Thank you, it wasn't abundantly clear under the aforementioned tab, but under the "other" tab under actions it says HP, they should really fix that. Appreciate your help!
I'm currently playing this class in a campaign, and we just made level 6. I haven't gotten to experience some of the higher level things yet, but what a lot of people have been saying in this forum I agree with. The length of the drake's summon time is a little odd. It seems like there has been a push by WoC to make a lot more things tied to Prof. Bonus, but this one seems like something that's a little off. Possibly, an option I could see would be a reduction to the drake's HP, while having it be a regular creature that you could summon once per long rest, but ONLY once per long rest (no spell slot to resummon). This would increase the stakes of keeping it alive, since if you loose it early in the day you are without it until your next long rest. On a opinion only level (as someone that likes to deal damage), I also partially disagree with costing the drake's reaction to apply the draconic essence. Many things seem to be pushing a unbalanced comparison between various Ranger subclasses, eg: Gloom Stalker could allow an entire extra attack, possibly dealing an extra dice of weapon damage and 1d6 of hunters mark (possibly). There are multiple classes that require BA for certain features, such as Horizon Walker, and I have no problem with it costing a BA to command the drake, but I would change Draconic Essense to be "once per turn as long as the drake is summoned" rather than the reaction. If the Drakewarden's own essense is impacted enough to be able to summon this creature, that essense should be able to channel that power on their own.
Without having reached those levels yet, I don't feel like I can adequately talk about the higher levels, but let me know what you think of this possible changes.
Reducing the Drake's HP would be a bad idea. So far my experience in combat, the Drake has been killed long before the time expired. My question is how you heal the drake effectively.
Played a Level 8 Kobold that took 1 level in War Cleric and 7 levels in Drakewarden
Pros:
The drake activates the kobold's Pack Tactics racial feat, which is great when combined with the SharpShooter feat and a +1 longbow
Being able to summon a creature that can fly or swim, and use a spell slot to change whether it can fly or swim, is great for exploration and fits very well with the ranger flavor
Damage resistance and drake having damage immunity, and being able to use a spell slot to change which type of damage
The drake has decent Strength, can be use to carry stuff
Summoning a battle dragon is a ton of fun flavor/roleplay
Cons:
Keeping track of time bogs an adventure down with excessive bookkeeping. When a spell give a time duration, no one really tracks the time, they just put it in a time category. 1 minute= 1 battle. 10 minutes = longer than a battle, goes away if changing rooms or short rest. 1 hour = stays when changing rooms but goes away on short rest. 8 hours = lasts until long rest. But there's no efficient category to keep track of 2 or 3 hours.
Infused Strike takes up the drake's reaction, but it does the same amount of damage as an opportunity attack (ie barely any)
Rolling a die for Infused Strike damage feels like it slows down/disrupts another player's turn.
Under level 7, the drake is basically a familiar that exchanges massive utility for a tiny amount of damage.
Especially at higher levels, is underpowered compared to other classes, especially spell casters. (Fireball > Drake's Breath and accessed way earlier)
I'm not sure what the best way to provide the dndbeyond team feedback on UA is. However these are my suggested improvements, you could work with your DM to homebrew in the meantime:
Just have the drake last until a long or short rest before it needs to be resummoned if it doesn't get knocked out or dismissed.
Have the drake do the last action it was commanded to do or Dodge if the Drakewarden doesn't use a bonus action to command the drake.
Additionally at level 3 give the drake Familiar abilities: the ability to communicate telepathically with the Drakewarden within 100 feet, deliver touch spells, and allow the Drakewarden to see through its eyes and ears as an action. Maybe tradeoff stealth sleuthing by making the Drake +0 dexterity instead of +1.
Specifically state the carrying capacity/encumbrance on stat block, even if calculated normally.
Let Infused Strike be a reaction to give another creature within 30ft +proficiency bonus to hit for one attack, then inflict proficiency bonus draconic essence damage if the attack lands.
Additionally at level 11: Give the drake medium size, but state that it can't yet count as a mount. The bite attack should become 5 + PB to hit
Additionally at level 15: Whenever the Drakewarden casts a spell with the range of self, they can choose to instead apply the spell's effects to the drake
I'm not sure what the best way to provide the dndbeyond team feedback on UA is. However these are my suggested improvements, you could work with your DM to homebrew in the meantime:
Just have the drake last until a long or short rest before it needs to be resummoned if it doesn't get knocked out or dismissed.
Problem here is that then the Drakewarden just summons the Drake after waking and keeps it all day. So you might as well just make it a permanent pet. My homebrew solution:
"SUMMONS DURATION: When summoned, the Drake remains for 1 hour. You can summon the Drake for a number of times per long rest equal to your Proficiency Bonus." So, instead of summoning once for PB hours, this allows you to summon PB times for one hour.
I also added this before the Duration, just to be clear that it is a telepathic summons (either of the Drake itself or the Drake features if kept as a pet):
"SUMMONS RANGE: The Drake can either be summoned magically, or kept as a pet whose abilities, including carrying capacity, cannot be utilized until those abilities are summoned by the Drakewarden (telepathic magic is used for the summons). The Drake appears within 30 feet of the Drakewarden when summoned, but the Drake can move up to 100 feet from the Drakewarden and will respond to movement commands at that range, but the Drake only responds to all other Drakewarden commands within 30 feet."
Have the drake do the last action it was commanded to do or Dodge if the Drakewarden doesn't use a bonus action to command the drake.
Ok, the more I think about this, the more I like it:
"DRAKEWARDEN BONUS ACTION: Drakewardens have an extra Bonus Action that can be used once per turn to command their Drake to take an Action in addition to the Drakewarden's regular Bonus Action. If the Drakewarden does not use a Drakewarden Bonus Action, the Drake defaults to the Dodge Action."
Additionally at level 3 give the drake Familiar abilities: the ability to communicate telepathically with the Drakewarden within 100 feet, deliver touch spells, and allow the Drakewarden to see through its eyes and ears as an action. Maybe tradeoff stealth sleuthing by making the Drake +0 dexterity instead of +1.
I like this, but I think the Drake has enough utility at lower levels. The issue is giving it more utility at higher levels, given the limited time it is summoned. So I wouldn't penalize it by reducing the Dexterity. So I'm going to adopt your "Familiar" for my homebrew suggestion, but make it part of the 7th level "Bond of Fang and Scale" feature.
Specifically state the carrying capacity/encumbrance on stat block, even if calculated normally.
Additionally at level 11: Give the drake medium size, but state that it can't yet count as a mount. The bite attack should become 5 + PB to hit
Yep, here's how I'm homebrewing it in the mean time:
Levels 3 - 6: The Drake is weak small dragon, only capable of carrying STR x 2 while walking, and nothing while Flying.
Levels 7 - 10: The Drake is a small dragon, capable of carrying STR x 10 while walking, or STR x 5 while flying or swimming, but cannot be mounted.
Levels 11 - 14: The Drake is a Medium dragon, capable of carrying STR x 15, and can be mounted by small creatures. The Drakewarden must use a Bonus Action to command the Drake to accept the mount, and the the Drake then gains the Dash and Disengage actions to go with its Dodge action. If the rider is a creature other than the Drakewarden, the Drake's Initiative becomes the Rider's Initiative, and the Drakewarden can Hold a Bonus Action for the Drake's Bite Attack, Drake's Breath and Infused Strikes to be used during the Rider's/Drake's turn. The Drakewarden can override another Rider's Action commands for the Drake at any time. Bite Attack becomes PB +5 to hit.
Level 15+: The Drake is a Large dragon, capable of carrying STR x 15, and can be mounted by medium creatures. The Drakewarden must use a Bonus Action to command the Drake to accept the mount, and the the Drake then gains the Dash and Disengage actions to go with its Dodge action. If the rider is a creature other than the Drakewarden, the Drake's Initiative becomes the Rider's Initiative, and the Drakewarden can Hold a Bonus Action for the Drake's Bite Attack, Drake's Breath and Infused Strikes to be used during the Rider's/Drake's turn. The Drakewarden can override another Rider's Action commands for the Drake at any time.
Let Infused Strike be a reaction to give another creature within 30ft +proficiency bonus to hit for one attack, then inflict proficiency bonus draconic essence damage if the attack lands.
Love it, definitely adds a little kick to the Infused strike feature which is underpowered at higher levels.
Additionally at level 15: Whenever the Drakewarden casts a spell with the range of self, they can choose to instead apply the spell's effects to the drake
Played my first game session with my drake last weekend. We are playing Horde of the Dragon Queen, so I thought the Drake Warden would be a nice thematic fit. Talked it over with the DM and we came up with a short sequence where Bahamut gives me my drake in a vision. I even wrote a bit of poetry to go with the vision and recited it for the other players. My verses were enthusiastically compared to Vogon poetry. Growf the drake had his baptism of fire on the way from Greenest to Elturel. No spoilers here. The encounter was added by the DM as a filler.
We were attacked by phase spiders who captured our wizard and carried him off. I tracked them to a cave in the forest. We killed the rest of the spiders and then met and defeated the giant undead spider that was in charge. Growf did well. He helped scout since he has dark vision and my character, a halfling, does not. His attacks and essence damage were a nice little bonus. My ranger wasn't able to attack much during the final battle as he was holding aloft what is basically Galadriel's phial. The light it gives off is powerful enough to force undead into disadvantage. Couldn't use my bow and the way was blocked by other players and growf, so at least my drake got a few shots in and bequeathed his essence damage to one of the tanks. Looking forward to when he can fly. One plan I have is to use him as a roving ally for our rogues' sneak attack.
In my campaign I homebrewed the drake where it can be summoned and dismissed with out a limit and took the time it was summoned away to give it more of a its a part of the party feel of course the rest of it stayed the same but my players were fine with it because they never really used there bonus actions of anything but to each their own
I've been taking a look at this subclass again ever since the new Draconic UA came out. There are some edges that need to be smoothed out (mostly streamlined with the new pet design,) but overall, I'm so eager for this to make it into a book. This subclass looks fun as hell and I can't wait to play one.
I just worked out a different style play, where the drake is permanent Ally, but can only be used for combat/gaining resistance when you have it "Chanel draconic essence"
That way there's plenty of RP ability, the Drake can fly and scout ahead (after level 7) and be used for basic things and just be like a regular traveling pet/companion. But when I want to use it for its resistance or fighting it has to Channel draconic essence which lasts for the allotted prof. Bonus time.
This may just be me but one big criticism I have is the size. The main reason folks like the idea of a dragon companion class is because that lets you ride the thing, and that's awesome. But both this and the Pathfinder drakewardens make it where you have a drake anywhere in size from a sparrow to a beagle, and you only get the riding and flying thing at like the last few levels of your character, when there isn't much time to enjoy it. This particular subclass you only have the option to ride your drake for three levels until the game is probably over, and that is assuming you even got to level 17, since most campaigns don't even make it to 10. AND that is assuming that you aren't multiclassing or anything. Personally I feel a better idea would be to make the drake start off as medium, grow to large size when it grows wings at level... Iirc it was 7, then it grows to huge size at level 17. The drake companion is like the beastmaster's in that it grows in power alongside you so it doesn't even have the excuse that the size would make it overpowered. The flight isn't even THAT big of an advantage because by level 7 the aaracokra and winged tiefling have been flying for 7 levels and the wizard has been doing so for three. Plus arrows exist. it also, in what I can only assume was an attempt to not give small characters an advantage, makes the growth of the drake feel very unnatural, jumping from dog sized to elephant sized in one level. As has been mentioned multiple times on this server, I also dislike how the thing is not a persistent companion, and instead a summon. I mean it gets a number of summons per day equal to your proficiency, and it sticks around as long as your proficiency, meaning that at higher levels the character just needs to pop it two or three times a day to keep the thing around all day, so why bother in the first place? Plus it reduces roleplay opportunities when it can't stay around. Instead of raising the thing from an egg like a true friend, it just becomes a souped up familiar.
Honestly I feel the large sized is a bit late. Perhaps 14 would be better. As mentioned one problem I have is where you cannot get flight until there's only three levels to enjoy it and you are probably approaching endgame.
The drakewarden in our mostly tier 1 campaign so far did great. He was an archer so between the drake and hunter's mark, he was really dishing out the damage. The drake is too frail for the front line, anyway, so it all worked out.
He didn't use it for scouting, either. Overall, it seemed like a solid subclass. We're only level 6 at this point, so I can only assume he'll get even better with some of the later abilites.
Hey all I just started playing Dnd and this is my first 5th ed game and I chose ranger im almost lvl 3 but for some reason my dnd beyond doesn't show drakewarden for an option for level 3 what book or what do I need to get in order to have that unlocked for me?
Drakewarden will come out in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons October 19th. Until then you are kind of stuck as changes may be made before publication on the Unearthed Arcana found here.
Does anyone know why it says "Uses: 40/Long Rest" under the features and traits tab?
Thank you, it wasn't abundantly clear under the aforementioned tab, but under the "other" tab under actions it says HP, they should really fix that. Appreciate your help!
Reducing the Drake's HP would be a bad idea. So far my experience in combat, the Drake has been killed long before the time expired. My question is how you heal the drake effectively.
Played a Level 8 Kobold that took 1 level in War Cleric and 7 levels in Drakewarden
Pros:
Cons:
I'm not sure what the best way to provide the dndbeyond team feedback on UA is. However these are my suggested improvements, you could work with your DM to homebrew in the meantime:
Problem here is that then the Drakewarden just summons the Drake after waking and keeps it all day. So you might as well just make it a permanent pet. My homebrew solution:
"SUMMONS DURATION: When summoned, the Drake remains for 1 hour. You can summon the Drake for a number of times per long rest equal to your Proficiency Bonus." So, instead of summoning once for PB hours, this allows you to summon PB times for one hour.
I also added this before the Duration, just to be clear that it is a telepathic summons (either of the Drake itself or the Drake features if kept as a pet):
"SUMMONS RANGE: The Drake can either be summoned magically, or kept as a pet whose abilities, including carrying capacity, cannot be utilized until those abilities are summoned by the Drakewarden (telepathic magic is used for the summons). The Drake appears within 30 feet of the Drakewarden when summoned, but the Drake can move up to 100 feet from the Drakewarden and will respond to movement commands at that range, but the Drake only responds to all other Drakewarden commands within 30 feet."
Ok, the more I think about this, the more I like it:
"DRAKEWARDEN BONUS ACTION: Drakewardens have an extra Bonus Action that can be used once per turn to command their Drake to take an Action in addition to the Drakewarden's regular Bonus Action. If the Drakewarden does not use a Drakewarden Bonus Action, the Drake defaults to the Dodge Action."
I like this, but I think the Drake has enough utility at lower levels. The issue is giving it more utility at higher levels, given the limited time it is summoned. So I wouldn't penalize it by reducing the Dexterity. So I'm going to adopt your "Familiar" for my homebrew suggestion, but make it part of the 7th level "Bond of Fang and Scale" feature.
Yep, here's how I'm homebrewing it in the mean time:
Levels 3 - 6: The Drake is weak small dragon, only capable of carrying STR x 2 while walking, and nothing while Flying.
Levels 7 - 10: The Drake is a small dragon, capable of carrying STR x 10 while walking, or STR x 5 while flying or swimming, but cannot be mounted.
Levels 11 - 14: The Drake is a Medium dragon, capable of carrying STR x 15, and can be mounted by small creatures. The Drakewarden must use a Bonus Action to command the Drake to accept the mount, and the the Drake then gains the Dash and Disengage actions to go with its Dodge action. If the rider is a creature other than the Drakewarden, the Drake's Initiative becomes the Rider's Initiative, and the Drakewarden can Hold a Bonus Action for the Drake's Bite Attack, Drake's Breath and Infused Strikes to be used during the Rider's/Drake's turn. The Drakewarden can override another Rider's Action commands for the Drake at any time. Bite Attack becomes PB +5 to hit.
Level 15+: The Drake is a Large dragon, capable of carrying STR x 15, and can be mounted by medium creatures. The Drakewarden must use a Bonus Action to command the Drake to accept the mount, and the the Drake then gains the Dash and Disengage actions to go with its Dodge action. If the rider is a creature other than the Drakewarden, the Drake's Initiative becomes the Rider's Initiative, and the Drakewarden can Hold a Bonus Action for the Drake's Bite Attack, Drake's Breath and Infused Strikes to be used during the Rider's/Drake's turn. The Drakewarden can override another Rider's Action commands for the Drake at any time.
Love it, definitely adds a little kick to the Infused strike feature which is underpowered at higher levels.
Love it, adding this feature as well.
Great suggestions!
Played my first game session with my drake last weekend. We are playing Horde of the Dragon Queen, so I thought the Drake Warden would be a nice thematic fit. Talked it over with the DM and we came up with a short sequence where Bahamut gives me my drake in a vision. I even wrote a bit of poetry to go with the vision and recited it for the other players. My verses were enthusiastically compared to Vogon poetry. Growf the drake had his baptism of fire on the way from Greenest to Elturel. No spoilers here. The encounter was added by the DM as a filler.
We were attacked by phase spiders who captured our wizard and carried him off. I tracked them to a cave in the forest. We killed the rest of the spiders and then met and defeated the giant undead spider that was in charge. Growf did well. He helped scout since he has dark vision and my character, a halfling, does not. His attacks and essence damage were a nice little bonus. My ranger wasn't able to attack much during the final battle as he was holding aloft what is basically Galadriel's phial. The light it gives off is powerful enough to force undead into disadvantage. Couldn't use my bow and the way was blocked by other players and growf, so at least my drake got a few shots in and bequeathed his essence damage to one of the tanks. Looking forward to when he can fly. One plan I have is to use him as a roving ally for our rogues' sneak attack.
In my campaign I homebrewed the drake where it can be summoned and dismissed with out a limit and took the time it was summoned away to give it more of a its a part of the party feel of course the rest of it stayed the same but my players were fine with it because they never really used there bonus actions of anything but to each their own
I've been taking a look at this subclass again ever since the new Draconic UA came out. There are some edges that need to be smoothed out (mostly streamlined with the new pet design,) but overall, I'm so eager for this to make it into a book. This subclass looks fun as hell and I can't wait to play one.
I just worked out a different style play, where the drake is permanent Ally, but can only be used for combat/gaining resistance when you have it "Chanel draconic essence"
That way there's plenty of RP ability, the Drake can fly and scout ahead (after level 7) and be used for basic things and just be like a regular traveling pet/companion. But when I want to use it for its resistance or fighting it has to Channel draconic essence which lasts for the allotted prof. Bonus time.
This may just be me but one big criticism I have is the size. The main reason folks like the idea of a dragon companion class is because that lets you ride the thing, and that's awesome. But both this and the Pathfinder drakewardens make it where you have a drake anywhere in size from a sparrow to a beagle, and you only get the riding and flying thing at like the last few levels of your character, when there isn't much time to enjoy it. This particular subclass you only have the option to ride your drake for three levels until the game is probably over, and that is assuming you even got to level 17, since most campaigns don't even make it to 10. AND that is assuming that you aren't multiclassing or anything. Personally I feel a better idea would be to make the drake start off as medium, grow to large size when it grows wings at level... Iirc it was 7, then it grows to huge size at level 17. The drake companion is like the beastmaster's in that it grows in power alongside you so it doesn't even have the excuse that the size would make it overpowered. The flight isn't even THAT big of an advantage because by level 7 the aaracokra and winged tiefling have been flying for 7 levels and the wizard has been doing so for three. Plus arrows exist. it also, in what I can only assume was an attempt to not give small characters an advantage, makes the growth of the drake feel very unnatural, jumping from dog sized to elephant sized in one level. As has been mentioned multiple times on this server, I also dislike how the thing is not a persistent companion, and instead a summon. I mean it gets a number of summons per day equal to your proficiency, and it sticks around as long as your proficiency, meaning that at higher levels the character just needs to pop it two or three times a day to keep the thing around all day, so why bother in the first place? Plus it reduces roleplay opportunities when it can't stay around. Instead of raising the thing from an egg like a true friend, it just becomes a souped up familiar.
Well, Drakewarden will be part of a book this year, so we will get an update. I bet it goes to medium at 7 and large at 17
Honestly I feel the large sized is a bit late. Perhaps 14 would be better. As mentioned one problem I have is where you cannot get flight until there's only three levels to enjoy it and you are probably approaching endgame.
Pro: Scoff at the Paladin who is riding around on a lamo Pegasus
Con: Who cares, you're riding a dragon
This one gets it.
The drakewarden in our mostly tier 1 campaign so far did great. He was an archer so between the drake and hunter's mark, he was really dishing out the damage. The drake is too frail for the front line, anyway, so it all worked out.
He didn't use it for scouting, either. Overall, it seemed like a solid subclass. We're only level 6 at this point, so I can only assume he'll get even better with some of the later abilites.
Hey all I just started playing Dnd and this is my first 5th ed game and I chose ranger im almost lvl 3 but for some reason my dnd beyond doesn't show drakewarden for an option for level 3 what book or what do I need to get in order to have that unlocked for me?
Drakewarden will come out in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons October 19th. Until then you are kind of stuck as changes may be made before publication on the Unearthed Arcana found here.
https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/subclasses5