Regarding how the druid now retains their own HP when they wild shape, that reall helps when taking an infiltrating beast shape, such as a cat, rat, etc. Those forms would have less tham 4hp, and then the druid is a person again. Now enemies will be confused. "That is one strong rat"
Gotta remember that Hit Points are not necessarily blood points - they would more aptly be named Avoid Lethal Hit Points. They represent your ability to overcome danger that would otherwise have demoralized/incapacitated/slain someone less driven, less coordinated and less well trained. The rat doesn't have "so many arrows sticking out of it", the arrows were jumped over, weaved between, got caught by seeming chance on other objects and when most regular rats would have hesitated under all the threat, doubled back and been caught by one of these attacks, you kept moving with your eyes on the prize and were exactly where you needed to be to escape. So the enemies wouldn't say "We are looking for a rat with four longbow arrows embedded in it skull." they would say "We just tried to shoot this rat and it jumped on a dinner plate, so our arrow ricocheted off." and the response any reasonable person would have is "Thats crazy. Did you get a video? Ninja rat would go viral on tiktok."
@@asherandai1000 The genre of the game is up to you, if you want a super sneaky spy druid, they exert themselves to avoid the arrows and no guards look into it further. If you want a rat surviving by pure toon logic, you can have them face tank fireballs as everyone around them burns to death. "Sir, the fireball didn't do anything. The rat just used it to turn their cheese into a delicious melty dip!" :D
one concern i have with moon druids is their accuracy on their animal attacks. yeah sure, they can add lots of damage, but i have not heard anything from anyone about their to hit bonus increasing at all. which is quite important because even the higher CR Beasts can soemtimes have something like a +2 to hit. all those damage dice wont matter if you can never even scratch a 20 AC.
@@Cringycoot ive checked with those that have the book, and the rules say no such thing. There are no rukes for using your own proficincy for attack rolls. Only saving throws and ability checks.
I was wondering if there's going to be significantly more focus on the generalized options like with summons. Although we could get good surprises with the Monster Manual, since everything has advantage against enemy creatures (including the beasts) and everyone can do the unresisted thing or make things resistant not matter.
You forgot to mention that Druids can speak in Wild Shape now, that's great for social encounters! Also they don't benefit from any features from their species while Wildshaped which makes sense. They turn into another creature physically but not mentally.
This was baked into the Unearthed Arcana tests and we built our Druid using that setup. It’s super handy because she’s often in the form of a rat doing recon and can move from area to area while dropping information off with the rest of the party as she maximizes her exploration.
I’m super excited for bonus action wild shape on all Druids now as it opens up so many movement and utility options in combat. You can cast a spell as an action, BA wild shape into a horse, mouse, bird, or fish (to name just a few) to move into an advantageous position, then next turn drop wild shape as a BA and cast another action spell.
That was one of the things that made me hesitant to run the class. Action economy on a MAD class was a challenge. Not impossible, but not ideal. So I always ranked my interest lower than other classes.
Yeah, I really would have preferred the theme of a land druid having to attune to the land they are on, though. This is unfortunately too finicky/unreliable to work in actual play.
I would have liked the elemental forms to go to the land Druid. You get one of them per long rest, depending on which land you chose. Would be interesting, in my opinion.
Agreed. Land Druids didn't have it as mechanically bad as Rangers, but the fixed terrain still reminded me of the idea that Favored Enemy/Natural Explorer weren't really specializations, but more of a "pick the enemy/terrain types where you _stop_ being a Ranger" deal. With maybe a side dish of "how does this distinguish me from any other Druid that just...picks the same spells?" This way, though, it really feels like you're a Druid of the _land_ . Go someplace new, use a long rest to familiarize yourself and attune with the spirits of nature, and you now have mechanics and flavor different from those Druids who get their power from animals, or the sea, or the stars, or fire, etc.
I like that they put Unarmored Defense on the Moon Druid. The King Fu Panda Druid/Monk build was a bit silly, and the Moon Druid now gets its main benefit by default.
The Spores Druid got a BIG buff with this update. I won’t get knocked out of SE, because we no longer get knocked out of our shapes when Temp HP gets lost. That’s good.
But you do get knocked out if you are incapacitated, beware of those creatures that can grapple and auto incapacitate. I agree, I still think it's a buff but definitely something to be aware of.
Symbiotic Entity does specifically state that it lasts for 10 minutes or when your temporary hit points are reduced. You expend a use of Wild Shape to use SE. The 'not being knocked out of wild shape when the temp hp is gone' only applies to shapeshifting into different beasts. It won't apply to the Starry form of Star druids or the Symbiotic Entity of Spore druids. It's not too bad since SE gives you temp hp equal to 4x your druid level. Theya re still massively buffed though, imagine adding the conjure elemental damage alongside the extra necrotic damage that SE gives you. All that lives, also decays. We will show our enemies this (much to our friends horror as well... probably)!
I think you can now use a second Wildshape without ending the first. If so, you could have a Wildshape form and Symbiotic Entity going at the same time...
I'm excited to find a Selune themed multiclass. Maybe Moon Druid and Life Domain Cleric. With these new changes, I am looking to shake some things up and have some fun.
Ooo, what if it was Celestial themed? Like a Sorcerer's Divine Soul or a Warlock's Celestial Patron. What if you could use your Wild Shape to instead take on a Celestial form, shedding radiant light like the sun and dealing radiant damage, and later on at lvl 14 you could Wild Shape into certain Celestial creatures, like a pegasus, cuoatl, or unicorn?
I think you can come up with a circle of stars Druid that can fit that theme with starry wisp, guiding bolt, sunbeam, moonbeam (or maybe flaming sphere instead as a mini sun?). I think you can get pretty close as a radiant caster. That’s the class I want to play tbh
@andrewdowns3673 I could see a Shinto-inspired Druid that is all about interactions with celestials, fiends, fey, and spectral undead. As a Wild Shape alterative, they could capture and subsequently summon creatures of those types. Unfortunately, someone at WotC would probably cry 'cultural appropriation' at that. 😮💨
Plus you can always use that domain or any other from 2014, Tasha’s, and Xanathar’s with the new play rules. Our Circle of Wildfire has no intention of retiring and starting over. 👍
I’m the druid at the table and mostly the support of the group. As the rest of the group is really combat focus I mostly use wild shape for roleplay situation. My favorite moment as a player was when I transformed into a random camel, cat or seal. My MJ decide to ignore the limitation because the old wildshape didn’t caused us any problem
I actually talked with my DM about a stars druid I'm playing and we're currently working on narrowing it down. So far the options we have are: ●1st level: Magnify Gravity, Guiding Bolt ●2nd level: Augury, Moonbeam, Vortex Warp, Borrowed Knowledge ●3rd level: Beacon of Hope, Melfs minute meteors, Globe of Twilight(Humblewood spell) ●4th level:Divination, Stellar Bodies(Humblewood Spell) ●5th level: Dawn, Dream, Far Step, Hallow, Summon Celestial, Wall of Light We haven't quite narrowed them down yet, but these are all potentially thematic Stars Druid spells. Hope they help give you ideas!😁
@Silverythoughts haha, same here as well. My stars druid is very much an astrologer dividing celestial knowledge from the stars type of character, and I feel like a lot of the divination spells really lean into that. With Augury, Borrowed knowledge, Divination, it really feels like you're able to divine the future/past from the stars. Beacon of Hope, Dawn, Summon Celestial, Hallow(not Halloween)all give a divine celestial cleric vibe which feels appropriate. Magnify Gravity, Globe of Twilight, Stellar Bodies are all very literally thematic and aren't on the Druid spell list already, which is a huge plus. Also, Magnify Gravity, Vortex Warp, and Stellar Bodiea are all non-concentration, which is great on a druid. I'm honestly having trouble deciding which spells to take off the list, lol
Sad to hear about the change to Conjure Animals. From a game play perspective I understand how it could be problematic, but I'm never going to forget the first time my Shepherd Druid cast it to summon 8 horses so the party could GTFO rather than take the TPK. Sad to see the utility of the various Conjure spells reduced to Damage or Damage + Debuff.
@@steven_r33d I wont play the new Druid. I can't stand what they did to the Druid class. They completely destroyed it. I would only add a few pieces from the new Druids to the previous Druids. The rest goes straight into the trash can 🗑️.
Changing the role of the Moon druid from a tank to a damage dealer is pretty radical. I mean, that was kind of the point of playing one. If you want a damage dealer, everyone can do it. Having those extra pools of HP was the unique feature, and it kind of balanced out with the low AC of the animal shapes. I can't see temp HP doing a similar job despite of the AC increase, as 18 isn't really all that much - you could easily build a character with 20 and above on low levels with other classes. It's also sad to see the summons go. Yeah, they were bananas. That's kind of the point of playing D&D. Immersing in the fantasy of doing epic stuff. I'd rather see other aspects of the game ramped up as means to balance it rather than everything getting brought down to reason. If I want reasonable, I have my daily life for that.
3 месяца назад
Don't forget you can very easily and quite cheaply replenish those temp hp by just casting another wild shape (up to 4 times per combat I believe?) Combined with solid ac (previously you had like 13-16 top) it actually retains quite a lot of the beefiness, without being absolutely broken.
Yeah, but previously you replenished a whole new pool if hit points. A brown bear is a common choice available at level 2 and boasting more than 30 HP. Per wild shape cast. Sure its AC is abysmal, but it still makes a solid tank with decent damage output, especially very early.
3 месяца назад
@@alexsavchovsky7282 decent? It's actually overpowered beyond believe and any lvl2 druid would absolutely wipe the floor with 2-3 full martials. That's why it needed change
I'm not arguing that. But they radically changed its role in combat. Which is what I'm questioning.
3 месяца назад+1
@@alexsavchovsky7282 yeah they did, and I really think it's for the better. Being unkillable at lower levels, while also not doing much of anything else is questionable design. Now with more balanced approach to tankiness (your temp hp are still unparalled among other classes, at level 10 you get 30temp hp for level 1 spellslot basically!), you still have a pretty good base hp (and can add tough aswell) and decent ac (and actually very decent saves) , but you can now talk, cast spells (so heals, more damage, more battlefield control), you are more mobile (finally teleport!) and you deal significantly more damage (even if beast are unchanged, but if we get more and better forms, it's even better). It's net positive buff and it manages to solve the great unbalance at lower levels.
RAW in the current 5E states they can change into any animal they’ve seen before. I run this as at level 1 any animal that makes sense for their background is fair game as long as they meet the CR requirements. I also tell the pc that they need to let me know if they want to “look” for any specific animals going forward, and to keep track of all new animals they see. When I have a Druid pc I will make mention of animals when I give descriptions of the players environments with animals that would reasonably inhabit that environment.
Yeah the restriction seems like a weird choice. Probably my only criticism of the updates. Unnecessary and really antithetical to the theme. I'd love to see a player keeping a log of the animals they've seen. Throw in great descriptions like you're talking about and someone could be an in game David Attenborough!
@@shawnmayo8210 Yes! I need to start doing a crappy David Attenborough impression when doing descriptions that involve animals. I can see that going one of two ways: incredibly hilarious, or terribly bad. Either way it’s worth a shot!
Yeah, I actually think that they should have just given druids a list of creatures. The fact that new adventures/settings have beasts that just get added to DND beyond makes this too hard to balance without DM bargaining. This could have also allowed subclasses to gain additional specific forms.
@@broomemike1 I sort of like that they pick a specified number, but I'm not really open to limiting to a number. Like wizards and their spellbooks, the option to explore and add animals is very thematic and fun for RP.
Lol. I did something like this with a Stars druid a while back. I took inspiration from Maui from Disney's "Moana": my druid was a seafaring shapechanger that navigated by the stars😅
I don't think the number of forms is nearly as restrictive as it looks. Let's be real, no druid actually turns into more than 4 types of animals through the course of a campaign. It's always one hitter, one stealth, one to fly and one to swim.
Yeah especially when you get more than 4 over time. It’s fine. It works. Just have some note cards. You don’t need to have the books all the time now, yay.
Yeah. I'm a really diehard Druid main, and I don't have an issue with how it rounded out. I'm gonna miss the entire second pool of HP lol but the number of forms is big enough for me to have a signature form for each type of situation that I'm likely to find myself in.
Also good to note that Barkskin got massively buffed: it now sets your AC to 17 minimum rather than 16, takes a bonus action to cast, and most importantly, no longer requires concentration (duration is still 1hr too)! That makes it a great defensive buff for Druids who picked the caster option at Primal Order (and don’t have other AC boosting features like Moon Druid), for those whose armor isn’t up to par yet, or for those who still want to stick to the “druid shall not wear metal” trope for rp reasons
What I think is really funny about the Temporary hit points thing is, while beefier beasts are nerfed, the small little creatures are seriously buffed. Some guard is going to swat a fly, and then fly is going to shake it off and keep going. Druids are turning into some buff rats lol.
Biggest issue for moon druid is proficiency bonus for attack, which is taken from the beast form. All the damage buffs in the world don't matter if you can't hit. Also need to see if there are beasts with >2 attacks/turn to synergize with the melee attack damage buff spells. CME will be likely nerfed (to 1/turn) or banned by any rational DM. Font of moonlight is a reasonable alternative.
Play all 2014 rules, or play all 2024 rules, or play a mish-mash of both. Discuss what you all want with your DM... I'm pretty sure most will accommodate the things you want to do, or at least have some reasonable compromise, between. The D&D police don't exist... play whatever and however you all agree to play.
@@stevenclark1662 Rules lawyers have no authority, unless you acquiesce to their whining; that's why I said to "play as you all agree" but play however you wish.
@@williambradford6575 Lol. But seriously, if it's 1 thing I've noticed over my many years... D&D players who are "rules lawyers" have always come from very dysfunctional and abusive families. They need our understanding that they don't need to control everything because they're being controlled (in the real world) and is all they know. D&D is an escape for them too, but seemingly to the reverse. Sure, their "fantasy" is friendship and a form of love too, but more so, is order, law and justice from the chaos IRL. However, they don't know how and tend to act like their abusers. If you can... be the stability they desperately need... most come around.
I feel like this also adds some sort of fun to choose your Wildshapes and look forward to and it also feels a lot more personalized. Your druid is going to be much more unique going forward.
as a DM for one of my druid players I always had to go through my box of beast mini's to accommodate their wildshape, really glad they've reined that in and you get a preferred group.
Honestly, with the wild shape change (particularly taking away the extra health pool), I think this would have been the perfect time to do something like the UA follower system, but with bonuses for shapes. Give a table with beast form damage die, give wild shape multiattack at a reasonable level, and give a few different animal abilities to augment your shape-shifting. Stuff like Pounce for a cat-like form, a pushback effect like you get with repelling blast for bear, extra movement for bird forms. Stuff like that.
The aversion to metal arms and armor is legacy from 1st and 2nd edition. 3rd relaxed it somewhat. It was a part of the druid flavoring then. The main exclusion was use of a scimitar with a specific nature deity in Faerun in 3rd.
The next campaign my group is looking to run is a game that takes place in middle earth. I was looking for the updated druid because the character idea I'm looking to play is a character who was raised by the ents. I think the only subclass I could pick in that case is circle of the land, and I'm happy with the updates it has received :)
I want to be a druid dude too. lol I can't believe this was the next video. Such a treat to wake up and see this video posted. :o) I'm so sad Wotc killed off the conjuration spells, I appreciate the 'horror' stories but if you speak to your DM it's really not disruptive and it was the druids poster boy spell for utility......... Need to cross this fast flowing river, conjure up some crocs for the party to hang on to, need to descend a dark cavern, conjure a couple of spiders to weave a sticky web rope for us, need to get over a chasm, conjure eagles and fly over. They could have easily fixed the disruptive nature of the spell by just changing it to say you can summon 1x cr2 or 2x cr1 and below.
I'm playing my first Druid now, and only planned on really using 6 forms. Rat, Cat, [fish], Croc, Black Bear, Warhorse and then planning like 1-2 flying forms at the appropriate level when I get there (still only level 4). Agreed that the new "limitation" on that doesn't feel like a big deal. Really looking forward to the Elemental Fury bonuses while playing a Land caster Druid, though. The shame for me is that while the increased wild shape damage is cool. The only reason I've ever used Wild Shape was to help with tanking and using those 19 hit points from my new form to literally survive compared to already having spell slots to do damage.
Can't wait for the elemental fury thingy and more wildshape slot for my wildfire druid. More fire damage/healing potent and more flexibility between actually wildshaping or use the wildshape to summon wildfire spirit
It will never happen but with the limiting of wildshape forms to certain circles I do think that to replace the Wildshape HP nerf they should have finally opened up wildshape to Monster and Aberation forms Yes you spend your life being in tune with nature, Now at level 15+ you know how to bend nature without breaking it
I think they're in a better place, but we still need the subclasses to get more love so Moon doesn't continue to dominate the picks so hard. Spores in particular I'd really love to see get more options to enhance their melee capabilities with that necrotic damage they get, allowing them to remain in their normal form and be a tanky but dangerous melee combatant with their spellcasting still intact.
Ive had a character named Vutha who is a lizardfolk druid who was supposed to be tribal warrior shaman style. I love that melee is now an option so I don't have to pose like I'm melee but still only use wild shape to fight lol.
They very much took after BG3 in that they removed a lot of the bookkeeping and excessively broken features/spells of the past. Now the class looks more fun to play on both sides of the table despite receiving some hard nerfs. Only thing I wish is that we got an upgraded Owlbear that we could turn into at later levels, or just more specialty forms in general.
I think we might see a Druid in future books who can take on Wild Shape forms of monstrosities. Unless they change the creature type of an owlbear to Beast. We'll see next year.
@@LycanDreams9159 Yes but that would require a template stat block. They went away from those in the Playtest so I'm not sure but we could see this concept in future Druid subclasses. Unless the designers also keep the CR's, amount and scaling of monstrosities in mind in the 2025 MM but I doubt it.
they consulted with Larian when they were making the game. That's why we got an early preview of the Wildheart Barbarian and weapon masteries in the game
Moon druid was absolutely broken. The only way to challenge a moon druid was to throw so much damage at a party that if anyone else in the party go hit, they were dead. So as a DM, you either had to just let the moon druid win or put everyone else in the party in mortal risk every fight.
Bombing run build: get cleric so you can have Spirit Guardians. Druid so you can wild shape into an owl, which doesn't draw attacks of opportunity. Fly around the battlefield bombing everything with 3d10 every turn.
I think I recall hearing from the 2024 cleric video that enemies now take damage from Spirit guardians at the END of their turn. Therefore this build has gotten major nerfed
@@benjaminstrate6808Actually for this build in particular, it's been buffed. Spirit Guardians, and other emination spells like it, now deal damage when the *emination enters a creatures space.* Meaning you can run around the battle field, and every enemy you pass takes the damage. But also yes, it also now does the damage at the end of their turn, instead of the start.
Great video. I would love to see a hilarious moon druid ratatouille/ healer for your Frontline combatant. Hmm I wonder if spider in pouch would trigger sneak attack. 🤔
As a major druid player…. Im really excited to see this. I love the old mechanics… but playing new mechanics will make it feel fresh. Also as they mentioned… it’ll make or break on whether the monster manual provides more CR 3 & 4 beasts.
Land sounds like my favourite! I love a good versatile spellcaster. I think the change from a tanky Moon druid to a mighty Damage Dealer is also a nice choice... (I hope we get a CR5+ flying terradacyl). D&D has an issue with "HP bloat" at higher levels. I feel like reducing HP while increasing the Druid's Wildshape AC and damage output makes for a more exciting game personally.
Armor of Agathys was changed to "The spell ends early if you have no Temporary Hit Points." Now that Wildshape gives you a big chunk of temp HP, a warlock dip might be really good for moon druid.
@@jlhitz35 The key change is that Armor of Agathys no longer says "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have **these** hit points..." but "The spell ends early if you have **no** Temporary Hit Points. So when you get low on Temp HP, if you can get more (by swapping, not stacking) from any other source, you can keep it active, potentially all the way up to the hour duration. (Especially in the case of Polymorph, which does give you Temp HP equal to the beast's HP.)
As someone who’s making a 2024 Druid for an upcoming game, something else I wanted to call out is that they redid a lot of the Beast Stat blocks in the back of the new book too! Some new interesting tweaks and reworks to the beasts.
I think these are great changes overall. The moon druid really was pretty busted, even into the later levels regardless of how limited the beasts are. Because at a certain point you could just keep wildshaping again and you have another pool of HP. The fact that it’s mostly reliant on the druids own HP now is actually a MASSIVE change to how the typical Druid will be built. Before I would always see people building Druid’s even just treat constitution as a dump stat almost - because they were just gonna be a moon druid wildshaping all the time anyway so they would always have tons of extra hp to rely on. Now that isn’t the case, so I think we’re going to see the Constitution become the second primary stat of the Druids, especially for Moon Druids. So it’s a huge nerf to the wild shape survivability, but I think it’s a good balance. And I like the 4-8 limit on wild shape forms. Makes it much less to manage for the player, and it makes it much easier on the DM for not having to account for the player being able to just whip out any animal imaginable. I’ve always sort of put a limit on it anyway in my own game, and just gave them a smaller list of stuff they could use. But it’s nice to see that be standardized. The land druid being able to change land types is a huge buff, one that I think opens up so much capability for the subclass, and loads more appeal to playing one. I’m disappointed to see the wildfire Druid gone, but I’m sure there’s a way to adapt Land or Stars to fit that style.
Circle of the Moon has other, innate damage potential as well. While Conjure Minor Elementals scales higher I think, Moon Druids always have Font of Moonlight prepared now (I cannot remember if that scales up), which also does bonus radiant damage, gives you radiant resistance, and can blind enemies that attack you. Very solid when combined with Primal Attacks and the moon druid's own innate damage increase.
I think land druids natural recovery feature got a little glossed over. It also now lets them cast one of their circle spells without using a spell slot. Gives them another cast of their high-level spells and still lets them cast a leveled spell with their bonus action.
I am very glad they found a way to keep the special features of the creatures you wild shape into. The template in the ua just lacked what makes wildshape so special. I will miss the hp pool but ill take the damage. It will make the forms more viable in combat.
I really like the new Moon Druid because it feels more like a striker than a tank now, like I wanted to do more with my beast shapes than just be a sack of hit points. Well done.
If you use dnd beyond for your r character sheet, you can go to exras wild shape and add your forms and is has the stat block there and you can roll from it also. It stays there unless you delete it
I think what would fix it for me, is letting the moon druid burn higher then lv 1 spell slots for more temp hp on a wild shape. maybe spell level x druid level when burning a 4th or higher. as is it's just not tanky enough to do anything without dying
I think the new moon druid will makes players looking at "weaker" shapes now, shapeshift into an ape sounds amazing for example 13+WIS AC + more HP + two hands and a medium size that would let the use of weapons and armor (and let's call our character Cesar too).
As a DM I’m so happy that my Druid players will have to look up the beasts beforehand at some point. It was always a slog whenever the druid took like 10 minutes to pick if a spider, rat or squirrel is a better choice.
Shillelagh, truestrike, elemental fury, conjure minor elementals At level 20 using a 9th level spell slot for minor elementals you can deal 80+ average damage per round with a friggin stick off the ground.
20:07 "They (circle of stars) didn't get an expanded spell list, which sticks out like a sore thumb" That relates to my main issue with the druid changes: the decrease in number of prepared spells (lower than the wizard's, but the same as the cleric's). Clerics might get Domain Spells, but Dreams, Shepherd and Stars druids don't get Circle Spells (so that feels like an unnecessary nerf). It feels they did that in order to consolidate the wizard as the "ultimate spellcaster" (with the highest number of prepared spells), but wizards already have more "castable" spells than any other class because of their ritual spellcasting (which allows them to cast ritual spells they haven't prepared).
@@smilerat8070 It might look that way (and wizards probably got the least number of improvements), but the new Savant features are a considerable improvement since they now give you guaranteed spells whenever you unlock a new level of spell slots (making wizard builds is now easier than ever - for spellcasters, having more spells means having more features). I'm fine leaving the wizards where they're at, but I just don't see the point of putting clerics and druids down to bring wizards up (they're up there already, and probably still remain the most powerful class).
I was not saying to bring anything down, actually the opposite. I was just saying that Wizards do not get anything outside of subclass features. I would take ribbons to be honest. In regards to savant, it helps in games where the DM does not give scrolls, but that is it. I like it, I think it is a good change... but Wizard lost most of their subclasses, just like Cleric, and didn't really get anything at all in exchange. They fixed up Illusion, but that is really it, other than that they lost Transmutation, Conjuration, Necromancy, etc. ... In my personal opinion, wizards are not the most powerful class, they are the most readily versatile. Anything a wizard can do, another class can do better. Hell, even just picking up the ritual feat can cover a good chunk of what makes a wizard special, with a few exceptions like Tiny Hut and Gentle Repose. The wizards main gimmick is that they have a big list and can swap out what is and is not prepared off of that list for the occasion.
With the more limited number of forms it could have been cool to see the Land Druid get a terrain specific form in addition, so they can traverse or blend into a place easier/better. A scorpion for the arid, or some such.
Last time me that early, Corona still just outer part of great sun god in sky... but that when me and Mrs. Neanderthal lived in caves and painted great buffalo and sabretooths on cave-walls with berry juice.
I keep hearing people say that the druid is less tanky, but the fact that they keep their own hit points makes the beast form itself much tougher as you level up.
Except it doesn't because the beast for always had essentially the same HP as your druid form. Just you used to get all of that as bonus HP, now you get 3*level temporary hit points. Plus they got rid of Elemental forms that gave you damage resistances on top of the bonus HP. The change they made to make your WS for more tanky was the change to your WSed AC. But that is by design, people complained about Moon Druid being too tanky, so now it is less tanky.
Isn't it just far more tanky by like 5th level? 15 temp hp and 11 ways to cast wildshape(12 if they have 3 naturally by then) with spell slots. Like 165 or 180 extra hp. I am assuming free action to drop and bonus action to cast. Still using actions every turn to attack unless the wildshape spellslot conversion is an action itself. If this is the case it's a nutty like 30hp x 18ish cast at 10th level. On top of that an 17 or 18 AC by a reasonable level
I really hoped the Owlbear would be added as an option for moon druids. It would be cool to have the ability to transform in something that is not exactly a beast but that resemble one (or more). That would require a list a non-beast monsters the moon druid can use. Considering we didn't get anything about it in the phb, I hope that at least the Owlbear is converted into a beast in the new Monster Manual.
Hey guys. Love your content! Can you let me know if Druids in Wild Shape benefit from species traits. For example does a Gnome Druid benefit from Gnomish Cunning while Wild Shaped.
I don't think we can really judge the relative power of the Circle of the Moon until we see the Monster Manual. (I think it sucks that players will still be choosing forms from multiple books.) Land and Sea both look really good, and Stars is still solid. I'm interested in playing Druid for the first time in decades. To be fair, the Wildfire Druid was mildly tempting, but the tweaks to the base class put the new Land and Sea Druids over the top, for me.
I almost always DM, but recently I've been getting to play - so I'm going through a hit list of all the classes I haven't gotten to play. I LOVE the 2024 druid, but the 2014 Druid doesn't read or play how I want.
16:15 I feel like Shepherd flat out can not work anymore, all the spells it relied on have been changed to no longer benefit (Conjuring beasts/fey is necessary for 3/5 of it's features, you just get totems and speech of the woods ) If they update it to work with the new conjuring it'll be the Wolfbeam AOE blaster.
You’re correct it definitely does not work with the 2024 Druid. There are some decent homebrew fixes for that already running around which is nice to see. I’d guess if they bring it back officially in a later book it’ll work with the summon spells and buffing those instead of relying on the new conjure spells.
I like the fact that I can get utility out of my wildshape without without having to put on the fursuit. Finally I get to play a nature-themed spellcaster without being pigeonholed into being a furry.
I don't know about y'all, but I'm planning on doing a Polearm Master Shillelagh druid using a quarterstaff with that nice elemental damage combined with Fount of Moonlight.
Rogue - "I may only hit once, but I need a handfull of dice! Hey, Druid! What do you have there?" Druid - "Hold my mistletoe." *Casts Conjure Minor Elementals + Mulltiattack Wileshape Form*
I think people consistently confused the text in 5th edition about druids not wearing metal armor. It doesn't they cannot wear metal armor. It says they choose not to which in my opinion can be roleplayed to still choose to metal armor. I like the thought of a rebellious druid choosing to go against it. It doesn't say it affects their connection to nature.
I've been pretty critical of the updates. I think many of the classes didn't get treated well. It stays firmly in it's lane with the subclasses bringing the alternative or bonus features, as it should. I think I'm actually excited to play a Druid now. Not that I wouldn't before, I just simply wasn't ranking the class nearly as high. I always felt like it was a little MAD and some themes were cool as one shot ideas. I'd also like to see what beast options there are. It was always a detractor (and nobody tell me I can't be an Owlbear, the movie is cannon!). This is one of the classes that got the better updates. Nothing too OP, nothing that didn't feel like a change not worth trying. I am a bit curious about how hurtful the incapacitated is going to be. Hold Person is going to be a nasty BBEG go to now. Let's see how this shakes out...
3 месяца назад
You are right. All recent dnd media use owlbear as beast, both movie and bg3. I really think it's gonna happen. As for the incapacitate: I am not too worried, you can now WS multiple times per combat as you get more WS AND you can spend spellslots to wildshape... So just use it again!
except you can't because you're incapacitated... I'd have to play it out to see how it feels, but it feels more cumbersome than useful. Let's hope I'm wrong on that one.
3 месяца назад
@@shawnmayo8210 well that the case for every class tho, incapacitate is strongest condition in the game right after dead. But right as it ends, you just WS, get your temp hp back and smack again
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you retain your class features while Wild Shaped. So, in theory you can use a Bonus Action while in a Beast form to use the Wild Shape feature again to "assume a form" (with the language used "when you assume a Wild Shape form...") and therefore be granted Temp HP again. Later this would also be compounded with being able to exchange a spell slot for a use of Wild Shape for more potential Bonus Action Temp HP, even more so for the Moon Druid. Also under the new Wild Shape text, "You stay in that form... or until you use Wild Shape again." reinforcing that you can use Wild Shape while shaped. I believe you exit that specific form (enphasised by the words "that form" not that that you revert back) when you use Wild Shape a second time and assume a new form. I think you could also do this in 2014 also, from what I've read (source Mike Mearls). This is also very reminicient of the old ability that allowed Moon Druids to burn a spell slot to heal themselves. Now you can, essentially, burn a Wild Shape/Spell Slot to make a "new body" worth Druid level Temp HP (or 3 times that for Moon) for a Bonus Action. Up to 60 Temp HP per turn for a 1st level slot seems quite nice to me Again, I have not fact checked this, only taken what I've read and interpreted.
Honestly there are generally only 3 shapes at a given level that make sense to wild shape into. Combat, movement, and stealth. If you really want to plan for everything you might add a water combat, an air combat, and a stealth combat. Maybe air stealth/exploration and water movement. But honestly some of these are going to overlap.
I love the fantasy of playing a moon druid ripping things apart in animal forms. But whenever I look into playing one, I am confused by the strange power curve the class has. At lvl 3 you get multiattack from brown bear, that pretty early and powerful compared to a lvl 3 fighter. But up that to lvl 6 and druid is still making a 2 attack multiattack at a +5 or +6 bonus to hit (and now thats not even considered magical attacks, you can make them radiant though but that's all) the warrior is likely to have +4 or +5 just from his ability modifier another +3 from proficiency and maybe +1 from a magical weapon. So at least +8 or +9 total and from there it gets worse in general unless you count being a sponge the epitome of shapeshifting . I guess this might have been something they tried to address with the templates, but just gave up on due to time and just threw in the temporary HP as a fix for the unlimited shifting of lvl 20 druids. Then you come to the absurd rules for gear, a magical armour can fit a tiny goblin as well as a Fire giant but not a wildshaped druid gorilla. I understand that having all normal magical items carry over to wildshape forms would be to good, but if you have 0 normal magical items you end up like in BG3 where you got to make class and even subclass specific items to even hand out some loot to the druid as well(guess it was worst for moon druid). I guess what I am trying so say is that if both coolness and power comes from getting increased CR forms to change into, they better give both cool abilities and some power not just +1 to attack and +1 damage or at least benefit from some gear.
Regarding how the druid now retains their own HP when they wild shape, that reall helps when taking an infiltrating beast shape, such as a cat, rat, etc. Those forms would have less tham 4hp, and then the druid is a person again.
Now enemies will be confused. "That is one strong rat"
“How the hell is that rat still running around with so many arrows sticking out of it?”
Gotta remember that Hit Points are not necessarily blood points - they would more aptly be named Avoid Lethal Hit Points. They represent your ability to overcome danger that would otherwise have demoralized/incapacitated/slain someone less driven, less coordinated and less well trained.
The rat doesn't have "so many arrows sticking out of it", the arrows were jumped over, weaved between, got caught by seeming chance on other objects and when most regular rats would have hesitated under all the threat, doubled back and been caught by one of these attacks, you kept moving with your eyes on the prize and were exactly where you needed to be to escape.
So the enemies wouldn't say "We are looking for a rat with four longbow arrows embedded in it skull." they would say "We just tried to shoot this rat and it jumped on a dinner plate, so our arrow ricocheted off." and the response any reasonable person would have is "Thats crazy. Did you get a video? Ninja rat would go viral on tiktok."
@@DesmondDentresti yeah but 1. Most people don’t play it that way. They describe wounds. And 2. It’s more funny 🤣
@@asherandai1000 The genre of the game is up to you, if you want a super sneaky spy druid, they exert themselves to avoid the arrows and no guards look into it further. If you want a rat surviving by pure toon logic, you can have them face tank fireballs as everyone around them burns to death.
"Sir, the fireball didn't do anything. The rat just used it to turn their cheese into a delicious melty dip!" :D
Behold the Killer Rabbit!
one concern i have with moon druids is their accuracy on their animal attacks. yeah sure, they can add lots of damage, but i have not heard anything from anyone about their to hit bonus increasing at all. which is quite important because even the higher CR Beasts can soemtimes have something like a +2 to hit. all those damage dice wont matter if you can never even scratch a 20 AC.
At least there’s a way to gain advantage with the bonus action teleport.
@@Cringycoot ive checked with those that have the book, and the rules say no such thing. There are no rukes for using your own proficincy for attack rolls. Only saving throws and ability checks.
Perhaps they'll go the 4e route and implement inherent bonuses so you don't have to beg for magic items.
@@guardiantree8879 but if everything has advantage now, nothing really has advantage.
I was wondering if there's going to be significantly more focus on the generalized options like with summons. Although we could get good surprises with the Monster Manual, since everything has advantage against enemy creatures (including the beasts) and everyone can do the unresisted thing or make things resistant not matter.
You forgot to mention that Druids can speak in Wild Shape now, that's great for social encounters! Also they don't benefit from any features from their species while Wildshaped which makes sense. They turn into another creature physically but not mentally.
This was baked into the Unearthed Arcana tests and we built our Druid using that setup. It’s super handy because she’s often in the form of a rat doing recon and can move from area to area while dropping information off with the rest of the party as she maximizes her exploration.
Good to hear that they're still able to talk in wildshape. That was one thing I really liked from the playtest.
And they have speak with animals always prepared
Ed the talking riding horse
That's what Telepathic/turning into animals capable of speech is for. Like Giant Elks or Giant Owls
I’m super excited for bonus action wild shape on all Druids now as it opens up so many movement and utility options in combat. You can cast a spell as an action, BA wild shape into a horse, mouse, bird, or fish (to name just a few) to move into an advantageous position, then next turn drop wild shape as a BA and cast another action spell.
That was one of the things that made me hesitant to run the class. Action economy on a MAD class was a challenge. Not impossible, but not ideal. So I always ranked my interest lower than other classes.
Yeah
You also can attack right after wildshaping
I love the Land Druid changes. It makes it so you really can play a nature magician and not feel like you made a bad choice of subclass.
Yeah, I really would have preferred the theme of a land druid having to attune to the land they are on, though.
This is unfortunately too finicky/unreliable to work in actual play.
The land druid was never a bad option it just wasn't nearly as good the moon Druid which was broken
I would have liked the elemental forms to go to the land Druid. You get one of them per long rest, depending on which land you chose. Would be interesting, in my opinion.
@@matthewhamilton2480 Neat idea! Yes; extra pets added to the "pets known list" would have been a nice way to make subclasses stand out.
Agreed. Land Druids didn't have it as mechanically bad as Rangers, but the fixed terrain still reminded me of the idea that Favored Enemy/Natural Explorer weren't really specializations, but more of a "pick the enemy/terrain types where you _stop_ being a Ranger" deal. With maybe a side dish of "how does this distinguish me from any other Druid that just...picks the same spells?"
This way, though, it really feels like you're a Druid of the _land_ . Go someplace new, use a long rest to familiarize yourself and attune with the spirits of nature, and you now have mechanics and flavor different from those Druids who get their power from animals, or the sea, or the stars, or fire, etc.
I like that they put Unarmored Defense on the Moon Druid. The King Fu Panda Druid/Monk build was a bit silly, and the Moon Druid now gets its main benefit by default.
Not sure why, but for the longest time I thought all druids had a wis + dex unarmored defense.
The Spores Druid got a BIG buff with this update.
I won’t get knocked out of SE, because we no longer get knocked out of our shapes when Temp HP gets lost.
That’s good.
But you do get knocked out if you are incapacitated, beware of those creatures that can grapple and auto incapacitate. I agree, I still think it's a buff but definitely something to be aware of.
Symbiotic Entity does specifically state that it lasts for 10 minutes or when your temporary hit points are reduced. You expend a use of Wild Shape to use SE. The 'not being knocked out of wild shape when the temp hp is gone' only applies to shapeshifting into different beasts. It won't apply to the Starry form of Star druids or the Symbiotic Entity of Spore druids. It's not too bad since SE gives you temp hp equal to 4x your druid level.
Theya re still massively buffed though, imagine adding the conjure elemental damage alongside the extra necrotic damage that SE gives you.
All that lives, also decays. We will show our enemies this (much to our friends horror as well... probably)!
I think you can now use a second Wildshape without ending the first.
If so, you could have a Wildshape form and Symbiotic Entity going at the same time...
@@slaplapdog Just remember that temp hit points don't stack.
I must say I love the commitment to the class specific puns in these videos
Positively Herculean effort on getting all this info out to us, guys! You remind me of a newspaper room after some world altering news break!
I'm also fairly certain this is the first ever intro slip out of all your videos and it was actually so cute love it ❤
I'm excited to find a Selune themed multiclass. Maybe Moon Druid and Life Domain Cleric. With these new changes, I am looking to shake some things up and have some fun.
Although the Sun is a star, it would be nice to actualyl have a solar druid
Ooo, what if it was Celestial themed? Like a Sorcerer's Divine Soul or a Warlock's Celestial Patron. What if you could use your Wild Shape to instead take on a Celestial form, shedding radiant light like the sun and dealing radiant damage, and later on at lvl 14 you could Wild Shape into certain Celestial creatures, like a pegasus, cuoatl, or unicorn?
I think you can come up with a circle of stars Druid that can fit that theme with starry wisp, guiding bolt, sunbeam, moonbeam (or maybe flaming sphere instead as a mini sun?). I think you can get pretty close as a radiant caster. That’s the class I want to play tbh
@andrewdowns3673 I could see a Shinto-inspired Druid that is all about interactions with celestials, fiends, fey, and spectral undead. As a Wild Shape alterative, they could capture and subsequently summon creatures of those types.
Unfortunately, someone at WotC would probably cry 'cultural appropriation' at that. 😮💨
Yeah there are quite a few "sun" themed spells, especially now that Daylight counts as sunlight
Make it light & plant themed, as plants are closely connected to the sun. It gives them life.
I do love that you can turn spell slots into more wildshapes at level 5. Makes that scene in the D&D movie actually possible.
I was bummed that Tempest Cleric didn’t return in 2024, but now seeing the Circle of the Seas, it makes sense. Definitely want to give it a shot!
Plus you can always use that domain or any other from 2014, Tasha’s, and Xanathar’s with the new play rules. Our Circle of Wildfire has no intention of retiring and starting over. 👍
I’m the druid at the table and mostly the support of the group. As the rest of the group is really combat focus I mostly use wild shape for roleplay situation. My favorite moment as a player was when I transformed into a random camel, cat or seal.
My MJ decide to ignore the limitation because the old wildshape didn’t caused us any problem
You're right, it is odd that Stars druid doesn't get an expanded spell list...I wonder if I can get my DM to allow me to have one...
Stary whisp, guidance, guiding bolt, magic missile, bless? Not sure what else lol.
I actually talked with my DM about a stars druid I'm playing and we're currently working on narrowing it down. So far the options we have are:
●1st level: Magnify Gravity, Guiding Bolt
●2nd level: Augury, Moonbeam, Vortex Warp, Borrowed Knowledge
●3rd level: Beacon of Hope, Melfs minute meteors, Globe of Twilight(Humblewood spell)
●4th level:Divination, Stellar Bodies(Humblewood Spell)
●5th level: Dawn, Dream, Far Step, Hallow, Summon Celestial, Wall of Light
We haven't quite narrowed them down yet, but these are all potentially thematic Stars Druid spells. Hope they help give you ideas!😁
@@coltonhorton4225 thank you! I was thinking divination and cleric spells would be best fitting someone getting signs and powers from the heavens!
@@coltonhorton4225Starry whisp as a cantrip too unless they already get it. But excellent list. I would say Bless also seems kinda fitting.
@Silverythoughts haha, same here as well. My stars druid is very much an astrologer dividing celestial knowledge from the stars type of character, and I feel like a lot of the divination spells really lean into that.
With Augury, Borrowed knowledge, Divination, it really feels like you're able to divine the future/past from the stars.
Beacon of Hope, Dawn, Summon Celestial, Hallow(not Halloween)all give a divine celestial cleric vibe which feels appropriate.
Magnify Gravity, Globe of Twilight, Stellar Bodies are all very literally thematic and aren't on the Druid spell list already, which is a huge plus.
Also, Magnify Gravity, Vortex Warp, and Stellar Bodiea are all non-concentration, which is great on a druid.
I'm honestly having trouble deciding which spells to take off the list, lol
Sad to hear about the change to Conjure Animals. From a game play perspective I understand how it could be problematic, but I'm never going to forget the first time my Shepherd Druid cast it to summon 8 horses so the party could GTFO rather than take the TPK. Sad to see the utility of the various Conjure spells reduced to Damage or Damage + Debuff.
Completely ripped the heart and soul out of Conjure Animals.
@brianjohnson3795 same
There's nothing stopping you from continuing to use the 2014 conjure animals, even while playing a 2024 druid.
@@steven_r33d I wont play the new Druid. I can't stand what they did to the Druid class. They completely destroyed it. I would only add a few pieces from the new Druids to the previous Druids. The rest goes straight into the trash can 🗑️.
Changing the role of the Moon druid from a tank to a damage dealer is pretty radical. I mean, that was kind of the point of playing one. If you want a damage dealer, everyone can do it. Having those extra pools of HP was the unique feature, and it kind of balanced out with the low AC of the animal shapes. I can't see temp HP doing a similar job despite of the AC increase, as 18 isn't really all that much - you could easily build a character with 20 and above on low levels with other classes.
It's also sad to see the summons go. Yeah, they were bananas. That's kind of the point of playing D&D. Immersing in the fantasy of doing epic stuff. I'd rather see other aspects of the game ramped up as means to balance it rather than everything getting brought down to reason. If I want reasonable, I have my daily life for that.
Don't forget you can very easily and quite cheaply replenish those temp hp by just casting another wild shape (up to 4 times per combat I believe?) Combined with solid ac (previously you had like 13-16 top) it actually retains quite a lot of the beefiness, without being absolutely broken.
Yeah, but previously you replenished a whole new pool if hit points. A brown bear is a common choice available at level 2 and boasting more than 30 HP. Per wild shape cast. Sure its AC is abysmal, but it still makes a solid tank with decent damage output, especially very early.
@@alexsavchovsky7282 decent? It's actually overpowered beyond believe and any lvl2 druid would absolutely wipe the floor with 2-3 full martials. That's why it needed change
I'm not arguing that. But they radically changed its role in combat. Which is what I'm questioning.
@@alexsavchovsky7282 yeah they did, and I really think it's for the better. Being unkillable at lower levels, while also not doing much of anything else is questionable design. Now with more balanced approach to tankiness (your temp hp are still unparalled among other classes, at level 10 you get 30temp hp for level 1 spellslot basically!), you still have a pretty good base hp (and can add tough aswell) and decent ac (and actually very decent saves) , but you can now talk, cast spells (so heals, more damage, more battlefield control), you are more mobile (finally teleport!) and you deal significantly more damage (even if beast are unchanged, but if we get more and better forms, it's even better). It's net positive buff and it manages to solve the great unbalance at lower levels.
I didnt use conjure animals to do damage, i used conjure animals because i liked throwing wolves at my problems and then petting the wolves!
RAW in the current 5E states they can change into any animal they’ve seen before. I run this as at level 1 any animal that makes sense for their background is fair game as long as they meet the CR requirements. I also tell the pc that they need to let me know if they want to “look” for any specific animals going forward, and to keep track of all new animals they see. When I have a Druid pc I will make mention of animals when I give descriptions of the players environments with animals that would reasonably inhabit that environment.
Yeah the restriction seems like a weird choice. Probably my only criticism of the updates. Unnecessary and really antithetical to the theme. I'd love to see a player keeping a log of the animals they've seen. Throw in great descriptions like you're talking about and someone could be an in game David Attenborough!
@@shawnmayo8210 Yes! I need to start doing a crappy David Attenborough impression when doing descriptions that involve animals. I can see that going one of two ways: incredibly hilarious, or terribly bad. Either way it’s worth a shot!
Yes. I have them only pick a couple, and then as I go, they get others.
Yeah, I actually think that they should have just given druids a list of creatures.
The fact that new adventures/settings have beasts that just get added to DND beyond makes this too hard to balance without DM bargaining.
This could have also allowed subclasses to gain additional specific forms.
@@broomemike1 I sort of like that they pick a specified number, but I'm not really open to limiting to a number. Like wizards and their spellbooks, the option to explore and add animals is very thematic and fun for RP.
I want to play a Sea Druid who is a beach lifeguard. His Arcane focus is a puka shell and shark tooth necklace
Surfer-Dude Sea Druid is definitely on my to-play list.
Lol. I did something like this with a Stars druid a while back. I took inspiration from Maui from Disney's "Moana": my druid was a seafaring shapechanger that navigated by the stars😅
Oh hell yeah
Playing a Coastal Land Druid in 5e for almost 2 years now. It's been super fun RP
I don't think the number of forms is nearly as restrictive as it looks. Let's be real, no druid actually turns into more than 4 types of animals through the course of a campaign. It's always one hitter, one stealth, one to fly and one to swim.
Exactly. We think in play it’s going to be a non issue.
Our Circle of Wildfire Druid is a spider 75% of the time as it is.
Yeah especially when you get more than 4 over time. It’s fine. It works. Just have some note cards. You don’t need to have the books all the time now, yay.
It’s me, I’m the no Druid.
I’m devastated.
Yeah. I'm a really diehard Druid main, and I don't have an issue with how it rounded out. I'm gonna miss the entire second pool of HP lol but the number of forms is big enough for me to have a signature form for each type of situation that I'm likely to find myself in.
Starry wisp is honestly what I'm most excited about finally my Stars Druid gets a main action attack when I've burned through all my guiding bolts 😅
Also good to note that Barkskin got massively buffed: it now sets your AC to 17 minimum rather than 16, takes a bonus action to cast, and most importantly, no longer requires concentration (duration is still 1hr too)!
That makes it a great defensive buff for Druids who picked the caster option at Primal Order (and don’t have other AC boosting features like Moon Druid), for those whose armor isn’t up to par yet, or for those who still want to stick to the “druid shall not wear metal” trope for rp reasons
What I think is really funny about the Temporary hit points thing is, while beefier beasts are nerfed, the small little creatures are seriously buffed. Some guard is going to swat a fly, and then fly is going to shake it off and keep going. Druids are turning into some buff rats lol.
Imagine you pet a stray cat but then it scratches you & does 2d10 plus 2d8 damage lol.
@@guardiantree8879Nick Fury would like a word
@@asherandai1000Shoot I shouldn’t have said anything lol.
I knew something was up at the beginning when the names were missing. 😂 Loving these intros, Druid Dudes!
nice review, once again! i was worried during the opening few seconds, and then immediately i loved what you were doing 🥰
Wow . This is the earliest I have ever been. RUclips said the video was posted 59 seconds ago. Woohoo no waiting.
Biggest issue for moon druid is proficiency bonus for attack, which is taken from the beast form. All the damage buffs in the world don't matter if you can't hit. Also need to see if there are beasts with >2 attacks/turn to synergize with the melee attack damage buff spells. CME will be likely nerfed (to 1/turn) or banned by any rational DM. Font of moonlight is a reasonable alternative.
Yes, we are blessed this week with all these videos. Thanks a lot.
Play all 2014 rules, or play all 2024 rules, or play a mish-mash of both. Discuss what you all want with your DM... I'm pretty sure most will accommodate the things you want to do, or at least have some reasonable compromise, between. The D&D police don't exist... play whatever and however you all agree to play.
We have lawyers, but not police?
@@stevenclark1662 Rules lawyers have no authority, unless you acquiesce to their whining; that's why I said to "play as you all agree" but play however you wish.
@@MarkLewis... unless your DM is the rules lawyer haha
@@williambradford6575 Lol. But seriously, if it's 1 thing I've noticed over my many years... D&D players who are "rules lawyers" have always come from very dysfunctional and abusive families. They need our understanding that they don't need to control everything because they're being controlled (in the real world) and is all they know. D&D is an escape for them too, but seemingly to the reverse. Sure, their "fantasy" is friendship and a form of love too, but more so, is order, law and justice from the chaos IRL. However, they don't know how and tend to act like their abusers. If you can... be the stability they desperately need... most come around.
So are Sheppard Druids just dead nowM
3:03 TY Kelly, I was thinking the same thing ❤.
I feel like this also adds some sort of fun to choose your Wildshapes and look forward to and it also feels a lot more personalized. Your druid is going to be much more unique going forward.
HELL yeah dudes, glad i got here today
as a DM for one of my druid players I always had to go through my box of beast mini's to accommodate their wildshape, really glad they've reined that in and you get a preferred group.
I’m excited to play my first Rogue. But Druid sounds great too
Honestly, with the wild shape change (particularly taking away the extra health pool), I think this would have been the perfect time to do something like the UA follower system, but with bonuses for shapes.
Give a table with beast form damage die, give wild shape multiattack at a reasonable level, and give a few different animal abilities to augment your shape-shifting. Stuff like Pounce for a cat-like form, a pushback effect like you get with repelling blast for bear, extra movement for bird forms. Stuff like that.
The aversion to metal arms and armor is legacy from 1st and 2nd edition. 3rd relaxed it somewhat.
It was a part of the druid flavoring then. The main exclusion was use of a scimitar with a specific nature deity in Faerun in 3rd.
Just so you know, the “no metal armor or shields” is on pg. 65 of the old PHB in the Proficiencies section.
The next campaign my group is looking to run is a game that takes place in middle earth. I was looking for the updated druid because the character idea I'm looking to play is a character who was raised by the ents. I think the only subclass I could pick in that case is circle of the land, and I'm happy with the updates it has received :)
I want to be a druid dude too. lol I can't believe this was the next video. Such a treat to wake up and see this video posted. :o) I'm so sad Wotc killed off the conjuration spells, I appreciate the 'horror' stories but if you speak to your DM it's really not disruptive and it was the druids poster boy spell for utility......... Need to cross this fast flowing river, conjure up some crocs for the party to hang on to, need to descend a dark cavern, conjure a couple of spiders to weave a sticky web rope for us, need to get over a chasm, conjure eagles and fly over. They could have easily fixed the disruptive nature of the spell by just changing it to say you can summon 1x cr2 or 2x cr1 and below.
I'm playing my first Druid now, and only planned on really using 6 forms. Rat, Cat, [fish], Croc, Black Bear, Warhorse and then planning like 1-2 flying forms at the appropriate level when I get there (still only level 4). Agreed that the new "limitation" on that doesn't feel like a big deal. Really looking forward to the Elemental Fury bonuses while playing a Land caster Druid, though. The shame for me is that while the increased wild shape damage is cool. The only reason I've ever used Wild Shape was to help with tanking and using those 19 hit points from my new form to literally survive compared to already having spell slots to do damage.
Can't wait for the elemental fury thingy and more wildshape slot for my wildfire druid. More fire damage/healing potent and more flexibility between actually wildshaping or use the wildshape to summon wildfire spirit
It will never happen but with the limiting of wildshape forms to certain circles I do think that to replace the Wildshape HP nerf they should have finally opened up wildshape to Monster and Aberation forms
Yes you spend your life being in tune with nature, Now at level 15+ you know how to bend nature without breaking it
I think they're in a better place, but we still need the subclasses to get more love so Moon doesn't continue to dominate the picks so hard. Spores in particular I'd really love to see get more options to enhance their melee capabilities with that necrotic damage they get, allowing them to remain in their normal form and be a tanky but dangerous melee combatant with their spellcasting still intact.
Ive had a character named Vutha who is a lizardfolk druid who was supposed to be tribal warrior shaman style. I love that melee is now an option so I don't have to pose like I'm melee but still only use wild shape to fight lol.
You dropped the ball on that intro, "shape-shifting things around"😂😂😂 JK. Love your vids as always.
They very much took after BG3 in that they removed a lot of the bookkeeping and excessively broken features/spells of the past. Now the class looks more fun to play on both sides of the table despite receiving some hard nerfs. Only thing I wish is that we got an upgraded Owlbear that we could turn into at later levels, or just more specialty forms in general.
I think we might see a Druid in future books who can take on Wild Shape forms of monstrosities. Unless they change the creature type of an owlbear to Beast. We'll see next year.
I like the idea of a specialty form. You can choose one specific form that your charecter favorite and it gets a little better than normal.
@@LycanDreams9159 Yes but that would require a template stat block. They went away from those in the Playtest so I'm not sure but we could see this concept in future Druid subclasses. Unless the designers also keep the CR's, amount and scaling of monstrosities in mind in the 2025 MM but I doubt it.
they consulted with Larian when they were making the game. That's why we got an early preview of the Wildheart Barbarian and weapon masteries in the game
Moon druid was absolutely broken. The only way to challenge a moon druid was to throw so much damage at a party that if anyone else in the party go hit, they were dead. So as a DM, you either had to just let the moon druid win or put everyone else in the party in mortal risk every fight.
Bombing run build: get cleric so you can have Spirit Guardians. Druid so you can wild shape into an owl, which doesn't draw attacks of opportunity. Fly around the battlefield bombing everything with 3d10 every turn.
Apparently you don’t need to multi class into cleric for that. They mentioned a Druid spell that works very similar to spirit guardians.
@@asherandai1000 O goody. The Owl Druid breaks the game before itis actually published.
I think I recall hearing from the 2024 cleric video that enemies now take damage from Spirit guardians at the END of their turn. Therefore this build has gotten major nerfed
@@benjaminstrate6808 Nerfing this would be good, tbh
@@benjaminstrate6808Actually for this build in particular, it's been buffed.
Spirit Guardians, and other emination spells like it, now deal damage when the *emination enters a creatures space.*
Meaning you can run around the battle field, and every enemy you pass takes the damage.
But also yes, it also now does the damage at the end of their turn, instead of the start.
Great video. I would love to see a hilarious moon druid ratatouille/ healer for your Frontline combatant. Hmm I wonder if spider in pouch would trigger sneak attack. 🤔
As a major druid player…. Im really excited to see this. I love the old mechanics… but playing new mechanics will make it feel fresh. Also as they mentioned… it’ll make or break on whether the monster manual provides more CR 3 & 4 beasts.
The fighter druid multiclassing potential is now crazy!!🤯
Land sounds like my favourite! I love a good versatile spellcaster.
I think the change from a tanky Moon druid to a mighty Damage Dealer is also a nice choice... (I hope we get a CR5+ flying terradacyl).
D&D has an issue with "HP bloat" at higher levels. I feel like reducing HP while increasing the Druid's Wildshape AC and damage output makes for a more exciting game personally.
Armor of Agathys was changed to "The spell ends early if you have no Temporary Hit Points." Now that Wildshape gives you a big chunk of temp HP, a warlock dip might be really good for moon druid.
Do Temp HP stack in 5.5e? Or are you saying wild shape to replace the lost temp HP and keep Armor of Agathys
@@jlhitz35 It replaces the temp HP.
That actually sounds very cool. The ultimate Spikes build: Fire Shield + Lunar Form + Armor of Agathys + WS
@@jlhitz35 The key change is that Armor of Agathys no longer says "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have **these** hit points..." but "The spell ends early if you have **no** Temporary Hit Points. So when you get low on Temp HP, if you can get more (by swapping, not stacking) from any other source, you can keep it active, potentially all the way up to the hour duration. (Especially in the case of Polymorph, which does give you Temp HP equal to the beast's HP.)
As someone who’s making a 2024 Druid for an upcoming game, something else I wanted to call out is that they redid a lot of the Beast Stat blocks in the back of the new book too! Some new interesting tweaks and reworks to the beasts.
I think these are great changes overall. The moon druid really was pretty busted, even into the later levels regardless of how limited the beasts are. Because at a certain point you could just keep wildshaping again and you have another pool of HP.
The fact that it’s mostly reliant on the druids own HP now is actually a MASSIVE change to how the typical Druid will be built. Before I would always see people building Druid’s even just treat constitution as a dump stat almost - because they were just gonna be a moon druid wildshaping all the time anyway so they would always have tons of extra hp to rely on. Now that isn’t the case, so I think we’re going to see the Constitution become the second primary stat of the Druids, especially for Moon Druids.
So it’s a huge nerf to the wild shape survivability, but I think it’s a good balance.
And I like the 4-8 limit on wild shape forms. Makes it much less to manage for the player, and it makes it much easier on the DM for not having to account for the player being able to just whip out any animal imaginable. I’ve always sort of put a limit on it anyway in my own game, and just gave them a smaller list of stuff they could use. But it’s nice to see that be standardized.
The land druid being able to change land types is a huge buff, one that I think opens up so much capability for the subclass, and loads more appeal to playing one.
I’m disappointed to see the wildfire Druid gone, but I’m sure there’s a way to adapt Land or Stars to fit that style.
Circle of the Moon has other, innate damage potential as well. While Conjure Minor Elementals scales higher I think, Moon Druids always have Font of Moonlight prepared now (I cannot remember if that scales up), which also does bonus radiant damage, gives you radiant resistance, and can blind enemies that attack you. Very solid when combined with Primal Attacks and the moon druid's own innate damage increase.
Sooo a level 7 stars druid with the weapon mastery feat can use two scimitars and the archer constellation to deal CME damage 3 times per turn 👀
I think land druids natural recovery feature got a little glossed over. It also now lets them cast one of their circle spells without using a spell slot. Gives them another cast of their high-level spells and still lets them cast a leveled spell with their bonus action.
I am very glad they found a way to keep the special features of the creatures you wild shape into. The template in the ua just lacked what makes wildshape so special. I will miss the hp pool but ill take the damage. It will make the forms more viable in combat.
The temp HP you get should have been equal to the creature you turn into stat block
I really like the new Moon Druid because it feels more like a striker than a tank now, like I wanted to do more with my beast shapes than just be a sack of hit points. Well done.
If you use dnd beyond for your r character sheet, you can go to exras wild shape and add your forms and is has the stat block there and you can roll from it also. It stays there unless you delete it
I think what would fix it for me, is letting the moon druid burn higher then lv 1 spell slots for more temp hp on a wild shape. maybe spell level x druid level when burning a 4th or higher. as is it's just not tanky enough to do anything without dying
I think the new moon druid will makes players looking at "weaker" shapes now, shapeshift into an ape sounds amazing for example 13+WIS AC + more HP + two hands and a medium size that would let the use of weapons and armor (and let's call our character Cesar too).
So glad about the hp changes to wild shape!!🎉
As a DM I’m so happy that my Druid players will have to look up the beasts beforehand at some point. It was always a slog whenever the druid took like 10 minutes to pick if a spider, rat or squirrel is a better choice.
I'm still going to be using the homebrew Form Templates Treantmonk posted in a video years ago 🤷
Wow my favorite class, on my birthday
That's crazy
Shillelagh, truestrike, elemental fury, conjure minor elementals
At level 20 using a 9th level spell slot for minor elementals you can deal 80+ average damage per round with a friggin stick off the ground.
20:07 "They (circle of stars) didn't get an expanded spell list, which sticks out like a sore thumb" That relates to my main issue with the druid changes: the decrease in number of prepared spells (lower than the wizard's, but the same as the cleric's). Clerics might get Domain Spells, but Dreams, Shepherd and Stars druids don't get Circle Spells (so that feels like an unnecessary nerf). It feels they did that in order to consolidate the wizard as the "ultimate spellcaster" (with the highest number of prepared spells), but wizards already have more "castable" spells than any other class because of their ritual spellcasting (which allows them to cast ritual spells they haven't prepared).
@@pedrostormrage but Wizards also have no other class features aside from subclass features and attribute bumps between like levels 4 and 17.
@@smilerat8070 It might look that way (and wizards probably got the least number of improvements), but the new Savant features are a considerable improvement since they now give you guaranteed spells whenever you unlock a new level of spell slots (making wizard builds is now easier than ever - for spellcasters, having more spells means having more features). I'm fine leaving the wizards where they're at, but I just don't see the point of putting clerics and druids down to bring wizards up (they're up there already, and probably still remain the most powerful class).
I was not saying to bring anything down, actually the opposite. I was just saying that Wizards do not get anything outside of subclass features. I would take ribbons to be honest.
In regards to savant, it helps in games where the DM does not give scrolls, but that is it. I like it, I think it is a good change... but Wizard lost most of their subclasses, just like Cleric, and didn't really get anything at all in exchange. They fixed up Illusion, but that is really it, other than that they lost Transmutation, Conjuration, Necromancy, etc. ...
In my personal opinion, wizards are not the most powerful class, they are the most readily versatile. Anything a wizard can do, another class can do better. Hell, even just picking up the ritual feat can cover a good chunk of what makes a wizard special, with a few exceptions like Tiny Hut and Gentle Repose. The wizards main gimmick is that they have a big list and can swap out what is and is not prepared off of that list for the occasion.
The outtakes are awesome 💯
I'm so hyped for moon/land druid. Depending on my other players I'm happy to play either.
With the more limited number of forms it could have been cool to see the Land Druid get a terrain specific form in addition, so they can traverse or blend into a place easier/better. A scorpion for the arid, or some such.
The last time I was this early Corona was still just a beer
Last time me that early, Corona still just outer part of great sun god in sky... but that when me and Mrs. Neanderthal lived in caves and painted great buffalo and sabretooths on cave-walls with berry juice.
I keep hearing people say that the druid is less tanky, but the fact that they keep their own hit points makes the beast form itself much tougher as you level up.
True, Tough as an Origin feat might look really good on a Druid now, especially if they want to go melee or play the warrior type.
Except it doesn't because the beast for always had essentially the same HP as your druid form. Just you used to get all of that as bonus HP, now you get 3*level temporary hit points. Plus they got rid of Elemental forms that gave you damage resistances on top of the bonus HP. The change they made to make your WS for more tanky was the change to your WSed AC. But that is by design, people complained about Moon Druid being too tanky, so now it is less tanky.
This is a good point. Now less tanky animal forms like wolf, giant spider and etc has more health before you get knocked out of the form
Isn't it just far more tanky by like 5th level? 15 temp hp and 11 ways to cast wildshape(12 if they have 3 naturally by then) with spell slots. Like 165 or 180 extra hp. I am assuming free action to drop and bonus action to cast. Still using actions every turn to attack unless the wildshape spellslot conversion is an action itself. If this is the case it's a nutty like 30hp x 18ish cast at 10th level. On top of that an 17 or 18 AC by a reasonable level
@@agilemind6241 I think my only criticism of the temp HP thing is that you now can't give your Druid friend temp HP on top of their beast's HP.
I really hoped the Owlbear would be added as an option for moon druids. It would be cool to have the ability to transform in something that is not exactly a beast but that resemble one (or more). That would require a list a non-beast monsters the moon druid can use.
Considering we didn't get anything about it in the phb, I hope that at least the Owlbear is converted into a beast in the new Monster Manual.
Hey guys. Love your content! Can you let me know if Druids in Wild Shape benefit from species traits. For example does a Gnome Druid benefit from Gnomish Cunning while Wild Shaped.
Buff druids by putting more/ stronger beasts in the Monster Manual
I can't wait for Colby to prove that martial druids are, like martial warlocks, better than martials 😂
The Druid Dudes. New spin off channel!
Love more then 1 video again
I don't think we can really judge the relative power of the Circle of the Moon until we see the Monster Manual. (I think it sucks that players will still be choosing forms from multiple books.)
Land and Sea both look really good, and Stars is still solid. I'm interested in playing Druid for the first time in decades. To be fair, the Wildfire Druid was mildly tempting, but the tweaks to the base class put the new Land and Sea Druids over the top, for me.
Kelly's little "oh my" sent me lol
I almost always DM, but recently I've been getting to play - so I'm going through a hit list of all the classes I haven't gotten to play. I LOVE the 2024 druid, but the 2014 Druid doesn't read or play how I want.
16:15 I feel like Shepherd flat out can not work anymore, all the spells it relied on have been changed to no longer benefit (Conjuring beasts/fey is necessary for 3/5 of it's features, you just get totems and speech of the woods )
If they update it to work with the new conjuring it'll be the Wolfbeam AOE blaster.
You’re correct it definitely does not work with the 2024 Druid. There are some decent homebrew fixes for that already running around which is nice to see. I’d guess if they bring it back officially in a later book it’ll work with the summon spells and buffing those instead of relying on the new conjure spells.
I like the fact that I can get utility out of my wildshape without without having to put on the fursuit. Finally I get to play a nature-themed spellcaster without being pigeonholed into being a furry.
If they keep moon druid shapes viable to lvl 20 that would be the best class for me to play everytime. Thanks for the video
I don't know about y'all, but I'm planning on doing a Polearm Master Shillelagh druid using a quarterstaff with that nice elemental damage combined with Fount of Moonlight.
Thanks Druid Dudes!
Still early into the video but I heard hallowed and druids have a nice new interaction
Rogue - "I may only hit once, but I need a handfull of dice! Hey, Druid! What do you have there?"
Druid - "Hold my mistletoe."
*Casts Conjure Minor Elementals + Mulltiattack Wileshape Form*
I think people consistently confused the text in 5th edition about druids not wearing metal armor. It doesn't they cannot wear metal armor. It says they choose not to which in my opinion can be roleplayed to still choose to metal armor. I like the thought of a rebellious druid choosing to go against it. It doesn't say it affects their connection to nature.
I've been pretty critical of the updates. I think many of the classes didn't get treated well. It stays firmly in it's lane with the subclasses bringing the alternative or bonus features, as it should. I think I'm actually excited to play a Druid now. Not that I wouldn't before, I just simply wasn't ranking the class nearly as high. I always felt like it was a little MAD and some themes were cool as one shot ideas. I'd also like to see what beast options there are. It was always a detractor (and nobody tell me I can't be an Owlbear, the movie is cannon!). This is one of the classes that got the better updates. Nothing too OP, nothing that didn't feel like a change not worth trying. I am a bit curious about how hurtful the incapacitated is going to be. Hold Person is going to be a nasty BBEG go to now. Let's see how this shakes out...
You are right. All recent dnd media use owlbear as beast, both movie and bg3. I really think it's gonna happen.
As for the incapacitate: I am not too worried, you can now WS multiple times per combat as you get more WS AND you can spend spellslots to wildshape... So just use it again!
except you can't because you're incapacitated... I'd have to play it out to see how it feels, but it feels more cumbersome than useful. Let's hope I'm wrong on that one.
@@shawnmayo8210 well that the case for every class tho, incapacitate is strongest condition in the game right after dead. But right as it ends, you just WS, get your temp hp back and smack again
Which apparently isn't happening, which is why this is being done as a rule now? Still an unnecessary odd choice.
You already keep your feats when wildshaped. Feats are class features. They're in the class progression charts.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you retain your class features while Wild Shaped. So, in theory you can use a Bonus Action while in a Beast form to use the Wild Shape feature again to "assume a form" (with the language used "when you assume a Wild Shape form...") and therefore be granted Temp HP again. Later this would also be compounded with being able to exchange a spell slot for a use of Wild Shape for more potential Bonus Action Temp HP, even more so for the Moon Druid.
Also under the new Wild Shape text, "You stay in that form... or until you use Wild Shape again." reinforcing that you can use Wild Shape while shaped. I believe you exit that specific form (enphasised by the words "that form" not that that you revert back) when you use Wild Shape a second time and assume a new form. I think you could also do this in 2014 also, from what I've read (source Mike Mearls).
This is also very reminicient of the old ability that allowed Moon Druids to burn a spell slot to heal themselves. Now you can, essentially, burn a Wild Shape/Spell Slot to make a "new body" worth Druid level Temp HP (or 3 times that for Moon) for a Bonus Action. Up to 60 Temp HP per turn for a 1st level slot seems quite nice to me
Again, I have not fact checked this, only taken what I've read and interpreted.
Honestly there are generally only 3 shapes at a given level that make sense to wild shape into. Combat, movement, and stealth. If you really want to plan for everything you might add a water combat, an air combat, and a stealth combat. Maybe air stealth/exploration and water movement. But honestly some of these are going to overlap.
Im so unbelievably upset that they took fireball awat from circle of wildfire from the ua to the book then they add fireball to land
Now I wanna play a werebear moon druid! Still no idea what that Sea circle is about tho
I love the fantasy of playing a moon druid ripping things apart in animal forms. But whenever I look into playing one, I am confused by the strange power curve the class has. At lvl 3 you get multiattack from brown bear, that pretty early and powerful compared to a lvl 3 fighter. But up that to lvl 6 and druid is still making a 2 attack multiattack at a +5 or +6 bonus to hit (and now thats not even considered magical attacks, you can make them radiant though but that's all) the warrior is likely to have +4 or +5 just from his ability modifier another +3 from proficiency and maybe +1 from a magical weapon. So at least +8 or +9 total and from there it gets worse in general unless you count being a sponge the epitome of shapeshifting . I guess this might have been something they tried to address with the templates, but just gave up on due to time and just threw in the temporary HP as a fix for the unlimited shifting of lvl 20 druids.
Then you come to the absurd rules for gear, a magical armour can fit a tiny goblin as well as a Fire giant but not a wildshaped druid gorilla. I understand that having all normal magical items carry over to wildshape forms would be to good, but if you have 0 normal magical items you end up like in BG3 where you got to make class and even subclass specific items to even hand out some loot to the druid as well(guess it was worst for moon druid).
I guess what I am trying so say is that if both coolness and power comes from getting increased CR forms to change into, they better give both cool abilities and some power not just +1 to attack and +1 damage or at least benefit from some gear.