Need help building a character

[Laolir]

Hello everyone,

I'm actually building a new character for a campaign. She's a wood elf shaman/warden, protecting the forest she lives in with the help of nature's spirits and her bow.
Mechanically, I'm gonna build her as an Ancestral Guardian (with spirits of the ancestors re fluffed as spirits of the forest) DEX Barbarian, playing with a bow, and I want to dip some lvl of shepherd druid to gets the spirits totem aura and some spells. (Rituals/healing spirit mostly for the thematic).

Now, I'm struggling on when to take those druid lvl, and how many should I take? Wich class to take first?

I was thinking starting barbarian, and taking 2 or 4 lvl of druid after lvl 5/6 of barbarian, but perhaps you have better idea.

(English isn't my main language, feel free to ask if something isn't clear)

[Vogie]

I'd do the druid dip after you get 5 levels in Barbarian, then switch to however many druid levels you'll pick up (likely just 2 unless you want a specific 2nd level spell), then go back to barb levels.

The main downside of that pairing is too much taxing on your reaction slot. You can't use reckless attack at range, but you can use Hawk Spirit... but that requires you to use your reaction to give yourself (or anyone else) advantage on an attack, which limits the use of your Spirit Shield ability.

[Man_Over_Game]

I'd do the druid dip after you get 5 levels in Barbarian, then switch to however many druid levels you'll pick up (likely just 2 unless you want a specific 2nd level spell), then go back to barb levels.

The main downside of that pairing is too much taxing on your reaction slot. You can't use reckless attack at range, but you can use Hawk Spirit... but that requires you to use your reaction to give yourself (or anyone else) advantage on an attack, which limits the use of your Spirit Shield ability.

I agree with Vogie on lot of his concerns.

I'd strongly recommend shifting your perspective from Barbarian to using Monk instead, as the Dexterity + Wisdom will provide a lot more than the Barbarian will provide for you. With Barbarian, you wouldn't be able to hold onto your summon spells while raging.

With the Monk, a similar approach could be made with the Four Elements, the Kensei, or the Long Death subclasses. A monk won't have too many uses of their reactions in combat, so you'd be able to use your totem very frequently.

Additionally, you can afford to maximize on your Wisdom if you decide to grab Shillelagh and Magic Stone (which you can throw 60 feet, almost as good as a bow). The benefit of going this route means you can fight just as well without needing a high Dexterity, and increase your Monk Saving Throw DC's tremendously with a high Wisdom. The Four Elements would grant you several powerful abilities to use and the Long Death would become a better defender and tank for your team. I'd only recommend Kensei if you were adamant about using a bow and decide not to invest heavily in Wisdom. You'd also be a very proficient Druid with a high spellcasting modifier, and be able to utilize spells like Longstrider and Jump very well. Imagine a Monk having 55 speed per turn, throwing 1-2 high damage Magic Stones per turn with 60ft as you run around the bad guys. At level 2.

If going this route, I'd probably recommend starting as Druid for the relevant skills and abilities, and maybe going Monk after level 1-2, depending on how much of a defender your team needs.

[Wub]

I'd recommend ranger over barbarian. It uses dex and wis much more effectively, has spell slots, and has a woodsman-y flavor to it. For the spirits, go circle of the shepherd druid and you get spirit totems and better creature summons.

As for build specifications, wildshape + multiclassing always gave me a headache so I never made a druid gish but I'll try my best.

I'd start with 16 dex/16 wis, since you're going to need as much as you can get as a MAD multiclass. If that's not your style, you can lower wis since it's easier to ignore by just using utility spells.

Choosing your first class is gonna be important, since it determines where your proficiencies will lie.
Druid gives you wisdom saves, herbalism kit for healing, and more choice in skills, since multiclassing into ranger gives you one extra.
Ranger gives you more initial hitpoints (important for early levels), dex saves, and fewer options for skills.
I'd say druid is a better initial choice, especially since you can pick up spirit totem on your second level for flavor.

Next is to pick ranger archetype, which I'd go horizon walker for the force damage. Get six levels in it for extra attack and to round out your spell levels, then go back to druid for the rest of your progression.

Druid 14/Ranger 6 gets you 9th level spells (barely), extra attack to keep your bow relevant, and 4 ASIs, which you'll have to use carefully, two of which will go straight into dex. You won't have the raw damage potential of a paladin or fighter gish, but you'll have access to druid summoning which is hilariously dangerous in its own right. It also gives the DM headaches, so make sure to confer with them on that bit.

[Laolir]

I'd do the druid dip after you get 5 levels in Barbarian, then switch to however many druid levels you'll pick up (likely just 2 unless you want a specific 2nd level spell), then go back to barb levels.

The main downside of that pairing is too much taxing on your reaction slot. You can't use reckless attack at range, but you can use Hawk Spirit... but that requires you to use your reaction to give yourself (or anyone else) advantage on an attack, which limits the use of your Spirit Shield ability.

Thanks for your input! Yhé, my reaction will be used a lot with spirit shield, but I wont probably be able to rage for each, and even if I can, the bear and unicorn spirit should be usefull enough. THP and healing (Mosty if I go druid 4 to take healing spirit) should be quite handy. So you think the druid lvl should come before spirit shield? Interesting!


I agree with Vogie on lot of his concerns.

I'd strongly recommend shifting your perspective from Barbarian to using Monk instead, as the Dexterity + Wisdom will provide a lot more than the Barbarian will provide for you. With Barbarian, you wouldn't be able to hold onto your summon spells while raging.

With the Monk, a similar approach could be made with the Four Elements, the Kensei, or the Long Death subclasses. A monk won't have too many uses of their reactions in combat, so you'd be able to use your totem very frequently.

Additionally, you can afford to maximize on your Wisdom if you decide to grab Shillelagh and Magic Stone (which you can throw 60 feet, almost as good as a bow). The benefit of going this route means you can fight just as well without needing a high Dexterity, and increase your Monk Saving Throw DC's tremendously with a high Wisdom. The Four Elements would grant you several powerful abilities to use and the Long Death would become a better defender and tank for your team. I'd only recommend Kensei if you were adamant about using a bow and decide not to invest heavily in Wisdom. You'd also be a very proficient Druid with a high spellcasting modifier, and be able to utilize spells like Longstrider and Jump very well. Imagine a Monk having 55 speed per turn, throwing 1-2 high damage Magic Stones per turn with 60ft as you run around the bad guys. At level 2.

If going this route, I'd probably recommend starting as Druid for the relevant skills and abilities, and maybe going Monk after level 1-2, depending on how much of a defender your team needs.

Well, thank you for your input but monk doesn't have the flavor I search, the 2 classes and subclasses are already chosen, I'm just trying to figure a leveling path.


I'd recommend ranger over barbarian. It uses dex and wis much more effectively, has spell slots, and has a woodsman-y flavor to it. For the spirits, go circle of the shepherd druid and you get spirit totems and better creature summons.

As for build specifications, wildshape + multiclassing always gave me a headache so I never made a druid gish but I'll try my best.

I'd start with 16 dex/16 wis, since you're going to need as much as you can get as a MAD multiclass. If that's not your style, you can lower wis since it's easier to ignore by just using utility spells.

Choosing your first class is gonna be important, since it determines where your proficiencies will lie.
Druid gives you wisdom saves, herbalism kit for healing, and more choice in skills, since multiclassing into ranger gives you one extra.
Ranger gives you more initial hitpoints (important for early levels), dex saves, and fewer options for skills.
I'd say druid is a better initial choice, especially since you can pick up spirit totem on your second level for flavor.

Next is to pick ranger archetype, which I'd go horizon walker for the force damage. Get six levels in it for extra attack and to round out your spell levels, then go back to druid for the rest of your progression.

Druid 14/Ranger 6 gets you 9th level spells (barely), extra attack to keep your bow relevant, and 4 ASIs, which you'll have to use carefully, two of which will go straight into dex. You won't have the raw damage potential of a paladin or fighter gish, but you'll have access to druid summoning which is hilariously dangerous in its own right. It also gives the DM headaches, so make sure to confer with them on that bit.

Thank you for your input, but the character is mainly a barbarian, with some druidic magic, not a druid. I'm trying to figure a leveling path.

I'm not searching advices on what classes to choose, I need help to figure out with wich classe to start, where to take my druid lvl, and how many of them. 2 for the aura? 4 for healing spirit + ASI? More for something wich fit the thematic? I'm sorry if the first psot wasn't clear.

[Man_Over_Game]

Well, thank you for your input but monk doesn't have the flavor I search, the 2 classes and subclasses are already chosen, I'm just trying to figure a leveling path.

Understood, sorry about the confusion.

If those classes are set as what you're going for, a recommendation I'd suggest is to take the Mobile feat as soon as possible. With a Barbarian, this would mean that you could Reckless Attack with Advantage, granting a nearly guaranteed hit for your Ancestral Guardians, and then you could run away with your enhanced mobility so that the enemy cannot take advantage of your low defenses. You can also utilize Longstrider from Druid while raging (since it does not use Concentration) to further increase your mobility. With Barbarian+Longstrider+Mobile, this pushes your speed to 65 speed per turn.

I'd recommend the same thing that Vogie suggested, in that going 5 or 6 into Barbarian is a necessity. The extra attack will give you a second chance to activate your Ancestral Guardians, which is very important for your team, as is your Ancestral Shields.

I'd recommend leveling into Druid after level 6 if you have a large team and need more help in combat, or going into Druid after level 5 if your team is small or needs more Role Playing abilities.