First time playing druid and i kinda build a character that i ended up loving her. So, here it its.
She's a Satyr, stats (they were rolled) are: Lvl 5, Circle of Stars. Str: 9 Dex: 12 Con: 14 Int: 10 Wis: 20 Cha: 12
Here is the problem, for the sake of flavour, i chose with my DM to use Staff with my Star Stone wrapped at the point of the Staff, so i can use as starmap/druidic focus. Because of that, i cannot wear Shield, and by so, my AC is sitting at 12 only. (I just have Leather armor +1dex, sadly).
At lvl 4, i took the feat resilient con (wich turned my con from 13 to 14, and combos really well with dragonform).
I was thinking to take something like Feytouched at lvl 4 instead of resilient con, cause i would have at least misty step to teleport out of danger, but as my Wis was already capped, i tought it wasnt a good idea.
I'm sitting arround 38 HP (using natural progression from beyond), and my actual spell list is:
Lvl 0 - Produce Flame, Thornwip, Guidance (Star Druid) and Mold Earth; Lvl 1 - Absorb Elements, Entangle, Feary Fire, Guiding Bolt (Star Druid) and Healing Word; Lvl 2 - Lesser Restoration, Moonbeam, Pass without trace, Spike Growth; Lvl 3 - Aura of Vitality, Plant Growth;
Obs: Aura of Vitality was taken mostly to use out of combat, and i'm the only one who's capable to heal more or less.
At lvl 8, i was thinking to take spell snipe, fey touched and just "throw away the +1 in one ability, cause it would not round up any other stats jus for the sake of misty step, but this doesnt seem a good idea at all.
Party is composed by: almost full melee characters (mix of monks, melee warlocks, rogues, barbarian and bloodhunter and a Drakenwarden Ranger, tome of those melee have ranged options when needed)
I really dont wanna lose this character, so any tips are welcome.
You can swap out your leveled spells every long rest. You’re not limited to the spells that you have prepared now, Druids know every Druid spell and they can use a different list of spells every day.
Sometimes the most effective thing that a Druid can do, even though it’s boring, is cast an effective battlefield control spell that requires concentration and then wild shape into something that’s good at stealth and hide in order to keep the battlefield control spell up. Here are all of the concentration spells that you can pick from. Several of them are very effective!
1. I know about this, i just dont know how to effectively choose beetween them. I mean, i was on a sorcerer/wizz, i would probably know what to take, Druid just seems harder to me. Maybe i'm not creative enough.
2. That's a interesting idea, as a Star Druid, i'm most of the time using Starry form instead of wildshaping into a animal.
So, a star druid is a spell caster in the long run, and a good healer, on top of that they are good with maintaining spells such as call lightning, conjure animals, etc. You have to decide what style you want to go with the star druid, and how you wish to play them, because you have many options to go with here.
So, a star druid is a spell caster in the long run, and a good healer, on top of that they are good with maintaining spells such as call lightning, conjure animals, etc. You have to decide what style you want to go with the star druid, and how you wish to play them, because you have many options to go with here.
Hm.... I'm kinda supportive spellcaster mainly.
I cannot outheal in any way my DM damage, and we do not use "heal 1 hp and the down guy come back to life", i think we use de 4th edition rule of negative HP. So yeah, i'm able to heal pretty well out of combat and try to keep the frontline "at least well" with a bit of healing, but that's it.
We have plenty of damage at the party already, so i just blast wenever i feel i'm free to do it or when we need radiant damage (wich star druid have plenty).
Wow, I haven't looked at Circle of Stars druid before but looking now the features seem designed to necessitate not using a shield. I would talk to the DM about allowing you to use the hand holding your Star Map to perform the Somatic components for your Star Map granted spells. A shield is a really important part of a Druids AC and RAW you either have to choose between either giving up your subclass spells or not use a shield. At the very least though you should get some hide armor as quick as you can.
Also consider preparing Conjure Animals as it puts a lot of bodies on the field. That both helps prevent enemies from getting to you and forces them to attack something other than you. Between Dragon Starry Form and Resilient(Con) the enemy has no chance of breaking your concentration unless they do 28 or more points of damage.
I would try to work with your DM about using a shield. Even RAW you can do it using object interaction.
Your star map acts as a spell focus so you do not need a staff as well (or are you referring to a quarterstaff to weapon attacks (with Str 9 and no shillelagh you shouldn't be doing that)
At worst if you want to cast a spell with somantic (but not material) components you can bonaus action attack using archer starry form (if available) then use object intereaction to stow your star map then use your action to cast the spell. Next turn you use your object interaction to grab your star map either after casting another somantic spell or before if you need your focus. The only disadvantages of this are, 1) you can not use your object interaction for something else and 2) if you are using your staff as a weapon youmay miss out on op attacks but you are so bad at weapon attacks that is minor 3) If you are left holding your focus at the end of your turn you ar enot able to cast absorb elements (the only druid spell that requires a reaction)
To get round 3, you should be able to tie some cord round your star map and drop it at the end of each of your turns and then use object interaction to grab it on your turn when you need it. With my stars druid I agreed with the DM that somantic spells can be cast using a hand holding a spell focus as if simlifies things a lot and you don't spend half your turn explaining exactly when you drop and pick up your focus so you can do everything you want.
It definitely makes sense for you to stay back from the melee as much as you can. You are relatively squishy, easy to hit, and the only healer. As others have said, throwing up a concentration spell to start and staying out of the fray makes sense. Spike growth and Faerie Fire both are excellent choices, depending on the battlefield. Faerie Fire in particular is great for your rogue, who will likely get advantage (and thus Sneak Attack) without having to hide. The wall spells like Wind Wall could also be good choices.
Although I like Moonbeam and Call Lightning in most cases, for you it might make sense to rarely cast purely damage oriented spells - your other party members can handle DPR. But that doesn’t mean you can’t cast Guiding Bolt, which does great single target damage and gives advantage to the next attack. Other Druid spells with useful effects like Tidal Wave (which can knock enemies prone) are worth using if you can avoid hitting your allies.
I believe you should be able to hold a staff with one hand, especially if it only serves as a focus and not a weapon, and wear a shield with the other.
Maybe consider getting mobile or telekinetic to help in getting away from someone up close, mobile you have to attack them, telekinetic uses your bonus action to get separation before moving away. Or just ASI con or dex.
Hide armor also offers 1 more AC than leather and only costs 10gp.
Consider Spell Sniper. Give your cantrips better range and get a bonus one. But most importantly, you no longer get a penalty to hit when your allies are in melee with your ranged target (Half Cover). Applies to Starry Form: Archer ability too as this is a “ranged spell attack”.
This seems oft-overlooked, but to me is much more fundamental than the frequently debated free hand for S/S+M components.
Consider Spell Sniper. Give your cantrips better range and get a bonus one. But most importantly, you no longer get a penalty to hit when your allies are in melee with your ranged target (Half Cover). Applies to Starry Form: Archer ability too as this is a “ranged spell attack”.
This seems oft-overlooked, but to me is much more fundamental than the frequently debated free hand for S/S+M components.
This really depends on how the DM determines cover and the nature of the campaign. Many DMs will rule there is no cover a colleague is in front of the target but you are a little to the side. This works great in a fairly open combat area but less so if you are in a dungeon of narrow corridors. In one campaign I am in we have a goblin barbarian and the DM rules he is small enough that he does not provice cover. Some DMs ignore cover from combatants entirely (as a small / medium creature does not fill the whole of a 5 ft square it is up to the DM to decide when a creature provides enough cover for half cover to apply though I admit the rules say that there are circumstances where a create is expected to provide cover)
That's my experience too, especially with TotM combat. However, I find it absurd that the real-world relatable cover rules hardly ever get discussed or considered in character building, whereas the obscure somatic/material component rules come up time and time again.
Is it worth keeping both Entangle and Fairy Fire ?
Note: Flanking does not give advantage, only +2 to attack (House rule, i guess its from 4th edition, wich i've never played).
I'm trying to free 1 spell slot to take some ritual, probably speak to animals.
After the last longrest, my spell list is looking like:
Lvl 0 - Produce Flame, Thornwip (not sure about this, it here mostly to pull bad guys into spike growth/moonbeam area), Guidance (Star Druid) and Mold Earth;
Lvl 3 - Aura of Vitality, Conjure Animals; (I would love to have call lightning here, cause i think it's such a cool spell, but i'm not sure if it's the moment, Tsunami seems cool too)
For optimization think about the effects some of the spells have. For example Moonbeam and Spike Growth are fairly similar in what they accomplish mechanically so you wouldn't lose as much if you swapped one of those out for a different spell.
I'm also playing a stars druid atm and one of my fellow players who's played a druid before recommended to me to only take one of entangle vs faerie fire. But idk they both seem useful at different times. With your melee heavy group I think they'd appreciate faerie fire more, but keeping enemies off of them is pretty nice too.
With free guiding bolts each day that can almost act as a damage cantrip, depending on how much combat you do a day. Personally I like to have one attack cantrip and one save cantrip, you might want to swap either produce flame or thornwhip for either frostbite for a save cantrip or a utility like druidcraft, mending or shape water.
Other spells at your level I like depending on where you are since you can change daily are speak with animals, goodberry, enlarge/reduce, hold person, dispel magic, plant growth and sleet storm.
The thing that make me stuck with Spike Growth it's like, it's so much damage when the bad guys need to pass through it (altough i didnt had the chance to use it this way), and it's a good crowd control spell too, when moonbeam is mostly likely pure damage. (It's a hard decision to get rid one of them, if i'm going thematically, i would stay with moonbeam).
Your point about Entangle vs Fairy Fire is the same that makes it so dificult to choose, specially when the flanking rule of the table is just a +2 to hit, wich make Fairy fire so much viable. But entangle making enemies unable to move or spending action to try to get out of it is so good as well... it's really hard.
For the cantrips, i dont see much use of druidcraft, i do have mold earth for trying to create a kind of half cover (i was with shape water before, and never used/found a use for it) i think those kind of cantrips are for a real specific situations.
The thing that make me stuck with Spike Growth it's like, it's so much damage when the bad guys need to pass through it (altough i didnt had the chance to use it this way), and it's a good crowd control spell too, when moonbeam is mostly likely pure damage. (It's a hard decision to get rid one of them, if i'm going thematically, i would stay with moonbeam).
Your point about Entangle vs Fairy Fire is the same that makes it so dificult to choose, specially when the flanking rule of the table is just a +2 to hit, wich make Fairy fire so much viable. But entangle making enemies unable to move or spending action to try to get out of it is so good as well... it's really hard.
For the cantrips, i dont see much use of druidcraft, i do have mold earth for trying to create a kind of half cover (i was with shape water before, and never used/found a use for it) i think those kind of cantrips are for a real specific situations.
I missed that bit about your party's flanking rule, I think the stacking buff puts faerie fire above entangle. Keep in mind that plant growth is a non concentration spell and basically doubly difficult terrain with no save is better than entangle, though it is a 3rd level spell.
Maybe I have just had good luck with my initiative but I prefer Entangle to Faerie Fire. So far pretty much every combat for levels 1-5 I have been able to start off with Entangle. Then the melee party members move in and the enemies need to decide if they want to defend themselves or break free.
1) Restrained does more than just give advantage on attacks.
2) A Strength save is a less common save than Dexterity. A quick search on DnDBeyond shows 159 monsters with Strength save proficiency vs. the 394 monsters with Dexterity save proficiency.
3) It does have an effect that there is no save for. Though if you are going for the restrain you're probably not placing it to maximize the difficult terrain.
Faerie Fire does have the following advantages though:
1) against an invisible creature your party has advantage and the invisible creature makes straight rolls for its attacks. With Entangle it is a straight roll for everyone.
2) it only allows one save. Entangle allows affected targets to use their action to make a strength check (but thankfully not a save) to break free.
So, a star druid is a spell caster in the long run, and a good healer, on top of that they are good with maintaining spells such as call lightning, conjure animals, etc. You have to decide what style you want to go with the star druid, and how you wish to play them, because you have many options to go with here.
I cannot outheal in any way my DM damage, and we do not use "heal 1 hp and the down guy come back to life", i think we use de 4th edition rule of negative HP. So yeah, i'm able to heal pretty well out of combat and try to keep the frontline "at least well" with a bit of healing, but that's it.
Wow, this is a HUGE nerf considering how 5E is designed. Is there any reason given for this?
Aside from that, as mentioned you can hold a staff in one hand. That said, Star Druids really should stay at range. Moonbeam or Guiding Bolt combined with the Archer Starry for makes you quite useful at range. If you feel like you need more survivability I suggest taking the Tough feat at level 8 then bump up your dex at level 12.
Been looking at a Druid build recently. AC is certainly a problem. I don’t like the look of a Druid with a shield so I’ve opted to not use one. My build however allows for shape shifting, which gives me a health buffer and obviously this doesn’t apply for a Star Druid with their special forms.
I’m not sure why you can’t wield a staff and a shield? A quarter staff can be used one handed for d6 damage, and is “versatile” which allows for two hand wielding for a d8 damage. With your strength you shouldn’t be bothering with smacking anyone anyway, but the difference between a d6 and d8 is only an average of 1 damage. No big deal using it one handed. If your spell focus is incorporated into your staff, you should be able to use it, attack with your staff and hold a shield up. If your GM wants to say you can’t do somatic components (hand gestures) with all that going on, you could ask if they would accept that the shield isn’t being used and you gain no +2AC until the start of your next turn if you cast a spell with somatic components on your turn. Think of it as the shield is loosely strapped to your arm but you slide your hand off the grip to cast and therefore cannot use it properly for the round.
Another option would be to take the warcaster feat. This specifically allows you to do somatic components while your hands are full. You also get advantage on concentration checks, but with the Dragon form it may not be necessary. Additionally you get to use spells to make opportunity attacks, and that’s pretty good since you shouldn’t be smacking people with strength. (I highly suggest the cantrip Shillelagh with your wisdom)
Druids can use medium armour. So grab yourself some Hide armour. It’s 12AC + Dex. It’s also worth your time keeping an eye out for beast parts you can harvest to have someone make you armour without metal. An example might be Scale mail armour made from dragon scales. Scale mail is 14AC + Dex. It should be noted that not all GM’s will be willing to allow this kind of crafting, but it’s worth checking.
Another option would be to take the feat Eldritch Adept. It’s a bit off theme, but you can gain access to Mage armour that’s free to cast. Which is 13AC + dex. HOWEVER, you should really think about how to justify this choice thematically. It’s taken from the warlock class and they are typically on the dark side. Or get creative and theme the mage armour spell into something Druidic if your GM isn’t too strict on how you gain access to abilities.
BUT then again, your DEX is only giving you a +1 to AC. Mage armour is only one better than Hide armour, and you can add up to 2AC from your DEX bonus. So it would be better to get Hide armour and take a full +2 to DEX instead of taking a feat. You get other bonuses from the DEX as well as equalling mage armour AC.
In summary, you can talk to your GM about the dynamically changing AC bonus from a shield being used/not used depending on what spells are cast. You should get some Hide armour, and take a Dexterity increase instead of a feat to maximise how Much AC your armour allows for. If the GM agrees, you could have an AC of 16 by the time your next ASI/Feat!
Hi everyone !
First time playing druid and i kinda build a character that i ended up loving her. So, here it its.
She's a Satyr, stats (they were rolled) are:
Lvl 5, Circle of Stars.
Str: 9
Dex: 12
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 20
Cha: 12
Here is the problem, for the sake of flavour, i chose with my DM to use Staff with my Star Stone wrapped at the point of the Staff, so i can use as starmap/druidic focus. Because of that, i cannot wear Shield, and by so, my AC is sitting at 12 only. (I just have Leather armor +1dex, sadly).
At lvl 4, i took the feat resilient con (wich turned my con from 13 to 14, and combos really well with dragonform).
I was thinking to take something like Feytouched at lvl 4 instead of resilient con, cause i would have at least misty step to teleport out of danger, but as my Wis was already capped, i tought it wasnt a good idea.
I'm sitting arround 38 HP (using natural progression from beyond), and my actual spell list is:
Lvl 0 - Produce Flame, Thornwip, Guidance (Star Druid) and Mold Earth;
Lvl 1 - Absorb Elements, Entangle, Feary Fire, Guiding Bolt (Star Druid) and Healing Word;
Lvl 2 - Lesser Restoration, Moonbeam, Pass without trace, Spike Growth;
Lvl 3 - Aura of Vitality, Plant Growth;
Obs: Aura of Vitality was taken mostly to use out of combat, and i'm the only one who's capable to heal more or less.
At lvl 8, i was thinking to take spell snipe, fey touched and just "throw away the +1 in one ability, cause it would not round up any other stats jus for the sake of misty step, but this doesnt seem a good idea at all.
Party is composed by: almost full melee characters (mix of monks, melee warlocks, rogues, barbarian and bloodhunter and a Drakenwarden Ranger, tome of those melee have ranged options when needed)
I really dont wanna lose this character, so any tips are welcome.
Thanks guys <3
Two comments.
Professional computer geek
Hey Tim, thanks for your replying !
1. I know about this, i just dont know how to effectively choose beetween them. I mean, i was on a sorcerer/wizz, i would probably know what to take, Druid just seems harder to me. Maybe i'm not creative enough.
2. That's a interesting idea, as a Star Druid, i'm most of the time using Starry form instead of wildshaping into a animal.
So, a star druid is a spell caster in the long run, and a good healer, on top of that they are good with maintaining spells such as call lightning, conjure animals, etc. You have to decide what style you want to go with the star druid, and how you wish to play them, because you have many options to go with here.
Hm.... I'm kinda supportive spellcaster mainly.
I cannot outheal in any way my DM damage, and we do not use "heal 1 hp and the down guy come back to life", i think we use de 4th edition rule of negative HP. So yeah, i'm able to heal pretty well out of combat and try to keep the frontline "at least well" with a bit of healing, but that's it.
We have plenty of damage at the party already, so i just blast wenever i feel i'm free to do it or when we need radiant damage (wich star druid have plenty).
Wow, I haven't looked at Circle of Stars druid before but looking now the features seem designed to necessitate not using a shield. I would talk to the DM about allowing you to use the hand holding your Star Map to perform the Somatic components for your Star Map granted spells. A shield is a really important part of a Druids AC and RAW you either have to choose between either giving up your subclass spells or not use a shield. At the very least though you should get some hide armor as quick as you can.
Also consider preparing Conjure Animals as it puts a lot of bodies on the field. That both helps prevent enemies from getting to you and forces them to attack something other than you. Between Dragon Starry Form and Resilient(Con) the enemy has no chance of breaking your concentration unless they do 28 or more points of damage.
Experiment with different spells. That’s what I did and that’s how I learned which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t like.
Professional computer geek
I would try to work with your DM about using a shield. Even RAW you can do it using object interaction.
Your star map acts as a spell focus so you do not need a staff as well (or are you referring to a quarterstaff to weapon attacks (with Str 9 and no shillelagh you shouldn't be doing that)
At worst if you want to cast a spell with somantic (but not material) components you can bonaus action attack using archer starry form (if available) then use object intereaction to stow your star map then use your action to cast the spell. Next turn you use your object interaction to grab your star map either after casting another somantic spell or before if you need your focus. The only disadvantages of this are, 1) you can not use your object interaction for something else and 2) if you are using your staff as a weapon youmay miss out on op attacks but you are so bad at weapon attacks that is minor 3) If you are left holding your focus at the end of your turn you ar enot able to cast absorb elements (the only druid spell that requires a reaction)
To get round 3, you should be able to tie some cord round your star map and drop it at the end of each of your turns and then use object interaction to grab it on your turn when you need it. With my stars druid I agreed with the DM that somantic spells can be cast using a hand holding a spell focus as if simlifies things a lot and you don't spend half your turn explaining exactly when you drop and pick up your focus so you can do everything you want.
You can also get hide armor to up your AC by 1.
It definitely makes sense for you to stay back from the melee as much as you can. You are relatively squishy, easy to hit, and the only healer. As others have said, throwing up a concentration spell to start and staying out of the fray makes sense. Spike growth and Faerie Fire both are excellent choices, depending on the battlefield. Faerie Fire in particular is great for your rogue, who will likely get advantage (and thus Sneak Attack) without having to hide. The wall spells like Wind Wall could also be good choices.
Although I like Moonbeam and Call Lightning in most cases, for you it might make sense to rarely cast purely damage oriented spells - your other party members can handle DPR. But that doesn’t mean you can’t cast Guiding Bolt, which does great single target damage and gives advantage to the next attack. Other Druid spells with useful effects like Tidal Wave (which can knock enemies prone) are worth using if you can avoid hitting your allies.
I believe you should be able to hold a staff with one hand, especially if it only serves as a focus and not a weapon, and wear a shield with the other.
Maybe consider getting mobile or telekinetic to help in getting away from someone up close, mobile you have to attack them, telekinetic uses your bonus action to get separation before moving away. Or just ASI con or dex.
Hide armor also offers 1 more AC than leather and only costs 10gp.
Consider Spell Sniper. Give your cantrips better range and get a bonus one. But most importantly, you no longer get a penalty to hit when your allies are in melee with your ranged target (Half Cover). Applies to Starry Form: Archer ability too as this is a “ranged spell attack”.
This seems oft-overlooked, but to me is much more fundamental than the frequently debated free hand for S/S+M components.
This really depends on how the DM determines cover and the nature of the campaign. Many DMs will rule there is no cover a colleague is in front of the target but you are a little to the side. This works great in a fairly open combat area but less so if you are in a dungeon of narrow corridors. In one campaign I am in we have a goblin barbarian and the DM rules he is small enough that he does not provice cover. Some DMs ignore cover from combatants entirely (as a small / medium creature does not fill the whole of a 5 ft square it is up to the DM to decide when a creature provides enough cover for half cover to apply though I admit the rules say that there are circumstances where a create is expected to provide cover)
That's my experience too, especially with TotM combat. However, I find it absurd that the real-world relatable cover rules hardly ever get discussed or considered in character building, whereas the obscure somatic/material component rules come up time and time again.
For optimization think about the effects some of the spells have. For example Moonbeam and Spike Growth are fairly similar in what they accomplish mechanically so you wouldn't lose as much if you swapped one of those out for a different spell.
I'm also playing a stars druid atm and one of my fellow players who's played a druid before recommended to me to only take one of entangle vs faerie fire. But idk they both seem useful at different times. With your melee heavy group I think they'd appreciate faerie fire more, but keeping enemies off of them is pretty nice too.
With free guiding bolts each day that can almost act as a damage cantrip, depending on how much combat you do a day. Personally I like to have one attack cantrip and one save cantrip, you might want to swap either produce flame or thornwhip for either frostbite for a save cantrip or a utility like druidcraft, mending or shape water.
Other spells at your level I like depending on where you are since you can change daily are speak with animals, goodberry, enlarge/reduce, hold person, dispel magic, plant growth and sleet storm.
Thanks for your replying.
The thing that make me stuck with Spike Growth it's like, it's so much damage when the bad guys need to pass through it (altough i didnt had the chance to use it this way), and it's a good crowd control spell too, when moonbeam is mostly likely pure damage. (It's a hard decision to get rid one of them, if i'm going thematically, i would stay with moonbeam).
Your point about Entangle vs Fairy Fire is the same that makes it so dificult to choose, specially when the flanking rule of the table is just a +2 to hit, wich make Fairy fire so much viable. But entangle making enemies unable to move or spending action to try to get out of it is so good as well... it's really hard.
For the cantrips, i dont see much use of druidcraft, i do have mold earth for trying to create a kind of half cover (i was with shape water before, and never used/found a use for it) i think those kind of cantrips are for a real specific situations.
I missed that bit about your party's flanking rule, I think the stacking buff puts faerie fire above entangle. Keep in mind that plant growth is a non concentration spell and basically doubly difficult terrain with no save is better than entangle, though it is a 3rd level spell.
Maybe I have just had good luck with my initiative but I prefer Entangle to Faerie Fire. So far pretty much every combat for levels 1-5 I have been able to start off with Entangle. Then the melee party members move in and the enemies need to decide if they want to defend themselves or break free.
So I go with Entangle for the following reasons:
1) Restrained does more than just give advantage on attacks.
2) A Strength save is a less common save than Dexterity. A quick search on DnDBeyond shows 159 monsters with Strength save proficiency vs. the 394 monsters with Dexterity save proficiency.
3) It does have an effect that there is no save for. Though if you are going for the restrain you're probably not placing it to maximize the difficult terrain.
Faerie Fire does have the following advantages though:
1) against an invisible creature your party has advantage and the invisible creature makes straight rolls for its attacks. With Entangle it is a straight roll for everyone.
2) it only allows one save. Entangle allows affected targets to use their action to make a strength check (but thankfully not a save) to break free.
Wow, this is a HUGE nerf considering how 5E is designed. Is there any reason given for this?
Aside from that, as mentioned you can hold a staff in one hand. That said, Star Druids really should stay at range. Moonbeam or Guiding Bolt combined with the Archer Starry for makes you quite useful at range. If you feel like you need more survivability I suggest taking the Tough feat at level 8 then bump up your dex at level 12.
Been looking at a Druid build recently. AC is certainly a problem. I don’t like the look of a Druid with a shield so I’ve opted to not use one. My build however allows for shape shifting, which gives me a health buffer and obviously this doesn’t apply for a Star Druid with their special forms.
I’m not sure why you can’t wield a staff and a shield? A quarter staff can be used one handed for d6 damage, and is “versatile” which allows for two hand wielding for a d8 damage. With your strength you shouldn’t be bothering with smacking anyone anyway, but the difference between a d6 and d8 is only an average of 1 damage. No big deal using it one handed. If your spell focus is incorporated into your staff, you should be able to use it, attack with your staff and hold a shield up. If your GM wants to say you can’t do somatic components (hand gestures) with all that going on, you could ask if they would accept that the shield isn’t being used and you gain no +2AC until the start of your next turn if you cast a spell with somatic components on your turn. Think of it as the shield is loosely strapped to your arm but you slide your hand off the grip to cast and therefore cannot use it properly for the round.
Another option would be to take the warcaster feat. This specifically allows you to do somatic components while your hands are full. You also get advantage on concentration checks, but with the Dragon form it may not be necessary. Additionally you get to use spells to make opportunity attacks, and that’s pretty good since you shouldn’t be smacking people with strength. (I highly suggest the cantrip Shillelagh with your wisdom)
Druids can use medium armour. So grab yourself some Hide armour. It’s 12AC + Dex. It’s also worth your time keeping an eye out for beast parts you can harvest to have someone make you armour without metal. An example might be Scale mail armour made from dragon scales. Scale mail is 14AC + Dex. It should be noted that not all GM’s will be willing to allow this kind of crafting, but it’s worth checking.
Another option would be to take the feat Eldritch Adept. It’s a bit off theme, but you can gain access to Mage armour that’s free to cast. Which is 13AC + dex. HOWEVER, you should really think about how to justify this choice thematically. It’s taken from the warlock class and they are typically on the dark side. Or get creative and theme the mage armour spell into something Druidic if your GM isn’t too strict on how you gain access to abilities.
BUT then again, your DEX is only giving you a +1 to AC. Mage armour is only one better than Hide armour, and you can add up to 2AC from your DEX bonus. So it would be better to get Hide armour and take a full +2 to DEX instead of taking a feat. You get other bonuses from the DEX as well as equalling mage armour AC.
In summary, you can talk to your GM about the dynamically changing AC bonus from a shield being used/not used depending on what spells are cast. You should get some Hide armour, and take a Dexterity increase instead of a feat to maximise how Much AC your armour allows for. If the GM agrees, you could have an AC of 16 by the time your next ASI/Feat!