I am joining an ongoing campaign and will playing a fairy moon druid (starting at level 10). I have been considering different sets of feats and would appreciate others' opinions on my proposed selection. We are using point buy, so my starting Wis without feats will be 16 or 17. I am thinking of the following for my feats:
Level 4: War Caster (if starting Con 16) or Resilient: Con (if starting Con 15)
Level 8: Telepathic, Fey touched, or Observant (if starting Wis 17) or ASI (if starting Wis 16)
Level 12: ASI
Level 16: Resilient: Con or War Caster (whichever one is not taken at level 4)
Level 19: Lucky or Mobile
At level 10, there is virtually no difference between the effects of Resilient (15 Con) and War Caster (16 Con) for maintaining spell concentration, so I would probably elect to take the former for my level 4 feat (for added HP and its benefit to general Con saves). In the long run, I believe there is value to having both feats for higher (say 14+) DCs where the difference in the probability of successfully maintaining concentration over the better of the two individual feats can be >0.20.
In terms of my level 8 feat, it then boils down to the value placed on any of the half feats vs. a higher base stat and taking a straight ASI. While fey touched provides a lot of flexibility (since the spells can be cast using druid slots), I do not think misty step will be all that useful for a character that can move in the Z axis. Misty step also eats a bonus action, which potentially conflicts with uses of Wildshape. Observant is pretty strong as long as the DM pays attention to it. However, for a moon druid, I would think telepathic could be quite useful for allowing two-way communications (telepathic vs. verbal) with party members while in beast form. The rate limiter would seem to be the 60' distance. Can others comment on their perspectives on the utility of the telepathic feat vs. observant (or other Wis-based half feats)?
Regarding the level 19 feat (should I get there), it seems to me that lucky would trump anything else. Mobile would add to add to my walking and flight speeds OOC and to my speed(s) as a beast. It would also allow me to move in, attack, and move out without risk of an OA while in combat. This would be of greatest use for beasts with a high base speed. I have read anecdotes where people claim Mobile is particularly useful for beasts with a pounce or charge mechanic, but I am not seeing the specific synergy. There are some damage-based feats, particularly from Tasha's) that could be useful while in beast form (e.g., savage attacker [depending on how DM interprets the description], charger, crusher, piercer), but I do not think any of these would add tremendously to my melee weapon attack damage. The utility of lucky or mobile would feel to be greater.
Any other feats I should be considering? Thanks in advance!
Not particularly flashy feats, but they can pay huge dividends: Tough and Healer.
Tough is obvious - the more HP you have, the more likely you'll stay up in combat and the more damage you'll be able to deal.
Healer feat allows you to give 1d6 + 4 + Character Level hit points without expending a spell slot. You can only do it once per PC, but it recharges on a short rest and healer's kits are dirt cheap. Since you're starting at level 10, you'd be looking at doling out a minimum of 15 HP to any character (including yourself) just by using your action. It's way more effective than casting Cure Wounds and it saves you precious spell slots that only regen on long rests. Even if you don't plan to be "the healer," having the option of healing yourself a good amount or reviving an unconscious ally for basically free can't be understated.
Having played a Moon Druid I would suggest Magic Initiate (Wizard) and taking Mage Armor as your 1st level spell. It will replace Natural Armor on all beasts and elementals that have Natural Armor of 11 or 12 with an AC of 13! It’s a surprisingly huge buff for Moon Druids.
I think Tasha's has a better option if mage armor is the sole interest (i.e., eldritch adept: armor of shadows). However, I think this would only be a plausible option at low level (before level 19) for a vhuman. If non-human, then I could not see prioritizing this over buffs to concentration saves and stat increases to achieve a 20 Wis.
Edit: Besides, there are potentially magic items that can affect AC while in beast form (e.g., barrier tattoo).
Correct. But Mage Armor stacks with most of those magical items making it a great spell for any Moon Druid.
I still think that Magic Initiate is better than Eldritch Adept because the cantrips are useful too. But they're not the primary reason to take Magic Initiate, they're a nice added bonus.
ArntItheBest, I agree, though the +1 Con from resilient is not retained in beast form either. However, what I said earlier about the difference in concentration saves between WC and Res holds even if the beast's Con is lower than that held in caster form.
I would also consider a split ASI. For example if you start Wis 17, Con 15 you could take an ASI to boost them both at 4.
Alternatively as others have said resilient is morew use to a moon druid so if you start Wis 17, Con 16 you could take resiliant a 4 and a split ASI at 8 (or vice versa)
I so love this character concept. Fairy flies above a potential target and turns into a CR3 beast :D
I'm a fan of the telepathic feat, especially for druids, especially for moon druids whose main wildshapes are into beasts. Those super-senses and all your great ideas are of limited use if you can't communicate with allies and it might be a real drag if you need to come out of wildshape early for the sake of a sentence or two. Telepathic would be of even more value to a non fairy druid in a party that included a wizard from early levels. If the telepathic druid can borrow the wizard's flying familiar (they always fly) then, by wildshaping into something small with good eyes, you could get something approaching the fairy flying buff by another means.
As a fairy and being of small size you have some of the utility benefits that Misty Step from Fey Touched would have given you.
Mage armour, with a dex 14 (the best that CR3 beasts will give), would give you AC 15. CR2's Giant Elk gave dex 16. At lev 12 with CR4, if your DM will let you use saltmarsh's Giant Coral Snake, you'll get another strong Dex option, but a lot of the fun of wildshape is the turning into a variety of forms and several CR 4 forms have their own moderate to good AC with middling to poor dex.
The SAC says : "... no. The Tough feat affects a druid’s hit points, which are replaced by the beast’s hit points while using Wild Shape" so, depending on your DM, maybe no transfer of the buff there.
Healer might add another pressure to come out of wildshape early.
From an RP perspective, it almost seems necessary to take Fey Touched. And why wouldn’t you? Misty Step plus another spell plus a half ASI is pretty great. Use Misty Step when you are put into melee, don’t want to be there, and want to cast instead of wild shape. Plus you can Hunters Mark then multi-attack the next turn as a beast.
Good arguments but, when concentrating on wall of stone or a 5th level conjuration spell or just on a 4th level polymorph to maintain a weakened ally as a T-rex while you're wildshaped into an ankylosaurus or giant scorpion, resilient may also seem pretty necessary. Communication, as by telepathy, can also be/seem necessary for some players. A moon druid may want to remain in melee while tinkerbell, especially if having been able to have maintained concentration, maybe happy to use any action and a bonus action for a second wildshape or to use an action to disengage in any direction and use the bonus action for something like healing word. When knocked out of wildshape your druid shape or your companions may also have suffered damage. Hunter's mark is great but, at 10th level, there are other concentration options available.
I don’t disagree about Resilient being a strong choice for a Moon Druid and agree with your other points, GergKyae.
If it were me, I would take Resilient and Fey Touched, and start with odd stats for WIS and CON. Resilient for when you want to be in the thick of things, and Fey Touched for when you don’t. it’s a solid combo for a Moon Druid.
I don’t disagree about Resilient being a strong choice for a Moon Druid and agree with your other points, GergKyae.
If it were me, I would take Resilient and Fey Touched, and start with odd stats for WIS and CON. Resilient for when you want to be in the thick of things, and Fey Touched for when you don’t. it’s a solid combo for a Moon Druid.
That is a pretty decent approach but I would like to point out it works just as well starting with both even. Consider two druids one starting 16/16 and the other 17 wis 15 con. The both take resiliant at 4, fey touched at 8 and ASI at 12.
Level 1-3 the even druid is better due to better con. Level 4-7 they are identical. Level 8-11 the odd druid is better due to better Was and after That they are identical. While level 1 to 3 is usually shorter than 8 to 11 there is no guarantee you will get there (either the campaign ends or you die) and the early levels are the most dangerous so boosting your effectiveness there can help a lot in getting you to higher levels.
Our DM approved my taking the Fey Touched feat with the gift of alacrity spell. Thus, my choice is between taking telepathic or fey touched with gift of alacrity or hex (which I think is a bit better than hunter's mark). Hex would provide a decent boost to single-target damage when in forms with multi-attack (e.g., giant scorpion) and could also be used to debuff target strength or dexterity for grapples and shoves (e.g., to push target into the spike growth). However, hex would be yet another concentration spell (i.e., compete with summon beast, hold person, conjure animals, conjure woodland beings, heat metal, faerie fire, maelstrom, and pretty much all other good damage-over-time or crowd control spells) and have a casting time of 1 bonus action (meaning I could not use wild shape in the same round). Additionally, as pointed out above, the fact that I am playing a fairy somewhat reduces the value of misty step. I would also not be able to cast misty step while in beast form until 18th level, though once I'm able to do so it could be used for offensive as well as defensive positioning.
Actually, I just thought of a good use of misty step as an 18th-lvl moon druid. Wonder twins power active shape of a bear or some high strength (and preferably high HP) beast. Grapple target and misty step up over a chasm, allowing target to suffer fall damage. At the least, one could grapple and shoot upward to force 3d6 + save or prone, or perhaps a bit less fall distance to land target in pre-cast spike growth.
Edit: Statement retracted. After a night's sleep, realized MS can't be used in this way.
I am joining an ongoing campaign and will playing a fairy moon druid (starting at level 10). I have been considering different sets of feats and would appreciate others' opinions on my proposed selection. We are using point buy, so my starting Wis without feats will be 16 or 17. I am thinking of the following for my feats:
Level 4: War Caster (if starting Con 16) or Resilient: Con (if starting Con 15)
Level 8: Telepathic, Fey touched, or Observant (if starting Wis 17) or ASI (if starting Wis 16)
Level 12: ASI
Level 16: Resilient: Con or War Caster (whichever one is not taken at level 4)
Level 19: Lucky or Mobile
At level 10, there is virtually no difference between the effects of Resilient (15 Con) and War Caster (16 Con) for maintaining spell concentration, so I would probably elect to take the former for my level 4 feat (for added HP and its benefit to general Con saves). In the long run, I believe there is value to having both feats for higher (say 14+) DCs where the difference in the probability of successfully maintaining concentration over the better of the two individual feats can be >0.20.
In terms of my level 8 feat, it then boils down to the value placed on any of the half feats vs. a higher base stat and taking a straight ASI. While fey touched provides a lot of flexibility (since the spells can be cast using druid slots), I do not think misty step will be all that useful for a character that can move in the Z axis. Misty step also eats a bonus action, which potentially conflicts with uses of Wildshape. Observant is pretty strong as long as the DM pays attention to it. However, for a moon druid, I would think telepathic could be quite useful for allowing two-way communications (telepathic vs. verbal) with party members while in beast form. The rate limiter would seem to be the 60' distance. Can others comment on their perspectives on the utility of the telepathic feat vs. observant (or other Wis-based half feats)?
Regarding the level 19 feat (should I get there), it seems to me that lucky would trump anything else. Mobile would add to add to my walking and flight speeds OOC and to my speed(s) as a beast. It would also allow me to move in, attack, and move out without risk of an OA while in combat. This would be of greatest use for beasts with a high base speed. I have read anecdotes where people claim Mobile is particularly useful for beasts with a pounce or charge mechanic, but I am not seeing the specific synergy. There are some damage-based feats, particularly from Tasha's) that could be useful while in beast form (e.g., savage attacker [depending on how DM interprets the description], charger, crusher, piercer), but I do not think any of these would add tremendously to my melee weapon attack damage. The utility of lucky or mobile would feel to be greater.
Any other feats I should be considering? Thanks in advance!
Not particularly flashy feats, but they can pay huge dividends: Tough and Healer.
Tough is obvious - the more HP you have, the more likely you'll stay up in combat and the more damage you'll be able to deal.
Healer feat allows you to give 1d6 + 4 + Character Level hit points without expending a spell slot. You can only do it once per PC, but it recharges on a short rest and healer's kits are dirt cheap. Since you're starting at level 10, you'd be looking at doling out a minimum of 15 HP to any character (including yourself) just by using your action. It's way more effective than casting Cure Wounds and it saves you precious spell slots that only regen on long rests. Even if you don't plan to be "the healer," having the option of healing yourself a good amount or reviving an unconscious ally for basically free can't be understated.
Having played a Moon Druid I would suggest Magic Initiate (Wizard) and taking Mage Armor as your 1st level spell. It will replace Natural Armor on all beasts and elementals that have Natural Armor of 11 or 12 with an AC of 13! It’s a surprisingly huge buff for Moon Druids.
Professional computer geek
I think Tasha's has a better option if mage armor is the sole interest (i.e., eldritch adept: armor of shadows). However, I think this would only be a plausible option at low level (before level 19) for a vhuman. If non-human, then I could not see prioritizing this over buffs to concentration saves and stat increases to achieve a 20 Wis.
Edit: Besides, there are potentially magic items that can affect AC while in beast form (e.g., barrier tattoo).
Correct. But Mage Armor stacks with most of those magical items making it a great spell for any Moon Druid.
I still think that Magic Initiate is better than Eldritch Adept because the cantrips are useful too. But they're not the primary reason to take Magic Initiate, they're a nice added bonus.
Professional computer geek
ArntItheBest, I agree, though the +1 Con from resilient is not retained in beast form either. However, what I said earlier about the difference in concentration saves between WC and Res holds even if the beast's Con is lower than that held in caster form.
I would also consider a split ASI. For example if you start Wis 17, Con 15 you could take an ASI to boost them both at 4.
Alternatively as others have said resilient is morew use to a moon druid so if you start Wis 17, Con 16 you could take resiliant a 4 and a split ASI at 8 (or vice versa)
I so love this character concept. Fairy flies above a potential target and turns into a CR3 beast :D
I'm a fan of the telepathic feat, especially for druids, especially for moon druids whose main wildshapes are into beasts. Those super-senses and all your great ideas are of limited use if you can't communicate with allies and it might be a real drag if you need to come out of wildshape early for the sake of a sentence or two. Telepathic would be of even more value to a non fairy druid in a party that included a wizard from early levels. If the telepathic druid can borrow the wizard's flying familiar (they always fly) then, by wildshaping into something small with good eyes, you could get something approaching the fairy flying buff by another means.
As a fairy and being of small size you have some of the utility benefits that Misty Step from Fey Touched would have given you.
Mage armour, with a dex 14 (the best that CR3 beasts will give), would give you AC 15. CR2's Giant Elk gave dex 16. At lev 12 with CR4, if your DM will let you use saltmarsh's Giant Coral Snake, you'll get another strong Dex option, but a lot of the fun of wildshape is the turning into a variety of forms and several CR 4 forms have their own moderate to good AC with middling to poor dex.
The SAC says : "... no. The Tough feat affects a druid’s hit points, which are replaced by the beast’s hit points while using Wild Shape" so, depending on your DM, maybe no transfer of the buff there.
Healer might add another pressure to come out of wildshape early.
Resilient is great.
From an RP perspective, it almost seems necessary to take Fey Touched. And why wouldn’t you? Misty Step plus another spell plus a half ASI is pretty great. Use Misty Step when you are put into melee, don’t want to be there, and want to cast instead of wild shape. Plus you can Hunters Mark then multi-attack the next turn as a beast.
Good arguments but, when concentrating on wall of stone or a 5th level conjuration spell or just on a 4th level polymorph to maintain a weakened ally as a T-rex while you're wildshaped into an ankylosaurus or giant scorpion, resilient may also seem pretty necessary. Communication, as by telepathy, can also be/seem necessary for some players.
A moon druid may want to remain in melee while tinkerbell, especially if having been able to have maintained concentration, maybe happy to use any action and a bonus action for a second wildshape or to use an action to disengage in any direction and use the bonus action for something like healing word. When knocked out of wildshape your druid shape or your companions may also have suffered damage. Hunter's mark is great but, at 10th level, there are other concentration options available.
I don’t disagree about Resilient being a strong choice for a Moon Druid and agree with your other points, GergKyae.
If it were me, I would take Resilient and Fey Touched, and start with odd stats for WIS and CON. Resilient for when you want to be in the thick of things, and Fey Touched for when you don’t. it’s a solid combo for a Moon Druid.
That is a pretty decent approach but I would like to point out it works just as well starting with both even. Consider two druids one starting 16/16 and the other 17 wis 15 con. The both take resiliant at 4, fey touched at 8 and ASI at 12.
Level 1-3 the even druid is better due to better con. Level 4-7 they are identical. Level 8-11 the odd druid is better due to better Was and after That they are identical. While level 1 to 3 is usually shorter than 8 to 11 there is no guarantee you will get there (either the campaign ends or you die) and the early levels are the most dangerous so boosting your effectiveness there can help a lot in getting you to higher levels.
Love the discussion.
Our DM approved my taking the Fey Touched feat with the gift of alacrity spell. Thus, my choice is between taking telepathic or fey touched with gift of alacrity or hex (which I think is a bit better than hunter's mark). Hex would provide a decent boost to single-target damage when in forms with multi-attack (e.g., giant scorpion) and could also be used to debuff target strength or dexterity for grapples and shoves (e.g., to push target into the spike growth). However, hex would be yet another concentration spell (i.e., compete with summon beast, hold person, conjure animals, conjure woodland beings, heat metal, faerie fire, maelstrom, and pretty much all other good damage-over-time or crowd control spells) and have a casting time of 1 bonus action (meaning I could not use wild shape in the same round). Additionally, as pointed out above, the fact that I am playing a fairy somewhat reduces the value of misty step. I would also not be able to cast misty step while in beast form until 18th level, though once I'm able to do so it could be used for offensive as well as defensive positioning.
Actually, I just thought of a good use of misty step as an 18th-lvl moon druid. Wonder twins power active shape of a bear or some high strength (and preferably high HP) beast. Grapple target and misty step up over a chasm, allowing target to suffer fall damage. At the least, one could grapple and shoot upward to force 3d6 + save or prone, or perhaps a bit less fall distance to land target in pre-cast spike growth.
Edit: Statement retracted. After a night's sleep, realized MS can't be used in this way.