so it's pretty much beating a dead horse since the question was asked 3 years ago, but I personally do not ever put my druids in melee when not wildshaped, except for Spores. And even then there comes a point where I don't see much value in the damage of Spores vs. casting a fun concentration spell. After Level 5 I just start playing the Spores Druid like a tanky spellcaster and keep them out of melee.
If a harengon druid could lay out hunting traps or a portable hole or even caltrops or ballbearings, thorn whip (a melee attack spell) could be handy. You pull opponents to you and then rabbit hop away (10 ft with 2 prof bonus) without giving away an opportunity attack.
Spores is not a good melee build. It requires you to use your action to set up the extra damage, and even then it just does mediocre damage. The key to spores is that the temp HP remains after the damage bonuses go away. So you can activate SE for the temp HP as soon as you wake up, and you're set.
What makes spores great is the temp HP and the unique spells. A spore druid can eat a fireball or 2 and not flinch. They have the best spell list of any druid. Lots of great things you can do with animate dead. Zombies are great meat shields, good for taking the brunt of traps and eating enemy attacks.
Spores is not a good melee build. It requires you to use your action to set up the extra damage, and even then it just does mediocre damage. The key to spores is that the temp HP remains after the damage bonuses go away. So you can activate SE for the temp HP as soon as you wake up, and you're set.
I don't think it's that bad; while yes, it takes an action to activate Symbiotic Entity (bit of a WTF, why not a bonus action?) it does last ten minutes so any fight that isn't a surprise should be fairly easy to prepare for. It's also worth keeping in mind that the bonus damage isn't just to your weapon attack(s), it's also on the reaction ability, so even with just one attack per turn it's an extra 1d6 + 2d4 damage, or 3d6 at 6th and so-on, if you use two weapon fighting it's 2d6 + 2d4, 4d6 at 6th etc., and this is all on top of your actual weapon damage.
If you get yourself a poisoner's kit with proficiency, maybe even add the Poisoner feat then you can stack up some pretty good damage, it also combines with Shillelagh so you can focus entirely on Wisdom for casting/attack rolls and Constitution for added durabiltiy. Sadly it doesn't work in RAW with Primal Savagery but that might be something to ask a DM as personally I feel like it should, plus using that cantrip mean you can't use poisons (no weapon), but it would give similar damage without the extra preparation/setup.
Is it your best option? Probably not, but it's not a bad option to fall back on for when you want to save spells; I could definitely see it for a Druid support build to play a bit like a combat/support Cleric, i.e- your casting is mostly focused on buff, debuff, healing and/or utility, with some damage when you need it, but you can also wade in and help out up close or defend yourself as needed.
10 minutes is not very long in a dungeon crawl or any number of situations. I don't think it's a good assumption that you can pre-cast for any fight in order to make a spell or feature good. Using it preemptively without worrying about the 10 minute timer is pretty awesome. Stumble into a gelatinous cube ... who cares (this has happened to me). Get a surprise fireball (this has also happened)... NBD.
Halo of spores is pretty mediocre and extremely unreliable, but symbiotic entity only increases it by 1d4 (or w/e it's scaled up to) not 2d4. It eats your reaction which means things can just run away without an op attack and potentially punishes you hard for not having absorb elements available if you take a fireball or whatever. Your suggestions of 2 weapon fighting, shillelagh, and poisoning are at odds with each other (bonus action economy, bludgeoning doesn't work for poison). Also, I wouldn't waste feats on making something that is a mediocre backup to your primary focus (spellcasting).
If you want to melee as a druid, honestly I would suggest going wildfire druid with green flame blade (and firebolt). Pick it up from a dip into arcana cleric so it's WIS based. Then use a whip for the reach.
10 minutes is not very long in a dungeon crawl or any number of situations. I don't think it's a good assumption that you can pre-cast for any fight in order to make a spell or feature good. Using it preemptively without worrying about the 10 minute timer is pretty awesome. Stumble into a gelatinous cube ... who cares (this has happened to me). Get a surprise fireball (this has also happened)... NBD.
You know you can actually do both? i.e- trigger it after a long rest, then again if you know a fight is coming up? These are not mutually exclusive.
As for being prepared for a fight, that's up to you and your party; careful adventurers scout using rogues, familiars etc., if you're stumbling blindly into the bulk of your fights then you don't get to complain that you never get to prepare 😝
Halo of spores is pretty mediocre and extremely unreliable, but symbiotic entity only increases it by 1d4 (or w/e it's scaled up to) not 2d4.
Who claimed otherwise? I was talking about the total damage you're adding to attacks with Symbiotic Entity active.
It eats your reaction which means things can just run away without an op attack and potentially punishes you hard for not having absorb elements available if you take a fireball or whatever.
Consider the opposite as well; if no enemies run away from you and nothing hits you with a Fireball you've wasted your reaction entirely if you don't use it for anything. You're acting like having a damaging reaction is somehow a bad thing? If the enemies show no sign of breaking, and you doubt an enemy caster is going to nuke their own forces, then why would you want to do less damage to them?
What's the point of holding on to your reaction "just in case" if you waste it 99% of the time (and it may even be obvious that you will)?
Your suggestions of 2 weapon fighting, shillelagh, and poisoning are at odds with each other (bonus action economy, bludgeoning doesn't work for poison).
I didn't actually say to use all of these things at once, I was just listing things that can stack with the bonus damage; of course Shillelagh makes no sense with two-weapon fighting as it only works on one weapon, two-weapon fighting and poison absolutely can be stacked though.
However, you're actually wrong about poison on bludgeoning weapons; while injury poisons won't work, contact poisons will as they can be applied to any object and only have to touch the target's skin to work (you don't actually need to deal any damage from the weapon). What's more, the Poisoner feat's poison works on any weapon.
Also, I wouldn't waste feats on making something that is a mediocre backup to your primary focus (spellcasting).
Why play the game at all with that mentality? If you only play using the most optimised possible builds then you cut out half the fun of the game; i.e- playing as what you want to play as. Nobody's arguing that a Spores druid in melee is going to be better than a Fighter or Paladin, it's just an option for something to play as some or all of the time if you want to, and it's not as bad as people claim (and perfectly serviceable if that's what you want to do).
I'm really tired of the "everything must be optimal" mentality that often dominates these forums. If you want to get more out of your poison damage, and adding poison helps your melee build, then take the Poisoner feat, it's what it's for.
If we were all optimizing to do just one thing really, really well, we’d all be playing Battlemaster Fighters with hand crossbows and the sharpshooter and crossbow expert feats. But having only one tool in the toolkit gets boring for me, even if I’m really good at it. I prefer more well rounded characters who can carry their weight on damage output while still being able to contribute in other areas.
Consider the opposite as well; if no enemies run away from you and nothing hits you with a Fireball you've wasted your reaction entirely if you don't use it for anything. You're acting like having a damaging reaction is somehow a bad thing? If the enemies show no sign of breaking, and you doubt an enemy caster is going to nuke their own forces, then why would you want to do less damage to them?
What's the point of holding on to your reaction "just in case" if you waste it 99% of the time (and it may even be obvious that you will)?
Sure, there are some times where you can use it with no isssues. But at higher levels, elemental damage gets thrown around a lot more and the threat of an opportunity attack to keep enemies from rushing your back line is important. Anyway, my point was more that the benefits of trying to save SE to use immediately before a fight are not worth the benefits. The boost to Halo of Spores, a feature that does nothing about half the time, is quite negligible IMO.
Why play the game at all with that mentality? If you only play using the most optimised possible builds then you cut out half the fun of the game; i.e- playing as what you want to play as. Nobody's arguing that a Spores druid in melee is going to be better than a Fighter or Paladin, it's just an option for something to play as some or all of the time if you want to, and it's not as bad as people claim (and perfectly serviceable if that's what you want to do).
eh, I say it is as bad as people say at higher levels if you try to play it as a melee druid. But, of course, you can play anything and have fun, no matter how poorly optimized it is.
All I'm really trying to say is that people don't realize how good Circle of Spores is as a non-melee option because they think of it as a "Melee Druid". Just look at this comment from the dndbeyond article on Spore Druid:
Been playing a spore druid for months, currently level 7. The subclass is completely underwhelming, owing mostly to the fact you have to use a full action to activate symbiotic entity and the temp hit points can be deleted in 1-2 hits by a monster. Halo of spores does negligible damage, and there's no really compelling reason to play this (or any, really) circle instead of Moonie.
That being said, however, it's such a cool concept and the style is so great that it's worth it. Just play it like you would a ranger, an under-performing but conceptually cool addition to the party.
I am DM for my first time as a 5e game (last time was a AD&D 1ed) and our Druid will enter combat using Shillelagh. So far they have reached level 3, so maybe this isn't a good indicator. He chose Circle of the Land just to not be as powerful as he could be. He is warning me that he is going to become crazy powerful anyway. At present the party has only three magic items, four if you count one potion of healing. They have a Bag of Holding, a magical pouch that generates special tobacco and a magical stone to recognize members of a secret order of spies. When two of these stones are near one another, a rune glows on the stone.
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Just to chime in as well as I have a level 12 Circle of the Moon Druid.
I think the prevailing wisdom of staying out of melee is the best unless Wild shaped.
However, taking Shadow Touched feat with Inflict wounds or invis helps tremendously when the bad guy(s) decide to make you part of melee anyways.
Produce Flame is always great to have going as well.
You're level 12 and 3d10 matters? You have a cantrip that does that much damage without burning a slot, and I'd have thought you'd have plenty of better spells at higher slots.
However, taking Shadow Touched feat with Inflict wounds or invis helps tremendously when the bad guy(s) decide to make you part of melee anyways.
You're level 12 and 3d10 matters? You have a cantrip that does that much damage without burning a slot, and I'd have thought you'd have plenty of better spells at higher slots.
You can cast Inflict Wounds from Shadow Touched using any spell slots you have, the 1st level casting is just an extra free use; it's actually a good pick for a Druid who expects to need to hold their own in melee from time to time, because Druids have only five melee attack spells (and only three regular ranged attack spells), I think there were some additions in the Tasha's Cauldron added spell list but in general Druids don't get a lot of single target damage spells, it's mostly area effects, control and other shenanigans.
Druids also don't get a lot of cantrip choices, and if you don't expect to be in melee a lot, but want to be effective when you are, then a full spell may be the better choice so your cantrips are free for things you use all the time.
Just to chime in as well as I have a level 12 Circle of the Moon Druid.
I think the prevailing wisdom of staying out of melee is the best unless Wild shaped.
However, taking Shadow Touched feat with Inflict wounds or invis helps tremendously when the bad guy(s) decide to make you part of melee anyways.
Produce Flame is always great to have going as well.
You're level 12 and 3d10 matters? You have a cantrip that does that much damage without burning a slot, and I'd have thought you'd have plenty of better spells at higher slots.
I mean, if it's cool, then go nuts...
Hmm, first you seem a bit hostile on your reply for some reason?
Second as Haravikk pointed out not only do you get a free inflict wounds (3d10 Necrotic No Save) and Invis but you can upcast them as well. So 6th level Inflict Wounds would be 8d10.
Just to chime in as well as I have a level 12 Circle of the Moon Druid.
I think the prevailing wisdom of staying out of melee is the best unless Wild shaped.
However, taking Shadow Touched feat with Inflict wounds or invis helps tremendously when the bad guy(s) decide to make you part of melee anyways.
Produce Flame is always great to have going as well.
You're level 12 and 3d10 matters? You have a cantrip that does that much damage without burning a slot, and I'd have thought you'd have plenty of better spells at higher slots.
I mean, if it's cool, then go nuts...
Hmm, first you seem a bit hostile on your reply for some reason?
Second as Haravikk pointed out not only do you get a free inflict wounds (3d10 Necrotic No Save) and Invis but you can upcast them as well. So 6th level Inflict Wounds would be 8d10.
And you can crit.
And you still get +1 to your WIS.
Oh hey, I didn't mean to sound cranky. I was not, and did not mean to sound it. Apologies for failure of text.
Just mean that you already have cantrips at 12 that do the same damage, and I just would have thought that you'd have been happier with a utility option by that level. Not many people consider 3d10 worth mentioning at level 12.
I genuinely pick spells for the cool over effectiveness all the time in-game. Just trying to stick to the OP.
@haravikk: Primal Savagery does the exact same thing as Inflict wounds for a level 12, but it's a cantrip, and I love it. I especially love it's got no verbal or somatic, so you just rip into 'em. But even then I never really spruiked the powers of Primal Savagery...
(My description is a sort of ghostly spider face that overlays mine. I use it every chance I get, in part because I am a massive slot-hoarder... which I think has also coloured my answers). :)
Oh hey, I didn't mean to sound cranky. I was not, and did not mean to sound it. Apologies for failure of text.Just mean that you already have cantrips at 12 that do the same damage, and I just would have thought that you'd have been happier with a utility option by that level. Not many people consider 3d10 worth mentioning at level 12.I genuinely pick spells for the cool over effectiveness all the time in-game. Just trying to stick to the OP.
Not a problem appreciate the clarification.
I agree 3d10 at 12th is not a big deal which is why by itself would not be worth it even the cantrip to be in melee. It is basically a situation where melee comes to you and you have no option. Cantrips cannot be upcast for the additional damage and invis provides utility for almost any situation. Some prefer the Fey Touched with Misty Step and possibly hex/bane/hunter's mark option.
I personally think a nice inflict wounds is a great opener to soften things up and then possibly wild shape for the rest of the melee encounter...especially if you had time to cast fire shield prior to that.
Oh hey, I didn't mean to sound cranky. I was not, and did not mean to sound it. Apologies for failure of text.Just mean that you already have cantrips at 12 that do the same damage, and I just would have thought that you'd have been happier with a utility option by that level. Not many people consider 3d10 worth mentioning at level 12.I genuinely pick spells for the cool over effectiveness all the time in-game. Just trying to stick to the OP.
Not a problem appreciate the clarification.
I agree 3d10 at 12th is not a big deal which is why by itself would not be worth it even the cantrip to be in melee. It is basically a situation where melee comes to you and you have no option. Cantrips cannot be upcast for the additional damage and invis provides utility for almost any situation. Some prefer the Fey Touched with Misty Step and possibly hex/bane/hunter's mark option.
I personally think a nice inflict wounds is a great opener to soften things up and then possibly wild shape for the rest of the melee encounter...especially if you had time to cast fire shield prior to that.
Hey, that's a fair point - if you want to maximise melee as a Druid, there's an option. We'd have to use slots, though, and I'm not sure a d10 is worth a level of spell, but we *can*, and that's an option.
...it does satisfy the OP, that's a good point. Surprise suckah, here's all the damage. That is potentially clutch, and I do like clutch.
Frankly, I off-tank my Druid. I strap as much AC as I can, and hope for the best. It's not like I'm tacticking this stuff. But I am on the Fey Touched train, because Misty Step is awesome (I mean, it looks awesome because I'm Fire Genasi so I get to be all cinders and stuff, and let that also tell you about my approach to min-maxing (he's a Land Druid of the Desert, just to rub it in)), and then I can do something cool like Thorn Whip to put them somewhere stupid.
(Secretly I want to set up a mini-boss or terrible fight where I jump off a cliff and drag the baddy with with, using Thorn Whip).
...but right now I'm in the spot where no-one in my group has seen Fey Touched much, and that is definitely not the prevailing mood from most groups, I get from the forum this last week. So suddenly... rule of cool is definitely kicking in. Shadow is looking more... cool.
Oh hey, I didn't mean to sound cranky. I was not, and did not mean to sound it. Apologies for failure of text.Just mean that you already have cantrips at 12 that do the same damage, and I just would have thought that you'd have been happier with a utility option by that level. Not many people consider 3d10 worth mentioning at level 12.I genuinely pick spells for the cool over effectiveness all the time in-game. Just trying to stick to the OP.
Not a problem appreciate the clarification.
I agree 3d10 at 12th is not a big deal which is why by itself would not be worth it even the cantrip to be in melee. It is basically a situation where melee comes to you and you have no option. Cantrips cannot be upcast for the additional damage and invis provides utility for almost any situation. Some prefer the Fey Touched with Misty Step and possibly hex/bane/hunter's mark option.
I personally think a nice inflict wounds is a great opener to soften things up and then possibly wild shape for the rest of the melee encounter...especially if you had time to cast fire shield prior to that.
Hey, that's a fair point - if you want to maximise melee as a Druid, there's an option. We'd have to use slots, though, and I'm not sure a d10 is worth a level of spell, but we *can*, and that's an option.
...it does satisfy the OP, that's a good point. Surprise suckah, here's all the damage. That is potentially clutch, and I do like clutch.
Frankly, I off-tank my Druid. I strap as much AC as I can, and hope for the best. It's not like I'm tacticking this stuff. But I am on the Fey Touched train, because Misty Step is awesome (I mean, it looks awesome because I'm Fire Genasi so I get to be all cinders and stuff, and let that also tell you about my approach to min-maxing (he's a Land Druid of the Desert, just to rub it in)), and then I can do something cool like Thorn Whip to put them somewhere stupid.
(Secretly I want to set up a mini-boss or terrible fight where I jump off a cliff and drag the baddy with with, using Thorn Whip).
...but right now I'm in the spot where no-one in my group has seen Fey Touched much, and that is definitely not the prevailing mood from most groups, I get from the forum this last week. So suddenly... rule of cool is definitely kicking in. Shadow is looking more... cool.
Lol it is fun. I have crit someone on an upcasted 4d10 IW for 74 points of damage...and that was back in tier 2...so instant dead.
My Air Genasi grapple build dreams of using his Air Elemental form and dropping people from max damage height into an existing Wall of Damage. :)
Just a couple curious questions. I'm doing a half-elf 10lv undead blade warlock /10lv circle of spores druid build. can shillelagh be mixed with booming blade? shillelagh isn't a con to maintain, you just have to hold on to the weapon, and booming blade just need a weapon worth 1sp. I'm not a avid user of druid or warlock so i dont know if they could mesh well or not. is this build idea to MAD for a melee druid. or is it something that could really work?
Just a couple curious questions. I'm doing a half-elf 10lv undead blade warlock /10lv circle of spores druid build. can shillelagh be mixed with booming blade? shillelagh isn't a con to maintain, you just have to hold on to the weapon, and booming blade just need a weapon worth 1sp.
There's no reason the combo wouldn't work; it's a decent way to bypass Strength/Dexterity dependency on your weapon attack.
Since you're mixing Druid and Warlock it may be a good idea as you want decent Wisdom and Charisma so that won't leave a lot of room for Dexterity and/or Constitution, so this way you may not need as much Dexterity (especially if your DM is happy to let you get non-metallic scale mail).
so it's pretty much beating a dead horse since the question was asked 3 years ago, but I personally do not ever put my druids in melee when not wildshaped, except for Spores. And even then there comes a point where I don't see much value in the damage of Spores vs. casting a fun concentration spell. After Level 5 I just start playing the Spores Druid like a tanky spellcaster and keep them out of melee.
If a harengon druid could lay out hunting traps or a portable hole or even caltrops or ballbearings, thorn whip (a melee attack spell) could be handy. You pull opponents to you and then rabbit hop away (10 ft with 2 prof bonus) without giving away an opportunity attack.
My druid is a level 7 Loxodon with 20 CON. His AC with a shield is 19, so he'll get in and mix it up, mainly with thornwhip.
Spores is not a good melee build. It requires you to use your action to set up the extra damage, and even then it just does mediocre damage. The key to spores is that the temp HP remains after the damage bonuses go away. So you can activate SE for the temp HP as soon as you wake up, and you're set.
What makes spores great is the temp HP and the unique spells. A spore druid can eat a fireball or 2 and not flinch. They have the best spell list of any druid. Lots of great things you can do with animate dead. Zombies are great meat shields, good for taking the brunt of traps and eating enemy attacks.
I don't think it's that bad; while yes, it takes an action to activate Symbiotic Entity (bit of a WTF, why not a bonus action?) it does last ten minutes so any fight that isn't a surprise should be fairly easy to prepare for. It's also worth keeping in mind that the bonus damage isn't just to your weapon attack(s), it's also on the reaction ability, so even with just one attack per turn it's an extra 1d6 + 2d4 damage, or 3d6 at 6th and so-on, if you use two weapon fighting it's 2d6 + 2d4, 4d6 at 6th etc., and this is all on top of your actual weapon damage.
If you get yourself a poisoner's kit with proficiency, maybe even add the Poisoner feat then you can stack up some pretty good damage, it also combines with Shillelagh so you can focus entirely on Wisdom for casting/attack rolls and Constitution for added durabiltiy. Sadly it doesn't work in RAW with Primal Savagery but that might be something to ask a DM as personally I feel like it should, plus using that cantrip mean you can't use poisons (no weapon), but it would give similar damage without the extra preparation/setup.
Is it your best option? Probably not, but it's not a bad option to fall back on for when you want to save spells; I could definitely see it for a Druid support build to play a bit like a combat/support Cleric, i.e- your casting is mostly focused on buff, debuff, healing and/or utility, with some damage when you need it, but you can also wade in and help out up close or defend yourself as needed.
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10 minutes is not very long in a dungeon crawl or any number of situations. I don't think it's a good assumption that you can pre-cast for any fight in order to make a spell or feature good. Using it preemptively without worrying about the 10 minute timer is pretty awesome. Stumble into a gelatinous cube ... who cares (this has happened to me). Get a surprise fireball (this has also happened)... NBD.
Halo of spores is pretty mediocre and extremely unreliable, but symbiotic entity only increases it by 1d4 (or w/e it's scaled up to) not 2d4. It eats your reaction which means things can just run away without an op attack and potentially punishes you hard for not having absorb elements available if you take a fireball or whatever. Your suggestions of 2 weapon fighting, shillelagh, and poisoning are at odds with each other (bonus action economy, bludgeoning doesn't work for poison). Also, I wouldn't waste feats on making something that is a mediocre backup to your primary focus (spellcasting).
If you want to melee as a druid, honestly I would suggest going wildfire druid with green flame blade (and firebolt). Pick it up from a dip into arcana cleric so it's WIS based. Then use a whip for the reach.
You know you can actually do both? i.e- trigger it after a long rest, then again if you know a fight is coming up? These are not mutually exclusive.
As for being prepared for a fight, that's up to you and your party; careful adventurers scout using rogues, familiars etc., if you're stumbling blindly into the bulk of your fights then you don't get to complain that you never get to prepare 😝
Who claimed otherwise? I was talking about the total damage you're adding to attacks with Symbiotic Entity active.
Consider the opposite as well; if no enemies run away from you and nothing hits you with a Fireball you've wasted your reaction entirely if you don't use it for anything. You're acting like having a damaging reaction is somehow a bad thing? If the enemies show no sign of breaking, and you doubt an enemy caster is going to nuke their own forces, then why would you want to do less damage to them?
What's the point of holding on to your reaction "just in case" if you waste it 99% of the time (and it may even be obvious that you will)?
I didn't actually say to use all of these things at once, I was just listing things that can stack with the bonus damage; of course Shillelagh makes no sense with two-weapon fighting as it only works on one weapon, two-weapon fighting and poison absolutely can be stacked though.
However, you're actually wrong about poison on bludgeoning weapons; while injury poisons won't work, contact poisons will as they can be applied to any object and only have to touch the target's skin to work (you don't actually need to deal any damage from the weapon). What's more, the Poisoner feat's poison works on any weapon.
Why play the game at all with that mentality? If you only play using the most optimised possible builds then you cut out half the fun of the game; i.e- playing as what you want to play as. Nobody's arguing that a Spores druid in melee is going to be better than a Fighter or Paladin, it's just an option for something to play as some or all of the time if you want to, and it's not as bad as people claim (and perfectly serviceable if that's what you want to do).
I'm really tired of the "everything must be optimal" mentality that often dominates these forums. If you want to get more out of your poison damage, and adding poison helps your melee build, then take the Poisoner feat, it's what it's for.
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If we were all optimizing to do just one thing really, really well, we’d all be playing Battlemaster Fighters with hand crossbows and the sharpshooter and crossbow expert feats. But having only one tool in the toolkit gets boring for me, even if I’m really good at it. I prefer more well rounded characters who can carry their weight on damage output while still being able to contribute in other areas.
Sure, there are some times where you can use it with no isssues. But at higher levels, elemental damage gets thrown around a lot more and the threat of an opportunity attack to keep enemies from rushing your back line is important. Anyway, my point was more that the benefits of trying to save SE to use immediately before a fight are not worth the benefits. The boost to Halo of Spores, a feature that does nothing about half the time, is quite negligible IMO.
eh, I say it is as bad as people say at higher levels if you try to play it as a melee druid. But, of course, you can play anything and have fun, no matter how poorly optimized it is.
All I'm really trying to say is that people don't realize how good Circle of Spores is as a non-melee option because they think of it as a "Melee Druid". Just look at this comment from the dndbeyond article on Spore Druid:
I am DM for my first time as a 5e game (last time was a AD&D 1ed) and our Druid will enter combat using Shillelagh. So far they have reached level 3, so maybe this isn't a good indicator. He chose Circle of the Land just to not be as powerful as he could be. He is warning me that he is going to become crazy powerful anyway. At present the party has only three magic items, four if you count one potion of healing. They have a Bag of Holding, a magical pouch that generates special tobacco and a magical stone to recognize members of a secret order of spies. When two of these stones are near one another, a rune glows on the stone.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Just to chime in as well as I have a level 12 Circle of the Moon Druid.
I think the prevailing wisdom of staying out of melee is the best unless Wild shaped.
However, taking Shadow Touched feat with Inflict wounds or invis helps tremendously when the bad guy(s) decide to make you part of melee anyways.
Produce Flame is always great to have going as well.
You're level 12 and 3d10 matters? You have a cantrip that does that much damage without burning a slot, and I'd have thought you'd have plenty of better spells at higher slots.
I mean, if it's cool, then go nuts...
You can cast Inflict Wounds from Shadow Touched using any spell slots you have, the 1st level casting is just an extra free use; it's actually a good pick for a Druid who expects to need to hold their own in melee from time to time, because Druids have only five melee attack spells (and only three regular ranged attack spells), I think there were some additions in the Tasha's Cauldron added spell list but in general Druids don't get a lot of single target damage spells, it's mostly area effects, control and other shenanigans.
Druids also don't get a lot of cantrip choices, and if you don't expect to be in melee a lot, but want to be effective when you are, then a full spell may be the better choice so your cantrips are free for things you use all the time.
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Hmm, first you seem a bit hostile on your reply for some reason?
Second as Haravikk pointed out not only do you get a free inflict wounds (3d10 Necrotic No Save) and Invis but you can upcast them as well. So 6th level Inflict Wounds would be 8d10.
And you can crit.
And you still get +1 to your WIS.
Oh hey, I didn't mean to sound cranky. I was not, and did not mean to sound it. Apologies for failure of text.
Just mean that you already have cantrips at 12 that do the same damage, and I just would have thought that you'd have been happier with a utility option by that level. Not many people consider 3d10 worth mentioning at level 12.
I genuinely pick spells for the cool over effectiveness all the time in-game. Just trying to stick to the OP.
@haravikk: Primal Savagery does the exact same thing as Inflict wounds for a level 12, but it's a cantrip, and I love it. I especially love it's got no verbal or somatic, so you just rip into 'em. But even then I never really spruiked the powers of Primal Savagery...
(My description is a sort of ghostly spider face that overlays mine. I use it every chance I get, in part because I am a massive slot-hoarder... which I think has also coloured my answers). :)
Not a problem appreciate the clarification.
I agree 3d10 at 12th is not a big deal which is why by itself would not be worth it even the cantrip to be in melee. It is basically a situation where melee comes to you and you have no option. Cantrips cannot be upcast for the additional damage and invis provides utility for almost any situation. Some prefer the Fey Touched with Misty Step and possibly hex/bane/hunter's mark option.
I personally think a nice inflict wounds is a great opener to soften things up and then possibly wild shape for the rest of the melee encounter...especially if you had time to cast fire shield prior to that.
Hey, that's a fair point - if you want to maximise melee as a Druid, there's an option. We'd have to use slots, though, and I'm not sure a d10 is worth a level of spell, but we *can*, and that's an option.
...it does satisfy the OP, that's a good point. Surprise suckah, here's all the damage. That is potentially clutch, and I do like clutch.
Frankly, I off-tank my Druid. I strap as much AC as I can, and hope for the best. It's not like I'm tacticking this stuff. But I am on the Fey Touched train, because Misty Step is awesome (I mean, it looks awesome because I'm Fire Genasi so I get to be all cinders and stuff, and let that also tell you about my approach to min-maxing (he's a Land Druid of the Desert, just to rub it in)), and then I can do something cool like Thorn Whip to put them somewhere stupid.
(Secretly I want to set up a mini-boss or terrible fight where I jump off a cliff and drag the baddy with with, using Thorn Whip).
...but right now I'm in the spot where no-one in my group has seen Fey Touched much, and that is definitely not the prevailing mood from most groups, I get from the forum this last week. So suddenly... rule of cool is definitely kicking in. Shadow is looking more... cool.
Lol it is fun. I have crit someone on an upcasted 4d10 IW for 74 points of damage...and that was back in tier 2...so instant dead.
My Air Genasi grapple build dreams of using his Air Elemental form and dropping people from max damage height into an existing Wall of Damage. :)
Just a couple curious questions. I'm doing a half-elf 10lv undead blade warlock /10lv circle of spores druid build. can shillelagh be mixed with booming blade? shillelagh isn't a con to maintain, you just have to hold on to the weapon, and booming blade just need a weapon worth 1sp. I'm not a avid user of druid or warlock so i dont know if they could mesh well or not. is this build idea to MAD for a melee druid. or is it something that could really work?
There's no reason the combo wouldn't work; it's a decent way to bypass Strength/Dexterity dependency on your weapon attack.
Since you're mixing Druid and Warlock it may be a good idea as you want decent Wisdom and Charisma so that won't leave a lot of room for Dexterity and/or Constitution, so this way you may not need as much Dexterity (especially if your DM is happy to let you get non-metallic scale mail).
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.