Tell Me Your Experiences Playing Moon Druids!

[KOLE]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

[BrianFromWA]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

This is the first time I've played in 30 years, and just getting back into it. Joined a party that was already Level 6 as a Forest Gnome Moon Druid with heavy sage bent. So others may have better experiences than I.
1. Pretty fun.
2. Because I'm a kinda-squishy, not-movey gnome in caster form, there were only a few times. Mostly doing a round or two of casting, then bonus action into wildshape. The frustrating part is figuring out how to communicate in wildshape. I turned into a Giant Toad b/c I wanted to be able to grapple and eat something, and with my huge perception was a bit of a scout, but I would have to drop back to caster form to talk to people and let them know what I saw. Same thing in towns....being a cat or mouse I could go a lot of places and see a lot of things, but I would have to "revert" back to tell anyone anything, burning that wildshape.
3. Haven't been to higher levels, but I'm doing much better in our adventures than the Paladin, Rogue and Bard. Cleric and I doing alright.
4. Very much so. Giant Elk was kind of my jam, because I could knock people over and if they stayed down get the hoof stomp treatment. Only twice (when a firebreathing dragon showed up and torched me) did I drop out of wildshape. Allowed me to hide and Call Lightning on him like a boss for a couple of turns. Looking forward to Giant Eagle and Giant Scorpion in the next campaign (Level 9)
5. No, I have cards prepared. Not just for "my" Wildshapes (at level 6 I kept Giant Elk, Dire Wolf, Giant Toad, Cat on hand for me, and given some more prep time would have more) but also for any conjure animals (goats for knocking people prone, wolves and dire wolves for pack attack, etc). I give the DM a heads-up on my main ones, and he has me "control" my brood ("Wolf 1 missed, wolf 2 hit, Wolf 3 lost 10 HP but is still alive, Wolf 4 dead"...)
6. That's what brought me to this site. I wanted a guy with high intelligence, even though I've found that it's kind of a dump stat now, but I'm wondering if I should MC into something interesting, sub-optimal and unusual like a Wizard or something. Druid/monk is still on the table. If we're planning on taking this all the way, though, Lvl 20 ArchDruid sounds pretty fantastic.

Hope it helps. I'm sure someone else here will have better answers, but I'm enjoying getting back into it.

[sithlordnergal]

So, I have been playing a Moon Druid for all of Tomb of Annihilation. So far my Druid has reached level 9, and I'd be happy to share my experience thus far.

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?

Was and is very enjoyable. I wasn't sure about playing a Druid when I first started, as I was used to playing heavily armored Paladin/Sorcerers. But I quickly started having fun, especially once I gained my Wild Shape

2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?

I spend very little time in my Caster Form. Even now that I am level 9, I tend to spend most of my time in a beast form of some type. These range from combat dino forms, to tiny insects to scout around or slip through cracks

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?

Yes and no. I will admit you will start to feel a bit of lag between levels 6-9 in combat compared to the levels up to that point, especially if you do not have access to dinosaur beast forms. That said, if you do have access to dino forms, try to find a Deinonychus from Volo's as soon as possible. It is CR 1, and was my preferred combat form from the moment I could Wild Shape till I could turn into a Giant Scorpian.

Speaking of which, the CR 3 Giant Scorpian really helps once you get it at level 9. That thing is a beast, and very deadly thanks to the stinger.

But front line combat isn't their only use. If your druid has seen a normal little spider, or a rat, then those forms have plenty of use both in and out of combat.

Case in point: In Tomb tonight, my Druid was warped into a room with 45 cr 1 creatures. They were awakened by noise created by a golden skull hanging around me, which is a story in and of itself, and became hostile. I managed to solo them thanks to casting Spike Growth, then turning into a tiny spider and crawling on the cieling. I was literally just out of their reach since they had no ranged weapons, and since they were mindless and chased me, I simply led them around the spike growth.

Later on in the same room I found a crack that only a bug sized creature could really fit through, so I used that to escape the room and get back to the party.

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?

Let me put it this way: When we started Tomb we had me, a Bear Totem Barbarian, a Fighter, a Paladin, a Wizard who eventually gained a Shield Guardian, and a Swashbuckler Rogue. We are playing in Adventures League, which allows players to use back up characters for this season.

So far everyone in the party has died, including the Shield Guardian, except for myself and the fighter, and the fighter survived by being gone during some of the deadliest fights.

I am not only a decent tank, I am the party's ONLY tank, the only person capable of casting Greater Restoration, the healer, and I am the one who brings in the minions with Conjure Animal. Due to how poorly the surrogates were made for this season, I am the front line.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?

Not really, I made a clean and clear list of them, including Name, CR, and where they are found. It wasn't any more of a hassle then keeping track of what's in a Ring of Spell Storing.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

Nope, I have not tried Multiclassing, mostly because I know for a fact this druid will make it to level 20 eventually. Meaning I don't want to lose out on the capstone for unlimited wild shape.

That said, I have been toying with the idea of a:

Fighter: 2 / Paladin: 2 / Druid: 16 in order to get action surge and smite.

As for feats, I took War Caster at level 1 with the Human Variant race. Mostly because I knew I'd be a front line spell caster, and wanted the advantage on con saves.

[Afrodactyl]

I used one recently in a low level campaign (started at second level and ended at fifth). I used him predominantly as a frontliner using shillelagh to knock people about and caring works as needed, and then wildshaping into a bear when I started taking damage or really needed to kill something.

By keeping the wildshape in my back pocket as an emergency button it let me keep a wild shape available for exploration/RP purposes rather than blowing them all on combat.

All in all it went very well.

[Tubben]

I play an moon druid for 170 sessions at 3/hours per session now. Currently Lv 20+4.
I love playing a moon druid at lv 17+ and <10. It get's dull >10 & < 17.

At first the beastforms are pretty strong, then they get weaker and weaker and you spend more and more time in caster, supporting your party or be glad if you can dish out some AE damage if there are groups of monsters.

At 17 and SL9 you can start to shapeshange (Hope you got resilient(const)) into something like an goristro and get some serious fun.

At 20 it's a complete new game (atleast for me), since you arent limited to 2 shapes per long rest, you can start to really play with shapes, use them for fun and fluff. Before that i always conserved my shapes "just in case"..

I would choose an Moon druid again.

In my opinion they are to weak 10-20 and almost to strong at 20. Sure there are ways to kill an lv 20 Moon druid (PW:Kill / Desintigrate and some others), but it's really, really - i mean REALLY hard. 10-19 i almost never used Elementar Wild Shape, now at 20 i am almost always in elementar form.


In short, if you plan to play him till Lv 10, go for it, they are cool.
If you plan to play them at 17+, go for it.
If you plan to play them between 10 and 17, prepare yourself to stay most of the time as caster.

edit: If you plan to play till lv 20, dont multiclass. Archdruid is just way to good.

[Cespenar]

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

1. It was pretty enjoyable, yes.
2. Earlier levels, spent most combats in Wild Shape. Later levels, using the Wild Shape only in a pinch.
3. Even though the Wild Shape itself loses its brokenness in later levels, it's still okay. The sheer power of the druid caster chassis eclipses it and makes it seem worse than it actually is.
4. By itself it's mediocre as a tank if you plan to use one shape per fight. Worse than a fighter PC, but it's bonus HP. But, if you couple it with Barkskin, or multiclass with Rage, or use 2 shapes in the same fight, you essentially become the best HP sponge in the game.
5. I had come prepared, bringing a little sheet of possible animal forms scanned from the Monster's Manual. So it was pretty easy. My DM didn't give me much trouble with that clause, fortunately, no.
6. I added a level of Barbarian, which let me really dominate the lower levels. In the later levels I rarely used the rage, but even 1 level behind, the druid spells are so powerful that I managed to coast off of a single casting of Summon Animals/Woodland Beings in any single battle anyway.

[Chugger]

Life's a lot easier w/ resil con feat or warcaster feat.

You can eat a lot of damage, but you get hit often - expect to be shredded until you get elemental form at 10. (shredded from lvl 5 to 9).

You can dps from the back ranks w/ giant octopus - 15' range - cast Longstrider to move 20' and not 10' - or Giant Elk with 10' range - i.e. you can move up and attack at range, then move back.

Spiders that climb a wall to get height and then spit webs can be very powerful for the right group - because their webs _restrain_ when they hit. In some cases they are a good monster to summon - if they can hit what you're fighting. Sometimes it helps to have the initiative order be in your favor, though - cuz if spiders go and then targets free themselves before anyone gets a whack, you've just stolen an action - you want to do more than that (and have your meleers shred them).

If you're an octo you can restrain a target while your minions shred it. Giant Owls can flyby-dive-bomb it.

Flying snakes are ... well they should be banned frankly. They're too good.

[nickl_2000]

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?

I'm playing one at level 6 right now and have enjoyed it so far. I was incredibly powerful at level 2 and dropped in power for awhile. Still it's been fun

2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?

I'm about 50/50 depending on the day. I started out wanting to be in animal form all the time, but have adjusted to spend more time in caster form. Now I consider the animal form to be almost temporary HP to be able to take abuse away from the rest of the party.

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?

Don't know, haven't gotten there

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?

Yes. In the last session, at level 5, I was able to take about 120 HP worth of damage that the squishies didn't take. Sure, I was beaten to the ground a few times and knocked out of my wild shape form twice, but it's all temp HP. So, who cares.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?

No, I have two ways of keeping track. I use the Squire Pro app (which costs about $3), you can add animal companions. I use that to keep track of all my available wild shape forms. Now I also have to keep track of summons as well. So that can get a little confusion

Your second part of this question is actually why I'm considering asking if I can change my character out. I'm level 6 and despite spending all of my free time looking for animal shapes and doing everything I can, I have yet to find a single CR2 form that didn't come from my backstory (just a Rhino). So, I'm frustrated with that and feel that it is taking away from my character massively.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

I will not be multiclassing if I play this PC all the way through. I did pick up Sentinel and will either be picking up resilient Con or Warcaster at level 8 (not sure which yet)

[Tubben]

Giant Owls can flyby-dive-bomb it. [...] Flying snakes are ... well they should be banned frankly. They're too good.

You can take the form of an Giant Owl or Flying Snake at Lv 8, not before, dont forget that :)
At Lv 8 you can take an form up to CR2 (CR3 at Lv 9)

The Giant Owl is CR 1/4, the Flying Snake 1/8.
The Owl will only do 2d6+1 dmg, thats not that much at lv 8.
The snake only 3d4+1, thats not much better.

If you use the snake for utility (because it's tiny), then i understand that, but for dmg ?

If you want to use an Beast for an flyby attack, you could better use an Quetzalcoatlus, this one will do atleast 3d6+2dmg with 80 speed.
(talking about the earliest lv you can take an flying form - an Quetzalcoatlus is CR2)

[Diebo]

I haven't played a Moon Druid, but I've played with one using Fantasy Grounds.

What I will say is that using a map/grid, that big old bear butt (or whatever creature sized large) really limited what the Moon Druid did. Think about how many rooms/corridors are pretty tight for moving around, then think about being size large. I don't see people mention this often, but it sure came up a lot in our game. And the poor thing has no ranged attack.

Sure you can choose other creatures, but some of the best ones are large.

[Corpsecandle717]

Hey ya’ll,

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

1) I haven't been playing 5th all that long and my druid is only level three, but I'm having a blast. So far it's been exactly what I wanted which is a jack of all trades master of none. My party consists of a bard, wizard, feylock, eldritch knight, a monk which ultimately leaves us a bit light on melee. So I often cast a concentration spell and end up as off tank saving the rest of my spells for out of combat healing. However we've had an adventure where we had to tail someone, So I turned into a cat and followed them around the city, with the wizard's familiar running back up. Then the target hoped on a horse and took off a quick clip, so while familiar fell behind, I was able to turn into a wolf and follow. Then there was the time the party got split (not willing) and I ended running around as a dire wolf kiting a couple minotaurs while roasting them with a moon beam.

I know in a few levels my bear claw crits aren't going to be nearly as impressive as the fighter, and I'm never going to the steady damage of the warlock, but the shear number of options that are available to me are pretty amazing.

2) As above, I'm currently spending a lot of time in wild shape and using most of my spells after combat. Though the fighter and monk just both picked up significant improvements to their ac so I'm hoping I can do a bit more spell casting.

3) Can't answer that.

4) So far so good. I'm hoping to talk my DM into allowing me to create a druidy variation of fire shield in a few levels. That way the low AC of all the animal forms becomes much more valuable (and fire shield doesn't use concentration)

5) Haven't run into it yet. We adopted the land variant rules so I've got every form I need at the moment, and we're about to go to a major city and I'm planning to raid the library. I'm currently using DnD beyond to give me for stats and just track my hp pool on a separate piece of paper.

6) No, and I don't have plans too. Don't think the synergies are worth it, also for RP reasons. The classes that work well with a druid are classes that my character's background has some issues with. I'm playing a human so I picked up warcaster at 1st.

[Theodoxus]

Have yet to try my hand at a moonie, but I can tell you my experience of running a game for one.

This was when 5E was new and shiny, probably Sept/Oct of 2014. The player in question had read all the forums about how broken moonies were, and had all the strats down pat. Go bear, wreak face and profit.

We played LMoP. The party entered the first goblin cave. The druid goes full bear to tank the goblins. Proceeds to get knocked the F out. Bitches that druids are supposed to be OP, why did he get rekt. He didn't really grok bounded accuracy, and neither did the OP prattling online posters.

Ever since, I have cautioned anyone who thinks they have "the answer" to anything in the game with some build, that the internet is the cake, and the cake is a lie.

[HMS Invincible]

So, I have been playing a Moon Druid for all of Tomb of Annihilation. So far my Druid has reached level 9, and I'd be happy to share my experience thus far.

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?

Was and is very enjoyable. I wasn't sure about playing a Druid when I first started, as I was used to playing heavily armored Paladin/Sorcerers. But I quickly started having fun, especially once I gained my Wild Shape

2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?

I spend very little time in my Caster Form. Even now that I am level 9, I tend to spend most of my time in a beast form of some type. These range from combat dino forms, to tiny insects to scout around or slip through cracks

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?

Yes and no. I will admit you will start to feel a bit of lag between levels 6-9 in combat compared to the levels up to that point, especially if you do not have access to dinosaur beast forms. That said, if you do have access to dino forms, try to find a Deinonychus from Volo's as soon as possible. It is CR 1, and was my preferred combat form from the moment I could Wild Shape till I could turn into a Giant Scorpian.

Speaking of which, the CR 3 Giant Scorpian really helps once you get it at level 9. That thing is a beast, and very deadly thanks to the stinger.

But front line combat isn't their only use. If your druid has seen a normal little spider, or a rat, then those forms have plenty of use both in and out of combat.

Case in point: In Tomb tonight, my Druid was warped into a room with 45 cr 1 creatures. They were awakened by noise created by a golden skull hanging around me, which is a story in and of itself, and became hostile. I managed to solo them thanks to casting Spike Growth, then turning into a tiny spider and crawling on the cieling. I was literally just out of their reach since they had no ranged weapons, and since they were mindless and chased me, I simply led them around the spike growth.

Later on in the same room I found a crack that only a bug sized creature could really fit through, so I used that to escape the room and get back to the party.

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?

Let me put it this way: When we started Tomb we had me, a Bear Totem Barbarian, a Fighter, a Paladin, a Wizard who eventually gained a Shield Guardian, and a Swashbuckler Rogue. We are playing in Adventures League, which allows players to use back up characters for this season.

So far everyone in the party has died, including the Shield Guardian, except for myself and the fighter, and the fighter survived by being gone during some of the deadliest fights.

I am not only a decent tank, I am the party's ONLY tank, the only person capable of casting Greater Restoration, the healer, and I am the one who brings in the minions with Conjure Animal. Due to how poorly the surrogates were made for this season, I am the front line.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?

Not really, I made a clean and clear list of them, including Name, CR, and where they are found. It wasn't any more of a hassle then keeping track of what's in a Ring of Spell Storing.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

Nope, I have not tried Multiclassing, mostly because I know for a fact this druid will make it to level 20 eventually. Meaning I don't want to lose out on the capstone for unlimited wild shape.

That said, I have been toying with the idea of a:

Fighter: 2 / Paladin: 2 / Druid: 16 in order to get action surge and smite.

As for feats, I took War Caster at level 1 with the Human Variant race. Mostly because I knew I'd be a front line spell caster, and wanted the advantage on con saves.

This list of conjure animals and wild shape forms you refer to, can I see it? I've been looking for a good way but the best I can come up with is pdfs that I edit with paint and/or scanning printed out versions.

[Tubben]

This list of conjure animals and wild shape forms you refer to, can I see it? I've been looking for a good way but the best I can come up with is pdfs that I edit with paint and/or scanning printed out versions.

I use an excel sheet with forms.
Here's an copy/paste from my sheet.
You need to work a bit on it, the formating got lost while copy/pasting to google docs.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...oQc01b/pubhtml

[Breashios]

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you? Yes

2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped? Very little combat in Wild Shape - Lots of Wild Shape in exploration, scouting, sneaking past sentries, flying to catch up to the party; was a tail waving dog to get into the bandit camp and sit by the campfire listening to the leader plot his next evil act.

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim? Did not notice that it was weak. Filled the role in the party well.

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party? The party concentrated on dealing damage quickly. The Druid did often hold the front line, but self healing was more common than fighting in wild shape.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause? DM required "Animals you have studied" This wasn't a problem in our campaign as he allowed a giant version of normal beasts, ants, spiders, scorpions, and started with most common beasts in our environment studied before starting play. Had pre-printed stats for each medium or larger beast shape might use in combat.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up? Did not multi-class. Thought about Ranger. No Feats.

[MaxWilson]

Your second part of this question is actually why I'm considering asking if I can change my character out. I'm level 6 and despite spending all of my free time looking for animal shapes and doing everything I can, I have yet to find a single CR2 form that didn't come from my backstory (just a Rhino). So, I'm frustrated with that and feel that it is taking away from my character massively.

Hang in there for one more level until you get Polymorph. Then you can Polymorph any CR 2 creature into a beast, which means that you've now seen that beast, which means that you can now wildshape into that beast.

;-)

[MaxWilson]

I haven't played a Moon Druid, but I've played with one using Fantasy Grounds.

What I will say is that using a map/grid, that big old bear butt (or whatever creature sized large) really limited what the Moon Druid did. Think about how many rooms/corridors are pretty tight for moving around, then think about being size large. I don't see people mention this often, but it sure came up a lot in our game. And the poor thing has no ranged attack.

Sure you can choose other creatures, but some of the best ones are large.

Do note that by PHB rules (Squeezing Into Larger Spaces) a Large bear can still fit into a 5' corridor, at the cost of attacking at disadvantage, etc.

I don't know if Fantasy Grounds supports that scenario, but it ought to.

At 17 and SL9 you can start to shapeshange (Hope you got resilient(const)) into something like an goristro and get some serious fun.

If you Shapechange into a Goristro you have +13 to Con saves (+7 from Con 25 plus proficiency bonus), thanks to the way Shapechange works: "You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature, If the creature has the same proficiency as you, and the bonus listed in its Statistics is higher than yours, use the creature's bonus in place of yours."

Thus, Resilient (Con) is irrelevant. Warcaster might be helpful though if you are facing extremely high-damage attacks.

[sithlordnergal]

This list of conjure animals and wild shape forms you refer to, can I see it? I've been looking for a good way but the best I can come up with is pdfs that I edit with paint and/or scanning printed out versions.

Well, I don't really have it as a pdf or anything. I grabbed a straight edge, drew a grid with enough room to write down the beast's name, CR, page it was on, and book it was found in. It looks like this

Spoiler

Show

I don't have a list for Conjure Animals though. Instead I just conjure up the velociraptor found in Volos. It has 10hp, pack tactics, is tiny so multiple can fit in one square, 30ft speed despite their size, 13 ac, has a multi-attack with a 1d6+2 bite and 1d4+2 claw, and is only cr 1/4. Meaning you can summon 8 of them with a 3rd level Conjure Animal, partially surround a medium creature because you can have them two per 5ft grid, and let them rip someone apart for 16 attacks, all with advantage, doing 8d6+16 and 8d4+16.

And once you get 5th level spells...well...if your DM thought 16 attacks with advantage was bad...just wait till they deal with 32 attacks, ALL with advantage due to pack tactics. Cause why wouldn't you put at least 2 raptors per square, right? X3

EDIT: Also, for those looking for a decent CR 1 beast that is both Medium size and just as good as the Bear: I suggest the Deinonychus from Volo's. Go to Chult, and have fun. The Bear may have a multiattack that does 1d68+4 and 2d6+4, but these have:

a triple multiattack that does 1d8+2 each attack

higher speed

A Pounce that lets it make a bonus action Bite, which is another lovely 1d8+2, on a prone target. Make note of the wording though. "If the target is prone, the Deinonychus can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action." You don't have to knock them prone, the target just has to be prone.

The only downside is the Deinonychus has 26 hp compared to the bears 34

[Tubben]

If you Shapechange into a Goristro you have +13 to Con saves (+7 from Con 25 plus proficiency bonus), thanks to the way Shapechange works: "You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature, If the creature has the same proficiency as you, and the bonus listed in its Statistics is higher than yours, use the creature's bonus in place of yours."

Thus, Resilient (Con) is irrelevant. Warcaster might be helpful though if you are facing extremely high-damage attacks.

Slipped my mind that every CR17-20 mob has prof in con saves :-)
And Resilient (con) is almost allways better than Warcaster for keeping concentration.

[xroads]

Hey ya’ll,

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

1. Yep. I've always enjoyed playing druids.
2. As little as possible, thought it does happen. No biggie when it does. When your character shifts back to normal, his AC usually goes up and he gains access to spells.
3. I've only made it to to tier 2 with druids. Didn't experience any issues that I was aware of.
4. Yep. Though you still got to be careful. Most animals have a low AC. So when you get ganged up on, it becomes very hard to tank. Often it's better to use your form's special abilities as support as opposed to front lining as a tank.
5. No issues.
6. I never like multi-classing. Once I had an odd numbered Wisdom, so I picked up Observant.

[Osrogue]

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
Yes

2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
Wildshape out of combat. Caster form in combat 60% of the time.

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
No. It is just extra strong at low levels and at 20.

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
Yes. The only time I’ve taken damage is from other party members.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
Nope. Just write it on your character sheet.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?
No. I picked up warcaster and resilience. Druids have SO many concentration spells, one or the other is almost a must.

[Snowbluff]

1. Yes

2. About 50/50

3. I played it up to 9 with no issues

4. Yes, but see below

5. I had a sheet for my animals.
Also, if the GM gives you trouble for "animals you've seen" ask him if rogues can sneak attack a person they haven't met, and while he's telling you, break one of his arms. That should keep him in line.

6. I took 3 levels of Bear Barbarian. Monk levels are for hacks, especially when you can resist all damage. I took sentinel, but sentinel is a mistake as a feat.

[Strangways]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

1) Yes
2) It varies. Moon Druid Wild Shape power spikes at level 2, relative to other classes, then gradually declines, especially once the martial classes get their second attack at level 5. You get better at level 6, with CR2 forms, and again at level 9, with CR3 forms, then another big spike at level 10 with elemental form. I'm currently level 14 and I've gradually learned that I'm still a full caster. So I lean more heavily on Wild Shape around the spikes, and more heavily on the spell casting during the valleys between the spikes. Of course, in 4 more levels I'll be able to cast spells while wild shaped and I'm definitely looking forward to that.
3) No. Your spells are very, very powerful. It's a mistake to evaluate Moon Druids based on nothing more than Wild Shape. There are peaks and valleys in the power of Wild Shape but it ends up very, very powerful at level 20.
4) Yes. Each tanking class has a different way of tanking. Fighters have high AC and (depending on the fighter) various maneuvers. Barbarians have damage resistance. Druids in Wild Shape tend to have low AC and no damage resistance. You make up for that by the fact that your Wild Shape hit points aren't your real hit points. They're effectively temp HP for you. You also have spells you can cast before going into Wild Shape that can give you a higher AC (like Barkskin) or damage resistance (like Stoneskin, Protection from Energy etc.). You can use these things to adapt to the particular battle in front of you and, in that sense, you're a more versatile tank than either the fighter or barbarian.
5) It takes some work, yes, but not any worse than, e.g. a wizard's burden of remembering what spells he has and what they do. If you ranked all the classes and subclasses in order of record keeping from least to most, with Champion Fighter at the low end and Necromancer Wizard at the high end, then Moon Druid would be closer to the Necromancer Wizard end of the spectrum.
6) No. First, I don't like multiclassing as a general rule. Second, I don't like the idea of giving up what is probably the best capstone of any class in the game. Third, I play in AL games, not in some homebrew campaign, so I can expect to get to level 20 if I play long enough. If I were in a home-brew campaign, or just running some published module outside AL, and knew the game would be over at level 12, I'd be less concerned about giving up the capstone, but I don't play in those types of games.

[sambojin]

At 20 it's a complete new game (atleast for me), since you arent limited to 2 shapes per long rest, you can start to really play with shapes, use them for fun and fluff. Before that i always conserved my shapes "just in case"..

Unless you were playing it houseruled, it's two per short rest. Which is a lot, and enough to be able to do a bit of exploration and combat, or a fair bit of either particular one, per rest. I mean, that's a lot of play sessions to be playing as a nerfed to 1/3rd Moon druid. Ouch.

Wildshape is one of the most freely available resources in 5e. Its not unlimited, but it's 2/short rest, which is still plenty. With about 2 short rests a day and six encounters average (IE, 6 wildshape uses a day), it's great on top of all your spellcasting. If it were only two per long rest, it would kind of suck.

[HMS Invincible]

Unless you were playing it houseruled, it's two per short rest. Which is a lot, and enough to be able to do a bit of exploration and combat, or a fair bit of either particular one, per rest. I mean, that's a lot of okay sessions to be playing as a nerfed to 1/3rd Moon druid. Ouch.

Wildshape is one of the most freely available resources in 5e. Its not unlimited, but it's 2/short rest, which is still plenty. With about 2 short rests a day and six encounters average (IE, 6 wildshape uses a day), it's great on top of all your spellcasting. If it were only two per long rest, it would kind of suck.

Note, elemental form required 2 charges of wild shape, do you can only do it once per short rest.

[Tetrasodium]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, andyou really need that level 6 make attacks magic did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

Kobold is not an option, it is a requirement & gives you advantage on those more crunchy forms instead of needing to use weaker things like wolves & such.

1. I had a blast but also had a good number of other experienced players who were keen to use a druid mount once they saw how awesome it was
2. As a moon druid, you need to look at wildshape charges like a wizard looks at spell slots... does this fight look like it needs me to wildshape?... if the abnswer is no, keep it small & scaly to throw out cantrips. If you conserve your spell slots for healing & enough of the group likes short rests that they suggest it occasionally, you want to stay in wildshape as much as possible... but don't be too hasty to wikldshape just because you can.
3. yes there are problems at higher levels but there are two things to mitigate & help with that. the first is that unless your proficiency bonus is lower than the beast's (something that will pretty much never happen) you use yours... so remember to fix that when your proficiency bonus goes up. Second is gm dependent. if your GM lets you wear magic armor as barding or at least lets you get magic barding at reasonable rates you are good.. if not I suggest different class, get some nice breastplate/halfplate to help make yourself have useful ac. most of the forms you will want to use have zero or negative dex, a level of cleric will give you a crapton more prepared spells since cure wounds is probanly always going to be prepared just in case even if you never use it & the way multiclassing works+domain spells... if done right you can get heavy armor from it too. I suggest level 7 (you really need that level 6 make attacks magic & it's not much of an issue before then).
4. it depends sometimes yes, sometimes no. you aren't going to put as barbarian to shame (level 2 excluded), but you can fill in for nearly any role in a pinch.
5. I made & used this pdf, take it to staples or something & have it printed/spiral bound for like 20$. then you just have your character sheet, a spell sheet, & a book of wildshape forms that you track beast form hp right on the pages of. without that I would not nearly have had as much fun or been able to stand in with appropriately useful forms when needed. the if you've seen clause is tricky & best works if you & your gm both assume that you've seen pretty much everything normal. Want to be something unusual like a crag cat or dinosaur?... you should run it by your gm first & see what they think. this is something you will need totalk to about your gm first to see if they are going to be reasonable or not & decide to play something else if they are going to be particularly restrictive.

6. I took a level of life cleric because heavy armor & the bonus spells, now I might have chosen forge for the +1 ac. I tookwarcaster & an asi (wis). were I to do it now I might have chosen sentinel or mobile instead

[History_buff]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?
3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?
4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?
5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?
6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

1. Moon Druid was my first ever DnD character. It was very enjoyable to play. I had him planting apple orchards and tending bees to make mead and cider. Fun to play in combat as well. Loads of versatility and flexibility. There are certain things you can just DO in some forms. A.K.A scuttling across the ceiling as a spider. Ability scores matter less.

2. I’d typically open with a concentration spell like flaming sphere, hold person, and heat metal and immediately wildshape. Favorite forms, Dire Wolf/Spider/Brown Bear, Giant Constrictor Snake/Cave Bear, Giant Scorpion.
Once knocked out if wildshape by hp reduction I’d typically stay in caster form unless it’s s particularly difficult fight. If I still have a decent amount of hp, I’d typically begin the next encounter already in that form.

3. Hmm I can see it dropping off a bit and relying a bit more on casting from levels 13-17. At 18 things get interesting and at 20 they’d get infinite wildshapes which is by far the best capstone in the entire game. I’ve only played it to level 12. I found myself having to adjust my tactics to try to stay in elemental form once I committed to shaping. The elemental forms are good, but not great. Nevertheless they have fun and interesting tricks you can use that can really make things interesting like setting EVERYTHING on fire as a fire elemental or popping in and out as an earth elemental using earth glide. You’re using spell slots to heal to keep that fueled and it’s a balancing act between casting and shaping.

4. For the most part yes. But they shouldn’t be the main target of blows. What a moon Druid can do is BE battlefield control. Many forms have great movement, and are large or even huge. They’re great at holding choke points and controlling area. They’re best used tactically as a floating protector to cover weaker party members.

5. No, I play on roll20 so dm just gave me access to a character sheet with shapes. He’d drag my main token off map and put my shape down. Easily done. No, my dm allowed them all basically handwaved it and said studying a bestiary would be enough.

6. Nope, no multiclass. Druids, Especially moon druids, are best served remaining in the Druid class. I like multiclassing, but I’ll never multiclass a character that was primarily a Druid.

P.S.- Moon Druid as I said was my first character. He made it to the end of the campaign alive and not for lack of making a few mistakes along the way. This dm is a dm that doesn’t pull punches when it comes to character death, and the campaign had nine total over the course of the campaign. Moonies are tough.

[Strangways]

This dm is a dm that doesn’t pull punches when it comes to character death, and the campaign had nine total over the course of the campaign. Moonies are tough.

Moon Druids are durable because of their Wild Shape hit points, self-healing, and buffing spells (like Stoneskin) but they're also very good at escaping bad situations. I've fled more than one hopeless situation by shapeshifting into a Giant Owl and flying away because their flyby ability means I can do so without taking opportunity attacks. Likewise for Giant Badger (or Earth Elemental) form and fleeing underground.

And few things are harder to lock down than an air elemental that has a 90' fly speed, can hover, is immune to being knocked prone, grappled, restrained, paralyzed, petrified or exhausted, and can slip through a 1 inch opening without squeezing.

[Socratov]

Hey ya’ll,

Thinking of preparing a character as a backup/next campaign PC if this one survives. Up to this point, I’ve only ever played martial classes (love my Rogues!), and in the interest of trying new things I’m strongly considering a Moon Druid. I’ve been reading up on them, optimizing guides and the like, and really enjoy the class in concept. However, there seems like a lot of variables and things to consider. So I thought I’d ask peoples actual in-game experiences playing Moon Druids. Tell me your stories! Did you have fun? Specific questions I have, though feel free to share anything:

1. Was it an enjoyable class for you?

Yes. I have found that turning from gnome into a huge ****ing bear ripping apart enemies has a huge effect on your enjoyment of the class. Also, fluffwise you can really toy with the effects of turning into animals nad having a bit of cognizance issues afterwards. Really great for RP. Also, you can take on every disney sidecharacter/animal companion ever and that opens up a host of RP material.[quote]
2. How much time did you spend in combat in your “Caster Form” as opposed to Wild Shaped?[quote]early game mostly wildshaped in combat form, sometimes even going for sneaky of mobility forms (past lvl 4 as a giant octopus to ferry people over the water)

3. Is it as weak at higher levels as some people claim?

Yes. past lvl 5~6 you are a land druid who has less spells (as you miss natural recovery and have less spells prepared). That said, I did not experience it as a problem as my mobility and utility had more options. But that is more a thing of the progression of animals you can use and how useless most animals are when compared to other classes.

4. Did the temporary HP boost from wild shaped forms allow you to be an effective tank for the party?

Yes. Very effective. Though a clever DM will introduce the effect of overkill to get to your real hp really quickly and to knock you out of it. And the AC of animals is usually rubbish.

5. Was it a pain to keep track of what creatures you can wild shape into, and did your DM give you trouble with the “Animals you have seen” clause?

Not in the slightest. You pick a few forms for the 90% of the time stuff. The other 10% is when the rest of the party gets some spotlight while you look for options.

6. Did you try multiclassing at all? What feats did you pick up?

Yes, I had heaps of fun with a Firbolg moon druid/bear totem barbarian. While you lack bonus actions in round 1, after a while I settled into a really great rhythm of pacifist druid doing the best he can, switching to Mark Ruffalo's "I am Always angry!" Hulk (or Rage Bear). The punishment you can dish out is wonderful and fills my belly with warm and fuzzy feelings.

[Tubben]

Unless you were playing it houseruled, it's two per short rest. Which is a lot, and enough to be able to do a bit of exploration and combat, or a fair bit of either particular one, per rest. I mean, that's a lot of play sessions to be playing as a nerfed to 1/3rd Moon druid. Ouch.

Wildshape is one of the most freely available resources in 5e. Its not unlimited, but it's 2/short rest, which is still plenty. With about 2 short rests a day and six encounters average (IE, 6 wildshape uses a day), it's great on top of all your spellcasting. If it were only two per long rest, it would kind of suck.

Aye, correct. 2 per short rest. I still conserved my shapes, since i wanted the Option to elementar wild shape (used 2 shapes) or wanted the Option to Change my shape in combat or i did know my gm wont let me short rest in an dungeon between fights - or i had to leave an form after an combat because of size or i had to speak with my Buddys, or or or.

My druid is 20 for a good while now (around a year, while playing weekly). And it gets a bit blurry already, but i remember that hitting 20 with unlimited shapes really opened a whole new moondruid world for me.

But yes, it's per short rest, not long :)