2024 Fireball Druid! - D&D 5e Build

[@PackTactics]

I forgot to mention Goodberries last 24 hours. So if you have left over spell slots from the adventuring day then turn them into Goodberries and you'll have them the next day. Hopefully you'll walk around with over 100 berries every day.

[@joshuasmith9061]

What are your thoughts on Treantmonk's video on your and Insights Check's videos on Sea Druid?

[@PackTactics]

@@joshuasmith9061 I sound like Voldemort in his video. He never names me. He didn't link me either. The video is just him being a centrist rather than discussing optimization IMO. Anyways I might make a response video but I don't like doing that because last time we did video responses together, he side stepped my main point. I don't want you guys to say bad things about him or anything, It's annoying and Bob world builder would call you sub optimal if you were mean to people. As for Insight check, he brought up some points I disagree with but it's not that big of a deal. For Chris, the main point I'm annoyed about is he said "crafting magic items is bullying DMs" when all you're doing is talking to your DM about crafting which is normal. If he actually thinks this then he's in the same bully boat as me. DMs also have ultimate authority on what books you can use so Treantmonk covering content outside the PHB is encouraging players to bully DMs by taking choices out of their hands. It's clearly an irrational take.

[@LucanVaris]

Don't forget: Draconic Cry pairs _exceptionally_ well with the 2014 Conjure Animals. Kinda a shame that they reworked the spell for 2024.

[@RokuroCarisu]

"Deinokynus". 🤭 So, your mount is a 'terrible dog'.

[@Cyotis]

Good Berries over Cure Wounds ?

[@40Found]

I think this video is one of the most important on the channel. It's so good to see an example of how to reevaluate optimal decisions based on context like party composition, loot, social dynamics and personal preference instead of just taking the options generally agreed to be strongest across the board.

[@PackTactics]

Thank you very much! Optimization never ends with just your build. I hope you'll stay around for next year! Mary Christmas and Happy New Year!

[@bora7494]

​@@PackTactics love this video. Would watch more build videos from you as they have a lot of great context that most build videos don't provide

[@chanyael]

I like how this video is basically just you being hyped about playing your bew character.

[@PackTactics]

Absolutely! This was a fun video!

[@chanyael]

@@PackTactics i can understand, i'm currently the DM of the table, but i already have 5-6 characters ready to go for when i'm able to play, depending on the party.

[@margaretmyklebust2577]

I really enjoy your views and I especially like that you don’t talk bad about others, who may have a different opinion. Keep up the good work, Kobold 🐊

[@Richinnameonly]

The 2024 druid can now change into things with swimming speed so giant crab is available at level 2. The swimming isn't the important part though, it's the blindsight. My favorite 2024 druid is "giant fog crab". You can cast fog cloud and continue to concentrate while wild shaped.

[@samfish2550]

*idk why I said this, I mean sea druid.... I'd just edit but yt has declared I am not allowed.

[@Hegemol]

use minor illusion to make the goodberry look like a piece of meat for predators

[@wobblysauce]

And map useage.

[@Marabcd315]

worth noting when you're level 7 onwards that if your warlock still has Armor of Agathys at that point that the giant ape tech will be even better especially against monsters that do melee attacks, 157 thp and the enemies need to chew through all of it (or break your concentration) while taking 15-25 (depending on what level you're at) cold damage every time they hit the ape. If you're fighting a young red dragon at level 7 that deals like 15-20 damage per hit and assume the ape fails against its breath weapon that's still a potential like 90 basically free damage against it as long as you keep your concentration going which is half of its health, if it decides not to focus on the ape which it would be smart to do then it still has to deal with a giant ape beating the shit out of it at every opportunity

[@Godzillawolf1]

Nice. I'm glad that Land Druid got such a big buff. My first PC was a 2014 Land Druid and I had fun, but that was mainly due to the campaign matching up with the subclass. We spent the last leg of the campaign in an ancient magic city made of stone and the DM allowed me to use Stone Shape to turn the magical stone into magical weapons for the party. My first 2024 PC is a Draconic Sorcerer. She's really fun and I'm playing her as a battlefield controller. And yeah, several party members have Alert, which helps me get in front of Intiative for setting up a battlefield control spell. In the first boss fight of the Campaign that strat let me cast Bigby's Hand and use it to reposition the Paladin so he could get into melee range when he wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

[@pedrostormrage]

Looks pretty fun! Other than picking human (and getting Alert), I was thinking about a 1st lv sorcerer dip for proficiency in Con saves, the Shield spell (the other sorcerer spell could be Magic Missile since it doesn't depend on Charisma), and more utility cantrips (Mage Hand, Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation - for Goodberry reflavoring -, and Light since we don't have darkvision - though a bullseye lantern does provide better lighting). That way, you can pick another feat instead of Magic Initiate, though it requires a different background (Wayfarer would give you Lucky, and your stats could be Str 8, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 15+2, Cha 12+1). You'd lose the Magic Initiate combat cantrips, but I think it's worth it (Wayfarer gives you the Insight and Stealth proficiencies, Sorcerer can give you Arcana and a duplicate Insight proficiency (maybe you can swap it for something else - like Nature/Survival/Animal Handling - with DM approval), and human could give you proficiency with Perception). Another thing you could do is decrease Dex and increase Int (for better Arcana checks) starting with Str 8, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15+2, Cha 12+1; and then picking Mage Slayer at lv 9 (covering your mental saves and increasing your Dex to 14, so you get the most out of medium armor). Mage Slayer combined with Magic Missile would also be a pretty reliable concentration breaker.

[@totengunso4047]

Hmm whomever is play the Fighter(Commander) has made an excellent choice in supplemental materials.

[@mikecarson7769]

Oh wow - nice build and with potential for teamwork! Commander Fighter potentially can boost the whole group, but ... this potential depends on the choice of play style with the bonus action and in combination with the features of the other characters.

[@KuaEtus]

Happy New Year 🐊🎉

[@PackTactics]

Happy early new year! Thank you for donating!

[@raymondape]

In the jungle? The mighty jungle?

[@BrushPact]

Amazing, perfect, beautiful.

[@MerrorCat]

Kobold revealing they're the tough love mom of the table

[@lizzarddoggo8775]

I love the new sphere of the flame subclass

[@johnnybrravo5791]

i like this post it is unique and different good one Kobolt

[@chrisvossler8795]

Commander Fighter is a really good subclass for supporting other players. It's especially good with a martial character that has a powerful attack (a rogue, for example) since it can give an off-turn attack using the other character's reaction. Off-turn movement with Conjure Minor Elementals is a good option, too.

[@jbark678]

Can't wait for you to go Super Scaly 2

[@deezznuts5396]

As someone who is running ToA rn it was fun to experience the first bit of the video like “oh, okay, level 1-11. Just like Tomb of Annihilation” and then you mentioned the dinosaur racing lol

[@PackTactics]

I destroyed that dinosaur race btw. 🦖

[@deezznuts5396]

@ so did my PC. But everyone in the party was so skeptical of the player winning that they didn’t bet much

[@KiithnarasAshaa]

3:40 That's a very strange way of saying "Meat Shields" but if that's the parlance, then sure. : )

[@Kargoneth]

Jungles? Theropods? You must be on Chult! I love the commentary about the crocodile stat block artwork. You are a devious kobold. Your parents must be very proud of what you have accomplished and very proud of your machinations. You also seem to be a very dependable ally. You may have lower-than-average charisma (with this build), but I am certainly convinced of your competence. My only concern is where you are going to get the resources for making all of those scrolls. You are going to have to do a lot of plundering or find some wealthy patrons to help fill your purse. Though I may be overestimating the costs of scroll scribing. It has probably changed in D&D 5.5 (2024).

[@Kargoneth]

Merry (post-)Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

[@antiscam2468]

Huh. I’m also in chult.

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

In this video Kobold discovers how OP Druids and teamwork can be

[@saft911]

SOME DUNGEON DUDES HOMEBREW SUBCLASS😂

[@saft911]

Seriously gives me mommy and daddy are fighting vibes. Lol

[@lorebiter]

Kobold elemental furry confirmed. Also it's really cool hearing all this in the context of an actual campaign and progression rather than just as a finished build. Makes it a lot easier to follow how you're meant to actually play it.

[@PackTactics]

I wish I could do more of it but then I need to sign up for more games and they take a long time to make due to my format.

[@KiithnarasAshaa]

Even though we're mostly using the 2014 rules at my table, I still largely play my Shepherd Druid as if I have a limited number of known forms, even though the limit is somewhat soft, having to at least be "familiar" with the beast. Same goes for Conjure Animals, really; Wolves and Constrictor Snakes are a-okay, but Velociraptors not so much. I did manage to make a good case for the War Ostritch form, which is amazing and hilarious for harassing and getting out of tight spots that would otherwise be a big problem for my druid.

[@KiithnarasAshaa]

4:20 I generally discourage myself and others from keeping their _whole_ background a _secret_ - really, it's just more that I don't think it's proper and engaging to tell your whole life story in a huge dump, and it's way more fun to dribble in relevant bits of self history at appropriate times. Of course, everyone has secrets or embarrassing truths, too. I just find the mentality of _certain_ kinds of players go overboard with this, hoarding their backstory to themselves and jealously guarding it like their personal dragon's hoard or something. You gotta share to engage.

[@anoobindisguise4337]

This showed up in the related videos to one of your own listed videos despite being unlisted. YT asked me to become a channel member (currently I am not) but let me view it anyways. Anyways uh, cool video. Fireball good

[@PackTactics]

Oh! Nice. Lucky you! That's very strange. Idk how to feel about that to be honest because that might be screwing up the algorithm.

[@pasqualecirone9755]

Is this in the Tomb of Annihilation campaign?

[@Mephiestopholes]

Very cool build. Have me a lot of ideas.

[@FloopytheStinker]

Wolf wildshape is surprisingly good at level two, your bite attack is 1d6 +2 which isn’t super far from the damage you’re dealing at level 2, but when it hits, it ALWAYS KNOCKS PRONE. keep mind this is at level 2, and you don’t even need circle of the moon

[@waynegaffney8995]

DMs love when you roll play with animals. lol As a DM I feel seen. lol

[@erickarnell]

If you are playing Tomb of Annihilation there's lots of jungle time to make animal friends.

[@tszlonglam1738]

Kobold, will you make a guide on how to create or find combos on our own. These types of builds are silly and I want to learn how to make some of them!

[@PackTactics]

I've made a lot of them already.

[@tszlonglam1738]

Thank you

[@Kargoneth]

Indeed. I am amazed by Kobold's ability to make all of these connections between the various abilities, feats, items, skills, spells, traits to combine and compose them in clever ways. It requires a great deal of familiarity with existing information, the ability to find and retrieve additional relevant information, and imagination tempered by reasoning. Does Kobold remember everthing, or does he know enough to build a scaffold upon which to build and then use the tools at his disposal, effectively, in order to find and organize the information that he needs? I suspect that he knows a lot (though not all) and that he is also very good at searching (+9 History, +14 Investigation)!

[@deadpoet4]

For the Chwinga, use Natural Shelter for carrying it around.... Inside a water skin (source of fresh water) or stone. (You have a Pet Rock!)

[@jonnielaw]

Praise Ubtao!

[@bponcho414]

I specifically don't try and coordinate tactics with gsme groups. I know not everyone likes playing tactically like I do, so I just try and roll with whatever they're doing

[@arsov9885]

There is no Kobold in 2024. What's your Race.. I mean Species? Dragonborn? I mean a big Kobold?

[@PackTactics]

Big kobold!

[@Jespergogo]

Hello i am starting a Druid level 3 (going Lands when i can)with the Sage background, our DM wants us to multiclass. Any advice of what i should dip into? I will probably just take a 1 level dip.

[@PackTactics]

Cleric for command if there's a lot of Martials.

[@karolzolkos5818]

What are your thoughts on 2024 warlock and its subclasses?

[@PackTactics]

THEY LOST SHATTER!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[@RamondoYun]

Thanks for the analysis! I have a quick question: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). Could you explain how to move them to Binance?

[@choccocro]

Do you think it's worth to use True strike? Druid can have proficiency with martial weapons, so it is possible to shoot a long bow which should result in extra damage. Although no shield while you do so...

[@PackTactics]

Nah. Not really. It depends on the party really. If the party has 0 control then maybe.

[@James-kv3ll]

Hopefully one day WotC balanced their game to where 1 spell isn’t the absolute most dominant pick for AoE damage. I like Fireball, but it’s ridiculous that subclasses that get access to it are automatically the best simply because of how strong the spell is. And it’s all because it does 8d6 to a massive area which is better damage and range than everything else in the game for most of the game.

[@KaleidosXXI]

It's an iconic staple spell in DnD, so they've got a design stipulation that says they're not allowed to touch it unless it's to update wording to ensure it stays functional between rule changes. Same deal with Magic Missile, Shield, etc. Since they can't rework or nerf Fireball, they design around its presence by saying no blasting spell can be *better* than it, making it serve as the hard cap on how strong blasting spells can be. Lightning Bolt was the only time they tried to make a properly competing spell with Fireball and it just ended up being "Lightning Fireball, but for hallways". Fireball can't be beaten numerically, so they either do the extremely limited design space of making everything "Fireball but with different aiming and damage type" or they do what they do now and just make other spells fill different design space or offer utilities and let Fireball/Lightning Bolt be the vanilla "damage" blasting spells to compensate for their lack of utility.

[@moonlight2870]

What is a goolock?

[@timvallier9701]

Great Old Ones warlock

[@askelephant9819]

It’s a pad lock made of goo

[@AvangionQ]

Is there any magic item which prevents friendly fire damage?

[@bora7494]

Are you playing ToA? Struggling to get the gold from creating spell scrolls in the jungle.

[@PackTactics]

Yes. But I don’t think money will be a problem with how we’re playing.

[@Grorl]

>.> more fireball damage from potent casting... thats incorrect, no? Doesnt it obly apply to cantrips?

[@choccocro]

He was talking about Fire Bolt from Arid

[@Grorl]

@choccocro ah, that's what I was thinking too, after I posted the comment. Lol

[@chrisg8989]

17:00 Crafting items is a DM option, not a player option. It's up to your DM if you can craft magic items. Potions and scrolls are in the PHB so their fair game.

[@kingbaby210]

True yes, but it’s also kind of a dick move to not allow crafting. I dm a lot and even for ren faires and such. I’ve always allowed magic item crafting even before there were solid rules on it. I just made sure to balance out encounters and plan for what may happen. If you can’t work with your players having magic items you should research how to. It’s not hard, and I have two campaigns I run that are in a setting where magic items are extremely common and easily accessible. As a dm you just need to know how to work with it, not against it. The dm isn’t against the players. It’s not a game the dm is trying to win.

[@chrisg8989]

@kingbaby210 100% I let my players craft items, too. But I think creators need to spread proper information. Being able to craft an item in 2024 5e isn't a given. It's not a player option. it's a DM option. Expecting your DM to allow you to craft magic items vs having a conversation with your DM about crafting magic items is very different. These types of ideas brew bad Player DM relationships.

[@ho8ojoe8]

@@kingbaby210 I've always tried to include crafting rules but the ones provided in the dmg are awfully unbalanced. I will never let players use them for crafting

[@ZanderSabbag]

No, it isn’t. It is under the DMG, but so are other rules the players always have access to, such as everything else on magic items before Crafting comes up. Crafting is, in fact, non-optional, and the rules on the DMG rely on information on the PHB, which itself has a limited set of crafting rules (they are for potions of healing and scrolls).

[@chrisg8989]

@ZanderSabbag it's 100% an optional rule. If you went to a table without talking about crafting to your DM first, you'd be in for a rude awakening. Do you think bastions aren't an optional rule too? Cuz they are also 100% up to DM fiat, just like everything is from the DMG.

[@simonburling3762]

Ape could be an appropriate Wild Shape pick.

[@naeusgaming2915]

I don’t think you’ll see this, but if you do, tell me if I’m wrong, It sounds like you’re playing Tomb of Annihilation.

[@PackTactics]

Yes!

[@keelsron634]

I feel like druids are already optimized and playing them in 2024 version will definitely boost their power quite a bit the first time I played D&D my brother played a moon druid and I have played a oath of ancients paladin. Throughout the campaign it felt like the DM had the worst time handling the druid throughout the entire campaign because of the massive utility behind the class or so I felt

[@davidpaikins3172]

Druid, familiar, bat: bonus action blind sight Why scroll of healing word instead of healing potions

[@chrishawkins313]

Unless the DM is using BG3 rules, you can't fling a potion to heal someone else. Scroll if healing word casts as a bonus action, heals you or an ally in 30', and doesn't prevent using your action to cast a spell because your scroll doesn't use a spell slot.

[@kahunab7400]

The other thing animals want: Oxygen!

[@danritts2960]

The thing you said about giving a short rest whenever it is needed is extremely important. I can't tell you how many times I've been completely out of resources as a fighter and we still have most of the adventuring day to get through. I've tried to conserve my resources, but it doesn't even feel worth it to do that. Rationing 5 superiority dice, a single action surge, and one second wind during a dungeon crawl where you're going through one fight per room feels miserable. They really need to make short rest abilities come back when you roll initiative. Granted, I'm not sure how this would work for warlocks, given that they can get more out of their spell slots than a fighter can get out of their resources, but I know it would work great for fighters. Your character shouldn't only be good if your party is willing to short rest. It's a huge problem.

[@piranhaplantX]

This is essentially something they did in 4e. They called them Encounter powers, because they came back at the start of an encounter.

[@patrickhannon2694]

Hey Kobold, I’m playing in a campaign as a 2014 Druid where polymorph, Conjure Woodland Beings and Conjure Minor Elementals are banned, what spells should I be spending my 4th level spell slots on in your opinion?

[@anarcnamedjustin3451]

More conjure animals never feels bad

[@tylerthorstrom4100]

@PackTactics. What do your DM’s do to challenge you? Or are you accustomed to rolling over encounters most of the time?

[@PackTactics]

Dungeon crawls, long adventuring days or just interesting encounters back to back. I view "rolling over encounters" as no resource needed to solve the encounter which isn't common for the tables I'm in including this one.

[@tylerthorstrom4100]

@ When I think of rolling over encounters, I usually think of it in terms of party HP lost, but I can appreciate just looking at other resources.

[@piranhaplantX]

​@@tylerthorstrom4100 HP is one of resources he's referring to. In fact, he has responded to people who claimed martials don't use resources by pointing towards HP and hit dice as a finite resource. A resource is anything that has a limited amount of it.

[@chacepassmore6474]

Kobold, will you make a video on unusual, but good combos between characters and classes?

[@anarcnamedjustin3451]

It's mostly just about mixing damage area and cc area, or different cc areas that don't do the same thing (like reduced movement + diff terrain stack)

[@YellowCable]

land druid, wizard and sorcerer are very similar

[@ArgentavisMagnificens]

21:27 not the elemental furry broo

[@parkerlarson6692]

Couldn’t you just get Metamagic Adept for the careful spell that allows you not to damage your allies You get a minimum of 1 ally saved for your careful spell do you can use it with your 8 CHA

[@piranhaplantX]

They do long encounter days, so that is expensive for something that does not give them many uses.

[@valasafantastic1055]

Die-non-oh-kuss

[@bramymond7010]

Not even 3 minutes into the video and the melee hate is already shining through XD

[@FallenFellFromGlory]

Well it's bad

[@bramymond7010]

@@FallenFellFromGlory Oh, I wasn’t disagreeing

[@PackTactics]

It's harder to place AOEs sometimes and there's things I want them to focus fire on but fully can't. But you know, whatever, we'll make the best out of it.

[@bramymond7010]

@@PackTactics Yeah I completely understand. I play mostly Adventures League myself, and the amount of time people dash into melee and prevent their casters from safely control casting or blasting is astonishing 😅

[@piranhaplantX]

​@@bramymond7010This is why virtually any melee character I make has some form of mid to long range skirmish weapon. Even my monks will have a bag of darts or daggers somewhere on their person. Then again, I won't make a melee character unless someone else decides to. This is because I do not want to deal with complaints about them running up front and getting focused down. Lol

[@ryanscanlon2151]

You wanna be the martials best friend? Dip ORDER domain cleric, voice of authority is awesome. Especially if you're willing to fireball your friends you can give one of them a reaction attack when you explode them to finish off a nearby enemy that survives the fire ball. If you can pick it up after the dip silvery barbs is even more amazing with an order dip cause you can give an Ally advantage and then instantly let them use that advantage with an attack

[@FlyXan]

In 5.24 that's a 3 level dip as the level 1 subclass feature gets delayed until the cleric picks his domain. If the campaign goes until level 11, he has to sacrifice level 5 and 6 spells. IMO that's not worth it.

[@ryanscanlon2151]

@FlyXan ah I must have missed that part, honestly though as much as missing out on 5th and 6th level spells he already has the perfect spell for every situation. What do you mean try other spells that's big talk coming from someone in fireball range. WELCOME TO A CRAP GUIDE TO D&D!!!

[@marvinschroeder9439]

it's all fun and games untill the DM uses your tactics against you 😂😂😅 Combos can go both ways.

[@PackTactics]

That's fine.

[@needparalegal]

Most players will never be able to cast more than one fireball per day. Can't really build around an zero durration spell you can only use once...

[@asmallphd9648]

Why not? You can cast two of them when you first get the spell as any full caster that gets fireball. If you have some sort of spell slot recovery then you will get three or more. And you could upcast at later levels if you want to.

[@OREZTEHBACKSTRIKER]

Do not fireball the Martials. Please. I'm begging you.

[@logancuster8035]

For real. I don’t care if it’s the right tactical decision it will feel bad and make people upset.

[@FallenFellFromGlory]

@@logancuster8035 A good teammate would take that sacrifice

[@logancuster8035]

@ maybe a good team mate would teammate. But a good player would let another player play out their characters fantasy even if it’s not the most efficient way to play.

[@anarcnamedjustin3451]

@@logancuster8035 If fireballing the team mate means the team mate takes less damage, yet they're still mad about it, maybe they shouldn't be running into melee with groups of people in fireball range

[@anarcnamedjustin3451]

At that point you're the one ruining someone elses' fun, not them