ASI or Feat? - Druid level 4 - Which of the choices would you choose?

[zZ_Knight_Zz]

Hey there Giantitp friends!

I'm currently playing in a campain where I'm playing a Coast Land Druid. We are FINALLY able to level up to level 4 and now I'm confronted by the ASI level up. I'm given the choice to either take the ASI score increase or take a feat. I would love some suggestions on what to do based off of my character ability scores and roleplay scores.

Land Druid:
Ability Scores:
Strength: 10 (0)
Dexterity: 16 (+3)
Constitution: 17 (+3)
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 18 (+4)
Charisma 10 (0)

Roleplay wise: I'm more of a Wood Elf sage who is researching plants and nature. Animals are a part of nature, but my main focus is on plants. He loves the feywild. Strong backstory (which I really don't want to say in case any of my party members see it. :) ) He is also very perspective and wishes to be more perspective, especially since he wonders around nature, so it would be useful to be able to spot things quickly before activating it (like stepping on a poisionus snake)

Combat-wise: I play more of a battle-control druid sending out spells to hinder my enemies and helping out my party members. Healing spells/fairie fire/Moonbeam/flaming sphere/other stuff.

Here is some of the stuff I've thought about for the Level 4 ASI/Feats. (In no order)

1. Leveling up Wisdom from 18-20. - It would be smart, since I could level up my DC by 1 and it would give me an additional spell, but it would really only improve 5% of my combat roles. Is 18 a good Wisdom score for the time being, or should I level it up all the way?

2. Observant: It would allow me to up my passive perception (which would fit into the character roleplay) and it would also increase my Wisdom from 18 to 19. Plus, I can read people's lips if needed. I feel like roleplay wise, I would like this one, but there might be a better option, so I'm wanting to ask.

Now both of these are to make my rolls better in and out of combat.

3. Warcaster: I feel like this one would be important, since it would give me advantage on Con Saves to keep spells up, which would be a really big deal. Though nothing else seems like it would help out at the moment. (Though being able to wear a shield would be nice).

4. Resilient: I would probably increase Constitution from 17 to 18. That would increase my HP some (which is great), and I would be able to add my proficiency to my constution saving throw towards concentration checks for spells (which I do all the time). I feel like this one might be good, since I would be able to add +6 to all of my concentration checks.

If you were playing the character, which of the four would you go for? Or is there something else you would go for?

I'm currently looking at Observant for roleplay reasons, but I also feel like Resilient could help me out greatly.

Regardless, thank you guys and I hope that you guys have a good day!

[Specter]

Resilient (CON). Your stats are begging for it, it will save your concentration many times and nasty effects like necromancy and cold won't affect you so harshly.

[Sigreid]

I am a hands down max your casting stat first. It sucks when your spells don't stick.

[lunaticfringe]

I'd grab warcaster for the Advantage and not worrying about casting with a shield & Staff or arcane focus in your hand. You are ahead of the curve as far as Con & Wis, you could easily grab Resilient Con at 8 then pump ASIs into Wis & Whatever.

[Beastrolami]

Resilient (CON). Your stats are begging for it, it will save your concentration many times and nasty effects like necromancy and cold won't affect you so harshly.

+1

More health, better saves, at level 4 18 Wis is already really good. You can max that at level 8 and keep standard progression.

Normally I would tell a druid to avoid feats and take ASI's to max wisdom, but because of good stat rolls, I deem this an exception.

[Clone]

Increased Wisdom is always nice for a caster, but as was mentioned Resilient CON will not only give you extra health, but it will give you +6 to concentration saves and + 7 at level 5, the time you get your Call Lightnings and other concentration spells which are great to have up.

[Contrast]

If you really like the sound of observant that would set you up to take a +1 in con and +1 in wisdom at 8.

That said I would definely agree with the comments of others that my immediate go to would be resilient.

[Theodoxus]

I'm playing almost this exact character - at level 1 before racials, I had 17 Con and 18 Wis. I went Firbolg, so I didn't need to up my Wisdom, but I grabbed Resilient Con at 4th and Ritual Caster (Wiz) at 8th - but if I didn't have that 20 Wis, I'd have grabbed +2 Wis at 8th instead.

(I really debated hill dwarf, for 19/19 instead, but for RP reasons, Firbolg fit better...)

[WickerNipple]

Resilient (Con)

[some guy]

I'm playing a lvl 8 wood elf grassland druid right now. I have lower stats than you, and I still am not worried about effectiveness. I took Resilient (con) at lvl 4 (rasing con to 16), and raised my wisdom to 18 at lvl 8.
Druids have so many concentration spells, that con save is really important and your wisdom is already excellent. Warcaster is fine, but I'd advise Resilient in your case.

[mephnick]

18 Wis can take you to level 20, I wouldn't stress over it. You're already way ahead of the curve having it at a low level. I'm in the Res Con camp or go off the board and take Alert.

[Beelzebubba]

It's funny how similar of a situation I'm in.

Druid, Circle of the Land, excellent stats (almost the same as yours), and so many ways to go with feats.

The thing is, Warcaster is huge early on, but the effectiveness falls off when damage scales up. That happens about the same time as monsters getting more and more disabling attacks that force CON saves. So, I'd either pick up Warcaster at 4 AND Resilient CON at 12 and never ever miss a concentration check, or get only Resilient CON at 4 and play a bit more defensively.

Observant is good, but see if your ref allows Unearthed Arcana - the Skill Feats have a few good ones that are +1 to ability scores and then buff out skills. 'Perceptive' is like Observant, but more nature-focused: You get +1 Wisdom, Proficiency in Perception (Expertise if you have Proficiency already), and no disadvantage in perception in lightly obscured areas.

[SharkForce]

mechanically, i would say resilient con is probably your strongest choice.

that said, if you think it would be fun to pick up observant, go ahead. i'm not sure i'd consider it strictly necessary (presuming you're proficient in perception and with your high wis, you're already quite good at passive perception, so that RP angle is already covered quite well, unless it's the lip reading you think is a core part of your RP), but it's not a bad feat, and it certainly won't hurt you in the long run to take it.

[hymer]

presuming you're proficient in perception

Pretty safe presumption for an elf character. :smallsmile:

@ OP: I think you're on pretty safe ground whichever way you choose. As for Resilient, Warcaster and upping wis to 20, you'll likely get around to all these eventually (if you play long enough). Observant is a half feat, and you'll only really get something out of the one half, so not only is it suboptimal, you're also in a suboptimal position to take it. That said, your stats are so strong you can do it with no need to fret at all.

[NecroDancer]

Resilient (con) although you could bump your wisdom up and take Resilient at level 8 (either choice is very good).