Conjure Animals + Wolf Totem Barbarian?

[Frogreaver]

So normally wolves or velociraptors are the go to with conjure animals because of pack tactics. However, the party has a wolf totem barbarian. Is there any beast that can be conjured that works better than these when getting advantage from an external source?

[Sherlockpwns]

The general go to are either Elk or Giant poisonous snakes.

The Elk can do major dps if they have room for charge and the snakes do pretty massive dmg if the target isn’t poison immune.

[Frogreaver]

The general go to are either Elk or Giant poisonous snakes.

The Elk can do major dps if they have room for charge and the snakes do pretty massive dmg if the target isn’t poison immune.

So even with always advantage the classic options are the best?

[Nhym]

So even with always advantage the classic options are the best?

Wolf Totem's advantage only works against enemies within 5 feet of the barb so creatures with extended reach are especially useful as it's easier to take advantage of the advantage with limited space available. Giant Poisonous Snakes have 10ft reach so that works pretty well, and shoutout to the Giant Octopus if you are looking for a larger creatures with extended reach which also has an automatic grapple.

That brings me to my second point that considering advantage, creatures with a CC component get added benefit from the consistency. Prone is really common among summoned beasts but IMO restrained is a much more dangerous condition in this case (unless you can prone a flying creature and make them fall). Creatures with a restrain component are: CR ¼ Constrictor Snake. CR ¼ Giant Frog. CR ½ Crocodile. CR 1 Giant Octopus. CR 1 Giant Spider. CR 1 Giant Toad. CR 2 Giant Constrictor Snake. so try those and see what you like.

Other than that, pretty much anything that doesn't use Pack Tactics would benefit. I agree with Sherlockpwns that Elks are really strong given the right circumstance but I find them impractical because they are a large creature that you can get 8 of that also needs space for charging. That's a LOT of space needed and unless you are in a field, generally it's difficult to meet those conditions. That's why I personally don't suggest chargers other than the Deep Rothé (it's a medium-sized cow basically).

[KnotaGuru]

I second constrictor snakes. Restrained is a huge debuff for enemies. 8 boa constrictors can quickly immobilize a group of bad guys or even a BBEG.

[Valmark]

I second constrictor snakes. Restrained is a huge debuff for enemies. 8 boa constrictors can quickly immobilize a group of bad guys or even a BBEG.

I third this and also add that it's automatic restraining (as long as the attack hit)- not like, say, the wolf that first bites then the enemy gets a save against the Prone effect. That's really good.

[Sherlockpwns]

Wolf Totem's advantage only works against enemies within 5 feet of the barb so creatures with expended reach are especially useful as it's easier to take advantage of the advantage with limited space available. Giant Poisonous Snakes have 10ft reach so that works pretty well, and shoutout to the Giant Octopus if you are looking for a larger creatures with extended reach which also has an automatic grapple.

That brings me to my second point that considering advantage, creatures with a CC component get added benefit from the consistency. Prone is really common among summoned beasts but IMO restrained is a much more dangerous condition in this case (unless you can prone a flying creature and make them fall). Creatures with a restrain component are: CR ¼ Constrictor Snake. CR ¼ Giant Frog. CR ½ Crocodile. CR 1 Giant Octopus. CR 1 Giant Spider. CR 1 Giant Toad. CR 2 Giant Constrictor Snake. so try those and see what you like.

Other than that, pretty much anything that doesn't use Pack Tactics would benefit. I agree with Sherlockpwns that Elks are really strong given the right circumstance but I find them impractical because they are a large creature that you can get 8 of that also needs space for charging. That's a LOT of space needed and unless you are in a field, generally it's difficult to meet those conditions. That's why I personally don't suggest chargers other than the Deep Rothé (it's a medium-sized cow basically).

Yeah there are certainly times where elks are too big, but you can just move them after attacking. One of them will get an aoo, but they are just meat for the grinder anyway. With 50 ft of movement it’s really easy to musical chairs them around even with 20-30 ft used in the charge. Bad for a tight corridor, but even a medium size room gives you plenty of room to juggle them around in my experience. That said a medium room will get crowded fast, so it may piss off everyone else at the table :)

[MaxWilson]

Yeah there are certainly times where elks are too big, but you can just move them after attacking. One of them will get an aoo, but they are just meat for the grinder anyway. With 50 ft of movement it’s really easy to musical chairs them around even with 20-30 ft used in the charge.

And if you knocked the enemy prone, they have disadvantage on that AoO, and will lose movement standing back up.

I like how that enables wolves to (sort of) emulate classic wolf pack tactics, darting in and out to avoid taking damage. It's just ironic that 5E elks wind up being slightly better than wolves at wolf pack tactics.

Anyway... I agree with those who say advantage is already easy for animals to get, and it's not worth going Wolf Totem just for that. Ancestral Guardian on the other hand...

[ATHATH]

Wolf Totem's advantage only works against enemies within 5 feet of the barb so creatures with expended reach are especially useful as it's easier to take advantage of the advantage with limited space available.
Creatures with Flyby can also use this pretty well, especially the aforementioned flying snakes, which in addition to having really good DPR (against enemies that aren't immune/resistant to poison), also have Flyby and a 60 ft. base fly speed.

[borg286]

Assumming all conjured creatures can target your foe, what is the average DPR boost for choosing CR 1/4 creatures and the DM picks the creature, then compare that with the DPR boost if you were to pick CR 1/2 and so forth. What CR selection results in the highest average DPR boost (assumming the DM randomly picks a creature type)?

[MaxWilson]

Assumming all conjured creatures can target your foe, what is the average DPR boost for choosing CR 1/4 creatures and the DM picks the creature, then compare that with the DPR boost if you were to pick CR 1/2 and so forth. What CR selection results in the highest average DPR boost (assumming the DM randomly picks a creature type)?

The answer is always "whatever CR gives you the most creatures". I.e. CR 1/4 unless you want CR 1/8 Flying Snakes for their poison.

[Frogreaver]

Doing some research I think Giant Poisonous Snakes are the way to go. They are 1/4 CR medium sized, 14 AC, 11 hp and with +6 attack and will do about 12-13 Damage on a hit after all effects are considered.

Flying Snakes deserve honorable mention if you are in a really cramped area or need the movement/flying as they do good damage and are tiny.
Apes are just slightly behind wolves in damage due to multi attack (assuming they attack the wolf totem barbarian target), you get 4 as opposed to 8 (some pros and cons there) and they get a ranged attack.

[Nhym]

Assumming all conjured creatures can target your foe, what is the average DPR boost for choosing CR 1/4 creatures and the DM picks the creature, then compare that with the DPR boost if you were to pick CR 1/2 and so forth. What CR selection results in the highest average DPR boost (assumming the DM randomly picks a creature type)?

I created a document a while back that compares different summons for my guide. It may prove useful to you in this case: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i-NqC2F_THQ5mT4PYfGwPjkEd-6SVpdPaTF1rdgOgW0/edit?usp=sharing

[borg286]

I created a document a while back that compares different summons for my guide. It may prove useful to you in this case: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i-NqC2F_THQ5mT4PYfGwPjkEd-6SVpdPaTF1rdgOgW0/edit?usp=sharing
Perfect. I made a copy and averaged out the to-hit and average damage on a hit. It looks like CR 1/4 is the best due to there being 8 dudes on the battlefield. CR 1/2 has only a minor bump in damage but not nearly enough to compensate for there only being 1/2 as many on the battlefield. I then took these averages and computed DPR vs AC 10 and AC 18. It looks like Conjure Animals gives about 56 DPR vs an AC 10 foe, and 26 DPR to AC 18. From looking at the open-source beasts they don't have multi-attacks (I didn't check the velociraptor). So on average if they each get an opportunity attack then their DPR should be doubled. If given advantage then these numbers go to 72 DPR vs AC 10 and 46 DPR vs. AC 18. The higher AC saw a better return on investment. Obviously if you were to force an opportunity attack then you'd get exactly double DPR. You could achieve this by being an Aberrant Mind Sorcerer and twinning dissonant Whispers or Command, or getting Command through some other means (Paladin, Bard, Cleric...). Command works well with Conjure Animals because you are able to handle a front line rather than trying to figure out how to squeeze in all 8 dudes. If the DM opts for large creatures then your DPR tanks. The only way around that is by metagaming and making life difficult for the DM by taking a few opportunity attacks in the face of your animals and just muck up the battlefield whenever large creatures are chosen. Either that or change up your tactic and use your large creatures as a wall while you whittle the foes down. Small creatures and tiny creatures are your best friend as you can focus down 1 enemy at a time.

[Nhym]

Perfect. I made a copy and averaged out the to-hit and average damage on a hit. It looks like CR 1/4 is the best due to there being 8 dudes on the battlefield. Small creatures and tiny creatures are your best friend as you can focus down 1 enemy at a time.

Good work. Shepherd druid OP