I'm currently playing a Lvl 4 Scout (Rogue) with a focus on ranged fighting, and I'm thinking of taken a couple of levels dip into Druid after I reach Lvl 5 Scout.
It would fit thematically with my character's backstory, and our party is lacking on the magic and healing side (I have a Monk of the Open Hand Technique and a Mastermind Rogue in the party).
Anyone have much experience of this multiclass? I'm not sure which Circle to consider. Definitely not Moon though. All advice welcomed!
Would ranger make more sense for your character? It still has a connection to nature, and I feel like the ranger spells and abilities seem more in line with a skilled hunter and scout than the druids.
My character's backstory is that he was exiled from a clan of druids as he didn't have the innate magic abilities that all clan members are born with. Hence he went out in the world to see if he can awaken any hidden druidic talent he may have or find another way to prove himself so that he can return to his clan.
So his driving force is to find a way of gaining magic. I still haven't decided if I'll allow him to achieve it though...
Fair enough. To answer your first question then, no, I don't have a lot of experience with that particular multiclass. If you're looking for healing I would recommend the circle of dreams. They have a pool of D6's they can use as a bonus action to heal. It won't be a lot with a dip, but it's kind of a pseudo-healing word effect!
Mechanically it doesn't make sense to do but roll play wise out sounds interesting. Dips in classes to take healing spells is generally awful. How many hit points will you and everyone in the group have by level 6? 45 ish? How much wisdom do you have? 13 or 14? 16? You could cast healing word using your bonus action and call for an average of 3-5, depending on your wisdom. But that means you're not using your cunning action to try to hide at range so you won't get advantage, and maybe sneak attack dice, on your next turn. This reduces your average hit chance a lot. Only having one attack to do sneak attack damage means you should really be trying to hide whenever possible during combat. Or let's say you want to cast cure wounds. That average is 4-6, depending on wisdom. That little of healing to give up on 19 average points of damage assuming you hit (very likely of if yare attacking from hiding). That might save someone from dying, but then you're also in melee range which you're not going to want to do. You'll be able to move away with your reaction though. If you take a three level dip into druid you can get hold person which is nice. I think you'd get much more use out of that then healing for ~9 points of someone's ~60 hit points. Hold person prevents damage. However, that means you need to be worrying even more about that wisdom score and you have only got one ASI by this point. How high are you expecting your campaign to go? If you do this, I'd suggest you commit to taking druid levels from 6 to 20. Otherwise I think you'll be somewhat ineffective.
A better option I think in terms of mechanics would be to take celestial Warlock. I also think this fits in a very interesting way with your back story. Spurned by nature and his druidic clan, maybe he turns to a celestial being for help? This opens up healing possibilities and mechanically works because at 5 warlock you can take pact of the blade for one more attack per round (with improved pact weapon invocation this can be a bow). With 16 points in charisma at level eight, your heal is only once per long rest and only about ~10 points of healing on average. It's a bonus action though and not a spell so you could cast cure wounds for another 12 ish. 20 points of healing is still not amazing at level eight, but it's not nothing. Your spell slot limitations mean you can only cast cure wounds twice at this point. I still think doing this would require going 15 points into Warlock but I think you could get away with only 10 and still be relevant.
All this being said I think you're better off just coming up with ways to always have healing potions.
Oh I forgot about circle of dreams. That would mechanIcally be a little better than the warlock in terms of healing. You do miss out on the second attack and second opportunity for sneak attack damage if you miss that first time. Mechanically I think you're still better off with warlock.
FYI, I currently have the Skulker and Athlete feats. His stats are STR 8, DEX 20, CON 12, INT 8, WIS 14, and CHA 8.
Alongside the roleplay aspect, a Druid dip will be good for a bit of crowd control. From my research, I'm considering Circle of the Land: Mountain for Natural Recovery and spell selection. The healing will more be to get people on their feet from a distance rather than back up to max health. Also, Healing Spirit is a pretty tasty spell.
Sometimes it may mean a choice between Sneak Attack and casting a spell to then hide, I think it gives options.
I'm set on my character getting to either Lvl 13 or 17 in Scout, so that will take priority over the dip. Healing potions will be very useful in the campaign so hopefully we can stock up on them. Also, Wildshape can be used for good utility.
I understand the Warlock suggestion but it won't fit the backstory. I'm definitely not interested in being the dedicated field medic!
Would ranger make more sense for your character? It still has a connection to nature, and I feel like the ranger spells and abilities seem more in line with a skilled hunter and scout than the druids.
I'm reconsidering a dip into Ranger now as I think you might be right - it still has the nature magic and aligns nicely with Scout. Do you have much experience with this multiclass? I might go Scout 5 / Gloom Stalker 5(?).
I really, really enjoy my Gloomstalker, and getting the bonus initiative to more reliably land sneak attacks is a great synergy with Scout. Plus you can use Disguise Self for an instant ghillie suit.
Hmm, I'm torn again - I think dipping into Druid will be more fun for the versatile access to spells. Also, crowd control would be handy for our party (one Scout, one Mastermind, and one Monk)
It will sap your will to live. The synergy isnt great, you may feel like two badly stitched together lower level characters.
That said:
Healing spirit is the heal you will be using if you need healing.
However at later levels there is one trick thats horrible. Moon 10, fire elemental form, 50' move use your rogue 2nd: bonus action disengage, walk through all enemies auto burning for 1d10 + 1d10 at start of each turn as they burn, use your action to dash and if needed squeeze back past your front line, avoiding burning them as they guard you for a 100' of auto hit no attack of opportunity round. Repeat, win Repeat. GG.
Sneak attack wont work in animal forms, (except ape using your weapons and being dashing giant ape rogues.) it wont work with spells, not great synergy at all.
Mechanically going ranger 5 is great. It would aldo give access to healing spirit at only to more levels than a druid. I personally love gloomstalkers, but if you want to feel a bit more druidy you could go for the animal companion ranger from xanatar.
Mechanically going ranger 5 is great. It would aldo give access to healing spirit at only to more levels than a druid. I personally love gloomstalkers, but if you want to feel a bit more druidy you could go for the animal companion ranger from xanatar.
I can see how mechanically going Ranger is a good choice to become a stronger fighter, but I've decided to go Druid for the wider range of spells and the thematic relevance to my character's backstory.
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I'm currently playing a Lvl 4 Scout (Rogue) with a focus on ranged fighting, and I'm thinking of taken a couple of levels dip into Druid after I reach Lvl 5 Scout.
It would fit thematically with my character's backstory, and our party is lacking on the magic and healing side (I have a Monk of the Open Hand Technique and a Mastermind Rogue in the party).
Anyone have much experience of this multiclass? I'm not sure which Circle to consider. Definitely not Moon though. All advice welcomed!
Would ranger make more sense for your character? It still has a connection to nature, and I feel like the ranger spells and abilities seem more in line with a skilled hunter and scout than the druids.
My character's backstory is that he was exiled from a clan of druids as he didn't have the innate magic abilities that all clan members are born with. Hence he went out in the world to see if he can awaken any hidden druidic talent he may have or find another way to prove himself so that he can return to his clan.
So his driving force is to find a way of gaining magic. I still haven't decided if I'll allow him to achieve it though...
Fair enough. To answer your first question then, no, I don't have a lot of experience with that particular multiclass. If you're looking for healing I would recommend the circle of dreams. They have a pool of D6's they can use as a bonus action to heal. It won't be a lot with a dip, but it's kind of a pseudo-healing word effect!
Mechanically it doesn't make sense to do but roll play wise out sounds interesting. Dips in classes to take healing spells is generally awful. How many hit points will you and everyone in the group have by level 6? 45 ish? How much wisdom do you have? 13 or 14? 16? You could cast healing word using your bonus action and call for an average of 3-5, depending on your wisdom. But that means you're not using your cunning action to try to hide at range so you won't get advantage, and maybe sneak attack dice, on your next turn. This reduces your average hit chance a lot. Only having one attack to do sneak attack damage means you should really be trying to hide whenever possible during combat. Or let's say you want to cast cure wounds. That average is 4-6, depending on wisdom. That little of healing to give up on 19 average points of damage assuming you hit (very likely of if yare attacking from hiding). That might save someone from dying, but then you're also in melee range which you're not going to want to do. You'll be able to move away with your reaction though. If you take a three level dip into druid you can get hold person which is nice. I think you'd get much more use out of that then healing for ~9 points of someone's ~60 hit points. Hold person prevents damage. However, that means you need to be worrying even more about that wisdom score and you have only got one ASI by this point. How high are you expecting your campaign to go? If you do this, I'd suggest you commit to taking druid levels from 6 to 20. Otherwise I think you'll be somewhat ineffective.
A better option I think in terms of mechanics would be to take celestial Warlock. I also think this fits in a very interesting way with your back story. Spurned by nature and his druidic clan, maybe he turns to a celestial being for help? This opens up healing possibilities and mechanically works because at 5 warlock you can take pact of the blade for one more attack per round (with improved pact weapon invocation this can be a bow). With 16 points in charisma at level eight, your heal is only once per long rest and only about ~10 points of healing on average. It's a bonus action though and not a spell so you could cast cure wounds for another 12 ish. 20 points of healing is still not amazing at level eight, but it's not nothing. Your spell slot limitations mean you can only cast cure wounds twice at this point. I still think doing this would require going 15 points into Warlock but I think you could get away with only 10 and still be relevant.
All this being said I think you're better off just coming up with ways to always have healing potions.
Oh I forgot about circle of dreams. That would mechanIcally be a little better than the warlock in terms of healing. You do miss out on the second attack and second opportunity for sneak attack damage if you miss that first time. Mechanically I think you're still better off with warlock.
FYI, I currently have the Skulker and Athlete feats. His stats are STR 8, DEX 20, CON 12, INT 8, WIS 14, and CHA 8.
Alongside the roleplay aspect, a Druid dip will be good for a bit of crowd control. From my research, I'm considering Circle of the Land: Mountain for Natural Recovery and spell selection. The healing will more be to get people on their feet from a distance rather than back up to max health. Also, Healing Spirit is a pretty tasty spell.
Sometimes it may mean a choice between Sneak Attack and casting a spell to then hide, I think it gives options.
I'm set on my character getting to either Lvl 13 or 17 in Scout, so that will take priority over the dip. Healing potions will be very useful in the campaign so hopefully we can stock up on them. Also, Wildshape can be used for good utility.
I understand the Warlock suggestion but it won't fit the backstory. I'm definitely not interested in being the dedicated field medic!
I'm reconsidering a dip into Ranger now as I think you might be right - it still has the nature magic and aligns nicely with Scout. Do you have much experience with this multiclass? I might go Scout 5 / Gloom Stalker 5(?).
Yeah mechanically I think that would work great.
I really, really enjoy my Gloomstalker, and getting the bonus initiative to more reliably land sneak attacks is a great synergy with Scout. Plus you can use Disguise Self for an instant ghillie suit.
Also Rope Trick is SO GOOD.
Hmm, I'm torn again - I think dipping into Druid will be more fun for the versatile access to spells. Also, crowd control would be handy for our party (one Scout, one Mastermind, and one Monk)
Going Druid will definitely give you some needed coverage.
It will sap your will to live. The synergy isnt great, you may feel like two badly stitched together lower level characters.
That said:
Healing spirit is the heal you will be using if you need healing.
However at later levels there is one trick thats horrible. Moon 10, fire elemental form, 50' move use your rogue 2nd: bonus action disengage, walk through all enemies auto burning for 1d10 + 1d10 at start of each turn as they burn, use your action to dash and if needed squeeze back past your front line, avoiding burning them as they guard you for a 100' of auto hit no attack of opportunity round. Repeat, win Repeat. GG.
Sneak attack wont work in animal forms, (except ape using your weapons and being dashing giant ape rogues.) it wont work with spells, not great synergy at all.
Wildshape will mostly be for utility rather than combat - I'd go for Land Druid for the extra cantrip and Natural Recovery for that spell regen.
Sneak Attack will still be strong and spells will give options for crowd control and utility.
Otherwise it will be a dip into Gloomstalker or going all the way with Scout.
Magic initiate - druid is cheaper and doesnt require a polarising dip, so thats another option unless you want the flavour.
Mechanically going ranger 5 is great. It would aldo give access to healing spirit at only to more levels than a druid. I personally love gloomstalkers, but if you want to feel a bit more druidy you could go for the animal companion ranger from xanatar.
I'm going flavour Moondruidsneversleep! Good suggestion though!
I can see how mechanically going Ranger is a good choice to become a stronger fighter, but I've decided to go Druid for the wider range of spells and the thematic relevance to my character's backstory.