I'm currently in a small tier 1 game where 2 players left, the Barbarian and the Wizard. What's left is a first-time player on a melee Hexblade that's party face so unfortunately in melee range when a fight breaks out, a roleplay-heavy ranged rogue that never wants to shoot before attempting to talk things out (so their first round is sometimes wasted), a protector sidekick, and me as the druid.
I was previously going to be a supportive melee spores druid but without the Barb and Wizard, we don't have much of a frontline or a primary spellcaster. As such, I'm not certain which Circle is more useful to the party. I'm a Level 2 warforged with a shield and some extra HP so I'm at 27 MHP with 17 AC.
Here's what I've been considering:
Moon: Beefy frontline and also brings all the damage, but we lose spellcasting in combat unless I'm lucky with concentration saves to maintain whatever concentration spell I have on. Also, I like making animal noises and dinosaurs are allowed. The frontline Hexblade sits at a mere 13 AC and won't take a shield so they can spellcast. Chances are I also need to heal them and drop wild shape once in a while.
Spores: A bit of temp HP to last a bit longer in melee without losing spellcasting, a way to use the reaction for a bit of poke damage, chill touch, and really really thematic for my PC's backstory. It's a hybrid between beefy frontline and spellcaster. Not sure there's enough oomph to carry a team like this and the temp HP disappears real easy.
Stars: Guidance for a team that's missing an INT character, free guiding bolts to save on spell slots and support the rogue, and perhaps Dragon form over Archer to keep the concentration on so I can stay in melee (until I take war caster/resilient con at lvl 4). It's still not a replacement for a true frontline and there's no extra HP without burning another wild shape to transform.
Cleric Dip: Perhaps an early dip into Cleric (almost any domain would fill a gap in this party) and it'd give a major power spike but seriously delay my feat and next-level spells.
Stars is incredibly fun and versatile. Life Cleric level dip if you really want to dial in healing. Archer form makes for a great Blaster at low level.
I play a Stars druid in a somewhat similar party composition, and they fit in great there. Don't sleep on the chalice form, especially as the party's only healer. It basically doubles the efficacy of your healing spells (and even allows for two targets).
If you wanna be a Healer just... take the Healer feat. Healer feat on a cleric? Good Healer. Healer feat on a druid? Good Healer. Healer feat on... a rogue? Good Healer. Just take the Healer feat.
1d6+4+target's level, as an action. Ie avg 8.5 to 27.5 depending on level. No spells or magic needed. Meaning it pairs exceptionally well with BA spells. Or consistent BA actions.
Say you ended up being a Stars Druid, right. Now you have a solid action for healing, no slots needed. Plus of course you got BA covered with luminous arrows, no slots needed. But are also a full caster and can control the battlefield. You know, the thing a tank is supposed to be doing but like with their body. You do it with spells. or Nuke enemies. Also, a couple times, no slots needed. You will have the staying power of a god.
If you wanna be a Healer just... take the Healer feat. Healer feat on a cleric? Good Healer. Healer feat on a druid? Good Healer. Healer feat on... a rogue? Good Healer. Just take the Healer feat.
I am currently playing a healer rogue, and in another game the Druid took healer as well. It is an amazing slot saving feat for any cleric or druid. Not just slots, it also allows the druid/cleric to have a more varied prepared spell list as well. As a level 1 feat for a var human or custom lineage it unlocks the cleric/druid to use their slots on things other than healing which is transformative. Because its not just the slots used for curing spells it saves, but the slots saved for healing and never used. If you have a large enough party its a must have.
So, here's the thing. You don't really need a tank or a frontliner in every party. It will require some extra work from the players in how they fight (more than just standing still while surrounded by enemies and never backing or moving) but it's really not that difficult and can be lots of fun. The protector and hexblade should be able to do the job with support from the rest of the party.
As for which druid subclass, I'd go for Stars, that's the most versatile of the bunch both in and out of combat. I'd stay far away from a cleric dip, it's a waste.
I'm going with either Moon or Stars, probably Stars because we'll probably need a full-time control caster more than a frontline, but I'll talk it over with my DM (new DM and the Hexblade is also a new player which is why I was considering playing Moon while the two of them get more used to encounters).
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I'm currently in a small tier 1 game where 2 players left, the Barbarian and the Wizard. What's left is a first-time player on a melee Hexblade that's party face so unfortunately in melee range when a fight breaks out, a roleplay-heavy ranged rogue that never wants to shoot before attempting to talk things out (so their first round is sometimes wasted), a protector sidekick, and me as the druid.
I was previously going to be a supportive melee spores druid but without the Barb and Wizard, we don't have much of a frontline or a primary spellcaster. As such, I'm not certain which Circle is more useful to the party. I'm a Level 2 warforged with a shield and some extra HP so I'm at 27 MHP with 17 AC.
Here's what I've been considering:
The frontline Hexblade sits at a mere 13 AC and won't take a shield so they can spellcast. Chances are I also need to heal them and drop wild shape once in a while.
Not sure there's enough oomph to carry a team like this and the temp HP disappears real easy.
It's still not a replacement for a true frontline and there's no extra HP without burning another wild shape to transform.
A couple of random thoughts in no particular order:
I'd suggest picking the one that you'll have the most fun with.
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Stars is incredibly fun and versatile. Life Cleric level dip if you really want to dial in healing. Archer form makes for a great Blaster at low level.
I play a Stars druid in a somewhat similar party composition, and they fit in great there. Don't sleep on the chalice form, especially as the party's only healer. It basically doubles the efficacy of your healing spells (and even allows for two targets).
If you wanna be a Healer just... take the Healer feat. Healer feat on a cleric? Good Healer. Healer feat on a druid? Good Healer. Healer feat on... a rogue? Good Healer. Just take the Healer feat.
1d6+4+target's level, as an action. Ie avg 8.5 to 27.5 depending on level. No spells or magic needed. Meaning it pairs exceptionally well with BA spells. Or consistent BA actions.
Say you ended up being a Stars Druid, right. Now you have a solid action for healing, no slots needed. Plus of course you got BA covered with luminous arrows, no slots needed. But are also a full caster and can control the battlefield. You know, the thing a tank is supposed to be doing but like with their body. You do it with spells. or Nuke enemies. Also, a couple times, no slots needed. You will have the staying power of a god.
I got quotes!
I am currently playing a healer rogue, and in another game the Druid took healer as well. It is an amazing slot saving feat for any cleric or druid. Not just slots, it also allows the druid/cleric to have a more varied prepared spell list as well. As a level 1 feat for a var human or custom lineage it unlocks the cleric/druid to use their slots on things other than healing which is transformative. Because its not just the slots used for curing spells it saves, but the slots saved for healing and never used. If you have a large enough party its a must have.
So, here's the thing. You don't really need a tank or a frontliner in every party. It will require some extra work from the players in how they fight (more than just standing still while surrounded by enemies and never backing or moving) but it's really not that difficult and can be lots of fun. The protector and hexblade should be able to do the job with support from the rest of the party.
As for which druid subclass, I'd go for Stars, that's the most versatile of the bunch both in and out of combat. I'd stay far away from a cleric dip, it's a waste.
Thanks to everyone for the recommendations!
I'm going with either Moon or Stars, probably Stars because we'll probably need a full-time control caster more than a frontline, but I'll talk it over with my DM (new DM and the Hexblade is also a new player which is why I was considering playing Moon while the two of them get more used to encounters).