Druid Circle advice

[Nheko]

Hi guys,

I will play a druid in the Curse of Strahd adventure and will like to ask you which druid circle will be best suited for this setting and the following party composition:

Wizard - Haven't decided between dwarf abjurer or gnome illusionist.

Paladin (Oath of Vengance) - Human Variant

Bard - Half-Elf

Warlock (Bladelock - Undying) - Tiefling

Druid - Human Variant (Me)

Also is War Caster a good level 1 feat or shall I select other?

[gfishfunk]

I would suggest circle of the moon (or whatever the tank-iness one is) to make a strong, 3 person melee oriented group (paladin, warlock, druid). The bard will probably hang back, and the warlock will definitely hang back until level 3, and then will start front-lining. At this moment, I think you are going to be a little distance heavy until level 3: warlock, bard, and wizard hanging back while you and the pally hit the front lines.

[JumboWheat01]

Advantage on concentration is NEVER a bad thing.

It does look like you're missing a "meat shield" type character in that list, no matter what path the Bard follows, so a Moon Druid may be the best bet. And along with War Caster, you can go into melee and not fear having to lose concentration on your buffs, or at least fear losing it less often. If you can convince the Bard to do so, you can get a fairly decent healer out of them.

[hymer]

Moon druid is tremendously strong at levels 2-4. After that it tapers off somewhat, particularly in damage, although the wild shape does remain an option to endure a lot of damage when things turn sour.
Since CoS is about levels 1-12 IIRC, you could have full appreciation of Moon's power spike. For levels 7+, you pretty much pretend to be a Land druid with fewer spells, keeping your wild shape for emergencies and utility.
But I usually suggest people play land druids. Land gives you more spells per day, more spells on your list, and various stuff to help you while functioning as a spellcaster for the party. And spells are better than wild shape after level 4 without a shadow of a doubt. And Land features don't try to lure you away from casting spells.

See my guide (link in my signature) for further details.

Edit: As for feat, it depends quite a bit on what circle you choose. But advantage on Concentration is very nice for both circles, and could be a good feat for either.

[tieren]

Advantage on concentration is NEVER a bad thing.

It does look like you're missing a "meat shield" type character in that list, no matter what path the Bard follows, so a Moon Druid may be the best bet. And along with War Caster, you can go into melee and not fear having to lose concentration on your buffs, or at least fear losing it less often. If you can convince the Bard to do so, you can get a fairly decent healer out of them.

If you go Moon druid I would recommend Sentinel or Res(Con) over warcaster.

[RickAllison]

One thing to remember in favor of the moon Druid is that not only do you act as a standard front-line combatant, but you are better at protecting your allies than many normal tanks because you can block 10X10 and 15X15 foot areas. Have the wizard Enlarge you and you become a 20' wall protecting your rear combatants from melee enemies. Heck, they can ride you into battle!

[Biggstick]

I'm partial to Arctic, Coast, and Grassland for circle choices. Each circle choice has their own benefit so it's really up to you which circle specific spells you're after.

Arctic - Slow! At level 5 you'll be able to use a spell to effectively control melee and ranged martials as well as spell casters by limiting their actions and movements. This is also a great spell in that you can just drop it on top of allies and not affect them.

Coast - Misty Step and Mirror Image. Two spells that allow you to either gtfo or protect yourself while you're providing support for your Paladin/Bladelock from the rear. Although the rest of the spells aren't amazing, being able to get out of a bad situation (which you'll find ends up happening quite a bit in CoS) is a pretty important capability.

Grassland - Invisibility and Haste. Tons of people have written up how valuable these spells are in many situations.

Some of your best strategies as a Land Druid are going to be dropping Faerie Fire or Entangle on the enemy (or in front of them) to slow them down in their approach to the squishies. Once you get a little higher level Spike Growth will come into play as well to damage them as well as slow them down.

[Nheko]

Thanks guys these are great advices. I am going to check hymer's guide ASAP.

[Socratov]

As someone who has palyed a moon druid to lvl 5 I can tell you that lvls 2-4 you are a bear, and from 5 onwards (until you get elemental shape) you cast and won't whildshape except for utility.

I'd personally recommend you go land druid and pick a nice circle.

[MrFahrenheit]

As someone who has palyed a moon druid to lvl 5 I can tell you that lvls 2-4 you are a bear, and from 5 onwards (until you get elemental shape) you cast and won't whildshape except for utility.

I'd personally recommend you go land druid and pick a nice circle.

While the moon circle Druid in my campaign didn't make the same choice as Socratov here between levels 5 and 10 and was none the worse for wear, I will say that no matter the circle, Druids are still primary casters. Moon circle gets some off tankiness, to be sure, but don't forget to cast some spells before and in between wild shaping.

I've often toyed with the idea of a wood elf land Druid. Conjure woodland beings, turn into a sparrow, hide in a tree and giggle.

[hymer]

I've often toyed with the idea of a wood elf land Druid. Conjure woodland beings, turn into a sparrow, hide in a tree and giggle.

Giggling at this juncture is optional, but likely. :smallbiggrin:

[Nheko]

After reading your posts and hymer's druid guide I have decided to play a Circle of Land. (Coast) Druid. I am more drawn to play a caster character that will support the melee characters.

Thank you for your support!!!

[hymer]

You're welcome, and best of luck!

[JumboWheat01]

Ooh, Coast is a nice one. I drew up a Water Genasi Coastal Druid one time. I should dig that up. I'm more fond of Arctic myself, though, adding in some Cold damage spells.

[RickAllison]

Ooh, Coast is a nice one. I drew up a Water Genasi Coastal Druid one time. I should dig that up. I'm more fond of Arctic myself, though, adding in some Cold damage spells.

Underdark for me! I love the idea of going around as a snake the size of a T-Rex (Huge), attacking people, all while no one can see me. That just seems entertaining to me.