I grappled with optimizing this subclass for a while, and always came back to feeling like the features are self-contradicting.
By now, most people probably understand that the gish melee-caster play-style of the Spores Druid is a trap. Sure, at low levels you can pop Shillelagh and benefit from Symbiotic Entity, but beyond that this play-style becomes a massive trap. Even playing Spores as a caster Druid, however, I felt that Symbiotic Entity was clunky as hell to use since it takes an action to activate. My first or second turn would essentially feel wasted getting the temp HP up and running. But Stars gets theirs as a bonus action??
Then I re-read the Symbiotic Entity feature, and realized...
You can just pop Symbiotic Entity when you finish a long rest. You keep the temp HP all day, not just for the 10min. Before level 10, Symbiotic Entity is not a good ability to use in combat anyway. Halo of Spores is almost entirely unreliable since it targets CON saves, so doubling the damage die doesn't help much considering it puts you in a dangerous position to even use it (being in melee is a pretty considerable threat to your concentration). Additionally, enemies that are pushing towards you in melee are probably beefier (CON) than their ranged allies, so they are likely to save against the damage. Finally, you really aren't going to be making melee weapon attacks as a Druid past level 4, so the d6 necrotic damage isn't helpful.
This is a caster Druid. Pop Symbiotic Entity well in advance of combat, and walk around with a crap-ton of temp HP. It gets depleted? You can regain the temp HP twice per short rest!!
When you hit level 10, however, and gain Spreading Spores, then you can pop Symbiotic in combat, since you can then use your bonus action to throw the spore cloud around and benefit from the doubled die. It will feel a lot better to use at that point, though obviously still not perfect.
Considering the above strategy, alongside the pretty decent spell list (and capstone feature), this subclass is awesome!
I grappled with optimizing this subclass for a while, and always came back to feeling like the features are self-contradicting.
By now, most people probably understand that the gish melee-caster play-style of the Spores Druid is a trap. Sure, at low levels you can pop Shillelagh and benefit from Symbiotic Entity, but beyond that this play-style becomes a massive trap. Even playing Spores as a caster Druid, however, I felt that Symbiotic Entity was clunky as hell to use since it takes an action to activate. My first or second turn would essentially feel wasted getting the temp HP up and running. But Stars gets theirs as a bonus action??
Then I re-read the Symbiotic Entity feature, and realized...
You can just pop Symbiotic Entity when you finish a long rest. You keep the temp HP all day, not just for the 10min. Before level 10, Symbiotic Entity is not a good ability to use in combat anyway. Halo of Spores is almost entirely unreliable since it targets CON saves, so doubling the damage die doesn't help much considering it puts you in a dangerous position to even use it (being in melee is a pretty considerable threat to your concentration). Additionally, enemies that are pushing towards you in melee are probably beefier (CON) than their ranged allies, so they are likely to save against the damage. Finally, you really aren't going to be making melee weapon attacks as a Druid past level 4, so the d6 necrotic damage isn't helpful.
This is a caster Druid. Pop Symbiotic Entity well in advance of combat, and walk around with a crap-ton of temp HP. It gets depleted? You can regain the temp HP twice per short rest!!
When you hit level 10, however, and gain Spreading Spores, then you can pop Symbiotic in combat, since you can then use your bonus action to throw the spore cloud around and benefit from the doubled die. It will feel a lot better to use at that point, though obviously still not perfect.
Considering the above strategy, alongside the pretty decent spell list (and capstone feature), this subclass is awesome!