It had minions all around but DM spread it out in every PC in the field. As i said, the DM didn't have knowledge about the spell and so when I used Guardian of Nature, he was shocked cause didn't broke the Viper Spell because it wasn't a Concentration spell. It was already too late, Now 15 feet of me was now a difficult terrain, i have adv on my Wisdome based attack and concentration spell. Oh did I mention I casted the spell 5th level so I have 25 THP. And I was a Spore Druid so if my THP dropped to single digit, i could just go Symbiotic Entity and gain 40 THP. This will however use an Action but I just wasted Monsters action on focusing on me while the rest of the party ganks on an Incapitated BBEG (Which was an Adult Dragon). We managed to finish the fight without the dragon being able to do a Dragon's breath.
more people should read your description here since this spell, when used intelligently in a build like yours, will do exactly this. Keeping that temp HP up for as long as you want using the multitude of abilities you have.
To the other commenters: maybe it needs to be said, but this spell isn't broken if you're a 1st time DnD player...? I just assumed we were all on that same understanding. Please read the above to see what you can do with this spell.
I play in a group where the DM is perhaps a bit overly generous with loot and magic items and allows all WoTC content. She tries to balance that out with challenging encounters. Since Sylune's viper came along, our druid, who has a 22 Wisdom and a magic item that gives +2 to their spell attack and spell DC amongst other things, has locked down two bosses for the entire fight. These are the only two fights we have had since the spell was introduced. One was an Ancient Blue Dragon. Locked down and nova damaged in a couple rounds by our bladesinger and my paladin. Given the myriad ways of getting advantage in D&D 2024, relying on high AC to avoid the effects of Sylune's viper is not a very safe bet. The druid in my party also has a pretty high AC (23 I think), and a defensive spell from one of these Magic: the gathering 5e spin off setting books that can mitigate (and reflect) a fair bit of damage. They can also just recast Sylune's viper when the temp HP goes away. So the possibility of losing the Temp HP is not really much of an impediment (we are 12th level currently). Admittedly a small sample size and the power level of our party is a bit stupid, but the spell seems encounter breaking unless the enemy creature is immune to being poisoned or immune to magic. There should be a saving throw against the incapacitated condition, or the creature should become immune to that effect for a day or an hour after being subjected to it once.
another great example of how busted this spell is! Thanks for sharing since some folks seem dumb founded at the idea that getting a high attack roll and advantage is "situational" but its actually incredibly easy to get if the party is working together.
also @Maruntoryx, I believe they mean 2 encounters after reading over this again. So 2 different encounters with 2 different bosses got shut off.
Turns out this spell is basically useless because it only lasts while you have the temp HP it gives you. I imagine any combat you use it in going like this:
Round 1: cast the spell and hit the attack roll, one enemy is now incapacitated.
The enemies gang up on you, you take 15+ damage, and the spell ends.
You have now spent a third level slot afflicting a creature with worse Hold Person for a single turn.
- it lasts as long as you have Temp HP. There are dozens of ways, especially as a Druid, to give yourself Temp HP. That Temp HP does NOT have to come from SV
- They could gank you but we should be assuming you're using SV at Range, not Melee. At range, you can attack at 50ft then move at minimum 30 feet elsewhere. Meaning, enemies will have to Action > Dash to get to you since you're 80 feet or more away or they use range attacks. But thats also assuming you are in range, and the enemies aren't being blocked by your Party, and assuming they get past your Shield spell as a Wizard/your high temp HP as a Druid.... you should never be using this in close range is the point. It is very easy, especially in an indoor setting, to attack with SV then grab cover.
- Hold person requires a save and the target to be Humanoid. So it doesnt work on like 90% of the MM where SV still works on about 70% that arent immune to Poisoned. A save is Legendary Resist-able and they get to save at the end of the turn while SV is not a save. Hold person is also Concentration while SV is not.
- So SV is literally the opposite of everything you said.... did you read either of those spells? The only better benefit of Hold Person is the Paralyzed condition for auto crit. But you'll never get Hold Person off on a boss with Legendary Resistances unless the DM is not paying attention.
On paper it's fine. An attack roll in a non-Monty Haul game should have about a 65% chance of success. A save against a weak save should have about a 65% chance of failure (of the spell succeeding). In theory, repeating an attack roll to maintain an effect should be equivalent to requiring a save. However, I think it's easier to gain advantage on the attack compared to imposing disadvantage on the save.
more people should read your description here since this spell, when used intelligently in a build like yours, will do exactly this. Keeping that temp HP up for as long as you want using the multitude of abilities you have.
To the other commenters: maybe it needs to be said, but this spell isn't broken if you're a 1st time DnD player...? I just assumed we were all on that same understanding. Please read the above to see what you can do with this spell.
another great example of how busted this spell is! Thanks for sharing since some folks seem dumb founded at the idea that getting a high attack roll and advantage is "situational" but its actually incredibly easy to get if the party is working together.
also @Maruntoryx, I believe they mean 2 encounters after reading over this again. So 2 different encounters with 2 different bosses got shut off.
- it lasts as long as you have Temp HP. There are dozens of ways, especially as a Druid, to give yourself Temp HP. That Temp HP does NOT have to come from SV
- They could gank you but we should be assuming you're using SV at Range, not Melee. At range, you can attack at 50ft then move at minimum 30 feet elsewhere. Meaning, enemies will have to Action > Dash to get to you since you're 80 feet or more away or they use range attacks. But thats also assuming you are in range, and the enemies aren't being blocked by your Party, and assuming they get past your Shield spell as a Wizard/your high temp HP as a Druid.... you should never be using this in close range is the point. It is very easy, especially in an indoor setting, to attack with SV then grab cover.
- Hold person requires a save and the target to be Humanoid. So it doesnt work on like 90% of the MM where SV still works on about 70% that arent immune to Poisoned. A save is Legendary Resist-able and they get to save at the end of the turn while SV is not a save. Hold person is also Concentration while SV is not.
- So SV is literally the opposite of everything you said.... did you read either of those spells? The only better benefit of Hold Person is the Paralyzed condition for auto crit. But you'll never get Hold Person off on a boss with Legendary Resistances unless the DM is not paying attention.
On paper it's fine. An attack roll in a non-Monty Haul game should have about a 65% chance of success. A save against a weak save should have about a 65% chance of failure (of the spell succeeding). In theory, repeating an attack roll to maintain an effect should be equivalent to requiring a save. However, I think it's easier to gain advantage on the attack compared to imposing disadvantage on the save.
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