I'm pretty new to dnd and just started playing my second campaign - tomb of annihilation. Just leveled up to lvl 2 and picked my druid circle (dreams).
I'm the only dedicated caster in my party. There are 4 other players who are all basically melee/offensive characters.. so I wanted to make my character build one that can help with control/support/healing.
I would love to hear any tips people have for playing a druid in a party/role like this. Specifically the best spells, spell combos, and lower CR beasts to utilize when in wild shape. Honestly I'm pretty excited to play a character who has to rely more on strategy than just dealing damage :)
Assuming that you can, I'd change out Thorn Whip for Guidance at 4 (I think that's when Tasha's allows cantrip exchanges) or earlier if your DM will let you.
Next, change out Earth Tremor for Entangle or Faerie Fire, probably with a slight preference for Faerie Fire (advantage on all the attacks your team will be making will be awesome). Cure Wounds is fine, but Goodberry often heals for more (10 HP per spell slot vs 8.5 average and it can be spread around) and Healing Word can be cast as a bonus action at range. If you want to stay at range, giving berries to everyone or using healing word will be beneficial. Still having one of those three spells is fine.
I like the idea of one attack spell and Ice Knife is a good one for being on your own in the back ranks. Having Produce Flame for ranged attacks and Thunderclap for melee range cantrips are fine.
You aren't doing to bad as is, but a few tweaks would help out immensely. Also, remember that Produce Flame can be used to provide light for the human and Dragonborn.
Assuming that you can, I'd change out Thorn Whip for Guidance at 4 (I think that's when Tasha's allows cantrip exchanges) or earlier if your DM will let you.
Next, change out Earth Tremor for Entangle or Faerie Fire, probably with a slight preference for Faerie Fire (advantage on all the attacks your team will be making will be awesome). Cure Wounds is fine, but Goodberry often heals for more (10 HP per spell slot vs 8.5 average and it can be spread around) and Healing Word can be cast as a bonus action at range. If you want to stay at range, giving berries to everyone or using healing word will be beneficial. Still having one of those three spells is fine.
I like the idea of one attack spell and Ice Knife is a good one for being on your own in the back ranks. Having Produce Flame for ranged attacks and Thunderclap for melee range cantrips are fine.
You aren't doing to bad as is, but a few tweaks would help out immensely. Also, remember that Produce Flame can be used to provide light for the human and Dragonborn.
Thanks so much!! Appreciate the help. I was torn between entangle and faerie fire but i think youre right, advantage is always good :)
With that party composition, there is next to no chance that the Druid wants to be Wild Shaping, or pulling enemies close them from 10 or 15 feet away. There's enough of a melee scrum already.
If anything, I'd consider picking Telekinetic if you need a +1 Wisdom along the way, to make it less likely that you ever get stuck in melee at all. Even with Balm of the Summer Court, you won't have that many competing Bonus Actions over the life of your character, so being able to reliably slide an enemy (or a friend!) around within 30 feet on most turns is bound to come in handy many many times. You've already got better stats than you normally would, so you don't really need any more +1 Wis feats... but why let that stop you, take Telekinetic and then also Fey Touched at 8 (Misty Step and Bless, Command, or something).
Balm of the Summer Court makes Healing Word less important for you, since it's also a Bonus Action heal from range, and it sounds like you plan to stay a full Druid so it should progress nicely. Cure Wounds gives superior healing when the chips are down (since you can both use your Action on that, and your Bonus Action on Balm), so I'd stick with that and Goodberry as your two healing spells.
Earth Tremor is too close range, and doesn't let you exempt your teammates if they're in the area. You don't need that, Entangle would be better, or Faerie Fire, or Thunderwave if you want an AOE attack.
Thunderclap has the same issue, you're very unlikely to be a character who is within 5 feet of anything, and if you are, your priority should be to get away not attack. Cutting that and Thorn Whip, you should definitely pick up Guidance. I'd suggest Control Flames or Druidcraft for the last cantrip, but if you want a save-based cantrip as an alternative to your attack-based cantrip, then Frostbite or Create Bonfire would be good alternatives (though be careful about Create Bonfire being Concentration, it's most useful if a teammate already has an enemy grappled and you aren't already keeping something important up).
Do keep in mind that you can use your wild shape charges on a wild companion with Tasha's. That will give you utility out of those charges assuming that you don't need to wildshape into something with a flying or swimming speed or otherwise for utility. You'll be unlikely to use wildshape for much combat, though it might be a good idea to find a high HP form with high mobility for those moments when your HP is low, your spell slots are mostly spent, and you've got a concentration spell up that you need to maintain. A burrowing creature could also serve in that respect.
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Hi!
I'm pretty new to dnd and just started playing my second campaign - tomb of annihilation. Just leveled up to lvl 2 and picked my druid circle (dreams).
I'm the only dedicated caster in my party. There are 4 other players who are all basically melee/offensive characters.. so I wanted to make my character build one that can help with control/support/healing.
I would love to hear any tips people have for playing a druid in a party/role like this. Specifically the best spells, spell combos, and lower CR beasts to utilize when in wild shape. Honestly I'm pretty excited to play a character who has to rely more on strategy than just dealing damage :)
Here's my character sheet.
Party info -
me (wood elf/druid)
tabaxi/fighter
dragonborn/paladin
human/monk
wood elf/monk
Thanks yall!
Assuming that you can, I'd change out Thorn Whip for Guidance at 4 (I think that's when Tasha's allows cantrip exchanges) or earlier if your DM will let you.
Next, change out Earth Tremor for Entangle or Faerie Fire, probably with a slight preference for Faerie Fire (advantage on all the attacks your team will be making will be awesome). Cure Wounds is fine, but Goodberry often heals for more (10 HP per spell slot vs 8.5 average and it can be spread around) and Healing Word can be cast as a bonus action at range. If you want to stay at range, giving berries to everyone or using healing word will be beneficial. Still having one of those three spells is fine.
I like the idea of one attack spell and Ice Knife is a good one for being on your own in the back ranks. Having Produce Flame for ranged attacks and Thunderclap for melee range cantrips are fine.
You aren't doing to bad as is, but a few tweaks would help out immensely. Also, remember that Produce Flame can be used to provide light for the human and Dragonborn.
Thanks so much!! Appreciate the help. I was torn between entangle and faerie fire but i think youre right, advantage is always good :)
With that party composition, there is next to no chance that the Druid wants to be Wild Shaping, or pulling enemies close them from 10 or 15 feet away. There's enough of a melee scrum already.
If anything, I'd consider picking Telekinetic if you need a +1 Wisdom along the way, to make it less likely that you ever get stuck in melee at all. Even with Balm of the Summer Court, you won't have that many competing Bonus Actions over the life of your character, so being able to reliably slide an enemy (or a friend!) around within 30 feet on most turns is bound to come in handy many many times. You've already got better stats than you normally would, so you don't really need any more +1 Wis feats... but why let that stop you, take Telekinetic and then also Fey Touched at 8 (Misty Step and Bless, Command, or something).
Balm of the Summer Court makes Healing Word less important for you, since it's also a Bonus Action heal from range, and it sounds like you plan to stay a full Druid so it should progress nicely. Cure Wounds gives superior healing when the chips are down (since you can both use your Action on that, and your Bonus Action on Balm), so I'd stick with that and Goodberry as your two healing spells.
Earth Tremor is too close range, and doesn't let you exempt your teammates if they're in the area. You don't need that, Entangle would be better, or Faerie Fire, or Thunderwave if you want an AOE attack.
Thunderclap has the same issue, you're very unlikely to be a character who is within 5 feet of anything, and if you are, your priority should be to get away not attack. Cutting that and Thorn Whip, you should definitely pick up Guidance. I'd suggest Control Flames or Druidcraft for the last cantrip, but if you want a save-based cantrip as an alternative to your attack-based cantrip, then Frostbite or Create Bonfire would be good alternatives (though be careful about Create Bonfire being Concentration, it's most useful if a teammate already has an enemy grappled and you aren't already keeping something important up).
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Do keep in mind that you can use your wild shape charges on a wild companion with Tasha's. That will give you utility out of those charges assuming that you don't need to wildshape into something with a flying or swimming speed or otherwise for utility. You'll be unlikely to use wildshape for much combat, though it might be a good idea to find a high HP form with high mobility for those moments when your HP is low, your spell slots are mostly spent, and you've got a concentration spell up that you need to maintain. A burrowing creature could also serve in that respect.