Best way to tank damage as a Druid in general play is actually to use Conjure Animals spell from 5th level to 9th level. If you play as Shepherd Druid, you get to also boost the hp of your beasties and make their attacks magical by default at 6th level. Plus you have your Bear totem to grant even more hp to both your beasts and to nearby allies.
Didn’t hear anyone talking about it, but a two level dip in barbarian and the shifter race can allow you to gain an extra AC calculation and resistance to BPS damage, and advantage on attack rolls if so desired. Along with either an extra +1 to AC or the ability to use Reckless Attack for no cost. Now there are a couple downsides, namely, Wildshape and Rage don’t allow for Spell Casting. Also- 3 bonus action set up. So you need to adjust how you play this character, treating these resources as individual play styles, choosing the right combinations for the different situations!
Didn’t hear anyone talking about it, but a two level dip in barbarian and the shifter race can allow you to gain an extra AC calculation and resistance to BPS damage, and advantage on attack rolls if so desired. Along with either an extra +1 to AC or the ability to use Reckless Attack for no cost. Now there are a couple downsides, namely, Wildshape and Rage don’t allow for Spell Casting. Also- 3 bonus action set up. So you need to adjust how you play this character, treating these resources as individual play styles, choosing the right combinations for the different situations!
A couple of other disadvantages.
The build is very MAD you need 13 strength, a normal dump stat for druids
While wildshape prevents spellcasting it doesn't prevent concentrating on spells, the best tactic for a straight moon druid is often to cast a concentration spell in the first round (eg moonbeam or conjure animals) and then go into wildshape as a bonus action but rage prevents concentration on the spell.
The biggest issue with (straight) moon druid is it scales badly, it is stuck in CR1 forms until level 6, so while very power at level 2 it is much less so at level 5. CR2 and CR3 beasts only offer small increases in power so the decline continues util elemental forms are available and then declines again. At least a straight moon druid can act as a base druid which isn't a bad character. With a 2 level dip in Barb the issue is much worse those upgarde forms come later and you are two levels down in druid. At level 7 you are either doing exactly what you did at level 4 doing less damage (due to enemy AC increasing) and having your HP depleted much quicker or you stay out of wildshape and are a level 5 base druid among a party of level 7 PCs,
The combination is broken good for a level 4 one shot but for a campaign has major issues.
Didn’t hear anyone talking about it, but a two level dip in barbarian and the shifter race can allow you to gain an extra AC calculation and resistance to BPS damage, and advantage on attack rolls if so desired. Along with either an extra +1 to AC or the ability to use Reckless Attack for no cost. Now there are a couple downsides, namely, Wildshape and Rage don’t allow for Spell Casting. Also- 3 bonus action set up. So you need to adjust how you play this character, treating these resources as individual play styles, choosing the right combinations for the different situations!
A couple of other disadvantages.
The build is very MAD you need 13 strength, a normal dump stat for druids
While wildshape prevents spellcasting it doesn't prevent concentrating on spells, the best tactic for a straight moon druid is often to cast a concentration spell in the first round (eg moonbeam or conjure animals) and then go into wildshape as a bonus action but rage prevents concentration on the spell.
The biggest issue with (straight) moon druid is it scales badly, it is stuck in CR1 forms until level 6, so while very power at level 2 it is much less so at level 5. CR2 and CR3 beasts only offer small increases in power so the decline continues util elemental forms are available and then declines again. At least a straight moon druid can act as a base druid which isn't a bad character. With a 2 level dip in Barb the issue is much worse those upgarde forms come later and you are two levels down in druid. At level 7 you are either doing exactly what you did at level 4 doing less damage (due to enemy AC increasing) and having your HP depleted much quicker or you stay out of wildshape and are a level 5 base druid among a party of level 7 PCs,
The combination is broken good for a level 4 one shot but for a campaign has major issues.
Didn’t hear anyone talking about it, but a two level dip in barbarian and the shifter race can allow you to gain an extra AC calculation and resistance to BPS damage, and advantage on attack rolls if so desired. Along with either an extra +1 to AC or the ability to use Reckless Attack for no cost. Now there are a couple downsides, namely, Wildshape and Rage don’t allow for Spell Casting. Also- 3 bonus action set up. So you need to adjust how you play this character, treating these resources as individual play styles, choosing the right combinations for the different situations!
A couple of other disadvantages.
The build is very MAD you need 13 strength, a normal dump stat for druids
While wildshape prevents spellcasting it doesn't prevent concentrating on spells, the best tactic for a straight moon druid is often to cast a concentration spell in the first round (eg moonbeam or conjure animals) and then go into wildshape as a bonus action but rage prevents concentration on the spell.
The biggest issue with (straight) moon druid is it scales badly, it is stuck in CR1 forms until level 6, so while very power at level 2 it is much less so at level 5. CR2 and CR3 beasts only offer small increases in power so the decline continues util elemental forms are available and then declines again. At least a straight moon druid can act as a base druid which isn't a bad character. With a 2 level dip in Barb the issue is much worse those upgarde forms come later and you are two levels down in druid. At level 7 you are either doing exactly what you did at level 4 doing less damage (due to enemy AC increasing) and having your HP depleted much quicker or you stay out of wildshape and are a level 5 base druid among a party of level 7 PCs,
The combination is broken good for a level 4 one shot but for a campaign has major issues.
People misunderstand Druid a lot. It is not just wildshape, it is also a full caster. Moon druid is a solid boost to tanking at 2,6,9,12,15, and 18.
But they also get spells. Yeah, they cannot cast in wildshape, but they can cast before they change. Works really well.
I agree with most of that, only thing I would disagree with is that the boost to tanking at 6,9,12, and 15 is very minor rather than solid. They do get a solid boost to tanking at level 10 (elemental form) and the boost at 18 is due to beast spells (eg absorb elements can save a lot of HP) rather than the ability to become a mammoth (the only CR6 beast and even that only works if you have seen one). Single class moon druid is a solid option overall power wise it just has some levels where it is more powerful than the rest of the party (especially level 2) and some levels where it is better to remain in humanoid form and cast spells every turn than go into wildshape (essentially turning it into a base druid which is still OK powerrwise).
What I was agueing about is the two level dip into barb while incredibly powerful at level 4 is weaker than the straight moon druid at most levels (probably every level other than 4)
That’s fair enough, taking levels out of a caster class is almost never a good idea (key word: almost). However I would argue that if you’re looking to tank being able to half nearly all damage ever is worth it (until much higher levels, like 15+, but most campaigns don’t even get there)
I am greatly enjoying playing a 1 Monk/X Moon Druid.
We just hit level 6 a little while ago, and while I would love to have my CR2 beasts right now, having 16-17 AC on my beasts has been a huge help on multiple occasions. Having an effective 90-110HP at 16-17AC at level 6 is great for helping to control the battlefield. It also helps that I am a Kalashtar (playing an Eberon campaign), so I can try to either taunt or intimidate my enemies both with beastial screams or telepathically intimidate them with actual words.
But with the 1 level in monk, Air elemental goes to 20AC (at max wisdom) and fire is 18. Very nice considering their mobility too.
we also have an armorer artificer who is sitting at 19AC right now too, so taking less damage has been pretty big since it’s been fairly combat heavy the past few sessions.
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Best way to tank damage as a Druid in general play is actually to use Conjure Animals spell from 5th level to 9th level. If you play as Shepherd Druid, you get to also boost the hp of your beasties and make their attacks magical by default at 6th level. Plus you have your Bear totem to grant even more hp to both your beasts and to nearby allies.
Didn’t hear anyone talking about it, but a two level dip in barbarian and the shifter race can allow you to gain an extra AC calculation and resistance to BPS damage, and advantage on attack rolls if so desired. Along with either an extra +1 to AC or the ability to use Reckless Attack for no cost. Now there are a couple downsides, namely, Wildshape and Rage don’t allow for Spell Casting. Also- 3 bonus action set up. So you need to adjust how you play this character, treating these resources as individual play styles, choosing the right combinations for the different situations!
A couple of other disadvantages.
The combination is broken good for a level 4 one shot but for a campaign has major issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zys_-1IXwhY
People misunderstand Druid a lot. It is not just wildshape, it is also a full caster. Moon druid is a solid boost to tanking at 2,6,9,12,15, and 18.
But they also get spells. Yeah, they cannot cast in wildshape, but they can cast before they change. Works really well.
I agree with most of that, only thing I would disagree with is that the boost to tanking at 6,9,12, and 15 is very minor rather than solid. They do get a solid boost to tanking at level 10 (elemental form) and the boost at 18 is due to beast spells (eg absorb elements can save a lot of HP) rather than the ability to become a mammoth (the only CR6 beast and even that only works if you have seen one). Single class moon druid is a solid option overall power wise it just has some levels where it is more powerful than the rest of the party (especially level 2) and some levels where it is better to remain in humanoid form and cast spells every turn than go into wildshape (essentially turning it into a base druid which is still OK powerrwise).
What I was agueing about is the two level dip into barb while incredibly powerful at level 4 is weaker than the straight moon druid at most levels (probably every level other than 4)
That’s fair enough, taking levels out of a caster class is almost never a good idea (key word: almost). However I would argue that if you’re looking to tank being able to half nearly all damage ever is worth it (until much higher levels, like 15+, but most campaigns don’t even get there)
I am greatly enjoying playing a 1 Monk/X Moon Druid.
We just hit level 6 a little while ago, and while I would love to have my CR2 beasts right now, having 16-17 AC on my beasts has been a huge help on multiple occasions. Having an effective 90-110HP at 16-17AC at level 6 is great for helping to control the battlefield. It also helps that I am a Kalashtar (playing an Eberon campaign), so I can try to either taunt or intimidate my enemies both with beastial screams or telepathically intimidate them with actual words.
But with the 1 level in monk, Air elemental goes to 20AC (at max wisdom) and fire is 18. Very nice considering their mobility too.
we also have an armorer artificer who is sitting at 19AC right now too, so taking less damage has been pretty big since it’s been fairly combat heavy the past few sessions.