You'll use the constitution of the animal form - but if you have proficiency, like from Resilient (CON), you'll still get to add your proficiency. With the +1 constitution bonus from the feat added to owlbear's base 17, your con save will be minimum +7 (+8 at level 9) - very hard to fail most concentration saves at that point, especially with halfling's reroll. Hope that helps!
@@Cephalopocalypse Damn, I didn't know Resilient counted for Wild Shape. I'll have to consider taking that now!
What late-game encounters basically require Heroes' Feast and Sunbeam?
Probably a certain vampire lord
Where is this camp area you are in, i havent ever encountered this at any point in act 3
Talk to the bartender at the inn!
Jaheira is a boss, Halsin is creepy
Does war caster feat work while in wild shape ?
Also isn't Stoneskin good for wild shapes as you can keep concentration while wild shaped ?
War Caster does work! Resilent gets you slightly better stats, so I think it's very slightly better overall, but you could also just do both. Definitely something I should have mentioned.
Stoneskin is unfortunately pretty weak, because it only gives you resistance to non-magical damage - by level 9 when you get access to it basically all threatening enemies will have magical attacks. You could prepare it for a specific combat if you know there's a mundane enemy you want to fight though
I'll echo our channel overlord here and unless you're getting proficiency in constitution savings throws through some other mechanic, resilient is more valuable---the +1 you take in CON applies in form, which for the owlbear pushes you to a breakpoint (18)---so you're getting proficiency bonus, and an additional +1 hitting the CON breakpoint. I did that and was really only failing concentration saves on a critical failure. If you really care, you can also get advantage on concentration saves with an elixir so you really have to have a plan to make it worth taking war caster IMO.
Isn't stoneskin concentration? If it was like mirror image, yes, but you generally want to concentrate on something else.
@@ivo.vasilevv I thought that since you'd be mellee most of the time while wild shape , stoneskin will mitigate a lot of dmg.
"They are the best at looking at things" 😂
resistance can also help with the zaithisk
Being honest, your build is wierd but i guess its a "taste" thing, cause i disagree with alot of things u mentioned in your video. For example i did 3 druids 1 cleric run as my first run and shillelagh was great to crack chests and doors open since i had no dex character for that. also tavern brawler is not needed for a land druid cause your main focus as a land druid is casting, so war caster and wisdom to 20, are the feats u really want. lightning bolt is INSANE strong, a cleric works as a supporter anyway and can cast create water so call lightning does more damage yes but lightning bolt does even more and can burst a lot of bosses down. And i hate that people always mention ethels hair cause its a story related thing and i barely see people decide to do that thing to get it but people always put it into their builds. (last point is nothing against you doing it but a general thing)
Three druids and a cleric is an awfully specific and unusual party - that will of course need different strategies than a general guide!
that was just one example, im a huge fan of druids, i have 900 hours in the game and always have atleast one druid with me
I am somewhat in that conundrum with Haste vs Lightning Bolt. Haste is great, but Druid really lacks non concentrating damage spells to makes use of Haste (other than wildshape). While with Lightning Bolt I could be concentrating on numerous different spells but still use a strong offensive spell like Bolt.
You cant use any type of bow with Jaheira unless you have the gloves.
By the time we actually recruit Jaheira, this build won't be using a bow anymore - it's really just a first-couple-levels thing since druid combat cantrips are bad (if playing this 1-12).
@@Cephalopocalypse I see.
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Appreciate it :D
Can we use this to get rid of hateful Shadowheart? 😂
Sure! Druids make an excellent alternative to a cleric (though it's worth noting that Aid goes extremely well with all the summons, so they also play very well *with* clerics).
You should try a Wildheart Barb 7 spore druid 5 build. It’s been insane for me.
Btw if you’re doing this on a mc 8 cha is a terrible choice.
Not every playthrough needs to succeed every dialogue option. That's boring and diminishes replay value. Why would you want to experience everything exactly the same everytime you play.
@@CAiNiAC you don't need to succeed at every dialogue option sure, but why would you want a play through where it's virtually impossible to succeed in one?
@@user-ef1lc4bt6r for a different experience? It's super boring to succeed everything for the 2nd or 3rd time.
If you're that concerned you have 3 other companions you can make into a charisma class.
@@CAiNiAC first off you won't succeed at every dialogue option every time no matter what your cha is unless you're cheating or save scumming. second I'll repeat myself again since you didn't seem to read it the first time. It' maybe boring to succeed on the same dialogue checks multiple times, but it also doesn't make it fun to fail every damn dialogue check. Also, if you're so worried about succeeding you don't have to take every roll check. You can easily choose a none roll that's an auto fail for you.
@@user-ef1lc4bt6r people like to experience the game different ways on multiple playthroughs. All good, all evil, all success, all fail. It's really not hard to comprehend. You not enjoying failing checks is subjective to you.
And since you didn't read what I said I'll reiterate again, charisma on literally any party member solves your dilemma. It doesn't have to be MC.
FINALLY
Been waiting for this one!