Arctic Land Druid build help

[NiklasWB]

Hi playground,

I've been thinking about building a Land Druid for the first time, and I'm going to make him an Arctic Druid that almost exclusively uses Cold spells. Think Waterbender from Avatar the Last Airbender. Water, Ice, Fog in all shapes and sizes are great. Also healing based on water.

Would this be viable in the long run? I know Cold is fairly often resisted, and a fair deal of monsters are even immune... but as far as I can tell, it's mostly fairly specific monsters, such as devils, demons, banshees, yetis and things that you are not very likely to encounter on a regular basis. I'm not opposed to sometimes being less effective, and I'm already thinking about incorporating the Elemental Adept feat. I just don’t want to feel like I’m completely worthless if we come up against a Cold resistant enemy, or that my pick of spells is severely gimping me.

So:

Race: Human (not V.human since it is not allowed)
Class: Druid
Archetype: Land (Arctic)

Ability Scores

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 10

Any changes here? Dump CHA entirely and get more STR?

Feats/ASI

Level 4: WIS +2
Level 8: War Caster
Level 12: Elemental Adept
Level 16: WIS +2
Level 19: CON + 2

Should I do these in a different order?

Weapons: Quarterstaff with Shillelagh. Looking to get like a Staff of Frost at higher levels.
Armor: Studded leather or Hide to start with.

Spells

Cantrips:
1. Frostbite (main attack / 'when all else fails')
2. Druidcraft
3. (Land druid) Shillelagh
4. (level 4) Gust
5. (level 10) Shape water

Would this be good or should I have one more damage cantrip (like Thorn Whip)?

Spells other than cantrip are obviously a decision one would have to make every day, depending on what I think we will be facing. But for an Arctic Land Druid with the theme of using mostly Cold/Ice/Water spells, what would be your 'go-to / everyday' list for prepared spells?

Here are the spells I feel are appropriate (and the ones I get for free for being an Arctic Land Druid):

Level 1:
Ice knife
Cure Wounds
Fog Cloud

Level 2:
Gust of Wind
Lesser Restoration

(Hold Person)
(Spike Growth)

Level 3:
Tidal Wave
Water Breathing
Wall of Water

(Sleet Storm)
(Slow)

Level 4:
Watery Sphere
Control Water

(Freedom of Movement)
(Ice Storm)

Level 5:
Maelstrom
Greater Restoration
Mass Cure Wounds

(Commune with Nature)
(Cone of Cold)

Level 6:
Investiture of ice
Heal
Transport via Plants

(I won’t go further than this right now)

What do you guys think? Does this look like a good build? I’m not talking optimal, but as good as it can be considering the theme of the character.

[Mandragola]

If you’re working to optimise then I don’t think that a standard human is the best option. Either wood elf or hill dwarf gets you pretty substantial benefits. You only really care about your wisdom and constitution, after all.

A wood elf druid can easily get stealth and perception, making him a reasonably good scout, and he can use a longbow, which is great at low level. You’d probably put a 16 in dex and only 14 in con. In melee (where you don’t want to be!) you can use a shortsword or scimitar well, so you don’t need to use up a cantrip on shillelagh. Later on any version of druid will be using cantrips for their “at will” abilities.

A hill dwarf gets an extra hp/level, which is awesome. There are one or two other nice things, and I think dwarves fit very nicely with the arctic theme.

So the choice is whether you’d like a speedy, scouty wood elf or a rock solid dwarf. I’d like to say that a human is somewhere in the middle but honestly it isn’t. You don’t get anything much at all as a human.

[NiklasWB]

Thank you for your feedback. I'm not really interested in playing a Dwarf or an Elf though . It's Human or maybe something like a genasi or aasimar, nothing else. However, race isn't really a big issue for my build-concerns, I'm much more concerned about spell choice, ASI/feats etc.

[PeteNutButter]

Thank you for your feedback. I'm not really interested in playing a Dwarf or an Elf though . It's Human or maybe something like a genasi or aasimar, nothing else. However, race isn't really a big issue for my build-concerns, I'm much more concerned about spell choice, ASI/feats etc.

Water Genasi will serve you so much better then if it's on the table. Gives you shape water for free too. And dump everything for max dex con and wis. The other stats have practically zero value.

Now as for feats etc, Warcaster may not be your best choice.

It'd be good if you started with it, but not worth it by level 8. Your melee attacks fall off in comparison to cantrips by level 5, and you'll have plenty of slots by level 8 to blast with cold. So you needn't bother with a melee weapon, resilient con with its +1 con can go well with a starting 17 con. If you want to continue to front line you'll need one or the other if you ever plan on concentrating on spells. I'd just sit back and blast. That seems to be the role you've picked, so blast.

I'd go WIS, Elemental Adept, WIS. All your spells are cold so resistance to that, if its common, is crippling. May even need to take it at level 4.

It's a bit gamey to get, but a 1 level dip in arcana domain cleric would give you ray of frost with wisdom. It really fits the concept, and is better than frostbite.

[Mandragola]

Fair enough. Race doesn't make all that much difference.

How strict are you being about spell choices? It strikes me that you could refluff some spells and just say that they are ice-related. For instance entangle at level 1 could involve freezing people's feet in place rather than having plants grab them.

Summoning is a big part of a druid's power. Plenty of animals work with an arctic theme, notably wolves and bears. I definitely wouldn't rule those out.

As for ASIs, you've got the right ones lined up there. Main question is whether to prioritise wisdom or war caster. For a druid I think I'd recommend war caster. A lot of druid spells require concentration, and many of the same spells don't allow/require saves.

But honestly it doesn't make a huge difference either way. You'll probably miss whichever thing you don't pick first - I always do!

[Specter]

When you face a cold-resistant opponent, you can either
a) buff yourself/a friend and Shillelagh away
b) use strategy spells like Spike Growth and Sleet Storm
c) Wild Shape and beat them
d) worst case scenario, give someone else advantage

So you're good.

Also, trade that race, standard human is crap. Go Water Genasi, Wood Elf, Aasimar, Hill Dwarf or anything else that boosts WIS and gives you more benefits.

What do you want out of War Caster?

[Arkhios]

When you face a cold-resistant opponent, you can either
a) buff yourself/a friend and Shillelagh away
b) use strategy spells like Spike Growth and Sleet Storm
c) Wild Shape and beat them
d) worst case scenario, give someone else advantage

So you're good.

Also, trade that race, standard human is crap. Go Water Genasi, Wood Elf, Aasimar, Hill Dwarf or anything else that boosts WIS and gives you more benefits.

What do you want out of War Caster?

I would imagine that if he wants to use Shillelagh as a primary means of melee attacks, he might be having a shield as well (because, you know, why not). A staff can be a spellcasting focus, but that doesn't cover all the spells, since some spells lack material component.