Best Spells: for Druid Wild Shape D&D 5e

[@Thamer4life]

I've played druids almost exclusively for 5 years. They are my favorite class bar none. Makes me so happy that you've dedicated so many videos to them. Thank you so much.

[@nils9560]

Yayy a fellow Druid lover! I feel like, despite the Druid arguably being the least played class, that the people who do like the Druid are real fans of them and regard them as their favouritr class by a mile

[@Thamer4life]

@@nils9560 I feel the same! I think it has to do with the wide array of things they can do and the plethora of support they can bring to any party composition. I'm my group's tank and healer. I enjoy being relied on.

[@zacharygaroffolo8369]

I agree Druids can be the most versatile. Right now I’m the tank, scout and healer for the group. And depending on the encounter I can hit some great bursts of damage as well as battle field control.

[@owl4115]

​@@zacharygaroffolo8369 yup, same

[@jizzerlol]

Level 1 spells: - Fog cloud: You can use beasts with blind fighting or other senses than vision - Long strider: Doesn't require concentration, applies to any type of movement (walking, climbing, flying,...) - Goodberry: no concentration, 10HP/spell slot - Armor of Agathys (not druid spell): increases durability, punishes melee enemies - Gift of alacrity (locked behind a book): boosts your initiative for cheap, not concentration - Hunter's mark: natural weapons = weapons, nuts if you wildshape into multi attack beast Level 2 spells: - barkskin: Not recommended (uses concentration), but for beasts with low AC it's pretty decent - darkvision: For forms without darkvision - moonbeam: short duration & concentration, most likely one of your only ranged damage options in wild shape - pass without trace: concentration, good duration, good for surprise attacks - protection from poison: no concentration, poison resistance is the easiest resistance to get, most likely not worth the spell slot - spike growth: better than moon beam if you can drag enemies through it multiple times Level 3 spells: - conjure animals/ summon fey: concentration, will most likely outdamage your normal attacks - fly (not on druid spell list): most wild shapes don't fly, concentration - spirit guardian (not on druid spell list): concentration, moves with you, good damage, hinders movement of enemies, area of effect scales with your size - water walk/ water breathing (rituals) Level 4 spells: - fire shield: good duration, no concentration, protection and damage to enemies - conjure woodland beings: stronger than conjure animals - freedom of movement: no concentration, good duration, gives all sorts of benefits such as immunity to being paralyzed or restrained - Stoneskin: kinda bad, concentration, uses up item on use, gives resistance High level spells: - conjure elemental (lvl 5) - Awaken (lvl 5) - Planar binding (lvl 5) - wind walk (lvl 6): great out of combat mobility - heroes' feats (lvl 6): Great out of combat bonuses

[@theresnoracelikegnome]

Great list! A couple others I’d consider would be Bless, despite its short duration, and Invisibility, which has some interesting interactions because it doesn’t break on some of the Elementals’ special abilities. Probably not the strongest, but kinda cool.

[@seaperson5704]

Really liking this moon druid dive lately. Fog Cloud is a must for giant scorpion's low to-hit ratio in addition to its blindsight (as image suggested). Constrictor snake and giant scorp also benefit from it by keeping enemies locked into Fog Cloud with grapples.

[@coldfusion230]

Can't believe you didn't mention Flaming Sphere! It's on the druid list, concentration, 2nd lvl and it's a bonus action to ram so works really well with wild shape.

[@godminnette2]

Your strategy for spike growth reminds me of what was either my second or third 5e character: Usekwa the firbolg moon druid. When my DM allowed Brawny and Powerful Build to both apply to grappling and to stack, suddenly my Air Elemental with expertise in grappling could grab a large creature (or two medium creatures) without losing movement speed. I combined that with longstrider and spike growth to drag enemies through it in circles from above. It was a crazy combination.

[@Agroveb]

Draconic transformation is short duration, concentration, and high level, but an elemental with a 60 ft fly speed, blindsight, and a bonus action breath weapon is really fun to bring to a table

[@jamesbolt1003]

Taking resilient condition (on top of war caster) for exactly this reason. Points to guardian of nature I just wish it wasn't concentration or that the tree version got temp HP every round.

[@comfortablegrey]

Thanks for the druid deep dives! I have cast Produce Flame before wildshaping, similar to Light it gives some counter to shaded areas and can also give a single small ranged attack to any form.

[@clenzen9930]

Great video Chris. I always think, “I know what spells will be said,” and then realize I was only considering a small portion of them. Good insights.

[@Jack.A.C]

Have to give shoutout to Heat Metal, being able to apply damage to a creature in armour without needing to roll an attack or have them make a save its a guaranteed 2d8 damage. Then as a wildshaped beast you can use a bonus action to reapply that damage until the creature has taken off its armour, which - depending on the style of armour, and your DM's ruling - can take minutes of in-game time to do. Even if they are able to remove their armour though, they now have a much lower AC.

[@baronhaber554]

Late to the party here but Wrath of Nature is my favorite wildshape spell, so long as you are in a forest environment. Gives so many benefits that are outside of the action economy (effects at start at end of your turn, enemy-only difficult terrain, and a bonus action attack). And you can do anll this while saving your Action for attacks with your beast form. Obviously a bit setting dependent, but the combats where I’ve been able to use this spell have been my absolute favorite. Really fulfills that fantasy of having the forest rise against your foes.

[@coltonhorton4225]

I would heavily consider guardian of nature as a 4th level spell. Mostly staying with the primal beast option. You get the effects of longstrider, darkvision, hunter's mark, and advantage on all strength based attack rolls(which cover pretty much every wildshape option) all with one spell. Although it has a 1 minute duration, you your wildshape back after a short rest, so often it's not a problem to revert back, rest, and the be able to cast another spell. It's situational sure, but an option.

[@Finalplayer14]

I like Summon Beast! 18 STR Flying Bestial creature works wonders, it even has flyby to move about and it might be able to pick you up and fly you around (If you're tiny you can mount it!). You can also tag team it up with the 18 STR Land form as it has Pack Tactics.

[@zacharygaroffolo8369]

What I have used with great effect is flaming sphere and heat metal. Because the cost an action to cast and then going forward it costs a bonus action to activate the damage/movement of the spell then it works great with any Moon Druid. Also Faire Fire is a great go to spell that benefits our allies and our wildshape forms.

[@jamielennard3388]

One spell that's situationally good on the druid's spell list is Gust of Wind. If you're in a confined tunnel-like space that is 10ft wide or less, it allows you to use some pretty brutal hit and run tactics. And if you're on a cliffside or next to an environmental danger, it's great for pushing enemies. Not something I take every time, but if I know we're going into one of those environments that day, it's nice to have. If you have the mobile feat, I'd consider it a must have though.

[@Centaur255]

1) Great review as always; really gives me a lot of things to think about as I prepare to play a druid. 2) Wow, that person waited waaaay too long to queen-side castle; they have almost nothing left on the board, lol

[@Hazslin]

Just to point out a changeling druid can wildshape into a bear and use shapechanger to look like a humanoid.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I covered Changeling for druids in my Races and Wild Shape video. Yeah, it's a weird interaction.

[@andyrobinson6611]

I recently started playing a moon druid in a DragonLance game. This series has been great! Thanks. I'm not much of an optimizer, but it is good to know what my most effective choices are and have those ready in my back pocket.

[@undrhil]

Funny fog cloud story. We had a module that we were playing in adventurers league where there were some creatures that automatically had advantage on things that they could see and dealt extra damage against those creatures they had advantage against. So I put fog cloud in the room where the combat was taking place and I ran and hid in the attic enclosed the door behind me. All of the players kept complaining about not being able to see and all I said was "well, they aren't getting their extra damage because they can't see you either bury a" and the whole downside to it was no one had advantage or disadvantage." Also, that character was a coward which is why he went to hide in the attic. Lol!

[@undrhil]

After the combat, the DM even said he hadn't considered that someone might be able to do that to stop the bad guys from getting their extra damage.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Negating advantage of enemies is probably the #1 use of fog cloud

[@DrScott-i9r]

@@TreantmonksTemple And Darkness.

[@The_Crimson_Witch]

@@TreantmonksTemple It can also function as a mass disengage (because attacks of opportunity requires you to see the creature leaving your range)

[@Elvenbane1520]

Yay incoming build(s)! They've felt lacking from the channel in recent months.

[@williamroop451]

You missed Shillelagh while Ape shifted vs magic required attacks. Produce flame is a poor boy's light and campfire is decent to control narrow paths.

[@arnijulian6241]

Nice idea as seen Ape wild shape use weapons but did not consider ''Shillelagh'' & that is my favourite cantrip & druid spell. ''Shillelagh'' wisdom paladin or wisdom fighter is always fun. People often say dexterity is stat king but I say wisdom is stat king especially with magic stick go bonk.

[@williamroop451]

@@arnijulian6241 I tossed in a couple of levels of Barbarian for reckless... I went Shepherd druid for the totem and, if I take another barbarian level it will probably be path of the beast... Itching to try the tail shield/attack out.

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@williamroop451 ''Path of the beast'' is a nice choice William. Mind you will miss out on the 18th druid 'Beast Spells' feature & still only have 2 rages which is a lot less then desirable but few campaigns go past lv15 if that so have fun. People usually sit on path of the beast unlike yourself for it is the only way to reliably get 4 attacks on a barbarian solo. ''Form of beast'' ''claw'' requires no action economy so 2 attacks from extra attack + 1claw + 1 bonus action off hand=4. Two-Weapon Fighting is worth it for a change through feat fighting initiate. 4d6+3 or4xmod+24from rage. 56 to 76 at level 20 barbarian strength 24. Makes reckless attack far less necessary. This build shines LV3 to LV20 which is rare especially for a Barbarian which is normally rather bad even for martials outclassed by caster martial divide. I recommend a Simic hybrid barbarian & re-flavour it as a clawed speechless semi-intelligent monster/experiment/unknown life form of far away questionable unknown origins. who needs a shield+2 ac or mobility spells when you have a carapace +1ac & nibble climber as little to nothing conventional will escape 40ft movement. Armour class there is point it becomes redundant if around 20odd ac for few things will hit you. Stone of Good Luck for +1 to all saving throws & ability checks is so much more useful. That +1 to saves is so useful against spells from casters, traps, dragons breath et cetera. If Ac is really desired though why is against me politely ask the DM to drop you some braces of defence for +2ac at some point which is not a big request or problem over all. People get to obsessed with high Armour class rather then rounding out their build to not get wacked by damage sources that don't target AC.

[@williamroop451]

@@arnijulian6241 this being my first 5e build (3.5 and earlier in the past) I wasn't going for optimal... I started variant human (quarter orc) barbarian with druid initiate to set the tone (Born to an half orc barb mother and human druid father). Focusing mainly on druid for support since wildshape forms are so low powered, I play it so my rages are loss of temper and usually when in form. A raging elk or panther works for when I am forced to fight. I tend to focus on the battlefield control and buffing the party. If we need a little extra muscle, I'm available. If the rogue needs backup, I'm there. With my totem, healing is simple (healing word with a 60' radius extra healing is nice). Dru4/Barb2 so far but I took the 2nd lvl barb as a "penalty" because I lost focus on my purpose (rp). We probably won't make much past 10th, although the DM has stated that he wants to go all the way to 20.

[@arnijulian6241]

​@@williamroop451I played a bit of 3.5 with my brother in the past but didn't have the free time then like now due to my failed health. I tend to optimiser tables as they are often veterans who tend to be more reliable to show up for a start. Every DM says they will go to LV20! Mind only 3 got to lv20 in my experience & only 1 said the same old & saw it through taking a lot of personal effort to keep the table together. Got to 20 more times from mid play start about 8-12 due to campaign start with veterans but that is rarer reliable tables. I have had far many more DM's were they didn't get past LV1 before the game fell apart claiming the same tall claim to LV20. Few tables if any get high play. Tables Squabbling in 1st hour or 2 that fall apart with barely enough time to finish a drink. You stick around the 1st few times but learn the signs to leave ahead of time as it's a dead end. No compromise, order or goodwill in short.

[@IceBen4444]

I think it is worth mentioning that you can ready a spell as an action, wild shape as a bonus action (only moon druid) then use your reaction to apply the spell, so you can pull of combos such as enlarge/reduce shenanigans (or gaining senses if the DM would rule that they disappear - which I lean towards)

[@karlobermanec1095]

Moondruid with feytouched feat for misty step and hunters mark equals shenanigans :D

[@Negeta]

I enjoy Jump as an option at lower levels where the battlefield is more interesting then a field. If you can’t fly yet, you can make a beefier form pretty mobile. A brown bear would suddenly have a 58 foot horizontal jump and a 21 foot vertical leap. With a 40 feet movement speed, you can ensure reaching the full length of your jumps. If you’re fighting on the rooftops in a city or a cave with several platforms around the chamber, I think you can get a lot of use out of it. The 1 minute duration is a bit of a downside, hence it really only being useful for one fight.

[@odie4495]

Some good 1st level options for your concentration are entangle and faerie fire. Low resource cost with pretty high value that are great casts if you don’t have or don’t wanna use your higher level spell slots

[@ChristnThms]

M.A.D. as hell, but a 2 level dip into Paladin opens up Divine Smite, which requires a "melee weapon attack"... which is exactly how most bite and claw attacks are described in the MM. It may make a strong case for wildshapes outside of Moon Druids too.

[@elgarraz]

I'm playing my first druid, still at the early levels, and the Produce Flame cantrip has been very useful. I don't have darkvision so it helps with that, but it's also a 1d8 attack spell with 30 ft of range.

[@minikawildflower]

Thinking about theming, I really like the idea of conjuring animals or other creatures, then wild shaping and romping around with the creatures you summoned, while you use the wild shape's good CON to boost your concentration to keep them all up.

[@minikawildflower]

Bonus points if you multiclass swarm ranger to get even MORE friends

[@wilfredofigueroa7970]

Planar binding with your highest level spell slot on a summon fey is awesome if you can find a way to do it. Like a magic circle or having 2 casters

[@TreantmonksTemple]

That's true, though someone else would need to cast the planar binding, since it has a casting time of more than one action meaning you need to use your concentration while casting it.

[@wilfredofigueroa7970]

@@TreantmonksTemple yup.

[@Graedahl]

I am pretty happy so far with my fathomless warlock/moon druid. A nice bonus action every turn when needed, which slows enemies. it can also fill in with the reaction to reduce the damage I've taken. Concentration is ideally on Shadow of Moil, which sets you as heavily obscured, and offers a nice damage return for melee combatants. You could opt to spirit shroud, or summon shadowspawn, or hex in a pinch. Cloak of flies and armor of shadows invocations, talisman pact.

[@WexMajor82]

Barkskin on a giant octopus is the ultimate bottle neck defender.

[@valbharionX]

Enlarge (or Enhance Ability to an extent) can be useful if you want to grapple or shove (especially larger) opponents.

[@MrThedowd]

As a lvl 11 moon druid i constantly struggle with what concentration spell to cast before going into elementalt form and if i'm also casting fire shield on top. But then thats two full rounds of setup before i'm doing anything. A trick i did recently was using a gray bag of tricks to summon some small beasts and then cast polymorph turning a ferret into a giant ape. Really cool untill we discovered the enemy of course was immune to non-magical attacks. But i really love the new feature for the druid in One DND where they can go in and out of forms without wasting wild shapes. Right now it feels really limiting to just be able to cast one spell before going into elemental form and then knowing, that if you change out you're out of wildshapes.

[@dominicleclerc1343]

My genie path of the blade warlock/druid likes to create magical armor spikes anywhere on his animal bodies. They are then considered magical , adapted to his form and he gets proficiency. I mostly use hex but armor of agathys is also good

[@Spiceodog]

As a Druid player, plant growth plus air elemental to whirl wind enemies away so they can’t get to my Allie’s or me is a pretty great move, and with no concentration, I was able to combo it with the spikegrowth air elemental cheese grater .

[@JuckiCZ]

Barkskin has ther great application - STRangers! With STRanger in situations, where you can't wear armour (during resting, social events, swimming,...), your AC is mostly 9-11 (9 in my case with 8 DEX) and you can't even profit from Defensive FS. So with Barkskin, I gain +7 AC for 2nd level spell slot, which is awesome boost! I just wish it wasn't Concentration...

[@Theechoknightslibrary]

Our party’s moon Druid used conjure animals to create two giant octopuses and then she became one on her bonus action. We are doing ghost of saltmarsh and we are fighting those fish people. It was an effective way to grapple several low cr sahuagin for myself (the fighter) and our Barbarian to kill those the grappled monsters.

[@michaelmuirhead910]

Good list. I’m about to start a campaign that is going to lvl 20. Maybe a bit further, so I’m looking hard at druids. It’s either this class, or an artificer. Still debating it in my head.

[@johnthorn7007]

Create bonfire might be good for grappling animal forms drag them in and out of it for extra dmg. Could be good when you are low on apell slots.

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

You can actually prepare a produce flame and throw it in wild shape if you cast it before entering

[@joshuarawlins7793]

so happy to get back to this!

[@85LuthoR]

I would add Plant Growth and Guardian of Nature from the Druid Spell list. Outside of it, Death Ward deserves mention. Instant death effects such as Power Word Kill are very effective against a Druid in wild shape.

[@SuperSorcerer]

ב"ה My first mention is Summon Beast, as a good use of a 2nd level slot. It has 30 HP like most 3rd level summons, and pack tactics to almost match 3rd level summons with damage. It was my top recommendation for a 2nd level spell a friend who want to play a moon druid in a campaign. My second mention is Mage Armor for a decent defensive boost to animal forms. Not a druid spell, but if I was multiclassing into a wizard I would definitely pick it before gift of alacrity (more likely than multiclassing, I just ask the party wizard or sorcerer to cast it on my character).

[@manolvitanov2571]

What about healing spirit? Bonus action to move and a pretty nice total health pool for during an encounter. Not to mention you can move it over fallen allies to get them up at the start of their turn.

[@accidentalhero3051]

I think the point you brought up about the Darkvision spell is important for Players and DM's to discuss. Essentially the question that needs to be answered is "Does Wildshape suspend the effects of a Spell that manipulates the PC's senses" For instance, if you rule that the Darkvision provided by the Darkvision Spell is suspended by Wildshaping into a beast, then should Wildshaping into a Beast remove the Blinded or Deafened condition imposed by the Blindness/Deafness spell?

[@Swimavidly]

A case for barkskin: the Giant Hyena has the best HP of any land-based CR 1 creature, but its AC is only 12. Barkskin dramatically improves the AC in this case making the Giant Hyena an excellent tank. Granted, you get barkskin 1 level before you can start wild shaping into CR 2 creatures, but no CR 2 creatures have an AC greater than 14. The Huge Polar Bear from Tales from the Yawning Portal has the most HP 65 of any land-based CR 2 creature, and its AC is 12. In fact, let's fast forward to CR 6 creatures. There's only one, the Mammoth, and it's AC is 13. Barkskin frequently adds at least +2 to AC over whatever AC the beast has. But what about the elementals? Air: 15 AC; Earth: 17 AC; FIre: 13 AC (how does the bark not burn?); Water: 14 AC. For two out of the four, barkskin is a nice boost to AC. The case against barkskin: an AC boost of 2 or even 3 is not worth your concentration at levels where you can cast summoning spells. Having a bunch of one-hit creatures is still going to be better at tanking than any boost to AC because you're not the one being hit. If barkskin was a 1 minute duration with no concentration, then I could see myself casting it at level 20 on a moon druid. But with concentration, it just isn't as useful as the other concentration spells a druid can cast.

[@sirrodrickofgodroey]

Great video, Chris! May I ask you if you plan on making a playlist with all the videos from the D&D&D (Druid Deep Dive :P) series?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I can do that...

[@sirrodrickofgodroey]

@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for answering! I really like this series and would love a playlist with all of the videos! Thank you again!

[@JugglingAddict]

I think Stinking cloud and cloudkill could also work nicely (especially if the beast you wild shape into is immune to poison), getting these spells is of course tough. Unless you want to be a grung or green dragonborn it might really not seem worth it. Seeing the difficulty of combining these makes me a appreciate Underdark land druid even more. (they get both these spells and at 10th lvl become immune to poison, which opens up your race choices)

[@Spiceodog]

I once had a player with a rather irritating strategy of casting call lightning, shocking enemies, and then burrowing under ground for safety. On his turn, he went back up, shocked them again, and then burrowed under . Rinse and repeat . The enemies got so pissed that they provoked multiple attack of opportunities to get over to him so they can ready there actions to hop him when he came up. The wizard ( his players and his characters freind ) had rarys telepathic bond and just told him not to come up, so most of the enemies wasted there turns . It was the most irritating shit ever

[@adamcauble3674]

Wall of Fire + giant crocodile; wall appears, burns enemy, they run away on their turn, on turn 2 you grapple and move them back into the fire

[@БОМБАСТИЧЕН]

Draconic transformation seems to be a spell I used to cast often when wild shape is in play

[@DarthRamzes]

Since most of beast forms don't have bonus action options I'm missing Flaming Sphere and Spiritual Weapon, to add bonus action damage dealing.

[@GunnarWahl]

I'd have Maybe mentioned the Aid spell. Much like how you can't normally get huntersmark, I know you can't get this normally either, however it does add +max health and I'd see no real reason why it wouldn't give it to your new forms as well.

[@njihjkzero]

My second character was a druid named Willow Snow, and my DM hated them because they allowed me to choose my conjure animals, so he didn't have to. I always chose flying snakes. Many cultists were killed. It was a good time.

[@rafaelcavalcanterafael7687]

was spiritual weapon considered? i think bonus action atack with no concentration would be pretty good and nature cleric multiclass is a "natural" fit

[@nathanaelthomas9243]

Thanks for the video! 👍🏻

[@dominicl5862]

Wow no guardian of nature. I played a one shot (lvl 9) where we were fighting humanoid assassins/mercenaries. This is important because they were not immune or resistant to poison. Giant scorpion has a bad to hit roll, but with Advantage +d6 force to each hit, fire shield, longstrider, that arachnid slaps. He can grapple two humanoids, then stab them for extra poison damage even if they save. They start to hit you, fire shield comes thru. Spell Stack: - Longstrider - Fire shield - Guardian of Nature (Primal Beast) Feat Stack: - War Caster (don't lose conc.) - Resilient CON (DO NOT LOSE CONC) - Sentinel (extra attacks and control) After that fight with fire shield again, he summoned a draconic spirit and rode it over the castle walls as a huge distraction, thorn whipping people from walls, flaming lizardfolk (custom lineage) ghost rider vibes. Still a full caster outside of Wild Shape. I think they are best played like a bladesinger.

[@comfortablegrey]

I have two comments this time! I often get tailor tools on my druid, so they can thread goodberries into a necklace. That allows anyone to snag a berry and heal the druid if they go down, as well the berries don't meld into the wild shape so... combo?

[@voxvesper4617]

New patron here! This series is a beautiful synchronicity. I'm back in D&D for the 1st time in 20 years, and picked the Druid/Barbarian combo for my Forest Gnome. After watching your series, I'm thinking I'll stick to just one level in Barbarian. Although I'm very interested to hear your thoughts on the 3-level dip for the Bear totem resistances. Do you think that is worth it for a gnome (kinda patches the hole in resistances with Gnome Cunning: advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic)?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I talk about this in the barbearian video, but there's obvious synergy with barbarian but also the downside of not being able to concentrate on spells. I do think if you are going 3 barbarian, bear totem is an obvious choice.

[@gregorhancock145]

@@TreantmonksTemple There was a reddit post pointing out that you can technically concentrate on a spell whilst raging if you're wild shaped. Rage states "If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging." Whilst wild shape you are no longer able to cast spells so this restriction wouldn't apply. "You can’t cast spells" bullet point 3 from wild shape. So hypothetically, cast conc spell like spike growth, BA wild shape. Next turn rage and attack?

[@gregorhancock145]

Trying to find a dm that lets you do this is a different story.

[@cfalkner1012]

@@gregorhancock145 Haha, I’m glad you added that caveat. I think any logical interpretation of the rage prohibition on casting and concentration would conclude that it is a blanket statement, and doesn’t open the loophole of “since I can’t cast spells in wild shape form, it removes the prohibition of concentration imposed by rage”

[@chrisscott9564]

Cool vid although was a little surprised you didn't include fairie fire as a nice cheap buff for the whole party, particularly at the lower levels where out getting enemies down is so much more important as you can easily get killed when you only have mid to upper teens for hit points. :o)

[@saltypork101]

Do you have any comments about the alchemist's experimental elixirs as a way to use spell slots to get spell like effects while wildshaped?

[@nealbutler3332]

I think Druid would work better as a half caster with wild shape being the main focus and subclasses giving nature based abilities and wild shape specializations.

[@aimerw]

Yup. Tacking it on a full caster really curtails the Wildshape focus. I would even go as far as to say it would be better on the Beast Barbarian with a true focus on wildshaping, even allowing Monstrosities (think Werewolf).

[@balanceseeker]

Maybe make a subclass of Ranger for that kind of feel instead of hampering the druid's spellcasting?

[@johnthorn7007]

I also think hex has more value than hunters mark as it can impair disadvantage on strenght checks, so your grappling is doubly effective.

[@woodsman105]

I'm sure you'll get to it in a future video. But, I'm just curious whether a druid could activate bladesong in wild shape. I would assume so since it is a magical class ability which is not a spell.

[@Apfeljunge666]

Cantrips: I think Create Bonfire might be situationally useful, when you have a choke point and you (and the rest of the party) use forced movement.

[@Mr_Ne0]

Great video!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Thanks!

[@skarn81]

How do you command your summoned animals? Dont you have to be verbal for them to work?

[@mattwithoutfear]

What's the ruling on givings orders to summoned creatures or fey when wild shaped? As you can't talk... 🤷‍♂️

[@chubby82]

Did I miss it, or was mage armor and summon beast not listed?

[@jbw065]

What about Aura of Vitality? I would think that is a good spell for a Wildshaped Druid - they don’t tend to have bonus action options after all.

[@Spiceodog]

Getting armor of agathys from dragon mark racial feature could be pretty fun

[@adamcarr1387]

Guardian of nature boosts damage output of wildshapes of you can get your dm to agree which beasts attack with dex or strength

[@coreyschumacher3037]

Conjure animals etc says you have to issue verbal commands to the summoned creatures. Can you do that in wild shape?

[@AvengerAtIlipa]

Animals communicate too

[@matthewcrowther890]

On a really stringent ruling of it you could cast the spell, say a verbal command to the effect of ‘attack who I attack’ or ‘grapple the enemy closest to you and then attack them’, then transform. The animals should continue to follow that one even when you’re wildshaped

[@diamondgeezer9832]

I like to cast Jump AND Longstrider on my druid before he wildshapes for more movement and scaling up huge baddies.

[@Mr_Maiq_The_Liar]

Special senses from your race don't carry over but all spells class festures and feats do

[@tenaccarli171]

There a reason why summon beast (2nd level) is missing? It seems to be one of the best options imo.

[@fakjbf3129]

Hey Chris, I recently saw something on the DnD meme subreddit that I wanted to get your opinion on from a rules perspective. For the Barbarian Rage it says that _if you can cast spells_ you cannot concentrate on them. The Druid Wild Shape specifically says you cannot cast spells but you can concentrate on them. So it looks like there is a loophole where you can cast a concentration spell then wild shape and then rage and because you now can’t cast spells then the concentration restriction for rage does not apply. Clearly that is not RAI, but I wonder what you think from a purely RAW perspective. If this is possible, does that change your perspective on stuff like the Barbarian/Druid multiclass as you would not have to choose between rage+wild shape and casting concentration spells, which was the major deficit you pointed out in the video you made on it recently.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I'm not sure I agree with "Can't cast spells while wild shaped" = "Can't cast spells". I mean a wild shaped druid CAN cast spells, they just have an extra step beforehand.

[@randomfeller]

Is there anyway you could do a video on the best wildshape forms when you have the extra attack ability from multiclassing? I have never seen one. I have a Bar-bear-ian moon druid and was thinking of going 5 levels in barbarian. I know multiattack forms won’t be of use with extra attack, but it opens up other options. I started thinking about it because I was fighting a solar dragon in the ocean while wildshaped as a killer whale. It landed on our ship, so I jumped out of the water and bit it with my blood fury tattoo damage. Then it hit me, as it was right behind me in the initiative order, so I bit it again as a reaction using using the blood fury tattoo, rolled a Nat 20 on the hit, and really did a number on it. I did 96 damage on a reaction. The table was stunned…lol After that, I kinda wanted to explore forms that might benefit from extra attack. I don’t plan on going elemental all the time when I turn druid level 10 and the blood fury tattoo should help me stay as a furball tank even at higher levels with the damage and healing it does. So with that, you’d max out at level 5 forms with the moon druid.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Yeah, if you want to optimize around extra attack you want a form with one big attack so you don't get redundancy with extra attack and multiattack. Not sure I would go that route in a campaign going to higher levels because all the elemental forms (which are the best forms) have multiattack

[@jamesgasik3424]

As far as conjuring goes, you do need to give verbal commands to your summoned creatures, right? Is there a workaround here beyond speak with animals, because I was pretty sure wild shape doesn't allow you to speak (unless your form can mimic voices or something).

[@craigbowyer7235]

I took a feat to get a sorcerer 1st level spell and took Mage Armor. No concentration, last 8 hours and give you AC 18 + Dex. This give the giant spider a 16 AC and lasts for hours. Even better, Air Elemental gets AC 18 (+5 Dex).

[@craigbowyer7235]

Sorry 13 +Dex not 18. Got autocorrect Ed for some reason.

[@olorin6494]

What about guardian of nature?

[@daloypolizei]

a good option for the light cantrip is playing an aasimar imo

[@JuckiCZ]

Why isn't there Guardian of Nature? 1d6 on every hit, advantage on all attack, bonus movement speed, all in one?

[@Apfeljunge666]

soo, wouldn't AoA temp HP be unavailable to a Wildshape form? I don't think temp HP carry over from your Druid form.

[@dudubassmonster]

Guardian of Nature

[@under20over40]

I know you don't normally cover items because there's no garuntees there. Do you think there are any notable items druids should look out for if item selection is possible?

[@harrisonw1002]

No mention of entangle, faerie fire, or flaming sphere? My weary soul... 😂

[@jasonlastname129]

I've never heard anyone say long castle is harder to set up before.

[@takestuff]

is a wild shaped druid a “shapechanger” if theyre moved into their own moonbeam

[@wilfredofigueroa7970]

No. They do not have the shapechanger tag

[@TreantmonksTemple]

No. That's a particular trait of some monsters which is what the spell is referring to.

[@andrewmcdonald3607]

What about Mage armor? Much better than barkskin?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

It depends on the form. If it has decent natural armor then no because they don't stack. Mage armor on a fire or air elemental form though is pretty good. Definitely better than barkskin.

[@fieres2234]

Have to wait a long time to get it but I think Regenerate would be amazing to use. Got a minute between fights to fully heal up normal body and then constantly healing when using wildshape.

[@jonathanhaynes9914]

Thanks

[@fortello7219]

It's my bad but I thought this video was a "what if" wild shape was a spell(s) on the druid list.

[@Nathaneal001]

no Flaming sphere or Gaurdian of Nature

[@sansasama299]

What? Where is flaming sphere?

[@Apfeljunge666]

Does anyone actually run circular AoEs as squares in real life? never seen anyone do that, even if they dont use altering distance grids

[@wilfredofigueroa7970]

Don't suppose you would ever throw in honorable mentions for third party spells to ask the dm for in these types of videos? Druids Secrets of the primal circle has cool spells.

[@Ramie0Cat]

i wish i could grapple an air elemental

[@elliotbryant3459]

shoulda been a wizard! :p

[@budington]

Woop, first 10 comments. It's been a while!

[@jorgef005]

I think druid casting while wildshaped could have been a level 14 feature kr something