As one of the small creators, really thank you for standing up for us, it's heartwarming in our current situation. You have been and remain one of the creators I respect and look up to the most, and I wanted to address that.
Check out the Elementsl Myrmidions from Princes if the Apocalypse. They are depicted wearing armor and are essentially just normal elementals with armor and weapons. Lends credence to the Armorer Alchemist idea.
I love the armored artificer Druid combination. Being a bear and head butting a set of armor on the ground, then having it transform and mold over your body sounds amazing.
Wow. I'm really glad I didn't skip your ad spot for once ever. Only because you asked, and you've not asked without reason before. JUST TWO NIGHTS AGO I could have SORELY used those map resources for one of the campaigns I'm running! I had to stop for a few minutes and doodle a map for the players (I am no artist), which broke the immersion a little and made me feel kinda lame as a DM as I can paint a vivid description verbally, but then putting that next to what amounts to fancy MS paint scribbles is definitely an embarrassing level of juxtaposition. I've also been hesitating to jump into a VTT because I don't really know where to get good maps, and these look great!
Imagine sentient steam contained in an steampunk style powersuit. As a dm, I would allow the wind elemental armor, with the caviat that the armor has a defined form, and it can no longer share spaces.
Great video. Just a few more thoughts after recently playing a moon druid: 1) One struggle with Wildshape is how often its ruled that they cannot use items like health potions on downed party members. Usually, to bring someone up you have to break wildshape to heal or give a potion. However, you can bring up unconscious party members with paladin's Lay on hands or Celestial Warlocks healing in Wildshape. With just one level in paladin, you can bring someone up 5 times. Celestial warlock gives less uses, but isn't as MAD and has the benefit of being done at range. 2) For a 1 level dip, starting Sorcerer is great since you get con saves + the subclass feature. It feels like a missed opportunity to try and do one level dip later when you only get the subclass feature. Starting Abarrant Mind before going Moon Druid is worth a shout out for unlimited telepathy, reaction spells outside wildshape, and con save prof. 3) I recently played with a Twilight Cleric/Moon Druid, and the interaction didn't cause a problem since they would Channel Divinity as an action on the first turn, and Wild Shape as a bonus action. Both come back on a short rest as well which felt really potent in certain settings when long rests are few and far between. 4) Rogue's sneak attack may not be worth it, but for a 2 level dip sneak attack is only 3.5 per turn anyways. The major benefit is expertise (on skills like athletics for grappling) and cunning action (since your bonus action is usually free anyways). Cunning Action works great with wild shape since your AC is generally low and a bonus action disengage can provide a huge survivability increase. Rogue is the multiclass that is arguably the most impacted by a single feat. For example, if you take mobile, you can easily hit and run - that is not only an effective way to protect your hp but also your exponentially more important concentration spell (like conjure animals).
Love you videos. Recently played a Druid for a level 5 oneshot and the Raging Moon Druid was so incredibly tanky. Went custom lineage and took the telepathic feat to communicate with party members as well in wild shape.
There’s another really nice synergy that comes from a level in warlock or 3 in conquest paladin: Armor of Agathys (AoA) upcast prior to combat using a high level spell slot. Elemental forms have resistance to non-magical piercing/bludgeoning/slashing. This makes the temp hit points from AoA last twice as long. Furthermore, what you will really want to do with this build is turn into a fire elemental, dash through enemies to set them on fire, and let them freeze-fry themselves whenever they hit you with the attacks of opportunity you incur. Perhaps also add the Fire Shield spell for extra punitive damage when they hit you. This strategy turns the low AC of wild shape forms into a feature. You now want to get hit.
14:30 I still don't get how you can have feline forms (and in general) without them getting a sneak attack, it just blows my mind. That is their biggest and most defining trait!
Thanks for pointing out Tessas work! I really could have used this earlier. If you can point out any other similarly useful dm tools, especially from smaller creators, I would really want to see more of these kinds of ads.
Rune Knight will have a lot of the same problems as the Armorer. Even something like a necklace or an armband could get troublesome depending on forms, and you might need a party member's help to get the items on.
Regarding the Artificer Armorer, please note that part of the wild shape feature allows that everything you wear drop off of your body when you wild shape. Therefore, you don't have to doff the Infiltrator/ Guardian armor before wild shaping. Just Wild shape in one action and then don the armor in the next action. As an Armorer, you are probably not carrying much else on top of your armor besides your backpack. Bonus: when you wild shape all of your carried stuff is "neatly" placed on the ground in one action.
Very cool shout out for Tessa. Normally I skip past those parts... but you don't have sponsors, so I watched it all. I will definitely consider using her maps. I love the connection with Roll20.
Way of the Four elements monk has some interesting abilities that aren’t cast that you can choose, probably still not great, but I think it might have been worth a mention
@@joelsasmad Most of the four element options allow you to cast certain spells, but there are *some* that have a specific use that is not a spell. Fist of Unbroken Air for example should totally be usable in wild shape.
If Life Cleric and Goodberries still interact with a bonus to each berry, then I think you have to still consider Life Cleric as a Druid/Cleric multiclass even with multiclassing.
It's really a stretch imo. Life cleric specifies "a spell to restore hit points". Goodberries doesn't restores hitpoints, it creates objects, berries. The healing is the property of the berry you eat later, not the spell. It's like saying that you'd give your fighting style bonus of +2 to hit to the skelletons you create with raise undead.
@@cooperton4949 idk why people cry so much about out of combat healing being good. Life berries save time and give maybe slight tactical advantages in some specific instances but really that's all you get for putting your druid progression back by a level
Loved the ad. Really makes me wish I played on vtt or ran modules. Thankfully, my friend is running Frostmaiden, so I bought her the map pack. I really appreciate your consistent support for the community, Chris. It's so nice to see somebody keeping a reasonable head in the face of all this craziness.
Thank you for supporting smaller creators! I have started professional GMing, and I look forward to reinvesting my first paycheck back into the third party community. Neat video too!
I'm using Tessa's maps for the new dragonlance campaign. They are fan-freaking-tastic! If you are playing this campaign do your gm a solid and pick this up for them. Its worth every penny!
Great series! Looking forward to the builds. (Note: One of my favorite characters was a Hill Dwarf Moon Druid, but he was in a melee-heavy party so often used spells instead of Wildshape. It’s great being a full caster with options)
I don't think Dread Ambusher would work since you usually make the Multiattack action, not the Attack action, while wild shaped (especially if you're using the elemental forms). You could get around this by getting to lv 5 for Extra Attack. Edit: Same would apply to Unleash Incarnation
Well it’s weird, it would work for some forms, but not any form that had Multi attack. These abilities would make single attack options stronger at least.
Idk, as DM I'd definitely say that whenever a creature has a 'multiattack action' it's really just 'an attack action with an extra attack feature'. There's just not really much reason to have a distinction there that makes sense to me
My favorite way to play the shapeshifting druid is probably 5 levels into Astral Self monk for Extra Attack and Wisdom scaling flurry of blows, then the rest into Forged druid, basically same as moon but can only wild shape as an action and has +2 AC. Moon druid also works for this. For shapes, Dire Wolf into Giant Octopus into Giant Tentacle, after which probably the Spotted Lion and the Giant Snapping Turtle. You can use all those forms without multiattack for potentially even more damage.
I've actually run the Armourer/Moon Druid about a year ago, and can confirm, it was a really fun MMO Tank option, and felt really potent. Using the Thunder Gauntlets to lock enemies in to attacking this 19AC hitpoint sponge felt really awesome. Wildshape consistently made it so STR, DEX and CON saves were fairly effective, and Druid added INT and WIS save proficiency, (I didn't end up rolling a single CHA save that campaign, so it was essentially like all the saves were awesome). Even when the Wildshapes ran out, you have all but full Druid spell casting to fall back on. Roleplay, we agreed that every wildshape was a bear wearing armour. Can confirm, it was really memorable.
As a dm, I go for the rule of cool. And an air elemental that uses electrical forces to have its armor protect it sounds metal as fuck. Not only will I accept if my players do this, I'd probably find cool items to go along with the theme!
Hey, this has nothing to do with optimization, but I just wanted to say I bought Tessa's maps for Roll20 since I'm running Curse of Strahd's Vallaki for the first time tomorrow, and I felt like it needed more maps for potential conflicts with the factions involved and the feast. I love the maps! And the random encounter maps just saved me many hours of prep time I can now dedicate to fleshing out NPCs and music. Genuinely thank you for the shout-out, @Treantmonk. I'm sure my players will be thankful for Tessa's work.
I am a little late seeing this, but I did want to point of the Astral Self Monk subclass, which I think does play well with Wildshape (particularly if you are going to be playing at levels 3-9). If you multiclass into monk starting at level 3, your wildshape is getting stronger nearly every level -- while a straight moon druid is not gaining much at all in terms of wild shape. Druid 2 / Monk 1 - Huge boost in the survivability of your wild shape thanks to unarmored defense. (this can also opens up additional CR1 wild shapes as viable) Druid 2 / Monk 2 - Bonus action flurry of blows if you need damage, or patient defense if you need survivability. Druid 2 / Monk 3 - You can now grapple using your wisdom score instead of your strength, you also gain a 10 ft reach attack option (probably weaker then the beast's attack, but reach can be useful and would open up for the martial arts bonus action attack) Druid 2 / Monk 4 --- Skill Expert can both round up your wisdom and give you expertise in grappling -- which you do with wisdom! Druid 2 / Monk 5 -- Stunning strike, and also extra attack if you are using the arms attack (might still be better to use the beast attack depending on the form) At this point, if you were a straight classed, level 7 druid, you would still be a CR 2 beast, but a CR 1 beast with all of these bonuses seems a lot better to me. The issue of course is that the moment the campaign reaches level 10, you will miss those elemental forms, but if you are not reaching 10, every level of astral monk seems to me like it is adding more to your wild shape then druid would.
YES! I’m so glad you mentioned the Cavalier Druid, because I discovered it a couple weeks ago and I personally think it’s really funny, regardless of the potential weird interactions. My personally favorite form for this combo is the Giant Scorpion, because it can grapple enemies, forcing you to deal with the nonsense of the combo
First thank you so much for a reliable place to find maps and art I can’t wait to see what all they have available but also with one dnd coming up and Druids being able to cast abjuration spells that specific wizard could be a good multiclass option, although it’s purely speculative as we haven’t see that new version of wizard
Yes but as an armorer artificer you can wild shape into a snake, summon your armor and it replaces your missing limbs.... You'll be playing the snake version of Earthworm Jim!
The armorer doesn't need to use heavy armor as their arcane armor, and it seems like even DMs who disallow metal armors for druids will often allow studded leather. With an air elemental studded leather is only one AC below full plate. Inflate your leather armor and run around as the Michelin Man!
Been waiting two months for this! Damn you WOTC and your stupid OGL drama... EDIT: Alert feat + Twilight Cleric's Vigilant Blessing, that sounds juicy af. However, I really like the war priest and, as you said, it doesn't make me feel dirty for playing twilight cleric. 1 lvl dip in monk + at least 10 lvls of moon druid + war priest seems like the baseline and then + whatever you feel like ( probably 18 lvls in druid at that point or pick cleric to 5 for spirit guardians, or even 6 for the lvl6 feat ). Echo knight can also easily sneak into this combination. Tony Stark Air Elemental Druid HAS to be allowed at any table. That's too cool to skip. You just tell the players this, and it doesn't matter what the DM says anymore, cuz they'll all be like "YEAH I WANNA SEE THAT, SOUNDS FUN" lmao
I think you missed a particularly powerful barbarian subclass, the Beast. It's level 3 feature states that you MANIFEST a natural weapon that counts as a "simple melee weapon". That unlocks all options that rely on a simple or martial weapon. It also has a strange interaction with the claw option. If you choose to manifest claws and make a claw attack you can, once per turn, with no action requiered, make an additional claw attack. It does not specify that it has to be with the manifested claws that deal 1d6 damage. You could theoretically make an additional 2d6 claw attack as a bear instead since both attacks are called "claw".
I hadn't really thought about a Warlock dip for Moon Druid before your video, but it actually provides a healthy chunk of kit that jives pretty well with the druid's own strengths. If you go chain-lock, you gain the Investment invocation along with Voice if you wanna communicate, Eldritch Mind for spell protection, Armor of Shadows for a little sturdier forms, or Ever-living ones for more efficiency out of your spell slot healing (which can be warlock slots). Then, on top of that, you get Hex (I know it's kinda horrible) and then in addition to the help action, they get a bonus action familiar attack, which druids don't normally get a whole lot of options for. All in all, I think its better than some of the other options on the list, even if a little MAD. Edit: You even end up with 9th level spells, if that's important to you. Also, you can pick up Armor of Agathys for some extra passive damage. Edit2: Also, the little raptor dino does some pretty ludicrous damage with hex up. I'm not sure if it wins any dpr king competitions, but it's pretty damned aggro at level 3.
For monks, a 2nd level gives you unarmored movement which should carry over to wild shape and way of mercy let you use flurry of blows as a melee healing word, also way of the open hand uses wisdom based DC to knock prone or push with flurry of blows and Drunken master adds 10 ft of movement and free disengage if using flurry of blows. So there should be some room for a build here
There is a decent shout that Multiattack may not count as the Attack Action at all, but its own action type. Monsters don't take the Attack action, they take specific actions on their Stat block. So things like Flurry of Blows and War Priest that rely on the Attack action to trigger may not actually apply. Just my two bits.
Regarding armor, my druid took the Guild Artisan background with proficiency in potter’s tools. He made his medium armor breastplate out of ceramic. I like the idea of an armorer artificer with a suit of porcelain full plate. Bring out the fine china!
Hello Chris, I hope your day's treats you well and thank you for your expertise on insight. You know I have been waiting in your Moon Druid analyzation videos to mention the usage of magical tattoos. Using the power of magic you can receive markings on your body that are tied to your very soul, even through the power of reincarnation were you have become reborn as somebody knew, these markings still remained intact. You are a druid, a Priest/Priestess of nature, representing the life of someone that lives or lived in Celtic Realm. Do not forget the powers that can be obtained through these magical markings. Finally you know if you're going to play evil character this makes roleplay super fun and way easier.😃
Also, it's worth mentioning that there is precedent for non metal heavy armors. There are a few modules and adventurers league that gives out non metal material armors. Such as stone plate and petrified wood breastplate. Or half plate, I think?
I have been messing around with my Armorer character and recently added Barbarian with the intention of taking Bear Totem. After watching this, I wish I hadn’t dumped Wisdom! A raging armored BearBearian sounds sweet
I would say that the Spellwrought Tattoo would work. It is an item. It's casting the spell. And you can use items that your Wild Shape form would be capable of using. Example armor and shield and sword, or a wand of Magic Missiles on an ape. The tattoo is literally on you. You are attuned to it. Your Wild Shape Form would be attuned to it. Your Wild Shape Form is you. So you can use it.
Not surprisingly I love the armorer idea… I’ve also done low wis/ high Cha 6 level Pally dips btw, they are solid if you’re building for a one shot… but I also love the idea of the infiltrator armor, even as studded leather… now you have a ranger lightning attack ( 2d6 +mon the 1st time / trim) and with 5 levels you get extra attack, So now I’m thinking of a giant hyena in a black leather gimp suit 😂- this may need to happen!
If you’re in a low ability score game, and you’re a monk taking two levels of Druid to wild shape into an ox or deep rothe might be super worth it to get 18 strength and the charge attack. That way you’d be able to focus on wisdom. The Fastieth is it good for dodge tanking as a monk if eberron beasts are available. The best form for a moonk druid w/ 2 lvl of Druid is likely Warhorse, because you can trample then flurry of blows.
Hey Chris , long time fan of yours and followed the god wizard guide , trying to get you or D4 to make a build for Crucible of Fate, a pvp type DND. I think it totally would change some spell rankings and be super interesting.
14:16 combat synergy aside, Wildshape could add a lot of utility to a rogue or other infiltrator character, and moon druid adds a lot more options to the wildshape repertoire. Additionally, moon druid would allow an assassin in the form of a spider [or scorpion or snake or what have you] to change back into a rogue as a bonus action and still get their sneak attack in that same round.
I'm late to the party, but I'm very surprised you dismissed Rogue so quickly. Forgetting about Sneak Attack, the Rogue multi-class could bring a lot to the table including additional skills and expertise. First, Cunning action at level 2, allowing you to perform all sorts of combat maneuvers you couldn't otherwise. Then at 3rd level, a subclass could bring even more, such as Assassinate, Skirmisher, or possibly even Soul Knife.
36:39 Airelementals (or Elementals in general) are used to create golems and helmed horrors. So they should be able to wear armor or at least fuse with it animating it in the process. So RAW it should be allowed.
One (largely insignificant, but I find it interesting) point about fighting styles while wildshaped. Since you keep class proficiencies, you would still have armor proficiency. Since wildshape lasts a number of hours equal to half your level, you could get armor for your various forms (would an elemental use armor or barding? Or something else?) And have an ally help you don the armor after transforming. So Defense would still grant a +1 AC. Again, largely irrelevant, but possible.
Definitely have a different opinion on Monk from the point of view of optimizing with level 2 Moon Druid as it's the best way to optimize for that wildshape form within the level 1-12 typical campaign in my opinion. Especially with Way of Long Death. Full build on my channel, but tldw for a player looking to lean into a Dire Wolf form it's a lot of fun.
29:23 sorcerer 5 or 6 could get you some decent 3rd level spells that druid doesn't have access to like Blur, Haste, Fly, Tongues, and a more then a dash of sorcery points to differentiate it from a wizard multiclass. Aberrant mind could get you free telepathy; wild magic 6 could get you the bend lucky reaction while wildshaped; and Divine Soul 5 could get you divine favor and Spirit Guardians* access [* Your DC will be Cha based] Also, how cool would it be to cast Fireball -and then immediately turn into a Fire Elemental?
A number of your suggestions are features that proc off taking the Attack action. As far as I’m aware, the Multiattack action on many wild shapes is *_not_* considered taking the Attack action, so to use those features, you’d have to give up the Multiattack 🤔
I’m playing a moon Druid monk multiclass. I just took 1 level in monk for the AC boost. I rolled well and got +4 to WIS right off and it really boosts the AC of all your wild shapes and it helps. We are at level 9 and I still find wildshaping useful.
Another option is to dump wisdom to 13 and max intelligence to multiclass to a bladesinger wizard, stacking beast's AC with bladesinger's one and the uses scales with prof. You can dump wisdom as a Druid if you're not going for spellcasting choosing only spells that doesn't require wisdom and you could defend yourself in normal form using wizard cantrips, shield and absorb elements and you could potentially stack haste and wildshape
I'd never considered dipping out of Druid to Ranger, but I've thought about stopping Gloomstalker sometime after second attack and finishing as a Shepherd Druid for increased utility/DM frustration.
Might as well go 3 levels of warlock then too! Multiple short rest level 2 slots to burn for heals, and gift of the ever living ones invocation to heal for max rolled!
@@adamkaris yes, but I don't think the Druid level delay is worth the investment ... Edit: until Druid level 10, that is ... though I never played a game long enough to level up more than a few times :(
The Beast Barbarian solves the Wildshape Monk problem, as the Beast weapons count as simple weapons, and simple weapons are counted as Monk weapons. An added benefit is that a Beast Claw would be 2d6+Rage+Str if you go Dire Wolf due to being large, which aligns with the Brown Bear’s 2d6+Str claw. This means six 2d6+Rage+Str attacks with Extra Attack and Flurry of Blows.
I don't know that I'd call 3 levels in a class whose MC requirement is a dump stat after we already need to meet DEX and WIS a "fix" but this is a really cool interaction! I can't tell if it works with multi-attack, though, so you might have to take 5 in Monk or Barb and at that point the druid/wildshape levels probably fall too far behind. Still, this is a really neat interaction.
@@40Found It does not work with multi-attack, hence Dire Wolf instead of Brown Bear. It does work with extra attack, per the Beast Barbarian’ Form of the Beast rules. I like to go to Barb 6 to net the Beast Barb lvl 6 features, but it’s not necessary as you still gain Extra Attack and magic weapons by leveling as Monk. As stated in the video, Long Death is the preferred Monk tradition. The build I am currently running is a Changeling Moon Druid 2/Beast Barbarian 6/Long Death Monk 12, where you start out as a Druid with Primal Savagery, then go Moon Druid for the Brown Bear form, then it’s Barbarian for 3 lvls to net Path of the Beast and switch to Dire Wolf for those sweet two 2d6+ claw attacks per action, then 2 lvls of Monk to unlock martial arts, then back to Barbarian for 3 more lvls, then it’s Long Death Monk to the end. You are effectively playing a Werewolf, as Changelings can use their Shapechanger racial feature to alter their Wildshape form to be more humanoid as well as being able to speak. Being able to go large for that extra dice per claw is just icing on the cake.
I feel like with all the crazy magic and creatures in d&d that druids need more interesting beast shapes at higher levels, something more fantastical than giant versions of real animals, it could help regular wild shape keep up with elementals too
The armor is a bit dubious, but there is a set of monster statblocks that are exactly what you're describing (plus a matching weapon): the elemental myrmidons.
If you mentioned the Astral Monk much, I missed it, but they have a lot of abilities that take advantage of a high Wisdom. I manifest my Astral Arms and can use them when I need unarmed strikes, using my Wisdom modifier. With my character, in Tomb of Annihilation, I've actually multiclassed with Life Cleric too for Lifeberries. And frankly, also Shadow Sorcerer and Bard (mostly because I had some Instruments of the Bards, but I'm also using it for Jack of All Trades). I have a LOT of Cantrips when I'm in my Firbolg form. And some cool synergies for my Wildshape. I was trying to make the most out of my 20 Wisdom and barely anything else to speak of except for enough Dexterity and Charisma to multiclass. And I feel like it has worked.
Of course this sets no precedent for d&d, but when you talk about an elemental concealed inside an Armor, I picture the alien "Energy" from Ben 10, its not a compelling argument perse but it might work as a reference
Earth Elementals have arms and hands. I keep my shield when I wildshape. Some dms may disagree with keeping it on other forms but some will see the elemental myrmidons and agree they can hold stuff and even wear armor with the shield.
armorer doesnt need metal armor to use arcane armor so you could have studded leather armor with the defense infusion put on your air elemental for (12+5+1) 18 armor class which isnt too shabby and would probably satisfy those dms that dont allow metal armor on druids
I feel like you're missing the main draw of the rogue dip, which is cunning action (also expertise is nice). Not sure that it's worth giving up spell progression for, but it definitely helps out the wildshape. Assassinate isn't too terrible either if you want to go for 3 levels, and even uncanny dodge could probably be useful at 5 levels. A Druid 12/Rogue 5/Fighter 3 build might be interesting, though probably not optimal.
Cunning action is definitely great, though you may not need it as often with Wildshape forms generally having increased movement. Another option if you don’t want to multi class is Orcs or Shatterkia elves for bonus action movement
@@benjeffries2610 I would imagine it would mostly be used to Disengage rather than Dash. That way you put the extra movement to good use by getting out of range of melee enemies before they can hit back and potentially drop your concentration. If the DM allows monstrous races and allows nimble escape to work while in wildshape, choosing goblin is better than multiclassing rogue, but that's not always the case.
34:15 the thing is, nothing in the rules says that it has to be metal armor. While Studded Leather is significantly less beneficial than Full Plate, it's still an Arcane Armor that can be infused and can have one of two armor models. With Studded Leather Enhanced Defence +1 you thus get 13+Dex, which is often an upgrade, and that's not including any other benefits. Also I want to mention that creature's CR largely depends on its DPR, and as such a creature with one, powerful, singular attack can be expected to similar damage Multiattack. While Extra Attack doesn't scale with Multiattack, it does (seemingly) scale with singular attack, so for some levels. So, with 3 lvls in Druid, 5 lvls in Barbarian you can get Dire Wolf that, while raging, has its CR effectively doubled (resistance+Extra Attack, not to mention Unarmored Defense, rage damage etc.) And here's the real lategame kicker: 9lvl druids get access to Greater Restoration. As such, should you choose Berserker Barbarian, your main downside becomes significantly mitigated, effectively tripling your damage output in some encounters
Look up the elemental Myrmidons from the Elemental Evil campaign book. They're practically powerful elementals that wear thick armor to protect themselves and contain their being.
Magic items frequently have the trait to resize for a new wearer. Let's your Halfling and Goliath party members swap gear on a whim. Take say a Belt of Giant Strength, with an infinite number of sizes, any wild shape could wear a belt. Plus when you Wild Shape you can decide whether gear melds with your new form or not. Most Natural Weapons use the creature's Strength score. Have fun with this knowledge.
I'm playing a Shephard druid with a two level Twilight dip and it is quite effective at putting just a mass of hitpoints on the board. Its pretty nuts sometimes but I find that the problematic part of this combo is actually conjure animals, not the cleric dip. I have a pact with my DM that I will never summon 8 of anything in a combat scenario and that helps the balancing a lot.
As one of the small creators, really thank you for standing up for us, it's heartwarming in our current situation. You have been and remain one of the creators I respect and look up to the most, and I wanted to address that.
Thank you!
Let's get a big collaboration video done highlighting smaller creators?
Check out the Elementsl Myrmidions from Princes if the Apocalypse. They are depicted wearing armor and are essentially just normal elementals with armor and weapons. Lends credence to the Armorer Alchemist idea.
I may use that example when I make a build using this interaction! Thanks!
But they have been summoned and bound into those armours by special rituals.
@@JoschiChr Maybe like an special power armor ritual?
@@yurirobin More like an enslaving and taking away all free will, memory and agency ritual. Kinda fucked up really.
Also, what is an iron golem if not a fire elemental insede a metal armor?
I love the armored artificer Druid combination. Being a bear and head butting a set of armor on the ground, then having it transform and mold over your body sounds amazing.
Wow. I'm really glad I didn't skip your ad spot for once ever. Only because you asked, and you've not asked without reason before. JUST TWO NIGHTS AGO I could have SORELY used those map resources for one of the campaigns I'm running! I had to stop for a few minutes and doodle a map for the players (I am no artist), which broke the immersion a little and made me feel kinda lame as a DM as I can paint a vivid description verbally, but then putting that next to what amounts to fancy MS paint scribbles is definitely an embarrassing level of juxtaposition. I've also been hesitating to jump into a VTT because I don't really know where to get good maps, and these look great!
Imagine sentient steam contained in an steampunk style powersuit. As a dm, I would allow the wind elemental armor, with the caviat that the armor has a defined form, and it can no longer share spaces.
Great video. Just a few more thoughts after recently playing a moon druid:
1) One struggle with Wildshape is how often its ruled that they cannot use items like health potions on downed party members. Usually, to bring someone up you have to break wildshape to heal or give a potion. However, you can bring up unconscious party members with paladin's Lay on hands or Celestial Warlocks healing in Wildshape. With just one level in paladin, you can bring someone up 5 times. Celestial warlock gives less uses, but isn't as MAD and has the benefit of being done at range.
2) For a 1 level dip, starting Sorcerer is great since you get con saves + the subclass feature. It feels like a missed opportunity to try and do one level dip later when you only get the subclass feature. Starting Abarrant Mind before going Moon Druid is worth a shout out for unlimited telepathy, reaction spells outside wildshape, and con save prof.
3) I recently played with a Twilight Cleric/Moon Druid, and the interaction didn't cause a problem since they would Channel Divinity as an action on the first turn, and Wild Shape as a bonus action. Both come back on a short rest as well which felt really potent in certain settings when long rests are few and far between.
4) Rogue's sneak attack may not be worth it, but for a 2 level dip sneak attack is only 3.5 per turn anyways. The major benefit is expertise (on skills like athletics for grappling) and cunning action (since your bonus action is usually free anyways). Cunning Action works great with wild shape since your AC is generally low and a bonus action disengage can provide a huge survivability increase. Rogue is the multiclass that is arguably the most impacted by a single feat. For example, if you take mobile, you can easily hit and run - that is not only an effective way to protect your hp but also your exponentially more important concentration spell (like conjure animals).
On point 1, I love lay on paws 🤣🤣🤣😂 Similar could be said/done with mercy monk.
Love you videos. Recently played a Druid for a level 5 oneshot and the Raging Moon Druid was so incredibly tanky. Went custom lineage and took the telepathic feat to communicate with party members as well in wild shape.
There’s another really nice synergy that comes from a level in warlock or 3 in conquest paladin: Armor of Agathys (AoA) upcast prior to combat using a high level spell slot.
Elemental forms have resistance to non-magical piercing/bludgeoning/slashing. This makes the temp hit points from AoA last twice as long.
Furthermore, what you will really want to do with this build is turn into a fire elemental, dash through enemies to set them on fire, and let them freeze-fry themselves whenever they hit you with the attacks of opportunity you incur. Perhaps also add the Fire Shield spell for extra punitive damage when they hit you.
This strategy turns the low AC of wild shape forms into a feature. You now want to get hit.
14:30 I still don't get how you can have feline forms (and in general) without them getting a sneak attack, it just blows my mind. That is their biggest and most defining trait!
and also cats & wolves not having darkvision, what the hell?
imagine an otter without a swimming speed
I would argue that any wild shape form that uses dexterity for the attack and damage rolls is using a finesse weapon.
Thanks for pointing out Tessas work! I really could have used this earlier. If you can point out any other similarly useful dm tools, especially from smaller creators, I would really want to see more of these kinds of ads.
Rune Knight will have a lot of the same problems as the Armorer. Even something like a necklace or an armband could get troublesome depending on forms, and you might need a party member's help to get the items on.
After reading this comment I’m now picturing a golden retriever wearing a magic cape 😂
Regarding the Artificer Armorer, please note that part of the wild shape feature allows that everything you wear drop off of your body when you wild shape. Therefore, you don't have to doff the Infiltrator/ Guardian armor before wild shaping. Just Wild shape in one action and then don the armor in the next action. As an Armorer, you are probably not carrying much else on top of your armor besides your backpack. Bonus: when you wild shape all of your carried stuff is "neatly" placed on the ground in one action.
Very cool shout out for Tessa. Normally I skip past those parts... but you don't have sponsors, so I watched it all. I will definitely consider using her maps. I love the connection with Roll20.
Oh gods I love the sheer irony of the *rider* fighter subclass being taken with the intent of playing as the *mount* lol
Looking forward to the Druid/Paladin/Wizard character build coming soon.
How did you get a copy of my build notes?
Hey, just wanted to say, that I like the style of the video preview image! It feels more engaging and modern, compared to other ones
Way of the Four elements monk has some interesting abilities that aren’t cast that you can choose, probably still not great, but I think it might have been worth a mention
Nope. The 4 elements abilities are considered spells.
@@joelsasmad Most of the four element options allow you to cast certain spells, but there are *some* that have a specific use that is not a spell. Fist of Unbroken Air for example should totally be usable in wild shape.
If Life Cleric and Goodberries still interact with a bonus to each berry, then I think you have to still consider Life Cleric as a Druid/Cleric multiclass even with multiclassing.
It's really a stretch imo. Life cleric specifies "a spell to restore hit points". Goodberries doesn't restores hitpoints, it creates objects, berries. The healing is the property of the berry you eat later, not the spell. It's like saying that you'd give your fighting style bonus of +2 to hit to the skelletons you create with raise undead.
@@pzalterias5154that's kind of like saying that fireball doesn't hurt enemies, it's the resulting explosion
Oof. Old debate. I believe jcraw said that as written, it works. But that it was not their intention for it to work.
So... Depends on the DM
@@pzalterias5154 its not at all like the comparison you made.
@@cooperton4949 idk why people cry so much about out of combat healing being good. Life berries save time and give maybe slight tactical advantages in some specific instances but really that's all you get for putting your druid progression back by a level
Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you Treantmonk, you are a fox!
Loved the ad. Really makes me wish I played on vtt or ran modules. Thankfully, my friend is running Frostmaiden, so I bought her the map pack. I really appreciate your consistent support for the community, Chris. It's so nice to see somebody keeping a reasonable head in the face of all this craziness.
Love to see the support for small creators!
Quite a bit late to this video! Just wanted to say that Tessa maps are amazing. I play on Foundry, and still well worth it. Thanks Tessa and Chris!
Thank you for supporting smaller creators! I have started professional GMing, and I look forward to reinvesting my first paycheck back into the third party community. Neat video too!
I'm using Tessa's maps for the new dragonlance campaign. They are fan-freaking-tastic! If you are playing this campaign do your gm a solid and pick this up for them. Its worth every penny!
Great series! Looking forward to the builds. (Note: One of my favorite characters was a Hill Dwarf Moon Druid, but he was in a melee-heavy party so often used spells instead of Wildshape. It’s great being a full caster with options)
I don't think Dread Ambusher would work since you usually make the Multiattack action, not the Attack action, while wild shaped (especially if you're using the elemental forms). You could get around this by getting to lv 5 for Extra Attack.
Edit: Same would apply to Unleash Incarnation
Well it’s weird, it would work for some forms, but not any form that had Multi attack.
These abilities would make single attack options stronger at least.
Definitely worth noting when picking your forms
Same with War Priest
Which is exactly why you wildshape into a dire wolf.
Idk, as DM I'd definitely say that whenever a creature has a 'multiattack action' it's really just 'an attack action with an extra attack feature'. There's just not really much reason to have a distinction there that makes sense to me
I’m so glad you covered the armorer interaction! It’s so sketchy but so cool!
Rune knight can make you a large sized normal spider instead of being a giant spider. _That_ is power
xD
My favorite way to play the shapeshifting druid is probably 5 levels into Astral Self monk for Extra Attack and Wisdom scaling flurry of blows, then the rest into Forged druid, basically same as moon but can only wild shape as an action and has +2 AC. Moon druid also works for this. For shapes, Dire Wolf into Giant Octopus into Giant Tentacle, after which probably the Spotted Lion and the Giant Snapping Turtle. You can use all those forms without multiattack for potentially even more damage.
I've actually run the Armourer/Moon Druid about a year ago, and can confirm, it was a really fun MMO Tank option, and felt really potent. Using the Thunder Gauntlets to lock enemies in to attacking this 19AC hitpoint sponge felt really awesome. Wildshape consistently made it so STR, DEX and CON saves were fairly effective, and Druid added INT and WIS save proficiency, (I didn't end up rolling a single CHA save that campaign, so it was essentially like all the saves were awesome). Even when the Wildshapes ran out, you have all but full Druid spell casting to fall back on.
Roleplay, we agreed that every wildshape was a bear wearing armour. Can confirm, it was really memorable.
As a dm, I go for the rule of cool. And an air elemental that uses electrical forces to have its armor protect it sounds metal as fuck. Not only will I accept if my players do this, I'd probably find cool items to go along with the theme!
Hey, this has nothing to do with optimization, but I just wanted to say I bought Tessa's maps for Roll20 since I'm running Curse of Strahd's Vallaki for the first time tomorrow, and I felt like it needed more maps for potential conflicts with the factions involved and the feast. I love the maps! And the random encounter maps just saved me many hours of prep time I can now dedicate to fleshing out NPCs and music. Genuinely thank you for the shout-out, @Treantmonk. I'm sure my players will be thankful for Tessa's work.
Love the alchemist being useful.
REALLY COOL use of the armorer!
I am a little late seeing this, but I did want to point of the Astral Self Monk subclass, which I think does play well with Wildshape (particularly if you are going to be playing at levels 3-9).
If you multiclass into monk starting at level 3, your wildshape is getting stronger nearly every level -- while a straight moon druid is not gaining much at all in terms of wild shape.
Druid 2 / Monk 1 - Huge boost in the survivability of your wild shape thanks to unarmored defense. (this can also opens up additional CR1 wild shapes as viable)
Druid 2 / Monk 2 - Bonus action flurry of blows if you need damage, or patient defense if you need survivability.
Druid 2 / Monk 3 - You can now grapple using your wisdom score instead of your strength, you also gain a 10 ft reach attack option (probably weaker then the beast's attack, but reach can be useful and would open up for the martial arts bonus action attack)
Druid 2 / Monk 4 --- Skill Expert can both round up your wisdom and give you expertise in grappling -- which you do with wisdom!
Druid 2 / Monk 5 -- Stunning strike, and also extra attack if you are using the arms attack (might still be better to use the beast attack depending on the form)
At this point, if you were a straight classed, level 7 druid, you would still be a CR 2 beast, but a CR 1 beast with all of these bonuses seems a lot better to me.
The issue of course is that the moment the campaign reaches level 10, you will miss those elemental forms, but if you are not reaching 10, every level of astral monk seems to me like it is adding more to your wild shape then druid would.
Oh man. Now I’m really excited for the builds. Great series.
There's a subset of elemental monsters that are sealed within armor, the myrmidons
YES! I’m so glad you mentioned the Cavalier Druid, because I discovered it a couple weeks ago and I personally think it’s really funny, regardless of the potential weird interactions. My personally favorite form for this combo is the Giant Scorpion, because it can grapple enemies, forcing you to deal with the nonsense of the combo
First thank you so much for a reliable place to find maps and art I can’t wait to see what all they have available but also with one dnd coming up and Druids being able to cast abjuration spells that specific wizard could be a good multiclass option, although it’s purely speculative as we haven’t see that new version of wizard
Yes but as an armorer artificer you can wild shape into a snake, summon your armor and it replaces your missing limbs....
You'll be playing the snake version of Earthworm Jim!
Love the content, love the support to other creators even more!
Finally!!!!!!!!!! The one I was really, REALLY waiting for!
The armorer doesn't need to use heavy armor as their arcane armor, and it seems like even DMs who disallow metal armors for druids will often allow studded leather. With an air elemental studded leather is only one AC below full plate. Inflate your leather armor and run around as the Michelin Man!
Been waiting two months for this! Damn you WOTC and your stupid OGL drama...
EDIT:
Alert feat + Twilight Cleric's Vigilant Blessing, that sounds juicy af.
However, I really like the war priest and, as you said, it doesn't make me feel dirty for playing twilight cleric.
1 lvl dip in monk + at least 10 lvls of moon druid + war priest seems like the baseline and then + whatever you feel like ( probably 18 lvls in druid at that point or pick cleric to 5 for spirit guardians, or even 6 for the lvl6 feat ). Echo knight can also easily sneak into this combination.
Tony Stark Air Elemental Druid HAS to be allowed at any table. That's too cool to skip. You just tell the players this, and it doesn't matter what the DM says anymore, cuz they'll all be like "YEAH I WANNA SEE THAT, SOUNDS FUN" lmao
I think you missed a particularly powerful barbarian subclass, the Beast.
It's level 3 feature states that you MANIFEST a natural weapon that counts as a "simple melee weapon". That unlocks all options that rely on a simple or martial weapon. It also has a strange interaction with the claw option. If you choose to manifest claws and make a claw attack you can, once per turn, with no action requiered, make an additional claw attack. It does not specify that it has to be with the manifested claws that deal 1d6 damage. You could theoretically make an additional 2d6 claw attack as a bear instead since both attacks are called "claw".
I hadn't really thought about a Warlock dip for Moon Druid before your video, but it actually provides a healthy chunk of kit that jives pretty well with the druid's own strengths. If you go chain-lock, you gain the Investment invocation along with Voice if you wanna communicate, Eldritch Mind for spell protection, Armor of Shadows for a little sturdier forms, or Ever-living ones for more efficiency out of your spell slot healing (which can be warlock slots). Then, on top of that, you get Hex (I know it's kinda horrible) and then in addition to the help action, they get a bonus action familiar attack, which druids don't normally get a whole lot of options for. All in all, I think its better than some of the other options on the list, even if a little MAD.
Edit: You even end up with 9th level spells, if that's important to you. Also, you can pick up Armor of Agathys for some extra passive damage.
Edit2: Also, the little raptor dino does some pretty ludicrous damage with hex up. I'm not sure if it wins any dpr king competitions, but it's pretty damned aggro at level 3.
For monks, a 2nd level gives you unarmored movement which should carry over to wild shape and way of mercy let you use flurry of blows as a melee healing word, also way of the open hand uses wisdom based DC to knock prone or push with flurry of blows and Drunken master adds 10 ft of movement and free disengage if using flurry of blows.
So there should be some room for a build here
I know its not official, but its allowed at almostnevery tablenive played, and thats bloodhunter. It actually has some features that might work well.
There is a decent shout that Multiattack may not count as the Attack Action at all, but its own action type. Monsters don't take the Attack action, they take specific actions on their Stat block. So things like Flurry of Blows and War Priest that rely on the Attack action to trigger may not actually apply. Just my two bits.
Regarding armor, my druid took the Guild Artisan background with proficiency in potter’s tools. He made his medium armor breastplate out of ceramic. I like the idea of an armorer artificer with a suit of porcelain full plate. Bring out the fine china!
Going full clay warrior I see, ... now that's what I call a man of culture. 🤣🤣🤣😂😉😁
"go! Go! Battle crab!" Lol! Imagine being a giant crab and dawning power armor. Lol! And then you can "Pew pew!" From your power pincers! :)
If you do go with wizard for some reason, then you also get access to mage armor for an AC boost is most forms.
Hello Chris, I hope your day's treats you well and thank you for your expertise on insight.
You know I have been waiting in your Moon Druid analyzation videos to mention the usage of magical tattoos.
Using the power of magic you can receive markings on your body that are tied to your very soul, even through the power of reincarnation were you have become reborn as somebody knew, these markings still remained intact.
You are a druid, a Priest/Priestess of nature, representing the life of someone that lives or lived in Celtic Realm.
Do not forget the powers that can be obtained through these magical markings.
Finally you know if you're going to play evil character this makes roleplay super fun and way easier.😃
Also, it's worth mentioning that there is precedent for non metal heavy armors. There are a few modules and adventurers league that gives out non metal material armors. Such as stone plate and petrified wood breastplate. Or half plate, I think?
My druid has proficiency in potter’s tools and uses them to make ceramic armor.
Also carapace/shell armor. Kill a gigantic insect and make it's chitin into armor.
I have been messing around with my Armorer character and recently added Barbarian with the intention of taking Bear Totem. After watching this, I wish I hadn’t dumped Wisdom!
A raging armored BearBearian sounds sweet
I would say that the Spellwrought Tattoo would work. It is an item. It's casting the spell. And you can use items that your Wild Shape form would be capable of using. Example armor and shield and sword, or a wand of Magic Missiles on an ape. The tattoo is literally on you. You are attuned to it. Your Wild Shape Form would be attuned to it. Your Wild Shape Form is you. So you can use it.
Not surprisingly I love the armorer idea… I’ve also done low wis/ high Cha 6 level Pally dips btw, they are solid if you’re building for a one shot… but I also love the idea of the infiltrator armor, even as studded leather… now you have a ranger lightning attack ( 2d6 +mon the 1st time / trim) and with 5 levels you get extra attack, So now I’m thinking of a giant hyena in a black leather gimp suit 😂- this may need to happen!
If you’re in a low ability score game, and you’re a monk taking two levels of Druid to wild shape into an ox or deep rothe might be super worth it to get 18 strength and the charge attack. That way you’d be able to focus on wisdom.
The Fastieth is it good for dodge tanking as a monk if eberron beasts are available.
The best form for a moonk druid w/ 2 lvl of Druid is likely Warhorse, because you can trample then flurry of blows.
Hey Chris , long time fan of yours and followed the god wizard guide , trying to get you or D4 to make a build for Crucible of Fate, a pvp type DND. I think it totally would change some spell rankings and be super interesting.
Thanks Chris
Thematically, a Druid/Monk goes all in on the animal stances Tiger! Crane! Mantis!
14:16 combat synergy aside, Wildshape could add a lot of utility to a rogue or other infiltrator character, and moon druid adds a lot more options to the wildshape repertoire. Additionally, moon druid would allow an assassin in the form of a spider [or scorpion or snake or what have you] to change back into a rogue as a bonus action and still get their sneak attack in that same round.
We just finished rhime of the frost maiden and those maps would have been great!
I'm late to the party, but I'm very surprised you dismissed Rogue so quickly. Forgetting about Sneak Attack, the Rogue multi-class could bring a lot to the table including additional skills and expertise. First, Cunning action at level 2, allowing you to perform all sorts of combat maneuvers you couldn't otherwise. Then at 3rd level, a subclass could bring even more, such as Assassinate, Skirmisher, or possibly even Soul Knife.
36:39 Airelementals (or Elementals in general) are used to create golems and helmed horrors. So they should be able to wear armor or at least fuse with it animating it in the process. So RAW it should be allowed.
I agree I should be allowed, but calling this RAW is just incorrect.
This is Definitely TRDSIC territory.
@@logancuster8035 TRDSIC?
@@aetherwolf9288 The Rules Don't Say I Can't
One (largely insignificant, but I find it interesting) point about fighting styles while wildshaped. Since you keep class proficiencies, you would still have armor proficiency. Since wildshape lasts a number of hours equal to half your level, you could get armor for your various forms (would an elemental use armor or barding? Or something else?) And have an ally help you don the armor after transforming. So Defense would still grant a +1 AC.
Again, largely irrelevant, but possible.
Definitely have a different opinion on Monk from the point of view of optimizing with level 2 Moon Druid as it's the best way to optimize for that wildshape form within the level 1-12 typical campaign in my opinion. Especially with Way of Long Death. Full build on my channel, but tldw for a player looking to lean into a Dire Wolf form it's a lot of fun.
Great great video! I'm eager to see the builds
This could paint a grizzly image: a moon druid warforged activating an armblade
Lovey editing!
29:23 sorcerer 5 or 6 could get you some decent 3rd level spells that druid doesn't have access to like Blur, Haste, Fly, Tongues, and a more then a dash of sorcery points to differentiate it from a wizard multiclass. Aberrant mind could get you free telepathy; wild magic 6 could get you the bend lucky reaction while wildshaped; and Divine Soul 5 could get you divine favor and Spirit Guardians* access [* Your DC will be Cha based]
Also, how cool would it be to cast Fireball -and then immediately turn into a Fire Elemental?
A number of your suggestions are features that proc off taking the Attack action. As far as I’m aware, the Multiattack action on many wild shapes is *_not_* considered taking the Attack action, so to use those features, you’d have to give up the Multiattack 🤔
I’m playing a moon Druid monk multiclass. I just took 1 level in monk for the AC boost. I rolled well and got +4 to WIS right off and it really boosts the AC of all your wild shapes and it helps. We are at level 9 and I still find wildshaping useful.
Another option is to dump wisdom to 13 and max intelligence to multiclass to a bladesinger wizard, stacking beast's AC with bladesinger's one and the uses scales with prof.
You can dump wisdom as a Druid if you're not going for spellcasting choosing only spells that doesn't require wisdom and you could defend yourself in normal form using wizard cantrips, shield and absorb elements and you could potentially stack haste and wildshape
I'd never considered dipping out of Druid to Ranger, but I've thought about stopping Gloomstalker sometime after second attack and finishing as a Shepherd Druid for increased utility/DM frustration.
One level of warlock gives us access to Armor of Agathys ... just saying ;)
That's true, and you can use your druid spell slots to upcast it
Might as well go 3 levels of warlock then too! Multiple short rest level 2 slots to burn for heals, and gift of the ever living ones invocation to heal for max rolled!
@@adamkaris yes, but I don't think the Druid level delay is worth the investment ... Edit: until Druid level 10, that is ... though I never played a game long enough to level up more than a few times :(
The Beast Barbarian solves the Wildshape Monk problem, as the Beast weapons count as simple weapons, and simple weapons are counted as Monk weapons. An added benefit is that a Beast Claw would be 2d6+Rage+Str if you go Dire Wolf due to being large, which aligns with the Brown Bear’s 2d6+Str claw. This means six 2d6+Rage+Str attacks with Extra Attack and Flurry of Blows.
I don't know that I'd call 3 levels in a class whose MC requirement is a dump stat after we already need to meet DEX and WIS a "fix" but this is a really cool interaction! I can't tell if it works with multi-attack, though, so you might have to take 5 in Monk or Barb and at that point the druid/wildshape levels probably fall too far behind. Still, this is a really neat interaction.
@@40Found
It does not work with multi-attack, hence Dire Wolf instead of Brown Bear. It does work with extra attack, per the Beast Barbarian’ Form of the Beast rules. I like to go to Barb 6 to net the Beast Barb lvl 6 features, but it’s not necessary as you still gain Extra Attack and magic weapons by leveling as Monk. As stated in the video, Long Death is the preferred Monk tradition.
The build I am currently running is a Changeling Moon Druid 2/Beast Barbarian 6/Long Death Monk 12, where you start out as a Druid with Primal Savagery, then go Moon Druid for the Brown Bear form, then it’s Barbarian for 3 lvls to net Path of the Beast and switch to Dire Wolf for those sweet two 2d6+ claw attacks per action, then 2 lvls of Monk to unlock martial arts, then back to Barbarian for 3 more lvls, then it’s Long Death Monk to the end. You are effectively playing a Werewolf, as Changelings can use their Shapechanger racial feature to alter their Wildshape form to be more humanoid as well as being able to speak. Being able to go large for that extra dice per claw is just icing on the cake.
Loving the thumbnail style!
I think defense fighting style might work with natural armor. Even if you can't remove it, you do wear some kind of armor there. :)
You can use the features off the armorer subclass even If It isn't heavy armor, the subclass let you use It, but doesn't force you to use It.
The air elemental with plate armor makes me think of symbiotic titan
Oh, come on! Moon 10, berserker 3! Super reliable bonus action attack at the cost of NOT getting a level of exhaustion, because you're immune to it!
Thank you for your information
I feel like with all the crazy magic and creatures in d&d that druids need more interesting beast shapes at higher levels, something more fantastical than giant versions of real animals, it could help regular wild shape keep up with elementals too
The armor is a bit dubious, but there is a set of monster statblocks that are exactly what you're describing (plus a matching weapon): the elemental myrmidons.
If you mentioned the Astral Monk much, I missed it, but they have a lot of abilities that take advantage of a high Wisdom. I manifest my Astral Arms and can use them when I need unarmed strikes, using my Wisdom modifier. With my character, in Tomb of Annihilation, I've actually multiclassed with Life Cleric too for Lifeberries. And frankly, also Shadow Sorcerer and Bard (mostly because I had some Instruments of the Bards, but I'm also using it for Jack of All Trades). I have a LOT of Cantrips when I'm in my Firbolg form. And some cool synergies for my Wildshape. I was trying to make the most out of my 20 Wisdom and barely anything else to speak of except for enough Dexterity and Charisma to multiclass. And I feel like it has worked.
I'm a huge fan of the Dru-nk, and while I'd lean toward a one level dip, going 3 for Astral Arms does sound really fun.
I hope you go for one all-out weird build, like an autognome armorer moon druid, just for the sake of showing how weird the rules are.
Of course this sets no precedent for d&d, but when you talk about an elemental concealed inside an Armor, I picture the alien "Energy" from Ben 10, its not a compelling argument perse but it might work as a reference
I think the armorer bit works. It's magical armor, ain't it? Magic don't gotta explain diddly!
Can you use the War Priest bonus action while wildshaped and using the "multiattack" action and not the "attack" action?
From my understanding, anything that requires you to take specifically the Attack action cannot be used with Multi-Attack action instead
Earth Elementals have arms and hands. I keep my shield when I wildshape. Some dms may disagree with keeping it on other forms but some will see the elemental myrmidons and agree they can hold stuff and even wear armor with the shield.
Astral Self monk features don't require you to use unarmed strikes/ monk weapons. A lot of hidden synergy there.
armorer doesnt need metal armor to use arcane armor so you could have studded leather armor with the defense infusion put on your air elemental for (12+5+1) 18 armor class which isnt too shabby and would probably satisfy those dms that dont allow metal armor on druids
I read somewhere that RAI is that you can use unarmed attacks with maneuvers
I feel like you're missing the main draw of the rogue dip, which is cunning action (also expertise is nice). Not sure that it's worth giving up spell progression for, but it definitely helps out the wildshape.
Assassinate isn't too terrible either if you want to go for 3 levels, and even uncanny dodge could probably be useful at 5 levels. A Druid 12/Rogue 5/Fighter 3 build might be interesting, though probably not optimal.
Cunning action is definitely great, though you may not need it as often with Wildshape forms generally having increased movement.
Another option if you don’t want to multi class is Orcs or Shatterkia elves for bonus action movement
@@benjeffries2610 I would imagine it would mostly be used to Disengage rather than Dash. That way you put the extra movement to good use by getting out of range of melee enemies before they can hit back and potentially drop your concentration. If the DM allows monstrous races and allows nimble escape to work while in wildshape, choosing goblin is better than multiclassing rogue, but that's not always the case.
34:15 the thing is, nothing in the rules says that it has to be metal armor. While Studded Leather is significantly less beneficial than Full Plate, it's still an Arcane Armor that can be infused and can have one of two armor models. With Studded Leather Enhanced Defence +1 you thus get 13+Dex, which is often an upgrade, and that's not including any other benefits.
Also I want to mention that creature's CR largely depends on its DPR, and as such a creature with one, powerful, singular attack can be expected to similar damage Multiattack. While Extra Attack doesn't scale with Multiattack, it does (seemingly) scale with singular attack, so for some levels. So, with 3 lvls in Druid, 5 lvls in Barbarian you can get Dire Wolf that, while raging, has its CR effectively doubled (resistance+Extra Attack, not to mention Unarmored Defense, rage damage etc.)
And here's the real lategame kicker: 9lvl druids get access to Greater Restoration. As such, should you choose Berserker Barbarian, your main downside becomes significantly mitigated, effectively tripling your damage output in some encounters
Look up the elemental Myrmidons from the Elemental Evil campaign book. They're practically powerful elementals that wear thick armor to protect themselves and contain their being.
I'd love to see an Earth Elemental just holding an enemy in a high level moon beam. Expertise, fire shield.
I'm curious to see where this series goes. How many builds might we get?
2
Magic items frequently have the trait to resize for a new wearer. Let's your Halfling and Goliath party members swap gear on a whim.
Take say a Belt of Giant Strength, with an infinite number of sizes, any wild shape could wear a belt. Plus when you Wild Shape you can decide whether gear melds with your new form or not.
Most Natural Weapons use the creature's Strength score.
Have fun with this knowledge.
I'm playing a Shephard druid with a two level Twilight dip and it is quite effective at putting just a mass of hitpoints on the board. Its pretty nuts sometimes but I find that the problematic part of this combo is actually conjure animals, not the cleric dip. I have a pact with my DM that I will never summon 8 of anything in a combat scenario and that helps the balancing a lot.