The only flaw I see with making them just swarm variant spells is that a swarm of horses don’t help a party the same way having 4 warhorses does. If the choice was between swarm spells and what we got in the UA I would vote for swarm spells, but I believe there is a way to have unique spell that holds some of what these spells currently are capable of while making them less disruptive.
I don't get why people even think that it's perfectly fine that Conjure Animals, a 3rd level spell that is one of the best damage spells at this level, can also conjure a bunch of flying scouts, and can also solve various other non-combat problems e.g., summoning 4 horses for an hour while Phantom Steed, another 3rd level spell only conjures one horse for an hour (yeah I know PS doesn't require concentration). I mean a single spell just shouldn't be at the same time more versatile than most other spells and outperform niche spells at their own game - be it damage or conjuring horses.
So imo, Conjure * should either be a versatile non-combat spell OR a combat only spell. But not great at both.
Why though? There are tons of spells that are both versatile non-combat spells and powerful in-combat spells. Polymorph, Bigby's Hand, Fly, Telekinesis, Thunderstep, Misty Step, Animate Objects, Wall of Force, Wall of Stone, many of Tasha's Summoning spells, Warding Wind, Web, Resilient Sphere, Banishment, (sometimes) Control Water, Gust of Wind, Transmute Rock, Plant Growth, ....
Conjure Animals is the ONLY decent 3rd level spell that Druids get. Why is everyone so deadset on nerfing it into the ground?
EDIT: You listed plant growth as one of the versatile + powerful in-combat spells, but that is also a 3rd level spell Druids get.
Yes, but it is also incredibly circumstantial. If you are anywhere that isn't covered in vegetation already it is completely useless.
Right, and what are the odds of fighting on or near something as uncommon and unpredictable as grass?
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EDIT: You listed plant growth as one of the versatile + powerful in-combat spells, but that is also a 3rd level spell Druids get.
Yes, but it is also incredibly circumstantial. If you are anywhere that isn't covered in vegetation already it is completely useless.
Right, and what are the odds of fighting on or near something as uncommon and unpredictable as grass?
Depends on the game I guess. But some city games, dungeons, while out on the ocean, in the castle/keep you are raiding, on other planes of existence like fire, air, or the astral, etc. So yeah I'd say limited. It is basically limited to outdoors overland which is fairly circumstantial, its kind of the random encounter during overland travel spell. Maybe not incredibly circumstantial but its not nearly as common for story/important encounters as you try to imply.
You could always just carry some grass tufts, or saplings in your pocket and fling one on the ground to grow. Nothing in the spell says you can't bring your own plants along.
You could always just carry some grass tufts, or saplings in your pocket and fling one on the ground to grow. Nothing in the spell says you can't bring your own plants along.
EDIT: You listed plant growth as one of the versatile + powerful in-combat spells, but that is also a 3rd level spell Druids get.
Yes, but it is also incredibly circumstantial. If you are anywhere that isn't covered in vegetation already it is completely useless.
Right, and what are the odds of fighting on or near something as uncommon and unpredictable as grass?
Dungeons don't have grass, the Nine Hells doesn't have grass, the arctic doesn't have grass, deserts don't have grass, volcanos don't have grass, inside buildings doesn't have grass, in ocean or on rivers/lakes doesn't have grass, beaches don't have grass.
Thinking about my current campaign which is very travel-focused so far we have had: 6 combats with no plants on the combat map 3 combats with a few scattered plants on the combat map 2 combats where the majority of the ground was vegetation In only 1 combat would Plant Growth have been useful. 1/11 chance for a spell to be useful is not a great ratio...
In our previous campaign.... Plant Growth would have been usable in ~1/4 combats, but useful in ~1/5 combats (the rest were flying enemies only).
plant growth not being applicable every single encounter seems... fair. it's a situational spell. would it be unfair to find a way to reduce the number of encounters a 2014 conjure animals spell solves to 20-25% of the current number? perhaps summon temporary but larger spirit-clones of a trained animal already in your possession. or buff up the party's familiars.
...or does relying instead on tasha's summons spells already achieve that metric? maybe that was the plan.
plant growth not being applicable every single encounter seems... fair. it's a situational spell. would it be unfair to find a way to reduce the number of encounters a 2014 conjure animals spell solves to 20-25% of the current number? perhaps summon temporary but larger spirit-clones of a trained animal already in your possession. or buff up the party's familiars.
...or does relying instead on tasha's summons spells achieve that metric? maybe that was the plan.
Should Spirit Guardians similarly be nerfed so that it only damages Undead & Fiends so that it too is only usable in 20-25% of encounters?
EDIT: You listed plant growth as one of the versatile + powerful in-combat spells, but that is also a 3rd level spell Druids get.
Yes, but it is also incredibly circumstantial. If you are anywhere that isn't covered in vegetation already it is completely useless.
Right, and what are the odds of fighting on or near something as uncommon and unpredictable as grass?
Dungeons don't have grass, the Nine Hells doesn't have grass, the arctic doesn't have grass, deserts don't have grass, volcanos don't have grass, inside buildings doesn't have grass, in ocean or on rivers/lakes doesn't have grass, beaches don't have grass.
I do have to pop up now and mutter something absolutely unfair by pointing out that all of those things do have grass, except dungeons and buildings, which merely can have grass.
Sea? there is actual sea grass. also, kelp and seaweed.
Grass grows everywhere. There is no biome that doesn't have a plant filling that role within it, and specifically being a grass in 90% of cases.
Oddly enough, even rainforests have grass -- it's just bigger (you know, like bamboo).
But, also, this is a fantasy game -- presuming that there are places where there is no grass and places where there is grass are equally questionable, since, well, it depends on the DM.
I mean, if the dungeon is 'shallow", it could easily have all manner of grass -- bermuda roots can go incredibly deep. Thatching is accomplished using grass. Grass is one of the most important elements of life in the rough period (assuming a baseline D&D period).
Also, hell does too have grass. it is razor sharp, and dulls the blades of push mowers really easily, but it is grass....
wait, um, nvm, scratch that last part.
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Conjure Animals is the ONLY decent 3rd level spell that Druids get. Why is everyone so deadset on nerfing it into the ground?
Because this is false? Tidal Wave, Sleet Storm, Summon Fey, Revivify, Dispel Magic, Aura of Vitality, Protection from Energy, Plant Growth... and yes, the new Conjure Animals, are all good spells for this level. And that's just base 3rd-level druid spells, nothing from subclass or upcasting.
New Conjure Animals can regularly do 4d10+2*Wis per round. On your turn, move it 10ft away from an enemy then Thorn Whip them into range of it for 2d10+Wis (+Thorn Whip damage, which I'm not even counting) or use Telekinetic if you need to cast something else with your action, or an ally can push them into range instead - then on their turn they start next to it and eat another 2d10+Wis. For a single third-level slot, that's good damage - that's more than fireball on a single target, and you get to do it for the entire combat instead of once.
plant growth not being applicable every single encounter seems... fair. it's a situational spell. would it be unfair to find a way to reduce the number of encounters a 2014 conjure animals spell solves to 20-25% of the current number? perhaps summon temporary but larger spirit-clones of a trained animal already in your possession. or buff up the party's familiars.
...or does relying instead on tasha's summons spells achieve that metric? maybe that was the plan.
Should Spirit Guardians similarly be nerfed so that it only damages Undead & Fiends so that it too is only usable in 20-25% of encounters?
Spirit guardians does damage and thats it! Zero out of combat utility. The UA Conjure Animals also does that, therefore it’s ok that it does good damage. But what you guys want to have is a spell that does this and also outclasses Phantom Steed at summoning horses, provides flight to the entire party while Fly only does that for one target, and a ton of other utility. Plant growth was your own example to support the claim that there are multiple spells that are both great utility and combat spells. As you see, this often comes with some other constraints. Why should CA have no constraints, do similar damage as a pure damage spell and outclass some utility spells at the single thing they do?
I’d also like to point out that you mentioned Tasha's summons among those great at everything spells. The druid does have access to some of them and they fulfill the same fantasy.
With plant growth being brought up I would like to see a similar trait extended to more spells in general but especially the conjure ones.
That trait is the longer casting time. We could have a balanced combat function and a exploration or social function for alot more spells.
The sonic screwdriver argument makes little sense to me because the classes that got conjure animals access were on theme and relatively in line balance wise. Druids could already do it via wild shape, rangers were already balanced and bards with magical secrets deserved the benefit because of the cost and (its also In their wheelhouse).
That trait is the longer casting time. We could have a balanced combat function and a exploration or social function for alot more spells.
I'm pretty sure 5e doesn't want prebuffing to be a thing, so combat-useful spells have a casting time short enough to be useful in combat.
I'm not suggesting a pre-buff but instead alternative use. So a possibility a combat statblock if cast as an action but can preform a reasonable amount of utility options if cast over an x amount of time.
This would allow most of the same functions of the original while allowing simplified and/or balanced use. Plant growth shows a model for this type of spell rewrite.
So you could have the combat portion of the spell similar to a tasha's or playtest 8 but then add
Alternatively you can cast this spell over an hour and summon a small group of (animals , fey, celestials etc as determined by the name) to preform one of the following tasks : (task options to be limited by type)
animals might be movement/mounts or tool related( beavers chop, badgers dig etc). while fey might play tricks or swap items as an emergency shop. Celestials could stave off exhaustion or give information. These exact lists aren't right but the principle might work.
Or they could even just make specific npcs appear just so classes that use animal messenger or beast sense will never be caught with a dm just shutting their use by saying "there's none available." (Yes I realize that's not what it currently does)
That trait is the longer casting time. We could have a balanced combat function and a exploration or social function for alot more spells.
I'm pretty sure 5e doesn't want prebuffing to be a thing, so combat-useful spells have a casting time short enough to be useful in combat.
I'm not suggesting a pre-buff but instead alternative use. So a possibility a combat statblock if cast as an action but can preform a reasonable amount of utility options if cast over an x amount of time.
This would allow most of the same functions of the original while allowing simplified and/or balanced use. Plant growth shows a model for this type of spell rewrite.
So you could have the combat portion of the spell similar to a tasha's or playtest 8 but then add
Alternatively you can cast this spell over an hour and summon a small group of (animals , fey, celestials etc as determined by the name) to preform one of the following tasks : (task options to be limited by type)
animals might be movement/mounts or tool related( beavers chop, badgers dig etc). while fey might play tricks or swap items as an emergency shop. Celestials could stave off exhaustion or give information. These exact lists aren't right but the principle might work.
Or they could even just make specific npcs appear just so classes that use animal messenger or beast sense will never be caught with a dm just shutting their use by saying "there's none available." (Yes I realize that's not what it currently does)
An interesting idea but I think this would be too much. Plant Growth has the one additional thing it can do, improve crops in a large area. Handy if you are trying to get assistance from farmers, etc but it is very limited. Unless I’m just not being creative enough.
Let these combat spells do that and other spells fill the utility you mention.
An interesting idea but I think this would be too much. Plant Growth has the one additional thing it can do, improve crops in a large area. Handy if you are trying to get assistance from farmers, etc but it is very limited. Unless I’m just not being creative enough.
Let these combat spells do that and other spells fill the utility you mention.
I don't mind spells that can be used for both combat and out of combat utility, but depending upon the potential of that utility they ought to be balanced accordingly; i.e- a "pure" combat summon can be stronger since it's only doing one thing for the same cost in occupying one of your prepared spells.
A spell that can summon for combat but also be used to do a bunch of other things as well shouldn't have the same peak on combat performance, since it's equivalent to getting several spells for a single prepared choice. Currently some of the conjure spells are arguably both stronger in combat, and give much, much more utility out of combat, so there's definitely a need to rebalance them.
Versatility vs. power is kind of how I've tended to view prestidigitation vs. minor illusion as cantrip choices; the latter is far better at the things it does well (distractions or enhancing performances etc.) but the prestidigitation is almost continuously usable with a bit of creativity, and even has a few combat applications (though nothing major, mostly much weaker distractions or lighting/snuffing candles etc.).
I definitely get the desire to simplify the conjure spells and distinguish them from the newer summon spells, but there's scope for them to be simplified without losing all of their versatility, and instead be balanced as a "weaker but more flexible" option, ideal for casters who have fewer spells known/prepared, whereas the Tasha's summon spells will be ideal for the caster who's looking more specifically to summon things for combat.
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Conjure Animals is the ONLY decent 3rd level spell that Druids get. Why is everyone so deadset on nerfing it into the ground?
Because this is false? Tidal Wave, Sleet Storm, Summon Fey, Revivify, Dispel Magic, Aura of Vitality, Protection from Energy, Plant Growth... and yes, the new Conjure Animals, are all good spells for this level. And that's just base 3rd-level druid spells, nothing from subclass or upcasting.
Tidal Wave is worse than an upcast Shatter - equal damage but smaller area, and prone is a net-neutral condition since ranged attacks are at disadvantage vs melee attacks at advantage.
Sleet Storm prevents your party targeting the enemy just as much as it prevents the enemy targeting your party, it is purely a delaying tactic so is really not that useful. Especially if the combat map isn't enormous since this occupies a huge area.
Revivify is niche, you're hopefully not casting that every day.
Dispel Magic is niche, and inferior to Counterspell.
Protection from Energy is really not very useful, you have to know (1) when you are going to fight - so you can precast it (2) what you are going to fight - so you know which type of damage to choose and since it is concentration it's probably only going to last through one enemy AoE before going down anyway. So you're probably only saving 10-30 damage with this spell which is barely more than just upcasting Cure Wounds.
Plant Growth is extremely niche once again
Aura of Vitality is really terrible in combat - the healing is so low and it's using your concentration, it's decent as out-of-combat healing though.
------------------------------------
So of the above spells only Tidal Wave is useful in more than 25% of combat situations, and it's garbage.
That leaves Conjure Animals or Summon Fey as a druid's only 3rd level combat spells. It's why in many of my games the druid ends up still using Spike Growth and Faerie Fire as their go-to combat spells even at 7ht-10th level, because that's really all druid gets for universally useful combat spells other than summoning.
- Tidal Wave covers 3x Shatter's area, does a much more reliable damage type (magical bludgeoning instead of thunder), and targets a much more reliable save (Dex vs Con.) Area matters, because that affects total damage output from your slot every bit as much as the die roll itself.
- The point of Sleet Storm is to lock down part of the battlefield while your party takes out the rest. Of course you wouldn't cover the entire enemy with this - just their backline/flank with their ranged and casters for example, while you all mop up the front. It blocks line of sight so they can't teleport out, and between the prone and difficult terrain they're likely not walking out either, at best they'll have to burn their actions dashing. It's a good spell. Do all your fights only have 1-2 enemies in them?
- I'm not convinced you're used to team play either. The Druid having Dispel Magic means the Wizard or Bard or Sorcerer can counterspell instead. The Druid having Revivify means the Cleric can do one more Spirit Guardians instead of keeping that slot in reserve. The druid having Protection from Energy means two of your frontliners are protected from the dragon instead of one (and as far as knowing when you'll need it, you're a caster, divinations exist.)
- "Aura of Vitality is more useful outside of combat" - yeah, I know that, you still have to prepare it at the beginning of the adventuring day, that's how spell preparation works. Some of the druid's spells at each level should be non-combat spells, unless they as a caster have no idea what they're doing. Skill issue, not game issue.
And on top of all that, you didn't even bother to try refuting the math on the new Conjure Animals being worth preparing. Because you can't, because it is.
Druids are the best backup to all classes in the game. As good of healer as a cleric, no. As good as a front-line damage dealer, no. As good as a magic damage dealer, no.
But can they do all of these jobs as a backup if someone goes down- YES, THEY CAN!
Speaking as someone who plays druids A LOT, their 3rd level spells are fine. I must admit though, I have never been a fan of Tital Wave. It really should do SOMETHING more - more damage, or water stays, or something...
Why though? There are tons of spells that are both versatile non-combat spells and powerful in-combat spells. Polymorph, Bigby's Hand, Fly, Telekinesis, Thunderstep, Misty Step, Animate Objects, Wall of Force, Wall of Stone, many of Tasha's Summoning spells, Warding Wind, Web, Resilient Sphere, Banishment, (sometimes) Control Water, Gust of Wind, Transmute Rock, Plant Growth, ....
Conjure Animals is the ONLY decent 3rd level spell that Druids get. Why is everyone so deadset on nerfing it into the ground?
Yes, but it is also incredibly circumstantial. If you are anywhere that isn't covered in vegetation already it is completely useless.
Right, and what are the odds of fighting on or near something as uncommon and unpredictable as grass?
Look at what you've done. You spoiled it. You have nobody to blame but yourself. Go sit and think about your actions.
Don't be mean. Rudeness is a vicious cycle, and it has to stop somewhere. Exceptions for things that are funny.
Go to the current Competition of the Finest 'Brews! It's a cool place where cool people make cool things.
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Depends on the game I guess. But some city games, dungeons, while out on the ocean, in the castle/keep you are raiding, on other planes of existence like fire, air, or the astral, etc. So yeah I'd say limited. It is basically limited to outdoors overland which is fairly circumstantial, its kind of the random encounter during overland travel spell. Maybe not incredibly circumstantial but its not nearly as common for story/important encounters as you try to imply.
You could always just carry some grass tufts, or saplings in your pocket and fling one on the ground to grow. Nothing in the spell says you can't bring your own plants along.
Sure if your DM buys into that idea have at it.
Dungeons don't have grass, the Nine Hells doesn't have grass, the arctic doesn't have grass, deserts don't have grass, volcanos don't have grass, inside buildings doesn't have grass, in ocean or on rivers/lakes doesn't have grass, beaches don't have grass.
Thinking about my current campaign which is very travel-focused so far we have had:
6 combats with no plants on the combat map
3 combats with a few scattered plants on the combat map
2 combats where the majority of the ground was vegetation
In only 1 combat would Plant Growth have been useful. 1/11 chance for a spell to be useful is not a great ratio...
In our previous campaign.... Plant Growth would have been usable in ~1/4 combats, but useful in ~1/5 combats (the rest were flying enemies only).
plant growth not being applicable every single encounter seems... fair. it's a situational spell. would it be unfair to find a way to reduce the number of encounters a 2014 conjure animals spell solves to 20-25% of the current number? perhaps summon temporary but larger spirit-clones of a trained animal already in your possession. or buff up the party's familiars.
...or does relying instead on tasha's summons spells already achieve that metric? maybe that was the plan.
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Should Spirit Guardians similarly be nerfed so that it only damages Undead & Fiends so that it too is only usable in 20-25% of encounters?
I do have to pop up now and mutter something absolutely unfair by pointing out that all of those things do have grass, except dungeons and buildings, which merely can have grass.
Sea? there is actual sea grass. also, kelp and seaweed.
Grass grows everywhere. There is no biome that doesn't have a plant filling that role within it, and specifically being a grass in 90% of cases.
Oddly enough, even rainforests have grass -- it's just bigger (you know, like bamboo).
But, also, this is a fantasy game -- presuming that there are places where there is no grass and places where there is grass are equally questionable, since, well, it depends on the DM.
I mean, if the dungeon is 'shallow", it could easily have all manner of grass -- bermuda roots can go incredibly deep. Thatching is accomplished using grass. Grass is one of the most important elements of life in the rough period (assuming a baseline D&D period).
Also, hell does too have grass. it is razor sharp, and dulls the blades of push mowers really easily, but it is grass....
wait, um, nvm, scratch that last part.
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Because this is false? Tidal Wave, Sleet Storm, Summon Fey, Revivify, Dispel Magic, Aura of Vitality, Protection from Energy, Plant Growth... and yes, the new Conjure Animals, are all good spells for this level. And that's just base 3rd-level druid spells, nothing from subclass or upcasting.
New Conjure Animals can regularly do 4d10+2*Wis per round. On your turn, move it 10ft away from an enemy then Thorn Whip them into range of it for 2d10+Wis (+Thorn Whip damage, which I'm not even counting) or use Telekinetic if you need to cast something else with your action, or an ally can push them into range instead - then on their turn they start next to it and eat another 2d10+Wis. For a single third-level slot, that's good damage - that's more than fireball on a single target, and you get to do it for the entire combat instead of once.
Spirit guardians does damage and thats it! Zero out of combat utility. The UA Conjure Animals also does that, therefore it’s ok that it does good damage. But what you guys want to have is a spell that does this and also outclasses Phantom Steed at summoning horses, provides flight to the entire party while Fly only does that for one target, and a ton of other utility. Plant growth was your own example to support the claim that there are multiple spells that are both great utility and combat spells. As you see, this often comes with some other constraints. Why should CA have no constraints, do similar damage as a pure damage spell and outclass some utility spells at the single thing they do?
I’d also like to point out that you mentioned Tasha's summons among those great at everything spells. The druid does have access to some of them and they fulfill the same fantasy.
With plant growth being brought up I would like to see a similar trait extended to more spells in general but especially the conjure ones.
That trait is the longer casting time. We could have a balanced combat function and a exploration or social function for alot more spells.
The sonic screwdriver argument makes little sense to me because the classes that got conjure animals access were on theme and relatively in line balance wise. Druids could already do it via wild shape, rangers were already balanced and bards with magical secrets deserved the benefit because of the cost and (its also In their wheelhouse).
I'm pretty sure 5e doesn't want prebuffing to be a thing, so combat-useful spells have a casting time short enough to be useful in combat.
I'm not suggesting a pre-buff but instead alternative use. So a possibility a combat statblock if cast as an action but can preform a reasonable amount of utility options if cast over an x amount of time.
This would allow most of the same functions of the original while allowing simplified and/or balanced use. Plant growth shows a model for this type of spell rewrite.
So you could have the combat portion of the spell similar to a tasha's or playtest 8 but then add
Alternatively you can cast this spell over an hour and summon a small group of (animals , fey, celestials etc as determined by the name) to preform one of the following tasks : (task options to be limited by type)
animals might be movement/mounts or tool related( beavers chop, badgers dig etc). while fey might play tricks or swap items as an emergency shop. Celestials could stave off exhaustion or give information. These exact lists aren't right but the principle might work.
Or they could even just make specific npcs appear just so classes that use animal messenger or beast sense will never be caught with a dm just shutting their use by saying "there's none available." (Yes I realize that's not what it currently does)
An interesting idea but I think this would be too much. Plant Growth has the one additional thing it can do, improve crops in a large area. Handy if you are trying to get assistance from farmers, etc but it is very limited. Unless I’m just not being creative enough.
Let these combat spells do that and other spells fill the utility you mention.
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I don't mind spells that can be used for both combat and out of combat utility, but depending upon the potential of that utility they ought to be balanced accordingly; i.e- a "pure" combat summon can be stronger since it's only doing one thing for the same cost in occupying one of your prepared spells.
A spell that can summon for combat but also be used to do a bunch of other things as well shouldn't have the same peak on combat performance, since it's equivalent to getting several spells for a single prepared choice. Currently some of the conjure spells are arguably both stronger in combat, and give much, much more utility out of combat, so there's definitely a need to rebalance them.
Versatility vs. power is kind of how I've tended to view prestidigitation vs. minor illusion as cantrip choices; the latter is far better at the things it does well (distractions or enhancing performances etc.) but the prestidigitation is almost continuously usable with a bit of creativity, and even has a few combat applications (though nothing major, mostly much weaker distractions or lighting/snuffing candles etc.).
I definitely get the desire to simplify the conjure spells and distinguish them from the newer summon spells, but there's scope for them to be simplified without losing all of their versatility, and instead be balanced as a "weaker but more flexible" option, ideal for casters who have fewer spells known/prepared, whereas the Tasha's summon spells will be ideal for the caster who's looking more specifically to summon things for combat.
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Tidal Wave is worse than an upcast Shatter - equal damage but smaller area, and prone is a net-neutral condition since ranged attacks are at disadvantage vs melee attacks at advantage.
Sleet Storm prevents your party targeting the enemy just as much as it prevents the enemy targeting your party, it is purely a delaying tactic so is really not that useful. Especially if the combat map isn't enormous since this occupies a huge area.
Revivify is niche, you're hopefully not casting that every day.
Dispel Magic is niche, and inferior to Counterspell.
Protection from Energy is really not very useful, you have to know (1) when you are going to fight - so you can precast it (2) what you are going to fight - so you know which type of damage to choose and since it is concentration it's probably only going to last through one enemy AoE before going down anyway. So you're probably only saving 10-30 damage with this spell which is barely more than just upcasting Cure Wounds.
Plant Growth is extremely niche once again
Aura of Vitality is really terrible in combat - the healing is so low and it's using your concentration, it's decent as out-of-combat healing though.
------------------------------------
So of the above spells only Tidal Wave is useful in more than 25% of combat situations, and it's garbage.
That leaves Conjure Animals or Summon Fey as a druid's only 3rd level combat spells. It's why in many of my games the druid ends up still using Spike Growth and Faerie Fire as their go-to combat spells even at 7ht-10th level, because that's really all druid gets for universally useful combat spells other than summoning.
I'm sorry but that analysis is rubbish.
- Tidal Wave covers 3x Shatter's area, does a much more reliable damage type (magical bludgeoning instead of thunder), and targets a much more reliable save (Dex vs Con.) Area matters, because that affects total damage output from your slot every bit as much as the die roll itself.
- The point of Sleet Storm is to lock down part of the battlefield while your party takes out the rest. Of course you wouldn't cover the entire enemy with this - just their backline/flank with their ranged and casters for example, while you all mop up the front. It blocks line of sight so they can't teleport out, and between the prone and difficult terrain they're likely not walking out either, at best they'll have to burn their actions dashing. It's a good spell. Do all your fights only have 1-2 enemies in them?
- I'm not convinced you're used to team play either. The Druid having Dispel Magic means the Wizard or Bard or Sorcerer can counterspell instead. The Druid having Revivify means the Cleric can do one more Spirit Guardians instead of keeping that slot in reserve. The druid having Protection from Energy means two of your frontliners are protected from the dragon instead of one (and as far as knowing when you'll need it, you're a caster, divinations exist.)
- "Aura of Vitality is more useful outside of combat" - yeah, I know that, you still have to prepare it at the beginning of the adventuring day, that's how spell preparation works. Some of the druid's spells at each level should be non-combat spells, unless they as a caster have no idea what they're doing. Skill issue, not game issue.
And on top of all that, you didn't even bother to try refuting the math on the new Conjure Animals being worth preparing. Because you can't, because it is.
Druids are the best backup to all classes in the game. As good of healer as a cleric, no. As good as a front-line damage dealer, no. As good as a magic damage dealer, no.
But can they do all of these jobs as a backup if someone goes down- YES, THEY CAN!
Speaking as someone who plays druids A LOT, their 3rd level spells are fine. I must admit though, I have never been a fan of Tital Wave. It really should do SOMETHING more - more damage, or water stays, or something...