So the Druid class got a lot of love in “Tasha’s Cauldron”...I like the Wildfire Druid...I LOVE the Star Druid.
One of the variants of their “Starry Form” is the Dragon form, which essentially makes their concentration checks very difficult to fail.
Now, for a Druid, this is a really great boost for the bulk of their spells, given that they are mostly concentration-based.
Personally, I’m seeing a lot of use for spells like “Contagion”...normally, the effectiveness of this spell DEPENDS upon maintaining concentration...the target having to fail their save a fixed number of times...but the sustained concentration boost from Dragon Form makes this a potent debuff spell to use on a particularly tough opponent.
I’d like to hear some of the spell combinations others might be keen on using with the Star Druid “Dragon” form.
It's useful and I'm glad that at least 2 subclasses of Druid have concentration boosting abilities. (Still waiting for Rangers to get a concentration booster.) I don't think there are any special combos, though, since concentration in 5e is still limited to 1 spell or ability period. You're just better at doing what Druids already did, for the most part.
Moonbeam tends to be go to, as I don't always have to MOVE it every turn if I want to use my action for something else... other allies have push/pull effects that make use of it.
Guardian of Nature seems to be an interesting choice:
Normally, I would become the “tree” form.
...but the beast form means I can become a pseudo-werewolf without having to worry about the concentration checks. : )
It’s also oddly fitting: moon deities tend to have some domain over lycans or shapeshifters...and a Stars Druid seems somewhat related to such a cosmic deity.
Guardian of nature was always an odd spell to me in that it was a concentration spell with one option with a main function that seems to be to boost ability to maintain concentration... necessarily on that spell.
Any of the summons/conjures would be a choice, though you can't mix the dragon constellation with any of the great minion boosts from shepherd. Walls are good, but really all of the druid list is full of concentration spells. If you are looking for what to concentrate on, just throw a dart at the list.
Guardian of nature was always an odd spell to me in that it was a concentration spell with one option with a main function that seems to be to boost ability to maintain concentration... necessarily on that spell.
The main feature is having advantage on all DEX and WIS based attacks. You then get advantage on concentration to keep that going, while making it harder for people to reach you with melee attacks.
Guardian of nature was always an odd spell to me in that it was a concentration spell with one option with a main function that seems to be to boost ability to maintain concentration... necessarily on that spell.
The main feature is having advantage on all DEX and WIS based attacks. You then get advantage on concentration to keep that going, while making it harder for people to reach you with melee attacks.
That may be true, and I believe you... but I'd have to know that I was going to be up against that sort of thing for me in particular to prepare that spell. The caster portion is too circumstantial for my taste.
It's attacks, period, not just magical attacks. I use it on my ranger for their longbow shots, upping the chances of hitting with sharpshooter. A druid could use this while dual wielding scimitars or in combination with shillelagh.
Guardian of nature was always an odd spell to me in that it was a concentration spell with one option with a main function that seems to be to boost ability to maintain concentration... necessarily on that spell.
The main feature is having advantage on all DEX and WIS based attacks. You then get advantage on concentration to keep that going, while making it harder for people to reach you with melee attacks.
That may be true, and I believe you... but I'd have to know that I was going to be up against that sort of thing for me in particular to prepare that spell. The caster portion is too circumstantial for my taste.
the caster portion is very general. If your a Druid or a Ranger all the spells that you cast are done by Wisdom. Which would automatically get advantage if they have attack rolls. And for the Ranger which is often an archer you automatically get advantage with every attack you make with the bow. Which is strong for the ranger because it make advantage almost at will and the concentration bonus means that it's harder to remove from you.
It's the Melee side of Guardian of Nature that is a lot more situational. Because your likely either going to be wanting to use it while shape shifting or your going to be wanting to use it because your a melee heavy Ranger. So you have to try and plan on ways not to lose the spell while going into situations where you might lose it. Though of course that being said the higher the levels get the more that casters rather than melee tend to become the prime targets.
I disagree. The caster portion still uses your concentration, removing the best options that druids have for spells while encouraging them to spend precious spell slots on casting attack roll spells. It is not my taste.
I disagree. The caster portion still uses your concentration, removing the best options that druids have for spells while encouraging them to spend precious spell slots on casting attack roll spells. It is not my taste.
This is fairly faulty thinking because you can only have spell to concentrate at a time. By this thinking your always being blocked out of best options even by other best options. When in reality not all of the best options require concentration but work in conjunction with your concentration spells in some way.
I disagree. The caster portion still uses your concentration, removing the best options that druids have for spells while encouraging them to spend precious spell slots on casting attack roll spells. It is not my taste.
This is fairly faulty thinking because you can only have spell to concentrate at a time. By this thinking your always being blocked out of best options even by other best options. When in reality not all of the best options require concentration but work in conjunction with your concentration spells in some way.
I'm not sure why you'd use Guardian of nature with Dragon form, rather than Archer. The spell boosts your Archer bonus attack (as well as the defensive concentration buff), and you can use your action for guiding bolt. A bit situational for a L4 spell, but with the advantage on attack rolls (and the advantage to others granted by guiding bolt), its not a bad option. Especially if you have allies in melee with humanoid-sized targets.
I'm not sure why you'd use Guardian of nature with Dragon form, rather than Archer. The spell boosts your Archer bonus attack (as well as the defensive concentration buff), and you can use your action for guiding bolt. A bit situational for a L4 spell, but with the advantage on attack rolls (and the advantage to others granted by guiding bolt), its not a bad option. Especially if you have allies in melee with humanoid-sized targets.
Guardian of Nature is useful in a lot of combatinations. Dragon certainly isn't the only one. So using it with a different form of this subclass would be perfectly suitable. The thing about Guardian of Nature is that it does have a variety of uses and ways it can interact with different styles.
Summoning spells like conjure animals and Giant Insect are some of the better concentration spells for druids, so they make sense to use with Dragon Form.
Conjure Elemental/Fey are really good fits because of how dangerous losing concentration is. Dragon form doesn't offer 100% protection, but it should make losing concentration pretty rare (biggest threat is failing a save against a spell that makes you lose concentration, since that bypasses your concentration save mechanics).
So the Druid class got a lot of love in “Tasha’s Cauldron”...I like the Wildfire Druid...I LOVE the Star Druid.
One of the variants of their “Starry Form” is the Dragon form, which essentially makes their concentration checks very difficult to fail.
Now, for a Druid, this is a really great boost for the bulk of their spells, given that they are mostly concentration-based.
Personally, I’m seeing a lot of use for spells like “Contagion”...normally, the effectiveness of this spell DEPENDS upon maintaining concentration...the target having to fail their save a fixed number of times...but the sustained concentration boost from Dragon Form makes this a potent debuff spell to use on a particularly tough opponent.
I’d like to hear some of the spell combinations others might be keen on using with the Star Druid “Dragon” form.
Is contagion a concentration spell?
No, contagion doesn't require concentration.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
How about that!
I personally think it's really good for the summoning spells, like summon beast and summon fey.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
It's useful and I'm glad that at least 2 subclasses of Druid have concentration boosting abilities. (Still waiting for Rangers to get a concentration booster.) I don't think there are any special combos, though, since concentration in 5e is still limited to 1 spell or ability period. You're just better at doing what Druids already did, for the most part.
The Dragon aspect of the Starry Form makes druid a very appealing 2 level dip in my opinion.
Moonbeam tends to be go to, as I don't always have to MOVE it every turn if I want to use my action for something else... other allies have push/pull effects that make use of it.
Guardian of Nature seems to be an interesting choice:
Normally, I would become the “tree” form.
...but the beast form means I can become a pseudo-werewolf without having to worry about the concentration checks. : )
It’s also oddly fitting: moon deities tend to have some domain over lycans or shapeshifters...and a Stars Druid seems somewhat related to such a cosmic deity.
Guardian of nature was always an odd spell to me in that it was a concentration spell with one option with a main function that seems to be to boost ability to maintain concentration... necessarily on that spell.
Any of the summons/conjures would be a choice, though you can't mix the dragon constellation with any of the great minion boosts from shepherd. Walls are good, but really all of the druid list is full of concentration spells. If you are looking for what to concentrate on, just throw a dart at the list.
The main feature is having advantage on all DEX and WIS based attacks. You then get advantage on concentration to keep that going, while making it harder for people to reach you with melee attacks.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
That may be true, and I believe you... but I'd have to know that I was going to be up against that sort of thing for me in particular to prepare that spell. The caster portion is too circumstantial for my taste.
It's attacks, period, not just magical attacks. I use it on my ranger for their longbow shots, upping the chances of hitting with sharpshooter. A druid could use this while dual wielding scimitars or in combination with shillelagh.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
the caster portion is very general. If your a Druid or a Ranger all the spells that you cast are done by Wisdom. Which would automatically get advantage if they have attack rolls. And for the Ranger which is often an archer you automatically get advantage with every attack you make with the bow. Which is strong for the ranger because it make advantage almost at will and the concentration bonus means that it's harder to remove from you.
It's the Melee side of Guardian of Nature that is a lot more situational. Because your likely either going to be wanting to use it while shape shifting or your going to be wanting to use it because your a melee heavy Ranger. So you have to try and plan on ways not to lose the spell while going into situations where you might lose it. Though of course that being said the higher the levels get the more that casters rather than melee tend to become the prime targets.
I disagree. The caster portion still uses your concentration, removing the best options that druids have for spells while encouraging them to spend precious spell slots on casting attack roll spells. It is not my taste.
This is fairly faulty thinking because you can only have spell to concentrate at a time. By this thinking your always being blocked out of best options even by other best options. When in reality not all of the best options require concentration but work in conjunction with your concentration spells in some way.
Personally, I'd rather be blocked out of best options by other best options than options I think are mediocre. It is a matter of opinion, and so you're not going to convince me that this spell is secretly better than confusion, conjure minor elementals, conjure woodland beings, control water, (situationally) elemental bane, giant insect, grasping vine, Polymorph, stoneskin for defense, the new summon elemental, or even watery sphere. If druids had more preparations, I might consider it.
My preference is to concentrate on a "big gun" spell and use my action in support of that. This isn't enough that spell, it is sort of the opposite.
I'm not sure why you'd use Guardian of nature with Dragon form, rather than Archer. The spell boosts your Archer bonus attack (as well as the defensive concentration buff), and you can use your action for guiding bolt. A bit situational for a L4 spell, but with the advantage on attack rolls (and the advantage to others granted by guiding bolt), its not a bad option. Especially if you have allies in melee with humanoid-sized targets.
Guardian of Nature is useful in a lot of combatinations. Dragon certainly isn't the only one. So using it with a different form of this subclass would be perfectly suitable. The thing about Guardian of Nature is that it does have a variety of uses and ways it can interact with different styles.
Sunbeam seems like the obvious thematic choice.
Summoning spells like conjure animals and Giant Insect are some of the better concentration spells for druids, so they make sense to use with Dragon Form.
Conjure Elemental/Fey are really good fits because of how dangerous losing concentration is. Dragon form doesn't offer 100% protection, but it should make losing concentration pretty rare (biggest threat is failing a save against a spell that makes you lose concentration, since that bypasses your concentration save mechanics).