So Tasha's brings a whole new slew of summoning spells that seem to be fairly effective while avoiding the issue of grinding the game to a halt as you move and attack with each of your 32 snakes. Do you think these spells are competitive with other options at their level?

I've also been looking around at build options and not finding much. Conjurer wizard is nice, but the real benefits to summoning don't kick in until 10. Circle of the Shepard seems largely useless as none of the new spells have hit dice. Is there any other class/subclass that would benefit a summoner? Maybe warlock?

You picked the two best options, Circle of the Shepherd Druid or School of Conjuration Wizard. I think that Druids make better summoners, but I prefer playing Wizards. You can use a Warlock as a summoner too, but Druids and Wizards will be better at summoning than a Warlock. 

The Bard in my party chose Summon Celestial with his level 10 magical secrets and he uses it quite frequently, and it's a very useful spell.  And it really ticks me off that my Celestial Warlock in the party doesn't have access to that spell, while the Bard does have access to it.  I'm a Celestial Warlock, why the heck can I not summon a Celestial???

I guess the celestial summons you?

I know this response is a little late, but did you ever happen to find a better summoner build?

I also think that, at the time of your original posting, you weren't giving the Circle of Shepherds druid enough credit. Sure the new summoning spells from TCOE don't have hit die to work with, but no one said you had to use the new spells exclusively. The HP boost alone for any variation of CR and number of creatures conjured from the spell Conjure Animals, being the lowest level summoning type spell, has the potential to be a huge game changer. It's more damage that can be absorbed by summons rather than dealt to you or your party members. Have you considered the high level conjuring spells like Conjure Fey as well? At level 11 you could summon a mammoth that has an additional 22 HP for a total of 148 if you're taking the average. Only particular builds like Hill Dwarf Fighter with the Tough Feat and a +5 CON MOD could have more health than that at level 11. Imagine summoning an 11th level fighter at level 11 just for the sake of being a damage sponge. Whereas the new Summon spells allow you to give them more HP by casting the spell at a higher level.

Not really. "Better" is a subjective thing here, because I totally acknowledge that Shepard is strong, particularly with Conjure Animals. I just dislike the way that all the extra creatures slow down the fight so much and clog up the battlefield (blocking me as the monsters is fine, but they often block the positioning of other PCs as well and some combats just feel like "the druid, his summons, and his sidekicks). Just going to take some adjustments on my end to keep things challenging and allow the other players to shine without totally just shutting down the summons.

There don't seem to be too many points of optimization to grab a hold of with the summon spells from Tasha's. A couple thoughts:

1) Fey Wanderer Ranger: A bit of a slow burn thanks to being a half-caster but that concentration free summon is really cool. 

2) Warlock: Warlocks finally got some summon spells not related to demons. Summon Undead/Shadospawn at 3 and Summon Aberration at 4. A warlock summoner could be really cool because you will generally have more high level spell slots to spend on the summons than traditional casters as long as you don't get totally screwed on short rests. Chain Pact would help with the summoner vibe as well.

3) Shepherd: Yep, just play the shepherd and stick with conjure animals. But stick to the CR 1 and 2 options. Keeping it down to 1 or 2 summons will help tremendously in terms of battlefield glut. The spell is so strong that the character will be plenty powerful even after toning it down.

Quote from HeironymusZot >>

There don't seem to be too many points of optimization to grab a hold of with the summon spells from Tasha's. A couple thoughts:

1) Fey Wanderer Ranger: A bit of a slow burn thanks to being a half-caster but that concentration free summon is really cool. 

2) Warlock: Warlocks finally got some summon spells not related to demons. Summon Undead/Shadospawn at 3 and Summon Aberration at 4. A warlock summoner could be really cool because you will generally have more high level spell slots to spend on the summons than traditional casters as long as you don't get totally screwed on short rests. Chain Pact would help with the summoner vibe as well.

3) Shepherd: Yep, just play the shepherd and stick with conjure animals. But stick to the CR 1 and 2 options. Keeping it down to 1 or 2 summons will help tremendously in terms of battlefield glut. The spell is so strong that the character will be plenty powerful even after toning it down.

 

 Yeah, a pair of Brown Bears or Giant Eagles do great with the Shepherd buffs and Bear totem. No need to do 8-wolf cheese.

Summon Beast still benefits from magic attacks and totems, and gives you something to summon before you get level 3 spells. Level 2 spells are kind of a dead zone for Druids anyway.

CR1 is definitely the sweet spot for Conjure Animals. Getting two beasties means you have enough modality to feel super smart, but avoid drowning your teammates in a wall of fur. My favorite was the Giant Octopus. I was in a maritime campaign, but they do have a land speed and can survive out of water for an hour, which conveniently matches the spell duration. I miss my god damn wall of squishiness.

Also, Rat, Spike Growth is giving you some really strong side-eye right now. I'd watch out. Dude is crazy.

Quote from HeironymusZot >>

CR1 is definitely the sweet spot for Conjure Animals. Getting two beasties means you have enough modality to feel super smart, but avoid drowning your teammates in a wall of fur. My favorite was the Giant Octopus. I was in a maritime campaign, but they do have a land speed and can survive out of water for an hour, which conveniently matches the spell duration. I miss my god damn wall of squishiness.

Also, Rat, Spike Growth is giving you some really strong side-eye right now. I'd watch out. Dude is crazy.

Man I wish more people had that mentality about Conjure Animals!

When I DM I limit it to CR 1 or above for that very reason.

The 8 dire wolves or raptors gets annoying to have to track.  People say use Roll20 or a dice roller for their turn but its more than just the rolling...its tracking HP, status effects, movement, and every other thing for 8+ creatures.  It grinds combat to a halt.  If you end up using mob stats for the group you are better off just using the new summons spells which are MUCH better in my opinion albeit less "strong" in the sense that the 8 Dire Wolves are just silly. 

Yeah keeping track of the units is the real grind. If the player doesn't know what they're doing it's a disaster. In my last campaign I was playing alongside a druid that had no god damn clue how to handle his shit. Lovely dude, but a total space case. First time he summoned eight wolves he just sat there twiddling his thumbs waiting for things to happen. This is after I had a conversation with him on the phone about how much homework conjure animals was and that he needed to be prepared with tokens, flash cards, whatever kind of system. Yeah he just sat there and one turn deflated what was otherwise an epic battle and took the wind right out of the rest of the session. Everyone was just getting up and walking around the room while he and the DM tried to figure shit out. Totally unacceptable.

Your limitation on the spell is a good one and should almost certainly be the default way to handle it. Maybe open up the options if you have a player you really trust and work well with. Maybe.

I'm a really big fan of the small, predetermined list method. Curate them to fit the character's origins and be very selective based on the managerial strength of the player. Most people just shouldn't try to handle CR 1/2 or lower. And that's okay.

That's what I got to rock with my Moon Druid. Kyr was from an isolated, tropical archipelago. Basically a mix of OG Teen Titans Beast Boy and Avatar-in-training Korra in personality. The DM allowed me to have flying/constrictor/poisonous snakes, reef sharks, giant octopi and the big ol' mama constrictor. My DM was super generous to allow the 8 snakes options, but I ended up rarely using it. I saved it as a trump card for if the team was in really bad shape, but honestly, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the octopi. I'm a fastidious, tactics-loving player but even that was too much for me. Still, the spectacle of whipping out the cloud of snakes had a couple awesome moments.

Quote from HeironymusZot >>

Also, Rat, Spike Growth is giving you some really strong side-eye right now. I'd watch out. Dude is crazy.

 Fair, although if you don't build your character or party specifically around scraping enemies through the spikes, it occupies an uncomfortable zone between Entangle (also difficult terrain, and causes Restrain!) and Plant Growth (doesn't require my precious concentration slot).

We feel very differently about spike growth. That's okay.

Quote from HeironymusZot >>

We feel very differently about spike growth. That's okay.

 You. I like you.

Necromancer Wizard 6+ running his skeleton army created through Animate Dead spell and led by a Ghostly Spirit from Summon Undead spell properly boosted by Undead Thralls class ability.

You will have consistent damage and protection through the skeletons and very good battlefield control with the Ghostly Spirit death touch spamming frighten.

Remember you are still a capable Wizard full of amazing Concentration-free spells to pretty much dominate the combat — from Grease, Magic Missile and Thunderwave to Blindness/Deafness, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Pyrotechnics, Fireball and etc.

That's pretty damn sexy Ir0ns0ul. I love that Necromancer actually boosts Summon Undead. I'd be super tempted to mix in some stinking clouds depending on the situation.

The new other great option for conjure woodland beings is the Reflections from Tasha's. cr 1/2 fey that have the shadow statblock, including the str sap ability. Not gonna hit often but when it does whoooo! It can end an encounter real quick. Plus at base 4 its only 4 creatures so more easy to handle. I play a summoner in one of my games, and I understand the conjure animals can be tough to keep track of, so I always asked ahead of time to the dm if hes ok with what I'm gonna use so there is no hiccups at the table. I make sure to keep track myself of all the status effects, hp and amount left.

These aren’t necessarily the very best, but some ideas:

1. Oathbreaker Paladin 13 / Hexblade (Pact of the Chain) 7

Oathbreaker will make any summoned undead or fiends do quite a bit more damage.  And you can get a lot of such creatures.  You can have Animate Dead, Summon Undead, a Greater Steed (which you can choose to make a Fiend), a Chain Familiar Imp (which is a Fiend), the Hexblade’s Accursed Specter, and Create Undead from the Oathbreaker Channel Divinity.  Not all of them will get the Oathbreaker bonus (due to not making melee attacks or not being within 10 feet), but you can have a lot of pets and have many of them do much more damage than normal.  The multiclass will make a lot of this take a long time to come online though.

2. Any Bard

Bards can use Magical Secrets to get Tiny Servants or Animate Dead, as well as Find Greater Steed.  It can get any Summon or Conjure spell (or just use Animate Objects).  It can also potentially use Planar Binding to get another minion.  A Creation Bard also gets the Dancing Item pet, though that could clog up the bonus action a lot if you’re using Animate Objects and Lore Bard can get you to your summons quicker.  If you’re able to get/keep enough long-term pets, it might make sense to get Crusader’s Mantle with Magical Secrets and use your concentration on that instead of another summon, but that’d take having 20+ other pets.  You can use the Inspiring Leader feat to get a bunch of temporary HP on all your pets, as well as Aid to increase their HP too.

3. Artillerist Artificer

While Battle-Smiths have a more permanent pet, the Artillerist has its cannon—which is effectively a very versatile summon.  They also have the homunculus, Tiny Servants, and eventually they can cast Summon Construct or Animate Objects.  While it gets slower spell progression, what’s notable about the Artificer as a summoner is that your summons (or at least the homunculus and Tiny Servants) can use spells through your Spell Storing Item—which can do a lot of damage, allow you to double up on concentration, or allow you to basically cast full action spells with your bonus action. And an Artillerist can have its summons use Scorching Ray or Shatter—or you could have them use normal Artificer spells like Levitate, Aid, Web, etc.  You can also have a Protector Cannon—which would increase the durability of your homunculus and Tiny Servants.

The best (in my opinion) is combining the Shepherd Druid 6 with Conjuration Wizard 14. All summons have an additional 30 temporary hit points, and if its a beast or fey it comes out with more hit points (2*hit die) and magical weapons. This is at 20th level though, so more for one-shots or long campaigns. But dear lord is it strong. If using a ninth level Conjure Animals, summoning 32 Velociraptors, your making 126 attacks, with upwards of 126d6+252 + 252d4+504 damage, all of which is magical. And all the raptors have 10(base) + 6(Mighty Summoner) +30(Durable summons) for 46 effective hit points. And since their tiny creatures, they have the ability to swarm, which eases up on miniature management. And since they act immediately after you do, your guaranteed at least one round of attacks with the raptors, which is a lot.