I have character concept in mind for a "working class" Druid that just does construction. Mold earth, Wall of stone, stone shape, transmute rock, bones of the earth, Druid Grove, move earth...just so many possibilities.
Bones of the Earth feels AMAZING when you can accomplish multiple goals at once. I was once able to 1) bridge a gap between the party and the enemy caster, 2) pin that caster to the ceiling, and 3) block the passage enemy reinforcements were heard to be coming down, with a single casting. You have to love the moments that make the DM go, "Wait, stop, that can't be right. Let me read that spell. Oh, uh, yeah I guess that works..."
Transport Via Plants might be better then you think, because of a 5th level spell you already have: Scry. Because using Scry counts as you seeing what's on the other side, you can scry a location you wish to go, see a functional plant in that area, and then Transport Via Plants into that area. Note that only the entrance plant has a size specification, so while I don't think it's intended, you can technically make your exit point a blade of grass in the BBEG's garden, for instance.
Personally I think Transport Via Plants is the best teleportation spell. It can be used in combat occasionally since it is only an action to cast, and it is much more flexible with where you go than Teleportation Circle for only 1 spell level higher, and more reliable than Teleport which is 1 spell level higher - zero chance of going to the wrong destination even if you've only seen the destination once (vs > 50% chance of ending up at the wrong destination using Teleport).
I feel like for a 6th level slot and concentration investiture of stone could have at least given resistance to magical bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage as well.
In one the campaigns I am playing, we had to Storm a castle, and topple an evil empiress. Our Druid prepared a hreoes fest beforehand, and rolled a 20, wich was nice withit self. (my familar had 30HP, due to beaing an imp, wich was funny) Later it rurned out, the Guards of the Evil empreis would have dealt MASSIVE amounts of Posion Damage, and the empreiss itself would have had a fear Aura. This Spell alone was the MVP of the entire Session.
Very much agree with ranking for heal. I have run a high level one shot for a party with heal and a party without. The difference was extremely noticeable and no other spell or ability seemed to be able to make up for it.
Something to note about wind walk is that even though it's probably intended that you can seep through keyholes and whatnot, the spell doesn't actually say so, so that benefit is DM dependent
It does say you become a gas tho and last time i checked gas can seep through pretty small openings lol. The type of DM that wouldn't allow that is the same type of DM that wouldn't allow Prestidigitation to clean up blood since the spell doesn't specifically state that or make an object the color black since black isn't technically a color(but instead the absence of color). AKA, not a DM i'd enjoy playing with...
All the Investiture spells are in the irritating zone of “thematic, cool, but not particularly good. I really wish they were good, but I can’t see using them as a player. As a DM, though, they are pretty fun! I like giving out these spells as scrolls to level 5ish parties.
Sunbeam is exceedingly reliable under the following (rather common) condition: You're a moon druid. Why is this important? As a moon druid, you can become an air elemental with a flying speed of 90 feet that is able to squeeze through tight spaces without issue. Additionally, you're immune to being grappled, paralyzed, petrified, knocked prone, and restrained. At that degree of mobility, positioning the rather long sunbeam line is no longer a hurdle. No matter how much your enemies move around the battlemap, you can almost always ensure you have enough movement to position yourself so you can hit at least 2 if not more of them, and then fly out of harm's reach. Sunbeam deals reliable amounts of damage every turn (expect between 25-33 per target), with a reliable damage type (radiant), and can cause blindness for a full round, which gives all your allies advantage against those that fail the saving throw. It's a good spell, even though it requires concentration and targets an enemy's constitution. The problem with Sunbeam isn't that it's a line or that it's concentration. The problem with Sunbeam--the problem with druids' 6th level spells as a whole--is that I'm a druid that has Wind Walk and Transport via Plants. You really think your party will let you prepare Sunbeam when you can be their Uber? Dude, cast Wind Walk, we don't want to have to buy horses again. Come on, forest boy, cast Transport via Plants and take us out of here. They don't want me dealing 8d6 damage every round for a minute. They want to fly at the speed of a jet fighter squadron and save their Teleportation Circle components because I must have seen a tree around that town somewhere. :(
Yowch, too real at the end there. This is my problem with Bones of the Earth. One of my favorite spells of all time, but damn if it's got an opportunity cost to use...
I feel your pain, currently we are fighting vampires in barovia, its the first time that we have real sunlight, and you can drown vampires in the river, grappling them in runing water+sunlight, and in water elemental form!
The thing with wall of thorns is that it is exceedingly more powerful against bigger creatures, because it will take them more movement to get through it. If the creature is huge, they need to move 15 feet to get through the wall. That is 4x15=60 feet of movement because of the slowdown. Most creatures won't make it through in one turn.
Well, technically a huge creature with 30 feet of movement could Dash and get through the spell ... if it starts in or right next to it ... but that would still leave it damaged and with no action for that turn.
@@michaelpenner6053 came here to say that. I had a Druid use that to absolutely obliterate an otherwise difficult combat by luring the enemies into a 5 ft wide hallway...
Find the Path requires an object from the location you wish to travel to as a material component, which makes it almost utterly useless to rely on unless your DM takes pity on you and makes something fall in your lap.
Something that should be noted about Flesh to Stone is that if the target fails the first saving throw, they are guaranteed to be restrained for at least 2 more rounds after the first and be stuck in place for 3 of their turns. Could be useful.
Hmmm, you know when I was listening to your rationale about why Heroes Feast is Orange ( the cost of the spell makes it circumstantial) revealed a problem to me: if the premise here is ultimately to rank spells, then there needs to be a continuum and interval scale with a logical consistency to the various factor weightings, and in this case I have some thoughts for you. Let me start by asserting what else is circumstantial in the world of spell-casting: True Resurrection, Wish, and Simulacrum. They are all highly circumstantial for different reasons, but obviously not Orange because of it. First of all, a character only has one 9th level spell, and needs to be extremely careful with when it should be used. True resurrection is only useful when a party member dies, so obviously it isn’t a go to preparation spell. But those spells cannot be Orange for the same reason Heroes Feast cannot be. Just because a spell cannot be used often, and you have to pick the right, often rare moments to use them, does not mean they aren’t some of the most powerful spells in the game. How is it that Heroes Feast is the same color that the Investiture spells are? I will offer a thought: the circumstantial nature of a spell (meaning the frequency by which you likely to find moments where the spell makes sense to cast), is ONE of several sub-factors that go into an overall color rank. Imagine if you had said this: “I would rank Heroes Feast Blue, but the high cost of material components is hefty, and therefore the number of times you can or should prepare it are reduced, making it green. It’s green because it’s always useful and powerful, so you’d be nuts to not be looking for ways to obtain the gem encrusted bowls required for its casting in the same way you should be looking for the material components to spells like Resurrection.” Orange spells then, should be spells where the circumstantial nature is such an overwhelming feature, that… **the entire spell utility depends on that exact circumstance to justify the effectiveness of what the spell actually does.*** So in closing, I’ll say this. Heroes Feast is effective in 100% of all situations in D&D. There isn’t a single time when I wish I was vulnerable to poison, or didn’t have extra hit points. Hence, the circumstance I am in, or what campaign setting I am in, has no impact on the spell’s utility. Hence it cannot be Orange.
BLUE💙💙 Heal GREEN💚💚 Bones of the earth PURP💜💜 Conjure Fey Sunbeam Wall of thorns Wind walk ORANGE🧡🧡 Druid Grove Find the path Heroes feast Investiture of flame ..ice ..stone ..wind Move earth Transport via plants RED💔💔 Flesh to stone Primordial ward ~
Something to note, Polymorph could be considered a lower level "flying" spell when used to change into a creature with a fly speed. In my opinion, that's enough to make Investiture of Wind a red spell, although it still is pretty cool flavor-wise
The addition of Heroes Feast to the bard spell list and the 14th level creation bard ability are a very nice combimation. Create the component for the spell and cast at the start of each day.
I'm a fan of your work on this channel, I'm very glad you're getting sponsored, and I'm definitely looking forward to the day when there's no more Describe promo filler in your videos
I always got the impression that you got to pick with this spell for some reason, vs the other conjures that had you pick an option of CR and the DM filled that in. But even with that said, I still think the player gets to choose whether they want a fey or a beast from the wording of the spell. That might give you a decent amount more control over what you get.
@@TreantmonksTemple To me, that first sentence indicates you get your choice between the fey creature or the beast: "You summon a fey creature of challenge rating 6 or lower, or a fey spirit that takes the form of a beast of challenge rating 6 or lower." The separation of the fey creature from the fey spirit sections by 'or' is the reason that I think they're a choice given to the player.
@@andrecosta8680 ...the creature... yes, but not the creature type. There are two creature TYPES listed between that or. Note that the spell does not imply at any point that the player has any input on the resultant conjure, but it does specify the option between types. This is an ambiguous phrasing. But it is within the normal reading to interpret that "or" as a player decided option, without bringing anything else into the sentence.
I feel like they should have combined all the investiture spells into one, call it Elemental Investiture or something, and let the caster choose the mode/element on casting. Still would not have been too powerful for a 6th level slot.
Casting investiture of stone and then wildshaping into a giant elk allowed me to burst outta nowhere into a legion of goblins coming up a mountain path to attack a village we were protecting. Took out half of them including the war chief.
One thing to note with Find the Path that's important is the material component includes something from the place you're looking for. So that takes it from circumstantial to eliminating the majority of those circumstances unless the DM is trying to throw you a bone or accidentally stumbled into it.
As far as I'm concerned, Investiture of Stone isn't a combat spell, it's an exploration spell. Earth and stone are what most caverns, castles, and dungeons are made of, and it's rare that a wall is more than 60ft thick, so you can Dash through most of the dungeon. If you Wild Shape into a fast creature like a Moorbounder (140ft if you move and dash, combined with a powerful leap) or Giant Eagle (160ft if you move and dash, combined with the ability to fly), you can cover even *more* distance, both vertically and horizontally, meaning you'll be able to get almost anywhere in a dungeon that you want. It's like scouting a dungeon with Arcance Eye, but you can actually be there yourself and interact with things if you want. Grab items, unlock doors, activate switches - it isn't the stealthiest unless you have a good Stealth score, but the ability to bypass obstacles is pretty potent.
One really big benefit of Transport via Plants is that unlike Teleport there's no chance of failure(unless your DM is incredibly mean and rules that that specific tree has been cut down since you visited it i guess). Really it should probably be compared to Teleportation Circle rather than Teleport, which leaves us with some interesting features. Teleportation Circle may be a whole spell level lower but at the same time it requires that the target location is another Teleportation Circle(which are usually very rare to find) and has a casting time of a whole minute, meaning it's entirely useless in combat. As an action only requiring verbal and somatic components, Transport via Plants can serve both as an incredibly reliable out of combat means of teleportation and a semi-reliable in-combat "oh shit" button.
For the object from the location - it is neither costly nor consumed. For these reasons, I've ruled, and other DMs I've played with have ruled, that the component can be replaced with a focus. For having to been there - it doesn't say that. Unless there is a general rule spelling out that "familiar" only refers to places you've visited, I disagree. As a resident of the US, I'm familiar with locations like California, New York, Florida, and Texas. Yet, I've never been to any of those locations.
A comment on Sunbeam (and everything else that blinds enemies) - there are an insane amount of spells and abilities that target a creature that the user can see. You can almost shut down a Beholder entirely with this spell, for instance, and spellcasters often become total pushovers. Add to this that you can force another save or suck every turn and it becomes often average or slightly below, and occasionally absolutely incredible.
Transport Via Plants: the spell only specifies size on the initial plant, not the destination one. Combine this with Galder's Speedy Courier, and you can quickly set up a teleportation network with a bunch of NPCs (as long as you've met them).
I am always so interested in spells that can become permanent. Obviously in most campaigns it's not gonna come up for the players, but still, potentially really cool.
Would love to see tactical breakdown of the tiers of play, like your series for the wizard. Wizards are my favorite class, largely due to your videos, but this new series has me very interested in Druid. Would love to see some optimized strategies.
You keep saying it is underrated but if you look at the lists you made there is like a handful of unique druid spells that are good (outside of summoning) and most of those are low level.
BTW, I think Sunbeam should be blue. It last a very long time, you effect many creatures , blind them. Such a boon against undead, and drow... I as a wizard ALWAYS prepare it as it lasts for a whole encounter, basically so It slows your cost of resources . A FINE CHOISE in my opinion
For investiture of stone, you could go under a creature and do the effect and then move further away, because you can pass by creatures friendly fire is easier to avoid but there will still be some cases where it happens. I think that one is way better than the others in general, but probably still orange.
Transfer via plants deserves at least 3 stars in my option, it better then teleportation circle because you get to pick a larger range of areas, and better then teleport the 8th level spell because of the chance of the teleport spell failing. For example, with the teleport spell, if you’ve seen the area once, you only have a 25% chance to travel there, while if you’ve seen a tree around the area once you always land where you intended. Like the videos though man. Helps me prepare my spells.
I could see casting Druid Grove with wish. A non-concentration fog cloud and spike growth and 1/3 movement debuff that you and your allies ignore probably just wins a fight.
Yeah, there are definitely spells on these lists that feel more like 1) mostly for downtime/non-combat scenes (e.g. Scrying, Atonement), 2) mostly for powerful NPCs (e.g. Druid Grove or Guards and Wards), and maybe 3) good option on a magic item but maybe not a PC's list of prepared spells (nothing comes to mind at the moment but I know I've had that thought). And maybe there should be a different way of handling those than just putting them on spell lists with spells actually useful in combat, but I don't know bolting a whole new subsystem onto the game is a great idea either.
@@digitaljanus D&D is supposed to be 3 pillars: Combat, Exploration, Social. Druids are designed to be exceptionally good at Exploration, and honestly there is absolutely no beating them in that respect. They are decent in combat, but they won't be as good as classes that are designed to be exceptionally good at combat (e.g. Barbarian or Fighter). And honestly I like it that way for a full campaign, because in a campaign someone's got to be the people-mover, and enemy-finder. If every class had really powerful high level combat spells then everyone would fight about who has to waste their high level spells on transportation or scrying. By not having any super damage dealing combat spells, it means the opportunity cost for a druid to prepare and cast these super useful utility spells is a lot less than for other classes. TL:DR - it doesn't matter how great you are at killing bad guys, if they are on the other side of the continent and you have no way to get there in time to stop them.
Wind Walk is actually pretty useless for travelling. A character’s speed has no effect on their Travel Pace. I suppose the flight could allow you to bypass terrain and to take the most direct route, but the spell really should have said something about increasing your Travel Pace, since that really seems like the design intent.
Regarding bones of the earth, a fun thing I did with a friend of mine in a campaign, i was playing a galeb duhr college of Lore bard, which was basically a stuntman (if you've read my other comments on treantmonk's videos, I play mainly homebrew races taken from the game and adapted as playable races, only those who are similar humanoids, even if not in the creature type, or generally not larger than large size, like mimics (who's never wanted to be a mimic?); anyway back to the story, I had a friend druid who followed stunty in many of his voyages just for fun, using the "Boulder" trait from the galeb duhr I practically played pinball to chase an enemy, into a small village, no houses were demolished, except for the inn's door from where I started, after reaching the objective I said "this was a free demonstration of the show that's gonna happen this evening, gently offered by the mayor!" Fun thing you can do this even as a druid only and Summon elementals.
Slowely during this series you are convincing me that the druid spell list is not good - a position I did not hold to begin with. The number of times you effectively bump a spell a rank in this video because it is a druid spell i.e. if this spell was on the wizard list and you were ranking wizard spells you would rank it lower. Flying is the one that comes to mind, but i think there were others too
I think the Druid definitely has more gaps in its spell list than the wizard does. But, more significant than the gaps is the fact that there are a couple REALLY good spells at each level, and a couple more decent ones, and a scattering of situationally strong ones. You don't have to be the be-all-end-all. You just need to have more tools than opportunities to use them, and your spell list is solid. Druids have that and more.
Yeah, I get it. There is just something weird about this grading on the druid curve for spells. When the thesis is that the druid spell list is good/underated, but the method used keeps bumping spells ranks because on the druid spell list this is orange (any other spell list would be red because you can do the same thing with a slot 4 levels lower). And then their is the interesting forshadowing from the Heal commentary - it has dubious upcasting potential at +10hp per level, but we are about to get to some levels where the druid list is really thin on passable spells, so you may want to upcast heal. Recall that the thesis is that druid spell list isn't weak and thin apart from the summons, but that comment on heal made it sound like the next few levels are going to be unarguably thin, even on the druid curve.
Investiture of Flame could be good if it had range of touch. Put that on the Barbarian; now he runs at a creature and the creature takes 1d10 damage. Because that was “first time on a turn. Now on its turn; It has to disengage or take an op attack wasting its turn. Or it stays there and takes another 1d10. Putting it on yourself as a druid isnt good though unless maybe you’re the tank as a moon druid.
I was under the impression that you can't use Find the Path to find a place you've never been to before because of the "that you are familiar with" clause (based on the way "familiar" is used in the scrying spell).
Scrying doesn't require it to be a place you've been before, you just need to have seen it. So if e.g. you see a tower on the top of a mountain from several miles away you can Find the Path to the top of that tower. Likewise if you've got an enemy witch with a house with chicken legs that can get up and move, once you've seen the house once you can Find the Path to it at any time. The main problem with Find the Path is that it is the same level as Transport Via Plants so if wherever you want to get to has plants nearby, you are always better off using TvP to get there than Find the Path, which TBH is why I think the intention must be for "familiar" to be much more generous than "you have seen it before", I'd allow it to work for anywhere the players know the specific name of: e.g. Mount Doom, or know any other detail of that would mark that specific location - e.g. grave of Jerome the Giant.
@@agilemind6241 I believe you're thinking of clairvoyance, but it's a closer match to what find the path does than what scrying does so that's very helpful.
With bones of the earth if you have the space Maybe you could also lift yourself up and then chose to fall prone as a free action. Your out of melee range, so your not at disadvantage there. But enemies have disadvantage with ranged attacks against you. ? Not useful all the time but could be interesting to do.
I'm struggling to imagine scenarios where I'd consider preparing investiture of stone. For fire or ice, you might know you'll be facing off against the magma king and his fire elementals (or whatever) so maybe I could see preparing them. Inv. of Stone is technically better than those two, but it's better in a general sense rather than a specific sense: each component is slightly more likely to be useful, but still none of it impresses. I guess the part that could be the most powerful situationally is moving through stone. Odd for that to be something you know you'd need to do but not be able to solve a different way though.
wait... how does find the path work when it has to be a location you're familiar with? is simply knowing that the big bad has a fortress on an island somewhere in the sea enough "familiarity"? doesn't seem like a place you're familiar with, just a place you've heard of.
Can one shape a Wall or does it have to be a straight line? If so, filling up a square with a Wall of Thorn folded up on itself could work and do tons of damage.
I wouldn't think so. Wall spells tend to be very explicit in the ways you can place it. For example, Wind Wall states that "you can shape the wall in any way you choose", and Wall of Stone plainly states that "the wall can have any shape you desire". Wall of Thorns, on the other hand, only states that "you choose to make the wall up to 60 feet long, 10 feet high, and 5 feet thick or a circle that has a 20-foot diameter and is up to 20 feet high and 5 feet thick". So, no, you can't wrap your Wall of Thorns around itself to make a more hazardous barrier. However, if you find yourself in a straight, narrow passageway (such as a tunnel or hallway), you could position the wall to be parallel within the passage, effectively creating a 60-foot barrier between yourself and your enemies.
Where does it say the DM picks the creature for conjure fey? I know with conjure animals it says you pick the number and CR of creature, and sage advice says the dm decides which creature appears. But for conjure fey it just says you conjure a creature of Cr 6 or lower. Are we assuming the same logic applies for the dm to make the choice for the player?
Really hating on Investiture of Wind. This combos Fly + Warding Wind into a single concentration spell, and the abilities work great together. And forced movement is always nice. Its still Orange, but i dont see it as significantly weaker than the other Investitures.
if a creature succeeds on their dex save against bones of the earth where do they go? the way it's written makes it sound like they end up inside the pillar
Be careful with Wind Walk as much of it is unsaid and left to the DM. Can you talk in wind walk form? Do you know how to get to where you are flying to? Needless to say if you should ever be in combat while in wind walk form then you are screwed. Yes you can be grappled/restrained and no you cannot contest to break free. You'd better survive 10 rounds and still have enough left over to escape whatever was attacking you.
I believe that is the point: to stop players trying to use it to cheese / by pass encounters by flying through as mist. You should be out of Wind Walk form long before melee combat is a plausible option. If the party is using it as intended: i.e. to basically be airplanes to fly to where you need to go, or scout somewhere from high in the sky. It's basically impossible for you to end up in combat / grappled.
The investiture spells are super underwhiling it was still where wizards still discovering their style but it is also kinda an outline for alot of transformation spells and then new ones too. if this was reworked it would be All the Elements in One spell and as a bonus action to cast. and choose which element when you chose . Heck if you want to be super unique Each upcast you can choose another element so at 9th level spell you would gain all the effects which aren't that OP It would be good if the effects were also a bonus action but I doubt they would make it so. as I said Wizards really REALLY hate druids they don't get enough love !!! like Tasha other wordly Gise IS BONKERS compared to this !!!!
I think you're overrating investiture of wind. It should be red. Of non-Druids who can cast a 6th level Druid spell, there's only Bards. Bless their heart if they take this magical secret. All other Druids who can cast a 6th level spell can already become a CR 1 beast with a flying speed...for hours...without concentration...usually with upside.
Bones of Earth is a dumb spell. Hear me out… If I’m a Druid and I’m in a cave that has a 20foot ceiling (small cave but possible); do you mean to tell me that at most this is only going to deal a measly 36 damage (very unlikely) and not just outright kill the CR2+ creature? (A Brown Bear has 35 and a giant toad has 39-just for reference)
I mean.. He rated heal 5 stars here, but last video he rated transmute rock 5 stars as well and I agree with the reasoning. Yeah, druids have lower rated spells overall, but they also get access to all of them. *edit: Oh, and don't forget polymorph at 4th level!
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You don't have to lift an ally 30 ft. Only UP TO 30ft. So that situational use doesn't have to result in them coming down the hard way
Bones of the Earth should get bonus points for having the coolest name of any spell.
Its a pretty cool name, very impactant
Heh, you said 'bones.' Hehheh
Bones of the Earth and Wall of Stone lets you get pretty creative with your housing at the end of the day, if you actually have the slots left.
Dwarf Druid... built Moria in a week. Change my mind.
I have character concept in mind for a "working class" Druid that just does construction. Mold earth, Wall of stone, stone shape, transmute rock, bones of the earth, Druid Grove, move earth...just so many possibilities.
@@KatanaKamisama Moria is bigger than what you imagine.
It should have a ritual option!
@@annagarman8016 I love this vharecter concept!
Bones of the Earth feels AMAZING when you can accomplish multiple goals at once. I was once able to 1) bridge a gap between the party and the enemy caster, 2) pin that caster to the ceiling, and 3) block the passage enemy reinforcements were heard to be coming down, with a single casting. You have to love the moments that make the DM go, "Wait, stop, that can't be right. Let me read that spell. Oh, uh, yeah I guess that works..."
i dont even like world of warcraft no more, and even if i did i dunno why anyone would play a druid when paladins are the best class ever.
@@Paperclown ?
@@Paperclown What?
lol.’imagine thinking druids are not the best class in WoW
Investiture of wind: orange
Moon Druid: laughs in flying Earth Elemental with disadvantages on ranged attack against him
Transport Via Plants might be better then you think, because of a 5th level spell you already have: Scry.
Because using Scry counts as you seeing what's on the other side, you can scry a location you wish to go, see a functional plant in that area, and then Transport Via Plants into that area. Note that only the entrance plant has a size specification, so while I don't think it's intended, you can technically make your exit point a blade of grass in the BBEG's garden, for instance.
Personally I think Transport Via Plants is the best teleportation spell. It can be used in combat occasionally since it is only an action to cast, and it is much more flexible with where you go than Teleportation Circle for only 1 spell level higher, and more reliable than Teleport which is 1 spell level higher - zero chance of going to the wrong destination even if you've only seen the destination once (vs > 50% chance of ending up at the wrong destination using Teleport).
Send a bunch of potted roses to the BBEG and teleport in that way...
I feel like for a 6th level slot and concentration investiture of stone could have at least given resistance to magical bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage as well.
agreed
I would say if a druid wants to fly, they just wildshape, rather than cast investiture of wind.
no spells until late levels, though invest of wind is concentration so few options
Was about to say that
Cast a big concentration spell, next turn wildshape into a bird, fly to a safe spot out of the way and provide support.
In one the campaigns I am playing, we had to Storm a castle, and topple an evil empiress.
Our Druid prepared a hreoes fest beforehand, and rolled a 20, wich was nice withit self. (my familar had 30HP, due to beaing an imp, wich was funny)
Later it rurned out, the Guards of the Evil empreis would have dealt MASSIVE amounts of Posion Damage, and the empreiss itself would have had a fear Aura.
This Spell alone was the MVP of the entire Session.
Oh, a spell that gives a Druid flying. Would be *wild* to see how that would *shape* up, if Druids had another mechanics for that...
Druids don't get a fly spell (other than polymorph) before now, but they do get a fly feature starting at level 8.
That is true, although Wildshape prevents you from casting any spells.
@@danielbeshers1689 Sure, but it is an option, and you can concentrate on a previously cast spell.
Very much agree with ranking for heal. I have run a high level one shot for a party with heal and a party without. The difference was extremely noticeable and no other spell or ability seemed to be able to make up for it.
Something to note about wind walk is that even though it's probably intended that you can seep through keyholes and whatnot, the spell doesn't actually say so, so that benefit is DM dependent
It does say you become a gas tho and last time i checked gas can seep through pretty small openings lol. The type of DM that wouldn't allow that is the same type of DM that wouldn't allow Prestidigitation to clean up blood since the spell doesn't specifically state that or make an object the color black since black isn't technically a color(but instead the absence of color).
AKA, not a DM i'd enjoy playing with...
All the Investiture spells are in the irritating zone of “thematic, cool, but not particularly good. I really wish they were good, but I can’t see using them as a player.
As a DM, though, they are pretty fun! I like giving out these spells as scrolls to level 5ish parties.
The Necklace of Prayer Beads that makes Wind Wall a bonus action is my favorite “Oh shit”-Button. Even above the Rod of Securing
Sunbeam is exceedingly reliable under the following (rather common) condition: You're a moon druid. Why is this important?
As a moon druid, you can become an air elemental with a flying speed of 90 feet that is able to squeeze through tight spaces without issue. Additionally, you're immune to being grappled, paralyzed, petrified, knocked prone, and restrained. At that degree of mobility, positioning the rather long sunbeam line is no longer a hurdle. No matter how much your enemies move around the battlemap, you can almost always ensure you have enough movement to position yourself so you can hit at least 2 if not more of them, and then fly out of harm's reach.
Sunbeam deals reliable amounts of damage every turn (expect between 25-33 per target), with a reliable damage type (radiant), and can cause blindness for a full round, which gives all your allies advantage against those that fail the saving throw. It's a good spell, even though it requires concentration and targets an enemy's constitution.
The problem with Sunbeam isn't that it's a line or that it's concentration. The problem with Sunbeam--the problem with druids' 6th level spells as a whole--is that I'm a druid that has Wind Walk and Transport via Plants.
You really think your party will let you prepare Sunbeam when you can be their Uber? Dude, cast Wind Walk, we don't want to have to buy horses again. Come on, forest boy, cast Transport via Plants and take us out of here.
They don't want me dealing 8d6 damage every round for a minute. They want to fly at the speed of a jet fighter squadron and save their Teleportation Circle components because I must have seen a tree around that town somewhere. :(
Yowch, too real at the end there. This is my problem with Bones of the Earth. One of my favorite spells of all time, but damn if it's got an opportunity cost to use...
I feel your pain, currently we are fighting vampires in barovia, its the first time that we have real sunlight, and you can drown vampires in the river, grappling them in runing water+sunlight, and in water elemental form!
What are you doing wasting time on UA-cam comments?
We need that Uber now, tree man!!!
The thing with wall of thorns is that it is exceedingly more powerful against bigger creatures, because it will take them more movement to get through it. If the creature is huge, they need to move 15 feet to get through the wall. That is 4x15=60 feet of movement because of the slowdown. Most creatures won't make it through in one turn.
It's also truly disgusting in corridors.
Not to mention with force movement you can cause reliable damage repeatedly with it
Well, technically a huge creature with 30 feet of movement could Dash and get through the spell ... if it starts in or right next to it ... but that would still leave it damaged and with no action for that turn.
@@michaelpenner6053 came here to say that. I had a Druid use that to absolutely obliterate an otherwise difficult combat by luring the enemies into a 5 ft wide hallway...
Find the Path requires an object from the location you wish to travel to as a material component, which makes it almost utterly useless to rely on unless your DM takes pity on you and makes something fall in your lap.
Something that should be noted about Flesh to Stone is that if the target fails the first saving throw, they are guaranteed to be restrained for at least 2 more rounds after the first and be stuck in place for 3 of their turns. Could be useful.
Would be *MORE* useful if the bloody spell didn't target a CON saving throw, most monsters' strongest save ...
Entangle has a similar effect, except they have to use an action to escape rather than wait three rounds.
Hmmm, you know when I was listening to your rationale about why Heroes Feast is Orange ( the cost of the spell makes it circumstantial) revealed a problem to me: if the premise here is ultimately to rank spells, then there needs to be a continuum and interval scale with a logical consistency to the various factor weightings, and in this case I have some thoughts for you. Let me start by asserting what else is circumstantial in the world of spell-casting: True Resurrection, Wish, and Simulacrum. They are all highly circumstantial for different reasons, but obviously not Orange because of it. First of all, a character only has one 9th level spell, and needs to be extremely careful with when it should be used. True resurrection is only useful when a party member dies, so obviously it isn’t a go to preparation spell. But those spells cannot be Orange for the same reason Heroes Feast cannot be. Just because a spell cannot be used often, and you have to pick the right, often rare moments to use them, does not mean they aren’t some of the most powerful spells in the game. How is it that Heroes Feast is the same color that the Investiture spells are? I will offer a thought: the circumstantial nature of a spell (meaning the frequency by which you likely to find moments where the spell makes sense to cast), is ONE of several sub-factors that go into an overall color rank. Imagine if you had said this: “I would rank Heroes Feast Blue, but the high cost of material components is hefty, and therefore the number of times you can or should prepare it are reduced, making it green. It’s green because it’s always useful and powerful, so you’d be nuts to not be looking for ways to obtain the gem encrusted bowls required for its casting in the same way you should be looking for the material components to spells like Resurrection.”
Orange spells then, should be spells where the circumstantial nature is such an overwhelming feature, that…
**the entire spell utility depends on that exact circumstance to justify the effectiveness of what the spell actually does.***
So in closing, I’ll say this. Heroes Feast is effective in 100% of all situations in D&D. There isn’t a single time when I wish I was vulnerable to poison, or didn’t have extra hit points. Hence, the circumstance I am in, or what campaign setting I am in, has no impact on the spell’s utility. Hence it cannot be Orange.
Sir, this is an Arby's.
@@ianmccullough3846 sorry but that’s one of the worst fast food subclasses!
BLUE💙💙
Heal
GREEN💚💚
Bones of the earth
PURP💜💜
Conjure Fey
Sunbeam
Wall of thorns
Wind walk
ORANGE🧡🧡
Druid Grove
Find the path
Heroes feast
Investiture of flame
..ice
..stone
..wind
Move earth
Transport via plants
RED💔💔
Flesh to stone
Primordial ward
~
Something to note, Polymorph could be considered a lower level "flying" spell when used to change into a creature with a fly speed. In my opinion, that's enough to make Investiture of Wind a red spell, although it still is pretty cool flavor-wise
The addition of Heroes Feast to the bard spell list and the 14th level creation bard ability are a very nice combimation. Create the component for the spell and cast at the start of each day.
I'm a fan of your work on this channel, I'm very glad you're getting sponsored, and I'm definitely looking forward to the day when there's no more Describe promo filler in your videos
I always got the impression that you got to pick with this spell for some reason, vs the other conjures that had you pick an option of CR and the DM filled that in. But even with that said, I still think the player gets to choose whether they want a fey or a beast from the wording of the spell. That might give you a decent amount more control over what you get.
What part of the wording of the spell are you referring to?
@@TreantmonksTemple To me, that first sentence indicates you get your choice between the fey creature or the beast: "You summon a fey creature of challenge rating 6 or lower, or a fey spirit that takes the form of a beast of challenge rating 6 or lower." The separation of the fey creature from the fey spirit sections by 'or' is the reason that I think they're a choice given to the player.
@@BobGrimminger the RAI is the Dm choosing the creature
@@andrecosta8680 ...the creature... yes, but not the creature type. There are two creature TYPES listed between that or. Note that the spell does not imply at any point that the player has any input on the resultant conjure, but it does specify the option between types.
This is an ambiguous phrasing. But it is within the normal reading to interpret that "or" as a player decided option, without bringing anything else into the sentence.
Bones of the earth is my favorite spell, it’s so fun.
I feel like they should have combined all the investiture spells into one, call it Elemental Investiture or something, and let the caster choose the mode/element on casting. Still would not have been too powerful for a 6th level slot.
Casting investiture of stone and then wildshaping into a giant elk allowed me to burst outta nowhere into a legion of goblins coming up a mountain path to attack a village we were protecting. Took out half of them including the war chief.
One thing to note with Find the Path that's important is the material component includes something from the place you're looking for. So that takes it from circumstantial to eliminating the majority of those circumstances unless the DM is trying to throw you a bone or accidentally stumbled into it.
Shorter and thicker.
Didn't realize wall of thorns liked me like THAT.
As far as I'm concerned, Investiture of Stone isn't a combat spell, it's an exploration spell. Earth and stone are what most caverns, castles, and dungeons are made of, and it's rare that a wall is more than 60ft thick, so you can Dash through most of the dungeon. If you Wild Shape into a fast creature like a Moorbounder (140ft if you move and dash, combined with a powerful leap) or Giant Eagle (160ft if you move and dash, combined with the ability to fly), you can cover even *more* distance, both vertically and horizontally, meaning you'll be able to get almost anywhere in a dungeon that you want. It's like scouting a dungeon with Arcance Eye, but you can actually be there yourself and interact with things if you want. Grab items, unlock doors, activate switches - it isn't the stealthiest unless you have a good Stealth score, but the ability to bypass obstacles is pretty potent.
Druids don't need a fly spell (as much as other casters); they can wild shape and fly for half their level worth of hours twice per short rest.
One really big benefit of Transport via Plants is that unlike Teleport there's no chance of failure(unless your DM is incredibly mean and rules that that specific tree has been cut down since you visited it i guess). Really it should probably be compared to Teleportation Circle rather than Teleport, which leaves us with some interesting features. Teleportation Circle may be a whole spell level lower but at the same time it requires that the target location is another Teleportation Circle(which are usually very rare to find) and has a casting time of a whole minute, meaning it's entirely useless in combat. As an action only requiring verbal and somatic components, Transport via Plants can serve both as an incredibly reliable out of combat means of teleportation and a semi-reliable in-combat "oh shit" button.
Investiture of flame is good for a Druid because you don’t need to prepare it until you think the fire immunity will be worth it
If you want to use investiture of stone with pinpoint accuracy, just go 15ft below your selected enemy and use your action, then go back out.
Biggest problem with "Find the Path" is the component from the location. Location has to be hard to find and somewhere you've been before.
For the object from the location - it is neither costly nor consumed. For these reasons, I've ruled, and other DMs I've played with have ruled, that the component can be replaced with a focus.
For having to been there - it doesn't say that. Unless there is a general rule spelling out that "familiar" only refers to places you've visited, I disagree.
As a resident of the US, I'm familiar with locations like California, New York, Florida, and Texas. Yet, I've never been to any of those locations.
A comment on Sunbeam (and everything else that blinds enemies) - there are an insane amount of spells and abilities that target a creature that the user can see. You can almost shut down a Beholder entirely with this spell, for instance, and spellcasters often become total pushovers. Add to this that you can force another save or suck every turn and it becomes often average or slightly below, and occasionally absolutely incredible.
I'd like to see Treantmonk revise some of the spells he talks about like he revised the classes and subclasses
Transport Via Plants: the spell only specifies size on the initial plant, not the destination one. Combine this with Galder's Speedy Courier, and you can quickly set up a teleportation network with a bunch of NPCs (as long as you've met them).
But treantmonk, remember that your at least at 11th level. At least by 14 level your party must have enough gold to spend on hero’s feast every day
I am always so interested in spells that can become permanent. Obviously in most campaigns it's not gonna come up for the players, but still, potentially really cool.
Primordial Ward, I'd extend the duration of immunity to the end of the spell
Investiture of Wind isn’t amazing but being a flying Giant Scorpion that dodges most ranged attacks is pretty cool
Would love to see tactical breakdown of the tiers of play, like your series for the wizard. Wizards are my favorite class, largely due to your videos, but this new series has me very interested in Druid. Would love to see some optimized strategies.
You keep saying it is underrated but if you look at the lists you made there is like a handful of unique druid spells that are good (outside of summoning) and most of those are low level.
BTW, I think Sunbeam should be blue. It last a very long time, you effect many creatures , blind them. Such a boon against undead, and drow... I as a wizard ALWAYS prepare it as it lasts for a whole encounter, basically so It slows your cost of resources . A FINE CHOISE in my opinion
For investiture of stone, you could go under a creature and do the effect and then move further away, because you can pass by creatures friendly fire is easier to avoid but there will still be some cases where it happens. I think that one is way better than the others in general, but probably still orange.
heroes feast is a buff, that can be made before long rest. it is increadible buff spell, that is must have in every hard fight
Transfer via plants deserves at least 3 stars in my option, it better then teleportation circle because you get to pick a larger range of areas, and better then teleport the 8th level spell because of the chance of the teleport spell failing. For example, with the teleport spell, if you’ve seen the area once, you only have a 25% chance to travel there, while if you’ve seen a tree around the area once you always land where you intended. Like the videos though man. Helps me prepare my spells.
Druid Grove is more for the DM, as a player it is only for when you retire
I could see casting Druid Grove with wish. A non-concentration fog cloud and spike growth and 1/3 movement debuff that you and your allies ignore probably just wins a fight.
Yeah, there are definitely spells on these lists that feel more like 1) mostly for downtime/non-combat scenes (e.g. Scrying, Atonement), 2) mostly for powerful NPCs (e.g. Druid Grove or Guards and Wards), and maybe 3) good option on a magic item but maybe not a PC's list of prepared spells (nothing comes to mind at the moment but I know I've had that thought). And maybe there should be a different way of handling those than just putting them on spell lists with spells actually useful in combat, but I don't know bolting a whole new subsystem onto the game is a great idea either.
@@digitaljanus D&D is supposed to be 3 pillars: Combat, Exploration, Social. Druids are designed to be exceptionally good at Exploration, and honestly there is absolutely no beating them in that respect. They are decent in combat, but they won't be as good as classes that are designed to be exceptionally good at combat (e.g. Barbarian or Fighter).
And honestly I like it that way for a full campaign, because in a campaign someone's got to be the people-mover, and enemy-finder. If every class had really powerful high level combat spells then everyone would fight about who has to waste their high level spells on transportation or scrying. By not having any super damage dealing combat spells, it means the opportunity cost for a druid to prepare and cast these super useful utility spells is a lot less than for other classes.
TL:DR - it doesn't matter how great you are at killing bad guys, if they are on the other side of the continent and you have no way to get there in time to stop them.
Wind Walk is actually pretty useless for travelling. A character’s speed has no effect on their Travel Pace. I suppose the flight could allow you to bypass terrain and to take the most direct route, but the spell really should have said something about increasing your Travel Pace, since that really seems like the design intent.
Regarding bones of the earth, a fun thing I did with a friend of mine in a campaign, i was playing a galeb duhr college of Lore bard, which was basically a stuntman (if you've read my other comments on treantmonk's videos, I play mainly homebrew races taken from the game and adapted as playable races, only those who are similar humanoids, even if not in the creature type, or generally not larger than large size, like mimics (who's never wanted to be a mimic?); anyway back to the story, I had a friend druid who followed stunty in many of his voyages just for fun, using the "Boulder" trait from the galeb duhr I practically played pinball to chase an enemy, into a small village, no houses were demolished, except for the inn's door from where I started, after reaching the objective I said "this was a free demonstration of the show that's gonna happen this evening, gently offered by the mayor!"
Fun thing you can do this even as a druid only and Summon elementals.
Slowely during this series you are convincing me that the druid spell list is not good - a position I did not hold to begin with. The number of times you effectively bump a spell a rank in this video because it is a druid spell i.e. if this spell was on the wizard list and you were ranking wizard spells you would rank it lower. Flying is the one that comes to mind, but i think there were others too
I think the Druid definitely has more gaps in its spell list than the wizard does. But, more significant than the gaps is the fact that there are a couple REALLY good spells at each level, and a couple more decent ones, and a scattering of situationally strong ones.
You don't have to be the be-all-end-all. You just need to have more tools than opportunities to use them, and your spell list is solid. Druids have that and more.
Yeah, I get it.
There is just something weird about this grading on the druid curve for spells. When the thesis is that the druid spell list is good/underated, but the method used keeps bumping spells ranks because on the druid spell list this is orange (any other spell list would be red because you can do the same thing with a slot 4 levels lower). And then their is the interesting forshadowing from the Heal commentary - it has dubious upcasting potential at +10hp per level, but we are about to get to some levels where the druid list is really thin on passable spells, so you may want to upcast heal. Recall that the thesis is that druid spell list isn't weak and thin apart from the summons, but that comment on heal made it sound like the next few levels are going to be unarguably thin, even on the druid curve.
Investiture of Ice allows a *CONE* attack, not a line. That doesn't change the spell's power any, but let's be accurate here.
Fire shield, the spell that I think you talk about when discussing investiture of flame, is only available to wildfire druids
Not true, it's on the expanded spell list in Tasha's as well.
@@CanisMythson I stand corrected
Thank you
Investiture of Flame could be good if it had range of touch. Put that on the Barbarian; now he runs at a creature and the creature takes 1d10 damage. Because that was “first time on a turn. Now on its turn; It has to disengage or take an op attack wasting its turn. Or it stays there and takes another 1d10. Putting it on yourself as a druid isnt good though unless maybe you’re the tank as a moon druid.
Wind Walk is a fav of mine, completely negates must dungeon crawling, which at this level have it's days running out.
I was under the impression that you can't use Find the Path to find a place you've never been to before because of the "that you are familiar with" clause (based on the way "familiar" is used in the scrying spell).
Scrying doesn't require it to be a place you've been before, you just need to have seen it. So if e.g. you see a tower on the top of a mountain from several miles away you can Find the Path to the top of that tower. Likewise if you've got an enemy witch with a house with chicken legs that can get up and move, once you've seen the house once you can Find the Path to it at any time.
The main problem with Find the Path is that it is the same level as Transport Via Plants so if wherever you want to get to has plants nearby, you are always better off using TvP to get there than Find the Path, which TBH is why I think the intention must be for "familiar" to be much more generous than "you have seen it before", I'd allow it to work for anywhere the players know the specific name of: e.g. Mount Doom, or know any other detail of that would mark that specific location - e.g. grave of Jerome the Giant.
@@agilemind6241 I believe you're thinking of clairvoyance, but it's a closer match to what find the path does than what scrying does so that's very helpful.
With bones of the earth if you have the space Maybe you could also lift yourself up and then chose to fall prone as a free action. Your out of melee range, so your not at disadvantage there. But enemies have disadvantage with ranged attacks against you. ? Not useful all the time but could be interesting to do.
Investiture of Ice has a cone effect, not a line. I don't think this would change your rating.
I love wind walk i did the math and your moving at like 70 mph. To bad its better to just teleport if you want transportation.
Will we be getting the Warlock subclass tier ranking this weekend or at another time?
Looking forward to the warlock subclass ranking.
Warlock ranks video will be Sep 27
@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks! Can't wait for it!
I'm struggling to imagine scenarios where I'd consider preparing investiture of stone. For fire or ice, you might know you'll be facing off against the magma king and his fire elementals (or whatever) so maybe I could see preparing them. Inv. of Stone is technically better than those two, but it's better in a general sense rather than a specific sense: each component is slightly more likely to be useful, but still none of it impresses. I guess the part that could be the most powerful situationally is moving through stone. Odd for that to be something you know you'd need to do but not be able to solve a different way though.
wait... how does find the path work when it has to be a location you're familiar with? is simply knowing that the big bad has a fortress on an island somewhere in the sea enough "familiarity"? doesn't seem like a place you're familiar with, just a place you've heard of.
Druids can fly with Wildhsape, Investiture of Wind is red to me.
Can one shape a Wall or does it have to be a straight line?
If so, filling up a square with a Wall of Thorn folded up on itself could work and do tons of damage.
I wouldn't think so. Wall spells tend to be very explicit in the ways you can place it.
For example, Wind Wall states that "you can shape the wall in any way you choose", and Wall of Stone plainly states that "the wall can have any shape you desire".
Wall of Thorns, on the other hand, only states that "you choose to make the wall up to 60 feet long, 10 feet high, and 5 feet thick or a circle that has a 20-foot diameter and is up to 20 feet high and 5 feet thick".
So, no, you can't wrap your Wall of Thorns around itself to make a more hazardous barrier.
However, if you find yourself in a straight, narrow passageway (such as a tunnel or hallway), you could position the wall to be parallel within the passage, effectively creating a 60-foot barrier between yourself and your enemies.
Big brain question: is someone affected by Stoneskin immune to Flesh to Stone?
Where does it say the DM picks the creature for conjure fey? I know with conjure animals it says you pick the number and CR of creature, and sage advice says the dm decides which creature appears. But for conjure fey it just says you conjure a creature of Cr 6 or lower. Are we assuming the same logic applies for the dm to make the choice for the player?
Will this entire list be posted somewhere when it is completed?
Flesh to stone is great against low con PCs. Especially of the caster manages to hide.
"Ooh what if I used ring of spell storing for a one action cast of Druid Grove"--ring can't hold 6th level spells. :(
Yo, is it just me or does this dude sound like the Lockpicking Lawyer?
Really hating on Investiture of Wind. This combos Fly + Warding Wind into a single concentration spell, and the abilities work great together. And forced movement is always nice. Its still Orange, but i dont see it as significantly weaker than the other Investitures.
if a creature succeeds on their dex save against bones of the earth where do they go?
the way it's written makes it sound like they end up inside the pillar
I have the same question. Anyone know the answer?
You kept mentioning investiture of ice being a line but the spell says a cone.
What happened to the warlock ranking?
Probably out on Friday.
It will be released Sep 27
@@TreantmonksTemple Great, thanks! Ive been waiting for it eagerly.
Be careful with Wind Walk as much of it is unsaid and left to the DM. Can you talk in wind walk form? Do you know how to get to where you are flying to? Needless to say if you should ever be in combat while in wind walk form then you are screwed. Yes you can be grappled/restrained and no you cannot contest to break free. You'd better survive 10 rounds and still have enough left over to escape whatever was attacking you.
I believe that is the point: to stop players trying to use it to cheese / by pass encounters by flying through as mist. You should be out of Wind Walk form long before melee combat is a plausible option. If the party is using it as intended: i.e. to basically be airplanes to fly to where you need to go, or scout somewhere from high in the sky. It's basically impossible for you to end up in combat / grappled.
The investiture spells are super underwhiling it was still where wizards still discovering their style but it is also kinda an outline for alot of transformation spells and then new ones too.
if this was reworked it would be All the Elements in One spell and as a bonus action to cast. and choose which element when you chose .
Heck if you want to be super unique Each upcast you can choose another element so at 9th level spell you would gain all the effects which aren't that OP
It would be good if the effects were also a bonus action but I doubt they would make it so. as I said Wizards really REALLY hate druids they don't get enough love !!! like Tasha other wordly Gise IS BONKERS compared to this !!!!
The material cost for Heroes Feast is significant no doubt, but to change a Blue rating to Purple seems extreme.
I think you're overrating investiture of wind. It should be red. Of non-Druids who can cast a 6th level Druid spell, there's only Bards. Bless their heart if they take this magical secret. All other Druids who can cast a 6th level spell can already become a CR 1 beast with a flying speed...for hours...without concentration...usually with upside.
algorithm comment
Bones of Earth is a dumb spell. Hear me out…
If I’m a Druid and I’m in a cave that has a 20foot ceiling (small cave but possible); do you mean to tell me that at most this is only going to deal a measly 36 damage (very unlikely) and not just outright kill the CR2+ creature? (A Brown Bear has 35 and a giant toad has 39-just for reference)
it says alot that the druid didn't get 5 stsar spell for like 3 videos so far !!!
I mean.. He rated heal 5 stars here, but last video he rated transmute rock 5 stars as well and I agree with the reasoning. Yeah, druids have lower rated spells overall, but they also get access to all of them.
*edit: Oh, and don't forget polymorph at 4th level!