Melee druid builds

[Dankus Memakus]

So for the first time ever I have convinced a DM that we should build a cabal of druids who use stone armor and fight in melee. So I'm really hyped to have a heavy armor druid who can smash some stuff with all the really good druid spells. However, I'm unsure of which druid subclass is the best for this. I know spores druid is sort of melee but I've heard it's bad so I could probably use some help.

I probably want to multiclass to get heavy armor but I'm open to other options as well.

How would you build this?

[nickl_2000]

So for the first time ever I have convinced a DM that we should build a cabal of druids who use stone armor and fight in melee. So I'm really hyped to have a heavy armor druid who can smash some stuff with all the really good druid spells. However, I'm unsure of which druid subclass is the best for this. I know spores druid is sort of melee but I've heard it's bad so I could probably use some help.

I probably want to multiclass to get heavy armor but I'm open to other options as well.

How would you build this?

High Elf Moon Druid 18/ Twilight Cleric 2 with shillelagh and booming blade from the High Elf. It's a brutal combination.

Moon Druid 2
Twilight Cleric 2
Moon Druid for the rest of time.



Or just go straight Wildfire Druid
VHuman for Heavy Armored Feat at 1
At 4 take Magic Initiate for Green Flame Blade
At level 6, when you have the Wildfire Spirit up, you deal extra damage with each green flame blade attack



Alternately if you can get the stats.
Ancients Paladin 2
Moon Druid X
Smite as an animal!


My craziest was
Moon Druid 10/Hunter Ranger 4/Light Cleric 1
Belt of Giant Strength
Staff of the Woodlands for attack
Magic Initiate for Booming Blade

[Dankus Memakus]

High Elf Moon Druid 18/ Twilight Cleric 2 with shillelagh and booming blade from the High Elf. It's a brutal combination.

Moon Druid 2
Twilight Cleric 2
Moon Druid for the rest of time.



Or just go straight Wildfire Druid
VHuman for Heavy Armored Feat at 1
At 4 take Magic Initiate for Green Flame Blade
At level 6, when you have the Wildfire Spirit up, you deal extra damage with each green flame blade attack



Alternately if you can get the stats.
Ancients Paladin 2
Moon Druid X
Smite as an animal!


My craziest was
Moon Druid 10/Hunter Ranger 4/Light Cleric 1
Belt of Giant Strength
Staff of the Woodlands for attack
Magic Initiate for Booming Blade

Twilight cleric is genius I didn't think of that

[nickl_2000]

Twilight cleric is genius I didn't think of that

Twilight Cleric is extremely front loaded. It gets you your Heavy Armor, Martial Weapons, Darkvision (so you can pick a race without it), and initiative bonuses, plus channel divinity at 1d6+2 THP per round is nothing to scoff at. I love the twilight cleric for so much.

[Naanomi]

I did a melee Tortle spore druid that was pretty efficacious. Not what you are going for but (anecdotal) evidence that spores isn’t too bad.

[Dankus Memakus]

I did a melee Tortle spore druid that was pretty efficacious. Not what you are going for but (anecdotal) evidence that spores isn’t too bad.

Honestly I'm not opposed to spores at all I've never seen it in action

[Naanomi]

Honestly I'm not opposed to spores at all I've never seen it in action
The main downside is it takes an action to get the spores up and going... so your first turn is almost always that. You do get things to reliably do with your bonus action and reaction though so it isn’t as painful

If you are going to use stone armor, consider hill dwarf... more HP and can still dump strength

[x3n0n]

Honestly I'm not opposed to spores at all I've never seen it in action

The melee part of Spores (Symbiotic Entity) has some anti-synergies with the base Druid chassis:
* base Druid doesn't get Extra Attack or anything like it,
* the damage bonus goes away once you lose the temporary HP, so you really don't want to get hit, and
* it takes a full action to come online.

Feats that can help:
* If you've got Heavy Armor proficiency from some other source, Heavy Armor Master buys you some time.
* Mobile lets you get in and out of melee.
* Polearm Master lets you use Shillelagh to Wisdom-wield for two attacks in a turn.

Multi-classing:
* Fighter 2 gets Action Surge to bring Symbiotic Entity up and Attack in the same turn
* Fighter 3 (Echo Knight) gives you Manifest Echo and Unleash Incarnation, which synergize beautifully
* Monk 1 gets you a second attack (but has no synergy with your armor setup); Monk 2 gets Flurry of Blows (and more)
* Monk 3 gets you Open Hand Technique, Drunken Technique, or Arms of the Astral Self, which can help preserve your THP while giving extra melee attacks

Races:
* Goblin for Disengage
* Several choices for AC bumps
* Several choices for Whip proficiency (so you can attack with reach and get back out)
* Goliath for Stone's Endurance

[Naanomi]

Booming blade and like can help as well (as they do in many of these builds)

[ATHATH]

The melee part of Spores (Symbiotic Entity) has some anti-synergies with the base Druid chassis:
* base Druid doesn't get Extra Attack or anything like it,
* the damage bonus goes away once you lose the temporary HP, so you really don't want to get hit, and
* it takes a full action to come online.

Feats that can help:
* If you've got Heavy Armor proficiency from some other source, Heavy Armor Master buys you some time.
* Mobile lets you get in and out of melee.
* Polearm Master lets you use Shillelagh to Wisdom-wield for two attacks in a turn.

Multi-classing:
* Fighter 2 gets Action Surge to bring Symbiotic Entity up and Attack in the same turn
* Fighter 3 (Echo Knight) gives you Manifest Echo and Unleash Incarnation, which synergize beautifully
* Monk 1 gets you a second attack (but has no synergy with your armor setup); Monk 2 gets Flurry of Blows (and more)
* Monk 3 gets you Open Hand Technique, Drunken Technique, or Arms of the Astral Self, which can help preserve your THP while giving extra melee attacks

Races:
* Goblin for Disengage
* Several choices for AC bumps
* Several choices for Whip proficiency (so you can attack with reach and get back out)
* Goliath for Stone's Endurance
Beast Barb is also an option, if you want to go full martial and mostly ignore your Druidic spellcasting in combat outside of things like Fire Shield. The resistance to BPS helps keep your spore form around longer after Beast Barb 3/Druid 3, and the claw option can be an extra attack per round if you've taken PAM or have another way to use your bonus action.

[GentlemanVoodoo]

Options for melee druid could also look at a few difference other classes though depends on your druid subclass for the parring.

A general dip into forge cleric does land some nice benefits to beef up AC. Also remember to keep in mind the spell Stone Shape which can be used to make heavy armor to gain the benefits. If your doing lower levels you may have to go the route of finding someone who knows the spell and pay for their services.

You could also go with a few levels with the Hexblade Patron. You can get access to spells like shield and a few good smites. The Hex Warrior feature to use Charisma instead of Strength does free up your cantrip selection so you wouldn't have to rely on Shillelagh stick whacking and can use a variety of other weapons. Doesn't net you heavy armor but really a Dex of 14-16 with a shield and medium armor isn't going to be that much different.

As to druid subclasses, if not going moon druid then I would consider land druid with selection being plains to net spells such as haste.

[Dankus Memakus]

Options for melee druid could also look at a few difference other classes though depends on your druid subclass for the parring.

A general dip into forge cleric does land some nice benefits to beef up AC. Also remember to keep in mind the spell Stone Shape which can be used to make heavy armor to gain the benefits. If your doing lower levels you may have to go the route of finding someone who knows the spell and pay for their services.

You could also go with a few levels with the Hexblade Patron. You can get access to spells like shield and a few good smites. The Hex Warrior feature to use Charisma instead of Strength does free up your cantrip selection so you wouldn't have to rely on Shillelagh stick whacking and can use a variety of other weapons. Doesn't net you heavy armor but really a Dex of 14-16 with a shield and medium armor isn't going to be that much different.

As to druid subclasses, if not going moon druid then I would consider land druid with selection being plains to net spells such as haste.

I really like the land druid idea as I kinda want to be more weapon focused than wildshape focused. Haste would be a fantastic addition