Druid with Pact of the Chain, or a Warlock with 2 druid levels

[elyktsorb]

So. Something that happened is that Druid got an ability that allows them to cast find familiar using their wildshape, with no material component, the spell only lasts for a number of hours equal to half your druid level, and the spirit will always be Fey when it is summoned.

The big take away of this tho, is that you can cast find familiar, a spell with a casting time of an hour, in a single action.

How useful would it be for a pact of the chain warlock to have 2 druid levels just to be able to summon a familiar twice per short rest as an action but only have it last for an hour?

The main thing I can think of for this, is if your in a situation where you know your familiar is likely going to be destroyed, but you having it not be destroyed would be advantageous. Additionally allowing for more strategies that rely on liberal sacrificing of your familiar.

[Necrisha]

Ok, I have a question: why would it be called "find" if it's a very temporary spell closer to the "summon" series of spells in casting time and duration. I get that it's using the telepathic spy angle, but calling it 'summon Fey Spy' might work better since it's not supposed to be a companion spirit you are bonded with whom you can interact with at any time and all day if you feel like it...

If that version of the spell is the only reason you intend to splash 2 levels of druid into a Warlock build, It seems really wasteful- are there other aspects of Druid (and what circle would you go? -circle is chosen at lvl 2) that you want as well? Moon seems obvious, but Circle of Dreams and stars could also present some combat utility worth exploring. Circle of wildfire seems an interesting contrast- replacing wild shape with a summon elemental that may or may not work in replacement of a suicidal familiar strategy.

Generally when I'm looking at strategies that relate to putting a familiar in danger, I look toward either the summon beast type of spells, or spells like arcane eye. Unlike find familiar both don't require the DM being on board, since with find familiar it is still controlled by the DM interpreting your telepathic or verbal commands.

Also, how would your DM reconcile this part of the Find familiar spell with the one you already get as a ritual if you go Pact of the Chain Warlock? Honestly your DM should be your first sounding board for the viability of the build given it's probably their homebrew.
At 3rd level, your otherworldly patron bestows a gift upon you for your loyal service.
"You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form."

If you use the other druid aligned spell would the Patron you chose be likely to respond negatively? Do you want some kind of plot hook based on that perceived competition to deal with? Does the duration limit also overwrite the other find familiar spell available to you? And perhaps most importantly, If you went with an Archfey patron, would the DM be willing to replace the normal version for that shortened version of the spell for your Pact of the Chain Warlock giving you 2 uses per short rest?

[elyktsorb]

If that version of the spell is the only reason you intend to splash 2 levels of druid into a Warlock build, It seems really wasteful-

No, obviously if your going to splash druid there are plenty of things to consider, but I'm mainly focused on what this one thing in particular brings to the table.


Generally when I'm looking at strategies that relate to putting a familiar in danger, I look toward either the summon beast type of spells, or spells like arcane eye. Unlike find familiar both don't require the DM being on board, since with find familiar it is still controlled by the DM interpreting your telepathic or verbal commands.

What?


Also, how would your DM reconcile this part of the Find familiar spell with the one you already get as a ritual if you go Pact of the Chain Warlock? Honestly your DM should be your first sounding board for the viability of the build given it's probably their homebrew.


What?



If you use the other druid aligned spell would the Patron you chose be likely to respond negatively? Do you want some kind of plot hook based on that perceived competition to deal with?

I dunno, how does any DM deal with Warlocks that multiclass for various reasons, I'm not really interested in discussing the roleplaying aspect.


Does the duration limit also overwrite the other find familiar spell available to you?

I have no idea why you would be using Wild Companion in a situation where you've used Find Familiar as a ritual and it's still active where you can call that familiar without issue.


And perhaps most importantly, If you went with an Archfey patron, would the DM be willing to replace the normal version for that shortened version of the spell for your Pact of the Chain Warlock giving you 2 uses per short rest?

Why would you want to replace it when you could have both??

[Rukelnikov]

Tbh, it sounds extremely expensive. Having played a chain SorLock up to lvl 17, I think the number of situations where I'd rather have 2 levels in Druid to get to summon my imp as an action instead of 2 more levels in either of my classes would likely be 0.

It's not that the feature is useless, but as a caster you are giving up a whole new level of spells for it. If you are also interested in other druidic features like their first level spells or 2nd lvl subclass feature then there may be some merit to it.

EDIT: btw I get the impression @Necrisha is not aware of the Tasha's optional feature you are talking about.

[stoutstien]

It's an option but I'd probably go more druid than warlock if I went that route.

[RogueJK]

It's an option but I'd probably go more druid than warlock if I went that route.

Yeah, but even that's a pretty janky.

Something like a Chainlock 3/Druid X isn't really getting much of anything worthwhile from the Warlock dip. You get a slightly better Familiar (though it's still quite squishy), two Invocations (likely Investment and Voice of the Chain Master), and some short rest-recharging 2nd level slots, but at the cost of being 2 full Druid spell levels behind and 3 levels behind in Druid abilities.

Not worth it, unless you're doing it for strictly thematic reasons.

Let's try something like a Chainherd Sheplock:
Fairy
Archfey Chain Pact Warlock 3/Shepherd Druid X
STR 8
DEX 14
CON 13
INT 9
WIS 15+2
CHA 13+1
ASIs: Resilient CON (14 CON) at Druid 4, Fey Touched (18 WIS) at Druid 8, 20 WIS at Druid 12.
Invocations: Investment of the Chain Master, Voice of the Chain Master

Kinda thematically cool, as a Fairy with a pet Pixie, but who is themselves a pet Fairy to an Archfey. But the only real synergy here beyond the ability to use Wild Shapes to temporarily resummon a dead Familiar is that your Fey Familiar gets the benefits of the various Shepherd Druid abilities. It still won't be all that useful in combat. And it's pretty MAD, needing a decent CHA/WIS/CON/DEX.