Moon Druid Wild Shape Build: The Deathblow Tornado D&D 5e

[@Marc.Google]

I absolutely love your catalogue of amazingly optimized, highly powerful builds to choose from for any class. Thank you VERY much Chris and keep up the outstanding work!

[@Gafizal1]

Wow! I had never noticed that the +3 Prof bonus of the Air elemental, plus the STR of 14 and Dex of 20 yielding a +8 to hit imply that the slam attack is Dex based! this is a brilliant observation, thank you!! -- I had not realized that Elven accuracy could be used with this slam attack (though of course eventually, you use Cha)

[@Mr_Ne0]

You don't get to "conclude" the builds on the wild shape form.... I want at least five of them.... 🤨😏

[@logancuster8035]

I was hoping for at least 1 unique Low level Build with a 2nd level dip into Druid.

[@PlayWatch_616]

Agreed, at the very least one for each elemental and then one that is a generalist

[@benjaminmiller3075]

Would love to see other ways of using that initial two level dip and then multiclassing to keep power/utility up

[@kelceydane5874]

Hey, don't boss my man around......oh wait......demanding more you say? ....TREANTMONK, you don't get to conclude on wild shape, we want more! At least FIVE builds!!!

[@Marc.Google]

@@kelceydane5874100% agree with this and OP! Thanks again for the great builds, Chris.

[@cephelos1098]

All I can think of now is playing Carlos "The Tornado" Sanchez, a world famous boxer known for fighting like he was a living storm. Float like an air elemental, sting like a crusader!

[@Gafizal1]

I think it's worth grabbing and upcasting armor of agathys also...

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

Especially with an 18 AC and resistance to so many forms of damage.

[@xvariable1521]

Are the temporary hp from armor of agathys compatible with the temporary hp from wild shape? I feel wild shaping could overwrite them, ending the spell

[@benevolentworldexploder5395]

@@xvariable1521 The HP from wild shape isn't classified as temporary hit points. "When you transform, you assume the beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed." That's not "you gain temporary hit points" that's "you assume the beast's hit points". So, yes. It would stack.

[@Gafizal1]

@@xvariable1521 Wildhsape HP are not Temp HP

[@samuelpierce639]

@@xvariable1521 wild shape doesn’t currently give temp hp

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

This build is so cool, I love that you can focus on the Air Elemental without having to write off your other forms when their specific abilities come up.

[@valentinrafael9201]

This is similar to one of my builds ( without the warlock part ). It fits roleplay so well. You are a paladin ( vengeance, which is cool ) and a *moon druid* which means you are a *vengeful BIG nature creature* that smites the nonbeliever with the power of Selune ( or whatever goddess you wanna simp for ). I think warlock works better than my 3 lvls in champion fighther. Great video, and I absolutely love that you mentioned draconic spirit. Lots of modules nowadays use a lot of npcs to swarm you. Air elemental can also be good for that reason ( if you need more aoe ).

[@mattdahm4289]

Treantmonk, you’re the most optimized optimizer! I want to play this build!

[@kyle29857]

Thank you so much! I'm using this as a template for the new Vecna campaign. I've always wanted a shape-shifter-focused character and this really hits all the marks for me. Well done.

[@Gafizal1]

For 6th level slot, given the 4 hr long rest, I'd cast wind walk every night, take my 4 hr rest and then the party can move well over 200 miles at the start of the day.( metamagic adept for extended spell is also good for this and a longer draconic spirit)

[@jordanprice6457]

Great way to end this series, Chris! The air elemental is always my favorite, but I love that the build has the flexibility to work in the other forms. I think that is one of the greatest strengths of the Moon Druid in the first place, using creative options to fit the needs of different situations!

[@elliotbryant3459]

20:06 Draconic Spirit only has 60hp at base casting and attacks in melee, so I would imagine at character level 9+ it could potentially get wiped out in a round or 2. Also immunity to non-magical weapons could potentially become a common issue.

[@stfuemokid101]

loved these moon druid videos. thank you for making them!

[@aldenramel2900]

I love this build,a variant is you go moon druid 4, take elven accuracy, then dip pali 2, champion fighter 3, then back to druid. There’s number of creatures in the book that have dex to hit so elven accuracy works, and there’s even creatures with 3 attacks (if you’re dm is open to dinasuars the deinonychus can make 4 with attack+bonus action) and ways to get pact tactics/knock prone to go full crit fisher. This version basically gets elemental forms, spell slots, and the reliable advantage from Gaurdian of nature later in exchange for getting smites and crit range increase earlier, which with the number of ways to get advantage is a good trade off for the critfisher route.

[@sillvvasensei]

Bugbear Wildfire Assassin: Scorching ray benefits from the bugbear's surprise attack feature that adds 2d6 to each attack when you attack before the target's first turn. Assassinate from the Assassin Rogue also benefit spells - granting advantage and, if you surprise the target, granting a critical hit. Pass Without Trace makes you more likely to get surprise. And the Alert feat can help you go first more often than not.

[@elliotbryant3459]

Could get scorching ray via fiend warlock and then apply dark one's luck [1d10] to initiative once per short rest. Use pact slots for upcasting. If you're concentrating on hex when combat begins that helps a lot too. At level 14, if they survive the barrage you can hurl them through hell for another 10d10 psychic damage [once per long rest].

[@Spruble]

nice build. Was expecting a earth elemental build, but ty for fire & air 😊

[@williamtaylor6886]

Great series of videos exploring the potential and possibilities of Moon Druids and Wildshape. Thank you, thank you very much.

[@jacobstevens7548]

I enjoyed this series. Eager to see what you put out next!

[@davidhanson8728]

I am playing a Moon Druid in a campaign with a Monk dip (We have an "Ah-man" theme with all holy builds in the party). With a 20 wisdom, an air elemental will have a 20 AC rather than 15. That can improve the durability of the form. The extra monk bonus attack can come in handy if using a form with one attack (such as the dire wolf) while working up to the elemental shape. Pilling on druid levels can help. You can pick up Dragon transformation (7th level spell) and get a 60' cone 6d8 force breath weapon aoe as a bonus action every round which you lose with all extra dips about when the video build has all its pieces. And you get an extra feat in the mix.

[@carlmeade1667]

Something you didn't mention about sentinal is during aerial combat if you hit a creature with an op attack they will fall (unless they can hover or being held up by magic)

[@johngillan4475]

Thank you Chris. A very well explained wild shape

[@elliotbryant3459]

I'm surprised a monk dip didn't come up again, you had the stats for it and an air elemental would have 20 AC instead of 18 here, which could free you up for a better invocation. Also air elemental is one of the few opportunities [that is decent] to pair elven accuracy with crusher for times when you don't have Guardian of Nature advantage.

[@KatanaKamisama]

Not all tables allow it, but IF you are using Flanking, it bears mentioning that having another "ally" to setup flanks for martials is substantially better than Guardian of Nature. Alternatively IF there are other regular sources of advantage, the summoned creature DPR will go up as well.

[@matthewlenard8346]

Hello Chris I hope you find this day filled with peace and love. You are the optimization guy and you have built some very powerful Dungeons & Dragons Adventures. So please hear me out because I align myself with the house of Wackadoo and most of my ideas are wonky to say the least. Something I would like to see is you taking your five strongest optimize characters and place them in a fight with their opposite counterpart. This is not done to calculate this party's maximum DPS, I assure you with your knowledge of the game and it's Mathematics this is something you could probably whip up in about a week. So my question for you is can you optimize against yourself. The challenge is to build five new party members that are optimized to fight your previous creations. I love your moon Druid optimization and it has given me much insight and how I would like to play a druid in general no matter what their subclasses is. I wonder about the opposite end of the coin to this Elite Warrior, what kind of build would it take to slay this Elemental Shape-shifting Zealots of Nature.

[@comfortablegrey]

Interesting, and because of the hexblade dip charisma will be decent enough to use "Thousand Faces" effectively.

[@braindavidgilbert3147]

Just noticed this video isnt in the moon Druid playlist

[@TheSlapTurtle]

Would Elven Accuracy still apply while wildshaped? The rules for feats state: "If you ever lose a feat’s prerequisite, you can’t use that feat until you regain the prerequisite." So the question is, are you considered "Elf or Half-elf" for the Elven Accuracy feat prerequisite while wildshaped?

[@Marc.Google]

Interesting RAW.

[@michaelmuirhead910]

2 👍 I have a moon druid as a backup in my newest campaign. Wish I had time to play every single day.

[@justinschmelzel8806]

Don't forget shield spell is a hex blade patron spell.

[@micahswerens2472]

I'll admit I would be interested in an air elemental that grapples instead--with flight, could even grapple flying enemies to rub them along spike growth.

[@gmgil2]

Hey there, I actually have almost this exact PC, level 13, Moon Druid 10/Ancients Pally 3 and I am constantly Air Elemental smiting, my favorite thing to do.

[@kylethomas9130]

To be fair, it would be really hard to tell apart 2 Air Elementals. It would probably be like Invoke Duplicity, or Mirror Image.

[@rupertbutcher612]

Side note. I have watched and referenced a lot your table of what you consider ok dmg. In previous videos you have mentioned a 60% chance to hit with what you expect to be hitting with. For example at lv 1 one should have a +5 to hit, rolling an 8 gives an ac target of 13 to hit 60% of the time. Obviously the numbers in this video are different, when did you adjust these number and why? Just curious. Fantastic video overall and love your content.

[@jacksonletts3724]

Ahh, this is a common misunderstanding. You don’t add the +5 to 8 to find the target AC you add it to 9. This is because we want the 8 to be included in the rolls that miss in order to get our 40% number. Recall that the rule for AC is “meets it beats it.” Meaning that if you meet the enemy AC with your attack roll you hit the enemy. So if we do 8+5 = 13, we’re including the roll of 8 in the list of rolls that hit, which we don’t want to do.

[@rupertbutcher612]

@Jackson Letts oh I understand

[@jamesgasik3424]

Say about Freedom of Movement, you said you weren't immune to paralysis, but the air elemental has immunity to paralysis as it's third condition immunity.

[@sortehuse]

I like this build much more that the one with the fire elemental, but imaging an Air Elemental with barky skin and leaves for hair is hilarious. Primal Strike is poorly worded I hope that most DMs will allow it to work with Elemental Wild Shape.

[@darkela5]

Fleshraker + venomfire. Still is the best combo in my opinion

[@joaoluizmoraesgomes7778]

I want more buildsssssss pleaseeeeeeeeee

[@deathtoexistance]

Very impressive

[@undrhil]

Instead of going 2 levels of warlock what about going 3 levels of fighter and picking champion? That would give you the increased critical chance all the time at the expense of not having the proficiency bonus to damage perhow would that affect the overall damage of the build?

[@jonathanhaynes9914]

Thanks

[@scottbloomfield3655]

I was hoping you would make a tank built out of this

[@scottbloomfield3655]

Out of one of the elemental forms

[@joshuarawlins7793]

This is Great.

[@jonathanorduno5843]

Can you use blessing of the raven queen while wildshaped?

[@srmillard]

does the high movement speed (90-100 ft/round) make for disadvantage to hit? or does the 15 ac already include the high movement speed?

[@Wabbasha]

what about crusher feat to move the target on spiked growth? I mean... bludgeoning, twice, and the air elemental is flying, so...

[@obstdealer-original1443]

hi i'm a bit confused about the Guardian of Nature and the Elementals. So Guardian of Nature has these 2 effects, from which i can choose one. lets say i choose as recommended "Great Tree". It says "You make Dexterity- and Wisdom-based attack rolls with advantage." so now i'm wondering, what are the attacks from these 3 elementals are based on? are they strenght, dexterity or wisdom based? or something else? i cant find anything about that.. ._.

[@ricksmith5181]

I know I'm late to the party, you've already started the quest, but I was wondering,: On the Air elemtal DPR calculation slide, where doe the "9" come from?

[@TheMichaellathrop]

So build for the earth elemental with sentinel, or air elemental with Elvin accuracy.

[@scottbloomfield3655]

So I got a question on this. Would you say transforming into an air elemental is worse or better than getting Tasha's other worldly guise? I'm working on making a build that I'm trying to figure out if I should go. Moon druid or a spellcaster to get Tasha's other worldly guise instead.

[@BeardedDragonite]

Y'know these days when I hear the ograse mmorpg I think massively multiclassed optimised role playing game

[@Xani13]

Do people avoid dealing with the concept of a virtually immortal druid at Level 20 simply because very few campaigns reach that level outside of homebrew campaigns?

[@lmsimao77]

Please Chris, where is the level 15 you talked about? I only saw to level 14... maybe I missed something...

[@thomaskalland9276]

I can’t find the video where he’s talking about smite wild shape interaction. I’m really interested by this as it was previously assumed to be inoperable as a combination, and if this is actually raw I want to try my hand at this style build. Just need to know what the actual mechanics are to start theory crafting. If anyone can drop the link I’d be great fully

[@TreantmonksTemple]

It's in the multiclass wild shape video. I have it linked in the video description

[@thomaskalland9276]

@@TreantmonksTemple okay thanks for letting me know!! Btw hope your doing well today

[@thomaskalland9276]

@@TreantmonksTemple okay just saw the section. Out of curiosity are we sure that the slam attack is a natural weapon and not a type of unarmed strike like the lizard folks bite or aracocra talons. The original tabaxi had langue that specified it’s claws where natural weapons but that was later removed with its updated stats. Reguardless my brother and I where looking into this earlier and found a part of the dmg, I think page 10 but I’ll edit if I figure out where, that monster state blocks typically treat ranged attacks as spell attacks and melee attacks as weapons so that should cover our bases here but just wanted to see if there was anything I misunderstood or was missing

[@flash1face1]

​@@thomaskalland9276 it's a monster statblock, I don't think I've ever seen monster have an unarmed strike, that's a PC thing

[@Byhookorbycrook1776]

Earth elemental/grapple target/earth glide and release?

[@davidrosenberg9615]

Wait, you can smite on unarmed strikes?

[@Spiceodog]

Cheese grate with wall of thorns go burrr

[@jamesknowles9236]

As a DM, I'm so glad wildshape is getting nerfed in 6th edition...I mean One DND. No other class feature has single-handedly wrecked more games than wildshape. Even without one of these "optimized" builds, It's just a busted feature.

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

So, why doesn't this work with fire elemental? Is it because the dex is only 17?

[@Giant2005]

I really think you would be hard pressed convincing a DM that an Elemental could use Elven Accuracy. If that feat wasn't reliant upon Elven racial characteristics, then it wouldn't be restricted to Elves in the first place.

[@ninnusridhar]

My problem with this kind of build is that its too complicated to be effective. Is the damage all that great? A straight stars druid at level 15 has an avg dpr of 52(starry form + summon draconic spirit at 8th level) right on the first round. And that just keeps going up on subsequent rounds(free radiant bolts anyone?). And all of this without spending every spell slot you have in a single encounter. PS. While i understand the idea here is to push a concept as far as it can go, I'm just wondering whether it's worth the hassle

[@flash1face1]

That's the same argument for not playing a martial character over a blade singer basically, because the bladesinger can be a martial better and easier, while having good spells.

[@nathansmith9597]

The build and numbers do not rely on burning every single slot in a single encounter - the assumptions were stated directly in the video for every calculation. No damage calculation assumed that you were using every spell in each combat and if anything Chris fairly conservative with assumptions about how many resources you used per fight. A level 15 druid has exactly one 8th level slot for upcasting summon draconic spirit to that degree, so using that as the average dpr (especially when you mentioned spell slots as a limitation to take into account!) means you aren't actually comparing apples to apples. All that being said of course this isn't the highest damage build out there, or anything; it is a fun concept that is effective at dealing damage and has plenty of other cool stuff going on (crazy mobility while flying and hovering; tons of resistances + wildshape HP + decent AC for defenses, etc.) As with pretty much any build, regardless of performance I would strongly advise not doing it unless you ALSO like the concept and mechanics. What's the point of hitting big numbers on critical smites if you aren't enjoying what it feels like to play the character? I really like this build idea, but if it feels too fiddly for your tastes, take a pass on it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with going straight star druid, and you'd definitely be a better caster, especially after level 10. (But you'd be worse at other things compared to this build; they are just different builds suited to different things.)

[@kdaviper]

If you want magical attacks guaranteed just get a hat of disguise.

[@thejohnsaye]

Hey there. I have a blanket challenge for all content creators interested in optimizing character builds for Dungeons & Dragons who is concerned with backward compatibility after the 2024 Player’s Handbook arrives. What happens when multi-class characters are made from classes from different editions? (New Bard mixed with the old cleric, with its 1st-level subclass, etc.) Do any anomalies come up? I don’t think anyone is trying this yet.

[@dwil0311]

While I realize it would change the premise completely, an interesting alternative would be to swap out the druid for 10 levels of Swords Bard.

[@kalasmournrex1470]

I just wonder how you RP-wise justify being a druid paladin warlock lol

[@ChocolateFishBrains]

Reddit tier build. 😂