This would be really niche, but as far as I can tell it seems like it'd work RAW.
1. Could a moon druid/echo knight manifest an echo, wild shape into a large beast and then ride themselves into combat as an independent mount?
2. If you have the Mounted Combatant feat, could you force an attacker to target the echo instead of the mount (PC in wild shape)?
3. If yes to both of the above and you manifest a new echo, could it take the normal form of the PC or would If be in the form of whatever wild shape the PC is in?
If you are going strictly by RAW, Echo Knight has some very vague wording in its abilities. There's some real jankiness in the subclass and there's a lot of unclarity in exactly how the Echo actually works. It could be argued to work but there's a glaring issue. The Echo is never stated to be a Creature. In fact, it was clarified by Jeremy Crawford not in an official sage advice but through a tweet, that it is an Object (https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1240669629661380609?lang=en) . Mounts have to be Creatures to actually be a mount. So for me, riding it is a non-starter. But to answer 3. since it has other implications beyond just the mount question, any new Echo would be the same size as you when you create it. So if you are Wild Shaped as a Large beast, it would be Large. If you were Medium-sized, it would be medium-sized. If you're a Small size, it would be Small size.
In regards to question 1, as dwaller2014 points out your echo is not a creature and not capable of independent action. You can command your echo to move but whether or not this means to can command your echo to mount is unclear at best. Your echo certainly is incapable of controlling a mount, so any creature they mounted would have to be treated as an independent mount. The mounted rules are written with the assumption that the rider is a sentient creature so it is hard to say if/how they should apply. Also, an echo doesn't have a listed speed and thus might be incapable of mounting a creature due to having a speed of 0. I hesitate to assert this definitively though because then the echo would also be incapable of standing up from prone. Really, echos suffer from not being a fully stated out summon.
As for your second question this is a clear no. The Mounted Combatant feat let's you redirect an attack targeting your mount to instead target you. In your scenario this fails at two levels. First, since you are the mount you do not have a mount (unless there is a third even larger creature involved). Second, since you are the mount changing an attack that targeted the mount to target you has no affect since the attack was already targeting you.
Finally, the feature Manifest Echo simply says it looks like you. Personally I would handle shape changers like Druids and changelings as the echo always looks like their true form but I can easily see other DMs handling this differently.
I've often wondered if the echo can hold/carry stuff. Not in the sense that it can go pick stuff up. It can't, since it doesn't say it can. But in the sense of a wagon holding stuff if you set stuff on/in it. Of if you set stuff on a rug, then drag the rug around. It is an object, but, how it interacts with other objects doesn't seem defined at all.
I think depending how the DM answers these questions it'll determine if you can ride it. Not as a mount. But, just by being on top of it as an object, as that object moves.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Both good points, and I agree this is a shake idea at best. The Mounted Combatant part was definitely a stretch. It sounds like if a DM interprets the form to allow the echo to take the PC's true form, and would let you manifest the echo on your back if you're wildshaped into a form that could reasonably see their back, then this could work.
I guess it would be more of a benefit to wild shape and assume that the echo could manifest in whatever your current form is.
Thanks for the input!
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This would be really niche, but as far as I can tell it seems like it'd work RAW.
1. Could a moon druid/echo knight manifest an echo, wild shape into a large beast and then ride themselves into combat as an independent mount?
2. If you have the Mounted Combatant feat, could you force an attacker to target the echo instead of the mount (PC in wild shape)?
3. If yes to both of the above and you manifest a new echo, could it take the normal form of the PC or would If be in the form of whatever wild shape the PC is in?
If you are going strictly by RAW, Echo Knight has some very vague wording in its abilities. There's some real jankiness in the subclass and there's a lot of unclarity in exactly how the Echo actually works. It could be argued to work but there's a glaring issue. The Echo is never stated to be a Creature. In fact, it was clarified by Jeremy Crawford not in an official sage advice but through a tweet, that it is an Object (https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/1240669629661380609?lang=en) . Mounts have to be Creatures to actually be a mount. So for me, riding it is a non-starter. But to answer 3. since it has other implications beyond just the mount question, any new Echo would be the same size as you when you create it. So if you are Wild Shaped as a Large beast, it would be Large. If you were Medium-sized, it would be medium-sized. If you're a Small size, it would be Small size.
In regards to question 1, as dwaller2014 points out your echo is not a creature and not capable of independent action. You can command your echo to move but whether or not this means to can command your echo to mount is unclear at best. Your echo certainly is incapable of controlling a mount, so any creature they mounted would have to be treated as an independent mount. The mounted rules are written with the assumption that the rider is a sentient creature so it is hard to say if/how they should apply. Also, an echo doesn't have a listed speed and thus might be incapable of mounting a creature due to having a speed of 0. I hesitate to assert this definitively though because then the echo would also be incapable of standing up from prone. Really, echos suffer from not being a fully stated out summon.
As for your second question this is a clear no. The Mounted Combatant feat let's you redirect an attack targeting your mount to instead target you. In your scenario this fails at two levels. First, since you are the mount you do not have a mount (unless there is a third even larger creature involved). Second, since you are the mount changing an attack that targeted the mount to target you has no affect since the attack was already targeting you.
Finally, the feature Manifest Echo simply says it looks like you. Personally I would handle shape changers like Druids and changelings as the echo always looks like their true form but I can easily see other DMs handling this differently.
I've often wondered if the echo can hold/carry stuff. Not in the sense that it can go pick stuff up. It can't, since it doesn't say it can. But in the sense of a wagon holding stuff if you set stuff on/in it. Of if you set stuff on a rug, then drag the rug around. It is an object, but, how it interacts with other objects doesn't seem defined at all.
I think depending how the DM answers these questions it'll determine if you can ride it. Not as a mount. But, just by being on top of it as an object, as that object moves.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Both good points, and I agree this is a shake idea at best. The Mounted Combatant part was definitely a stretch. It sounds like if a DM interprets the form to allow the echo to take the PC's true form, and would let you manifest the echo on your back if you're wildshaped into a form that could reasonably see their back, then this could work.
I guess it would be more of a benefit to wild shape and assume that the echo could manifest in whatever your current form is.
Thanks for the input!